The First Ark: Deathless Prequel (2 page)

"Yes," she said, stepping behind Sekhmet and Osiris. She would only make their job more difficult if she were involved in the fighting. As a shaman, she'd never been trained for such things. "They'll be on us in moments."

Isis gasped as she spotted movement further into the cave, but relaxed when she realized it was the stranger that had guided them inside. He stood silently, face impassive as he watched them. Either he didn't have a language or didn't understand theirs, but he looked as if he wished to say something.

"Ready yourselves," Osiris called.
 

Isis stepped closer to the wall, kneeling as she withdrew her belt knife. The cold flint was reassuring, worn smooth from years of use. It had been one of Osiris's first courting gifts.

Sobek moved to Osiris's left. Sekhmet stood resolutely on his right. The three took up most of the corridor, but it was still possible someone might slip past them. That was where she came in. If anyone made it past she would have to deal with them, or the others would be encircled. Given their opponent's numbers that would mean certain death.

If they could hold Set and his men, they might kill enough to drive them off. At the very least they could sell their lives dearly.

"Osiris," Set's voice boomed through the strange cave. He stepped from the shadows, eyes glittering in the near darkness. A knot of figures waited behind him. "You have nowhere left to run. You should have accepted my rule, near brother. There is no need for you to die. Even now I would accept your allegiance. Kneel. We will take Sobek's meat to sate our hunger, but you and the women will live."

"You rule through terror and intimidation," Osiris replied, feet sliding apart as he raised his spear. "It is not the way. Father's spirit watches, Set. He knows what you have become. That you have discarded our ways. We do not take another's meat, unless there is no other way for the rest of the tribe to survive. You killed a man
for a feast
. His life snuffed out so you could host a celebration."

"My rule, or death. Last chance, Osiris," Set said, tone deathly cold. He too had raised his spear, and with that motion the knot of figures divided. Men and women advanced up the corridor, each cradling a spear or stone axe.

"Death," Osiris said. He rolled his neck, unlimbering for combat. "I will not meet it alone, once brother. You will join me."

"Will I?" Set asked, eyes twinkling as he stepped aside. He turned to his followers. "Kill them and eat your fill. All I require is the heart of Osiris. The rest is yours."

Then the chaos began. A dozen feral warriors rushed them, mad with hunger and bloodlust. Osiris glided forward, spear darting out to take a man through the eye. Sobek's broad shoulder caught a woman in the stomach, knocking his taller opponent back into her fellows.

Sekhmet merely waited, languid and unconcerned. It wasn't until her first opponent was close enough to strike that she began the lethal dance that had earned the respect of every hunter. It happened so quickly Isis didn't even see the blow that caused the man to stumble back clutching at his entrails.

It was a valiant defense, but their foes were numerous. The horde pressed forward and a wiry man with gray in his beard ducked past Sekhmet on the right. He paid no attention to Isis, a fatal mistake. She crept forward, ramming her blade into the small of his back again and again in quick thrusts. The man tried to turn, but she moved with him, thrusting twice more before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

She looked up when Sobek gave a bellow of pain. The stocky man spilled to the ground with a spear lodged in his thigh. Another warrior surged forward to capitalize on his weakness, but Osiris leapt over an opponent's low thrust and rolled toward their downed companion.

He brought up his spear just in time to block the attack that would have claimed Sobek's life, then kicked hard at the attacker's groin. The man stumbled backwards, but not quickly enough. Sobek lurched to his feet, ripping the spear from his thigh and shoving the tip deep into his opponent's gut.
 

Just like that the press was over. Set's warriors fled, disappearing back into the darkness. Isis and her companions labored to catch their breath, the mix of cold and hunger having rapidly sapped their strength. It would have affected Set's men just as fiercely, though they'd fed more recently.

"Are you hurt?" Osiris asked, turning to face her.
 

He never saw the spear and she wasn't quick enough to cry out a warning. The weapon bit deeply into his back, punching through his chest near the heart. Osiris collapsed to his knees with a groan, hands gripping the blood-slicked haft.

Isis caught one brief flash of Set's triumphant smile, then the treacherous snake retreated into the darkness with his cowardly men. She was dimly aware of Sekhmet darting past on her right. Her near sister snatched up a discarded spear, skidding to a halt as she brought it to her ear. The tip was absolutely still as she scanned the retreating shadows.

Then she lunged, hurling the yew shaft in the direction Set had retreated. It disappeared, immediately followed by a roar of pain. She knew that voice, knew it like the name of death.
 

"It was not a killing blow," Sekhmet said, snatching another fallen spear and moving to aid Sobek. "We must move swiftly before they gather their courage. They are hungry. They will return soon, once they are sure we have retreated."

"I can't leave him like this," Isis replied, knowing she had no other choice. A single hot tear slid down her cheek as she knelt next to Osiris. His mouth worked as he met her gaze, but he was incapable of speech. She pulled his head to her bosom, blood soaking through her furs. It was already cooling. "Oh, my love. I am so sorry."

Osiris gave a shuddering gasp and died.

Chapter 3- Chamber of the Gods

"Isis?" a voice said, muted and distant. She glanced up through the tears to find Sekhmet staring down at her. Her near sister's face was a mask of grief and pain, twin to her own. Sekhmet gathered Isis to her and Isis didn't fight it. She sobbed her grief into the damp furs covering her friend's chest.

"It's my fault," she said, finally pushing Sekhmet away. Isis rose to her feet, wiping away the tears as she sought desperately to compose herself. "I knew the spirits couldn't protect us here and I agreed to come anyway. His death is my fault."

"No," Sobek hissed, limping forward. He leaned heavily on his spear, but his eyes were hard. "This is not your doing. Osiris led us here. I mourn his death, but the blame is his."

