Ash groaned in annoyance as he rolled over in his bed and pulled the pillow on to his head to block out the noise that seemed to vibrate through his room. Even though Simi’s bedroom was way down the hall from his, he could still hear the music that she was playing full blast.
Music didn’t bother him except for maybe Britney Spears, and especially when Simi played it over, and over, and over again and again. He lost count of how many times he had heard this CD, and was certain that he could probably recite it backwards if he wanted to. Not that he would ever want to.
He had arrived back home to Katoteros earlier, having enjoyed his time with Kyrian, Amanda, and their children. Although he had only stayed for two days, the time refreshed his mind and reminded him just what he was striving for.
Even the rumor of someone killing a Skoti hadn’t been enough to bring him down. And when he found out that Savitar’s name mentioned in the rumor, he ignored it completely. The Oneroi, or Dream-Hunters had enough respect and fear for the god to let the event slide.
Ash sighed in relief when the music stopped, then cringed as it started again. “Simi,” he said in a low voice, knowing that she could hear him. “Please turn the music down, or use your headphones.”
His eyes closed as the music vanished again, only to open when his cell phone rang. He reached for it, stopping when a vision slammed into him with enough force to make his head ache.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Appearing on the beach on Neratiti, Aiden looked around. She had been sitting on her patio, drinking a coffee and watching the sunset when she felt Savitar’s request that she join him. Finishing her coffee, she teleported herself to the island, which had once again changed location. The last time she was here, it had sat in the waters just off the Canary Islands. Now, there was a slight chill in the air, and a smell that reminded her of autumn in the mountains.
Covering a yawn with the back of her hand, she sat in the sand and waited for him to arrive. She was tired, there was no denying it, but sleep seemed to be eluding her for the past couple days. Ever since her recent encounter with the Skoti, she didn’t exactly want to fall to sleep. Even after one of the Oneroi Enforcers had talked with her, getting a detailed account of her dream, and then telling her that nothing else would happen, she still couldn’t sleep.
Savitar had stayed with in her dream after saving her, but hadn’t come to her when she woke. Nor had he contacted her until the little summons that brought her here. She leaned back in the sand and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the sand below her.
Opening her eyes as something blocked the sun, she looked up at the tall figure that loomed over her. The dream came back in full force and she jumped to her feet.
“Whoa,” Savitar said as he looked at her. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” she said in a lame voice. She realized he was staring at her with a hungry expression. It was both extremely erotic and slightly intimidating. “You called?”
He blinked as he pulled his gaze away from her body, and his mind away from what he would like to be doing to her. It had been less than a week since he had last enjoyed her body, and he felt the need. She was like some drug that he craved, and that bothered him. “Hmm?”
“You called me here…”
“Yes, I did.” He placed his hands behind his back. “You need to uncover your magick.”
Aiden sighed. “Didn’t we go over this before?” she asked. “And didn’t I already uncover it?”
Savitar gave her a patient smile. “Yes we did, and no you didn’t.”
“Why do I have to?”
“Can you honestly tell me that, in the past year or so, you wouldn’t have liked to have more magick at your fingertips?” he asked. “If your magick explodes on you again, you will die.”
“You make a convincing argument,” she said with a tired sigh. “Teach me, O Great One, so that I may learn from the bosom of the Master.”
“Bosom?” Savitar shook his head. “The only great bosom around here is yours, babe. Which we can delve into later.” He gave her a wicked expression that brought a deep blush to her cheeks.
“Now,” he continued. “Show me what you can do.” He watched as she teleported herself to various locations, including high in a tree, from which she changed into her eagle form and swooped down, shrinking in size as she did, and landed gently on his shoulder.
Sidestepping, she worked her way down his now outstretched arm, and looked at him. He returned her gaze evenly, then raised his arm quickly, sending her to flight from which she changed to human, willed clothes onto her body, and did a flip in the air before landing on her behind in the sand.
“Damn,” she muttered as she got to her feet. She turned from him, motioned to a few rocks and brought them into the air where she spun them around before lowering them back to the sand.
“Lift the boulder.”
She glanced at him. “It’s too big.”
“Size matters not.”
“If you start quoting Star Wars to me, I am going to scream.” Aiden looked at the rock and imagined moving it. The boulder stayed where it was.
“You’re not trying,” he said in an even voice.
“Yes, I am.”
Savitar moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She tensed slightly, remembering the dream. “It’s not a dream,” he whispered in her ear, his breath sending warmth over her body. “Close your eyes.”
Aiden closed her eyes, shivering as she felt him in her mind. It felt different than the other times he had been there. This feels… weird.
I would never intentionally hurt you he told her. If you want me to stop, just ask.
