by Ahadi, Kion
I replayed one of my last lifetimes on earth. I was a King of the Shetie lizards. This was a type of physical body created by the Gods of the Black Circle. This body was the same one Dajjal was using. It did not age as quickly as a human body, which had been created by the unknown neutral energy. The lizard body was far larger, stronger and better suited to space travel. The dominant species on the earth was not human, it was the Shetie lizards. The lizards lived in large underground settlements across the planet. Most surface-dwelling humans were unaware of their existence. The lizards manipulated the neutral humans into wars and hatred, feeding off the negative energies unleashed. Every now and then a human of neutral energy would transform to negative energy and consciously help the lizards control other humans. The human populace were like sheep, most were of neutral energy, neither negative nor positive, but they had the potential to transform to one or the other, depending on the choices they made over their lifetimes. The battle between light and darkness was being fought this very moment on earth! I knew now why I was here underground. I was once a general of the Ari-an empire, the most powerful and cunning dark being to have ever roamed the Milky Way galaxy. The Dark Gods of the Black Circle wanted me to fight for them to help tip the balance of neutral energy on the planet towards negative energy. I was the huge reptilian creature with red eyes in my dreams. I was Teerzad, Dajjal’s former master!
I put my hands up to the crystal and slowly the images in my mind vanished. I opened my eyes. I could not explain how I felt.
My whole perspective on life had changed. I could not deny the truth of what I had seen in the Akashic records. I turned over on the mattress and pressed my face into the pillow. The sadness of countless ages weighed down on me as I sought sleep.
***
Nadia frantically looked around from side to side while lying helpless strapped to the stretcher. She could not see any details of where she might be. All she could tell was they were travelling along a narrow corridor. They made a few turns and finally came to a standstill. The woman with black eyes disappeared. Nadia arched her back on the stretcher in an attempt to glance in front of her; she could just make out that the stretcher was positioned in front of a large door. The door opened. The stretcher propelled by some mysterious force moved slowly inside the room. The faint light coming from the open door faded as Nadia heard the door close shut. Nadia was lying face up helpless on the stretcher, strapped down and gagged. She could not see anything, it was too dark. After a few minutes she heard movement, something was in the room; she moved her head around frantically to see what it could be. She was terrified beyond belief, her heart pounding and sweat pouring endlessly from her brow.
Then there came more rustling sounds and movement. She looked down to see two large shapes moving towards her legs. The outline of the shapes was barely visible in the gloom. Nadia closed her eyes, terrified. Then she felt rough and hairy hands tearing at her night dress. She opened her eyes in terror and watched as two hideous shapes pulled at her naked legs. She felt wet tongues licking her thighs repeatedly and she gasped in pain as sharp fangs sank into her tender flesh. Two other shapes appeared and pulled at her arms and tore the top of her night dress. Her breasts were licked and stroked. She was frantic trying to get her hands free. Then more fangs sank into the soft flesh of her breasts. Nadia could see four large beastly shapes feasting on her. She felt the blood being sucked and drained from her body. Her eyes watered and closed shut as the dark inhuman shapes drank her life essence.
***
I awoke as the door opened. Nergal entered, he had some food with him. He rested the tray of food on the table and sat. He motioned for me to do the same.
“Did you use the crystal,” Nergal asked.
“Yes, but I could not access everything, some parts are missing,” I said, as I sat at the table.
Nergal studied me closely, “Your energy grid is probably damaged,” he said.
“What does that mean?” I asked. Nergal ignored my question.
“We need you to do something before you can be set free,” Nergal said.
“What do I have to do?” I asked. I had learnt that Nergal would not answer questions he did not want to, so pursuing the issue of my energy grid was pointless.
“You need to see something. Eat now and when you have finished we can go,” he said.
I started to eat the food in front of me. I was ravenous. I was excited by the proposition of leaving the room. I had not left the room since fainting after my initial meeting with Dajjal. I had been held prisoner for days now and I finally had the opportunity to leave. I ate quickly and with purpose. When I finished Nergal got up and walked to the door. I followed. The door slid open. On the other side Wren and Ofriz were waiting. Dajjal was nowhere to be seen. We walked along a narrow corridor and reached a door. Beyond the door was a hallway, it looked like the same one I had first entered from the car park. We turned left and walked past two doors. We came finally to a huge circular door. We waited and it slid open. We walked through into a large area like a vast warehouse. On either side were enormous tanks. They were made of transparent glass filled with green liquid. I knew innately what was being grown in those tanks; Shetie lizard bodies. There were lizards in white coats walking around checking instruments near the tanks. These lizards were not as tall as Dajjal; they were only around six feet as far as I could tell. None were close enough for me to see properly as the area was around fifty metres wide. We walked straight on until we reached the far end of the warehouse. There was a door here leading into what looked like a circular elevator. The enormous tanks on either side of the warehouse were linked by large pipes to the circular structure in front of me. Nergal pressed some buttons on the panel near the door and it opened.
“Get in,” he said.
I looked around. I was in a small tube-like room, but as I looked up I could not see the ceiling. The door closed. The walls of the room were shiny and metallic.
