Stormfront: Nibiru Rising: Book 2

by Chad Kunego

  “Who?”

  Zarina struggled to make sense of what the faint voice said.

  “A female voice… Are you an avatar?”

  “I do not know what you mean. Who are you?”

  She heard some shuffling inside the cell.

  “My name… is Iškur. Of whom do I have the pleasure of conversing with?”

  “I do not believe it is safe to tell you. Are you a possession or part of fractured personality? I prefer not to give away something that can be used against me.”

  “Fair enough. To answer your question, I’m more of the former I’m afraid. Things didn’t work out as I had planned, unfortunately.”

  She heard some wheezing and a slight cough before he continued.

  “I assure you though, I’m quite harmless. Maybe we can be of mutual benefit?”

  Zarina made some quick mental calculations before responding.

  “Go on… I am listening.”

  “Well, to start with, the mind we’re currently inhabiting, the one belonging to Juan, is frankly a mess if you couldn’t tell already.”

  “We have already come to conclusion. Before I came here.”

  “We…? Ah, yes. You must be one of the avatar of Inanna’s companions… I didn’t realize he was traveling in the presence of another avatar. To whom are you bonded with, if I may be so bold as to ask?”

  “I am sorry… I do not understand the question. Avatar? Bonded?”

  She heard the confusion color his thought/voice when he responded.

  “You truly don’t know. How could you have such power without being bonded?”

  She thought he’d moved away, but then she heard him mumbling to himself.

  “Unless… Oh, Inanna, you play a dangerous game here. I can only assume you’d be so reckless as to allow a premature awakening. Then again, I didn’t do much better…”

  “Are you going to explain any of this? We do not have much time. I have to stop your host before he kills us. Unless you have ideas, I need to leave.”

  “Sorry. You’re quite right. I can help, but I need you to help me get out of this cage. My power is extremely curtailed due to this diabolical mental construct. If you would be so kind?”

  Zarina contemplated what effects releasing a self-confessing entity, one that tried possessing their opponent and failed, would cause. Could his attempt at possession be the reason Juan’s mind fractured? He might be the reason for the rampage across the state, killing untold numbers of innocent civilians.

  On the other hand, he helped Rick when they clashed last time, giving them information they desperately needed. Before she could make up her mind, faint rumbling caught her attention. Looking toward the source of the sound, she noticed a glow slowly illuminating the horizon.

  “You better make up your mind soon child. He approaches.”

  A thunderstorm slowly grew in the distance. A blackness, more an absence of light rather than a growing shadow, spread across the ground before it like molten tar. At the same time, bright flashes of light rippled across the sky in sheets, quickly followed by loud peals of thunder echoing in the distance.

  “Hurry now. We don’t have much time!”

  She grabbed her crystal necklace, fondling it for a moment before giving it a hard tug. Spinning around, she faced the cell again.

  “What do I need to do?”

  Chapter 28

  The wind picked up, tugging at her astral form, forcing her to plant her feet more securely.

  “Get to far side of cage!”

  Zarina heard shuffling from inside the cell before it grew silent again.

  “Ready!”

  She barely heard his voice over the violence of the approaching storm front.

  Here goes nothing.

  Bringing both hands over her head, she willed a ball of mental force to coalesce and grow between her fingers. Startled, the globe appeared almost instantly, rather than slowly forming over the space of several minutes like she expected.

  Not bad for trying something new. Did not realize increased power would make creation effortless.

  When she felt it was strong enough, she swung her arms down, launching the ball of energy toward the corner opposite from where Iškur waited. The deafening screech of tortured metal split the air when the box ruptured. The ends of the vaporized bars were actually shimmering white-hot from the force of the blast.

  A few seconds later, an old man appeared at the opening. Wearing only a knee-length tanned leather skirt and sandals, he carefully crawled through the opening, the end of his long beard coming dangerously close to the tips of the glowing bars.

  “Ah, much better,” he said, stretching his arms out over his head, “It’s been so long since I’ve been completely free of that thing. I’ve been projecting here for far too long without returning to recharge myself.”

  Before she could respond, a bolt of lightning struck the earth several yards away.

  “What do we do?” she yelled over the sound of the raging storm now enveloping them, “I cannot leave until I end the threat Juan poses. Otherwise, my team will die, myself included.”

  “In my weakened condition, I won’t be much use in a fight. However, I can be of some service as a distraction. While I keep him occupied, you need to fuse the splinters of his mind back together. Only then will he be whole and no longer a threat.”

  “I do not know how to do that! I have never done anything like it before!”

  Her stomach began churning violently.

  Everyone is depending on me. My last attempt at hospital failed horribly because I did not know what to do!

  She felt her chest growing tighter.

  “Perhaps I can be of assistance then…”

  Without warning, Iškur reached out, touching the location of her third eye with his index finger. Information flooded into her mind, unlocking mental powers she’d never heard of, let alone actually seen used before. While the new knowledge flowed through her, she caught a glimpse of where Iškur came from and who he actually was.

