Soul Reborn (Key to the Cursed Book 1) (26 page)

“Look out!” Asar’s
warning came too late. He pushed Lilly out of the way and slammed into Menthu
head-on. Hand to hand here on out, he let his swords fall to the ground. He
wanted nothing between him and his fists connecting with War god. He would pay
for hurting Lilly.

“You will not win,”
he hissed, slamming Menthu onto the ground.

Mottled pale and
black hands clawed to gain leverage. “You think this ends with me or Kepi? You
are sorely mistaken.” Menthu shifted his weight and pulled Asar to the ground.
“Who does it end with, Menthu? Whose
odjit
are you?” Asar growled. He
threw the large god into the stone wall.

The War god rolled
back to his feet. “I am no one’s
odjit
,” he spat. “It is quite ironic,
actually. The traitors could be right under your nose and you would be too
stupid to notice.”

“Who is it, Menthu?
What rotten bastards are you conspiring with? It is obvious they are just using
you and your hatred. How does it feel to be their lackey?”

Menthu laughed
deeply. “Oh, you will find out soon enough Death god. Enjoy Aaru while you
still can because you will be looking from the other side of those gates you
hold so dear.”

Asar didn’t like
the sound of that one bit. Not only was the Mother Goddess the target, but he
was as well. In the last five years, he and the world had witnessed what could
happen if he could not judge souls—literally, hell on earth in the form of
undead human revens. Curses, death, and destruction.

He knew not to take
Menthu’s threat lightly. There were plenty of gods that would like to see him
dead, truly dead. He had infinite power to take life, similar to how the Mother
Goddess could give it. Only those who led dishonorable lives had something to
fear. His mind tumbled with possibilities.

“Your plan failed,
Menthu. I have the key, and the gates are closed. I have my soul and will soon
have my son. If you surrender now, I might show you some mercy in your
judgment.”

“You cannot kill
me.”

“Oh, I can and I
will.”

Lilly decapitated
three revens with a single swipe of her blade. Behind her, the clash of the
gods shook the ground and the stone structures around them. She stepped away
from a falling weathered statue and placed herself between her mate and the
oncoming attack of undead. Revens or falling debris, she would not leave Asar
vulnerable.

Kepi waited in the
background with hate filled eyes. Lilly bared her fangs at the goddess and sliced
through several more revens. “Afraid to get your hands dirty? It’s down to just
you and me, you know.”

The Kepi’s mouth
drew into a tight line. She glanced toward the War god, no doubt judging her
odds. Lilly wouldn’t put it past the goddess to pack up and run to save her own
ass. She needed to not let that happen.

“What are you
waiting for? Come and get me.” Lilly swiped her blade and caught the
decapitated head by the filthy hair and hurled it at the goddess. The lifeless
rotting face hit Kepi in the chest. The goddess screeched and kicked the head back
at her. Lilly ducked the incoming folly and chuckled. “You missed. Again.”

Kepi pulled the
second Mevt dagger from her waist and parted the revens standing between them.

Lilly hissed. The
blade still painted with Asar’s blood. “You’re going to pay for what you have
done.”

The goddess sneered
and stretched her arms out. “I’ve heard that before, but look at me now. No one
can beat me.”

“Well, then. Let me
be the first.” Lilly thrust her long blade forward. She pivoted to duck Kepi’s
swipe, and struck again like a snake. Her short blade lanced through Kepi’s
leg. Not letting the goddess recover, she struck her deep in the chest, abdomen,
and arm.

Kepi stumbled back,
but lunged again undeterred by her attack, despite the crimson blood stain on
her clothing.

Pain seared through
her thigh, penetrated by the Mevt dagger. The laceration did not respond to her
healing powers. Dread washed over her. More than a few injuries and she would
be at a significant disadvantage.

“Your human body
has its limits, unlike mine.”

Lilly tried to hide
her limp. She pulled more weapons from her belt. She sent venom dipped throwing
stars flying through the air. The silver metal flashed in the moonlight,
hitting their mark—Kepi’s chest and neck—with the utmost accuracy. “A little
taste of your own medicine.”

The goddess let out
a scream, scratching desperately at the metal. Kepi growled and lunged for Lilly.
The clang of steel against the dagger sounded in the small temple grounds.

Lilly dodged the
deadly wake of the dagger, barely avoiding permanent injury. With hard front
kick she knocked Kepi to the ground. The goddess rolled onto her hands and knees,
slowly pulling herself up.

