A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 42

He smiled as he saw Yasmin's mother in his mind. "We loved for days, eating only when we needed the rest. I pleaded with her to come away with me, that I would give her the life that one such as she was deserved -- and not only because we were mating there. Because, ... because I loved her, a human girl who stole the heart of an old war god who had no purpose any longer."

His eyes were a little wet as he looked into the face of his young daughter. Yasmin wept openly and sobbed. "You, ... you are --"

"I am Apedemak. I am your father," he nodded, "I have never been happy with the role as it was handed to me, but that was her wish, once she knew what I was. Each time that we loved, my seed came to her, but not my godseed. With one such as I am, and these other males here like me, it takes time for that, and there are other changes that come as well. I was not careful and these changes came to me and your sweet mother wanted it that way. I warned her that if we continued, she would be with child, and a child who would be partly godlike. She cried out that she wanted this. We were in our passion then and it happened. I filled her and godseed takes hold as a certainty as long as there is an egg alive even near to the womb.

I did what many would say was unthinkable, Daughter. I begged. Me, a god, begging the female that he loved to hear him and listen to take his advice."

His great head drooped a little as he looked down again, "She told me that she would go to her brother's house and sell herself, wanting to pay the brother back for all of the times that he had fed her. I told her that it had all been the man's plan and that she would do nothing but make him wealthy. She told me that it was her duty to him as his sister.

I swore to kill this foul brother, but she would have none of it. Believe me, her pleading word to me is all that has kept his soul anywhere near to his fat and bloated body."

He reached up and wiped a tear from his eye. "I returned her, as she asked, and I saw it in my mind as he beat the woman who loved me. But she was happy with you," he said. "I have not always been able to be near at hand when you needed me, and I have always been a little worried that you would hate me for what happened, but I tried often to protect you, so that you might grow up with both of your hands and not lose them from being caught as you stole food to stay alive.

You may not have any reason to feel anything for me, Daughter, but like it or not, I am the one who sired you and you will have a long life from it. I wish to make this life better, if it is your wish and you would allow it."

Yasmin raise her wet eyes, "I only knew that she loved the one," she said, sniffling, "She never told me much more than that he was mighty and he was magnificent and beautiful to see and to hold.

A father," she said, a little to herself, "I do not think that I even know what I am to do with a father, even one as mighty as you are."

She looked up into his face and she smiled a little, "But if you wish to know your daughter, then it is my wish to know you as well."

She stood up then, raising her arms slowly to put them around his thick neck. She held him tightly for a long moment before she drew back. "I do not know what I am doing, or what I am to do," she said, "but I seek to learn from Dakhete."

"Then learn well," he smiled, "After your mother and I parted, I had such a hole in my heart. The hurt lasted long in me before it came to me long afterwards that somewhere in the alleyways of Marrakesh, a little girl was running and playing who was mine. That took some time for me to find a place for inside of me," he smiled, "It was even longer before it came to me that I had fathered a very special one, for she was my daughter and any male who feels something such as this is astounded by it at first. But later, Yasmin, only later, I knew that my basinah, my kitten, was the other weapon which would be needed."

"So I am to be a weapon again?" Dakhete asked, "And you all believe that my friends are to be weapons as well?"

"You are not to become a weapon, Dakhete, "the bull-headed male said as he stepped closer, "We have a hope that you will resume being the one that you have already been." His nostrils flared a little as he spoke, "We know you," he said, "We have seen. You fight as no other which we have seen on this world, a benefit from your long service to the others, no doubt. This young one and the other here both ache to be as you. We know not what the male can do, but with two of you at least, ..."

"It may not be enough," a younger lion god said, "This must be finished completely when it happens. These weapons that we speak of are daughters of the gods. We will want them to succeed, yes, but also to live past it. "

He pointed at Khyan, "What of this one? He is not all human and frail, and there is much in his breast for the others. I would see him added to the quiverful of arrows that we loose from our bow -- if it is his desire to play a part for his kind."

"We have been a little rude," Hathor said as she held up her hand, "none of these ones know all of us. Let us say who asks them before we ask if they would accept."

