by Jade Kerrion
Duggae shook his head. “They’ve been corrupted.”
“I thought you said they couldn’t be corrupted.”
“Earth and fire.” Duggae’s mouth twisted, but there was no humor in that bitter smile. “They belong to fire now.”
“Can you take them back?” Varun asked.
Duggae shook his head. “I don’t know how.”
Varun glanced around wildly, as if trying to find her. “We need to get to that hole in the ground. Ashe!”
I’m on it. Get ready to make a run for it.
Chapter 25
Metal screamed, the screech spine-tingling, as the golems twisted to face a new threat.
Varun peeked out of the tunnel, and his mouth dropped at the image of Ashe, twenty-feet tall and glowing. She was translucent, lights swirling through her body like a galaxy of stars. Jinn soared over her, his wings spread. The wind channeled around Ashe, creating a ghostly echo of her voice. “Hello, boys.”
The golems charged toward her. She flashed into her human form. Carried by air, she darted around the golems, twisting them into clumsy turns and tight collisions.
“Come on. Here’s our chance.” Varun and Duggae ran toward the pit the golems had left unguarded. A thick amalgamation of metal and stone covered it, and no amount of tugging seemed to loosen it. “Looks like it’s sealed tight. Doesn’t look like it was ever opened—Wait, look…” Varun traced the four patterns on the seal. He had seen the same icons on the Sphere of Elements. “Air, water, earth, fire… It’s going to take all four to unlock the seal.”
“But it’s still sealed. Does it smell like a trap yet?” Duggae snarled. “Let’s get out of here!”
Varun twisted around, but found his way blocked by what appeared to be columns. He visually traced the soaring height to the glowering face of a golem. “Move!” He shoved Duggae away from him then tumbled in the opposite direction as the sword swung down, cleaving between where he and the gnome had stood.
Duggae tumbled, head over heels, then climbed to his feet with a deeply offended expression on his face. He dusted off his clothes, then flicked his wrist, flinging both hands forward toward the golem.
The automaton staggered, reeling from the onslaught of missiles hewn from rocks. Another golem lunged after Varun. A wall of earth rose in front of it, but the golem leaped over it as gracefully as any human warrior might. Its huge hand swooped low and wrapped around Varun, lifting him off the ground. The fingers closed around him, crushing his breath out of his lungs. Varun kicked hard but could not break free. The wind tore around him but could not pry the golem’s fingers apart.
“Watch out!” Varun choked out a gasp as two golems charged toward Duggae. The gnome waved his arms, and the earth jolted as if the dirt had become unmoored. One of the automatons stumbled over the softened ground and went down in a spray of mud. The second lunged over the first, crushing its companion deeper into the mud, and grabbed Duggae, pinning the earth elemental’s arms against his side. The golem’s other hand slammed down on the gnome, knocking him unconscious.
The ground stopped jolting
Suddenly, Ashe gasped. Varun’s head snapped up in time to see a golem’s palm pressing down on her. She buckled beneath the weight of its hand, but her air elemental powers were as strong as the golem was, allowing her to hold her own.
She heaved, and the golem’s hand was forced upward. Her teeth were clenched, her face contorted with the effort, but the creature was losing. Ashe was winning—
Another golem bent low and swung his fist toward her.
Moving in perfect coordination as if they had planned it, the first golem yanked its hand away, a split second before the second golem’s fist plowed into Ashe, hurling her across the cave. She smashed into the far wall and tumbled to the ground. Jinn squawked, but another golem knocked the bird out of the air. The parrot hit the ground in an unmoving heap of gray feathers.
“No!” Varun shouted, but his voice was scarcely a wheeze. His vision was already fraying at the edges. One of the golems picked Ashe up. From the distance, he could see that she stirred weakly, conscious, but not alert or aware enough to put up a fight. The golem carried her and Duggae to the seal and pressed them down in front of it, aligning their hands over the marks on the seal—Duggae’s over earth and Ashe’s over water and air.
Nothing happened.
Duggae lifted his face. His eyes were unfocused, but he sneered at the golem. “It’s not going to work. You’ll need fire too.”
