Eternal Life Inc. (36 page)

“Then she spoke to each of them in turn, “To you I give the name, Isis. You will run with Anubis and open the way to the land of the dead, and there your heart will break on the stones. To you I give the name, Diana. You will hunt Anubis and drive him into the land of the dead and there your heart will break on the stones.”

“Then she began to change. Two extra arms grew from her body, her stomach distended and fangs grew from her mouth. She wore a necklace of human skulls and her face took on the wrathful aspect of Kali, the destroyer. She still held the girls in two of her hands while the others held bloody knives and sickles.

“When the transformation was complete, she stood upon the back of a great chimera of a beast like nothing Jake had ever seen before, like nothing in this world anyway. He said it had a pelt of soft scales the color of dead fingernails, a body as thin and graceful as a greyhound’s and as sinuous and half as long as a snake’s with a tail like a serrated knife. Its four powerful legs were like piston-driven pile drivers, made for speed and crushing impact. It had sabre claws that gleamed like stainless steel and a black carapace head like an insect, with multifaceted eyes that glowed like an atomic pile and ripping mandibles around a beak-like mouth.

“Sounds like someone I know,” Harry said quietly.

“Not a friend, I hope?”

Harry shook his head. “Met him on the Resurrection Trail, only he was wearing the body of a wolf. Just before he disappeared in the spin-generator’s event horizon, he shape-changed into his real body. It was like Jake described it.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Jericho said. “It’s the same, age-old enemy. In his dream, Jake said it lay with its claws dug into the globe. Then Kali began dancing on its back, while the two baby girls danced in the palms of her hands. The girls were covered with blood and mimicking Kali’s every move. The dance grew wilder and more violent, Kali spun, jumped and stomped on the back of the alien, who kept changing shape beneath her feet, trying to escape, but there was no escape from Kali.

“Jake said the thing howled and snapped and growled the whole time in some kind of language. As bloody bone splinters broke through its flesh, the Anubis screamed out all the dark secrets of its life and death, and Jake understood them all. He said they filled him with such horror and disgust that they almost drove him mad.

“Kali continued to dance, crushing the wolf underfoot, grinding its bones to splinters until the blood spurted from its ears and nostrils and flowed out of its mouth. She danced until
the scales were crushed flat and the blood reached her ankles.

“Then she stopped and reached out to hand the two girls to Jake. They were each covered in blood and wore the carapace head of the monster. “Take them,” she said. “And guard them well. They are the mothers of a dark destiny. They will sire gods and demons and bring forth a world of terrible beauty.”

“Jesus!” Harry said.

Jericho nodded. “The dream didn’t finish there,” he said. “After she gave the twins to Jake, two more figures appeared in her hands. On the one hand stood a pillar of smoke in the shape of a man and on the other a black mirror cut in the shape of an angel.

“Kali held out the pillar of smoke to Jake and said, “This is the King of the Dead, my champion, my eater of universes. Where he walks, the Angel of Death is never far behind.” And she held the mirrored angel up beside the pillar of smoke and said, “I give them to your daughters. They will be allies to the end, and in the end their hearts will betray them.”

“Who is this Angel of Death?” Harry asked.

“Haven’t a clue,” Jericho said.

Harry eyed him skeptically but let it pass. “The Goddess called the King of the Dead, her, eater of universes,” he said, “I guess that puts her divine stamp of approval on things, makes me her very own champion.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Screw this!” he said angrily and stood up and began pacing back and forth. “I never asked for this! I don’t want it. I’m no hero, no Goddess’s champion. I’m an actor! I’m not even that anymore. Look at me, Doc! I’m an alcoholic has-been. Nine months ago you were still picking me out of the gutter and cleaning off the puke. Now, I’m supposed to be some kind of hero, the Goddess’s champion, her very own, “eater of universes”! What kind of hero eats universes?”

Jericho said nothing.

Harry sat back down. He hung his head and dry washed his face with his hands. “Do you know what they say happens to heroes chosen by the gods?” he asked.

Jericho shook his head.

Harry looked up sideways and flashed his famous, blockbuster hero, lopsided grin. “Buggered every time,” he said.

The End

Of Book One of the King of the Dead Trilogy

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