Ch 21

Official Report
Above New Hebron, California

Sapphira hovered across the landscape as he reached out with his mind. This time he did not seek the minds of the people below, but rather a much more powerful one. He believed if Chemosh could track him, that perhaps, he should be able to do the same. That is if the other being was telling the truth.

Though uncertain of what he was looking, he believed he would know it when he sensed it. He gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut halting in the open air. His awareness stretched out across the city and he put both hands to his head overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that flowed through his mind. He sensed every insignificant little insect, every human, and every nook and cranny of every building. From the cracks in the foundations of a dozen different buildings, to the mice living underneath their floorboards.

He gritted his teeth as more images and sensations flooded through his mind. The sheer volume of what he sensed overwhelmed him. He perceived the voices and thoughts of a thousand different people, but it was more than that, he saw what they saw; he heard what they heard, he even felt what they felt. It was more than his mind could comprehend, and a groan escape his lips. He almost let go, but then he sensed something amidst the jumbled mess of thoughts and perceptions, a darkness that seemed somehow familiar.

He furrowed his brows and concentrated, focusing all his attention on the darkness. His eyes grew wide, and tears ran down his cheeks as his senses narrowed in on the awareness. He let out a long sigh, the flood of sensations lifting away, but his relief was short lived. He’d come in contact with the personification of evil, it desired nothing more than complete and utter control of anything and everything.

He swallowed hard, clenched both hands at his side and ground his teeth. A high-pitched howl escaped his lips, his vision turned red, and he jerked his head around his lips curling into a malicious grin. Again his awareness stretched out touching the minds of Amelia, Hailey, Babalawo and Noah and he realized just how easy it would be for him to extinguish their lives. Amelia was a freak, Hailey a degenerate, Babalawo a thief and a liar, and Noah a murderer, why should he let any of them live?

They were weak, useless, pitiful beings, he was superior in every way. He reached out, ready to pounce on their minds and destroy them with a simple act of will, but he hesitated. The weakness within himself, a little voice that screamed out in protest. He reached inside himself, ready to snuff out those pitiful little thoughts, but a scream pierced the air. It had come from his own throat. All at once his connection to the darkness shattered, and he gasped for breath.

He shuddered, realizing how so close he’d come to succumbing. It was so tempting so alluring; it offered power the likes of which he would have never imagined. It terrified him how much he liked what he’d sensed. He perceived this evil creature in the distance and he understood without any doubt whose awareness he sensed, Chemosh.

Swallowing, hard, he twirled around in the air, turning to face the source of the malevolence. He didn’t know what was a harder pill for him to swallow, that he’d come so close to ending the lives of four different people, half of whom met more to him than life itself, or he that was seeking the darkness that influenced him to make the attempt in the first place.

He remained there in the open air, heart hammering in his chest, his mind racing as he sought to come to terms with so many conflicting feelings. If Chemosh influenced him with so little effort why hadn’t he done so before? Would it be such a wise idea to confront him? Despite all his concerns he came to one inescapable conclusion, he was the only one who stood any chance.

Sapphira must stop Chemosh, and he needed to be the one to do it. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his gaze, the once-god wouldn’t harm anyone else. The wind wiped around his face, freezing his tears to his cheeks as he swooped down. He didn’t, however let that slow him down.

Official Report
Above New Hebron, California

The building was a dull gray sprawling mass that had seen far better days. In the distant past, the city’s warehouse district had been thriving, once home to dozens of businesses, but then the recession came and it never recovered. Most of the buildings were empty and fewer maintained, decaying husks, housing a revolving door of squatters and vagrants.

Sapphira’s feet touched the ground, and he looked around reaching out with his psychic senses, he didn’t sense a single human or animal for miles. That was unusual. He sensed only two presences the darkness, and a second analytical more ordered one. The awareness did not seem malicious like Chemosh, but no less dangerous. He tried to determine its intent, but he couldn’t get an easy read off of the creature. Its mind seems so alien to him. It must have belonged to the giant, the many-eyed creature that defeated Ashtar, but that was only a guess. He prayed that it wasn’t something worse.

Pausing outside a large warehouse, from within which their presences emanated, but sensed nothing beyond that. He didn’t dare attempt to touch Chemosh’s mind again, for fear of succumbing to the hatred that emanated from the other being. Chemosh sensed him coming, but he did not know if the other read his thoughts.

He stepped up to an entrance, a rusted out door that Sapphira doubted had been opened in decades and raised his arms. He clenched his eyes shut, gritted his teeth and reached out with his will. It creaked and groaned before shooting from its frame and soaring inward, impacting a wall within the building with a loud metallic clang. Sapphira hesitated just outside.

