The First Ark: Deathless Prequel Read Free Page A

the block closed around him. His eyes closed and his breathing seemed to ease. More importantly the bleeding in his leg stopped, though the awful wound remained.
    The stranger turned to face them, his chest drenched in Sobek's blood. He picked up his staff in one hand and offered the other to Isis. She shot a nervous glance at Sekhmet.
    "Go on," Sekhmet said, nodding as she drew a hand axe from her belt. "If he tries anything I will gut him. See what he wants. I think he recognizes you as a shaman. Maybe he can share the magic of the gods with you."
    Isis accepted the stranger's hand, old and leathery but warm. He led her across the room to the block furthest from the door. The stranger released her, then mimed placing his hands atop two giant rubies set into the block. He watched her expectantly.
    She took a deep breath, then set her hands atop the gems. There was a flash of light and then she was elsewhere.

Chapter 4- Ka

    Ka stared at the strange hominid as it entered the mental construct. It had breasts and lacked facial hair, so a Ken. A female. Fascinating, doubly so given that it had been nearly two hundred millennia since she'd last seen a new offshoot of the Ken's species
    The intelligence had watched with eager anticipation as the new hominids entered the Ark. They were taller and thinner than the existing host, with slightly larger brain cavities. That could be important, though it was too soon for her to rejoice. Their stone-tipped weapons were similar to that of the host, but more advanced.
    Where the host's people had short, thrusting spears, these new hominids carried spears that could be thrown. It probably made them more successful hunters, which could account for why their people were surviving the world's latest glaciation where their unfortunate cousins had all but been wiped out.
    She'd been intrigued when the two groups had clashed. These new hominids were clearly more violent than the host's genus, a more aggressive offshoot of the same species. Could they interbreed? An interesting experiment.
    The host had dutifully led the new hominids into the rejuvenation chamber and placed the wounded one in a rejuvenator. It had done so of its own cognizance, but that was the limit of the creature's intelligence. Useful, but still not able to do what she required.
    "Are you a god?" the Ken asked, glancing around curiously. A little fear touched her gaze, but only a little.  
    Ka was shocked. The current host could manage simple words and concepts, but higher reasoning and imagination were sadly lacking. For this Ken to understand the concept of a deity, she had to possess both.
    "You might consider me so," Ka replied, willing herself closer. She drifted like a specter, coming to rest next to the Ken.
    "You are like us, but different. Your eyes are too large and you are too tall," the Ken said, grip tightening on her staff as Ka approached.
    "I am patterned after the builders," Ka explained, knowing what its words were likely to mean little. "I was left to steward this Ark when they departed long ago."
    "Where are we?" the Ken asked, turning about in a slow circle as she took in the construct.
    "It is difficult to explain. You might say we are in my mind. Your body remains where it was, next to your companions. Only your consciousness has come to this place," Ka said. She plucked at a thread in the Ken's mind, and the construct changed. "Is this more pleasing to you?"  
    They were now surrounded by low, fir huts, supported by thickly cut branches and packed slow. A fire burned in the center of the village, with a haunch of mammoth meat roasting on a spit over it. The place smelled of smoke and cooked flesh, a bizarre mix.
    "My village," the Ken gasped. She moved to one of the huts and tugged open the flap. "What sorcery is this? Set burned this place weeks ago."
    "I conjured this memory to make you more comfortable," Ka explained. "If it makes you uncomfortable I can change it."
    The construct shifted back to a