Touch of the Fire God [Scions of the Ankh 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (17 page)

“It is a dampening spell. Perhaps you care to counter it?’ Seth’s voice was full of confidence.

For the first time, Ralabos realized he had misjudged Seth. He had believed him to be the same impulsive, irrational being he was before. But Seth had had centuries to prepare for this clash, and in his vindictive state, he had become a madman. A genius, it would seem.

Something pricked Ralabos’ skin. Then more of the same tiny pricks began to assault him everywhere. Coldness began to creep into his body, cold like he had never felt before. Icicles, thin as needles, pierced his skin and immediately absorbed into him. They were everywhere, dozens of them under Seth’s command.

“It seems these primitives have made some fascinating discoveries while you slept, old one. Liquid nitrogen freezes objects instantly. Add this to an immobility spell, and things could get quite nasty.

“You cannot move, Ralabos, for ice runs through your veins. The immobility spell will keep you from changing forms. Granted, it won’t kill you, oh great one, but it will render you helpless long enough for me to kill that bitch of yours undisturbed! And once she is dead, you will die, for you will have no reason to live.”

The hard truth of his words hit Ralabos with devastating force. It was true; if she died again, he would surely die. His death meant nothing to him, hers however, meant everything.

No. He would not let it happen.

He was not sole scion of Osiris and Isis without exclusive benefits. He was Ralabos, leader of his people and protector of the lesser forms. Seth would not win this.

On a molecular level, he isolated the substance, sending heat to the very cells that made up the liquid nitrogen. Ralabos began to break it down at an alarming rate, cell by cell, burning the nitrogen from within his bloodstream.

Simultaneously, his mind dove furiously into Seth’s mind, searching for the spell that he had used. Seth screamed from the careless, painful search in his mind.

He threw up blocks futilely as Ralabos overtook his mind, and ah! He found the spell he sought under layers of blocks, which he blasted out of the way as though a child had concocted them. He chanted the spell backwards, making it undo the harm it had caused.

Seth fell to the ground, squeezing his head between his hands, trying to physically will Ralabos out. But Ralabos was driven, relentless.

Rene had to live. Seth had to die.

In seconds the liquid nitrogen ran through his body like water, useless and powerless. Ralabos flexed his arms, the pricks gone as if they had never been.

His anger, however, was almost a thing of literal substance. Ralabos sent out a call to the others:
“Protect yourselves, for I will become the force that made the primitives call me the Sun God!”

Ralabos extended his arms outward, his head thrown back in concentration. The heat from his body unraveled his braided hair and made it blow around him in the thermal air. Light began to shoot from his hands and the top of his head. It burst from his body until he was nothing but a burning silhouette of pure white heat.

Seth, still trying to retain his sanity from the telepathic onslaught, had no time to protect himself from the heat. His hair began to smoke and sizzle. Heat began to emanate from his body. Seth began to scream.

“You have been sentenced to death by Ralabos in the name of our King Osiris and Queen Isis for deeds committed against your kind and those of humankind. Let the heat purify your soul in hopes that you will be worthy to one day be reborn to that which you tried to enslave.”

With that said, Ralabos let out the full impact of his power, for that is what it took to kill one of their kind, a great force of nature.

He burned as hot as the sun; the mansion itself would have caught on fire if Thoth, Anubis, and Hathor had not put up protective shielding. Seth was burned alive, and in moments there was not a trace of him to be found. Ralabos immediately reduced the heat, knowing he had scorched the earth and its surroundings horribly.

He panted lightly from the exertion. His hair was plastered to his back with sweat. His gray eyes carefully looked around for any more of Seth’s tricks. Seth the God of Chaos was dead. Rene was safe.

He raised his face to the sun and bade it goodbye. His job was done. He had saved her, and now he would meet his end.

He did not know if she had converted or not, but it did not matter. She was safe, and he would not force her hand for his own sake.

She had seemed more than reluctant to accept her fate with him. Perhaps it was time he admitted that her attraction to him was merely physical and that that wasn’t enough for him.

He wanted to have her heart. He wanted to live in her mind every waking moment, as she did in his. Taking one last look around, he took his raptor form and sped off, but not before saying goodbye to an old friend.

* * * *

“How do you feel?” Hathor asked as Rene opened her eyes.

“Reborn,” she smiled. “Hathor, old friend, I have missed you!” Her dark eyes twinkled as she reached to hug the woman she had known her whole life.

“I take it everything went as planned?” Thoth asked as he stood behind Hathor, grinning, quite proud of himself. He had finally repaid a debt. It was a repayment long overdue.

“I am fine, Thoth, thank you. It is hard to explain, but I am Rene, and I am Selkis. However, I cannot remember what it felt like to have been separate.”

She turned to see Anubis in the corner, eyeing her with approval. “Thank you, old friend, as well. Without you I do not think I could have withstood such temptation.”

“I would do it again, my queen.” He gallantly bowed.

Thoth, Hathor, and Anubis looked with great concern as a blast rocked the mansion. “It does not sound as if things are going well,” Thoth murmured as he listened intently at the sounds of battle.

“When I fought him, Seth seemed to have more tricks up his sleeve than usual. Ralabos would be wise to be careful,” Anubis stated, concern etched deeply into his handsome face as he recalled his own skirmish with Seth days before.

“Ralabos has been leader for a long time. He will make things right,” Hathor said in an assured manner as she began to help her reborn friend to stand.

