Chapter 20: Emergence

How could I not feel it? Every time my Aaisha passed from one body to another I had stirred. The moment she died woke me completely. I did not know what it was at first. All I knew was that I was in pain. The centuries crashed down into me and for the first time in empires I became aware of my physical body. The time spent away from myself were not kind to my physical form. I was now part of the room I had laid down in. My flesh had fused with the stone. My muscles had turned to rot.

I tried to move and again knew the pain of reality. My muscles didn't respond to any amount of will. I couldn't tear myself out of the stone. I had melted away as the years passed and yet my body wouldn't die. It clung to life, draining the smallest amount of erashim from the room around me.

The link I shared with all of my blood was thin, weak. No wonder I didn't even feel it the last time, I wasn't truly awake then. I was still linked back to my home world. That desert of a world that tried to drain the life from me. Even here it tried to reach for me. It must have caused my new physical form.

When I went to sleep so long ago I had wanted to die. I had lost my Aaisha and though her spirit lived on in a new body, it would never be the same for me. Now that her very soul had died, the dull ache had spread. I felt nothing but pain. Why is it so hard to die? Why can't I just stop this?

I have been lying to myself for so long. I have felt love. I still do. I was dependant on someone else and will never be whole without her. It has torn a piece out of my chest and I will never recover that part. There was a hole in my spirit, a gaping wound through which my life wanted to pour out. Yet I didn't die. I awoke.

I needed to know what had happened to Aaisha. How could I still love her this much? Why do I need her? I have wanted to be free of her ghost for centuries. No matter how powerful I was and how powerful I became I could never escape her memory.

I reached out in every direction, drawing power to me. It was slow to answer my call, but answer it did. I opened my mind to the river of thoughts moving above me. I searched for any clue regarding my love. There it was, clearly etched in the memories of the world. She was dead. I watched the replay and couldn't believe it. Again and again I watched as the demons arm burst through her chest. I felt her life drain out of her to fuel his transformation.

I acted brashly the first time I lost her. I destroyed the body and banished the soul of the monster who had killed my Aaisha. Now she was gone forever. I will get my revenge. This immobile body wouldn't stop me; nothing would.

KAAN.

siar.

This time you die.

I was temporally lost when I felt the world shake again. My bloodline tore as thousands of my kin suddenly died, thousands more humans died. What was happening? I shuddered under the force as bombs fell one after another. Each explosion took with it part of my family. Each death killed a small part of me.

I soared into the air. I missed this freedom but it wasn't the same. I couldn't feel the wind on my face. I couldn't feel the chill of the air. I was merely a specter, a ghost. I hovered over a crater where Kaan had built a mockery of my monument. Something was moving deep below the surface. Demons that should be dead were absorbing the death ridden energy of their fallen comrades. They were no longer my children; they had become something else entirely. It is time again for me to act in this world.

The Hunter main base of operations in Los Angeles was filled with activity. Due to blackouts and radio disturbances few messages about the attack on Vandenberg had been received. The last messages received came shortly after Tiro had left the base. Eagle took command the way he had been trained to do. If Tiro arrived too late, or was defeated, the base would be the only resistance in the area against Kaan. Eagle had ordered preparations for the defenses to be stepped up. The watches increased in numbers, both men and frequency. Throughout the night half of the defenders remained on high alert.

Within minutes of Tiro leaving the nuishii could feel the Consensus rippling with increasing force. Just as the life of someone can change the world, their death can rock it too. Those vampires left behind felt Aaisha's death as if touched by a cold hand. They had all felt the hand of death before. It didn't take special training to know that a powerful vampire linked to their blood had passed. Those close to Aaisha knew instantly when she died.

Eagle quickly stepped in and stopped the attempt to rush to the rescue. He knew that with the main host of their army at Vandenberg they would need to empty the base to mount any sort of rescue party. The status of their attack force was still unknown.

Aaisha had gone out knowing she might not come back. Every member of her force knew that same thing. If Aaisha's army had been defeated, a second, much smaller force wouldn't be able to do much more.

Faced with the likelihood of being the only resistance, Eagle started planning the next stages of the war. "If the others are not lost it is going to be impossible to hold the fort here. Kaan can send army after army and level this complex." He spoke to an empty room, staring at the desk where Drake had issued his orders from.

