Power

by Theresa Jones

  I walked straight over to David; it was obvious he had been waiting for me. When he saw me, relief filled his eyes and he walked toward me. We hugged, but didn’t kiss. It would incite too many emotions that would not be beneficial to us today.

  Christopher came to speak to us all. “Remember what we fight for today. We fight for all humans. We fight for this planet. We fight for freedom. We fight for God. We fight for our loved ones. Remember that we have never before attempted to do this; we have the element of surprise on our side. We are strong, and we are powerful. We are good! Allison, David, and the council members will take on the more powerful of the Rising members while the guard battle the lower levels. If there are no lower level powers there, we will all do all we can. We will not give up. We will not surrender. We will fight until there is no more fight left in us.”

  He spoke with such confidence and determination. He was a great orator. I was filled with a sense of determination and loyalty to this cause. I remembered that some of us can influence the emotions of those around us and wondered if someone was making us feel surer of ourselves, or more determined. Regardless, we were all unwaveringly ready.

  We arrived in the field in Kansas and I walked to the spot I knew I would meet him in. Behind me there were eleven of the most powerful beings on earth; the biggest force of good Power ever seen. I readied myself. I knew that before the day was over I would see him, smell his stench, and feel the evil that he expelled. I also knew that one of us would not walk away.

  I started to feel the familiar fear I felt when I thought of him, but pushed it away. Today I would not fear him. Today he would fear me. I knew from our last encounter that he did already fear me. He believed me to be the one that would kill him, so I believed it as well.

  I took a deep breath, grabbed hold of my power, and lowered my shield. I closed my eyes and searched for him. I let my power spread. Immediately behind me were 11 lights. I reached further and after searching about 500 miles, I had found only one Rising member. He was so weak, he probably didn’t even know he was Rising yet. But he would be. He was evil. I ignored him and searched further.

  At 1000 miles, I had found several dozen Rising members, but still, none of them were a part of the Rising core. They were new and weak, and some were very young. I ignored them all and searched even further still.

  At a 2000 mile radius I found what I was looking for. It had to be the Rising Headquarters. There were at least 100 members all within a 20 mile radius. I searched within their minds, trying to block myself from them as I did so. Only the more powerful could tell who I was and what I was doing. I moved on from their darknesses quickly, searching for one in particular.

  When I found him, I left all the others behind and focused my attention on him. I called to him, Damien. I heard his head snap up and felt him look at me, figuratively of course. I thought to him, I am here. I am ready for you. I knew he couldn’t see all my thoughts, only those I thought to him. He wouldn’t know I had others with me, but he would know I was waiting for him. Before I felt him close his mind I heard him think, I will kill that bitch. The thought shook me a little, but only a little.

  I pulled my shield back on and turned to the others. “He heard me. I’m pretty sure he will be coming very soon.” David walked forward to stand at my side and grabbed my hand as the others branched out to form a formidable line.

  We waited anxiously for their arrival. It only took five minutes before the first ones arrived but they didn’t come running as we had thought they might; they just appeared out of thin air. One second there was no one in front of us, and the next there stood ten very powerful, ugly people. Some were actually quite beautiful, but I was looking at them with my power, as well as my eyes, so they felt ugly and dirty, like they had bathed in raw sewage.

  They didn’t move, they didn’t advance, and Damien was not among them. We waited, the guard turning to look at Rick, but he only shook his head. We were not advancing yet. We would wait for Damien. I knew how quickly they could hurt us, so I lifted my physical shield. The others followed suit. We stood and waited. It was a terrifying beautiful sight.

  Five minutes later another ten more people arrived the same way as the others before them. Between all twenty of them, there were about fifteen men and five women. I recognized the ones that had been with Damien last time, the two women and the huge man. I felt myself shiver. The sight was intimidating. Though I had faith, and I believed we would do what we had come to do, seeing the most powerful evil in front of me ready to kill me and all I love, still left me terrified.

  The fear caused my power to snap. I felt my hands burst to flames, and saw David look down at the hand he had been holding. He looked up into my eyes, swearing with them that we would be ok. I could see the confidence emanating off him and tried to bolster my own when we both felt him arrive. He appeared out of thin air, the same as the others, and he now stood between a beautiful woman, one that had been at my mother’s house, and the huge giant man.

  He smiled at me. He looked amused, which was irritating. I had hoped I could see at least a flicker of fear, but there wasn’t one. The smirk that was on his face caused my fire to grow.

  It didn’t hurt as you might think if you looked at me, it actually felt good. It wasn’t as difficult this time either. I was stronger and more prepared. Not to mention I was only shielding myself this time.

  I risked a glance at the others to my side. Rick was on my left, followed by Christopher and some of the guards. They all had their shields up, different colors pulsing and swirling down the line. It was stunning to witness. I looked to my right. David was first, but I didn’t allow myself to look in his eyes for fear I may lose concentration, instead I looked past him to Nicholas and the rest of the guards. Once again, the strength and beauty they were showing was stunning. My confidence came back to me in full force.

