Ishtar was shocked, at first she gazed blankly at her trying to process what she had just said then questioned her seriously.
Ishtar "Are you sure?"
Satasha "Yes I am"
Ishtar "Did you see anyone lurking around our tent or you just got a hunch that we are being watched?"
Satasha "No, I saw someone just now before I entered here. He was a shapeshifter!"
Aiva repeated "A shapeshifter?"
Satasha "Yes, he disguised himself as one of the troopers and stood not very far from here watching me with unblinking gaze. He didn't even try to look away or anything he just kept looking"
Ishtar "This can mean many things not watching as spying, maybe he is admiring your beauty or anything else!"
Satasha seriously "No he wasn't admiring my beauty he was watching over the tent scanning the entrance almost as if he was guarding it. Besides why he shape-shifted himself to someone else's appearance if he meant no harm?"
Ishtar "Are you sure he is a shapeshifter?. Can you recognise one?. No one can do that unless he was a shapeshifter himself. Are you a shapeshifter?"
Satasha "I am positive he is one trust me, we need to get out of here it is not safe. I can feel it something bad is about to happen!"
Ishtar sighed "I am afraid we cannot do that. We just need to take more careful measures not to trust anyone but ourselves or not leaving the tent"
Aiva "But we cannot just stick here. They will get suspicious and start questioning"
Ishtar "You are right. We cannot do that let us have a code name that when we split, so we can say it to confirm it is us!"
Satasha "What that might be?"
Aiva "How about wine?"
Ishtar "No that is too obvious"
They went silent for a minute thinking.
Satasha "How about the sky or anything related to it?"
Ishtar "That might work!. Satasha you have to be careful when you go on your mission with Lucifer, don't trust him!"
Satasha nodded "What about Keno don't we need to inform him?"
Aiva "I will do that don't worry!"
Satasha "Then I think I should go on my mission now"
Aiva nodded looking at he worryingly.
Ishtar "Come back in one piece this time!"
Satasha smiled a little then nodded. She was about to leave the tent when Ishtar called her again saying "And try not to lose your temper"
Satasha waved her hand and left the tent walking toward Lucifer's. When she reached it she saw two guards were stationed near the entrance, she told one of them to go and inform Lucifer that she had arrived so they can go to Arvad. The guard went inside then came back after a minute telling her to wait a bit. When she asked "How long?"
The guard didn't answer. Satasha sighed and walked around the camp till she reached the end of it near the shore where she sat waiting. The wind was breezy and the sky was clear, her hair flew with the wind over her face obstructing her view. She moved her hair on her shoulder and saw that it was absurdly long. She seized the sword and cut half of its length until it reached half of her back, she went to the nearest bone fire and threw her hair in it watching it burn away it made the fire humph a little then it was all gone. She looked around to see if there was anything useful to tie her hair with, her eyes fell on the pack of arrows. The set was held by a ribbon, she fetched the ribbon and saw that it was useful to tie her hair with, she braided her hair and tied the ribbon tightly in the end to ensure that it won't fall then knot it several times.
Satasha took another walk around the camp before ending again near the shores where she sat there looking at the waves allowing herself to be drifted away with her thoughts. She lost the track of time travelling in her train of thoughts, it took from Lucifer more than a cough to snap her back to reality. He poked her shoulder "Hey kid!"
Satasha was startled then rose up flicking the dirt from her bottom "You kept me waiting!, I don't like to be kept waiting"
Lucifer neither apologised nor explained why he was late, he just decided to ignore what she had just said.
Lucifer "We must go to Arvad now"
Satasha was in disbelief of how rude he is "Do you know where is it exactly?"
Lucifer "Yes"
Satasha "Great!. Just try to think of it"
Lucifer stared at the horizon focusing on it as if he can see it from here. Satasha placed her hand on his shoulder once she was sure that she connected his thoughts with hers, she transmitted there at once.
Arvad is a small island with many stone built houses and narrow alleyways but it was a perfect stop for the horde, it didn't have a plateau or any high spot only buildings and some were not that big. They walked in the alleyway trying to hide and find some place with a clear view of the fleet.
Satasha only followed him looking around cautiously, when he stopped she did too. He peaked on the houses toward the shore trying to get a good glimpse of it, Satasha peaked also and saw many armoured men walking in the alleys carrying weapons and terrorising the people. She walked back and looked around trying to find any tall buildings around, she didn't actually care if she get caught or not it didn't matter to her that moment, so she walked searching until she stood in the middle of the alley looking up at a some sort of tower with a huge bell in its top. Lucifer didn't notice that she was standing in the middle of the road until he turned around trying to say something to her noticing that she was walking carelessly forward. He didn't like this behaviour of hers and got frustrated, he took one last glimpse to the troopers making sure that they didn't notice her and ran fast and angrily toward her, pushing her into narrower alleyway that was between two houses once he reached her.
Satasha pulled a dagger that she had thinking he was the enemy.
Lucifer angrily whispered "What do you think you are doing?. Are you stupid or are you blind?. Didn't you see those troopers?. They weren't ordinary ones, they are trackers!"
Satasha placed her dagger away and repeated "Trackers?"
Lucifer "Yes trackers!. They track anyone by their scent"
Satasha "They sniff people?"
Lucifer looked at her in disbelief as if she had asked him if the sun had scent and answered "Trackers are one of many tribes that track individuals from their blood scent"
Satasha interrupted "But I am not bleeding neither you are!"
