by Leo Ndelle
He appreciated the fact that Father Antonio listed the O.R. being under attack after mentioning a possible third world war. He certainly had his priorities right. He would certainly make a good leader in Shi’mon’s permanent absence.
“From within,” Fr. Antonio replied. “Our brothers are turning on us.”
“Secure the premise!” Shi’mon ordered. “Team up with everyone not trying to kill you. Neutralize anyone who is trying to kill you, but do not kill them unless you absolutely have to. Use every priest you can, including those in the control room. Right now, there is nothing you or anyone there can do about the rest of the world. Leave that to me.”
He must really think I don’t know my job, Fr. Antonio thought.
Shi’mon heard his thoughts loud and clear.
“I did not mean to imply you did not already do all those things, Antonio,” Shi’mon offered. “Sometimes, I do and say things out of habit.”
“I understand you are a great leader, Sir,” Father Antonio said with only a tinge of mockery in his voice and ignoring Shi’mon’s subtle apology. “But how do you plan on taking on the world by yourself?”
His ego has made him delusional, Fr. Antonio thought. Unless he’s super Bright Eye.
“Focus on the organization,” Shi’mon replied dismissively and ignored Antonio’s thoughts. “When this is over, we shall have words.”
If we’ll still be alive when ‘this’ is over,” Antonio thought.
“Aye aye, sir!” Fr. Antonio replied.
He ended the call and sighed heavily. He issued some orders across the O.R. complex as many priests were already doing their best to non-fatally subdue their ‘smitten’ brothers. He pondered on his boss’ final words before he ended the call. There was something about his boss’ tone of voice that seemed off. Fr. Antonio was unsure why his mind reverted back to the day when he had discovered that his boss was a Bright Eye. He replayed the scenario in his head a few times before it dawned on him. Him discovering that his boss was a Bright Eye was no accident. His boss was too meticulous and enigmatic to make such a mistake. Therefore, his boss WANTED him to see his boss’ eyes flash brightly that day. And if his boss wanted him to know he was a Bright Eye… Antonio shook his pounding head. This was going to be a very, very long nightmare!
***
“Change of plan, everyone!” Shi’mon said as he turned to face the rest of the team. “We must prevent World War III. We must first neutralize all the major military bases on the realm before proceeding with Patrick’s plan.”
The team affirmed. Shi’mon sparked the ethers into watches and handed one to every team member. The watches were sparked from the O.R.’s vault of secret weapons. They synchronized their watches and waited for the next set of orders.
“You will find the location of every major military base on the realm in those watches,” he said. “When you pick a base, it will be highlighted on everyone’s watch. That way the other members can focus on the other bases. Understood?”
The team affirmed.
“When you get to your base, you will summon this,” Shi’mon said and sparked the ethers into an EMP grenade and held it in the air using telekinesis. “Register its etheric makeup, everyone.”
Team Shi’mon reached towards the EMP grenade and registered its etheric makeup. Now, they would be able to spark the ethers into one and know how to use it as well.
“It has a range of 500m. Detonate as many as you need to destroy their armories and move to the next base,” Shi’mon added. “We only have a few seconds on each base. Goodluck and see you all later.”
Team Shi’mon teleported. World War III had to be averted.
***
Fort George G. Meade, Army Military Base Maryland, USA was abuzz with activity. Martial law had been declared across the state, due to the huge outbreaks in violence and crime. However, with the nation switching to DefCon 1, nothing else mattered. Nuclear war was imminent and it was not a drill. But as the military base geared for a nuclear attack, no one resisted the calm that took over them before they fell into a deep sleep. Then, every electronic device on the base was fried as Sarael distributed several EMP grenades across the base. Sarael teleported away, without leaving a trace of her presence. The military personnel would be so pissed when they awoke from their slumber.
