Ishtar Rising

by Natalie Gibson

  Nathalia's ego irritated Kay. It always had. She barely heard Hurrit's defense of Oren. She yelled, “Ereshkigal? You mean your law. Who the fuck are you, Nathalia, to make laws about what we do with our own blood?”

  Nathalia didn't acknowledge the vitala that had the audacity to speak. The warrior's breastplate dissolved at the neckline, revealing a glowing red jewel buried under her skin. Something about it pulled at everyone there, making them feel sick and drained, ready to put the pain of this world behind them. I am Nathalia Ereshkigal of the Kafziel family line, First Sinnis, one third of the Sister Fates, chosen warrior ... She paused. She was the chosen warrior of the Shinar. The Shinar, she now knew, were her enemy and the enemy of all mankind. She continued, and Sinnis of Eiran Kafziel Maru and wielder of the DakuAhu. This birthmark makes me a living breathing 'kill-brother' incarnate. Where is your necklace? Your Nephilim, the Oldest, should have claimed you with it, if indeed you are his Sinnis.

  A voice from the tree behind Tara Kay startled Nathalia. She knew it was the voice of a Nephilim before the tree changed into that form. “Cover your birthmark. There are no lives here that need your collection, Ereshkigal.”

  Nathalia said nothing to the giant winged Nephilim. She couldn't disagree more. Even so, she willed her breastplate back in place, severing her birthmark's connection to every lifeline there. She had come to kill the results breaking her law. The story of Kiyahwe had stunned her but it did nothing to change her goal. They couldn't be allowed to live. They were abominations, corruptions of humanity.

  “Sinnis Sarrum TeRAkay Woods of the Kiyahwe family line has no birthmark because I have no birthright to give her.”

  The Nephilim's words gave Nathalia more questions than answers. The Kiyahwe family line? What happened to the Arakiel family line? Did you allow the daughters of your mother to pass away or did you kill them yourself? And what have you done with your birthright?

  “I have no birthright. My father did not weep at my birth, as other Gregori did, their solitary tear infused with powers to give to their Sinnis. He was not at my birth. I do not know if he ever knew I existed. He bedded thousands, my mother included.

  “She was barely more than animal, ruled by instinct and fear. I never knew her. She did not name me. When her clan leader saw my need for blood, he feared what I was. He commanded my mother to kill me to stay with the clan or suffer banishment with me. It was a wild and ruthless world they lived in. Exclusion from the safety of clan was the quickest path to death. So, I was killed. My mother stripped me of my warm animal skins and bashed my head with a rock. It was an act of mercy; she did not want me to suffer, freezing to death, or worse, being torn apart by a predator. She buried me in a shallow hole and moved on with her clan. I was only a few moons old, but I remember. I, like other offspring of Gregori, have vivid memories long before a human child would be capable of making them.”

  Oren paused. He took Tara Kay into his arms. She climbed up, like he was still a tree, and whispered how sorry she was. She was clearly disturbed by his tale. He patted and soothed her. “Do not be sad for me. My mother did what she had to do to stay alive. I would have had it no other way. I do not feel betrayed. As I said, she was little more than an animal. Sometimes mothers devour their young in nature if nurturing them is inconvenient or impossible. I do not know what kind of life she had after burying me. Nor do I know how long she lived. I could not track nor protect her daughters, even if I had known that was necessary.

  “What my mother did for me that day greatly outweighs any harm she did. She gave me over to the embrace of my true mother, the Great Mother of us all, Ki. Ki did not speak, not in words, not in those first years I spent in her warm flesh. She gave me all I needed. This was long before Yahwe joined with her, long before the other Gregori fell and took wives. Time after time, when I grew weary of living, I came back to Ki and she provided. The more time I spent joined with her, the more clearly she spoke to me.

  “Then there was a change. She pushed me up to consciousness, telling me I was no longer alone. More Gregori had bred with human women and the sons of those unions needed leadership. I searched the world for them, finding the highest concentration among the people gathering into the worlds first civilizations, in prehistoric Mesopotamia. I grew to love many of those humans, so smart, so cunning, so civilized, and I made my first progeny. Ki told me how to do this. I tried to teach the other Nephilim what they were and how to live without taking human life. I taught them how to absorb energy from the light of Ud and nutrients from contact with Ki.

