Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  He was now face to face with the other Zulfiqar tank. He saw it move toward him aggressively.

  ***

  Morina gave Sulina a dirty look as she opened the door to the control room on the fourth floor.

  “I became the mission leader when Gandil fell at the hands of a mortal. I shouldn’t have to perform menial tasks, my Queen.”

  The sarcasm in Morina’s voice pleased Sulina. If she could keep her minions on guard, then they would ultimately perform better in battle. They would be ready for anything.

  She said nothing as she walked into the control room past Morina and the two other Fallen. It took her a few seconds to get used to seeing in the pitch black. There were no emergency lights on in there.

  “Morina, guard the door. Let no one but Ellisia through.” Sulina glared at the two Fallen who kept still, yet alert. They were intimidated by her and didn’t want to be on Sulina’s shit list.

  Just then each light, followed by each computer, sprang to life as the control room regained power. In the middle of the room on the floor was Mother Daughter. She was on her knees with her hands pressed together in prayer. Her eyes were closed. If Sulina didn’t know who she was, Mother Daughter could have passed for a very realistic statue.

  Sulina and her team froze and began scanning their surroundings to make sure that there were no surprises waiting for them. She approached her sister cautiously. She waved a hand in front of Myora IL Eve’s face. Nothing. She then snapped her fingers in front of her sister, with the same results. Morina opened the door as Ellisia ran back into the room and gasped when she saw her former leader. She looked at Sulina and then back at Mother Daughter.

  Sulina placed her face close to Myora’s.

  “Sister? It’s time to wake up so I can kill you. I’ve already recruited one of your Daughters. She prefers the dark side now, you see. We will slowly recruit all of your Daughters. Jessima IL Eve will look especially delicious as a Fallen. Once she is one of us, then I suppose we’ll have to do something with that handsome sidekick of hers. The Chosen One, is it?”

  Sulina lingered close to her sister’s ear as she savored the moment of victory which was within her grasp.

  “Since there’s obviously something special about him, I have my own plans. Oh, dear sister, can’t you just see it? Evan Knight will be the father of a new race of humans! We will use him to father as many Fallen as we can. Do you know what would transpire next, dear one?”

  Though she knew her sister could not answer her in her trance, she was enjoying the dramatic scene to the fullest and the momentary pause made it all the more savory.

  “Well, obviously with that many Fallen in Eden, we would have to look to other places to spread our… love. The healing oil is such a small part of my larger plan, Myora. Of course, I wouldn’t be telling you this if I wasn’t absolutely sure of our success. You see, at this moment, a pharmaceutical tycoon is obliterating your girls with the help of a rather large contention of rebels from the Iranian army. Once we conquer Eden, then we might have to spread out over Tabriz! Wouldn’t that be such a shame? Can you imagine what the world would be like with nothing but Fallen populating it?”

  Sulina started to laugh as she thought of the irony.

  “I will remake the world… in my own image!”

  Myora IL Eve’s eyes opened slowly.

  ***

  Jess, Shala, and Evan slowly made their way back through the forest toward Alexey’s army. They were also headed toward the Daughters, a fact that Shala left out in her conversation with Jess and Knight.

  Jess and Shala walked in front, which made Knight feel helpless. His ego took a huge blow and he knew it would continue the longer he stayed in Eden, but he wasn’t there for himself. He was there for Jess and for Eden. He was the Chosen One. Though he wasn’t sure what that meant or what duty he had been chosen to perform in the service of Eden and the Daughters he knew that somehow, some way, he would have to come through when it counted. No matter what the cost.

  There was no classroom here; no podium to hide behind. His only enemies in the classroom were his critics; those were battles of words which, in spite of all that he had gotten himself into recently, he was better trained to deal with. In Eden, he was in a battle for survival; a battle for the survival of a civilization, to be exact. There were only a handful of Daughters left and they had sent two of them into the ever-present danger of the outside world in order to find the help they needed.

  It had cost one of the Daughters her life.

  People sacrificed all around him. Even Geronimo may have sacrificed his life for a cause that was not his own. Geronimo was with him out of loyalty and friendship. I should never have brought him into it.

  Yelling could be heard just a few hundred yards ahead of them. Men. Jess saw the discouraged look on Knight’s face. She waved for Shala to continue on as she stopped in front of the Chosen One.

  “Evan Knight. What troubles you? Is it the situation?”

  She thought for a moment.

  “Of course it is. You are in a land that only existed in theory before you set foot in it for yourself today. You are… how do you say? Out of your element. Your fear consumes you with each step you take in this foreign land.”

  “Yeah, we need to work on your bedside manner, Jess,” Knight replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

  Jess smiled as she held his face in her hands.

  “Evan Knight, you are feeling the exact same feelings that I felt the very first time I left Eden many centuries ago. I was in a world that I had only known about through books for almost two hundred years. I knew it existed, but I was still very excited when one of us was chosen to explore. It was between Shala and me. Mother Daughter wanted to send both of us, but decided against it at the last moment. Her reasons were her own and Shala was upset, but her spirits were raised when she became Mother Daughter’s protector while I was gone.

