Disclaimer:
These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and producers
of
Spoilers:
After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is successfully
rescued, and Michael was the one who broke up with Maria.
Pairings: You’ll have to wait and see!
Pronunciation Guide: Hani (Ha -
NEYE)
Quirinius
(KWIR - in - us)
Yasu (yah - SU)
Sanom (sah - GNOME)
Author’s notes: Queen Fadilia
Kedar: Max/Isabel’s mother
King
Alaric Kedar: Max/Isabel’s father
Andaria: Tess’ mother
Radim:
Tess’ father
Kedrans: race from which Royal Four descended
Iturians: race from which Khivar descended, and
overthrew and killed Zan and the Kedrans
Cerideans: special core ops of the Iturian army, mostly
psyonics and telepaths
Kaptar’s
Jewel: constellation in the
Antarian’s star system
Yun’s
Garment: Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights
Saren Dari: desert plain on
Antar
dashka : good luck charm
elkarl :
Iturian hand weapon
capaechea:
long
haired woolly creature, with long flanks and a large hump on its back
kii: location where
various endangered animals are kept for protection
Mount
Freiweil: location of Loyalist secret base
Chapter Fifty Nine
***
You alone are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
-
Psalm 76:7
***
'Ma!'
Tess jerked her head up, swallowing hard as she
blindly followed Michael through the dark ventilation shaft. Along with them were three others: Hani, a 17 year old boy, eager to please;
Quirinius, 22, reserved and aloof; and the last Kedran to be recruited was
Yasu, 19, whom General Steren recommended personally. The three trained soldiers ranging from 17-22 years of age had
only sparred within the Loyalist army, seeing battle only on a computer screen,
or in a simulation. None of them had
ever killed.
Once Tess and Michael had arrived in the strategy
room, General Steren submitted a plan of attack, which he had prepared with
many of the other generals within the Loyalist army. The plan was not final, and Michael and Tess brought with them a
few of their own ideas, but together they decided on a plan of action and
departed that afternoon on a light ship that would carry them over the desert
of Saren Dari with speed.
As she snuck through the secret base, which was tucked
away in a dry, barren place, it gave her a glimmer of hope that her son might
be safe. The inner voice which cried to
her, imagined or not, willed her to go on.
Tess kept close to Michael, but all the while reaching out with her mind
to her son.
The group of five that had been formed by Fadilia,
General Steren, Michael and herself, was individualistic; in Tess' opinion,
they were divided by experience and stature.
The soldiers had not even been ranked; in fact, many of the new
generation of the Loyalist army would have been considered privates, since none
had been outside of Mount Freiweil, so as to give the Lieutenants and Generals
opportunity to observe them. It was
hard for Tess to put her trust in three men, whom she knew nothing about.
"Okay, this is Section D42, according to the
mapping grid," Michael whispered, as a dim fluorescent glow lit his
darkened features.
Tess peered over his shoulder and nodded in
acknowledgement. "Where do we go
from here?"
Michael glanced at her and paused for a moment. Tess waited expectantly for Michael's
guidance, since he seemed to have an ability to internalize the operational
plan with ease. All the details of how
to get here and how to get in were left in his capable hands. "We'll split up as planned. There's a lot of area to cover, even more
than we expected from the looks of our approach."
Tess could see the concern etched on his face. He had led many of these as Rath, but this
would be his first mission in decades; and though he had the memories of his
former personality, it did not lift the burden of success that was expected of
him.
He sighed pressing the crook of his finger against his
lips, with an expression of thoughtful consideration. "We'll go ahead as planned." With a quick flick of a switch on a silver chain strapped to his
wrist, Michael looked up at all of them.
"Everyone synchronize their timelinks...now." He turned around to confirm the
synchronization had begun.
Tess nodded, as she followed suit, flicking the switch
on the identical chain, and listening to the almost inaudible 'beep' sound
within each of the group’s timelinks. Out
of the corner of her eye, she could see Hani grin widely as he obeyed his
commander's first 'real' orders.
