Children of the Light Ch. 01

"Do you wish it that way?" D'aath asked her, following along as she led him down the trail.

"Yea, of course, but? Damn, you are something else!"

D'aath allowed the appendage to relax. Then sensing she liked it larger, he left it the same size.

Kathy glanced down at the bulge with another strange expression but she didn't say anything.

At the bonfire, there was no one around. D'aath felt a tiny trace of energy from the low flames, he used that to increase them at his approach, then stepped fully into the flames.

"Oh, my God no! Get out of there!" She suddenly shrieked. Desperate for renewal, D'aath ignored her.

The energy from the flames poured through him, in a few seconds he could again think. The light clothing he had placed on himself flared up. He allowed his normal form to emerge, combining the energy from the flames with the remaining power of the pod. The flames leaped high, he stood there and basked, his natural form flowing with the energy from the plants being consumed.

Then the huge flames began to die down as D'aath absorbed all of the energy into his being.

He knew he had become one with the flames, she could not see him now as anything but light. The entire remaining fire was being drawn into him.

Kathy was jumping up and down screaming as D'aath had stood there calmly appearing to be fully engulfed.

"What in the fuck is going on?" Someone appeared from a nearby temporary hut. He came to a stop, staring at D'aath, glowing now from the energy pouring into him. It was not powerful, not like the energy of a Sun, but it was enough that he knew he could soon function.

"What the hell?" The male yelled, the light now a streaming cone of blue so bright he was forced to shield his eyes. Very quickly several others came out, all of them staring as D'aath stood in the flames, accepting.

Finally he had gained enough to feel better even though he was still very low, so he stepped naked out of the fire in human form, leaving it a mass of dying embers.

He could have used another hour or so but he could sense the total upset of the creatures, besides the fuel source was becoming exhausted.

All of them were now in fear, and fear was the most dangerous emotion of all.

"Fucker ain't even burned!" One of them said.

"Must be one of those East Indian guys that fire walk." Another one said.

"No way, that's a fucking alien, kill the thing!" A third male shouted out.

"I am only renewing." D'aath sent the thought but he quickly saw none of them understood so he repeated it aloud.

No one answered.

Looking around, he saw Kathy was still standing there.

Her eyes were huge.

"What in the fuck are you?" She asked when he stepped to her side. She was in awe, but she was not in concern of him.

"I am of the light." He told her. He was keeping his attention on the others that had now gathered on the other side of the fire. They were engaged in a serious loud discussion and kept looking his way. Several of them had picked up long pieces of plant life.

He could sense them gathering courage, they were wishing to attack. Naked and without enough power to control all of them, D'aath felt that surge of sensation again.

He still did not quite understand fear.

"I think we better get out of here." Kathy said, picking up on that herself. She took his hand and they started down a path. A couple of the males started towards them, then all of them joined in.

D'aath knew he had enough energy to handle some of them easily yet he had no wish to do harm.

They began to run.

"Hey, hold up there." One of them called out.

"He's got Kathy!" Another one of them screamed.

They didn't stop, Kathy picked up speed so D'aath easily matched her pace.

"Get in!" Kathy ordered, opening what appeared to be a ground vehicle. He did, she started it and with a roar they were going down a wide passage.

His pod! D'aath was afraid there was not enough energy for it to follow, and the little he had gained was fading quickly. Darkness loomed ahead, parted only by the faint lights of the vehicle.

He felt the loss of contact with the pod, and the moment of confusion.

The ground vehicle was making a very loud high pitched sound.

For a moment, D'aath felt himself losing control, he was beginning a weak attempt at transform.

Then he felt the upset, Kathy began to struggle with the machine. He saw the large plant, knew there was going to be an impact he could not control. His mental calculation of the mass and likely impact assured him the female could not survive becoming part of the All.

D'aath used a huge portion of the last of his energy to partially encase Kathy in a barrier, then tried to shift his own form to a lack of mass.

Slowed because of the expenditure of energy to protect the female, D'aath did not quite succeed in protecting himself.

His awareness ceased.

+++

Energy. It began to flow through D'aath, he saw the Sun was now up. Looking around, he realized he lay on some kind of a padding, there was a thin soft feeling material gathered completely over him. Reaching down, he saw it was a large piece of covering, perhaps intended to keep off moisture?

