Ascension

by Christopher De Sousa

  She then stepped forward, Anzu following closely at her side, eager for the project’s director to address them in a similar fashion.

  “Katherine and Anzu, both of you are to remain here with me.”

  She gasped in disbelief. “But sir…, we can help. This is what both Anzu and I have trained so hard for…”

  “You’ve been with the organisation less than a week. You both have a long way to go before you’re ready to face such an objective, and I can’t afford to risk it.”

  “But we fought those earthen Corrupted in the streets of Anabasis with only a few hours of training under our belts,” she tried to reason. “And although we may not have performed as well as we would have liked, we’re now in a different frame of mind as we have had some time to practice.”

  “You had Officer Hawthorne by your side throughout that entire ordeal, and she’s one of my very best. Katherine, these are not ordinary Corrupted. And if I’d known prior to departure, when we had confronted those earthen Corrupted that Monica intended you be involved in such a mission, I would have forbidden your involvement and have censured her for her lack of judgment.”

  Katherine wanted to further argue her point, but it was evident by the stern look on his face and the rigid tone in his voice that he wasn’t willing to give her an inch on the subject.

  “Lance, are you even fit enough to fight?” She heard him ask, as Lance, the last to leave the utility, hobbled awkwardly forward grasping his side in discomfort.

  “Sir, I was cleared by the medical staff,” he responded. “It’s just my body hasn’t fully recovered from that Corrupted’s paralyzing toxins.”

  Walter motioned him over. She watched as the weary director examined this young officer through crooked spectacles, and proceeded to quietly recite what sounded to be that of an old incantation.

  “I can only alleviate the affliction,” Walter told him. “You will require further treatment.”

  “With your permission of course, I will do so once we’ve rescued both Monica and the Senator.”

  “Although I’m reluctant, I’ll allow it. We cannot afford to lose here,” Walter responded.

  She watched as Lance departed in pursuit of Blake and Kulullu.

  Katherine, resigned to the fact that she’d been ordered to stay behind, gazed up at a block of school buildings. On one rooftop, she caught the fleeting glimpse of a Corrupted with wings. She watched as this figure first landed, then pounced downward and through an open window.

  She called out to the director. “Sir, there’s a –

  “I’ve seen it,” Walter replied, as he peered down at his wrist communicator. “Officer Harkins and officer Spears, both of you are to give pursuit.”

  For Katherine, it seemed unfathomable that Walter chose to place Lance, Aleisha, and Gavin at further risk after they’d only just survived the Corrupted’s attack inside Anabasis Public. Yet here she stood, a fit and healthy Indigo with a strong and imposing guardian, reserved to the side-lines. She could understand why he might be hesitant, but given what lay before them and given the people the organisation stood to lose, it didn’t seem prudent to let Anzu’s talents and her own go to waste.

  “I understand your frustration, Katherine. I really do,” said Walter. “However, if they’re to fail, you and Anzu will be the organisation’s last line of defence.”

  Chapter 24

  To learn how far the mighty have fallen. Now if I hadn’t sensed it, there would’ve been no way I’d ever have believed it, thought Rabisu, as he flew through the early evening skies.

  When he’d finished feeding on his prey: those students that attended the party, he had fleetingly sensed the energy of a familiar Corrupted.

  “Humbaba…, to think you’d have stooped so low as to contemplate the forming a celestial bond…, he muttered beneath his breath.

  His thoughts then lingered on the one girl who had got away. She had fled on foot, running along the street in the middle of the night as he’d pursued her. He wasn’t sure that this young woman had yet ascended, but she would certainly have proven a satisfying source of energy nonetheless. But to smell the scent of an earthen Corrupted; and a former Reaper no less that’d at one point occupied lord Namtar’s throne room, came to him as quite a shock. He knew little of Humbaba – his motivations, and his power, and he’d little intention to needlessly tangle with another Corrupted who had once possessed such a prestigious title. For Rabisu, who’d now extracted a sufficient quantity of energy from his many victims, preferred to test his newfound strength on a Corrupted whom he deeply resented.

  Before a still sea, and beneath the light of a full moon, he saw the imposing physique of Sidney Johnson standing alone on a beach.

