by Mikayla Lane
David stood back a moment as Tiernan and Jodi solidified beside him. His eyes never left the naked and battered boy hanging gagged and nearly lifeless to what could only be described as a torture device. Tubes led from the child’s neck and groin area as the blood was siphoned from the boy and into a glass collecting jar on a table.
“What the fuck?” David whispered in horror.
Tiernan reappeared next to the unconscious child and laid a hand on the boy’s chest. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment before opening them and clenching his fists in rage.
“We have to do something,” Jodi whispered as she moved towards the child.
“It’s too late,” Tiernan said with a shake of his head. “I’ve ended his suffering.”
David looked at the child in shock and saw the small chest had stopped its ragged and labored breathing.
“Why?” David growled in fury.
“Because it was too late to save him. He was moments from death when we arrived. They’ve drained his blood,” Tiernan argued, his own anger pouring from him.
“What for? Why would anyone do such a thing to a child?” Jodi covered her mouth to prevent herself from throwing up.
David waited for an answer while he took in the visible signs of torture on the small, emaciated body. Symbols, much like the ones on Tiernan were brutally but carefully carved into the boy’s flesh leaving deep, thick scars that had been there long enough to have healed. The pain intentionally inflicted on such a young, and innocent child rocked all of them.
“They’re using the blood of the young to try and achieve immortality.” Tiernan’s voice was wooden as he moved over to a computer system near the now dead child.
“What is that?” David asked as he stood next to his son.
David watched the faces of children and information quickly cross the multiple screens and his mouth opened in dawning horror as he saw what was happening.
“They’re using the family history DNA websites to find their victims?” David couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“The boy was a hybrid. They’re looking for us and using people’s desire to find out their ancestry to find us,” Tiernan said in disgust.
Jodi shook her head, trying to understand what Tiernan meant.
“They’re using the DNA ancestry sites to find us and then stealing the children?” she asked.
“Yes.” It was all Dizarion said, but his voice conveyed his contempt for those responsible.
“The altar?” Jodi was afraid to ask, but she had to know.
“They wait until the child is close to death then sacrifice them to their daemon Gods for favors and power,” Tiernan growled.
“How do you know that?” David demanded, praying that Tiernan was only guessing.
“I saw it in the boy’s mind before I took his last breaths and gave him peace,” Tiernan admitted, startling his parents.
Jodi started dry heaving, and David grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her until she looked into his eyes.
“Do not be sick. You’ll only leave your own DNA behind, and we have no idea what they know of you and Tiernan already,” David warned, keeping hold of Jodi until she nodded her head and stepped away from him.
“Find your relic,” David finally whispered, pulling his eyes away from the dead boy and the computer system looking for their next victim.
As Tiernan and Jodi moved through the rest of the basement, David checked the IP address of the computer and tapped the numbers and the coordinates of the mansion into his comm. He was determined to find a way to put an end to what was happening and wanted as much information as he could get for Grai and their extensive network of people.
He glanced over at the small boy, and David’s heart bled for whatever family he’d been stolen from, and his fingers itched to cover the poor child’s body.
“Don’t touch him. It will only let them know someone was here,” Dizarion warned from beside him. “We must go, the relic isn’t here any longer.”
David looked around the room for Jodi and Tiernan and headed to the opposite side of the basement where they were standing in front of another glass case. Before he could reach them, Tiernan had smashed the top of the glass and reached inside.
“What the hell are you doing?” David growled as he ran to his son.
He watched as Tiernan placed a spearhead, wrapped in delicate gold and silver bands into the waistband of his pants. David turned to make sure no one was coming into the basement, and when he looked back, his son was gone. Snarling in frustration, David scanned the room and noted the shadow solidifying a dozen feet away.
Seconds later there was another shattering of glass and Tiernan was removing a large cloak from another case. David ran after him, hoping to stop his son’s loud rampage before they were all discovered and killed. He grabbed hold of Tiernan’s arm and spun him around.
“What the hell are you doing? We have to go! Someone is going to hear this if you haven’t already set off a damn alarm! Your relic isn’t here, we need to leave!” David growled, his eyes scanning the room for security personnel.
Tiernan’s eyes swirled with anger and determination as he turned to his father.
“They cannot be allowed to keep these items. They belong to the original guardians who are returning to this world for the final battle. They can’t remain in the hands of these people. Besides, my energy has shut down their cameras and alarms, they will never know we were here,” Tiernan said with an edge of finality to his voice.
David watched him tie the ends of the intricately woven cloak and make a bag of sorts with it. He hissed in anger when Tiernan disappeared again and reappeared at another case. He reached his son in time to see Tiernan remove a clay tablet from another broken glass case and place it in the bag made from the cloak.
Although no one came down into the basement, David was on edge, and hyper vigilant as Tiernan made his way around the basement, filling his make-shift bag with a multitude of items. He didn’t get a chance to see what all was being taken and David didn’t care as long as his son hurried so they could leave.
“David!”
