Queen of the Gryphons: Ishtar's Legacy: Books 1 & 2

by Lisa Blackwood

  Queen Iltani and Burrukan were the first to arrive, followed by a worried Regent Ahassunu. Soon more councilors came, answering the summons by their king. Not long after, the healers arrived. King Ditanu laid out plans that might help slow the spread of the disease to uninfected city-states and then requested a list of anything and everything the healers might need.

  “I’ll get the herbs and other supplies even if I have to hunt for them myself,” Ditanu said, his king’s mask falling away, showing a glimpse of the worried father beneath the calm exterior.

  ***

  The meeting went long into the night and when it concluded each councilor, healer, priest, and priestess was assigned a work detail comprised of servants and nobles alike. When New Sumer was threatened all became equals.

  Kuwari and Enkara had been assigned the task of hauling emergency sleeping pallets from storage in the lower levels of the palace. They were generally reserved for coronations when the entire population of New Sumer descended upon Nineveh, far outstripping the capacity of available lodgings.

  Now the pallets would be used for the sick as they were brought to the healer’s quarters. From the dark glimpses of his visions, Kuwari saw how the sick would overflow out into the halls around the healers’ quarters and later, further still, filling the great hall, council chambers, courtyards, gardens and any bit of available space.

  Presently, Kuwari was standing shoulder to shoulder with Councilor Enheduana and a priest named Balathu. Enheduana was a pleasant sort of woman, hardworking and not given to chattiness outside of the council chambers. Unfortunately, the priest was in love with his own voice.

  Though that might just have been nerves. Some people didn’t handle stress well.

  Knowing hundreds of their people were even now falling ill tended to do that. He was just reaching up to remove a stack of the wood pallet frames from the shelf in the far back corner of the storage room when Enheduana placed a hand on his arm and then held out a cloth-wrapped bundle.

  At the touch of her skin to his, the gift and curse that allowed him to read others flared to life. He felt her true allegiances and they were not to Ishtar. He stepped back and instinctively drew a dagger.

  “You won’t be needing that. I am no threat to you as you already know. Otherwise, your Blade would be leaping across the chamber to gut me where I stand.” Enheduana thrust the package at him again. “Take this and use it if you don’t want to see your younger siblings die. When I was blessing them earlier, I delivered a more potent version of my Lady’s plague to them. They won’t have days like the other victims.”

  Kuwari’s nostrils flared as he fought to stop himself from reaching across the distance and wrapping his fingers around her treacherous throat. “Why have you betrayed your king and your people?”

  “I have not betrayed my king. I serve my queen. Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld. Her bidding I carry out and no other’s.”

  Rage continued to build inside him, but he fought it down. High emotion wouldn’t help his younger siblings.

  “What must I do?” he said at last.

  “Negotiate with my queen and learn what she wants. I’m sure you can both come to a resolution.”

  “I already know what she wants.”

  “Ah,” Enheduana said. “Ishtar has been whispering in your ear. It matters not. Only your cooperation can save your innocent sisters and brothers now.”

  “I could kill you where you stand and still negotiate later.”

  “My life belongs to the service of Queen Ereshkigal. I would gladly die to further her wishes.” Enheduana placed the small cloth bundle down on the shelf next to the pallet frames.

  “While killing you would make me feel better, it would also alert my Blade, and she would stop me from contacting Ereshkigal and possibly saving my siblings. Circumstances outside of your control are the only reason you will survive this day. Remember that, Enheduana.”

  Kuwari snatched up the bundle and then shoved it under his belt.

  Once his business with the Queen of the Underworld was done, he’d be certain to clean house and send the souls of all Ereshkigal’s faithful servants back to her side.

  He spun and walked away from the traitorous viper. Enkara, sensing his mood, stopped what she was doing and came to his side.

  “What’s going on?”

  “My sister and brothers have been exposed to a more potent version of this disease. They don’t have much time.”

