Stigmata

by L M Adams

  “Apedemak is mad,” I whisper low, “he can do no good for the people…”

  “If he comes in peace, we will not raise the sword to his children,” Madoc offers. “This… this is worthy of a cleansing.”

  My heart drops, the Kindred punishes those that make a spectacle. They would punish the people of Atum for this… my goddess, just look at this. They had no right to use the spirit seal and the souls of the nosferatu; Sepa had no right to resurrect a demon from the depths… but they had… and the Kindred will order the people culled for it.

  I turn to Lucien, grabbing his arms, “Sometimes you have to lose with grace, Lucien.”

  He looks at me, his gaze searching my soul – but there is no lie in my words. Somewhere he knew this had to end… we are in triage now; we have to save what we can – Apedemak isn’t on that list.

  “Ra help me,” he whispers and pulls off the tattered remains of his shirt.

  He takes his sword from me and walks forward, head held high, the hunters move back, getting out of his way. The stigmata on his back still weeps with blood, adding to the ocean at our feet. I close myself off from the link we share; I don’t want to know what he feels as he drags his father from the tower to turn him over to the hunters.

  I don’t want to know what that feels like at all.

  When he reaches the line of gold spears… they stand for a moment, but move to the side as well, letting him past.

  “Since you all are here, maybe you should do something about Azazael,” I frown looking up at my distant Da.

  Madoc looks to his master of magic with a curious expression, “Has there been a breach, Merlin?”

  “Nay, no breach to the Chamber of Gods.”

  Madoc looks back at me, “What do you speak of, distant daughter?”

  “He’s not Apedemak… he’s a reincarnation.”

  “Not possible…”

  “I’m telling you it is! I just watched a woman raise her son from the dead and he turned into… he goes by Darius now.”

  Madoc looks back at Merlin, then to Jack… Jack nods. Madoc sighs, “A human woman and a human son?”

  “Well… yes, technically… they’re closer to bâtardi.”

  “Human.” Madoc says.

  I sigh, “Yes…”

  “If you are a Reaper of the Kindred – then you know we do not interfere with intraspecies conflicts.”

  “Are you really quoting Kindred law to me while we stand in the river of a blood curse with a half mad fallen god running wild on Terra?!”

  “If humans have raised him and bound him to human mortal flesh, they must face the consequences of that choice. We believe in the separation of the worlds.”

  “The Kindred were supposed to let the gods free!”

  Madoc looks around at the dead bodies, “Yes, this is a good idea distant daughter.”

  “I swear to the goddess…” I scream and Jack grabs me by my arm yanking me back.

  “All right,” Jack yanks me away, “We need to step carefully. We know this is going to happen. Darius is in our time; they’re not going to hunt him down in the now not matter how much you yell. This is a moment of Kairos. It is our future after this moment that is up for debate.” Jack is so fucking calm and collected about all of this.

  “This can’t be it! All of this for nothing but death?”

  “We knew this was going to happen, Jae. We knew they would fall… we tried to change it… but we knew… all of us knew. Things had to happen the way that they have happened.”

  I frown at him, “I know you’re right… but this… this isn’t.”

  He doesn’t respond, folding his emotions into himself. As we wait for Lucien, the blood finally stops pouring from the temple. Most of it ran into the tower… but I hear whispers that the black river is now red. Fear the entire earth bled with the curse and now there is no escaping it is filling the people.

  The city of Atum is silent as people begin coming out to carry the dead inside. A few of the braver ones come to stand and wait with us… others come to pray, I’m not sure to who. Who do you pray to when there is no god left?

  I have to give it to Madoc, he doesn’t get impatient, he simply sits and waits as if time has no meaning to him.

  Although the blood ocean is gone, the once golden pavers are now stained with red, the cracks in the stones are a darker red, seeming like veins.

  The moon is bright, shining down on us and the air is beginning to warm a bit again. My bloody dress is starting to dry still stuck to my body.

