Serpent Goddess: The Horse Lords Book 1 Read online

  “Fishers? Why are you not at the river then?” Smiling he cocked his head up at her.

  “Heh. I do my best fishing from up here. I caught you did I not? As for why I am up in this tree - Anyone can see I am picking apples.” She dropped a small green apple into a sack slung over her shoulder.

  “Those apples look green and sour.”

  “Green and sour will do when one is hungry. Try one.”

  Gamayun tossed an apple down. Sava snapped it out of the air with one hand. The apple was slightly lumpy with brown spots, but it was fruit which he rarely enjoyed. He bit into the hard crisp flesh and tore out a chunk. Just as he was poised to take another juicy bite, the head of a large black worm oozed out of the core.

  “Blagh!” He spat out the chunk and threw the apple away.

  The old woman laughed and laughed. She slapped her thigh. “Hah! The bold Sauromatian fears a lowly worm? Food is precious. You could have eaten around that worm, then throw away the core.”

  “Aye the joke is on me. And you had no idea a worm was in that apple, did you?” He grinned up at her. It was a good joke after all.

  “Treacherous worms hide in many good things my son. Deep within the roots of the World Tree, the Black Serpent moves. Soon He Comes.”

  Sava moved his horse closer. He was caught by his mirror-like reflection in the woman’s dark eyes.

  “Why do you travel alone?” She asked.

  “My party was attacked by raiders. Two were killed. The rest were wounded. I sent them home.”

  “Ah, I see,” she nodded, studying him with piercing eyes. “I wonder…deep in the night when all is still, do the Voices whisper your name young Sava?”

  How does she know? Struck dumb he waited for her next words.

  “Ah, I see you have heard the Voices. Shall I tell you how these Dark Powers came to be?”

  Gamayun’s voice had taken on an eerie, resonant tone. Her words echoed in his ears as if they no longer stood in an orchard of waving green trees but in a great blue-domed temple.

  Chapter 7 – The Black Serpent

  Nor is there any temple seen in their country…

  Their idea of religion being to plunge a naked sword

  Into the ground with barbaric ceremonies.

  They worship that with great respect

  As the God of War

  The presiding deity of the regions

  Over which they wander -

  Ammanius Marcellinus, Roman Officer, Res Getae

  “But first I will ask a riddle. If you answer correctly you will have my blessing. If not” – Gamayun shrugged. “You are on your own.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “What is the fastest thing in all the earth?”

  “A horse?”

  “Nay.”

  “A wolf.”

  The old woman shook her head. .

  “What then?”

  “Thought. It goes through everything.” Gamayun chuckled, pleased with herself. “Do not underestimate your perceptions young Sava. Thoughts are entities from which no one can escape. ”

  “Tell me how the Dark Powers arose.”

  “First you must know, there is another world. It is here with us. All around us. But we are blind. We cannot see. And in this Other World there is a great thrashing blue sea. In the middle of this blue sea is the blessed Isle of Booyan on which the Alatyr Stone sits. The Alatyr Stone is the Holy Omphalos, the Navel of the Other World, from which healing rivers flow. And on top of this great stone the World Tree grows.”

  “One day the Black Serpent with eyes of living coals slithered up from the roots of the World Tree. The Black Serpent hated the sacred Alatyr Stone from which all healing waters flow. It struck the rock with a great hammer. Boom! The whole island shook and the mighty Alatyr Stone cracked! Black sparks boiled up, swirling far and wide across all the domains under Heaven.”

  “Thus were the Dark Powers born – Fierce hissing serpents with many heads. Now upon the Earth is drawn an invisible border. To the right is the Domain of the Gods. To the left is the Domain of the Black Serpents. Have you crossed over this invisible border young Sava? Have you heard the Voices of the Dark Powers - calling you? Hmmm? From the look in your eyes, I think you have.”

  Gamayun smiled and it struck Sava that her teeth were long, yellow and pointed. She has powers. Is she a witch?

  “Tell me something Gamayun - The omens were not good when we started out on this mission. Was the raider’s attack on my party a punishment by the Sword in the Stone?” He asked.