"Hani and Quirinius are with me," Michael
announced tentatively, while glancing at Tess for any objections.
Tess nodded.
"Yes." They had
discussed this in the conference.
"Okay, then let's move out." Michael motioned with a flick of his wrist
for his men to head down the left corridor of the maze-like shafts.
Tess watched as Hani and Quirinius swiftly and deftly
crept a few feet down the empty tunnel, with Michael trailing them. She turned and glanced at Yasu, who remained
crouched, resting on one knee, trying to look half as confident as Michael,
while leading this inexperienced soldier.
But from the expression on his face, it wasn't working. Tess looked ahead and saw that Michael had
turned back, standing a few feet from their diverging journeys. His head tilted to the right, motioning to
the passageway she and her companion would take; and she understood his
wordless encouragement.
Tess cleared her throat and stood within the narrow
passageway. "Let's go." Her eyes never left Michael's, as she pressed
on ahead, until he was out of sight, as she began her search for her son.
~~~
"We'll keep an eye out for any signs of Zander
and Andaria, but our main goal is to locate 'Pilan'."
Fadilia and General Steren had reminded them of the
continuing threat Khivar's project posed to their revolt during the conference,
which was when they had decided to take Michael's idea of dividing into two
groups. They had weighed the risks of
either searches coming up empty, or the idea of being captured, but all of them
agreed both were too important to focus on just one mission. So it was decided.
Michael knew Tess was capable of finding her son; he
believed it was a logical decision to split Tess and himself up into different
groups. Trusting the mission to soldiers
inexperienced as these was nothing to take lightly - they needed someone who
would ensure success. He needed to be
successful in bringing home information about what 'Pilan' was, or even,
hopefully, destroying it before it had the ability to destroy hundreds of
millions of lives.
Tess, on the other hand, sole focus was her son, as it
should have been. And the determination
she brought to her part of the mission was needed, especially when she was
short one man.
"Our exit is two feet to the left,"
Quirinius informed matter-of-factly.
Michael had allowed Quirinius the task of guiding them
through the rest of the passageways because it was unmapped, and he had a
stronger skill with the navigational system, which the Loyalist army was using
on this mission. "And what will be
walking into?" he asked warily.
Quirinius was silent for several minutes, quickly
pressing a sequence of buttons on the compact Navi system. "We'll be in a side compartment, near
what appears to be a storage room."
He paused a moment, his mouth open, as if about to say something. Suddenly he let out a breath and with his
head bowed, nodded. "If Jair
mapping was correct, the main power grid should be located not far from
there." Quirinius glanced up
expectantly at his commander after submitting his astute observations.
Michael didn't know these two soldiers from two holes
in the ground, but General Steren seemed confident in their abilities. After taking a moment to collect his
thoughts and steel himself for the inevitable confrontations with the enemy,
Michael nodded, gesturing to Quirinius to lead the way.
~ * ~
As Michael crawled out from the passageway, he was met
with cold, metal corridors, and an evil presence that seemed to press in on his
mind. He tried to focus, pushing aside
the desire to let his thoughts to wander.
Michael gritted his teeth and scanned his surroundings. The hallways were empty, which was a
blessing in disguise; they did not need an early skirmish to announce their
presence - not just yet. But the weight
pressing in on him would not lift, and then Michael was fully aware of Khivar's
wide scope of artillery, in the form of telepaths or mindwalkers, monitoring
any possibility of intruders on the premises.
"Are we certain no one is able to see or detect
that we've broken in?" His whole
body was tense - alert and ready for any attack.
Hani shook his head fervently. "No one could possibly detect us
Commander Ra...Michael," he chirped confidently, as they crept along the
wall, northbound, towards an empty intersection of corridors. "The devices planted under the surface
of our epidural layer deflects any sensors, and we've all been trained in mind
probe sensitivity. If they were
searching for us, we would definitely be alerted."
