The wings of the dragons carried them swiftly beyond the city limits and the surrounding camps. Both suns blazed brilliantly in the sky as Timur admired the lush beauty of the valley below. The valley quickly gave way to a thick forest that ran all the way to the northern shores of the Land of Enoch.
The tops of the trees flowed beneath them as they flew northward over the dense forest.
At one point he thought he saw something floating on the Tethys Sea in the distance, but as they got closer the foreign object glinting on the water had disappeared. After spending half an hour scouring the beach on either end however, they found markings of a boat being dragged through the sand. Further into the woods, they found the discarded old rowboat.
I know you’re close. You cannot hide from me, Abner!
Timur flew his dragon high in the air, his eyes scanning the woods for any sign of movement. Close to where they had found the boat there was an odd clearing of trees. Swooping over the small pocket devoid of trees, he realized a bit too late that it was a wild dragon’s nest. From the ground a massive dragon had launched into the air in attack.
Having been knocked out of his saddle, Timur flopped heavily onto the ground and felt the crush of several of his vertebrae. He knew the pain would only be temporary, but it was excruciating nonetheless. High in the air he could see both dragons viciously attacking each other with brutal force. Both of them screeched ferociously as they tore at each other’s flesh.
As the green aura surrounded him and began to heal his crushed vertebrae, he suddenly felt a searing pain erupt from his right foot. Forcing himself to raise his head despite the pain, he realized to his horror that he had been dropped smack in the center of the clearing where several baby dragons had awoken from slumber and were ready for their breakfast. One of them had already begun chomping down, and his entire right foot and half of his shin was now missing.
Timur screamed out in sheer pain as the other three baby dragons proceeded to bite into his flesh. His rage mounted tremendously and his eyes glowed a sickly green light. In an explosion of light, he incinerated his assailants in an instant. Giant piles of steaming ash lay where the baby dragons had been gathered to eat just moments before.
The aura continued to glow as it healed his fresh wounds. He sat up now that his vertebrae had been corrected and watched in awe as his leg and foot were reconstructed in layers of bone, muscle, and skin. He looked back into the sky to see his dragon suffer a severe blow, and then begin falling from the sky. The ground shook as the wounded dragon crashed in a wooded area to the south. His eyes locked with the approaching wild dragon as it screeched with wrath.
Timur scrambled to his feet and held out both of his arms while drawing powers from the sun. A beam of light blasted from his left fist, knocking the massive beast off course and causing it to crash heavily to his right. Her scaly armor had protected her from the blast, and she screeched angrily as she reared her head. Timur rushed at her with an incinerating blast of heat, knowing fully that it would have little effect.
He wrestled her to the ground and latched his hands onto her face. She jolted backward as if she had been hit with an electric shock. Timur fell to the ground as she reared her head back and roared with contempt. He grabbed her face again, and the dragon stared into his eyes with utter contempt as her nostrils flared with rage.
“Beast! I command you to be still!” he bore his eyes into hers.
Her muscles relaxed and she stopped gnashing her teeth. Timur released his grip on her jaw, and she cautiously stood.
Who knew my powers of persuasion would work on animals too?
Timur and his Creed flew high above the thick forest. Having extracted his saddle from his dead steed, he strapped the harness to his newly acquired ‘wild stallion’. The beast was unhappy with the arrangement, but he forced her to comply with his demands. She continued to struggle against his command, and he knew it would take weeks if not months to tame her.
In the distance he heard a bell. Scanning the horizon, his eyes recognized a bigger pocket devoid of trees. As they flew closer, the bell got louder and he could make out the details of a small village hidden in the middle of the forest.
How could I have overseen this village?
“Question every villager!” he bellowed to his comrades as they got nearer, “I want Abner found!”
When the village came into view, Timur saw people scurrying everywhere in panic. Several women screamed in terror as they pointed up at the dragons descending upon them.
Clearly they don’t know that these are trained dragons.
Timur smirked as they touched down. He always felt a sense of pride any time one of his subjects feared him. His smirk however quickly turned sour. He wasn’t very pleased that nobody remained to greet their King!
They have no respect for me whatsoever.
“Come hither to greet thy King!” one of his Creed members yelled to the fleeing villagers.
Several of them turned to look their way, but upon recognition of Timur’s presence they instead ducked into the surrounding woods. Nobody returned to greet them.
“I repeat,” he bellowed again, “Show respect unto thy King!”
Cowards!
“Your holiness,” one of the Creed members piped up, “This village is unknown to us. I suspect Abner traveled here to seek these insurgents as allies.”
Traitors!
“Do you mean to tell me this is a village of rebels?!” Timur shrieked.
“It appears so, yes.”
“Kill them!” Timur commanded menacingly, “Kill every last one of them! But if you find Abner, bring him to me so I can kill him myself!”
“As you wish, your holiness.”
The Creed members dismounted their beasts and unsheathed their swords.
Chapter Twenty Nine: Genocide
And it came to pass that Enoch didst instruct his people in the building of a great machine beneath the city; insomuch that he didst also cause his people to erect great obelisks in the lands about…
– Methuselah 11:4 –
Several hours had passed since Lily’s encounter with the dragon. Abner had found her body lying in the clearing, and it had taken him nearly an hour to carry her limp body to the hidden village of Udom.
