With some distance between them, D’Molay felt his head starting to clear again, although he still felt a strong pull to resume what they had just started. He gripped the door handle in his hand like a life preserver as he risked a look back into the darkness at her. “Can I trust you, demoness? Can I even trust myself?”
Tenh-Mer remained on her knees, motionless as she regarded him sadly. “I met a priest once in the Celtic Realm. Like everyone else, he fell in love with me. He said that God must have created a creature like me to test the faith of the pious against the sin of lust. I don’t know if that’s true, but he was the last person who was able to resist my charms. Maybe you can be the next one. The way I am is a blessing and curse, D’Molay. I never have friends, only lovers and they never really love me. They just fall under the spell that surrounds me. Please, let me help you, just as a friend?”
As she spoke, D’Molay squeezed the door handle so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He was again drawn in by her open arms, convinced by her luminous eyes glistening in the darkness. His fingers released the ornate door handle. “A-alright, let’s try again.” He silently chastised himself and resolved to keep his composure when he moved close to her.
“Please, yes. Finish tying the shirt. I promise not to move or touch you.”
Tentatively, D’Molay walked over to Tenh-Mer. She remained kneeling on the floor. He tried not to look directly at her but it was difficult not to. As he drew closer, he could feel the power of her attractiveness saturating him like water filling a dry sponge. He felt the powerful urge to join her on the floor and pick up where they left off. “Stand up. I think it will be safer that way.”
Tenh-Mer tried to rise in the least alluring way she could manage, which of course only made her all the more charming as she did so. Turning her back to him, she stood stiffly as he tied the rest of her backwards shirt. He avoided touching her skin, fearful it might drive him into lustful madness again. He had to move his head back a few times to avoid brushing up against her pink bat-like wings as they occasionally flexed or shifted. D’Molay repeated the words of an old prayer to help him stop thinking about the beautiful dark-haired creature standing within his grasp. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
He had to leave the top three strings undone where her wings came out from the lower part of her shoulder blades. Once he had finished, Tenh-Mer stepped away from D’Molay and tucked the long shirt into her belt, then straightened the shirt fabric out. It came down to her upper thighs once she was done adjusting it.
“There. How’s that?” She turned around, held her puffy-sleeved arms out, and presented herself to D’Molay.
“It’s definitely an improvement, Tenh-Mer, but you are still very, very attractive.” He tried to focus on a part of her that wasn’t as appealing to him and chose her wings. They, however, reminded him of a question. “Does the name ‘Mordecai’ mean anything to you?
“No. Is that a place, or a person?”
“It’s the bat-like creature that kidnapped Aavi, the woman we’re going to rescue.”
“Oh. No, I don’t think I’ve heard either of those names before, but I don’t get out too often. I’m usually here or at my mistress’ pyramid, which is really far away from the City.”
“Just a thought. What’s next, Tenh-Mer? Time to fly to the prison?”
“Yes, and I’ve been thinking about that. You’re going to need a way out of there, so I’m going to come back for you and your lady friend. If Sekhmet gets mad at me for leaving, you’ll need to tell her that you asked me to do it as part of the favor she owes you. Can you do that?” She gave him a sincere hopeful smile and tilted her head.
“Tenh-Mer, are you sure? I don’t want you to get in trouble. Will you be able to carry two people?” Tenh-Mer’s willingness to risk the ire of her mistress endeared her to him all the more, and he had to fight off the urge to hug her again. He took a couple of steps back to try to get away from her aura. She raised an eyebrow as he moved, but understood why.
“Sekhmet won’t get that mad, even if I do leave. And no, I can’t carry you both, but I can make two trips and carry you one at a time. Will that work for you?” She shifted her weight from one hoof to the other as she stood there, a hand on her hip.
“It will, Tenh-Mer. It will.” He could see that she was enjoying the prospect of an adventure, yet she genuinely seemed to want to help, something he never would have expected from a demon, no matter what power or form it might have. He wondered what his old comrades on Earth would think if they could see him working with a demoness; then winced with a painful memory, realizing he already knew the answer to that question.
