Belial’s dark brows narrowed. Then he spotted Tau’s life seal swinging from the staff. He snatched it in mid-air and stared at it. His onyx-colored eyes widened. He glared at She-Aba and reached for her life seal brooch. A sinister smile fissured from his thin lips. “There is another one here with a talisman like these. Show yourself, or these two will be sacrificed now!”
“Sacrificed?” Tau shouted indignantly. “Don’t we get diplomatic immunity?”
“But I have red hair!” She-Aba snapped her fingers. “Doesn’t that give me goddess status around here?”
Belial snickered. “Alas, no. You both have been sadly misinformed. But if you’d like, I can arrange a clean, quick death. No entrails, no mess.”
Lilith clasped her hands. “No, wait! Please spare them. I have one!”
Belial released her friends’ life seals. He turned, making his shimmering purple robe swirl around his thin ankles. He beckoned her over with a long spindly finger.
Lilith gulped. Before she could walk over to him, Etan grabbed her foot. Startled, she looked down. Life was draining from his eyes, yet he still smiled that knowing smile. “You are not alone in this, Lilith. You…you have…the unseen power…inside you…to face…each obstacle…you meet. So…do…your…friends.” He paused to take one last breath. “Remember…this. Trust…this. Know…this.” Then Etan’s olive eyes rolled back, and he lay still.
“Etan! No, no, no!” Ajax-ol sobbed, burying his face in Etan’s mane.
Anapa lowered to one knee and brushed his hand over Etan’s eyes to close them.
Bus-Lu laughed wickedly, rubbing his head. “I’m surprised at you, Shu-Tu. For being a seer, you never saw this coming.”
Shu-Tu smiled. Her eyes rolled around at an accelerated rate, then crossed. “Bus-Lu, you are as blind as ever. There is the known and the unknown. And then, there is the unknowable.”
11
Serpents and Spirals
“How…how could you have known about us?” Lilith asked in a low, guarded voice.
“Such a pointless question, girl,” Belial replied, revealing a polished incisor. “The answer is how could I have not?”
With the point of his bejeweled dagger, Belial lifted Lilith’s dangling life seal from under the neckline of her gown. Lilith swallowed hard and eyed Belial, this Thirteenth Magus of the Arcane Tradition, who specialized in sorcery of the darkest kind. Necromancy. Senseless sacrifice. Black magic.
His nostrils flared like a raging bull. “Spirals,” he said, though it sounded like the hiss of a snake to Lilith. His breath reeked of mint and garlic.
“The power of nature,” Lilith replied bravely. Her throat loosened, allowing her to breathe easier.
Belial laughed wickedly, making the hairs on Lilith’s neck ripple. “You know nothing, girl, nothing of nature. Spirals are the power of all things.”
“Why would someone like you care about our life seals?”
“Life seals? Is that what you call them?” Belial shrugged. “I don’t care. At least not anymore.”
Lilith frowned. “Not anymore?”
“You and those Black Land savages are no longer a threat to me,” Belial replied, wagging the dagger in her face. “My high priestess Zurumu is to be commended, and she will be rewarded handsomely for her insight.”
“What insight?” Lilith clasped her hands together. She tried to dig her feet into the ground, but it was rock hard.
Belial tapped the dagger under her chin. A steely chill went through Lilith. “Zurumu had a dream. It was foretold to her that travelers wearing talismans from the Black Land will come here to disrupt Atlantis. Amongst them, one will carry the spiral power. Zurumu informed me this traveler will be the most dangerous, and that none are to be trusted.”
“Zurumu!” Ajax-ol roared. “She is the cause of this? She is the one not to be trusted!”
“Hold your tongue, Ajax-ol!” Belial spat. “Or I’ll cut it out myself.”
“Belial,” Shu-Tu spoke up, as she cautiously approached him. “There is still the matter of the prophecy to discuss. Atlantis’s future depends upon it.”
“Why should I be concerned with anything the seers who follow the Children of the Law of One have to say, hag?” Belial sneered.
“If you do not listen, then soon there will be no place for you to rule from, Belial,” Shu-Tu replied. “It is as simple as that.”
