by Aja James
“I will attack the Ivory Palace from the north,” Inanna related beside me. “The Dark Queen’s defenses are weakest there. The majority of her armies are still with her at our stronghold. It would have taken her all night to tally up the dead. She’s hours away in the worst case scenario.”
I nodded. Made sense, attacking from the north that was. I had no idea what direction would be to our best advantage, but Inanna sounded like she had everything under control. I was just here to sit up and look pretty.
“You mentioned last night that we will have reinforcements from the east and west after we’ve made the initial charge. I’m counting on it.”
Inanna gave me a hard look when I didn’t immediately respond.
“Yes, of course,” I said, because what else could I say? I didn’t know about the reinforcements, and I hoped that there wasn’t anything I had to do, some signal I had to give, to bring forth the aid.
Bollocks.
Perhaps this spur-of-the-moment idea to impersonate Ninti so that she could regain her strength was not as brilliant as I thought.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Inanna said more quietly, leaning closer so that only I could hear. “You used almost all of your powers last night. I’m surprised you are conscious and upright.”
“I feel great,” I lied, baring my teeth in what I hoped to be a confident smile. “Caught a little rest before dawn. I’m fresh as a daisy.”
Inanna was giving me that scrutinizing look again.
I needed to control myself. I got sarcastic when I was nervous. I didn’t recall Ninti ever being sarcastic.
We stopped on the edge of a steep hill, our forces hidden by a tight row of trees. Below, the Ivory Palace glowed pearlescent in the dawning light. There were a few dozen Dark guards in the back of it, down at the base of the twenty feet stone walls and marching across the parapets lining the domed towers above.
This was it. I took a deep breath to steady my hammering heart.
What would Ninti do in a situation like this? Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. With an entire race dependent on her leadership. Their liberty, their very lives, in the balance?
“Let’s do it,” I say firmly, holding Inanna’s intense blue gaze. “This is the day we win our freedom!”
The last I said with a mighty roar, raising my fist in a rallying cry.
The soldiers’ war cries echoed mine, like the wrath of thunder booming through the portentous air, as they descended en masse down the steep hill, weapons drawn.
What happened next lasted less than an hour, but it felt like days. I watched the battle from my position on top of the hill, starkly visible dressed all in white, two guards flanking me on either side.
The Pure warriors fought their way through the back gates, infiltrating the rear of the castle. I’d never seen them fight like this before. Well, I’d never seen any battles up close, but I’d always assumed, based on stories, that the Dark forces were much more fearsome, aggressive and better trained.
Today, however, the Pure warriors showed their might, bolstered by the strength of Ninti’s Gift. They were fearless, their strikes unerring. Even when they were wounded, they didn’t waver, continuing to cut through their enemies as if they felt no pain. Often, I would catch the eye of a soldier, when their wounds were too many, when their strength inevitably waned. They looked at me as if I was a beacon of hope, someone to inspire them to keep going. Keep fighting.
So I tried to convey that hope and confidence when I met their eyes. This was Ninti’s role. My role. I had to give the Pure warriors hope even when there was none.
So I sat there on top of Ninti’s horse, clearly visible to any soldier who looked toward the hill. Pure and Dark alike. It was only a matter of time before my enemies caught on. Before they realized that the woman dressed in white on top of the hill was somehow important for rallying the Pure troops. But hopefully by then, the Pure Ones would have gained the upper hand. Hopefully when I was discovered and taken down, their freedom would be within reach.
Behind me, farther into the forest that we’d traveled through to get here, I could hear the sounds of people approaching, leaves and twigs crunching underfoot. All of the Pure soldiers were down in the battle below, so whoever was coming this way couldn’t be friends.
The four guards beside me had the same idea, for they drew their weapons and barricaded my back.
I didn’t look to see who was coming. It didn’t matter. The guards would unfortunately die this day fighting to defend an imposter. Perhaps I should have sent them to join the battle below. But that would have raised suspicion, and Inanna wouldn’t have stood for it.
