Across the Ages (Across the Ages Book One) (16 page)

TWENTY-FIVE

SOUL EATERS

EARLY MORNING
mist rolled along the edge of the city as Will’s contact, a tall man with dark hair and hard eyes who went by the name of Abasi, Lucy, Will, and five other men piled into separate vehicles. They were green and reminded Lucy of the protective armor she’d seen in books about knights.

None of them seemed happy to have Lucy along but they didn’t say anything. Will had made it clear he was in charge and what he said was law. It was impressive to watch the way he handled the men, without ire but still commanding respect.

Lucy had dressed in a pair shorts and a comfortable shirt that morning. Will had taken one look at her and turned her around. He dug through her clothes until he found a pair of jeans, a hot pink tee shirt, thick socks, and hearty boots. Then he’d grabbed her a navy blue raincoat.

“You shouldn’t wear your hair down.”

Lucy didn’t want to admit she didn’t know how to do her own hair.

Will started to laugh. “Come with me.” And he took her hand. Lucy loved the way her small hand felt in his. He took her into the bathroom and pulled a brush from her small suitcase. “Sit.” He found a hair tie and placed it on the counter, and then began to run the brush through her hair. He was gentle. His fingers caressed her scalp as he worked.

Lucy’s heart had never raced faster. It was the most intimate moment of her life. She closed her eyes.

Will made quick work of her hair. “Done.”

Lucy opened her eyes. Her hair had been pulled back in a ponytail. It looked wonderful. “Thank you.” A shorter tendril of hair fell forward into her eyes.

Will picked up a bobby pin, took the piece of hair and pinned it back.

Lucy smiled brightly. She didn’t know how to express her gratitude for what he’d done. 

“Anytime, your Highness.” He winked.

Before Lucy could form a comeback, Will continued. “Get changed. Hurry.”

His clothes were parallel to Lucy’s. Jeans. Green tee shirt. Black raincoat. From what Lucy had read about Egypt, it rarely rained, but Will had said they were in the rainy months.

She changed and then opened the door between their rooms.

Not one to waste time, he said, “I need to check your pack.”

She’d put clothes, underclothes and lots of socks inside.

“You’ve got way too much in here.” He pulled out everything but two pairs of socks, a change of underthings, and a clean tee shirt.

She took the repacked bag and sighed with relief.

“Better, right?”

“Much.”

“Let’s go,” Will said.

***

The vehicles drove for several hours. Only stopping once at noon for lunch and to refuel. They drove away from the coastal city of Cairo and headed up into higher elevations. Around three in the afternoon they climbed out of the vehicles, and donned their gear and packs. Along with the packs, the men loaded up on ammunition, guns, and other various weapons, including a machete. The guns weren’t like any she’d seen during her father’s annual deer hunt.

“Are the guns necessary?” Lucy asked, sliding on her pack.

“Probably not. But if I’ve learned one thing during these excursions, it’s better to be prepared.” Will checked the chamber on his handgun, and then put it as well as another in their holsters. “Do you know how to use a gun?” he asked Lucy.

“If it’s a gun from eighteen fifteen,” she whispered.

Will chuckled. “Better go without then.”

“Agreed.”

“Let’s go,” Abasi hollered.

The foliage was rich. Deep green leaves hung on thick trees. The shrubbery was dense, covering most of the ground. It surprised Lucy that such a place existed in a country known for its desert landscape. The ground felt different than the soil near her home in Sothersby. It seemed to shift underfoot when she walked. Lucy guessed there was more sand mixed in the dirt than anything else.

The group headed into the forest single file. Abasi took the lead with Will following behind and Lucy directly after him. There was a trail of sorts which Abasi seemed to follow. If the vegetation grew too dense, Abasi used his machete to cut it out of the way.