Lucifer closed his eyes trying to contain himself and spoke to her the same way that a parent spoke to his child "It doesn't need to be out of your body so they can sniff it. They have a strong sense that make them able to identify someone as a foe or friend. They can track almost every kin except the goblins they cannot track them"
Satasha "But I am a human as everyone in this town, how can they differentiate if I am a foe or just a commoner?"
At this point Lucifer couldn't take it anymore, he took a deep sigh then decided to ignore her, he peaked at the road again and saw that they were approaching.
Satasha "Hey I asked a question!"
He glanced at her again knowing that they will get caught, he grabbed her arm and walked out the end of this alleyway to another road that had two trackers. They were surrounded in both sides of this narrow alley so he decided to continue walking in the road till they reach another narrow alley or enter a house. After few meters there was another narrow alley between two houses which they entered quickly before being noticed.
He spoke angrily "If we got caught it would be because of your recklessness"
Satasha "Don't drag me into this"
Lucifer interrupted "Oh no!, God forbid!. You didn't just casually walked into the road after I told you about the trackers!"
Satasha "No it was before that"
Lucifer losing his temper "Don't interrupt me while I am still talking!"
Satasha arched her brows disbelievingly "Excuse me?. Next time you speak with this tone to me it will be your last!"
Satasha was under his skin. He really wanted to slice her throat just to shut her up but decided not to, he sighed deeply
"Careful of who you threaten kid, you are no match to me"
Satasha looked up and down at him
"No, you are no match when it comes to me old man"
Lucifer stepped closer to her trying very hard not to kill her at once "Oh really!"
Satasha sarcastically "Yes really!"
The tension was blazing between them that they would literally start a fight if one of the troopers didn't passed by the alley luckily not noticing them, Lucifer peaked trying to see if anyone had noticed but no one did.
Meanwhile Satasha rolled her eyes and transmitted toward the high tower that when Lucifer turned to speak to her he found that she wasn't there.
He muttered "I am going to kill her if she blew this up. Immature spoiled kid!"
He then walked away.
Satasha on the other hand was in the tower, it was as high as she hoped to get some clear view. The sun was high and the air seemed suffocating due to humidity, she had managed to knock down the watcher who was monitoring the town from the room's window that was below the giant bell. She made sure that no one can enter or exist this tower till they complete the mission. She looked into the trooper that she just knocked down mind and altered his last memory to make him think that he fell asleep during duty. She looked through the window trying to see if she can find Lucifer between the crowds but she didn't, she closed her eyes trying to sense his existence, it took her few minutes to find him but to her surprise he knew that she reached to him. He was standing in the alley waiting for a trooper to pass when he suddenly looked behind to the direction of her power and gazed directly into her, she gasped out of amazement and cut out the connection that happened. To her surprise this feeling was familiar as if it had happened once upon a dream but it felt real and strong then a sharp headache hit her hard that she fell on her knees in pain and with the headache came a flood of images of her past so fast that she couldn't grasp any of them. The headache lasted for few seconds but it felt like an hour of pain that she had to take some time to rest before going to fetch him from the alley.
She stood up took a deep breath then transmitted where he was, he glared disgustedly for a moment before saying "I assume you were doing something useful?"
Satasha didn't want to deal with his attitude or anything so she just grabbed his arm and transmitted back to the tower. Once they were there he looked around trying to identify his current location, when his eyes fell on the view through the square windows, he exclaimed
"Now that is useful"
He stood near the window leaning on its wooden frame gazing thoughtfully at the fleet.
Satasha took a quick look at him then went near the table where the knock out trooper was; it had some fruits, wine, and bread on it, she grabbed a cup of wine and an apple then she sat near the second window looking at the sky trying to process what happened to her few minutes ago.
Lucifer on the other hand saw that few ships had mangonels on them but they were too few to conquer anything with and that confused him. He muttered " That is not right?"
He counted down the ships then muttered again and this time it was a bit louder "Something is wrong!"
Satasha looked at him trying to process what he was talking about which appeared dumbfounded by what he said to him.
He sighed "The fleet is only half of its number or even fewer than the last time we saw it!"
Satasha now was concentrating, she looked at the fleet and noticed that he was right there are fewer ships than before. She glanced back at him thinking hard and fast trying to remember if she saw something about sending the ships somewhere else. She asked "Do you think that he sent some of his ships to the north?"
Lucifer "Probably, but it will take long time to get to his allies then back here!"
They both went silent thinking, Satasha looked up to the sky and saw an eagle flying, she ducked down and cried "Hide now!"
Lucifer stood on the wall between the two windows and asked "What?"
Satasha trying to peak "That eagle he is no ordinary eagle he is a shapeshifter"
Lucifer repeated "A shapeshifter?"
Satasha trying to explain "Yes those who can transform themselves to anything and...."
Lucifer interrupted "I know what a shapeshifter is, but how could you tell?"
Satasha confusedly "Why everyone keep asking me that?. Can't I just have strong eyes?"
Lucifer "Because it is almost impossible for others to distinguish them unless he or she was one of them"
Satasha "Yeah I heard that from someone"
Lucifer peaked from the window that she was sitting next to and asked "It is gone now!"
He curiously asked "How could you tell it was a shapeshifter?"
Satasha "I have no idea. Maybe it is one of my talents!"
Lucifer was irritated by her and went back to what he was doing while Satasha just sat there looking at the sky thinking. Many thoughts was flooding in her mind about several things it wasn't long before she realised something, she exclaimed putting the cup on the floor "My God!"
