‘If it is so terrible to be human then what is the purpose of the species? Why are they so integral to the plan?’
‘Because humans also know what it is to love, to have compassion, show kindness, feel happiness, joy, solidarity, peace! Combine those qualities with great intellect and you have true enlightenment. Only through such processes will any of my children exceed this universe.’
‘I cannot see how the Grigori can accomplish our aim if we do not get involved,’ I submitted.
‘I can aid you in this,’ Tiamat said, ‘but there would be a condition.’
I felt willing to do anything to secure my greater involvement. ‘Ask what you will of me, and I shall see it done.’
‘I know that you will, Dragon.’ Tiamat neared to stand too close to me once more, and brushing the long strands of hair from my face she gazed into my eyes. ‘You and your Grigori were chosen to be unique in the four universes, for your memory burns eternal … and thus, any vow you make will never be forgotten.’
‘What do you ask of us?’ I queried, baffled by how engaging her gaze was.
‘It is my dream to see all my children back to source. So once you have raised humanity’s consciousness to a frequency where it can transcend to the next universe, you must find a way to deliver the Nefilim and the reptilians you have infected as well.’
I felt Tiamat was asking the impossible. ‘How are the Grigori expected to accomplish such a feat?’
‘How do you intend to accomplish such a feat with humanity?’ she posited.
‘By guiding them,’ I stated the obvious.
‘There you have it,’ she concluded, and I had to scoff at the reasoning. ‘Neither the Nefilim nor the reptilians will ever listen to what a human has to say.’ I had seen what the Nefilim thought of humans, they were just slave labour and pets! To the reptilians they were just a food source!
‘The same could have been said of you, once,’ Tiamat pointed out. ‘You listened to a mere human, and were enlightened.’
Her point was valid, and yet I felt compelled to stipulate. ‘I can only speak on my own behalf in this matter, I cannot bind my fellow Grigori to such a vow and such a fate.’
‘They will follow you, you know this,’ Tiamat annihilated any delusion I entertained of acting alone. ‘They followed you into this universe and they will follow you into the next. And that is well, for you cannot hope to accomplish all you must alone. It may seem from your current perspective that you are but one being among the Grigori, but you are in fact all of the Grigori in one being. And that being must now decide what its role in this evolution shall be … Watcher or Dragon?’
A sudden and excruciating stabbing pain ran down through my neck and all through my chest, blurred my response and sent my consciousness plummeting into darkness.
PART 3
SYMMETRY OF CHAOS
10
THEN, WHEN AND NOW
The pain intensified as consciousness drew him back into the present. Dan had felt the sting of cold steel pierce his flesh before, but in this instance there was no warning or putting the agony aside and recovering his wits — the strike was paralysing. The foreign object wedged through his left shoulder and down into his chest restricted his attempts to draw breath. He opened his eyes, but there was only darkness, and a taste of blood in his mouth.
‘Didn’t see that coming, did you, Dragon?’ a raspy voice uttered in his ear from behind him.
It was then Dan fathomed his situation — he was seated in meditation, in the chamber of En Noah, at the lake house on Kila. There was no doubt who his attacker was, and it was now clear to him how Dragonface had managed to stay one step ahead of the timekeepers, since their failure to destroy him back on Earth. ‘The virus carries my talents,’ he wheezed, and tears of horror and remorse flooded his eyes.
‘That’s right,’ Vugar was elated to inform. ‘Including your eternal memory.’ He revelled in the victory, which the mind-eater had obviously been planning for some time. ‘And there is no hiding from your own recollection.’
The claim thrust an emotional dagger through Dan’s heart. He couldn’t imagine how the timekeepers could get around that impediment, being that Azazèl was the storehouse of Hudan’s experiences too. ‘Why didn’t you just kill us … at Yin?’ Dan recalled how the reptilians had been avoiding him in that battle; if Dragonface possessed all Azazèl’s power, he could have killed him and his brothers easily.