  When he finally removed his finger, she stumbled backward while a sudden wave of vertigo passed over her. A shudder ran up her spine as she reviewed the memory again. Now that she knew who Iškur truly was, he terrified her.

  “Prepare yourself child! He has arrived!”

  Sensing a bolt of lightning arcing toward them from behind, she reached out mentally, redirecting the attack and forcing it into the twisted bars of the cage instead. Spinning, she prepared to face Juan. Her legs started to buckle from what lay before her.

  “Bozhe moi…”

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  Looking up, she saw a living nightmare writhing and thrashing in the sky above them. A face nearly a mile wide glared down at them, his visage a twisted rictus of rage. Miniature crystalline funnel clouds glittered and swirled around his head, randomly merging and splintering apart as they orbited around him.

  A new memory sparked off, letting her know the funnels were actually mental representations of Juan’s fractured psyche.

  “This… will not be easy.”

  “The important stuff never is, child.”

  The air was split asunder by a voice like thunder echoing across the landscape, causing the ground to shake beneath their feet.

  “Get out of my mind! It’s mine! You can’t have it!”

  Zarina glanced over toward Iškur.

  “He keeps saying that. Why?”

  She noticed a look of regret cross his face.

  “It’s not without reason, unfortunately. It’s also not the entire truth. I shall explain later if we survive, but for now, we need to—”

  Stopping in mid-sentence, he whipped his hand up, mentally shoving her backward an instant before a spire of jagged rock erupted beneath where she’d been standing.

  “Address this issue with Juan first.”

  Nodding, she lifted off the ground, expanding her senses around her. She could now feel the tendrils of Juan’s mind snaking through the
surface beneath her, allowing her to dodge another outcropping of earth bursting up from below her. Spotting a sliver-white tendril of thought snaking over to her from Iškur’s position, she paused for a split-second to allow it to reach her. An instant later, it touched the top of her head, filling her mind with his presence.

 

 

 

 

  Hopefully, the sarcasm she projected translated correctly for him. Before she could project another thought, several bolts of lightning crashed near them, startling her into action again. Righting herself, she dodged several more bolts in her attempt to get closer to her target. Slowly at first, she noticed the closer she got, the more normal in size he appeared to get, along with more of his body becoming visible. But for every step closer, she got pushed back half the distance by different attacks.

  Frustrated, she started creating mental barriers in front of her, deflecting the attacks she couldn't dodge while allowing her to fly a more direct path to his mind. After several minutes of subjective time, she managed to get within shouting distance of Juan, who now appeared normal size.

  “Please stop attacking us! We are here to help you!”

  His hand began glowing, with small arcs of electricity crackling around it. Rearing his hand back, he swung it forward before pausing, the charge dissipating harmlessly into the surrounding air.

  “I… I recognize you,” he said hesitantly, a look of confusion spreading across his face.

  “Yes, you almost bumped into me in town.”

  The wind died down slightly as he continued staring at her, a look of concentration now replacing the look of confusion he had previously.

  “I… remember. You weren’t mean to me.”

  “Da. You seemed like nice young man.”

  She noticed a slight smile curl up the corner of his mouth. A second later, a scowl formed instead.

  “You’re with HIM though.”

  “Who?” she asked, the wind becoming more violent again.

  “The one Iškur wants me to get along with. But Iškur is a bad person, so HE has to be a bad man as well.”

  She sensed the anger and confusion growing within him. Drifting closer, she tentatively stretched her hand out to him.

  “Juan… That is your name, da?” she asked.

  After noticing a slight, jerky nod, she continued.

  “Juan, we only wish to help you, but you have to tell us what is wrong.”

  Just before her hand touched him, his eyes flared up, electricity arcing between his eyes. A wave of fierce anger suddenly erupted from him, forcing her away.

  “NO! YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO TRICK ME!”

  A gust of wind slammed into her, launched her sideways, disorienting her for a moment. Righting herself, she spotted the ball of lightning forming around his hand again. Panicking, she barely managed to erect a barrier before the massive bolt slammed into it, causing sparks to splash around her like fireworks.

  The force of the impact blew her backward, spiraling out of control. Unable to control her flight, she tumbled through the air. In horror, she struggled to change her trajectory away from the memory funnel she was hurtling towards. As a last ditch effort, she tried creating another shield that completely surrounded her, hoping it would protect her from the impact. A split-second later, she plunged into the swirling mass without resistance. Her universe suddenly erupted into an explosion of brilliant white, taking her breath away.

  Chapter 29

  Bright light blinded him as the hood was roughly yanked off his head. Squinting, he tried making sense of his surroundings. It felt like it’d been several hours since the strange men had kicked in the door of his friend Miguel’s apartment, roughing them up at gunpoint before tying their hands behind their back and throwing a hood over their heads. Now he was surrounded, out in the middle of the desert with the mountains visible through the shimmering heat haze in the distance. Before he could get his bearings, someone shoved from him behind. Stumbling forward, he tripped, falling flat on his face, unable to catch himself. Without warning, someone kicked him in the ribs.

