She glanced at her sister hopefully, but Nemini was already shaking her head. “I already tried touching it earlier,” she confessed. “But the bull has no ego to break. It exists purely to serve Ishtar, so…”
Nemini trailed off with a shrug, and Bex sighed. “What about your snakes?” she asked instead. “Can they slow it down, at least?”
“No,” Nemini said, her voice still as calm as ever, even when she had to duck under a flying piece of roofing. “What you perceive as snakes are actually the fragments of my broken sword. They can puff themselves up when they sense I’m afraid, but they’re not actually any stronger than I am myself. They’re also still Enki’s creations, which means they definitely can’t stop the Bull of Ishtar.”
“Of course,” Bex muttered, putting on an angry burst of speed as they turned onto one of the large straightaways that led to the ancient fortress on the city’s lone surviving hill. “How is it the gods are always useless when we need them but somehow become unbeatable forces of nature when they’re used against us?”
It wasn’t actually a question, but Nemini answered just the same. “Because Gilgamesh arranges things that way. His entire rule has been one long play to transfer the gods’ power bit by bit into his own hands. It only makes sense that he’d be very good at it by now.”
“Nemini,” Bex growled through gritted teeth. “I love you, but I seriously don’t want to hear praise for Gilgamesh right now.”
“Sorry,” her sister said. “I was just trying to help.”
“I know you were,” Bex said, keeping her eyes on the cobbled street as her boots flew over the uneven stones. “And I’m not mad. I’m just scared because I have no idea how we’re getting out of this.”
Those were hard words to admit, but there was no point in saving face in front of Nemini. Her sister had stuck with her through Bex’s worst and best. She deserved the truth, not queenly bravado, but Bex seriously at her wits’ end.
You could try one of your new powers,Drox suggested.
“I don’t think fear-demon scales are going to do much against those giant hooves,” Bex huffed. “Another demon’s power might work, but I’m not exactly practiced at using my new modes yet, and the bull isn’t leaving a lot of room for error.”
As if to prove her point, a giant crash sounded behind them as the bull slammed through a two-story building, sending Bex’s sense of impending doom ratcheting up yet another notch. As scary as being chased was, though, the destruction was actually their biggest problem. She and Nemini could run for a long time, but at the rate the bull was going through buildings, they were going to be out of cover very soon. Once that happened, it’d be just them and Ishtar’s rampaging weapon on an open field.
She and Nemini were fast, but if they had to start vaulting over rubble while the bull ran unhindered, they were going to get trampled. Bex was scrambling to think of something,anythingshe could do to prevent that when Nemini’s head snapped up.
“My power could do it.”
“You have a power?” Bex blurted out before she realized how stupid that was. Ofcoursethe Queen of Pride had a power. All Ishtar’s daughters had powers like Bex’s fire and War’s control over weapons. They were what Gilgamesh stole to make his swords. Since Pride had never been a princess, Bex had no idea what Nemini’s ability was, but she was super excited to find out.
“What is it?” she asked eagerly, running up beside her sister. “And can it stop a charging bull?”
“It could stop an army,” Nemini said, but her voice was still flat. “Unfortunately, I can’t use it.”
“Why not?” Bex demanded. “Adrian gave you back your horns and name. Why can’t you use your own power?”
“Because, like my sword, I am no longer what I used to be,” Nemini confessed, keeping her eyes on the shaking road as they ran up the hill toward the ancient keep that must have been Gilgamesh’s original palace. “The power of Pride requires absolute confidence. You have to know without doubt that you are better, superior, more capable than anyone who’s ever come before. I used to feel that way about everything I did, but when I came face-to-face with the void, it changed my perspective. I know now that, no matter how powerful an individual might seem, we’re all insignificant compared to the infinite arc of the boundless universe. It was a truly enlightening vision, but while I am forever grateful to have seen the truth, that same understanding unfortunately makes it impossible for me to feel superior to anyone anymore.”
That was a very Nemini answer, but Bex had to clench her jaw to keep from screaming in frustration. She didn’t blame her sister—it wasn’t Nemini’s fault that she’d been enlightened—but it wasso frustratingto have a solution teased in front of her only to have it snatched away again a second later. She was wondering why Nemini had bothered bringing the subject up in the first place when Bex realized her sister wasn’t finished.
“You don’t have that problem, though,” Nemini said, glancing over her shoulder at her sister. “Unlike me, you are still what Ishtar made you to be. Whereas I had no interest in leaving the void, you couldn’t wait to get out of it and get back to your duty. I told you once that you’re the queen I should have been. Now that every demon has bowed their horns to you, that’s literally true. You’re the Queen ofalldemons now, including Pride, which means you should be able to use the power I no longer can.”
Bex was panting too hard to gasp properly at that, but she still managed to gape at her sister. It was true she’d covered herself in scales and attacked with weaponized tragedy to endher fight with the Prince of Fear, but those were both things that normal fear and sorrow demons did. Drox had told her earlier that without active prayers, Bex was limited only to the powers Ishtar had granted to demonkind, but it hadn’t occurred to her that definition included otherqueens’abilities as well.
It still didn’t feel possible. Surely a change that important would’ve come with a sense or a trigger orsomethingto let Bex know it was there, but she didn’t feel any different than she usually did. Nemini wasn’t the sort to suggest something unless she was sure of it, though, so Bex swallowed her misgivings and asked, “How do I do it?”
“I already told you,” her sister said patiently. “You have to be proud. Remember that you are the greatest queen, a divine force nothing can defeat. You must pin your horns to the sky and plant your feet so firmly on the ground that they can never be moved. Do that, and the mountains themselves will bow before you.”
Bex was cringing by the time Nemini finished. “I see why you can’t do it anymore,” she muttered. “That sounds like a lethal amount of ego.”
“It was the Pride of Ishtar,” Nemini agreed. “Gods aren’t known for being humble. It should still work, though, assuming you can pull it off.”
That was a big assumption. Bex had stood up to Ishtar for her people’s sake, but the idea of planting her feet and trying to stop a charging bull with nothing but her own hubris sounded like a good way to turn herself into a speed bump. She also still didn’t know if the bull would let her use it. He’d already sealed her fire and her sword. What if he’d cut her off from everything else as well?
I think it will work,Drox said.For all its power, the bull is merely Ishtar’s tool. He judged you as a misbehaving queen, but you are Ishtar’s daughter, born of her own divine flesh.That means you outrank a lowly beast.Her sword’s voice grew deadly.It’s time that fool remembers just whom he presumes to judge.
Easy for Drox to say. He’d always been the first to remind Bex of her position. Still, the idea of taking all his puffed-up queen talk and saying it herself like she really felt she was superior made Bex want to bury herself in the dirt. She didn’t know what else to do, though. This was literally their only idea, so Bex did the same thing she’d been doing all her life. She shoved her fears aside and went for it, slamming her feet into the ground as she whirled around to face the bull head-on.
Since they’d been running up the steep hill toward Uruk’s old stone castle, this put Bex on higher ground. Good thing, too. She’d gotten used to bluffing during the seven years she’d spent as a burned-out husk, but it still took every nerve Bex had to hold her ground as the gigantic bull thundered toward her. If she’d been lower than those horns, she would’ve crumpled on instinct. For at least the next few seconds, though, Bex stood above them, and she used the extra height to maximum advantage, lifting her own six horns to the cavern’s dark sky as she commanded, “Stop.”
