Chapter 14.
The dusk had now shadowed the sands of Otamia, Shesmu and Am-heh emerged from the small cave they had been hiding in throughout the day.
Having no idea where Arawn or Amaunet were, they had been thrown in other directions as they splintered through Earths atmosphere.
Both Gods were enraged and desperate to find them and the Alzphaeta Diamond, however they first needed to retrieve Temu’s ‘Rib of Chaos’. It had been buried on Earth a few thousand years before when Temu had come from the stars, building the pyramid and forming the city of Otamia.
They were near the bottom of a large cavernous mountain, sand dunes completely surrounding its base.
Stretching, both Gods cracked their shoulder blades, forcing their mighty wings from their flesh, pushing them high above their silhouettes and stretching them into the twilight.
“Are you sure this is the spot?.” Shesmu queried Am-heh.
“I am sure my friend, I know it has been a few thousand years, but I would never forget something as precious and important as this.”
Both Gods looked at one another, desperately wanting what lay deep below their feet.
Am-heh was the first to fall to his knees, rapidly tearing into the sand and rock beneath him. Shesmu was less than a second behind, joining him in the desperate search for the long buried rib.
The lesser Gods became oblivious of their surroundings, sweat had pooled on their bare chests, whilst their hands bled as they ripped fiercely into the Earth.
Rapidly they dug, it had only been a few minutes and were already up to their waists in the rock and sand.
It was Shesmu who found it first, flying like lightning from the large hole and landed next to the sandy crater they has just dug.
Am-heh watched as Shesmu now held one of the eight ‘Ribs of Chaos’. This was the rib he had torn from the God Temu about two thousand years prior. This is were he had buried it so many moons before. Am-heh knew he could not return to Azure-Alkun with Temu’s rib, Chaos would have known what he had done, his punishment a certain death and and his soul would dwell eternally in the scalding sands of hell.
Shesmu held the sleek curved bone high above his head, turning it over and over in his filthy hands, smiling wickedly, admiring its smooth curved shape. He could see the tiny symbols of unique code etched deep into the dark silver bone, the tiny blue sapphires glinting in the night.
A jealous fury washed over Am-heh, he could not stand to watch him ogle over what was his. He had held the mighty rib two thousand odd years before, buried it here so no one would ever find it and nobody ever did, until now.
Am-heh was enraged, willing his wings back into his flesh and now stood in his humanlike form. It was only a few seconds before the hot rage pulsed through his veins and all the bones in his body started to crack and re-shape.
Am-heh’s jaw opened wide, dislocating with a huge ‘crack,’, his arms and legs twisted in tortuous knots, huge clawed paws tore from his appendages, tearing through his skin, ripping his flesh to shreds.
His spine splintered through his back, chunks of clotted flesh splattered around him, a long whip like tail emerged from his spine and stood stiffly at his rear.
Am-heh had now changed into his true form, ’The devourer of millions, ‘The eater of eternity’.
Growling deep in his throat, the oversized jackal crept towards Shesmu, razor sharp fangs dripping with blood, ready to shred him.
Shesmu’s eyes widened, he still had his wings on the outside, been the first thing Am-heh tore through. His huge claws shredded his long feathers before he could take off into the darkness, throwing him into the shadows, he spun wildly into the air, slamming into a large boulder.
Roaring, Shesmu scrambled to his feet, he been the God of execution and slaughter and insanely fierce, causing destruction beyond imagination, Am-heh knew he would not think twice before cutting you down for his own means.
Baring his teeth, Shesmu screamed furiously into the early night, charging back at the large snarling jackal, dropping the ‘Rib of Chaos’ as he ran at him.
The two fouls gods clashed in the air, Am-heh’s teeth slicing into Shesmu’s shoulder, biting a huge chunk from his flesh, then slamming his fist into Shesmu’s neck and crushing his windpipe in one powerful blow.
He was knocked backwards, skidding in the cool sand, Shesmu trying desperately to grip the tiny grains with his toes as he slid.
Charging again, the huge jackal smashed into the lessor God, wrestling as they flew through the air, hitting the ground and rolling down the steep dunes. They tore at eachother with outrageous abhorrence, rolling over, then down the sandy slope.
Shesmu came out the worst of the two, slamming his back into a large tree, his bones cracking with a sickening thud.
Am-heh was straight on him, his huge jaw grabbing hold of him around the waist, lifting him high into the air and ripping into his gut. Shesmu’s intestines now shredded, Am-heh shook his head from side to side whilst the wicked Gods squirming body spasmed amid his deadly fangs. He did not stop until he felt Shesmu’s life drain from him once and for all.
Spitting at his feet, Am-heh knew Shesmu was very close to death, yet he still couldn’t calm his rage and again sunk his huge jaws into his squirming form, tearing at the flesh on the back of his neck.
The jackal ripped into his foul flesh with maddening insanity, exposing the top of his spine, tearing the long bone clean from Shesmu’s broken neck.
The sound that came from Shesmu was that of outrage and agony, every nerve ending in his body spasmed, the pain exquisite, it jolted throughout his core in rapid tiny pulses. His heart still beating, his lungs still moving, his brain a chaotic mess as he lay slowly dying at Am-heh’s feet.
Am-heh howled towards the blue tinted moon, his body changing rapidly, his bones splintering with fire, gnarling their way back into his human-like form.
His thoughts abruptly turned to the ‘Rib of Chaos’, Am-heh scrambled back up the tall sandy dune to were Shesmu had dropped it.
Severely injured, blood was pouring from Am-heh’s throat, huge gashes ripped his legs and stomach and the bones in his right arm were shattered. It would take at least a day of healing he believed, his Divine blood would fix the near fatal wounds quickly, although not fast enough.
Once he reached the top of the dune, the silver rib had gone. He had seen were Shesmu had dropped the precious object yet it wasn’t there now. Am-heh searched through the rocks and sand around were they had fought, nevertheless Temu’s rib had disappeared.
The ‘Eater of Millions’ rose to his full height and looked out over the vast lands of Otamia, his agonised roar could be heard by all in the nearby sands, chilling each and every one of their people with his eerie, mournful cry.