The Black God's War (40 page)

The Rezzian healers laid their hands on the Haizzem and uttered strange words Narayani did not understand. Caio’s body only twitched. He began to moan. The king looked again to Narayani and sharpened his glare.

“Your magic not heal him,” Narayani said.

The king knelt beside his son. “We do not practice magic! Say that again and I will cut out your tongue.”

Without this Caio, I am surely dead.
“I can heal him. I can heal Rezzian”—
not magic, what else
—“divine power.”

The king gave her no answer. He told the warpriests, “As soon as you can move him, carry my son to safety.”

The bald men bowed in agreement as the king prayed over his son.

Rezzia’s king placed his golden helm over his head and stood again. He began issuing commands to older, higher-ranking men on horseback, below the platform.

The king turned once more to the warpriests and pointed at one of them. “You! Pray to Lord Danato for this: I want the pig unconscious but alive, so she cannot use her foul magic.”

Narayani saw one of the warpriests step forward and bow to the king. The warpriest faced her and she noticed an orange tear tattooed on one of his cheeks. He began muttering in a strange tongue …

Chapter 62: For the One or the Many

AAYU COULDN’T BELIEVE what he was seeing, but he saw the saffron sage’s uniform. Rao stood up from the canyon floor, lifted the spear, and thrust it down. After that, something about the Haizzem’s body changed. Then Rao disappeared along with the body beneath him.

Aayu closed his eyes and visualized the letters of his primary
sadhana
on the black canvas of his mind, against his forehead. He heard the sacred syllables. His body transmuted and felt light. When he opened his eyes, the world appeared as it did before, but in less focus and with duller colors.

He ran into the wide-open valley after Rao. Aayu soon slowed to recover and pace himself. He drew a deep breath and hoped for a peaceful outcome to the day. As he came closer, he was surprised that he was able to see Rao, who was also using his
sadhana
to conceal himself, kneeling beside the body.

“Rao!” he yelled, still a great distance away.

Rao turned his head. “Aayu! Come here!” Rao’s barking showed his anger, an emotion Aayu wasn’t used to from his bhai.

Aayu felt too out of breath to continue running, but he walked at a quick pace the rest of the way. He soon saw the deep red hair of the heavily armored royal daughter. She lay flat against the ground, unconscious.

“You taught Narayani your
sadhana
?” Rao’s eyes were furious.

Oh no.

“Why, Aayu? Why?” Rao’s angry voice turned to sadness.

“Where is she?”

“She’s gone. She was here. She tried to help me.”

“What do you mean she’s gone?”

“Just before I stabbed the Haizzem, Narayani was here. They both disappeared.”

“Damn!
Damn
!”

“The spear went into her instead.” Rao pointed at Rezzia’s royal daughter.

“Damn!” Aayu stomped around the desert. “Rao, I’m so sorry. She made me—ah! I let her convince me. She promised me she wouldn’t come this close to you. I never should’ve trusted her. Damn it, Rao, I made a huge mistake.”

“I don’t think she’s nearby anymore.” Rao stood. “I can’t feel her presence in any way. The only thing I can think of is that the royal daughter changed places with her brother and somehow Narayani went wherever the Haizzem went.”

Aayu’s blood burned as he thought about what they might do to her. He looked at the fallen Rezzian. “Is this one alive?”

“She is. I used your
sadhana
on her to slow her injuries. I don’t know how long it will last. I don’t have much
ojas
.”

Aayu closed his eyes and beheld the
shunyata
mantra in his mind. He directed its power into the Rezzian, her sword, and her shield. She would remain concealed. “I’ve taken care of it.”

“Good.”

“Rao, if
Narayani is with them, they won’t do anything to her if they want to see the king’s daughter again.”

“Right. I agree. That means we need to get her out of here. We’ll carry her.”

Aayu rushed to grab the woman’s feet and lifted her while Rao grabbed her under her shoulders. She bore bruises on one side of her face and on her nose, where Aayu struck her three nights ago.

You forced me to do it, woman.

“I am sorry,” Aayu said.

Rao lowered his eyes.

Aayu continued, “She told me she was going to kill herself if I didn’t help her. I thought it could help. Maybe she could use my
sadhana
if she needs to hide or get away from anyone.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

The woman’s body felt considerably lighter than it would have if they were in their physical bodies.

“Except for one thing,” Rao said. “The Haizzem could see her.”

“He could?” Aayu spoke the words so quickly all his breath went with them.

“He talked to her just before he was going to kill me. She argued with him. That gave me enough time to stop him.”

“Then she saved your life?”

“I would’ve rather died than see her taken.”

“Maybe she’ll return. She can use my
sadhana
and come right back to us.”

Rao nodded. “Aayu, it’s hard to explain what happened, but I talked to his god. Then just before I was going to be killed, I saw his goddess and she healed me.”

“That’s—”

“I know. Maybe I imagined it. But why would I imagine that? And something definitely healed me. He destroyed me, bhai. It was horrible. My entire body was crushed.”

“Let’s sort all of that out later.”

“I’m telling you, the only reason I won is because his goddess saved me. She saved me so I could stab him?”

“Yet another reason to stay far away from their foul religion. It curses them.”