  I looked at Damien and knew this would be it. He took one step forward and said, “I’m surprised. I thought you might be alone.” I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not and I didn’t risk trying to read his thoughts. I had been hoping he would think I would be alone, though if he did, why would he have brought so many people with him?

  I didn’t reply, instead Rick said to him, “There is no need to talk; we came here for one purpose and one alone.” When he spoke, a vision caught me off guard. One second I was looking at Damien, and the next I saw myself and Damien in battle, and saw him lose. I knew it wasn’t happening currently, I was standing still, not exerting any amount of power, but I saw it clear as day. The response around me proved that I wasn’t the only one that saw it. All the Order had seen it. Morale on my side grew exponentially at that sight.

  Somehow, it had come from Damien. It had been subconscious, but I knew the feeling of his mind now. When Rick mentioned our purpose, Damien’s thoughts went straight to our battle. It had been a vision that had been plaguing him for years and must have been what caused him to believe I was the Descendant. He was cocky enough to believe that was the only one who could defeat him. His arrogance would ultimately be his downfall.

  I let out one small, “Ha!” as I came to understand how this all came to be. It was strange, knowing that his vision of the future was what brought everything into motion. Had he never seen the vision, he would never have believed I was the one and never would have attacked me. The Order never would have believed that I was the one, and we wouldn’t be here ready to fight to the death. He would still be plaguing the world with his evil, spreading destruction to every corner of the earth.

  Everything started happening then. The first ten who had arrived started coming at us. They didn’t come slowly, as I would have thought, they came running faster than I could have ever imagined, so fast their bodies blurred. None came at me, but I saw one angle towards David. He put up his right arm and I saw his hand spark green, like a sparkling firecracker. The man who had run at him just stopped and fell to the ground shouting. David still hadn’t let go of my hand.
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br />   I noticed the guards were in hand to hand combat with the lesser Rising members, both sides using their power to aide them. While they fought, eight of the other ten Members came forward; the woman and giant were left standing next to Damien. They didn’t move fast like the others had, slowly and slithery they slinked towards us. The council members, David, and myself all readied ourselves.

  As three men came toward us, I could feel David’s power over me. It felt like he was trying to protect me. Silly boy, as if I needed protecting. I pushed his power away; he needed it for himself. But when I did, I noticed something strange. Instead of his green going away, it mixed with my purple. Not like it blended together to make an ugly purple-green, but like they intertwined mating with each other, my swirls and his. It was breathtaking.

  The men approaching noticed it as well. They stopped their advance as they watched our power mingle together. Our minds linked as seamlessly as our power did. I could hear his thoughts openly and clearly, and I knew he could hear mine as well. I no longer noticed anything else around me. All the Order members could have been lying dead, and I wouldn’t have noticed at all. I could hear his determination, his faith, and his readiness. I could feel his hate for these men, and his love for me. I felt stronger than ever, and I knew he was drawing strength from me as well. Together we felt unstoppable, unbeatable… immortal!

  It was at that moment they began to come at us again. They no longer moved slowly, but our thoughts were faster than their legs. With a thought, we telekinetically stopped their assault. They all froze mid-run. The man closest to us had jumped into the air, to plant a hard hit to David’s face. He hung there, not able to move, and I couldn’t help but think of the movie The Matrix, when they showed them in the air, mid-attack. The man second closest was half way to the ground. He had been about to slide into us, attempting to take our feet out from under us. And the third had just been running toward us, about to try and punch me in the face. It’s funny but it surprised me; I had never had a man about to hit me before. I hadn’t thought about it, but I guess if you are evil, you aren’t likely to follow rules of chivalry.

  Instantly I could feel David ready himself to shut down their minds. Despite feeling their power and knowing how strong they were, it was really easy. We saw the black holes inside them and we sent our power inside those holes. I tried to ignore their screams of pain as I pushed my power into their heads. The black nearly disappeared within seconds of our light being inside them.

  Right before their black was completely gone, I felt more power from behind them. I looked past the frozen men to Damien. He and the two people next to him had come to their aid. They didn’t move, but I could see their black power flying at these men in front of me.

  I also saw what was going on around me. We were winning. I only noticed three of our guards on the ground, no longer fighting, but at least ten Rising members had been killed or injured. You could see black power and the glorious colors of good power all around like fireworks. I blocked out everything going on around me again and focused on the task at hand. David caught my eye, and starting thinking at me.

  We can do this Allison! We are the most powerful of all. Together, nothing can stop us. He sounded so sure.

  We would have to hold the others at bay, while we attacked Damien. With Damien out of the picture, the rest wouldn’t stand a chance. David caught on to my thoughts and together we focused on Damien. My fire spread to cover David as well, and I knew they would not be able to touch us.

  Things happened in slow motion then, I could see in my peripheral vision the three we had been holding were released. They tried to finish their attacks, but they couldn’t reach us. My fire didn’t burn them, as it did the less powerful, but it still stopped their barrage and kept us safe.

  David and I ignored them, our attention on Damien. We thrust our light at him. The force of our attack didn’t start to show with the tiny pinprick I had been expecting. An area of light opened up inside him that was at least the size of a quarter. It gave me hope. He could feel us, our determination, our fight, our love. We were both feeding off the other’s power. He cringed, and when his followers saw it, they began to fear. Again and again our light surged. Green, then purple, then green, then purple.

