by M C Ashley
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “There has to be more out there. We can’t be the last ones left.”
“As far as the world is concerned,” Mara said, sighing, “Zea is the last Psionic and you are the last Sentinel, Blake.”
Chapter 7
1
“I need to sit,” I said, holding onto a pillar for support as my legs went numb.
“Here, let me hold you up,” Zea said, grabbing me by the left arm and keeping me upright.
“Thanks.” My feet wouldn’t move. “I can’t—I feel this—”
“There’s no shame in fear, Blake. Overcome it. Remember your training.”
Although she was smaller than me, Zea was able to keep me standing with little to no effort. Part of me thought I was weak for letting her do this for me, but the rest of me was too preoccupied to bother trying to reconcile gender roles in a time of crisis.
I looked down at my feet and told them to move, but nothing happened.
“I—I can’t,” I said. “I—”
“Zea, ask permission,” Mara said, not moving to assist.
Zea turned to me and looked me in the eyes, a soft, intentional coolness greeting me. “The second Law forbids me from moving you unless you give me your permission,” Zea said. “Blake, can I take control of your body to move you?”
I stared at her. The second Law of the Christened forbade anyone from taking control of another human’s body, as it stripped their will from them. The invoker needed to know all or part of the name of the person they were binding, as it wouldn’t work any other way. The fewer names you knew of a person’s true name, the weaker the invocation would be. It was still taught to us just in case the need arose, but I had only been forced to use it once to save Rica’s life after she’d fractured her ribs while fighting a lamia.
“You have my permission,” I said, closing my eyes.
Zea placed me down spread-eagle on the floor. I grew increasingly dazed, and I saw the faces of my mother and father when I closed my eyes again. They were shaking their heads at me, and I heard a soft, amalgamated version of their voices telling me that I needed to give up and come back to them.
“Blake Azarel, I bind you to myself, so that you may do whatever I force you to,” Zea said, as I opened my eyes to see her cringing. “Serve out my will!”
I could feel my body raise up, Zea’s thoughts penetrating my own. A savage iciness radiated throughout my nerves, as a hollow ringing filled my mind. Nothing I wanted to do mattered anymore; I was one with Zea, who commanded me to move forward to one of the chairs near the front that looked as if no one had used them in a century. She told me to sit down and my body did so, as I faded into unconsciousness.
2
I woke up in a bed hearing Mara and Zea arguing intensely nearby. Both had their backs turned to me and were completely oblivious that I was awake.
“He’s hiding something from us,” Zea said. “Those bruises aren’t natural. I didn’t even feel them when we merged.”
“It is possible that he was unaware of them as well,” Mara said. “There are some wounds that even the strongest of our kind cannot detect.”
“But they were everywhere! If I hadn’t taken his clothes off I never would have noticed them at all!”
I perked up and looked down at my body. Someone had taken off my usual attire and replaced it with a beige tunic. I didn’t sense any malicious intent behind it, as all medicinal invocation required contact with the skin in order to work, and a complete visual analysis of the work being done. Still I had to admit to a sense of unease at the thought of another witnessing my naked form without my consent. But, considering what Zea had found in doing so, I should have been more upset about the bruises she’d mentioned. I gazed down at myself, seeing purple gashes across my legs and arms. “Gashes” wasn’t the best description, seeing as they seemed to have a symmetry to them, almost as if someone had tried to craft an invocation or seal onto my body. Every now and then I could detect a faint pulsation from them, and I bit my tongue involuntarily. I gripped my fists to not cry out loud.
“You must calm down, my child,” Mara said. “If he knows about them, then he must have his reasons for not telling us about them. Given his current condition, I would think he didn’t know he had them, nor does he feel any pain.”
“But how could that happen?” Zea asked, waving a hand in the air. “I touched one of the markings, Mara. That power…it hurt. I don’t know how else to describe it. It didn’t belong here.”
“Have you attempted to heal the wounds?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t able to do much. They would recede a bit if I focused, but they were fighting back the whole time. Then I focused harder and they disappeared for a moment, as if they had never been there. Then, when I stopped, they showed up again.”
“It sounds like a protective seal. The Archives mention them, but I have never heard of them being used on a human before.”
“A seal? To keep something out…or something in?”
“I do not know. The seals I have heard of are used primarily to keep certain forces out of the body, but to keep something in? That I do not know.”
I looked down at my body again and noticed that the lines were gone and my skin had returned to its normal coloration.
What is that? I asked myself. A seal? Who put it there?
Why yours truly of course, Nathan’s chipper voice piped up.
You? Why would you do that?
I have my reasons. You’ll find out when the time is right. He chuckled. I’m sorry, but being cryptic is so much fun. Now I know why my mentor used to do the same to me.
You’re not making any sense.
I don’t have to; I’m being cryptic. You’ve studied Greek. You know what the word means. Deal with it.
