Sword of the Gods: The Chosen One by Anna Erishkigal Read Free Book Online

long each winter.   “I don't know how
you even heard me, much less got up and walked with your injuries.  No
wonder the goddess wanted me to save your life!” 
    She closed her eyes
and focused the healing light of She-who-is through her hands to speed his
recovery the way that Mama had taught her to do, thankful when her hands
tingled warmer than even when she'd prayed to heal the Chief's son.  Thankful. 
Oh, goddess, how very thankful she was!  He was the answer to her prayer!
    “Can I keep him?”
Ninsianna slipped her fingers through the soft under-feathers of his wings and
lifted her face up towards the sky.    “Please?  I'd really like to keep
him.”
     
     
    ~ * ~ * ~ *
~ * ~
     
     

Chapter 9

     
    But you
said in your heart,
     I'll
ascend to heaven;
    I'll raise
my throne above the stars of God,
    And I'll
sit on the mount of assembly
    In the
recesses of the north.
    I'll
ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I'll make
myself like the Most High.
    Isaiah
14:13-14
     
    Galactic Standard Date:  152,323.02 AE
    Haven-3:  Alliance Hall of Parliament
    Prime Minister Lucifer
     
    Lucifer
    “The Prime Minister
will now address Parliament.”
    Lucifer ascended the
central podium, his white wings draped behind him like the Emperor's cape. 
Balcony after balcony cascaded towards the ceiling of the enormous coliseum, each
delegate representing a homeworld in an empire which spanned half the galaxy. 
They were as varied as the worlds they represented, ranging from mammals,
lizards, insectoids, amphibians and a smattering of other life forms.  Each
species had a homeworld where they'd evolved under the protection of the
Emperor until they'd achieved a level of sentience sufficient to earn
membership in the Galactic Alliance.  Each species had a voice to assert their
rights except for one… 
    His...
    “Good morning, ladies
and gentlemen,” Lucifer's expression was solemn.  “I'm here to address the
General Assembly about the proposed free trade resolution being debated for an
override.”
    The acoustics were
such that the slightest whisper carried across the great hall.  It was not
praise which greeted his ears today, but grumbles of dissent.  Free trade
agreements in this time of diminishing economic returns were even less popular with their constituents than taxes.  He had an overwhelming hurdle to
overcome.  He wouldn't be deterred.
    Today he spoke not as
the adopted son of the Eternal Emperor, a man who had a voice by virtue of the
fact his father had appointed him of all creatures to represent his
interests.  No.  Today Lucifer spoke as an Angelic, a species whose only
purpose for existing was to lay down their lives to protect the naturally
evolved races.  Today he would override the Emperor's veto of the trade
agreement he'd already gotten through both assemblies of Parliament once this
year and ram it down his father's throat.
    “For as long as the
Alliance has existed” Lucifer began, “the Emperor has relied upon the stick of
military might to keep the Sata'an Empire in check.  To achieve this end, he
created four species of genetically engineered super-soldiers to protect the naturally
evolved races who make this Alliance their home.  Our military superiority has
kept an uneasy balance in this galaxy between the two competing empires.”
    He stepped out from
behind the podium so he could make eye contact with individual delegates staring
down at him from their lofty perches like the ascended beings who forever
dabbled in the affairs of mortals.  Sunlight streamed down from the atrium
above like an omen from She-who-is, creating a golden halo around his
white-blonde hair and snowy white wings, reminding them he was the adopted son
of their emperor and god.
    “But now a new threat
has dawned against our Alliance."  His wings drooped.  "Not the
external threat of Shay’tan, but one of our own making.  The armies that defend
us, ladies and gentlemen, are a dying race.” 
    A