She managed to get to her boots a second ahead of Enlil as he lunged for her. From her boot, Ashlyn pulled out a hidden knife, and diving off to her right side, came back up into a standing position. With his next attack, she parried him with a backflip, easily evading him. As her feet hit the ground, in a blisteringly fast move, she let the knife fly. Taken by surprise and committed to his forward lunge, Enlil was helpless to avoid the knife as it landed squarely in his left pupil. The serpent reeled from his unaccustomed exposure to pain.
Ashlyn circled round him as he flailed about, moving out into the center of the square and drawing him away from Christie.
Again setting herself, Ashlyn took a defensive stance.
“Damn, she’s good,” said Steven, softly.
Steven called out to the gaping crowd. “Slaves! I call to you. I command you to rise up, because your deliverance is at hand. Behold, he bleeds. I Enki, command you to fight. Do not refuse to obey me, for I speak for the Anunnaki, those who stood by your side and defended your home back on Earth.” Steven could only hope that a few of them might understand English.
The serpent was screaming in pain as he curled and wriggled like a worm on a hook.
The people seemed awed at the use of Enki’s name and seemed about to fight, when Enlil took notice of their growing courage and stopped thrashing.
Seeking to regain control, he turned toward Steven, and shifted form, becoming Steven. Ashlyn’s knife fluttered through the air, falling to the courtyard’s floor. Enlil, in the form of Steven uttered something in an unknown language, neither Sumerian nor English. To Steven, he then said, “She will be my special prize and she will pay in ways she cannot imagine.”
He then gave a very human sounding maniacal laugh, before turning and speaking to Ashlyn, “You are indeed beautiful. I remember the days of long ago, when females offered themselves to me, wanting nothing more than to please me, their God—but the females here are withered and dry.
You however—remind me of earlier times. I think I will keep you for as long as you can bring me pleasure. Do you like me in his form?” said Enlil, adding, “I’ll bet you may even enjoy it,” said Enlil’s in Steven’s voice.
Ash spit on the ground, “You aren’t worthy of washing his feet!”
Steven was never so proud of her as he was at that very moment, a moment when they both faced death.
The serpent hissed, “You fight for him. Then let me make you an offer. If you surrender yourself to me and do my bidding, you have my word that I will spare his life!”
Ashlyn considered his offer for only the briefest of moments, before her posture relaxed and she allowed the guards to come and bind her. “We need time, my love. Time to understand how to use the Gift!” said Ashlyn into Steven’s mind.
Enlil in Steven’s form turned and spoke to Steven, “I find you and your whore very amusing. You will die this day, but know that I will treat her well for as long as she pleases me. And yes, human—it is as you say—my size will impress her—if it does not split her in two!” he said with a haughty laugh.
Enlil looked at the guard standing beside Steven and with a nod; the Elite Guard gave Steven a hard blow that sent him careening to the ground.
The pain from his nearly cracked jaw was intense, his breath trapped in his throat. Struggling, he defiantly rolled over to see the enemy who had struck him.
Steven rose shakily to his knees. He wasn’t going to let the man rob him of his dignity, not in his last moments of life. Steven spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Suddenly, all around Steven, flames arose, burning him. Steven screamed as his skin bubbled, blistered and charred. The deeper layers of his muscle tissue began flaking away, exposing the white bone beneath. The torrential flood of pain drove him toward insanity as a distant inhuman scream carried upon his last breath, escaped him.
His hair in flames, dripped like candle wax to the ground. His fingers were black, charred. He wondered why he was alive, how he could endure such pain, such mutilation and not die.
“Steven, the pain isn’t real. It’s one of the Watchers, Enlil’s Elite guard. He’s giving you the vision of pain—a pain that is only in your mind. Listen to me, Steven. It’s only a vision. He’s putting it into your mind. It’s not real. Focus on my voice! Focus! Picture a wall of cinder blocks between you and the flames. A wall, Steven! A wall!”
Steven strained against the pain, listening to Ashlyn’s voice. He pictured the wall, but the pain was so intense, so real!
