Forged by Greed (50 page)

The Mahraset’s green
blood sprayed in a fountain of shining drops.
The monster
staggered,
one huge hand pressing the wound, the other flailing around in confusion. The blood
seeped through its large fingers, staining the muscular chest and stomach, and
running in rivulets down to the soil. The beast collapsed face down with a
ground-shaking thud.
The soil
opened and sucked the dead body in with a wet, revolting sound.

In her peripheral vision Jasmira saw another Mahraset running to her.
It snarled and snapped its crooked, misshapen teeth. When Jasmira turned her
head, it slammed into her and fell on top of her. She yelped, the air leaving
her lungs. It felt like being rammed by a bulldozer. The beast got up, growling.
It grasped her braid and pulled her off the ground. Jasmira yelled and held the
base of her hair with one hand. She tossed the sword up in the air, with the
hilt pointing toward the field. A moment later she caught it like a knife. She swung
her arm back and jabbed the blade into the Mahraset’s heart. The beast wheezed
and coughed, blood spewing from its ugly mouth.

“Two down, a million more to go.” She wiped the green blood off her
face with the hem of her shirt and glanced around. Penelope fought like a
well-oiled machine, slashing and thrusting with her Karambit blade and the
Kodachi sword. She was covered in both, red and kiwi-colored blood. Deep
slashes covered her arm, most likely from one of the Garhanans’ claws. The
wounds were dripping blood, but slowly healing.

Jasmira ran in the opposite direction, flanking
the Winter Shifters’ battlefield. She had to get away from her Goddess. So far Amber’s
renewed attempts to capture Jasmira were eradicated, thanks to Crystal’s
tactics. The Winter Goddess knew exactly what Amber’s plan was. She would do anything
to prevent its execution.

Frustrated, Bastet slashed her fire-whip from side to side,
whispering ancient words in a long-forgotten language. Her green eyes turned
silvery-white, and her lion-headed body transformed into a girl dressed in a
simple knee-length tunic. A quiver of golden arrows was slung over her
shoulder. She held a hunting bow in her outstretched hand. She was the Greek
goddess, Artemis. With preternatural speed, the Goddess pulled one of the
arrows from her quiver. She positioned it in the bow. The arrow left her bow
and burst into flames. It headed straight for the Winter Goddess.

Morrigan’s muscular figure became thin and long. Her skin took on a
blue hue. Her graying hair loosely cascaded onto the gaunt, narrow shoulders
and back. She became the Hindu god Shiva. Three eyes on Shiva’s face blinked in
unison. His outstretched arm stopped the blazing arrow within an inch of his
flattened palm. Two long snakes entwined the god’s arms, like the shiny, moving
bracelets.

His bony body started to fill in and swell. His skin lost the blue
color. His hair curled and thickened, taking on a lush young appearance.
Shiva’s simple loin cloth became a white gown. It tightly hugged two round
breasts that emerged on the god’s chest. A stunning Greek goddess, Aphrodite, faced
her opponent. She clenched her teeth when she saw that Artemis had already become
the Norse goddess, Freya.

Freya slowly moved in a circle around Aphrodite, who watched her
with a smirk on her beautiful face. The battle was still going strong around
the two gorgeous women. Aphrodite pulled a long thin dagger from the folds of
her dress. Bending her knees and outstretching the other arm to the side, she
leaned forward, waiting for her foe’s next move. Freya yanked a short stout
knife from one of her leather gauntlets. She jumped forward, jabbing the knife
at the other Goddess. Aphrodite swiftly moved to the side. A gust of freezing
wind tore at her gown. She transformed into the dark-skinned
Thoth
—
Egyptian god of moon and wisdom. His head
of an ibis cocked to one side, and his black eyes blinked.

 
In front of him, instead of
Freya, towering over the battlefield, stood god Attaa Naa Nyongmo. Bright sun
behind Attaa outlined his muscular body. His chocolate-brown skin shimmered.
Thoth opened his long beak, and a huge puff of icy air blasted at Attaa.
Hundreds of sharp icicles rushed toward the African deity. Attaa twisted his
huge body to the side from the waist up. He missed the flying weapons by a small
margin. He tilted further to the side, stretching and growing his limbs into
thick tree branches. The rest of his body became a stout tree trunk. The
branches encircled Thoth, weaving themselves around the Egyptian god like fat
snakes. Thoth screeched in anger and transformed himself into a monstrous
glistening figure, constructed of packed snow and ice. The monster ripped its enormous
arms through the tree branches, tearing them off the trunk. Immediately, more
branches grew, surrounding the icy-being.

