64. RHYDIAN
64
RHYDIAN
F iery golden eyes gazed at me across the expanse, eyes I’d recognise anywhere. No matter the colour.
“Rieka?”
“Hello, husband.” The voice that answered was hers, but it felt different, purer, as if her own had only ever been an imitation of this one.
Fur covered skin, and claws had replaced hands. A wolf, as tall as any man, fur as black as the coals of a burning fire stood where Rieka had only moments ago, her gaze now on the gods and their guards.
The wolf took a step forward and I heard a voice in my head that should not have been there.
“Stop .” It was his. Why can I hear his voice?
“Because I wish you to,” the She-wolf said. “I want you to hear him cower in the presence of the consequences of what he has wrought.”
A Naven screamed. They had seen Rieka, they had seen the wolf amongst the gods and they feared her. A series of explosions down the Red Road sounded, stirring the crowd and they began to flee, the Naven screaming for their servants and slaves to come to their aid.
This was it. This was the part the plan hinged on. We had not expected the wolf, but perhaps this was better. Rieka, the wolf, the T'eiryash turned towards the crowd and spoke and as she did I saw every person freeze. Be they Kensillan, Prean, Deogn or another, they all listened when she spoke.
“If you seek your freedom, now is the time to run. A collar is only a leash if someone is holding the other end.”
The effect was a cascade of flashing lights and liquid metal as one by one, every collar in a half-mile radius lit up blue and deactivated the nanotechnology causing them to literally run from the necks of every Thrall in eye view of the Bastion.
Chaos erupted as Naven and Nomen alike, fearing what would happen to them now that their slaves were freed, fled the Red Road. Some Thralls ran, urged on by the Runners who had hidden themselves amongst the crowd, directing those who chose freedom to the routes we had scouted which would lead them to safety. I expected many to stay, but there were so many Thralls who refused to flee, awaiting orders from their masters, even without collars to leash them.
All we could do was give them the choice. Whether they ran or not was up to them.
“Rieka, what have you done?” her god cried out in anger, stumbling back as she took another step forward. “Halt. This instant. You are mine to command. Do as I say and I won’t kill him.”
I saw the god point at me, saw his head turn to look at me, but I never saw his face. I never saw his eyes. Rieka had launched herself across the balcony and blocked me from making eye contact. The rest of The Core simply stood there, curiosity on their perfect faces as they watched the giant black wolf dig her claws into their newest member, slamming him against the wall of the Bastion.
The Brutes which served as guards for The Core took this as a signal to attack and all began moving into targeting positions, their faces morphing into their predatory state.
A growl so terrifying, so commanding tore from Rieka’s throat that it made every one of those creatures cower, hoping the Bastion walls would shield them from her wrath. Her slaver now bore her attention. Rieka bared her sharp teeth right before she snapped her jaw closed on the god’s shoulder.
As powerful as the gods are, their screams still sounded human.
When the scent of blood reached me, I knew it was different. But seeing it smeared across the black fur of Rieka’s face was surreal.
God blood was gold.
Rieka laughed. “What other lies have you told?”
Another explosion sounded in the distance. A factory being destroyed. That was our cue to leave.
“Rieka!”
She pulled away, his body dropping from her jaw with a wet thwack. The other gods made no move to aid their injured comrade, nor any move to defend themselves when she turned her attention to them, their guards still cowering behind her.
“Hypocrites.” Rieka drew back her head to strike at her god again only to startle. Nyar, The God-King General now stood before Rieka, her hands on Lemir’s head. She twisted and the Huntsman fell to the floor in a limp heap.
My heart, her heart beat loudly in my ears as she gnashed her teeth at the leader of The Core. The goddess simply looked at Rieka with an expression of indifference before addressing the wolf.
“Had you not caught him off guard, he would have killed you. Had I waited another moment, he still would have.”
Magnificently regal in the golden suit she wore, the goddess came face to face with Rieka. “You were no match for him child.” She paused then added, “At least not yet.”
The goddess inclined her head as if to look at me over Rieka’s shoulder. “Don’t you look at him,” I heard Rieka growl, garnering a smile from the goddess at the warning. Then as if board of the conversation, she turned and walked back towards the other Gods, who stared at Rieka in equal parts fascination and fury. “Leave Kensilla. You are not welcome within our borders. You do that and we will not retaliate for your lover’s actions here today.”
Rieka took a threatening step forward, a low rumble in her chest . “I know what you really are. A race of a thousand faces.”