“How doth she fare, shaman?” he approached the small hut where she still lay unconscious in a cot.
The shaman’s face betrayed defeat, “She doth not fare very well, my friend.”
“Oh?” Abner was confused, “What dost thou mean?”
“The wounds are deep. I fear the woman hath only a few hours left to live.” he spoke resolutely, “I dare say, the average human hath not survived the infliction of dragon venom beyond eventide.”
“I pray thee that thou doubt not.” he pleaded, “I doth believe that she shall survive. I hath seen it in vision.”
“I fear that thou art merely hopeful, for the woman’s prognosis doth continue to decline.” the shaman sighed regretfully, “Methinks she shall not survive the night.”
Abner’s shoulders slumped. It wasn’t the first time he had seen a vision of the potential future, only for that future to change drastically from a small decision. He worried that he had changed the course of history by helping Lily escape.
“I pray thou sparest not thine medical treatments. Her survival is of great importance for the prosperity of these people!”
The shaman shook his head as he felt her weak pulse, “The time hath passed. Her death shall come swiftly now, for I fear the venom hath reached her heart.”
Abner was about to respond, when the sound of fearful screams erupted from outside. A chill ran down Abner’s spine when the warning bell from the watchtower began to sound. Villagers were scurrying everywhere in panic, and several women screamed in terror as they pointed up at the sky. Abner turned his gaze heavenward to see several dragons descending upon them.
How didst they find me?
He ducked around the corner of a building and began to hyperventilate a
s the dragons touched down.
“Come hither to greet thy King!” he heard one of the Creed members bellow.
It would be only moments now before he would be found. He had to get moving, but his legs felt like molasses.
“I repeat,” the Creed member bellowed again, “Show respect unto thy King!”
Abner crouched down, paralyzed with fear.
“Your holiness,” one of the Creed members piped up, “This village is unknown to us. I suspect Abner traveled here to seek these insurgents as allies.”
“Do you mean to tell me this is a village of rebels?!” Timur shrieked.
“It appears so, yes.”
“Kill them!” Timur commanded menacingly, “Kill every last one of them! But if you find Abner, bring him to me so I can kill him myself!”
No!
“As you wish, your holiness.”
The Creed members dismounted their beasts and unsheathed their swords.
I must act now!
“Wait!” Abner yelled as he stepped around the corner, “Hurt my people not! I doth surrender!”
“Your people?” Timur chided as he strode toward him menacingly, “Abner, my old friend. Why have you betrayed me?”
“I feared mayhaps the presence of the woman mightest become a threat to the health of my people.” he explained, “I know now that my decision was rash, for during our travels the woman ‘twas attacked by a dragon.”
Timur’s face betrayed a look of shock, “She’s dead?!”
“Yea, verily the venom hast reached her heart.” he explained remorsefully.
Timur shook his head angrily, “It pains me to do this. You have been a loyal friend to me.”
A look of terror crossed Abner’s face as Timur stepped forward and raised his right arm.
“A traitor has no place inside my circle of influence, and I simply cannot allow even the slightest transgression to fester among my men.”
Timur’s eyes glowed again. With his fist clenched, a beam of light shot from his arm. Abner shielded his face with a raised arm as the blast of light hit him. The heat was intense as the light fully engulfed him.
Timur then did a double-take as he realized Abner still stood there unfazed. He raised his right arm higher, willing it to draw even more power from the sun. He fired multiple blasts of incinerating heat. When the smoke cleared, Abner’s clothing appeared slightly singed, however he remained fully intact.
“Ye cannot kill me…” Abner attempted to explain.
With a shrill roar of inhuman rage, Timur snatched a sword out of one of the three Creed member’s hands and ran toward him. Abner sucked in a rasping gasp and his eyes went wide as the sword plunged deep into his chest. He cried out in pain as Timur extracted the sword and he crumpled to the ground.
“Now,” Timur instructed the Creed, “kill the insurgents!”
“No!” Abner cried from the ground.
Abner could feel the warm sensation as the gaping wound healed itself. Once the pain fully subsided, he raised himself back onto his feet.
“As I hath said, ye cannot kill me.” Abner explained while Timur’s eyes went wide in shock, “Yea, thou art a Seraph, and I am thine Oracle. I shall not die until my successor hath Awakened.”
“Take him and bind him.” Timur commanded, “We will deal with this abomination later.”
Abner cried in dismay as Timur raised an arm and incinerated his next victim, a young woman who had peered around the corner of a building.
“This village is ripe for destruction.” Timur smiled at Abner as the Creed members bound him in thick cords, “I must thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
My grandchildren!
“Please!” Abner pleaded, “You doth not understand! I hath family here!”
“Excellent.” Timur smiled broadly at the revelation, “Then they shall suffer your death penalty instead.”
“NO!”
It was the last word he could get out before one of the Creed members gagged him.
“Your penance will be to observe patiently as I destroy this despicable village.” he seethed.
