An Angel's Touch

by Susan D. Kalior

“Ah hah,” I replied, “Does it hurt a lot?”

  “More with each contraction.”

  “Tell me about the pain.”

  “It feels like I’m being cut with a dull knife.”

  “Does it feel like that all over in your womb or in one particular place?”

  “Why do you ask about the pain?”

  “Does it hurt more or less than when the Dark One attacked you in Montana?”

  “johnny! You are supposed to ask questions like, ‘Are you comfortable? What can I do for you? What do you think the babies will look like?’ Questions like that. Don’t you care about holding your new born infants in your arms?”

  “I care. I am just curious about the labor experience.”

  “Curious? You sound lustful.”

  I wanted to ask more, but my savage nature was getting too hard to disguise.

  She pulled herself away from me, crawling onto the fur-covered mat, resuming her former position, on her side with her back to me. “I want Charlotte, johnny.”

  “We don’t require her,” I said. “This is our experience, not anyone else’s.”

  She huffed, “You’re not nurturing me the way I need.”

  Of course not, I thought. What it would take for her to kill, it would take for me to nurture her the way she needed, especially now that I’d been cured of love. Right now, even faking it, felt distasteful.

  She turned her head back slightly. “Will you bring her to me, the quick way?”

  I stared at the back of her head. I tried to move into her mind to make her forget about Granny, but I couldn’t. I could no longer tamper with her. I couldn’t add or subtract anything to her mind. She was who she was, at last. And I guess, so was I. Whatever love she had for me, must suffice. I hoped it would be enough for me to pull off this charade. I rose and moved around in front of her, standing tall and feeling impatient. Her body bunched in another contraction. I went to her face and squatted, examining her expression of pain.

  “Please john—” she groaned hard and long, “nnnnnnnn,” she expelled her breathe with a quick and final command, “yyyy. Get Charlotte!”

  I inhaled the pain. I felt it go into my lungs and fuel the fires within.

  When her body relaxed, she begged, “Please get her, johnny.”

  I squatted to her face and stroked her temple with feigned tenderness, and with feigned sorrow, I said, “I am not enough for you. That saddens me.”

  She turned her head up slightly, gazing at me with pleading eyes. Her hand lighted gently on my knee. “It’s not that so much, I just want her here, like having my mother, or my grandmother who raised me. Since I can’t have them, my great grandmother is third best.”

  “I understand,” I said, gazing back at her with pretend empathy. What excuse could I raise to dismiss such a proposal? I didn’t want to bring Granny into this escapade, especially in the presence of Angel Boy, but I had to keep Jenséa’s trust. Challenge, isn’t that what Tazmarks crave? Why did having these Shens teamed together feel like doom? And then I knew. They had something on me that they had on no other Tazmark. I had bonded with a Shen. I had known love. Still, if I was to rule the Dracovar Worlds, a few Shens mustn’t intimidate me. Goddesses were much more powerful.

  “johnny? Will you get her?”

  “I will.” I rose with resignation. This would clinch her trust in me, if only I could fool the clever old bat, and keep her from fooling me.

  “Thank you, johnny.” Her head fell back on the pillow with closed eyes. “Hurry!”

  The stars were at 9:02 p.m. I still had time to execute the plan. I disappeared and flew toward France. Tenth level flying in the sixth realm was smoother than ice. I yearned to fly as a Dragon again amongst my Dragon Worlds. Soon.

  The sixth realm never looked so puny to me. Succubae, Incubi, Halkodama’s, Goblins, and the like, were mere dust granules compared to the monster I’d become. Oh, what an elaborate web I weave, as I continue to deceive, and all the kings horses and all the kings men, will never put earth . . . back . . . together . . . again.

  Minutes later, I appeared in Granny’s cottage. She sat in the dark blue armchair in a white frock with tiny blue flowers, eyes closed. Her cheeks were shiny from a wash of tears that had not ceased flowing. Her chest rose and fell, heaving silent sobs with wizened fingers clutching her heart. Shens can blubber. I give you that.

  I said, “Jenséa’s in labor. She calls for you.”

  Granny jumped. Her eyes snapped open. Then she settled back into the chair as if to say, You didn’t really frighten me. “I hear her call,” Granny said, “but I knew you would obstruct me if I tried to go to her.”

