Summon Lyght (Archangels Creed)

by Daniels, Kenra

  The doc bent down for a closer look, conspicuously careful to avoid touching either of them. "I believe he's formed a link to her. But why?"

  Toren was suddenly back, his wings bearing swords that whirred and whined with relentless fury.

  Dorn and Kassern both blocked him before he could do something stupid. "You don't know if she'll get hurt, stop!" Kassern braced both hands on the large warrior's chest. "Let's talk about this first."

  "Look at us," Dorn whispered to Kassern. "We're a freak show. All of our powers are out of control and we're blind."

  "I think it'll get better as we get acclimated to the changes."

  Dorn turned to the girl who'd spoke. "Do you? Whoever you are, I can't even remember your name." He looked at Kassern again. "Me. The perfectionist who forgets nothing, can't even remember a name."

  "Jessie," the girl mumbled. "I'm in your Quad."

  Dorn threw up his hands. "The nail in the coffin."

  ****

  Kassern fought to keep his ruby properties in place as he helped the farechtera move the unconscious Lyght to the big conference room while Toren carried Sam. One of the doc's many useful abilities was his preferred method for moving immobilized patients. He could flash them, but without knowing the state of Lyght's spirit, deemed that method too dangerous. So he encased them in an energy field and levitated them, guiding the floating and undisturbed bodies through the corridors then finally to the open space of the room's floor. He carefully set them down and everyone stared like they'd just buried a family member.

  Kassern wished he could pinpoint the exact problem for all of them. His aquamarine Brother's words were far too true for comfort. They were pitiful. If so much weren't at stake, it might even be funny, but there was nothing at all funny in the circumstances.

  Karly touched his arm gently, for once not having to half-run to keep up, since the entire group moved at a careful pace. "Maybe Kassie knows what's wrong with him?"

  Kassern turned to Karly in surprise. Why hadn't anyone else thought of that? "You're a genius!" He looked around for Lyght's wife. "Where is she?" He searched for the Quad members. "Where are…" he snapped his fingers several times, "…Lesedi and Miya!"

  Dorn quickly caught on. "Everyone, search the compound. They could be in trouble." Dorn directed each person to various locations. Fifteen minutes later, Kassern returned supporting Lesedi and Miya who staggered like sick zombies.

  Kassern waved the doc over. "See what ails them. I have a feeling they're not just too tired to walk." Kassern turned to the tall black man. "When did you notice your symptoms?"

  The man rubbed his face with one hand while holding his arm protectively around his mate, who looked ready to collapse.

  "Someone get her a chair." Kassern helped Lesedi lead her to the seat that had been moved closer for her.

  Lesedi looked around as if he needed to sit too, and Kassern led him to another chair and pulled it close to Miya's.

  At some point when this was all over, they'd need to make more arrangements throughout the compound for this or other kinds of emergency situations.

  Finally, Lesedi swiped a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away cobwebs. "I…cannot recall time well. Everything is a painful blur."

  Kassern remembered what it felt like when Devyn and Troy fought, how it had taken the life right out of him. "Do you hurt anywhere?" Kassern didn't want to wait for the doc to finish his assessment. He prayed that the humans weren't impacted the way the angels were when there was fighting.

  "There doesn't seem to be anything seriously wrong with them," the doc said. "Extreme fatigue. Likely not an uncommon side effect from inheriting angelic abilities."

  "I would think the opposite would be true?" Dorn and Sally came to stand next to Kassern, his aquamarine eye trained on Lyght and Sam. Toren knelt next to Sam, gazing down. What was he doing?

  Kassern turned his attention to Francis and the others, huddled at the far end of the room. Robert slumped in the middle of the group, completely still as if lying in ambush for prey. Except there was no prey and the diamond eyes were dull and listless.

  The Tyler kid was with them, easily included in the group. Zool had said he'd come because of the kid. Or had he meant for him? No one had a chance to find out before the silent warrior was called back to emergency business. The only information they obtained was the single grunt the mysterious Onyx Brother gave after touching the boy on the head. And who would know by that whether the boy was good news or bad news or something in between?