The pain in her leg
fatigued Lilly rapidly. No longer able to hide the limp, she placed some
distance between herself and the goddess. Her fingers played along the edge of
her belt, looking for the right weapon to inflict the greatest harm. When she
found the wooden handle of the hatchet, she slid her hand down the grip.

Kepi charged before
Lilly had a good hold. The weapon slipped from her fingertips and dropped into
the sand. Countering quickly, she grabbed the goddess’ wrists and held off the
attack with her bare hands. The goddess exhaled a fowl breath in Lilly’s face.
Sickened by the stench of death, Lilly drove her knee hard into Kepi’s abdomen.

The blow knocked
the dagger from Kepi's hand, but took them both down to the desert floor. Lilly
hit the ground hard. The air whooshed from her lungs and left her momentarily
defenseless. The dagger skipped across the hard, compressed earth.

Kepi lunged for
Lilly’s throat and dug her sharp nails into her neck. Lilly’s airway and major
vessels to her brain collapsed. She gasped for breath with less than a couple
minutes before the lack of oxygen would render her unconscious. Tucking her
chin to her chest released some of the pressure on her airway. The fresh air
burned her lungs. Lilly thrust her hips up and flipped the goddess over her head.

Lilly rolled, grabbed
the hatchet, and slammed the honed edge down into the goddess chest. The crack
of ribs and tissue resonated through the metal head. The move cost her. Hot,
searing pain ricocheted through Lilly’s thigh muscle and femur. She swallowed
her cry and stumbled, trying to stand up before the goddess.

Despite the kill
shot, Kepi rose with the hatchet protruding from her chest. The goddess hissed.
She grasped the handle, yanked the metal ax free and discarding it to the
ground.

For the first time Lilly’s
confidence waivered. Despite the mortal wound, the goddess wouldn’t submit.
Conversely, her human body was failing in the most critical moment.

Tightening her grip
on her katana, Lilly forced her pain and fear aside. She closed her eyes and
summoned all the strength and energy that flowed through her cells, beckoning
it to the surface. Asar needed her to win. No option to lose.

Lilly breathed deeply
several times before opening her eyes to face what was no doubt the final
round. She just hoped she could hold out long enough.

Kepi squared off her
shoulders and sneered. “I think it is time for a little family reunion.”

Menthu stumbled back,
broken and bruised. Asar pulled the Mevt dagger from his sheath and circled the
god. “This is your last chance, Menthu. Time for repentance.” Despite having
lost the upper hand in the fight, Menthu let out a malicious chuckle. “What are
you going to do, Death god? Finish me off or go save your precious human?”

Asar’s heart
stilled, dread washing over him. Kepi stood with the dagger pressed against a
reven’s chest. The horror on Lilly’s face spoke volumes on the depth of her
pain. “Gods, no.”

“Quite a dilemma,
is it not?” The War god laughed again.

Asar growled.
Menthu’s healing power diminished with each punishing blow he inflicted. A few
more strategic hits and the War god would be on his knees, but that time could
cost him something he was not willing to lose— Lilly. He knew firsthand there
was no limit to Kepi’s cruelty. Although he had confidence Lilly could defeat the
goddess, it was the emotional battle Asar feared most. Her guilt was her
greatest weakness.

He forcibly shut
down the draw of her energy into his soul. The warmth in his system bled away
without her life force flowing beneath the surface of his skin. She would need
every last drop of energy for herself. He did not want Menthu to escape—judgment
had to be made against the Mother Goddess’ conspirators—but that paled in
comparison to his need to protect the woman he loved.

May the Mother of
the Gods forgive him.

Asar threw the dagger
with all his strength, hitting Menthu in the heart. Asar drew in his dark
energy to dematerialize. The surprise on the War god’s face faded into a mist
of darkness. He could not wait to see if the dagger did its work. Only after he
saved Lilly would he be able to confirm Menthu’s demise.

Lilly stared into
the lifeless face of her father. His eyes bled red with hunger, a shell of the
man who had loved her and her sisters so dearly. Pressed to his grey mottled
skin, the tip of the dagger dug in ever so slightly. A choked sob escaped Lilly
throat.

“I thought this
might get your attention.” Kepi stroked her father’s thick brown hair. “What a
handsome man! Shame to waste him like this. He has been a very obedient and
satisfying companion.”

Lilly swallowed the
vomit crawling up the back of her throat. She lowered her weapons in defeat.
Kepi would not hesitate to kill her father or, worse, have her kill him. Memories
of him flashed through her mind. The smell of his cologne when he hugged her
tight. The gentle hands that would pick her up and encourage her to try again.
His kind words that had always soothed her pain.