The forest, which had been silent when they first started in, slowly began to come back to life. Birds sang their song. Insects buzzed and hummed. Small animals dashed across their path once in a while. Lucy tried to keep calm, but the thickness of the greenery and the loud noises had her on edge. She had no problem staying close to Will. In fact, if she could’ve climbed onto his back, she might have.

Just as she started to get used to all of the noise, it stopped. Halted altogether.

The men behind her whispered in their native tongue, their fear so palpable she could feel it.

Lucy wanted to ask what was wrong. As she was about to, Abasi froze, lifting his fisted right hand up, arm bent at the square. The group halted and the men stopped talking.

“What is it?” Will asked quietly.

“We’re being hunted.”

“You sure?”

Abasi gave Will a withering look.

“Fine. Okay.” Will turned to Lucy. “Don’t move from this spot.” His face was tight with concentration and worry.

Lucy nodded. She knew showing him she was afraid would only make matters worse. So she did exactly as he said. As he walked down the line whispering orders the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something was out there. She searched the forest, looking for whatever it was that had Abasi on edge.

As soon as Will finished speaking with the man at the end, the man cocked his gun, turned and headed down the path, back the way they’d come. The man in front of him jogged past the other men, Lucy and Abasi.

“Where are they going?” Lucy asked.

Will spoke to her and Abasi. “I’ve sent them to scout our surroundings.”

“Very good,” Abasi said.

Lucy felt her knees start to quake. Her first instinct was to run. But which way? Did she go forward into the unknown or back the way they’d come? Which direction was safer? She didn’t know. “Is it an animal,” she asked.

“More like monsters,” Abasi returned.

Monsters? What kind of monsters?
She thought the question but didn’t ask.

“Weapons out. Stay alert.” Will told the men, glaring at Abasi. Turning to Lucy, his features softened. “Stay close to me.”

She bobbed her head once, too anxious to speak.

Will held his machete in one hand and a pistol in the other. His hat had ben turned so the rim faced toward his back.

Abasi led them forward. No one spoke. The forest was deafening in its silence. Lucy held her breath, afraid to breathe. Her eyes flicked from side to side, searching for the monster that hunted them.

They continued on until they neared the mouth of the cave. The sun had set and the sky was nearly dark. Neither of the men Will sent to scout the surrounding had returned yet.

Abasi instructed the two remaining men to collect firewood. The area in front of the cave was as wild as the rest of the forest. Thick branches filled with dark green leaves blocked the entrance. The place felt untouched.

“Let’s clear the area,” Abasi said. “We need to make room for the tents and get a fire going.” He hacked at the twisty vine-like branches obscuring the cave opening. Lucy stood off to the side, near Will, but away from the knife in his hand.

“Are we still being followed?” Lucy asked.

“We are, but they’re only watching, keeping their distance. I’m guessing they want to assess what we’re capable of before they attack.” Abasi removed his pack, took out his canteen and drank. Then wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

The ground was covered with a deep green moss. Will went down on his knees, opened his pack, took a small shovel from inside, and began to dig.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked.

“Getting started on a fire pit.”

“Excellent.”

Lucy watched him work, admiring the way his muscles strained under his shirt, the way a light sheen of sweat had built along his hairline. Her heartbeat increased. Despite her fear she couldn’t help but enjoy the way her body responded to him. As a woman curious about the sciences she wondered if attraction had more to do with chemicals in the brain than physical desire. With Will her attraction for him seemed physical, sure, but it was also much more.

Will,
she thought, longingly.

The snap of a branch in the forest brought her out of her musings. Lucy searched for something she could do. Abasi had quite a pile of vines stacking up. The cave entrance was nearly free of them. She decided to use Will’s machete and trim back the thick branches to make the camping area larger.

When she grabbed the weapon, Will asked, “What are you doing?”

“Thought I’d cut away some of the branches lest we do not have enough room for the tents.”

“Watch for spiders,” he said.

Lucy thought spiders were the least of her worries. What was hunting them? That worried her more. And what were they waiting for?

