He barely had time to think any further, as he felt the immense power of Zatera’s mind rush upon him once more.
“NO!” Daniel screamed as he pressed his palms against his temples. A shockwave rushed from around his feet, and a nearby car flew into the air and came to rest on its side, sliding a farther ten feet before stopping. Daniel was walking down Post Street now, heading directly for Union Square. He frowned. Why am I walking in this direction? he thought.
Because I’m directing you to the most populated area.
At the sound of Zatera’s voice, Daniel’s heart grew cold. The voice dripped with unworldly disdain, and it came with a dissonance Daniel had never before heard. Beneath it were layers of hatred. Daniel grimaced.
I’ll make a deal with you, Daniel. Surrender your mind to me now and nobody else will get hurt.
Daniel yelped again as he felt the entity’s grip increase, yet still, he wrestled to retain control of his body. He watched as, in an explosive display of power, Zatera lifted his arms toward each side of the street. Then Daniel felt the power rush through them as the entity accessed his own abilities again, violating him. For a distance of a hundred feet, the windows lining the shops on the street exploded, sending showers of splinters onto the road. The remaining civilians screamed and ducked to avoid the impact. However, Daniel could tell immediately, even as a splinter left a large scratch on his face, that one of the people who had been scrambling to get out of harm’s way had been hurt badly.
Oh no! he thought. Reflexively, he went to help her, watching as she struggled to get off the ground.
Not so fast, Daniel.
His body stopped moving, frozen mid-stride, and once again Zatera took control. He moved back toward Union Square.
You know where we’re going.
Wincing and once again losing control, he watched as the square approached. Please stop this, Daniel cried, begging for the first time.
In response, he watched as his arm lifted upward, reaching toward a large delivery van. He felt the power surge through him, and his psychokinetic grip wrapped around the vehicle, which rose into the air like a pebble. Then, his arm was tossed upward and the van flew toward the center of the square. It rose in an arc that stretched up to seventy feet, then fell with a crash. A series of screams ensued. Daniel watched in horror as, with rapid reflexes, Zatera reached out with Daniel’s own psychic senses, moved into the battery, and sent a surge of energy into it. It exploded, sending out from underneath it a burst of flames that quickly engulfed the van.
The people who had remained in the square were running in all directions, and now, as a secondary explosion rocked the delivery van, a piece of debris from the vehicle hit one of them in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground. She stopped moving. Realizing he had a moment of control, Daniel wasted no time in reaching out with his thoughts and scanning her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the injury was minor and she would be OK. Struggling to keep the entity at bay for just a second, fighting the control with all his will, he reached out a hand. Using his psychic senses, he gripped the woman’s body. Then he lifted it and gently levitated her to safety on Powell Street, fifty feet away. He lowered her to the ground in a recess near an entrance to a building, hoping that would be refuge enough.
That was all he could do. Daniel sank to his knees as the entity gripped his neck. It felt as though his windpipe was going to be crushed; his air supply had been cut off completely. No. Won’t let you—
Really, Daniel? came the reply. I wonder what else we can do here.
Daniel’s head turned—the ironclad grip still clamped around his neck—and he was forced to look around the square. Despite the explosions, civilians were still there. In the distance, on the other side, he saw faces pressed against glass windows, where confused people waited, frightened and unsure of what to do. Then he was pulled back into that abyss from which he could only watch through the portal as the entity once again took complete control of his body. The translucent film of energy—which Daniel knew would encase him if he let it—began to form around him. He focused his mind on it and. with all his remaining vigor, forced it to recede it. As it disappeared around his feet, Daniel returned his attention to the window and watched.
He knew his strength was waning, and the entity almost had complete control of his body. Daniel’s own psychic reserves were too drained to attempt to regain control, and in truth, he was terrified of what this being might do should he try. For the moment, Daniel decided to watch, knowing this was the best card he had left to play at this juncture; he knew that Zatera would cause further damage, but Daniel wasn’t yet strong enough to try to stop him. If he allowed some time to pass, his energy may be somewhat restored, and he could try to wrestle control once again. However, in his secret heart, although he ignored it, he had serious doubts.
Instead, Daniel watched through the strange, fluttering window as his body turned at the edge of the square. A car rose off the ground and flew into the second floor of a building, where it exploded. A barrage of rock, wood, and other debris rained onto the road below, sending a few terrified people scattering. Some of them even ran toward him, dashing straight past.
Then, Daniel felt those psychic muscles flex as the entity used his power to cause the vehicle to explode. A plume of fire blew out from the second story and floated upward. The building’s upper floors buckled, and at the center, a large crack appeared at the support level and dropped by a foot. The sound of breaking concrete echoed into the square. For a moment, Daniel feared that the entire building would collapse on itself, but after a moment, he became more sure that wouldn’t happen. The building was intact, save for the structural damage and the flames which were now rising toward the upper floors.
Daniel continued watching from that seemingly eternal void as the entity turned around and scanned the square. After a moment, he stopped moving and stared toward the concrete at the edge. As Daniel looked out from his prison, he was terrified to see that a woman was wounded there, and was attempting to hide behind a vehicle. She peered around from the side of it, looking directly at him and clearly trying to decide whether to remain concealed or run for it. Daniel squirmed. Either way, she didn’t stand a chance.
