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This is the first chapter of a NEW BOOK that continues with the ones I started on Nifty a few years ago. They are "The Assassin's Apprentice" and "Black Dragon Rising." After I posted them here on the Nifty Archive, I published them on Amazon Kindle as ebooks under the duology called "The Sword of Rogues." Thank you so much if you are one of the fans that purchased, read, and reviewed them. I live for your fan mail; it keeps me going if I think someone is actually reading this stuff.
Schedule: I plan to break up my lengthy chapters in the actual book I'm writing into 1000 word chapters here on Nifty. If you want to read more, I will be posting the FULL chapters on the discussion forum on my website (the link is above). Also, this is very much a story in progress so let me know what you'd like to see happen.
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Please check out my books on my website. If you want one for FREE, shoot me an email, and I'll send you an electronic copy for a written review on Amazon :). Leaving a GOOD review on Amazon is the best way to put money in an author's pocket. Seriously.
Chapter One
Outside Kahket's window, rain wreathed around the obsidian parapets and domes of Zanda in a gossamer death shroud of winter. The moisture left the cobblestone streets glimmering black under a sky that cracked with lightning; rolled with thunder. Far beneath her, wicked men cast long shadows in the courtyard of the Blades Acuuarum, the training grounds of the Cataclysm Slayers of Zanda.
Kahket let out a sigh of contentment and took in the marvelous darkness that now belonged to her. "I am the most powerful woman in the world," she whispered into the wind.
Kahket had no fear in this place. The fortress had mighty walls. Beyond them, a gorge a thousand feet deep lay in waiting to swallow any army that might seek to root her out. The drop ended within the turbulent and fluorescent waters of the Well of Zanda. At night, the Well tested the sanity of any who gazed upon its surface. By day, it wasn't much better. The waters flowed a putrescent green and circulated in a counter-clockwise motion around a blackstone mountain that rose from the very center.
The mountain housed the Librarium Apocalypto and the palace of the Dreaded Irtemara—a title that Kahket now possessed, which simply meant "the bride of Zandine"—and the Basilica of Zanda where the god now slept. These three structures fused together into a towering castle that towered above all things in the city. The whole of Kahket's demesnes could only be accessed by a single, slender bridge in the shape of a serpent's tongue and flanked by unmoving colossi.
Dozens of towers, minarets, and walls concealed monstrous horrors and unspeakable abominations. Torches flared from windows at all hours of the night and day (giving it the appearance of a miniature city) and rivers of human blood flowed in the halls of the library. In the waters of the Well swam the Lemortis Corpiem—demons from beyond the Veil of the World. Called thus by the Aquarians of Khaal, goddess of the sea, "Lemortis Corpiem" simply translated to, "The Skin that Swims."
Kahket stood in front of the gilded mirror and admired her swollen belly. Soon her water would break and spill bloody and vile upon the stone floor. Servants would rush to her side, urging her to sit down, but Kahket would have none of it. She reveled in the way she looked, pregnant with a god's child, hair lustrous and black and eyes filled with the power that comes from carrying something so potent within her womb.
Within an hour she would be hastened to the birthing chamber above the Librarium Apocalypto and its Living Books to deliver yet another spawn of the evil god. This...the third such birth in a year's time...would mark the ending point of a spell begun in earnest on that first evening when Soulwarden burned to the ground and Zandine stepped forth into the world as a creature of flesh and blood.
Only one other god in the world had the privilege of living flesh: Thomas himself.
The god of war, wolves, and winter.
"The god of nothing," she said, and then spat upon floor.
"You will kill the mortal form of my brother," Zandine commanded her. "You will find and slay Thomas, whose body lays in state under Citadel Raven. Do this for me, my love, and there is nothing I won't do for you..."
The legendary city stood in the heart of the kingdom of the Valion knights. Only the most holy of the sacred Valion Order ever made a pilgrimage there.
The city will be protected by armies of the god of war, wolves, and winter flying upon the backs of silver dragons, Kahket thought. They say it is impossible to conquer. The Timeron Knights dare not attack it, despite all their blustering to their physical strength. I will need more than just an army behind me to face such a foe. I will need Typhon.
"Give me Typhon!" she cried. "Give me three of your sons, and I will summon him from the darkness. Do this, and I will lay the corpse of the god of war at your feet!"
And so the Lord of Illusions fucked her. The physical god punished Kahket's body and filled it with sensations she had never felt. Kahket should have been split asunder, but she could draw magic into herself to heal her torn flesh. And Zandine contained within him an infinite source of strength from which she could draw.
The Lord of Illusions emptied himself into her hungry womb so that she could birth a monster. Thus far, there had been two such ghastly things that had clawed their way out of her. The Israfil strangled each (as the ritual called for) and tossed the bodies into the Cauldron of Worlds. When complete, a door into the first layer of Hell would open and Typhon would stride into the world.
She caressed her belly. A clawed hand responded from within, and she saw its four fingers form a raised bump just above her pussy.
"Soon," she whispered to the unborn thing. "Soon, my love."
I will post Chapter Two next week. If you can't wait, please check out the much longer Chapter One in my forum under the sub-topic "The Orb of Winter."