No words came from
his lips now, and his hands now only held down his next victim. His cologne had
been replaced by the smell of death. The reality of it all slammed into her
soul. “What do you want?”

Kepi’s sinister
smile grew. “Surrender to me, and I will release him.”

She sighed. With
her demi-god powers, she could see the life force of any organism. Her father’s
soul laid within a motionless heart filled with blackness and hateful things, his
humanity cursed by the goddess standing before her. There was no glimmer of
life, not even a dim glow.

He was dead, but
the fact didn’t extinguish the love for her father. He sacrificed his life for
her, her sisters, and the love of the Mother Goddess. She vowed to him on his
death bed to find a cure. Her Nehebkau mother said she was the cure, but how
was that possible? She glanced over her shoulder and searched for Asar who she
loved so dearly, but the battlefield lay quiet and empty in the distance. In
that moment, she felt small and alone.

She laid her
weapons on the hard earth. For the last time, she picked up a small amount of sand.
Sand stained red from the blood of battle. Rubbing it between her hands, she
faced Kepi

The goddess pushed
forward, closing the distance between them, using her father as a shield. Even
if Lilly tried, she couldn’t get to the goddess without going through her dad.
She blew out a breath resigned to the fact she was out of options. When she
inhaled, a cool black mist entered her lungs. Tingling warmth spread through
her chest out into her fingertips. The dark energy wrapped her in a blanketed
embrace from the inside out. With each loving breath her sense of defeat
retreated. She was not alone.

“I love you,” Lilly
whispered into the surrounding mist. The center of her chest seemed to vibrate
with the buildup of power. With each inhaled breath, it coalesced and
intensified into an organized mass of energy.

Kepi stopped
abruptly. “What did you say?”

Lilly leveled her
eyes on her father. She repeated herself but directed it at the man who raised
her. “I love you.” The invisible but palpable energy poured out of her and sent
a prickling heat across her skin, like a fine current of electricity. She was
practically glowing from the amount energy that coursed through her cells.

The goddess’ pushed
the knife a little deeper into her father’s chest. “Kneel.”

Lilly lowered to
her knees. With Asar’s essence swirling through her consciousness, the answer
became clear. The cure to the curse wasn’t raising the damned from the dead,
but releasing their souls to the afterlife. Together, Asar and Lilly were the
perfect instrument of death and life.

The goddess pushed
her father forward so that he stood just inches from Lilly. “Just as I thought.
Humans are so easy to manipulate,” she scoffed. “Humanity is weak and will be
this world’s downfall. We will destroy the Mother Goddess and you are going to
help me.”

Lilly stared into
the goddess’ red eyes. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” In one swift motion, she
grabbed her katana out of the sand and thrust it straight through her father’s
chest and into the goddess. All the dark and light energy surged from her chest
in a brilliant flash of explosive fire that brightened the night sky. The
heavens shook and the earth heaved and cracked in large fissures.

She screamed, but
it paled in comparison to the deafening roar of the blast. All she could do was
hold onto her sword and let energy release from her body. The smell of burning
flesh and sulfur filled the air around her. When the dust settled, she found
Asar at her side with his hand wrapped around the blade of her katana.

“Easy now.” If it
wasn’t for his grip, the blade would be dancing with the tremors racking her
body. Her father slumped against the hilt of the sword, his eyes closed. She
released the handle and collapsed on her back. Lying in the dirt, she stared at
Kepi’s body smoldering several feet away.

Asar carefully
pulled the blade out of her father’s chest, so as to not further damage the
heart. With the utmost respect and care, he lowered the body to the ground.
Lilly pushed herself up and knelt beside her father. She gently touched the cut
in his chest.

Asar placed his
cold, black hand on top of hers. “N-ka-n-imAh.”

Hearing the all too
familiar prayer, Lilly turned to Asar. “May your soul find paradise in your
rebirth.”

The goddess lay
paralyzed and burning from the inside out. Asar moved over Kepi’s body and grabbed
her by the hair. “This is your last chance. Who is behind this? If it is not
you or Menthu, who is it?”

“Fuck you!”

“Your time will
come. I promise you will meet your end.” Asar signaled to Bomani. The dark warriors
appeared with two sarcophagi. Lilly followed Asar. He personally laid her
father into the first container and sealed the tomb with prayer. Several of the
dark warriors placed their hands on the lid and repeated the prayer.

Conversely, Bomani
dragged Kepi by her feet and threw her into the carved wooden box. Lilly felt
no remorse, even as the lid silenced the goddess’ cries for mercy. There she
would stay until Bakari’s awakening and judgment.

Lilly kissed the lid
to her father’s tomb. Finally, his soul was free.