Ashlyn Chronicles 1: 2287 A.D. (38 page)

“Novacek?” Steven said.

“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 has 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 watched Ashlyn, but the strained look upon his face conveyed something much deeper. The intensity, with which they stared 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 seeped 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 torture and atrocities. Enlil had been trying to drive Ashlyn insane, showing her his own acts of cruelty, knowing it would be more than her human psyche could bear.

The images of thousands of children being dismembered and eaten, women being tortured without mercy, 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 was 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 stirred to life, sparkling, sizzling, and crackling.

The wind grew thick, warm. It circled him, racing around him as if he were in the center of a hurricane. The
eye
expanded as the storm grew in strength until even Enlil stood within it. Small bolts of lightning struck 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 raced 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 fed him raw energy. His body glowed 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. It encased 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 glowed golden as his fury prepared to unleash itself, his temples pulsing to the beat of an inhuman, iron heart.

“I
damn
you! For every human you have killed. For every innocent child that you have tortured. For my son, I
damn
you!”

Suddenly from each of his palms, Steven sent alternating orbs of pure energy into Novacek. With each burst, the form of Novacek screamed out as the bolts electrocuted him. Enlil seemed to be trying to change form, trying to find one that was impervious to the effects, but the pulses were like a reset button that prevented him from doing so. With each burst, instead of growing weaker, Steven grew stronger, the raging storm supplying him with an ever growing, limitless power.

Steven continued to pummel Novacek though he lay still and lifeless. Steven felt no pity for him even as his last breath exited him.

And yet, Steven continued to assault him. He knew not how to let his rage die, to bring it to an end.

Ashlyn awoke within the bubble. “Steven, stop! This isn’t you!” The thought of losing him gripped her.

Steven lowered his large arms. Facing his hands toward the ground, he sent the hastening stream of pulsing orbs into the desert floor. The sand beneath him began to crystalize and glow. Suddenly, Steven sent a last, massive pulse into Novacek, and like a lightning rod, it drew all the energy Steven had sent into the ground into Novacek.

Steven, in the blink of an eye, put up a shield, protecting Ashlyn and himself from the ensuing eruption.

Like a small atomic blast, the desert floor below Novacek exploded. The city, even though more than a kilometer away, was completely engulfed in the dust and raining debris.

Through the haze of dust, he saw Ashlyn ten meters behind him, lying upon the ground.

A laugh drew his attention. His surprise could not have been more evident as he turned around. Enlil, still in Novacek’s form, rose from the bottom of a seventy-foot wide, blast crater. How he had survived, Steven had no idea.

Steven moved toward him, his sword again at the ready.

Novacek transformed—disappearing.

Ok, so tell me, how did he turn invisible?

Steven thought for a moment.
I don’t think he did—I think he just became something so small, it looked like he disappeared.

So, this isn’t going to be easy,
said Ash.

It’s smoke and mirrors—little tricks like that one that make him appear stronger and more powerful than he is.

Novacek suddenly appeared behind them. “I wonder how it is that you received your Gift? It can only be given to those who are—ah, I understand. You are—pure Anunnaki.”

Enlil’s eyes shifted to Ashlyn. His desire for an Anunnaki female clearly evident. “That explains much.” His eyes shifted back to Steven. “I should have realized humans could not be trusted. They created your whore, hiding her from me.

“Let me ask you, Tin Man, do you like being Anunnaki? Is it not, god-like? If you will give your whore to me, I will spare your lives. I will let you rule at my side, giving you all the Anunnaki that I have created. They will obey you as they do me. In exchange, I will spare all the humans here. You can even have them as your slaves. I have no taste for them anymore. They are withered and dying. Take them—they are yours.”

“Serpent, your tyranny has come to an end.” Steven’s eyes blazed.

“You will never leave this world. You will never build your army to attack Heaven. We have made sure that none of your
pure
Anunnaki will be permitted to see the Keeper.”

“Then let us finish this now, rusty one!” said Enlil.

“I made a vow, serpent! I will kill you. And I will make it as painful for you as you have made it for your victims!”

Steven, be patient! He’s goading you. We’ve got to work together to have a chance of defeating him!