I think I have a new target, Daniel. His voice echoed through the glimmering, flowing window into that place where Daniel’s essence now waited, and it dripped with both glee and scorn. Daniel detected something else underneath it: a complete lack of concern. This entity had no concern whatsoever for human life—or, indeed, any life at all. Daniel could detect no trace of empathy in the voice whatsoever.
Though he saw only a semblance of his limbs in this place—in this non-corporeal form, his body had a presence only if he focused on it—Daniel could still feel his face form a grimace. The ground beneath his body receded as Zatera rose into the air and moved toward the girl.
***
Naomi waited behind the truck for the young man to leave. She was sure her leg was broken; a piece of flying debris had struck her and knocked her to the ground. Glancing up, she had found herself close to a white van and had crawled toward it as other people fled the scene. However, she was stuck. Now, as she saw him turn his attention directly toward her, new adrenaline began pumping through her veins, worsening the throbbing pain in her leg. Naomi reeled back as she understood. Through the eerie blue light brimming from his eyes, she saw that he was looking directly at her.
She had pressed both hands against the front of the van for support, but now she felt something pull on them. Looking up at the vehicle, she took several gasps as it rose into the air and was pulled from her grasp. Naomi fell back to the ground and watched as the van tipped end over end. She found herself unable to pull away her gaze, for it seemed as if gravity itself had been disengaged from the ground beneath it. Hearing heaving sounds around her, she looked around to see several other vehicles—a taxi and two civilian cars—rise into the air. Each of them flew toward a ce
ntral location above her, near the white van. When they had reached each other and formed the rough shape of a square, the undeniable knowledge of what was about to happen struck her, and her gaze darted back to the man at the corner of Post Street, just fifty feet away. To her horror, she saw that he was levitating too. He had floated off the ground and was moving toward her, slowly and silently.
She lifted herself off the concrete, yelping with the pain that pulsed in her leg, and began pulling herself away from the scene. Images of her being crushed under tons of metal flooded Naomi’s mind, but still she scurried, dismissing the pain. Unable to ignore the impulse to look up, she did so, and saw that the vehicles were still hovering over her, having moved the same thirty-foot distance she had managed to cross. Glancing quickly in the direction of the young man, she found that his name entered her mind. It was Zatera…but somehow, it was also Daniel. This moment of confusion, coupled with her lack of understanding about how she had come across this information, denied Naomi the ability to feel any more shock as the man lifted his hands into the air.
Unable to make any more distance with her broken leg, Naomi fell to the ground, her back slamming against the concrete. Wincing, yelping, she pushed herself upward with her palms and glanced at the vehicles, which were pointing at her. Then she returned her attention to the man. She had become completely transfixed by him. She knew what was coming. She knew she was about to die, but by the hands of someone (or something) from another place—another world. Her brow furrowed at this, and then most of her fear disappeared.
Something changed. Naomi watched as the man’s gaze turned slowly, the lights in his eyes flaring in bright circles as he did. She heard his voice in her mind and winced, for she had never heard such a discordant, disturbing sound before.
NO!
Indeed, the voice had come from the young man directly in front of her, and it was a desperate, rasping growl. Something moved in Naomi’s upper right field of vision, and she glanced in that direction now to see that a man was flying down Powell, drifting near the top of the buildings there. She tilted her head, trying to understand what she was seeing. A flying man? Is this actually happening? Am I in shock? I must be.
At first, his body was covered by a veil of black that fluttered in the wind, but as he drew closer, she saw that it was a beautiful cloak. Beneath it, she could make out his tall, slender frame. In the distance, Naomi saw his face’s angular features. She couldn’t help but smile then, for as she glanced around quickly, she knew the playing field had changed. The young man’s focus had left her entirely. Naomi glanced back up at the flying man, whose name now echoed in her mind—Max. He was looking directly at her.
Can you walk? she heard him ask in her mind, and immediately, she felt her body relax, as though the adrenaline had seeped out through her pores.
I’m not sure. I can try.
I can support you. Leave the area quietly and discreetly.
Naomi nodded. Pressing her palms against the concrete, she was surprised to find a force lifting her as she pushed. The pain in her leg lessened, and she stood up straight.
NO! the young man screamed again.
The cars, which had been hovering over her, tumbled downward toward her. Out of the corner of her eye, Naomi saw the man in the black cloak reach out a hand with inhumanly fast reflexes. When the vehicles were within five feet of her, they froze and came to a dead stop. The sound of heaving metal filled the air. A window smashed in one of the vehicles as they hovered there, and some glass fell nearby. Glancing between the young man and the one in the black cloak, Naomi knew immediately what was going on. They were fighting for control of the cars and the larger van suspended above her. She wasted no further time and walked out from beneath them. Tentatively, she walked toward the upper right corner that led back onto Powell Street, every now and then stealing glances for any sign of further danger. In the background, she heard the metal of the cars buckling under the strain as both Max and the young man fought for control.
