by Lexi Ander
"Milord?"
Blinking, I glanced at Leora.
"Are you ready? If you're uncomfortable, you and Stan can wait here until we return." Leora clasped her hands behind her back at parade rest.
As much as her offer relieved me, I refused to back down now. "We're ready."
Nodding decisively, she led the way to a small mud-brick hut in the distance. Even though the darkness of night hid us, a couple of guards repeated a short chant. The words pushed out the magic they wove, bidding humans to see nothing, to look the other way. The sandy soil was uneven. If I didn't have excellent night vision, I would have fallen flat on my face more than once. In the daytime, the temperature rose to one hundred degrees or more, falling into the seventies after the sun went down. I'd forgotten the effect of the heat released from the ground after the sunset.
The closer we came to the building, the better I sensed the wards, something similar to how the Tri-Cities of the Lycans were protected from the probing eyes of humans. Inside, four guards waited, bristling with weapons.
"Captain Leora Niamh! Maressa returned weeks ago, claiming you had been captured by the Lycan's Siamak." The one who spoke was larger than the other four, his dark curly hair pulled back and held in a queue. His beard wasn't excessively long but still lent to the aura of a time gone by. All four of them wore clothing that would have been more appropriate for the twenty-fifth century BCE. Obviously, they were aware of the changes to the world because Leora's hunters dressed in BDUs. Perhaps Marduk insisted on this type of wardrobe for those who resided with him? If he did, then he obviously had a penchant for the glory days.
Leora's dark face twisted into a disdainful sneer. "If she hadn't given insult to Siamak Tristan, we wouldn't have been held up."
The large guard's piercing brown gaze raked over Stan then me. His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. I met and kept his challenging stare. His eyelids narrowed, the silence stretching thin. "I smell the blood of the divine. Maressa told Bel Rabim the Lycan was accompanied by Tiamat's pets, who claimed to be Tiamat's Voice." He swung his gaze back to Leora, the guards behind him shuffled their feet nervously.
"I'm surprised Maressa doesn't believe in prophecy." Leora replied, her stance shifting until she stood sideways, making herself a smaller target.
Behind the guards was an opening in the ground where I could barely see the top of the steps leading down. Spiky snouts peeked over the edge and the jewel-toned eyes of Ladon blinked lazily at me. Ushna said the dragonets would come, but once we'd left Sanctuary, we didn't see them. How they had traveled and beat us to Marduk's temple was beyond my understanding. That Ladon came himself worried me because he'd been Ushna's self-appointed companion. I had to believe if Ladon was here, then Ushna was safe.
Leora was still speaking with the guard. "Are you going to let us by? I am sure Bel Rabim will want to question these two."
"Do you believe in the prophecy, Leora?" He asked, and suddenly the air was so thick with tension I could barely breathe. I couldn't drop into a fighting stance without drawing the guard's notice.
"You know I do, Zvi," Leora replied, her tone one of nonchalance, as if there wasn't an undercurrent to this conversation.
"As do I," he replied, stepping aside. The other three guards followed his lead and opened the way to the entrance to the underground.
Leora stepped aside, allowing the hunter in front of me to descend the steps first. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Even though I didn't glance back, I was positive Zvi stared at me.
"Is he The Voice?" Zvi's tone rang with reverence.
I stopped at the top of the stairs, finally looking over my shoulder. Leora stood between us and the four guards with a confidence that led me to believe she could easily defeat them if they attacked. She shifted her feet so she kept them in her view but could also see me. I stared at Zvi, scenting the air and detecting no malice or subterfuge. Leora raised an eyebrow, a question there. Should she be truthful? It was a gamble, granted, but if I'd read Zvi correctly then we had allies. I gave Leora a brief nod.
"He is the Sword. With him is an Adon of the Ophidians."
The indrawn exclamations were sharp before being cut off. Zvi bowed without saying another word, and Leora hustled us down the steps to a dimly lit corridor. While waiting for the hunters to form up once again, the wall next to me shimmered, moving in a way it shouldn't. Before I was able to bring attention to the phenomena, reptilian eyes were revealed and the bright yellow snout of a snake came into view briefly before inexplicably disappearing again.
