(Ereshgal POV)
How long had Ishtal known what Kudur's runes did? If he had told us sooner, we could have built an entirely different plan around them.
My brother stood in front of me, looking entirely too pleased with himself for someone who had waited until the last possible moment to tell us.
For a moment, I genuinely wondered if he wanted me dead. Before I could ask, someone knocked on the door. A priest of Anu was waiting outside.
"The preparations are complete."
Ishtal stepped aside to let me pass. I stopped beside him.
"When this is over, you and I are going to talk."
His smile barely changed. I had only made it a few steps before Kisaya caught me by the forearm and pulled me back toward her.
"If you get the chance, kill Kudur" she said quietly.
I knew Kudur would do the same to me if the opportunity came.
"I know."
Kisaya's grip tightened slightly.
"Come back, Eresh."
I placed my hand over hers and gave it a small squeeze before pulling away.
"I will."
The priest led me toward the training grounds. Traditionally, the Ordeal would have been held in an arena near the temple of Anu, but with the kingdom in its current state, moving everyone through the city was out of the question.
It didn't take us long to get there.
The Council occupied one side of the field. Around them stood the chosen and the other guests who had remained in the great hall, arranged in several rows around the open ground.
My uncle was already waiting.
Uren stood on the opposite side of the field. Once I entered, he raised a hand, and the conversations around us gradually died away.
"The Ordeal will be held here, beneath the sky of Anu and before the witnesses gathered for the coronation. Until it has concluded, no one is to leave the palace or carry word of what has happened beyond these walls."
His gaze moved between Kudur and me.
"Participants, step forward."
We both approached.
Several priests approached with a selection of weapons and a small wooden box. When one of them opened it, I saw two rings made of pale metal resting inside, with runes along their inner surfaces.
Uren gestured toward them.
"Once the Ordeal begins, these cannot be removed. Neither participant may receive help from the witnesses, and no divine artifacts will be permitted aside from those provided for the duel."
I removed my spatial ring and placed it beside the box before taking two short swords. They felt a little too light as I tested their weight, but they would do.
Kudur chose a sword and shield.
The weapons weren't as good as my own, but we both had to use those supplied for the Ordeal. I slipped the ring onto a finger of my right hand. It tightened on its own, and almost immediately, I felt something tug at my spiritual energy.
The runes carved into the ring lit up crimson. I waited for something else to happen.
Nothing did.
A few steps away, Kudur had just put on his own ring. His breathing changed almost immediately. His back stiffened, as if a weight had suddenly settled over him, and the spiritual energy leaking from his fingers lost some of its brightness.
So it was working on him.
Uren studied us both, then turned toward the witnesses.
The entire field had gone silent. Kisaya stood in the front row, gripping her spear so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Farther back, I even spotted Ishtal standing partly hidden behind the others.
Uren raised his voice.
"Anu, Lord of the Heavens, receive this judgment beneath your gaze. Shamash, who sees what men conceal, bear witness to their deeds. Marduk, before whom kings rise, hear those who lay claim to the crown of Uruk."
He lifted both hands toward the sky.
"Ereshgal, son of Lugalbanda. Kudur, son of Enmerkar. Both stand here claiming the right to rule. Let no witness raise a hand to alter what is decided here. Let no crown be placed until this judgment is complete."
His gaze moved between us.
"If you accept this Ordeal, turn your eyes to the heavens."
A narrow beam of light broke through the sky as I looked up, striking the ground exactly between us.
My shadow stretched behind me, while Kudur's fell in the opposite direction. All around us, people dropped to their knees, and I followed. This probably wasn't the best moment to find out how personally the gods took disrespect.
They were watching.
Uren stepped back and motioned for us to take our places. Once we were both in position, he raised his voice again.
"The Ordeal ends when one claimant yields or can no longer continue. The one who remains standing will be recognized as the victor."
"Let the Ordeal of Kings begin."
Kudur moved before the last word had fully left his mouth. Spiritual energy gathered in his legs, and he closed the distance almost instantly.
His first thrust went straight for the center of my chest. I knocked it aside with my right-hand sword and stepped toward his shield side, bringing the other blade down toward his thigh. My uncle pivoted without crossing his feet and dropped the edge of his shield into the path of the strike. The shield caught the blow and forced my blade away.
His sword was already coming back toward my face.
I leaned away just enough to let it pass.
Kudur advanced again behind his shield.
This time, I attacked with both blades, one high and the other low, forcing him to deal with both at once. He caught the first strike with a slight turn of his shield and pulled his leg away from the second. Instead of chasing my blade, he drove the shield into my hands and thrust his sword through the opening he had created.
I twisted aside just in time. The point brushed across my clothes as I slipped away and regained some distance.
We began circling each other.
Kudur watched the swords in my hands.
"I didn't know you fought with two blades. Is that new?"
I said nothing.
Kudur smiled faintly.
"No answer?"