Michael furrowed his brow. "Commander Guerin.
Call me Commander Guerin, not Commander Michael."
The first time he heard it, it made him frown. Commander Michael. It may have worked with his former persona's
name, but just as Hani addressed him by his given Earth name, it made him
cringe. It just sounded wrong.
Hani nodded dejectedly, as if Michael had rebuked
him. "Don't worry about it,"
Michael dismissed, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. This seemed to bring back an element of the
soldier's sprightly attitude.
"Now," Michael paused as they approached the
open hallway. "How are we going to
locate the power grid?"
"If we could just get to a control panel, I could
interface with the system" Quirinius suggested. "And possibly even download the schematics to the entire
base. Then we wouldn't be walking
around blind?"
Michael and Hani stared at their dark-skinned comrade
in disbelief. The silent and reserved
soldier managed to keep his adept abilities well hidden.
"Well then, we'd better find some soon,
huh?" Michael said wryly. Taking a
quick glance around the corner, he signalled for his soldiers-in-training to
follow his lead. Once again, he seemed
to have soldiers with him, as he did in days of old.
Maybe...just maybe, I'll be able to lead again.
~~~
Tess followed the tunnel to its end destination. There guarding its path was a large magnetic
field. The gentle hum of the
circulating field within its closed circuit echoed in her ears. She glanced back at Yasu, who had remained
silent for almost the entire mission, lifted no hand in assistance. Tess rolled her eyes back and silently
groaned.
Great.
Tentatively, Tess raised her hand to the edge of the
metal lining that ran parallel to the ground, where the passage walls met the
magnetic field. She took one deep
breath before closing her eyes and exerting a small, short burst of energy,
undetectable to most monitoring computer systems, to short out the magnetic current. After the emitting the burst, Tess felt a
strong hand squeeze her shoulder firmly, causing her to open her eyes and gaze
into the intense green eyes of her companion.
She turned away and looked over at the opening, which had once been
blocked by a magnetic field; now opened for all to exit through.
~ * ~
Her knees absorbed the weight of her body as she
hopped down from the ventilation shaft and onto a metal catwalk, which was
suspended 60 feet in the air. She heard
a small metallic thud, as Yasu came up behind her. "Where are we?" Tess whispered, glancing around the
room. They were completely encased in
an opaque glass, tinted with a reddish hue.
Several spotlights were strategically placed upon the thin metal
rafters, illuminating the immense room.
Looking down, there were rows of neatly lined grey cubes, with two or
three soldiers milling through the narrow aisles at one time. "It seems like a storage area of some
type."
"Why do you say that?" he asked curiously.
Tess frowned at her recently talkative companion.
He had been of no help to her since they had left
Mount Freiweil. His silent and
uncooperative attitude was beginning to irritate her. "Because," she slowly drawled, "those look like
filing cabinets to me!" Her voice
raised a half a tone in pitch.
Yasu cocked his head to the side as if she was being
illogical. "Filing cabinets?"
"You've never heard of them?"
Yasu's tanned complexion didn't attempt to hide his
confusion. "Your Highness, I would
express my knowledge of such contraptions if they were in my realm of
understanding." He shook his head
at her impatience with him.
Tess let out a deep breath, not allowing herself to
get worked up into a tizzy. She let her
muscles relax and swallowed the biting remarks she had for the aloof
officer. Deep down, Tess knew it really
had nothing to do with this officer; rather, it had to do with the overwhelming
thought of searching for Zander in the unending labyrinth, not to mention her
anxiety over her mother. "Look,
they're used to store paper documents - you know, information - in metal
drawers." Tess waited for a look
of understanding; instead he looked askance.
"Your Highness," he said humbly. "The ancient system of which you speak
does not exist on Antar. There is no
need for Khivar to utilize such obsolete methods of data storage."