‘Well, I felt I owed you a favour, being that you were the carrier who brought me into this universe, and served me up a soul-group upon arrival,’ it jested, before the scornful tone returned. ‘Yet since you annihilated all my people on Earth, I’ve lost that sentiment.’
The speed of his demise meant that Dan did not have the strength and focus needed to will his soul-mind home to AMIE. To his great regret, everything he’d learned in this universe would be swept from the conscious recollection of Lucian Gervaise. But all was not lost, for he still clutched the thought recording orb that En Noah had given him to use during the session. He tucked the device between his legs, hoping that in the darkness it would not be noted by his assailant. ‘The reptilians … are not … your people,’ Dan gargled, and spat blood, feeling the life draining from him rapidly.
‘I have been eating my way through them for over three hundred and eighty thousand years, so it would seem time supports my claim,’ the virus informed via his reptilian host. ‘When I entered Edin, I took over the replication program of reptilians that Ninharsag left behind and I became their creator. Tiamat could not stop me then, and will not stop me now.’
Dan had only just recollected his vow to deliver the reptilians from this universe and now that hidden objective would be mislaid once more — obscured among the thousands of lifetimes of experience stored in his cosmic memory banks. The revelation was more defeating than the blade through his body, but if what Noah said was true about the thought recorder picking up on unconscious memories, then the vow had been recorded. Still, the virus would be aware if Hudan was enlightened, and would endeavour to prevent her from keeping their vow to Tiamat.
‘So now, old friend,’ the virus summed up, ‘you can die knowing that there is nowhere in this universe where your soul mate and unborn child will be safe from me. And I assure you, their deaths will not be so swift and merciful as yours.’
The blade was quickly withdrawn, whereupon Dan keeled over, and the brief relief of the sword’s removal was immediately succeeded by panic, as he choked and drowned on his own blood.
Wu Geng was on watch duty, and was alerted when the two unconscious seers he was guarding began to surface from their deep trance. Aysel was twitching a little, Hudan was trembling violently.
‘Governor!’ He ran to the stairwell and yelled downstairs to alert the others. Song, Huxin and Rhun wasted no time in teleporting themselves upstairs to join him.
‘Are they okay?’ Wu Geng queried Rhun.
‘They’re coming out of it,’ the governor confirmed to allay Wu Geng’s concern.
Aysel opened her eyes first. ‘The Dragon,’ she said, sitting immediately upright. ‘Vugar is with him.’
‘Are you talking about —’ Rhun’s query was cut short as Hudan let loose a bloodcurdling scream.
‘Dan!’ She awoke, hyperventilating and when she sat upright tears spilled from her eyes. Her distress was so debilitating that Hudan nearly collapsed once more, but Song rushed to her support. ‘Take me to him, quickly!’
Song nodded to affirm, and scooped Hudan up in his arms to teleport her directly into the meditation chamber two floors below.
‘I’ll get Noah to switch on the lights,’ Rhun advised. ‘Everyone stay alert and stay together.’
The room was in darkness as Song set Hudan down on her own two feet.
‘Dan?’ she called into the silence, and when there came no reply, she began to panic. ‘Please, please,’ she appealed to the universe to let her premonition not have come to pass yet.
B
ut as the lighting in the chamber engaged to reveal Dan’s body crumpled in a pool of blood, her heart plunged into the pit of her stomach. ‘No, no, no … I am supposed to have more time …’ Usually her trances brought glimpses of future events, not present instances, and she was angry at the cosmos for being so cruel. ‘What was the point of giving me the prophecy, if I could not act on it?’
The shock stole her last ounce of energy, and she dropped to her knees and crawled to his side. ‘Coward!’ she cried out to curse the culprit, as she cradled her dead husband in her arms and wept silently. ‘I remember our vow to Tiamat,’ she told him in a whisper, knowing this had been one of his final regrets. ‘I remember everything.’ The fact pained her, for she was now aware of the obstacle that had been working against them that would be nearly impossible to subdue. ‘We will find a way to overcome, I swear it.’
