Exit Darkness, Enter Light: Book One of the Earth Cycle

by Ahadi, Kion

  Nergal moved towards me, as an uprooted tree would move, not gracefully but painfully as if in total surprise. Instinctively I ducked avoiding his fist as it travelled towards my face. As I dodged I also spun and kicked out, sweeping his legs from under him. He crashed to the floor in a heavy heap hitting his head on the corner of the marble slab, which rendered him senseless. Wren and Ofriz were too slow to react as if their senses could not compute my treachery. While sweeping Nergal from his feet I rolled and picked up the dagger. In a swift movement I cut Nadia free, and threw the dagger with incredible force driven by fury at the oncoming Wren. The dagger made contact lodging itself deep in Wren’s chest. Sparks of electricity erupted from his wound as he fell to his knees immobilised. I turned as Ofriz approached; he moved quickly, grabbing my throat with both his hands. Yet he was no match for my focused aggression.

  “I will break you apart!” I screamed with passion filled hatred as I grasped his wrists. I pulled his arms apart away from my neck. I was far too strong for him. I enjoyed the look of helplessness on his face as I yanked and ripped both his arms out of their sockets. I added a powerful front kick to his torso, sending him flying backwards and armless to the floor. He rolled around the ground disorientated and broken. Throwing his arms away with disdain, I picked up Nadia.

  “We have to go,” I said. She was naked and half senseless but offered no resistance as I took her up into my arms. I kissed her deeply momentarily forgetting where we were.

  During the mayhem with the androids Dajjal had vanished, nowhere to be seen. Most of the lizard men had not noticed the altercation upon the mound; they were too busy butchering humans. Distant shouts informed me some were beginning to gather their wits. I turned away from the throng of bodies, and with Nadia safely in my arms ran towards the entrance through which I had entered the cavern. I was in a long empty corridor. I kept running, my body felt strong, I did not know whether it was adrenaline or the energy burst from the vortex, but I felt like I could run for miles. Nadia slipped in and out of consciousness in my arms. I reached a door on the left side of the corridor. I put Nadia down against the wall and pressed the button on the panel to open the door. Inside was an empty room, apart from a bed and what looked like medical apparatus. I walked in looking for anything useful. I found a white overcoat and a bottle of water. I went back out to Nadia. Hurriedly I dressed her in the overcoat and forced some water into her mouth. She spurted some back out as she drank greedily. She perked up slightly and stared at me after having her fill of water.

  “Cyrus where were you? I was frightened, I thought I was going to die when the creatures came for me,” she whispered.

  “I was in a room held prisoner, I thought about you every second, I was trying to do what they wanted so I could see you again,” I was telling her only half of the truth. I hadn’t thought of her every second, at times I had forgotten about her as I came to terms with the things that I had learnt. The androids knew if they killed Nadia too quickly I would probably kill myself and seek a vortex of light in energy form. Instead they had bided their time and tried to entice me back to the darkness willingly. Ultimately it was my choice. They thought they had succeeded, but the androids had underestimated my love for Nadia; it was something they and the Dark Gods could never fathom. I had taken a risk as Nadia had been exposed to unnamed horrors. I held her close to me. I could only imagine what she had been through because of me. I had been powerless to protect her; I vowed that would never be the case again.

  “Cyrus who were those people, and the children I heard them screaming?” Nadia asked her face resting against my chest as we embraced. The people, the children, surely I had to go back for them? But in my heart I knew I wouldn’t go back. I could not save them without being captured and killed or putting Nadia in danger again. Now the androids knew I would never serve the dark path again they would kill both of us without hesitation. We had to escape.

  “They will go on to a better place my love,” is all I could say to her in response. After taking a few seconds to gather myself together I stood up and lifted Nadia into my arms.

  “Let’s get out of this hell hole,” I said. We continued down the corridor. We passed several doors on either side but did not stop to investigate. We were lost without an idea where to go. The only thing I knew for certain was we were deep underground. The hope I was clinging to was if we followed the corridor till the end perhaps we could find the underground car park. We had come in that way so that should lead us back out to the surface. After more running I decided it was pointless; the corridor was never ending. We would have to try one of the doors.

