by L M Adams
The creature screeches and lunges forward.
Perfect.
“Now!” I spin around and yank the lid off the brazier. The fire billows up and the creature trips over his own awkward feet, screeching wildly, trying to cover its eyes I swing my sword, aiming for its neck.
The loud screech of the man-bat is cut off abruptly when I take its head at the exact moment Nassor drives up his spear into the creature’s back, plunging it into his heart… impaling it and lifting it up into the air, the body bowed back, kept in suspension by the golden spear.
I watch as the talon feet twitch a few times before the creature slowly turns back to human….
Nassor drops the corpse and turns his spear yanking it from the lifeless body with a wet sucking sound.
“Well…” I look out at the city, colored in the red light of this unnatural moon, “that was a scout, they’ll be more here soon.”
“Ra, knows how many.”
161
Jaevia – Whore of Babylon
Nassor and I hurry to join Jabari and the other soldiers still of able body at the west gate. They move in the red shadow of the city wall, preparing for battle. Most wear shendyts, their chests bare, except for the women who wear cloth wraps to bind their breasts. They carry specialized swords, the blade is curved almost into a full circle… a shotel; designed perfectly for removing heads, not so much for stabbing – these people practice the art of their forefathers and foremothers… you can only kill most supernaturals by removing the head.
Nassor goes to trade in his usual hunting spear for a shotel.
Eight hundred to guard a wall five miles around… I’m a strategist, I know it’s impossible, especially from the creature Nassor and I just killed.
But I also have a warrior’s heart, and I know all that we can do is try, sometimes surrender isn’t an option.
The call went out, Jabari sent his fastest to ride to the tribes of Alkebulan, there’s no way they’ll get here fast enough.
I find Jabari, he’s barking out orders to a group of ten men… the gold spears…telling them to guard a portion of the wall…
“No,” I say quickly.
His eyes turn on me and I bow my head to show deference. “My honorable Jabari, we cannot guard the wall, it will thin the ranks too much.”
He nods, “I have thought the same, but we must make do.”
I shake my head no, “We have to save what we can, the people.”
“What are you suggesting, daughter of Ishtar?”
“Burn the city,” I whisper.
His eyes widen with shock, “You wish to burn down the city of Atum?”
“Not all of it, the fire won’t burn the stone structures, but the vegetation on the rooves is dead and dried out, it will catch easily. Nassor and I killed one of the scouts, it’s sensitive to light…”
His eyes widen, “The fire wouldn’t spread to the palace.”
I nod, “We will have to leave this corridor open, draw them here so they don’t go around to the water gate and come up from the river.”
His eyes alight with hope, “A trap!”
I smile, “Aye.”
He turns and starts yelling new orders… we’re burning the city to save the people.
There’s a hurried energy in the air, not good. Usually there’s a quietness before battle, but the city was ill-prepared for this. They practiced being warriors, but never really thought war would come to visit them, not since the worlds were split.
“Jae!” I turn to see Nassor waving me over to a guard tower at the wall.
Fuck. I look up the side of the looming structure, I hope that’s not stairs in that tower. I shake my head thinking of how dumb I was – no Jae, you don’t need to be a warrior anymore, you quit, fuck cardio – Goddesses don’t do cardio… as I sat upon a mound of pillows and ordered them to bring me another bon-bon.
“Come sister,” Nassor clasps my shoulder and we go into the guard tower.
I’m greeted by the sight of an elevator; I sigh with relief. I step into the wood structure along with Nassor and six other rather large men. Suddenly I’m almost smothered by dark muscles and shae oil.
Yum. There are worse ways to go.
Someone rings a bell and we’re off… the elevator moves fast, jerking and lifting us up, the walls of the tower speeds by at almost dizzying speed.
“Counterweights?”
“Aye,” Nassor growls sounding ill.
“The trouble son does not like the conveyance,” one of the other soldiers chuckles low.
