15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter 15
T he wayfarer moved beneath the fortress, walking through the untouched tunnels as he wove his way through the labyrinth. Vandana’s bloodline had become diluted, but he could sense the heir. They were in Egypt. The knowledge ran through him as surely as his blood.
Elixir had infused every cell of his being; he was becoming more like them. If he closed his eyes, he saw the tendrils of their connection. Flashing neurons traveling at the speed of light. It was growing stronger and stronger each day. All he needed was to give his masters the heir, and they would give him true immortality and not just a taste.
Vandana had ensured only one of her direct lineages could resurrect the king, the O’hurani. Through the forsaken bloodline flowed the elixir to awaken their ancient father. His masters needed to take their rightful place in the world. Where Atlanteans and humans would be relegated to the class of chattel once again. Eleven thousand years was enough time to have been forgotten, but the Anki were ready to remind the world of their existence.
The abyss beckoned him, the darkness calling his name.
Next to the chasm, he flicked a rock, listening intently as it continued to fall, trying to hear when it landed. The sound of silence greeted him. Minutes ticked by, but there was no movement.
He had been waiting for more than three hundred years for this opportunity, and they had finally granted him the highest honor.
Talons dug into the hard rock above him; the nauseating stench of death and decay followed. They used the jagged ceiling as camouflage, unnaturally contorting their mammoth bodies with almost feline precision until they appeared to merge with the roof itself. It was horrifyingly hypnotizing. Their snakelike necks entwined, they hissed in union as they prowled toward him, stopping just out of his reach. The creatures stared at him, unblinking, the glow of their orange eyes neon in the darkness.
“Hello, old friends.”