Chronicle of Ages (31 page)

As the vessel they were arriving in was one of Inanna's official fleet, Uriah had no trouble gaining clearance to land at the Goddess' private docking bay.

Ordered to follow Uriah and Aquilla out to the dock, that was exactly what Maelgwn did. It was like being trapped inside some alien thing having no control of his body. Thankfully Uriah hadn't started toying with his mind yet. Perhaps he was saving that abuse for Inanna.

‘Where are En Barnabus and Nin Serena?' A Leonine official met Uriah and his party as they disembarked, and he seemed most alarmed to find his colleagues absent.

‘They are still sleeping in stasis. No harm has befallen them,' Uriah advised. ‘We are here with a great bounty to offer the Goddess Inanna in exchange for my brother, Durak. It is of the utmost urgency that I speak with Inanna at once.'

Bring them to me,
Inanna's voice resounded through the dock,
along with their cargo.

 

Inanna's audience chamber was more like a large harem room, as it was laden with curtains, cushions and
lounges of silk, velvet and exotic fur. There were two scented pools herein: one steaming, the other cool. A large, open firepit was the central feature of the room and hence, for the inside of an ice palace, the atmosphere was very cosy.

‘I don't see why Inanna doesn't just strap a mattress to her back,' Uriah commented aside to Aquilla as they awaited the Goddess' presence. ‘The Dragon shall be in for a fine time.'

‘Don't say that,' Aquilla begged, obviously doing her best not to think about what Inanna would do with the Dragon.

Uriah picked up on her denial at once. ‘Well, you don't for a minute think that Inanna is going to let a fine figure of a warrior like him go to waste, do you?'

Aquilla hushed Uriah to silence as Inanna made an appearance.

Her presence was a vision. The goddess truly was an astonishing beauty — she was also half naked. The glittering white cloth of her skirt draped up over a shoulder leaving one of her legs and one of her breasts exposed. The Goddess' unusually large eyes were of sapphire blue. The other features of her face were pixie-like and petite although her tiny mouth had lips that were large and luscious. Milky white, her skin glowed like a newborn's, and her ash brown hair fell in long loose locks about the body that was poised, long and slender. At close to seven feet in height, Inanna towered over everyone in the room.

What happened to my officials?
Inanna demanded a reply from Uriah, her voice eloquent and seductive.

‘They got in the way of this fellow, Maelgwn Gwynedd,' Uriah explained, motioning to the prisoner. ‘Otherwise known as the Dragon.'

So … this is your alleged immortal ape man.
Inanna still appeared sceptical, even though they had managed to produce a real Homo sapiens.

‘Not alleged.' Uriah pulled the EMS Wand from Maelgwn's belt, which now sat proudly around his own waist. The wand was still set on ultra-violet, so Uriah sliced Maelgwn right through the middle.

‘You're sick, Uriah!' Aquilla snatched the laser sword from his hand.

The pain and discomfort were only momentary, but Maelgwn didn't appreciate the demonstration all the same.

When he healed up without so much as one drop of blood being spilt on the floor, Inanna was tickled pink.

And this is the control device?
She approached to look over the NERGUZ and the man who wore it.

‘Yes, it is linked to the device I am wearing.' Uriah held out the executor module for her to view. ‘He is bound to do everything I say.'

Really?
Inanna smiled a mischievous smile.
Then make him kiss me,
she encouraged Uriah playfully.

‘You heard the goddess, Dragon. Kiss her,' Uriah ordered and Aquilla couldn't watch.

Maelgwn reached down and taking hold of the goddess' hand he kissed it.

Not exactly what I had in mind,
Inanna smiled,
but a little bit of verbal refining and this concept could have real
potential. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this man bear a striking resemblance to the one you wish to exchange him for?

‘This man is no relation to Durak,' Aquilla stated absolutely.

Shows what you know.
Inanna mocked Aquilla for her lack of universal knowledge.

