Annihilation Page 6

  The shimmer began to glow and a cloudy swirl swept across its mirror-like surface. As it cleared, an image of two people crystallized. Geoffrey le Court, the Templar from another time, stood facing Kelly Grant. The couple held hands and gazed longingly into each other’s eyes. Kelly was quite obviously pregnant, and Geoffrey had to bend over her distended stomach to embrace her. Their kiss was sweet, tender.

  Ryan tore his eyes away from the private, intimate scene. He felt like a voyeur. Instantly his gaze locked onto Salina, and his thoughts turned to their own moment of intimacy. He wasn’t prepared for the intensity of emotion that rocked him.

  It was only one kiss!

  Anna Hughes’ voice hit a crescendo and the chamber rocked with thunderous blasts as bolts of lightning exploded from the ground and rocketed up into the night sky. Ryan’s ears rang with the concussions. Tearing his gaze from Salina, he looked back at the shimmer.

  The background image remained the same—an eerie landscape with strangely colored rocks and vegetation—but Geoffrey and Kelly were gone! A collective gasp escaped the assembled Arcanists.

  Between where the shimmer hung on the wall, and the front of the altar, smoke billowed out of the ground. Ryan squinted, trying to see through the haze, caught up in the excitement of the moment. A collective cheer filled the room, and he couldn’t help but add his voice, as the two silhouettes appeared in the smoke—Geoffrey le Court and Kelly Grant.

  There were tears in Salina’s eyes as she rushed toward her old friend. Kelly Grant was instantly surrounded by a host of Arcanists. Geoffrey le Court, on the other hand, was seemingly ignored and pushed to the side.

  Ryan wasn’t about to let that happen. He made his way through the milling throng toward the ancient Templar.

  “Welcome home, Commander le Court.” He extended his hand.

  Geoffrey accepted the welcome, his eyes wide with wonder. “Are we really back?”

  Interlude 1

  The click that resounded through the cosmic ether, took Nathan Gray by surprise. It should have been decades before the way back opened to him. He’d foreseen Kelly and Geoffrey’s child somehow making his way back to Earth, but as an adult. Had someone there simply started to believe?

  The space he’d created for himself, here in the cosmic ether of the Ballor world, was small, an attempt to stay beneath the notice of the Ballor god, Shoth.

  So far, it had worked.

  His power was building. The humans that had been liberated from the Ballor lords worshiped him, and he was doing his best to support and nurture the young religion. Worship was a new experience for him. He’d seen how it had corrupted his parents and was determined not to follow that path.

  Still, he’d needed the power that came with that worship.

  The doorway to earth stood open before him. What could have happened? Only the existence of a true believer in his godhood on Earth, could open this doorway. Nathan knew he’d left none behind. It had never been his intention to contend with his parents over believers in their sphere of influence.

  However, he could not leave Ballor. Not now. His Seed of Immortality still grew within the mortal, Kelly Grant. The child was close to birthing. This was a fragile moment, with so much resting upon success.

  He reached out, searching for his Seed. The boy would be his avatar—a demigod to stand against the Ballor god, Shoth, and the evil in this world.

  But the babe was gone—missing from Ballor. Panic swept Nathan Gray. Had Kelly Grant died before the birthing? Was his Seed gone? It would be centuries before he could try again, and in that time, Nathan would be diminished, weakened against the immense power of Shoth.

  Suddenly, the child called to him—not from Ballor but from the doorway. His Seed of Immortality had somehow been transported to Earth.

  Entering the cosmic ether of his home dimension, he felt the chill in the heavens. This was the section his parents had carved out for themselves at the dawn of creation. Why was there so little energy.

  Shimone was no longer here, but he hadn’t expected her to be. When he’d left for the demon world, the demon goddess had been here unconscious, honoring the three-day death of being defeated. Nathan had hoped when she woke, she and his parents could work out some sort of truce. That had been almost a year ago, and his parents had been united against her.

  What had happened in the year he’d been away?

  His father’s workshop was dark, his mother’s garden empty.

  “Nathan?” His mother’s appearance shocked him. The glow of power that always surrounded the goddess had diminished to a faint aura. She seemed shrunken…lessened.

  “Mother, what’s happened?”

  Gaia bowed her head, refusing to even look him in the eye. “We’ve lost.”

  There was movement in the shadows behind her. The old man that emerged from the darkness was almost unrecognizable.

  “Father?”

  Gaia wrapped her arms around the High Lord, sharing her light—her power. “You should be resting.”

  “I felt his presence. I wanted to see him, one last time…tell him how sorry I am.” The High Lord’s voice was thin, breathless.

  Nathan used his own power, residual energy from his believers in the other dimension, to bolster his parents.

  “Tell me,” he said.

  “We didn’t see it coming.” A tear leaked down Gaia’s cheek. Nathan had never seen his mother cry before. “Demon cults had always been a minor annoyance. Even when Shimone entered our realm, a hundred years ago, it didn’t seem to make a difference. We felt her presence, of course, her manipulations, but there was overwhelming belief in us. We had the power, she did not.”

  “What changed?” Nathan could see they no longer radiated energy, but he couldn’t understand why. How could the Earth’s gods have lost so much power in mere months?