No. It’s…okay.
“Relax,” he whispered as he leaned her body back against his. “Do you know why I live on this island? It’s one of the few places that offers me any sort of comfort.” He paused, wondering why he’d even told her that, but continued. “Listen to Neratiti. Feel the natural energy of the place…”
His voice dropped even lower, to barely above a whisper. “Listen to the waves as they caress the shore…the breezes moving through the trees… draw on that energy and claim it.”
“It’s hard. I can’t-“
“Never say can’t, my little eagle,” he breathed in her ear. “You have the magick in you…always remember that. You caused a storm on my island with your magick, so I know that you know you can do it. You have to stop being afraid to use it.” He paused as he moved one hand to stroke her arm, his fingers tracing a constant infinity sign.
“Magick is connected to the earth, the universe, to the very existence of time itself,” he said. “It has been this way through eternity, and shall remain this way until the last star fades and the cosmos dies a cold and lonely death.
“Like it or not, you are now a part of the tapestry that makes up the very fabric of eternity. It is not a question of having to learn, but more of a necessity of needing to accept and control.”
His voice was so soft that she couldn’t help but be entranced by it as she listened to him talking. He whispered a few lines in a language she didn’t understand, his voice dipping in tone and accent with the lyrical words. She jerked as power seemed to surge through her, and her eyes flew open in surprise.
Savitar finished speaking the ancient words that would help her relax enough to enter the state of mind needed to pull the powers from her surroundings into her. He felt the magick surge, and moved his arms from around her.
Suddenly he was thrown back over the sand, smashing into a tree with enough force to crack it, then rebounded to the sand.
Savitar hit with a grunt, and stayed motionless in the sand for a few seconds while his breath caught up with him. His eyes became a deep red as he pulled himself to his knees, leaning over to put his forehead on the sand as he growled in annoyance and pain. He hadn’t been seriously hurt, but even so it hurt like hell.
He heard his name being called, the voice laden with worry and guilt, and raised a hand, sending Aiden to one of the rooms in the palace. He was completely and totally pissed off with what had happened, and didn’t need the temptation of striking out when it hadn’t even been her fault. Savitar was never one to like being hurt in any way, which was why he usually just killed outright anything that bothered him.
His fingers dug through the sand as he tried to calm down, his breathing ragged more from anger than injury. The tree that he had smashed into exploded into a thousand fragmented pieces, the splinters raining harmlessly around him. Feeling a little calmer but not much, he continued through the small grove of trees, exploding them one by one until there was nothing left.
Inhaling deeply, he slowly straightened, and looked at the sky while still on his knees. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet scents of the ocean.
~~~~~~~~~
Unable to find anyone with the gonads to take on the gods, Stryker had spent the past few days tossing idea after idea around in hopes of finding something that he liked. There had been a few that were promising, but none spoke to him in a way that made him want to implement it right away.
“Oh, to hell with it,” he said to no one in particular. “Time for some old fashioned Daimon activity.” He looked out over the Illuminati warriors that he led along with the Spathi Warriors. “Davyn?”
His second-in-command was immediately on his feet. “My lord?”
“Name three cities, in the same time zone.”
Knowing better than to question Stryker, he thought for a moment before speaking. “Tokyo, Perth and Hong Kong.”
Stryker gave him a ‘not bad’ expression. “Now a number.”
“Five.”
“Five Spathi to each city you named,” Stryker said. “They have until dawn to kill as many people as they can.” He leaned back as his men erupted in to cheers, and clamored to be the ones chosen for the task.
That will keep Acheron busy Stryker thought. There were times when it was nice to get back to good old-fashioned killing and destroying.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Making herself as small as she possibly could while in her eagle form, Aiden sat under a chair in the room she had been sent to. She couldn’t believe that she had thrown Savitar into a tree, and shivered while trying to understand how it could have happened. She certainly didn’t intend for it to happen, and hoped that it wasn’t something that would happen again without her planning it.
…a part of the tapestry that makes up the very fabric of eternity. His words ran through her mind again, causing both trepidation and wonder. From the little she knew about Savitar, she knew that he was trying to help her in his own way by making sure that she had the necessary tools to face the future.
She shook her body, pluming the feathers in annoyance at the course her life had taken over the past year. She had never, in her wildest dreams, had thought that something like this could be happening… and she didn’t even know what it was! Yet.
Her head jerked as the door opened and she watched a pair of legs step into the room. Pushing herself farther back into the shadows, she contemplated hopping out, reverting to human and then teleporting herself back to her condo. She froze as the legs stopped in front of the chair, then stepped back as the owner crouched down and peeked under.