When I glanced at Stan, he smirked as if he found the whole situation humorous. If he'd seen the serpent too, at least I wasn't losing my mind. Further down the hallway, I noticed the distinct glimmer of illusion and counted a good half-dozen distortions. It was still a mystery how they'd arrived, but the important thing was that we now had backup.
Once situated, we strode three abreast down the hallway. Leora led, followed by three hunters. Then came Stan, bracketed by two, followed by me and my two hunters, with two more immediately behind me. The floor sloped down gently until it evened out fifty feet from an ornate carved archway. The underground city spread out before us, illuminating the cavern with torchlight and scattered campfires. Mud-brick houses surrounded common areas where cooking fires were tended and tables set for the evening repast.
We exited onto an overhead walkway stretching along the hand-carved wall, disappearing into the gloom. The thought that we'd have to walk through the city in order to reach the Temple was daunting and dangerous. How many would challenge Leora?
As if reading my thoughts, she said, "There is a back way to the temple level. It will take longer but we'll meet less people."
My apprehension eased somewhat but didn't dissipate altogether. We were so close to our goal, and seeing the possible obstacles kept me vigilant.
As we walked the perimeter, across the way I barely made out another archway. Two figures darted out of doors, splitting up and taking separate stairways down into the city.
"Zvi, what did you do?" Leora hissed. "We must hurry. If Zvi meant for us to be captured, those runners would've sounded the alarm. More than likely he has spread the word to the outside sentries that Tiamat's Sword is among us."
We all quickened our pace but didn't outright run. We didn't need unwanted attention brought to our progress.
"Spreading the word about Brian has to be a good thing," Stan fisted his hands as if he wished for a weapon.
"Our people are desperate for deliverance, Adon Kendall. If the wrong people catch us, we'll more than likely be mobbed. I cannot raise my sword against my brethren."
"Then give me mine," Stan hissed. "I won't stand by while Brian is torn to pieces."
"If you move your asses and do what I say, it won't come down to that," Leora snapped back.
I tugged at the manacles, knowing it was no use. If I was freed, I wouldn't need Stan or the hunters to protect me. I would be the one protecting them.
Stopping at a section of the wall where an archway was carved into the stone, Leora plucked a square block with rounded edges from a cubby in the wall and placed it in the empty one above. The section within the carving pulled back and then moved to the side, revealing a doorway.
"I'm having a very Indiana Jones moment," Stan remarked, his smile wide when he glanced back at me.
Hurriedly, Leora ushered us inside before closing the opening. Stairs zigzagged downward from the landing we stood upon into the gloom.
"This will lead us to the servants' commons at the temple perimeter. From there, it will only be a few corridors to the temple proper. When we leave, we'll take the stairs to the top," Leora explained as we descended.
"Why didn't we come in that way to begin with?" I asked, annoyed.
"Because it leads to the Esagila mound. There is no exposed doorway. We will have to use magic to remove the dirt, alerting Marduk. More than likely, he's resting so he can absorb the power of the humans'
prayers. We're expressly forbidden to use magic, so he'll either hunt us himself or send others. Either way, we'll have only minutes to make it to the closest Anunnaki Gate. Once we're through, he won't know which path we jump to next, clouding our trail."
Worry curled in my gut; dragging humans along with us would slow us down considerably. Even if a gateway could be found at the bottom of the mound, a few minutes' head start wouldn't be enough.
An arched double doorway met us at the bottom of the stairs. Bright torchlight illuminated the ornately decorated entry, rich fabrics hung from the high ceilings, and a pool of water tiled with dark blue lapis lazuli sat in the center of the room. The surface was so still and clear it was like looking at glass.
We walked around the pool's edge to the doors on the opposite side of the room. My skin crawled as I strained to hear something other than our own footsteps. In the new corridor, men and women wearing white linen robes hurried about their business. They were often laden with differing burdens, and I assumed they were servants, especially when they didn't take their gazes from the floor as we passed by.
