Prologue
1483BC
Days…endlessdays.
Gray skies. Impossible heat. Yet there was nosun.
Dust caked his eyelashes and lined his mouth. Dagan could barely see. He swallowed—or tried to, but couldn’t. His throat had long since dried up, and his swollen tongue had stuck to the roof of hismouth.
Trees shimmered in the distance. Water. Shoving back hunks of grimy knotted hair covering his face, he pitched toward the oasis, craving the relief. As he neared it, the mirage flickered and vanished, revealing an unending sea of lifeless, gray, arid landscape. No water or shelter, just a few bone-dry trees andsand.
No!The denial reverberated in his head. He had no idea how long he’d been here…months, years since he started chasing the mirage. A never-ending cycle trapped in this godsforsaken place where nothing survived. Excepthim.
His knees gave way. He fell to the scorching sands, a husk hovering close to death, one he could neverseek.
“For the lifeblood you shed, death is too easy for you…”An emotionless whisper.“Eternity will be your reminder bound to your need—a prison you cannot escape—a curse you’ll regret when it matters the most. It will be yourdownfall…”
At the familiar words, Dagan forced his eyes open. Pain tore through his eyelids, maybe his lashes were ripped out. He didn’t know or care as he searched the desolate place. There was no onearound.
A strident hiss pierced his ears. A violent flutter of leathery wings erupted near him. Dozens of red eyes. They swooped down in a harsh screech, viciously tearing at his belly. Unimaginable agony ricocheted through his body. He bared his teeth at the huge monstrous black birds, fists lashing out with feeble hits, his strength that of a babe. Dry lips split apart. Bloodseeped.
Blinded by hunger, he grabbed one of the avians by its featherless neck and bit hard, ripping out its larynx. Blood flowed down his chin. He gagged, retching out the gore. And his parched tongue finally unglued from the roof of his mouth. Some of the blood slid down his throat. He flung the bird aside, swiping at his lips, wanting the metallic taste gone. With no water, he sighed and closed his swolleneyelids…
When he awakened again, his torn belly and dry peeling skin had healed. He had no idea how much time hadpassed.
The days drifted past. There was no sign of the grisly birds, and he withered away once more, back to just skin shrunken over bones as he crawled the never-ending desert, his hungerraging.
Raucous noise and furiously beating wings exploded around him, shattering thestillness.
The vampiric vultures wereback...