David turned quickly at the sound of distress in Jodi’s voice and ran towards the dead boy’s body where she was standing with her hand covering her mouth and bent at the waist.
“What’s wrong?” David asked, quickly scanning the area for whatever had her so upset.
They were standing in the area just to the left of the deceased child, and David’s brow drew together in confusion as he stepped towards the hand written book on a stand in the middle of what appeared to be an autopsy area and crude kitchen.
“Dizarion! Get her back to the ship. Now!” David growled as he read the open pages of the book.
He felt Dizarion appear by his side and growl before he disappeared again. David heard Jodi’s sharp intake of breath before she too was gone. Moments later, Tiernan was beside him.
“We can’t leave him to this fate. I refuse,” David snarled, his fists clenching at his side.
“We won’t,” Tiernan promised as he trembled in rage.
Seconds later, Tiernan grabbed the book off the stand and read the title. Spirit Baking. He set it back down and flipped through a few more pages, his rage only growing with each page.
“They aren’t just drinking their blood for longevity,” David whispered needlessly. They’d both read the recipes in the book that called for the organs and flesh of small children.
Both looked at the coolers stacked under a table with labels warning human organs were inside, and David knew these sick bastards were harvesting the children. Most likely to prolong the lives of the twisted elite.
“This is why we have so many lost child souls,” Tiernan growled. “They bleed them, harvest the organs and eat the flesh. Such innocence cannot comprehend the evil being committed upon them, and it drives their souls into the dark realms. Not with this child.”
David watched as Tiernan spread his legs as if to brace
himself and raised his hands, palms outward in front of the dead boy. Tiernan closed his eyes as the shadows erupted around the room and quickly converged on them like a dark mist.
Within seconds the darkness consumed everything around them, and even with his enhanced vision, David couldn’t see anything. He could hear sounds of creaking and groaning all around him and moved closer to where Tiernan was to make sure his son was all right.
Just as he touched Tiernan’s back, the dark mist receded into the corners of the room, and the lights returned. David looked around in open-mouthed shock.
“What did you do?” David whispered, gesturing around them.
His eyes took in the basement while his mind tried to understand what the hell had happened. The entire room was empty except for piles of what appeared to be ash, in various sizes, scattered around the chamber.
Even the body of the boy was gone with only a heap of ash to denote where he’d been. Nothing remained in the room. The stone altar, all of the glass cases and items within them were gone. The crude kitchen, the organ coolers, stone and metal items, all reduced to black dust.
On the stone walls, there were large symbols that appeared to be burned into the rock. It looked like ancient hieroglyphics had been painted around the room, and David was speechless.
“I made sure the child got where he was meant to be. The rest is because I’m pissed off and wanted to guarantee they never did this again. At least not here. We must go quickly,” Tiernan warned before he grabbed hold of David.
David’s head spun dizzyingly for a few frightening seconds before he was deposited gently on the floor of the ship. Placing his hands on his knees, David breathed deeply to calm the sudden nausea that swamped him. The open door to Jodi’s room and the dry heaving he could hear within weren’t helping at all.
“Head to France,” Tiernan called through the comm to the pilot as he placed the cloak full of items on the floor.
David felt his son’s hand on his back and seconds later he was feeling fine. He stood as Tiernan disappeared into Jodi’s room before all went quiet in there. He stumbled to the couch to sit down and get his bearings when his small son came stomping back out to him followed by Dizarion. David wondered at the return of the boy versus the Dark Warrior when Dizarion explained it.
“Tiernan expended far too much power and energy to ensure the destruction of that place. I applaud it,” the Night Walker said as he patted Tiernan on the back. “The beacon was a bonus and quite brilliant.”
“What beacon?” David asked, concerned at what Tiernan may have done this time. He should have expected it of his son by now.
“It’s nothing.” Tiernan crossed his arms over his chest while a pout formed on his face.
David looked to Dizarion for an answer and waited until the Night Walker put a huge plate of food in front of Tiernan. As the boy dug in, Dizarion turned dark eyes to David.
“He did nothing that would give us away. He placed a dark energy beacon at the location. It emits a powerful energy pulse that repels the dark entities while drawing the light bringers,” Dizarion explained while he got another plate of food for the boy.
“I don’t understand. Why not just let the dark entities consume that twisted bitch and her friends?” David growled, wanting the woman to pay for what she’d been doing.
“The dark only feed her sick soul. Some souls are fed and grown through the light and others through evil. Without the dark entities feeding her, her soul will die. The energy of the light bringers will cause her endless pain and torture her mind and body as she’s consumed from within,” Tiernan admitted with a grin.
David shuddered at the vision Tiernan’s words sent through his mind and quickly shook it off.
“I can’t think of anyone that deserves it more,” David agreed with a nod of his head.
He stood and went to the replicator to get Tiernan another glass of milk as Jodi came into the room. David quickly took in her trembling hands as she sat down next to the boy and brushed a hand over his hair. He ordered an additional item before handing a glass to his son and the other to his wife.
