Part Seven
Sekhmet and Parz landed in what looked like a demolished city. What scared Sekhmet was that the crumbled buildings were similar to the ones in the snake-god Realm. "Is this place…" he stopped.
"The Realm of the Ahkrushians," Parz finished for him. "This is where the eleven males are imprisoned, too."
That's comforting, Sekhmet thought nervously. "How many times have you been here?"
"Once," she answered, and started walking to the only halfway-decent looking building that Sekhmet guessed was the main hall. "After my husband was killed, I met the Ahkrushian males." She grinned. "They weren't too happy when I told them that my first was a human."
"I'll bet." Sekhmet smiled and followed her. "Why did Jinmin bring Essah here?"
Parz sighed. "Kill the one who killed Goshiem to set the eleven males free."
Sekhmet looked at her. "But you said that my father didn't kill Goshiem."
"He didn't," said Parz. "But the one who killed Goshiem is here."
____
"What's the matter, Essah?" Garshosu asked mockingly. "A half-breed beat you up?"
Essah glared at the Ahkrushian. "All these centuries you just poisoned his mind, like you did his father. You don't give a damn about him or his sister, just because they were born from a human woman."
"And neither did any of you about your human bastards," said Dahrphelus.
"I'll give you credit, Essah," Fahmaru spoke. "Your son and granddaughter outlived the others like them, but they won't live much longer."
Essah closed his eyes. Sekhmet, Chadih, Parz...
Jinmin had brought Essah to the underground ceremonial room, where the eleven Ahkrushian males were imprisoned. There was a large seal on the floor, which they were bound to. If they tried to walk off of it, they would feel immense pain, feel as though they were dying, but wouldn't die.
Essah's hands were tied behind his back and he was lying in the middle of the seal. He hadn't moved since Jinmin had dropped him there, and the boy had left, taking Kiyaa's body to be buried in the sacred catacombs.
"Disgusting, isn't it?" said Brokahnu. "She fell in love with a human, and he fell in love with a snake-goddess. I don't know which is worse."
"It doesn't matter." Garshosu kicked Essah's shoulder. "Once you're dead, we'll be free. Jinmin's Ahkrushian blood will destroy Parz's human blood and she'll become the Queen Mother."
Essah laughed. "You're going to have a hard time trying to catch her. She's nothing like the females that you knew. I raised her. She'll kill all of you if you try to touch her."
"Keep going," said Vosheima. "I like a good story. But yours is boring, so I'll tell one. Parz will become the Queen Mother. One of us will be her mate; she'll give birth to ten pureblooded Ahkrushian females who will be mates for the other ten, and-" He grabbed Essah's hair. "-Your kind dies." He let go.
"Or how about an alternate ending?" Toraku spoke up. "We make them slaves again, along with the humans. That would be fun, and this time, Essah, you won't be there to save them."
You'll damn yourselves anyway when you kill me, Essah thought.
"What's taking him so long?" Hojeiruso grumbled.
"Quit complaining," snapped Reideizen.
"We've all been bound to this seal for thousands of years," Lamdeiku joined.
"You're not the only one whose patience is wearing thin, Hojeiruso," said Zokarmu.
"Let Jinmin mourn over his snake-bitch." Kanemeid grinned.
"Yes," agreed Garshosu. "He'll need all the hate when he kills Essah."
"Go ahead," said Essah. "Let him kill me. At least I won't have to look at you anymore."
Hojeiruso kicked Essah in his stomach. "Nothing would please us more right now than ripping you apart. Except for mating with Parz." He looked at Brokahnu. "How is it that you have her first?"
"Because Goshiem and Jinmin listened to me a lot more than they did to the rest of you." Brokahnu grinned. "Don't worry, if I match with Parz you'll each have a turn with her."
Even if your plan falls through, Essah thought. She'll kill her daughters before you know she gives birth. The last Queen Mother left a message for Parz just in case that happens.
Jinmin walked into the room. "I hope you weren't too hospitable to him," he said.
"What makes you believe that we would be kind to your father's murderer?" asked Fahmaru.
"It's time, Jinmin," Dahrphelus said. "Time for your revenge. Time to avenge Goshiem. Time to kill Essah and free us from this prison." Time to prove that you're as gullible as your father, so quick to believe that it was the snake-gods that killed the rest of our kind.
Jinmin stepped onto the seal and walked over to Essah. He grabbed the snake-god's robe and made him kneel with his head leaning forward. "Any last words?" Jinmin asked.
"Kill me and you'll be damning yourself and them forever," Essah said.
