Iron Rain Pt. 17

"No."

The woman lifted her head and looked at Nick and the deep violet eyes widened and she nodded. Fire Heart stepped back and returned to the male Anubis and left Nick on his own. Nick entered the room and she patted a spot next to her on the pillows that served as her bed. He dropped down and they said nothing for a long time each taking the measure of the other. She was tall and willowy of build but curvaceous in all the right places. Her long silvery white hair fell to her calves and was intricately woven in a braid. Her face was heart shaped and her high cheekbones and elegant nose gave her the impression of a bird of prey. She had full kissable lips and a long neck that also was made for kissing. She was wearing a shimmering metallic dress that was woven in a feather-like design adding to his guess of some sort of avian race. Nick reached up and cupped the side of her face and she leaned into his touch. Her ethereal quality was breathtaking and he wanted nothing more than to please her in all ways. He opened his mouth to speak but she placed a single finger to his lips and he nodded. Nick captured her finger and slowly sucked on it sending a shiver through her. Eyes bright with lust she nibbled on the palm of his hand as they grew to know each other a little better. She took his hand in hers now and kissed the palm of his hand and then his wrist then her tongue began to tease a sensitive spot just below his wrist. Nick reciprocated and took her hand and found that sweet spot on her wrist and kissed and teased it. Unable to resist her scent he leaned close and kissed her neck lightly and heard her moan as she extended her neck for him and he planted a line of butterfly kissed until his lips met hers.

Fire Heart and the tall Anubis warrior sat in the central chamber waiting and listening. It was Fire Heart who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Do you think he will survive?"

"It is all my fault," the Anubis said his eyes welling up with tears.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"It was I who pushed the others to demand proof of the Shaw's right to rule. But we were all well aware of his gentle soul and his wisdom. It was my pride that forced this situation."

"Well it is too late now you can apologize if he survives."

Nick pulled her into his arms and felt her naked form mold to his. There was something about her that was so damn intoxicating! Was it her scent? Was it the caress of her flawless skin? Maybe it was those eyes the color of amethyst that screamed to be lost in? But it was her lips and the passion they kindled within him that was pulling him into the hungry spiral of desire. Nick's hands settled onto her hips and slowly lifted her and brought her into that sensuous alignment that would raise their intimacy to the final level. He slowly lowered her and felt her lips part around him and as she moaned louder into his mouth he pierced her to the core. He looked into her eyes and saw the surprise and ever deepening ecstasy. Nick broke their kiss and pulled her closer still.

"Am I your first," Nick whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she moaned. "After all these long years I know what true intimacy is."

"Long years..." he muttered. "How old are you beloved?"

"You know it's not proper to ask a woman her age," she purred. "Shall I show you the intimacy that only I can give beloved?"

"It only seems fair," he said smiling.

"So handsome... so very young..." she moaned as she began to ride him and when they locked eyes next he felt what no mortal is meant to share.

The walls between them fell away and where there were once two individual minds, bodies and souls there blazed a single coalesced flame. His life passed before him and it was a mere heartbeat as her life passed before his eyes. Nick perceived the universe as she did and the interconnectedness of all things. He saw the dancing subatomic particles and the spinning galaxies and there was balance. All things pass from the may fly to the stars in heaven. The heavy guilt he had been carrying over Project Aries was like smoke in the wind.

"Nikolas," her thoughts touched his. "You are a force of nature and you must accept that every decision you have made, are making and will make are above such simple things as morality and emotion. What you do is for the future that will be brighter and in balance."

His thoughts were confusion and doubt for he could not see the future it was only hope that had guided his hand.

"Beloved let me give you a glimpse of your plan taken shape and form," her voice reached his ears now. "Behold!"

His world exploded with light and sound and he was standing on the island but it was changed drastically and the jungle was much reduced and the buildings oh how they shined in the sunlight! There were people milling about and his dream of the resurrected school had been fully realized. These were his legacy and it looked bright.

"I never dreamed it would be like this," Nick whispered.

"Now make love to me beloved and grieve no more," she moaned.

Nick rolled her onto her back and drove into her fiercely igniting her passion that was so alien to her. Her body shuddered suddenly and he knew she was experiencing her first orgasm.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS," she cried out and it seemed like the entire mountain shook. "More!"

His smile was feral as he pulled out of her and flipped her onto her belly and plunged into her from behind.

"UNNNNNNNN," Nick groaned in her ear.

He moved slowly at first as his hands gripped her hips and pulled her onto her hands and knees. Then his thrust became more urgent as his climax got closer and closer.

"Fill me Nikolas... let me feel you come inside of me!"

She was thrusting back now driving him deeper and harder into her. Nick closed his eyes and thrust into her as fast and hard as he could. There was the slapping sound of their bodies, the scent that was the two of them and the pleasure that was quickly reaching its peak.

