Page 43 - Microsoft Word - FANG EMPIRE - NOVEL.docx

was perfect for him. Celebrations are the enemies of vigilance. I failed you, my queen.”

“We were all failed by the king,” GoGo said. “May God receive him.”

Zuba suddenly seemed possessed by a thought. He walked over to his satchel and removed

the Kabbalah-Chron. He looked at the spinning needle and mysterious glyphs on the dial face. The

needle stopped at a set of coordinates.

“Cane, Raki, look!” he said.

They walked over and stared.

“She is near, but moving!” Cane said.

“Who?” GoGo asked.

“The prince’s last hope,” Zuba said.

He touched Omar’s limp hand. “I shall return, my prince. Sooth, keep him alive until I do.”

Zuba reached into his satchel, removed his leather protector, and strapped it around his

neck. Everyone in the room looked on curiously as Cane and Raki also removed their neck-

protectors, put them on, and followed Zuba briskly out of the tent. Their horses could be heard

galloping away into the night.

“Sooth, do you believe in that thing they hunt?” Daka asked.

“Yes. But the one they hunt is far more dangerous than they know,” Sooth said.

“Word came from Zanzibar last year that indigo traders encountered this creature in the

land of the Swahili,” Daka said. “She has great power, great value in war. The bounty was high.

Since then Omar has been obsessed with capturing her.”

“Who is she?” GoGo asked.

Sooth got up and walked toward the tent exit then stopped. He measured his next words.

“Not who . . . what.” He turned back to the group. “In Africa she is called algul. In the

East, the Slovaks call her nospheratu, goddess of the underworld. According to the Jews, Zohar