Next he knew pain. It was a lot of pain, and it seemed to come from everywhere. He got up, the ground beneath him felt wrong, looking down he saw it was some kind of artificial material. There was a large square lens with cloth hanging before it, he pressed the cloth aside and felt the pain ease as the Sun's rays bathed him.

Glancing down again, his body was still bare.

In the corner was a fireplace, flames flared high in it. D'aath walked over and leaned forward into them. The opening was too small, so D'aath compacted his body size into a ball and slid completely into the fireplace.

A vision of earlier crept into his mind, then he felt flooded with knowledge. The ground vehicle, something had happened. He had a vague awareness of the large plant they were headed for and tried to stop the machine but he was far too weak.

Instead he had tried to protect the female, then himself.

There was a shattering of the lens he was seeing through, and nothing.

Behind him there was a sudden intake of air, then a voice.

"Where in the hell did he go?"

D'aath slid out of the flames, allowed his form to restore. Kathy saw that, her mouth hung open.

"You aren't dead?" Kathy blurted out. Her eyes were huge, having seen him again right in the fire.

"No, I have life." He answered, leaning back towards the flames and looking at her.

"I was hoping the fire might...I wasn't sure, but after what you did down at the beach? What in the fuck are you? And don't let the guys see you do that." She glanced at the fire, then back at him.

She stood now in the doorway, she sounded like she was very close to being in survival, even flight mode.

"Do not fear me, I have no harm for you."

"Yea, I know. But Jesus Christ you are weird. What the fuck are you really? How in the hell do you do that shit?"

The Sunlight bathed his back, the flames his front, energy was building although he was still only a tiny fraction of feeling normal.

"I am of the light, I come to see, find out about this world." He answered her.

"No shit, when you did that...whatever the fuck you did, it scared me so much I lost control of the fucking car!"

"What? What did I do?"

"You turned into a..I don't know what that was, it was like a gob of light, or you caught fire, right in my fucking car! That scared the piss out of me, I hit a damned tree. I thought I had killed you...whatever the fuck you are."

"My energy failed me, I could not hold the now."

"The now? What the fuck is the now? And what are we going to do about my Mustang?" She sounded angry now.

D'aath did not understand that.

"Christ. I could touch you but I could barely see you, then you were you again and acted fucking dead! You were on fire when I dragged you out, but it didn't burn me? It was almost like pulling on air? Then you...God. You really are an alien, aren't you?" The anger faded and became mild fright again.

D'aath started to answer her but he sensed the pod, it had followed once the sunlight touched it. It's closer proximity helped him, he felt more energy flood in.

He cast a thought to it and it settled in a sunny spot in the yard, basking.

His mind went back, the ground vehicle had struck the large plant. It was not self aware thus could not defend. She was sliding the machine, when he tried to take control that overwhelmed his power, so instead he encased her in a lessor pod of her own.

For a few moments he had drifted into his normal being and that had scared her so badly she had never regained control and had crashed.

He remembered her screaming as she tugged furiously at his body, then as he faded to his normal self gravity had nearly no effect. She had removed him anyway, and lay him on the ground as he barely managed to change back.

D'aath remembered the very high pitched nonsensical sounds she had made.

There was a blur and the last of his energy went to placing the human body he had transformed into in a suspended state to wait. No breath, no heartbeat, and covered with the body's fluids, she had thought she had caused his life to cease.

It was the very first time D'aath had ever done that, he had no awareness that he even could.

Now the thoughts from Kathy blended into his own, she had been terrified, fully into flight mode yet she had acted anyway. Then somehow she had obtained help and they had moved his body to this place.

D'aath felt the memories of the night before.

"We have to bury him tomorrow." A deeper voice had said.

"Kathy was drinking, if the cops find out she will be in deep shit!" Another voice said.

"The car! What are we going to do about the fucking car?" The deep voice had cried out.

"Let's take the truck, drag it back and hide it in the garage until we figure out what to do."

"She says he is an alien, that he ain't human?"

"I told her not to smoke that shit, they must have laced it with something." One male said as they left.