“Stand in the centre of the room,” ordered Nergal. He must have been using some sort of intercom, as I could not see him now the door was closed. I did as I was asked.
I stood waiting. The lights went out. I was in total darkness. I felt a breeze and then I started to rise away from the ground. I was floating in the pitch black darkness suspended in mid-air. I panicked and kicked my feet around to try to stop floating, but to no avail. I was completely weightless and after a few moments I felt a downward pressure. I experienced a sensation of falling downwards at amazing speed through what I can only describe as the bottom of the universe. Planets and stars flashed past me. I now no longer felt like I had a body, I was just energy, free and unconfined. I felt immense power flowing through my being. I kept falling. I saw images of chaos and destruction, planets exploding, stars burning out, and all the time I felt more powerful. Dark thoughts penetrated and invaded my mind: kill, destroy, and expand the dominion. I could make mountains crumble, seas boil. I was the eternal destructor and avenger, I was the only thing that matters everything else was here to SERVE ME.
In a flash the room returned to normal. I was no longer floating in darkness. The lights were back on. I stood in the centre of the room feeling different. Something inside me had awakened. I was beginning to understand the capabilities I possessed if I harnessed my dark energy properly. I knew I could summon immense strength, or destroy a living organism with a burst of negative energy; I had half knowingly killed that dog so long ago. My human body was more limited than a reptilian body, but my captors had just infused it with a burst from what I suspected must be a dark energy vortex. The room to the door opened. I stepped out.
“How do you feel?” Nergal asked me.
“Great, I am beginning to feel like my old self,” I said with a smile. Nergal’s black eyes stared at me and then he smiled back awkwardly.
We returned to my room. I no longer felt like a prisoner. I was learning who I really was. These beings were helping me piece together my destiny. I was more than just a human bei
ng. I was indestructible energy. People treated conquerors of lands in awe; I had conquered worlds, solar systems and soon the galaxy. Dajjal knew that, he was frightened by my dreams because he knew who I really was and what I had done in service to the Dark Gods of the Black Circle. Knowledge brings power. I had the knowledge and the power now. Some say knowledge is slavery and that ignorance is bliss. I was ignorant before and lived in delusion, a very blissful state for the timid and weak. My new-found knowledge brought with it the understanding that I served the Dark Gods of the Black Circle, this was my slavery.
Nergal entered the room with me cautiously. My self-knowledge made me even more dangerous to him than before. We sat down at the table.
“Where is Dajjal?” I asked Nergal.
“He is still here at the base. He will witness your initiation,” Nergal answered.
“Tell him I will forgive the transgression he made when striking me. I know I tired him with my questions. Let him know I have learnt the answers now,” I ordered Nergal.
“As you wish Cyrus,” Nergal replied.
“My name is Teerzad; leave me now,” I commanded. Nergal left in silence.
Before being permitted to discard my human body and take on a body more befitting an Ari-an general, I would have to prove my allegiance in a ceremony to honour the Dark Gods of the Black Circle. I was beginning to fathom what this ceremony would entail and my lips were wet with anticipation.
Chapter 5
“Choice”
Love is the most mysterious force in the universe.
It locks two souls together across space and time.
Once that spark is ignited it consumes all else.
It was that shard of light that transformed a dark soul forever.
Now let that love burn bright like a sun for eternity…
The female android with black eyes known as Lilith returned. The woman was outside the feeding room. Her nightdress was in tatters and torn to shreds. She was still clamped to the stretcher her body lifeless and bleeding from deep puncture wounds to her breasts and thighs. They had feasted well on her life essence. Those Zendari infants loved the dark and the taste of fresh blood. Once they got older they would be set loose in the caverns and tunnels of the underground city to dispose of unwanted intruders. Every now and then the female android liked to treat them to new flesh. They particularly appreciated terrified innocent victims as it made the blood taste sweeter. Yes they had enjoyed sucking the woman dry almost to the brink of death. It was surprising the woman still lived; she must have a very strong will, thought the android, as she pushed the stretcher to begin the journey back to the cell.
Nergal entered Nadia’s cell with Lilith. He inspected Nadia’s body; she was sound asleep but pale and weak. He was furious with the female android as Nadia was evidently almost dead. He left the cell with Lilith. Outside the cell he shouted.
“Who gave permission to feed her to the Zendari?”
“Dajjal, he said I could give her to them,” Lilith replied.
Fuming with rage, Nergal struck Lilith across the face, sending her flying back onto the ground. Dajjal was causing him no end of trouble. He knew he could not confront him, Dajjal was a commander and the Gods had specifically requested his presence. But why was he jeopardising the ceremonial plan?
“I am the one in charge!” Nergal shouted with an evil smile as he kicked the female android in the face when she tried to get back on her feet. He pulled out a metal rod and thrust it into Lilith’s torso. There was an electrical reaction then her body went limp and lifeless.
“Go back to the void,” he muttered as he lifted her body and flung it down a dark disposal chute.