Team Shi’mon did succeed to render every major military base on the realm useless. However, even the O.R. had missed registering a few secret bases owned by China and the US. The two presidents of these nations were issuing threats and promises of wiping each other out with weapons so destructive ‘they could rip the planet apart, literally!’ And while those with the mark rejoiced at the prospect of a global nuclear annihilation, those without the mark, whether they were religious or not, prayed for a miracle.
***
Patrick returned to the core of Earth Realm, where he had sacrificed himself to save the realm. He hovered in front of the immense energy that was Earth Realm’s core and called out to Mother. He pleaded for her help because he did not know what else to do. He had done his duty and protected Earth Realm from a rain of demons only to face an even bigger problem from Beelzebub.
Mother was silent.
Patrick begged again and Mother was still silent. There was nothing else he could do. Patrick remained silent as his mind ran in every direction. He had told the team he would handle the situation but right now, he felt like he had just bitten off far more than what he could chew. He cursed himself! As guardian, he could feel the fear, the despair, the cries, the pain, the anguish and every other sentiment of every creature on the realm. And he felt utterly useless. On Day One as Guardian of Earth Realm, Patrick was on the verge of becoming a failure.
Screw that! Patrick exclaimed. He was the guardian of this realm and he would not sit back and let a demon from Hell destroy this realm. Patrick squared his shoulders as he stared at the oblivion in front of him that was vibrant with intense power. The core! He had sacrificed himself once to save the realm. As guardian, he would sacrifice himself again and release his consciousness into Earth Realm. Hopefully, his level of consciousness would be sufficient to offset most, if not all, of what The Beast had unleashed into Earth Realm. Patrick then took a deep breath, closed his eyes and teleported into the core.
***
“I knew I chose you for a reason,” a beautiful, naked lady said. “Many reasons actually, but this one is my favorite.”
A naked Patrick awoke by a stream next to a woman he innately knew was a personification of Mother. She seemed to be enjoying the warmth of something that looked like Solara on her flesh.
“Hello, Mother,” Patrick greeted and propped himself on his elbows. “Good to see you again. You look… hot!”
“You see me all the time, Patrick,” Mother said, ignoring Patrick’s comment.
She stretched her hands above her head. Her breasts were the perfect size and moved with her stretch. Patrick was unmoved by all this, for various reasons. Firstly, this was just a personification of Mother and secondly, Sara was the only woman who held any control over his loins.
“You see, my child,” she continued. “Guardians are guardians for various reasons. One of them is that they don’t run to mommy whenever there’s trouble. They take charge. You ran to mommy, a rookie mistake which you quickly fixed.”
Mother turned over and lay on her tummy. Patrick thought her physique was beyond exquisite. But I prefer Sara’s, he thought and smiled, knowing Mother could hear his thoughts if she wanted to.
“I guess I’d better return and face the consequences of my actions then,” Patrick said as he turned his gaze towards the stream.
“This feels so good,” Mother squirmed as if Patrick were not talking to her.
Patrick smiled and stood up from the ground. He walked towards the stream and looked for his reflection in the water. There was none. Guess I’m a vampire now, Patrick shrugged and laughed at his own joke. He then walked slowly into the stream, expecting the water to feel cold against hi
s flesh. Instead, the stream felt like a heated swimming pool with every step Patrick took. Finally, when Patrick was chest-deep in the stream, he started swimming with the current. As the currents picked up speed, Patrick swam faster and faster. The stream turned into a raging river and Patrick kept up with the pace of the river. Finally, the river dropped to a waterfall and Patrick let himself go as he plunged with the current.
Patrick found himself on top of the head of the Sphinx at the Giza Plateau and wondered why he was there. He stood up and looked around. There was not a single soul in sight; no tourists, no guards, no one. Nothing but sand, stones and ancient structures. He wondered why he had come to this particular location as he hopped from the head of the Sphinx and landed next to its right paw. As soon as Patrick’s foot touched the ground, he felt the power of an entity pulsating beneath him. He had been here many times but he had never felt this powerful and very dark presence before. Then, as Patrick stooped and placed his hand on the ground, he felt another presence behind him and whipped his head around. When Patrick realized who his unwelcome visitor was, his eyes turned to black orbs and a black aura silhouetted around his body. Patrick rose to his feet and turned around to face his enemy. He now knew why he had come to this location.