It was widely known that the goddess held little love for the deeply emotional Delphinus breed, especially the females. Inanna preferred the fiery, promiscuous nature of the Leonine race.

Tell me, Aquilla. Did you use every means within your power to entrap your victim?

‘Does this really matter?' Uriah interrupted.

With a wave of her hand, Inanna sent the lad flying backward to the floor.
Yes, it matters,
Inanna informed him calmly.
This man is immortal, a demi-god … we wouldn't want his genes being passed on to the wrong breed, would we?

‘No.' Aquilla shook her head. ‘There is no question of that. I am infertile.'

So,
Inanna approached Aquilla, having had the truth out of her,
you've managed to screw him in every regard. You certainly turned out to be far more ruthless than I expected when I first recruited you.

‘When you stole my husband, you mean?' Aquilla's resentment only served to delight the Goddess all the more.

And what else have you brought for me?
Inanna looked back to Uriah, who was still picking himself up off the floor.

‘Your brother-in-law, Gibal,' Uriah advised in a precocious fashion, referring her to the small transport
cases. ‘I took the liberty of disassembling him for you, as I needed the NERGUZ to restrain the Dragon for transportation.'

Excellent!
Inanna strode over to inspect the cases.
That will teach you for assisting my enemy, Gibal.
She thumped the case that she suspected contained the Lord's head.
And my chariot!
Inanna exclaimed, utterly thrilled as she caught sight of it.

‘But I have the crystal that drives it,' Aquilla informed her. ‘And only my voice will release the Dragon into your control,' Uriah added, ‘so let's deal.'

Yes, let's,
replied Inanna as a multitude of Leonine warriors entered the chamber.

If he could have, Maelgwn would have rolled his eyes. It was torture being forced to stand by and watch while those that he cared about destroyed themselves and the future of all the human races.

Uriah pulled Maelgwn's PKA sonic pulse blaster from the holster he now wore, and remained cool and collected as the armed force surrounded Aquilla and himself.

Inanna raised a hand and Uriah's weapon was ripped from his clutches and catapulted into the goddess' possession.
You ridiculous little mollusc. How dare you?
Inanna set her sights on Uriah and slowly approached him.
Do you know why I spend most of my life on my back?

Aquilla was infuriated as she realised that Uriah's loud mouth had blown any chance they'd had of pulling off this deal.

Inanna's sights shifted to Maelgwn.
I am in search of a male who can get me with child.

The Nefilim, having only ever numbered but a few as a race, had inbred themselves to the point of infertility. Inanna's best chance of bearing offspring to a Nefilim male had disappeared with Dumuzi, and the Goddess would never forgive Marduk for that. Nefilim males had proven most capable of impregnating human women, but mortal men had failed to impregnate her.

You have brought me new hope,
the goddess looked back to Uriah,
and for that I shall allow you to live.
Inanna's officials took hold of Uriah and relieved him of all his hardware, except the NERGUZ control band.

‘But, the password?' Uriah protested, believing he should still hold the upper hand.

If you release the Dragon to me, you shall be reunited with your brother,
Inanna advised.
If you fail to give him to me, I shall disembowel Durak before your eyes.

‘Let him go!' Aquilla demanded, holding high the quasi-crystal, ‘or I will smash it.'

Stun,
Inanna instructed the weapon she held, whereby Aquilla froze.
Thank you,
said she, as she plucked the treasure from the fingers of the immobilised Delphinus woman.
Take her to the lab,
Inanna directed a couple of her guards.

‘What are you going to do with her?' Uriah tried to struggle against his captors, which only served to exhaust him.

Let us just concentrate on your fate, shall we?
Inanna suggested as she moved in to question him at close quarters.

Inanna's beauty was but a smokescreen harbouring a vengeful and horrid soul underneath; the loss of her husband and her want of a child had obviously disturbed Inanna deeply. The same could be said of Aquilla, Maelgwn realised in retrospect. No other entity in the whole of time and space would ever truly be Tory, but Tory. She was the only woman he would intimately love or trust again.