“Oh, that tears it,” I said, not realizing I was saying it out loud. “Nathan, you tell me what you did to me and why, right now!”
I heard Mara gasp as Zea turned sharply to gaze in my direction as I tensed up and realized my mistake.
“Who’s Nathan?” Zea asked. “Who are you in contact with?”
“He’s the man who talks to me in my head,” I deadpanned.
Zea walked towards me, but Mara held her by the shoulder.
“For someone who talks of how others are impulsive, you end up falling into the same trap,” Mara said. “Let him explain himself.”
Zea stood still, awaiting my explanation.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said, staring into her eyes. “He started talking to me recently, as in right after I had my first encounter with vampires in this time. He claims that he wants to help me, but I’ve never seen him before, nor do I know of anyone by that name.”
Zea nodded. “Well, at least he believes in it,” she said. “Why was he talking to you?”
“The seals you mentioned. He said that he put them on me, but wouldn’t specify why. Then we got into an argument about being cryptic, and I shouted out at him, which made you realize I was awake and is the reason for why we’re currently arguing.” I looked to Mara. “Ever heard of him before? His full name’s Nathaniel David Parker.”
Mara’s eyes twitched. “I—I have heard of him,” she said. “The Archives say that he is not of this world, yet part of him will be here or could be here now. The entries that are written on him are vague as to his origins. Some say that he is from another reality and that he traverses a hypothetical ‘omniverse’ to do what we do, but on a far grander scale. Others have written that he was there when the Gray Forum was established, and that he checks up on us periodically to make sure that we are doing as we are supposed to. His powers are said to be far beyond what any of us could muster, and it is written that he was responsible for the death of most of the Telchines when they tried to take control of Judea following the crucifixion.”
“The Telchines?”
“A group of seventeen sorcerers and sorceresses who were once worshiped as gods on the island of Rhodes. All of t
hem were extremely powerful and resistant to the rising of Jesus, so they invaded Judea to kill His followers. However, the moment they arrived in Judea, the first Psionics and Sentinels—those who would later form the Gray Forum—were there to oppose them. Nathaniel is said to have been among them, as he was the one who’d gathered them there to protect the nation. It is also recorded that he killed eleven of them by himself, while two others were killed by those he’d brought with him. Four members of the Telchines escaped—”
“—and became founding members of the Red Council,” I finished for her, slowly realizing I knew this information. “It’s coming back to me now. I should know better. We’re all taught how the Gray Forum started in history class.” I put a hand on my chin and thought. “Why couldn’t I remember that until now? Perhaps there’s some form of mental block on me that I was unaware of? Or maybe it’s because I’m still adjusting to this temporal shift I’ve found myself in? Oh well. Would you mind helping to answer my questions until I regain what I can of my memories?”
“Indeed.”
“Thanks. So this Nathan guy…he was alive over two thousand years ago?”
“Just as the members of the Telchines who are a part of the Red Council were alive in your time.”
“Good point. If they could still be around then—then I suppose it’s conceivable that Nathan could too.”
“It is recorded that his abilities far surpass our own. If he is not Christened, then he is something we cannot quantify by our abilities. However, from what I do know, he is on our side, as we are supposed to be on the side of the Almighty. One cannot help but wonder, though, why he hasn’t appeared to help us now or to stop the destruction of the Gray Forum.”
I nodded and pushed myself up so I could sit. “‘However, my ability is limited, because I have restrictions placed on me, just like we all do,’” I quoted. “It seems like he’s not able to do whatever he wants when it comes to direct interference.”
“Which is interesting, but doesn’t answer our questions about your condition,” Zea said, breaking my train of thought.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“A day,” Mara said. “I am surprised it was not longer.”
“Frankly, I’m amazed that you’re even able to sit upright,” Zea said, as she bent down and checked the bandages. “And that I wasn’t able to detect these wounds while we were linked.”
“That is alarming,” I said. “I hadn’t noticed them either until you two mentioned them. You’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but I have no idea how they got there, Zee.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. You’re under a lot of stress. This memory loss cannot be helping either.”
“Not in the slightest.” I blinked twice and recalled an earlier conversation I’d had. “Wait a minute. The Feast.”
“The Feast?” Mara repeated. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“What do you mean? What’s the plan? How do we stop it?”
Zea and Mara exchanged glances.
“We don’t,” Mara said, frowning.
“What do you mean ‘We don’t’? We have a responsibility to help those people. They’re going to kill six-hundred and three people in this city and over ten others!”
“We know that,” Zea said, grimacing. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“But all those people are going to die!” I shouted. “And you’re not going to do anything about it?”
“What can we do, Blake? We’re outnumbered here. You’re used to numbers on your side, so I’ll forgive your ignorance.”
“The odds being stacked against you are never a reason to give up.”