The goddess paused, the arms which had been casually clasped behind her back fell loose to her sides. She spoke without ever turning. “And what does that make you? Accept the grace we have bestowed upon you, Child of All. Lemir shall be punished for his actions. Leave before we choose to punish you for yours. I take no joy in ending the lives of innocents for the actions of their parents.”
Rieka gave the gods one last look, gnashing her teeth at them, the rumble in her chest making my body vibrate down to the bones. Then Rieka launched herself off the railing. She landed three stories below on the Red Road and ran for the opposing street ally.
I glanced back at the balcony, expecting to find the enemy’s weapon pointed at me, but the goddess Nyar had already departed. I ran from the podium and buried myself in the fleeing crowd.
I was on the Red Road and running within a minute, finding the alley where I heard her heart pulsing and quickly came to a stop. In the darkness, I was met by a pair of golden eyes.
“Are you afraid of me?” she asked.
Perfect was the woman who emerged from the shadow. Eyes of gold and hair as black as a moonless night. Her body moved towards me in lethal acuity. Naked and pure. She was everything a god should have been. I would gladly worship at her feet if she asked it of me.
I took a step towards the darkness . “Never.”
Rieka closed the distance between us in three quick strides and kissed me as if the very air in my lungs were the only thing keeping her alive.
When she finally released me, our heads resting against one another, she breathed out a sigh. “I missed that taste.”
“I wasn’t aware I had one.” I removed my jacket, turning it outside-in again, the red leather glinting under the midday sun, and I helped her put it on. Leaving Aredyn would be more difficult with a naked woman by my side.
As she fastened the jacket, it occurred to me that in all our time together, I’d never seen her in it. It was so large on her frame, that the hem only just kissed the top of her knees.
It was so fucking sexy.
Almost absentmindedly, Rieka brushed her hair behind her ear, revealing her wrist and the absence of his mark upon her. No more did those black marks mare her skin declaring her a follower of The Huntsman. No more was her throat scarred with the memory of their first night together.
“It was me,” she said, her fingers trailing along the scarless skin of her throat when she realised the cause of my distraction. I returned my gaze to her face. “The hair too,” she added when I reached for the black locks over her shoulder. In my hand, the black strands changed to white, then to black again.
“And this is something you can do now?”
Rieka answered, more for herself than me. “My body feels different. Uninhibited. Malleable.”
All I felt was her. She was still Rieka, but somehow her very presence seemed magnified. Every fibre of my being was drawn to her, connected in a way I didn't think was possible. Even without trying, my heart beat in time with her own. As if the gods, even with their cruelty had created us of one heart, of one soul, forever anchored to one another.
Staring into those godly eyes, eyes I had dreamed about every night since we parted, I now knew for certain one truth. I existed for her alone.
“Do you think they will follow us?” I found myself asking as the curfew sirens began their wailing, signalling for the city’s citizens to return to their homes.
“As bad as they are,” Rieka said, “gods keep their word.”
“Then shall we take our leave?” I offered her my hand and without hesitation Rieka took it.
When we reached the alley where I had hidden our travel packs, we quickly changed into the clothes we had packed. When I looked back, I found her kneeling on the ground, fully dressed, still wearing my jacket and in the process of inspecting the contents of the pack. It certainly wasn't her dagger she was searching for, Etrina's black handle was sticking out of the top of her boot.
“Are you checking if I forgot anything?”
She abruptly stood from the ground. “No!”
I raised a brow and leaned against the alley wall. “I will have you know, I have crossed this continent far more times than you dear wife. I think I know how to pack for a long journey.”
Her eyes lost focus, her mind no doubt racing over what we were about to attempt. I closed the distance between us, pulling her into my arms.
“This is the right choice isn’t it?” she said after a minute of silence, the heat of her breath warm against my chest. I kissed the top of her head in an attempt to comfort her.
“My only choice is being wherever you are.”
She lifted her head to look up at me, the gold now a warm amber, and then just stared.
“What are you doing?”
She raised a hand and feathered her fingers over my face, traced the bridge of my nose, the bow of my lips. “I’m imprinting your face to memory, so not even I can erase you from it.”
She finished with a quick peck on the lips, fetched her pack from the alley floor slinging it over her shoulders, and then as if she had done it a thousand times before, she flung the hood up of over her head, her eyes aglow in its shadow. “Are you sure about this? I vomited the entire contents of my stomach up the first time I did it.”
“As long I don’t arrive inside out,” I answered when she offered me her hand.
“You won’t,” she replied confidently, then quickly added with a smirk, “As long as you don’t let go.”
I decided to hold her instead.
With a smile that could make the sun envious, Rieka took a deep breath and embraced her true nature.
“Akarfenmraakshai.”
And together we vanished from Kensilla.