"This was Set's doing," Sekhmet said, glaring a challenge at Sobek. The wounded warrior broke gazes first. Isis was grateful. Had she spoken the words would have been a great deal harsher.

Sekhmet knelt next to Osiris and gently removed his necklace of cave lion teeth, the mark of the tribe's chieftain. She settled it grimly around her own neck. "But we are too weak to claim vengeance, at least right now. They will return soon and we cannot be here when they do."

"Perhaps the stranger can help us," Isis suggested, turning to peer up the corridor. The odd-looking stranger still stood there, his golden staff gripped firmly in hand. If he'd moved at all during the fighting she hadn't seen it, and if the sight of so many bodies troubled him he gave no sign.

The stranger beckoned them forward, then turned and disappeared into the darkness. A moment later something inexplicable happened. The sapphire set into the staff began to glow, it's light both warm and bright. She'd never seen such magic, such incredible power.
 

Sekhmet was the first to follow, with Sobek hobbling after. Isis moved to support his larger frame, bearing some of his weight as they hurried after the stranger with his incredible staff. The stranger guided them through many tunnels, up flights of tall stairs and down others.

By the time the stranger stopped to face them, Sobek had gone ashen. The wound in his thigh was deep and bled freely. She had no catgut thread to bind it and using a fur as a bandage would do little unless Sobek stopped to rest.

"Unnh," The stranger grunted, pointing urgently down a ramp that led into a dark cavern.
 

Sekhmet moved to Sobek's opposite side, and together they helped the wounded warrior into the cavern. At the room's far side light shone through a square cave mouth, much like the one they'd passed through when entering this dark place.

The stranger threaded through the cavern, passing by odd spires that towered over them. The one in the center stood higher than ten men and hummed with some low malevolent power. Isis eyed it warily as she passed by, not trusting anything about this place.

She was out of breath by the time they reached the light, and she found it wasn't the cave's exit. Rather it led into a small room that had clearly been constructed by the gods. Seven blocks a little longer than a man radiated outward from a central point, each more clear than the clearest ice and standing at about waist height. Large gemstones dotted their surface, with little pulses of red and blue light passing between them on invisible lines.

"Unnhhh," the stranger grunted, even more urgently. He rested his staff against one of the blocks, then moved to scoop up Sobek. Sekhmet stiffened as if she might protest, but relaxed and allowed the stranger to carry Sobek to one of the strange blocks.

He set the wounded warrior atop the block, and after a moment the block glowed and began to flow like melting animal fat. Sobek sank inside and the block closed around him. His eyes closed and his breathing seemed to ease. More importantly the bleeding in his leg stopped, though the awful wound remained.

The stranger turned to face them, his chest drenched in Sobek's blood. He picked up his staff in one hand and offered the other to Isis. She shot a nervous glance at Sekhmet.

"Go on," Sekhmet said, nodding as she drew a hand axe from her belt. "If he tries anything I will gut him. See what he wants. I think he recognizes you as a shaman. Maybe he can share the magic of the gods with you."

Isis accepted the stranger's hand, old and leathery but warm. He led her across the room to the block furthest from the door. The stranger released her, then mimed placing his hands atop two giant rubies set into the block. He watched her expectantly.

She took a deep breath, then set her hands atop the gems. There was a flash of light and then she was elsewhere.

Chapter 4- Ka

Ka stared at the strange hominid as it entered the mental construct. It had breasts and lacked facial hair, so a Ken. A female. Fascinating, doubly so given that it had been nearly two hundred millennia since she'd last seen a new offshoot of the Ken's species

The intelligence had watched with eager anticipation as the new hominids entered the Ark. They were taller and thinner than the existing host, with slightly larger brain cavities. That could be important, though it was too soon for her to rejoice. Their stone-tipped weapons were similar to that of the host, but more advanced.

Where the host's people had short, thrusting spears, these new hominids carried spears that could be thrown. It probably made them more successful hunters, which could account for why their people were surviving the world's latest glaciation where their unfortunate cousins had all but been wiped out.

She'd been intrigued when the two groups had clashed. These new hominids were clearly more violent than the host's genus, a more aggressive offshoot of the same species. Could they interbreed? An interesting experiment.

The host had dutifully led the new hominids into the rejuvenation chamber and placed the wounded one in a rejuvenator. It had done so of its own cognizance, but that was the limit of the creature's intelligence. Useful, but still not able to do what she required.

"Are you a god?" the Ken asked, glancing around curiously. A little fear touched her gaze, but only a little.
 

Ka was shocked. The current host could manage simple words and concepts, but higher reasoning and imagination were sadly lacking. For this Ken to understand the concept of a deity, she had to possess both.

"You might consider me so," Ka replied, willing herself closer. She drifted like a specter, coming to rest next to the Ken.

"You are like us, but different. Your eyes are too large and you are too tall," the Ken said, grip tightening on her staff as Ka approached.

"I am patterned after the builders," Ka explained, knowing what its words were likely to mean little. "I was left to steward this Ark when they departed long ago."

"Where are we?" the Ken asked, turning about in a slow circle as she took in the construct.

"It is difficult to explain. You might say we are in my mind. Your body remains where it was, next to your companions. Only your consciousness has come to this place," Ka said. She plucked at a thread in the Ken's mind, and the construct changed. "Is this more pleasing to you?"
 

They were now surrounded by low, fir huts, supported by thickly cut branches and packed slow. A fire burned in the center of the village, with a haunch of mammoth meat roasting on a spit over it. The place smelled of smoke and cooked flesh, a bizarre mix.

"My village," the Ken gasped. She moved to one of the huts and tugged open the flap. "What sorcery is this? Set burned this place weeks ago."

"I conjured this memory to make you more comfortable," Ka explained. "If it makes you uncomfortable I can change it."