  “Thousands of years passed. Civilizations rose and fell. Religions rose and fell. I heard of the great crimes of my Nephilim brothers who had taken each other's blood into themselves in a bid for more power. The first Akhkharu were terrible and in such great number. I fought along side Ereshkigal's warriors, those Nephilim who had not tasted brothers' blood. We hunted the Akhkharu, forming the first Justice Circles, allowing Ud's light to reduce them to ash. When none were left I was told of Ereshkigal's Laws, some of which I had broken dozens of times. My progeny were hunted down and destroyed.

  “I went to ground then, intending to never return in Nephilim form. That is when Ki told me the story of my father, Arakiel Only then, after I had lived for eons, did I learn his name and through him found my own. I was Arakiel Maru, with no individual name of my own.

  “Ki told me that my father did not fall from Yahwe. He served Her. Arakiel was the first Gregori. She sent him to earth to learn about human women so that She might be everything they were but more perfectly. He did his job well but he was a boaster. He told the other Gregori of the pleasures of laying with human women. Their flaws, their frailty, made them attractive. Addictive. He caused their focus to fall to earth and her female inhabitants. Yahwe killed Arakiel in a fit of rage, realizing Her mistake too late. She killed the one loyal Gregori she had left.

  “Ki also told me of the promise she had made to the Gregori. She would prepare the human women for immortality, to better match their sons as equals. The Nephilim were to protect their mothers' bloodlines until the time of the Sinnis arrived. She knew I had no bloodline. I also had no will to return to the living or see my progeny killed again. She had me create another family to look over those she would bless with her own gifts, command over the elements: earth, wind, water, and fire. When my surrogate guardians were in made, in a place none of Ereshkigal's warrior would find for thousands of years, Ki allowed me to return to her bosom in the form of a tree.

  “Here I slept happily. Tara Kay's blood woke me from my slumber. I took her and made her immortal as Ki would have it. Tara Kay gave me a name, the first that is only my own and not a reflection of my father. I am Oren, the Oldest. Tara Kay is Ki's, pardon me, Kiyahwe's vessel. My body and blood belong to her. She would make her own eternal children and I will not see her desires throttled. Ereshkigal, you do not have the power to overcome me, my Sinnis, and our progeny. Your will does not rule here and not one more of my beloved will fall by your hand or order.”

  Nathalia stiffened. She did not know if the Oldest was right about everything he'd said but he was right about one thing. She had come to tear apart Tara Kay's blood coven, but with these odds, 200:2 that would be impossible to do. She needed her Nephilim warriors. She would call her first justice circle. Eiran tabalu'd them away. As their bodies were broken down molecule by molecule and transported through the earth, Nathalia knew that Tara Kay was right. She spoke to Eiran. She spoke the truth. Ki whispers to me that She is Kiyahwe. She has changed and now we must also. I was wrong to think Yahweh was still our enemy. She will help us hold the veil and keep the Shinar, Those Who See and Observe, from returning. That does not change the fact that the blood witch, Tara Kay and the Oldest broke Ereshkigal's Law. The abominations have to die.

  ***

  Everyone was shocked to see Nathalia and her Nephilim disappear. Everyone except Oren, Hurrit and three others. The three others, Kay knew from before the ceremony, were the other head
s of family. Hurrit and his vitala watched the witches given dominion over the earth. There was another vitala family to whom the protection of water witches fell to. The vrykolak clan, mostly men, watched over air witches. The Lilitu, all women, had the responsibility of the fire witches. The heads of each were not as old as Hurrit, but were made by Oren himself. Hurrit quickly quietened everyone's fears, “That is tabalu, the way of traveling through the mother earth that only Nephilim and their Sinnis enjoy. They have total control over every cell in their bodies and can break them down, reforming them anywhere around the globe.”

  “I can do that?” Kay asked Oren quietly, privately.

