Babel Found (25 page)

The Citadel

I’m really,
really
sick of being underground and now I’m really done with crying. I feel like I’ve been doing it every day for three months. My body feels like pins and needles and my brain feels like I just chugged a 1.75-liter bottle of cheap tequila. Basically, I’m woozy and I can’t feel my face.
Or the rest of my body.
I could be pissing my pants right now and not know it.

I can see my hands, though, and I shudder hard when I see the blackened skin and blood vessels glowing underneath it. It reminds me of Nannot’s obsidian colored skin and it fills me with revolt.

If I ever get out of here…

The anger is boiling over and I scold myself for feeling so vengeful. I
was
free of this prison only moments ago, but my emotions got the better of me. I attacked with little regard for myself and got trapped again.

I glance up and see the strangest thing yet. The three shadows leave my team’s bodies and bolt straight for Enki. His back is to them as he watches my slow demise.

As soon as they touch him he flinches. Then, they enter. Instantly, his body bursts into flames while a whirlwind plucks him off the ground. Anu and Phoenix are trying to defeat him from within. I’m not quite sure what Susan can do since his power is over water. Last I checked there wasn’t much around us.

The Judges turning on Enki wasn’t the only thing that transpired, though. Terra also happened. It was perfectly timed. As soon as her siblings attacked Enki, she broke out into a sprint and rammed the altar stone underneath me. It wasn’t enough of a blow to completely destroy the connection between it and the Source Stone above, but it did weaken it enough to release me from its hold.

I fall to the ground, temporarily out of the fray. But like before, I can already feel my power strengthening again. It won’t be long until I can get back in the fight, but first…

“Terra?” I say, calling out to her.

“Here…”

Her voice is weak and fading.

I round the altar and find her in her human form. She’s splayed across the Citadel’s floor and she looks to be in terrible shape.

“What happened?” I ask, kneeling next to her. Shouts fill the room around us as the other Judges continue to do battle with Enki.

“It was the Source. It almost drained me of my abilities, but instead it took my stronger form. If I had been in this,” she motions to her body, “I’d have been lost forever.”

“How do we destroy this place?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. It would take an overloading of the stone, but I’m not sure where we’d find such power.”

My eyes go wide. “If we could disable it, could you sink it?”

She bites her lip. “I’m not sure. The scale of this place is much larger than anything I’ve ever tried. I’d have to reach out beyond the Kur.”

Yikes
, I think. That’s a huge area to ask her to move.

“What about under just the Citadel?” I ask. “Is there anything under it besides earth, any sign of the Kur’s tunnels?”

She closes her eyes and puts a hand on the floor. A few seconds later she opens them and shakes her head, but instead of looking woeful, she actually smiles.

“No, there is nothing below it. The lowest levels of the Kur run parallel with its base.” She stands. “It’s still very big, but I might be able to sink it further.”

“Try,” I say, “but tell me first. We need to clear everyone out of here before you do it.”

She nods and places both hands on the ground, placing her forehead down too. If I didn’t know any better, she could have been praying towards Mecca with the way she’s positioned herself.

“Hank!” a voice yells, turning me around.

Nicole comes running towards me but stops. Her hands go to her mouth as she begins to sob. But she must see something in me that she recognizes because she fights back the tears and walks right up to me.

“What—what happened?”

The room shakes as I try to formulate an answer that she will understand. But I come up with nothing. The only thing I can think of is telling her what she already knows.

“It was the Source Stone,” I say, pointing up. “It increased my power within, turning me into a monster.”

Her hand goes to me face, and to my surprise, she has to reach higher than normal. I’ve grown even taller now since my transformation into the fifth Judge.

No
, I think.
I’m not one of them.

But I’m not Hank anymore either.

I go to kiss her hand, but can’t. I have no mouth to do so. It, like the others, doesn’t exist. Now it’s my turn to shed tears. Even if we all survive this, I’ll never know the feeling of her lips on mine again.

“I’m sorry,” I say, now realizing I’m communicating with my mind and not my words.

She shakes her head. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Hank.”

Hank.

She still sees me as me.

“Hank,” Terra says from behind. “It’s ready. All it needs is a final shove and we’ll be done with this nightmare forever.”