Tenh-Mer walked over and picked up the parchment she had been carrying when he first arrived. “Good. Let’s write a note and then find a balcony. I hope you’ll like the flight.”
* * *
When the door closed, Aavi swallowed hard as fear spread over her like a blanket. She knew Set’s questioning was about to begin again. He strolled over and stood beside her.
“Are you ready to tell me about your mission?” His cold hand brushed her hair away from her face, the way one might clear cobwebs out of an old cupboard.
A lump grew in her throat as she tried to answer. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I - I can’t remember anything before I got here.” She had a strange metallic taste in her mouth. Aavi felt a wave of nausea pass through her as she realized it was the taste of her own blood.
“Can’t tell, or won’t tell?” Set slammed his hard fist on the stone slab right near Aavi’s face. She flinched as his blow pulled her hair and the jarring impact of his fist rattled her head.
Set stood where her hands were chained and leaned over her, glowering, his red eyes blazing hatefully. From Aavi’s viewpoint, he looked upside down and she couldn’t turn herself over. Tears started running down her cheeks.
“Please . . . don’t hurt me . . . I don’t know!”
He grabbed her hair in one of his hands and wrenched it toward him. “Do you know what you are, Aavi? Should I tell you? Maybe if I did, it would awaken memories within you. Then we could cease this tedious game and you could answer my questions.”
He released her hair and walked around the slab, taking in her beauty as he considered his next move. There were risks to exposing what he knew. Kafele was half scared out his wits by what she might do. But he needed answers.
“We’ll try it this way next,” he said aloud, more to himself than Aavi. Walking around, he took Aavi’s hand in his. “Such a beautiful hand and lovely fingers you have. Tell me your mission, your purpose. Tell me!” Set started to pull back on her index finger.
Aavi’s finger started to hurt as it bent backwards “Uhh! I don’t know!” Then a terrible pain loosed her scream as Set broke her finger. Aavi moaned in pain. She had never felt anything like it before. It was not as bad as the lightning, but somehow it seemed worse, like stepping on a flower and knowing the flower would never be the same.
“You have nine fingers left unbroken,” Set snarled. “Try to remember your mission before I break them all.” He took her middle finger in his hands.
Then she did remember something, something the Oracle had told her. She spoke through gritted teeth as her broken finger throbbed. “The Oracle told me I was supposed to find my companion and . . . and go to Earth. That’s all I know.”
Set let go of her hand but remained very close. “You see? You can cooperate if you really try. Now tell me who you were supposed to take to Earth.”
“I - I thought it was D’Molay, but Kafele didn’t think so. I think I still have to find my companion, but I don’t know who that is.” She was able to take a deep breath for the first time since Kafele had left the cell, knowing that she had avoided more pain at least for a moment or two.
Unsatisfied, Set took her hand in his again. “Are you sure you don’t know who?” Slowly he gave her middle finger a gentle squeeze.
Aavi gritted her teeth, ready
for more pain. “No, I’d say if I did!” She felt intense pain as Set pulled her finger back and she screamed over the snap of its breaking.
Set walked back to the end of the stone slab where her legs were chained. “I’m tempted to break a foot or a leg, but then moving you around will be more of a bother.” He put his hand back on her stomach. “Perhaps this is the best way after all. It hasn’t failed me yet. I’ll even make you an offer, Aavi. Tell me any of the following things and I’ll let you rest until tomorrow.”
“I’ll t-try,” she replied weakly. She prayed that he would ask something that she had an answer to. Her head was throbbing now and the taste of blood was strong.
“I want either your true name, what was your mission, or who you were supposed to take to Earth. Give me any one of those and we’ll stop for now.”
Aavi started to cry, and the initial tears cascaded into uncontrollable sobs. She tried to speak, but it was very difficult. The lump in her throat felt huge and the blood was flowing out of her mouth again. “I - I’m sorry. I don’t know . . . I don’t!” Then she continued to cry inconsolably.