“Disrespectful,” Nassor mumbles making the other soldiers chuckle further.
Odd bunch these Atums – my kind of people.
The elevator slows and comes to a gentle stop at the top of the wall. We walk out onto the parapet to the view of the surrounding savanna. The long golden grass and the acacia trees bathed in the shining red moonlight… filled with an army of night creatures led by a man upon a pale horse.
“Go, light the braziers!” I order the other soldiers and they rush off to light fires on the wall.
The creatures are still too far to get a good look at them. It seems a large portion of them can’t fly and must travel on the ground like the rest of us bipedal folk.
Still, more than enough of them can fly and circle above the land army like waiting vultures… except we’re supposed to be the carrion.
“Ra save me,” Nassor whispers beside me as I unsheathe my sword.
I turn to look at the city, the fires are being set, I watch one blaze and then another and another catch on the rooves of the building. Further in the distance is the crumbling tower of Apedemak, brought low.
The wait isn’t long, soon Darius leads his army of night creatures right up to the city wall. The flyers above us circling, waiting for his orders. There has to be thousands of them on the ground. The land army of night creatures looks much like their brethren. The only difference is the missing wings, yet they still have bat-like faces.
There is a dark and heavy energy in them… and it feels familiar.
I stand at the center of the wall, “Leave this place!” I order Darius.
He looks up to me from the seat of his pale horse, a mocking smile on his lips.
“Ah, Ishtar! The Whore of All,” He bows his head in greeting and then looks back up at me, that same smile on his lips. “For every one of my creatures you quicken with pleasure, I’ll spare a life.”
“Only one problem, none of them seem to have dicks!” I yell down.
“You noticed that?! Yes, well, I couldn’t let them be influenced by your wickedly delicious power, could I? You’re still welcome to try and make a dick-less creature come – if anyone could manage it, I expect it to be you.” He chuckles at his own joke.
“You know, the sex jokes are getting old! You sound bitter that I wouldn’t give you any kitten!”
“Do not worry, Ishtar! I’m over you.”
“Was it the knife to your kidney that finally did it?”
He shrugs, “Still doing better than your dead wolf friend… what was his name again? Big Micky?”
My grip tightens on my sword as I think of Big Mike.
“I shall make this easy on you, Ishtar… submit. You, Lucien, and Capaneus – submit to me and I will let these people walk from these lands in peace.”
Nassor steps up beside me, “We know better than to listen to the lies of a forked tongue!”
“So you sacrifice yourself and your people for this fallen star? The She of the South – has she told you of all the things her wicked pussy can do? How many she has led to their doom with just a whiff of that power? How many she’s laid low as she rode their cocks into the coming night?!”
He’s doing the same thing he did to me in my time. Try to turn people away from me because of my wickedness. My heart pounds with fear, it worked on Peter, my truth had turned him against me.
Nassor laughs, I look to him in shock. A smile as big as ever across his features. “We
are Atums! We have served the Ishtars since the beginning of time! There is nothing you can tell one of us about our Goddess that we do not know! Every man behind these walls would welcome a ride from the daughter of Ishtar and smile all the while!” He turns his head, “Isn’t that right men?!”
A resounding chorus of ‘Ayes’ sounds out making my heart tighten with love – they see me… as I am, they see me – and they love me anyway.
“Do not leave us out Nassor!” I hear Nyrobi’s voice call out and I blush as the woman yell out ‘Aye’… letting me know they’d appreciate a night with me as well.
It’s oddly endearing to have an entire city wanting to fuck you.
Nassor turns back to look at Darius, “Oh Aye, and the women too! She is our Goddess, our Kandaka – the beloved of our Raja! She has always given as much as she has taken! Your false words will find no willing ears here King of Lies! Show us your worst!”
“So shall it be!” Darius rages up at us and raises his sword commanding his creatures to attack.