  “Stay behind me,” I told Nadia as I put her down to open a large door. We walked through the door into an open area; it was humongous, very similar to the chamber of the vortex. There were large tanks on the sides of the room. There was an exit at the far end opposite to where we had entered. I headed towards it. A scream froze me to the spot. Nadia had wandered over to one of the tanks to investigate. I ran towards her and she flew into my arms. I knew what she had seen in the tanks, lizard bodies.

  “Don’t worry darling they are just empty bodies,” I said.

  “What the hell is this place,” she sobbed.

  “We have to keep going, we need to stay alive,” I said to her. I took her hand and headed towards the exit. The door here was huge. It looked familiar, but then the maze of corridors and doors in this underground labyrinth were all beginning to look familiar. There was no handle on the door, so I pressed a button on the panel of the wall. It slid open. We walked through. We found ourselves in an immense circular cavern; it had several dark corridors leading to unknown destinations dotted around it. But what was more important was what it contained. Dajjal stood before us in the centre of the circular maze waiting like a silent assassin. Nadia shrieked at the sight of Dajjal stalking towards us. This would be a fight I would probably not survive. The androids possessed superhuman strength and speed, but they were no match for a powerful energy being fused to a biological body. Dajjal was a powerful energy being fused to a far stronger body than my human one. I ordered Nadia to get back to the door through which we had entered the cavern.

  “I will have to fight, leave and try to get out,” I told her. She looked at me wide eyed with terror, her pupils dilated.

  I turned to face Dajjal. He no longer wore the black robe; he stood clothed in a tight red body suit, his massive shoulders, chest and arms bulging. We circled each other. He towered over me hissing aggressively, fangs showing, body poised in an attacking stance. I charged him knowing I had to get close to him underneath his long reach to inflict damage. He anticipated my charge and sidestepped, lashing out with his talons towards my eyes. I moved my head, but not quickly enough as his talons tore flesh from the side of my face. I turned and swung a powerful kick to his chest, the blow sent him scampering backwards.

  “I do not want to fight you,” Dajjal snarled stepping further backwards holding his chest. My face was dripping blood from the cut he had inflicted across my cheek.

  “Leave with the woman,” he growled.

  “Why would you let us go?” I asked, poised still ready to fight.

  “I was there with you at the end on Clyses. I knew you wanted to transform. The Gods sent the androids to search for you on earth. They suspected you would be reborn here after judgment. I came here to remind you of your choice,” Dajjal hissed.

  The pieces fell into place, Dajjal’s unprovoked attack on me, and the strange words he spoke as he choked me.

  “Take that route, follow it as far as it goes, it will take you to the surface,” Dajjal said as he pointed to one of the exits leading out of the circular cavern.

  “They will hunt us down,” I said.

  “I will tell them I killed you both, NOW GO!” Dajjal roared. I looked over at Nadia who was trembling near the door.

  “Come on, let’s go!” I shouted at her. She stood bewildered.

  “Come on or we DIE DOWN HERE!” I scre
amed.

  She ran towards me and we headed towards the exit Dajjal had indicated.

  ***

  Dajjal looked on as Cyrus and Nadia disappeared through the exit. This cavern and set of tunnels was the only way to get to the surface apart from the underground road. It would take hours to get to the surface from so deep underground, and that was if you knew which way to go. Dajjal knew that not all of the exits from the cavern led directly to the surface, some led to dead ends, and others – like the one he had told Cyrus to take – well, they went somewhere far worse. He did not need to waste energy and risk injury fighting Cyrus as his plan had been successful. He wanted Cyrus to be free of the dark path. Not because he cared about Cyrus, but because he knew with Cyrus back he would be relegated to an underling again. The Gods knew now first hand of the choice Cyrus had made, they would not want him back and he would be forgotten. Dajjal would be the one they empowered. Dajjal sat waiting for the androids with an evil grin across his lizard face.