  “Little did she know that the lifelong assignment would rob her future of any chance for outside exploration. The stench and the impurity of the outside world repulsed me at first, but I looked past the ugliness and fear of the unknown. Then I saw the real beauty that many people take for granted. God’s world is full of wonder. The mountains, flowers, valleys, and trees are just part of it. One of the most beautiful things I saw was when a man who had means took a homeless man to an expensive restaurant for a meal. I saw doctors and nurses try with all of their might to save people that they knew nothing about. Some cried when they couldn’t. I saw one woman who many called horrible names simply because she owned her own business and was successful at it. What they didn’t see was that the woman only hired homeless American veterans and single parents trying to support their families.

  “We did so much research in the outside world for many centuries, Evan Knight. Would you believe me if I told you that Ramallah and I were baptized in the River Jordan with Jesus of Nazareth? We watched for a long time before we had to seek you out.”

  He felt foolish for his fears, but suddenly, realization began to come over him and he responded to her.

  “Jess, I know that the outside world, as you call it, is filled with hate and a lot of pain and suffering. I also think it’s amazing how someone who has had your experiences of the world can still see anything beautiful, considering where you’re from. I do have a couple of thoughts, though. As someone who has dealt with good and bad people, Shala gives me the creeps. I know what you’re going to say, but hear me out. You said that Shala was in charge of protecting Mother Daughter. How did that go? Didn’t you get some kind of psychic distress call from your Mother?”

  Jess frowned as she considered the question, but did not respond right away as she weighed his words.

  Knight had Jess’ full attention as he continued, “I have done a lot of research on Eden. In my research, I usually come across items that I could cross-reference with the Bible, God, and all things related. There are several references where it mentions that Satan… Lucifer�
� was jealous of Jesus as well as human beings.

  “Of course he was jealous of us, because we had found favor in God’s eyes, but it is believed that Satan wanted to be God’s favorite. It’s also believed that he wanted to take the place of Jesus when God’s plan was revealed. There are some timeline continuity problems there, but that’s another story. From what I could find, Satan was basically jealous of everyone. When he was not given the opportunity he thought he deserved, he tried to do everything in his power to destroy everything and everyone involved in what he could not have.”

  He let his statement sink in before he pushed toward the final question he had in mind.

  “Think carefully, Jess. Doesn’t that situation sound a lot like the one we have here?”

  Jess was physically stunned; disbelief marred her face. There was no disputing Knight’s logic. She fought back tears as she did everything she could to come up with alternatives to Knight’s theory. She didn’t have any other answers. The war in Eden followed a familiar pattern for her and she started to figure out how things would end. Win or lose, there would be severe casualties. Some would be closer to home than Jess had imagined.

  The fear crept through her. Knight saw it and decided it was time to regroup.

  “Jess, I know you believe in your sisters, God, and Mother Daughter. I also know that you took a huge leap of faith to believe in me, or I wouldn’t be here. Your faith is really strong. I need you to not only believe in me, but I need you to believe in us. Us as a team. We will only survive if we put our complete faith in each other. I’m already there, babe.”

  Jess smiled through her tears and hugged Knight.

  “Yes, Evan Knight! Our faith will get us through anything! Even if we die today, we will do so as a team! Our mission is not determined by whether we live, but what we do before we die! Thank you, Evan Knight!”

  She released her embrace and left a shocked Knight standing there. Not exactly what I was trying to say, especially the dying as a team part, but whatever works.

  Chapter Thirteen

  To the complete amazement of Sulina and her crew, Myora IL Eve slowly rose up. She faced Sulina as she stretched, seemingly unaffected by the lack of oxygen.

  “Sulina. It’s about time you arrived.” She saw Ellisia standing with her enemy and a low growl came from her throat. “That will be the last Daughter that you recruit.”

  Sulina laughed nervously.

  “Myora, my dear sister. You are at an extreme disadvantage here. You’re outnumbered 5 to 1. The Fallen are already dead, so what can you ever hope to do to us?”

  “Are you simpleminded, Sulina?” Myora asked, in a tone unfamiliar to her sister. “We are in Eden and in spite of the fact that you think you are some sort of god, I have been given charge over protecting her.”

  “Her?” Sulina bellowed back. “You still talk about Eden as if it were a living, thinking being! Eden is mine, sis! In case you don’t know, there is a war going on in your precious garden! An army desecrates her hallowed ground as we speak!”

  Myora looked at Ellisia while Sulina spoke. Ellisia could not make eye contact with Myora.

  She walked up to her former Daughter.

  “Daughter that was and Daughter that could be again,” Myora said as she shed a tear. “We all were given a choice. Yours was taken through deceit. I give it back to you now. If you stay with Sulina, you will die as she will. You will burn.”

  “Now just a minute, bitch!” Sulina interrupted.

  Myora ignored her sister.

  “Ellisia, I will give you the chance to die as a Daughter. Your wounds are grave, but I can restore you to who you were. Either way, you die. At least as a Daughter, you will know peace.”

  Sulina jumped in between Myora and Ellisia. She pushed Ellisia back against the wall, wrapping her fingers around Ellisia’s neck. Myora never took her eyes off of her Daughter.