"We have to wait, if they check her now it's a man slaughter rap at least!"

After that, the very last twinkling of energy faded and D'aath knew of nothing.

+++

Kathy stared at him. He looked her over, she now had on a body covering that were all bland colors, she had obviously come out of her mating ritual. D'aath could be sure of nothing, the Father was not in his mind and he was still only barely gathering the thoughts from the self aware that were close by.

Then D'aath saw the marks on her face, there was a large unnatural swelling on one side and she seemed to be feeling pain in many places. In the brief instant before impact he had not fully protected her with the pod, he could see that.

With a simple thought, he restored her body to health, removing the beginnings of a Kidney stone while he was at it. There were also a few cells that were not reacting normally so he repaired those.

She didn't appear to even notice it.

"Why don't you put some pants on?" Her voice interjected. D'aath looked around, spotted a garment but it appeared to be designed as a wrapping?

"No, not those towels, they are all bloody. I will get you some from Jerry." She turned and left the room. She was back in seconds, a large male right behind her.

"I didn't believe you, he really ain't dead." The male stared at D'aath.

"Last night he was all ripped to shit and now there ain't a fucking mark?"

"No. I told you, he isn't human, he is something fucking else but he doesn't seem dangerous." Kathy said.

"He must have just not been that bad, I guess you cleaned him up? And hey, What happened to you?" The one called Jerry asked Kathy, giving her an odd look.

"What?" Kathy stepped over and looked at herself in a mirror. Her mouth hung open, she just stared.

The marks were all gone.

"I don't hurt anywhere, Davey fixed me somehow." She exclaimed in awe.

"Kath, you need to stay off that damn dope, it must have been laced with something. You probably just missed his pulse is all." The male said.

"Maybe. This is fucking crazy. But at least he isn't dead now." She said.

"Thank God. Last thing we want to do is deal with cops." The male said, he sounded relieved.

Then he looked down.

"Hell, Sis, look at the cock on this guy!" He snorted.

"Yea, I know." She gave a little tittering sound like she was amused.

"He is going to give me a fucking complex." The one called Jerry laughed, then he turned and left the room. Kathy watched as D'aath put on the coverings, the upper portion was far too snug.

He adjusted that with his mind, then pulled it on.

"How did you do that?" She asked, wide eyed.

"I just changed the atoms." He answered, sensing now what she meant before she gave it sound.

"Wish you could do that to my fucking Mustang." She muttered.

D'aath sensed that she meant the ground vehicle.

"I can, of course."

"You can?"

"Yes."

"No shit?"

"I do not need to defecate."

"What? Fuck me, you are something else." She laughed.

"But you are not in mating ritual?" D'aath was confused at her conflicting terms, they did not fit her thoughts.

"What? Davey, you are the strangest guy I ever ran into. But I guess you ain't a guy, not really. Oh, the hell with it. Let's get something to eat."

"I could use sustenance and fluid." D'aath told her. She just looked at him, her head did that odd tip again.

"Jerry, I am telling you, this guy ain't human!" She told the male when they walked in.

Jerry just shook his head and mumbled something underneath his breath about her having some loose screws.

+++

Something on a heating unit was making noise as they entered the room, a different male was standing there creating what D'aath became aware was a meal.

"Hey, bud. Yer the dead guy, huh?" The male said with a grin. Then he laughed.

"This is Davey and that's Henry, he lives with us." Kathy said.

"I will be back in a minute, I need to go check on something." She said.

D'aath started to answer the man that he was not with the All but then decided to not voice anything. The male set some food before him, it appeared odd so D'aath picked it up and inspected it. It was not self aware, so he slid it into his mouth. It was delicious and filled with energy.

"Damn good Bacon, huh?" Henry said, heading back to the heating unit. D'aath responded by eating a second piece.

He looked around for Kathy but she had left the room. He felt for her and realized she was outside in a building looking at the ground vehicle.

She was crying.

That made no sense, why would she express sorrow over an object, something that was not self aware?

D'aath stood up and went through the passageway, found her and the male she called Jerry studying the machine.

"She sure fucked it up, good thing the air bag went off or she would be dead. How in the fuck did you not get killed is beyond me." He told D'aath.