Tess knew he made sense, which annoyed her. She glanced down from the catwalk and peered
at the grey cubes once more. "Well
then Einstein, tell me what those are!" she said through clenched
teeth.
"Einstein?" He looked at her with confusion.
Then, turning back his attention to the room, Yasu leaned slightly over
the railing, as if he could see better from that distance and then straightened
up. "Bodies."
The word stunned her.
Tess felt her muscles tense, as she glared skeptically at the confident 19-year-old
Kedran. "You've got to be
joking." She glanced over her
shoulder, down at the cold, sharp, impersonal cubes. "There must be hundreds of them." Her eyes scanned the rows and rows of the
boxes.
Yasu squeezed her shoulder once more, as he had in the
ventilation system, bringing her out of her thoughts. "We must leave. Time
is of the essence."
Tess furrowed her brow, as her eyes remained glued to
the above surface graves. Could her
mother be in one of those? Could Khivar
have buried her mother without her knowing it?
Suddenly she felt herself being led away. Yasu gently prodded her along the catwalk,
trying to escape the notice of the guards below. Tess felt her heart squeeze tight, and a sensation of
breathlessness came over her, as her gaze could not be torn away from the morbid
scene. Unexpectedly two soldiers entered
the room, and Yasu yanked her down to the floor of the catwalk. They wheeled in a long grey table, with a
black cloth draped over it.
"A body?"
The word breathlessly escaped her lips.
Tess strained to see the frame of the thin narrow
body. Her blood began to warm and she
felt her heart begin to race. It was as
if there was some connection she was missing with the figure underneath the
shroud of black. Tess closed her eyes
as the two guards left the body with the guard at the entrance of the room,
trying to stifle a cry. She felt her
whole body begin to tremble, as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.
"We must leave now," Yasu urged, his voice
firm, yet gentle.
Tess felt his strong hands, drag her away from the
aching that had entered with the unknown body; it grew less the further Yasu
physically wrenched her from that catwalk.
Before Tess knew what was happening, she was collapsed in a dark
corridor, away from the traversed hallways by Khivar's men, with tears
streaming down her face. "Not
Andaria...not my mother."
~~~
Mystery no longer surrounded Maia. The lifeless body wheeled out from her small
cramped prison had been an unexpected sight for Nicholas. He had known Khivar's method's had taxed the
old woman; but they had not known to what extent when they plied her body with
experimental carthogens, which only meant to weaken her mental state, and
instead caused her whole respiratory system to shut down. She had suffocated to death.
"Do we have any response from the other
prisoner?" Khivar asked.
Nicholas shook his head, as he gazed watchfully at the
translucent image of his Lord and King.
He did not know how Khivar would feel about their prisoner's death. "As soon as we realized the affect the
drugs were having on the subject, we notified you." He paused for a brief moment. "Only the few architects, who
administered the drugs, and the guards are aware of the outcome."
Khivar nodded.
"Good." He opened his
mouth to say more, but paused and gazed sternly at Nicholas, as if something
had just occurred to him. "Are you
positive that she is dead?"
Nicholas frowned.
That seemed like an odd question to ask. He tilted his head and raised a questioning eye to his King. "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"
"What did I say?' he growled
impatiently. "We've had the wool pulled
over our eyes once before, I will not have it again!"
Nicholas shrugged.
"Architect Sanom seemed pretty confident about it," he slowly
replied. "Besides, there was no
way Maia knew about the carthogens. No
one knew except Architect Sanom, you and I."
Khivar seemed wary of that assumption. "Don't fail me Nicholas," he said,
staring down at him. "I want no
more unexpected events until after my Coronation. Once you locate the Loyalist base, kill them all." Before Nicholas could respond, Khivar's
image dissolved into static.
"Yes sir!" Nicholas saluted to the waves of floating static, all the while
rolling his eyes back at his Commander's warning.
