Page 34 of Merciless
What?! Who are you?I demanded.
I got no answer, but Horus stretched his talons out toward the cluster of bushes. The pain was blinding as he braced his wings out, preparing to catch…
A rattlesnake?
It was indeed a snake’s head looming out of the top of a bush, but that was all I saw before Horus’ talons snagged the reptile’s midsection and continued flying on.
I didn’t bother asking what was going on anymore because they weren’t talking, and I thought I’d pass out from pain any minute. Footsteps now hurried after us on the ground and the panic from that overshadowed everything. Horus was slowing down, hovering so low over the ground that the snake’s rattle nearly brushed the earth. In seconds, they’d be able to catch us easily.
Now, friend,the snake, who I assumed was the presence, instructed.
Horus dropped the snake, and we went tumbling. The falcon hit the ground rolling and I heard a snap that made my whole right side feel like it was on fire.
Fuck, Horus! I’m getting my bike and coming to get you.
No, stay.The command from the sky god felt unshakable. Only the slightest strain in his voice indicated he felt pain in the falcon’s form.Do not alert them to your human body. Have faith in our new friend.
The snake was roughly twenty yards behind where we crash-landed. Its lower half coiled on the ground, head and upper body erect as it shook the rattle on its tail. The approaching soldiers could see us clearly, their faces hard and determined. This unit wasn’t mind-controlled and that worried me even more. They only slowed when they noticed the rattlesnake in their way.
While most of the soldiers came to a stop in a straight line, a couple dared to take a few steps closer. The snake arched higher, shaking its rattle more insistently. The sound became a constant low hum, like static or white noise. It grew louder, making my head feel like it was stuffed with cotton.
One by one, the soldier’s faces slackened into blank expressions. Their hands loosened on their weapons, arms flopping loosely to their sides. The rattling continued until all of them appeared to have been lulled into some kind of hypnotic state.
Now go,the snake said.I cannot keep them in such a state permanently.
Horus rolled painstakingly to his feet. He was forced to hop and flap awkwardly with his good wing, which was slow and cumbersome.
Let me go back,I said.Then I’ll carry you.
Yes. The sky god sounded exhausted.
The last thing I saw through Horus’ eyes before slingshotting back to my human body was the rattlesnake striking as he bit one of the soldiers in the leg.
The moment I was back,the weight of my own body had me sliding off my tire to the ground. It took a moment for the vertigo to pass, then I shot to my feet and pulled my bike out from its hiding place. With the noise it’d make, riding probably wasn’t the best idea, but Horus’ wing had been bleeding badly. And it fucking scared me how worn out and exhausted he’d sounded in my mind. As a god, I figured he wouldn’t be dead-dead, but I still wasn’t ready to lose my falcon buddy.
I kicked the bike to life and headed off toward the fortress to find my companion god.
Wellgodsnow, I guess.
Horus and the snake had covered a good amount of distance before I reached them. I only rode about three and half miles before I spotted the falcon hobbling along the ground with the rattlesnake at its side.
If he hadn’t been injured so badly, I would have scooped them both up without stopping and headed straight home. But I didn’t want Horus bleeding out or being injured worse on the ride, so I stopped and lifted him gingerly off the ground.
“Hey buddy. You’re lucky a coyote didn’t find you first.”
Horus clicked his beak like he wasn’t amused.
“Shit man, you’re still bleeding.” His wing looked like a giant mess of bloody feathers that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. What I would give for a fraction of Mari’s medical knowledge right now. The best I could tell was that he was shot near his shoulder joint. “I’m gonna wrap your bullet wound,” I told him. “I don’t know what I’m doing though, so I’m sorry in advance.”
While I tore off a strip of my T-shirt, the rattlesnake slithered up next to my rear tire. His head stretched up toward the seat, tongue flicking out.
You’ve chosen an interesting human, sky god,the snake observed.
They are all interesting.Horus vocalized through small chirps and screeches while I tried my best to wrap his wing.
“So who might you be, snake god?” It was unnerving having a damn rattlesnake so close to me, but remembering he was more than a simple animal helped.
I am Quetzalcoatl.