I nod and look up at the Source. Its beam is gone, as in, I can’t see it anymore, but it’s no doubt still active. Like I’ve experienced before, just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

Which reminds me…

“How does Enki freely enter and leave the stone’s energy?”

Terra shrugs, looking very…relaxed.
Weird.
“He chooses to do so. Just like your abilities, you have a choice in the matter. He doesn’t fight it, so it doesn’t fight him in return.”

“You act like it’s alive or something,” Nicole says, glancing back up.

“It essentially is,” I say, thinking as I speak. “The Source is like an AI computer server. We have to remember that it was built by other hands, with different technologies. The principal is the same, though. It wouldn’t surprise me if it had a rudimentary form of intelligence.”

“Like Siri?” Nicole asks.

I nod. “More or less. Our phones use a type of AI to search for things. The Citadel uses one to power itself.”

“An engine with a brain,” Terra adds.

“Pretty much.”

“Can we turn it off?” Nicole asks.

I look down at her and her chin drops. She already knows what I’m going to try.

“I’ll be fine.”

She’s about to argue, but I don’t let her.

“Trust me.”

She smiles. “You know I do.”

So instead of running further from the battle, I leap back into it. I land on the altar, only this time it’s willingly. And just like Terra said, it doesn’t fight for control of me. It just simply connects to my brain, giving me a view of the world I never thought possible.

*

“Is he going to be okay?” Nicole asked, glancing down at the shorter woman.

Terra met her eyes. “I’d be lying if I had an answer.”

Nicole just nodded but noticed Terra’s demeanor had changed. While she’d been shy before, she’d also been confident in her immortality.

Hank must have really gotten through to her.

She prayed and believed he would be okay. If anything, at least he knew she believed in him. He knew she loved him.

The large interior of the Citadel shook again, getting both women’s attention off Hank and back to the fight taking place between the three Judges and their master.

Nicole headed around the left side of the altar, followed closely by Terra. The latter was limping and had a knot on her forehead.

Why isn’t she healing?

The question would have to wait. Nicole instead ran to where she was mentally and physically ambushed by Phoenix and picked up her discarded KRISS assault rifle. She turned and unloaded her entire clip into Enki as he flailed and fought both a material and immaterial enemy.

Phoenix had invaded her body and mind, scarring Nicole deeply. While there was no evidence of her takeover, she knew it was there. Nicole felt as violated as Hank did when it initially happened to him.

She ejected the spent magazine and loaded a fresh one, readying it for use, but she never got too. The floor beneath her feet buckled and sent her crashing to the floor. The upheaval also spilled the others too, including Enki. The only one unaffected by the sudden bone-jarring movement was Hank. He was peacefully standing atop the broken altar, his face staring straight up.

Hurry.

Nicole quickly stood and shouldered her weapon as did Kane and the remaining soldiers alike. They all took shots at Enki as he thrashed around, swinging wildly at the empty air.

No, he’s not fighting us right now. It’s the Judges.

It sounded ridiculous, but she knew it was true. Enki’s face was full of emotion and his movements somewhat coordinated. Susanoo, Anu, and Phoenix must be having some luck from the looks of it. How many times had Enki ever been attacked this way?

Probably never
, she deduced and sent another six rounds into his chest. The bullets found their mark, blasting flesh to pieces, but it looked like they were hitting concrete. There was most definitely damage, but nothing severe enough to cause a mortal wound.

“It’s because he’s immortal…” she said aloud. “Stop firing!”

The others listened, seeing the same results—or lack thereof. Everyone just stood and watched as the ancient being fought…no one. The only noise in the room was a hum from above and Enki’s own grunts and growls.

Everyone yelped in surprise as the floor gave again, sending Terra and Nicole to the ground a second time. They both winced, hitting hard. Nicole watched as Terra’s lip began to bleed, busted open when she hit.

Terra wiped the crimson liquid away, her eyes wide at its sight. Nicole guessed she wasn’t used to bleeding.
I wish that was the case…
Nicole, like Hank and Kane, desired to lead simple lives. This was becoming more than it was worth. They loved the idea of exploring and finding lost treasure troves, but not at the cost of their lives. Not every mission needed to involve cheating death.

A blood-curdling scream got everyone’s attention as flames erupted from the altar—more specifically Hank. His eyes were open, but he looked to be staring through everyone.