She indicated the male standing with his arm around the waist of a female, "This is Ari-hes-nefer, Slayer of Enemies, the true husband of Menhit there beside him. She is called She Who Massacres.

Two more of us females and mothers," she smiled to another pair of females, "Tefnut, the one with rounded ears and next to her, Mut, She Who Gives Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any.

Our lovely jackal-girl there is Inpewt, Mother of Light, Lady of the Holy Land, Lady of Heaven, The Dark Mother, Lady of Magic, ..."

The one which Hathor referred to looked a little bored and rolled her hand in a circular motion as though to indicate that it was enough, but Hathor only grinned as she went on. "... Lady of the Circle, Lady of the Light and The Dark, Lady of Truth, ..."

"Yes, yes," Inpewt said, looking embarrassed, "Names which I am known by, not one of which I chose for myself. Let me finish it for you, friend Hathor. I am She Who Protects.

There, now may we move on?"

"She who is Crowned with Stars," Hathor laughed, "It is my favorite for you and you have forgotten it."

Inpewt looked up at the ceiling and groaned.

"Dakhete's beautiful mother and my dear friend, is Sekhmet, the One Before Whom Evil Trembles, the Avenger of Wrongs, the Mistress of Dread, Lady of Slaughter and She Who Mauls.

Our cobra friends there are Wadjet and Weret Hekau, great enchantresses and wielders of magical power.

Lastly, and only because of his young age to the rest of us, - "

"My son," Bast said with a proud smile.

"And Bast's fine son," Hathor laughed, "Maahes, Devourer of the Guilty and Protector of the Innocent. The Lord of Slaughter, Wielder of the Knife, and The Scarlet Lord."

At the rear of the temple, the male looked genuinely embarrassed as he turned and pushed his long mane from out of his eyes where it hung, looking a little unkempt and yet roguish at the same time as he nodded with a mouthful of the food. He'd been busy with the food brought by the servants, preferring eating to this droning out of past honors.

He stepped forward a little and smiled a bit shyly, obviously uncomfortable with his titles, "Could we just keep it at The Scarlet Lord? The rest is too long, and I have almost forgotten what it was that I did for those names which I do not care for," he said.

"About what I said, I would add this male to the quiver. He is alone here with no godly parent, and his heart burns already. Give him what will be needed." He turned to the cobra-women, "Give them all what will be needed."

"Will it succeed in keeping you still for long enough for us to tell of what is needed?" Menhit asked.

He nodded, "At least for a time."

"Oh, I have a vague doubt of it," Apedemak smirked.

When Maahes turned, looking a little indignant, Apedemak chuckled, and the young lord laughed as well. "I am too well-known among my family," he said quietly.

"Your family?" Khyan asked.

Maahes nodded, "When I was little, I was a terror," he said, "wanting to be all places at once; needing to learn everything in an afternoon. Things such as this can make a mother gray in a week, and I am a god. Imagine how that was. When I was small, I could turn any female's heart with only the smile of a young god-cub. The mischief that I wreaked," he said shaking his head, "A wonder that they all did not smite me down, instead of only smiting my backside when I needed it.

The only solution was for all to teach me and suffer my unending questions as I tore here and there, never walking, only running. I learned the most important things, not only what I wished to know. I learned that I have a large family. Most are not related to my blood, but that matters not. Know the love of the gods, and ruling the world seems very unimportant."

"We foresaw the coming of one," Weret Hekau hissed, "in this age. Because of what happened long ago, the earth has moved very little, but it has moved much in another way. Where once what was here was only what one saw, it is now different. There are other creatures and animals here, or animals such as this world has long not seen.

These are of little consequence, "she said, "but there are now at least two kinds of demons here. They are enemies between them. The difference is, that one kind is here bent upon the destruction of the other -- and they have their own weapon with which to do this. Their opponents have no desire to be here at all, being brought by the one for his uses. He seeks one and brings twenty and more, each time. Those, he lets free, and they run afraid through the world, killing humans where they meet them, mostly, but not always. They have no desire to do this, they are only upset and for them, being upset is to kill anything which lives around them, for it is their way.

