Father of Storms

by Dean Jones

  Slowly Seth closed the door behind him and made his way across the floor to the old man at the desk, “all these years and it comes to this Corey, how long have you tried to gain control of my mind?”

  Corey swallowed, in his youth, he may have had a chance in physical combat with another man, but Seth was no mere man and he knew back then the only way to beat him was with his mind. Something he thought he had already accomplished.

  “Seth, your awake?” his mind raced as he tried to come up with something and reaching out he looked for the weave of energy he had place onto his mind. Touching it he smiled to find it still in place.

  “I have always sought to control you, ever since the day Ardeth told me of your prowess. Then once I had spoken to the old crone, Mae, I knew I had to meet you.” He stood from his chair and shuffled around his desk towards the window.

  It was mid-day and the summer sun was burning bright in the cloudless blue sky. He took in a deep breath to centre himself and turned to face the man he knew he had under his control.

  “I tried many ways, I even tried to get Mae to help me, but she was a strong-willed one and unfortunately she miscalculated my desire and paid the price in blood”

  Seth listened impassively, this all happened a long time ago and learning Corey had killed Mae caused him only the slightest of irritation.

  “She was old and preparing for Woden’s table, you speeding her journey up is something she would likely be grateful for and perhaps anticipated,” Seth said not taking his eyes off the man in front of him.

  “You fool,” he barked, “she was insignificant to me, I hastened nothing and watched her bleed to death in front of me still smiling her inane grin as the life left her.” He moved closer touching the net of energy in Seth’s mind.

  “She was only a great-grandchild and yet she retained a lot of the power. I am sure the Great Woden would have welcomed her with open arms to his empty table.”

  Seth looked confused, “you don’t believe and yet you use Frigg’s energy to harness the minds of men and women to do your bidding.” Seth queried, “I see you have become hypocritical in your twilight years Corey.”

  Corey snorted a laugh, “she wouldn’t care less, she is no more I have seen to that….”

  Corey moved even closer and could see Seth’s fists begin to tense, just a little closer, he thought.

  He required Seth to stay distracted and clearly, talk of the old gods had his attention so he continued. “We are alone you and I, the last of our kind. Only we survived humanity, you because of your love for a mortal and me due to my desire to control everything.” He paused five feet from Seth, close enough he felt.

  “I wanted to shape the world so those like me could succeed and power and strength became insignificant as a physical attribute…wars and fighting don’t really serve any purpose you see it’s all just posturing and cock measuring by men like you,” he laughed. “Oh, the glory of battle.” The contempt was clear in his voice.

  Seth watched him creep closer, soon he would be in arm's length and he would end this then. He hesitated to attack knowing Corey could step out of time as well as he could, and it would be a struggle to catch him in that state but if he allowed him to creep closer then he knew his reflexes were quicker than the old man Corey had become.

  “So, you decided the world should be as you make it? Seth asked trying to keep Corey’s attention elsewhere.

  “I decided those with the cunning and determination to survive were much more important than those who could swing a sword or wield an axe. I needed to find a way and your King provided me with access to other Kings and once I had his mind I could manipulate certain situations to my own ends” he took another small step closer.

  “I found the best way to get hold of a man’s mind was to provide him with distractions like, I don’t know, the loss of his wife perhaps?”

  Seth’s eyes widened as the pieces fit into place, “it wasn’t Aethelbald it was you controlling him!”

  “Oh well done Seth, caught up at last. You were never really the brightest, all brawn and no brain…thank you by the way, for getting rid of the egotistical fool, it was something I hadn’t worked out how to do but you cleared the way for me and after that, well it became easy.”

  Seth’s anger began to warm in his gut, after all this time he had thought he’d punished those who had taken his wife and family from him but here was Corey admitting he was the puppet master in the whole episode.

  “And now you work to take my family from me again?” The strain of not leaping for his throat was growing but he needed him closer, two more steps.

  “I have tried my best, I honestly thought you long dead as you disappeared from the face of the planet. It wasn’t until I heard a story of an attack on a hilltop, I started to suspect another of our kind had resurfaced, imagine my excitement when I discovered it was you.”

  Another step and he would be close enough.

  “The reporter was all ambition and no conscience, so she became my first pawn and then I put together a board of pieces to flush you out, Brian was an excellent hunter he believed you caused the accident which killed his wife and twins…” he chuckled to himself. “It was a drunk driver; initial reports stated the man had had a seizure, but they found it was alcohol induced. The stupid man was so grief-stricken he never thought to read the reports and instead clung to the story I told him.”

  He stepped closer and struck Seth’s mind.

  ***

  Marcy paced the room looking at the door every few seconds. Hope was sitting at the desk watching.

  “He will be fine Mum, stop pacing you’ll create a groove in the carpet.”

  “He can afford a new one, we should go up there and see what’s happening!”

  “No” Hope insisted, “Dad said to wait here and from what I have learned about these Spae workers, two as powerful as Dad and Corey should not be interrupted by us. It would distract Dad and that could be the edge Corey is looking for.”

