Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) (15 page)

Read Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Online

Authors: Jonathan Yanez

Kyle nodded with a set jaw. “They gave me powers,
Alan. They turned me from a nobody into somebody that I can live with. You
don’t know what’s like everyday wondering if you’d be better off dead, dealing
with the depression and the bullying.”

Alan’s heart tore in his chest.
Even though Kyle was only a few years younger than Alan, Alan could see the
person he used to be in the young man. It was like looking into a mirror of his
not so distant past. “Kyle, I know what you’re going through.”

Kyle’s face brightened for a moment, “You do? Then
you must understand. This is my ticket out. This is my calling.”

“No,” Alan said. Before he could
say anything else, another large explosion rocked the ship. Alan and Kyle both
lost their balance and fell to their knees. Ardat still stood as solid as the
statue she was levitating, beads of sweat snaking their way down from her
hairline.

Alan regained his feet and took another look
outside. More of the statue was visible. What looked like a rusted and lichen
covered wing was taking form. At this pace, Ardat would be able to raise the
entire colossal figure in minutes.

“I’m sorry, Kyle,” Alan said truly
meaning his words, ”I have to stop her.”

Alan bolted from his standing position taking a
path that would lead him around Kyle and to what he hoped would be a vulnerable
Ardat. As Alan reached out to grab Ardat by the shoulder and swing her around
to face him, Kyle’s hand caught his wrist.

Alan urged his hand to move forward
but Kyle was just as strong as he was. “That’s the gift she gave me,” Kyle
explained. “I can absorb any surrounding Nephilim’s powers. Yours included.”

Again, Alan willed his hand to travel further.
Kyle was too strong. The two men stared for a moment at one another before Kyle
released his grip and pushed Alan backwards.

Up to this point Alan’s earpiece
had been silent. Now it squawked with Jacob’s familiar voice. “Dominic is down.
I need a report. Has anyone been able to locate the Nephilim that is raising
the statue?”

“I know who’s raising the statue.
I’m in—“

Kyle ran at Alan with a wild punch.
Alan easily ducked under the strike and sent an uppercut of his own towards
Kyle’s jaw. Kyle saw the punch coming and turned his head to the side, just out
of harm’s way.

Grabbing Alan around the torso,
Kyle grunted with exertion and lifted him over his head. One second Alan was being
lifted into the air and the next he was flying through shattered glass to the ship’s
unwelcoming steel surface below.

Somewhere deep down Alan knew he
was going to be all right. Not only was he incredibly strong now, he was also
physically immune to harm, at least that’s what he wanted to believe. Alan said
a silent prayer hoping his body would hold up as well as his fist had when
striking Jacob’s stone form.

Alan wouldn’t have to find out. With a jerking
motion, his forward momentum stopped and he was lowered gently to the ship
deck. Bewildered, Alan looked around for an explanation. Arther smiled and gave
him a wink as he released his telepathic hold.

Before a smile could touch his
lips, Alan shouted a warning to the man who had caught him in midair.

Arther turned in the blink of an eye—still
it was too late. Kyle collided with Arther at a speed that sent them both
flying into the airship still docked on the boat’s deck. The collision was so
intense the plane groaned and quivered under the force. Alan rushed over to
help his friend fearful of what me might find.

The metal where the two Nephilim
struck the plane was dented. Kyle was regaining his feet looking down over a
bloody and damaged Arther. Alan’s heart caught in his throat.

“Kyle, what have you done?”

Kyle looked down on Arther’s
broken, limp body with a shudder, “I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how strong
and fast you were. I—I only meant to stop him.”

Alan rushed past Kyle and knelt by Arther. Even
before Alan checked for a pulse, he knew he wouldn’t find one. Arther’s body
wasn’t as resilient as his or Jacob’s. Alan’s hand quivered as he checked for a
pulse anyway. There was nothing. Alan’s stomach tuned as he witnessed death for
the first time.

Kyle fell to his knees.
“Is—oh god, is he dead?”

The loss of life told Alan anger should be his
first response. Instead, sadness for the man he would already call a friend was
all he felt. “He’s dead, Kyle. You killed him. What did he ever do to you?”

Kyle was ghostly white as he
fumbled for words.