We do not even have much issue with those ones, for they will disperse and fade if their coming is stopped soon. If it is not stopped and they band together, then it will be the end of man here. Man has been hard on his home, but these ones come from a desert world where little lives long.

So," she said, "We seek to stop the one who brings them. He knows what he does and cares not. He is not living, he seeks only blood and someone warm in which to sate his lust. The trouble is that the ones that he takes die from his abuse and then he draws others here, seeking for another victim. He drinks of their blood, but he can also drink of human blood."

"Forgive one as worthless as I am," Khyan said, "and I have no desire to insult, but why can you not simply remove that one and end the problem? You are gods."

"We can," Anubis said, "and if you fail, then we will. But we have a matter with the other sort of demons, the ones who seek also to kill the ones that this creature brings. Those ones, we need to speak with, for they share an unlikely connection and what they play at could end a world."

He looked up, "No matter how it happens, that one, that bringer who drinks blood, he belongs in my realm. I have a home for him there. Now, about what these ones need."

The snake-women had been conferring with each other quietly as this was all being said.

Weret Hekau said, "I know what is needed, and it is the same thing as you gave, Sekhmet. Give it now, my sister."

The goddess looked surprised for a moment, but then she nodded and took her daughter's hand, "Walk with me a moment, Daughter," and so saying, the pair of them disappeared.

"Where -- " Yasmin stared at the place where the pair had been only a second before.

"They go to the Temple of Amun at Siwa," Tefnut said, "Menhit and I go there now too. Our purpose is a little different from theirs. We seek to remove someone who does not belong there." A second later, there were two less lionesses in the temple.

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Sekhmet and Dakhete stood in a doorway, framed in the red glow of the late afternoon sunlight on the stones. "What are we doing here?" she asked her mother.

"This place, as poor as it is, still carries power, though the one who calls herself the oracle knows nothing of it. This is a place where you three must go when you seek the undead one. This is the place where you may leap from as you go far to the west, for that is where he stays mostly."

She saw a stone block and stepped up onto it and turned to face her daughter, "This is also a private place for you to receive what you will need from me." She lifted her breast in offering, "You only need a little and there is not much to be had from each one. Try to remember that the others need this more than you."

Dakhete nodded and stepped forward to place her hands on her mother's breast as she began to suck. Her eyes flew open wide in an instant, and before long, Sekhmet was urging her to take a little from the other nipple.

In another part of the temple, two lioness goddesses, surveyed the carnage around them. "This should never have been allowed, " Menhit said as she spat out blood from her teeth, "Better to have no oracle at all than one such as that," she remarked as she looked down at the torn body before her.

"True," Tefnut said, "too true, but at least there is an oracle, "she smiled as she pulled a tapestry away from the wall to reveal a young woman who trembled in her fear of them.

"Arise, true oracle and begin your tasks," Tefnut said, "You need not fear us, for you have done nothing and have led no one astray. If you are sought for a purpose and do not have an answer, then say that and be honest. Ask us and we may answer if we can."

"And ask for help if one such as this seeks to push you or your young family from these tasks. You are the true oracle, as was your mother before you and her mother and so on. This dead bitch here was only an opportunistic sham. We permit no such ones in our service," Menhit said, "but we cherish those who are true. Come, stand and begin. We will clean this mess and the people will come to you once more."

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"If you do not wish to be a part of this," Maahes said to Khyan quietly, "it would be better to say it now, or very soon. You have no part of the gods in you," he said, "this is a fight for man, but it does not have to be your fight, Khyan. You are the most likely one to be harmed in this."

"It is my wish to go, Lord Maahes" he said, bowing, "I have lived alone to no purpose but to serve my mother and to await the coming of someone who was never expected to return -- as she said it to me. I am to serve that one, and this one as well," he said, indicating Yasmin, "They are my friends in so little time, such as I never thought to have for me. Where they go, I go -- if it is permitted. I would feel shame if I did not."

He nodded, "I hope that your stout heart carries you through to the other side of this."

He looked away for a moment. "I had given up on mankind a little," he admitted, "to see three such friends and two of them part Djinn -- and all of them needing a purpose and now seeing one for themselves, it gives me hope once more. Besides that -- "

"Besides that," Bast said, "He is a very strong and very deadly young lord among us, who suffers boredom badly -- and he has had so much of it that now he will tell you that he should go along."

