Iron Rain Pt. 16

"Look at you," he muttered. "So beautiful."

"It's a she by the way," Lilith offered.

Nick dropped down to a kneeling position so he could look her in the eye and the winged cat pulled its wings back against its body and returned Nick's unflinching stare.

"Master what are you doing," Lilith whispered.

"Taking in her measure," he replied.

"Did you miss my remark about being the apex predator you do know what that means?"

"Yeah it means she is the one to impress around here," Nick said with a smile.

The great cat walked towards Nick and Lilith slowly at first but then picked up speed very quickly launching herself at Nick with a practiced pounce. Nick cried out in surprise and Lilith was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Lilith for god's sake you're scaring her," Nick managed from below the three hundred pound cat.

Lilith managed to pull her hands away from her face and looked down to see the great apex predator licking her Master as if he were one of her cubs.

"Figures," Lilith finally managed to say.

"What figures," Nick asked giggling as the rough tongue lapped at his throat and face.

"If that had been a male Shadowcat you'd been dead," she replied.

"Are you insinuating something?"

"No I am flat out stating a fact," Lilith said in a huff.

Nick began scratching the Shadowcat behind her ears and the purr that followed was loud and primal.

"You see I rest my case," the avatar pouted.

He managed after several long minutes of 'loving' to get to his feet and the cat was never far from his right side. The couatl took a few more minutes to coax from its hiding place to assure it that all was well now that Nick reeked of predator.

"Let's continue shall we," Nick said grinning.

"How did you know," Lilith asked.

"How did I know what," he replied knowing full well what she meant.

"How did you know that she wasn't going to rip your throat out?"

"I just did," Nick replied.

But it had been more than an instinctual thing. The Scepter of Iram didn't react to the cat even as it raced towards him. Nick felt sure that if the cat had meant to harm him the Scepter now Gauntlet would have alerted him somehow would have done something in his defense. With a shrug he and his motley crew made their way to the open double doors.

Beyond the doors was a much more modest chamber that measured about twenty feet on a side with a ten foot ceiling. In the center of the chamber a round oaken table that had fourteen high backed wooden chairs around it. The chairs were identical and bore nothing to mark one from the other.

"Damn," Nick cursed.

"What," Lilith asked.

"I was hoping to see names etched on the chairs," he admitted.

"Like," she asked confused.

"Oh I don't know Arthur, Gawain or even Lancelot." Nick said disappointed.

"Don't you think they knew where they sat do you think they needed a placard?" Lilith mused.

"Damn I didn't think of that," he admitted.

"This is where the ruling body of the island met for various issues. It was also used to council students in the ways of politics. Many that came here returned to rule areas of great import." Lilith explained.

"It seems multitasking is a recurring theme here." Nick noticed.

"Keeps space from being wasted or going unused."

"Seems logical to me," Nick said looking at the doors leading from the room.

"He lies beyond one of these doors," Lilith admitted.

Nick felt his skin get goose bumps and knew the Eternal Master was close but which door to chose?

"Let's see the building is orientated towards the cardinal points," Nick was talking to himself. "But that's not right because the Northern door is marked with the sign of air and that is supposed to mean East."

"Much has changed in the Long Years since the school was first built," Lilith shared.

"Well if that's the case the symbolism on the doors means squat," Nick cursed.

He looked around and walked to each closed door and laid his hand upon them and felt no change. After completing his circuit of the three possible exits he noticed the Shadowcat facing the Eastern door and sniffing the air. That was the door they had entered in he had discounted it as a possible choice but now he wasn't so sure.

"It's as good a shot as any," Nick said opening the Eastern door and standing in the center of the main foyer was the Eternal Master.

"Hello Nick," he greeted with a warm smile. "You are here at last."

Casablanca Morocco: 2:12 p.m.

The Grand Mosque was surrounded by a sea of bodies; the faithful come for an answer for this terrible thing that had happened. Within the clerics prayed for a sign of why the believer and the unbeliever alike had been smitten by the wroth of God. Had they done something deserving divine retribution? However among those that had fallen silently had been a brother of one of the clerics and he knew that he was a god fearing man. He was an honorable man who would lie down his life for his god. It made no sense. His brother had killed many infidels in his time and was a warrior for Allah.