A sudden rumble shook the earth, making Lilith’s stomach heave. Her feet burned as if she were standing in a pit full of red coals. Birds scattered to the air, and Elie nervously moved from side to side, like she was compensating for the imbalance of this place. A statue of a former king fell off its pedestal. The head broke off and rolled across the tiles to land near Belial. The tremors lasted through three of Lilith’s short breaths, then ceased. Her feet instantly cooled.
Belial’s face twitched like he’d been bitten by a white crawler. “Very well, Shu-Tu, you will have your audience.” Then he narrowed his brow. “And I will have my sacrifice.”
“No hybrids in the Temple of Poseidon!” a guard shouted, holding a spear at Ajax-ol’s throat. “It is forbidden!”
Bus-Lu waved the guard aside. “Imbecile, look closer. This boy hides behind a child’s mask.” He roughly wiped some of the make-up away from Ajax-ol’s face with the back of his hand. “He is here for Belial’s judgment.”
“I believe he’s already been judged in your eyes, Bus-Lu,” Shu-Tu said, calmly. “At least he had the courage to stand up for what he believes in.”
“If anyone should be wearing a mask, it’s that pasty-faced Black Priest,” She-Aba muttered to Lilith.
“Should have whacked him harder,” Tau grumbled.
Lilith stifled a giggle.
Bus-Lu spun around, glaring. He shook Ajax-ol’s staff that he had seized from Tau. “Silence! You are about to enter sacred ground!”
Shu-Tu walked past the guard and up the marble stairs. Rhea and the other seers followed. “Do not make me laugh, Bus-Lu,” she replied over her shoulder. “This place hasn’t been sacred for a very long time.”
Carefully guarded from all sides, Lilith, She-Aba, Tau, and Ajax-ol were led up the stairs to the threshold of the Temple of Poseidon. Columns coated in orichalcum and adorned with serpents and vessels and tridents greeted them like glittering giants. Above the entrance loomed an orichalcum arch with a gold statue of Belial perched on the top. To Lilith, he resembled a hungry vulture with his hook nose and arms spread apart awaiting more victims. The vast inner compound opened up to them like a monstrous mouth with marble stairs and gleaming white pillars on each side. Across the compound, line of smaller golden statues of Atlantis’s past kings stood on both sides of a set of wide, marble stairs leading to the second tier of the temple.
Lilith’s eyes widened. There was no crack in the stairs leading up to the second tier. She knew these stairs well, had climbed them more times than she could count. The Arches of Atlantis were housed in the second tier. This is where her father received the messages from the Children of the Law of One. This is where he relayed those messages to the king. And this is where the Black Priests ruled from. Her eyes moved up to the third and final tier of the temple. She’d never been invited in there. That tier was only reserved for the king and his advisors. And now for Belial, the blackest priest of all.
Lilith’s breath caught in her chest as she peered over her shoulder before they were herded into the compound of the first level of the Temple of Poseidon. Anapa had wrapped Etan’s body up in the dark cover he used to protect his ferry from the rains and had placed him in the ferry. Belial had commanded Anapa’s boat to be set on fire before he left to make preparations to receive Lilith, She-Aba, Tau, Ajax-ol, and the seers inside the temple. Lilith stiffened. Belial’s cruel order would leave Anapa without the purpose he had been bred for—the w
orst possible punishment for a hybrid. Elie had been chained to a tree with a base the size of a temple’s column. Lilith exhaled. There would be no escaping for her. Lilith rocked back and forth. Without the earth beneath her feet, she felt as chained and confined as Elie.
Four huge soldiers stepped in front of the lead temple guard once they were inside. The guard bowed on one knee in front of the tallest soldier and motioned for the other guards to take their leave. All the guards who escorted them up to the Temple of Poseidon swiftly retreated down the winding stairs. Unnerved by this reaction, Lilith looked up at the soldiers. There was something odd about them, something not right. All were captains, each with a tattooed serpent surrounding his neck. All wore helmets stamped with three tridents. All wore a gold breastplate over a black linen tunic and carried orichalcum spears. But there was no facial expression on them. Their eyes, vacant of life, stared back at Lilith and her friends. Their skin was leathery and pallid. A wiggling movement on the soldiers’ arms startled Lilith. Her mouth opened, and she took a step back. Slithering snakes were wrapped around their muscular biceps, held in place by a jewel-embellished black band.