  Marcy huffed but knew Hope was correct. She checked her watch again, it had been ten minutes. She genuinely thought he would be back by now after all Seth was still strong and sharp whereas Corey…well he was sharp enough, but Seth could just throw him out of the window or something. She turned and looked out to the street below and not seeing the body of the old man she returned to pacing.

  Sarah began to wake and lifted her head from the desk. She steadied herself as her mind was swimming. Slowly she began to remember and quickly looked down at herself in disgust. She was a shy girl by nature and the dresses he had made her wear were uncomfortable and she instantly began to feel dirty and used.

  She picked up her phone and started to dial but then remembered Hope and her mother downstairs. She grabbed her things and rushed to the elevator and pressed the call button.

  Impatiently she kept pressing it until she saw the numbers begin to appear on the digital display above the doors. Two minutes later she was walking into the room to find Marcy pacing and Hope sat tapping the table with her fingers.

  “Are you two…alright?” she asked not really knowing how to check if they were being mind controlled.

  “You!” Marcy rushed at her and Sarah had to move quickly to avoid the woman slamming a fist into her face.

  “Wait, your husband he…” she tried to think of the right words, “saved me I suppose…”

  Marcy paused but stayed tensed just in case this woman was about to lie to them again.

  “I have been unable to stop myself doing things I wouldn’t normally do and believe me I feel sick at the thought of many of them.”

  Marcy looked into the eyes of the girl stood in front of her who looked nothing like the confident woman they had met earlier that morning, seeing the pain and embarrassment in her face she relaxed knowing Sarah was telling the truth.

  “It’s OK,” Marcy held up her hands, “we understand.”

  Sarah began to cry, she couldn't stop herself as the memories of the things s
he had done and witnessed flooded into her mind. Marcy pulled her close, “shh, its OK Seth will make him pay.”

  ***

  The attack came out of the blue, Seth didn’t expect Corey to try something so audacious but none the less he did.

  “You fool, you thought you could break my control over your mind?” he stepped away casually confident in his ability to hold Seth where he was.

  “I have been honing my skills for centuries, yes I could cure a cow or fix a broken bone but those were skills for the women, once I discovered the power to control the wills of others then I only focused on that and nothing else.” He turned his back and Seth watched as he walked away.

  “When I discovered what I…what we are,” he raised his fists in a triumphant gesture, “nothing could stop me, that is, nothing except others of our brethren.” Corey straightened his back by drawing energy from around him and bracing his spine to support the effort.

  “I must admit I was shocked, were you?” He looked at Seth, but he just looked back at him confused.

  “How precious, you don’t know what you are do you…” he let out a laugh. “We are Gods dear friend, the old gods born to this mortal coil.” he grinned and bared his teeth.

  “Nothing to say oh mighty Seth? Of course, you can’t speak…” he waved his hand and Seth cocked his head slightly.

  “You have gone mad Corey, all these years believing yourself to be more powerful than everyone else and its given you a God complex!”

  Corey smirked and strolled across the offices to the table. He picked up a glass and filled it with water from the jug. He lifted it in an offer to Seth who shook his head.

  “Indeed, some may think that to be the case, however, I have lived a very long time and come across many who had abilities with Spae but none who could match my own skills. I even took an apprentice on during the sixteen fifties, but she was so useless I concluded she must have been a distant descendant of one of our…” he waggled his fingers in an air quotation gesture “Friends.”

  “It took a while, but I finally broke through my subconscious and delved deep into my past lives and lo and behold I only had this one but before that, I saw memories of Woden and his grand table all surrounded by the old Gods…you were there too.” He pointed at Seth.

  “Anyway, enough of all this reminiscing, its high time I was rid of you. If you would be so kind as to throw yourself from my window so I can return to sorting out the mess you have caused.” He waved his hand towards the window and Seth looked in that direction.

  Slowly his feet began to move and as Corey looked up to watch as his puppet launched himself through the glass he froze to see him walking towards him.

  “Out of the window I said.” panic filling his voice.

  “The thing is Corey, your mind tricks didn’t work on me back then and now I know them intimately, they can’t work on me now, irrespective of your mastery of the technique.” He grabbed Corey by the throat and lifted his frail old body off the ground.

  “I am interested to learn more about your claims as it makes sense especially since I have spoken to Woden and he mentioned something along these lines,” lowering the man he loosened his grip without fully letting go and looked at him expectantly.

  “My name was Loki” he croaked, “it was decided that the old ways were over now the humans only believed in one God. Woden, of course, was the one God while the rest of us agreed to be born as humans and live out our existence for as long as we desired.”

  Corey reached for Seth’s arm and tried to free himself, but the younger man was too strong.

  “Who am I in this tale?”

  “I thought that would be obvious,” he grinned weakly. “All those lightening shows…bolts from nowhere…” he looked and waited for the penny to drop.

  “Thunor?”

  “hooray…finally!” Seth increased his grip and Corey’s eyes bulged.

