Chapter 188: Recall Of A Demon Priestess (2/2)

Arjun waved it away. ”A bold act requires an item of value,” she said. ”You may risk the full brunt of Arkhat's ire, but I do not.”

The slaves finished their work and retreated. Gallazza took up her dagger with the figure of the spider affixed to the hilt. With the tip of the blade, she opened a deep cut on her forearm. She held the bleeding appendage over the yaomo and let her blood drip on her exposed skin. Arjun removed her own dagger from the sheath at her belt and repeated the gesture, their blood mingling on the yaomo's stomach and dripping down to fill the carvings in the altar. The candles in the room flickered and flared red for an instant before returning to their normal color. Arjun began to chant, her eyes closed, her body swaying back and forth as she praised the divine.

Gallazza stood over the yaomo. She writhed on the altar, whimpering around the gag in her mouth. Ripping away the rags covering her belly, Gallazza held the knife poised in the air. ”We offer this flesh to you, Mother Arkhat. Hear your servants' prayer and share your wisdom in our time of need. We call upon you, and as we give you this life, put our own lives into your hands.”

She brought the knife down in a quick, brutal arc. The moment the blade passed through the yaomo's flesh, Gallazza felt a burning explosion of pain in her gut. She collapsed, writhing on the floor in front of the altar. At the same time, the yaomo's lifeblood flowed through the carvings and glowed a brilliant red.

Somewhere behind her, Arjun began to laugh. ”Yes! divine, yes!” she cried, exultant.

Only then did Gallazza begin to realize the depth of her lover's betrayal.

Arjun bowed deeply before the fiend. The beautiful demon stood over Gallazza, lip curled in disgust. Agony kept Gallazza on her back, watching the blood drip from the altar.

”On your feet,” the fiend commanded and, without waiting for Gallazza to comply, made a gesture and spoke a word that pounded against Gallazza's temples. Unseen force yanked her to her feet and held her suspended in the air. ”See what your ritual has wrought this day, Priestess,” the demon said. ”Behold your offering to Arkhat.”

Arjun looked at Gallazza, and her face contorted with a mixture of triumph and revulsion.

I remember it now. This was the moment when my memories twisted. I am Gallazza. A priestess born in the city of Guallidurth. Lie. A renegade male seeking refuge in the Temple City of Arkhat. Lie.

Who am I?

I am Gallazza.

”You desired knowledge of the males in Guallidurth,” Arjun said, running a sculpted fingernail along Gallazza's throat. ”At first I dismissed your worries, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized you were right. The balance is shifting, and we must assure our dominance. You gave me the answer, my love, when you said you wanted to be Arkhat's instrument.”

A wicked light burned in Arjun's red eyes. ”You shall. Female becomes male By arcane power is the divine transformed. When the time comes for Arkhat's ascension, you will be the nexus, the conduit for the creation of the Demon Weave. You will have purpose—a sacrifice to Arkhat's greater glory.”

My purpose. To die. Even that is fading. They took my memories, remade me completely. I presented myself as a yaomo to Mistress Mother Arjun Khaven-Ghell and offered my services as an assassin and master of poisons. She took me in, protected me.

Is that what you really are?

Show me your face, Gallazza.

No, I am a high priestess of Arkhat. I serve none but the divine. Arjun is my equal. I know her flesh as intimately as my own. So many contradictions in your flesh—unremarkable male. Unworthy … lesser creature.

No! divine, forgive! Don't do this.

Too late. I am already lost.

I am Gallazza.

They call me the Black Creeper. I must keep my head down. I have felt the sting of the snake-headed whip too often.

No!.

Yes.

I am Gallazza.

Gallazza screamed as the scene faded. Her last sight was of her male form standing in a pool of yaomo blood, gaze fixed beseechingly on the fiend's cold face as the demon stole her memories, filling her with Arkhat's dark power.

The library faded back into focus around Gallazza. Shadows shrouded the room, and the whispers still hissed from the empty corners.