“How inconvenient.” Set placed both his hands on her abdomen and the red lightning started to pass from him to her. The room flickered with red shadows as Aavi screamed and writhed in pain. Blood spurted from her mouth; the screams were interrupted as she began to choke on her own blood. There was so much of it now. Aavi went stiff. Her body seemed to be dissolving from the inside. Her head felt like a hammer was pounding on it, and even her tears felt like hot acid. Still, Set enveloped her in the hideous red lightning that burned and stung. She wanted to die. She screamed in her mind for it all to stop for the horrible pain to end. As she lost consciousness, the last thing she sensed was a strange flash of light beyond her tightly closed eyes.
Chapter 24 - Desperate Measures
It was the third time in less than a week that D’Molay had been carried by a person with wings, and he enjoyed it even less than the last time. It was during the first flight he experienced the burning sensations of the pledge he had made with Glaucus. Though he hadn’t known it at the time, D’Molay realized Eros was much more skilled in carrying passengers then he might have guessed, based on the erratic flying of Tenh-Mer.
The journey was a nausea-inducing tumble through the darkness as Tenh-Mer swooped up and down in the cool night air. He was dangling from his arms held straight up over his head, as Tenh-Mer held tightly onto his wrists. She was having a difficult time keeping a steady course and the two of them moved up and down as she strained to remain aloft. Even over the rushing air he could hear her labored breathing as she haphazardly moved them towards their goal.
“You all right?” he yelled up at her as she shifted her grip on him.
“Y - yes!” Tenh-Mer managed to gasp out in between flaps of her wings. “N-not far now!”
Somehow the fear of falling to his death was enough to overcome the lustful feelings that being touched by her would normally generate. “Praise be for small favors,” he thought to himself. As they bobbed up and down in the night sky, D’Molay saw a strange burst of light which illuminated their destination ahead. The flash was gone the next time he was able to look at the prison again. He wasn’t certain if it had really been there or was caused by his addled state as he was carried haphazardly through the night sky. He could only hope Aavi was inside, and still alive.
The building seemed to grow larger and larger as they approached. “You’d better slow down soon,” he called out to Tenh-Mer, worried they would slam into it as they continued lurching forward. Rather than ease her efforts, Tenh-Mer strained all the harder and increased the force of her flapping wings. As they started to climb a bit, D’Molay realized she was making for the roof. They got level with the top of the large building and she started to slow down. He felt Tenh-Mer’s grip begin to slip.
“Get ready to jump. I can’t hover!”
They were still moving forward when his feet touched the rooftop and she let him go. D’Molay tumbled and rolled, trying to impede his momentum before it drove him off the opposite edge of the roof. He managed to stop himself and sat dazed for a few seconds. Before he had completely come to his senses, D’Molay heard a voice cry out, and then footsteps.
“Intruder!”
His first thought as he struggled to his feet was that the demoness had betrayed him. His addled senses were slow to react as a guard ran forward, spear at the ready. The guard charged in for the kill. On the edge of D’Molay’s vision, he saw a pink streak of color swoop in and knock the man back. Unable to stop his course, the guard fell off the edge of the building and into the darkness.
D’Molay heard the man’s scream, which abruptly ended. The building was at least a hundred and fifty feet high and the guard had no doubt fallen to his death. D’Molay heard a thumping noise to his right and turned to see Tenh-Mer make her landing. She landed in a crouch with her wings spread open wide before folding them away and dropping to lie on her side, exhausted.
D’Molay visually searched the rest of the rooftop for other guards and saw none. He then approached Tenh-Mer, smiling at their good fortune. “Just how many passengers have you carried before?”
Still lying on her side, she rested her face on her hand and looked up at him a little mischievously. “Counting you? Umm, three.”
He smiled at her answer then started to feel unnaturally attracted to her again. He stepped away. “Well, it could have been much worse. There could have been a whole garrison up here, or you might have dropped me to my death on the way.” A pang of guilt ran though him as realized that he had worried she might betray him, when in fact she had risked her life to bring him here.