“Yes, Steven, reach out and touch it. The wall is real! It’s between you and the flames! Touch it. Feel it. It’s shielding you from the fire.
You are stronger than he is. Focus. Fight him! Touch the wall! Fight!”
Touching it, he suddenly began to believe in its existence. He could feel its rough texture. It was cool to the touch. He pummeled his fists against it, each blow reinforcing his belief that it was there. He pounded at the wall, his own blood staining it red. The wall was thick. It surrounded him. It was between him and the flames. It was between him and—the—flames.
The flames began to recede until it went dark and then coalesced into a field of green.
The pain was gone. He was floating, flying over a green field that ebbed with pulsing energy. Electrical impulses swirled and raced away from him as though they were fleeing from his presence. The pathway was clearing before him, letting him escape. He concentrated harder upon reaching the other side, where he saw a bright circular doorway. Rainbow colors raced across the sky above as he sped towards it. He could feel his salvation nearing as he exploded into the light.
Suddenly, from some distant place, he saw himself down on his knees. His hands were braced at his temples, his eyes wide like that of a madman, his face exhibiting a look of fierce concentration. Steven was shocked, to find that he had gained entry into the mind of his attacker.
His excitement at the revelation, that he could reverse the flow of the vision sent a wild surge of adrenaline coursing through him. Steven pictured himself tearing at the man’s throat. His neck grasped firmly between his clawing hands, crushing it with a strength that was more than humanly possible. The man’s skin began to tear. “This is for what was done to my son, you demon bastard! This is for him!” The anger, which he had contained for so long, unleashed itself in a tremendous surge of power.
Steven’s fingers dug deep into the man’s muscle and tissue, gripping his spine. A mixture of blood and flesh oozed from between Steven’s fingers. With all his might, he pulled, yanking the man’s spine out of his body.
Rising to his feet, he held the grotesquely detached head and dangling spine in his hands.
The headless corpse slumped to the ground, spurting heavy streams of blood from broken arteries. Steven reveled in the momentary, mental victory.
With the mental death of his guard, the connection between the two warriors was broken. Steven found himself as before, kneeling upon the ground. Before him, the thousands of slaves were on their knees, bowing to the ground while as one they chanted, “Enki—Enki—Enki!”
His eyes sought out Ashlyn. She was beside Enlil and surrounded by the Elite Guard. The look upon Ashlyn’s face conveyed far more than he could immediately comprehend. He looked at Enlil and the guards standing around him. Their frozen stance only reinforced his confusion.
Steven turned round, looking behind him, to see the source of their distraction. Only a short distance away, lay the decapitated body of one of Enlil’s Elite guard. His head and spine lay grotesquely on the ground next to his fallen body. No one was more surprised than was Steven.
Issuing an order in his native tongue, Enlil commanded his guards to quickly take Ashlyn inside the palace.
Enlil then gave the order for the guards to kill Steven. As the hundreds of guards round the square raised their weapons, Enlil turned away to follow Ashlyn inside.
When hundreds of shots rang out, Ashlyn broke away from the grasp of her guards. As she turned toward Ste
ven, she froze, stunned by what she saw.
Enlil too, stood stunned.
Hundreds of laser blasts were pummeling him without doing any damage.
Steven looked down, wondering how such a thing was possible. His bodily form was glistening like that of liquid silver. It flowed free of the collar and cuffs that were restraining him. His clothing ripped into shreds as long, black hairs began to grow upon his newly, forming limbs. His arms, legs and body increased twenty fold as he grew to forty meters in height. And just like in the VDDs he’d watched as a kid, he became one of the most fearsome creatures he had ever seen as a child. He had become Kong.
Feeling immensely powerful, Steven leaned forward on his long arms, bracing his stance upon his knuckles. He let out a shattering roar, bearing his fangs. The whites of Kong’s eyes raged with anger, hatred.
Seeing the threat, Enlil changed too, taking his serpent form.
Charging across the square, Steven grabbed Enlil round the neck, trying to strangle him. Enlil twisted and squirmed in his grasp, until he loosed himself. The battle raged, Kong roaring and baring his teeth and Enlil as the serpent, hissing and baring his long fangs.