  He fell to his knees and I thought I felt the ground shake, literally. The beautiful woman and the giant man turned their attention solely to us. No, not us, at David only. He began to fall to the ground under their attack. I was taken aback. I hadn’t been expecting them to try and separate us. His hand came from mine as he caught himself, preventing himself from face planting. I felt my will hesitate and my power waver. David was trying to stay afloat. I realized that this was Damien’s plan. The only way to break me would be to break one that I love.

  My fire burst brighter. I thought to David, Do not let them touch you, do not give in. I saw that we had begun to lose, Order members were kneeling under the power of the Rising. But I had seen how this would play out. I saw the vision Damien had. I knew we could defeat him. Not we, I. I knew that I could defeat him. And after he was gone, the others would fall effortlessly. Take the head from the snake and the body couldn’t function.

  I walked away from David, toward Damien. When he saw me leave his side and get closer to Damien, I saw David’s power turn to fire of his own. I could feel the fear he felt in watching me, and the anger that he couldn’t be by my side. The green fire making him glow was stunning, but I couldn’t pay attention to him. I knew he would be ok on his own.

  I walked toward Damien. When I had seen me defeat him, I had been right in front of him and he had been kneeling at my feet. I had to recreate that scene.

  He was hunched over with effort, but when he saw me, he stood up straight. He reached out to grab me, ignoring the fire. It didn’t burn him, but it was difficult for him to reach through it.

  I didn’t stop him. I figured touching him would help me cover him completely with my power. It would allow me to finally defeat him.

  He reached through and grabbed my neck in a pathetic attempt to strangle me, though I wouldn’t allow him to squeeze. I placed my hands on his arms and closed my eyes. I saw his darkness clearly, still weakened with our light.

  I let my fire spread over him and consume. I surrounded his head with it. Not in a protective way, like I had with Sam and my Mom, but in a way that turned the flames towards him.I wanted it to ignite him.

  To any onlooker, it would have appeared that his head was on fire. The thought was amusing, but I realized that this was my chance. I didn’t have to hold anything back. I could finally let go and release all my power. I reached inside me and let all my power come flooding forward. My vision became clearer, my muscles stronger, I could feel each ligament and sinew wrapped around each bone. My fingers tightened on his arm. He flinched under the pressure and tried harder to choke me. But his hands were barely touching me. I sent the extra power coursing through me all into his head. He shrieked and fell to the ground. I released his arms and saw him kneeling before me. This was the vision he had seen. This was him kneeling before me, my power surrounding him.

  I was pretty sure that he recognized the scene we had created. But the realization didn’t last long. He looked up at me, hatred blazing in his eyes. I bent forward to grab his head and placed a hand on each side. I could see my reflection in his black eyes. I was still covered in my purple fire and my eyes were only purple now, no brown left.

  Not only was I thrusting my power into him, but I was shrinking his brain. I figured, even if I couldn’t diminish his power with mine, I could kill him by squishing his brain. His head drooped as I kept squeezing with my mind. I could feel his power leaving him. His body was dead, but his power was still there, keeping his heart pumping and his lungs expanding. I felt like if I gave up now, he would somehow come back to life.

  So I didn’t stop. I kept pulling out his power and pushing mine in, until the black hole was no longer dark and was filled entirely with my purple light. I dropped
his head, which fell to the ground with a thump, and you could see the black power seeping out of him like tar and oozing into the ground.

  I looked down at him, not believing it could really be over. Around me, I saw the Rising members all on the ground, Order members were winning again. David was standing and had the beautiful woman and massive man on the ground writhing in pain. I thought calmly, It’s over. I didn’t say it out loud, but I knew that every person here, both Rising and Order, could hear me. They all turned to look at me, and then all looked at Damien.

  With the stop in the fighting, the remaining Rising members all disappeared, the same way they had come. I noticed something wet on my face, under my nose, and touched my lip with my finger. Blood. I wiped it away and took a deep breath, readying myself to go to David.

  Then I saw him. He had fallen to the ground. He too had blood coming from his nose, but his marked the grass beneath his face. I knelt next to him and shook him, trying to wake him.

  He didn’t wake.

  Nicholas came up behind me, “The only other healer we had with us was Daniel, but he didn’t make it.” He motioned to a man on the ground about twenty feet away.

  I didn’t notice.

  I felt for his pulse. I couldn’t find one. I reached out with my power to feel for his heart, but it was barely beating, fluttering in and out of a rhythmic pattern. I wasn’t a doctor and I had no medical training, but I knew that he wouldn’t last long. I felt my eyes start to fill up.

  My breath caught in my throat. What can we do? I hadn’t been able to say the words out loud, my voice wasn’t working, but I knew Nicholas would hear me.

  “We must hurry and get him back to the Compound. There are healers there who can help him.” We were hours from the Compound. There wasn’t any way David would survive the trip. I felt like my heart was being shredded into thousands of pieces. The fear I felt when confronting Damien was nothing compared to the dread I felt now. I loved this man. I had given him my heart and now he was not going to live?