The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1)

by Denny Bennett

  The following morning Dorian awoke to a pair of cold, wet noses probing his ear and other body parts. Like all animals, they held an attraction to him similar to the way humans did. He sat upright with his eyes still closed, a thick fog looming in his head. The smell of fresh coffee mixed with bacon filled the room. Off in the distance, the sound of footsteps could be heard making their way towards him. “GLAD TO SEE YOU'RE UP THEN!” she shouted with sadistic glee. “You were pished as a fart last night, let me tell ya. How's she cuttin,” she asked. “Like a blade,” he responded with eyes still closed. A small smile crept up on his face. “Oh, look at you, being a proper Oirishman an' all,” she replied, giggling ecstatically. “I went and made ya breakfast. Don't be shy, go ahead and eat,” she said, wheeling the tray of food over to him. He gently opened his eyes and yawned and groaned a bit. “Unh, what time is it?” he asked, picking up the coffee and taking a small sip. “It's just the right time in fact, for you to get up, eat and go for a run. We need to get you in shape. Finish your food first and we'll talk.” She got up and closed the door behind her. There was a window in the room that was letting in daylight from a distant star. He walked over to get a better glimpse of the town below, hustling and bustling on a busy Friday morning. After eating and washing up he walked out of the room to find Yelnisha in her exercise outfit doing leg stretches and pulls. “Yeah, I'm going to need to digest for a bit before I go off running with you, just so you know. What happened to me last night anyway? I never get drunk. What I mean to say is, I have an extremely high tolerance to alcohol. What was in those drinks we had?” “Oh, and how did you get this extremely high tolerance you speak of?” she casually prodded. “Does it matter?” he asked. “Just having a bit of fun now, don't get your knickers in a bunch. A few of them didn't have any alcohol in them. They use some other kind of drug; one that doesn’t ruin your liver,” she replied cheerfully. A beeping sound that Yelnisha was quite familiar with came from Dorian's pocket. “You're getting a call from someone, might want to answer,” she said. Reaching into his pocket he retrieved the metallic object that was his connection to Uchi away from home. A screen displayed in front of him indicating it was from Urieth. “Hello, Dorian, it is good to see you. I hope I'm not disturbing anything,” he said. He was sitting at his desk in his office at the Department of Offensive and Defensive Operations. “No, not at all. I was just discussing with Yelnisha here my reaction to the drinks we had at the... what was the name of the place you took me to?” he asked. “The Stout-” “Right, The Stout Trout,” Dorian finished. “I trust you were not disappointed,” Urieth said with a slight grin. “Ah, yeah, well, let's just say I need to be careful what I drink here from now on. Can't be too sure on who might try to poison me,” he replied, looking over at Yelnisha with a frown. “Do you want a knuckle supper? I didn't force you to drink anything ya gobsh-” she stopped, electing to stick her tongue out instead. Urieth laughed. “Try to get along, you two. Dorian, I need a favor.” “Sure, what can I do for you,” Dorian asked, as he turned away and stuck his tongue out back at her. She held a closed fist up and smacked it into her open hand in response. He followed with a feigned frightened face. “Sorry, a favor?” he asked, snapping back into the conversation. Urieth shook his head and chuckled. “Ah, to be young. Yes. As it so happens, word has managed to travel around Anidon that my prodigal son has returned, so to speak. An old friend, who happens to be a Professor himself at the University here, called me up regarding what he had heard about you. We spoke for some time and he mentioned that he would like to meet you,” he paused. “And... possibly to discuss matters of science and philosophy as well.”

  Yelnisha pointed at him while covering her laughter.