Lucifer turned at her quickly to see what was the thing that made her exclaimed. He asked
"What?"
Satasha trying to process the thought in her head before saying anything she got up "My God!"
Lucifer losing his patience "Speak!"
Satasha "I think I know what happened and why he.. " she fell silent thinking
Lucifer was frustrated that he reached the point were he no longer can tolerate her "You ignorant child. You either say whatever stupid idea occurred in your empty inoperative head or you just stay quiet till I complete my job peacefully!"
Satasha angrily "Don't test my patience again or I swear you will lose your head"
Lucifer forced a laughter and spoke provokingly "You don't have the stomach to do anything! "
Satasha "Careful!"
Lucifer furiously "You know what?. You are nothing but a pathetic empty shell who is trying to glorify herself with some cool stuff that is nothing but punch of words!"
Satasha clutched her fists trying not to lose her temper as Ishtar suggested but he continued
"You know what I think?, I think that you are nothing but a stupid child trying to prove herself by rebelling against everyone just to satisfy her faked ego, but you don't have any because you are a fake hollowed person who has limited brain function and use!"
He pulled his hair out of his eyes then continued while she was barely trying to restrain herself "You are just a spoiled kid who was stuffed with fake achievements just to claim a personality of her own. You are nothing but a silver spoon child who didn't suffer in her life, pretending to be a mercenary and escaped from home to seek adventure!"
Satasha looked blankly at him clutching her fist to a point where one of her nails managed to penetrate her skin, all she could think of is killing him but Ishtar words echoed loudly in her head.
Lucifer on the other hand was waiting her to burst so he could have excuse when they ask why he killed her, but to his surprise she remained where she stood staring furiously. After a minute she loosed her fists and smiled then forcefully giggled while nodding, her reaction wasn't what he expected so he sadly turned back and faced the window again.
Satasha took a deep breath then went back to the table and grabbed piece of bread, an apple and drank the another cup of wine fast, then forcefully threw it at him. It hit his head hard and fell on the floor, he stared disbelievingly at her " Oh you are going to die!"
Satasha smirked and provoked him
"I am all yours"
He launched himself on her, she grabbed his arms and with her powers she pushed him back to Byblos where he fell on the grass looking around to see he was a mile away from the camp, he got up promising himself that he will kill her once all of this is over.
Meanwhile Satasha stood there making sure that she succeeded then went to grab the cup and placed it on the trooper hand after she made him sit leaning on the wall as if he drank himself to sleep, she cleaned the place from foot steps and things that may suggest that he had any company. She made sure nothing seemed off, opened the closed doors then transmitted to Sippar thirty miles north of Babylon, she had a hunch about that place where Shamash ( Ishtar's twin brother) was. In Sippar there was a temple of Shamash where people visit to seek justice and drew knowledge since he had seen everything as it was told. The temple was also built with large cubic stones with statues of him represented as the sun with half circle and rays coming out of. Half of the temple was covered with pale gold similar to the sun and it was designed to reflect the light from the sun to the inside of the temple. It was such a devine building to be admired in normal days but as her hunch said there was no time for admiration. To her surprise she saw an army coming from the north marching toward the temple trying to conquer it along with the city that was in it, it was still noon and the fight had already began, she transmitted to the temple trying to find Shamash and rescue him before he die fighting an army that out numbered his unprepared one.
In the temple she found him fighting the enemy with sword along five of his soldiers. She came for rescue, managed to kill the ones infront of her so she can reach him, once she did she urged "My lord you must leave this place you cannot win this fight!"
Shamash stabbing a man "And who are you?"
Satasha waved her sword gutting two men
"I am one of lady Ishtar's apprentice, and I came to rescue you. I implore you to come with me"
Shamash lifted his sword "I won't leave my people unprotected, just like I won't let these cowards pass"
Satasha "But my lord you will die if you stay. Your soldiers cannot defeat an army!"
Shamash "Then I will die with them"
He marched away fighting the army near the temple. She remained close to him trying to protect him with all her might, but when the time passed she was panting, exhausted from fighting as he was. They seemed like they have no end, they were just kept coming from all sides. Many civilians were killed during this treacherous attack but he was right if Sippar had fall then Babylon isn't very far from here. Their plan was to surround them from all sides which means the south and the east might suffer the same.
After what had seemed forever to her, the sun seemed fixated in the middle of the sky adding to her muscle exhaustion dryness and heat. Shamash collapsed on his knees and leaning on his sword, he received quite few wounds that was deep enough for continuous bleeding. She tried to speak but her throat was as dry as the desert, she tried with effort
"My lord let me take you to safety please. Almost all of your soldiers died and your death cannot be added to theirs!"
Shamash took a deep breath then tried to stand on his feet with what's left from his strength.
He ordered "Go and tell them the news. Go back to the camp and warn them"
Satasha "And leave you here unprotected to die alone?"
Shamash panting "I've lived along life more than anyone in this city, but you are still a child you cannot die here with an old man like me"
Satasha looked at the second wave of the army marching toward them "Trust me my lord you are only few years older than me"
She didn't lie, he had a muscular body and height that competed his status height, with a curly black hair, long square face with thick beard, thick moustache and brows that shaded his big almond black eyes with long curved lashes. He was the definition of masculine beauty and captivating charisma that made anyone be influenced immediately.
He looked at her with blood covering face and smiled warmly, he patted her head saying
"You are a good lad. What is your name?"
"Satasha my lord!" She replied
Shamash "Well Satasha it is an honor to die next to a brave woman like you!"