162
Jaevia – Night Creatures
Much like I thought, the creatures avoid the fires, the man-bats dive down to the street level to face off with Jabari and the first line of gold spears.
The soldiers of Atum fight well, they stay low, making it hard for the creatures to grab hold of them. Another group of soldiers are scattered in the buildings down the corridor at the center of the city that we’ve left without fire. They stand in the open archways of the buildings and throw their spears into the creatures… aiming for the wings. Spears won’t kill the creatures, they’re damaging the wings so the bat-creatures can’t fly, making them fall to the ground and the waiting blades of the ground forces.
I huff, “All of your plans are bad,” I mumble sarcastically.
“What’s that?” Nassor asks looking over the side of the wall, the bipedal creatures have started scaling the wall.
“Nothing, the guys say all of my plans are bad.”
“Aye well, you are burning down a city.”
“That doesn’t make it a bad plan!”
Nassor raises an eyebrow, “Of course, my Kandaka.”
“Can’t please anyone?!” I cry out and jump back as one of the creatures propels itself up, landing on the parapet.
Much like his brethren, he’s seven feet tall, his skin is dark and patterned like a snake. He’s naked but there are no sexual organs, thanks to Darius and his determination to keep me from turning his army into a sex crazed orgy.
The creature’s head is bald, his eyes completely black, both the sclera and pupil. He opens that deadly mouth to let out a high-pitched screech, showing me his poisonous fangs, as it steps down from the parapet. His long taloned toes scratching on the stone
The scales are pretty as they shimmer when he moves that body; flexing with well-honed muscle and tendon.
I grin up at him and his head goes flying off his shoulders.
“Hey!” I look to Nassor, “I had it!”
“Oh aye,” he looks over the wall, “there are plenty more, little sister.”
I wish he was lying; he was not. They pour up and over the wall, overwhelming us quickly. They’re taller than me, their arms longer, and much like their feet, their hands have large black talons as fingernails.
The wall is only a few feet wide with a three hundred foot drop off on either side. It doesn’t give me much room for maneuvering, which my fighting style depends on.
I can take a beating, but muscle for muscle, I don’t measure up to these… things. Fighting constantly with my arm raised high trying to reach their leathery necks is difficult, especially trying to dodge their razor-sharp talons as they take swipes at my midsection, trying to gut me.
Even if I can’t manage to take as many heads as I’d like, I still do a lot of damage. I’m fighting two-handed, sword in my right, dagger in my left. I’ve always been comfortable with blades.
“Ah!” I scream as I slice the one lunging for me across his forearm and follow up by running my sword into its gut.
It screeches with its pain, “Fuck you!” I yell and kick, aiming right for the creature’s knee, I’m rewarded with a satisfying crack as it goes down… creatures from the pits of hell still have knees.
He loses his balance and falls forward, getting low enough for me to bring up my sword and cut his head clean off. This sword is wicked sharp – thank you Luey! I think of my husband as I kick another headless corpse over the side of the wall.
Nassor is standing there, smiling at me, “Oh aye, Hari claimed well.”
I grin at him for a moment, that smile falters when I see a bat-like creature heading straight for Nassor. It’s wings out and pulled up, its long legs and taloned feet aimed at Nassor.
“Down!” I scream and run forward.
Nassor drops to his knee and I jump up using his shoulder to propel myself into the air, sword and dagger raised high as I meet the night creature mid-flight, plunging my sword into its skull through one of its black eyes.
His scream makes my ears ring as we begin to fall. I realize I’ve miscalculated; we’re not going to land back on the wall. I let go of the sword and the knife, turning my body awkwardly trying to get away from the creature and grab the stone ledge of the parapet.
I feel my life pass before me as my fingertips graze the edge and slip off.
“Oh shit,” I whisper as I fall.
I cry out as I feel a hand around my wrist, my body jerks painfully, almost dislocating my shoulder as I come to an abrupt halt.
I look up into a pair of burning red eyes and have the decency to look sheepish.
