Sword of the Gods: Agents of Ki (Sword of the Gods Saga) Read online

  Sword

  of the

  Gods

  Agents of Ki

  Book Three

  of the

  Sword of the Gods Saga

  by

  Anna Erishkigal

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Back Cover Description

  At the dawn of time, two ancient adversaries battled for control of Earth. One man rose to stand at humanity's side. A soldier whose name we still remember today…

  Cut down by an act of betrayal, Mikhail lingers between life and death while his fragile alliance crumbles against the onslaught of a Sata'anic invasion. Fearful the intrepid Angelic might lose hope and die, his young protégé concocts a plan to fool him into thinking his wife is at his side. Meanwhile, held captive by the Evil One, Ninsianna must choose between loyalty to her fallen husband and manipulating the Evil One's minions to turn against him.

  As darkness tears the heavens asunder, a tiny Mesopotamian village finds itself the epicenter of a war between good and evil. But all is not lost. An ancient goddess has recruited two 'Watchmen' to turn darkness back into the light; mortal creatures who do not realize they are pawns in an eternal war.

  The saga of the greatest superhero to ever walk the Earth continues in Agents of Ki…

  ~ * ~ * ~

  This is a work of adult fiction. It contains scenes which might be upsetting for some people, including physical violence, death, dismemberment, war, back-stabbing, blasphemy, betrayal, political intrigue, human sacrifice, explicit sex, rape and war. All of the characters and events portrayed in this novel are products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

  This book is NOT religious fiction!

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Sword of the Gods: Agents of Ki

  Anna Erishkigal

  Electronic Edition

  Copyright 2013 by Anna Erishkigal.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Published by Seraphim Press.

  P.O. Box 440

  East Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts 02537-0440

  (508) 888-5392

  www.seraphim-press.com

  eISBN-13: 978-0-9854896-6-3

  eISBN-10: 0-9854896-6-9

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover art: ‘A Hero Falls.’ Copyright 2014 by Rochelle Green aka Caelicorn. All rights reserved. No part of this cover art may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the artist or the rights-holder, Seraphim Press.

  caelicorn.cgsociety.org

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Table of Contents

  Back Cover Description

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  The Chess Game Thus Far…

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Chapter 100

  Chapter 101

  Chapter 102

  Chapter 103

  Chapter 104

  Chapter 105

  Chapter 106

  Chapter 107

  Chapter 108

  Chapter 109

  Chapter 110

  Chapter 111

  Chapter 112

  Chapter 113

  Chapter 114

  Chapter 115

  Chapter 116

  Chapter 117

  A Moment of your Time, Please…

  About the Cover Artist:

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A Gothic Christmas Angel

  Other Books by Anna Erishkigal

  List of Species

  DEDICATION

  I dedicate this book to all the brave men and women who serve in the armed forces. To you I dedicate the biggest, baddest superhero to ever walk the earth. The Archangel Michael. A soldier … like you.

  You are the wind beneath our wings. Thank you!

  ~ * ~ * ~

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to thank the people without whose support this novel would have died a plot bunny hopping around on a hard drive.

  To my wonderful husband who tolerates my nocturnal writing bouts and strange musings about ‘Not now! My bad guy is talking to me.’

  To my lovely children … who think nothing about coming home from school to find their mother running around the house, thwacking at imaginary opponents with a real sword.

  Kid: "Hi mom."

  Me: [*freezes mid-swing*] "Oh, uh, hi? You're back from school?"

  Kid: "Yup. It's three o'clock. Can I have a cookie?"

  Me: "Uh … err … do your homework first."

  Kid: "Okay." [*leaves without so much as b
linking*]

  To my Alpha-reader, Cindy Leppard Green, who patiently read the earliest drafts of this beast in its most awkward, nascent form and provided invaluable feedback. Thank you so much!

  To my writing critique group, Plot Bunnies and Edit Demons, who made my manuscript bleed red ink on the sacrificial altar of good writing: Lori, Rick, -M-, Jaanet, Sian, Courtney, Crystal, Kiersten, and Manon. And special thanks to the Hyannis Subway that hosts our writing group every week! Good food, good friends, and cookies! Thank you Chris, Jodi, Mike, Marissa, Dan, Savannah and Rajae!