Crystal had other opinions about the proper course of action. She paced back and forth about the room she now shared with her sister slaves and her mother. She was still connected to Tim through the link they had formed. No time had been spent exploring it but she knew it was her that had called him, her master, from wherever he had been. With every step she paced she could feel the fire echoing through the bond.

She knew that Tim was in pain but competing commands echoed through her head leaving her stuck pacing. Kaan controlled her. He had given her specific commands that still demanded to be followed. Her other master, Tiro, had burned a command deeper into her. His command couldn't be shaken from her mind. She was his. Every time she felt Kaan's commands causing her to act, Tiro's command stepped in and released her from it.

How was she to know how to act? Her will had been beaten every time it showed. Even now that she was free from Kaan her resolve was slow to muster, but she knew what she needed to do. She could almost hear something telling her how to act. The buzzing in her ear wasn't Kaan's command so she was willing to listen. The voice sounded like Tim's.

The other girls had been experiencing the same things. As slaves of Kaan they had been tortured physically. Now that they were being deprived of their rescuer and new master, they didn't know what to do. They couldn't help but feel a longing to be with him. It was in their programming. They were, after all, perfectly trained slaves.

Be it selfishness, foolishness, need, or logic, all four girls made their way to the entrance of the base. One by one they followed their emotions as if they were commands given to them. No Hunters got in their way. No one tried to stop them. The base seemed to forget about them as they were guided by instinct down the halls to the entrance. They reach the front doors at almost exactly the same time, none knowing exactly why they were all there. No words were exchanged as the girls followed their commands out of the complex.

The Ioshari stood with Drake and Sinbad. They spoke in hushed tones as if the atmosphere of the base required quiet. The land smoked and smoldered as Tiro spoke.

"Are you certain there are no other survivors Drake?"

"I can't be certain. I just don't feel anyone. I don't see any threads." He stopped for a moment, "I know that our efforts are futile. I am incredibly thankful for you two for finding Chimera and I, but I think it is time we face the truth that no one is left alive under there." He made a gesture toward the piles of rubble. "I was lucky to be alive and I still don't quite understand it."

Drake was weak and sore. Among other aches and pains he was amazed that he hadn't died. "It worked... I believed... no, I willed that we would... I would not be crushed by the rock. I will never understand this power will I? How can I expect to have mastered it in the last month though? I certainly have been busy enough. I will have to make the time to study this." The nuishii closed his eyes and focused again. "When will Chimera be moving again?"

"The change won't take much longer," Tim said. "Chimera will need to feed when he wakes up though. He will need energy to finish his transformation. We will have to figure out something soon."

As if he knew he was being talked about, Chimera screamed out into the night. He lay a distance off, writhing as his transformation progressed. The changing Hunter needed his rest. Soon he would need something with considerable more substance. Throughout the change he had been emitting some very distressing sounds. At Tim's request they had left him alone to change. It would be more dignified for him to do it by himself. The few hours of his transformation would be the weakest time of his life. It doesn't befit a hunter for his comrades to be forced to watch his weakness.

I soon found myself watching my latest direct descendant. He stood with his commanders, emerging from the rubble of their battle. So much had happened to him. He was no longer the boy I had lifted up from living the pathetic life as slime. I granted him the ability to make something of his life. He has become Ioshari. My children still live. I can feel them within him. They live on to continue their duty, their hunt.

He now bears the marks of my bloodline clearly. They mark his survival of Kaan's betrayal. It is amusing that I can summon an ounce of pride for this boy I barely know. He was chosen for a reason though. Partially he was in the right place at the right time, but he also had the traits I knew he would need. I seem to be making less and less sense the more I say. He was kind, soft spirited. He had seen the darkest of humanity and still continued on hoping. He reminds me of Aaisha.

Tim knows the pain caused by Kaan and those like him. He will be my vessel. The Ioshari hunt again.

I reached out slowly with my spirit. He stopped speaking when I touched him and time froze. "Tim, my child, you have done so well, but you have felt so much pain. I am here now. I will make everything better. We need to avenge Aaisha. Will you help me?"

"Do I... Who are you?"

"You know who I am. They call me the first. I came to a world filled with life, now my children are trying to destroy it."

"The First... you are dead."

"No, just sleeping. The time has come for action. Will you help me?"

"How can I help you? I am just a hunter."

"You are Ioshari. We are one. We are blood."

"If you are awake can't you just obliterate Kaan? Aren't you are the First, the alpha?"

"I have slept for too long Tim. I told you the night you turned, the fate of the blood is with you. I cannot allow Kaan to live, but I don't have the strength to stop him."

