Transcending the Legacy (8 page)

My eyes drop from Katsuro and I rest my gaze on a small, metal tray to my right.

Michi says, “We are offering you life, Michael. You will not survive beyond today if you are not implanted with the new Copula.”

Michi explains how the device will work intravenously, adjusting the elements within my body quickly.
As he explains, I think back to conversations my father had with me on his death bed, still training me to take the reins of our legacy and stop the Onoch’s from concealing the universes beyond ours. “Don’t be deceived, Michael. The Onoch’s will try to stop you, tell you that you are wrong, that what lies beyond our known universe mustn’t be tampered with. They will claim our salvation rests with them, but it does not. We know the truth. They have made contact time and time again with our world. Every time it fell on deaf ears, until they touched our family. All those decades ago, we listened. Now, the salvation of our world is in your hands. You must seek them out beyond our universe and grant them passage.”

I feel warm fluid slip from my eye, roll down my cheekbone, and pool on the rim of the oxygen mask. Have I done what you wanted father? I have ushered in an infestation on our species! Our whole legacy was a deception; tainted just like the air our race is forced to breathe now!

I close my eyes.
“I do not deserve it.”

I ignore Michi and Katsuro
’s rampant onset of questions and breathe in a deep, long, breath. I open my eyes and connect with Michi before I pull the mask from my face. I throw it to the ground and concentrate on getting out of there. The yells commanding me to stop, to let them save me, dissolve as does the rest of the room.

* * *

A familiar bellow snaps me out of my soothing flashback. I’m huddled in the corner of a storage room, surrounded by supplies. The small amount of oxygen I was given is expiring quickly with every release of breathe. My lungs are with fire again.

I hear a yell coming from the other side of the door saying,
“Run! Go, go, go!”

It’s Michi.
The door in front of me shakes my feet as I use my strength to push against it once again.

“Michael! Let me save you! It’s not too late!” hisses Michi, pleading with me to open the door.

Before I can respond, I hear Michi release the most excruciating scream I have ever heard from a man. It only lasts for a second, then it is cut off, disconnected, detached. The thud of his body dropping to the ground solidifies that what is beyond that door did not want him. The being that ended him had come for me, to either save me in its own warped way or kill me quickly like Michi. I move my foot away from the door, clumsily turn the handle, fall back against the wall and wait for it to take me.

The captain, Jason Briggs, breaks the silence that has overcast our team of guardians and soldiers. “We have about an hour until dawn,” he bellows.

He directs two soldiers, “Head up to ground level and give Lieutenant Decker the thumbs up to send the caravan team down.”

I figure that is the team that will accompanying us on our journey to Georgia.

Briggs looks at each of us. “I suggest you grab a bite to eat before we leave. It may be a while before we get a chance to eat again. We’ll meet back at the trucks in T-minus fifty minutes.”

Briggs and his men quickly file out of the room, but all the guardians remain motionless. Didn’t seem like anyone was eager to get food. After our discussion, my appetite was non-existent. Daniel clears his throat. “I don’t want to eat either, but we have to keep up our strength.”

He looks down at the ground and wrings his hands together as he leaves the room.
One at a time, Nick then Luke make their way out of the room. Elisha is followed by Jake and Siobhan. The rest of us, Sebastian, Ezra, Corinna, Sam, Monica, Jesca, and Nate stay behind.

I lower my head and rework the discussion that transpired moments ago within this room with most of the guardians having similar images and sounds in their dreams over the past few days. Sebastian
revealed his reoccurring premonition from childhood. Daniel told us about his premonitions. Piece by piece, through our visions, our connection to this legacy is becoming more and more undeniable.

I look up again and spot Jesca talking quietly with Ezra.
Her brow furrows and her eyes brighten a lighter green as she becomes obviously agitated by something he has said to her. She pulls her hair off of her neck and into a low ponytail. I feel a smile tug at my mouth; she does that when she is getting worked up. The smile never fully forms on the surface of my lips though. I cross my arms as I continue to watch her mannerisms; the way she moves her lips, the way her head tilts as she listens to Ezra speak. Ezra places his hand on her shoulder just then. She closes her eyes in response to his touch and simply nods. When Ezra releases her shoulder, he leaves the room and Jes is left standing there a few feet away from me. I guess she can feel me watching her because she opens her eyes and looks at me. In that moment in time, her eyes glow the brightest olive green I have ever seen. The brightest green I have seen since my vision after returning from beyond the veil.

