Ch 116 After Death
(Ereshgal POV)
Something thick shifted beneath my skin.
It moved slowly through my chest, then climbed along my neck and spread into my face. The sensation was strange and uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt.
After several seconds, my eyes snapped open.
I tried to sit up and struck my forehead against something above me. The impact forced me back down. I raised both hands, but my elbows hit solid walls before I could fully extend them. Rough wood surrounded me, leaving barely enough room to move.
Why was I inside a—
My hand went to my throat.
What is happening?
It burns.
The pain spread so quickly that I couldn't think. I pressed my palm against my neck, feeling the skin beneath it. There was no wound, but the burning kept growing, reaching into my jaw and filling my mouth.
Pressure built inside my gums.
I clenched my teeth and felt something sharp cut into the inside of my lower lip.
What is happ—
An itch started beneath my fingers.
I scratched at my neck. It didn't help. I scratched harder, dragging my nails across the same spot again and again, but I couldn't reach whatever was causing it.
"Stop" I tried to say.
Only a strained sound escaped me.
The itching grew worse. I dug my nails deeper, tearing through the skin without caring about the pain. Something wet ran beneath my fingers and down the side of my neck.
Then I smelled it.
Blood.
My own blood.
Every thought disappeared.
My mouth opened, and I inhaled again. The smell filled the narrow space around me. I brought my bloodied fingers toward my lips without thinking, but stopped just before touching them.
The burning became unbearable. It spread through my entire body.
Blood.
I needed to get out.
I struck the wood above me with both hands. It didn't move. I hit it again, harder, but there wasn't enough space to put any strength behind the blow.
"Let me out!" My voice came out raw.
I turned my head as far as the walls allowed and pushed against the lid with my shoulder. Nothing. I struck it again, then drove my knees upward, but the wood held.
I couldn't think. My fingers clawed at the lid, searching for an edge, a gap, anything I could use. Each desperate scrape left deep grooves in the wood.
I pulled.
The wood cracked.
I froze for only a moment before driving my fingers into the damaged section. Splinters pierced my skin as I tore at the wood. I barely felt them. I ripped away one piece, then another, widening the opening until cold air touched my face.
I struck the weakened lid with both hands.
It broke apart above me.
I forced myself through the opening, throwing fragments of wood aside as I climbed out. I didn't stop to look at where I was. Somewhere ahead, I saw an exit.
I ran toward it.
I need to get out.
I need…
…Blood.
Where? Where was it?
I drew in a deep breath. My eyes widened, and I ran toward the scent.
Outside, everything was dark, yet I could see the street and the buildings around it as clearly as I could during the day.
I breathed in again.
Blood.
It was close.
Buildings passed on either side of me, too quickly for me to make out more than their shapes. My body followed the scent while the burning in my throat grew worse with every second.
There.
I reached someone lying in the street and dropped beside him. My fangs pierced his neck, and blood filled my mouth.
I swallowed without stopping.
The burning eased slightly, but it wasn't enough. I released him and turned toward another body lying only a few steps away.
Then another.
Each time, I drank until there was nothing left that I could draw out. All I could feel was the blood passing through my throat and the desperate need for more.
I moved from one body to the next until the pain finally began to fade.
A long breath escaped me as I slowly raised my head. The pressure in my gums was gone, and the itch beneath my skin had almost disappeared. Blood covered my mouth, and a drop ran from the corner of my lips.
I lifted a hand to wipe it away.
Then I saw my fingers. Claws extended from them. I stared at them. I wasn't channeling spiritual energy into my hands. Why were they like this?
The panic began to fade as I finally took a proper look around.
Bodies covered the street.
Some lay against the walls of the surrounding buildings. Others had fallen across one another near the center of the road. Blood darkened their clothes and spread across the ground beneath them.
I looked down at the man in front of me. His skin was pale, his eyes partly open. My gaze moved to the next body, then the one after that.
What did I do?
No. There were wounds on the bodies that I hadn't caused. I closed my eyes and forced myself to remember. I had followed the scent. I had bitten the first man in the neck and moved to the others, but none of them had struggled. No one had screamed. I hadn't heard a single heartbeat.
They had already been dead.
I hadn't killed them.