  “What?!” Enkara placed her hand on his shoulder and forced him to look at her. “You had a vision, didn’t you?”

  If he lied, she’d sense it. He said nothing, letting her come to her own conclusions.

  “Goddess, it must be bad if you’re not willing to talk about it.”

  “I need to see them, to confirm this news.”

  Enkara frowned unhappily but nodded and led him out of the storage levels. Once they reached the nursery, Shadows bowed but blocked the way.

  “I’m sorry my Prince, but King Ditanu doesn’t want you exposed to the sickness.” A female Shadow explained in an apologetic tone. “Only the healers and their helpers are allowed beyond.”

  “I’ve had a vision, seen danger to my siblings. Move! Now!” Kuwari’s barked command made the Shadows stiffen, but they held their ground.

  Rage swept through Kuwari. Why must everything go badly?

  “Get. Out. Of. My. Way!”

  Still, the guards stood firm. It was Enkara who came to his rescue, stopping him from attacking one of his own Shadow guards.

  “This new danger is to more than just his little sister and brothers. I feel new danger to Kuwari as well. I am Ishtar’s Blade, you will move and allow me to do what I must!”

  This time the guards bowed and moved.

  Enkara led the way and he followed close on her heels. Inside, they made their way deeper into the nursery. He came upon his little sister first. A healer with a headscarf was tending to her, dipping a rag that might once have been white into a bowl of steaming herb-scented water. She wrung it out and used it to wipe away the sheen of bloody sweat from his sister’s face.

  More welled up within moments. A trickle of red seeped from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek to disappear into her hair. The healer looked up at his approach.

  “My Prince, you shouldn’t be here,” she said, her voice muffled by the thick scarf.

  Kuwari ignored the woman.

  Just this morning he’d seen his sister at first meal, laughing and playing with his brothers. Now she might be dead by moonrise.

  Great Goddess Ishtar, please protect my family.

  But he already knew she couldn’t, not without confronting her sister.

  So be it. He’d deal with this himself.

  Ereshkigal might think she’d set the perfect trap for him, but he, in turn, was going to trap her and force her to call back her sickness and swear never to harm his family or his people again.

  And then he was going to force her into a deal she couldn’t break, not in his lifetime at least.

  He saw it now, a vision snapping clear. It was the only way to save lives and create a truce between these two warring goddesses. Enkara would be livid, but it was sacrifice himself or watch all New Sumer fall.

  Unwrapping the bundle, a small medallion fell into his hand. Its metal was dark and unnaturally cold.

  “What is that thing? Where did you get it?”

  Before Enkara could stop him, he looped the heavy chain over his head.

  “No!”

  As the medallion came to rest upon his chest, its magic flared to life, expanding out, racing down his extremities. With a loud roaring like that of a great ocean storm, everything shifted around him, and he was swept far from where he’d been.

  When the world righted itself, Enkara was far-off, but distantly he could still feel her fear.

  Blinking, he realized he was staring at a mural depicting Ereshkigal and Nergal sitting upon their thrones, overseeing the afterlife. In
the forefront of the painting, the seven Anunnaki judges were weighing the deeds of a newly arrived soul, determining if it was pure enough to join the other souls floating about their existence under a vast, star-speckled sky.

  Spinning around to face the room, he came nose to beak with a now familiar eagle-headed Anunnaki.

  “Welcome home, King Nergal. We have long awaited your return.”

  Chapter 40

  One moment Kuwari had been standing directly before her, almost within touching distance. Then he’d pulled out a medallion that gave off that familiar dark power she remembered too well from her childhood. Even though she was standing so close, she wasn’t fast enough to stop him from swiftly looping the chain around his neck.

  Faster than a blink of an eye, he was gone in a rush of cold power.

  Enkara screamed her rage. Shadows came running, but there was nothing they could do to help. The Crown Prince was far beyond their ability to reach. Only she could aid her beloved now, but she needed Ishtar’s help to reach the underworld.