  To my wonderful beta-readers who provided much helpful feedback. Cindy Leppard-Green, Aaron Libby, Patricia Phare-Camp, and Michelle Michael. Thank you!

  To Rochelle Green aka ‘Caelicorn’ my wonderful cover artist who brought to life my vision of Mikhail fallen. I hope readers will visit her digital gallery at http://caelicorn.cgsociety.org

  To Sensei Donna and my fellow karate students at the Feisty Lion USA Gojudo Karate studio who’ve tolerated my conscripting classes into live re-enactments of battle scenes. Oooh … weapons!!! Bling!

  To my patient friends, who tolerate my launching into conversations about fictional characters that do not really exist and do not call the police when I fade off mid-sentence and mumble ‘excuse me … I have to go home and kill somebody…’

  And to all my fellow authors at the WG2E, Addictive Reads and Broad Universe who've given me education, encouragement, a sanity check, and support. Thank you!

  ~ * ~ * ~

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  ~ * ~ * ~

  The Chess Game Thus Far…

  (Synopsis of Book One: The Chosen One and Book Two: Prince of Tyre)

  Mikhail awakens in his crashed ship with no memory of his past. He is saved by Ninsianna, a young woman who can speak to the goddess. With a broken wing and no way home, he is forced to integrate into her stone-aged village, a task made difficult by her jilted lover, Jamin. When young women start to disappear, Mikhail trains eight archers, including Pareesa, a young woman with a preternatural ability to master any weapon, and later the village warriors, including Gita, a peculiar young woman who happens to be Ninsianna's cousin. Leadership does not come easy, and Mikhail's formidable self-control begins to slip under the onslaught of human passions, revealing he has far darker urges lurking in his missing memories than simply his half-remembered mission. Things come to a head when a vindictive young woman, Shahla, claims Mikhail fathered her illegitimate baby.

  Ninsianna's people have prophecies of a winged champion who will defend her people against an Evil One. Love blossoms and they marry, but each night the goddess sends nightmares of a white-winged Evil One who will cut Mikhail's child from her womb. As her power grows, Ninsianna begins to view her people … and her husband … from the godlike perspective of She-who-is. Although her mind says Shahla’s accusation is a delusion, in her heart, Ninsianna cannot forgive Mikhail even as she pushes him to train her people.

  The Eternal Emperor Hashem may be a god, but neither his knowledge of genetics, nor his godlike powers, has enabled him to fix the inbreeding which has rendered his four species of genetically engineered super-soldiers sterile. If only the human root race had not gone extinct! Then Mikhail gets out word a remote colony survived, somewhere in the grasp of his ancient adversary, Shay'tan.

  The Emperor orders Raphael to launch a manhunt, but the need for secrecy undermines his control over his dying armies. As Raphael disappears into the uncharted territories, the mother of his offspring, Supreme Commander-General Jophiel, dreams of a day when the armies of heaven can marry freely, just like the naturally evolved species the hybrids were created to serve. If Raphael finds the humans, will the Emperor rethink his policies which forbid her species from ever knowing love? The same breathtaking coup d'état which strips Jophiel of her command also gives her the opportunity to follow her heart and declare her love for Raphael.

  Shay'tan is thrilled when his Sata'anic navy discovers humanity has survived on a remote planet, far from his adversary’s nexus of power. Whoever controls access to humans will control the fate of the galaxy. He orders his armies, including the lowly Lieutenant Kasib, to annex the human homeworld, but it's been a long time since hybrids diverged as a separate species. Has enough genetic drift occurred that they are no longer genetically compatible? He orders Ba'al Zebub to find out and, in the process, why not tweak his ancient adversary's nose? Shay’tan knows just the disgruntled adopted prince who’s been having difficulty siring an heir…

  Unbeknownst to either emperor, Lucifer cuts a deal with Ba'al Zebub to purchase not just one human female, but hundreds of them. Fearful his adopted father is more interested in winning his pissing contest against Shay'tan than saving his species, Lucifer secretly match-makes humans to other sterile hybrids, including General Abaddon and General Kunopegos while he orchestrates a breathtaking coup d'état. But lately, Lucifer has been experiencing blackouts, leaving even his henchman, Eligor, wondering who is really pulling Lucifer’s strings? Lucifer? Or his sycophantic assistant, Zepar? After Lucifer orchestrates what appears to be his death at the hands of Emperor Shay’tan to incite the two empires to go to war, they torture the coordinates of Earth out of Lieutenant Apausha, leaving Abaddon and Shay'tan to duke it out while Lucifer absconds.