***
The Beast was one of the first to feel the burst of energy that hit the entire realm. It was the kind of blast that was completely out of sync with his and he knew what that meant. The Beast let out a loud scream of rage but that did not stop the reversal of his mark across the realm. Every human, every soul, that was afflicted with the mark of The Beast felt the change within them and immediately started returning to normal. The chaos across the realm died quickly and with that came relief, regret, remorse and so much pain.
Military bases around the realm were baffled at the unexplainable situation of their fried electronic systems and loss of armory and other weapons. The only deaths on the camps were deaths caused by their own during what was rapidly being described as ‘the day the Earth went crazy’. There were many questions, for which there might not be answers. Regardless, the realm rejoiced over the notion that World War III was not going to become a reality, yet, as the Presidents of China and the US both chose to stand down.
Unbeknownst to Patrick, his stunt at the core of Earth Realm also amplified the power of Emok, The Darkness. Though Emok’s prison held him fast, Emok had become exponentially more powerful and his dark power pulsated even more across the realm. This power search for a kindred essence and this power found that kindred essence in The Beast. As such, it beaconed onto The Beast, drawing The Beast to its location.
The Beast felt the tinge of power resonate with his essence like nothing had ever resonated before. He was esoterically smitten and teleported to the source of this seductive power. He looked up and saw that he was standing next to a huge statue of something. He was close to the rear of the statue and began to slowly make his way to the front of the statue. The pull from that dark power was so intense that The Beast’s essence was in esoteric ecstasy. He heard a thud around the corner of the gigantic, front paw of the statue. Curious, he walked around the paw towards the sound of the thud.
The Beast saw a human crouching. He saw the human turn around and meet his gaze. He saw the human’s eyes turn pitch-black and a black aura silhouette the human’s body. Then, The Beast felt the power coming from this human. But how could a mere human radiate this much power. The Beast was as surprised as he was curious about this human, even though he was going to take immense pleasure in snuffing out this puny human.
“Who are you?” The Beast demanded.
“I am Ether, Guardian of Earth Realm,” Patrick seethed with rage and venom. “But you can call me your nightmare!”
Then, the Guardian of Earth Realm and The Beast charged at each other!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A PRODIGAL PARADIN
SARA THOUGHT SHE was hallucinating, and yet, she wept for joy. She met the gaze of the object of her joy. Even as her hallucination smiled lovingly at her, Sara still did not believe it was real until her hallucination gently wiped away her tears. That was when Sara screamed like a school girl and tackled Patrick into the snow. Scores of kisses later, Sara felt two strong hands against her shoulders holding her still. The smile was the same, the body was the same, but the esoteric signature felt different in a great way. She surrendered as Patrick pulled her into his arms and held her against his body. The feeling was surreal.
“Good to see you too, babe,” Patrick whispered softly into her ear.
“Thought you was dead, my love,” Sara sobbed into his shoulder. “Thought you was dead.”
Sara nuzzled more against his chest and hardened her grip around him. She was still afraid at the subconscious level; afraid that maybe she was dreaming. Maybe, if she let Patrick go, he was never going to come back to her again.
“I thought they took you away from me, my love,” Sara added.
“I was dead, Sara,” Patrick said and gently peeled Sara off his body.
He gazed into her beaming, violet eyes and smiled from his heart.
“I was dead for a moment, until things changed,” Patrick added. “In the eyes of the realm, and even in mine, I was actually dead. But things took a different turn and here I am.”
Sara saw the gentleness and kindness in those eyes that she had grown fond of seeing in such a short period of time. But most of all, she saw the love he had for her in those eyes, a love which burned the last trace of fear and doubt about Patrick merely being an illusion, a figment of her imagination. Sara reached out and held his face in her hands. She saw him nod, as if to let her know that she had nothing to be concerned about anymore. Sara slid off his body and lay next to him in the snow.
