Home > The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords #1)(2)

The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords #1)(2)
Author: Gena Showalter

   “I do.” As mandated, Taliyah would do it all while remaining a virgin, her body given to her people. Which wasn’t really a hardship, because gross. Boys were big babies. Break their faces, and they cried for days. “Nothing will stop me.”

   “Why will you do these things?” Tabitha asked.

   “Because I’m Taliyah Skyhawk, and nothing will rob me of my birthright.” Other words her mother had drilled into her head.

   As soon as she’d learned to walk, she’d begun to prepare for the privilege of becoming General. Something many harpies attempted, but few accomplished. But, from the very beginning, Taliyah had proved more determined than most.

   While others searched for ways around a problem, she grabbed the problem by the balls and squeezed. Others complained when a door of opportunity shut, then waited for another to open; she beat her way through whatever door she pleased with frightening focus.

   Everything happened for a reason? Yes. That reason often involved her fists.

   “You aren’t just Taliyah Skyhawk.” Her mother offered the barest hint of a grin, as if proud of her. “You will go by many names throughout your lifetimes, daughter. To others, you are the Cold-Hearted. To us, you are forever Taliyah the Terror of All Lands.”

   Terror of All Lands. Tal. A grin of her own spread. “I am the Terror of All Lands.”

   Her mother dipped her head in affirmation. “You are stronger, faster and far more powerful than other harpies. I made sure of that by handpicking the male I wished to father my first child.”

   Procreating by design was a common practice among harpies. A must when you were related to demons and vampires, and everyone referred to your species as “beautiful vultures.” Many armies hunted harpies for sport. Or worse!

   Nowadays, the harpies who decided to squirt out a couple of kids selected powerful males who produced more powerful children.

   “You speak of the snakeshifter,” Taliyah said, trying to hide her eagerness. Over the years, her mother had only ever shared the man’s species. For so long, she’d wondered...

   “He isn’t a snakeshifter. Not entirely. He is the creator of snakeshifters...and he’s only one of your fathers.”

   “What?” Um... “What? How many fathers do I have?”

   “There are two, and they are brothers, one able to possess the other, something you will never mention to others. Even your sisters cannot know.”

   Her gaze dropped to her mother’s rounded belly, where twins named Kaia and Bianka grew. She gulped.

   “Do you understand, Taliyah? We must take this secret to our graves. If ever anyone discovers the truth about your origins, you are to kill them without delay.”

   “But I don’t even know what I am now!” Reeling.

   “I’ll explain,” her aunt piped up. “Before your birth, the brothers appeared in Harpina every fifty years. One terrorized our villages, and we couldn’t stop him. The other mended the survivors. Sixteen years ago, the two appeared to me in secret and offered to spare us for a time...if I spent the night with them.” Her tone thinned. “Though I fought to become General, I agreed to their bargain. Nine months later, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl.”

   Tamera had given birth only once. Which meant... Blythe had two fathers, too? Wait. Blythe was Taliyah’s sister? Reeling faster.

   “Five years later,” her mother said, her tone just as tight, “the brothers reappeared. This time, they came to me, offering the same bargain. I agreed, despite my own bid to become General. Nine months later, I birthed you.”

   Taliyah licked her lips. So much to digest. Too much at once. She centered on the most difficult to accept, trying to make sense of it. Her fathers. In history class, she’d learned about twin brothers who’d done exactly as described. Warriors so powerful, they evinced terror in everyone they faced. Not just warriors. The sons of a god.

   “I’m a daughter of Asclepius Serpentes and Erebus Phantom, sons of Chaos.” The words tasted odd on her tongue.

   Asclepius was known as the Bringer of Life, a god of medicine able to raise certain immortals from the dead. He was also the creator of snakeshifters and gorgons.

   Erebus was his opposite. Known as the Bringer of Death, he destroyed whatever he touched. His contribution to immortal species? The creation of phantoms. Mindless soldiers able to take both spirit and bodily form. To survive, these phantoms consumed the souls—the very life—of the living. A grotesque act to harpies. To all immortals, really.

   The two were gods in their own right, yes, but they came from a greater god known as the Abyss. That meant... I came from the Abyss.

   Well, of course I did! Frankly, she was amazing. A defender of all harpykind.

   “Where are the brothers now?” Oops. Did she sound too eager? Harpies weren’t supposed to care about such matters.

   Her mother hiked a shoulder, the answer clearly of no importance to her. “Rumors suggest the two picked a fight with the wrong warlords, men who once served as Chaos’s personal guards. They killed the brothers, but Erebus came back...wrong.”

   So, one father was dead and gone. The other lived, but not well. Her stomach churned. “Does Erebus know about me? Does Chaos?” Would they visit her? A flicker of hope sparked. Maybe they’d want to get to know her or something.

   “If they know of you, daughter, they care not. You are nothing to them, and they are nothing to you.”

   “Right.” Her shoulders rolled in the slightest bit. “Good riddance, I say. Who needs them?” She did just fine on her own. Better than fine! The best! The pang in her chest bore no significance to the situation.

   “You’re right. You don’t need them. Soon, you’ll wield abilities beyond your wildest imagination.”

   She perked up at the thought of new power. “What abilities?” And how soon?

   “You won’t know until you’ve shed your first skin for your second,” Blythe told her. The black-haired, blue-eyed beauty smiled and—Taliyah gasped. Her irises! Specks of black shimmered in their depths. “If you’re like me, you’ll push your spirit from your body, possess others, communicate with the dead, walk in the spirit world to spy on your enemies and recover from any death...even your first.”

   Her first? She zoomed her gaze to the weapons. Realization punched Taliyah, leaving her winded. Her family planned to kill her and raise her as a phantom.

   Warring impulses surged, one after the other. Flee. Protest. Cheer. Die? In the end, she bit her tongue and remained silent. What mattered more than her dream? To walk in the spirit realm and spy on her enemies, to recover from death...

   She would do anything. There’d be no greater General.

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