Cults of the Dragon Gods (Path of Transcendence Book 4)

by Brian McGoldrick

  *** Central California – Earth ***

  Return: Day 346

  August 9, 2078

  What a pathetic hovel! The Dragonian fumed as she entered the over 80,000 square foot mansion she was using in Fresno. The area of the marble tiled entry foyer alone was more than 1,000 square feet, the cost of the flooring was more than the average yearly income an employed citizen in America.

  The pigs of this world have no concept of comfort and style. Being exiled to this disgusting world because my mother was a human sow is intolerable. As she angrily stalked across the foyer to the grand staircase leading to the second floor, the Dragonian's claws left deep scars in the marble tiles.

  "Little Sister."

  The Dragonian froze in place for a second before spinning toward the source of the voice. Beneath her reptilian feet, several tiles cracked and were turned into rubble.

  The scaled and winged form, more than 8' tall, rapidly shrank into a naked human female.

  "Big Brother! Xiao Mao is so happy to see Big Brother!" The tone of voice of Xiao Mao, the Dragonian, made her sound like preadolescent girl.

  Hovering in the air, a foot or so above the floor, the translucent image of a young man stared at Xiao Mao. Dressed in Chinese style robes that would have been common some two thousand years in the past, the man stood a few inches over six feet in height and possessed a lean muscular build. In spite of his out of date clothing, the thing that stood out the most about this man was his skin. It was black, but not the color of the Negro human. I was the same color of black as obsidian, including the faint sheen of the mineral.

  "Little Sister, where are the Sisters of Penitence that were assigned to you?"

  The already pale skin of Xiao Mao lost all color, turning wider than new fallen snow. "There was a problem. Xiao Mao was unable to save them from their own incompetence."

  The obsidian skinned man frowned. "I watched them slain after you entered your vehicle, but other then pretender's cyborg, the killers were hidden from scrying like your prisoner. Why would you hide while property loaned to you was destroyed?"

  "Xiao Mao was not hiding. Xiao Mas should not have been necessary to deal with a single First Path rock ape and some pigs. They were all incompetent. Xiao Mao can go to Shanghai and explain to Big Brother overnight. Big Brother can punish Xiao Mao with his hard rod." Xiao Mao fingered herself while displaying pouty face.

  "Father already knows."

  Looking like she had been kicked in the stomach, Xiao Mao froze for a moment. When she spoke, her voice trembled. "What did Father say?"

  "You are to be punished like any other pig does not perform its assigned tasks. If I do not torture you, I will face Father's wrath. I will not be subject to censure over a half-pig. Return to Shanghai immediately. I will allow you to please me after your punishment."

  "Yes, Big Brother. Xiao Mao wants take Big Brothers stiff rod after her punishment." Xiao Mao was barely able to conceal her fear and resentment.

  Night Raid

  *** Central California – Earth ***

  Return: Day 346

  August 9, 2078

  (Brand)

  With the four surviving whores, nothing but collared slaves now, bound and tucked away in four separate rooms, I retreat to the office that I've been using. Elan is the only one that accompanies me.

  After we strip off my armor, Elan frowns at the whole burned through my abdomen from front to back. "It did not touch your liver, but there is a hole in your intestines. Even with the effects of the healing potions, there's still a risk of infection."

  I shrug indifferently. "There won't be any complications, but I need you to keep watch and not let anyone disturb me."

  I sit in the office chair and try to relax my muscles, but I have almost no control over my Ki and that makes it difficult. I draw on the Light Od and mix it with the Dark Od that is already within me. Using the mix of the two sides of the Od, I'm able to control my body in a manner similar to how I do it with Ki.

  Without concealing her frown, Elan watches me. "What are you trying to do?"

  Before answering Elan, I take a moment and gather my thoughts. "Since that fight with J'Rome, the Trinity have been extremely unstable and hard to manipulate. When I draw on the Od, it only becomes worse. I'm going to withdraw my awareness from the world around me an attempt to figure out what is happening. If I'm disturbed while doing this, it might have side effects. So, I need you to make sure no one bothers me."

