The Bright Eyes (The Soulless Ones Book 1)

by Leo E. Ndelle

“See what I see! Feel what I feel!” it bared its fangs.

  “Rise, Yehuda of Keriyyoth!” declared Kundalini, The Serpent of Consciousness and buried its golden fangs into the crown of Yehuda’s head.

  The brightness was so intense that Yehuda’s body became the brightness itself as Kundalini injected the venom of a new kind of consciousness into Yehuda. Even Priya had to admit that it was the coolest sight she had ever beheld. Yehuda was the human embodiment of some energy, or life force that was impossible to describe. That energy, that life force, was that of Kundalini itself. Hence, the grand entrance in the ballroom.

  ***

  “WOW!” Shi’mon said, lost for words.

  Sasha and Andrew agreed and the bubble dissipated. They were back in real time and just in time to see Anna march in with a group of about ten Bright Eyes.

  “What are you imbeciles waiting for?” she barked at the Bright Eyes. “Make haste and attack these vermin or I would lay thee to ash with mine own hands!”

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you this is the twenty-first century, and no one talks like that anymore?” Sasha taunted.

  “And did you ever wonder who took the lives of your family?” Anna retorted.

  Sasha finally realized the truth and she burned with a very dark fury.

  “She’s all yours, Sash,” Yehuda said.

  “Oh, you don’t have to tell me twice!” Sasha replied and zipped towards Anna.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: NATURAL SELECTION

  Andrew zipped and zigzagged among the Bright Eyes with a sword that had a five-foot, double-edged, samurai-sharp silver blade he had summoned in his right hand. He had trained a good number of them, but there were many other faces he did not recognize. He realized that The Twins must have initiated more conversions. The Bright Eyes tried to adapt to no avail. Heads rolled, and bodies turned to ash. A group of eight Bright Eyes with weapons of decapitation formed a circle around him, causing him to halt for an instant. A luper charged from the front and another charged from his left. If he stepped backward, his spine would kiss the tip of a four-foot long medieval sword trained on his back. So, he zipped at a forty-five-degree angle to his right, cutting through the liver of the luper who attacked him from the front and driving the heel of his right foot into the solar plexus of a chuper in front of him. The chuper rolled backward, and its immediate instinct was to charge forward.

  So predictable! Andrew pivoted on his left heel. Using the momentum of his spin, he brought his sword down on her neck. At the same time, he whipped his right hand around in an upward arc, and his blade sliced through the neck of the luper with the split liver. Two heads rolled, two bodies turned to ash. The other six Bright Eyes attacked in a chaotic formation. Andrew smiled. The first Bright Eye, a chuper, swung at his neck, right-to-left, with his axe. At the same time, another chuper traced a downward arc with its scimitar from left-to-right. Andrew dropped low to the ground and did a forward roll. The axe and scimitar sliced through air as Andrew summoned a second sword. Using the momentum of the roll, he leaped upwards slicing through the torsos of the chupers, halving both of them. They would need about six seconds before they could reattach themselves, which they would never get.

  Andrew landed among the last four Bright Eyes in the formation and wasted no time attacking. He crashed his left heel into the outer knee of a luper, shattering its patella and ripping soft tissue apart. In the same move, he turned his body to the right and thrust his sword into the side of a chuper. The sword made a clean exit on the other side. Andrew used his body and pulled the sword outward, causing the chuper’s tummy to look like a repulsive and bloody clown smile. Both creatures yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground. They would need a few seconds to heal. Before the last two of the formation realized what was going in, Andrew zipped past the pair, and their headless bodies went limp before turning to ash. Andrew took one final zip past the two healing Bright Eyes on the ground and turned them to ash. The entire assault and counter-assault had lasted exactly four-point-eight-one seconds.

  From a certain vantage point, Shi’mon seemed to glide through the Bright Eyes like lava down the side of an active volcano. The Bright Eyes howled, screamed and thrashed, but he was like a mountain that would never succumb to the rain, wind or storm as headless bodies dropped to the floor and turned to ash. Forty-eight hours ago, he would have relished seeing these creatures, these abominations, fall to the fury of his fiery fists. He would have savored in the sheer savagery of the slaughter, and sadistically too. But not this time! With each Bright Eye that turned to ash, his heart sank!

