by R. Brown
From Ashlyn’s perspective, her mind interpreted the void’s walls of fear, dread, and despair as though it was a literal prison. And for as long as she continued to think of it as being solid, there could be no escape. The psychic battle between darkness and light raged.
“Ashlyn!” shouted Steven as he tried to help her tear down the walls. “You promised me that we would be together again. You asked me to trust you. And I did.
“Now, you need to trust me! The fate of both our worlds depends on it. I want you to remember all that we shared in the fugue. It brought us together, synching our auras. Our souls became one. Our bodies became one. My life is yours, because I love you. You aren’t alone, you never have been. I’m here, waiting for you. Remember your love for me. You must come back to me so that we can fulfill our dreams—so that we can spend eternity together.”
Ashlyn heard his words. She grasped onto it with an intense ferocity, letting his love for her fill her heart. He’d reminded her of all they had, and all she would lose. Her love for Steven filled her with strength, helping her cast aside the darkness that had buried her.
Wavering unsteadily, Ashlyn dropped to her knees. Her head was down, her hands atop her belly, lovingly soothing the child inside her. When her head lifted and her eyes opened, she was herself once more.
“The darkness, it’s gone. I can’t feel it anymore,” said Ashlyn. Her mind was tired and fragile. She was visibly troubled, disturbed.
“Yes, it’s gone,” said Steven. He felt for her, knowing fully the nightmarish experience she’d endured. Though he was only an ethereal projection, he moved closer and knelt beside her, trying to comfort her. “It won’t return.”
“The place where I was at was so cold, so lonely. It felt like I was locked in there a lifetime. The desperation was—was like being in Hell,” said Ashlyn, her voice weak and quavering from the deep emotions stirring her.
“In a very real way, it was Hell. They sent you into the void, a place where time has no meaning. Moment by moment it steals the person you are away,” said Steven. “Even a moment in the void, can feel like years. It is why I warned you that no one who enters the nexus can return as the same person who entered. It changes you. Try to let go of it. Think of it as a nightmare from which you have awakened.”
Ashlyn put her hand out as though she could touch him. Her hand went through his. “I knew I couldn’t—but I miss you so much—I wanted to try. I miss your voice, your touch.”
“No more than I’ve missed yours, Ash. We are one, forever and always,” said Steven trying to comfort her shaken composure.
“Steven, where are you? I’ve tried to reach out to you so many times, but …” Ash shrugged her shoulders.
Steven smiled. “The Steven you see, is not the Steven you know. I am he, but from a far distant time in your future. Much has happened. A lot has changed.
“Your Steven will be returning to you shortly. You must not tell him of our meeting, or of his future. It’s too dangerous.”
“That damned paradox effect of yours just keeps biting me in the ass,” said Ashlyn.
“I can tell you now, that if you survive, that is not the only thing that will bite you in the ass,” said Steven with a smile.
“Talk of bitter wine? If I survive?” Ashlyn repeated back to him. “If you’re from my future, don’t you already know?”
Steven swallowed. “That is hard to explain. But to put it simply—yes, I am from your future, but the man I am now, is from the distant past.”
“Okay, Abbott—who’s on third?”
“No, who’s on first. I don’t know is on third,” responded Steven, playfully. “You still remember that?”
“Remember? How could I forget? You and Brooks had us in stitches back at the Academy mess hall with that Abbott and Costello routine,” said Ashlyn.
Steven smiled. “Those were good times. It seems like just yesterday.”
“It does seem like yesterday. Steven, when I came to you at Olympus, why didn’t you tell me then who you were?” asked Ashlyn.
“I wanted too, but I feared my support would weaken you. The trials are designed to strengthen you, preparing you for the arena,” answered Steven. “They must be faced alone, because once you enter the arena, I will not be able to help you.”
“But you did help me. I never would have escaped the darkness without you,” said Ashlyn. “Wasn’t that breaking the rules, weakening me?”
