Born of the Gods

Chapter Twenty: Death of a Queen

"Who are you?" I asked quietly, trying to sound as calm as possible. I hoped my friends didn't hear the quiver in my voice or how my knuckles were as white as the skeleton's bones.

"I am a queen," she said, her voice soft and gentle. A wicked smile played upon her lips, revealing yellow and rotten teeth. I grimaced in disgust and drew my bow back, aimed to her forehead. It was clearly a bluff and the Queen clearly had every intention of calling it.

"Queen of the damned and the dead!" she barked and her voice sounded like a knife scraping the bark from an old oak. I shivered and my aim wavered. I slowly began to walk backwards, towards a large pile of rubble. Sophia and Tarik began to follow, but stayed slightly ahead of me. If I was going to die, I may as well die with the blood of my killers soaked into my shoes. The Queen noticed the movement and leaned back on her heels in satisfaction. "This shall be quick work."

I found my feet reach an incline and I quickly dashed up it. The skeletons had yet to move position but all watched as we reached the top of the stone hill. I glanced around, looked for something--anything--to get us out of this. There was a lake to my right, and stalactites overhead. Otherwise? Nothing. Only ruined buildings and flat ground. 

"Do we just give up?" Sophia whispered uncertainly.

"They'll kill us either way," Tarik mumbled.

I looked around and pressed my brain for any hope. I looked up at the ceiling, at the stalactites and a small smile crept onto my face. I remembered avoiding the caves in the forest for fear they'd fall on me. If only they'd fall now. 

A small thought occurred to me. 

"Tarik, if your father is the god of the underworld, does that mean you have at least a little control over ground? Or caves? Or underground or anything that might make sharp rocks fall?"

"Maybe," he said and looked at me like I was strange. I looked up and he followed my gaze. He shared my grin. "I've never tried before, but it could be a good time to find out."

"Are you two mad?" Sophia growled, "We'd die as well."

I thought a moment. "Well Tarik can prevent that. Maybe."

He shook his head. "I don't think I'd have enough strength to save us and still kill them. Sophia might be right."

"Well we need to figure something out, or we're going to die." I kicked a rock in frustration and glanced around once more. The skeletons were beginning to advance, weapons drawn. Most carried swords or spears while the dogs wielded razor sharp claws and teeth. They approached and surrounded the pile of stone shards and dust, waiting for the signal from the Queen. 

She bared her yellowed teeth and screeched, "Kill them and take their flesh. Once they're gone we'll kill the jackal pups as well and reclaim my realm. No living deserve to dwell in the tomb of Khentkaus." 

They began to charge.

The creatures let loose a savage war cry as they began to scale the hill. I drew my bow and swiftly released several arrows, none aimed at anything in particular. They struck random skeletons in the mob, several of which caught fire. Tarik and Sophia slashed, hacked, and parried but they were two hundred and we were only three. Soon we became overwhelmed and fought back to back. It grew more and more difficult to keep the skeletons away from me as I released arrow after arrow. 

Frustrated by the unending swarm, I drew my bow back as far as the arms would stretch, aimed up, and shouted, "Boroún na o thánatos érchetai apó psi̱lá." May death come from above.

As the arrow released, a torrent of pain washed over my hand. My right arm was tinted black and my palm even darker. The bow, once bright as the sun, was now dark and shadowy. The arms no longer cast a warm light, but now seemed to darken everything that surrounded it. I looked up at my arrow, now black as night, as it split into dozens of shards, each reaching its own peak, and began to rain down. There was a sharp series of whistles as the pieces fell and began to strike the skeletons without mercy. On contact the arrow pierced deep into the body and seemed to directly target the hearts of the skeletons. Purple smoke clouded the area as skeletons exploded one after the other.