Pursuit of the Zodiacs (11 page)

Abdeen is alive, but badly wounded. The arrow in his back had broken in half during the impact of the crash. His golden Chariot lay half-buried in sand on a beach. Both of his Lions of Fire had perished, one dead before the crash, and one dead after the crash.

The neigh of a huge solid black animal resembling a horse awakened him. Twice the size of an average horse, it proved that this Earth was indeed foreign to his eyes.

Another horse entity appeared, this one having an all white coating. Their beauty added ecstasy to the scenery on the seaside where he rested. The animals played with each other, running in the sand along the shoreline of the ocean. He couldn’t help but notice the trees hissing and lurching in response to the sudden increase in winds. They were dangerously taller than any tree he’d remembered. Over the horizon, he witnessed three Moons in the sky on a partially cloudy afternoon.

Abdeen sat up to check on his wounds. He twisted around, trying to reach the arrow lodged in his back. The bleeding had stopped, so he left the arrow alone. It didn’t seem like the arrow had pierced any vital organs, so he left it up to fate. But he still was in need of medical care.

In case of friendly fire, he feared using his gift in the Judgment Realm, but that left him defenseless. The mysterious horse entities scurried off as the loud footsteps of something immense headed towards the shore. Sensing the danger and too injured for conflict, Abdeen hid behind a tree. Unbeknownst to him, he trekked in the forbidden, elusive, winged Planet of the Giants, the Nephilim. He remained calm, still, and as silent as he could be.

The Giant settled down to make a meal of his Lions of Fire. He had loved them like Brothers, but he could do nothing about it. Honorable companions, his Lions of Fire served their purpose. In time, he will have the strength to summon another pair who will be even stronger.

The Egyptians would’ve taken months to build something close to this Giant’s size. Its elongated skull complemented its overall mass. The Giant’s razor-sharp teeth easily ripped through the Lions of Fire. Abdeen heard slushing entrails and crushing bone. It could hold at least three men in each hand; and his footprint, threatening enough to clear a battlefield. The multiple scars all over its body marked him a lone wolf, a banished outcast.

While the Giant feasted, Abdeen took his leave. “Farewell, my Brothers. Your sacrifice will not be in vain.”

He treaded through the tall grass.

Blessed with power over water, Abdeel used it to break free from Lucifer’s ring of fire. “I’ve had enough with these games, Lucifer. Come out of hiding and face me.”

Lucifer answered, “You will cooperate, Archangel?”

A strange woman removed herself from one of the corners of the room waiving both her arms. With a soft, but elevated, voice she said, “Please stop!”

She was beautiful beyond words.

Lucifer backed down and locked Abdeel and the woman in the strange room. Great power sealed the door.

Abdeel yelled after Lucifer. “Come back here!”

He heard Lucifer’s laugh fading away the further he got down the hall.

“Damn!” Abdeen turned to the woman, who happened to be equally upset.

“I suppose that we are both prisoners?”

Abdeel answered, “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

The woman asked, “When did you get here?”

Abdeel answered, “I’m not sure. I don’t remember.” He sat on the bed to think.

The woman continued, “What is your name?”

Abdeel really didn’t want to continue the conversation, but answered, “Abdeel, and yours?”

“Saraii. I don’t remember how I got here either. You seem to know your name, but do you know who you are? My memory escapes me.”

The innocence in her eyes made him open up. “My name is Abdeel. I’m an Archangel on an important mission to stop an alliance from forming. An alliance orchestrated by the same Devil who has imprisoned us here.”

Abdeel avoided eye contact. He found himself battling against the flesh due to her stimulating beauty. She moved closer to him. “Woman, leave me be. Your advances seem questionable.”

Saraii implored him, “But please, I am scared and all alone.” She moved closer to him on the bed.

He ignored her advances and got up to think. “Where were you this whole time? And why did you hold your tongue for so long?”

Saraii said, “I was afraid, so I hid myself over there.” She pointed to a spot across the room.

The only means of escaping would be to rattle the walls with his gift, but that would surely kill the woman. “I don’t understand … why didn’t he just kill me?”

Saraii replied, “Maybe he has something else in store for us?”

“Whatever it is, coming from him, it’s not going to be of any benefit to us. We need to leave this place at once.”

She got up to walk around. Abdeel made the mistake of watching her. He surrendered to her beauty. They locked eyes, spiraling the Archangel into a deep trance.

While boarding a plane, a flight attendant initiated protocol. “Hello, my name is Mary, and I’ll be your flight attendant today. As a reminder, this is Flight 118 heading to Kenya, Africa. Passengers are advised to turn off all cell phones, computers, tablets, and any other electronics. Put any luggage in the overhead compartment or under your seat. Fasten your safety belts.” She demonstrated how to fasten a safety belt and continued giving further instructions.