  Lesedi nodded at the diamond warrior on the floor. "What is happening?"

  Kassern wished he knew. "We're trying to figure that out. He stumbled in and collapsed and now we can't find Kassie." Kassern looked around, sudden fear striking him at the thought of his own wife. He relaxed when he saw her talking quietly with Francis.

  "Doc, would you mind having a look at the creatures we seized from Kharef? Something spooked them earlier and they went berserk, attacked a human." Maybe that was tied to this.

  The doc nodded once. Kassern looked around and signaled Troy over.

  "I'll take him," Dorn said. "I don't trust them."

  It was a relief to actually know his aquamarine Brother shared his feelings. Maybe that meant he wasn't being overly emotional about it. He'd wondered if his feelings for Karly were fucking with his judgment. "Good idea, Brother." Or maybe Dorn was as bad off as he was now. Wouldn't that be the shit?

  Chapter Twenty-

  Five

  "What is this?" the farechtera asked.

  Dorn peered into the vault-like container that had been created for holding the creatures. "It's…well, sort of like an incubator." He didn't feel right calling it the prison hospital he'd thought of it as. They'd never had to transport unstable and dangerous beings before, at least not in a manner that ensured a safe arrival for the prisoner, so it had taken some time to construct what seemed to be a satisfactory containment method. At least, according to Peggy, who had designed and built it, along with Sam, who looked over her shoulder the entire time. It was disconcerting that both were the beasts' mothers. Peggy their adoptive, and Sam their biological. But Peggy knew their capabilities better than anyone else.

  The farechtera, or 'doc', as Kassern referred to him, angled his head, clearly incredulous at Dorn's unclear description. He stared through one of the vertical transparent slats designed to view the creatures easily. "Incubator, you say."

  Dorn realized the doc likely wasn't familiar with the term since he dealt with supernatural species almost exclusively. He mentally fished for something to liken it to, something the doc could fathom. "A protected and controlled environment normally used to allow infant creatures to continue to develop safely outside the natural apparatus for the purpose. At any rate, the comparison doesn't really work in this instance. We needed a way to move the creatures and ensure both their safety and security simultaneously. This is what Peggy came up with." He regarded the doc's expected perplexity.

  "Ah yes. Peggy. The sort of adoptive mother. I will need to speak with her eventually."

  Honestly, the idea of those creatures in that container reminded Dorn of one of his urban dictionary words of the day. Puppy Bukakke. To bury someone's face in a pile of canine love and affection. He shook his head at all the maligned analogies he'd recently formed, alarmed at the appalling rate of decline his angelic nature was taking. Decomposing before his flawless eyes.

  "They were in The Darkness for a short time, following the attack. We relocated them here hoping to aid in whatever healing they needed."

  "And…what…are they, exactly?"

  "Scocerith's conspiratorial posterity." The doc's puzzlement prompted further explanation. "They are Un-Allied, but with a twist. They were developed by Socerith's workers, designed to further the Enemy's cause. These, however, were abducted prior to birth and reared by the Archangel Toren's Gefrengea."

  "Peggy."

  "Yes. And they've demonstrated no aggressive tendencie
s or evil proclivities until they attempted to kill a human boy."

  The doc paused only briefly before continuing his slow walk along the circumference of the housing, staring at the creatures that sat about like lethargic children.

  "Whatever hostility took them is nowhere in the vicinity. Do you mind if I have a closer look?"

  "Please." Dorn was beyond eager to have the farechtera learn what afflicted the creatures, beyond the obvious probability of hereditary evil seeping into their subconscious.

  Without further commotion, the doctor Duplicated, forming a second identical body and stepped through the wall of the incarceration chamber. Dorn watched with unmitigated apprehension as the creatures took bored notice of the visitor standing quiet and motionless in their center.