Turning a corner, we all stumbled to a halt. There, before us, a contingent of guards stood blocking the hallway.
"Step aside, Maressa," Leora snapped, her spine straight and the tilt of her head haughty. "We are on Marduk's business. You should know this since you're the one who failed."
With the speed of a season fighter, I discerned several things: Maressa was taller than Leora; her physique spoke of someone who sculpted her body for fighting; and black irises encompassed her eyes, leading me to think she was another scorpion-man. Despite the country we were in, the female fighters didn't cover their hair or faces. The modern-day fashion was partly due to the religion of the time. Obviously, Marduk hadn't ordered the children of Tiamat to adopt the human custom. Instead, men and women alike wore BDUs, dark and sturdy. Instead of swords, they carried sidearms near their dominant hands, and long knives.
Maressa's dark umber skin flushed with Leora's insult, her full lips pursing into a thin line.
"If you hadn't offended the Lycan king by calling him a dog, you wouldn't have been sent home empty-handed," Leora continued, every word dripping with condescension. "Now, you will remove yourself from my path so I can take the prisoners to Marduk."
The guards behind Maressa shifted, their nervousness filling the air, making it difficult for me to smell anything else. Leora widened her stance and moved to clasp her hands behind her back, except she didn't. Instead she curved her fingers into gestures I couldn't decipher. Her comrades obviously understood, as they closed ranks around Stan and me, blocking my view of what transpired.
With deft fingers, the scorpion-men next to me unlocked my shackles but left them in place, giving the illusion I was still bound. My beast roared to the surface, snarling at having been separated from me.
"You think I don't know what you're doing, Leora? I won't step aside and watch you attempt to assassinate Marduk. Others have tried and failed. No amount of promises given by the so-called Voice will free us. And if you think one person with Her blood will make the difference in your coup, you're insane. Once Marduk peels the meat from your bones, he'll punish those close to you. For all I care, you can die, but I won't allow the innocent to pay for your folly."
I couldn't see Maressa anymore, but it wasn't hard to imagine her spitting rage.
"Look at me and know I'm not here to harm Marduk." Leora's tone was hard and cold. "You have no reason to bar my path. I'd advise you not to guess at things you know nothing about. Now move out of our way, else I'll have you arrested."
In all the time I spent speaking with her at Sanctuary, I'd never caught sight of this heart of steel she now displayed. Her submissiveness with us had seemed complete. Not for the first time, I wondered if I'd made the right decision to trust her. Was her meekness and obvious reverence a mask she wore in her service to Marduk? Had I read her wrong? My stomach roiled and acid burned the back of my throat. I reminded myself we weren't shackled anymore. But neither had our weapons been returned. Glancing at Stan from the corner of my eye, his stony face was unreadable. Not that I worried about him, deadly pinkies and everything.
A shuffling ahead brought my attention back to Leora. We started to move again. Maressa's group split, allowing us to walk by as they pressed against the walls on either side. With her narrowed black eyes and short spiky hair, Maressa was clearly discernible among them. I tried to appear as if I was a prisoner resigned to my fate, but obviously I failed. She hissed a command and her guards attacked us from all sides. The only consolation was they didn't draw their guns and shoot us, instead advancing with devastating strikes of fist and feet.
Shaking off the cuffs, I ducked the punch to my face and swept under the male's defenses, taking out his knee and snapping his wrist. Once back on my feet, I searched for a new foe when I was grabbed from behind and hauled away from the melee. I growled and kicked. Frustratingly, I kept missing.
"Dammit, Brian, quit fighting me." Stan snapped in my ear, shaking me by the scruff of the neck.
I admired the way he moved us through the fighting to the edge of the crowd.
"Allow Leora and her men to handle this. I smell humans." He pushed me from behind. It didn't slip my notice the move placed him between me and the assailants.
How he could scent any humans was beyond me. There were too many high emotions and their corresponding cloying aromas for me to detect the subtle odor of a man or woman. But once we were out of the midst of bodies, I caught a faint trace. Directed by the grip on the back of my neck, Stan and I approached the closest entryway, painted a bright blue.