  Gaia shook her head. “We kept a watch on the Ballor. They have always moved to control wealth…business. Recently they started using that wealth to move into politics, and control government. Still, it seemed to be about accumulating more wealth and power, not control.”

  “Control?” The power draining from his parents was palpable.

  “The demons have used selective, targeted possessions from their home world, to control key humans. They’ve taken over clerics, preachers, shamans, and politicians at all levels of government. Every day our followers, those who used to hear messages of love and compassion, are barraged by sermons filled with hate, fear, and evil. And this new thing they call the Internet, easily spreads misinformation to the masses, influencing them, bending their beliefs.”

  “And so, you lose them.” Nathan began to understand. The demons had been targeting religious leaders and politicians over the past decades, possessing them, probably with the more intelligent Kolthas or Falgolite demons who wanted to cross over. Slowly they changed the message.

  “Jonestown, The Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate—all the others, the cults—were just tests.” Gaia shook her head. “We thought Shimone was testing our followers, but she was testing us. We let her get away with it. We abandoned people who thought they were following us.”

  The High Lord roused himself. “More and more, religious leaders of all our sects have been possessed or replaced. They’ve created a holy war, guided the masses through false messages.” The High Lord’s eyes blazed. A shadow of his former strength returned for just a moment. “They picket funerals of brave men and women in my name!”

  The High Lord coughed as the strength of his indignation drained from him. His head rolled back and his eyes closed.

  “It’s been hardest on your father. He’s always been more organized, more controlling of his masses. It was easier for Shimone to take over his congregations. Mine tend to be a bit more…independent minded. Still, she has made inroads. Shamans and cult leaders are respected and followed. Turning a cult of mine to demon worship can be fairly easy for her minions. Everything just sort of snowballed.”

  Nat
han scanned the world below. Divine energy was draining from the land. Many of the divine power centers were dark or pulsed with demonic energy.

  “We gave people passion but tempered it with compassion. We gave people lust but tempered it with love. The temper is now gone. There is so little compassion and love left in the world below. Fear, mistrust, and selfishness rule men’s hearts.”

  Nathan pondered his mother’s words. He’d seen it coming, but not at such a fast pace. Even without the demon goddess’s influence, his parent’s war with each other had been bleeding the world of compassion and love. Shimone had found a world ripe for her conquest and simply manipulated what was already in motion.

  Divine visions had warned Nathan a major confrontation was coming—a war that would either cleanse the world of the demons or bring Earth under their complete domination. It’s why he’d gone to the other side, to prepare a force of his own for that war. He thought his parents could at least keep a balance of power on this side.

  He’d been wrong.

  Let passion bridge the chasm of conflict. – Chantel, 12th century Arcanist philosopher and psychic.

  Chapter 8

  Ryan faced Salina across the small chamber. She’d dragged him here after the ritual that had brought Geoffrey le Courte and Kelly Grant back from the other side.

  The large bed stood ominously between them. This had to be her room. It was so very…her. A crystal ball sat glowing on a small table in the corner. Strange objects littered the tops of cabinets, dressers and shelves along the walls - exotic, mysterious and altogether enthralling.

  “We need to figure out that thing that happened between us.”

  That thing between them.

  She meant the power, of course, but there was something deep down that made him wish there really was something between them. She approached him, sidling around the bed to confront him. Her approach was direct, completely business-like.

  “Kiss me.”

  How he wished she really meant that.

  But, this wasn’t romantic; it was a test, an experiment. If it progressed to the bed it would be just sex.

  Ryan guarded his feelings as her lips closed with his. He concentrated instead on the power. A dim glow coalesced around them, but it was nothing like the flare of power they’d experienced in the casino. A mere wispy tendril of pale-green power was all they’d been able to create.

  Salina pulled away. “Crap!”

  He almost chuckled. The woman had a rough, earthy edge. Ryan had always guarded his speech. Salina seemed to have no such filter. There was an innocent honesty in her he was surprised to find he admired.

  It was obvious she hadn’t enjoyed the kiss. Well, he couldn’t blame her. He’d had trouble putting himself into it as well. It had all been just too…clinical.

  The small amount of power they’d produced hung in the air between them like a wall.

  “Maybe it’s because we don’t need the power,” Ryan offered. “Here, we can both pull power from available power pools. In the casino we couldn’t.”

  She seemed agitated and began to pace. “Well, I don’t think we’ll be able to get the demons to lend us their blocking technology. We need to find some way to really test this thing. Figure out what we did to generate all that energy.”

  “Even with power pools going down all over the planet, I don’t think there’s any place we can go that would be completely powerless, at least for the Templars.”

  Salina stopped pacing. Her hands rose in the air in frustration. “The Arcanists also. We’d have to go to the moon or something.”

  She was absolutely beautiful. Her dark eyes met his and Ryan’s defenses melted.

  “You could take me to the moon anytime, pretty lady.”

  What? Where had that come from? On top of being inappropriate, it was probably the corniest pick-up line he’d ever delivered.