“Thanks,” she muttered. She didn’t mind the spiders she’d found around her house in Sothersby. They were large and furry, but she’d known they were of the garden variety and wouldn’t kill her. Spiders in the forests of Egypt were another story. She had no idea what kinds there were. But she wasn’t going to change her mind now. She wanted to help. So she hacked away. It was harder than it looked. Watching Abasi, she’d thought the leaves and branches cut away easily with the sharp knife, but it took muscle. “Do you know what’s hunting us,” she asked Abasi when he came over to help. Lucy didn’t want to be a bother, but she thought knowing would help.

She’d never been more wrong.

TWENTY-SIX

BELLY OF THE BEAST

“MOST OF
the larger predators indigenous to Egypt are extinct,” Will said.

Lucy glanced back at him. “Why?”

“One predator destroyed them all,” Abasi answered.

“Is it man?” She’d read in her studies that many creatures had become extinct all over the world due to humans hunting them.

Abasi frowned. “Not man, but the ammut.”

Will snorted, grumbling something under his breath.

“Don’t mock what you do not understand, William Godwin.” Abasi took another sip of water.

Sweat dripped down Lucy’s back. She took out her canteen and drank as well. “What are ammuts?” Lucy asked, after she’d taken several swigs.

“They are soul eaters,” Abasi answered, eyeing her.

“Lucy tightened the lid on her canteen. “They ate the souls of all the animals in this forest?” She didn’t want to believe such things existed.

“Yes, they eat the souls of any large creature.”

“But why?”

“The ammut are demons whose desire is to possess a body of their own. It is believed that when an ammut takes a soul, it also takes on the body the soul was housed in for a time.”

“My,” Lucy whispered, searching the forest, hoping she wouldn’t find anything. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck prickled. She shivered at the thought. Had she been home, within the confines of her own surroundings she might have dismissed Abasi’s story as nothing more than a myth. Within the darkening forest, amongst the silence, Abasi’s words stimulated her fear. Could such a creature exist? She hadn’t believed in ghosts until she saw her grandmother. Nor had she believed time travel was possible, yet she was in the twenty-first century, cutting branches in an Egyptian forest. If she’d learned one thing over the past few days it was that anything was possible, and that included demons who fed on the souls of living creatures.

“Do the ammut feed on humans?” Lucy asked.

“Human souls are what they crave most.”

“What do these demons look like?”

“They come in the forms of the soul they last took.” He pulled a walkie-talkie from his back pocket, turned it on, and pressed a button. “Lateef, what’s your status?” Apparently his words about the ammut had made him nervous, too. Abasi let go of the button and waited. There was only static. After a few moments, he changed the channel. “Madu, what is your status?” He waited again.

“Lucy, bring me a pile of those vines Abasi cut down. We can’t wait for the others to bring back firewood to start a fire.”

There was just a smidgen of light still in the sky, as though it were hanging on for them, waiting until they could get the fire going. Lucy appreciated the effort. She brought the machete over to Will and then went over to the pile to the left of the cave and bent to pick up the vines. As she did she glanced toward the cave’s black entrance. A twin pair of yellow eyes peered at her. They seemed to be hovering, waiting. A low growl sounded. Lucy froze in place.

Will heard the noise too. “Don’t move, Lucy.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. She became a statue, didn’t even dare to breathe. A large lion strode out. It was nearly the size of a horse. Its mane and fur were dark as the night around them. It opened its mouth, licked its chops.

Lucy’s body trembled. Her heart beat in her ears. She wanted to scream and run away.

The lion padded over to her.

“Hang on. I’m going to shoot it,” Will said, keeping his voice soft.

The lion put its nose to her cheek. The fur around its mouth tickled, but she still didn’t move.

The crack of a gun rang through the night. The lion flinched back, its ears twitching. It pulled its lips back to reveal large pointed teeth. Roared.

Lucy heard rustling and turned. Abasi was running into the forest. The lion chased him out of sight. She heard Abasi scream and then the night was silent once again.