I kept my right-hand sword forward and the other close to my ribs. Kudur watched my chest and shoulders instead of the blades, refusing to let the small movements of my hands draw his attention.
None of my next attacks troubled him.
The shield was a bigger problem than I expected. He wasn't using it just to block. He kept his sword hidden behind it until he thrust and used it to cut off my path whenever I tried to get inside his reach.
I needed to make him move it.
I stepped toward his right side and went for his sword hand, drawing him around before sending my second blade over the top of his shield. As he raised it, I dropped low and caught the outside of his thigh with the tip of my other sword.
The wound wasn't deep, but the blade split the cloth and left a thin red line across his skin. The sight of the blood made me swallow. Good thing I had fed before coming here. Even so, it looked tempting.
Kudur took half a step back.
The fingers of his left hand briefly loosened around the shield's grip, hidden behind it. A faint trace of light appeared in the narrow space between his arm and chest.
A rune.
I attacked again before the glow had fully disappeared. My right-hand sword struck his near the guard. With the left, I went for the same leg, then changed direction when he lowered the shield and cut across his sword arm just above the wrist.
His grip didn't weaken.
Kudur drove the shield into my shoulder, using the impact to force me back before thrusting after me. I retreated just far enough to avoid the point.
My eyes went to his hand, then his face. I let the surprise show.
Blood was already running down over the hilt.
His fingers hadn't moved. The command behind his first rune was obvious: Don't let go of the sword.
Pain wasn't going to loosen his grip. As long as the rune held, his spiritual energy would force his fingers to stay closed.
Kudur went for my lead leg.
I knocked the strike aside, countered with a cut toward his neck, and let my blade catch for an instant against the edge of his shield.
It looked like an opening.
He took it.
The shield came forward.
Spiritual energy surged through my legs as I slipped past his right side, out of the shield's path. My second sword cut across his ribs, and I was already moving away when he turned.
I can win.
Kudur spun toward me.
"Is that all?" I asked.
His eyes dropped to the cut on his thigh, then returned to me.
I burst past his line of sight and reached his side before he had finished adjusting his footing. My uncle managed to block the first strike, but the second blade grazed his shoulder.
If he wanted to keep up with me, he would have to use his third rune. Instead, he spread the fingers of his left hand beside the shield.
A glowing trace appeared between us.
"Stumble."
The pressure hit me just as I was about to move back.
It lasted less than a second, but I felt the command with unpleasant clarity. For that brief moment, it was as though someone else had decided how my legs were supposed to move.
Kudur didn't waste the opening.
His sword cut across my chest.
I slashed back immediately, forcing him to jump out of reach. Somewhere among the spectators, I heard Kisaya shout.
Kudur stared at me, clearly surprised, then smiled.
"Is that all?"
"Not even close."
His smile disappeared.
The cut across my chest was already closing. Within seconds, only the blood on my clothes remained.
A murmur spread through the witnesses.
So that was what his second rune felt like. Annoying, but not nearly as dangerous as I had expected.
I could get used to it.
We closed the distance again.
Kudur fought more carefully now, keeping the shield between us whenever I tried to circle around him. I forced him back three steps before he managed to graze my arm.
His breathing was getting heavier.
"Do you know why I allowed Kisaya to keep taking those dangerous missions?"
His voice carried over the clash of our weapons.
"Because you wanted her dead." I replied.
Kudur knocked one of my blades aside and stepped in behind his shield.
"She was always so eager to leave the city." His sword came at me again. "I thought it would be a shame to waste that enthusiasm."
I almost laughed. The attempt to provoke me was obvious.
"You chose the wrong missions."
Little by little, I drove him back. He still landed cuts, but none stayed open long enough to slow me down. Another command made my legs falter, but I broke free of its hold just in time to dodge his sword.
Ishtal had said the second rune worked best on a weak or clouded mind. With Kudur restricted to my level, I could break its hold almost as soon as I recognized it. At his full strength, I doubted I would recover so quickly.
His first rune was helping him fight through the wounds, but it couldn't heal them.
He still hadn't used his third.
But looking at him now, bleeding from half a dozen wounds, I knew that if this kept going, I would win.
My throat burned at the sight of all that blood, and I had to make myself watch his sword instead of the wounds.
Kudur took a breath.
"That's quite a rune you have. All those wounds, and you're barely using any energy to heal them." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Almost unfair. Aren't your other runes useful in a fight?"
I didn't answer.
"I really didn't expect this to go this way" Kudur continued with a sigh.
He loosened his grip on the shield and traced the third rune behind its rim.
His sword struck mine. The impact sent a jolt through my hand. Before I could recover my guard, his shield slammed into my chest and drove me backward. His sword followed immediately, the point coming straight for me.
I crossed both blades and forced it toward the ground. Kudur twisted his wrist, pulled his sword free from between mine, and cut.
The blade tore into my side beneath the ribs. I stumbled back, one hand already soaked in blood as pain spread across my entire side.
