Rise of the Goddess (****All proceeds from the Rise of the Goddess anthology will go to benefit the Elliott Public Library**** Book 1)

by Catherine Stovall

  “It’s here Nick…Nicholas. I got something.” Ciro washed away the soil from a small vaguely humanoid shape.

  Meg looked at Marcus who sucked his cheeks in and lifted one hand, palm up, with a shrug. Jacob watched the exchange.

  “It was a little man statue near the Goddess. I thought if I swallowed some of the smallest things I could protect them somehow. I didn’t do a very good job.” Jacob watched Nicholas who had picked up the now clean object and was studying it intently.

  “A minor household slave I suppose.” Nicholas muttered and Jacob frowned. It looked like a man sitting with his arms around his knees but it also looked like a dog if turned over.

  “Why would you think that?”

  Nicholas looked up at Jacob’s question.

  “Oh dear boy it seems too small to be of any significance. Take a look.” Jacob moved over to Nicholas’s side and looked at the small man shape in the other man’s hand. “In relation to the size of the Goddess, which would be half a metre?” He looked for confirmation to Jacob who nodded, “this one would be only a tenth the size. Were there more like this one?”

  “No. Just this one. I think you misinterpret its significance in the hierarchy. I…oof.” Jacob fell to one side as Marcus connected with him in a tackle. Nicholas had jumped out of the way and the small statue flew into the surrounding forest. “Marcus what are you doing?” Jacob tried to bat his companion away.

  “Man, I thought you had a tarantula on your shirt. I just reacted. I’m so sorry. It must have been the play of light and shadow from the leaves. I could have sworn it was a huge spider.” Marcus pulled Jacob to his feet and dusted him off as Nicholas searched the underbrush.

  “You idiot, I lost hold of the statue. Help me find it, all of you.” After fifteen minutes of fruitless search Nicholas ordered they move on in a voice that brooked no resistance.

  “I’ll carry your backpack for you, Meg.” Jacob walked to where the packs lay in the shade. He reached for the strap of her bag and tried to lift it but it would not budge.

  “Not to worry, Jacob, you are still recovering and it was snagged on the other bags.” Meg lifted the pack effortlessly and swung it on her back. As she strode into the jungle, Marcus tried and failed to hide a grin and Jacob punched him in the upper arm.

  “Ow, ow a flea bit me.” Marcus rubbed the place and took off as Jacob chased him into the jungle. They were laughing by the time they caught up with Meg.

  Nicholas and Ciro trudged behind with dark scowls.

  The last day before they would arrive at the temple, Ciro dug up the ring. He washed it and handed it to Nicholas.

  “You have to get that ring, Jacob,” Meg whispered in his ear. “Your life depends on it.”

  Jacob felt her warm breath on his cheek and leaned his face toward her, but she moved away and his face felt chilled. He stepped over to look at the ring. “Would you like me to read the inscription for you?”

  Nicholas studied him for a moment and curled his fingers around the ring. “Not right now, when we have the other items together.

  Jacob shrugged and walked on.

  They stopped in a small clearing that night and lit a fire. Meg sat in her usual place between Jacob and Marcus, and all three stayed on the opposite side of the fire to the other two men. Marcus pointed out stars to Jacob, showing him particular constellations, and told stories about them as he had on other nights.

  Nicholas listened for a while then in a lull asked, “Marcus, for a mere Physiotherapist you certainly know a lot about the stars. I haven’t heard those particular stories for, oh decades. In fact, I read about them in the only copy of a fairly ancient and rare text, which I happen to own. Where did you learn them, may I ask?”

  Marcus was silent for too long, and Meg went tense beside Jacob who couldn’t fathom the undercurrent.

  “My parents taught me the stories and they learned them from theirs. We have a strong oral tradition in my family and amongst my people. The old stories are still passed along, even today.”

  “And have you worked for long with Miss Meg?”

  Meg gripped Jacob’s arm.

  “Why are you always asking questions of my friends? They didn’t have to come with us, so just leave them alone.” Jacob stood up and looked across the flames at Nicholas.

  Ciro stood up and did his menacing hunch, looking like a nightmare creature with the shadows flickering across his face.