‘Gotcha.'

As Uriah surrendered to Inanna's will and handed over the control band, Maelgwn regained control of his body and in so doing he breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his limbs.

Inanna clipped the control module onto her wrist and turned to observe her prize in motion.
Checkmate,
she announced, assuming control of the Dragon at the same time.
You will not harm me in any way,
she instructed,
or attempt to escape.

‘I intended to do neither,' he assured her.

The night is young,
she cautioned, before turning back to deal with Uriah.
Take him to his brother,
she advised one of the Leonines, before turning to another.
You know what to do with Gibal.

The guard nodded, before turning to rally his men to transport the cases containing Gibal's body parts out of the audience chamber.

The rest of you leave us,
she commanded, turning back to feast her eyes on her superhuman toy boy.

‘I should have listened to you, Dragon,' Uriah conceded as a couple of huge Leonine warriors hauled him from the room.

‘We all make mistakes.' Maelgwn had to sympathise as he observed Gibal's bits being transported who knows where. ‘May I ask what you intend to do with my Lord?'

He is not your Lord,
Inanna sidestepped the question,
but I have a fair idea who is.
She tipped her head to one side to observe him, as the door closed behind her guards and the chamber fell quiet.
You are really quite something, Dragon.
She admired his form as she approached him.
I was always partial to your breed, though. You are closer to the Nefilim in appearance than any of the other human breeds. But you are not of the same stock of Homo sapiens I remember from my time on Gaia. Your race has been refined somewhat.

Maelgwn said nothing as the goddess circled, observing him like prey.

Are there more like you back on Gaia?
She placed both her hands on his back to extract her answer.
How interesting,
she concluded after a moment, whereupon she moved around in front of Maelgwn once more.
Your desire betrays you,
she announced.
If you adore this Tory Alexander so much then see her in me.

No!
Maelgwn's protest didn't make it past his neurones. In a heartbeat, Inanna's presence transformed into Tory.

Desire me
. She removed the wrap she wore and let it drop to the floor.
Thrill me.

He was transfixed by the sight of Tory's naked form approaching him — she appeared so genuine.

Take me,
she whispered her final instruction as she wrapped her limbs around his body.

Maelgwn knew it wasn't Tory. He was aroused only because Inanna had programmed his body to react thus. Her kiss was not Tory's: she did not taste like her, smell like her, nor did she have the tiniest hint of her tenderness. When he closed his eyes every trace of Tory disappeared and he was left fondling an entirely different entity, one that had little regard for any of the higher emotions and no concept of what it was to really love someone. As he thought upon intimate moments with Tory, it only served to make his present predicament more repulsive. His remorse didn't seem to be affecting his performance with Inanna, however. His body was having a whale of a time all on its own.

 

It was hard to determine how long the sexual encounter lasted; to Maelgwn it seemed like days. But when Inanna had finally sucked him dry of energy and information, she confined Maelgwn to one spot in her audience chamber.

Your mind is an amazing place, Dragon
, she told him before departing.
Most inspiring indeed.
Inanna gave a menacing laugh as she glanced to the chariot and vanished.

He didn't have the strength to move straight away. He'd fought in extended battles that had been less exhausting than the last few hours had been.

In an attempt to revive himself, Maelgwn rolled into the hot, scented pool which was fortunately placed within the part of the room he'd been confined to. The warmth of the pool restored life to his aching muscles. The scented water washed the smell of Inanna from his
body and much of his ebbing disgust departed along with her scent.

As he dressed himself, Maelgwn was unable to recall ever feeling quite so low as he did at this moment. Instead of feeling revitalised and inspired, as he did after making love with Tory, he felt drained and violated. It wasn't the moral abuse that bothered him so much as how helpless it made him feel. Taliesin had always assured him that one was never entirely powerless in any situation, and that there was always an unseen possibility that was usually right under one's nose.