She-Aba sauntered up to the closest guard, who must have towered over her by three heads, even with her new shoes on. She inspected his skin. “You sure could use one of my special body treatments.”
Bus-Lu cackled, sounding more like an old crone than a man. “Altantis’s finest officers from the bird-serpent war brought back from the dead. They are now Belial’s personal temple guards.”
“Belial flirts with dark vibrations, Bus-Lu,” Shu-Tu replied with disgust. “To practice necromancy is to go against the sacred laws of nature.”
“Eww, you mean this soldier is…is really dead?” She-Aba asked, backing away. She tripped up and plunged backward.
Lilith and Tau were there to catch her before she hit bottom. Tau snorted. “I told you these shoes were not sensible when you traded that boat merchant for them.”
“They called to me,” She-Aba said haughtily. “I came. I saw. I needed. Plus they look stunning.”
Lilith rolled her eyes. “Stunning, yes. Practical, no.”
“These soldiers have had no life in them for a long time,” Shu-Tu said, waving her hand in front of an empty face. Lilith heard one of the imprisoned snakes on his arm hiss and strike at Shu-Tu. She moved with ease, and stepped away. “Dark serpent magic is not something to be trifled with.”
“Neither am I.”
Lilith looked around the soulless soldiers. Belial skulked toward them from the shadows of the tiled temple compound. Now dressed in a shimmering black robe with a sash decorated with large pieces of obsidian, Belial waved the guards aside. They obeyed him instantly. A woman, with hair as red as She-Aba’s, walked by his side, clinging possessively to his left arm. Lilith frowned. There was something eerily familiar about this woman, whose clear turquoise eyes washed over them like an unforgiving deluge. A deep purple gown draped her body as if she were hiding a guarded secret, and a thin gold cord with crystal embellished ends wrapped tightly around her tiny waist. Then, Lilith spotted the same leather satchel that Mica had hanging over this woman’s left shoulder. Lilith set her jaw.
“What are you doing with that satchel?” Lilith pointed a finger at the familiar red serpent etched on the satchel.
“You are in no position to ask anything—Lilith—is it?” the red-headed woman said scowling.
“How…how does Zurumu know your name?” Ajax-ol asked in astonishment.
Tau snorted. “Mica must have told her. She’s got his satchel.”
“And let me add, it doesn’t do a thing for your outfit.” She-Aba snapped her fingers. “I would have gone with a yellow satchel and matching shoes. But that’s just me.”
Zurumu clicked her tongue. “The red-haired one is fiery. She-Aba, I believe? Nice shoes.”
She-Aba blinked, then grinned. “Thanks, I got them for a few coins and—”
“Fire-head!” Tau yelled. “Whose side are you on?”
“Oh, and you must be Tau,” Zurumu said, sashaying away from Belial’s side. “I thought I smelled goat dung.”
“As charming as ever, I see, Zurumu,” Ajax-ol spat.
“You do not disrespect a high priestess!” Bus-Lu smacked Ajax-ol’s shins with the staff. “On your knees!”
Ajax-ol winced and fell to his knees. Lilith heard Rhea gasp.
“You are correct, Zurumu,” Belial said, creeping up behind her. His shadow covered Ajax-ol. “He would make a fine sacrifice to appease the disruptive vibrations these children have brought here. And, of course, to compensate for what he has done to your reputation.”
Ajax-ol hung his head. “Do what you will with me. Release me of my fate. I no longer wish to be a puppet.”
Zurumu grabbed Ajax-ol’s chin and forced him to look at her. “We would have made a fine couple, Ajax-ol. The people of Atlantis respect the House of Ajxor. They would see our marriage as a good omen.”
The muscles in Ajax-ol’s neck tensed. “I would never love you the way I love—” he stopped and looked at Rhea. He averted his eyes instantly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that, Ajax-ol, the way you love who?” Zurumu said, peering around her shoulder. “That young seer—Rhea? You know that’s impossible. Belial has forbidden the seers to marry.”
