Etruscans by Morgan Llywelyn Read Free Book Online Page B

going. Their defection would not be forgiven by the Rasne, whose threat seemed the more immediate.
    When the storm abated the two women hardly noticed. But in the silence following the thunder, Repana heard sounds in the distance that convinced her the hounds were on their trail. Holding Pepan’s knife in one sweating hand, she gripped her daughter’s arm with the other and dragged Vesi on. If only they could reach the glade, they might be safe from the hounds.
    And if they did not … well, there was no shame in being taken down by the famous hunting dogs of the Rasne. Death would be swift and sure; the animals were well trained. And it would mean Repana did not have to kill her own daughter.
    At least, she told herself, they would die together. Without a formal Dying their spirits would wander aimlessly. But they would have each other … and hope. It was common knowledge that those who died together in such circumstances were often rebirthed together, returning to the Earthworld if they found no home in the Netherworld.
    The pursuing beasts were getting closer; she could hear them crashing through the undergrowth.
    Repana frowned. The hounds of the Rasne were not usually so clumsy.
    As something came rushing toward them, Repana whirled around, pushing Vesi behind her. The girl stumbled and fell with a loud cry.
    Repana had been expecting dogs, but instead found herself facing an enormous, battle-scarred wild boar. Cruel yellow tusks protruded from its gaping mouth. She screamed … and in that final, terrible moment, noticed
that something was wrong with its eyes. One was blasted open and suppurating. The other was opaque and glazed, like that of something dead.
    Holding Pepan’s knife in both hands, Repana called aloud upon Veno and prepared to die.

SEVEN
    S ix hooded figures stood wordlessly staring into the pool that dominated the long oval hall. A solid beam of intense white light shafted down from a circular opening in the ceiling, turning the water milky.
    Sacred water, touching both Earthworld and Otherworld.
    In the distance a wild dog howled. Shadows flickered across the beam of light as bats winged their way through the warm night air.
    A single bubble rose to the surface of the water, gathered, then burst, sending concentric ripples flowing outward. The silent figures turned their backs on the pool and bent their heads.
    Another bubble burst on the surface and then another. Soon the pool was heaving and boiling as if with a life of its own.
    Abruptly, opalescent water cascaded off polished obsidian.

    A smooth head emerged from the center of the pool. A flat forehead. Blind, slanted eyes. A long, narrow jaw, a slash of a mouth. White water flowed down the black surface of what appeared to be a statue as the image was more fully revealed. The slender column of a neck, sloping shoulders, and then, like a cluster of monstrous fruit, a ribcage covered by swollen black breasts tipped by enormous ruby nipples … with one exception. A single breast was flat and withered, the nipple desiccated.
    The statue spoke.
    Her voice was sibilant but slurred, as if every word was an effort. “I have work for you.”
    The six figures kept their heads bent to avoid sight of the presence in the pool. “We hear, O Great Pythia,” one, older than the others, murmured.
    The dark goddess spoke again. “A particularly vicious and cunning siu has committed a crime against me. This demon is known to you by his original name of Bur-Sin. Until recently he was an acolyte of mine, the one I held in special favor. Then he robbed me. He took advantage of my trust to get close enough to me to fasten his mouth on my breast.”
    The listeners shuddered in a mixture of religious ecstasy and terror.
    â€œEach of my breasts has its own attributes, as you know,” the voice went on. “The one he drained has given him powers to which he was not entitled.”
    The six waited, but she did not