The door to the chamber opened — Telmo, Huxin, Rhun and En Noah entered and were immediately devastated by the sad state of affairs they found within.
‘How could this have happened?’ En Noah felt responsible, as he had been monitoring the session. ‘I heard no struggle from within, and his vital signs showed no change until the second Rhun appeared to alert me of a possible breach.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Hudan assured Noah, still clutching her dead lover tightly. ‘The mind-eater absorbed Azazèl’s talents during his time of infection.’
Noah’s eyes boggled as he considered the ramifications of this. ‘It has access to your eternal memory … that’s where Vugar is acquiring his information.’
‘Holy shit!’ Song cried. Hudan and Dan were their masterminds.
‘I am useless to you now. In fact, I am a danger to you all. The only way to keep Dragonface in the dark about our plans is if I know nothing of them.’
‘Shit!’ Song protested again. He cast his eyes downward in thought, and spotting the thought-recording orb on the floor, he retrieved it. ‘Is this what I think it is?’
Noah nodded to confirm.
‘The success of this mission now lies in your hands,’ Hudan advised Song, and he appeared both honoured and shocked that she was choosing him to lead.
‘You want me to take charge?’ Song had suspected Telmo would be nominated.
‘Knowing what is on that orb, I believe you have the greatest chance of fixing this mess. But I dare not even consider what I would do, lest our nemesis picks up on it.’ Hudan looked back to Dan and was again overwhelmed by grief.
As this was not the time to query the subject further, Song looked to the governor, who had been set on edge by this ambush.
‘I should go and see if my wife has also awakened, as she may be able to shed more light on this matter.’
‘Shall I come with you?’ Song offered.
Rhun declined with a shake of his head. ‘There is a large guard surrounding her, I will be perfectly safe.’
The governor walked Song into the adjoining room in order to speak his mind. ‘You should start formulating a plan to get out of here, or none of the timekeepers will leave this universe with their memory intact.’
Song nodded; the timekeepers needed to leave! Still, getting Hudan to agree to return to their rightful universe without her child was not an option; nor was leaving Rhun to contend with Dragonface alone. There must be a way round this that would satisfy everyone. Song was determined to fathom this mind-fuck of a situation and clutched the bloodied orb in his hand tightly. ‘We’ve not endured through everything, to be beaten by a goddamned virus!’
‘I share that sentiment completely,’ Rhun assured him, ‘and don’t think I don’t know that the deaths of its victims are on my head. I should have listened to Avery before our coup at Bayan Har Shan.’
‘You saw a chance to take out your enemy and you took it,’ Song reassured him. ‘Who wouldn’t have?’
‘Someone who has learned that nothing good ever comes from destruction … my parents drilled that into me!’ Rhun appraised his actions in retrospect and shook his head, baffled by his lack of vision. ‘Everything has a rightful place in the scheme of things, but in my eagerness to return home, I overlooked that, and now I am paying the price.’
Song shook his head in argument. ‘Had you not taken this route, we would never have known about the virus, thus your people would never be safe from threat. Sooner or later Dragonface would have stumbled upon Azazèl’s memories of this planet, and …’ He shrugged. ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ Song quoted some more of Rhun’s parents’ philosophy at him and the governor could not argue it.
‘We can only hope it is a bloody good reason,’ Rhun forced himself to better spirits, thankful for the pep talk.
‘We will get this sorted,’ Song vowed. Rhun had been his father during Song’s life in Zhou, and he’d been Zeven’s father back in his universe of origin. ‘We’ve been in worse situations than this.’
Rhun raised both brows and roused a smile. ‘Hell yes, do you remember the Lahmuian mutant?’
Song hadn’t really taken the time to look into his lifetime as governor here on Kila, during which time Rhun had been his vice-governor. ‘I can’t say that I do, but it sounds dangerous.’
‘You tamed the damn creature before the eyes of the entire Pantheon of the Nefilim, who expected you to kill each other, and you saved my arse in the process. It was pretty epic.’ Rhun waved off what was obviously a fond memory, and Song felt empowered by the tale.