I kept visual connection with the Pure warriors for as long as I could. Soon, my guards engaged in a death match of their own with enemy soldiers behind me. They wouldn’t last long. It sounded like our enemies were many. Even with strengthened souls, the Pure guards were doomed to fall.
In that moment, Inanna looked up at me, a brief glance in the heat of battle, her eyes blazing with adrenaline and courage, her face streaked with sweat, dirt and blood. Her lips curled slightly at one corner in a cocky smile.
They were winning, her look conveyed.
And then the moment was gone, as she dove back into battle, unleashing her chained whip across the torso of a Dark soldier, cutting him in half and disintegrating him into ashes. That was the last thing I saw before something slammed into the back of my head—
And darkness consumed me.
*** *** *** ***
When I regained consciousness, I really wish I hadn’t. Everything hurt like my body had been set on fire, dipped in salt, then bathed in acid, with a thousand cuts flayed through my skin.
Oh.
That description was actually quite close to reality. There were parts of me that were burnt. I could still smell the acrid scent in the air. My chest, my thigh. It felt like I did indeed have a thousand cuts on my body, but perhaps there was only twenty or so. The pain blended together so I couldn’t isolate them well enough to get a good count. Some of them definitely had salt rubbed inside, because those areas hurt like a fucker! Even worse than my other wounds, even my acid-eaten right hand.
“There you are,” an emotionless, pitiless, but nevertheless melodious voice sounded beside my ear.
“Wake up, pretty girl.”
A gentle hand smoothed down my cheek, a thumb rubbing slowly across my lips.
I swallowed down the screams building in my throat at the unbearable PAIN where my body used to be. What body? There was no body. Only ravaging, undiluted agony.
“I’ve left your face intact,” the female voice said. “The other wounds might even heal fully in time. Maybe not the ones with salt in them, but…You will still be beautiful at the end of this.”
I opened my eyes a sliver to look at my tormentor, for I realized that she’d been torturing me for quite some time. Happily, I must have lost consciousness when the pain became too acute, and it was always acute.
Ah, ignorance was such bliss. If only I could pass the fuck back out.
“I see that you are aware this time. Good,” the female said.
I realized that it was the Dark Queen Ashlu. I’d only seen paintings and marble busts of her at the village fair. Heard tales of her unsurpassed beauty. The real thing was a thousand times more compelling.
Too bad she was such a cock-sucking bitch.
“Your little army has succeeded in capturing my palace, well done. But they are now holed up there, surrounded on all sides with no escape.”
Shit. That didn’t sound good. What happened to our reinforcements?
“And I have you, their Lady of Light. Isn’t that what they call you? The only remaining leader of this misfit band of rebels now that Tal-Telal is gone.”
Ha! If only she knew who she really had.
But I wasn’t looking forward to more rounds of torture, so I kept my gloating on the inside. On the outsid
e, I concentrated all my strength on keeping up the disguise. But my body was beginning to fail me, my strength seeping out with my blood. I wouldn’t be able to keep up the impersonation much longer.
“What I did to you is only a tenth of what I will do to the surviving Pure Ones,” she growled, vengeance and fury distorting her voice. “A lesson must be taught. A quick death is too good for usurpers like you.”
I closed my eyes again and let her talk. Blah, blah, blah. If she had time to “play” around with me, she must not have figured out a way to break through the Pure Ones’ hold on the palace. The Dark forces hadn’t won yet.
“Look at me when I speak to you!” she shouted, grabbing my chin and forcibly turning my face toward her.
I squeezed my eyes more tightly closed just because I could.
Mistake.
She cuffed me with her iron wristband so hard, my cheekbone broke and my jaw cracked. Well…now my eye on that side would be too swollen to open anyway. Ha!
“My queen,” a male, soldiery voice called from some yards away.
“Report.”
“The shadow warriors appear to be overtaking the palace.”