  “Who am I to know the mind of a god?” Gamayun shrugged. “I am just a poor Sindhi. But I will tell you this - Beware young Sava. Soon, soon there will be drops of blood on every stone. Ride on, your destiny awaits at the River of Tears.”

  She pointed toward the trail leading out of the orchard in the direction of the setting sun. He saw her fingernail as a black talon, curved and sharp.

  “The `River of Tears’? You mean the Tanais?” Sava asked, trying to focus on this, the real world, not the chilling reverie Gamayun was spinning in his mind.

  “The River of Tears is neither by road nor by way. It lies ahead, neither near nor far. Ride on young Sava, your horse is a noble soul. He will carry you far in this life.”

  “Aye that he is.” Sava patted Zlatna’s neck. “What is the shortest way to the Tanais from here?”

  “When you come out from the orchard, turn right along the path. Keep going until you come to a crossroad where a great stone menhir stands. Then turn left, into the Domain of the Serpents, Heh!” She cackled at her joke. “Stay on that track. Now ride on noble son. Your destiny awaits.” Gamayun stared with dark mirrored eyes as if she saw through him and far away.

  Chapter 8 – White Wolf King

  A man’s character

  Is his guardian divinity –

  Heraclitus, c. 500 BC

  As the golden stallion trotted down the path toward the crossroads, the gray overcast clouds drifted away. The day turned bright and clear. Gazing from the horse’s back out over the rolling landscape Sava was vigilant. In his mind, Gamayun’s appearance was ominous.

  Ahead, the black stone menhir beckoned. A beacon. An ancient symbol beyond memory.

  At the crossroads in front of the menhir the horse came to a halt. Sava stared at the carving on the menhir’s face. It was a graphic, sensual portrayal of the great mother drakon, Mata Drakaina.

  A breeze whispered through the trees. For a moment the carved stone eyes of the serpent queen took on an eerie glow. Her coiled tail writhed…

  Gamayun was right. Here the two worlds intersect. Turn right - enter the Domain of the Gods. Turn left - enter the Domain of the Black Serpent. My destiny calls – I must go left.

  Mata Drakaina - I invoke thee. Keep me from peril. Even now the Dark Powers haunt me. Their whispers invade my dreams. They command that I come to them.

  He turned left. The horse traveled along at an easy swinging trot until Sava spotted a herd of large dark animals spread across the trail. As he drew closer the animals grew bigger until they were huge.

  Aurochs.

  The auroch bull was huge. Its sheer size and mass was stunning. Yet the bull’s sleek black conformation spoke of speed and malevolent power. Twice the size of domestic cattle, aurochs had extraordinarily long, sharp horns.

  The bull was as tall as a man at the shoulder. Though powerfully built, it was long-legged and athletic. The impact of being hit by such a massive bull would be devastating. Sava drew up the stallion to observe the auroch from a distance. Then his eyes caught the movement of something else lurking in the waving grass.

  Is that a bear? Nay it’s a wolf. A white wolf.

  The wolf was huge. Sava guessed it weighed close to 200 lbs. And there were others, a whole pack of wolves lurking around the herd, mostly hidden by the high grass.

  The wolves are looking to feast on a spring calf.

  As he watched, the white wolf lunged at the auroch bull, snarling and snap
ping, then instantaneously shot away. Infuriated the bull twisted its tail and tossed its long sharp horns. Undaunted, the wolf darted in for another lightning quick strike. Releasing a tremendous bellow, the bull charged the white wolf as it lunged toward him.

  Faster than the eye could see the wolf leapt high in the air, turned and came down racing in the opposite direction. Sensing the bull had stopped, the wolf turned back. The two enemies stared at each other. The wolf crouched snarling, taunting, challenging. The bull charged again. Deadly silent this time.

  He noticed a second, black wolf alternating with the white one to distract the bull. Blinded by rage, the auroch was being drawn further from his herd.

  How courageous, how canny these wolves are. The white wolf and his mate are drawing the bull away so the others can slide in to separate out a calf.

  The white one is king. He risks his life for the pack like our wolf ancestor, Krevelian the Lame.