Was that the price of coming back? Would I always wake up this hungry?
I turned slowly, trying to recognize the buildings around me.
Where am I?
*THUD!*
I froze.
Someone was behind me.
I began to turn, but whoever had made the noise was already running. I caught sight of a woman's back as she disappeared around the corner, leaving a clay jar rolling across the street behind her.
If she had seen my face, letting her escape could become a problem. I looked down at my hands. The claws were gone, and my fingers appeared normal again.
I rose slowly.
I couldn't take the risk.
Within a few breaths, I had caught up with her. She was older than I had first thought, with tangled hair and clothes covered in dirt. A small cloth bag hung from one hand, several pieces of bread visible through its open top.
"Don't follow me… please don't follow me…" she kept whispering to herself.
She hadn't noticed me yet.
I ran past her and stepped into the darkness between two buildings. When she was about to pass, I spoke.
"Stop there."
The woman came to an abrupt halt. Her breathing was heavy, and her heart was beating so quickly that I could hear every strike against her chest.
I swallowed.
She turned her head from side to side, trying to find where my voice had come from, while pressing the bag of bread against her chest.
"Please… don't hurt me" she said. "There's a monster following me."
"A monster?"
"It was drinking blood from the bodies." Her voice trembled. "I saw it moving between them."
If she recognized me…
"It had claws" she continued. "And there was blood all over it. I thought it was going to come after me."
"That's all you saw? Did you see its face?"
The woman fell silent for a moment. Even in the darkness, I could see the confusion in her expression.
"I… I didn't see its face," she finally said. "It was too dark, and its back was turned toward me."
Relief loosened some of the tension in my shoulders. I leaned against the wall and looked up. Only then did I notice a thick column of smoke rising above the nearby buildings.
Was something burning?
"But I saw its clothes" the woman added quickly.
I looked back at her.
"They looked ceremonial. I don't know what kind, but they weren't ordinary clothes." She tightened her arms around the bag. "Please, don't do anything to me. My children are hungry. I'm all they have."
Ceremonial clothing. I lowered my eyes to what I was wearing. I recognized the pale linen used for the dead.
Behind her, smoke continued to rise into the night sky. Bodies filled the streets, and this woman was fleeing with whatever bread she had managed to find.
What happened here?
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."
The woman released a long breath.
"Can I ask you something?"
She nodded cautiously.
"I've just returned to Uruk after a long time away. What's happening?"
"War."
"Did Kish attack us?"
The woman shook her head. "No. People say the old king and the new one are fighting for the city."
The new king? Had Kudur been crowned? Was my father at war with him?
"Uruk has split in two" she continued. "There have been fights every day since then."
She looked toward the bodies behind us before adding, "It's getting worse. This is the first time I've seen a monster."
Her legs finally gave out, and she slid down against the wall, crying, still holding the bread tightly against her chest.
"I should leave with my children, but we have nowhere to go." She wiped at her face with one sleeve. "I can't leave, and I can't stay. Every day, I go out looking for food without knowing if I'll make it home."
I watched her as the words continued to spill out. How had they allowed Uruk to become like this?
"What's your name?"
"Amazi" she answered.
"Don't worry, Amazi. Things will get better soon."
I jumped onto the roof of the nearest building and looked across the city. The smoke I had noticed earlier wasn't coming from a single fire. Dozens of columns rose from different districts. Small flames were still visible between some of the buildings.
I needed to find the others.
After studying the surrounding streets, I finally understood where I was. They must have taken my body to the temple of Ereshkigal.
I turned toward Bazi's workshop and began crossing the rooftops. On one of them, I found some clothes left out to dry and quickly changed into them.
As I moved, I listened to the people in the buildings below. Some were crying. Others argued over what little food they had left or asked when the fighting would end. I passed barricades blocking entire streets, burned houses, and fires still smoldering between buildings. I threw my bloodstained burial garments into one of them.
How long had this been happening?
As I approached the workshop, the sound of metal striking metal reached me. Then came the shouting.
There were too many voices for a small fight.
I gathered spiritual energy in my legs and accelerated, crossing the remaining rooftops in seconds. When I reached the building opposite Bazi's workshop, I stopped at its edge and looked down.
A full battle was raging around the workshop.