There were so many dead that it was ordered that the bodies be burned to keep the spread of disease to a minimum. It was not a popular order but a necessary one to save those still alive. Corpses by the truckload were prayed over then dumped in the mass funeral pyres that would burn long into the night and many nights that followed.

Rome Italy: 5:58 p.m.

St. Peter's Square was a mass of bodies as the city became a focal point for Christians everywhere. The borders had to be closed to Vatican City and the Pope had to go live on television to tell the faithful to go to their local churches and pray or to pray in their homes. He sat alone feeling so very old and wondered why such terrible things must happen during his lifetime. The people were scared and they had every right to be. This plague that had struck had killed millions worldwide in a matter of hours! The geopolitical impact was devastating as people in power were struck down as likely as those who were poorest of the poor. The destabilization was spreading and would only get worse before it got better if it ever did. The panic inspired just seemed to escalate the death toll and many were trying to send messages that called for calm. The Pope pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes saying yet another silent prayer for guidance. Receiving no divine answer he opened his eyes and slowly stood. The council of cardinals would be waiting and he had to issue some sort of statement that could be spread and give some measure of hope.

P'yongyang North Korea: Midnight

The command center for the might of North Korea was in complete disarray. The bodies of the dead were being drug out and tossed into waiting garbage trucks for disposal and it was only getting worse. Every outpost containing military personal was in utter chaos and those few of the upper echelon were striving and failing to maintain any facsimile of command procedure. How could this have happened? The world seemed to have gone mad over the last few hours and no one was to blame. Was there some sort of divine punishment being reigned down upon them? Each and every order to attack resulted in more and more deaths. When commanders began refusing to give those orders and forced at gunpoint their superiors dropped dead of this invisible menace.

Once a lowly second lieutenant now promoted by simple attrition Yong Fang saw the pattern and decided to use it to his advantage. What normally would have been suicide in the past was now a means of gaining true power in this time of great change. He moved from the command center to the bunker where the elite were hold up and found the door propped open by the corpse of the former Grand General of the Army. He could still hear voices within barking out orders and smiled to himself. If his observation was correct he would soon take command in a bloodless coup. Well he would never have lifted a finger. Fang stepped over the body of his deceased competitor and strode into the room observing the scene. Three people remained alive and only one of them was a real threat to his plan so he would have to go first.

"Yong Fang isn't it," the Supreme Commander asked in his shaky voice.

"Yes," he replied.

"What is the situation," the son of the previous ruler asked looking around like a man clearly out of his depth.

"They are all dead, troops, middle echelon and upper echelon. They are all dead." Fang reported.

"But I ordered a full scale attack of those Southern bastards hours ago."

"Yes you did and they followed your orders and died," Fang reported.

"Well they can't all be dead," he shrieked.

"No the smart ones went home to be with their families," Fang said walking towards the Supreme Commander.

"What are you doing?"

"I am taking over; you have lived your life as a fool and you will die a fool." Fang said walking closer still.

"NO!" the Supreme Commander cried out and pointing his customized pistol at Yong Fang and tried to pull the trigger but death reached out and snatched away his breath before he could do any harm.

The two remaining men dropped their weapons and bowed low to Yong Fang awaiting his orders.

"Inform the entire military to stand down and go home to their families. Well those that are still alive and when that order has been acknowledged you two will help me rebuild our once great nation."

"Yes Sir," they both said as they delegated the orders to what few remained of the army.

"And somebody get this carcass out of here before it begins to stink up the place."

Outside the Grand Academy:

The two men sat on the top step of the Academy while Lilith sat leaning against one of the massive pillars observing the two men so different in appearance and yet so similar in bearing. The feared apex predator sat at Nick's feet sleeping in the sun and amazingly the feathered serpent lay on Nick's thigh also sunning itself.

"You have a lot of questions I imagine," the Eternal Master said.

