~I thought of taking a break but suddenly I had some inspiration so I am sitting down to write again. Let's hope the second one will be better. And bigger. But I wont be able to write so often. And the O'Connells are in this!~
"We trusted you. We placed in your hands the power of the great goddess. And how did you repay us? By not keeping your promise. By using it for non-agreed things. You will be punished for this. In a month's time, you will take this form yourself. But you will not control the power anymore. She will control you! And you will finish what you stopped, by starting from the one you love the most. Enjoy your last month my princess. All your life will be…DEATH!"
Heterity screamed and clasped her husband. Ardeth woke with a start and pressed his body to hers. The comforting warmth of it calmed her down and she rested her head on his chest, feeling his hand slowly caressing her hair. He could feel her forehead, cooler than usually. When her heart finally stopped racing in her chest he talked to her.
"What is it Hity? What did you saw?"
"One month. I just have one month." She said slowly, not able to give a coherent answer yet.
"You have one month for what?" Ardeth asked puzzled.
She finally sighed and gathered herself as much as possible. "Remember the lioness?" she asked.
"How can I forget?"
"Well, would you like to face her again?"
"What did you see? You think she is coming back?"
"Not exactly. Ardeth, what I did to save you was not exactly acceptable by the ones who are higher than me. I used a power that was not mine. I hoped that there would be no unfortunate consequence. But it seems that…" she stopped as if speaking has suddenly become difficult. "It seems that I will turn into her. Same with last time. And of course I will not be able to control myself. And I will start killing people. You will be the first one."
Ardeth struggled to realize what Heterity has just said. "And this will happen in a month?" He asked.
"Certainly."
"We can't leave it this way! There must be something to be done."
"I will leave tomorrow. I will go back to my tomb." Ardeth tried to say something but Heterity raised her hand sharply. "Alone Ardeth. Hopefully I will find something among my brother's things. But if solution is not found… then I will have to die before I do this, while I will still be able to."
Ardeth let his head drop. A million thoughts were crossing his head. Death, pain, sorrow again. A punishment with no reason. A whirlwind of emotions overcame him. But Heterity had more to say.
"Ardeth, I think that you understood that if there is no solution to this in a month, I will have to kill myself. Promise me that you will not try to make this difficult for me in any way."
Duty, loss, love. Which was really the right solution and what could be done? Was there a light to guide them through this darkness? Who could help him now? Fear, despair. "I will. I promise."
She closed her eyes. "Lets hope we will find a solution, though this sounds impossible. Don't mourn me Ardeth, I am not dead." She stopped for a while and added "Yet".
~
Ardeth watched the woman going away before the sun appeared at the horizon. The darkest hour of night is this before the sunrise, they say. But where was the sunrise now? Because he could see it nowhere.
When he was rescued by her he never asked the details. He thought that if she wanted him to know she would have told him. But now everything was coming back to him. The turning into a lioness was almost alright. He remembered that in the ancient times some soldiers were saying that she was a real goddess and could turn into any animal she wanted. Exaggerated but still it had some true bits. From the worshipping of the leonine goddess, Sekhmet, she had powers common people cold only dream of. But he knew nothing about if she had or not permit ion to heal. And he could do nothing to help her this time. Only observe. Was he that strong? Observe her struggling to find a solution, observe her suffering, observe her dying? Could he put up with it without breaking down?
~
All I could I did Med-jai. To help her. Willingly I gave her my power. But she was too strong to be tolerated. She was feared. That's the real reason she is being punished. I favor her though and that is the reason I will offer yet another chance to her- and you. I locked the curse in a red stone, which lies at the place of rain. Destroy it and she will not suffer. However if anyone finds the stone there is danger to free the curse by accident. In that case I will offer you one last chance. If she takes this form, she will be able to be killed, but only by the hand of the one she loved the most. If you have to, Med-jai, kill her to save her and the rest of the world. Duty is first. Duty…duty…duty…duty…duty…
Ardeth opened his eyes. "THE STONE!" he yelled in the darkness, and his voice sounded strange in the silence of the night.