Opening the door, Stan shoved me inside. My temper spiked and I turned, ready to tell him I'd break his hand if he pushed me one more time when I registered what lay before me. The thick stone walls and heavy wood kept the commotion in the hall at bay, but the brief time the door had been open alerted the room's occupants to the turmoil. Nine humans stared back at us with large, frightened eyes, but they made no move to run. The air was heavy with foul-smelling smoke, something similar to marijuana.
Each human sat before a block of clay, making ceramic dolls. On the wall at the far side of the room sat a riser of figurines. There had to be at least a hundred of them. At the sight, a spike of satisfaction washed through me.
During the Babylonian era, the height of Marduk's power, prayers were caught in clay. The one who prayed would form the thick mud into an image of him or herself. Once the clay dried, the supplicant would take the figurine to the temple and leave it on the altar for the God. That was how the people prayed in the bygone days. Marduk wouldn't benefit from the humans sitting in a circle and praying aloud. His power was dependent on a conduit, and without it, the prayers were useless to him.
"You two aren't like the others." One of the humans stood, his dark brown hair flopping into his eyes.
I tensed, expecting the man to sound an alarm. Instead, he came toward us, something like hope shining in his eyes. "Are you here to—"
"Stop Adam, they could be here to dispose of one of us," whispered another much older man. He pushed a pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Is he correct? Are you going to kill one of us?" Adam stopped his approach, doubt and fear replacing the optimism.
"We're here to take you away," I confirmed, pleased at our good luck. I'd been afraid we'd kidnap fanatics who would kick and scream all the way out of the temple.
A few of the humans stood clustered together. Adam blew out a breath, approaching us with his hand outstretched. "Then I'm really glad to see you."
Stan stepped protectively in front of me and grasped the man's hand. "How many of you are there?"
Adam's smile dipped. "We're all who are left. There used to be almost a hundred of us. The guards claimed that as long as we worshiped Marduk we wouldn't be harmed. Many couldn't. They already had their own religion or simply didn't believe." He glanced to the side, his pallor turning ashen. "
The examples made of them convinced the rest of us to try harder. Here lately though, something has been going on. Everyone is on edge. And our numbers began to dwindle; people disappeared, and they refused to tell us what was happening or where the others were being taken.
"You know they were killed," the older man said. "They won't let us go and risk us exposing them to the outside world."
I glanced at Stan. Marduk must be close to his goal if he could afford to lose so many worshipers.
"I told you what I saw," said a woman with accented English. "The one with the bird's feet, the woman, killed them during sex. Lord Marduk found out and stopped her. That's the only reason I'm alive."
We didn't have time to contemplate if the person she spoke of was the Goddess Inanna, much less guess why she'd do such a thing. I brushed past Stan. "Are these the only prayer dolls for Marduk?"
"Oh, there's more." Adam strode to a set of double doors and threw them open, revealing an enormous room filled to capacity with clay figurines.
"What are you going to do?" Stan came to stand beside me. "Whatever it is has to be quick."
"In the archives last night I discovered that taking the humans away won't reduce his power. Destroying the clay holding the prayer will. I need you and them, if they're willing, to destroy everything in here." I hooked my thumb over my shoulder to the other room. "I'll take care of this chamber."
"How?"
I grinned at him, and my beast pressed forward with excited anticipation. For a brief second, I thought about Tristan and how much fun we'd have if he were here. Ushna would just stand by and call us pups. I took out my cellphone and snapped a couple of pictures with the chamber of figurines in the background and me smiling, giving a thumbs-up gesture in the foreground. I'd share it with them later. Not because I relished the prospect of taking Marduk down a couple of notches, of course. At least my guys weren't here to call me out on the lie, because yeah, I could be a vindictive shit. But in this case, I'd say my actions were protective in nature. Marduk gathering power, allying himself with the Goddess Inanna, was bad for us. What she'd promised him in return, I could only imagine.