Satasha smiled warmly "And its an honor to fight alongside with you. Try your best not to die please"
He laughed, lifted his sword promising "I will!"
The second wave came with all their power fighting the few men and her that were standing in the middle of the road that leads to the temple. They fought with all their might, two soldiers fell dead and the other kept fighting as if they were ten men or hundred, each fought bravely and honorably but almost all died except Shamash and Satasha who leaned on each other's back fighting the army that circled them. It was the end they could not handle this much alone.
Satasha "Can you give me the permission to fight them with my powers?"
Shamash "I guess we don't have other choice" He fell silent thinking then ordered
"I'll allow you!"
Satasha smiled, dropped the sword and lifted her arms pushing back the army with the wind that she created. Shamash on the other hand produced flames from his powers that covered his whole arms and throwing fire at them.
The second wave of troopers were no ordinary human but from the northern tribes that used the power of producing ice, blizzard, and strong defense walls. Their ice powers were almost as strong as Shamash's, so he had hard time melting the ice coming toward them. Satasha on the other hand fought them with both fire storms and earth shields to block their attacks. One of her opponents where a big muscular block that seemed like unwithering mountain, she produced a spear from of her blood to fight him, she made few strikes that left nothing but scars on him, she stepped back after the last strike looking at him trying to see his weakness but five men jumped at her striking her with their swords, immediately she made a doom to protect herself and giving her time to think fast because she was exhausted and Shamash seemed like he will die from the multiple injuries on his body. The big man came and punch the doom with all his might trying to crash it with her inside.
Satasha then saw an opportunity she made a sword and pushed it through the doom which shattered striking him in his chest, she pushed the sword with lot of force trying to make it come out from his back and she succeeded. She smiled at her victory but soon her smile faded when he grabbed her from her neck and threw her at the building near by where she clashed hard on the wall hurting her head and back badly. She laid on the pile of fallen wall that was made when he threw her coughing blood and feeling dizzy, her sight was blurry but she could tell what was happening, the big man was walking toward her trying to make his last strike to finish her off and behind him Shamash had fell on his front powerless and unconscious, it all seemed to be happening in slow motion as if the time was slowed.
'Get up' she heard an unfamiliar voice in her head.
'Get up' the voice demand again.
'For God's sake get up. You will die here!'
Satasha closed her eyes breathing hardly from her mouth then her breaths started to regulate.
Voice came in her mind bringing back some old forgotten memory about the time that she was living with Tina, Tina spoke to her firmly yet with mother's warmth 'Feel the power floating in you from the earth, from the plants, from the water, and from the sun. Everything has energy lying beneath, that keeps all things alive. Feel it, absorb it then use it when you lose yours'
Satasha felt all the energy within the earth, the sun, the wind, and the troopers. She stood up while her eyes closed, she had managed to reach all the troopers near her range from the earth and connected to them. She raised her hand pulling small threads of light from the earth and all troopers near her range dropped on their knees feeling the unknown pain that stroke them all at once. She opened her eyes and saw that even the big man fell on his knees feeling agonized and looking confused at her. Satasha felt all their powers floating in her as well and she felt powerful and energetic as if she wasn't about to die minutes ago. She walked toward Shamash and stood near him once she reached him, he seemed that he was still alive but lost lot of blood. Satasha felt angry and hateful, she lost the connection with the troopers and knelt near him trying to heal what she could heal from his wounded body.
Everyone in near her range was almost unconscious or had no strength to carry on, Satasha managed to heal few of his wounds before receiving a strong punch on her head again from the big man. She fell few feet away from Shamash bleeding heavily from her head, she tried to lean on her elbow to get up and fight but she seemed to have lost her balance. She looked furiously at the big block who was determined to crash her with his huge fists and felt rage floating in her. She made a small doom out of her power to protect Shamash from what ever she was about to do or protecting him if she went unconscious. She leaned on her elbow pushed herself to stand up then pulled her feet and stood up swinging left and right while holding her side feeling her broken ribs. She felt the urge to unleash something, the urge to set the monster out or what ever was making her feel to lift her arms high then screamed the urge out unleashing whatever lied in her. A circle of bright white light surrounded her which it grew bigger and bigger, the more she raised her arms the more bigger it got until her hands met above her head where she was looking at and clenched her fists feeling the power that came from her. The bright light turned the big man into ashes along with everyone that it crossed, those who could get up ran away from the circle looking terrified at her. She turned around after checking if Shamash was unharmed by her powers and smiled evilly at them while her fists were high above her head. She closed her eyes breathing deeply then lowered her arms slowly increasing the diameter of the light circle, she felt herself floating in mid of air. Everything around her weather it was a being or a building turned into ashes as the circle grew bigger, the troopers tried to run and pushed one another from their way. Those who fell turned into ashes and those who could run, ran as far as they could, but Satasha didn't want to leave anyone alive so she kept making the circle bigger, and bigger, and bigger until she lost control on her self and fell on her knees bleeding heavily from her head and covered her face with it. She raised her hands again and then everything around her turned completely white, she looked around and saw that she couldn't recognize anything other than three figures of men that was completely white near her. She got up and walked toward the nearest one that was lying on the ground with a dagger in his chest, she sat near him and pulled it out of him then pushed hard on the wound trying to heal it. Satasha couldn't recognize him due to her vision that grew blurry but the figure seemed alive and not just a lying sculpture of white matter, and he seemed to know her, he held both her hand and face in a loving manner that made her curious who he was. She looked through his completely white eyes trying to sense something from him but this white matter was like a veil that separated her from him. She looked around and saw a man screaming in agony and a corpse of beheaded man a bit far from her. She didn't recognize him at first but after long time of gazing it began to turn clear to her who that corpse was and panted, she walked toward him as fast as she could.