  “Get up.”

  Unable to use his hands, he struggled his way to his feet. An instant later, he was shoved again. Barely managing to keep his balance, he staggered forward toward a group of several men. Glancing left, he spotted his friend being dragged across the ground roughly, crying uncontrollably. When they were within a few feet of the other group of men, someone kicked the back of his legs, causing him to to fall to his knees. His friend was sprawled out on the ground beside him. He felt his hands being roughly pulled further back before cold steel slid by, severing the rope that they’d tied him up with before being shoved forward again, leaving him on his hands and knees.

  “So who do we have here?”

  Juan looked up at the man who had spoken. After having worn a dark hood several hours, the bright sunlight made it difficult to make out details. All his blurry vision could discern was an older gentleman with a thick beard standing before him.

  “I swear, it wasn’t me,” he heard his friend choke out between sobs, the terror evident in his voice.

  “Ah, Miguel, if it wasn’t you, then who else could it be?”

  Juan winced at the sound of his friend being kicked repeatedly before the man in front of him raised his hand, causing the men to stop.

  “Give me time Carlos! I’ll get it back. Just give me a chance!”

  A soft chuckle came from the bearded man in front of him.

  “So now you’re lying to me Miguel?” he asked, glancing left and right, looking at the men next to him, “Did my ears deceive me? I could have sworn you just said it wasn’t you… How could you get something back that you didn’t take?”

  A gunshot rang out, followed by screaming. Juan looked over at his friend and saw blood pumping from the mangled remains of his left hand. A moment later, the screaming subsided when the bearded man strolled over, squatting down in front of his friend. Grabbing him roughly under the chin, he yanked Miguel’s head up to meet his stare.

  “Miguel, Miguel, Miguel. What you stole isn’t important. We’ll get it back eventually. The reason we’re here today is to set an example.”

  Without warning, the bearded man reared his other hand back and slammed it into his friend’s face, shattering his nose before slamming him face-first into the desert floor. Twining his fingers into the young man’s hair, he viciously yanked his head back, forcing him to look into the bearded man’s face again.

  “Just to show there’s no hard feelings though, I’ll give you one chance to tell me where it is before I kill you. If you lie to me, know that, not only will you die, but your entire family will as well. So think hard on what you say next.”

  Between sobs, Juan heard Miguel describe where he’d hid the bearded man’s property.

  “How unfortunate. You should have thought of a better place to hide it than in your parents’ house. Now we’ll have no choice but to kill them as well due to your stupidity. We can’t be having witness after all…”

  “NOOO—”

  Miguel’s wail was abruptly cut off when his head exploded from a shotgun blast.

  The bearded man stood up straight, holstering a sawed-off shotgun before walking slowly over to him. Juan felt his stomach churn as the bile fought to rise in his throat. Coming to a stop, the man glanced down at him with dead eyes, a cold mask more akin to a cadaver than a living man.

  “And you, I’m truly sorry for this. I realize you had nothing to do with your friend’s lack of judgment, but unfortunately, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Know that I bear you no ill will and that your family will be safe.”

  Juan opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get any words out. It felt like the time he’d been thrown from a horse and ha
d the wind knocked out of him. Trying to meet the bearded man’s stare, he felt ashamed when he soiled himself, the burning hot liquid trailing down his leg.

  “Please…” he finally managed to whisper, watching the bearded man unholster his shotgun again, slowly raising it toward him.

  The sound of the report shocked him. It felt like a sledgehammer slammed into his chest, knocking him over backward. He fell limply on his back, struggling to understand what had just happened. Surprisingly, he felt little pain after the initial impact.

  Lying face up on the ground, he imagined he heard vehicles approaching in the distance. Breathing became increasing more difficult as he laid there, unable to muster the strength to move.

  The sounds of distant shouts and men firing weapons reached his ears as the struggle to breathe continued to become more difficult. Struggling to remain conscious, he realized it had grown quiet again. A shadow blocked out the sky a moment before someone new stood over him.

  “Help… me…” he manged to mumble out.

  Another voice came from somewhere behind him.

  “What should we do, sir?”

  The shadowy figure straightened up, scrubbing his face with one hand before looking away.

  “Leave him, he’ll die soon enough.”

  “And the other bodies?”

  “A local drug lord and his cronies. Leave ‘em for the vultures. It’s more than they deserve. Did you find the item?”

  “No sir. It isn’t here.”

  “Damn it! Let’s head back to base…”

  The world gradually began closing in on the edges of his vision as his heart began to beat more slowly. The sounds of vehicles starting up and leaving faded into the distance. A tear trickled down the side of his face while he struggled for his next breath, wishing he could see his parents one more time.

  “Please… someone… help me…”

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  Zarina gasped as she fell out of the memory she’d just experienced. Instinctively, she clutched her chest where the phantom gunshot still throbbed in her mind. Looking up, she barely managed to throw up a shield before another half-dozen lightning strikes arced around her.