Page 56 of Obsidian Dream

Khalida moved toward him.She flicked her braid over her shoulder as she stopped in front of him.After pulling out one of her blades from her boot, she gave it to him, careful not to touch him.His skin prickled at the barest hint of her.

“I didn’t realize you cared.”

“Remember, if you die, I die.And I have already told you I don’t plan on dying.”Khalida turned, walking back.“Don’t lose it.”

In the lowlight, the knife’s blade gleamed.It was beautiful as expected and perfectly balanced.He didn’t recognize it.The blade wasn’t one he had left for her, instead it was one from her own personal collection.The weapons Dante had provided them had been practical but plain.

“I mean it.I want it back.”

“You don’t trust me?”Talik asked innocently.

“I believe the saying is once a thief, always a thief.”

He couldn’t argue with the truth.His youthful activities had been less than stellar.

Talik looked up at the ceiling for what was the hundredth time.And stopped.Along the ancient structure, there was a crack—that hadn’t been there the last time they walked through.He picked up the flashlight, moving to the original tomb where they had found the carving, and shone the light on it.

Khalida followed his gaze.

“Fuck.”

The symbol’s angle was slightly off.Only a few degrees lower than it had been previously, but enough to be noticeable.As was the new pool of water near the corner of the coffin.But that shouldn’t be possible—not without the catacombs experiencing some kind of cataclysmic earth tremor.

Which should have been impossible without them noticing.But they had learned the hard way that impossible wasn’t what they thought it meant, especially when they were dealing with ancient gods.

Khalida moved in front of him and stood in a defensive position, both swords out as she surveyed the area.But there was nothing there but darkness and the hint of pomegranate he had sensed earlier, a second before they had heard Sidra’s laughter.

“Do you smell that?”

The catacombs had suddenly become enveloped in the scent of fresh dirt just after rainfall.

He moved closer to Khalida, unable to resist the pull from her.Even if it was only temporary.“Want to make a wager?”

She raised an eyebrow, her eyes alight with energy.“Now?”

Talik smiled.“Who will get the larger body count?”

Khalida leaned forward, so close he could smell her scent and the excitement that ran through her.

“Me.I always do,” she whispered.“Duck.”

He moved instinctively and pivoted out of the way.

Out of the corner of his eye, there was a flash of movement.He drew Rose out and fired at the ceiling as something moved insanely fast against the sandstone blocks.Rose left big ugly gouges in the sandstone.He moved slightly closer.Black blood dripped from the ceiling, landing in large globs.The blood smelled like compost.

“What the actual fuck?”he muttered as he looked at the charge.Rose was down to fifty-nine percent.And except for the blood dripping onto the ground, they did not know who or what they were up against.The serpopards didn’t move like that or hadn’t in Egypt.“What was Ninhursag the god of again?”

Now was not a good time to forget details.

“Apparently she created humanity...”Khalida’s voice trailed off.

Talik did a double take.“No fucking way.”

A small shape materialized in front of them, emerging from the ground like some monstrous tree.It lifted its arm.Its long skeletal fingers resembled roots more than humanoid digits and flashed long talons as it splayed its hand.The creature shuffled, the movement slow at first, hindered by the roots still attached to the ground.

Khalida stabbed the tree-humanoid hybrid in what should have been the trunk.Black blood instead of sap dripped from the wound, landing on the floor in a blob before being absorbed by the dirt.It opened its mouth.A shrill scream vibrated through the room, shaking the surrounding air.Talik stumbled under the onslaught.

Khalida spun, slicing its neck, finally silencing the creature as the head rolled away.