D’Molay walked to the edge of the roof where the guard had fallen. Though there were some torches in the gardens below, it was very dark and there was a thick cover of foliage. He saw no sign of where the man had landed. The guard’s drop had lasted only a second or two, so unless someone had been watching or was walking in that area right then, no one would have seen anything. It occurred to him that people were probably used to hearing screams from the prison. Chances were good that he and Tenh-Mer were still undetected.
He turned around to face her, but she had moved. She was lying on her stomach now with her head hanging off the roof. At first glance it looked like her head had been chopped off, but he quickly realized she was looking off the edge of the building and trying to see under the eaves. Either that or she was throwing up. The urge had certainly hit him while they were flying.
“Tenh-Mer, are you all right?” he asked earnestly.
Her head popped back up and she turned around. Still lying on her stomach, she explained herself. “I’m looking for that gap in the roof I told you about. It’s not on this side,” she added.
Slowly she got up, and stretched her arms. “Mmm, my strength is coming back already. Don’t worry. I’ll be able to carry you both to the outer wall. It’s actually closer than where we flew from,” she said, walking over to the next nearest roof edge and pointing to the outer wall below. Then she flattened out on her stomach and peeked over the edge. “Oh here it is. Come see!”
D’Molay got down on his stomach to lie next to her. He immediately felt the overwhelming urge to put his arm around her and kiss her, but managed to suppress it even as he felt warmth spread through him. He looked down and saw the excited face of Tenh-Mer, her hair hanging straight down, although from his perspective it looked like it was sticking straight up.
“See?” She pointed at the back of the roof where it met the wall. Sure enough, there was a covered hole in the stone. “That piece of wood just slides out of the way and then you can crawl in.” D’Molay wasn’t quite sure how he could get to it without some tricky acrobatics, but it certainly looked like a potential entrance.
“Tenh-Mer, you are amazing, I could just kiss you!” Unable to hold back any longer, he gave her a kiss, while they were both lying there with their heads hanging upside down. It was possibly the s
trangest kiss he had ever given. He was filled with an ecstatic joy. The blood was rushing to his head from the way he was laying and his heart filled with happiness now that the goal of finding Aavi was in sight. Fortunately for him, the odd position they were both in made it difficult for anything but a kiss to happen. He kissed her and kissed her. It was Tenh-Mer who withdrew.
“Stop. You have to go save your friend now.” She got up and stepped back from the roof’s edge.
His head cleared. “Wha . . .? Yes, yes of course.” He stared at the entrance, and after an encouraging nod from the demoness, shimmied along the roof’s eaves while using the beams under them for support. When he reached the wood planking covering the opening, he was able to slide it aside with his foot. He was startled by Tenh-Mer’s voice behind him. He turned around to see her head poke back below the roof, her long black hair cascading like a waterfall around her pink face.
“I’ll wait here until dawn. If I don’t see you by then, I’ll assume you were captured. Then I’ll tell Sekhmet and beg her to help free you. Good luck,” she beamed. D’Molay smiled his thanks and disappeared into the hole in the building.
At the moment D’Molay gained entry to Set’s compound, the usually vigilant guards had more to worry about than a random prison break in. The pyramid had been rocked by an inexplicable explosion just moments before. The strange burst had affected a circular area about three hundred feet in diameter. Every living thing within that area had been destroyed. Each person was petrified wherever they stood, transmuted into statues of white sand.
Just down the hall from Aavi’s cell, Kafele had attempted to run away from the flash of light when he first saw it, but it was too fast. When Kafele had been turned to sand, he simply fell to the floor and broke into several pieces. Dozens of Set’s guards and other visitors to that part of Set’s temple had met the same fate. In Aavi’s cell, Set was also frozen in place, although he seemed to have a more stone-like texture to his skin. His ebon form looked like it had been coated with a layer of gritty grey paint.
CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN Page 26