  Elan's frown becomes more pronounced. "Very well. Do what you need to do."

  I close my eyes and take several deep breaths. As I release the last one, I block out my sensory input and focus my awareness internally.

  Following the flow of Dark Od rising from the core of my being, I trace it into the depths of my soul to a sea of hate and rage. I am at the center of my being where all three section of my pattern join. The first time I saw this I was not certain if it was a part of me or something separate, but now, I can … feel … maybe, that is the best way to describe it … with absolute certainty that mass of hate and rage is me, the real me. This is the purest expression of my true self. Hate and rage are not the source of my strength. They are my very existence.

  My hate and rage are also what tie me to the Dark Od and allow me to call on it. Along with a few faint strands of the Light Od, thick streams of the Dark Od are mixed in with my dark emotions.

  When I previously sank my awareness to this depth, there was no sense of the Trinity within this space, but now, my Ki, Psi, and Mana are swirling around my dark core of hate and rage. They seem to be being drawn from my Body, Mind, and Soul and sucked into my core. As I watch the flow of my Power, it becomes clear that this core is a place that is not a part of my Body, Mind, or Soul. I am in a place that is not directly a part of the three Realms. This is a separate Realm, a personal Realm, that is bound and defined by my Body, Mind, and Soul. The strange thing is that the first time I was here I did not feel like I was in a separate space or Realm.

  I cannot be the first one to have discovered this core Realm, but I cannot remember ever reading about anything related to a phenomenon like this. It seems impossible that both Thrall and Boran would be unaware of this, but neither of them has ever said anything to me about it. What reason could they have? Is it an oversight or deliberate?

  I have no idea how long I spend watching the flow of my Power, but I slowly realize that this strange Realm within me is solidifying, and its boundaries are becoming more clearly defined. Is the reason that I did not notice it that it never existed before? What does this change mean? What is happening to me?

  The first time I came here I did not enter the core of my hate and rage. This time I need to go deeper and find what is being done to my Trinity.

  As I sink into my dark emotions, I am bombarded with all the pain I have been subject to and inundated with the memories of all my acts of cruelty and torture. Supported and strengthened by the dark and brutal memories, I embrace my pain, all of it. I am cruelty. I am pain. This is the truth of my existence and the reason behind my secrets of steel.

  Following the flow of the Trinity, I reach the center of my sea of hate and rage. There is Trinity here, but it is no longer separated into Ki, Mana, and Psi. At the very center of my existence, the three Powers of the Trinity are being fused into pure Trinity.

  Now, I understand why my Power has become unstable.

  Brand is becoming whole. The thought is so faint that I almost miss it.

  Looking around, I see the fragment of Perzey's Soul. Its existence has become so tenuous that it is more than a transparent wisp. The hand formed from my awareness passes through her as though she does not even exist.

  You're dying. As I form the thought, I feel an unfamiliar emotion.

  Perzey is already dead. Brand will live forever. Perzey is happy. Perzey gets to see Brand one more time. Perzey can say goodbye. Perzey will become one with Brand forever.

  Even in this state, I feel like I have a physi
cal body, and seemingly in my chest, I experience a sharp stabbing pain. It is like someone has buried a knife in my heart. This pain must be grief, and for me, pain is the source of rage. I am filled a rage that I have no target for. Nearly overwhelmed with the pain and rage that I have no outlet for, I have trouble forming coherent thoughts.

  See. Perzey loves Brand. Brand loves Perzey. She seems to see my grief as an expression of love. She does not understand that I am incapable of loving anyone. I may use the term to express my interest in something, but for me, that is more facetious that anything.

  Perzey looks at the ball of Trinity. Perzey is tired. Brand's Power keeps pulling Perzey. Perzey is going to rest. Goodbye.

  Perzey waves as she drifts backward, pulled by my Trinity.

