The Lost Gods (25 page)

…

“Jesse!” Tim yelled, “Get over there!”

Jesse stormed in to the fray. As he neared Danielle, one of the
galla
lunged for her. Jesse planted a foot in its chest and pushed hard. It staggered, but corrected itself in time to lock its knees when the axe blade came down on its shoulder. The axe went straight through the creature and split two of the hardwood boards of the deck. The creature dropped onto the deck in two halves.

“Shit!” Danielle yelled.

Jesse wrenched the axe free and headed toward Blake and Nathan. He could see Tim taking careful shots at the
galla
, but they ignored the arrows as they stuck into their dead flesh. Off to the starboard side, Inanna was felling the
galla
like trees, but it seemed to Jesse that as soon as one dropped another would jump over the walls of the ship. Ahead of Jesse, two
galla
brought Nathan down with a cooperative tackle. Jesse lunged in and beheaded one with an upward slash. Nathan pushed its headless body off of him with a quick shove and wrestled with the other one. Jesse raised the axe above his head, but before he could bring it down Nathan put a dirk through its skull. Jesse helped Nathan to his feet.

…

“Ah fuck!” Tim yelled as a
galla
ripped away his bow and tossed it at an oarsman. The bow smashed the oarsmen in the face and he went down leaking crimson from his nose and mouth. Tim swung his axe hard at the
galla
. Another
galla
swooped in from the port side and pushed him. His swing was interrupted and he lost his footing. The creature latched on to him. He tried to scramble away from it, but it was stronger. Tim saw Danielle send the other
galla
crumpling to the deck with a perforated skull. A half-dead oarsman fell into her and they both went down. Tim tried again to get to his feet, but the
galla
slammed his shoulders down onto the deck. It opened its maw and descended toward his face. Its head jerked hard to the left. Jesse battered it with the butt of his axe. It fell backwards, but its grip on Tim was strong. Tim was forced into a roll. He ended up on top of the creature.

“It won't let go!” Tim yelled.

“Move to the right,” Jesse said, and Tim repositioned himself. Jesse brought the axe down and it severed the creature's arm at the elbow. Now free, Tim grabbed his small axe and split the thing’s skull.

…

Jesse joined the oarsmen in the furious skirmish. In front of him, a
galla
was on top of a fallen crewmember, ripping him to shreds. Jesse kicked the creature in the back of the head causing it to fall forward. He stepped in and swung the axe downward. The axe's blade struck the thing in the middle of its back collapsing its spine. The crewmember looked up at Jesse with a shocked expression. His neck had been cut and each time his heart beat a torrential flow of blood came out of the ruby crevice. It was too late to save him. Jesse lifted his axe and looked to find his next target. To his left, a crewmember was bashing a fallen creature with heavy strikes. To his right, Inanna was slashing and stabbing with expert precision. Jesse decided she did not require his help, so he turned away from her. As he did, he saw a
galla
tearing out the throat of a female crewmember. Jesse raised his axe high. The creature shot a glance his way. It stared at him and dropped its prey. It darted at him. Jesse swung, but instead of carving flesh, his axe glided through the air. He tried to recover for a backhanded swing, but the creature slashed him across his arm. Jesse dropped the giant bronze axe. With unnatural speed, it raked him across the face, chest, and shoulder before he could counter. He closed his eyes and lurched forward, locking his arms around the creature's torso. He lifted it off the deck and squeezed with all his might. The creature began to scream, but the horrid sound was cut off by a series of crunches and pops. Jesse slammed the creature into the deck headfirst. Its neck snapped like a dry branch as its forehead smashed into the boards. It cracked from the impact. Jesse released the limp
galla
and picked up his axe. He looked around with frantic rage only to find that the battle was over. The last of the creatures had been put to rest by Inanna, the warriors from Eureka, and what was left of the crew.

