Mistress Of The Ages (In Her Name, Book 9) by Michael R. Hicks Page B

with one another.” Her lips curved up in a grim smile. “Or, should I say, the other priesthoods are now at war with my own. I dare not leave our temple unguarded.”
    “But why should we trust you?” Tara-Khan said. “You were among those at the inquisition who tortured Keel-Tath.”
    Sian-Al’ai favored him with a critical eye. “The purpose of the inquisition was not to torture her, but to discover what she is. I stand with you now because of what I learned, and what I now believe: that she is indeed the one prophesied by Anuir-Ruhal’te, just as Ayan-Dar claimed. I believe all of us saw the same truth in her. The difference is that I chose to embrace it, while the others did not.”
    “I am just as happy she is not here,” Dara-Kol said. “I only hope that she is safe from whatever Syr-Nagath may do…”
    Ka’i-Lohr stood and pointed at the Kal’ai-Il. “ Keel-Tath! ”  
    ***
    Keel-Tath again traveled through infinity in but the blink of an eye. Then she was there , standing atop the Kal’ai-Il, just as she had intended, and her heart sank at what she saw. The writhing, snarling battle upon the plateau was far worse than the brief and bloody war fought among the Desh-Ka. The sky above was black with airships, from which silver clad Ka’i-Nur warriors fell like deadly rain. While the battle was hardly over, there could be no doubt as to its final outcome.  
    She saw Ka’i-Lohr stand up and point toward her, and his shouting her name had an electrifying effect on all who heard, friend and foe alike: they stopped and stared at her. Like the ripples made by a stone dropped into a still pool of water, more and more of those who fought stopped and looked toward the Kal’ai-Il, until the only sound was the drone of the airships orbiting above and the cries of the wounded.
    For a moment, time itself was suspended as all stared at her.
    The robed ones were the first to break the fragile enchantment. As the warriors stood transfixed, they gathered the younglings into their arms and fled toward the Kal’ai-Il, the tattered hems of their wet, blood spattered robes dragging in the mud.
    “All who believe,” Keel-Tath shouted, raising her arms in a beckoning gesture, “come to me!” She felt a tingling in her hands, much as she had before lightning had exploded from her body on the moon above. The sensation came unbidden, as if whatever power that dwelled within her had a mind and will of its own.  
    Her words broke the spell. As if releasing their pent up fury, the warriors turned on one another, fighting with even more savage ferocity. The surviving Ima’il-Kush under Sian-Al’ai rushed to form a defensive ring around the Kal’ai-Il as the handful of Desh-Ka acolytes fell back toward them. The Ka’i-Nur warriors and the other priesthoods fought one another even as they tried to close with and crush the defenders.  
    The tingling in Keel-Tath’s hands grew so strong that her palms felt as if they were aflame, and she screamed when lighting again burst forth.  
    ***
    Tara-Khan cringed as thunder drowned out the sounds of battle. Looking up, he was momentarily blinded by the lightning that erupted from Keel-Tath’s body. But this was not just a bolt as he had seen the Desh-Ka wield. It was a dancing web of energy that formed a shield over those who had gathered around the Kal’ai-Il, much like that created by the Desh-Ka earlier in defense of the temple. But this barrier was far more brilliant, far more powerful, than what the priests and priestesses had made.
    A few of the Ka’i-Nur had been caught on the inside, but the surviving priests and priestesses of the Ima’il-Kush made short work of them. The enemy warriors who had been in the way of the barrier when it materialized were incinerated. Nothing remained of them but ash and smoldering metal.
    The dome of lightning intensified until it was a solid, blinding barrier of cyan. Looking up at the dais of the Kal’ai-Il, he could see from