"No, No,No!" She said fearfully trying to deny her thoughts until she made sure who that person was but once she reached to him she dropped screaming next to his head.
She held his head tightly close to her and wept, she looked at the head closely trying to deny the facts but she couldn't, that head was her brother's head.
She looked at the man who was standing knowing very well that he was the one who killed him and walked angrily at him and once she reached him she placed her hand on him turning him into ashes, she was about to finish him off but stopped when a voice of young man who stood a bit far away from the one that she healed said in low but clear voice
"Mom?!"
Satasha glared immediately at him with her eyes widely open from shock. Although everything and everyone was covered with white matter but not him, he stood not that far away from her but she couldn't see his face clearly even when she knew who he was. She walked slowly toward him trying to catch a glimpse of his face but everything faded once she got too close to him.
Satasha gasped waking up startled from this bizarre situation as if it was a dream. She was still sitting on her knees looked around and saw nothing but darkness surrounding her, holding her tight preventing her from moving, the only thing she could do was moving her eyes from side to side trying to see any spark of light guiding her or illuminating the surroundings.
There, infront of her beamed a tiny red beam that ignited to huge building caught on fire, she watched horrified by the scene, the fire kept getting bigger and bigger while she kept seeing the people in that building being burned alive hearing them screaming till they lay on the ground silent. She knew this scene, she had seen it many times in her dreams and there everyone dies while she stands on top of their corpses covered with blood but this time was different it wasn't moving fast but rather slower and more torturous. She listened to every one screaming till the scene changed to another one, a new one that had living people looking at execution platform throwing rocks at the one who was being executed. Terrified by what she had seen she began wincing trying to talk but no sound came out. It was Keno who knelt there waiting to beheaded, the executioner swung his sword and stroked his neck cutting it from his body, Satasha was so close that some of his blood flew on her face she shrieked so hard till her sight was blurred.
The scene changed again to a dim lighted room where a graceful woman sat near a big golden mirror brushing her long curly white hair, the woman was singing the song that she sang the other day at the restaurant, but Satasha was numb, she barely took a glimpse of her before falling on her side unconscious.
Shortly she regained her consciousness processing the place she was in, examining her surroundings, she was back at Sippar. She sat searching for Shamsh to see if he is alive somewhere when a man spoke behind her "Greetings your grace, I see you regained your consciousness"
Satasha turned around and saw a tall hooded figure standing in front of her, she asked
"Who are you?"
The hooded figure "My name is Mark your grace, and I am a grimreaper"
Satasha had trouble processing what grimreaper is so she looked blankly at him still feeling numbed by something, glaring through him when suddenly everything came back to her with sever headache. She remembered everything and not what she had seen minutes ago but everything, and with her memories came a cold, empty feeling of being suffocated by nothingness. looking at Mark again with frightened eyes wanting screaming for help but soon fear was replaced by nothingness, her eyes gazed dimly as if she lost her soul.
Her head felt heavy and her body was twitching when she tried to stand up.
"What happened?" she asked
"You lost control of your power" Mark answered "Almost swallowing this town along with everyone in it, but we restrained your power from spreading any further"
Satasha "Where is Shamsh?"
Mark "He is fine you protected him from the blast so nothing happened to him"
Satasha walked toward the body of lying man who she thinks it is him.
"Why there is only one body here and why this place isn't filled with buildings?"She asked
Mark "You turned everything in your range to ashes, the men, houses, and plants leaving a deserted land"
Satasha reached Shamsh's body and checked for his vitals, he was still alive but heavily wounded. Not paying attention to everything he said, she asked "Where is my brother?"
Mark hesitated for a second then answered "Somewhere alive and well"
Satasha facing him "I want to see him"
Mark "I am afraid I cannot help you"
Satasha arguing "But you can"
Mark firmly "No, I cannot"
Satasha "Why not?"
Mark "Because you cannot control your powers at the moment, and if we traveled back to the future the result will be disastrous"
Satasha braced herself trying hard not to burst out panicking about what she saw there and spoke after a minute "Once I gain back control will you take me to him?"
Mark wanted to refuse but she turned at him looking fragile "I must see him, please!"
He hesitated first then nodded agreeing.
She smiled faintly then knelt next to Shamsh and transmitted with him back to Ishtar's temple to get his wound treated. Once she transmitted there she carried his heavy body pushing the main gates crying "Gulana!, Untar!"
Hardly carrying him toward the main hall she tripped falling on the floor and receiving his heavy weight on her, she cried again "Untar, Gulana!"
Untar was the first to arrive rushing toward her pulling Shamsh to him so she can move away, he asked "What happened?!"
Satasha sitting "They attacked Sippar and destroyed it, we are surrounded Untar "
Untar was stunned by this, Gulana came rushing to examine Shamsh, she said after taking close look to his wounds
"Untar take him to the healing room now" Untar carried him to the healing room and Satasha followed them saying "Untar they will come here I know it, we need to stop them before turning this place to ashes"
Untar placed Shamsh on one of the beds still shocked by the news.