  “You really are the most naïve young man I have ever met. Oh, sit down, Ciro. I don’t need a guard dog.”

  Ciro sat down reluctantly mumbling obscenities.

  “But you might, Meg. Has Marcus always been your guard dog?”

  “Marcus is my friend,” her voice was menacing.

  Jacob looked closely at her and saw something that made his heart race. In the firelight, she looked just like the woman in his vision and dreams. “Meg? I’m sorry I let you come on this trek. I…”

  Meg turned her head toward him and she was just Meg again.

  “Jacob, you didn’t let me do anything, you don’t give me permission. I chose to come with you. Let’s get to sleep so we can make it to this temple of yours before it gets too hot tomorrow.” She curled on her side with her back to the fire and Marcus curled up just beyond her.

  Jacob watched her breathing for a while, wishing he could talk to her about so many things, but not while they were there. Then lay on his back and looked up at the myriad of stars, letting the stories flow through his head to lead him into sleep.

  She was there, in his dream, standing under a huge jungle fig with thick vines wrapping around her to form her dress and trailing to the ground. Water dripped from her outstretched hand and plinked into a pool at her feet. Coloured beetles sat in her hair, glossy adornments against the deeper shine of the strands. She looked at him, and for a moment, she was Meg and he felt his heart filled with adoration and love. Her face changed again, and as Jacob looked into her eyes, he fell into a whirlpool of images.

  There were millions of images his mind could not make sense of, some snippets from the stories and grass growing in her footsteps, flowers blooming from dead twigs and vines curling and twisting at incredible rates up the ancient brick walls until the brick was obliterated by gentle green. He saw himself kissing a statue and other things so alien he could not fix on them, so he clung to the image of kissing the statue. That was real.

  “Free me Jacob, free me.”

  He watched as the vines covered all of her and she was gone. He tried to pull them off her and a large wolf leapt out of the jungle and snarled at him. His foot caught in a thick root and he fell backwards…

  …and woke to the early morning cacophony of the birds before sun up. Marcus held his breakfast for him. He looked for Meg. Marcus nodded at the forest. Nicholas was waiting impatiently. Ciro had already gone ahead to slash greenery. Jacob thanked Marcus, ate the nuts and berries he offered rather than the dehydrated food bars they all carried and washed them down with some water. He splashed a little water from his drink bottle onto his face, slipped a little way into the forest for his own morning needs and they all set off when Meg returned.

  They reached the temple before noon. The bodies were hidden by vines and a lush growth of grass, but the stench of death still hung heavy in the clearing. Jacob felt sick.

  “Mr. Childe, the coordinates, if you please?”

  Jacob pulled out his notebook and the map. Meg slid a small stone onto the page. When he placed his compass beside it, the needle swung wildly.

  He slid the stone between pages and cleared his throat, “Okay, it should be this way. I only went twenty paces or so.”

  They walked twenty paces into the surrounding jungle and Ciro began to dig. “Nothin’ here. Sure you got the right place?” he wiped sweat from his forehead. “It’s too friggin’ hot to be diggin’.”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll check the compass again. Oh, sorry! It’s the opposite direction.”

  They walked the other way a
nd Ciro began to dig again, turning over another pile of soil to no avail. They tried again, and when the third pile of dirt in yet another direction proved empty, Nicholas had had enough.

  “Stop playing games with me, Mr. Childe. I want that statue and I want it now. You can be the first offering to the Goddess when we find her.” Nicholas’s face was almost as purple as Ciro’s could get and he clenched his hands into fists.

  “Offering? What are you talking about?” Jacob looked perplexed.

  “You know perfectly well. You had the Papyrus in your hands for weeks. You read it,” He was sputtered.

  “Yes, but that is an ancient worship, you have to take these things figuratively, not literally. I am a scientist you know,” Jacob was appalled.

  “You know nothing, fool! This is the temple of an earth goddess and once you place this ring on your finger, you must read from the papyrus and make the offerings to the statue. Then she will manifest and you can harness her power. I want that statue and that power, Mr. Childe, and I am more than happy to offer you as the blood sacrifice.”

  He lifted his arm to hit Jacob, and Marcus stepped in the way, grabbing the descending arm and holding it there with no effort what so ever. Ciro waited for Nicholas to tell him what to do, and Marcus let the arm lower but stood guard.