***
We walked along the corridor. I was dressed in an all-black body suit. Wren and Ofriz were walking either side of me. Nergal walked ahead as we made our way to the chamber of the black void. The chamber was an enormous underground arena. There were banners adorning the walls depicting a dragon in a black circle, the emblem of the Ari-an Empire. Huge statues stood majestically around the chamber, forms of beasts and creatures the Dark Gods had created over the ages. Some were of dragons, others of upright snakes, some of demons and still others were of nightmare forms I did not recognise. I saw a marble slab in the centre of the chamber upon a raised mound. Next to the marble slab was a free-standing column, on it rested a dagger. Wren and Ofriz took their places at either side of the slab, while Nergal stood a few feet from me.
Then came the pounding of drums, making the room reverberate with each beat, the hairs on my neck bristled. The beat was deep and constant, soon after sounds of screaming filled the chamber. Naked humans laden with chains, young and old were led in. They were dragged and prodded by Shetie lizards holding sharp sabres. The faces of the humans showed indescribable terror. They kept screaming; some of the children were very young no more than four or five years old. They were led slowly towards the huge hole in the chamber and pushed one by one to their deaths. I stood frozen, the scenes before me unreal, my inaction a testament of shocked numbness. The drums kept beating. More and more humans came out. Some were crudely beheaded and their bodies thrown into the pit, while the heads were tossed aside onto mounting piles. The lizards picked children up high and flung them into the pit with glee. Meanwhile other children were whipped and left cowering on the floor. The violence was brutal and random, as a frenzied lust filled the air. These people were dominated and broken. Others were dragged to large marble basins and had their throats cut over the edge so the crimson blood gushed inside. The Shetie lizards would carry on slitting throats till the basins were overflowing, then they would bathe in the blood. The senseless bloodletting and frenzy was meant to attract the Gods from the void. The air in the chamber became oppressive. A feeling of hopelessness and futility immersed the atmosphere as two ancient negative energy beings emerged and roamed the cavern. They were busy feeding on the energy of fear and carnage orchestrated in their honour. I stood still, my conscience screaming for action, but my body unable to move from morbid fascination.
Then my eyes saw Nadia. Among the throng she was being held aloft by two lizard men. They paraded her high over their heads naked like the day she was born. Dajjal followed them, a tower of indifference. Still the drums beat over and over. Nadia was certainly unconscious as she emitted no screams. They made their winding way up the mound and over to the slab, casting Nadia onto it as they would a piece of worthless meat. The lizard men bound her legs and arms to the slab and then went and joined in with the atrocities being visited on the humans below the mound. Dajjal walked up and stood next to Nergal. The drums kept beating. Amidst the anguish and chaos I looked over Nadia’s beautiful body, she was very pale, I noticed puncture wounds on her thighs and breasts – what horrors must she have endured?
“Do it, cut her throat. Let her blood wet the earth so that you may redeem yourself!” I heard Nergal’s voice say against the background of mounting pandemonium.
This was what I was expected to do to prove my allegiance to the Dark Gods of the Black Circle. Once I sacrificed Nadia I would be able to leave my own human body and be transplanted back into the body of a black Draco. The black Draco body type had been specifically created for me. It was the pinnacle of power. The body when fused with the correct energy was capable of supernatural feats. The Dark Gods of the Black Circle had the most powerful empire in this galaxy. I had been their conquering general expanding the dominion. They wanted me back under their service.
I picked up the dagger and walked over to Nadia. The drums continued to beat; the room was hazy and dark, the chanting of the jubilant lizards and screaming of hapless humans invaded every atom of my body. Dajjal stood tall watching like a waving palm tree. My hands were sweating, the moisture dripping off the handle of the silver dagger onto the dusty floor of the cave. I held the blade to Nadia’s throat. She stirred and slowly her eyes opened. Nadia looked up at me with eyes devoid of the spark I remembered. They were faded and almost lifeless.
/> “Cyrus, Cyrus,” she whimpered, tears filling her eyes.
“Kill her again,” Dajjal hissed his voice swimming through my ears.
Again? What does he mean “again?”
I stood puzzled, as I heard a voice singing so beautifully and harmoniously balanced against the nightmare I was in. It came from all around me yet from nowhere that I could possibly fathom amidst the chaos; it spun a golden weave around my being.
“Love transforms, it makes all things possible and keeps you moving upwards – cycles within cycles. You know who she is, you know who she was, you know,” it sang musically like a fresh breath in stale air.
Then I saw every moment of Nadia’s life flash before my eyes; the moment of her birth; the joy her parents felt; her first steps as an uncertain child; her tears on her first day at school; the day we first met in this life; it went on. I lived every moment of her life instantaneously. It all washed through me like a wind blows through a sail. Then came the epiphany; her soul was created at the first instance of time, wrought from pure light, the perfect balance of my soul that came from the dark chaos of the void. We were inextricably linked till the curtain falls on eternity. We had met in the vast eons of universal life thousands of times, mostly as lovers, sometimes as friends, even occasionally as enemies. She was my twin soul, the depth and beauty of the meaning touched me so forcefully that my eyes streamed with tears. I looked down at Nadia’s traumatised eyes and dropped the dagger. The clanging of it hitting the edge of the sacrificial marble slab on its way to the floor seemed deafening. I would rather cease to exist than to be without Nadia. Her love, in this lifetime and perhaps many times before, had transformed my soul.