The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1) (18 page)

“Whether you join us or not, war is coming to you and all whom you hold dear. Please consider carefully, Dorian. Our future, everyone's future, is at stake. If I may entreat you with a small request, I would like to introduce you to a few others of our group.
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ould you be willing to meet with them?”                                                                                                                                “I'm really not interested in joining your cause, but I will consider it on one condition,” Dorian said with indifference.                                                         “What do you require?” Matthias asked.                                                         “That you remove that thing from the back of my head.”                             Matthias smiled. “Of course, we can assist with that. We will need to prepare you in advance for removal. Come, let us go to meet the others,” he said. They had gotten up from the sitting area and moved towards the back of the room. Dorian followed him to the place where they had arrived. The next moment they were both outside the Pessipone. Dorian paused and looked over at Matthias.                                                                      “Why did my parents abandon me? Where are they now?”               Matthias tilted his head with an uncomfortable expression. “Your father will seek you out when the time is right and explain, whereas I cannot speak for your mother. Rumor has it she has been imprisoned. Your father has asked that I not reveal to anyone else who she is, so it is vital that you do not think about it when we arrive at our destination. As far as the rest are concerned you are the son of Urieth and a human mother, and therefore an Elioud like me. Although your appearance is similar to mine, that may not be the case when we activate your Shi. Also, be advised there are some who can read surface thoughts.
U
ntil you are instructed on how to block this, do not think about your birth mother. Do you understand?”                                                                                                                 “Yeah, I got it, don't think about it, no problem,” Dorian replied.               “Follow me,” Matthias said, moving towards the entrance. They travelled to one of the platforms used to disembark the breece.                              “We are leaving Verdes Seventeen and will be traveling to a secure location on Erustian Prime. There we will meet with the others and discuss removal of the object from your head. The travel sensation will feel similar to the first time you journeyed here. Prepare yourself.”                              They both stood together on the platform. Matthias said some words and instantly the two of them were bathed in a bright light. Once again, Dorian found himself whirling through a tunnel with flashing lights that twisted and contorted around him, then suddenly stopped.                             It took a moment for his senses to adjust to the new surroundings before he discovered they had been transported to a large room with about fifty beings of various shapes and sizes. The room itself was, like everything up to this point, unique. The beings inside were moving about making gestures in the air, uttering sounds that could be perceived as language. He couldn’t understand most of them, except for a few that looked human. Clearly there was technology far more advanced than anything on his Earth. The matter in the room appeared to be floating in place, giving the impression everything inside would disappear if a switch was thrown. Each of the walls, including the floor and ceiling (if that is what one would even call them), were like a giant window to various other-worldly places and dimensions, continuously changing. Each view was completely different, much the way video surveillance cameras would switch and Dorian wondered if he could walk out of the room and into the world beyond the window.                                                                                                   “Aye, you can,” A humanoid female composed of light said to Dorian as he was observing his surroundings with amazement. Dorian looked over at Matthias, unsure if he was the one whom she was speaking to.                                                                                                                               Matthias smiled. “I believe my friend may be responding to a question you asked yourself. Allow me to introduce you to Yelnisha, one of our operatives in our special operations group, the Avavago. Some privacy please, if you don't mind?” Matthias asked with respect.

“Of course, Matthias,” she replied, smiling coyly at Dorian.

“Is everything all right Dorian?” Matthias asked with concern, noticing Dorian appeared bewildered by all the sights around him.                             “Ah, no. I mean, yes, yes; everything’s fine. Everything is fine,” he replied softly still absorbing his surroundings like a newborn baby. His heart began to feel light with excitement at the thought of learning and knowing so much more than he had ever thought possible.                                          “Matthias, you return so soon?” one of the beings asked as it approached the two of them. It had an amorphous body that shifted into a humanoid form. Dorian observed its tentacles transform into arms, elongating into hands and fingers that extended towards Matthias.                              “Ah, I see then,” the being continued as the two exchanged information through touch.                                                                                                   “My apologies, Dorian; this is Zazu,” Matthias said.                             “Greetings, Dorian, we have eagerly anticipated your arrival,” Zazu said, extending an appendage towards Dorian. Matthias smiled, holding in his laughter as Dorian sheepishly looked over to Matthias as if to ask ‘
is it okay
?’ He touched Zazu
,
which felt a lot like exchanging greetings with Matthias.                                                                                                   “I will leave you to your tutelage, Matthias. Dorian, until we meet again,
Shadom ni ana
,” Zazu said, returning to the area in back.                            Dorian turned to Matthias with a stunned expression.                            “Their kind are known as the Distrogan; obviously they are not from Earth or one of the Angels, but from a distant planetoid in another galaxy not too far off from the Milky Way itself. They were used over the millennia for their skills in espionage and subterfuge, due to their unique ability to rearrange their molecular structure at will. Unfortunately, most of the Distrogen were hunted or enslaved by those who feared what they could do or who exploited them for their abilities. Very few remain, and they must return to their home world every year to renew and replenish themselves from the source of their life- the planet itself. Zazu has been with us for over a thousand years now and I consider it a good friend.”               “It?” Dorian asked.                                                                                                  “Yes, well, they are not male or female as we are accustomed. Now Yelnisha over there, whom you previously met, is one of the Elioud, an offspring of the Nephilim.                                                                                                  “One of her many unique abilities, as you may have already surmised, is thought capturing, or mind-reading, in simplistic terms. We can teach you how to close off your thoughts to others, including her,”              Matthias said as he moved about the room.                                                         Dorian was following him, partially paying attention to what he said and partially to his newfound surroundings.                                                         “I was wondering to myself if you could just walk through these walls to the places we’re looking at. Apparently you can, according to her. Hey there's the cabin!” he shouted as one of the walls in the room switched to a view of his body lying on the bed where he had left it.               “Well, only beings of light can walk through. Many of our bodies are also in secure locations on Earth or other areas and are being monitored just as yours is,” Matthias explained.                                                        “This place we are in is one of our bases of operation, where we monitor the activities of those like us and the agents of the fallen.”              “Sounds like the CIA for celestial beings,” Dorian mused out loud.              “Well, we are not funded by any government; we operate within the order of our society of Anidon. Our numbers are very small, less than seventeen thousand in total and not everything involves events on the Earth. We mainly observe their activities, but occasionally we do have some direct contact with the enemy. It is usually limited due to the risk of being observed by ordinary humans, as well as the risk of capture by the enemy in order to learn our whereabouts and numbers.