  “Yes. At one time, I would have, but now I am on your side.”

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Tazmarks lie.”

  “I have broken many barriers. Even my own. I have broken my nature.”

  “Or all of nature,” she said.

  “You are a high level Shen. Why fear me?”

  “I am a high level Shen, but still lesser than you in power.”

  “I knelt to her and rested my hands on her knees, feeling them quiver under the fabric of her dress. I poured the sweetest, deepest gaze I could muster into her eyes. I don’t know how I did it, but I made my eyes turn green to remind her of the ocean. “Trust me.”

  Her voice quivered, “I very much want to believe you. I want to hope for a miracle. However, believing you is a dangerous thing.”

  “I am your miracle.”

  “This I doubt,” she said resignedly.

  I rose, and reached down my hand to her. “Come now Charlotte, your great granddaughter needs you.”

  Granny took my hand sadly, rising with such an air as to suggest that going to Jenséa would prove useless and fatal.

  “You can fly, I presume?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  “She’s south of Puerto Monte, Chili, in an Alacalufe Indian Village. Can you find her through her call?”

  “Of course,” she said again with sad eyes.

  “You will soon realize your fears are erroneous.” I fake smiled. “Go to Jenséa. I will join you shortly.”

  She nodded sadly.

  I disappeared, heading back. Minutes later, I flew across the border of Argentina to Chili, along the Andes Mountain Range. It was after 9:30 p.m. and the sun wasn’t yet down. I wished it was. My vision improved in the dark.

  I sighted red laser lights shooting between volcanoes. The fight between Tazmarks had begun. I was most curious to survey the powers of the last remaining adult Tazmarks on earth.

  Mother, father, and I, were three. That left seven more. I could go undetected amongst them as Diego had done with me, reading minds and sponging data, on a, as they say, ‘fly by.’ Or is that a drive by? With my level ten power, I’d be able to penetrate their Black Light Shields and probe their minds.

  I sensed lumps of Tazmarkian energy fields dotting the mountains in the sixth realm. I honed in on the nearest lump, then flew toward it, sharpening my mind. I saw him then, crouched on the crest of a volcano: long light brown wavy hair with black skullcap, maroon leather vest over bare-chest, maroon leather pants, and bare feet sooty with ash. Ah, Tupuro, the level eight Taz who’d saluted me when I dropped off Angel Boy.

  I flew over the Cordillera until I came upon the next lump of Tazmarkian energy. A Golden Taz. She was a statuesque Nordic female wearing a short form-fitting brown suede dress, low on the shoulders. A brass band circled her head of shoulder length white-blonde hair. Suede wrist bands, knee-high hide boots, and brown fingerless gloves completed the fashion. She had an air of deity and eyes oranger than mine. I moved into her mind: eight hundred year old level five, named Dian who had exacted much mischief in the Scandinavian part of the world.

  Having located Tupuro clairvoyantly, her hand shot forward, laser light heading in Tupuro’s direction. Tazmarks clairvoyantly locate their targets, for physical eyes often yield faulty perception. In that, the strikes were not al
ways lethal. If a beam were to strike us, it could quite literally burn a hole clean through. Where the hole is defines how lethal the beam will be. A hole in the heart, not so good. A hole in the arm, not so bad. A red laser light streaked toward Dian’s heart, from Tupuro. She disappeared into the sixth realm for two seconds while it passed. Reappearing, she shot another laser beam instantly in Tupuro’s direction and apparently he shot another at her. The two beams collided, exploding red. Ah, fireworks!

  Now, on to the other Tazmarks. I sensed Tazmarkian energy near a bubbling caldera with thick brilliant orange lava crusted in black centered with shocking yellow. Two dark-skinned Tazmarks, a male and female, stood at the rim of the caldera, starring into the mesmerizing volcanic soup. Moving into their minds: Sudanese twins, level four Black Taz’s about eleven hundred years old. They worked together, most unnatural for Tazmarks.