Saying this is likely the hardest thing I have ever done. Harder than when I told Aaisha I loved her. "I need your help Tim, please."

"You already have saved my life many times. Indirectly, and perhaps unknowingly, but it is only because of you I am here now. Join me, father, let us hunt as blood."

"Clear skies and good hunting, my brother, for tonight we join as blood."

As the last rays of the sun faded from the sky the shadows deep within the crater began to move. The rubble from the collapse of Kaan's fortress shifted. Waves of dirt and pebbles flowed down the sides of the basin as the land shook. An earthquake measuring high on the Richter scale rocked the Hole.

A peak of light appeared. At first simply a speck, the orange light grew from the center of the crater and spread out. The portal first created by Kaan grew out of the ground, swelling as it drew in the life force of those who had died. More energy was pulled out of the survivors as the gate continued to grow. It grew steadily, finally shaping as a half-circle, two hundred feet in diameter, sweeping through the crater's center like a haunting replica of a rainbow.

The portal grew unchecked by anyone. Kaan had lost control over it as those on the other side began to draw power through it, unleashing their own will on its growth. The portal had taken on a desire of its own. It attracted all of the life force around to it in an attempt to grow larger and to sustain itself. The connection between the worlds was strengthened and the Consensus wouldn't be able to keep the invaders out.

"Where do we go from here Ioshari?"

"I don't kn—..." Tim arched his back, his mouth open in a silent scream. The air around him shimmered for an instant. His eyes flashed bright white and back to their now normal pale blue.

"Tim, are you alright?"

"I am fine. You are going to the Hole. Sinbad you are going with him. Do not enter any battles victory isn't ensured. I am going to the Hunter base, and Chimera is coming with me." The Ioshari's tone would allow no questions or hesitation. "Keep watch over the remains of Kaan's fortress. I will be there shortly."

Tiro could feel himself give the commands. It wasn't him however giving the commands. The First spoke through him, feeding him the words to use. He strode over to Chimera's crumpled body and lifted it up into his arms. The Ioshari spread his wings and launched into the air.

The night air was warm though the speed they traveled made it seem much colder. There was too much smoke for human eyesight to pick out anything clearly. The demon flying had no problem with his vision. The trip took no more than five minutes from the moment Tiro lifted into the air and the time he landed on the roof of the waste management office building. He laid Chimera on the cold stone, kneeling down so he could whisper in his ear.

"My son, an incredible weapon will be released on this spot very shortly. Your life or death now rests on your will. Harness its power or die. If you awaken join me in the hunt. The choice is yours, live or die."

Tim watched in the First's memories as the bomb was ordered. He struggled to the surface of his mind. He needed to stop it, to prevent the deaths it would cause. He was unable to act though. The First was firmly in control of his body and his other side, the true owner of their shared body, knew the need for what was to happen.

My family... How can you let this happen, Tiro?

The greatest sacrifice must be made by those who have nothing left to sacrifice Tim.

I just found them again, how can you expect me to give them up so easily? I will not lose them. Tim forced himself to the surface. He struggled against two opponents, the love for his family giving him strength. Finally gaining the foreground, Tim reached out to the link he shared with Crystal.

"Calm yourself, Tim. Your family will be safe. They have long since left the complex." The First spoke as a father would to his bickering children. "When this is over you will be able to find them. Do not worry. Now we need to get move quickly, tonight's work isn't nearly finished."

Again the Ioshari took to the skies. He winged off in the direction of the Hole. Tiro slowly exerted himself back in control over their body as Tim relaxed. The First was content to let the hunter steer.

Sinbad was quick to pick Drake up into his arms and run toward the Hole. Flying certainly would have been faster, but Sinbad knew it wasn't worth the energy. He would need all of the strength he could muster.

The country side was still in flames. No fire fighters were around to put out the fires. No one cared that the fire was spreading. The vampire covered the ground quickly. He drew energy out of the fire as he ran; an impressive feat.

"Well look'ee tha' Drake, it really is'a hole now."

"Wow, Sinbad... that was sad."

"Anything to ease the tension. Speaking of which, you know what we do about the giant portal over yonder."

The two stood at the rim of the crater left by the bomb. The arch of light from the portal was clearly visible through the rising smoke. The basin was molded of melted rock and various other materials. Few remains of buildings, cars and other urban fixtures were barely recognizable as they were firmly packed in and around the rest of the rubble.