Footsteps rang out, not from the depths of the cave but from the direction they had entered. Varun tried to twist around to see who it was, but trapped within a golem’s grip high above the ground, he only caught a glimpse of moving shadows. Details emerged as the figure approached the glowing light of the seal.
It was a slender figure, hooded—not from a cloak but from a jacket—yet she walked with a sinuous, unhurried gait that harkened back to an earlier age. Varun squinted, disoriented by the obviously modern clothing. Somehow, he had been expecting robes and cloaks instead of fleece jackets and denim jeans. From the ground, Duggae looked up at the figure; fear crossed his face. Ashe too looked up. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips shaped a whispered denial.
The female figure extended her hand, palm down, on the seal.
The earth convulsed, jolting like a wounded animal. The seal shattered into fragments and flying splinters.
Varun flinched, recoiling from the debris, then twisted around in the golem’s grip to search for his friends. Duggae and Ashe were sprawled, unmoving and unaware, on either side of the now broken seal. Only the newcomer was still standing. She raised her head directly to look up at him.
His jaw dropped. “Ondine?”
Chapter 26
Varun recognized Ondine.
Yet he did not recognize her.
He stared at her as the golem lowered him to the ground. The arch of her eyebrow, the tilt of her head, the lift of her chin were different. His feet touched the broken, heated earth, and he staggered around the shattered pit, never taking his eyes off Ondine.
She did not even look at him, as if she did not acknowledge him, let alone recognize him.
Fear numbed his mind. His thoughts stuttered. Varun dropped to his knees at Ashe’s side. His chest hurt with each indrawn breath; he had probably cracked a rib or two. Varun grasped Ashe’s shoulders and turned her around. “Are you…?”
Ashe’s face was pale, her skin cold. Her chest was not moving, but then again, she was not human, so she did not need to breathe, did she?
Beside them, Duggae groaned softly.
Varun shook the gnome’s shoulder.
“That took a lot out of me.” Duggae grunted. “Need a minute.”
“I don’t think we have a minute.” Varun’s gaze flicked to Ondine. She was staring at the shattered seal and had made no move to acknowledge anyone. “Ondine.”
She did not seem to even hear him.
Bracing himself, Varun grasped her hand. Her fingertips were like ice. “Ondine.”
“I am Neti.” Ondine did not look down at him. Her voice was unusually accented, as if English were a foreign language.
Jinn screeched, the sound so loud and so infused with anger and pain that it sounded like a human scream. The parrot took to the air. Its wings flared wide, it dive-bombed Ondine, its black talons clawing at her face. Before Varun could react, Ondine’s fingers glowed red until incandescent light filled the palm of her hand. She flicked her wrist, turning that light into Jinn’s face.
The parrot screeched with pain and retreated, flying wildly, obviously blinded.
“Jinn, here, to me!” Varun shouted.
Jinn wheeled in the air and flew toward his voice. “Here, I’m here.” He extended his arm to give the parrot a place to land. The parrot hopped up onto his shoulder. The gray head and great beak rubbed against Varun’s hair. Jinn’s feathers shook with each tremble of its body.
Beside Varun, Duggae pushed to his knees, his low
groan one of exhaustion.
Ashe was still not moving.
Varun lifted her off the ground and was startled by how light she was, as if there were little connection between her physical appearance and reality. Ashe’s head lolled against Varun’s shoulder, but her eyelashes fluttered. The corners of her mouth creased with pain.
Duggae stumbled to his feet. “We can’t go…”
“We have to.” Varun glanced over his shoulder. The glow emanating from the depths of the pit was steadier, brighter. “My gut instinct says we’re not going to like whatever’s in there. You and Ashe are in no condition to fight whatever’s coming.” Carrying Ashe, he raced to the passageway, but jerked to a stop when shadowy figures emerged from the tunnel and fanned out to surround them. Varun retreated a few steps as the figures walked toward him. The light radiating from the pit fell upon their faces. Varun gritted his teeth. “Zamir.”