Jodi took one look at the amber liquid swirling in the glass and immediately downed it in one long swallow. David removed the empty glass from her trembling fingers and got her another one from the replicator before he sat in a chair across from them. The whiskey was doing more to calm Jodi’s nerves than anything else would at the moment.
“We can’t involve your friends yet, so don’t ask,” Tiernan warned between bites of food.
David ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He wanted nothing more than to send the entire Alliance forces into that place and destroy anyone who had something to do with that sick bitch. What they were doing was beyond horrific, and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the scope of it all.
“Why?” David couldn’t think of anything else to ask.
“I must find my relic before those who have it are alerted and find a way to block it from me,” Tiernan explained before shoving in another mouthful of food.
“You don’t think turning that place into ash was a clue that someone is onto them?” David asked, incredulous at his son’s lack of reasoning.
“These people worship the Gods of Old. Those that were driven away by the Old Guardians and who are now returning for the conversion. Did you not see the sigils Tiernan burned into the walls?” Dizarion asked, his head cocked to the side.
“The symbols? Yeah, what were they?” David asked, wondering what he was missing.
“They were warnings from the Greek Goddess Nemesis. She enacts vengeance against those who are arrogant before the Gods. It will be enough to scare them. Coupled with the energy of the light bringers that will be attracted to Tiernan’s beacon, it will drive the bitch insane,” Dizarion explained with a chuckle and pat on Tiernan’s back.
“You pretended to be a Goddess?” David was incredulous at his son’s own hubris.
“She’s actually a real sweetheart and will find it amusing when she sees it was me. Her real name is Adrasteia, and she’s a guardian of retribution for those who perpetrate evil deeds and acquire undeserved fortunes,” Tiernan promised with a cheeky grin.
“You really think that’s going to scare that bitch and her cronies?” David asked, not believing those twisted people would frighten so easily. With the apparent wealth and power the woman held, she could and probably did buy her way through life.
Dizarion and Tiernan chuckled for a moment until they saw the irritation cross David’s face. Tiernan shoveled in another forkful of food while Dizarion cleared his throat.
“The symbols weren’t just a warning. They were a beacon to Adrasteia herself. When the Guardian awakens in this world, that woman and anyone associated with her will be destroyed when Nemesis realizes what they are doing and the wealth they’ve achieved because of it,” Dizarion said with such a self-satisfied smirk David couldn’t help but grin as well.
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard in a while,” David agreed.
*****
Plomarion, Greece
The earthquake ended as quickly as it had begun, but it still destroyed the small farmhouse on the edge of town. A woman groaned as she awakened from beneath the fallen timbers of her home. She pushed the debris away from her, and the sun shone brightly on her face. Her body ached everywhere, but her arm was in agony and pinned beneath a roof beam.
“Alita?” she called out, desperately hoping to hear a grunt or groan. “My girl, please . . .”
The woman broke down in tears, praying that her special little girl was all right and she just couldn’t hear her non-verbal daughter. Suddenly, a shadow blocked out the sun, and she stared at the slim figure that stared down at her with seemingly focused green eyes.
“It’s all right, Momma. Stay still,” the pre-teen girl said with a smile.
The woman stared in open mouthed shock at her daughter as the girl reached down and pulled the timber off her mother as if it weighed nothi
ng. Once the beam was removed, she quickly stood in the midst of the debris and held her arm against her side as she stared at Alita.
“What has happened to you?” she whispered.
The young girl smiled at her mother, took her hand and led them out of the ruins of their home.
“The earthquake shifted the energy just enough to awaken me. There is much for me to do and I will need your help,” Alita replied, her eyes gleaming with the vengeance she would wreck on this world.
She remembered this world clearly and could feel the energy of an old enemy. One that would not escape her again. The last battle was coming, and she relished the thought of it, although it was still many years away.
Alita closed her eyes, and her mind was drawn to the images that flashed behind the lids. The beacon of the Dark Warrior called to her, and she could see it clearly in her mind. Moments later, she burst out laughing.
“Oh Tiernan, my friend. We will have much fun this time around,” Alita said with a laugh.
“Who are you?” the woman whispered, half afraid of the strange girl who looked like her daughter.
“I am your daughter and love you very much. I am also Adrasteia, and this world desperately needs me right now,” Alita replied as her eyes glowed green and white with power.
Her mother emitted a small scream and pulled away from her daughter in fear before the girl caught her uninjured arm. Alita sent bolts of calming energy into her mother and led her to sit down in the grass.
“Let me tell you a story,” Alita said with a smile for her now calm mother.
Chapter Fifteen
The next day went by with a lot more silence between them as each was wrapped in their own thoughts over what they’d seen the day before. Tiernan was the only one who appeared the least affected by it all. David wasn’t sure what to think about his son’s calm demeanor in the face of what the man-child had seen in Germany.
His eyes strayed across the room to where Jodi was taking a nap beside Tiernan on the couch, and he looked for any outward signs that the boy might be unbalanced again. Still shaken by what he’d seen, David couldn’t imagine his small son was handling it so well.