She stood tentatively at first, then began to bathe in the power she felt. It was heady to say the least. She knew she could disappear and reappear at will. She felt her totem creature inside of her. The scorpion coiled its tail and uncoiled it, making its presence known, letting her know she was able to again shift.

Though parts of her remembered this sensation, the part of her that was once human did not have its own memory of it and couldn’t wait to experience it. A huge scorpion would probably scare the shit out of people!

This new her would take some getting used to.

“Protect yourselves, for I will become the force that made the primitives call me the Sun God!”

The call came from Ralabos, she was sure. It was not directed toward her, but she heard it all the same. Quickly Thoth and Hathor began to chant in unison, erecting a heat barrier. Anubis began to weave a spell of protection for the mansion itself, for he did not want it to come down around them.

Her heart sped up as she briefly worried about Ralabos getting hurt. He had to do this, she knew.

She dared not make mind contact with him while he fought. He didn’t need the distraction. She waited helplessly until the three of them began to breathe easy and assured her everything was all right.

“Ralabos, is he hurt? Should I go to him?” she asked frantically.

“No, he is not hurt,” Thoth replied glumly.

“Then why the face? What has happened?” she demanded, her heart now feeling as if it was going to pop out through her chest.

“He has told me goodbye.” Thoth looked her in the eye, “But you should go to him, for he seeks his own end.”

“I thought he could not die?” Rene panicked and clutched at Hathor’s hand unconsciously.

Then Selkis-memories and knowledge began to surface. “A great force of nature can kill us,” she said to herself. “What could possibly kill one as powerful as he?”

“I have pondered this as he slept,” Thoth interjected. “I knew that there was the possibility he would seek his own end if you rejected him.”

“I didn’t ...” But she stopped. She had rejected him. She had been stubborn and ungrateful for his attentiveness to her life.

She seemed to have fought him every step of the way. She had tried to find ways around the ceremony. Ralabos had seen that as a rejection of him. How could he not?

True, the ceremony was designed to give her back her immortal life, but it was also so that he may be with her forever. Her refusal to accept things could certainly be viewed as rejection. She had been late in realizing her love for him. She would not be too late now.

She turned to Anubis, the authority on death. “Where did he go?”

“He is the Sun God, as least that is what he was worshipped as. The only thing that can stop heat—”

“Is the cold,” Rene finished for him. “He intends to go somewhere cold.”

“Yes, it makes much sense. He would need to replenish his energy after the fight. But he will not, for after the journey itself, it would be much easier for death to claim that which does not have the power to fight back,” Anubis said solemnly, thinking of how he too had plans to end his existence.

“I cannot allow that,” Rene said, and then she was gone, with the prayers of Hathor, Anubis, and Thoth behind her.

* * * *

Selkis sought fervently with her mind for the presence of Ralabos. She caught a faint trail of him and immediately pounced upon it.

He was not traveling as rapidly as he could have. Perhaps he saw no reason to rush his own death.
A little bit of common sense at last.
Rene sighed to herself. The trail became stronger, and as soon as she could, she sent out a message.

“You are a coward.”
She could sense the surprise in his mind as he acknowledged her presence.

“I am no coward. To what end do you speak?”

“You would just leave like that, without so much as a goodbye?”

“I believed it would make you happiest this way.”

His words became stronger as she began to gain upon him; she needed to keep him talking to her. She would never be able to keep up with his raptor form while she herself traveled as an insubstantial mass. It required too much concentration to keep herself from dispersing.

“You are always making decisions without my input.”

“As I remember, zenj’a, you were quite reluctant to trust me and join my race. You did not want me.”

“I didn’t want to die, you jerk! I just didn’t want you taking over my life.”

“Jerk?”

“Yes, jerk.”
She paused before she went on.
“I made the transition.”
There was silence for a moment, and she sensed Ralabos’s flight slowing down even further as he digested her words.

“That is good.”
He finally answered her.
“You are immortal again, free to live your life as you choose.”

“I have made my choice.”
Rene could now see the large bird ahead by almost a mile.

“I told you I would accept whatever choice you made.”
His voice sounded sad.

“I have chosen to stay with you, Ralabos, if you still want me.”

She saw the bird dive suddenly and practically flip in the air as it made its way back. She flew toward the ground, the bird rapidly approaching.

In minutes they both were on the ground and taking their original forms. Ralabos was completely naked and panting slightly from his flight, more so from excitement.

She stood ten feet from him, naked as well, her breasts heaving for the same reasons. She felt it was her duty to speak first. She had caused the indecision in him; she should be the one to make it disappear.

“I love you, Ralabos. I have loved you for century upon century. I have missed you just as long. Parts of me remembered you when you came back to me, but I was too scared and stubborn to acknowledge it.

“As a human I loved you and knew this before the transition. After the transition it only became stronger. If you will have me, my king, I would like to be with you forever, and when forever runs out, I will continue loving you as time starts all over again.” She took small steps forward as she said these words.

Ralabos watched the woman he loved more than anything step toward him. His eyes were heated with desire for her and only her. She loved him. She said she loved him, not only as Selkis, but as Rene she loved him!

She stood before him now, her lovely body naked for his eyes alone to devour. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. She came willingly into his arms and molded her body against his. His cock was the only thing that came between them as he held her tightly.

Without preamble he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Before he could even slide her down his cock, she pushed herself down, impaling herself on him in one movement.