Inpewt grinned as she picked it up with a wink, "For the protection of the three, of course."

Maahes stared as it went from one to the other. Mut picked it up then, saying, "He will say nothing of how he longs for a little adventure himself, though that is what we have all heard from him now for so long."

"To say nothing of the company," Ari-hes-nefer smiled, "Imagine it, to be on the road with such companions in these and in the cats close to Dakhete's heart."

Maahes was beginning to grow a little angry, "I was only saying," he began in an exasperated tone," --"

"What we have all been saying, though not to him," Apedemak laughed, "and that is why we are sending him, though not with ideas such as he carries in his head. I only wonder if he would want this after he sees them all once they have it."

"Have, ... what?" Maahes asked, thoroughly confused.

Yasmin and Khyan were just as confused, but they were a little glad that it wasn't they who were the subject of this. They just really liked the idea.

Dakhete appeared before them suddenly and she reached for their hands. "Come with me," she said, "My mother waits with what you need."

"What do I need?" Khyan asked, "I need nothing."

"Nor I," Yasmin said, looking at her teacher's red eyes.

"Just come," Dakhete said as she took their hands, "Please."

They found themselves before Sekhmet as she leaned against the doorway of the temple. Before either of them could object or even react, Dakhete held their heads from behind as she pressed their faces against Sekhmet's nipples, "Suckle," she said, "and you will have all that you need to live through this. Sha-sha and Saddiq have no need of this and I do not wish to lose either of you."

Both of them resisted, but as each one tasted what seeped from the breast before her, they couldn't help themselves after that, and they sucked hungrily, their eyes wide and seeing little.

"I did not know that I even had any left to give," Sekhmet sighed. Dakhete released their heads and Sekhmet caressed them, "Gently now, do not be so hungry. Savor what will likely never come again. This is for you to give strength of spirit. If you love my daughter as I feel it from you, then you are as my children also in this." She kissed their heads one after the other softly.

Her milk lasted only a minute or so and they let her nipples go reluctantly. "Thank you," Khyan said softly, and Yasmin echoed him a second later.

"How do you feel?" Dakhete asked, grinning as she saw their eyes begin to turn red.

"I feel," Khyan began, "I feel as though my body hums."

"Just wait a little," Dakhete said, "It gives strength of spirit, yes, but it gives more, and some of that lasts forever. You will gain strength and speed, you will not grow tired, you will -- "

"It hurts," Yasmin groaned as she doubled over, "All of me. It hurts so, ..."

"I forgot," Dakhete said worriedly, "It changes things. It finds what you need to be what is best for you and it makes it so."

Khyan blinked and shrugged, "My shoulders are sore and my calves ache a little, but that is all."

Dakhete groaned as she remembered now what it had been like for her, "Yasmin, Yasmin sit down. You are just as I was once." She helped Yasmon to sit and she looked up at her mother.

"It did not kill you," Sekhmet shrugged, "It only gave you strength and ... oh! It made you a little taller also."

"What?" Yasmin asked, "Taller, Ah! My legs!"

She began to try to bite down on the pain. "I will not cry," she said aloud, "I have moaned like a child these last weeks and I am already shamed for that. I will ... not..."

She threw her head back and screamed.

Dakhete and Khyan were on the floor beside her in a second, holding her.

"It does something else," Sekhmet said, smiling a little through her concern for Yasmin. "It causes a hunger."

"What sort of hunger?" Khyan asked.

"It makes killing a joy, and being alive a lot more real and, ... important," the goddess smiled, "A part of that is the want to seek pleasure."

"Oh, I need more of that," Khyan groaned a little sarcastically, "Do you know where I sleep, Goddess?"

"Yes," Sekhmet smiled, "I do. You sleep in the same house of two who seek your love as you wish for theirs. So? You may find yourself sleeping a little, ... less now."

She sank to a squat in front of Yasmin, "Look at me, young one. Come, look at me now."

Yasmin opened her eyes and looked up, feeling thoroughly miserable for the moment as Sekhmet reached to touch her face.