The deck was littered with corpses. Inanna's crew had been halved and the dozens of
galla
had been silenced. Inanna wiped off her sword and sheathed it. She looked at Jesse with relief. She walked over to him and touched him where he had been cut. The cuts closed like they were being zipped shut. When her hands left an area, only smooth skin remained. She kissed him on his lips and she moved to the bow of the ship. Groans of the injured crewmembers filled the deck. Blake was crouched over a mauled servant. Her face and chest were dark red and riddled with deep gashes. Her breathing was sporadic and weak. Jesse ran over to Inanna and grabbed her by the arm. Jesse pointed to the dying crewmember. Inanna frowned and shook her head.

“Why can't you save her?” asked Jesse.

“Even a god's powers are limited. The most powerful of us can't bring back someone from the dead.”

“Didn't your sister bring back the dead?”

“No, she can only make more death.”

“What about when you died and came back to life? Why can't you save this woman?”

Inanna placed her hands on Jesse's chest and stared into his eyes.

“Do you wish to take her place?” Life for life: that is how resurrection works. My husband and his sister paid for mine. Who will pay for hers? You?”

Jesse did not say anything else. He turned around and his head dropped.

“More will die before this is over, Jesse.”

“I know.”

“You need to understand that.”

Inanna put an arm around his torso.

“It's been awhile. We all made it out of Eureka alive. I haven't seen anyone die since Adam.”

“Jesse, I need to know that you will continue no matter the cost. Otherwise, we might as well keep sailing the seas and bide our time. If you are not ready....”

“I'm ready. Let’s just end this.”

She kissed his cheek and left him there. She shouted orders to the still-living crew. They threw the
galla
overboard and piled their dead onto the small boarding raft at the aft of the ship. Blake protested when they began to drag the woman he was trying to help to the raft. Jesse walked over to him.

“There's nothing we can do for her,” Jesse said.

“She's not even dead yet,” Blake said. His lip was quivering, and he strained to hold back tears.

“She's lost too much blood,” Jesse said. She was laid beside the raft until she drew a final breath. Shortly a
fter, two crewmembers grabbed her and put her on the raft. Once all the dead were gathered, the crew dumped a barrel of pitch into the raft and lowered it into the ocean. One of the men used a long pole to push the raft away from the ship. Inanna said some words in her ancient tongue. The crew raised their hands in the air. The women wailed and the men pounded their chests. Inanna handed Tim an arrow. The tip had been wrapped in a pitch-soaked cloth. He nodded and nocked the arrow. She set it ablaze with a candle, and Tim let it fly. It hit the raft, and the makeshift funeral vessel was at once engulfed in flame. They all stared in silence as the raft burned. Orange and yellow light danced across the waves. The fire sizzled and diminished as the raft sank into the water. The crew bowed their heads for another moment, and they went back to their duties. Two of the women began scrubbing the blood off of the deck. Jesse leaned against the starboard wall of the ship. He watched the crew clean up and his party argue.

“It just doesn't seem right,” Blake said to Nathan.

“There's nothing to be done about it,” Nathan replied.

“So people die and it doesn't mean anything an
ymore?” Blake asked.

“It means something, but not as much as it used to,” said Nathan. “Life is cheap these days.”

“No it's not,” said Danielle. “It's worth more than ever. We're practically extinct. Don't you get that?”

“Of course I get that. How could you think that I don't? But let's get real. We just lost nearly half our numbers in a single attack. I don't think there's much of a chance of us getting out of this alive. At least their su
ffering is over. She doesn't have to fight anymore. They're in heaven, or hell, or whatever passes for an afterlife these days, and we are stuck in this nightmare.”

“OK, Nathan,” said Danielle, and she drew a knife and pressed it sideways against his chest. “Why don't you just end my suffering then? So I don't have to fight a
nymore either.”

Nathan pushed her arm away.

“Stop that. That's not what I mean. It's just — it's the way it is now.”

“Well, I don't accept that. Isn't that why we followed Jesse all this way, because we had hope?”