  Goodbye, Perzey. I will never forget you. Even if I am incapable of loving her, the memories of our short time together already a part of me.

  Perzey smiles. As my Trinity engulfs her, I feel the last remnants of her soul dissipate. This time, she is really gone forever. Outside of my memories she will never exist again.

  As if in response to my grief, my pain, the silvery-grey ball of Trinity pulses and seems to draw in my Mana, Ki, and Psi at an even faster rate.

  Ruthlessly crushing my urge to scream and curse, I stare at the ball of Trinity. It looks like a massive ball of turgid liquid being held together through surface tension. As it steadily sucks in my Ki, Mana, and Psi, the surface pulses and roils, but the ball does not appear to be getting any larger. Instead, it seems to become denser. It is almost as if my Power, which can be seen as a form of energy, is being compressed into a liquid state.

  I draw more of the Dark Od into myself. As I expected, the painful feeling of being torn apart and crushed at the same time intensifies, but the speed at which my Power is being sucked into this internal Realm increases, as well. At the same time, the ball of Trinity shrinks and appears to become more solid.

  With difficulty, I pull more of the Light Od into myself. Both the pain and the speed at which my Ki, Mana, and Psi are being drawn in increased several fold.

  By drawing on the Od too much, I must have triggered my conversion from a Trinary into a Triune. I was not ready for this. I did not have and clue that it could happen. The difference between my strengths with the parts of the Trinity was still too great. My Psi has lagged far behind my Ki and Mana, but what is done cannot be undone. I can only let the process finish and move forward.

  With no more than a thought, I leave this Realm that is forming at the center of my existence, and once more, my awareness is centered within my Soul. I extend my awareness to my Body and Mind. While it is hard to make an objective appraisal from inside of oneself, despite the pain, I do not find any signs of damage beyond my wounds from battle. The Od does not seem to have actually harmed me. My pain and inability to control my Power should be nothing more than the side effects of changing into a Triune.

  If drawing too heavily on the Od does nothing more than hasten my evolution into a Triune and cause me pain, I can deal with that. I am good at ignoring pain.

  I open my eyes.

  With the exception of the glow from various LEDs, the office is cloaked in darkness. The green digits on the clock on the desk reads 9:25PM.

  "You are still filled with pain." Naked, Elan watches me while sitting on the office desk in a lotus position.

  I turn toward Elan, and our eyes meet. "It's just pain. I'm becoming a Triune earlier than expected."

  Elan's face goes blank in surprise, and with his lips slightly parted, she stares at me for a few moments. Surprisingly, she does not comment on my revelation. "While you were inside yourself, I ordered Valcrit to interrogate the new slaves. All four of them are firm in their conviction that before today they have never attacked us."

  Taken a bit by surprise, it takes a few seconds for me to mentally shift gears. "Do they have any suspicions about the snipers?"

  "When Valcrit showed your little blonde slave the arrows used by the previous attackers, she said that the arrows lacked the aura of Radiance that their own have, but they are made using the exact same materials. Whoever the attackers were, they have access to Taereun, but that was obvious from the beginning. The little whore believes them to be the followers of the Feathered Sky Lords." There is no expression on Elan's face, and her eyes are like still pools of water with the amber gold color of honey.

  Other than the fact that the Feathered Sky Lords should be a faction of the dragons, I know next to nothing about them or their followers. They are probably feathered serpents that have risen to become False Names.

  "Do you know much about these flying lizards or their minions?"

  Elan shakes her head almost imperceptibly. "The Feathered Sky Lords are a faction of Feathered Serpents, Dragons, that follow the Feathered Sky Gods. I know the names of some nations that they rule, but I have never had dealings with them. They had no part in the massacre of my clan, and the Atran'ler Empire never had conflicts with them. They were not involved in the Jotun Dragon War."

  Fractionally squinting my eyes, I stare out the office window at the corpse of Lavinia lying in the middle of the parking lot. "Did Valcrit get any information on where they operate out of?"