“No, the darkness is not part of the trials. The voices are the fallen enemies of the Anunnaki people, taking advantage of your vulnerability,” said Steven. “One’s enemies are always waiting for an advantage.”
“That’s why I sensed disappointment from you about my decision to come here. It was because of the darkness,” said Ashlyn. “You knew they were going to attack me?”
Steven nodded. “When the Council opened the nexus for you, I heard the voices. That’s when I knew they’d come for you.”
“You knew because—you’ve been in the void, you’ve seen the darkness,” stated Ashlyn.
“Yes, I’ve been in the void,” replied Steven. “I also witnessed what it did to Ja’kal. And like you said, it is like Hell. None of us will ever forget the memory of how it felt to exist in a place of such heartbreaking desolation.”
Even after all this time, such was the weight of Steven’s emotions, that Ashlyn could see him visibly shaking.
“The best we can do is to try and let go of it, putting it behind us,” added Steven. “You need to put your emotions aside before entering the arena—or you will fail. Your greatest test is still to come.”
“How did you escape from the void?” asked Ash.
“I too had help,” said Steven, giving her an insightful grin.
“From me?” asked Ash.
Steven nodded. “But that is all I can safely say.”
Ashlyn then asked a question she had been wanting answered, “Can you tell me what the arena is? What should I expect?”
“I knew that question was coming eventually,” said Steven. “It consists of two worlds. The first is unlike anything you’ve experienced. You won’t have the powers of the Transor. You will have only that which is natural to the Anunnaki, the ability to shift form.”
Steven’s face suddenly became strained. “I wish I could stay with you, but my time grows short. It is hard for me to maintain this connection,” said Steven.
“Did you forget to pay the phone bill?” quipped Ashlyn.
Steven laughed. “If only it were that easy.”
“Before you go, I need to tell you that—” Ashlyn looked around at all the death surrounding her. “I’ve done terrible things, Steven. I’ve killed so many innocent people.” Just saying the words broke Ashlyn’s heart.
“I know, Ash. But you don’t need my forgiveness, just understanding. You did what you had to. It was born of necessity and it was for the greater good. I too am not without guilt. No one who enters the nexus does so untainted.” Steven looked at Ashlyn, his face sullen.
“What is it?” asked Ashlyn. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m wondering why you haven’t asked me the most important question of all?” said Steven. “You’ve completed the trials, but I’m worried that you may not be ready.”
“What question?” Ashlyn could feel a wall pushing back at her, not wanting to be breached.
“You journeyed to Olympus seeking permission to enter the arena. You wanted to save your world from your enemies, and yet, even after learning that I am Anu, you have not—”
Ashlyn gasped, her face turned ashen as the blood drained from her.
“Yes,” said Steven. “You asked to face Enlil in the arena. He’s your son, Ashlyn. He’s our son.”
Ashlyn’s gut churned. Her hands went to her belly, her eyes daring to look down. “Is this?” asked Ashlyn, unable to speak the words.
“Yes, he is Enlil,” acknowledged Steven.
Tears streamed down Ashlyn’s face. “I can’t kill him,
Steven. I can’t. You can’t ask such a thing of me.”
“He’s my son too, Ash. I wish there were another choice, but we both know what he’ll become and the things he’ll do. Enki told us that our sacrifices would be great. We knew the cost would be heavy.”
“We’re speaking of our son, Steven! We made him. He’s part of us. I can’t. I won’t. I refuse to enter the arena,” said Ash—the weight of his words crushing her. Beneath it all, enforced by a surge of anger, “I’ll not raise my hand against him.”
From a distant place, Steven’s fading voice echoed. “I know how difficult it is, but all things being equal, why should it be easier to take the life of another woman’s son than your own? You know what must be done. I love you, Ashlyn. My heart is bound to yours. Someday, we will cry together.”
Chapter 18
Steven’s enduring love had pulled her out of the darkness, giving her the strength to rise above it, but the task ahead was splintering Ashlyn’s mind. Thoughts and conflicting emotions were inundating her—each important, each having its own weighty implication.