“But suicide is never a viable option,” Zea countered. “There are dozens of vampires in Vice City right now, each one more than willing to feed on you until you’re drained. The moment you announce your presence there, they will kill you if they don’t try to take you alive first. Zoë Slinden will take you into her headquarters, and cause you to fall into your baser desires. She will force you to lust after her continually, giving her more power than she’s had in years. If you’re lucky she’ll get tired of you after a year or two and throw you out like garbage. If not, then you’re stuck with her for the rest of your life, doing all the things you’d never do if you were in control of your mind.”
“No one’s making me do anything. I’d sooner die than let that happen.”
“That’s your problem! You’re far too willing to die for a cause you know can’t succeed!”
“At least I’d do something, rather than sitting here and wallowing in this filth.”
“This filth is the headquarters of the Gray Forum!” Zea shouted.
“Was!” I yelled. “They’re dead now, remember? I somehow managed to not be one of them!”
“Which you should count as a blessing! Listen, none of us know how this happened, but you’re alive and you need to stay that way! The world can’t afford to lose another Christener! We need time to regroup, find others if we can, and use the time we have training each other to rebuild the Gray Forum!”
“Wasting time isn’t going to help those people getting sacrificed! There are over six thousand people who are going to die in the Feast if we don’t stop it soon! They said that they were planning on doing it every year from now on! We have to stop this!”
“We can’t save them all! There’s no time!” Zea shouted.
“Then we save those that we can! It’s our job!”
Zea glared at me and crossed her arms. I could feel her powers strengthening, almost as if she was gearing up to attack me, but no attack came. I realized then just how alike we were. I was too stunned to talk, having never seen a kindred, uncontrollable spirit before.
“You’re like me,” I said, finally. “You can barely keep the Christening contained within yourself. We’re too powerful for our own good.”
“Yes,” she said, breathing deeply. “I need perfect concentration or it can leave me and hurt others.”
“Then you know all about responsibility then? You know how people like us are taught to use our abilities to help others. That we have to.”
“Yes.”
“Then why won’t you help me?”
Zea sighed and dropped her arms down, having managed to contain her powers this time. She looked at me intently and nodded.
“If you insist on doing this, then you’ll have to pass a test,” Zea said, crossing her arms again.
“And that would be?” I asked.
“We’re going to spar. If you beat me, you get to go. If I beat you, then you stay here and do what we tell you today.”
“Deal.”
Chapter 8
We stood on the Proving Grounds, the sacred dueling ring of sorts for our kind. Honestly, I was surprised it was standing, given how many times it had been used. I was wearing my usual garb, retrieved from the room where I had been sleeping. My body felt a little weaker than usual, but I was recovering quickly.
The Proving Grounds were our way of settling inner disputes. Two opponents would stand on either side of the ring, where they would duel each other, without killing. The winner would be declared right in whatever dispute they’d had. The Christened are efficient that way.
It consisted of a reproduction of a boxing ring, wherein the opponents would not leave its boundaries. Anyone who did was automatically defeated, so part of the strategy was to see if one could force their foe out of the ring. Around the ring were four pillars that extended up to the ceiling and were supposed to represent areas of the environment that one could use to adjust their frame of attack.
Primarily, people in the Gray Forum who just didn’t like each other and wanted to have an excuse to pulverize the other guy without any repercussions would use the ring. Even senior members of the High Court were known to have used the ring as a petty excuse to beat up some of the people who got a little too snippy for their tastes. Then again, I was no saint either, seeing as I’d used it to beat the tar
out of some people I really couldn’t stand.
However, it was also used as a way of training for younger Psionics and Sentinels, who would fight one another, comparing skills and battle strategies, while forging bonds of friendship. It was also how I’d first met Akemi and Rica, who were people I didn’t normally train with, since they were Psionics. After our many years of working together, I knew all of their moves, defeating them in the Proving Grounds effortlessly.
Now here I was again, this time facing down a woman I had just met a day ago. Zea stared me down from the other side of the ring, waiting for me to make the first move in our bout. Mara sat down near the ring, but had said that she would not intervene in the fight.
“I can see your eyes, Blake,” Zea said, pacing her side of the ring. “I can see that you’re waiting for me to show a moment of weakness.”
“‘Eyes don’t lie,’” I quoted.
“From your mother’s book.”
“The part I read anyways.”
“Well she’s right—I can see your eyes and they’re telling me that you don’t really believe in what you’re trying to do.”
“Oh, now you’re just trying to get in my head.”
“Eyes don’t lie.”
“So I’ve read, but that won’t stop me from—Fiat lux!”
“Too slow!”
The light that I had ushered forward to Zea missed her completely, as she leaped to her right, and threw a kunai at me. Surprised by its sudden appearance, I tried to move away from it, but realized almost too late that it would hit me.
“Defendat omnes!” I shouted, invoking an invisible shield in front of me.
I was never really good at summoning protective invocations and this day was no exception. The idea of focusing my energy into a confined space so that nothing could get past it was beyond me. I could only temporarily make it happen.