“What are you about, Wench?!”
Lucien lifts me back up onto the wall, Jack is there, frowning at me as well.
“I…”
“You do not have wings woman!”
“I know…”
“You do that move on the ground or you do not do it all!”
“Yes, Luey.” I peek up at him, “I’m glad you feel better.” He looks strong and powerful yet again, but his eyes bleed more red than gold and I know things aren’t really back to normal – he’s just managing his pain.
He huffs, “All for you to give me a heart attack.”
“It was going to get Nassor,” I whine.
“Nassor is a capable soldier! I think he could have managed! You do not need to save everyone!”
I sigh and nod.
“Now give me a kiss,” He nudges my chin up and lays a small kiss on my lips.
I look at Jack as Lucien pulls back, “Are you going to yell at me too?”
He huffs moving closer to me, “About setting the city on fire, or almost committing suicide with a badly executed fighting move?”
I roll my eyes, “I’m tired of everyone giving me shit! The fires are making this manageable!”
“Of course they are, my Queen,” He murmurs looking down at me, his blue eyes shine with silver.
“It’s done?”
He nods as he lowers his lips to mine, and I taste the sweet blood of Vayrá – I taste the sin of man… I also know that Jack is only holding on by a thread – he’s not meant to be all Vayrá… he needs the moon.
“Jae!” Nassor calls out as Jack pulls back, the soldier stepping over bits of the man-bats to get to us. “Ra claim me, but you are marvelous – a woman a man makes babies with!”
Jack pulls me in his arms as Lucien turns on Nassor, “Back off. I’m but an hour risen from my deathbed and you lust after my wife?!”
I laugh, “You know, he’s never once flirted with me if you aren’t there.”
Nassor smiles, “Oh aye, it would be dishonorable to be disrespectful behind his back – he is my closest friend.”
Lucien huffs but I can tell he’s pleased by being called Nassor’s best friend. “The Sekhmets are here, they are evacuating the young and aged to the south using the east water gate…. We must hold the city until they give the signal,” Lucien orders us and we all nod.
Just at that moment, the screech of one of the man-bats sounds and I hear the flapping of wings. The one I stabbed in the eye rises up from the side of the wall, my sword still stuck in its skull, protruding from a now useless eye.
Luey grabs my sword, yanking it out of the creature’s skull. It makes a wet sucking sound as the eye comes out of his skull with my sword. Lucien draws his father’s sword from the scabbard strapped to his back and cleaves the creature in two, from the top of its skull down to the center of its chest.
Lucien turns to me handing me my sword as the creature falls back down to the earth, “You need to start looking after your things better, Wench, the Bloodsucker has been after you about this sort of thing as well.”
“I’ll give her a spanking later,” Jack says unsheathing his sword.
My jaw drops, “Are you two really talking about giving me a spanking in the middle of a battle?!”
“Aye.”
“Yup.”
Nassor lets out a roaring laugh.
I scoff as I take the sword and scrape the eyeball off the blade, “To be fair, I’m not the only person who leaves their weapons lying about.”
“She’s right Lucien,” Jack says turning to one of the creatures that’s just made it over the wall. “You leave your guns on the kitchen table far too often!” He ends on a grunt as he dodges back from the snapping teeth of a creature. Jack throws a wicked left hook and brings up his sword to take the creature’s head while its disoriented.
“Only when I’m cleaning them!” Lucien yells as he kicks one of the creatures squarely in the chest, knocking it back to the waiting blade of Nassor.
“Yeah, and you spilled gun oil everywhere,” Jack looks at the large man, one hand on his hip, the other holding a sword.
“I cleaned it up.”
“With a three-hundred-dollar towel and then you stuffed it in the bottom of the hamper instead of telling me about it.”
“I had no wish to deal with your ill temper over the matter.”
“Well I had to throw out the towel. If you had told me when it first happened, I might have been able to get the stain out.”
