Fighting Midnight: Ankarrah Chronicles Book Two: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy
Page 31
A sharp stream of energy crackles as it slams into mine. I feel like I’ve just been slapped across the cheek.
“Do not talk to me in such a way. I am your mother.”
“No, you’re not. You’re merely one half of my adira donation. You don’t know what it means to be a mother. Your mother, God rest her soul, didn’t get to teach you how to be a mother. You grew up with hate as a guide, and fear as your motivator.”
A slow, inexorable sucking sensation engulfs my energyscape. I struggle briefly before remembering my promise. I won’t be the reason she gets to hurt anyone else.
The bloated mass of Anixia begins to swell and inflate as she sucks more and more of my adira down. The edges of her energyscape begin to tear and split. Soon, she’s dripping a steady stream of adira into the Matrix. The lights flare as each drop hits the floor.
“Um, are you about done? I’m getting bored.” A sleepy feeling, like being tugged into unconsciousness with the help of drugs, consumes my body. I struggle to keep hold of my mind.
She doesn’t answer. She merely moans in a truly creepy manner that one should never hear from a mother figure. The drawing sensation continues on my adira.
Just as I can feel the bottom of the well of my power being revealed, a burst of power spikes through me. It jolts through my entire form.
“NOW, FINLEY!”
I recognize Kezi’s voice, but I have no idea what she wants me to do. With the last bit of my strength, I slam my barriers back in place, trapping pieces of Anixia inside my mind with me. She snarls, her face resembles that of a feral animal as she bares her teeth at me.
“They’re all dead. Each and every one of them. Dead. I’ll rip them limb from limb, I’ll dance in their entrails, and shower in their blood.” She races towards me across the landscape of my mind.
“Bitch, please.” Finally, a form of fighting I know how to win. I step out of her way at the last second, grabbing a handful of her hair as she passes. Using her hair as leverage, I throw her down, smashing her childlike face into the ground. “Now you die, Mommy Dearest.”
I open my barriers just a smidge. Not enough for Anixia to push through, but enough to talk to Kezi. I see the silver tinsel of my connection to Hunter back to its original strength.
“How do I do this?” I ask Kezi.
“Simply act as conduit. Pull from Anixia, push to Hunter. Now, before she rises.”
I pull on Anixia’s energyscape with all my might. Forcing my adira to consume all of hers in one big bite, I swallow her down. Her energyscape flickers out before dying completely, leaving me floating untethered.
The feeling of being all-powerful consumes my mind. Anixia’s energy is similar to downing Vodka shots like they’re water. No inhibitions, no worries, no responsibilities. Nothing can touch me, and I can do anything I want or dream.
“Hand it off, Finley. You can’t handle that amount of adira,” Kez orders.
“But I feel great. I think I could get used to this.” I fling my energy out as wide as it will go. Snippets of conversation break off as I glide over the entire expanse of the Matrix in every direction. I feel their stillness and emotions like they’re scrolling across my mind. Some with a sense of awe, and in many cases, fear.
A faint tugging pulls me back to where we started.
“Socks, give it to me. You don’t want to turn into Anixia. I know you don’t. She’s gone. We can figure out what to do from here. She’s gone, you killed her, saving billions, and avenging your parents. Don’t let your success be overshadowed by turning into her. Give it to me, Socks. Come on,” Hunter urges.
“But I’m a Creative. I think I would be able to handle this.”
“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, Finley. Let it go. Please,” Kez says softly.
“Fine.” I heave a huge sigh.
On my next exhale, I push all of the borrowed adira down the length of the tinsel to Hunter. His energyscape swells and expands until his starry night-sky engulfs my vision. He’s beautiful.
Just like Kezi said to Jessica, Hunter’s energyscape looks a lot like mine. He has what look like comets arcing across his field, the tails a brilliant spectrum of colors as they flare and then die. I could watch his adira for eternity.