Steven’s appearance was bittersweet, his words no more comforting than they were distressing. He’d given her a dozen reasons for why she should be happy, and one for why she never could be.
Learning that Steven was Anu, meant that he had found his legendary future. He’d become a god to the people of Earth, and the revered leader of the Anunnaki people. It alluded to a destiny neither of them had ever dreamed of, a future to be shared together.
Ashlyn had also learned that it was her own son that would become the symbol of evil incarnate in the world—a monster beyond imagination, whose horrendous atrocities would someday lead to the destruction of mankind.
Looking at the thousands of dead mutants lying around her, Ashlyn was reminded of the words the darkness had spoken, saying the destroyer of worlds had come.
Ashlyn’s breath caught in her chest as she experienced a profound moment of clarity, a revelation. Her hands trembled, her stomach twisting as she realized she’d been tricked.
The voices had called her to the nexus as a guise to hide their true intentions. Only now did she see that the darkness had never been interested in her. From the start, Enlil had been the target. He was the destroyer of worlds.
The darkness had sought to take possession of him while he was young and unable to resist. I played right into their hand.
Ashlyn was wrong in thinking she’d conquered the darkness. It had simply left her—and moved into Enlil. It now had control of what would someday be a mind of limitless power—the son of a Magori and a Transor.
“You can’t have him. I’ll fight you,” said Ashlyn aloud. She gasped as an intense pain swept through her abdomen, doubling her over. “No,” screamed Ashlyn as tears streamed down her face.
As the intense pang of pain subsided, Ashlyn coddled her belly, lovingly caressing her unborn son. Her heart was filled with her love for him. He was innocent, a victim of some incomprehensible darkness.
“I make a vow to you, my son. You will not become the destroyer of worlds. The darkness will not lay claim to you—I swear it on my life.”
When she felt her belly flutter, a small smile crossed Ashlyn’s face. It was almost as though he’d understood.
“I wonder what demons drove Ja’kal to seek out the nexus?” Again, her stomach fluttered. Her motherly instinct sensing a connection, Ash repeated the name, “Ja’kal.” This time as her stomach fluttered, there was a twinge of pain beneath it. Ash said the name again, and in response the pain grew stronger. “The darkness—why would the darkness be afraid of—”
Deep in thought as the pieces began to fall into place, Ashlyn spoke the question forming in her mind aloud. “Is it possible—could Enlil also be Ja’kal?” Ash winced as a sharp pain affirmed her belief.
Trying to correlate what she knew of Enlil and Ja’kal, Ash ran through the known events of the two conflicting timelines. In her original timeline, Enlil’s had come to hate mankind and all that they stood for. He hungered for power and dominance. He enjoyed seeing others suffer.
In the timeline she was now creating—her son would bear a different name. “But such a thing is only possible if—if I’ve done all this before.” Ash recalled Gorok’s story about Ja’kal slaying the monsters that had invaded his world. “It’s the darkness that Ja’kal faced in the nexus! They were the monsters. He came back here to banish the darkness from the world of the living. He beat you.” The pain grew stronger. “My son killed you once, and he’ll do it again. Steven and I will teach him how to defeat you.”
The darkness responded to Ashlyn’s outburst by sending a sharp stabbing pain into her chest. Gasping for air, a wind began to stir, the voices swirling around her speaking. “You cannot defeat us. We already control him.”
Fighting through the pain, Ash angrily fought back. “No, you don’t. You can’t lie to me anymore. I can sense your deception.”
The whispering voices answered. “We are patient. Time is on our side. Like you, a time will come when he has no other choice but to offer himself to us. It is his destiny. It is our destiny.” The wind slowly stilled.
Ashlyn could feel the truthfulness of the words. They were right. He would someday be tempted to use the powers of darkness—and he would give himself over.
“Time is on my side too. I’ll find a way to stop you,” said Ashlyn softly. The war for Ashlyn had just become personal.
***
Though tired and worn from the day’s events, Ash set her focus upon the tasks at hand. Choosing her path carefully, she stepped around the mutant bodies littering the ground, heading toward the captive humans.