  Unable to get past Ninsianna's betrayal, the Chief's son, Jamin, seeks proof that Mikhail's own people are the ones buying women from the lizard demons. But in the course of dancing with his enemies, Jamin makes a terrible mistake, one that Shahla uses to blackmail him into marriage. When Shahla instead claims her baby was Mikhail’s, an enraged Jamin beats her and causes her to miscarry. Now banished, Jamin has no place to go but into the arms of his enemies.

  And then Jamin is sold to the Sata’anic lizards…

  As intrigues roil the heavens, a white-winged Angelic promises Jamin he'll deliver unto him the heart of his enemy in exchange for one unfaithful former fiancé…

  ~ * ~ * ~

  The savage, like ourselves,

  Feels the oppression of his impotence

  before the powers of Nature;

  But having in himself nothing

  that he respects more than Power,

  He is willing to prostrate himself

  before his gods,

  Without inquiring whether they are worthy

  of his worship.

  Pathetic and very terrible

  is the long history of cruelty and torture,

  Of degradation and human sacrifice,

  Endured in the hope of placating the jealous gods:

  Surely, the trembling believer thinks,

  When what is most precious has been freely given,

  Their lust for blood must be appeased,

  And more will not be required.

  The religion of Moloch —

  As such creeds may be generically called —

  Is in essence the cringing submission

  of the slave,

  Who dare not, even in his heart,

  Allow the thought that his master

  deserves no adulation.

  Since the independence of ideals

  is not yet acknowledged,

  Power may be freely worshipped,

  And receive an unlimited respect,

  Despite its wanton infliction of pain.

  Bertrand Russell -

  A Free Man's Worship

  ~ * ~ * ~

  This story is epic fantasy/space opera. As is typical of the genre, it has numerous, intersecting plotlines and is told through multiple points of view. All time within this novel happens more or less sequentially unless explicitly stated otherwise. The two galactic empires use a calendar which dates back to the signing of the Treaty of Nibiru 152,000 years ago which divided the galaxy between the Sata'an Empire and the Alliance. Earth-times are referenced using our current Gregorian calendar.

  152,323.11 = November 3,390 BC

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Prologue

  Time:
Indeterminate

  Ascended Realms

  She-Who-Is

  Pitiless black eyes stared across the chess board from HIS sharp, obsidian features.

  “It’s your move, uxor mea…”

  She-who-is fiddled with her small white king, a petty lesser-god she'd assigned the tedious task of micromanaging a galaxy. At play was a fat little solar system she'd been tinkering with, one which had aroused HIS interest after the deity had abused HIS power to carry out her will. If one was a wise old god, they avoided drawing HIS attention.

  Giving her most coquettish smile, She-who-is flicked her gossamer wings in a flirtatious hum, praying he'd be more interested in winning HER favor than in winning the game. He-who's-not did not buy into her stalling tactics…

  "Make your move," HE repeated.

  The Dark Lord had no shape, but over the millennia, he had learned to fashion a shell which, truth-be-told, was rather attractive in a tall, dark, and terrifying 'I'm about to dissipate you into primordial chaos' kind of way. Brutally handsome, with high cheekbones, six horns, leathery bat-like wings and a long, scorpion's tail which dripped destruction instead of venom, every aspect of HIS being was shaped to protect HER from her accursed father; Moloch, the Devourer of Children…

  Some called the Dark Lord her husband, others the devil, but the truth was the Guardian of the Universe was little more than her babysitter. At least that's how SHE thought of him most of the time. HE was an obstacle to be charmed into giving her what she wanted. She chewed her lip as she thought of ways to salvage her solar system.

  The timekeeping device HE used to keep her stalling tactics at bay ran out of sand. His ebony features were devoid of emotion as he spoke the ominous words which meant the death-knell of any creation they played opposite each other to win.