  “Ellisia?” Myora called.

  Ellisia stood with pride.

  “I am, and always will be, a Daughter of Eve. Take me home, Mother.”

  “No!” Sulina screamed as her hands tightened around Ellisia’s throat.

  Myora touched Ellisia’s shoulder and the decay and stench started to fade from the faithful Daughter. Her skin gained its normal complexion and her eyes returned to their natural color. In one moment, Ellisia was a Daughter again. Blood started to pour from her gunshot wounds as she dropped to her knees. Myora cried for her Daughter as Ellisia reached out one last time. She then reached heavenward.

  “Father. It is your humble servant, Ellisia. I lift my spirit to you. Please strengthen my sisters and Mother Daughter. Thank you, my Lord.”

  “You will sleep well, my child,” sobbed Myora. “There will be no more pain or suffering for you.”

  Ellisia smiled and fell lifeless to the floor. Myora knelt down and wept over her body. She placed her hands on her Daughter’s back and said a silent prayer.

  The boldness of Myora to turn her back, weep and pray over Ellisia and completely ignore the others in the room had stunned all of them, including Sulina, who stood over her sister. As she realized that she wasn’t being taken seriously, she seethed with anger.

  “You mean to tell me that you could reverse the curse of the Fallen all this time?”

  Myora stood to face Sulina.

  “I can only do that to those who are worthy. To be worthy, you must first be willing. Your heart is too dark. You are lost, sister. You will lose this battle as long as my feet are on Eden’s soil. I will not fall.”

  Sulina smiled.

  “Well then, it’s a good thing for us that your feet are on metal right now, isn’t it?”

  ***

  Alexey Konstantin was sweating and frustrated. He had burned through what he believed to be half of the forest, with no sign of either the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge. His patience was gone. He called out to his men.

  “Halt! Stop! Or whatever the hell it will take to get you to listen to me!”

  Most of the men responded within minutes. They showed up looking tired. The smell of burned foliage and wood had replaced the scent of fresh, clean air. Alexey looked behind him at all of the greenery that he had sacrificed to find his target. He didn’t care about what he had to destroy to get to the healing oil, but he expected to find something.

  Where are these formidable defenses? Why haven’t they attacked? They haven’t attacked because what I am doing is no real threat.

  “They aren’t attacking because I am nowhere close to the right place,” he muttered.

  He threw the flamethrower to the ground and took off the backpack that went with it. He rubbed his neck as his men continued to file in around him and stood patiently, waiting for an order. Any order.

  Alexey looked toward the Mountain of God. He imagined what it entailed to create the inner sanctum within. His eyes squinted as something caught his eye. There were plenty of things to catch his attention on the ground, but this wasn’t on the ground.

  On the side of the mountain, about halfway up, was something that finally made the aging Russian smile. There were two small ledges. On those ledges were two trees.

  I can’t believe I didn’t see that before, he chastised himself. While he had assumed that the trees were hidden among the dense foliage, they had been standing on those two ledges, completely untouched.

  Alexey smiled as he waved his men toward the mountain.

  “Up there, men!” he called out.

  ***

  Sulina double punched Myora. Mother Daughter fell backward.

  “You dare strike the Mother Daughter?” she screamed.

  Sulina cracked her knuckles.

  “Since you are neither to me, I thought it couldn’t hurt.”

  Sulina went in for another strike. Myora spun out of the way. Morina crouched and fired blows at the Mother Daughter, which came so rapidly that they were nothing more than a blur of motion. Her fists were nothing but quick flashes to Myora, who felt every blow to he
r midsection as she doubled over. Sulina kicked her sister in the head, which caused Myora to reel back into one of the computer consoles.

  Sulina saw the computer, which sparked an idea. She went to the console and started typing furiously. She smiled as she found the directory she wanted.

  The two nameless Fallen each grabbed one of Myora’s arms and stretched her out, as Morina continued her assault. Mother Daughter spit out blood and she could hear a few of her ribs crack. She was in terrible pain. She wasn’t used to that feeling, but she knew what needed to transpire, if she were to save Eden. She collapsed to the floor.

  Sulina clicked her way into the self-destruct directory. She set the timer for five minutes.

  “Time to leave, boys and girls!” she yelled as she shook her fists victoriously and walked out of the control room.

  Morina stopped her attack, spat in the direction of the collapsed form of the Mother Daughter and left with Sulina. After the last Fallen had left the room, Myora rose slowly from the floor. Her face was bloody and her ribs were cracked and bruised. Her legs were wobbly as she worked her way to the door. She looked at Ellisia’s lifeless body.

  “Don’t worry, Ellisia. I won’t allow this travesty to continue.”

  With that, she sat at the console in front of the computer and began working.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Alexey and his men made it to within 100 yards of the mountain. The only thing between him and his prize were two Chinook helicopters and they belonged to him. He smiled as if he had already won the war.

  He knew that the Daughters were deep in the forest and wouldn’t be able to get back in time to stop him. He picked up his pace as he and the soldiers headed straight for his prize: the Tree of Life. As he closed in on the helicopters in order to give his orders, he noticed that the pilots weren’t standing in front of them as they should have been.