“Lucy,” Will said, his voice low and urgent. He took her arm. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

She didn’t know if she could move. Her legs were shaking so hard, but she said, “I’m ready.”

He went over to her pack and picked it up.

She took it from him. Shrugged in on. “Which way?”

Will had both guns out. “The opposite direction of that lion.” He held out a gun toward her.

“I-I do not think…” She didn’t know if she could kill. She built traps to catch and release little mice and snakes. She’d never even squashed a bug.

He slid one of his guns in its holster. “This is the trigger.” He touched it with his first finger. “The safety is off. Just point and shoot.” He gave a quick demonstration. “Take it.”

Lucy took the gun from his outstretched hand. It was heavier than it looked.

“Let’s go.” Will had only gone a few steps before he stopped.

Lucy ran into the back of him. “What is it,” she hissed, as pain shot through her wrist.

“More lions. At least a dozen.”

She peered around him. It was completely dark now. All she could see were their eyes. “What should we do?”

“Run. I’ll hold them off.”

Lucy didn’t want to leave him. “We’ll fight them together.”

“No. Go on.”

“I won’t leave you. I won’t.” Lucy ground her teeth. Scared or not, she wouldn’t leave him.

“Okay. Aim for those on the right. I’ll take the left.” Will sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Anger like she’d never felt before rose up inside her. “We’re going to get out of this.” She wanted to wrap her arms around him, hug him, tell him they were going to be fine, but there wasn’t time.

“Move back toward the cave while you shoot. On the count of three.”

“One,” she began.

“Two,” he said.

“Three.” She squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked. She hadn’t had a tight enough grip.

Will fired rapidly as he moved backward.

Lucy kept up, tightening her grip on the gun. She fired again, this time aiming for a lion on her right. The bullets didn’t seem to be doing any good. The lions kept coming, but surprisingly they didn’t attack. They seemed to be corralling Will and Lucy toward the cave.

Will recognized what they were doing as well. “They want us in there,” Will said and just then his gun clicked. “Damn.”

Lucy’s gun was out of bullets. She glanced back at the cave. It was dark but her eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Her eyes caught hold of a tall presence standing in front of the entrance. “Will,” she said, stopping.

Will turned. “What?” He saw what Lucy had and raised his weapon.

“I am Mihos. You have entered upon sacred land. Your lives are forfeit. They belong to me.”

Lucy had heard that name before, but where?

“Mihos, my name is—,” Lucy tried.

“Silence,” he shouted, his voice shaking the ground.

Lucy leaned closer to Will. Mihos wore a white wrap around his hips. A multi-colored belt held it closed. He was barefoot and bare-chested with a shaved head, except for a line of hair in the middle of his head that went down to his neck. It was long and hung to the middle of his back. It’d been secured with some kind of bright orange tie. He had gold bands around his wrists and ankles and carried a black staff with the head of a lion at the top. Lucy racked her brain again trying to remember where she’d read about him.    

A lion appeared next to Mihos. He sat beside the man. The remaining dozen or so lions surrounded Will and Lucy.

One of the lions pressed his nose into her shoulders, forcing her forward until she lost her balance.
Lucy fell to her knees.

Will helped her stand. Another lion pressed his nose into Will’s shoulders. They were nudging them into the cave.

Mihos lifted his face. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply through his nose. As he released the air, his golden eyes zeroed in on Lucy. “What have we here?”

The lion pressed Lucy to Mihos. As they moved forward the lion’s head began to glow like a small sun, filling the area with light.

“Don’t hurt her,” Will said, his voice strong and confident. One of the lions took his shoulder in its mouth. It didn’t bite down but Will clamped his mouth shut. He got the lion’s meaning.

Mihos didn’t acknowledge Will. He kept his focus on Lucy. “You’ve been touched by a god.”