“Leave her out of this!” Ajax-ol seethed, standing. He gripped Zurumu’s shoulders, making her wince. “You betrayed my confidence. Don’t deny it. We both had other plans!”
“Playtime is over,” Belial said, motioning to one of his undead soldiers. “It’s time to receive the consequences for your actions, Ajax-ol. To go against the king’s wishes is to go against mine!”
The entropic soldier struck the back of Ajax-ol’s head with the end of his spear. He released Zurumu and plummeted to his knees. “Ajax-ol!” Rhea screamed. She sprinted toward him, but Shu-Tu grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Leave this to Poseidon, Rhea,” Shu-Tu said sternly. “Know when to act, and when to think.”
Bus-Lu leaned against the gold staff and snickered. Tau’s life seal—still attached to the staff—jiggled with his sickening vibrations. “I swear you’re getting wiser with age, Shu-Tu.”
Belial bent down, grabbed Ajax-ol’s hair, and pulled his head back. “After I deal with the children, I will personally see to it that your eyes never wander again by burning them out of your sockets. You will marry Zurumu, and you will fulfill the contract between Atlantis and the House of Ajxor.”
“But…but what of the sacrifice?” Zurumu asked, her voice catching in her throat. Lilith noticed she gripped the strap of the leather satchel tightly.
“I’ve had a change of heart, Zurumu. You are to be rewarded for your insight. This marriage is your reward.” Belial stood, the cords in his neck pinched as he glared at her. “Is there a problem with my decision?”
Zurumu’s face tightened. “No, Belial. Your will be done.” She loosened her grip on the satchel, placed her hands together, and bowed.
“Shall I have the guards bring up the seer’s tusked beast for your sacrifice, Belial?” Bus-Lu asked, bowing too. He stole a look at Shu-Tu and sneered.
“That won’t be necessary, Bus-Lu,” Belial said, swishing his spindly fingers. “I have a better sacrifice in mind.” His eyes swept over Lilith, She-Aba, and Tau. “A much better one.”
“Belial,” Shu-Tu said in a respectful tone, stepping closer to him. “What if these children are part of the prophecy? Surely you cannot go against what is meant to be?”
“Yeah, you don’t want to do something to us that you’ll regret,” She-Aba said, wagging a finger.
Belial’s upper lip quivered. “I already regret not beheading you in the courtyard.”
Tau snorted. “You make me proud that I’m from the
Black Land.” He pounded his chest, making his Babel shake. “You call us savages, but you’re the real savage!”
Belial bowed. “Thank you for volunteering to be the first sacrifice.” He pointed to the closest lifeless soldier. “Take him to the second tier and chain him to the sacrificial pillar.”
Lilith’s mouth went dry. She quickly scanned the temple. Sickly smells of strong incense almost made her gag. Strange, pungent flowers hung from the walls, drooping and silently pleading for water. Huge, potted plants with leaves that fanned out as wide as Elie’s body were placed strategically in front of each of the temple columns. A tall, shimmering quartz crystal cluster, the likes Lilith had never seen before, was set in the middle of the compound on a pedestal of orichalcum, gold, and silver. Where is he, where is he, her mind buzzed, her eyes darted around. A movement from behind a golden statue of Elem, the reigning king of Atlantis, caught her off guard. She squinted and then smirked.
“The prophecy,” Lilith said loudly. She put a finger on each temple. “It flows through me, speaks to me. This is not good. I see darkness, fire, and destruction here.”
“What are you playing at, Lilith?” Zurumu asked through clenched teeth.
“Mica—the one who came before us—cannot be trusted. He wears a life seal imprinted with serpents and spirals. He is the one you should be afraid of. He brought you that satchel at a great price to Atlantis.”
“Do not listen to her, Zurumu!” Mica shouted, coming out from behind King Elem’s statue. “She doesn’t know I do this to save Atlantis, not destroy it.”
Mica’s pale green attire looked rumpled. Lilith spotted the crystal trident he had taken from the keystone in the seventh Arch of Atlantis stuffed in his sash, next to his snake charming flute. His face looked haggard, his sun-hued hair disheveled, but his green eyes were alert.
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