  He felt the last trace of their humanity evaporate from their soulless bodies, right before they turned to ash. He felt their gratefulness, their happiness, and their peace. If he could, he would save them all and render them human again. But they had chosen otherwise. Perhaps it was for the better. Maybe they would have been so torn by guilt for all the atrocities they had committed during their state of soullessness. Maybe the pain and suffering after their return to humanity would have been too much for them to bear. Maybe, them regaining their souls would be more of a sentencing than a cure. Maybe… Maybe….

  Sasha crashed her right shoulder into Anna’s chest, sending Anna crashing into the stone wall. As Anna tried to regain herself from the crash, Sasha grabbed Anna by the throat, lifted Anna above her head and slammed Anna’s body into the stone floor. Many cracks radiated away from the point of impact of Anna’s body. Sasha balled her right hand into a fist and brought it down on Anna’s face. But Anna rolled on her right shoulder, away from Sasha’s body and fist. Sasha’s fist finally came to a stop at about six inches deep into the stone floor and Anna rolled back towards her left, crashing her left shoulder into the back of Sasha’s elbow. Sasha screamed in pain as her elbow broke in several places.

  Anna continued her roll over Sasha’s body. She used the momentum of her roll to drive a left uppercut into Sasha’s chin. Sasha was thrown ten feet across the room. But she had no time to hit the ground as Anna zipped past her and drove a knee right into her spine. Anna then dug the claws of her right hand into Sasha’s right shoulder, hurled Sasha over her head, and bashed Sasha’s body six times on the floor before hurling Sasha across the room. Sasha’s body was a painful sight of broken bones and severely damaged internal organs. Anna slamming her into the wall was just adding insult to injury. Anna walked slowly towards her, relishing at the carnage she had just unleashed on Sasha.

  “And to think you could ever best me in combat,” Anna snickered and wrapped the claws of her left hand around Sasha’s neck, who seemed too weak to do anything.

  “I have given some thought as to which of thine family tasted the best,” she said as she dug a claw of her free right hand into Sasha’s bleeding chest.

  There were a few ribs sticking out, but these were slowly retreating into place as Sasha was healing herself. Anna removed her claw from Sasha’s chest and sucked it dry of the blood. She shuddered from the immediate rush she felt.

  “Thine mother was the best, but thou, Sasha! Oh my!”

  Her eyes flashed so brightly that Anna herself was surprised. The surge of energy that coursed through her being was unlike anything she had felt before. It was as invigorating as it was intoxicating.

  “What ART thou, Sasha?!” she asked, without expecting an answer, and bared her fangs to drain Sasha dry.

  “Your nemesis!” Sasha hissed.

  While Anna was busy with her monologue, Sasha had fully healed herself. She drove a right uppercut into the back of Anna’s elbow and completely shattered it. Anna howled in excruciating pain and let go of Sasha’s throat. Sasha dropped to her feet and immediately side-stepped to Anna’s right. She slid her right forearm underneath Anna’s right triceps and slipped her left forearm over Anna’s right forearm at the same time, sinking her weight in the process. She then clasped her hands as she clamped Anna’s right elbow her chest, just below her neck.

  Then, in a single motion, Sasha violently rotated her bo
dy in a semicircle, bringing her left and right arm down, her chest upwards and crashing her left foot into Anna’s right calf, pinning Anna to the ground as she resumed an erect posture. Anna’s body remained in place but her right elbow and shoulder violently rotated in unusual angles. Anna’s elbow was broken in a few places, but the damage was nothing compared to what happened to her right shoulder. For good measure, Sasha zipped away from Anna’s body, still maintaining her hold on Anna’s right arm. Anna’s right arm was violently torn off her body, and the pain was unthinkable.

  Anna howled and collapsed to the floor as she reached for the stump that used to be her right arm with her left hand. The stump was bleeding profusely, and Anna was howling in pain. Sasha walked over to Anna and grabbed her by the throat.

  “I want you to look into my eyes as I end your pathetic existence,” Sasha said lifting Anna’s face to her eye level.

  The luper stared into Sasha’s eyes, as she surrendered to the inevitable.

  “I want this to be the last thing you see before I make you suffer something worse than what you did to my family!”

  She applied pressure just below Anna’s mandibles and Anna’s mouth opened by force.