"Almost there... almost... almost... UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN," he howled as his cock pulsed into her fiery depths.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS," she moaned and ground against him not wanting the moment to end.

Once recovered the leaned forward and cupped her breasts and began to tease her and showing her a new pleasure.

"That was one," he moaned in her ear.

"MMMMMMMMMMMM I am yours for as long as you desire beloved." She replied with her own moan.

"I need something from you beloved," Nick said.

"Anything," she purred.

"Your name," he said.

"Oh I have been so impolite," she said with a wicked glint in her eye. "Let me see your face lover."

Nick eased out of her and heard her grunt of disappointment but he rolled her onto her back and slid back into her.

"MMMMMMMMMM better," she moaned as she laid her hand upon his chest right above his heart. "My name is Bennu."

There came a flood of energy where her hand made contact with his flesh. There came heat and then a burning sensation and those two syllables echoed to the core of his being. Bennu.

Nick's scream echoed throughout the entire lower level and it took all of the Anubis' strength to keep Fire Heart from racing to his side.

"We cannot interfere," he said as calmly as he could.

"I know but..." she said leaning into his strong arms.

"We must hope he is strong enough."

There was a flash of movement and something soared by the pair towards the room where Nick and Bennu were that the Bast and Anubis barely registered its passing.

"Night Wind NO..." Fire Heart called out but it was already too late.

The shadowcat was in full battle mode when it stopped its forward momentum and dropped to the ground staring intently at the occupants of the chamber. It cocked its head to one side and promptly dropped into a defensive position before the open doorway.

"That was too close," the Anubis whispered.

"I agree," Fire Heart said puzzled. "I wonder what made her stop?"

Bennu's back was pressed firmly against the stone wall as Nick thrust into her hard and fast. His eyes locked with hers and his only goal to show her what she had been missing all these long years. He leaned his head forward and her lips met his in another all consuming kiss that held more delight than any other woman he had ever been with. Nick cupped her breasts and teased her nipples and again her body reacted and another climax gripped the woman with the amethyst eyes.

Their love play was hour following hour and he required neither food nor rest and she appeared insatiable now that she had experienced physical bliss. But an hour before dawn she once more laid her hand upon his chest but this time in surrender. Nick stopped as this last orgasm shook her to her core and her smile the only reward he wanted.

"It is time Nikolas," Bennu said softly and disentangling herself from him.

"Time... time for what beloved," he asked watching her move to where his kimono jacket lay on the floor.

"It is time for the Eternal Master to take up his ring and face the dawn," she said retrieving the Bloodstone Ring from its hiding place. "You were going to use this if the Titan magic didn't work weren't you?"

"How did you know," Nick asked but then remembered his entire life had passed before her mind's eye too. "It contains the blood of the Nephilim and yes I was going to use it as a last resort."

"Fight fire with fire as they say," she mused as she twisted the insignia twice and handed him the ring. "Put it on beloved and become the man I know you are capable of being."

"What did you do?"

"I altered the blood it will inject into you. It will not pump that weak Nephilim concoction it will pump Her blood into your veins."

"Why would you want me to do that Bennu?"

"Have you ever heard of alchemy Nikolas?" She asked her gaze snaring his.

"Yes... basically its primitive chemistry," he replied as she closed the distance between them.

"Yes but coursing through your body is a great alchemy waiting to happen." Bennu told him settling the ring into the palm of his hand.

"I don't understand," Nick said looking at the ring now.

"Beloved within your body, your amazing body are a myriad of wondrous components. You have the remnants of the first contact lenses that have migrated to every cell in your body. The invisibility formulae the dear doctor gave you. The Titan magic that is hiding as a tattoo on your back and the fiery touch I gifted you with earlier tonight. The only thing missing to bring it all together is the blood of your direst enemy."

"That and the Dawn," Nick whispered.

"Yes... are you afraid?" Bennu asked pulling him into her gentle embrace.

"Yes."

"I am with you Nikolas, my energy flows through you and you have seen the deepest parts of me. Now are you really afraid I have chosen poorly?"

"No... nervous maybe," he admitted.

"Nervous is perfectly acceptable, now give me your old ring and take up the true ring of the Eternal Master."

Nick slid the platinum ring from his finger and without hesitation slid the Bloodstone Ring onto his finger and felt the quick jab of pain. Suddenly he was so cold and she held him as the blood of the Dark Mother flowed into him.

"It will all be over in moments beloved and then you will be prepared to greet the dawn." She whispered as the first Akhkharu in thousands of years was born.

"So cold... so hungry..." he moaned.

Night Wind rose from her protective position at the door let out a yowl of fear and fled on swift wings from the lower level of the Black Pyramid. Fire Heart grabbed the Anubis and drew him to his feet and fled sensing something wrong and a danger approaching.