Enlil then shifted into a Griffin. He had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

His wings fanned out and beat at the air. With an eagle’s screech, he pointed his head at the sky and lifted himself aloft. To Steven, his wings looked too small for his weight and his cumbersome flight bore it out. Steven hoped he could use it to his advantage. Soaring high, the Griffin made a large sweeping turn, coming back around to face them.

Steven shifted his feet into an attack posture and hefted the bronze sword high into the air, ready to take a swing.

Enlil started to dive. Steven moved, the ear-piercing screech of metal making Ashlyn wince.
A little oil wouldn’t have hurt, would it?

Ash changed back into the tiger and bounded off so she would be away from the sweeping arc of Talos’ sword. As the Griffin closed the distance, his mouth opened wide, and he took a massively, large inhalation of air. As he exhaled, fire erupted in a great and mighty stream from his mouth. Blinded, Steven took his best guess and swung his sword. After Enlil passed, Steven squeakily turned to see the results. He’d missed, but—Ashlyn’s saber-toothed tiger was landing awkwardly upon the ground. Rolling once, she regained her footing. Steven peered upwards and saw that the Griffin’s right wing was badly shredded, and as a result, his flight was heavily labored. Her attack had hurt him.

Only as Ash bounded toward Steven, did he see that her right side was badly burned, her fur smoldering. “Ash, are you all right? You’ve taken a lot the last couple of weeks!”

“I’m fine.”

Steven wasn’t sure if he believed her, but when he turned to check on Enlil, he saw that he was setting down a few hundred meters away. Even from this distance, his shrieks of pain filled the air.

“He’s letting his wing repair!”

“The Keeper had said we must
not
fight him strength against strength,” Ash reminded. “He has too much experience.”

“So he did! Let’s try this.”

“A dragon?”

“They are bigger, stronger, faster,” said Steven.

Following his advice, Ashlyn too transformed. A moment later, she smacked him hard with her spiked tail.

“What was that for?” said Steven.

“Just wanted to give you a little tail,” said Ashlyn.

Steven frowned. The heavy brows of his dragon scrunching together.

As their wings beat at the air, carrying them aloft, Steven took a large inhalation of breath. As he had hoped, when he exhaled strongly, it caught fire and shot forth. “I don’t know how it works, Ash, but it does.”

Ash followed his lead and lit the ground ablaze.

“He’s lifting off, Ash, let’s go!”

The Griffin had risen into the air, his wing not yet fully repaired. His flight still unsteady.

Like a fighter in a strafing run, Steven lined up for the attack, swooping down upon him. As Steven took in a bellyful of air, Enlil spun, flying backwards. It exposed his deadly claws, and though Steven engulfed him in flame, Enlil grasped at the air.

Steven turned around, expecting to see Enlil in flames, but what he saw was Ashlyn caught within his four claws.

Ash was struggling to free herself, but each movement only made his claws gouge deeper. Her spiked tail flailed, striking him with blows that seemed to intrigue him.

As his viciously, burning eyes locked upon Steven, he inserted the hook of his beak beneath her neck, piercing her deeply.

“Steven!” Ash screamed.

Enlil then ran the hook downward, slicing her open, down to her stomach, expelling her entrails. Blood gushed into the air like red rain. In a move purely designed to show his supremacy over them, Enlil tore Ashlyn’s organs apart with his beak.

A loud blood-curdling shriek from Ashlyn told of the damage he was doing.

“Noooooo!” Steven roared, as he swooped toward them.

As Steven closed the distance, Enlil released her, letting her plummet toward the ground far below.

Steven dove hard, hoping to catch her. Ash craned her head upwards.
I will love you forever—
Her eyes glazed into a dead stare; with her dying breath she whispered into his mind,
Behind you!

Steven looked over his right wing to see Enlil descending upon him. They spun, their bodies tangling, their claws locking.

As Steven tumbled around, he caught sight of Ashlyn, her body in the midst of reverting to her human form. She hit the ground, slowly transforming into nothing more than a lump of torn, human flesh.

Thrashing wildly, Steven’s surging adrenaline allowed him to break one claw free. Running a talon down the griffin’s chest, he made a deep gash. Enlil cried out, releasing him.

Capturing the air, Steven glided down to Ashlyn’s side, where he then changed back into his own form. Tears flooded down his face as he knelt at her side and wiped the loose strands of hair from her delicate face. Her skin, smooth and soft, seemed to have already begun to cool. Her broken and shredded body had taken too much for even a god to bear.