  The African male, Omar, wore shiny black boots, black cloth dress pants, and a bright red, designer dress shirt. An inch of curly hair covered his head, and a bristly mustache with close-shaven beard—his face. The African woman’s name was Zahna. Her outfit matched Omar’s, except that she wore black pumps instead of boots. Her kinky black hair reached her shoulders. They were messing with tectonic plates by summoning molten energy from the ring of fire near the Peru-Chile trench. They were trying to time condense the Nazca Plate to push under the continental section of the South American Plate. This would cause an earthquake and stir existing volcanoes to blow. Mmm. Fun. However, at level four, I doubted they could do it.

  I flew onward, detecting a Taz by the shoreline. In the sixth realm, on a rocky cliff overlooking the sea, I saw a female wearing a glittery, deep purple cocktail dress and matching spike-heeled shoes. Her dark bun was held in place by a glittery purple clip. Her beady eyes detected me as I hovered. She snorted smoke from her dainty nostrils and cursed beneath her breath in Castilian tongue. Ah, she was from my father’s land. Her mind was a little harder to probe, but I slid through an opening at a vulnerable point in her. She was around thirty one hundred years old, like mother, level seven Black Taz, Cecelia.

  A blast of hot light hurt my head. She was warning me to stay out of hers. But I didn’t. I saw it then, in her mind, she was another of my father’s mates. Dad had been busy, not only with me and mommy baddest, but with Cecelia who bore two of his children. The two remaining Tazmarks, twelve years apart in age, were her offspring. My half brothers, I guess. Well, not for much longer. Tazmark rule #5: Never bond to your kin. They are your worst enemy.

  With a furious glare, Cecilia hurled a red laser light beam at me and almost struck me out of the sky. I had to jolt into the fifth realm to escape. Little fairies flew around my head making me queasy, welcoming me into their world with munchkin voices.

  I arced my head from right to left hissing fire.

  They scattered with comments in their language such as, “You don’t have to be so mean,” and “we only wanted you to feel fairy tale wonder.”

  I grumbled. My skin itched with the sticky residue of cotton candy cute, and swirling sucker whimsy. I flew along in the fifth realm for a bit to distance myself from Cecelia.

  Then I popped out of the fifth realm and reemerged into the sixth. Ah, much better.

  Now to scope out my half brothers. They were further away in the rainforest amongst the ancient gigantic alcerce trees. From my aerial view, clairvoyantly peeking into the third realm, I noticed jaguars coming from all over the forest, stalking my half brother whom I saw sitting in a bushmaster snake pit. He wore a long-sleeved, grey billowy shirt with orange cloth belt, and what looked like black Buccaneer pants and boots. His black shoulder length hair, mustache, and sharp-featured face added to his sinister look. I broke through his Black Light Shield into his mind. His name was Marco, an approximately eleven hundred year old level five Black Taz. He appeared to be working snake charms.

  I followed the spell on the possessed jaguars back to my other half brother sitting in a giant alcerce tree. His cropped brown hair, navy uniform-type shirt tucked into matching pants, gave him a Coast Guard kind of look. His black workboot-covered feet dangled in the air. Breaking through his mind shield: Sabin, a level five Black Taz.

  My half brothers were good boys, laboring to kill each other like Tazmarkian brothers should, not a freaky scene like the twins.

  Seems my bloodline was strong. Five of the ten Tazmarks, including me, were of my blood. Quen-tan was once my son before I became a Tazmark. He helped create Diego and Aruka, who in turn recreated me. Then Diego created two more—all the same bloodline. One for the talk shows.

  Hmm. What was Aruka up to?

  In my mind, I saw her explode a sixth realm mountain as if she were demonstrating her power. With my extra sensory perception, I saw Cecelia shift to the third realm with dirt clods in her hair.

  Then Cecelia, mad at Aruka, flew hard into the sixth realm and shot red laser light at Aruka. And Aruka shot back.

  Time to pay Aruka a visit. She’d be working on a way to unite the Tazmarks even though she was temporarily forced to fight them. Since she was in the sixth realm, I flew to her in Pericludies, making my thoughts sound in her mind, quoting what she had said to me, “Oh come now, mountains exploding, red laser light, I thought that went out with the Dark Ages.”

  She flung her head around, not seeing me. “Juan?”

  I laughed and flew onward.