The air was heavy with a dozen different scents, each competing for attention. The distinct smell of ozone from the electrical storm permeated the air. Equally strong were the sweet perfume smells of cerebrospinal fluids and those of cooked fat and muscle tissue. It was a collage of strangely pleasing odors. And though Ash would never admit it, it made her hungry.
Coming to a maintenance building disguised as a small, terraced pyramid, Ash knelt to pull a burned body aside that had fallen against the door. Dragging the body by the foot, the charred fleshy muscle tissue suddenly pulled away in her hands, revealing the bone beneath. Ash shuddered as she dropped the foot, grimacing as she turned aside to collect herself. Wiping her hands upon the rock surface of the pyramid, she turned the sandstone handle within the door’s stone facade and pushed it open. Inside, bright lights in the ceiling came to life.
A stirring breeze drew her gaze upwards to the large, vented, air circulation pipes that hung from the ceiling. They were twelve feet above her, splattering’s of old blood covering them.
The paint on the floor and walls was hidden, lost somewhere beneath hundreds of layers of dirt, mold, clumps of human flesh, splintered bone fragments and blood. Ash shook her head, not wanting to give thought as to what was crunching beneath her bare feet. She’d found another good reason for wanting that pair of Nike’s.
On the wall to her right, were two lighted buttons. The green button read, OPEN—the red one, CLOSE. The label above both of them read MAIN LOADING DOOR. Surprised that they were lit, and curious as to what would happen, Ash pushed the green button. A forty-foot section of the pyramid’s outside wall to her left silently slid into the floor, giving access to sunlight and fresh air.
At the same time, the door to a large cargo elevator across from her opened. It too was covered in the ghastly remnants of thousands of years of inhumane horrors. The panel on the wall by the elevator showed there was just a single level below her. Not wanting to go inside the lift, Ash decided to take the stairs. “Into the valley of death rode the six hundred,” said Ash as she opened the stair access door and stepped into the stairwell. Leaving the door open behind her, she was pleased to see that other than normal dust and dirt, the stairwell was without blood or tissue. It hadn’t been used at all.
Two long flights of stairs later, she reached the
first floor. Ash saw that the door’s deadbolt was latched on her side. Time and neglect had taken its toll on the old lock. After trying and failing to loosen it, she decided to use the sword to pry the door. As the door cracked open, her chest seized, forcing her to reach for the wall to steady herself. A sudden overwhelming sense of sadness and sorrow inundated her mind. The people on the other side of the door were without hope, living a life of hellish despair. The emotions Ashlyn felt emanating from them were much like her own feelings of hopelessness back in the void.
With a hard push, Ashlyn broke the gritty hold of the old hinges and the door opened. The stench that hit her was gagging, suffocating. Ashlyn cupped her hand over her nose and mouth.
Though only dimly lit, Ash guessed that the room was miles in length—and likely ran beneath the entire park. Moving in the shadows of the makeshift city were cowering humans—families, all living in squalor. They were deathly thin, sickly, dirty. Ashlyn’s empathy for them was boundless.
She now knew the reason behind the despair she’d felt and why they were without hope. They were cattle, allowed to live so they could breed and provide the mutants with an endless source of food. Just the thought of such a horror twisted Ashlyn’s stomach.
Seeing Ashlyn, the people slowly crept out of the shadows. They had never seen anyone come through the door, and certainly not an unescorted human. When Ashlyn smiled, her kind eyes crinkling with warmth and compassion— feelings and emotions they’d long forgotten were rekindled. Without having spoken a single word, Ashlyn lit the spark of humanity within them. Ash knew that given time, their fears would evaporate, making room for hope to grow.
Not wanting to scare them, Ash showed them her open hands—conveying that she wasn’t a threat. “Lima,” said Ashlyn, pointing first to herself—then to them. “Lima.”
She then put her hand out in invitation. “No Urquay. Urquay dead. You are free.” She again held out her hand.