  “No, but I can tabalu with you. Would you like to try?”

  “Yes. Get me out of here.”

  “I like it here.”

  “So do I. I could live here forever, but right now it's a little overpopulated.” As long as he agreed to stay too, but she didn't say that. Her family land had always meant a lot to Kay but she was beginning to wonder if it was because of Oren that she felt so connected. “Take me somewhere else. Somewhere special to you. Somewhere we can be alone. Somewhere you can show me your true form.” It was time she knew more about the man she loved.

  Oren smiled at her and for a second she was sure he'd heard her thoughts. “I know just the place. I am sure my little earth witch will love it.” Contact was required for tabalu with a Sinnis. He was already holding her so he got right to breaking them down on a molecular level.

  Being pulled through the mother was the single most amazing moment of Tara Kay's life. It was better than any high. It was what she was trying to achieve when she took drugs. It was what her parents had been chasing their whole lives. The separateness dissolved. There was no Tara Kay. This must be what it was like for Yahwe and Ki.

  She mourned the loss of that connection when Oren put the boundaries of her skin on her again. It was short lived. The pleasure of being held by Oren overshadowed it. They were alone. Her eyes were closed as she nuzzled him. She wondered where they were when the sun was bright through her eyelids. Then she realized the light was coming from the side where her face was buried in Oren's chest. She had asked to see his true form. She tried to prepare herself before opening her eyes. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by reacting badly.

  She was right to have worried.

  Oren was frightening. No wonder the tales of angels visiting humans always started with them saying, 'Be not afraid'. He glowed, just like the rendering of angels in an old family bible. His wings spread out wide, a huge span. She could only see the underside. They weren't feathered though; they were made of flesh, like a bat's. He was huge and hairy. Thick brown hair covered his head, torso, arms and legs. His skin was dark and leathery. It was still his face though, the one she'd grown accustomed to, that showed over his beard.

  He was bigger. Taller and thicker. “My giant Neanderthal. I'm in love with the damn missing link.”

  Oren wrapped his wings around him. On the outside they were as hairy as the rest of him. He looked like he was wearing furs, like any other caveman. Kay patted his hair covered cheek. She could only reach it because he was still holding her. “I could do without this, though.”

  “Truly?” He asked, a tiny quiver in his deep voice.

  “Yeah, beards are a real bitch.” She kissed him, his mustache coming between their lips. “They get in the way of all kinds of fun things. And they chafe. Why? You attached to yours?” She tugged on it.

  His beard disappeared. “No. Not that. Are you truly in love with me?”

  “Don't be a fucktard. Of course I am. How could I not be?”

  “You were so angry when I showed you that I was your tree. I knew you felt betrayed. I saw your reaction to Hurrit and thought you might...prefer him. He never wronged you. I felt how aroused you became in the kitchen when he fed from you.”

  “I was just upset because my tree was, well I thought my tree was uprooted. It was a fucking shock, is all. And in the kitchen, if I remember correctly, it was your fingers in my cunt. You had me creaming. Not Hurrit.” She had been a little confused by the bloodlust at first but now she knew the difference. Having a few hundred vampires, werewolves and succubus drink from a girl could do that to her.

  “In all my lonely years, I only dreamed of serving you. Loving you. Never that you might feel the same. I will spend every minute we have together trying to be worthy of the love of Sarrum Sinnis TeRAkay, vessel of Kiyahwe.”

  “Don't go all gushy on me Oren. I'm not that kind of girl.” She protested, but his declarations had an effect. She was naked. She was suddenly very aware that Oren was naked. She thought about his true forms bigger size and then all she could think of was his cock. It was probably mammoth. She could smell her own arousal and she knew by the look in Oren's eyes that he could too.

  His voice, if possible, dropped an octave. “And what kind of girl are you?” He didn't pause to let her answer. “Are you the type of girl a Neanderthal like me might drag back to his cave? The type that would fight as I pushed my caveman cock into every tight little hole you have or the type that would moan, begging me for more? Would you bend over a stalagmite, spread wide willingly or would I have to tie your wrists to your ankles to get the view I want?”