Up close he was even taller than she’d thought, at least seven feet. She could feel a thick darkness surrounding him. Like he was the source of dark and it radiated from him. “I’m unclear about your meaning,” she began, and then remembered the amulet within her locket. She glanced down. It was still tucked under her shirt.

A sly grin twisted his features. “I think you do.” His long fingers bushed against her neck. They were cold like ice. Lucy flinched as he found the chain and pulled out the locket. “Your soul will be especially delicious.” 

“Get away from her.” Will’s voice was quiet, strained.

Lucy glanced over. Another lion had taken his other shoulder in its mouth. Her mouth went dry and her heart dropped into her stomach. It beat so hard it made her nauseous. Will couldn’t die. “If you let him go, you can do whatever you’d like with me.”

Mihos’s sneer grew, nearly swallowing his face. “How touching, but I’ll do whatever I like with you both. You have no leverage.”

Lucy knew he was right, but it’d been worth a shot.

“Get them in the cage. I must prepare.” He went inside the cave, his staff illuminating the darkness.

The lions pushed Lucy and Will after him.

Lucy stepped on something hard. It crunched underfoot. Whatever it was covered the entire cavern. They looked like bones. They’d been stacked along the edges in various sized piles. Some were stark white. Others still had blood, flesh and sinew clinging to them. Lucy kicked a skull. It rolled forward and a hairy brown spider with large pincers climbed out of an eye socket. Lucy’s already nauseated stomach rolled. She leaned over and was sick. 

“Keep moving, humans,” Mihos growled.

“Give her a second. Can’t you see she’s ill,” Will shouted, wrapping an arm around Lucy’s waist.

The lion behind Will roared. It was so loud Lucy’s ears rang. The lion behind her pushed her harder. She stumbled, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. The lions drove them through a smaller opening that led deeper into the cave. With Mihos in the lead they walked for a long time, their steps taking them downward.

When they came to a stop, they were in another cavern, much larger than the one at the opening of the cave. Sand covered the floor along with more bones. These were much larger than the human bones they’d seen at the entrance.

A chasm split the cavern in two and a cage rested on the side closest to them. Attached to a thick white chain the cage was made entirely of bars—all four sides, top and bottom—and the bars were white like bleached bones. Lucy wondered what animal had given its life for the cage. 

Mihos opened the cage. “Get inside,” he commanded with a loud boom.

Will stepped inside first. Lucy followed. Mihos shut the cage behind them and locked it.

“What are you going to do with us?” Will asked.

Mihos walked back toward the opening they’d just come from. “Whatever I want.” He stopped. “Keep them company, my pets.” He ducked into the entrance, taking with him the light from his staff.

Except for their golden glowing eyes, Lucy couldn’t see the lions. Once they settled, some of the eyes vanished. Lucy guessed they’d closed them.

“Are you okay?” Will asked, searching her for wounds with his hands. It was highly inappropriate, but Lucy didn’t care. She needed to feel his nearness. His touch on her was comforting.

“I’m not hurt. What about you?” She took off her pack and let it drop to the ground. “Take your gun.” He placed a hand over hers, feeling for the cold steel. She heard him slide it into a holster at his hip. “It appeared as though our bullets didn’t harm the lions. Was it because I can’t shoot or did you have the same issue?”

Lucy heard Will sit. “Mine didn’t affect them either and I’m an excellent shot.”

Lucy pressed her back against the bars and slid down next to him. “What do you think he wants?”

“I’m guessing he and his beasts are the ammuts Abasi spoke of.”

Lucy swallowed. It sounded loud. “He wants our souls?”

“If the stories Abasi told us are true, then yes.” Will took her hand. Hers were cold.

“We’re going to be lion food, aren’t we?”

“I won’t let that happen,” Will said, running his thumb along her knuckles.

She wanted to believe him, but their predicament didn’t look good.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

She closed her eyes, mostly because it was so dark her eyes couldn’t adjust to it, but sleep was out of the question.