  “Uh, sure, okay. Who is it and when or where do I meet with them?” “His name is Apollonius. He's one of our council members and a very wise man whom I think you might find fascinating. He lectures this afternoon at The Obelisk of Enlightenment on the seventy sixth floor at the great auditorium, right about the time that your session with Matthias ends. If you would indulge an old man, kindly sit through one of his lectures. I think that he would be happy with that, and perhaps you could visit him at the end just for a chat. I will send the specific instructions to your house unit.” “No problem. I would be happy to speak with him,” Dorian replied, looking at Yelnisha, shaking his head in disapproval. “Thank you, my son, I appreciate it. Oh, there is one more thing that I had almost forgotten. Lykoi has offered to train you personally, one on one in combative arts and use of Shi. She's been a valuable friend and I did not want to insult her by denying her request,” he said cautiously, knowing it might upset Yelnisha. “Um, no, I don't think that's a good idea, Urieth,” Yelnisha interjected, moving next to Dorian. “Here, give me that,” she said, grabbing the handheld projector from him and pushing him aside. “Oh, and why is that?” Urieth asked. “Well, for starters, I've spent some time with him in one-on-one training and I think we have a pretty good thing going; hate to mess with it you know.” “Yelnisha, I believe you have spent a total of one day with Dorian in training. You have a group of nine that you've been with for the past year who need attention from you as well. Lykoi is not taking over your students,” he said, pushing back a bit. “Yeah, well, I don't think it's a good idea for her safety.” “Her safety? Why would you be concerned about that?” Urieth asked. “I'm not going to hurt her if that's what you're worried about. I'm pretty much a beginner with this stuff as it is,” Dorian interjected. “You almost killed everyone in the room on Erustian Prime- without even trying I might add,” she said. “Yelnisha, I think that was an anomaly. Once he understood how to control his Shi there have been no other incidents,” Urieth countered. “He's not like the rest of us, Urieth! I saw his eyes!” she replied, closing hers as she realized the can of worms she had just opened. There was a long bit of silence amongst the three of them and finally Dorian spoke. “I stand the same chance of hurting you as I do Lykoi. If I think it's going to be too much for me I'll excuse myself or stop for a bit. As for what you saw-” “As for what you saw,” Urieth interrupted, “I would be grateful- we both would be grateful- if you would kindly keep that information to yourself.” “Why does it matter? There's all kinds of crazy critters here. I don't think he's that much different, even with his-” “I know you are fishing for information, Yelnisha, but where my son and I are concerned I wish to maintain some privacy. I hope you understand,” Urieth replied, cutting her off. “Yes...yes, of course. No problem. I hope you both know what you're doing,” she replied in a diminished voice. “Thank you, my friend. I will be in touch later,” Urieth said, ending their conversation. “This doesn’t mean we can't train together. You can still teach me what you know in private,” Dorian said, trying to lift her spirits. “I don't think that would be a good idea. Lykoi can be very territorial with things; it's in her nature. She may be from another planet, but the aliens tend to get special treatment here. The last person who got in her way regretted it dearly. No, we won't be having any of that. I'll keep a close eye on you two to make sure she doesn't step out of line. I owe Urieth that much at least. C'mon, time to get going. We can still go for a run today,” she said with a dejected smile.

  The Sanctum of Atonement: “That is what she tells me, although I have not confirmed it for myself,” Zeracon said, looking like he did not want to be there. “No, it is good that you brought this to my attention, despite your misgivings about it. We should ever be vigilant if we are to survive. “What do you have up your sleeve, Urieth? I will have to bring this to the attention of the other council members when we have greater confirmation. She is to train him then?” Dregan asked. “Yes. I spoke to her this morning and she has approved it with Urieth. Could he not be a prodigy? My wife does not seem to think so; however, I have my doubts about this being some sort of plot,” Zeracon replied with an anguished look. “Anything is possible, Zeracon. She may have exaggerated his abilities. I have a few things in mind to help substantiate our suspicions; however,
they require the blessing of the law. We cannot chance giving cause to his supporters. Is this acceptable?” Dregan asked, his steely blue eyes staring coldly at Zeracon. “That depends on what you have in mind,” Zeracon replied coolly. “When one is on the training field where combatants participate in exercises, things could get heated. Tempers could flare. The environment could be a dangerous place. Nothing that would be out of the ordinary for such a place. Have your wife use this to measure his Shi,” he replied, handing Zeracon a small device that looked like a wristwatch. “We'll have our answers soon enough.”