"That would be the understatement of the Millennia." Nick replied.

"I guess why is at the top of your list," the older man said.

"How about we start with your story; who the hell are you?" Nick asked his frustration showing.

"Hmmm," the Eternal Master sat in silent contemplation before he began to speak. "My name is Moksha Jeherrum Khaine and I was born on a small island that now rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. It was at sea level before the last great ice age and when the snow melted the island simply disappeared. I am a mutation in the ever evolving experiment of the Promethean. It was she who began tinkering with subhuman stock and nudged them along the evolutionary track you see today. She never expected her pets to actually achieve sentience but we did. She sure as hell never expected something like me to come out of the genetic soup."

"What's so special about you," Nick asked.

"My quasi-immortal status I suppose. Most humans at that time lived around sixty years on average. I didn't reach full maturity until I was almost twice that. So I received her undivided attention for a very long time. I did age just very slowly. She was trying to replicate me in the lab when she stumbled upon the Akhkharu strain. The first generation was utterly virulent they killed whatever life form they came into contact with. Her second attempt wasn't much better but when she added my DNA to the mix they stabilized a bit. But there was an unexpected permutation the Akhkharu achieved sentience when they were mingled with my DNA. She learned this when just one of them managed to escape her lab and infect not only the human population but three Old Ones as well. To say the Promethean took some heat would be putting it mildly. They had to seal the three infected away for all time and well you know what happened when too many Akhkharu had multiplied. The Old Ones do not condone killing unless there is no other choice. It forced many of them to make amends to the human lands that were especially devastated."

"So where do you enter the story?" Nick asked.

"Ah, due to my unique nature I was chosen to take over as Master of the Isle replacing the Old One who desired to see the outside world and help repair it."

"So you are not the first that is interesting."

"It was an exciting time for me. I was young and impressionable and foolish. I was handed the keys to an institution that had stood for millennia without a single blemish and within my first year the school was closed and I was a pariah."

"Did you love her," Nick asked.

"I don't know even now I ask myself if I love her or just in lust. She was dying and the right thing to do was to put her out of her misery. But she was so beautiful and I was so damn young."

"If you killed her you'd be forgiven isn't that true?"

"Yes, if I were to go up to the pyramid and slay her I would be restored to my old title.

"If you are so unsure why not finish the threat she represents," Nick asked.

"You haven't seen her, haven't heard her voice or known her as intimately as I have."

"All that is true but some acts require great sacrifice, I know," Nick said turning to face the Eternal Master. "Why did you do what you did to me? Was there some purpose or am I just some experiment?"

The bitterness in his voice was open and clearly evident in each and every syllable.

"Nick, everything I did was for a reason."

"Good then tell me... why did you ruin my life?"

"Is that what you think I did," the older man said his face losing all its color. "I tried to give you something special; but the greater the gift sometimes the greater the sacrifice."

"Just tell me this, what was the endgame?" Nick said glaring at him.

"Nick I am tired I have been running things for so damn long... I was grooming you as my successor."

Nick's anger vanished as if it never had been and he looked at the older man and though his skin was healthy and young his eyes showed the uncounted centuries of his existence and their heavy burden.

"I didn't know," was all Nick could manage.

"I know you didn't," he replied with a sad smile. "But for what it's worth you've done one hell of a job so far."

"Perhaps we shall see after Project Aries wreaks its cost," Nick muttered.

"But in the end there will be peace," the Eternal Master offered.

"Eventually," Nick murmured as they rose to their feet and began the long walk up the mountain towards the Black Pyramid.

Beijing: 4:03 a.m.