“Hi,” Savitar said in a soft voice. “It was entirely my fault. I’m sorry.”
Aiden stared at him, then hopped out from under the chair, changing to human as soon as she was clear. “What happened?” she asked as she willed clothes on to her body.
“Little power surge.”
She gave him a look like she was expecting the punch line of the joke he just told. “Little?” she asked slowly. “You call that little?”
“Learn to control your magick and next time it won’t even be a ripple.”
She couldn’t believe how calm he was over this. She had thrown him into a tree for heaven’s sake! She was surprised that he hadn’t fried her on the spot instead of sending her off the beach.
“I’m not some arrogant fuckhead,” he said as he read her thoughts. “It was my fault, not yours that it happened, so why would I do anything to you?”
“You kill things that piss you off.”
He stopped at that. “Yes,” he replied slowly. “I may have done that a few times in the past.”
“May have?” She arched an eyebrow at that.
“A few times.” He turned and started for the door. “But, since I don’t really see the need to defend any of my actions, ever, I’m going to go so that you can get some rest.”
~~~~~~~~~~
There were times in Ash’s life that standing out wasn’t exactly a good thing. For instance, a six foot eight Goth running through the streets of Hong Kong was kind of obvious. Regardless, he forced his way through the crowds, resisting the urge to fire a god bolt at the Daimon that was running from him.
After his vision in his bedroom, Ash had contacted as many Dark-Hunters in Tokyo, Perth in Western Australia, and Hong Kong that he could, instructing the ones he had reached to contact others. There was something big coming down on the three cities, and he wanted to keep the body count to a minimum.
It wasn’t until he came upon two Daimons feasting on a group of people that he realized Stryker had sent some of his elite force out for some fun and recreation. They both attacked him, their strength and speed exceptionally enhanced and far more dangerous than the average Daimon.
After a battle in which both sides received wounds, Ash had managed to kill one of the Spathi. He knew that would completely piss off Stryker, since they were his elite and he actually didn’t have that many of them.
He pulled out his cell phone as he ran, issuing orders that his Hunters were to drive off the Spathi if they could, and only engage if there was no other choice. Unlike regular Daimons, it took more than a piercing of the black spot on the chest to kill them.
The Spathi led him to a small area between two buildings, then turned to face him. “Acheron Parthenopaeus,” he said with a smirk. “It will be a pleasure to kill you.”
Ash snarled at him. “You just made me run thirty blocks through downtown Honk Kong, you stupid fuck.” He pointed and the Daimon exploded into a thousand sparkles. “And that seriously annoys me.”
He breathed deeply as he checked with the other Dark-Hunters, sighing when all but one replied to his queries. He willed his clothes to something a little less conspicuous than the Goth-biker look, then stepped back into the flow of pedestrian traffic.
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” he mumbled to himself as he spotted another blonde head in the crowd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aiden stood a little ways down the shoreline, trying to feel the island and get a sense of what Savitar was telling her earlier. She started to walk, stopping when she noticed a figure sitting in the sand with his back leaning against one of the many trees that grew there. From where she stood, she could see that Savitar wasn’t really looking at anything in particular, but she knew he was aware of every little thing around him. She could also tell that he had that lost look in his eyes that he sometimes got when he stared out over the water.
Trying to ignore him, she went back to feeling things around her. Closing her eyes, she titled her neck from side to side to loosen up, pausing as the wind suddenly sounded louder to her. Resisting the urge to open her eyes, she continued to listen as the surf pounded in her ears, and the sand felt like small stones under her feet.
Reaching out farther, she welcomed the shrilling sound of the island’s birds, knowing that they too felt her avian presence. Her attention was suddenly drawn to another presence she felt, this one so strong and powerful that it took her breath away.
Bright lights flashed behind her eyelids, and she cringed as images flooded past her, accompanied by millions of voices talking all at once. Then like the receding tide, they were pulled back and away from her. She was left with residual emotions that left a sick taste in her mouth; anger, arrogance, and a loneliness so profound that tears seeped out from under her closed lids.
“I can’t,” she whispered, repeating one of the things that had flashed through her brain, the fragmented thoughts coming out on their own. “I try to help, I hurt her…she’s better off…just…leave…before anymore harm…don’t mess her life up anymore…already have… worse to completely fucked up.”
Jerking slightly, she opened her eyes and stared at the sand in front of her. Her gaze moved slowly up to the water, and she marveled at how much brighter it seemed. Even the air smelled crisper. If this was the magick of the island, she rather liked it.
Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked in time to see Savitar climb to his feet. His standard beachwear changed to a wetsuit and he started for the water.