Instantly, my thoughts lapse to that dream;
the beautiful girl dressed like an ancient native princess, her hair hanging down, framing her face and falling below her shoulders, the glow within her olive eyes from the fiery pit before her.
It is the same glow that is evident in the eyes of the woman that stands feet away from me now. This captivating woman that makes my heart soar and break in the same breath.

She must sense the intensity of my thoughts, because she nervously makes a beeline to the door to leave the room.
My attention is drawn away from her by the sound of shuffling feet. Sam and Corinna and the others are slowly leaving the room. I take a minute to compose myself. As I turn around and breathe in deeply, I see Nate, his body half shaded in darkness at the far corner of the room. He was staring a few inches in front of him at the ground, back hunched and arms crossed tightly to his body. I would be lying if I said his disposition didn’t freak me out.

I call out to him,
“Hey, I didn’t see you back there.”

Typically Nate would have snapped out of his hypnotic stare and relaxed into his calm and easy going
temperament, but he doesn’t. He remains hunched over, his forehead wrinkled, and his head lulled to the side. Stunned and afraid, all I can do is stare at his behavior. All of a sudden, he slowly closes his eyes, then opens them, keeping his focus on the same spot on the ground inches in front of him.

I move toward him cautiously as he repeats the same behavior again
, and again, but this time he leans forward. Is he listening to something? I make sure to move around the spot he is staring at as I advance on him, trying not to disturb this catatonic state he is in. When I am next to him, I notice more. His eyes are murky again, just like they were when Jesca and I approached him. I tried to overlook it then, but I can’t now. I’m drawn to his mouth as it quivers fervently, silently mumbling something to himself.

Hearing the slightest hushed whisper release from his mouth, I lean in closer to decode the solitary conversation under his breath.
I hear it again, but I can’t make out words. I pull away from him slowly and continue to watch this hyper-focused behavior. The way he is acting, it makes me think of Sam when we were beyond the veil. Has something gotten to Nate? Every limb in my body is infused with fear and dread thinking that Nate is being consumed before my eyes.

No, he is fine, he is just exhausted, we all are!

Pissed by my rambling thoughts working on my nerves, I snap at him. “Hey Nate!”

No response.

He snapped out of this state quickly the last time it happened; this one is different. I need to bring him back from wherever he is! Slowly I move my hand to his shoulder. If I have to shake the hell out of him, I will, but I’m hoping just touching his arm will do the trick.

I’m standing in an open area surrounded by small huts and thatched roofs. It is like a public square or something. Movement out of the corner of my eye draws my attention to people walking in and out of the huts. Some are tan skinned and half
clothed while others are fully dressed in animal skin. The tan-skinned women huddle their children close to them and the men carry weapons by their side. A man wearing deer-skin and war-paint on his face comes to stand next to me. I am taken back by his presence, but he doesn’t bat and eye at mine. It’s like he expects me to be there next to him. Where the hell am I?

I look behind me and see other men gathering next to me with their weapons drawn. I look down at myself and see that I am dressed unlike them. I’m wearing a uniform; blue pants,
white button-down shirt, and riding type boots. In my hands, I hold the cold metal of a rifle.

Then, it clicks.
Sebastian’s vision with the Native American Indians, the tribe, the battle. I’m in a vision!

All at once, I hear a loud call,
a warning!

All of the natives around us rush back into their houses. The childrens’ faces are filled with fear as they cry out for their family. My searching gaze lands on a white man emerging from a hut with a native woman following closely behind him. His uniform, he is dressed like me, but older, mature. Following behind both of them is a beautiful girl.
The girl Sebastian and Xander mentioned in their visions. She looks like a princess. The white man rests his mouth on the woman’s forehead, then takes a hold of the girl’s hand and the three of them walk quickly away from the hut. I follow them with my eyes as they walk toward the largest mound beyond the line of huts.

