Talon and Fang by James Axler

Author:James Axler [Axler, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Men's Adventure, General, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fiction
ISBN: 9780373638383
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

a real living woman. For an instant, Grant wondered if a cunningly crafted mannequin had not been placed on the stage under the cover of the smoke, but then he saw Scorpia Prime gesture and he knew she was definitely alive.

In a loud clear voice, Scorpia Prime began speaking. Shizuka hurriedly translated: "The enemies of divine annihilation gather in the darkness. They would continue to ravage Earth by burning away the green from our jungles, turning flower to ash, clean water to poison!"

The assembled horde howled in approval, but Grant sensed a curiously ritualized quality about their reaction, as if they had rehearsed it for many days prior to the ceremony.

"Tonight the forces of annihilation are drawn together!" the woman continued. "Tonight we seal our pact to serve Shiva to bring about the Pralaya, the destruction of the universe. As a scorpion stings itself to death in the hot sun, we shall see to it that humanity does the same! The moment of our triumph is upon us." She gestured to Kane, sagging in his bonds between the pillars. "As we possess him, so do we possess the secret steps to the Tandava, the dance of destruction. He came here to destroy, to prevent us from fulfilling our pact with Shiva. So we will mingle this man's two life forces as a consecration of our pact! Tonight, Shakti strides among us!"

176 JAMES AXLER

The cymbals clashed again, strings sighed and the drums throbbed. Scorpia Prime began to dance around Kane, moving her hands and arms in ritualistic, intertwining angles and arcs. Steel gleamed in both of her hands. Her thumbs were tipped with curving tips of metal, like claws—or Grant realized bleakly, the stingers of scorpions.

He watched the woman, recalling Lakesh's description of the sacred dances of Shiva, the divine creator and destroyer who haunted graveyards as the lord of ghosts. Scorpia Prime danced the part of one of

Shiva's wives, Kali, who feasted on sacrifices of human blood. At that point, the woman swept her right thumb down Kane's torso, the steel spur inflicting a crimson-welling incision from his chest to his pelvis.

He didn't so much as jerk in response.

Grant made a motion as if to shoulder his Steyr and start firing at the masked woman, but Shizuka laid a restraining hand on his arm and shook her head urgently. Her face beneath the stripings of combat cosmetics was very pale. She whispered, "Kane is already in so much pain at this point, he can't feel much of anything."

Bleakly, Grant knew she spoke the truth. He couldn't help but wonder at the extent of his friend's numbness, whether he was either suffering from a drug-induced paralysis or simply faking unconsciousness.

Grant could only watch as Scorpia Prime continued to dance around Kane with the consummate grace of

TALON AND FANG 177

an artist, yet with the abandon of a nymph. As Sati, another wife of Shiva, she mimed sacrificing herself to her lord by leaping into imaginary flames. It was the ritual act of suttee, the long-banned custom of

Hindu widows joining their husbands in their funeral pyres.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.