  “Kur, I knew you’d be here,” Rabisu bellowed, his red eyes set upon this stocky figure. “I could smell your repugnant and fishy stench from all the way out in the desert.”

  Sidney scowled, while he continued to unwaveringly gaze out at sea. “Rabisu…, what brings such a pitiful weakling as you so close to the shoreline? Turn around and fly off back to Anabasis, before I tear those paper wings of yours from their sockets.”

  “At one time, I would’ve done as you had asked. For fear that you’d carry out such a threat…,” he replied. “But now I’m different. Surely you must sense that I’ve ascended?”

  Sidney grunted. “Rabisu, compared to me you are nothing more than a weak, pathetic sycophant. It has always made me wonder why Lord Namtar had not rid himself of you, before experiencing such an imminent betrayal.”

  “Come now, betraying Namtar seems to have become common-place among Reapers. Only recently I sensed a familiar energy, an energy which has long been absent from your Lord’s throne room.”

  “Humbaba…, tell me where you found him,” Sidney demanded, and much to Rabisu’s amusement.

  “Well isn’t this just precious? I now see this façade of yours was not only to keep an eye on Lord Namtar’s own Indigo…, but you’ve also been charged with hunting down Humbaba.

  Sidney glared back at him, grinding his teeth. “You best tell me, before I lose my patience and force the words from your throat.”

  “Then let’s put your bravado to the test,” Rabisu replied, as he discarded his cloak and soared toward him. “First I shall dispose of you Kur, and then I will go after Namtar himself!”

  With his fists clenched, he slogged Sidney across the jaw and sent him hurtling over. As his target reeled from the attack, Rabisu propelled himself backward to create some distance. He then thrashed with his bat-like wings, conjuring up cutting winds that tore through Sidney’s guise.

  “You’ve got a lot of guts to challenge me upon this terrain,” Sidney cursed, as he shed of his own skin.

  Rabisu looked on as Sidney transformed. Beneath the soft and tender portions of Sidney’s human flesh, he unveiled layers upon layers of coarse scales. Before long, the reptilian features of his being arose to the surface in their entirety. No more was he human in appearance; no longer did he take the shape of skin and bone. Now in Sidney’s place stood Kur, a lizard man; retaining the bulky exterior of his human guise, but with the traits and ferocity of a serpent.

  “What form is this? Why would you not transform into your true self?” Rabisu questioned, believing this to be an insult, and not a true testament of his opponent’s power. “You still dare to mock me?”

  “Is that a fact,” the serpent Corrupted retorted. “This is my true form; I am much stronger in this state than when I assume the giant serpentine form you’re used to seeing. I generally only use my other form to conserve of energy, or to ferry my Lord and his minions to the surface world. Now you will see the folly that comes to those who challenge Namtar’s elite.”

  He bustled toward Rabisu, wildly flailing at the winged Corrupted with his trunk-like arms. Despite the bulk of this new form, Rabisu was taken aback when he came to learn this Corrupted had lost nothing in terms of speed. For on more than one occasion while they fought, Kur had prov
en agile enough to nearly collect the winged Corrupted and put him down for the count.

  At this point, self-doubt played on Rabisu’s mind. For if he was still to struggle with a creature of Kur’s calibre, how on earth did he expect to tackle one of Namtar’s talents? He knew he’d underestimated his foe here, and perhaps he’d even overestimated his newly acquired strength. What’s worse, Kur had been right in that by fighting on the beach and near the sea, he’d played directly into the serpents’ webbed clutches. Just as the grains of sand were seeping through his marble plate-armour, and with Kur having gained the upper hand, a lone cry tore through the evening sky and brought the serpentine behemoth to a standstill.

  “Enough Kur, stand down,” boomed a cold and raspy voice from out at sea.

  “My lord…, Kur stammered, dropping subserviently upon one knee.

  Behind a haze of heavy rain and thick fog, Rabisu could sense the approach of a familiar and most intimidating presence. The closer this presence came toward the shoreline, the more the winged Corrupted felt his resolve waiver. From out the darkness, he saw a pair of lidless eyes that smouldered like icy blue flames, glaring at him from the cavernous sockets of a crystallized skull.