“Good. It’s about time those assassins put their skills to u—”
“They are overtaking our forces, my queen,” the soldier interrupted. “The shadow warriors are fighting alongside the Pure Ones.”
“What?!”
Aha! That must be what Ninti meant by reinforcements and unexpected allies. There were no mightier fighters in the world than the shadow warriors led by the legendary Lord Wind. One shadow warrior could take down hundreds, if not more, of Pure and Dark warriors. Lord Wind himself could destroy an entire legion bare handed.
But how did Ninti manage to convince him to side with the Pure Ones? He was Mated to the Dark Princess Anunit, after all. He’d always fought for Queen Ashlu.
I must have made a noise, because the Dark queen’s attention was unfortunately back on me.
“You did this. How did you do it? Undo it now!”
I couldn’t help the chortle that escaped.
Truly, was she daft? What was I supposed to do, even if I could lift a finger to do anything? I was laid out naked on a stone slab, cut into ribbons with too many broken bones to count. And even if I could do something, what made her think I would? She could torture me some more, I supposed, but look where that got her thus far—nowhere. I was such a wuss I passed out at the first possible opportunity.
An unconscious pretend-Ninti wasn’t going to be in any position to call off Lord Wind’s army. She could carry my mangled mess of a body to the leader of the shadow warriors himself and order me to call him off. As if he’d listen. As if I’d do it. I hadn’t come this far, endured this hell, to give it all up now.
With an infuriated shriek, she stabbed a sword right through my shoulder into the stone beneath.
Ouch. That really hurt. My heart floundered in my chest, the staggering pain causing it to seize and choke.
“What in…”
I heard the queen’s muttered surprise a moment before I felt my body transform involuntarily. The pain was too much. My strength was gone. I could no longer hold my guise.
“What are you?” she whispered, staring down at what must undoubtedly be my ugly, monstrous face. A male face.
“I’m the reason you lost the war, bitch,” I rasp, pulling my swollen lips as well as I could into the semblance of a fuck-you grin.
The queen roared in fury and viciously pulled out the sword she’d stabbed into me, the sudden release of pressure making my blood gush through the wound in a veritable flood.
“Deal with it!” she shouted to nearby guards. “String it up the nearest tree, the most visible one there is, so that all those Pure rebels can see. Hang it by its toenails, I don’t care! Get it out of my sight and wipe that fucking sneer off its ugly, fucking face!”
Oooh. I must have made the Dark queen a widdle mad. The poor, evil, deranged she-demon. I hoped she went into battle like that. Bound to make a mistake when the red haze of fury blinded you to all else.
“You, with me. Now!”
A dozen or so footsteps stomped out of whatever chamber I was held in.
The blood loss was making me faint again. Eagerly, I awaited blessed oblivion, because the next part was rather unpleasant.
When Ashlu ordered the remaining guards to “wipe that fucking sneer off its ugly, fucking face” they took the word “fuck” rather literally.
Unfortunately, I was conscious for that bit. Fortunately, I’d been here before, so I knew what to expect. Didn’t make the experience any more bearable though. But I still didn’t cry. I didn’t shed a single tear throughout the whole ordeal. Not the torture, and not the fucking.
And when they strung me upside down by my toenails (don’t ask me how they did it, they were ingenious in figuring it out), so that my blood bled slowly out of me from the countless lacerations and cuts all over my body, I didn’t cry then either.
I finally passed out.
*** *** *** ***
“He’s dead. Leave him.”
“Are you sure?”
“That he’s dead?”
“That’s it’s a ‘he’.”
Someone nudged me to my back with their booted foot, kicking apart my legs.
“Those are male parts. So, yes, it’s a he.”
“Hmm. Those do indeed appear to be male parts, though the swelling, dirt and discoloration make it difficult to tell. I wonder if there will be lasting damage.”
“He won’t be alive to know it, will he?” the first voice, a gruff growl of a man, huffed.
