title: Alpha Goddess
author:  Amalie Howard 
description: Sera, the human avatar of Hindu goddess Lakshmi, must battle between her good and evil sides in order to save herself from Azrath, the lord of death who hopes to use her to unleash hell on Earth.
zlib_text: Amalie	Howard
  THE	ALMOST	GIRL
  To	Valerie,	because	she	couldn’t	be	here.
  
  PROLOGUE
  THREE	YEARS	EARLIER
  	
  The	 slight	 figure	 is	 lithe	 and	 quick,	 a	 shadow	 of	 a	 shadow	 in	 the
  darkness.	It	runs	along	the	edgy	gloom	of	the	halogen-lit	streets,	flying
  over	 electric	 fences	 and	 scaling	 walls	 with	 the	 practiced	 ease	 of	 a
  skilled	athlete.	One	would	never	suspect	that	it	was	being	chased	by
  an	entire	army	of	soldiers,	but	it	was,	several	hundred	of	them.
  In	a	fluid	twist	to	gauge	the	remaining	distance	from	its	pursuers,
  the	runner’s	profile	is	visible	for	a	brief	second.	It	is	the	face	of	young
  girl,	barely	fourteen,	as	she	glides	into	a	narrow	alley.	Blood	drips	from
  a	self-inflicted	gash	in	her	arm,	the	silver	implant	she’d	dug	from	the
  wound	slipping	from	her	fingers	to	the	oily	ground	before	it	is	crushed
  beneath	her	boot.
  Glancing	at	the	gauge	on	her	wrist,	she	sees	a	red	flash	that	tells
  her	that	she’s	nearly	at	the	eversion	checkpoint.	Her	timing	and
  positioning	must