Abner watched in horror as Timur took a dry torch from the side of a door and lit it in a nearby campfire that had been abandoned. He lit several more torches and passed them out to the three Creed Members. As the buildings ignited, screams of terror could be heard all around him.
Tears ran down his cheeks as he saw a Creed member extract his sword from a man’s chest. The bell stopped ringing as another Creed member clung to the edge of the watchtower and lunged his sword inside. Children and babies cried as their parents were slaughtered in front of them. Chaos was everywhere as several villagers armed themselves in an attempt to fight back.
In the distance Abner could see a wild dragon rising into the air with Lily’s body dangling from its talons.
Chapter Thirty: Call to Action
And God spoke unto Enoch, saying: the Watchers who have left the High Heaven, and have corrupted themselves with women, shall not have place on Earth, neither peace, nor forgiveness of sin, and will not find joy in their posterity…
– Methuselah 11:5 –
“Okay, okay.” Allan stammered as they continued to travel up the mountainside that evening, “Let’s pretend for a minute that I believe your alternate version of history. How do I fit into the scheme of all of this?”
“I’m glad you asked.” John turned and smiled, “After Enoch transported this land from Earth, God visited Enoch in this world and gave him explicit instructions to send his own first-born son Methuselah back to Earth as a protector. Upon fusing his blood with an ancient race from a distant galaxy called the Malakhim, God blessed Methuselah and sent him back to Earth as the first Seraph. Like you, he became the first of the Guardians.”
“Let me get this straight.” Allan scoffed as he trampled over the foliage that had grown over the not-too-obvious trail, “You want me to believe that I’m one of these so-called Guardians? You’ve seriously got the wrong man.”
“I don’t choose who the next Seraph is, I just train them.”
“Train them to do what?”
“Transport, protect the Earth, and wield weaponry.”
“Weaponry?” Allan stammered, “What for?”
John stopped and stared at him incredulously, “To fight for the lives of your people, of course.”
“Whoa, Hang on!” Allan stopped short, “I didn’t sign up for any such thing!”
“You wanted to rescue Lily, did you not?”
“Yes, but that’s a job for the police. I’m a lawyer. My salary and the high taxes I pay entitle me to certain protection rights.”
“Maybe on Earth, but here in Zion you don’t have that luxury.” John stressed, “If you don’t rescue her, nobody will. And if you don’t take action quickly, Timur will likely kill her.”
Allan seemed to stare up the mountainside for quite some time. After several long minutes, he finally found his voice.
“If what you say is true,” he pointed behind them with his thumb, “then why are we running away from that city? Didn’t you say that’s where she is?”
“Despite its charred appearance, the city is heavily fortified. Not only do we need weapons, but we need a small army to get past the walls of the city.”
“And where might we be getting such an army?”
For the first time since they had arrived John smiled widely, “I have many friends.”
“I see…”
“Don’t worry.” he commenced on the path again and beckoned Allan to follow, “They aren’t too far from here.”
Allan followed deep in thought. He was having a difficult time wrapping his head around the events of the past several days. Three days ago he was shot in the chest, only to have the wound miraculously heal in a matter of seconds. Now he’s on a quest to save a damsel in distress in a foreign land with dragons flying in the sky. The entire scenario felt as though he had been plucked out of reality and thrown into a fairytale.
Maybe I’m in a coma from the bullet wound and I’m dreaming all of this. Or maybe I’m dead.
“I can assure you that neither of those possibilities are the case.” John turned briefly and smiled at him.
“Okay, then…” Allan challenged, “If all of this is real, then where do the mythical fire-breathing dragons fit in?”
“First off, let me clear up some confusion. Dragons are not mythical creatures as you suppose. They have merely been hunted down and killed to the point that they are all now extinct on Earth. The exaggerated tales made about the beautiful creatures however are truly mythical. Dragons don’t breathe fire. They may have breath so terrible it could knock you unconscious, but the idea that fire and brimstone spew from their mouths is a pure stretch of imagination.”
“Fine.” Allan shook his head in frustration, “Then explain this to me. If these so called Seraphs…”
“Seraphim.” he corrected, “Plural form.”
“…Seraphim.” Allan twisted his face at the word, “If they truly have always existed on the earth as you suggest, how come I have never heard of them?”
“Oh, I’m sure you have actually.”
“Try me.”
“Noah with his Ark, Abram whose name later changed to Abraham, Isaac the boy who was almost made a human sacrifice, Jacob whose name later changed to Israel, and Moses in Egypt to name a few.” he explained, “You may not know their title as Seraphim, but you may know them as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.”
“Wait,” Allan stammered, “are you trying to tell me that I’m supposed to be some kind of prophet?”
“Not necessarily,” he paused, “each Seraph is given a unique set of gifts. The gifts of prophesy, interpretation and revelation are but a few of the possible gifts you might be entitled to receive.”
“Just for kicks and giggles, let’s say I am this Final Seraph as you claim.” he sighed heavily, “You still haven’t explained how I fit into all of this.”
“Your purpose is to overthrow Timur and his Creed, take over the Kingdom of Atlantis, and prepare the people for the Greatest Seraph’s return.”
Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) Page 12