“What happened, my love?” Sara asked finally after a brief moment.
“For starters, babe, you and I are the same,” Patrick said and winked.
Sara eyes beamed with surprise and excitement.
“Are you serious?!” Sara exclaimed and cupped her mouth.
Patrick grinned and nodded.
“Holy cow! That’s so freaking amazing… and hot!” Sara beamed and kissed Patrick on the lips. “Congrats, baby! Guess what? I got ma full memory back a short while ago.”
“I know you did,” Patrick grinned. “Congrats to you too. How does it feel?”
“Liberating!” Sara replied. “But seeing you again, knowing you are…” Sara paused, unable to say those words anymore.
“But knowin’ you’re here, alive and… a guardian…” Sara continued, gently caressing Patrick’s left cheek. “Couldn’t have asked for more, my love.”
And then, their eyes met. In a moment of perfection, two creatures, from two different dimensions, realms and pasts found a common tributary. Two guardians became one and inseparable.
“I love you, Patrick,” she said.
“I love you too, Sara,” Patrick replied.
Suddenly, Patrick’s eyes turned deep black and a black aura formed around him like wisps of smoke. He looked around, searching for something. When he found nothing, he looked towards to sky. His eyes narrowed to slits as excitement and anger coursed through his essence. Slowly, he rose to his feet.
“What’s going on, Patrick?” Sara asked as she stood up from the icy ground.
“We’re about to be attacked,” Patrick replied calmly.
Sara followed Patrick’s gaze and saw what looked like a meteor shower. But she knew better.
“Go get ‘em, babe!” Sara said and grinned.
“Yes, ma’am!” Patrick affirmed.
Patrick picked her up by the waist, pulled her body to his. She wrapped her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around his neck. A long, passionate kiss followed immediately.
“See you later?” Patrick mumbled as Sara gently bit on his lower lip.
“Right after I take care of some business of mine,” Sara promised.
“Great,” Patrick said. “I’ll wanna hear all about
it!”
Patrick then set her back to the ground. He turned around to teleport away but changed his mind and turned around to face Sara.
“So what’s your real name?” Patrick asked.
“Fazim,” she replied.
“Me like,” Patrick said and blew Fazim a kiss before finally teleporting away.
Sara was going to head to Zodica, her home realm, but she waited for a little. She did not want to miss Patrick’s first assignment as guardian. The shower of demons heading for Earth Realm was actually pretty cool to watch, she thought. Sara smiled, knowing how the humans would react to the shower: cell phones out, social media going abuzz, UFO enthusiasts excited for vindication and definitive proof about aliens, churches preaching end times and maybe chaos in certain areas.
“What da hell!” Sara exclaimed as she felt the cosmic energy rush through her, heading for the skies. “Get ‘em, baby! Get ‘em!” she cheered.
Sara had known Patrick for only a very short while, but she imagined he would opt for some drama in a situation like this. Who knew? Maybe the eyes going black and the aura around his body was part of his theatrics. Sara laughed at his cuteness. She imagined her lover making an entrance. Shi’mon might be there, shocked beyond belief, but overjoyed as well. Maybe the rest of the team would be present as well. She imagined Patrick pretending to ignore everyone as he went about his business. He would do something fancy like summoning cosmic energy. Turned out that he actually did summon cosmic energy. She chuckled. The demons were getting wiped out in what looked like beautiful fireworks on July 4th, hundreds of miles above sea level. Sara was proud of her man! Yes, her man! His first assignment as guardian of the realm was a success.
It was time to return home after so many Earth Realm millennia. Sara teleported to her house, found her phone and dialed a number.
“Gotta leave town for a few,” Sara said after a quick exchange of greetings. “Can you hold down the fort for me?”
“We gotcha, boss,” Joe, her manager, said. “Everything okay, though?”
“Everything’s fine, Joe,” Sara replied. “Be back in a few days.”