Naomi had almost reached the opposite side of Post Street, from where she would turn the corner to Powell, when she risked a glance over her shoulder to take one more look at the cloaked man, whom she knew only as Max. His right arm was stretched toward the vehicles and his face was still: expressionless and stoic, but fierce. Around his palm was the faintest hint of light, like a haze. Naomi was aware of the existence of Ethereals, of course, and of their psychokinetic abilities, but she assured herself that nobody in the world had witnessed anything like this before. Surely this was something else, she thought, and winced. Surely these people were not Ethereals. The answer came quickly: she knew then that they were not.
Another flare of light erupted from the teenager’s eyes, brightening the square in a brief, blue flash. When Naomi heard the creaking sounds of metal once again, and saw Max reaching out his other arm, pointing his palm toward the vehicles, she knew she had overstayed her welcome. Just as she turned around to begin moving up Powell Street, the ground beneath her trembled, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the vehicles flip from their positions. They rose into the air as though they were toys, and one of them flew directly over her head. Her eyes widened as a moment of silence ensued. She felt her heart thud in her chest and she spread out her arms for support. It was as though that split second lasted for an infinity, and she heard herself take a breath as the car swirled almost silently above her.
The vehicle crashed into the upper corner of the building she had been standing in front of—Saks. Naomi moved, but now pain once again throbbed in her leg, which she dragged behind her as large chunks of concrete smashed onto the pavement. She knew she wasn’t out of harm’s way; judging from the sounds surrounding her, the falling chunks of rock had to be enormous. If one of those hit her, she would have no chance of surviving. At this thought, she looked up. Naomi froze and, as though in a trance-like state, watched as a rain of rock and glass fell toward her. She noticed that the glass twinkled as it turned. She had only two seconds of life left, but there was no time to feel fear.
Then everything above her froze, just three feet before a large block of concrete fell right on top of her. Above Naomi, a large piece of glass that could have cut a cleave right through her shoulder turned slowly and glinted. Squirming with pain and forcing herself to look around, Naomi glanced across the square to see the other vehicles crash down in different locations, exploding, and lighting up the area with new plumes of fire. Taking a sharp breath, she glanced up at Max. His arms were outstretched in different directions, and he was still floating high next to the buildings at the junction of Powell and Post Streets. One arm was pointed at the deadly rain of debris floating above her. The other was pointed at the young man who was causing this chaos.
He had been encircled in some kind of translucent ball of energy which, to Naomi, looked like a thin, reflective bubble. Slivers of light laced over its surface. Inside, the man glared up at Max, a vitriol-filled expression that caused fear to once again stir in Naomi’s heart. This individual wanted to kill Max. Of that she was certain. Not just kill him—he wanted to obliterate him.
Naomi needed no further prodding. She glanced back up at Max and, seeing that he was looking at her, nodded. She stole one more second to gaze at his perfect features. Then she turned and continued walking out from under the deadly debris. She staggered up Powell Street, still hearing explosions behind her. Indeed, somehow images of the scene even flashed in her mind, and she winced at each one, but she did not look back again. All the way along, until she neared her home, Max never let go of her body, so walking was not much of a problem.
What of him, though? Naomi thought about the cloak, his appearance, and the fight that had ensued after she left. What would become of Max? She grimaced at the thought. Somehow, she knew he was the most important person she had ever laid eyes on—whom anyone had ever seen, for that matter. As she finally reached her house and entered, she sat in a comfortable lounge chair as the sounds of the f
ight gradually diminished. She was far too tired to tend to her leg straight away. She thought about Max again as she lay back against the chair in the darkened room. He might win this fight, but what of his future? Even though Naomi didn’t know him, tears streamed down her face at the thought of this, and she began to sob.
***
The moment the woman was out of sight, Max let the debris fall to the road. Then he lowered himself toward the surface until he was hovering just a few feet off the ground. He pointed both palms toward Daniel and shifted his entire focus on confining him. Daniel was not at the surface now. It was Zatera, controlling him from across the continent, where Max knew the Crystal Tower had already begun growing. He wondered for the second time whether he had made a mistake, but dismissed the idea immediately; he was here now, and had a serious matter to deal with. At this point, the presence of the growing tower posed no immediate threat to the citizens of Earth. However, Daniel was strong enough to cause widespread destruction, even more so now that Zatera was further empowering him.
Zatera was at the forefront of Daniel’s mind, and for the moment was in complete control. Max concentrated fiercely, bearing a look of fierce determination. His blazing blue eyes remained fixed on his target, and he showed no signs of struggle. Using his psychic vision, he looked into the realm where Daniel’s essence had been thrown. Max saw Daniel encased within a psychic barrier.
Daniel, can you hear me? Max asked, projecting his voice as loudly as he could, trying to reach Daniel across the barrier.
In the vast eye of his mind, Max saw Daniel’s bewildered face look up at him through the window, bearing a glimmer of hope. Max winced slightly as he saw just how far Daniel had drifted into that dimension. He could still be reached; if Max worked things right here, Daniel might be able to regain control of his own body. Then Max could erect psychic barriers around Daniel’s mind to protect him from Zatera’s influence.
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