The First Ark: Deathless Prequel
Page 5
"Yes," Ka said as the Dun trailed off. "Even now the hominid once called Set has risen and makes his way south. His shard will guide him to the Ark of the Cradle, a place like this one. When Set reaches it, he will become an Ark Lord, just as your Ka-Ken has become one. The lands he will control are much warmer, and he is likely to find more of your kind there. He should be able to convert them, thus spreading his influence and beginning the process of building a global empire."
"That's not possible," the Ka-Ken protested, eyes large. "We watched the bodies. They didn't rise."
"Your interval of observation was too short," Ka explained. "The original mutagen acted very quickly, but the virus will take longer to infect a new host. This process occurred in both the hominids that your Dun struck down, though hominid Set has already devoured his companion."
All three hominids were silent for a long interval. Then Osiris turned to the Ka-Ken. "We have to stop him. We must reach this Ark of the Cradle before he does."
"I agree," Sekhmet said. She turned to face Ka. "Can any of us be one of these Ark Lords?"
"Not as you are," Ka replied. "The one you call Isis has been bonded to a conduit and possesses the ability to shape. While the mutagen has shaped Osiris differently, he too possesses a kind of shaping and thus could serve as an Ark Lord. Your own helixes would have to be shaped as well in order for you to seize control of an Ark. Do you wish this change?"
"Gods no," Sekhmet answered, without even the slightest hesitation. "Let Isis be the Lord of this place, and Osiris claim this Ark of the Cradle. I want nothing to do with your foul touch. I've already seen what it does."
"Very well. If your desire changes it will be a simple matter for Osiris to spread the mutagen, or for Isis to use her shaping to alter your helixes," Ka explained. It found the hominid's limited view quite amusing. They saw time in years, or perhaps decades.
She measured time in eons, had watched as millions of years had passed. She understood the rise and extinction of entire species in a way they never could. Right now this Sekhmet might find the concept horrifying, but soon the idea of being as her companions were would become familiar. Then comfortable. And then desirable.
The Ka-Ken cocked her head again, then focused on Ka. Alarming. Part of the shaping that had created the shard dictated that it must enable the host to survive at all costs. Only now did Ka realize that meant the shard could see her as a threat. It's own creator. She may have created her own adversary, one armed with many of her own capabilities.
"The voice says that this place can be sealed," Isis said, a grim smile spreading across her face. Her eyes glittered maliciously. "It says that when we leave I can will this place to sink into the ground, and that it obey. That this act will send you into hibernation, like a cave bear in deepest winter."
"This is true," Ka began cautiously, struggling to conjure a way to forestall her fate. "So doing will rob you of much of the power offered by the Ark. Your own strength will diminish. This will make it possible for Set to best you. If he does so, there will be nothing preventing him from spreading the mutagen to your entire species."
"There is one thing," Osiris snarled, his entire visage twisted until it no longer resembled the other two hominids. No wonder they found the change disquieting. "I will stop Set, no matter the cost. Isis doesn't need the witchery this place offers."
"He's right," the Ka-Ken broke in. "The voice says that you cannot take away my ability to shape, just some of the energy I would gain from this place. It tells me I can gain more from the sun and that Osiris can do the same."
Ka was trapped and she knew it. The shard had betrayed her. She had made a gross miscalculation, and only now was she beginning to see the extent of that error. If the Ka-Ken's shard was seeking preservation of the host even at the expense of Ka and the First Ark, what would this Set's shard prompt him to do? What had she unleashed?
"Do as you will with me, but know that if you do not stop Set it is possible for him to remake your species in his own image. If he gains the second access key he can use the Ark of the Cradle to shape helixes just as you have done here," Ka explained. Perhaps it wasn't too late for the damage to be mitigated. "If you can reach the Ark first and stop him, then you can seize control of it. You can guide the growth of your own species, helping them to adapt to this world until the great warming begins."
"Very well," Isis said. She turned to her companions. "Let us go from this place. The voice in my head says we must go south, that there is a great land there. A continent it calls the Cradle. If we reach this place, we can stop Set and help rebuild our tribe."
Osiris gave a nod and strode from the central chamber. The others followed. Ka hoped for their success, for if they failed its actions could shape the world into something that would horrify the builders.
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Note to the Reader
I hope you enjoyed The First Ark, a prequel novella for No Such Thing As Werewolves, the first novel in the Deathless Trilogy.
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