The Lion Soul by Amy Sumida
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I'm not sure how much time passed as the Farungal Queen crafted her spell but it was finally coming to an end. With a ferocious grin, she drew one of my swords and came to stand before me. I cleared my mind and prepared to die.
But she didn't kill me.
As the stone around her throat started to glow, the Queen began to chant, then, with startling quickness, she sliced my left breast. The cut wasn't deep, but she edged the tip of my blade into it so that my blood dripped down the steel, right into the grove that ran through its center. Despite the common belief of non-Nazakians that the groove on our swords is to allow for an easier pull of the blade from a body or to allow blood to flow more freely from the wound, the groove is simply to lighten the blade without compromising the structure. But it appeared to function just fine as a blood collector. The Queen was certainly pleased by it.
Once she bloodied my sword, she turned away. I blinked in confusion as the Queen returned to her worktable, still chanting. Didn't she need my death to fuel the spell? Then I remembered that she had a cache of death stored in the soul stone she wore. That's why it glowed; it was empowering her spell. That putrid green glow slid across her shoulder, down her arm, and over my sword. It hit my blood and sparked just as she tipped the blade over a glass bottle. The sparking blood dropped into the bottle and the concoction inside flared green before settling into a soft white.
The Queen's hand trembled as she laid my sword down and scooped up the bottle. The guards at the door went tense as they watched her down the contents, their stares glued to her working throat. Blood dripped down my chest. My breath rasped over my dry lips. My wrists ached. My back was going numb from the cold. But all of those sensations faded into shock when the Queen began to glow.
It wasn't the green glow of the amulet around her neck. No, this was the white of the elixir she had drunk. A pure light that brightened until I had to squint against it. Within that halo, the Queen's body shifted, and she began to scream. She crumpled to the floor in a bony heap, her body writhing in impossible and deeply disturbing ways, thankfully only shadows until the light began to fade. The guards stepped forward at the sound of the Queen's screams but paused when she held up a warding hand—a hand free of claws or scales. Pale pink and perfect, with little oval nails. The guards fell to their knees as the Queen unfolded herself and stood, her clothing falling away.
Her scaly black skin was gone, replaced by creamy white, smooth flesh blushed by rose. Her new body was shorter and thinner than her last, but also more lush, with curving hips and plump breasts that sat high on her chest. A thatch of golden curls guarded her sex, matching the fall of thick hair that draped her like a cape. She lifted a face of sublime beauty and, as a triumphant grin spread across her face, a pair of leathery, golden-brown wings whooshed open behind her.
She was the most beautiful and terrifying creature I'd ever beheld. When she began to laugh wildly and brightly, without a hint of Farungal chitters, that terror was magnified and her beauty faded for me. Not for her soldiers though. They crawled forward and kissed her new feet as they whispered words of adulation.
“We shall be whole again,” the Queen declared as she stroked their scaled cheeks. “We shall be beautiful, and we will rule the skies!”
“And who gave you this beauty?” A deep, masculine voice suddenly asked.
The Queen shifted her stare to a man who materialized in the shadows. He strode forward into the light, glaring at the monsters at the Queen's feet as his dark wings spread into a menacing expanse.
The Queen bowed her head to Ry'zaran and shooed her soldiers toward their God. “You did, Great Father,” she said. “And we are so grateful.”
Ry'zaran grimaced at the men who groveled at his feet, then nodded and nudged the guards away with the toe of his boot. “Very well. Remember your promise to me, Desenja. We will return our people to their former glory, and you will end the war. No more attacking Stalana or your fae cousins.”
“Yes, Great One.” She bowed again, but I saw the twist of her lips as she did. “I will return our people to their true forms and then end the war.”
“She will betray you,” I said casually. “As soon as her people are restored, she will fly them to Stalana and attack.”
Ry'zaran looked at me, his expression going remorseful. “Rieyu, my son, I am sorry that I had to hurt you to save our people. This was the only way I could think of to save the Farungal and end the war.”
“I don't care that you used me, but the Goddess will not forgive you for this.”
“She wanted the war to end, and this will end it,” he said. “One man to save many, and you don't even have to die. Frankly, I'm not sure if you can; you have a piece of me inside you after all.”
The Queen's sharp gaze flicked to me in shock, then back to the God.
Ry'zaran went on brightly, “Desenja will take small amounts of blood from you, only what's required for every dose, and once the Farungal are restored, you will be freed. The war will be over, both Fae and Farungal safe, and the Goddess will be pleased.”
“You're a fool if you think that.” I shook my head. “You are trusting one woman who is not worthy of that trust and assuming things about another who you are not worthy of. Neither will behave as you expect them to, and we will both pay the price.”
“I am their God,” Ry'zaran growled as he waved a hand toward the Queen. “I am your God too, Rieyu. Your divine father. Desenja will not disobey me, nor will she hurt my son.”
“I am not a Farungal, and she knows it.” I lifted my chin. “Whether I'm your son or not won't matter. My life will be forfeit as soon as my blood becomes useless. I have no illusions about the monsters you made, Ry'zaran. Now I see why the Goddess punished them all. They are, as a race, twisted. Their souls rancid. The Goddess gave them forms to show their true natures, and this spell that you've taught them won't cure that. It fixes their bodies but not their minds. Not their hearts or souls. Look at her!” I growled. “She's a monster still. All you've done is made it harder to see her depravity.”
The Queen's eyes twitched at me, then softened on her God. “He's spouting lies to sway you, Great Dragon. I am your humble servant. I will obey you; I swear it.”
Ry'zaran scowled at me, then at her. “Restore our people, Desenja. And end the war. I will have my lady back or I will end you!” Wrapping his wings around himself, Ry'zaran disappeared.
Queen Desenja turned to me and grinned wickedly.
I grunted. Grunt translation: I was still fucked.