"Nice try," Jinmin rested his sword on the back of Essah's neck. "But not good enough." He raised the sword up.
"Stop!" Parz shouted as she and Sekhmet entered. "Don't do it, Jinmin."
Sekhmet looked at his father. >>Are you all right?<<
>>I will be when we get out of here,<< Essah answered.
Sekhmet looked at the Ahkrushians. They looked almost like snake-gods but with crisscross lines instead of scales.
"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise," said Vosheima. "Our future Queen Mother came to witness the moment of our release."
"I'd rather let Cerberus turn me into his next meal." Parz looked at her brother. "Jinmin, don't kill him. If you do-"
"I'm tired of hearing you make up excuses for him," Jinmin hissed. "You should be helping me, not fighting against me and let injustice remain."
"No, Jinmin," Parz said quietly. "It's time that I finally let the cat out of the bag. Two secrets I have, one I share with someone here, and the other one I shared with no longer lives."
"Such a pity about your late husband." Jinmin smirked.
"Wrong, Jinmin," Parz said. "That secret came to be long after. So I'll start with that one first. After you killed my husband, I found the village where our mother was from."
"So."
"I met her brother, our uncle." Parz noted Jinmin's surprise. "He knew immediately who I was, because he said I look like her. And you do resemble him, Jinmin." She sighed. "He said that he couldn't hate me for what had become of his sister. I never told him about you."
"Why am I not surprised?" Jinmin asked sarcastically.
"Unfortunately, he had the same opinion about me that many humans did at that time. Afraid of me because of the blood in my veins." Parz looked at Sekhmet, then back to Jinmin. "I didn't stay. But every so often I went back and checked on our cousins. And exactly on our two hundredth birthday, Jinmin, our uncle's descendant gave birth to a child that was like us, half-human. But he wasn't half-Ahkrushian. Were you, Sekhmet?"
Shocked looks came upon everyone else. Sekhmet looked with wide eyes at Parz. She reached a hand to her neck and pulled out a cord that rested there. Hanging from the cord was a small round circle with an upside-down triangle engraved on it. Sekhmet pulled his out and looked at it and back at Parz's. They were exactly the same.
"My mother's pendant," said Parz. "The one you wear around your neck, Sekhmet, once belonged to my uncle, your ancestor from your human grandmother's family. Passed through the generations." She looked at Jinmin. "Ironic, is it not, brother? The half of you that you hate is what ties us the snake-gods, especially to the one you despise so much."
Jinmin glared at Parz, not saying anything. No one did.
Essah shut his eyes. This was the reason why Parz wanted to take Sekhmet and Jynavy away. She didn't want to replace her son; she wanted her cousins to be safe.
>>Did you know?<< Sekhmet asked.
>>No,<< Essah replied. >>But it makes sense why she wanted to take you from the village when you were still a baby. I should have guessed it...<<
"I don't care what you say, Parz." Jinmin rested the sword against Essah's neck.
"Be careful, Jinmin," warned Parz. She took her sword off her back. "Essah is family."
"Not to me. He killed our father and he must pay."
"And now for my other secret. If you kill Essah, you'll be killing an innocent."
"Essah? An innocent?" Jinmin laughed. "You still refuse to accept it, Parz. He killed Goshiem, if you don't remember. For that, he is guilty."
"If Essah is guilty of anything, it's because he trained Goshiem's murderer." Parz tilted her head. "I really should say murderess." She smiled as Jinmin and the Ahkrushian males realized what she was telling them. "That's right, Jinmin. Essah didn't kill Goshiem." She pulled out the sword. "I did."
Jinmin stared in horror at the blade in his sister's hand. Goshiem's blood was on Parz's sword. When a sword kills an Ahkrushian, their blood stains the blade and remains there forever.
Parz walked onto the seal, over to Essah. Neither Jinmin nor the eleven Ahkrushians moved as Parz cut Essah's bonds and helped the snake-god off the seal. Sekhmet went to his father's side and took him from Parz, leading him to the far side of the room.
"How could you?" whispered Jinmin. "Our father!"
Parz looked at him. "I have no desire to become the next Queen Mother!" she hissed.
Jinmin shook his head. "You would not have been. Kiyaa had more potential than you!"
"Kiyaa?" Parz blinked mockingly. "A snake-goddess would be the Queen Mother?" She looked at the eleven males. "You did a great job on his mind."
"It was the only way to get you here," said Brokahnu.
Jinmin looked at them. "But you promised…"
"When will you get it through your head, Jinmin?" Parz asked. "They never needed you. What do they need another male for? They need a female - me. All they need you for is your blood. Your Ahkrushian blood to destroy my human blood, to make me full Ahkrushian. And you can guess the rest."