  Elan smiles, but the eyes above it are cold. "Santa Rosa Island is their headquarters in this nation."

  Santa Rosa Island, eh? That is off the coast of the shithole known as Los Angeles. Could that be where Thorrin and Pancho have been disappeared to? Once we return with the Night Raven, I will have to take a look around Santa Rosa Island.

  With a lascivious smile on her lips, Elan reached between her legs and starts rubbing her pussy. "We still have time before attack on the hospital."

  As I stand up and take a step to cross the distance between my chair in the desk, my dick is already getting hard.

  * * * * *

  It is almost midnight, and in the truck we originally stole from the hospital, we are sitting across the street from my old not-friend Bobby's apartment. According to the video being displayed by Delphi, Bobby is at home and getting fucked up the ass by his buddy Kyle. Based on the on the verge of tears grimace on Bobby's face, is not enjoying it, but Kyle has an ear to ear smirk.

  I turn to Valcrit, who is standing next to me. "You certain you can mind control these two piece of shit faggots?"

  Valcrit does not hide his disgust. Like most DokkAlfar, he sees homosexuality is a sick practice of the weak. Only those in positions of power within DokkAlfar society, like Aluras'bektsh'tar, can flaunt their aberrant behavior, and even then, they need to be careful not to anger someone with too much Power or too high a political office. "The humans of this world have no defenses against Power. They are weak willed and will be easily dominated, but controlling them will be like swimming in shit."

  "If it will make you feel better, once we head for the rift, you can kill them."

  Valcrit frowns. "They will be dead in a matter of days. I will think of something more unpleasant to do to them for their remaining time among the living."

  "Do it!"

  As the powerful stream of Psi reaches out from Valcrit, Bobby and Kyle freeze in place for about fifteen seconds. When Kyle pulls out and backs away and Bobby straightens up from the table he was bent over, their movements look completely natural. If I did not know Valcrit was controlling them, I would never suspect anything out of place.

  Kyle and Bobby face each other and alternate kicking one another in the balls. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. After the six times trading kicks, they stand facing each other with no visible sign of discomfort.

  "What was that for?"

  Valcrit smiles thinly. "They were whining too much. I was making a point out of what would happen, if they continued annoying me."

  "Ha!"

  After cleaning themselves up, Bobby and Kyle get dressed and come down to the truck. When I open the back door, they climb in and sit against the wall in silence.

  *Dacbold, we're good to go.*

&
nbsp; The truck lurches slightly as it begins moving.

  * * * * *

  With the truck backed up to the loading dock of one of the university's buildings, we are all gathered in the cargo box. The hospital is only a block away, and Elan and Angelique are using scrying spells to locate Sandor's man and anyone else watching the hospital. As the guards are located, the map displayed on my tablet computer is steadily filling up with red and blue dots. Red is for someone with Power who might be dangerous, and blue is for common Earth cannon fodder.

  After a few minutes, Elan looks at me. "That should be all of the enemy outside the hospital. If there are any others, they have stealth magic better than the minions of the Feathered Sky Gods. If they use the same concealment spells is when you fought the two on the roof, they can no longer hide from me. As for what is inside the hospital, there are wards blocking my spells. I could penetrate them, but that would alert the caster."

  Looking at the marks on the map, there are only thirteen enemy that are capable of using Power. The rest are nothing but Earthborn sheep.

  "Valcrit, if you were to put down all the blue dots, the Earth trash, how long would it take you?"

  Valcrit looks at the map for a moment. "Do they have to be dead or is unconscious good enough?"

  "Unconscious works."

  "Three ten thousandths at the most."

  That would be less than thirty seconds.

  I point out the six red dots that are on the roof of the hospital. They are snipers, not lookouts. "Elan, can you and Angelique take out these four within the same time frame?"

  Elan glances at Angelique for a moment. "Yes. We can do it."

  That leaves nine Power users on the ground outside the hospital. I look at Special Agent Jones. "You're familiar with the Power users under Sandor's command, right?"