  She broke into a run, darting up through the halls of the palace, making her way to the outside. Shadows raced after her, knowing something had happened to the prince, but not what. There was no time to explain.

  With her new powers strengthening her she outpaced even the fastest of the Shadows, at least those on two legs. Her expanded awareness told her several had halted to take on gryphon form. But the moments it took them to shift forms was all she needed.

  The temple loomed in front of her, and she darted up the stairs. Racing past the line of columns, she entered the temple itself. She wove between startled priests and priestesses to move deeper into the temple.

  When she reached the altar room, a foreign magic greeted her. Skidding to a halt, she drew her crystalline blade and scanned the circular room. Torches and copper mirrors delivered ample light. There were no shadows where an assailant could hide. And yet something was here.

  It felt powerful and old. Like a Lamassu, but not.

  There was only one creature that felt like that.

  “I know you’re here.” How it was here, she didn’t know. One of its kind should not have been able to reside in Ishtar’s own temple.

  “Ah, you’ve come far if you can sense me in my natural form,” the Anunnaki said as he appeared before her.

  Its body was that of a well-built man in his prime, but the rest of it—him—was far less human looking. A noble desert eagle’s head sat atop a thick neck. And framing his wide shoulders were two sets of massive wings. He was dressed like the carving of the Anunnaki she’d seen in the temple and palace, with a fringed, knee-length tunic. Overlaying that was a sash of rich golden fabric. An ornate headdress with a golden diadem rested on top of his feathered head. Large, penetrating black eyes watched her every move.

  She knew from legend that some of the Anunnaki could appear more human if they wished. That this one didn’t would suggest he was looking to inspire fear or reverence.

  “I appear in my true form out of respect to the temple of Ishtar.”

  The legends and sacred texts also said the Anunnaki could read a mortal’s mind as easily as a person could read an unrolled scroll. Since the scrolls were correct about that, she could only assume they were correct about an Anunnaki’s more formidable abilities.

  And here he stood in Ishtar’s temple, at her very altar.

  Whatever his reason for being here it couldn’t be good.

  “You wonder how and why I’m here.” The Anunnaki sidestepped her and slowly paced around the altar piled high with offerings. His body language was non-threatening. And why shouldn’t it be? He didn’t have to threaten at all. If he wanted, he could harvest souls like a farmer scything his wheat field.

  For all he looked solidly flesh and blood, she knew she was looking at a spirit. A powerful spirit that purified souls before they descended to the underworld. His powers ran deeper than that. Like all Anunnaki, he could battle demons and other dark spirits, rendering them impotent.

  Enkara’s hand tightened on the hilt of her crystalline sword. It might be the only weapon that could harm such a powerful guardian spirit.

  “Yes, Blade. That sword could send me back to the underworld to lick my wounds, but if you love your people, you’ll hear what I have to offer.”

  “Speak then.” While he did, Enkara would attempt to figure out his real purpose.

  “I bring with me the means to heal the sick and stop the spread of the disease.” He stepped back and for the first time, she spotted a simple wooden bucket like a servant would use to hold water for cleaning. Except this one had rosettes carved into the wood and beside it lay a large pine cone.

  Neither item was as ordinary as it looked. The Anunnaki were known to use everyday items from the living world and imbue them with great power. Those deceptively normal looking tools were then used for purification and blessing.

  “They can heal the sickness spreading through your people as easily as purifying a darkened soul,” he offered.

  “The illness you started?”

  “I? No, this was not my doing. And none of the other Anunnaki were involved with this particular event. Our role is to protect, bless, and drive away evil. Plagues are not our domain.”

  “And yet you allowed it to happen.”

  “I control the sisters no more than you control one of the great ocean storms that blow and rage across the islands.” The Anunnaki actually chuckled at the thought. “However, you are correct. The sisters’ war has caused much grief. But perhaps with proper guidance from me, you, and Prince Kuwari we can get them to bury their animosity for a little while.”