His next strike went for my throat. I ducked under it and retreated another two steps, leaving dark drops across the dirt.
He was faster than me.
His third rune was different from the first. It didn't force a single action. It removed the limits his body normally imposed to protect itself.
Kudur pressed his advantage as though he'd found the opening he needed. My left arm had dropped instinctively toward the wound, and he sent his sword toward that side before I could recover, forcing me to bring my blade back up.
Our swords met. The pressure in my side turned to warmth, then faded altogether. By the time my uncle drew back for another strike, the edges of the wound had already closed.
His gaze lingered on my side, then lifted to my face, as though he were waiting for some sign of strain.
"What?" I asked.
"You'll run out of spiritual energy eventually"
Kudur attacked again, forcing me back.
A thrust slipped between my swords and pierced my shoulder. I twisted before he could drive it deeper and cut toward his elbow, but his shield struck my wrist. My fingers loosened around the hilt. I forced them shut and sprang out of reach before he could knock the weapon from my hand.
The wound in my shoulder was already closing, though my hand still ached. I held my distance, watching his chest rise and fall.
Kisaya held her spear as if she were about to join the fight. Ashren said something to her without taking his eyes off us, and she slowly rested the end of the spear on the ground again.
"Your father wouldn't have been this patient."
I shifted my weight, waiting for him to come at me again.
"Though you should see him now. You'd hardly know he was a man."
My first impulse was to rush him. Instead, I glanced at the point of his sword, held steady beside the rim of his shield.
That was exactly what he wanted.
His fingers moved. "Kneel."
The pressure was stronger this time. My knees began to bend before I could stop them, and I clenched my teeth as the command bore down on me. I could feel how badly he wanted it, the furious certainty that he could force me to my knees.
No.
Kudur stepped in, his sword coming straight for me. I knocked the blade aside and drove forward, forcing my legs straight as I slammed my forehead into his nose.
Kudur grunted.
I pulled back with both swords between us, catching his upper left arm with one blade as I withdrew.
He lunged after me, but his wounded leg faltered and the point fell short. His breathing grew harsher. The shield sagged as he recovered, and although he raised it immediately, he couldn't quite hide the wince.
I brought one sword down hard on the shield, forcing his wounded arm to bear the impact, then feinted another blow. As the shield rose to meet it, my other blade struck low against the rim.
Kudur thrust at me. I knocked his blade aside, stepped back, and came at him again on his shield side. Blood ran down his arm to his elbow.
On the fourth exchange, he tried to drive me back with the shield. Something cracked beneath his skin, and the shield tilted far enough for me to cut through one of its straps.
Kudur tightened his grip before the shield could twist around his forearm. While he struggled to steady it, I caught his sword near the guard with my left blade and forced it outward. My right-hand sword cut deep into his leading thigh.
His knee buckled. A surge of spiritual energy forced it straight again, so abruptly that I heard something else crack.
He stayed on his feet, but when I moved to his left, he could no longer turn fast enough to keep me in front of him.
I struck the loose shield aside and cut at his exposed forearm. My uncle jerked his elbow back before the edge could reach bone. He released his grip and wrenched his arm free, letting the shield fall into the dirt between us.
A murmur rose from the Council's side of the field. Sagar turned toward Talia and said something, but she kept watching Kudur, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.
Kudur was breathing through his mouth now, blood soaking his arm and one leg. He was still feeding the third rune, but every movement cost him more. His muscles obeyed. The rest of his body was beginning to give way.
I pressed him before he could recover, forcing his sword up with my right blade while my left cut into his side. Then I stepped clear.
I've won.
Kudur raised his head. His eyes moved from one of my swords to the other.
I could hear every labored breath, the frantic pounding of his heart, even the faint scrape of his bloodied fingers adjusting their grip on the hilt.
I didn't have a scratch on me.
When I glanced toward Hadan, he was smiling. Farther back, Ishtal met my eyes and gave a small nod, as though the outcome had never been in doubt.
"Any last words?" I asked, moving closer.
Kudur looked at my blade, then met my eyes.
"Your mother would have loved to see this. Shame she'll never get the chance."
I stopped.
"What do you mean?"
Had he killed her? No. He couldn't have. Uruk needed her.
"The blind fool's no use to us anymore" he said between ragged breaths, blood running from the corner of his mouth. "Always seeing the same vision. The gods are laughing at her. We've already decided she dies, no matter how this ends."
What had they done to her?
His free hand traced a rune at the edge of my vision. "Don't defend yourself."
The command took hold while I was still trying to reject what he had just told me.
No.
I heard something snap as he lunged. I tried to pull back, but my body wouldn't obey.
The ground wheeled past me, and for a moment I couldn't understand what I was seeing. My shoulder, viewed from an impossible angle. My sword, still clutched in my hand.
Then my body, standing there…
…without its head.
Kisaya screamed my name.
"Heal from that."
Title: Beyond Healing