  Taking the opportunity, Sava hefted his long kontos and rode the stallion in a wide circle around the marauding wolves. But a glance back showed that his horse had caught the wolves’ attention. The white wolf stood poised, watching Zlatna with the single-minded focus of a predator.

  The wolf king is thinking that my horse is a much easier kill than an auroch.

  Still furious the bull bellowed and pawed the earth, throwing its huge horns at the encroaching wolves. But the bull had spotted the moving horse and was now dividing its attention between the wolves and the horse. The horse was taller, more visible than the slinking wolves in high grass.

  Sava let Zlatna increase his speed to a fast gallop and the horse needed no encouragement. Glancing back again, the nomad bit out a curse. The two lead wolves had lost interest in the auroch and were now loping after him.

  The wolves were staying back, running almost casually but definitely tracking his horse. If these two gave tongue, the whole pack would be after him. Wolves could run as fast as a horse and lope all day long.

  The stallion had seen and scented the wolves. He was well aware they were on his tail. Zlatna increased his speed to a hard gallop but did not panic. The horse remained responsive, ears flicking back and forth, ready for Sava’s signal.

  The nomad sat back in the saddle. The stallion halted and swung around on its hindquarters to face the wolves. Seeing this the wolves stopped too, watching warily. When large prey comes to a sudden halt, then turns - a fight is coming.

  Dropping the reins, Sava balanced the kontos over his knees. Moving swiftly he pulled his bow from the gorytos hanging from the saddle and notched an arrow.

  You may be a wolf king but I am not a sheep. I will give you one chance to live Krevelian.

  The wolves stayed back. Taking careful aim Sava released the arrow. It hissed straight to its mark.

  With a loud yelp the white wolf jerked up his paw, biting at the arrow embedded in it. The black wolf stared at her mate comrade, unable to help.

  “You will be lame Krevelian but you will live.”

  Sava turned the horse and continued on his wide circuit around the auroch herd. Now the bull had charged in, positioning himself between the horse and his herd. Zlatna rounded the bend and was almost at the trail leading to the river.

  Sava breathed a sigh of relief and took his eye off the bull. A mistake.

  Without any warning, completely silent, the giant auroch cut Zlatna off, charging at the stallion’s inside shoulder. Before Sava realized it the black bull was almost upon them.

  Stunning how fast, how light the massive bull was on its feet. Responding to pressure from Sava’s inside leg, Zlatna barely avoided the auroch’s horns by galloping diagonally sideways with terrific speed and agility.

  Using his long kontos, the nomad repeatedly stabbed the bull in the face and shoulder. This barely fazed the furious animal. The bull was running as fast as a horse, but with far more mass and power.

  In a flash at Sava’s direction, Zlatna pivoted on his hindquarters to face the bull, swinging his body left as if about to dodge that way. The bull mirrored the horse’s movement, looking to gore the horse in the chest and shoulder.

  Instead Zlatna swung right, then raced off like a shot from a bow. The bull also pivoted around coming on hard. Its long wicked horns just inches from Zlatna’s vulnerable hindquarters.

  The golden stallion raced away, the bull hot on his rear. Using his iron-pointed kontos Sava jabbed at the bull’s head and shoulders, trying to push it off and back.

  Meanwhile the rest of the wolf pack saw their opportunity and targeted the auroch cows, trying to make the herd stampede so they could cut out a calf.

  Refusing to be stampeded, the cows bellowed and lined up horns out, circling their young. Aware that he needed to protect his herd, the bull turned back, bleeding from multiple lance wounds.

  Pulsing with adrenalin, the stallion raced away down the trail toward the Tanais, River of Tears.

  Chapter 9 – River God

  Okeanos (Oceanus) Primordial Waters,

  Sire of River Gods –

  I call upon you whose nature ever flows

  From whom at first both gods and men arose –

  Orphic Hymn c. 300 BC

  The sun’s rays were casting long shadows by the time the golden stallion and his rider mounted a low hill. Before Sava’s eyes a great serpentine river meandered through a wide valley. The sight of the peaceful blue waters eased the nomad’s soul.

  O River God – You who have flowed since Time has begun. At last, I have come.