"It's not like I'm the one making the decisions
here," Nicholas turned on his heel and exited the Com centre. "He's the one who's making the
decisions. I'm just the lackey, for
want of a better word," he grumbled as he strode down the dark corridor.
~~~
"Nicholas do this...Nicholas do that! What does he think I am? A robot?
Next time I won't answer his transmission!"
Michael pressed his men back against the far wall,
praying Nicholas would just pass by them.
He held his breath while the footsteps drew closer and closer, until
they passed by and faded around the corner.
"That was close," Hani gasped. "If Nicholas had found us, we'd
definitely be meat for fodder."
Michael glanced at his two men and silently thanked
whoever was watching out for them - for the short leave of grace. Clearing his throat, he motioned with his
hand that they would go ahead. It
seemed they had found the communications room.
Michael scouted down the hall while Quirinius hacked
into the security system and attempted to bypass its codes. It seemed comfortable, the rush of
adrenaline that flowed through his veins, as he anticipated the possibility of
discovery.
"Commander!" Hani beckoned to him in a
hushed tone.
Michael glanced back to see Hani standing in the open
entranceway of the locked room, waving frantically at him. With cat-like speed, he dashed down the hall
and slipped into the room, as the door closed behind him.
~~~
Max slipped down the jagged peak and ran down the
rugged path into the cave.
"Max, what's happening?" Jesse cried
hysterically. "Where did this fog
come from?"
Max gazed at the two frightened faces, which looked to
him for answers. He understood their
concern and fears; he, himself, had them burning beneath his chest. "The time has come for you to
leave," he told them calmly.
"It's not safe for you here now."
"Max, we can't leave you here," Liz argued.
Jesse saw Kyle, Maria, and your parents. They need us."
Max shook his head wearily; he glanced out into the
veiled field of battle. "I
know," he nodded solemnly.
"But there is nothing you can do.
It is bout me...they want me."
Liz frowned.
"This might have come to pass because of your presence here, but it
does not mean that this is only about you." She paused, taking a deep breath, as her heart raced at the image
of Kyle and Maria in harm's way. There
was something she must do. Her destiny was linked to this moment. Deep in her gut she knew that she had
unfinished business in the desert, which she had walked away from once
before. "I need to be here."
Max furrowed his brow in frustration. "Liz, I'm telling you to go!"
"I'm not..." Before she could finish her vigorous protest, Max reached out and
knocked her unconscious with a short burst of energy; letting her body collapse
into his arms, he kissed her serene forehead.
"Jesse you have to take her back to Roswell. Things I won't be able to completely control
are about to happen and I don't want you guys to get caught in the
crossfire."
Jesse looked uncertain about Max's instructions. "I..."
"Go!" Max barked, placing Liz's unconscious
body into his limp arms. "There's
no time. They are coming."
~~~
Jesse watched Max turn and head out into the dismal,
consuming curtain of grey, which swirled in the entranceway. He looked down at Liz and sighed loudly. After a deep breath he lowered his arms and
swept the small brunette into his arms and made his trek down to the vehicle
they arrived in.
The smog seemed to part at his feet as he stepped
carefully down the steep slope. Jesse
looked out into the cumulating thickness that formed almost a solid grey wall,
and paused a moment, adjusting his grip around Liz's limp body.
"What about Isabel?" His mind raced at the possible ill fate
Isabel had met or would soon meet.
Jesse glanced down at Liz. She
seemed so certain that her place was here in this obscure abyss.
"Were you right?
Is there something you or I could do to help...turn the tide?" he
asked quietly. Deep down, something
stirred within him; a strong force willing him to stay.
Or is it childish pride?
~~~
Kyle felt himself being pushed ahead into this sudden
smog that had fallen upon them. It was
thick; he could almost grasp it in his hand.
As he stumbled forward, Kyle could feel Maria's hand firmly grasping
his.
"You know I feel like Alice falling down the
rabbit hole," he joked.