We have marshaled our forces and are ready to strike! The chaos that the world was experiencing was not going to take the Great Army of the People off guard. There were enough infantry alone to protect this great country or so they thought. They were not fighting an enemy they were fighting themselves. The alarms sounded, intruders were detected in Chinese airspace as well as radar lock on armored columns moving on Beijing itself! The orders were given... attack! Rockets and aircraft and marching men went off to die against silicon ghosts in the machine that appeared on their systems but existed only in the pulsing beat of the cybernetic heart of the Chinese War Machine. Men and women perished by the millions and attacked only phantoms their superiors swore were there. All over the nation warriors fought and died as Project Aries took its mortal toll from all people willing to raise a hand against their neighbor. Aries stopped hearts or caused aneurisms or simply shut down the nervous system. It was an equal opportunity assassin that had no remorse and in the end it was the people who did not fight that won the day. It took time for the survivors to believe there could be a lasting peace upon the earth at the cost of one simple freedom, was it worth the price?

Washington D.C.: Noon

The riots died off because the people waging them were dying in the streets. The rampant crime and violence was slowly but surely evaporating because the people too stupid to realize what was happening were dropping like flies. However the people who stayed home and huddled together felt the angel of death pass them by and knew that it was keeping perpetual watch and they were okay with that. Neighbors began to go out and help neighbors stack the bodies of the dead for cremation for suddenly the dead outnumbered the living. Churches and Synagogues and Mosques were filled to capacity as the people prayed together calling this the End of Days. But in truth it was the beginning, a new beginning. The President put off calling on martial law fearing it would insight more deaths and right then and there they could not afford any more losses, no nation could. So he called for the citizens and the police and the military, what was left of it, to work together to rebuild and fix what so long had been broken. With the fear of war now a memory the nations of the world could truly come together and work as a single people, a single race for in this new future there was no room for division.

Antwerp: 6:30 p.m.

The Ancient and Radiant Order of the Dragon was assembled en mass. The Nephilim council had not been called into full assembly since the Dark Ages. Black was the color of the day and Ulrich Ahriman looked dire in his demeanor and bitter in his countenance. He addressed the council...

"I don't know how he did it but it is that brat Nikolas Shaw! He murdered my son and now... NOW... THIS!!!"

"Your son did have his mother killed," spoke the venerable T'Sien Fu representing the House of Anu.

"By the Twelve if my son had killed his entire bloodline and pissed on their graves nothing warrants this atrocity that he has wrought!" Ulrich raged.

"It is because of him that we are divided as a people," purred Lady Katya of the House of Ishtar.

"I do not deny my own daughter has become his concubine," spat the Lord of Nanna Sin.

"You see he has us fighting ourselves," Ulrich cried out. "We are a humbled people now. We cannot HUNT else we perish and if we do not FEED we will surely die."

"Well put so what do we do?" Asked Lady Garbielle of the House of Tiamat.

"We offer him a peace," purred the Lady Katya.

"Peace... PEACE!!! There can be no PEACE..." and Lord Ulrich nearly swooned as Aries raced in his system.

"Calm yourself Lord Ulrich," Katya half moaned. "We offer him an out so that we can crucify him before the entire world."

"You mean to tell the public about what he has done with no proof," Ulrich scoffed.

"I never said anything about no proof did I? You should know me better than that old friend. He will give us all the proof we need I assure you."

"And what if you fail," he countered.

"Then we are no worse off than before now are we?"

"I suggest complete and utter surrender," said a voice from the back.

"Who DARES," roared Ulrich his face livid and eyes bright with pain.

"I do," Akira Kusanagi said pulling down her hood of black.

"Akira," her father cried out.

"Hello Father," Akira replied coolly.

"You speak nothing short of treason," Ulrich accused her.

"No, what I speak is the best course of action for our people." She shot back unafraid.

"OUR PEOPLE, who are you to dare use those words when you ally yourself with our most dire foe?" Ulrich screeched.

"I am honor bound to serve the Shaw, and it is out of love and respect for my people that I am here today," Akira replied still calm and cool. "You make yourself ill getting so upset Lord Ulrich."

"He killed my son," Ulrich screamed his hands shaking.

"Your son killed his mother," Akira said raising an eyebrow. "We can throw accusations back and forth or we can come to an understanding."

"Speak daughter of our blood," the Lady Katya purred.

"The Shaw offers a treaty of nonaggression between humans and Nephilim with certain feeding rights that can be negotiated later. He does not want conflict or war believe it or not he wants peace." Akira said with great conviction.