Zamir’s glance flashed to Ashe’s unmoving body in Varun’s arms. Something flickered over Zamir’s face, but it vanished too quickly for Varun to put a name to it. Then Zamir stared at the shattered seal. “It is done, then.” Zamir strode past Varun, and as he did, his gaze lingered on Ashe’s face, before yanking up to meet Varun’s eyes.
Varun drew in a sharp breath. He had wrestled with enough emotional conflict and self-doubt to recognize the same in another man’s eyes. “Zamir—”
The former king of the Beltiamatu walked up to the broken seal and dropped to his knees. He touched his forehead to the ground. “It is done, great lady. You are free.”
The glow within the pit became radiant, as if something were moving closer to the surface.
Varun’s gaze swept across the cavern, seeking another way out, but found none. Their escape was blocked by the barricade of infected Beltiamatu. The six automatons encircled the seal, their pose attentive, not hostile—yet. They, too, waited.
“I think we’re outnumbered,” Duggae muttered. “Next time, I’ll have to remember that all-out war may not be a bad alternative to losing without ever getting a fair shot in.”
Varun stared at Ondine, but she still showed no sign of recognizing him, or even caring. Jinn had left claw marks on her face. They bled crimson, like tears streaking down her cheeks, but she did not attempt to wipe them away. “What is Neti?” he asked Duggae quietly.
“Don’t know.”
“Does anyone know anything?”
Jinn cawed quietly, its voice lowered so only Varun and Duggae could hear. “Neti is her handmaiden.”
Varun looked at Ashe, who still appeared to be unconscious, and then at Jinn. Was Jinn really speaking of his own volition? “Whose handmaiden?”
The wavering glow above the pit took on the form of a woman. Details sharpened into a heavy robe and elegant headdress. She hovered over the pit as if standing on solid ground, then stepped forward. Light moved with her, embracing her.
Jinn’s dark, beady eyes focused on the new arrival. His voice was as cold as the slither of steel into flesh. “Ereshkigal.”
Chapter 27
Ereshkigal.
Jinn’s voice seemed to come from a long way off, but it resonated with so much anger that it penetrated even the darkness that veiled Ashe’s mind and the fatigue that sapped her strength.
Ereshkigal.
The goddess of the underworld, worshipped by ancient Sumerians, and one of the anchor deities of an ancient pantheon that included Ereshkigal’s younger sister, Inanna, goddess of heaven and earth.
But Ereshkigal and Inanna were mere myths. Even the Beltiamatu knew that.
Ashe’s eyes flickered open and she twisted in Varun’s arms.
“Easy now,” Varun murmured as he let her down gently, his arms steadying her until he was certain she could stand without assistance. “Are you all right? What happened?”
Jinn hopped back onto Ashe’s shoulder and gave voice to Ashe’s thoughts. “Breaking that seal tore everything out of me. It took me a while to find my way back.” Ashe’s gaze fixed on the glowing figure as it walked forward.
Ereshkigal traced her finger across Ondine’s torn face, repairing flesh and skin beneath her touch. “You have served me well, Neti.”
Ondine bowed her head low.
Ashe scowled and leaned close to whisper to Varun. “You need to be more selective about your girlfriends.”
“I…don’t understand. I’ve known her for four years. It’s like she’s possessed.”
Zamir straightened from his obeisance, but remained on his knees. “Great goddess.”
“You have served me well, Zamir.” Ereshkigal ran her hands through Zamir’s hair, the gesture lover-like.
It made Ashe want to claw out Ereshkigal’s eyes.
The goddess smiled, as if she had sensed Ashe’s murderous anger. Her hand lingered on Zamir’s head, then traced the breadth of his shoulders.
Zamir trembled beneath her touch. “Great goddess, my soul—”
“You shall have it, as promised. You have done me a great service, Zamir. Shattering the outer confines of my prison with the Dirga Tiamatu allowed my essence, if not my full power, to roam free.”
Duggae snarled. “So that’s how she summoned the fire elementals to her, and corrupted the golem guards.”
