Chapter One - Richard Lewis

One of the women screamed. He forced his eyes to open. He had to see this, to
bear witness to his own cowardice and treachery.
Two men dragged the woman forward. She collapsed in a faint, her knees digging
furrows in the rain-softened dirt.
Dharma shook his head. "No, she won't do. She is the one," he said, his keris held
steady on Desak.
Desak made no sound. She bent her head, as if to kiss her unborn child.
In one swift motion, Naniek lunged from her kneeling position to head-butt
Dharma. He casually backhanded her arm away and dragged her to Reed. "Take your
lover," he said.
Even with her hands tied, she fought Reed like a tigress. He finally threw a short
sharp jab to the side of her jaw to daze her and propelled her forward.
Mantera approached him.
"Take her to my palace," he said, but Dharma called out, "Where are you going,
my lord? Come back here, for you have work to do tonight."
Holding on tight to Naniek, Reed stumbled away from the death temple. He did
not look back. He thrust Naniek into the jeep. As he drove off, his rear view caught a
brightening glow, as if the flames surrounding the graveyard were rising brighter, Durga
bending to a blood sacrifice upon her graveyard.
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