With a sigh, I cut off the last thread, letting the remaining free energy slide into Hunter’s energyscape. As the last flicker of my adira sinks into him, I see a burst of light wrap his physical form. Not quite wings, but…something…seems to emerge from behind his body and surround him.
The Matrix flashes a brilliant blue. Like looking at a cloudless summer sky, the light chimes through the air. Brushes of onyx and velvet slowly cover my skin until I’m completely concealed.
A slow, thudding pulse of light to my left beckons me. The thump, thump, thump pulls me closer. As I near the heart of the pulsing, a shiny silver spike rises from the floor like a microphone being raised through a platform.
On the top of the shiny spear, sits an old-timey speaker. As I move closer, the crackle and static of a live electronic connection sounds.
Someone clears a throat, but I can’t see anyone.
“Finley of Earth, welcome.” The sound seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. Pushing and pulling at my body.
“Uh, thanks. Glad to be here…kind of.”
“I am Bob. The Ancient Keeper of your line,” the bodiless voice says.
I stifle a laugh. The ancient keeper’s name is Bob.
“Well, thanks, Bob. I appreciate it.”
“I have passed beyond your plane of existence. I have left this message for you on the Matrix. If you’re hearing this, that means you have vanquished Anixia. Congratulations on succeeding in this beginning trial. You have many more to come to reach your place among the stars.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t really want to take my place among the stars. Thanks. But I bet you’re going to ruin everything for me and tell me if I don’t –”
“If you don’t, you doom all of Earth and Ankarrah to obliteration.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Of course I do.”
“Shavix is not an ally. You must be cautious in your interactions with him. He wants to use you for his own gains and plans.”
Josh. I’ve got to get to Josh. I start brushing at the crap covering me. I’ve got to get out of here.
“This is the remainder of your prophecy…”
I stop moving, needing to know what else I need to do to get out of this crapshow of a life.
“Just kidding.” No-Body Bob chuckles. “I’ve always wanted to do that. You have fulfilled your prophecy. You have now been placed in a position of great power. Now known throughout the KMV, many will hunt you for your power. Many will try to be your friends. Keep only those you trust around you, but do not let it harden your heart. You are destined for great things, Finley of Earth. Do not settle for simply pleasant.” A low snicker, then, “This message will self-destruct in five seconds.”
The speaker on the spear begins to smoke before it sinks back into the ground and the stuff covering me sinks into my skin. Scratching at my skin, I turn around and see Hunter, Brock, and Kezi just standing there, their mouths hanging open.
“Did you guys hear that?” I ask them, still itching at my arm.
All three nod, mouths still agape.
“Awesome. Then I don’t need to give you a refresher.” Scratch, scratch. “Can we go home now?”
Kezi’s mouth closes with a click. She steps forward, her back straight as a piece of rebar. She lifts her hand to her forehead, all of her fingers touching it as she bows.
“I, Keziry of Peprange’s line, do solemnly swear fealty to Finley of Earth, Destroyer of Anixia.”
The Matrix flashes white, blinding in its intensity.
Brock and Hunter repeat the ritual. I’m seeing flashes behind my eyelids.
“I, Finley of Earth, do solemnly swear that I’m up to no good. And plan to blaze my own trail. After we rescue Josh. And
deal with Jessica—that lying, cheating bastard.”
White flashes once again, only this time, the white is veined in blues and indigos.
Kezi and Brock look at each other. “That’s never happened before.”
They turn to look at me.
I shrug my shoulders. “Don’t know, don’t care. Not now anyways. Let’s go home.”
A soft snicker, not my own, sounds in my mind as I follow my friends back home.
The end.
For now.
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When she’s not causing people pain as a muscular dysfunction specialist, J.D. is working on her next book, doing therapy with PTSD survivors, interacting with the characters in her head, and playing with creating 3D creatures and characters.
Connect with me at www.jddexter.com or at authorjddexter@gmail.com.
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