She carried on while Mr. Clarendon adjusted his seat and unfolded his newspaper. A strange man several seats in front of him placed his luggage in the overhead compartment. Mr. Clarendon had a keen sense and read the man’s every move. Ozias, completely unaware of the danger, sat down in his window seat and promptly went to sleep. As ordered, he took the Mortal route by boarding a plane to see if he would hear or see anything unfamiliar in regards to their mission. Enemies travel in various ways.

OZIAS’ DREAM

A week passed by since their children’s kidnapping. Ozias and his wife London hardly slept since. The detective on the case wrote down their statement and proceeded towards the door. “I’ll contact you as soon as possible if I get any leads. Please get some sleep, the both of you.”

London let the detective out the door; she then fell down the hall. Detective Bishop reached for his gun only to have his hand chopped off by a man with fire in his eyes, wearing a Zodiac mask and wielding a samurai katana. He approached Ozias. “My name is Sagittarius. I am aware that you are no ordinary man. What is your business on this plane?”

A confused Ozias tended to his unconscious wife. “You’re going to wish you never had the gift of entering dreams, Demon!”

He altered into a two-headed water dragon and blasted his hallway with aqua-meteors. He forced a deceived Sagittarius to retreat. Sagittarius evaded all but one, blocking it while his boots gripped the dirt. He laughed in his success.

Ozias said, “Your laughter will be stopped shortly.”

Ozias attacked. He shot more water-filled meteors in midair. Sagittarius, abruptly blocked every attack with his special shield. He shot rising Sunrays. Ozias was unable to maneuver and escape them all. One entered his shoulder and he crashed into a nearby fence. With a piece torn out, he held onto what remained of his bloody shoulder. Sagittarius smelled blood and approached. Ozias regained focus and altered his appearance into a water beast in the form of a grizzly bear whose paws contained enough power to end the fight with one strike. Caught off guard, Sagittarius covered up with his wings. He was knocked from cars to fixtures and walls. Desperation settled in, his wings grew weak. He forced Ozias’ luck to run
out as the Pursuer swung and missed one of his attacks. Sagittarius capitalized and cut Ozias clean to the point where the pain caused him to wake up from his dream.

“My God! Sir, are you ok? You’re bleeding!” A passenger asked a wounded Ozias. A beaten up Sagittarius headed towards the bathroom, but collapsed in the aisle. The fight injured him more than he thought.

“What the Hell is going on? This one over here seems to be in trouble as well! Is there a Doctor on board?”

The flight attendants instilled calmness on the plane by instructing everybody to remain in their seats.

“He was fine a second ago, and all of a sudden I heard a tearing noise or something, and now he’s bleeding profusely,” the passenger testified.

“Apply pressure to the wound!” Came orders from a flight attendant.

Another passenger a few rows down came forward, identifying herself as a registered nurse, and tended to Ozias. She motioned for her Brother to get her luggage out of the overhead compartment. “I have some medical supplies in my bag.”

“What’s going on back there?” A few onlookers from first class yelled.

Someone yelled back, “We need to make an emergency landing. This man is in serious trouble and in need of a hospital!”

The nurse responded, “I’m not sure I can stop the bleeding in time to save this man’s life.”

Despite being in enormous pain, Ozias struggled to speak. “The man that collapsed in the aisle, is he still alive?”

The nurse glanced down the aisle. “I’m not aware of his condition yet. You seem to be in more jeopardy than he is at the moment, Sir, so just relax. We’re going to get you some help.”

He saw a huge gash running from his chest all the way down to his abdomen.

LEVI’S DREAM

“This is a true testimony of what is to come and what shall be.

My name is Master Levi Marcus, an instructor at a Private School for the Gifted. Despite our secrecy, we did not discriminate. All beings that had gifts to share were welcomed. It was not long before all classes of species and humanoids from near
and distant Galaxies attended our school. We’ve had children spanning all ages, including orphans and runaways. Secret organizations also got involved by enrolling individuals with special abilities in hopes of learning their associate’s full potential. And lastly, people who simply wanted to control their gifts.

I want to recall an event that proves there is an active Zodiac program. An old friend of mine named Ethan, was very gifted and seasoned. For reasons of his own, he was not an attendee at the school. Some of my best students were in need of a good lesson in humility, so I invited Ethan for a friendly sparring session with my students. He kindly accepted my invitation, especially seeing that we hadn’t spoken in a while.