Steven made a fist and slammed it down, trying to give Enlil a massive, crushing blow to his head. Enlil’s serpent form had the advantage of speed though and as Enlil reeled back, Steven’s blow was left to strike the ground, where it shattered the white stone in the Citadel.
Steven let loose a savage growl. It seemed to be a natural accompaniment to his embodiment of Kong. The square became an arena, an arena in which two titans fought to decide the fate of humanity.
Enlil’s coils managed to wrap themselves around Steven’s legs, tightening second by second. Steven’s powerful hands grabbed at the churning snake but as quickly as he could remove one coil, another replaced it. Even as he landed a blow to the snake’s head, though stunned, Enlil’s grip round him tightened.
“Steven, it’s no use. He’s too experienced. He’ll crush you,” said Ash by way of the meld. “Steven, how did you change?”
Between blows, Steven thought about her question. He remembered focusing on wanting more strength to break his bonds. It was an image of a movie that he’d focused on, a movie he’d seen but once as a kid, where Kong had freed himself from massive chains. He wondered if it could be as simple as picturing a mental image, and having the desire to want it to happen?
“Focus! Concentrate on becoming what you want. Feel it! Want it!”
Steven managed to grab Enlil’s wriggling body just below the head. His body was almost completely encased within the squeezing coils, only his arms remained free to hold the snake’s fangs at bay. Steven opened his jaws wide and with a huge growl to pump adrenaline into his body, sank his teeth deep into the nearest of the broad coils about his chest.
He bit deep, tearing at Enlil. Disgustingly bad tasting fluids spurted into Steven’s mouth. Steven tore off a chunk, spatting it upon the ground. The serpent roiled, churning violently. The struggle toppled them over into the great wall, which gave way under their force and weight.
Steven felt as though he were falling in slow motion as they tumbled toward the ground six stories below, where they hit with a quaking forcefulness.
Beneath Steven, a clump of fleeing humans scrambled to get away. Steven put his arm out, forming a bridge over them. A heavy snorting blow of air from Steven’s nostrils toppled the people over as they escaped under his armpit. Enlil’s weight atop him was massive and Enlil used the time to get the advantage.
Enlil had managed to get a coil around Steven’s neck, and he was tightening it.
Struggling desperately to free himself, from somewhere in the distance, Steven heard the screaming roar of a large, jungle cat. His large, black eyes caught a glimpse of Ashlyn leaping through the air, four sets of outstretched razor sharp claws, ready for battle.
“Nice choice, my lady!” said Steven to her in the meld.
“Thank you, my lord!”
Muscles taut and rippling, Ashlyn landed squarely on top of the serpent’s head. The cat’s claws sliced through his scales and deep into the fleshy tissue beneath. Ash threw her head back, and then brought it forwards, sinking her two, large fangs into him. Ashlyn had succeeded in using the Gift. Her saber-tooth cat was magnificent.
The serpent’s hold loosened, enabling Steven to throw off coil after coil. Ashlyn’s cat was tossed off as the serpent managed with great effort to fling her aside. Rolling over, now completely free, Steven crouched, resting on his knuckles and haunches. Ashlyn in a single bound leapt to his side.
They stood in a face off—but even as they watched, Enlil’s wounds were already beginning to heal.
“How do we defeat him?” said Ash in a rare exercising of her vocal chords.
The serpent laughed at her question. His tongue lashing out toward them, tauntingly.
Steven’s thoughts were of Phillip and of what this monstrosity had done to him. His adrenaline surged and his rage grew as he recalled his son’s torturous cries.
Steven shifted into the thing that had terrified him the most as a child. He’d had recurring nightmares of a sword-wielding soldier made of bronze, sixty meters tall. His strength and invulnerability were limitless.
His body grew and hardened into that of Talos. His bronze chest rippled with musculature. His sandaled feet spread taking an aggressive posture. He hefted the sword in his hand, swinging it, getting a feel for its weight. With every movement, the familiar, grinding squeak that had frequented his every movement reverberated shrilly through the air.
Ash changed back into her human form.