  “This is for my family!” she said between clenched teeth and opened her mouth.

  A blue flame shot out from Sasha’s mouth into Anna’s mouth, like a human dragon breathing blue flame out of her mouth. But it was not a flame that burned with heat. It was not a flame that required air for fuel. It was a flame that was formed from the very ethers themselves, forged with a powerful will and can only be extinguished by a powerful will. Anna felt the burn, but it was not like fire. The flame consumed Anna from the subcellular level and burned her away. She felt the burn course through her as Sasha continued to unleash its blue fury into her. She felt every iota of the illusion she called ‘self’ burned away to nothingness. The pain and the agony were indescribable.

  Anna’s eyes did not even flash for one last time. There was no gratefulness, no happiness and no peace in her final moments. She went into nothingness, sadness, confusion, and oblivion. She turned to ash not even knowing what had just happened to her; only that her existence had come to a most unexpected end. Sasha felt closure as she lowered her ashy hand to her side. Five centuries of suppressed emotions suddenly crashed down on her like an avalanche. She broke down into uncontrollable tears and emotional exhaustion, not caring about the rest of the fight that raged on around her. But Yehuda cared!

  Yehuda felt the power surge through every fiber of his protoplasmic constituency. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. He did not need to decapitate the Bright Eyes. A simple laying on hands and the Bright Eyes evaporated in a puff of ash. Bright Eye after Bright Eye fell to his touch of death and their numbers dwindled quickly. And then, he remembered the words of Kundalini, right before his resurrection. He was unsure how he remembered. Perhaps because at his resurrection, there had been a temporary fusion of essences; his essence had fused with Kundalini’s essence. That would explain the surge in power. He stopped in the middle of his onslaught. Bright Eyes attacked and hit nothing but air.

  “I am Kundalini, the Serpent of Consciousness!”

  He levitated to about twenty-feet off the floor, opened his arms wide and closed his eyes. Every Bright Eye, including The Twins, stared at Yehuda in awe and confusion.

  “See what I see! Feel what I feel!”

  A transparent serpent of light coalesced and curled three-and-half times around Yehuda. It fanned its head above Yehuda’s head. Yehuda and Kundalini opened their eyes. Two pairs of orbs shone with dazzling brightness where their eyes used to be, and what seemed like electric sparks dancing out of them with jagged legs. Without warning, beams of bright light shot out from the two pairs of eyes, merged into a single beam and washed over the Bright Eyes on the floor. Every Bright Eye, about sixty of them remaining, was turned to ash. When it was over, Yehuda slowly descended to the floor as the luminous manifestation of Kundalini slowly vanished. Yehuda felt drained and weak. He returned to his normal self as Kundalini’s essence became dormant once again.

  “What just happened?” Andrew asked, still incredulous.

  “Kundalini,” Shi’mon answered, cradling Yehuda by the back of his neck. “For a moment, Yehuda was its vessel.”

  “Too bad my form can only handle a tiny fraction of its power,” Yehuda chimed in weakly, still feeling a little groggy.

  “Too bad we didn’t use it on The Twins,” Andrew said, gesturing towards the balcony.

  The Twins overhead them and felt a renewed hope at the possibility of vanquishing their enemies once and for all. For a moment, they had been scared out of their wits at Yehuda and Kundalini in action. Yehuda returned to full strength.

  “Andrew and I will take the bat!” Shi’mon said loud enough for Dreyko to hear.

  “Sasha and I will take the bitch!” Yehuda said out loud so that Danka would hear as he stood up and stretched. “I think I like kicking her doggy tail!”

  “We all have unfinished business!” Dreyko said.

  Danka planted a deep kiss on her brother’s lips and looked at him in the eyes.

  “Let’s finish this brother!” she said.

  Dreyko smiled and nodded.

  The Twins leaped over the balcony in human form. But by the time they landed on the floor, Danka was an eight-foot tall, incredibly beautiful but very feral wolf-looking creature with thick, pristine white fur. Dreyko was an eight-foot tall, hideous-looking, genetically-modified-looking human-bat, with a twelve-foot-wingspan pair of wings. The mother luper landed on the ground on four limbs but slowly stood on her hind legs, while the father chuper gently fluttered his way to the ground, with each flutter sounding like a sudden gust of wind. When his feet finally and gently touched the ground, he folded his wings. The Twins assumed attack positions. Their eyes shone like pairs of red orbs. Their enemies assumed attack positions as well.