  The streets of Anidon: “Ten miles down and I'm sweatin' like a knacker in a maths test and you're dry as the Sahara! It's not fair!” Yelnisha lamented. “Hey, when you're this good you don't sweat the small stuff,” Dorian replied with a grin. She smacked him across the chest. “Listen, I need to show you a few things before Lykoi officially takes over. Just a couple of things that might just save your ass some time. I know they sure saved mine,” she said, huffing with her steps. “Sounds good. When? Right now?” “Yes, now. Let's stop over there for a bit,” she replied. They walked over to a courtyard in a shopping area to talk. “So far, I've taught you how to block your thoughts from others and how to read theirs. Now you need to know how to plant a thought in someone's head. To make them hallucinate,” she said, looking around. “You can do that? You people are scary, all right,” he replied. “It's probably obvious, but you first need to be able to read their mind. Once you're in, focus your Shi on the mental connection you have with them, all the while focusing on what it is you want them to see. So for example, suppose I wanted you to see an elephant in the street. I would picture it in my mind and mentally project the image over.” “Let me guess, it only works on the weak minded.” “Is that from one of your nerdy fantasies?” she asked, looking at him with a sarcastic face. He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, in this case you're partially right,” she said. “It's not going to work against someone who is a higher trained being unless they're trying to trap you. When you've linked to their mind, they could just as easily plant a vision in yours if they know what's going on and how to do it. So you need to be careful. Also you could open yourself up to mental attacks. You have to be quick about it; in and out before anyone knows what happened.” Another pair of runners went by while Yelnisha was watching their moves. “What is it?” he asked. “Nothing, maybe my imagination. I'm a bit paranoid sometimes. Just making sure we aren't being watched. All right, let's practice what I just told you. Put a vision into my head,” she said. “All right, you asked for it.” Focusing his Shi on her mind he was able to form a link. Just as he tried planting a picture he noticed everything went dark and a spotlight shone on him. The lights went up a bit to show rows of people sitting in a stadium laughing at him while he stood in the center wearing a clown suit. Yelnisha stood on a platform opposite him wearing a ringleader suit and holding a microphone. “Too slow,” she said over the loudspeaker. The vision soon faded and they were back in the alleyway. “If I get the drop on you, you're going to die. Let's try again,” she said. The second attempt was no better than the first, only now he was a baby seal and Yelnisha was a polar bear about to eat him. The other attempts were similar; praying mantis and fly, snake and rat, cockroach and shoe, and so forth. “I give up, I'm done. This is exhausting. If this is what I'm up against I don't think I'm going to bother with it,” he said in defeat. “You really blew that. You're going to need to make your weakness your strength, Dorian. That's how everything in life should be, this is no different. We'll keep working on it. If you think I'm difficult you should go up against Tiddi. She's a master at all mental attacks, so don't ever get on her bad side,” she replied. “Right, note to self: don't upset Tiddi. What was the other thing you wanted to show me?” “This next one is more destructive and dangerous. I watched two Angels in combat before, one of the dark ones- a very powerful one at that, I might add- and a light angel. They battled for some time until the light one pulled this trick out. I bugged Sonra'el for months before he finally showed me how to cast it. It hasn't worked for me yet because my Shi isn't high enough, but I suppose for someone like you it would probably go off without a hitch. Probably. Hopefully. Anyway, it's called 'The Tripod of Life'. There's several more that he wouldn't show me, 'The Seed of Life', 'The Flower of Life, 'The Fruit of Life', and 'The Tree of Life',' which are all crazy powerful. Each of them make up a portion of the grand spell, 'The Creation of Life', a legendary spell that will probably annihilate everything in creation. “These are all white Magick spells by the way. You can kind of tell by the 'of Life' part. Dark magic tends to end in 'of Death'. Anyway, you can draw it in the air or picture it in your mind, probably better to keep it mental so you don't go telegraphing what you're about to do. It's just three concentric circles overlapping like this,” she said, lifting up her shirt to reveal a tattoo on her solar plexus. “Now, see this pattern within the circles? That's what you're trying to envision. So when you've got that down you need to imagine lines of Shi following that pattern in the center of your being. Right where I have this tattooed. See? When the Shi is flowing in the pattern properly you'll know it. You won't have to concentrate on it, it'll move within on its own. Oh yeah, you can increase the power of it by doing the same to each arm, but it takes more time so bear that in mind. “Now, what you want to do from here is hold out your hand and say “From the ancient contract, from the law that dwells in time without end, I call upon Retribution against my enemy. Let his judgement strike with a Holy Explosion!” and imagine the symbol now on your enemy. You have to use a lot of Shi for it to work. Unfortunately, we have to practice this someplace safe, like Verdes Seventeen. You can try and get the symbol on your center without blowing anything up. Practice that first,” she said, checking her watch for the time. Dorian was repeating the phrase so he would remember it. “So what exactly does it do?” “Sonra'el said it had to do with making evil creatures unstable. It targets their energy and destabilizes it. I'm not sure how much it takes out of you so be careful with this one also. We can practice over the weekend if you want to get together,” she said with a smile. “Uh, sure, that would be great, thanks.” “I've got to get to work, so think about the spell and let me know if you have any questions. Give me call tonight to fill me in on how your training went with Lykoi. See ya after,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder as she walked past him. “Sure, thanks again. Hey, how do I get back... wait a sec, never mind,” he replied, remembering the device in his pocket. Without anywhere to be for the moment, he decided to jog a bit more around town to get a better feel of where things were. As he ran about he could feel multiple attempts to probe his mind coming from all different directions, yet it was unclear as to who was behind it. Picking up his pace he passed some tall buildings and found his way to a clearing where a sign read “Founders Park”. Seven monuments to the founders stood at the entrance, each fourteen feet tall, constructed of a series of different elements emphasizing their individual characteristics. A placard below each monument described their attributes. “Heralth is solid granite from the ground up to the waist symbolizing his solid firmament and his efforts in the construction of Anidon. His chest and arms are comprised of iron, and his head of Onyx, a stone containing many different colors and layers, representative of his depth and understanding.” “Chlothar is sculpted of a stone called Berylix, which is only found deep in the Earth. It has the unique property of accepting enchantments, a means of binding Magick to objects. The stone continuously changes colors, signifying his knowledge of different cultures and races across the cosmos.” “Lucretia is made entirely of diamond, reflecting light everywhere, indicative of the love, peace, and humility she demonstrates to others. It also reflects her strength and resilience against corruption.” “Narses is not made of any stone, rather his form is sculpted of an enchanted living fire. The most unusual of all the figures, it stands for his passion and love for Anidon as well as the power he wields.” “Euanthe is made from a
living tree engineered to follow her form. The hands and heart are made of gold, representing her love of nature and her skill in the healing arts.” “Urieth is made of a glowing metal with many colors swirling inside, known as Ocmixthes. Not found on Earth, it signifies Urieth's ability to rise above adversity and defy the forces of nature itself to achieve his goals.” “Tauria is sculpted from particles of light forming matter. Although she was not alive during this commission there is no doubt her love and light filled her entire being and we can think of no better way to honor her memory.”