  Seth thought back to his meeting with Woden, he hadn’t really been paying attention as all he wanted was to join Meredith but when he was told her soul would return he felt energised and ready to wait. What had he said to him? He repeated the words aloud.

  “As I have said, the time for the old gods has passed and my brethren and children have all gone as there can be only one God…”

  “Yes, that’s what he said.” Corey struggled to speak.

  Seth released his grip and puzzled on this for a moment. Corey began to edge away in the hope of escaping while Seth was distracted.

  “Don’t move, your end is coming and if you even twitch it will arrive sooner than you would like!”

  Corey froze and began to panic.

  “Listen, Seth, I know this has been a lot to take in and most of it has come as a shock but let’s be reasonable,” Seth regarded Corey still digesting these revelations. “You don’t want to kill me surely?”

  “I don’t, why not?” Seth was intrigued.

  “Because what would happen if you did. Look at it this way I control every world leader,” he raised his hands when he saw the look on Seth’s face, “not mind control I assure you, these men and women have ambition I help them realise and in return they do as I say…just like the journalist Nicola she acted on her own will and instinct I only facilitated the publishing of her stories and her rise to TV reporter”

  Seth’s anger prickled at the sound of Nicola’s name. “What would they lose by no longer answering to you?” He asked.

  “That’s not what I mean, they are mostly decent people but their desire for power is managed by me, I let them have sips here and there but if you kill me then who would control their thirst?”

  It made sense to Seth and he could see what the potential risks were if Corey was not balancing the power struggle…a void is soon filled, and Corey’s death would leave a huge hole for someone to fill or worse fight for.

  Corey pressed on seeing Seth’s understanding, “just let me know what you want, and I will make it happen, you want the journalist to go away…done.”

  “I want to be left alone to spend my life with my family” Seth growled. The thought of someone being ‘dealt with’ to strike a bargain made him feel sick.

  “Not a problem consider yourself left alone…no one will bother you ever again” Corey held out his hand.

  “I really think you still believe you can sway my mind, Corey.” Seth smiled, “I can feel you trying to add feelings to weight your argument, but I told you I am immune to your efforts.” He took a step towards him, “let’s see how you like it?” He reached out and into Corey’s mind at first, he saw resistance and the look of horror on the man’s face drove him to press harder.

  All around him he saw the patterns of thoughts and memories and the tell-tale fingerprint he now knew to be Corey’s consciousness interspersed with these. Once again, he sought out the patterns of the man’s thoughts and imposed his own will upon them.

  “How do you like the feeling, Corey?” The old man was still and silent.

  Seth looked at him for a second and then pushed his own consciousness deeper into Corey’s.

  “Stand on one foot” he commanded.

  Corey’s right leg raised. Seth smiled.

  “Hop up and down.”

  Corey began to hop, though the pain of doing so was written all over his face.

  Seth thought for a second, perhaps there was another way, after all, he is the human incarnation of the God Thunor!

  What Next?

  The door opened, and Marcy, Hope and Sarah quickly stood and watched in horror as Corey walked calmly into the room.

  “You bastard!” Sarah shouted but Corey didn’t seem to hear her.

  The door opened wider and behind Corey was Seth, face blank of expression.

  “No!” Marcy began to cry and Hope dropped back down to her chair and looked in disbelief at what she saw.

  “Why are you crying my love,” Seth asked, “are you not happy to see me?”

  Marcy stopped and looked back to her husband who was n
ow smiling broadly

  “Told you I’d be back and with five minutes to spare.”

  She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, “so why is he still alive?”

  “Ah, well currently I am…reprogramming him you could say, he is a very useful man to know and have around and I need him while the world transitions for one person in control to many people. I need to ensure proper dialogue can be undertaken and those who only seek power and influence are removed in favour of people who want change and unity,” he patted Corey on the back. “You want that too don’t you my friend?”

  Corey nodded, “yes, Master.”

  Sarah was amazed, “how did you do it?”

  “Sarah, I am glad you stuck around. I was afraid I’d have to send some of Corey’s people to fetch you.” He sat down at the table and invited them all to listen.

  “We will be leaving soon, I have my eye on a lovely piece of real estate in the north which I think will be an excellent home for us to live out our lives in, Hope really needs to start mixing with people her own age and I want her to have that opportunity.” Sarah looked confused.

  “Don’t worry, I learned a few tricks and Corey is entirely under my influence…I have a couple of friends who are ensuring he stays that way for the remaining years he has left. Though he may find sleep a little…disrupted by nightmares.” He winked at Hope.

  Hope immediately understood the reference and smiled.

  “You, Sarah, know as much about how this organisation is run as Corey, I think I also know someone who would be an ideal Chief Executive for you to work with in your new executive role. I have already spoken to Val and she is heading over as we speak.”

  “My new executive role?” Sarah queried.

  “Yes, I…well Corey has decided you require a promotion and significant salary increase. The role of Operations Director has recently been made available…if you are interested that is?”

  Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing, forty minutes ago, she was only a sex object to be paraded around the offices for her boss’s pleasure and now she was being offered the job of a lifetime, everything she had ever wanted.