Needing to clarify the meaning behind the words that she had spoken, Aiden teleported to where he was and stood in front of him. “I would like the truth from you.”
Savitar returned her gaze evenly. “No, you wouldn’t.” He stepped around her and continued toward the water, stopping again when Aiden materialized in front of him. “Fine,” he said with a sigh. “Ask the question, but I can’t promise that I’ll answer it.”
She studied him for a few moments, taking in his dark brown hair, handsome face, complete with goatee and currently violet eyes, his multiple tattoos, and that scrumptious eight-pack of abs that he had. His stance was one of standoffish indifference, and she suddenly wondered what had happened to him in his life to make him voluntarily exile himself to an eternity of being alone on Neratiti.
“Why?” she finally asked. He didn’t reply, so she decided to clarify the question. “Why has my life gone from worse to completely fucked up?” A hurt look flashed through his eyes, making her regret the way she had phrased that.
To her surprise, he answered. “In a word,” he said. “Me.” Then he vanished from in front of her.
Aiden sighed, and turned to ocean, shading her eyes as she searched for him amongst the waves. Surprised that he wasn’t there, she started back for the palace, stopping when she passed an empty spot that hadn’t been there before. Positive that there had been trees there just this morning, and pretty sure that it had been the same ones that she had thrown Savitar into, she stared.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated, feeling the magick of the island moving around and in her. She opened her eyes, smiling at the trees that she had created in the empty spot.
“I know you can hear me,” she said out loud. “And you know that I didn’t mean that my life is fucked up because of you.” She paused. “I just want to know what to expect so that I can be prepared for it.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Just before sunrise in the target areas, bolt-holes opened in Kalosis, welcoming back the fifteen Spathi that were lucky enough to have been given the chance to run amok through the cities.
Stryker frowned as only eleven returned, knowing that the other four had been killed by the Dark-Hunters. Although, if they had been weak enough to succumb to them, then they deserved to die. He made a mental note to look through the ranks of Daimons and search out those who would make suitable replacements for training.
The reports from the remainder brought a small smile to his face. All in all over three hundred humans had been killed in a few short hours. Oh, how Acheron must be seething.
He knew that the god would be running himself ragged going from place to place, using his powers to make humans either forget what they had seen, or making it so the memories were altered slightly from the actual events. Then, his people would be cleaning up the disappearances of people, laying blame on certain events, like train accidents or something similar to explain the high death count.
Stryker considered doing the same thing again, but in another time zone, but placed that thought on hold. Acheron would be expecting another attack and Stryker wanted to keep it so that future ones would come when they were least expected.
That was the great thing about time zones and bolt-holes. He could keep something like that going 24/7 if he wanted to, and there wasn’t a damn thing that Acheron could do about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“I just want to know what to expect so that I can be prepared for it.”
Savitar stared at the walls of his private chambers as he heard her. He forced himself to not reply, and shut off all contact with everything, including the velvet soft energy of the cosmos. He wanted to be alone to think, and to figure out just how, after an eternity of not caring, that one lone eagle could hurt his feelings.
He had to admit that yes, her life had gone from bad to fucked up, and he was to blame for that. He was the one who placed her in harms way by creating additions to the curse, and by being with him on an intimate level others had targeted her.
But at least she was alive, and had the potential to be a great power in the grand scheme of things. Power was all that mattered and was all any had to fight against those that would stop at nothing to see chaos cover the universe.
Although a little chaos now and then was a good thing, Savitar had no desire to see it completely consume all that he knew. Not yet, at least. There was a time and place for the downfall of everything, and a time for rebirth. But if Aiden didn’t stop being so stubborn and want to know the answers that he couldn’t give her, then that time would come a lot sooner than it was suppose to and there wouldn’t be a damned thing that he could do to stop it.
He sighed in annoyance, wondering why he was sitting there pouting when the universe had the potential to crash at any time. Well, not at any time in the ‘real’ world, but on his little piece of property, time didn’t exist as it did other places.
“This is why I don’t like people,” he said out loud.
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i dont know what GA thinks hes talking about, but please dont even think of making such pieces shorter. he so silly!
anyways... this piece was kind of depressing. it really sucks that people who want to be together cant just do so in peace. and then when they realize such defeat they still cant just live without the other in peace. there are no real options... well life isnt fair i guess. -
You are quite good. This is really brilliantly crafted...although, for me, a bit long. (Longest Sci-Fi I ever wrote was The Last Stand (here) except for a book. But you have some neat sci-fi ideas in here which are appealing. Have you ever considered shorter pieces? It always fascinated me how people have the patience to deal with such length.I guess it's all as to where our head is at Anyway, Barbara, nice to read a writer.
Gary Alexander
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