"Not funny, Kyle."
Kyle glanced back to make a face at his tense
companion, but save for the physical touch of her hand there was no face - no
body - to accompany the dry sarcasm.
"No talking!" a gruff voice commanded from
behind.
Kyle scanned his surroundings. Could he make a run for it? No one could possibly see through the
palpable haze. Could he make it?
"Kyle, we've got to get out of here,"
Maria's voice whispered.
He squeezed her hand gently, acknowledging the dire
situation they had managed to find themselves in. What to do...
What to do!
~~~
Kyle felt a hand grab him and yank him forward; and
since Maria's hand was tightly clasped in his, she was dragged along. "What the he..." A smooth hand clapped over his mouth before
he could say anymore.
"Kyle?" Maria cried out.
He could hear some grumbling from behind him made by
the guards because of the commotion he and Maria were making. And just as it happened with him, Kyle could
hear someone muffle Maria's mouth, as he was hastily dragged away at a sharp
diagonal direction. He struggled
against the unusually smooth, yet firm grasp over his mouth. Escape would have been possible, except the
restraints that the aliens had so kindly provided remained on his
wrists, and he did not want to pass out just then.
"Shh!" a female voice hissed irritably.
Kyle frowned.
That did not sound like one of the guards.
Unexpectedly, he felt the hand slide slowly from his
lips. Kyle decided right then that it
was possible that they were on his side, so he opted to remain silent.
"Kyle," the familiar voice whispered. "It's..."
"Liz!" he cried excitedly, ready to
grab her and kiss her. "My god,
you have no idea how glad we are to see you...well, figuratively
speaking..." Since he couldn't
even see the hand in front of his face.
"How did you find us?"
There was silence, as he felt the running pace Liz had
set, slow to a crawl. Suddenly the fog
seemed to thin, and he was able to make out Liz's petite figure, as well as two
other figures to his right. One was
Maria and the other...Jesse.
Liz pulled him down into a narrow hidden crag, behind
a large boulder. "I have no idea
how we possibly found you," she gasped, out of breath. "It was crazy out there."
"First, when I finally woke up from Max's
knockout blast, I had a hard time convincing this guy," she pointed
to Jesse, "that we needed to go out and find you."
"Why weren't you with Max?" Maria
frowned. "Where is Max?"
An expression of anger flashed across Liz's face at
the mention of his name. "He's out
doing what he thinks he needs to," she said darkly. When she finally looked up at Kyle and the
others, her face had hidden her displeasure and was blank. "It doesn't matter now. He made his choice and I made mine."
Kyle frowned at her last statement. He tilted his head, perceiving an underlying
meaning - one that did not involve Max's desire for her return to Roswell. Before he could pursue anything more Maria
asked worriedly, "But what about the guards? How did you get through and find us?"
Liz raised her brows and shook her head in
wonder. "It was like this force
was leading me...guiding me," she breathed excitedly. "I've never felt anything like it. Guys, it was a totally weird
experience."
"I don't know how to explain it."
Kyle didn't know what to make of the story...a force
leading her? His first reaction was dismay. "Well you were crazy to even think
about doing it! You should've listened
to Max," he growled. "It was
dangerous and stupid."
Liz stared at him in disbelief. In fact everyone was staring at him like he
had gone over the edge.
"Excuse me?" Liz said, a little perturbed.
"You heard me!" Kyle gestured in her direction.
"What if they had captured you too?" The thought made his stomach turn. He could face his own mortality, he had had
time to face it, but the idea of Liz dying because she carelessly tried to save
him...and Maria, of course, made the blood drain from his face.
Liz seemed to realize how shaken he was and backed
down. "Kyle," she spoke
softly. "There's no way I would do
nothing, when you guys are out here alone.
It's something you would do for me...I just had the opportunity to do it
for you first."
Kyle wanted to tell her how stubborn she was, but now,
having the chance to see her one more time when he thought that would never
happen, he just nodded and smiled.