  "Their minds are linked." The copy of the doctor that remained outside the structure sounded fascinated. Dorn waited for something he didn't already know.

  "Their lethargic state is due to…grief."

  Grief?

  "They are horrified with themselves. Confused. Concerned. Afraid." The final observation was whispered in a near awed sadness. Dorn knew he was well into his exam by this display of emotion from the usually monochromatic doc. "Something…something in the boy triggered it. Their reaction was highly unusual."

  "What does that mean?"

  The doc stretched his hand out and touched the forehead of one of the creatures with a bony pale digit. Dorn wished he'd told him about their power infiltration abilities now. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't worry but in this operation, nothing was certain. Allowing the creatures unfettered access to someone with the powers of the farechtera could be a fatal error.

  "I am aware of their ability." The doc moved his hand to the next creature. The one he'd already touched stretched out on the floor and closed its eyes.

  "They're resting. They've not rested since the ordeal. It seems…that their combined remorse has decimated the limbic system which has led them to this near comatose state. Remarkable." He methodically touched each one and each submitted as the first had done. "It's almost as if their very soul is infused with their bodies, inasmuch as their minds and concentrated beliefs alter it. That should mean that when they are all angry, they become mutually strong, and when they are all grieved, they are mutually weak."

  The doc exited the chamber and rejoined the first version of his body, then turned his clear gaze to Dorn. "I have to wonder what would happen when they are all full of joy. Or…pride. Or love."

  Dorn angled his head and stared at the group of sleeping creatures, curious, now. "I have no clue. We haven't had a lot of time with them."

  "I would like to spend time with them, if that's okay. See what sort of developments I can encourage." He turned back to the creatures. "I'd also like to meet the human they attacked to attempt to isolate the cause and learn if it can be replicated."

  Relief flooded Dorn. "Yes. Indeed. That would be immensely appreciated in our reckless world-saving franchise."

  The doctor nodded once, slowly. "I presume Earth has come with tidy vestibules of insufferable mayhem."

  A burst of laughter came before Dorn could stop it. To hear such a vocabulary was equivalent to a war lust ménage with his Brothers. His cranium felt as if it expanded and stretched toward the stimulation in a manner similar to the opening of the petals of a heliotropic flower at sunrise. Dorn patted the doc on the back in gratitude. The immovable frame of dense muscle reminded him how the good doc's physical strength was at complete odds with his almost frail appearance. He was a force to be reckoned with, being a farechtera and having a wide variety of supernatural powers unrelated to his medical practice.

  "You would be absolutely correct." Dorn hoped his humorless smile said as much as his words about the unending catastrophe. "Although the vestibules are far from tidy, and the mayhem spews rapidly."

  "Perhaps I can cultivate some surprise advantages that will serve you well in this witless war of bone and plasma."

  Alarm filled Dorn at the mention of surprise. Sally had used that word the other day with enthusiastic joy. He didn't like the concept at all. It was the correspondent of uncertainty and confusion, two of his newest and seemingly constant enemies. He needed to have a deep bro-talk with Kassern and Toren and find out what on this demon-infested green Earth she was going on about. She'd mentioned anniversary as well. He couldn't fathom of what, since they'd only been consummated for approximately…eight weeks. Did anniversary not imply yearly?

  "Shall I have quarters set up for you at our compound? Or would you prefer to work with them at Aesculapius' Grotto?" Dorn secretly hoped he'd take them out of their hair and off of the planet.

  "My efforts will be far more effective in their native environment. I won't need to allow time for them to acclimate and it will give me an opportunity to adapt my own powers to a new habitat."

  "Are you sure?"

  The farechtera stared at Dorn, puzzled, and Dorn realized belatedly the doc had not been in human company long enough to comprehend such a concept as ambiguity. Dorn resisted a snort, or maybe even a derisive snicker. One week. That's about how long it would take for the doc to become intimate with rampant uncertainty. Quite intimate.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tyler didn't wait well. No particular reason, he just didn't. Nothing good ever seemed to come from waiting. And really, he kind of resented the big guy in blue ordering him to cool his heels and wait for some kind of witch doctor dude. But he had to admit, the monkey mens' reaction to him made him kind of curious. Why did they want to rip his throat out and no one else's? If the witch doctor dude could figure that out, waiting might be worth it.

