Read Online Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth by Simon R. Green - Free Book Online
Authors: Simon R. Green
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collapsed emptily, so much scrap metal littering the ground. Lilith stood silent for a moment, nonplussed. That hadn't been in the script. Emboldened by the Engineer's defiance, some of the Beings stepped forward to confront Lilith.
"We heard you were banished," drawled the Splendid, leaving a shimmering trail behind him as he moved. "Forced out of the world you made, by those you trusted and empowered."
"Thrust into Limbo," said La Belle Dame du Rocher, in her watery voice. "Until some damned fool let you out, let you back into the Nightside to trouble us again with bad dreams of our beginnings."
"Some say you've been here for years," said Molly Widdershins, showing her stained and blocky teeth in something that was only nominally a smile. "So where have you been hiding, all this time?"
"Not hiding," said Lilith, and the chill in her voice made them all fall back a pace. "I've been… preparing. So much to do, and so many to do it to. And then, of course, I had to produce a new child, and see to his education. He is mine, body and soul, even if he doesn't realise it yet. My dearest darling John Taylor."
The name rumbled through the crowd, from worshippers and worshipped alike, and not in a good way. Many shifted uneasily, and aspects flickered on and off in the crowd like heat lightning. The Splendid opened his perfect mouth to protest further, and Lilith reached out and touched him lightly on the forehead. He cried out in shock and horror as his life energy was ripped right out of him, to feed Lilith's endless hunger. She sucked him dry in a moment, watching calmly as he crumpled and shrivelled up before her, all his power nothing more to her than a drop in her ocean. The Splendid blinked out and was gone, as though he had never been. Lilith smiled about her.
"Just a little illustration of my mood, so everyone knows where they stand. I may be your mother, but I won't abide over-familiarity. Now, where are those who banded together to betray me, so very long ago? To banish me from my own creation? Step forward, that I might look upon your faces once again."
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, then the Devil's Bride stepped forward reluctantly, the conjoined twin in the hump on her back peering over her shoulder. "They're all gone, mistress," said the little twin, in a sweet seductive voice. "Long and long ago. They killed each other, or were brought down, or grew irrelevant to the modern world and just faded away. There's only one left that we know of. Its original name is lost to us. We call it the Carrion in Tears, and it is quite insane."
She darted back into the safety of the crowd, while others pushed forward the Carrion in Tears, a huge body of rotting flesh, red and black and purple, with jagged ends of bones protruding from suppurating flesh. Forever decaying, never dying, quite mad. It snapped at the world with broken teeth, dull grey in muddy scarlet flesh, and its cloudy eyes were fixed and staring.
"It incorporates dead things into itself," volunteered Molly Widdershins. "They keep it going. Make it strong."
"And this… has followers?" said Lilith.
"Of a kind," said Molly.
"Proof, if proof were needed, that some people will worship absolutely anything," said Lilith. "As long as it has the stink of immortality about it."
Some of the Carrion in Tears' worshippers were thrust forward through the crowd, to face Lilith. They dressed in soiled rags and torn plastic, with grime artfully smeared across their faces. The oldest among them raised his head proudly and stood defiantly before Lilith.
"We worship it because it shows us the truth. The real world is filth and rot, pollution and corruption. Our god shows us the dirty truth behind the pretty face. When all else is fallen into ruin, our god will remain, and we will be with him."
"No you won't," said Lilith. "You offend me even more than he does." And she killed them all, with a glance.
The Carrion in Tears didn't notice. It was too busy digesting
"We heard you were banished," drawled the Splendid, leaving a shimmering trail behind him as he moved. "Forced out of the world you made, by those you trusted and empowered."
"Thrust into Limbo," said La Belle Dame du Rocher, in her watery voice. "Until some damned fool let you out, let you back into the Nightside to trouble us again with bad dreams of our beginnings."
"Some say you've been here for years," said Molly Widdershins, showing her stained and blocky teeth in something that was only nominally a smile. "So where have you been hiding, all this time?"
"Not hiding," said Lilith, and the chill in her voice made them all fall back a pace. "I've been… preparing. So much to do, and so many to do it to. And then, of course, I had to produce a new child, and see to his education. He is mine, body and soul, even if he doesn't realise it yet. My dearest darling John Taylor."
The name rumbled through the crowd, from worshippers and worshipped alike, and not in a good way. Many shifted uneasily, and aspects flickered on and off in the crowd like heat lightning. The Splendid opened his perfect mouth to protest further, and Lilith reached out and touched him lightly on the forehead. He cried out in shock and horror as his life energy was ripped right out of him, to feed Lilith's endless hunger. She sucked him dry in a moment, watching calmly as he crumpled and shrivelled up before her, all his power nothing more to her than a drop in her ocean. The Splendid blinked out and was gone, as though he had never been. Lilith smiled about her.
"Just a little illustration of my mood, so everyone knows where they stand. I may be your mother, but I won't abide over-familiarity. Now, where are those who banded together to betray me, so very long ago? To banish me from my own creation? Step forward, that I might look upon your faces once again."
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, then the Devil's Bride stepped forward reluctantly, the conjoined twin in the hump on her back peering over her shoulder. "They're all gone, mistress," said the little twin, in a sweet seductive voice. "Long and long ago. They killed each other, or were brought down, or grew irrelevant to the modern world and just faded away. There's only one left that we know of. Its original name is lost to us. We call it the Carrion in Tears, and it is quite insane."
She darted back into the safety of the crowd, while others pushed forward the Carrion in Tears, a huge body of rotting flesh, red and black and purple, with jagged ends of bones protruding from suppurating flesh. Forever decaying, never dying, quite mad. It snapped at the world with broken teeth, dull grey in muddy scarlet flesh, and its cloudy eyes were fixed and staring.
"It incorporates dead things into itself," volunteered Molly Widdershins. "They keep it going. Make it strong."
"And this… has followers?" said Lilith.
"Of a kind," said Molly.
"Proof, if proof were needed, that some people will worship absolutely anything," said Lilith. "As long as it has the stink of immortality about it."
Some of the Carrion in Tears' worshippers were thrust forward through the crowd, to face Lilith. They dressed in soiled rags and torn plastic, with grime artfully smeared across their faces. The oldest among them raised his head proudly and stood defiantly before Lilith.
"We worship it because it shows us the truth. The real world is filth and rot, pollution and corruption. Our god shows us the dirty truth behind the pretty face. When all else is fallen into ruin, our god will remain, and we will be with him."
"No you won't," said Lilith. "You offend me even more than he does." And she killed them all, with a glance.
The Carrion in Tears didn't notice. It was too busy digesting
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