Nicole watched as a surge of crackling green fire was sent skyward. It reached the ceiling and bent outward, like a tidal wave cresting and falling back to earth. Except, these didn’t fall directly back to the ground, thankfully. They hugged the top of the hundred-foot-tall space and cascaded outward…towards the vines.

“What’s he doing?” Kane asked, also bleeding from a knock to the face.

“No idea,” Nicole replied.

“He’s going for Enki’s lifeblood.”

Everyone looked to Terra, who was holding her side, and then back up as the fires of Atlantis scorched everything they touched. They burned through the plants like an inferno through a wheat field. Nothing could stand in their way.

“Enki needs the vines to survive,” Terra continued. “He’s immortal to an extent, but he needs them to continue on.”

“She’s right,” Ben said, chiming in. “I saw him do the same as me. I wasn’t sure why someone that could live forever would need a life source like this, but now it makes sense.”

“Source…” Kane said. “Like the stone?”

“It’s Enki’s life source,” Terra said, shocked at the revelation. “Without it, he can’t survive.” Her eyes went wide. “We need to get Hank and leave now!”

Nicole and Kane nodded, but couldn’t do anything until Hank was released from the energy field. They didn’t want to hurt him any more than he’d—

“Where’d Hank go?” Kane asked, confused.

“What?” Nicole turned and looked.

The altar was empty.

“Oh, god…” Nicole said, thinking the worst. “Hank.”

The Citadel

“Hi.”

Nicole turns and almost falls, tripping on a loose piece of stone. I’m standing right behind her, having just climbed down the other side of the altar.

My body is still the same, unfortunately, but I feel something different too. I feel at peace—content. I’m actually all right with what happened to me. My friends on the other hand… I’m not at all okay with what just took place regarding them.

“You need to leave,” I say to them, turning.

I calmly walk over to Enki and snag one of his swinging wrists. His surprise is evident when I catch his arm, but I pay it no attention.

The Source told me what I need to do.

It was a strange sensation. There was nothing inside it talking to me like I thought there’d be. No Siri at all. I just thought of a question and I immediately gained the knowledge to solve it. It makes me think what else I could have asked it. Knowledge is truly the greatest power of all.

My first question was easy. “How do I stop Enki?”

The answer was an indirect one. I figured I’d be told of a way to kill him—a weakness of some kind, but no. The fact that there wasn’t any violence requested was interesting too. Modern man defeats its enemies with bigger guns and even bigger egos. The Source didn’t want me to physically destroy Enki. It was asking me to essentially starve him. It wasn’t
starving
him in the traditional sense, mind you, but in a metaphorical way. I would stave off his regenerative capabilities, leaving him to time itself. How long would it take? Even the Source didn’t have that answer.

Like the people of An’tala, Enki needs help staying alive for long periods of time. Interestingly enough, the Judges don’t. They were truly immortal, like Nannot and his brothers. Like Thoth too. It was a genetic anomaly that only their family possessed. Terra was truthful in that they can only be killed if they choose it to happen. They need to give up the ability to be immortal, like Thoth and the priests did to ensnare Nannot in his fiery prison.

Enki swings his other fist at me, but I catch it easily. The Judges inside his head have weakened him enough that I can somewhat manhandle him. My larger, stronger body easily outmatches his frailer one.

“I wonder,” I say, my voice cold and calculating, “what happens to your body if it’s superheated from the inside out? Can you handle it?”

I lock, digging my
naturally
clawed fingertips into his flesh and summon my fire. My gloves are gone, replaced by the real deal. The green aura wraps around us as I push. I drive it as hard as I did in the tunnels, but instead of focusing on killing Enki like I did the
mitutu
, I focus on the flames themselves. They felt like an extension of my own body the last time I used them as a weapon against something.

“Go,” I say, speaking to myself. “Go now. All of it.”

My ears start to ring and my vision blurs, the fire within coming out as a superheated white. A massive column of fire shoots up to the ceiling, impacting the Source Stone. As soon as it touches the upside down orichalcum pyramid, it bursts, shattering into pieces. Enki wails in agony, both from me and from watching his precious stone destroyed.

I barely hear either. The last thing I remember seeing before blacking out is the remaining shards of orichalcum shimmering as its ambient light winks out. My vision is next, as well as my mind.

I don’t feel the ground when I hit it.