  “If you weren’t such a mean bitch,” Yehuda taunted Danka, “you would have made an excellent pet!”

  The mother luper roared, not howled, and zipped, but Dreyko stayed put.

  Danka zipped straight towards Yehuda and Sasha, but they had anticipated her move. They both zipped slightly in opposite directions and prepared for an assault from both sides. But in classic chess move, Danka had also anticipated their move and instead changed her course of zip from straight ahead to her left. Yehuda was too surprised to react as Danka lashed her left paw into Yehuda’s gut. He yelped in pain. Her claws dug in and ripped chunks of flesh in the process. Danka spun on her left heel and sank her right claws into Yehuda’s left shoulder. She dug into flesh, muscle, and tendon. Yehuda let out another scream of pain.

  Sasha realized what was going on and zipped forward to Yehuda’s rescue, only to be stopped by Yehuda’s body hurtling towards her at the speed of zip. He crashed into Sasha and the momentum of the impact was supposed to throw them about fifteen feet across the floor. But Danka zipped forward and drove her right shoulder into their entangled bodies while they were still in midair. The extra force from Danka’s charge sent them straight into the wall. They crashed into the stone wall and many cracks spread along the wall in random patterns from the point of impact. They hit the ground and sprawled forward to end up right in front of Danka’s hind paws.

  Danka scooped Yehuda and Sasha off the floor as if they were two pillows; Yehuda with her left hand and Sasha with her right. She hurled Yehuda over her head and slammed his body into the floor to her right and did the same to Sasha, slamming Sasha’s body to her left. She picked them up once again, leaped thirty feet into the air and crashed their bodies into the floor once again. Yehuda and Sasha coughed blood as ribs shattered into many pieces and dug into their lungs. Sasha and Yehuda were a pair of shattered bones and severely damaged internal organs. Danka leaned forward, burying her claws deep into their chests and licked some of the blood flowing from the corner of Yehuda’s mouth. Her red orbs turned bright white and she felt an al
ien but intoxicating power and energy course through her being. She inched closer towards Yehuda’s left ear.

  “Now you will know just how much of a bitch I am when I drain you of every drop of your blood,” she growled. “I do not know what you have become. But, I must admit, I absolutely love it!”

  She raised her head, bared her fangs and went for Yehuda’s jugular.

  Shi’mon zipped straight towards Dreyko while Andrew came in from Dreyko’s left. Dreyko read through their strategy. He shifted slightly to his right, just out of the Shi’mon’s zip path and extended his left leg. Shi’mon, caught off guard, tripped over Dreyko’s extended leg and lost his balance. Andrew, unable to control his momentum at the very last moment, crashed into Shi’mon and the pair tumbled in a chaotic heap about eight feet to the right. Dreyko picked each man by the ankle and clapped their bodies together as one would clap two slippers together.

  Shi’mon and Andrew barely had enough time to shield themselves with their arms as they crashed into each other. Bones were crushed, fleshed was torn and internal organs were squished. Dreyko turned around and flung them into the wall for good measure. He savored the way the two men collided with the wall. Dreyko zipped towards them and crashed his fists into both men’s guts, pinning them to the wall. Both men could feel their internal organs turn to mush. Dreyko retracted his fists and both men collapsed to the floor. Shi’mon and Andrew would require at least seven seconds to heal themselves. Right now, it felt like seven times infinity.

  “Pathetic!” Dreyko spat.

  He turned to see how his sister was faring. Satisfied, he returned his attention towards Shi’mon and Andrew.

  “I was looking forward to a good fight,” he continued, lifting Andrew off his feet by the throat. “But even though you are such unworthy adversaries, you brought me a gift!”

  Dreyko bared his teeth and plunged them into Andrew’s jugular. The red orbs that were his eyes widened and changed to a very bright whiteness. He felt the surge of energy, of power, of life force through his body with each swallow and the more he drank, the more he felt it. It was alien, it was intoxicating, and it was invigorating. For the first time in over fifteen centuries, Dreyko felt alive! His soullessness was diminishing. And with each drink, the brightness in Andrew’s eyes grew dimmer.