“I think we’ve covered quite a bit for today. We should conclude things for the time being and continue on another occasion. What do you say?”                                                                                                                                             Part of Dorian didn't want to leave; this was all too fantastic and every new sight left many questions. “I understand, Matthias, but we still need to have that thing removed from the back of my head,” Dorian replied.                                                                                                                              “Ah, yes, the Shemzol. I had almost forgotten. In order to remove it we will need to go over some things. No doubt Amprodias mentioned that the device binds to the flesh and with spirit, correct?” he asked. Dorian nodded.                                                                                                                “It is used to track spirit energies and sends a signal to the sigil holder when the Shi is active. It was originally designed by the fallen Angels to monitor and track the Nephilim, as a sort of homing beacon.

“They've been using them more and more lately on ordinary humans or on humans with latent Shi. Anyway, in order to remove it we will need to teach you how to awaken your Shi energies. The problem, however, is that the device will send a signal to the enemy that your Shi is active, along with your precise location.

“Because you do not possess active Shi, it would seem they are unsure if you are a person of interest to them. For what purpose I cannot say for certain-, however, based on past events, it seems that they are interested in the blood of a specific individual. It may be you, it may not be. I can only assume that they do not even know you are a hybrid, but awakening your Shi will remove all doubt, as hybrids have significantly different Shi from ordinary humans. Another point worth mentioning is that some have awakened their Shi to discover latent abilities, so you will undoubtedly experience some changes.”                                                                      “So what happens if I don’t have this removed?” Dorian asked.              “If you were not a hybrid, as you are, eventually it would fall off and turn to dust. In your case, I do not believe you would come to harm, but I cannot be certain. The pain could become quite intense,” Matthias said, noticing Dorian’s look of concern. “You have questions, ask.”              “So, if I have this straight, we’re going to 'activate' my Shi? Then what? It’s going to fall off, or start beeping? Hopefully not explode?”               Matthias laughed. “No, it will not explode. At least I do not believe it to be so,” he said with a slight grin, observing Dorian’s worried countenance.                                                                                                                               “This is not funny, you know,” Dorian shot back, looking around as several others within earshot were chuckling.                                                        “More important is the act of awakening your Shi. It may be quite uncomfortable. I should warn you right now, your life as you know it will be completely different from what it is now on Earth. You will sense things that you never had before- heartbeats, electrical impulses from others, thoughts and unexpected phenomena.”                                                         Noticing that Dorian wanted to say something, Matthias paused.              “I already can. Or at least I have on a few occasions recently. It more or less happened on its own, but was a very strange sensation. Does that mean my Shi is active?”                                                                                     Matthias was taken aback by this revelation.               “Indeed, you are an interesting one. It would seem that you may have tapped into your Shi without realizing it, but it is not active; we would all feel it and you would know. In addition to those things I mentioned, you may also be able to see celestial beings in your flesh form; spirits of various origin as well as spiritual energies surrounding flesh beings. In time it may be possible for you to learn how to make light energy into solid matter. You may also be able to penetrate the thoughts of others and the abilities you have in your flesh form will be magnified greatly. These are some of the things you may experience, and some things unexpected as well, since....”                             He stopped his sentence short when it became obvious others were listening. Some of the ones eavesdropping stared more intently at Dorian.              “Finally,” Dorian thought to himself. “I’m going to become a superhero.” His thoughts brought extreme laughter from several beings nearby.                                                                      

              “Okay, get out of my head!,” Dorian shouted as he cringed with embarrassment.                                                                                                   Matthias chuckled. “We’re going to have to make that your first lesson when your Shi becomes active- how to block your thoughts. Now, in order to keep the enemy from knowing your Shi is active and learning our location, we will have to perform some preparatory spells.”                            Matthias looked over to the room where the others were working.  No words left his mouth yet six of them stopped what they were doing and moved over to where Dorian and Matthias stood. Yelnisha stood facing him.                                                                                                                                            “Dorian, I will need you to concentrate and focus on one thing. Picture one thing, an object, in your mind and tune everything else out. Remove all other thoughts that occupy your mind.” she said.               Yelnisha positioned herself equidistant from the others who had already formed a circle around Dorian. The seven then placed their hands on Dorian and did not speak as all sound in the room began to dissipate. The walls, the objects in the room, everything including the seven, disappeared and Dorian was floating in darkness. An icy chill filled the air and some voices could be heard; mostly muffled, some with a panicked tone, some shouting. Then silence. A terrible, foreboding feeling washed over him as he was trying to concentrate on one thing- Yuki’s smiling face.                                                                                                                                             The voice of a multitude spoke in the darkness. “The time of our imprisonment is nearing its end. We will find you no matter where you are, no matter where you run. Come willingly and free us, or be destroyed!” the voices boomed in unison. The sound was so loud it was crushing. A faint light formed in the distance as a clawed hand in the darkness reached out at him. The light began to grow, pushing back the darkness. Dorian heard Yelnisha calling out to him.                                           “Dorian! Focus on the the light. We almost have you!”