  Henenu, along with Nassor, Nyrobi, Saabir and a few others from the council finally make it here… it’s only been thirty minutes, it didn’t take long for everything to go to shit.

  Jack and I head them off before they can get too close to the Hunters. I tell them quickly what has happened and what is happening.

  Henenu steps forward, eyes wide, “What have you done?” He hisses at me.

  “Saved what I could,” I say simply… “your chickens came home to roost, there was nothing to be done.”

  He turns those eyes on Jack, “And you say you knew nothing of this?”

  I hate that I look to Jack as well, not completely sure of the answer to that question… he is a vampire. I love him, but that doesn’t change what he is.

  “I did not know, if I had, I would have tried to put a stop to it.”

  Saabir steps up, “His heart is true – he would not harm the people; his husband with this betrayal.”

  Henenu’s brown eyes lose some of their anger as he nods trusting Saabir’s words, if not Jack’s.

  156

  Jaevia – Long Live the King

  The people weep when Lucien emerges from the broken tower of Apedemak. They see their god-king in truth, frail and afraid. Lucien has gotten him a proper thobe and clutches his father around the shoulders as he helps him meet his fate.

  Apedemak sees the Kindred hunters and stops walking forward to look at Lucien with confusion in his eyes, “Hari?”

  Even his voice is weak and frail, I feel my heart constrict with pain. My Goddess, when does it stop hurting?

  “Come, Aabe, it is time for you to go rest now,” Lucien says gently, trying to encourage his father.

  “But we must wait for your mother, Hari. She will be here soon.”

  “No… no Aabe, Momma is dead.”

  “Who has told you such an evil thing? Your momma can no more be dead than the stars could stop shining… she is Zahra, she is my light.”

  Lucien looks to me, the tears falling from his eyes, no power to stop them, no power to stop any of this.

  “Madoc,” I whisper and walk over to the proud hunter, “He’s not a threat, he doesn’t have his power anymore… can’t you see that? Can’t you let him stay with his people?”

  My distant Da looks down at me, a certain understanding in his eyes, yet still he shakes his head no. “We will only take him to slumber, distant daughter. But a dying god is still a god and no gods may walk these lands – it is the law we all agreed to, it is the law of our people.”

  The enforcer gets off his licrone and lets loose his chains, the sliver manacles fall to the bloody ground and I can feel the power in the metal sing. They were made to trap a god, there is no mistaking it.

  My heart is in my throat as I watch him walk over to Lucien and Apedemak.

  Jack comes to get me, tugging me out of the way. We stand near the shocked Nassor… along with Henenu, Nyrobi, and Saabir. The people of Atum gather around as their god-king loses his mind in front of them.

  The once proud god-king screams with fear and hides behind his son, “No Hari! No! We must flee this place! We must find your Momma…”

  Lucien snaps, turning and grabbing the old god by his shoulders shaking him wildly, “Momma is dead! You killed her!”

  “No,” Apedemak whispers, golden eyes wide as he shakes his head. “Lies of a forked tongue… it was Anubis who whispered those words in my ear! He was always jealous of your mother, ev
en if he says he was not! It was his power that raised those monsters!”

  “You used his seal and the stolen souls of the nosferatu! What did you think would happen?!”

  Lucien forces his father to turn and look out at the blood covered concourse, “This! This is what has happened!”

  Apedemak’s features are filled with confusion as he looks out at his city… masked in the red of a blood moon.

  The god-king shakes his head no, “This is a lie! It is a lie I say.”

  “It isn’t! She is dead and you sent the men to kill her and you damned my life to hell! You sent your power through time to me and it was filled with this, this damning curse!” Lucien inhales sharply, “You were supposed to let them free, Aabe, why didn’t you let them go?”

  Apedemak turns back around to Lucien, “I am a god.” He whispers with all the arrogance of a child of Atum.

  If he needed to enslave the nosferatu, he had every right – because he had the power to, and they didn’t have the power to stop him.