Satasha "Untar say something. What is our plan?. We need to evacuate this city or do something, we cannot just wait them to invade us"
Untar angrily "I know that, let me think for a minute here"
Satasha kept looking at him waiting for orders, he paused thinking hard then rushed out to the main hall crying "Ladies! attention!" and the whole place that was filled with the girls talking with the visitors or in small groups worryingly about what had happened fell silent.
Untar continued "And gentlemen of course. We need to start evacuating the citizens here and now. Spread the word in the city we are expecting attack from people who wants to destroy this sacred place!"
The all looked seriously at him knowing exactly their part in this plan.
Untar "Remember the evacuation training that you all trained for. Remember kids, women and young men are priority. Don't make people panic and guide them in here or near the temple. Did you understand?"
Everyone "Yes sir!"
Untar cried "Now move!"
The girls and the visitors went out to do their job.
Satasha who was standing behind him asked "This plan is only temporary. Please tell me there is a rest to it?"
Untar facing her "There is. Although you look terrible but I need your help with this"
Satasha "Go ahead"
He took glass of wine and dipped his finger in it then drew on the floor an ancient spell pattern, ordering "I want you to draw this in five different spots making a five star end around the temple, and make the circle big to contain as many people as it can. Once you finish fire a flaming arrow at the temple or near it so I can initiate the spell. Someone will be waiting for the signal"
Satasha nodding "Good and?"
Untar looked at her seriously saying "We need to protect the people with this protection barrier that is our priority!"
Satasha "I know that but you must remain concentrated for long time so the spell can work, what makes you so certain that you can last for long time?. It may last days Untar you will fall tired eventually!"
Untar "Do you have better idea?. Everyone is busy in Bylobs, and no one will come to our aid what else can we do?"
Satasha "I will fight!"
Untar firmly " No you are tired, bleeding, and you look pale, you cannot fight an army by yourself!"
Satasha tried to argue but he said quickly "Satasha listen to me please don't push yourself to your death. We must do everything we can to protect this city!"
Satasha nodded, she took one last look at the pattern then quickly transmitted to distal side of the city. The people were being evacuated, some looked terrified and some was in disbelief. She looked back to measure the distance from the temple, it was far enough, she knelt near some house, placed her palm on the ground murmuring in ancient tongue the spell and the pattern blazed blue then disappeared, she transmitted to the next spot and did the same. It took her five minutes to finish all the five spots that she placed the spell in, the last spot was on the east. After she finished marking the last spot she felt the earth vibrating, she stood gazing east at what seemed sand storm coming toward the city, immediately she conjured bow and arrow from her powers and fired it toward the temple which landed front the main gate. Untar saw the arrow and sat in middle of big pattern initiating the protection spell.
Satasha remained in her spot waiting for the spell to work. The troops were getting nearer by the minute and the spell hasn't initiated yet, she walked out of the circle drawing her sword trying to delay their arrival till Untar manage initiating the spell.
Meanwhile in the temple after Untar saw the arrow he waited for Satasha's arrival. The girl who was waiting for the signal near the temple came rushing to him "They are here!"
Untar "What about Satasha?, Did you see her?"
The girl "No!"
Untar angrily "Damn it!, Why she never listen?"
He closed his eyes and started speaking in the ancient tongue, after minutes the pattern began blazing blue and all the five spots blazed as well, the protection wall was building up to the sky forming a doom of blue hued transparent wall.
Satasha by then was already fighting in the eastern wing of the city, exhausted and bleeding yet she fought nonstop. The troops were more in number and shorter than the one she fought in Sippar, their slim physique gave them privilege of being fast in striking and dodging. Satasha fought them with her powers not caring about the protocol or anything she must protect the people with everything she has, 'Everything you have' the idea occurred to her it seemed right and saves time so she can go back to the camp and alert the others. She conjured the darkest cloud from the sky and stroke them with heavy hailstones that killed everyone from the first strike and those who had the time to cover under their shields counterattacked her with fire. She immediately changed to conjuring up strong wind that made their attack backfire to them, many were burnt alive, now the rest of the troops that where stationed in the back were hesitant. A monster they murmured, Satasha was at her limits now she couldn't hold herself any longer, the control she had over her urge to explode was diminished. Looking at the sky that was orange by now, it was sunset and getting dark "What a long day?!" she whispered. Looking back at the hesitated men she smirked and clapped her hands strongly causing the earth around them to rumble and cracking making the nearby buildings fall in the trench that she made. What had left of the troopers who managed running away to safety fell on their knees frightened unable to move from fear.
On the other hand, Satasha who was now breathing heavily fell also on her knees, she summoned up of what had left in her before collapsing and created a smoking dark shadow wall that circled the whole city separating it from the outside world. The troopers fled terrified by her powers, once they left she fell unconscious but the wall remained standing still.
Satasha dreamed that she was floating into nothingness and in there someone was humming the song that she sang. Opening her eyes slowly she saw a white haired woman brushing her hair in front of the mirror. Her sight was blurry at first then it gradually cleared. The woman's skin was dark brown with long curly white hair and shimmering grey eyes, she was beautiful, mesmerizing like an angel with soothing humming voice. Satasha looked blankly at her admiring her beautiful voice, it soothed her pain away and made her sleepy, her eyes began closing slowly till she neither felt nor heard anything till someone shook her hard calling her name. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Gulana examining her and Untar was sitting next to her looking aghast, she whispered "How is everyone?"
Untar sighed out of relief and answered "Better than you!"
Satasha smiled "Help me stand up"
Gulana worryingly "No, you must rest your body is at it's limit"
Satasha took a deep breath and felt extreme pain and winced.