“All available team members,” Jacob’s voice
screamed in his earpiece. “Ardat is on the ship in the control room. I’m going
to need all of you if we are going to stop her.”
Alan took a moment to find his voice. There was
nothing he could do for the telepath now. Danielle could only heal wounds, not
raise the dead. Arther was gone. “Guardian, Arch is down. Angel is still with
Valkyrie. There’s only me.”

Jacob’s voice came back stronger
than ever. Like a true leader, he took the news in stride. “You’re more than
enough. Meet me at the end of the cargo ship. She’s in the two-story control building
raising the statue.”

Alan figured it was pointless to tell Jacob that he
already knew it was Ardat bringing up the statue from the ocean floor. Even
more so, it was useless to tell him he knew where she was.

With one last look at Arther’s
still form, Alan rose to his feet. He didn’t say another word to Kyle as the
young man kneeled motionless on the ship’s steel frame. Since realizing what he
had done, Kyle hadn’t moved. One look into his eyes and Alan knew Kyle wasn’t
completely lost. He would have to pay for his actions yet Kyle wasn’t evil at
heart. Mislead maybe, but not inherently prone towards the life Ardat was
leading him.

Arther’s death still weighing heavy on his heart,
Alan moved across the ship to meet Jacob. In the few moments it took Alan to
return to the ship's control room, Ardat had been hard at work. She doubled the
rate she used to lift the statue. Now more than half of the angelic Colossus
was visible over the swirling water.

The statue was indeed an Angel.
Head bowed and covered in a cowl, the Angel held a sword hilt in both hands.
The sword pointed downward parallel to its body. One large wing extended out to
the right of its body. The other must have broken off centuries before during
its first descent. There was no denying the statue was in dire repair. Reddish
brown rust covered nearly every square inch of the form. Mollusks and sea moss
in every shade of green painted the statue from cowled head to sandaled feet.

Danielle’s voice brought him back to reality as he
skidded to a stop near Jacob’s stone form. “Angel will be okay. She’s out for
now. She needs rest but she’ll make it.”

Alan’s mouth was dry. Unsure
whether or not this was the time to tell them about Arther. Not sure if they
already sensed it, Alan decided to err on the side of full disclosure rather
than assumption. “Arch is—Arch didn’t make it.”

Danielle was silent. Jacob looked first to Alan
then over his shoulder squinting to see the airship they used for transport,
still docked on the opposite side of the cargo boat.

“I’m sorry,” Alan said unsure if it
was up to him to fill the silence. He could only imagine how they felt knowing
the man for years on end. Although Alan had only been introduced to the smiling
telepath days before, he knew he too would need a time of mourning.

“If we do not stop her,” Jacob said, “this will
all be for nothing.”

It was clear Danielle was crying;
however, she fought through the tears to shout a warning to her surviving
friends. “Whatever happens, you have to do it soon. I’ve been monitoring the
Greek airwaves. They have spotted the statue rising and their military is inbound.
A first response team will be here in minutes.”

“Great. Secure Arch and Angel in the plane and
prepare for flight. We’ll handle Ardat.” Jacob turned to Alan with a wild look
in his stone eyes. “Ardat’s power is the control of gravity. That’s how she is
raising the Colossus. She’ll use the same power on us when we try to stop her. I’ll
distract her while you bring her down. Be fast.”

“He won’t have to be fast,
Guardian,” Ardat said as she hovered in air emerging from the broken window.
“I’ll come to you.”

Her black hair and cape flapped in
the breeze as she continued to lift the statue from the depths of the sea. Her
right hand was outstretched, fingers curled as through she physically held a
weight in her hand.

Other then the constant gurgling of water, the
scene had been silent. Now a new noise met the combatants’ ears, the sound of choppers
over the sea. Steel blades slicing the ocean air could be heard, every passing second
the noise grew.

Alan turned to see two large
military choppers approaching from the Greek coast.

“It’s over, Ardat,” Jacob shouted. “If the
military doesn’t stop you, we will.”

Ardat had lifted the entire statue
from the water. She grunted as she hefted the fallen structure even higher and
moved to place it on the ship. “Nothing is over. This is only the beginning.
Although we have never engaged in conflict, Guardian, believe that I am more powerful
than any Nephilim, Angel or member of the Fallen you have ever encountered. Now
with the celestial weapons behind me and mine, you stand no chance. Behold the
power that will claim your Heaven and earth.”