  “You can’t order a goddess around; that is ridiculous, even if there were such a being. That would be like me telling Meg to do something she doesn’t want to do. You have to love someone, not treat them like slaves and just take their stuff,” Jacob frowned in puzzlement.

  “Do you love me Jacob?” Meg’s voice came from behind them and all but Marcus turned to look at her.

  “Well, yes, actually, Meg. This is an odd time to be asking, but yes. I didn’t want to say anything in case you thought I just liked you for being my nurse, but I really fell for you.” Jacob’s cheeks turned blotchy red.

  “You certainly did fall for me, Jacob,” Meg smirked, then stepped forward. That note of steel was in her voice as she looked at Nicholas for the first time and spoke directly to him, “You are too late.” Whatever Nicholas saw in her face made him blanch, and she ordered, “Give the ring to Jacob.”

  Nicholas fumbled in his pocket, fighting the compulsion that was making him reach for it. Sweat broke out on his forehead as his fingers curled around the ring as the muscles in his arm bunched with the effort of resistance and his veins bulged, but finally, he handed it to Jacob.

  “He has already offered the gifts of life: blood, sweat, earth and tears, remorse, grief, anger and sorrow. He read the words and kissed the statue, then lost his life to protect me. Jacob put on the ring.”

  Jacob slid the circle of ancient silver onto his left hand. Meg turned to him, and she was no longer just Meg. Her hair billowed, though there was no breeze, and power emanated from her in a vibrant multihued glow. She was the woman in his dreams, the vision in the alley, the breeze and bird song. She was moonlight and spring, and Jacob felt his blood singing.

  Meg caressed his cheek and a million tiny electric shocks ran along his nerve ends. Jacob’s hair stood up as she ran her fingertip along his forearm. “I am here because you called me into being. What do you want of me, Jacob?”

  Jacob stared at the magnificent woman in front of him and his heart glowed like her aura. He had never seen anything or anyone so beautiful, nor so frightening, in his life.

  “Anything you ask is yours Jacob. I have that power. It is all yours but you must ask me now.”

  An angry roar broke from Nicholas, “Ciro, get rid of the body guard!”

  Ciro looked confused for a moment, and then launched himself at Marcus. They rolled into the dense jungle in a ball of animal snarls and vicious blows.

  Nicholas pulled out a gun, “I will kill him before he asks.” Nicholas pointed it straight at Jacob. “You want him alive; he has to give me your power.”

  Jacob had leapt in front of Meg and was holding his arms out trying to act as a shield. He stood straight and looked Nicholas in the face, although he was trembling with fear.

  “It’s okay Nicholas, go ahead and shoot,” Jacob gulped and then shrugged. “I don’t want anything from Meg that she isn’t willing to give freely, and I can’t give you what isn’t mine to give. I want her to be free.”

  “No-o-o-o!” Nicholas roared and pulled the trigger.

  The bullet stopped centimeters from Jacob’s chest and fell to the ground. Nicholas crumpled to his knees and pounded the dirt with his fists, screaming in impotent rage. He threw clods of dirt and rock at the horrified Jacob, but they all fell short.

  Jacob began to shake with the aftermath of shock, “You shot at me? You tried to shoot me? What is going on?” Jacob patted his chest, “Goddess? Bodyguard?” Jacob slid to the ground and the world turned a misty grey. “I don’t feel so good; I’ll just lie down for a moment.”

  *****

  Jacob opened his eyes and looked up at the clear blue of the sky in the small circle open in the canopy. The plants at the edge of the clearing rustled and swayed, attracting his attention.

  Marcus came out of the jungle dusting off his clothes and grinning. There was no sign of Ciro or Nicholas.

  Jacob felt a cool hand slide across his forehead and looked up at Meg leaning over him. She was just Meg. As he ran a shaky hand across his forehead, she smiled that gentle smile he liked so much. Peace settled on him, his shock and fear melted away. She sat beside him and he took her hand in his.

  “I have no idea what is going on really although I think all this exertion has made me relapse. I am hallucinating mad men and goddesses. I am so glad you are here with me Meg.” He squeezed her hand gently.