The Kur

I stir and wake…in fear. It’s beyond redundant at this point. Except, the fear quickly passes this time. It wasn’t from a dream either. It was just me being startled by screaming voices and my body being dropped on the hard floor.

“Get a light!” I hear someone shout.

“I’m trying!” somebody replies.

“Oh, forget it,” Nicole’s distinct voice yells back. “I’ve got it.”

A small, but powerful, LED blooms to life in front of me and I yelp, covering my eyes. I hear a collective gasp as I slowly lower my hands…my human hands. I try to stand, but Kane doesn’t let me. His large hands push me back down into a sitting position.

“Easy buddy, you’re fine. You’re better than fine, actually.”

“I’m…me,” I say, inspecting my dirty fingers and scraped palms. I’m a mess, but don’t care, and neither does Nicole as she dives at me, kissing me hard.

“Ow,” I mumble mid-kiss, the word coming out as an incoherent garble.

She releases me and smiles wide. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“I’m sorry,
hun
, but everything hurts!” I prove it by standing and cringing.

“As it should,” Terra says, stepping into view.

She also looks terrible, bleeding from several wounds.

“Why haven’t you healed?” I ask, leaning against the wall.

She looks down at her own hands. They shake like mine do sometimes, but she doesn’t look scared or upset. Her smile proves just how happy she is.

“Do you remember when I told you about how we die?”

I nod. “You have to will it to happen.”

My eyes widen. “But how?”

“Excuse me,” Kane says, butting in, “but the rest of us don’t speak
freak show
.”

I shake my head. I never thought I’d miss Kane as much as I did. But I explain. “In order for someone in Thoth’s bloodline to die…”

“They have to freely give themselves up,” Nicole says, “like the three priests.”

Kane understands now. He knows all about that.

“But—” he says, “and don’t take this the wrong way—but why aren’t you dead?”

“I am,” she says, grinning from ear-to-ear.

I reach out a hand and squeeze her shoulder, also smiling wide. I look at Nicole and Kane. “She’s mortal… She’s as good as dead now.”

Terra screams and stamps her feet in excitement. I’ve never seen someone react like this to news of a death sentence—no matter how long off it may be. But knowing how Terra feels about humanity, this is what she truly wanted.

“How’d it happen?” I ask.

She controls herself, containing her excitement. “I tried to sink the Citadel, like you asked, but couldn’t. It was just too big and the power it held resisted my efforts.”

“Then how?” Kane asks.

She looks at me. “I gave it up, fully. I told my gifts to leave me. I’ve never used them to their fullest potential. I couldn’t—not without giving them up completely. I was too scared to try before. We all had our limits like that. Luckily, it was enough of a boost to get the matter displacement sphere I created around it to start rolling.”

I quickly fill everyone in about the sphere we used to travel here in and turn back to Terra. She smiles again.

“How far did you send it?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I didn’t give it a final destination. It’ll roll until it burns up miles below us.”

“So…it’s done?” Nicole asks.

Terra nods. “It is.”

“What of your siblings?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Terra replies, “but even if they survived somehow, I wouldn’t be able to feel them now.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see I guess,” Kane says, scratching his uneven stubble.

“Can we please leave?” Terra asks.

“What’s the rush?” Kane asks.

She glances down to her stomach. “I’m really hungry.”

I laugh, remembering how the Judges didn’t have to eat or drink to survive. Either way, she’s right. We need to leave.

“Anyone have any more lights?” Terra asks.

Everyone shakes their heads. The remaining soldiers apparently lost most of their gear when trying to escape. It’s pitch black and we only have one light. It’ll do, but—

“Hank?” Nicole must see the confusion in my eyes as I stare down at my hands. “What is it?”

I look up at her and then to Kane and Terra. “My fire is gone.”

I breathe in and out, feeling my hands start to shake. “What color are my eyes?”

“Their hazel, Hank,” Nicole says. “Your contacts are still camouflaging them.”

I shake my head. “I can normally feel the left one every so often. It would itch a little when my eyes dry out. I should be tearing up big time right now with all the dust in the air. I don’t think they came back with me when I…” I motion to my human form.

Nicole’s own eyes start to glisten as I hug her. Kane’s hand grips my shoulder and he laughs.

I look up at them. “I’m back, baby.” I rest my chin on Nicole’s shoulder, sighing in relief. “I’m back.”