Danger waited within, but he saw no other way. The prospect terrified him, but what other choice did he have? If AEGIS got involved more, people would die. He would allow no one to be harmed through his actions.

As he stepped inside, his whole body trembled. His heart hammered inside his chest and he held his breath in as he walked toward the source of the malevolence. He paused at the end of a long corridor just long enough to bring air back into his lungs before continuing forward.

The corridors were well lit, despite the decayed state of the building which surprised Sapphira, but he supposed Chemosh must have found a way to tap into the city’s power grid. He was a member of an advanced alien race and he had the ability to read minds. It would be well within his abilities.

Before long he stepped into a large open area that had been a storage facility at one point. Large racks, which Sapphira surmised held pallets had been strewn beside one of the side walls as if someone had been looking to clear up room in a hurry or without care for tidiness.

Bathed in shadows the area, at first glance, seemed to be empty, but as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he realized that he was wrong. Huddled in the darkness was a massive dark form that blended in so well he could distinguish almost none of its defining features. Its size alone was enough to tell him it was the creature he’d seen the night of Ashtar’s death.

“So good of you to come,” a voice spoke out of the darkness and Sapphira spun around to face its owner.

A figure stepped into the light, and Sapphira stood there staring at her with wide eyes. Chemosh still wore the form of the attractive young co-ed from the college campus, but unlike their previous encounter she was stark naked.

He swallowed hard, taking in every little details of her shadow-bathed form. Her breasts were round and showed no signs of sagging, but then again she was young, if she hadn’t become Chemosh’s host, her breasts would have succumbed to the effects of age and gravity in time. Her thighs and ass were no less enticing, she sauntered toward him, her breasts wiggling as she moved and her hips swaying. From the way she moved it was clear the once god had a lot of practice in the art of seduction.

“I’ve been waiting for you, hoping that you would come,” she smiled and eyed him with a hungry look in her eyes like a predator ready to pounce. She stopped beside him and pressed her chest into his side. Her breath touched his ear, and he froze in place, made uncomfortable by his own arousal. He wanted to take this beautiful creature, to let her do interesting and pleasurable things to him, but if he succumbed to these desires that there would be no going back.

Chemosh slipped a hand around his waist and he gasped when the illusory shirt he’d been wearing vanished. He wasn’t sure whether it was Chemosh’s doing or if his subconscious mind had been responsible. Her hand slid up his chest fondling his nipples. He stood there frozen, both horrified and aroused. His pussy was wet, and he closed his eyes, his whole body trembling. She slid a hand into his pants and he bit his lips as her hand contacted his vulva. He almost gave in. The exemplar teetered upon the precipice. If he didn’t do something he would become Chemosh’s creature.

He cleared his throat and jerked back. “No!”

Chemosh’s hand slid out of his waistband and she stood there both hands still held out toward him. She eyed him, looking for all the world like a doe-eyed little sex toy, but then her face transformed. The cute little smile on her lips, stretched into inhuman proportions, replaced by malicious glee.

“I see you didn’t come for fun,” she laughed emitting a frantic cackle that sent cold chills down his spine.

He took another step back, but then she closed her fists and his foot froze in place inches from the ground. He couldn’t move, or even so much as budge a muscle. Even his mouth wouldn’t open. He tried to struggle against her telekinetic grip, but either his powers failed him, again, or Chemosh was too powerful.

Chemosh’s face was red and sweat was beading down his face. The effort of keeping him in place taking its toll on the host body.

“You really think you would fool me? Your life is small and insectile compared to my centuries long existence. You’ve barely just come into your powers, do you believe you could match the discipline of an awareness that has existed longer than your entire civilization?”

Chemosh glowered at him and her features softened, taking on less of a manic edge. She was still smiling, but she looked calmer, more collected. She glanced over his shoulder, at the hulking mass in the corner and smirked.

“Garos, why don’t you take care of this… situation? It’s time to implement our plan.”

[As you wish] Came the response. Sapphira couldn’t say whether it was a sound being conveyed through the air or if the being had spoken with its mind, but either way it produced a low rumble he that resonated through the concrete floor.

He saw Garos come toward him out of the corner of his eyes and he struggled against Chemosh’s mental restraints, but it was to no avail. The once-god grinned at him then she rose into the air, breasts bouncing from the sudden movement and zoomed away. The moment she was out of sight Sapphira was free. His foot touched the ground, and he spun around to face the giant. A massive fist hurtled toward him. He raised his hands attempting to form a shield around himself, but before he had finished, the fist slammed into his chest. The blow sent him hurtling across the room.

