Kiss of Osiris

Chapter Eight

"Suddenly all sound comes back with a rushing flood. Aren smiles weakly at me and closes her eyes. She breathes her last. In shock, I hold her there for what seems like an eternity. Then I scream in anger at god in heaven. I shook the heavens with my anger. Why? Why god? Why did you take her from me? Why do hate me? Is it because of the old man? All the lives I've taken? Well, screw you!"

"Torrents of black tears run down my face as I cradle her lifeless body. I would never see her again. She was doubtless in heaven, while I am undeniably going to hell. Suddenly I feel a pain and pressure on my back. My shirt stretches and rips. I feel like my back is exploding! Huge black hellish wings unfurl behind me in a spray of blood and darkness. They spread out in an awesome display. I again raise my hand to the heavens and shake it at god. It begins to rain. Aren's tears..."

Evee's jaw dropped. Overwhelmed by this revelation she said nothing. She had no idea the pain this sad creature has been carrying. It makes her own problems seem so little. What a far cry from that devil she encountered on that first night! Up ahead there is commotion. One of the explorers got speared somehow by one of the traps. His name was Bari, or something like that? 

She could see that the men's morale has plummeted. About half an hour later something happened. Wati, their leader waved Al over. "Hey, boss! Come over! Take a look at this!" Al, who was lost in thought, snapped out of it. He walked over. There was nothing to see. "Hey, what's the-" 

Al looked up to see the men surrounding him. They had an evil glimmer in their eyes. There intention was plain. "It's the end for you, my friend," said Wati. Al only shrugged his shoulders and grinned his stupid grin. His stomach growled loudly. The first came at him with a knife, he blocked the slash and threw him into a shaft in the ground that appeared bottomless. Another jumped him from behind but without looking he punched him the face and smashed his head against the wall. 

A skinny one surprised him and hit him in the head with a bat. That dazed Al, and a fat man drew his pistol and unloaded it into Al's belly. He coughed up blood and turned towards the skinny man. Enraged, and now in pain, Al kicked him violently in the stomach. Then the claws were out. He drained him while his buddy watched in disbelief. The fat one turned to run but Evee nonchalantly stuck her foot out and he face-planted.

His red, plump face looked up at her in anger, then at Al in terror. He was on him in a moment. The fat man's leg flailed, then moved no more. Better him, than me. Yuck. Evee considered just leaving, then remembered she had no idea where the hell she was.

"You need to be a better judge of character," she said. Al smiled at that. He calmed down after feeding and tended to his wounds. He sat on the ground holding his stomach. Blood was on his mouth. His blood this time. "Oof, I have a stomach full of lead. Look away, this might be kind of gross." He used his claws to start digging out the bullets. 

They rested there for an hour or two while Al rested and recovered. She wondered if she surprised him if she could push him into the bottomless shaft. Nah, he would probably take her with him. "I was aware they would turn on us," he said. "What?" "At least sometimes. I can smell the evil in wicked men's hearts. Like bacon to a dog. I just wanted a snack in case I got hungry," he smiled. Evee felt sick. "But I might have underestimated them a little. I lost a lot of blood. I got shot like multiple times." Evee thought about the first night. As if reading her mind he said "usually I wear protection underneath. What? Getting shot sucks. Only fools let power go to their head. How do you think I lived this long?"

Al got a sense of the right direction again. Hieroglyphics lined the walls. Something caught her attention. She couldn't remember what it meant but it was a shocking picture to be sure. A hieroglyphic on the wall showed a blue man with what appeared to be a squid for a face was lifting a man into the air, looking like he was about to eat him. Stylized skulls littered his feet. "Friend of yours?" said Evee painting to the picture. Al looked and scoffed "Nah, I have no idea what that was." They continued on their way. Al said he sensed that they were close. Evee wondered how he could tell when she stopped suddenly. Terror ran up her back in shivers. She remembered where that hieroglyphic was from...