Untar worryingly "Easy on yourself. Come I will carry you to the temple"
He placed his arm around her shoulder helping her to sit so he can carry her, but once she sat she saw Mark standing in front of her unnoticed, she asked "I lost control again?"
Mark "Almost"
Both Untar and Gulana looked at where she spoke then at each other.
Untar "Who did you ask?"
Satasha "Show yourself they think that I lost my mind"
Mark removed his hood a bit from his face and they looked amazed at him.
Satasha noticed the sky only when she glanced away at west. It was dark and not just from the shadowy wall but the night came and she didn't know how much she was unconscious,
she asked Mark "How long was I unconscious?"
Mark "Not long"
Satasha "How is the camp?"
Mark "No battle hasn't started yet"
Satasha got up with Untar's help who was both confused and worried, She asked Gulana "How is lord Shamsh?"
Gulana "He is improving, but needs lot of rest to regain his strength"
Satasha "Good, these walls will protect you perfectly. I must go back to the camp, I cannot leave them alone with the wolves"
Mark interrupted "You must rest. Your body is in no condition for a battle, you will only lose control and kill everyone"
Satasha firmly "If that happened, then you are allowed to stop me, but until then I need you to stay by my side and invisible, I don't want them to be distracted with why there is a grim reaper next to me"
Untar confusedly "Or how you know one?!"
Satasha "We are friends, right?"
Mark nodded
Untar "Still I cannot let you go like this. You need some rest, let me go instead"
Satasha caressed his face "I appreciate your concern but we both know that I cannot be stopped, not by anyone" she looked both coldly and determined.
Untar sighed and nodded. She walked toward Mark and held his hand that he offered for her to lean on, they both transmitted back to Byblos, the camp was few meters away from them, she wanted to speak to Mark before going there.
Satasha "Did you find out where is my brother?"
Mark "Yes"
Satasha eagerly "How is he? "
Mark "He was angrily arguing with Hiro, but other than that he is alright"
Satasha nodded happily "Once I enter the camp I cannot hold into your arm, so stay close to me"
They walked toward the camp and saw that the troopers were eating in groups around bonfire grilling meat. She left Mark's arm and limped toward the nearest bonfire, taking one look at the sky she saw the same eagle flying over the camp spying. She took from the weapon supplies near her bow and arrow and aimed it at the bird, her vision was not that good and she didn't want to produce one from her powers fearing it might weaken her or losing her control in process. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed hearing Fuji"s voice instructing her to define her target, aim, then loose. Opening her eyes, she sharply looked at the eagle which was now flying away after noticing her aiming calmly, then loosed her grip. The arrow flew away toward the eagle striking it from it's belly threw his back and remained there, the eagle lost it's control and fell on the ground. Everyone who was near the place where the eagle fell was aghast and gathered around it to see what is happening. Satasha limped toward the gathering still holding the bow till she reached the body of the motionless shapeshifter which was back to his human form. The ones who was near her and noticed the bow in her hand and all the mixture of blood and dirt that she was covered with, stepped back now looking confused.
Satasha looking at the body disturbed "What a shame?!. I wanted to eat that bird"
She sighed and looked at the gathering "Did I miss the meeting?"
They were looking suspiciously at her and after a minute of silence the one who was near her answered "Yes, The meeting ended hours ago!"
Satasha "What a shame. Call them to the main tent I have something to discuss with them"
She looked at the one who answered her and ordered "Now please!"
The man hesitated then went to inform the lords. Satasha walked toward the main tent limping with everyone following her with their eyes and whispering. Satasha was at her limit, she looked through whoever was standing in front of her way with dimly tired gaze as if she was spacing out.
Lucifer was monitoring everything that had happened. In fact he was the first one who noticed her entering the camp limping, he was waiting for her ever since she left him with mixed feelings of both anger and worry that she might harm herself and Ishtar will blame him for that, and as he expected she looked terrible, tired and covered with blood but what surprised him was her eyes. She looked different and he didn't know why, he grew suspicious and interested of what happened to her so he kept his eyes on her examining her movements. After she stroke the eagle and heard her saying that she wanted to eat it he immediately knew that she was lying, she knew that he was the same shapeshifter that they saw in Arvad. He followed her to the main tent carefully examining her to see if he can get glimpse of what is inside of her head but he didn't succeed.
In the main tent was Zeta, Marvok, Mordroc and Satan gathered around the table discussing. Once Satasha entered the tent she walked toward the nearest chair and sat there leaning on the bow that she was still holding, Lucifer entered after her.
Mordroc "Where have you been?, and why are you covered with dirt?"
Satasha said nothing, she just looked blankly at the entrance. Which every leader and lord entered after a minute followed by Ishtar, Aiva, Keno and Fuji which were troubled to see her like that, the last people to enter were Tian and Tatiana. They all stared at her with confusion.
Satasha was actually drifted away with her thoughts and took little notice of everything only to be snapped back by Ishtar calling her name.
She looked at the gathering stating "We lost the war before it even began!"
They all looked confused at her.
Marvok "Where have you been all this time?"
Satasha closed her eyes leaning her head on the pillar behind her "Fighting. Ever since I left the camp I went to investigate. Luckily I have this feelings, that sense something is wrong, and I was right"
She opened her eyes looking dimly at the gathering, she wanted to speak but something was stabbing her chest with cold and sharp blade, she felt that she was barely having control on her powers and it was about to explode in any minute. She grasped the bow tightly and leaned on it.