Through clenched teeth, Ardat lifted the entire
statue high into the air. The figure was enormous, even bigger than Alan had
first thought. From the statue’s feet to the crown of its head, Alan knew it
had to be equivalent to a high-rise building and weigh hundreds of tons.

“Valkyrie,” Jacob shouted. “Lift
off now. Get Angel and Arch out of here.”

“Roger, I’m not leaving without you two. I’ll
circle around.”

Jacob didn’t say a word. Instead,
Alan saw him hunch low to the ground in a squatting position.

Ardat ignored Jacob and Alan for the time being
and decided to make her move. With a swing of her arms, she used the raised
statue like a baseball bat. Swinging wide, the newly resurrected sculpture
arched in the clear sky and crashed into the two approaching helicopters. Danielle
turned her plane to the side narrowly avoiding the strike from Ardat. The two
less fortunate military helicopters took the blow head on. Metal screeched and
parts flew in every direction. There were no explosions like in the Hollywood
movies, but the helicopters spiraled out of control and hit the open waters
with a heavy crash.

At the same time Ardat struck at
the helicopters, Jacob launched himself into the air. His Nephilim strength
took him straight up as though he was shot from the very floor of the ship
itself. Outstretched arms sought to collide with Ardat. Nearly within grasp,
Ardat brought her attention back to Jacob and Alan. Without any sign of
physical motion, she brought the full power of her ability to bear down on her
two enemies.

Alan saw Jacob halt in the air for a brief moment
before rocketing back down to the cargo ship’s steel deck. Before he could move
to help, an unbearable weight collided with his shoulders forcing him to his
hands and knees. The pressure was breathtaking. Alan knew no visible or
tangible weight was forcing him down. It was Ardat manipulating the gravity
around him at a skull-crushing degree.

Alan groaned under the pressure. It
felt like his spine was going to snap at any moment. Looking up he could see
Jacob in a similar situation. The Nephilim was on his back staring up at Ardat
with a look of raw determination. “You cannot win,” Jacob shouted. “The Angels
will rally against you now that you have broken the treaty. By striking those
helicopters down and now us, you will pay for your sins.”

Ardat laughed aloud. “Oh—oh—I’m sorry,
you’re being serious. Peace? A treaty? Really? Living side by side with
humanity was never an option. I was only biding my time until an opportunity
presented itself. Now, since you spoke first, stone man, you can die first.”

Alan’s stomach churned as he
witnessed Jacob’s still form being moved to the center of the ship
with
invisible hands.

Alan’s body shook as he struggled to move from his
kneeling position to his feet. The weight was like nothing he had ever felt. The
boat’s steel deck dented and dimpled under his hands and feet. Alan felt
helpless as Jacob was moved to a position under the still levitated statue.

For the briefest of moments, Alan
met Jacob’s eyes. Instead of fear, they were full of peace. Acceptance for what
was coming next showed across his face
. “Be the man
we already know you are, Alan. You still haven’t discovered all your gifts. You
have the ability to be so much more if you only believe in yourself.”

Alan was struggling to
breathe, much less respond. Jacob was dragged to the center of the ship and
with a satisfied chuckle, Ardat let the statue fall.

In that
moment, time stopped for Alan: Ardat hovering above him and Jacob under the
falling statue. His chest began to heat. His whole body felt like a furnace turned
on high. A crackling sound filled his ears from somewhere behind him. A blue
glow of energy surrounded him as alien appendages began to form at his back
.

Alan wasn’t sure what to think.
Michael told him no Nephilim had been able to fly; however, there was no
denying what he felt and saw. Blue strands of pure energy formed from his back
into wings and spread out from either side. Even with the new revelation of his
manifested powers, he was powerless to do anything to save Jacob.

The statue fell on top of the
Nephilim known as Guardian. The monolithic statue weighed somewhere in the hundreds
of tons range. The ship buckled, steel screamed underneath the pressure. If it
had not been for Ardat forcing Alan to the ship's deck, he would have been
tossed off board and into the thrashing sea below. 

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