  ***

  “I can’t go on,” Nadia gasped exhausted.

  “Ok we will rest for a few minutes,” I said. We had been making our way swiftly for about an hour through the tunnel. It was a large circular tunnel with the odd passageway leading in and out. I had decided to keep to the main route, as long as it kept leading up that was good enough for me. I sat and leaned against the earthen wall. A strong aroma of soil and damp surrounded us. Nadia sat down next to me and then lay resting her head on my lap.

  “Rest, I will keep watch,” I said, as I comforted her by gently stroking her hair.

  “I bet I look like hell,” she said.

  “You have looked better,” I replied. We both laughed, releasing some tension. This was not the holiday either of us had expected! I tried to push the images I had witnessed to the back of my mind. I was thankful Nadia had been unconscious during the more gruesome scenes. I had once committed similar grisly acts when I roamed the galaxy as Teerzad. Life and death, light and darkness, negative and positive, joy and pain, that was the way of the physical universe. I could not pretend to fully understand it all, but everything served a purpose. It had to, that was the only way I could comprehend children being thrown into deep pits to die. The lizards were playing their dark part in existence; humans had done just as bad to each other over the centuries. But a voice kept nagging me, “You should have gone back, you should have tried to save them.”

  “Will we ever get out of here Cyrus?” Nadia asked.

  “Yes we will,” I answered.

  “I want to live Cyrus, I kept thinking that when the creatures were eating me, I didn’t want to go without seeing you again,” she whispered.

  “I know darling, I know.”

  ***

  Nergal waited for the door to slide open and then rushed into the circular cavern. He had been knocked senseless by Cyrus and had a huge gash on the side of his head exposing his metallic skeleton. Dajjal was sat cross-legged waiting for him.

  “Dajjal where are they?” Nergal demanded.

  “Gone,” Dajjal replied.

  “Why did you let them escape you imbecile?” Nergal shouted.

  Dajjal jumped up and with a swift movement grabbed Nergal by the throat. The white-haired android was stunned and helpless. Dajjal lifted him high off the ground till they were eye to eye.

  “I got here as they entered the tunnel leading to the Zendari feeding pits. Nothing in a million years has survived in the tunnels leading to the pits. They will be dead soon enough, you pathetic little machine. If you were not a servant of the same gods I would rip your stupid head off.” As he said that Dajjal calmly tightened his grip, artificial flesh began to tear and titanium alloy began to bend. Nergal’s black eyes looked about to pop out from his head. Then Dajjal threw the android through the air sending him flying across the cavern.

  “Teerzad has abandoned the Empire, as I informed you from the mountainside of Clyses. Now prepare my Draco body, automaton,” Dajjal hissed and stormed out of the cavern.

  Nergal lay broken on the floor of the cavern. He knew his body could be repaired, as would Ofriz and Wren’s. When he was fixed he would get his revenge on Dajjal. He might be an acolyte of the Dark Gods of the Black Circle and obliged to carry out their will only, but Dajjal had made this personal.

  ***

  We kept moving. There was very little light in the tunnel now, before there had been some light from weird devices embedded in the earth. The further we travelled the darker it became. Finally after what I guessed to be a few hours of travelling the tunnel opened out into a large cave. Nadia complained she could not see anything and wanted to know how I could navigate us in the gloom. It was nearly pitch black but I could see some detail, my eyesight seemed more acute than I remembered. I concentrated my will on penetrating the darkness. The scene slowly came into focus like an image being adjusted on a screen. I could see clearly now. Perhaps this was a power inherited from the energy burst. Dotted around the cave there seemed to be numerous pits. Apart from that there were no exits, just the way we had come in.

  “Wait here,” I told Nadia as I sat her on a rock in the corner of the cave.