  Salina cocked her head to the side. There was a quizzical look in her eyes…a crazy half-smile on her lips. Ryan felt her defenses come down and instantly power flared between them. Had Salina been shielding her emotions as well? Could it really be that…?

  “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms. “And don’t just mash your lips on mine. Kiss me.”

  * * *

  You could take me to the moon anytime, pretty lady.

  The phrase still reverberated through Salina’s mind. As corny as the line was, it said everything she’d been yearning to hear. Could Ryan have real feelings for her? Her heart jumped and all her defenses came tumbling down.

  That look in his eyes. She felt something run through her—a sudden connection of souls. His lips crushed hers—bruising, urgent. His tongue quested for entry, and she gave up no resistance.

  She melted into his solid frame, her fingers raked through his hair, cupping the back of his head to pull him closer. A wash of heat swept through her as their tongues danced and tangled.

  The air around them hummed with power, but she found she didn’t care. All that mattered was him holding her, the hard lines of his body pressed against hers, pulling her in. She wanted him so badly.

  Salina felt his reaction, his body hardening against hers, and it fueled the fires of passion inside her. Need overwhelmed her. Her head went light as Ryan broke off the kiss. Both of them gasped for air.

  “You’re sure…you’re okay…with this,” he gasped between breaths.

  No, she was not okay with this. She was so much more than okay with this. Off the charts of okay. An amazing okay. An intergalactic okay.

  She pulled in a deep breath and dove right back in, pulling his head back down to hers. She didn’t have time to tell him. She’d show him how okay she was with this.

  His large hands skated up and down her back, eventually reaching down to cup her buttocks and pull her closer. She could feel his strength. The thick muscle of his arms tensed. With only a slight heave, he picked her up and the two of them tumbled onto the bed. They rolled and Ryan ended up on top of her.

  She reached for the power and molded a quick spell. Instantly all of their clothing vanished. “Yeah, I’m really okay with this,” she huffed.

  He shifted, apparently needing no other invitation, but then he paused. “Protection.”

  Early on, Salina had learned a spell. She’d rarely had a need for it, but now she thanked the Earth Mother she had it in her arsenal.

  “You don’t need protection when you’ve got power.”

  The spell would block any chance of impregnation. It was quick and easy.

  “I’m not ready to take that chance.” A foil packaged condom appeared in his hand.

  She kissed the tip of his nose. “Better safe than sorry.”

  ***

  Power pulsed in the air and filled Salina’s room. She drank in as much as her inner pool could hold and assumed Ryan had done the same, as they lay panting and spent on her bed.

  She released the rest back to nature for others to access.

  Ryan’s gaze found hers, eyes filled with passion. “I didn’t know it could be like this.”

  She felt wrapped in tenderness…love.

  Love?

  Love didn’t need to be part of the equation. It wasn’t something she was ready to think about. She laid her head on his broad chest, drinking him in. His muskiness filled her senses. His body against hers felt warm and inviting. This would be enough…for now.

  Interlude 2

  “The demons rise to power. Earth’s masses worship Shimone. Most don’t realize their beliefs have shifted, but they have. They follow the path of hate and greed. Only pockets of resistance—the Arcanists, the Templars, and a few independent minds—stand against a rising tide of evil.”

  Gaia wept openly at her son’s words. “We’ve failed our children…all of our creation. This world should have been a paradise…would have been a paradise…if only we hadn’t…”

  The Earth Mother’s gaze shifted to the High Lord. His eyes fluttered open. Silently the two communicated on a level even Nath
an couldn’t hear. The High Lord reached out his hand and Gaia took it. He smiled and nodded to her.

  “We know you cannot stay long. You fight your own battle on the other side.” His father’s voice weakened as he spoke. “But we need your help.”

  Gaia nodded. “We have sown our seeds of Immortality. They were all we had left.”

  Nathan shook his head. “Both at the same time? What possessed you to do that?”

  He received a vision from his mother. Two people he knew well, holding each other intimately.

  “Salina and Ryan.”

  “We never imagined they would find each other. We thought there would be two vessels—double the chance one of us would make it back. Now it is all…or nothing.”

  “Make it back?” Nathan pondered his mother’s words. Power flowed from his parents, lessening as they grew weaker. What was sapping them so?

  Gaia reached out, clasping Nathan’s hand tightly. “They will need it all.”

  Then he understood. They were giving all their power, their very life force, to nurture and protect their Seeds of Immortality. But would even that be enough?

  The heavens around him darkened as his parents faded. Moments later, the High Lord’s and the Earth Mother’s existences ended.

  “Your parents never cease to entertain and amaze me.” The voice boomed throughout the heavens. Unbound power drenched each word.

  “Grandfather.” It was the closest concept Nathan could come up with to describe the Supreme Being—a deity as far above the gods, as the gods were above humanity. Nathan could never begin to understand the workings of such a being.

  He’d never been in the presence of the Supreme Being—did not know the protocols.

  “There are none!” the Being proclaimed, appearing to know Nathan’s thoughts as they occurred.

  “Why were they so foolish?” Nathan had to ask. He felt compelled to make the most of this interaction.

  “Foolish can become farsighted under the right circumstance.” It was a simple truth. “You stand here in the present and cannot see beyond.”