  “I am glad I am here with you, too. The others have gone off to find their great treasure. Marcus and I thought we could head back down to the plane. Marcus can fly us back and return for them when they call. Do you feel up to a walk?” she handed him a water bottle and encouraged him to have a few sips. He stood up, a little shaky but otherwise okay and the three of them began the descent through the forest.

  Meg turned back and waved her hand unobtrusively at the clearing. Two unconscious men, a pile of corpses and the shredded remains of an ancient torn papyrus scroll clogged the inner chamber of the temple. Outside, vines and saplings grew rapidly; knitting into a tightly woven net to fill the space hacked out of the jungle. Spiders flew across the hole in the canopy, slowly closing it with the gossamer lace of their webs. Within hours, no trace of the clearing existed. The temple would not be found again.

  Contributor Biographies

  Rebecca Poole ~ Born and raised in the rural South, books have always been a comfort and joy for Rebecca Poole, so it's no surprise that she's been bitten by the bug to create her own stories and worlds. She uses her artwork to help visualize the characters and scenes she creates digitally to bring them to life on the page.

  She lives in Georgia with her husband and fur children. It would not be surprising to see her attempting to 'rescue' another stray cat, for she might have an addiction to the cuddly critters.

  Aubrey Diamant ~ Aubrey Diamant is one half of the writing team Diamant. Lives by night a crazy hotel night auditor left to his own devices which have led to some funny stories. Wig aficionado, wearer of nail varnish, he is a pretty boy at large.

  Samantha Ketteman ~ Samantha Ketteman has resided in southern Illinois for 7 years—though she still claims to be an Alabama girl­—with her husband and three children. She is a caffeine addict, insomniac, and generally scatterbrained most of the time. When she's not writing, she's thinking of writing. Novels are an escape from the harsh reality of a cantankerous teenage boy and two drama queen girls. Samantha is the best-selling author of Aphrodite’s Secret: A Novel of the Forgotten, Avenging Innocence, the short story, Amelia, featured in The Cogs in Time anthology, and the upcoming books Glimpse of Destiny, the Destiny Revealed series, and the Reaping Justice series. She is published through Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly publishing as well as Vam
ptasy publishing.

  Sinead MacDughlas ~ Sinead MacDughlas is a Canadian writer with an addiction to the written word. Her favourite writing fuel is coffee, with the music she loves playing in the background, and the inspiration of a lifetime of people watching. Sinead plans to continue publishing as long as there are readers who enjoy her work. In 2012, Sinead signed with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly publishing. Of her many published pieces, this is the fourth she has contributed to charitable causes.

  Michael Cross ~ Michael Cross has been a writer and amateur explorer for most of his life. He began submitting his original writing in 2013 with two short stories, Tell Her She was Loved and The Promise, both accepted by Xchyler Publishing and are due to be released early 2014 in anthologies. Most recently he is a blogger and works to share his love of the past and all things steampunk (whenever he is not working as a shrink). You may learn more about him at The Hidden Library of Michael-Cross or on Twitter @TheCrossLibrary.

  Catherine Stovall ~ Catherine Stovall is the author of Faire Eve, The Requiem of Humanity Series, Arcana: The Maiden, and the short stories, Fearful Day, Bloody Freedom (Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds anthology), Condemned to Die, and The Freak (Cirque D'Obscure anthology). She also has the privilege of being the editor and a contributor to the Cogs in Time anthology, where you can find her short story, Wren City, and a poem entitled The Cogs in Time. Catherine is a fearless creature who surrounds herself with the joys of life both in and out of her fictional worlds. She lives in Southeast Missouri with her husband, three children, and pets. When not writing, she spends her time riding motorcycles, wearing elaborate hats, and genuinely enjoying the oddities in life.

  Jackie McMahon ~ Jackie McMahon is an author for Hot Ink Press, writer of erotic romance stories and a graphic artist. She is a stay at home mom who lives in Queens, New York with her fiancé and three beautiful and crazy kids. When Jackie is off from mommy duty, she spends every free chance she can get reading books of her favorite erotic authors. After sometime, she embarked into writing which found a way to put her over active imagination to work. She may look young and innocent but is far from that when it comes to writing.