Mordroc "Are you okay child?"
Satasha trying to contain her self nodded then continued "The enemy isn't coming from the west only. It is coming from both north and east, I went to the north to investigate letting my gut guide me I arrived at Sippar late. The town was lost and turned to ashes!"
Everyone looked aghast by the news. Ishtar asked before anyone could speak "Shamsh!. Is hs alive?"
Satasha regaining control slowly smiled at her warmly or so she tried, answered "Yes. He is getting the care that he needs. Gulana is with him"
Zeta "So as you say they attacked Sippar that explains your look"
Satasha interrupted "It's not just Sippar that they attacked!"
Satan "What do you mean?"
Satasha "After I took Shamsh to the temple the enemy stroke at the east wing of Babylon city. Their attack had failed and I managed to save the situation temporarily"
Tatiana "You? You saved they city?. How?"
Satasha "I built a protective wall that prevent anyone from coming in or out of the city, and I managed to destroy few taking liberty of using my powers since none of them are humans and the situation was extremely enough for it"
Tian "It's almost impossible to stop an army by your self, even if you used your powers this still confuses me"
Setka "Even though you did all of this how do you expect us to believe your words"
The gathering started speaking opposing her or disbelieving her. She had no time nor patience, their loud voices made her head ache terribly that she barely restrained her powers from exploding, disturbed by the loud noises, she grated her teeth from pain leaning on the bow trying to grasp her sanity hardly before it escapes from her.
Mark bent near her holding her hands trying to bring her back to reality, he said "Your grace, let me take you somewhere quiet so you can rest"
Satasha muttered "No, I got this!"
Mark kept holding her arm trying to stabilize what he could.
One of the gathering said "She always show up covered with dirt and blood expecting it would be a proof so we can believe her claims!. Who says that she is telling the truth?"
Satasha lifted her head looking firmly at the gathering and spoke in low cold tone "You know what, you are right!. I always end up covered with blood and dirt because I don't mind it. I once was in the same situation where no one believed me till the end thinking that I was just making things up"
Zeta wanted to speak but with her powers she tapped on the bow and everyone lost their ability to speak, she continued "I once was a daughter of very important man, his forth child after three boys and before my younger sisters. I was always different, seeing things that no one could see, and knowing things no one knew. One day one of my father's allies brought a beautiful bird as a gift for my sisters, one of them grew very fond with it more than the other, but I knew from the first sight that this is no ordinary bird, I told them but no one took me seriously. I kept watching it so I can caught him off guard and I did. One day when everyone were having fun in the garden the bird escaped from his cage, I followed him and saw that he was poisoning my mum's tea that explained why she grew ill lately so I waited for him to return back to a bird, caught him from his neck and took the bird to the garden where my family were. They all fell silent looking cautiously, I told them that I saw him poisoning the tea but they did not believe, so I held one of his wings and ripped it out of his body, The blood flew at my sisters and mom they cried out of terror but it was enough for it to turn back to his normal form. Everyone were shocked by this and everyone were afraid afterwards but they knew that I was right"
She looked coldly at the gathering "You will only believe once you see the death and blood with your eyes, but it is entirely up to you. Do you want to take my words in count and come up with solution after we win this battle, or you want to remain drunk by the power that you had thinking that no one will turn against you?"
She lifted her head looking down on them, she lifted her grip on them unnoticed by any.
Tatiania "Even after this messed up story, you still didn't provide us with evidence"
Satasha "I don't have any but you can trust your poor judgement and ruling that made every tribe except the south rebel against your reign, so why don't you accept the fact that you sucked at ruling and believe that?!"
Tatiana angrily "Know your place human. How dare you speak to me that way?!"
Satasha stood up with pride losing both her temper and control, darkness filled the tent emerged from her shadow. She said hatefully "You should know yours!"
Mark immediately held her arm tightly and said "Your grace!. Control your self!"
Everyone looked stunned at her unable to speak nor move, they were back under her control.
She took a deep breath containing herself once again then released them. She walked toward the table and said "Now!"
Everyone was calmly looking at her they were shocked by what she did.
She continued "As I spoke earlier the north and east already made their movements. Sippar is destroyed and Babylon is under my protection for now, I cannot guarantee that we can stop the attack here fully, but the high leaders must stay alive to negotiate and bring back order. You all must be careful and trust no one other than your self because the camp is filled with spies whose order is to kill you all during the battle, they are shapeshifters so they can be anyone you know"
Zeta "How do you know that?"
Satasha pointing out of the tent "I just killed one who was hovering around the camp collecting information"
Marvok "What makes you so certain about the existence of spies in the camp other than that eagle?"
Satasha "Well if I am thinking right, the western tribe leader want to destroy his enemies inside out. He first attacked Sippar knowing very well that no one will come to its aid, then he made some allies with the east to destroy the neutral zone where peace convention is held, and Acre is either a diversion or he want to trap us from all sides like rat in a trap"
Mordroc "This sound reasonable!"
Satan curiously "Do you have any suggestions for tomorrow's battle?"
Satasha tried to answer but she heard Maya's voice saying "Satasha don't run fast, I cannot catch up with you!"
She turned immediately toward the tent flap seeing shadows of her memory running out from the tent. The shadow of Maya stopped looking at her saying "Come on now, I didn't mean to stop, you dummy!"
Satasha walked toward the shadow followed by Mark who said "Don't follow them, you need to rest!"
She stopped near the flap then transmitted herself to the nearby beach.