By the time they reached the army, the soldiers were stirring. Soon they stood at attention, ready to march. Aayu looked to the east and three breaths later, the Rezzian army began to charge across the valley.

“What do we do?” he asked.

Rao looked around, clearly thinking through his options.

“We need to help our army,” Aayu said.

“And we need to get this woman to our citadel. One of us can take her. Please take her.”

“What if she wakes up? She’s deadly.”

Rao gritted his teeth and shook his head. “She’d be a lot heavier for one person, too. You’re right. We need to stay together. We may need her to get Narayani back, or we may need her so we can negotiate with Rezzia from a position of power.”

In front of the Rezzian army, the desert floor rumbled as if the ground were on the verge of a collapse.

This isn’t good, bhai.

An enormous golden creature shot up from the earth, scattering dirt and rocks all around. The male lion stood up on all fours, appearing taller than twenty men. It raised its black mouth to the sky and unleashed a deep, guttural roar.

“Rao?” Aayu said.

A similar beast arose beside it, this one a lioness, followed by eight more of the divine monsters.

“We have to trust our army,” Rao said. “Trust Indrajit and Briraji. They have faced this enemy before.”

“Not like this, bhai.”

“What will happen to this woman if we leave her here? What if we die and she escapes? What if she returns to her physical form and dies? We’ve got to take her to the citadel. She’s too valuable. The Haizzem will be too weak to fight and we have the royal daughter. We’ll leave this to Briraji.”

The Pawelon army held its formation. The archers readied their arrows. Aayu and Rao carried the royal daughter toward their citadel as the lions of Lord Galleazzo took careful steps toward Pawelon’s army.

Chapter 63: The Loyalty of Lions

DEVAK JUMPED OUT OF HIS CHAIR when the lions emerged. Undisciplined voices from around the Pawelon army murmured. In the middle of it all, the sun burned down its cruelty on their heads.

Here comes hell
, Devak decided.

“Briraji!” Indrajit commanded.

“I will deal with the beasts, General,” the sage answered.

“Briraji,” Devak interrupted, “Can you send the king a message?

Briraji’s dark face frowned and nodded. “I can find a way.”

“Tell him we have his daughter. Tell him I will beat her until she is at the brink of death, and punish her every sick way that I can. Tell him I’ll do her ten times, unless he calls off his army and his lions. Then tell him his entire army must retreat from the valley. I’ll keep his daughter safe if he does. Otherwise, I make her my battered concubine.”

“The king’s lions, Indrajit,” Devak changed the subject. “Have they ever appeared at this size?”

“Not since the beginning of the war, My Rajah. The king may have regained some of his power.”

“No honor. None,” Devak said with disgust. “Though I didn’t expect any. Do we go forward or back?”

Indrajit walked to the forward edge of the hill and peered eastward. He spoke in his calm, assured voice. “We dig in, drink water, and wait. If the dogs want this battle, they will have to exhaust themselves first.”

Indrajit looked back to Devak. “If they come, we’ll finish them right here.”

King Vieri leaned forward on his horse, his rear slamming against the saddle with each galloping lunge. The hot gusts blew dust into his eyes. He swung his father’s falchion above his head and issued commands from deep within his chest. “Fall in behind the lions!” he commanded his leading cavalry. Two warpriests flanked him on horseback. “Their bodies will protect you!” As his horse-riding officers reorganized and fell in behind each of Lord Galleazzo’s towering beasts, the early waves of troops followed too, trailing the ten divine creatures.

The air filled with the ominous whispers of arrows, filling the sky like a swarm of black birds gliding off a peak. The arrows fell like rain, but were mostly absorbed by the pelts of Galleazzo’s great lions.

Vieri heard a deep howl deep inside his skull and noticed his steed slowing. A gust of wind swirled around him, circling him with dancing leaves. Other cavalry outpaced his own horse. He shook his head, feeling mentally slowed. Soon, charging soldiers passed his horse as well.

What is happening, Lord?

The resounding moan increased its noise between his ears, like a ghostly owl screaming over his shoulder. A powerful gust descended on him, forcing him to halt his steed and close his eyes, forcing him to listen to the persistent and ethereal tone deep inside him.

Protect me from this foul spirit, Lord!

Vieri opened his eyes to a windy, darkening haze. Smoky strands of grey, black, and purple swirled around him. A smell like rotten eggs crawled up his nostrils. The outline of a face appeared before him, twisting and shifting in the thick smoke.

“Aren’t you the king of Rezzia?” The creaking voice rose and fell, the syllables flowing like an uneven stream of gravel.

“What is this?”

“I bring a message from Rajah Devak.”

Lord Galleazzo, free me!

“He has your daughter. She lives, for now.”

“Where? Where is she?”

“She is with our prince. He contains and limits her powers.”

“Gods! We have the Pawelon girl. The one who went into the valley and interfered with the duel. I offer her back to you in exchange for my daughter.”

The voice hesitated for the first time. “What girl do you speak of?”

“She is … beautiful, young. She is a healer. She carried a leather bag.”

“I cannot address this matter now. I have the rajah’s message. He demands you call off this battle and this war. Call off these lions, all these men. Then leave the valley. He told me all that he would do to your daughter if you do not comply. Do you wish to know?”