  I sensed a life form in the third realm amidst a cluster of steaming volcanoes. Clairvoyantly peeking into the third realm, a skinny body sat against a rock, inhaling vapor, and blowing hot steam from its nostrils. It seemed to require moisture, like a primary amphibious reptile. I flew closer. Its yellow-finned topknot resembled a flame and distastefully contrasted its wrinkled grey skin. It looked like some Tazmarkian throwback that was more eel than Dragon. There was a river there that went underground to the sea, and I suspected that was its passage to the volcano chain.

  Behind its yellow topknot, another yellow notch rose higher. I flew around to a different angle and there I saw many of them, sitting and standing in a bunch like something out of Dr. Seuss. What species was this? Were they part of this battle? Had Aruka recruited them?

  I’d seen enough for now. Darkness was descending, and I had work to do.

  I flew back to where I had left Jenséa in the village tent, and landed. The tent was absent of people. I grumbled with teeth mashing. Why was she never where I left her? I asked the Indian women where she’d gone. They shrugged their shoulders as if they didn’t know what I was talking about. Someone had erased their minds of her image. Granny, I feared, was double crossing me, having feigned her fear, and not as above suspicion as I’d hoped. Perhaps, my little detour had given her time to hide Jenséa. Granny was no more to be trusted than I.

  I emerged from the tent into the finally darkened night peppered with stars. And like a beacon, my sites were drawn to the Draco Constellation. “Soon,” I murmured.

  “Ixion,” a voice whispered loudly from overhead. “Join us.” It was coming from the sixth realm. I peered into the sixth realm and saw the Council of Six, plus Diego flying by.

  I moved into the sixth realm and soared upward, joining the flock. We landed in a cave known as Arbitron X. I realized this was the red cave I’d spent eighteen days in to become a level ten. The Council and Diego gathered in a half-circle around me.

  The Council spoke, as they do, in collective telepathic voice, “We have new developments. Aruka has enchanted hordes of Jackaeels, which we believe you have viewed, to band against us.”

  “Jackaeels?” I asked telepathically.

  The collective voice answered, “Jackaeels come from the ocean depths by the ring of fire, often inhabiting undersea caves. They possess gills and small lungs and spit high voltage blue electricity. If it hits our heads, it fries our brains. Due to their stupid natures they are easy enough to defeat, given we spot them before they attack. They, like Tazmarks are half breeds, part eel and part alien. They can imprison
their prey in a blue bubble and stash them in their undersea caves. They needn’t concern us if we can complete our mission soon.”

  “A few more hours,” I said, “then it will be done.”

  The Council said, “Yes, but the Shens have Panacéa. You must keep her from their influence.”

  “Will Aruka be a problem?”

  ”Aruka has not yet succeeded in convincing the Tazmarks that we are even present. So, until she can, she is forced to fight them to preserve herself. Not until we attack the Tazmarks, will they be suspicious, and so we will not attack until your mission with Panacéa is complete. If the babies arrive before you have restored Panacéa, you must secretly destroy them. With the babies out of the picture, she will shift her maternal instincts to you. She will need something to love. Restored, and with no babies to care for, she will willingly give herself to you, and you can easily do the deed. And if the babies have not yet arrived when restoration is complete, it is critical you execute the final step then and there to ensure we don’t have to battle a Goddess.”

  I nodded. “I will find Panacéa now.”

  I left the cave and flew once again toward the spot at the volcano where Jenséa kissed my arm, hoping that the babies would arrive before I had to kill her. I landed at my destination viewing a chain of steaming volcanoes thundering and waning as if inhaling and exhaling, belching sprays of lava into the air, yellow in the center giving way to orange and red. Red ash blew against my jeans. I inhaled the steam as I pushed level ten Dragon power of illusion over my true intentions. I would deliver the performance of my very long life. I summoned Jen with my mind, sending her a vision of us kissing passionately.

  Jenséa’s lovely face in ghostly form appeared in front of me. “I am here, my beloved.” The face flew backward.

  She was so easy.

  I followed the backward floating face to her body. I landed on the darkened beach about a quarter mile from the sea, in a clearing partially surrounded by sheltering boulders. I squatted with elbows on knees in Pericludies to assess the scene.

  Granny and Angel Boy were with her, spotlighted by the full moon.