  A large trading vessel with a Greek bull’s head emblem on its sail passed by, heading down river toward the Euxine Sea. Sava gazed around, looking for a ford or a ferry, but saw none. The Tanais was so wide that the opposite shore appeared hazy. On the other side lay Gelonus, a four day ride. He turned the horse northeast along a trail leading upriver.

  Dusk was descending when he came to a bend in the river where the opposite shore was much closer. Built into the bank was a low dock. Thick ropes stretched clear across the river to the other side. He rode down the riverbank and waited, hoping it was not too late in the day for a ferry to come.

  Darkness was settling in by the time a wide, flat-bottomed boat emerged from behind low-hanging bushes on the opposite shore. As the boat neared Sava saw that both bow and stern were shaped in the tall narrow form of a serpent’s arched head and neck. Each serpent’s maw gripped a bobbing lantern.

  Two men pulled on ropes run through iron rings set in the gunwale on each side of the boat. Cloaked figures stood on the deck. When the boat reached the dock, the passengers jumped off and went silently on their way.

  Leading his horse, Sava clattered down the wooden dock and approached the boatmen.

  “Hail ferrymen will you carry me and my horse across?” He searched the two mens’ eyes, shadowed by their hooded cloaks.

  “Will your horse get on the boat?” The ferryman in charge looked skeptical.

  “Aye, he will do that and more. He will even swim if I ask him too.”

  “Hmh, it may come to that. Pay me two obols. One for you. One for the horse.” The shrouded figure’s voice creaked like an old wagon wheel.

  “Obols? What are they?” Sava tried to catch the ferryman’s eyes, to see if there was any truth in him, they shifted away.

  “Silver coins. Like this.” The hooded figure held out a small round silver coin.

  “I have no obols. Will this do?” Sava pulled a gold ring inset with a sparkling red ruby from his finger.

  “Aye that will do it. Get in.”

  Carrying his weapons, saddlebags slung over his shoulder, Sava jumped into the boat. Fortunately the boat deck was only a foot or so below the dock.

  “Get out of the way.” He warned the men, then pulled on the reins. “Come Zlatna. Come on boy. Jump.”

  Instinctively the stallion pulled back, eyes wide. The boat was rocking slightly, the footing insecure.

  “Hurry up.” The boatman warned. “We must get to the other side before f
ull dark. There are things in this river…”

  “What things?”

  “Big logs carried by the current. Big fish. Rusalki. Who knows? Just get that damn plow horse into the boat or he will have to swim across.”

  “He will come, he just needs to look it over.” Sava said as he urged the stallion, keeping a steady pressure on the reins - “Come on Son. Jump!”

  There was no point in pulling hard because there was no way to make the horse to jump into the boat except by his own volition. Eyes wide, the stallion took a few hesitant shuffling steps, then made up his mind. With a great leap of faith the horse jumped into the boat. At the sudden heavy impact the boat rocked a few moments, then the wide heavy bottom steadied.

  Immediately the two ferrymen went to work pulling the ropes to drag the boat back across the river. The lantern in the serpent’s maw at the prow bobbed, lighting the water an iridescent green.

  Staring over the side, Sava saw a huge dark shadow, twice the length of a man slide by. Anything could be in that water.

  A strong wind rushed up out of nowhere. A warning rumble of thunder resounded. Rain was coming. Goddess I invoke thee. Hold the storm back until we get across.

  A streak of lightning slashed the sky, then another. Sava’s eyes caught a movement near the side of the boat. A white hand reached out of the water. The hand scrabbled against the wooden side, trying desperately to grasp hold of the gunwale.

  “Hey! Someone is in the water!” He rushed toward the frantic white hand.

  But when he peered over the side, there was no hand, no body.

  “Don’t get too close to the side, lest that `hand’ reach up and grab you. That was a Rusalka. A drowned one whose spirit abides with the River God,” the Ferryman opined. His thin squeaky voice reminiscent of a bat crying in a dark cave.

  The wind gusted, sweeping back the Ferryman’s hood. The man’s long white hair twisted, winding around his face like silver serpents. His eyes flashed, alien and pale, like the rising moon.