Varun inhaled sharply. “And Ondine’s boating accident in these waters when she was a child, when she went overboard…”
“It was not an accident,” Ereshkigal said. “My spirit carried her body, almost stripped of life, to this island, and Neti infused her.”
“Possessed her,” Duggae snapped.
“The child would have died otherwise.”
“Elementals are not allowed to join their essence with others unless both parties are willing.”
Ereshkigal laughed, the sound all the more ominous because it was so merry and lighthearted. “Children have no voices, not even in their own homes. It is no different here, where I once again reign. And you…” Ereshkigal’s golden-eyed gaze fixed on Ashe. “It is finally the time of reckoning.”
Ashe’s eyes narrowed.
Ereshkigal continued, “Did you think you could stay hidden forever? And why among the Beltiamatu? You’ve scorned their arrogance. Why take on their form?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“How far will you go to hide from me? I did not think you would take on human form…even serve the Daughters of Air. Did you think your pose of servitude would fool me?”
Ashe stared into Ereshkigal’s face. “I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You can’t lie. You can’t hide. We’ve gone through this before.”
“I’ve heard of you, but I have never met you.” Ashe stepped forward, chin raised in defiance. “I don’t know who you think I am.”
Ereshkigal’s golden-eyed gaze locked on hers. Ashe glared back.
The deadlock continued for a long, silent moment, then a slow smile spread across Ereshkigal’s face. Her eyes gleamed. “Could it be? You really don’t know?” She raised her hand to touch Ashe’s face. Pure stubbornness kept Ashe rock-still. Ereshkigal’s fingertips brushed over Ashe’s forehead. “I sense you. Why do you insist on lying to me?”
“Stop playing games,” Duggae growled. “What is Ashe supposed to know?”
“Who she truly is.” Ereshkigal turned to Zamir. “You did not think that you were truly her son, did you? She was, and is, always childless, wild, and free. She is not a nurturer, never a mother.”
Shock, then pain, raced across Zamir’s features.
“Are you crazy?” Ashe slammed the palms of her hand into Ereshkigal. The breeze darting around her whipped into a roar; the force of the air pushed Ereshkigal back. “I gave birth to Zamir! I love him more than anyone! I gave up everything trying to find him a soul! I am not who you think I am.”
“Of course you are, Asherah.” Ereshkigal drew out her name, as if it was supposed to mean something.
Ashe scowled. “I’m not in the mood for riddles, either.” The
air, driven by her will, howled. “Why are you destroying the oceans and the Earth?”
“To lure the elementals here to shatter the seal that contained the full extent of my powers. Now that I am free, I will finish what you attempted to prevent me from doing millennia ago.”
“For the last time, I am not who you think I am, but I’m starting to agree that the person, whoever she was, made the right call in keeping your delusions buried deep underground.” Ashe spread her hands, and the wind carried her into the air, drawing the long strands of hair away from her face. She flung her arm out and a blast of icy wind flung Beltiamatu warriors into the rock wall. Their heads smashed against the unyielding surface. They screamed as the wind spun them, grinding their skulls into the rock until their bodies went limp.
Ashe shouted a silent order into Varun’s mind. Run!
Chapter 28
Metal screeched against metal as the golems sprang forward, but the first two stumbled over the wall of earth that spiked up into their path, and the others tumbled over them. Earth expanded, surging over the mountain of fallen golems like a living thing, intertwining into layers, each one thicker and stronger than the last, until it formed a writhing mound.
Varun glanced at the exit, then back at his girlfriend. Somewhere in that unrecognizable Neti was the Ondine he knew. He could not leave her behind. He grabbed her hand. “Ondine, come with me, now.”
She stared at him as if he were a stranger.
“Come on!” He shook her shoulders hard.
Something flickered in her eyes, a change of expression so subtle he wondered if he had imagined it.
And then she was Ondine again. The familiar tilt of her head, the slight furrow between her eyes as she focused on him. “Varun? What…?” She looked around. “What am I doing here? Where are we?” Her gaze fixed on Ashe, floating in the air, riding on the winds of her power, keeping a legion of Beltiamatu pinned against rock. “I knew she was a witch!”