The serpent dissolved, liquefying. The chunk of tissue that Steven had spit out, like water running downhill, flowed across the ground. Having rejoined with Enlil, he began to take form into-
“Novacek?” Steven said softly.
“Did I tell you, they died slowly as I roasted each of them alive and ate them?” Ashlyn focused upon Enlil in Novacek’s form, her eyes squinted, studying him. “He’s lying. He didn’t do what he claims.”
“How Ash? How can you read his mind?”
“I’m not sure, I just can. I can see his thoughts. Novacek defeated him. Enlil lost most of his army in the failed attacks. I can see everything he’s done, all the atrocities.
But—the mountain was destroyed. If I had to guess, I think Novacek detonated the energy cores.”
“Very interesting! So, your whore can read minds,” said Enlil. “And yes, they are dead. Actually, I found the whole thing very entertaining, despite my losses. Their last act—was almost noble.”
“Ash, is Phillip alive?”
Steven watched as Ashlyn closed her eyes.
When she didn’t answer, his eyes darted to Enlil in Novacek’s form. He saw that Novacek was watching Ashlyn, but the strained look upon his face conveyed something much deeper. The intensity, with which they were staring each other down, showed that they were inwardly locked in a mental battle.
It was Steven’s chance, a chance to strike at Enlil while he was vulnerable. He began to move forward.
“No Steven!” Ash screamed out. “This is beyond you. If you should get caught between us, it will rip your mind apart.”
Steven stepped back. Ash, seemingly weakened, fell to one knee. Her concentration had faltered in order to warn him—and it had given Enlil an advantage in their invisible, mental battle. She screamed out loudly from the inflicted pain. A trickle of blood began to seep from her nose, catching on her lip.
A scream from Novacek drew Steven’s attention away from her. Though he was on his knees, grasping his head in agonizing pain, he was grinning maniacally. He had won.
Ashlyn screamed, collapsing to the ground. Steven stepped forward, shielding her.
Horrifying imagery raced through Steven’s mind at a pace that was mind-boggling. He saw thousands of years of tortures and atrocities. Enlil had been trying to drive Ashlyn insane, showing her his own acts of cruelty, knowing it would be mo
re than her human psyche could bear.
The images of thousands of children being dismembered and eaten, women being tortured mercilessly, men having the skin peeled from their bodies was unfathomably painful. Steven fought to block them from his mind, focusing on his desire to protect Ashlyn—but when he saw an image of Phillip screaming, strapped to a table, his rage unleashed itself.
Widening his stance and squaring his shoulders, the noise made by Talos’ every movement ear piercing, with a tilt of his head, he looked down at Novacek.
Dissolving his sword and reacquiring the molecules into himself, he put his hands out to his side. Drawing upon the energy in the air around him, he drew it into himself. The air ionized and began to stir to life, sparkling, sizzling and crackling.
The wind grew thick, warm. It began to circle him, racing round him as if he were in the center of a hurricane. The eye expanded as the storm grew in strength until even Enlil was standing within it. Small bolts of lightning began to strike his metal form, empowering him.
“What is this?” screamed Enlil, trying to be heard above the din of noise around him.
Ignoring Enlil’s question, Steven gathered the enormous energies of the earth and air, making their power, his own. The chiseled, taut lines of Talos’ body tensed, his veins rising ever sharper as he gained power. His muscles bulged.
The winds were racing at hundreds of kilometers per hour around them and nothing could be seen outside it. From the interior walls of the vortex, from every direction, dozens of energy streams were feeding him raw energy. His body began to glow as the energy inside him radiated outward, unable to be fully contained.
Out of concern for Ashlyn, with a mere thought, Steven created a protective barrier around her, encasing her unconscious, naked body within a floating bubble of pure, white energy.
Novacek stared at Steven not comprehending the power he possessed. His eyes went wide as Steven pulled his arms down, turning them toward him. With a loud shriek, Steven pointed at Enlil. His eyes began to glow golden as his fury prepared to unleash itself, his temples pulsing to the beat of an inhuman, iron heart.
EARTH'S LAST WAR (CHILDREN OF DESTINY Book 1) Page 36