Jasmira was far away from both Goddesses. She spotted Tyrrell
hacking through the Mahrasets. He wielded two short swords with precision only
equaled to masters. Jasmira’s vision changed to colorless again. The salty
taste in her mouth intensified. The Dasht-e Kavir felt hot against her skin. She
saw Jatred. His normally jet-black hair was ashy. Thick strands were plastered
to his scalp. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her hands got sweaty. She had to
keep going. She needed to get to the other side of the field, back to the Summer
warriors, far away from Amber.

She couldn’t move. Something kept her feet rooted to the ground. Her
chest felt heavy. Jatred chopped and stabbed the enemy, never leaving his
uncle’s side. No one paid her any attention. Even the Mahrasets were too busy
fighting to notice her standing there, watching.

Jasmira tried to run, to put some distance between her and Jatred. But
some invisible energy pulled her forward. And then she understood.
The
Dasht-e
Kavir! It wants to go to the Amulet.
 
Her
thoughts were frantic. Her enhancing Spirit was one of the most powerful of the
Summer Realm. But even he was helpless against the Universal powers trapped in the
Amulet and the Dasht-e Kavir.

The ranks of both Shifter armies were severely decreased. But hundreds
of Winter and Summer creatures of torment kept arriving, replacing the slain
ones. The scale of the battle started to tip away from the Shifters’ side,
despite the enhancing Spirits’ abilities and powers.

The air smelled of blood, sweat, and anger. The ground had frozen
and thawed many times. It now looked ashy between the brown-red and dark-green puddles
of blood. Garhanans, Mahrasets, and the Shifters took on the same grim hue. A
mixture of three kinds of blood and dust covered every inch of their bodies,
their own colors no longer discernible. Frost and snow kept solidifying their
fur and hair for a few moments, only to give way to a heat wave that thawed
everything again.

Jasmira took a few slow, labored steps. It felt like wading in deep
water. The Dasht-e-Kavir pulsed with red light through her ripped, dirty shirt.
It started to lift off her chest, pressing against the fabric. It pulled her forward
hard, and she obeyed. She walked among the savagely fighting Shifters and
Mahrasets, unscathed. The jewel kept her safe, encircled in the protective
shield of the Universal powers.

She extended her arm and touched Jatred’s shoulder. He froze, his sword
raised on its way to sink into one of the green monsters’ flesh. The Amulet
released a brilliant fan of white rays, right from Jatred’s chest and through
the fabric of his shirt. He looked down in awe. The powers trapped in the
Amulet formed a sheltering barrier around him. He turned his head and looked from
Jasmira’s face to the red light shining brightly from between her breasts. Jatred
looked scruffy, with the blood dried on his skin, hair, and clothes. Small ribbons
of fresh red blood trickled from a few spots on his head and body.

“Jasmira,” he whispered, confused.

“I can’t be here. We can’t be together now. Too much is at stake,”
Jasmira whispered back.

CHAPTER 58

In-Between the Realms. Date
in Human World: November 19, past midnight.

Jatred stared at Jasmira as if they were in a quiet, secluded place,
and not lost in the midst of a deadly battle.

Her vision was still black and gray, but she forgot it wasn’t real. In
her head she heard a quiet chant of the far-away voices, soft but somehow
disturbing. “J?” she prompted.

Jatred slowly shook his head from side to side, without taking his
eyes off her. “I still don’t remember you.”

“I know. That’s not the point. I have to go now, but this,” she
gestured at the red light, “is keeping me here, with you.” Her voice cracked
and she choked down the tears.

Jatred slid his sword into a black-colored scabbard and reached both
hands behind Jasmira’s neck, trying to unclasp the Dasht-e Kavir.

Her eyes opened wide and she gasped, “What are you doing?”

“I think the Amulet wants me to get this one closer.”

Jasmira pulled Jatred’s hand away from the clasp, looking straight
into his eyes.