  “Rabisu, you disappoint me…,” the ghoulish figure grumbled. “As a child of the shadows, I’d expected you to revel in such a challenge.”

  “Namtar…, you sent for me, along with two lower class Reapers, to rid usof these Indigo heirs. Unfortunately, I soon found myself questioning in the validity of your power. Indeed at one time, you were truly unmatched. But that was many millennia ago. I believe that it is time you named your successor to rule over Atlantis in your stead. That is, before you embarrass yourself and your position further.”

  Upon hearing Rabisu’s proclamations, the wraith of Atlantis could only cackle maniacally. He revealed a pair of skeletal hands from beneath the sleeves of his waterlogged and worn cloak. Once he had his open palms outstretched, the wraith silently mumbled the words of an ancient incantation; one that Rabisu could not make out, nor was it one he’d ever heard before.

  “I’ve decided but to prove a point, my young Reaper,” said the wraith. “I can tell you’ve become much stronger, something which I assume you’ve achieved through draining the energies of mortals. But you’re far from becoming a worthy opponent for one of my ability, even in this frail state in which I now find myself. And for that, I am deeply disappointed.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” Rabisu cried, soaring toward the wraith, intent on laying a fatal blow.

  But he quickly recognized that Namtar had barely flinched upon his descent. Once the wraith had dodged his attack, Namtar arose into the sky. Thereafter, and beneath Namtar, Rabisu witnessed a serpent; forged from ice and the salt of the sea, materialize within thin air.

  “What is this…,” he blurted, as the serpent slivered through the sky and prepared to bind the winged Corrupted within the coil of its frozen body.

  “You’re much faster than I’d expected, my child of darkness. That much I am more than willing to grant you,” Namtar told him, as Rabisu effortlessly evaded the serpent’s lunges. “Nevertheless, you lose of this apparent advantage from the moment you are unable to move.”

  Rabisu felt his body grow heavier; and he’d little choice than to exert substantial energy through the thrashing of his wings as to remain in the sky. But he soon found the air around him had gradually frozen, further impeding his struggle to stay airborne. Thereafter Rabisu plummeted uncontrollably toward the sandy shore, his wings bound within a thick block of ice.

  He let out a hoarse gasp. “I was a fool to challenge you so close to the sea…But I refuse to let it end this way.”

  “You’ve little choice. Nor would it make any difference where you chose to fight me,” Namtar affirmed, leaping down from the head of his creation and onto the damp sand. “Only now do you understand that confronting one of my talents is futile.”

  Rabisu could now feel his strength failing him. He knew this was not because of his frozen bindings, but from the sand which now permeated through his joints. Despite the proven resilience of Rabisu’s marble body when coming to blows with opposing spirits, it was also too dense and rigid in structure, and the sand left him vulnerable.

  I was far too careless and arrogant, I have let a notable weakness become my undoing, Rabisu realised, feeling utterly incompetent.

  He knew he’d brought this on himself. Now the grains of sand were seeping through the cracks of his limbs, not only bringing forth an agonizing sensation which rippled up his body, but also rendering him unable to move. He had no other option than to lie there at the foot of his adversary.

  The wraith placed a skeletal palm upon the ice that bound Rabisu. “I have always had higher hopes for you, my child. For too long had I hoped that another would rise up and challenge me, and it’d be a lie if I weren’t to confess that in you I saw some kind of potential…”

  “My Lord,” Kur pleaded. “If you choose to let him free, he will only betray you again at the first opportunity that presents itself.”

  “It is of little consequence,” said Namtar. “In truth, I pray that he does.”

  “And what of Humbaba?”

  Namtar sighed, shattering the ice and setting Rabisu free. “I might yet end up counting on him to return as well. For if it comes to pass that these few Indigo’s end up proving unworthy; then I shall have little choice but to look elsewhere for what I am seeking.”

  Rabisu could not believe his luck, but he was also apprehensive about what this dark Lord had in store for him next.