“You say the truest truisms, Lord Atar,” the second feminine voice quipped.
I almost smiled at her dagger-edged sarcasm.
“Hmph,” was the gruff man’s reply.
“He has a beautiful face, at least. With a little kohl around the eyes, he could pass for a gorgeous woman.”
“The flat chest is a dead giveaway.”
“I bow to your powers of observation once again, Lord Atar.”
Oh, I rather liked this female.
“Your band of mercenaries performed quite a feat today, I thank you for your aid. It’s not often the most powerful Dark Queen the world has ever known is dethroned after three millennia of rule.”
“Paid me well, didn’t ya? Couldn’t refuse.”
“Wise man,” the female murmured. “Now that you’ve done your part—spectacularly so—you and your men may return from whence you came, your saddles filled with gold.”
“So I’m being dismissed? What about my other prize?”
This last was said with what sounded like a leer.
“Now, now. Let’s not get carried away. My mother might have spread her legs indiscriminately for any cock in her vicinity, but I’m afraid I have a slightly more…refined taste.”
“You refusing me, girl?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call me that if I were you, Lord Atar,” the female’s voice turned downright scary, so icy cruel I could feel phantom chills chase down my broken spine.
“Leave.”
The gruff man seemed to possess a few wits, for he finally did as he was told, stomping through the forest.
Forest… I was lying on the ground in a forest. Why was I still alive? How could I still be alive?
“What do you think, my Enlil? Should we leave him? Seems such a waste,” the female spoke to someone else who stood close enough to hear despite her softly uttered words.
Enlil? Lord Wind? The Lord Wind?
“Do as you wish, Princess,” the fabled shadow warrior said in a low, smoky voice.
And then he was gone. I didn’t know how I knew, for he made no sound, but I could feel the absence of him. His aura, his power, was a tangible thing.
“You won’t live much longer if I leave you here, will you, pitiful creature?” the female’s voice was closer. She must have couched down b
eside me.
Cold fingers grazed my face.
“But you are strong, I see. Still in your corporal form despite everything they did to you. What did you do to incur their wrath, I wonder? You have the marks of my mother’s henchmen. I’m amazed they hadn’t outright gelded you.”
I didn’t know what triggered it, perhaps it was a self-defense mechanism, but when her hand trailed down my neck to my chest and stomach, I transformed. I didn’t know what form I took; I didn’t care. As long as it was anyone’s form but mine. I didn’t want her to touch the real me.
A soft gasp of surprise. And then—
“Interesting. A shapeshifter. You have a unique Gift, little creature. Hmm…I think I’ll keep you.”
Before I knew what that meant, sharp fangs struck into my jugular.
Oh Goddess it hurt!
The poison in the dagger-like teeth tore through my veins like claws. My flesh grew colder, my heart beat slower, my faint breaths all but ceased. And then everything did stop, as I balanced on the edge of life and death, before plummeting into an endless abyss.
I died.
But in that instant, when my heart had stopped for ten whole beats, something dark and sinister bloomed within me, filled my deadened heart and ravaged soul. Yet emptying them at the same time. I could hear her haunting laughter in my head, the female Dark One who bit me.
Turned me.
Made me truly into the abomination I’d always been called. A vampire who’d been a Pure One. A hideous, vile thing to use and abuse.
“Wakey, wakey, my darling creature,” my Mistress’s voice whispered in my head, commanding me to rise.
So when I opened my eyes, they were black with red centers just like hers.
Erebu was dead. I was alive.
I was my Mistress’s Creature.
Chapter Ten: Hero Worship
*THE CREATURE*
Once upon a time, there was a baby cuckoo hatched in a nest of fluffy, golden ducklings. The mama and papa ducks looked at its gaudy green wings and red-rimmed eyes and shuddered with distaste. But no matter, it was there, and it was quiet. So the duck family ignored it to the best of their ability and carried on with their daily lives.