Abruptly and with no reason, the girl stops walking.
The white man and woman look back at her, stopping their own progress. Slowly, the girl’s eyes scan the area, until they land on me. The color of her eyes…I recognize the olive green color of them, Jesca’s eyes.

The rupture of
a primal roar coming from behind draws my attention from her and I whip around just in time to see uniformed men just like me charging through the village headed straight for the human barricade the natives and I have formed.

* * *

As soon as my hand rests on his shoulder, Nate opens his mouth, brow wrinkled in agonizing concentration, but says nothing. He slowly tilts his head one way and then the other, mouth agape, but words locked away. It’s like he wants to speak, but he can’t. Something is preventing him from talking. I step in front of Nate and place my hands on either side of his face, forcing it to be even with mine. “Open your eyes, Nate!”

* * *

The soldiers charging toward me suddenly change. Their eyes blacken and their invading rush transforms from smooth and fluid to coarsen and inhuman. Inhuman like the woman consumed by the occupier earlier. Voices whispering obscure sounds needle my ears as I stare paralyzed with fear by these charging demons.

Paralyzed?
I look down at my feet and try to penetrate this stagnate state I’m in, but the power I try to proclaim over my body is not enough to break the hold. Unexpectedly and out of my control, I turn and run in the direction of the native princess, her mother, and the gentleman.

Wake up! Wake up! I open my mouth and try to let go of my voice; shout, holler, cry out, anything to make myself wake out of this, but my voice is being kept hostage by
the Dwellers. They are commanding me, trying to consume me like they did to Sam. The admittance sends a spine-tingling chill straight to my bones. I have heard these hissing whispers before when I woke after returning from beyond the veil. What if a Dweller got to me while I was beyond the veil? It can’t be! This isn’t like the Dwellers we have seen consume humans.

From within the confines of the sinister hisses, a
stark bellow punctures the echoes, “Open your eyes, Nate!”

The leaden pressure bearing down on all my senses lifts instantly and the echoing, whispering voices silence
. I pull in a long, deep breath, my reaction to being back in the present, out of the vision. One breath is not enough and I pull in the air around me greedily again, and again.

* * *

Nate slumps against the wall as he pants rigidly. He is breathing too fast. He is going to pass out.

Just as I think it, Nate starts slipping down along the wall behind him. Swiftly,
I grab him under his arms and support his body with mine to keep him standing. I angle my gaze over my shoulder to make sure no one has heard or seen him almost collapse. I lean him back against the wall so I can get a good look at him. When his eyes open, I see that they are clear and alive, no longer dull and lifeless. He is still breathing hard, but slower and is starting to come around. Nate looks down at my hands gripping his shoulders and tenses, quickly diverting his eyes as he leans his head back against the wall and stares up at the ceiling. I can see the frustration he holds in his darting eyes.

I ask, “What just happened
, Nate? Where did you go?”

Still looking up at the ceiling, he shakes his head from side to side.
“I’m just tired.”

His cop-out answer pisses me off. I get up in his face and let him have it. “Do you think I’m stupid? You were somewhere else. Something was controlling you and you were trying to fight it!”

I had an idea of what that something was, but I didn’t want to admit it yet. If I did, that made it real and if it is real then that meant Nate is at risk...all of us are.

Nate looks into my eyes and pushes off the wall, sending me a few steps away from him. Stoically, he maintains, “I’ve got this okay! I won’t let them take me!”

His behavior and words remind me of Sam beyond the veil as he was fighting for his unraveling mind against Michael.

Nate just said “them”.

I need to tell someone. Ezra. I am backing away from Nate, when his hand snatches my forearm and holds it tight.

* * *

“You can’t tell them, Xander!”

Glaring and noticeably riled, Xander looks down at my hand like he is about ready to bite it off. I concentrate on telling myself to let go.
Uncoil your hands, Nate, and ball up your fists to keep everyone safe.