  “I will grant you one last chance to redeem yourself,” the wraith said to him. “Although I’ve toiled away at remaining patient, I believe I can wait just a little while longer. You will test whether these new Indigo are up to the task of providing me with a decent challenge. I will never forget that fateful night atop a frozen precipice…Such a battle it had been, never before had I been pushed so far toward the limits of my power.”

  “These Indigo are not nearly strong enough…,” Rabisu admitted, having recognized the significant disparity in his and their strength when he’d confronted them earlier. “Nor do they possess the kind of potential which you seem to crave. Even the twins will likely prove more than enough for them to handle.”

  “I find that difficult to believe. News of their failure against a young girl, who’d only recently formed a celestial bond, has already reached the ears of those dwelling within the underworld. But if what you say turns out to be true, then you’d best improve, quickly, so that I receive the challenge I so desperately desire.”

  Once his frozen wings had finally thawed, he shook the excess sand from his coarse frame, and Rabisu launched himself high up into the night sky.

  As Rabisu flew back toward Anabasis, he spent the time in flight in self-reflection; thinking about how miserably he’d fared in his confrontation with Namtar, and to rationalize the reason drew breath despite this humiliating defeat. He’d been absolutely outclassed. His agility and prowess he’d prided himself on had been deemed by the wraith of Altantis as nothing more than a subject of faint praise. Although he was thankful that Namtar had granted him yet another chance, he now had little to no idea about how he’d get the necessary strength to achieve his ambition.

  Rabisu was yet to fully recover from his battle with Kur and Namtar. He found the endeavour of flying a strain on his worn and tired body. By the time he’d reached the school, the marble about his chest had cracked along its surface. As he’d landed, he glanced down from a rooftop to where many operatives were now dispersed in many different directions below. They were scouring every nook and cranny in what he presumed to be a search for the other Corrupted. As he scanned back and forth between each operative, his red eyes came to lock upon both Katherine and Anzu.

  “So this is the girl who bested the twins…,” he murmured to himself, licking his lips, and deciding that they would serve as his next quarry.

  He scrambled thro
ugh the first open window he could find and casually made his way along an empty school corridor.

  “It looks like I’ve already found them,” he sighed, noticing that the walls before him had been smeared in dark shadows.

  These shadows; shaped like that of long gangling arms and with forked fingers, sought to reach out and bind the winged Corrupted. But even though he found himself in this ragged state, Rabisu was much too nimble and still easily able to dodge the grasping shadows limbs. He soon came to a stop outside the principal’s office. He peered inside. Immediately his red eyes came to rest upon Monica; the woman was seated and bound in the principal’s chair.

  “You only waste your precious energy and time,” he heard Alu mutter, as Rabisu could detect the scent of burning wood.

  With Alu motioning toward the doorway, Rabisu looked on as the masked Corrupted waved his gloved hands through the air casting a spell. He watched as Monica with the little energy she seemed to have left, tried to light her bindings on fire and wriggle free. Although he found her struggle entertaining, what he couldn’t stomach was the way Alu continued to gloat about his magical prowess, while he physically weaved the shadows of his being about the office space.

  “If you’ve haven’t yet realised, I have the ability to infiltrate the minds of mortals and to distort and deceive their eyes from reality,” he boasted, and much to Rabisu’s displeasure. “I don’t need to rely on physical bindings to restrain my prey.”

  Sure enough, and as a result of Alu’s rambling, Rabisu could see that Monica had swiftly fallen limp and frail. But then, much to his dismay, a device about her wrist glowed in the darkness and rang relentlessly with a most repugnant resonance.

  “You will no longer need this. Such a device only ruins the dark ambience that I’ve created,” he heard Alu mumble in response, as Alu swiped the wrist communicator. “There’s little use in your friends overhearing our conversation. After all, I want this to be a surprise.”

  “A surprise indeed, although I’d hoped my Lord had the sense to bring your trivial existence to an end…,” Justin sighed, as the young Indigo passed by Rabisu and entered the principal’s office. “I was almost certain my Lord would’ve finally deemed you a lost cause…, especially in light of your poor efforts out along the coastline. Surely it was obvious that you never stood a chance.”