  “Is that why you’re here? Kuwari traded his life for his family and his people.”

  “That is not why I’m here, but Kuwari did trade himself in the hope that his sacrifice will be enough to save all those he loves and prevent the Queen of the Underworld from striking out again later.”

  “Ishtar will not stand for it. Nor will I. Together we are strong enough to rescue Kuwari.”

  “Ah. I see you came to the temple hoping to gain the aid of a goddess, but they are fickle creatures. She is not here and has allowed one of the Anunnaki into her domain for the first time in thousands of years. Why do you think that is?”

  Enkara’s mind whirled, not liking what his words implied. Yet he was here, and Ishtar was not answering her silent prayers.

  “I have spoken with your great Ishtar, and she has listened to my advice. She will sacrifice Crown Prince Kuwari to save the rest of her gryphons.”

  Enkara was speechless. Never had she felt so betrayed before. All Ishtar’s words of honor, and her pleas to her Avenging Blade to always guard Kuwari, it was all for nothing.

  And, yet, Enkara realized, if someone had offered her and Kuwari an ultimatum of sacrificing themselves for the good of their people, they both would have agreed without question. She drew in deep, calming breaths.

  Ishtar might have abandoned Kuwari, but Enkara never would. “Your plan for a treaty between the sisters requires more than just Kuwari, though, doesn’t it? Ishtar told me how Ereshkigal can’t touch Kuwari directly without killing him. If she does, the soul of her beloved husband will vanish again, beyond her reach.”

  “Yes.”

  “You need me to come with you.”

  “Yes, brave Blade.”

  “How do I know you haven’t been sent by Ereshkigal?”

  “You don’t,” the Anunnaki said simply. “But I could have come with my six brothers and taken you by surprise. I came alone, with honesty in my heart.”

  Enkara looked back at the altar of Ishtar and stared at the deceptively simple bucket and cone. “I will go with you after I’ve seen your ‘cure’ at work. You will start with Kuwari’s siblings since they have a more virulent version.”

  “Very well. I shall heal them now and while I prove to you that my words are true, others of my kind will arrive and tend every human and gryphon struck down by this disease.”
He reached out and reclaimed his tools and then gestured for Enkara to lead the way.

  She did. There was no other choice. It was either accept his help and surrender her freedom or watch an entire kingdom fall.

  When they left the altar room, Enkara understood why no Shadows had interrupted her conversation with the Anunnaki. The guards were trapped outside, prevented from entering the heart of the temple by a shimmering shield.

  The Anunnaki waved a hand and the shield blocking their way vanished.

  A few tense moments followed while she explained to the Shadows and newly arriving city guards what was going on. The tension was further eased by the arrival of a Lamassu who greeted the Anunnaki and assured him there would be peace before returning to his post.

  Had the Anunnaki truly meant to harm anyone, the Lamassu would have known and reacted accordingly.

  Together they made their way back to the palace and the nursery. The Anunnaki faded from view, but she could still feel his ancient presence. He must know enough about the living world and mortals to hide his presence. If others saw him and guessed his purpose here, they would be mobbed, impeding their progress.

  “All Anunnaki once aided the Lamassu in guarding and protecting this world. I know the ways of mortals.”

  “Must you read every thought?”

  “You are projecting them.” The Anunnaki said in a matter of fact tone.

  Well…curse it. “I’m sorry.”

  “It is the special bond you share with your gryphon prince. The magic you both used to forge it comes from Nergal. As an Anunnaki of the underworld, I’m sensitive to it, allowing me to easily read you even though you are also a Blade. With more training, you should be able to control it better.”

  If Enkara lived long enough, she would strive to master that skill.

  When they at last reached the nursery, the guards on duty allowed Enkara and her escort to pass without question because they were unaware of the invisible Anunnaki pacing alongside her. She continued deeper into the nursery until she heard the familiar voice of the senior healer.