The Necrow couldn’t be fooled by the yokai’s act…could it?
CHAPTER 13
HARBINGER OF HEAVEN
Akar opened his eyes as the queen approached, and was faintly impressed by the yokai’s imitation of the human form. She was indeed beautiful: hair shining like fresh ink, skin flushed with vitality. Her eyes were dark pools, but in their depths Akar could see an icy blueness brewing. She was more entrancing than any of the prisoners in Belshazzar’s dungeons. Malthusias would have lost his sanity with a single glance.
And yet, when Akar looked upon her, he felt nothing. As disturbed as he was by the anguish felt when looking upon the moon, glowing proudly in its high firmament, at this moment he preferred that vision to this one. Alluring though this creature was, her beauty contained none of that element which made the moonlight so astonishing.
“What troubles you, spirit?” Amaterasu asked. “Do you not know what loveliness is?”
“No, you are quite lovely, goddess. Even a blind man can see that. However, it is disappointing that for all your beauty, you are not sublime. Surely there is something wrong with that?”
The queen hissed, her dark eyes flaring with pinpoints of eldritch light. The air in the hall crackled with pressure as if beneath a gathering storm. Akar could see rivulets of energy weaving themselves around her. Such was Akar’s confidence in his own power that he did not even try to interfere with what she was doing.
“I know all the secrets of the human heart,” Amaterasu hissed, “And you too are human, though you deny it, damned spirit!” Her seven spectral tails flared, and the waters of the Well surged into the Necrow.
Fire burned through Akar’s bones, his tendons, his nerves, writhing upward through his flesh. He looked down and saw his hands shaking, flesh crawling as if with maggots, the purple bruises igniting into pools of living blood.
The golden waters struck his heart, and he felt the will of the goddess moving through him. The muscles in his chest contracted with tremendous energy, bursting into a life all their own. The pain was immense…but also…thrilling.
The Fox Queen stepped close and breathed upon him. A warm sigh of air tickled the inside of Akar’s parted mouth. With it, the yokai’s spirit disgorged fragments of emotion she had consumed from her human prey. They entered him, and Akar staggered as the muscle in his chest pulsated in response.
He could feel, distantly, sensations similar to what he had sensed in the minds of living men. He felt it, experienced it rather than witnessing it. He was an agent, an actor, a vessel, possessed by terrible urges only faintly understood.
The Necrow struggled to orient himself. This feeling was only a property of the body, an affliction of mindless animal organs. But struggle as he might, he could not control it. Akar’s body was no longer his own. It was a puppet, a blind receptacle for whatever passions the yokai chose to instill in it.
Amaterasu laughed gaily. “Arrogant one, my kind knows the secrets of life itself! I have guarded this Well since its inception, and I know the means whereby it revitalizes and transforms the earth. So I transform you! Your body shall live, hot and yearning for mine, and your spirit shall be ever captive within it!”
Akar was fascinated despite himself. That this body of clay could be transformed, taking on the properties of real flesh and blood – not even Belshazzar had known how to accomplish this! He could feel it becoming aroused, yearning to embrace the figure of the woman standing before him. The flesh moved with impulses of its own, driven by instincts the Necrow could not understand.
And yet, whatever Akar’s body felt, it could not truly reach him. His spirit was still apart, trapped in a void of unfeeling, untouched by the urges of this carnal vessel.
No matter – Akar tried to sever the current linking him with the Well, but could not. He could no longer manipulate the flow of life-energy. Even his inner sight was growing dimmer; he barely perceived it as a faint halo around the yokai queen.
“Foolish man!” Amaterasu crowed. “You are no longer immortal. You are my possession now – a flesh puppet fashioned to do my bidding! What can you do against me, a goddess?”
Akar sighed, and reached out with the one power remaining to him. I can change your mind for you…
The Fox Queen screamed, her tails writhing around him, but Akar was not dissuaded. That is enough. If you kill my body, I will destroy your mind.
The yokai hissed, her eyes burning blue with icy fury, fangs white and gleaming beneath blood-red lips. “How dare you –”
You will answer my questions. What befell the man who first fought against you?