Official Report
Warehouse District, New Hebron, California

The speed and force through which Sapphira slammed into the racks would have killed him if he hadn’t already brought up his shield.

He’d only been successful, the initial blow from the giant’s massive fist and his subsequent crash-landing had been more than a little jarring. Many of the racks had collapsed atop him, and he threw his hands out sending the pieces flying away from his body. He stumbled to his feet, his whole body throbbing in agony. He felt as if someone had put his head into a compressor and he blinked shaking it. His stomach protested with each movement, but he swallowed and force back his nausea. It wasn’t easy, but he, at least, kept from vomiting.

Garos came barreling across the warehouse toward him and Sapphira locked his eyes on him. The giant moved, something that seemed to belie his size and misshapen shape. It seemed to Sapphira as if he were moving through molasses, but somehow he lifted his hands and braced himself against the oncoming onslaught. His opponent lifted a fist smashing it into the exemplar, but this time he’d managed to bring up his shield.

Garos’ hand bounced away and Sapphira shook his head still trying to clear his head. He gritted his teeth then lifted his open palms, pieces of the broken racks raised into the air and he sent them hurtling toward the giant. The misshapen hulk brought both fists up holding his arms across his chest. The debris, hit his upraised appendages and clattered to the ground at his feet.

Sapphira gritted his teeth and lifted himself from the ground. He thrashed about, slamming an elbow into one of the few racks that remained standing before righting himself. Sapphira was not in fighting shape, he couldn’t think straight let alone battle against a being of such power.

He gritted his teeth, locked his eyes on Garos and put all of his will into strengthening the barrier. The giant slammed a shoulder into the shield, and it pushed Sapphira back into the wall, but his shield held. Sapphira knew sooner or later the giant would break through and destroy him.

Though Garos looked like a mindless beast, Sapphira knew better, he sensed within the other being a sharp and cunning mind. He stood little chance of outsmarting him in his current state. So, he took the only other option open to him.

Sapphira shot up from the ground, putting on as much speed as possible as he zoomed straight toward the ceiling. He clenched his eyes shut just before impacting, but opened them again when he the sound of shrieking metal pierce the air and a cold breeze touch his face. The exemplar didn’t congratulate himself or look to see if the other being had followed. He sensed Garos moving toward him.

After another explosion of sound and Garos let out a low rumble that reverberated through the open air. Sapphira was already speeding away attempting to put as much distance between them as possible, but Garos kept pace. He risked a look back and found the misshapen hulk hurtling through the air, in a great gravity-defying leap. He landed two warehouses over leaving a massive dent in the roof before jumping again.

Sapphira reached out with his mind, attempting to sense a sign of Chemosh, but detected no trace of him. He must have been shielding his awareness from him. Whatever he was up to it did not bode well at all. Not that he was in any shape to battle against the other being, but he worried that the once-god might attempt to ambush him.

Sapphira continued his flight through the air Garos leaping through the city after him. He sensed the people below fleeing the giant as he pursued him. The misshapen hulk stuck to the rooftop when possible, no doubt, attempting to keep out of sight, but when there were no buildings available he would touch down on the ground or street.

Sapphira gritted his teeth, finding it harder and hard to remain in the air. His eyelids were heavy, and he panted for breathe. It was a concussion, he realized, he’d had one once before years ago during his high school football days. He didn’t remember the experience well, but he recalled enough to draw parallels to his current predicament.

Though he had a destination in mind, he didn’t believe he would make it. He bit his lip and reached out with his mind one more time. He didn’t bother looking for Chemosh. Whatever he was up to, Garos was the distraction. Instead, he sought another awareness, one which he accessed with ease.

“Amy,” he said speaking the name out loud his mind connecting to hers in a way it never had before. He wasn’t viewing her memories or he hers, and he wasn’t just experiencing her emotions. He heard her thoughts. The moment he made contact, her anger roared to life inside his mind, so strong that he had almost mistaken it for his own.
‘What do you want?’ Amy said no less hostile than he had expected, but he did not expect the response it would invoke within him. He experienced guilt, that much was unsurprising, but he it shattered his heart into a thousand pieces.
Yet, he had hope. She was close, within the AEGIS field office itself. It had his destination all along. He’d figured that if anyone had the means to defeat the giant it was the agency, but he found it less and less likely that he’d be able to make it there in time.

A groan sounded near him, and he took a moment to realize that the sound had escaped his own lips. Again, he shook his head, his concentration slipping. It was getting harder to hold himself in the air, and as his grip faltered he lost altitude.

He clenched his eyes shut, panting for breath struggling to regain his control, but nothing he did seemed to help.

“Amelia please, help,” he whispered under his breath just before he lost all control and plunged toward the ground.