"Then it's true…" Jinmin said quietly. "About the others?"
"The forty-nine before us were male," Parz answered. "The only reason why you didn't join them is because I was with you in Mother's womb."
Jinmin glared at the males. "You kept me alive just to use my blood?"
"Please understand, Jinmin," said Kanemeid. "We need a full-blooded female." He looked at Parz. "Even if her actions have altered our plans a little."
"Just admit that you're screwed," Parz said. "You have to kill me the get off the seal. But you need me as the Queen Mother. I doubt that you'll kill me. None of you would go as far as mating with a human to create a female for your kind."
"Never would we sink that low like Goshiem did," Reideizen snapped. "Half-breeds are disgusting, humans or snake-gods."
"That child would have been the bridge between our kinds," Essah spoke. He glared at them. "But you couldn't see that. And you had to rip it from its mother and killed both parents! It's no wonder why the Queen Mother imprisoned you."
"It's sickening enough that both our kinds have human half-breeds," said Lamdeiku. "But an Ahkrushian-snake-god half-breed? That's much worse."
"Only you would think so," Parz said, and she walked onto the seal. She pointed the sword to a blank spot on the seal and drew something in it. "However, I'm here because I am to fulfill the Queen Mother's prophecy, not to become your whore."
"And what makes you think that you can kill us?" Hojeiruso asked.
Parz grinned. "As I said before, passed through the generations. The Queen Mother left something for me before she killed herself." She stabbed the sword into the picture. "And I'm going to use it." Parz started to chant.
>>What's she doing?<< Sekhmet asked.
>>I don't know,<< Essah said.
They watched as the looks on the eleven male Ahkrushians turned into absolute terror. Zokarmo reached for Parz, but from the edge of the seal, several black lines shot out wrapping around the eleven and pulled them away from her. A wall of light surrounded the seal, blocking all from their sight.
"You bitch!" shouted Fahmaru.
Parz finished chanting. She pulled her sword from the ground and with a cry of rage, ran around the seal, attacking the eleven Ahkrushians. They fell to the ground like bags of dirt, their blood spilling out, seeping into the lines of the seal.
Parz turned towards Jinmin. He was kneeling and looked very sad. Jinmin looked at his twin sister as she walked closer to him; her eyes were telling him that she didn't want to do what had to be done.
"Forgive me, Parz," he whispered.
"I forgive you, Jinmin," Parz said quietly.
Jinmin smiled at her. "Give me peace."
Tears ran down Parz's cheeks and she stabbed Jinmin through his heart. He convulsed and gripped Parz's arm. Kiyaa... Jinmin's hold lessened and he fell to the ground, sliding off Parz's sword.
Parz moved to the center of the seal and stabbed her sword into the middle. She felt her strength being taken away, but still held on. The howl of the wind was deafening, making Parz want to cover her ears, but she didn't take her hands off the hilt. She fell to her knees and cried. "Jinmin…"
"Parz!" Sekhmet ran to the pillar of light.
Essah grabbed his son's arm. "Don't," he said. "If you touch it, you'll die."
Sekhmet looked at the pillar. Parz was inside that thing. He wanted so badly to go help her after all she had done for him, and more now because they were related.
The light faded away. The eleven Ahkrushian males had vanished, only Jinmin and Parz remained. Jinmin was dead, by the looks of the boy's wound in his chest. Parz was lying in the center of the seal next to her sword. Sekhmet couldn't tell if she was alive or not. He let out a cry of happiness as Parz started to move. She raised her head and looked at Sekhmet. Slowly, Parz crawled to the edge of the seal.
Sekhmet walked to the seal and grabbed Parz's outstretched hand, pulling her off. He half-carried, half-dragged her over to his father. Essah gathered Parz into his arms and held her tightly.
"He came back, Essah," Parz said weakly. "He came back."
"Shh," Essah hushed her. "I believe you." After some time he said, "So that's why you wanted to take Sekhmet away." Parz nodded. Essah smiled. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I wasn't sure how you'd react," Parz grinned. "Protective of us both you were."
"I always will be. Sleep. We'll go back when you're rested." Essah hugged her. He looked at Sekhmet and saw that he was smiling. Essah reached out and pulled his son into the embrace.
"Look," whispered Parz. The seal on the floor started to vanish, leaving Parz's sword and Jinmin lying on a barren ground.
"It's over," said Sekhmet.
Not for me, Parz thought. She took Sekhmet's hand in hers. The three of them sat there, not saying anything, only enjoying the comfort of each other, knowing that they were family.