The entire forward section of the machine was folded back to the front lens, the lens was completely shattered.

"Davey here says he can fix it." She laughed.

"No way in hell, the fucking engine is knocked back two feet." Jerry said.

"Place it in the light." D'aath said.

"What?"

"We must place it in the light." He repeated.

"I will have to go get the tractor to drag it." Jerry said.

"I will move it."

"How? The fucking front wheels are damn near flat on the ground."

D'aath thought to the pod, it appeared next to them as a shimmer, then vanished.

"What the fuck is that?" Jerry yelled, his voice a squeak. The one called Henry stood frozen, his eyes wide.

"Just let Davey do his thing, he can do some neat shit." Kathy said, her eyes large also.

D'aath concentrated for a second, the machine lifted off the ground and floated out the garage doors which appeared to open by themselves.

"Holy Jesus Christ!" Jerry muttered.

D'aath walked outside into the full morning sunlight. Holding up his arms, he let the waves of energy pour over him.

The two men and Kathy just stood there staring.

D'aath drew on the pod, it was still weak but it was enough.

The front end of the damaged machine shimmered for a moment and then was back where it was before, the lens appeared to flow, in a couple of seconds it looked like it was untouched.

D'aath sensed delight in Kathy, then she was thinking she wanted it to shine so he shined it and removed ever single particle that was not a piece of it. Then he inspected it internally, found a bearing in the power system that was worn and restored that, and added the braking system back to new. At the same time he thought of the plant she had struck and restored the fibers back to normal.

"OH!" Kathy muttered, her hand to her mouth.

"I think this dude is going to come in pretty fucking handy around here!" Jerry managed. Then he laughed nervously. Henry just appeared frightened.

D'aath knew he had drawn every single bit of energy that the pod had gained, and now he felt exhausted himself so he sat down on the ground.

"What's the matter with him?" Jerry asked, he also had a frightened look on his face at what he had just witnessed.

"Energy." D'aath managed.

"Let's get him inside." Jerry said.

"No. Sunlight. I need the light."

D'aath felt Kathy sense what he needed, she came over and tugged off his upper garment. That helped, so she reached down and started to pull off his lower garment.

"Now what in the fuck are you doing?" Jerry asked her as she struggled with the clothing.

"This guy is an alien and he needs the sunlight, I get it now." She told him flatly, finally getting the pants off and standing up.

"You just want to look at his dick again." Jerry laughed.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole." She told him.

The two men turned and walked towards the dwelling, talking to each other and glancing back several times.

D'aath sensed that they were going to retrieve some kind of weapons, it was clear they were concerned with him.

D'aath began to feel strength again, barely. He wanted to get into the pod and drift to the Sun to restore but it was still very much depleted.

He had again used nearly all of it's stores plus his own doing the simple act of repairing the ground vehicle, so it was doubtful that the pod could even escape this tiny world's grasp.

Kathy sat on the ground beside him as he basked, leaning back fully nude. With each passing minute he felt himself getting stronger but he knew there was no way he could ever get to full power this way.

But he was beginning to get the thoughts of those around himself much more strongly again. There appeared to be no end to things drawing him down, he would never get off this world at this rate.

"How much sunlight do you need?" She asked him.

"A lot, this is very weak." He answered.

"Is there a way to get more?"

"Yes, I can travel there." He told her.

"Where?"

"To this world's Sun."

"You want to go to the fucking Sun? How do you do that?" She asked.

"In the pod."

"The pod? That is that thing over there we can't quite see?"

"Yes." D'aath made the pod appear for a few seconds, then returned it to basking. It took quite a bit of effort, that was odd.

"Wow, it looks like a great big egg. It looks like it's on fire, how come it's not hot?" She asked.

He didn't answer, he was feeling much better now but still amazingly weak.

Then he felt her eyes studying him. For some reason she wanted to know what his appendage looked like enlarged.

D'aath sensed that her heart rate was elevated again.

"Are you needing to mate?" He asked her.

"What? No! I was just...Hey, that deal last night, I was just drunk and.." Her face flamed.

"To see is part of your ritual?" He asked.

"Ritual? You mean sex, don't you? No, it's guys that always want to look at women."