  "Indeed, waiting could be worthwhile." The smooth, educated male voice came from somewhere up near the ceiling.

  Tyler spun to see who had spoken, and finally the man sort of faded into view, little by little. A tall, frail-looking man finally stood solid. He must be the witch-doctor. Tyler had to admit, his entrance was impressive.

  "Witch doctor? I am unfamiliar with that term. What does it mean?" The man tilted his head a little and studied Tyler with interest.

  Tyler couldn't keep his cheeks from flushing a little at the guy overhearing his thoughts. "It's um, a guy that uses magic and stuff to make people better or put curses on them."

  "Oh? That is nothing like what I do. There is no magic, or curses, involved. I am a farechtera. I use the influence of the subconscious mind over the corporeal and noncorporeal portions of a life form to any sort of defect or disease. Did Dorn not explain?"

  Cheeks still on fire, Tyler chose his words carefully. "Sort of. He said you use psychic healing." He shrugged. "Same difference."

  The guy stared at him with an odd expression, then nodded. "I understand. I was warned most humans are incapable of accepting anything beyond the perception of their five physical senses." He nodded again. "Shall we go?"

  Relieved to escape a lecture or a sermon, Tyler agreed and tried not to flinch away when the guy latched onto his shoulder with long bony fingers. In the next heartbeat, they were sucked into a vacuum tube that looked like one big kaleidoscope. Swirling colors and shapes spun by in a sickening display, faster and faster. It sort of resembled when Lyght brought them to the compound, but was more nauseating than awe-inspiring.

  Seemed like hours before they landed in a stark white room. He was sure the contents of his stomach would never go back where they belonged. Reminded him of that one ride. The Dead Man's Drop rollercoaster at the amusement park his grandparents had taken him to for his last birthday. With one last hard swallow for good measure, he took a look around.

  The room wasn't as white as he'd first thought. It just seemed that way because the lights were so bright and the room was pale colored. But in the center, a big sort of crate sat, draped in white.

  "This is why we're here." The witch doctor dude flipped the cloth back to reveal a reinforced metal container with a couple of vertical glass slats on each side. It wasn't anything
like the black cube that one dark angel had first put around them. The mean-looking giant in black biker leathers had made quite an impression on Tyler as in he'd had to make sure his pants were still dry when the guy left. The angel had also said Tyler was the reason he'd come. Nobody mentioned it anything about that since. Must not be highly important. Yeah, right.

  He leaned to look through one of the glass spaces, struggling to keep his breathing under control. The things just sat there. They reminded Tyler of the drug addicts he'd seen when his grandfather was teaching him self-defense and what he'd need to survive on the street. He moved closer for a better look and one of them raised its head and lifted a lip for a half-hearted snarl. Tyler froze as a chill went down his spine. Even zonked out of their heads, the things hated him. Why? He looked at the doc, wondering if he had a clue.

  "Interesting." The doc kept his eyes fixed on the monkeys and urged Tyler closer with a hand on his shoulder. "They have an aggressive response even in this state." He watched closely as one of the others raised its head as well, but didn't seem to have the energy to snarl.

  "Why are they like that? Are they drugged or something?"

  "No sedation. This is self-induced because of their grief and shame over attacking you."

  Tyler's eyes widened with disbelief. Surely those animals—

  "Not animals, young man." The doc turned a stern stare to Tyler. "These beings are far from mere animals. They are an amalgamation of both natural and supernatural life forms, brought into existence by evil, for evil, but without inherent evil. These individuals were born and raised amongst the first three Warriors and their…teams. They've shown no prior violent or evil tendencies." He turned back to the creatures. "We're here to discover what links you to them. To find a logical reason for the attack upon you."