Page 107 of Obsidian Dream

“Your death.”

“Have it your way.”She drew back, taking the sword out of his shoulder in one slick movement before slashing it across his neck, cutting the soft tendons and flesh with a flick of a wrist.“You had your chance.”

He blinked at her, his right arm slumped at an unnatural angle, unable to move as blood began to seep down like a waterfall.Khalida reached out and pulled the knife from his wrist.

The wayfarer slumped to the ground, convulsing as the light in his eyes slowly diminished, until they were empty.They slowly returned to a rich brown, the color they would have been before he met Ninhursag.She crouched and closed his eyes.He may be an enemy but there was a dignity in death that transcended species and sides.

“Your god won’t save you.”

Black boots appeared next to her.Kade.“You gave him more than he would have given to you.”

There was a hint of respect in his tone, one that she hadn’t heard before.

“In death we are all equal.Nothing but the stars and the earth we have been made from.”Khalida slowly stood.It was the Atlantean way, the oath of the immortals.She cleaned her sword and knife, replacing the latter before she turned and faced Kade.“Tell me you have found Talik.”

Kade grimaced, his eyes hidden behind his glasses.“No.I found Ninhursag.”

“Where?”Khalida asked and stopped, her mouth open as she shook with rage.The transparent wall of fog running through Palatine Hill that had appeared minutes earlier was now an impenetrable thick layer of ice, just like the one surrounding them.They were trapped between two layers, and Talik was likely on the same side as Ninhursag.

Alone and without his blasters.And about to do something stupid.

Chapter Forty-Eight

TALIK

Talik watched fromthe shadows, hidden by a layer of thick ice from the rest of the world.

He had followed Ninhursag into the area at her beckoning, but he was careful to keep his distance.They had reached the center of Palatine Hill, near Farnese Garden, and were surrounded by the ancient ruins.The once lush green grass had taken on a lifeless hue and looked more like a barren wasteland.He had watched as the inner fog around them had hardened, turning into a thick sheet of ice, leaving Kade and Khalida stuck in the area between the two layers.A sense of relief had flowed through him—at least he didn’t need to worry about them interfering.He clamped his mind shut.Ever since he had bargained with Ninhursag, she had all but disappeared, but he could still feel the echoes of her tendrils.

“Remember the price, Atlantean.”

Like he was going to forget.The relic for Khalida’s freedom.It wasn’t the choice Khalida would have made, but she had always been far more duty-bound than he ever had.He crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the half-formed humanoid-tree creations that Ninhursag was continuing to bless, not bothering to hide his disgust as the ground beneath them birthed them, one after the other.Each was more monstrous than the other, as if they were losing their humanoid shape.He’d lost count after the hundredth one.

“My children,” Ninhursag crooned.

Children only a mother could ever love.