  A god shall feast, for the weak are meat.

  “And I am not your son.” Lucien turns away, draws his father’s sword and throws it to the bloody stone.

  “Hari!” Apedemak screams as the enforcer comes over with his chains made to entrap a god.

  Lucien stops walking but doesn’t turn around.

  “I loved your mother! I loved her more than life itself!” He screams as he’s shackled, reaching out for the forgiveness of his son he falls to his knees to beg Lucien, “Hari, I loved her…” He pleads in a broken whisper.

  “But not enough to let her go,” Lucien whispers and keeps walking, disappearing around the side of the palace.

  “Hari!” The mad king screams once more before he finally realizes what is happening to him. He stands up suddenly, rage filling his eyes as he faces the mighty enforcer. “I will not go to your prison! I claim right of honor! Send me to my Zahra!”

  “It is his right!” Henenu steps forward facing the hunters of the Kindred with no fear. “The old ways made it clear. He has the right to be parted from mortal flesh and go on in peace if he wishes.”

  Madoc looks at Henenu and nods once, “I will honor the old ways.” He gets off his licrone, his black armor glinting in the red light.

  Madoc was bigger than life to the young pups… to me. He was a hero of legend – the first of our kind. But they didn’t tell us this. They didn’t tell us that he would execute mad god-kings, not for being evil, but because of what he once was… because in my heart I know that Apedemak isn’t a bad person, he just made bad decisions, but none of that will save him.

  I let Jack hold me, wrapping me in his arms as I stand in front of him. I hold my breath and watch as my distant Da urges Lucien’s father to his knees in front of his crumbling tower; this construct that once took my breath away and guarded his people through the eons – but no more.

  “Take care of my son,” The mighty Apedemak whispers to Jack and me. We both nod as Madoc’s mighty sword falls… cutting clean and true.

  The king is dead, long live the king.

  157

  Jaevia – The Blood Moon

  The night is red and full of horrors on the eve that the city of Atum falls.

  Lucien is in the bedroom, lying on the bed, back bleeding and waiting to die… just waiting for death as if it’s an old friend. The curse eating away at the lands of Alkebulan, eats away at his soul.

  I took Apedemak’s sword, hoping that Lucien would want to reclaim it… someday. Lucien is aching badly, everything he’s ever wanted has turned to ash right before his eyes. But there was goodness in Apedemak, I know it and I felt it and it wasn’t a lie – he loved his family and no number of mistakes will ever change that.

  Lucien isn’t ready to see the goodness in his father yet. After all, how can you love the man who killed your mother?

  My proud Beast is alone in the bedroom, the room cast with stark shadows as we try to keep the firelight low. Try to make ourselves as small of a target as possible.

  The city has descended into madness. Fresh water is a scarce commodity, the blood flowed from the temple and the ground itself and has turned the mighty black river to blood. Death followed in the wake. Bloated rotting bodies of fish, crocodile… everything that made the waters their home, now floats on the surface of the bloody river… dead.

  It didn’t take much for the tribes to fracture, begin banding together in small sects to hoard resources, food and water. The death of Apedemak brought a new level of doom down onto the people.

  The night is quiet, eerily quiet, the silence broken occasionally with a bloodcurdling scream heralding another death… the people are being eaten alive by their own sin… and we can’t stop it.

  I already know how this tale ends… there is a telling of it in the human bible – they call it the plagues of Egypt; the story told in the Book of Exodus. A time when the waters ran red, the livestock perished from a lack of fresh water, a pestilence of frogs and snakes crept up from the dark places. When the sun did not shine for three days and from the heavens fire and hail rained down upon them.

  The god of Nazareth had cursed the Egyptians for enslaving his people. Ankhsepuntepet cursed the Atums for enslaving hers. There is always vengeance to be had, I know that better than most… and it’s typically the innocent that pay the price for it.