“Who…? Oh, him. He is in one of the rooms that adjoin this hall. Why would you seek to free him? He awaits my ministrations dutifully, as a man should.”
Akar spoke to Keren next: Go. Find him. The girl ran off without another word. At least she was listening to him, for once.
Keren was confused and afraid. Akar had fallen for the queen’s trap – the Necrow stood as if frozen while she caressed its face and moaned about how she had transformed it into something else.
Keren could hardly see anything from where she stood, only the Necrow’s hands as they clenched and unclenched, its undead flesh taking on a new color, its black hair standing on end. She had heard the ultimatum the Necrow had given to Amaterasu, mind to mind. She prayed the first rebel was still alive.
There was indeed a room adjacent to this one, partially concealed in the shadows behind the pillars. The interior was lit with the soft ambiance of candlelight. The room resembled a den with floors and walls of dirt. A clutter of odds and ends was heaped around the edges of the room: finely polished chairs, tables, crystal balls, golden candelabras, silverware and tapestries.
Did real foxes hoard things like this? Keren was fairly sure they didn’t – that was a trait commonly attributed to raccoons. Foxes were notorious for stealing things, but what they stole they destroyed more often than not.
In the center of the room was a stone shaped like a crude altar. On the altar lay a man.
Keren clutched her hands to her mouth, memories of the people imprisoned in Belshazzar’s dungeon flashing wildly through her mind. The man was nearly nude, his undergarments worn to rags. Stout ropes bound his limbs to the altar, which seemed almost as if it had been shaped to receive him. The floor around the stone was strewn with tasseled pillows and cushions, some of them still bearing the indent of Amaterasu’s languid form. So the goddess had lain here, day after day, ‘administering’ to her prisoner’s needs…Keren shuddered.
Then she noticed, almost by accident, something strange. Behind the altar, in a corner where the knickknacks had been pushed aside, was a smattering of blood and fur. Fine, white, downy fur, as if pulled from the underbelly of an animal. The blood was mixed with vitreous humor.
The sight was disgusting. It was also perplexing. Keren knew what this was; she had seen it too often on her family’s farm not to know. “How could a fox be so careless?” she muttered.
Keren jumped in fright as the man on the stone rolled his head to look at her. His eyes were sunken pits; in their depths lay the brightness of a mind bordering on insanity. His muscles strained against the ropes that bound him. The man looked well-formed and vigorous for one who had spent the last few weeks enslaved to a yokai. Keren thought of how it had felt when those monsters in the forest had eaten her heart. She was certain she would have died in seconds. How had this man lasted so long?
Finally Keren came to her senses. This is Tsune’s beloved… “You are Irumi, the warrior who tried to slay the Fox Queen? I’ve come to free you.”
The madness is his gaze flickered. “Free me, you say? You are a strange apparition indeed, to taunt me so. Where did you come from?”
“Herayon!” Keren replied, drawing her knife. She went to him and began to saw at the bonds around his wrists. “Though we came with a group of men from the villages of Iru Mori. They were inspired by your actions, and came to finish the Fox Queen off for go
od.”
Irumi grunted and strained impatiently against the cords as Keren sawed. When but a few threads were left, he gave a mighty pull and separated the rope entirely. “Give the knife here,” he said. “I can cut these quicker than you can.”
Keren complied, albeit reluctantly. She was uneasy at handing this man her only weapon. She stepped back to put some distance between them, and examined the chamber. There were not only trinkets here, but weapons too – blades of many shapes and make; spears and halberds and shields. Some were richly decorated, as if they had been plundered from the tombs of kings. Keren wondered which of them belonged to this man.
In less than a minute the warrior had severed every one of the cords binding him. He rose to his feet, the loincloth only barely clinging to his hips, and flexed his limbs. Keren could not help but stare. Ooh, he was handsome…
The man shook himself, but from what Keren saw in his eyes, what he felt then could not be shaken off. “How long has it been?”