"Thanks." His voice
was hoarse with emotion. He glanced
over at Maria, who was also touched by the courage and dedication of their
friend.
Maria nodded, as she wiped the tears from the corners
of her eyes. "Yeah," she
agreed, choked up.
As they took a moment to absorb every thing that had
happened, Kyle noticed Maria's eyes widened in horror. He frowned, scanning the area. "What?" he exclaimed
apprehensively.
"The Evans'.
What about the Evans'?"
~~~
"Move," a vicious throaty voice growled.
Diane shivered, not knowing what to expect. She stretched her arms out and searched for
her husband. "Phillip?" she
cried. "Where are you? Phillip?" Her voice cracked under the strain of the terrifying situation.
"Here," Phillip's familiar voice said
reassuringly. "I'm right
here."
Diane felt one of his large hands fumble down her arm
and grasp hers. "Did you hear the
voices?" she whispered, leaning close to her husband.
"Yes."
"After the commotion, I couldn't hear Kyle or
Maria anymore..." She felt a
renewed flood of tears brim, threatening to overwhelm her. "Do...do you think they did something
to them?" Fear filled her voice.
Phillip squeezed her hand again. "I don't know." He paused.
"I am praying that they might have gotten away..."
"Oh Phillip, what are we doing here?" She bit her lip. "I don't know what we or the kids did, but I'm scared out of
my mind...I...I don't think I can keep going," she stammered. Her knees felt weak and her heart raced.
Phillip's hand slid under her elbow and he seemed to
lift her up somewhat. She knew he was
trying to hold her up and she was grateful for that. Taking a deep breath, Diane gritted her teeth and gathered whatever
strength she had left, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.
"We're going to make it," Phillip whispered.
Diane closed her eyes and nodded. She then realized he couldn't possibly see
her through this fog. "I
know," she breathed, her voice slightly wavering.
"Halt!" a man's voice bellowed.
She felt Phillip hold her back, obeying orders from
their captors.
"Why are we stopping?" she whispered.
"There's something ahead."
Diane squinted her eyes, trying to see through this
frightening cloud that had fallen upon them.
She could have been imagining things, but just a few metres ahead of
them there seemed to be a green dome-shaped glow ahead of them.
What is that?
~~~
Max walked into the grey fabric-like haze that he had
created. It had been something
unexpected and welcomed; as he felt a sudden shift of temperature, and a cool
breeze drifted in from across the desert, Max drew the heat from the sands and
rocks, which had been bathing in the days' warm rays. When he combining the drastic changes in temperature, a sudden
fog appeared across the rocky, rugged terrain.
It had been a blessing, for now he could take his enemy by surprise.
Max raised his hand in front of him and waved his hand
slightly; the fog bent to his will and began to dissipate, allowing him to make
out the moving figures twenty to thirty feet ahead of him. He remained cautious though, shrouding
himself in a veil of the swirling mist, so all his enemy saw moving towards
them was more of the frustrating opaque substance.
Into the mist, Max felt himself fortified by the
control he had suddenly gained over the situation. He thanked God for that unexpected change in weather. For it was a rare occurrence in
Roswell. He felt like the 'One' was
standing beside, walking with him through this important battle.
'Oh General, regret will flood this plain and He
will send your army back to the Abyss from which you were spawned.'
~~~
The General stiffened at the confident declaration of
his foe.
'Your strength may cause my men to doubt, but I can
see through the distractions of your mind and see you remain weak. All of your bravado does not change the fact
that you are not truly King Zan, son of Alaric, of the House of
Kedar.'
Silence.
The General smirked.
It was true; Zan's essence lingered in his body, but he was still human
- not full-blooded Antarian. And as he
felt Zan's presence drawing nearer on the battlefield, he could see the
weakness that still lay in his hybrid body.
'It is your time to die, Zan...again.'