  That was exactly the kind of crude language and dirty talking that made her gush. She felt a rush of liquid, making her inner thighs slick. She threw her head back. He adjusted her so that she sat on his forearms, one leg trapped between it and his body, the other on dangling. He bent his wrist up, sliding his thick fingers along her slippery folds. his other meaty hand covered her stomach before roughly palming a breast.

  She loved the feel of his rough 'furs' on her soft skin. His dominating demeanor was doing it for her. The thought of him taking her like an animal, fucking her hard and fast, her so wet that he didn't notice when he slipped from pink to stink, primal pleasure so great he didn't stop when she cried out, almost made her come right then. She thought about how her screams and his grunts would echo through the cave. Wait...

  She opened her eyes.

  Cave? Stalagmite? “Just where did you talu us?”

  “Tabalu is the word. It means to take away. This is where I lived as a man. This was my home before I found your land. We are in my cave.” Oren set her down. Her feet rested on a very smooth stone.

  It was pitch black in there but Kay could see fairly well now that she knew what she was looking at. Oren walked around, slapping mushrooms along the way. They, like the ones in her home, glowed, triggered by touch. Seemingly sporadically placed, they lit highly decorated areas of walls and formations. Kay moved around studying the drawings of every kind of life. These were masterfully done, designed and executed in such a way that the animals seemed alive. Her movement gave them movement. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a giant cat stalking her in the grass but when she looked directly at the spot, she couldn't see it.

  To her right a stampede rushed by, somehow painted on both the wall and the stalagmites. It gave the primitive paintings a three dimensional quality. To her left a herd of giant antelope grazed, it's young so delicately drawn that the stone had a soft fur-like texture. She chose her steps more carefully after twisting her ankle as she moved toward the back of the cave. Here the images were more human but she couldn't make out what the scene was.

  Oren took her hand, pulling her toward a large indentation in the center of the floor. Opening one wing, he laid down, pulling her down beside him on the soft underside of his wing. When she looked at them now she could see. These were designed to be viewed while laying down in this exact spot. It must have been his bed. As she looked at the erotic images of prehistoric couples in a variety of positions she knew, “This must have have gotten you a serious amount of ass. I mean, a caveman with his own porn. Were the ladies lined up to get with you?”

  “No woman has ever seen this. Not before today.” His voice was as soft as his wing.

  Tara Kay looked around. There was no n
atural entrance, at least none large enough for a person to fit through. The formations said that at least water had a way in and out, but there was no evidence of humans every having lived here. There wasn't even any evidence that cave bears or mountain lions had made their homes within. There were no bones from animal leavings, no scat.

  This place was beautiful and Oren had created it for her eyes alone. He had spent years here, alone, dreaming about the day he could bring her here. Tara Kay had never been valued, never been cherished and waited for. Today she was a queen, a goddess.

  She turned to Oren, leaning on one elbow, and kissed him. He kissed her back, gently, slowly, as if he couldn't believe his fortune, as if he were to move too quickly or aggressively she might just disappear. They took their time there in the dirt, exploring each other's bodies, memorizing every curve, angle and reaction. Kay realized there were tears in her eyes when he came inside of her. She cried because it was the first time she'd ever made love.

  Chapter 12

  Minali was well. Billy was slightly better than well. He was healthier than any human had a right to be. He just happened to be able to change into a giant wolf. Everyone was out of danger. Everyone except Tara Kay. Maeve owed it to the ex-Daughter to try and stop Nathalia from destroying her new coven, or worse, from killing Tara Kay. Nathalia had taken off in that flashy way of hers. Maeve had no way to follow her except old fashioned internal combustion powered car.

  Maeve normally drove a fully electric neighborhood electric vehicle, but it had a max speed of 55 mph and a range of only 75 miles. She needed significantly more than that to get from Austin to Calum, where Tara Kay lived. Maeve had taken one of the other cars the Daughters owned. They were all communal. She'd come alone. No matter what mindset Nathalia was in, she wouldn't hurt Maeve. Maeve couldn't promise that much to anyone else.