“Your betrothed, Tsune, said it had been two weeks since you left Reihai.”
The warrior passed a hand across his eyes. “Two weeks…surely not…”
Irumi strode to the wall and lifted an ordinary-looking bow, stringing it with the efficiency of long practice. He hefted the weapon and drew back the string, his bare muscles gleaming in the candlelight. Keren marveled at the knotted cords of his back, slick and tense with harnessed power. His expression was terse and focused as he peered along the sight of the bow, eyeing unseen enemies. Then he eased back the string and gathered the quiver.
The archer’s clothes had been discarded on one of the chairs. Quickly he donned his apparel, arranging the lapels and sash with utmost care. The quiver went over one shoulder.
Irumi glanced then at the mess of blood and fur that lay in the corner of the room. “Tell no one what you have seen here. There will be rumors aplenty once this is over.”
Keren nodded, afraid of the coldness in his voice. “Tsune…sends her regards. She is still devoted to you, despite what the villagers threatened to do to her.”
The young man’s face softened imperceptibly, before it seized again with cold hatred. “I thank you for your help, woman. Stay here if you like. I cannot guarantee your safety if you re-enter that hall.” He strode from the room without a second glance.
Keren stared after him, mouth agape. Was he kidding?! She wasn’t going to miss this! She ran to the door and peeked around it. The Necrow still stood rigidly at the far end of the hall, the goddess’ arms entwined around him.
Irumi strode boldly out into the open space, an arrow nocked loosely to the string. “Hail, goddess of dogs! Destiny is not on your side this day.”
Amaterasu looked up. “Ah! See now, my other lover comes! He knows well the ecstasy that follows my embrace. Give in to me, and treasures of joy shall be gleaned from the darkest recesses of your flesh. Or struggle against me; that is even better! Then I can gnaw upon your neck as you writhe and scream beneath me, like a hare caught in the chase!”
“Your very words are poison to men’s ears! Only a halfwit would think to accept your treacherous boon. This is the day we take a stand against you. Your lies will protect you no longer!”
“Oh? Virtuous man, passionate man, you enjoyed every minute of me!” The yokai casually pushed Akar aside, standing proud and unarmed in the center of the hall. Her very confidence was intimidating.
Irumi’s eyes burned with deadly fury as he drew his bow. “Damned fox, your humiliations will be justly rewarded. You cannot stay my hand with your magic this time!”
Amaterasu barked with laughter, her own eyes dancing. “Sweet man: on the contrary, you will soon be back upon my mating bed. My hands will inflict such agony upon you that you will never again think to escape me!”
The archer’s face was dark with anger; teeth clenched, muscles bared. His very hair stood on end, bristled like a cat with arched back. The bowstring twanged, and the arrow hissed like a viper as it leapt towards the Fox Queen’s heart.
There was a blur of motion, so swift it took Keren several moments to realize what had happened.
A huge fluffy tail hung over the woman’s shoulder, a cloud of vapor rising from it. There was a smattering of ash despoiling the pure white fur. Amaterasu brushed the residue from her coat with a pout. “What is an arrow, but a stick with a bit of stone on its tip? You think such a weapon could harm me – I who guard the Well that brings life to this entire land, wood and stone alike?”
Irumi panted with rage, his face pale with fear. “Damn you –”
The Necrow stood immobile to one side, but its voice was clear in Keren’s mind. Of course. The yokai transmuted the substance of the arrow, just as she transmuted this body…
“You are truly surprised? We are shape-shifters!” Amaterasu cried. “Born in a place where matter has no name. You think human life a miracle because it was created from two infinitesimal pieces of male and female? Ha! The yokai learn from the womb not only the secrets of our own creation, but how to recreate it whenever we wish! As for my kind, the guardians whose wisdom extends beyond that of common spirits, we can even recreate matter that is not our own! Did you imagine this hall, this seat, these pillars, were all carved by men with clumsy tools? Nay! They were shaped from living stone, incarnate from my very will! Foolish though mankind may be, you are right to worship me!”