“We followed him because we had to. Or did you forget that our castle got attacked by a fucking army of the dead?”

“OK — OK,” she said, and she sheathed her knife. “At first, yes, we followed him because we had to. I know I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave what safety we had, but we followed him a lot longer than what was necessary. We could have stopped in the forest or any number of places, but we didn't. We kept going. We kept following him. So let's not get all defeatist just yet.”

“I’m done talking about this,” said Nathan. He patted Blake on the shoulder and they walked to the bow of the ship.

Jesse walked to the portside of the ship. Tim was sta
ring out into the ocean. Jesse looked at the area where the raft had sunk. The waters had calmed and there was no evidence left of the quick funeral, just ripples and waves. Danielle came up and held Tim for a moment. She looked him in the eyes. He was shaking, but he reassured her that he was all right.

She put a hand on Jesse's shoulder.

“I know I didn't give you much of a chance in the beginning, but I think you've done more than enough to prove yourself. If any of us has a shot at getting out of this, then I think you're our best chance. I'm sorry for doubting you.”

“I understand your doubts. I would have doubted too. But I don't want to give you false hope.”

“It's real — real hope. That's all we have right now. Hope.”

“Not for us. It's for people — humans — the rest of the world.”

“What do you mean?”

“Inanna thinks she knows where this all started, and she thinks that we can end it. We can stop this shit from continuing.”

“Save the world, you mean?”

“Yeah, something like that, but it sounded too ridic
ulous to say. Sounds like something from an action movie.”

“I think it's fitting in this case. What are we supposed to do?”

Jesse explained everything that Inanna had told him.

“So we're supposed to kill a god? How are we going to do that? I mean, you saw Inanna fight. I don't like our chances if this other god has half of her moves. I could barely hold my own against those damned screaming things.”

“I think I'm the one that's supposed to kill Ereshkigal,” said Jesse and he pointed to the large bronze axe that was leaning up against the starboard side of the boat.

“Inanna gave me that before the fight,” he said. “I think it's some kind of magic axe or something.”

“It doesn't look magical,” said Tim. “It just looks like a big ass bronze battle axe.”

“It's not even heavy,” said Jesse. “Pick it up.”

“Bullshit it's not heavy,” said Tim and he went over to the axe. He placed both his hands on the handle. He jerked to pull it into the air, but as he pulled the axe head crashed to the deck splitting one of the boards.

“Fuck!” Tim yelled. “That thing's heavy as shit. Not heavy my ass.”

“It feels lighter than that axe you guys gave me,” said Jesse.

“Either it's magical,” said Tim, “or you are.”

Jesse felt a cold rush through his body causing him to shudder and twitch. He exhaled and dropped his head.

“What's wrong?” asked Danielle. “Aren't you happy to be superman?”

“No, not at all. A couple months ago, or whenever I met you guys. Fuck! I don't even know what year it is anymore. I was just trying to stay alive, if for no other reason than to deprive those abominations of another hot meal. I had no purpose, and now I've got too much purpose. What if we make it to this place and I meet this goddess and she rips my heart out in two seconds?”

“Then I'd say that we did our best,” said Danielle.

“Our best? That's what my opponents told their coaches back when I used to wrestle. 'Coach, I did my best.' Well, their best wasn't good enough. And now — now I think mine might not be good enough.”

“You are standing next to two people whose asses you saved more than a few times. I didn't even get a scratch in this battle thanks to you,” said Danielle.

Jesse shook his head, “Saving you from a handful of these things isn't on par with what is waiting for us.”

“OK, maybe so,” said Danielle, “but what about that battle at our castle. You ran into that mess like a man possessed and you tore those things to shreds. You di
dn't see yourself. I had trouble focusing on what I was doing because of what you were doing. It was intense. I half expected you to get eaten within the first couple minutes, but you just kept going. It was amazing. Jesse, you are amazing. So, when I say you give me hope, or give the human race hope, or whatever, then take the damned compliment. OK?”