The Dasht-e Kavir lifted from under her shirt and rose up. Like a
magnet, the Amulet pulled it closer. The Amulet slid from under Jatred’s shirt
and levitated to its twin, still clasped around Jatred’s neck. They both
watched warily. They heard a deep murmur of voices, and this time not in their
heads. Thousands of the ancient Spirits of both Realms swirled above them in
anticipation of what was about to happen. Over the sounds of both battles, they
heard Amber scream in fury and Crystal laugh viciously. Blinding serpents of
lightning rolled over their heads. A flare of zigzagged light joined the sky to
the field on their left, another on their right, then the next—behind them, and
again to the right.

The Amulet and the Dasht-e Kavir were almost touching. The light
coming off each jewel intensified. Jasmira’s hands were on Jatred’s arms,
fingers clutching him like talons. He grabbed her shoulders, his face twisted
in fear. The elongated bright rays shot from the gems, illuminating their faces
and bodies in a white and red glow. She shrieked, feeling unbearable pressure
around her neck, where the chain cut into her skin.

“Kiss him! Kiss him, you foolish girl!” She heard Amber yelling in
her mind. “I will restore the memories erased from his mind, and the powers of
the Universe will be ours. Now!”

“Stay away from Jasmira, Prince Jatred.” His eyes opened wide when
Crystal spoke in his head. Panic carried through her voice.

Jasmira squeezed her eyes. She turned her head away from Jatred, attempting
to lean back. But she couldn’t overcome the magnetism of both jewels. Jatred cried
in pain and frustration, trying to do the same. But the Amulet and the Dasht-e
Kavir gravitated toward each other even more. A blinding burst of white and red
light exploded when the surfaces of both gems touched. It stretched over the
battlefield in an enormous, flat disk of power. They threw their heads back,
eyes slammed shut. Their screams of pain and horror were swallowed into an
increasingly growing chant of ancient voices.

Amber’s furious shrieks pounded in Jasmira’s head. Jatred heard
Crystal shouting in harsh voice, chanting incantations in an ancient form of
Gaelic, each word uttered carefully. The Winter Goddess’s power surpassed the
Summer Goddess’s magical abilities. Amber’s connection to the Universal forces was
weakened by her living too long in the Human World.

 
Jatred forced his eyes open
and looked at Jasmira through the haze of light coming from the united jewels.
Their bodies seemed to melt into the blazing glow. Her hair came undone and rose
off her shoulders, quivering as if from a breeze. Static kept snapping through
the strands, and Jasmira’s eyes turned completely white. Her arms were covered
in spiraled script. It crawled and twisted on her skin. The text shone burgundy.
Single letters kept separating and slowly flaking off. They resembled tiny red fire
sparks, burning brightly, and then disappearing all together.

The chains on Jatred’s and Jasmira’s necks pulled forward, parallel
to the ground, and both jewels were now connected, melting into one blazing
ball of swirling red-and-white fire.

“No! No!” the Summer Goddess screeched, shaking uncontrollably. Her
body stretched and shrunk by turns, shifting from one of her shapes to another
in a bizarre kaleidoscope of forms.

Crystal stood a few steps away, panting. She held her swords to the
sides. Her completely black eyes started to change, the pupils shrinking to
vertical slits. She raised one of the blades over her head. The light from the
Amulet and the Dasht-e Kavir channeled to it, mimicking the lightning above her.
Blue fire ran along the blade. With the Goddess’s commanding pose and a flaming
sword in hand, she resembled the angel Uriel.

Slowly, without taking her eyes off the Summer Goddess writhing in
pain, Crystal lowered the sword. She pointed it at Amber. “Go back to your
Realm.” The light shot from the blade in a zigzagged stream of fire. It hit
Amber in the chest. She opened her mouth in horror, but the scream didn’t come.
She was gone, removed to the Summer Realm, and only the acrid smell of burned
flesh wavered in the air.

The Mahrasets disappeared with their Goddess. The battle came to an
end. Crystal dismissed the Garhanans, sending them back to her Realm. The Shifters
of both Races remained in the field, all of them hurt but healing. Some stood,
looking around; some lay down or knelt, covering their faces with their hands.
The wolves and leopards shifted back to their human forms. All the ancient
enhancing Spirits left the Shifters’ bodies and now weaved through the crowd,
looking for their loved ones, and mourning those that were slayed.