  I walked a few metres towards one of the pits to investigate. The pit was big around twenty metres wide. I peered over the edge. What I saw caused me to step backwards. Inside the pit were remains, some looked like human skulls and bones, others belonged to different creatures. What was striking was the number of bones, the pit looked deep but it was nearly full. This cave had been the final resting place for thousands of creatures across the ages. I looked in some of the other pits around the cave; all filled with bones. Dajjal had tricked me. This was a giant feeding den. I walked quietly towards Nadia.

  “We leave and go back the way we came,” I said in a whisper.

  “Why?” Nadia asked. I did not want to alarm her but I knew we had to get going quickly before whatever had collected those bones returned to add us to the menu.

  “Just be quiet and trust me,” I said as I led her back the way we had come.

  It was too late. I heard noises and movement in the gloom, we had been detected. But I was in luck, we had just passed a crevice in the cave wall.

  “Get in there and stay still and very quiet,” I whispered as I pushed Nadia into the gap. She would be hidden here and easier to defend. I saw a large boulder and pushed it slowly in front of the crevice. It covered it fully apart from a small gap at the top which would give Nadia air to breathe. I held my back tight to the wall and started edging around the cave. I sensed movement again, around ten metres away from me. Whatever had been stalking us was moving towards Nadia’s hiding place so I deliberately ran to the opposite side of the cave. A rustling sound confirmed I had been followed. I waited with my back against the wall. This way I would not be caught by surprise from behind. Two large shapes were edging directly towards me. They could see me now as one of the abominations roared in triumph. I realised what I was facing: the Zendari.

  They got closer; these creatures were huge, over ten feet tall with long black shaggy hair and white eyes. They resembled giant apes. They had long arms with powerful knotted muscles. One of the creatures roared again exposing large sharp fangs. The Zendari lived in underground environments. Pound for pound nothing in the galaxy was as strong or ferocious. Their young loved drinking blood; the adults preferred tearing their prey limb from limb before consuming them. They ate and could kill anything. It was lucky they feared the light and seldom, if ever, ventured onto the surface of a planet as nothing could survive long at close quarters with them.

  I knew now that Nadia had been fed to the Zendari young. The puncture marks on her body bore witness to the fact. How she had survived was a miracle. I would make these beasts pay for her pain. Anger and rage swelled my being and I felt energy in every atom of my body. I walked calmly towards the Zendari. The beasts looked down at me in the darkness and hesitated, they sensed an aura of death. Before they could react I summoned a bolt of energy into my hands
and shot it out towards the dithering creatures. It struck them and caused them to fly backwards from the blast. One creature was killed instantly. The other lay on the ground on its back on the verge of death. I jumped onto its chest. It had its mouth open as it fought for its last breath of life. I looked down at it and reached into its mouth and pulled out its fangs, the creature shrieked in anguish and choked on its own blood as I watched it die.

  I roared a terrible blood curdling cry that made the cavern vibrate. It was as if the bloodlust, hatred and anger of a lifetime had been unleashed. More and more Zendari began to appear until I was surrounded. They stood waiting, their huge bodies heaving. They would not attack me. I had killed their alpha male and female. Even they knew in their dark twisted minds that I must be a foe beyond any of them. What they waited for was to be able to feast on their fallen brethren. I had taken the fangs from the male as a sign to them of my dominance. The thought of Nadia being hurt by these creatures had fuelled a rage I had never felt before. Dajjal had made a miscalculation, he had not known as I hadn’t till this moment that my love for Nadia could amplify my energy a hundredfold. I jumped off the dead beast and walked towards the throng of massive bodies, they parted so that I could pass. I walked to Nadia’s hiding place. I could hear the rending and tearing of flesh behind me as the Zendari feasted.

  I moved the boulder out of place. Nadia was crouched in the far corner of the gap. She looked up at me in the gloom.

  “Cyrus, I heard you scream, I thought you had been killed,” she said breathless. I took her hand.

  We made our way back the way we had come. Going downward made a great deal of difference, we made far quicker progress. We reached a junction. I sensed the tunnel leading off