Xander’s voice trembles with emotion, but he keeps it low enough to not draw attention to the team on the other side of the doorway. “I have to! They are trying to get to you!”

I want to unbind my mind, let him in and see what I think may be happening,
what I believe can save me, but I fear that it may be the last time my mind will be my own. I look beyond Xander at the doorway to make sure it is clear, then I tell him, “Please, just listen to me, then you can make your choice.”

Xander runs his hands over his face aggressively, then folds his arms across his chest. Standing unmoved
and listening he give me the green light to talk. “Go.”

“Before
we came back, when we were beyond the veil and Jes was...” The memory is too vivid still and it tugs at my chest.

I push through the emotions and continue. “When she w
as in my arms, dying, I had a revelation confirming what I have always known. My purpose will always revolve around Jes. I gave her every ounce of my life force…well, I thought I had.” I search the ground, like the memory of what happened after that will suddenly spring from it.

“I remember the walls shaking around us,
the Dwellers coming for us, the vortex, scooping up Jesca in my arms, then feeling my body drain until I lost consciousness.”

Visibly confused, Xander shakes his head skeptically
. “Sebastian took hold of Ezra and I took hold of you as you held Jesca in your arms. Your eyes were closed, but you were able to stand with help. You were alert, Nate.”

“See, I can’t remember any of that!”
I look at the doorway again, checking for the others.

“The next thing I remember is waking
up in the Kyoto facility with a sore neck from the re-implantation.”

A wall of si
lence forms between Xander and me all of a sudden.

I look at Xander’s face to see the ex
pression. It does not hold judgment or ridicule, just unease for what I might say next.

I shake my head trying to figure out how to explain this to him so he will understand. “I was awake, but not alert
, Xander. I was trapped in a vision.”

Xander
asks, “What if you brought something back from beyond the veil?”

* * *

I fold my arms over my chest continuing to probe. “When you gave all of your energy to Jesca beyond the veil, you were weak. What if something like a Dweller latched onto you. We have to tell Ezra or Sebastian.”

Nate leans in to me as he speaks,
“I don’t think it is a normal Dweller. If it was, I don’t think I would have come to after we got back.”

I push, “We have to tell Ezra or Sebastian.”

Nate questions, “What if they can’t help me? What if the only thing that can save me is in Georgia, within the Etowah Mounds?”

I point toward the doorway and demand,
“What if they can save you, keep you from completely losing your mind!”

I feel my pulse increase just picturing Nate’s captured stare in my head again. He is right, it isn’t like
the Dwellers we have seen taking a human, but it is still something trying to get at him. “Cousin, I have lost too much of my family. You are my blood. The only blood I have left in this world. If you don’t let us try to save you and you are consumed...” A spasm of misery threatens to take my breath, but I swallow it down and breathe in deep before I tell Nate what I would be forced to do if he was consumed by the Dwellers that are attacking him. “If you are taken, you won’t be my family any more. Your blood will be on my hands.”

Nate’s voice is unsteady as well,
“I won’t be taken, Xander, and my blood will not be on your hands. As long as you help me, I won’t be taken. When you touched my shoulder just now, it peeled away the control this thing had on me. I think your energy, your life force did that. Somehow it connected with me.”

I did feel a surge of energy leave me when I reached for him.

Nate continues, “You were able to transfer your life force to me to pull me away from them. Your ability is returning. If you can do that until we get to the mounds...”

What if it was a fluke? What if I can’t duplicate it
?
“I did it once Nate. Monica said our abilities could be different if they returned. What if my abilities aren’t solid and I can’t bring you back when I need to!”

* * *

I shake my head, knowing in my soul that this is not a fluke. “It isn’t a fluke, Xander. Nothing is a coincidence in our lives. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

As Xander’s fixed stare bears down on me, I stand firm,
not backing down from what I have grown to believe as the truth in our existence as guardians. “I have faith that once I get to the mounds, I will be freed from this thing that has latched onto me. Right now, I need you by my side on this cousin.”

As I wait out Xander’s decision, the heavy silence between us crumbles from the sound of a massive explosion from above.