‘So I did good?’ He grinned, chuffed.
Rhun had to laugh at the understatement. ‘It wasn’t just my parents who led the Nefilim to enlightenment in the end; you played a very big hand in that, and were entirely responsible for the deliverance of the children of Demuzi,’ he told him in no uncertain terms. ‘You have a mind for strategy that is every bit as astute as Dan or Hudan. I have no doubt that you can navigate us through this enigma. The truth is, not in any of the lifetimes I have known you, have you ever let us down.’
‘Whoa,’ Song was overwhelmed by Rhun’s faith in him. ‘I should really brush up on some of my history in this universe.’
‘Some thought recordings for another time.’ The governor pointed to the device in Song’s hand. ‘But for now, focus on that one, and I’ll be back to brainstorm a solution presently.’
Wu Geng remained with Aysel, while their companions vanished downstairs. ‘Are you all right?’
‘No,’ Aysel shook her head, as she recollected what she had seen in trance. ‘The Dragon is not Vugar’s only target, there is another.’ She ceased her inward contemplation and looked to him.
‘Who?’ Wu Geng pressed for more information.
‘A woman, I don’t know who she is,’ Aysel insisted. ‘I’ve never seen her before, she is not one of your crew.’
‘Then what would Vugar want with her?’
Aysel, emotionless at the best of times, appeared to lament the reason. ‘She is pregnant, and Vugar intends to eat the foetus, for it is no ordinary child.’
As Wu Geng was kept uninformed, he had no idea who this woman might be. ‘Are you strong enough to teleport yourself to her? Or I could assist?’
‘I am fine.’ She buckled her dragon belt, which none had dared touch, and then took hold of Wu Geng’s hand. ‘Be ready.’
They both drew weapons and prepared to face the worst on their arrival.
In the wilderness where Wu Geng and Aysel manifested, the elements were in an uproar, but they were not the first to arrive on the scene. The Lord Avery stood before an unnatural dark mist and it was repulsing the elemental lord’s attempts to penetrate the dark field using his elemental forces or his own brute strength.
‘I’m the one you want!’ Avery yelled over the din of furious winds whipping about in an attempt to break through the barrier of shadow.
Vugar laughed, turning his hostage to face her beloved. ‘I don’t want you, it’s your pain, hatred and fear I want.’
‘Why did you leave the Otherworld?’ Avery asked his sobbing wife.
/> ‘I sought to advance the pregnancy, if just a little at a time.’ She shook her head, knowing now how ill-considered that desire had been. ‘I wanted to surprise you.’
‘Surprise!’ Vugar placed a claw around her throat.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Her gaze sought her husband’s forgiveness and expressed her undying love.
‘No!’ Avery summoned all the elements of the air to him, and took a running jump at the shadow which repelled him with equal force. He hit a tree and fell to the ground, winded.
‘Avery!’ the hostage protested.
‘Vugar!’ Aysel drew his attention as she unsheathed her belt.
The cosmic light was blinding, but the sound of Vugar’s mocking laughter made it clear that he was still present and undeterred. It seemed that not even the divine light of her protector could penetrate the dark force protecting him.
A horrid cracking sound silenced the sound of the woman’s protests.
‘Shut off the light!’ Avery demanded, as naught could be seen through it.
Aysel complied, immediately sheathing her weapon. The light retracted in time to witness Vugar rip the tiny foetus from a long, bloodied wound in his victim’s belly and eat it before the distraught eyes of its father.
As the lord’s anger welled, so too did the fury of the wind intensify; lightning suddenly lashed the sky, trees burst into flames, and rain began to pour.
Vugar did not look worried as he licked the blood of the dead child from his fingers; if anything the dark shadow protecting him appeared to have grown stronger. ‘Thanks for lunch … very revitalising.’ The reptilian vanished, along with his dark mist, leaving the mutilated body of his kill behind.
Avery yelled out his anger until he was reduced to tears, and looking to his wife; he wanted to go to her, but was so filled with remorse that he wavered in his stance.