  Lucien’s back is still bleeding freely, the fever of the curse has taken hold of him… can it really kill the son of Apedemak, he blessed by Ra, the young lion? No one can be sure, but in my heart, I know he doesn’t have a chance if he’s not willing to fight.

  He’s not violent like he was the first time when he was struck down by the curse. There’s just no fight in him… his very soul has been broken.

  The leaders of what’s left of the tribes of Alkebulan gather in our receiving room. The pool of water in the center is clear. Only the water sources in direct connection with the land carry the curse of blood.

  What was once a decoration has now become sustenance to the sick and infirm. Children of Isis come and gather the water in clay pots and glass pitchers as we try to decide what to do next.

  We were all allowed one basin of water to clean up in, it wasn’t nearly enough. My hair is still filled with now dry blood, my skin streaked with red stripes where I’ve tried to wash the stain away with bloody water.

  I’m dressed in a pair of leather pants, a black shirt and a pair of soft cloth boots Nyrobi loaned me. She is also dressed for battle.

  Every able-bodied man and woman are being handed weapons… the monsters are coming.

  Riders came upon their fastest horses from the town of Mambabwi, the last town to the north under rule of Atum, it lies right before the beginning of the lands of Set... what we will call the lands of Enoch. This everlasting blood moon shines across their lands as well… and something is coming from the north.

  Something large and dark with wings that can blot out the red light from above.

  Azazael… or rather Darius, isn’t done with the people of Atum; not by a longshot. We only have a few hours to prepare.

  Henenu, Jabari, Nyrobi, Saabir, Nassor, and another man – named Sele, who comes from the lands to the west (known as Nok) sit in our receiving room… the first floor of the palace is still drenched in the blood of the curse.

  Sele wishes to leave immediately, get home to his family. He only has his youngest son with him and is anxious to get back to his wife, husband, and other children. He’s a master smelter and only comes to Atum for trade, this was going to be his last trip… it may be his last trip ever.

  Many of those who didn’t get trampled in the blood, or killed by the falling stone, have caught a fever; their bodies slowly succumbing to an illness no one knows how to cure. They’re dying of thirst, and we can’t even give them water – we have to make it last; this may turn into a siege.

  Saabir has tried every healing art he knows, but nothing helps break the fever of the blood curse; nothing helps
Lucien.

  Jack stands near the exit to the patio, quiet… contemplative? Or just afraid everyone blames him…. he’s the last cursed son in the city, and the looks, if not outright hostile, have been suspicious.

  His eyes are glinting silver now, filling with power, the curse has reached the trapped souls in the pits of Atum… the power of the vampire is being created.

  “How many abled bodied fighters do you have?” I ask looking to Jabari, the captain of the city guard.

  “Perhaps eight hundred…”

  “Eight…. Hundred?” I ask in a horror filled whisper.

  “Atum no longer keeps a standing army, it has not done so since the splitting of the worlds. If we had time to call the tribes, I could gather ten-thousand. We only keep a garrison of two-thousand warriors and one-hundred gold spears.”

  I look to Saabir, “We’ve lost over a thousand warriors to the fever already?”

  He nods solemnly, “It is spreading quickly.”

  I look to Sele, “What do you have that can kill supernaturals?”

  “It would not matter,” Henenu cuts in.

  “We have to try!” I yell.

  He’s all but defeated, the Kindred came and ended the puppet he called god… and the son he wished to replace him with lays half dead in the next room.

  “You do not speak for the people,” Malia, the strongest of the Sekhmet says looking at me.

  My nipples tighten around their piercings as I look into her eyes. She holds both a memory and a premonition of Sekhmet… and I owe a debt to the Goddess of Death.

  She turns that piercing gaze onto Jack, “He can take this curse from the lands… if he truly stands with the people, if he truly loves our Raja.”

  158

  Jaevia – Sin Eater

  What Malia asks for… what they all asked for with their eyes if not their mouths, is a sacrifice no man should have to make.