“The secrets of your own creation?” Keren asked, poking her head out of the shadows. “Why do you need men to do your dirty work, then? Why not just multiply yourself like a weed? You were careless, fox-lady: I saw the aftereffects of your birthing in that room. Even wild animals know enough to not leave any trace of blood behind, for fear of attracting predators to their newborns! Where are your pups? If you hate humans so much, why on earth would you mate with one?”
Amaterasu’s icy eyes spun towards her, blazing with unearthly fury. “What do you care, little girl?” she sneered. “Do you understand what it’s like to live a thousand years unchanging? To be all-beautiful, all-powerful, all-passionate? Most of my race would scorn to lie with a human. To stir him to lust and eat his heart, of course; to actually mate with him, never! We keep the balance of nature, after all. A human-yokai hybrid is, by nature, an abomination. I only gave birth to them because I was bored. As soon as I saw them, I felt compelled to slay them. But I am a merciful mother, and so I had them spirited away. It was my wish that this deed never be discovered.
“And so, little girl, for your most ill-mannered and intrusive inquiry, you must die!”
The tail hanging over her shoulder twitched, then shot straight out at Keren. The appendage lengthened like an accordion over the hall’s vast distance, its extra mass popping out of nowhere.
Keren did not even have the chance to scream.
The tail’s razor-sharp tip veered past her face, striking the wall behind with a sickening thud. Frozen, Keren gaped in horror at the yards of silky white fur suspended inches away from her.
Run, you fool!
Akar’s voice inside her mind. Keren obeyed instinctively, ducking past the rigid tail and sprinting for the entrance to the hall. Strange slitherings whispered at her back. She could hear Amaterasu hissing: “Damned spirit, why must you be so stubborn? There’s no use protecting the girl. The remnants of your pathetic power will soon give out, and then you shall watch helplessly as I thrash her!”
“The girl is my charge. You will not lay a hair on her. Despite your boasting and transmutation of my body – fascinating though that may be – some of my powers have exceeded your expectations.”
Keren heard a dull thwack echo across the chamber. She reached the doorway and gripped the mantle, whirling herself around. The Necrow lay prone, its body leaking red liquid across the marble floor. Above it reared a second tail, ridiculously enlarged, which Amaterasu had used as a whip.
Irumi nocked a second arrow and fired at the swaying limb, and again the bolt was vaporized into ash. Amaterasu laughed. “Silly man, y
ou can’t possibly be this stupid! Have the weeks of my enthusiastic love-making addled your wits?”
Keren quailed, prepared to flee the chamber for good, but was stunned by the sight of Akar’s body lying broken on the floor. Why wasn’t the Necrow fighting back? It had gotten all the answers it needed from the yokai; it had even stopped the queen’s tail from impaling her face. If it was capable of defeating the Fox Queen, why hadn’t it done so already?
“Girl! What’s going on here?”
The rebels had arrived. Apparently it had taken them this long to search the upper floors and realize there was nothing to kill up there. The reinforcements would have been welcome if Keren had any hope that they stood a chance against the sun goddess.
The men charged headlong into the chamber, arms at the ready. They stopped when they saw the archer. “Irumi! You’re alive! Praise the gods – we’d given you up for dead!”
“Dead? Unlikely!” Irumi spat. “I’ve only been puzzling out how to dispose of this vixen; she’s harder to kill than I expected.”
“Ha! Perhaps you only need an extra pair of hands, boy. We’ve all killed yokai before – the trick is to chop them into smaller pieces so they can’t think enough to re-grow themselves!”
“Do you think I don’t know that? How am I supposed to dismember a beast that turns any weapon that touches it to dust?!”
The men stopped, gazing up at the goddess in wonder. “Aye…you’re right. It’s got an aura of power around it stronger than any we’ve ever felt. It feels like the very fires of the underworld scorching your flesh!”
Amaterasu smirked. “Ooh…More hearts to sate my ravenous appetite! Have you all come to worship me?” Her twin tails swayed menacingly overhead like vipers poised to strike.
Necrosis (The Omens of Gaia Book 1) Page 18