Nick Shaw rose to his feet and dressed slowly for what may be his last day upon the earth. Bennu was once more garbed in her metallic dress and stood in all her splendor with eyes for him alone. They walked arm in arm from the lower level that was now vacant up and out into the dying night. They walked to the eastern most outcropping of the mountain top and there he knelt and closed his eyes in meditation.

One Hour Until Dawn

Kat slept in her bed with her lover Sora snuggled close. The city of Arkham slept in the predawn hour and only the patrols by the military scouts disturbed the dreamers and the dreaming. Kat dreamt of the dead and the mind numbing repetition of going house to house searching for them and with the help of her partner carrying them out and placing them in the back of the truck. Those that had been out in the open had more or less been found and disposed of but it was those who had gone home and done the unspeakable and tried to slay their families thinking it was the End of Days. Those sick people had to be found and removed the hard way.

Cyan Michaels was preparing for the European aspect of Operation Damocles and making sure things would go off without a hitch. Her political clout was barely exceeded by her financial power. There were those still left in power that owed her favors and when they saw the way things were going they followed orders and when the word was given a world could grieve and a new hope would be kindled in the survivors. She hoped things were going well on Nick's end of things.

Jesse sat in his crystalline sanctuary far from his body that he left on life support back in chemical time. From his perspective it had been centuries of learning and exploring the cathedral of knowledge that was the library crystal. Still there was so much to understand but it was nearing the time when his body would fail and he would be forced to make a critical decision. If he chose to stay then everything he learned would be confined to knowing only he would be unable to utilize it. If he left so much of what he learned would be lost due to the lack of his physical brain being able to absorb so much information. It would be like a dream. There had to be a way of having the best of both worlds. He still had some time left and so he put his considerable resources to the task. Then the alarm went off and he saw a drastic change in Nick's vital signs. His Old One physiology was undergoing a drastic and radical alteration on the genetic level. The nanites, the microscopic machines, which the contact lenses had broken down to were sending him telemetry and it didn't look good. He ran a comparison and found only one profile that fit the change... Akhkharu! He could try and counteracting it but what if this was his last defense against the Dark Mother? He would be interfering and possibly cost Nick his life. He would have to wait and see what happened. He had to trust that this was on purpose and not the cost of a lost combat with her. Please Nick be okay!

Terry Wilkes sat at the table in his workshop and rubbed his eyes and looked at the screen of reading the email for the third time to make sure he was reading it correctly. No it was official Nick had made him CFO, Chief Financial Officer, of Numenor Incorporated. The email went on and said that if anything happened to him he should run the company and all its subsidiaries as he saw fit. Though in typical Shaw fashion there were a few suggestions attached and projects in the works that would need his attention.

"Figures just when I am ready to add to the already formidable list of Numenor patents he derails me by promoting me," Terry said aloud.

"Master Terry," his avatar said appearing next to him. "Should I finish or would you like the honors, as you like to say so often, to push the button."

Terry's avatar was the spitting image of one his favorite anime heroine's brought to life. She still possessed the ridiculous blue hair and purple eyes but the rest of her was all hentai.

"I have Master Jesse's latest suggested modifications already uploaded for your perusal," she purred in his ear. "Unless you'd like to take a break."

"As tempting as that would be Medaka I believe I would like to 'celebrate' after the successful completion of this project."

"Oh pooh," she said pressing her large breasts against his back. "Shall I initiate the suggested changes Terry-Kun?"

"Yes please," he said eager to see what new tidbits Jesse had gleaned from the library crystal to aid in his latest project.

Medaka closed her eyes and synced with the specially crafted crystal and began the alterations to its core programming. The living software drifted into a form of REM sleep and when it woke the changes would be applied, kind of like rebooting a pc after installing a new program. Terry knew his avatar could be pushy even obstinate at times but her touch with other avatars was without peer.

"It's done lover bear," she moaned in his ear.

"What is your opinion of the new parameters and functionality," Terry asked.

"I believe with this latest update the inner ear problem has been corrected to the Nth percentile."

"What about the gripping strength has that issue been corrected as well?"

"Yes Master, I can do a level five diagnostic if you'd like or I could just hop in and test drive her." Medaka suggested.

"Let's move her to the larger lab before we do that in the mean time run the diagnostic and I can get a bite to eat it's almost dawn."

"Yes Master," she replied realizing he was all business until his little toy was up and running.

As Terry walked up the stairs that led to his living quarters Medaka activated the robotic arms and lifted the skeletal figure onto the motorized gurney and directed it into lab three, the largest on site. While the gurney made its journey the avatar 'dived' into the crystal that was strictly there for her to observe and check the operations of the mechanical aspect of the artificial body her Master was creating. Having access to an entire plant full of machining equipment it wasn't difficult for him to fashion the skeletal components. But the muscular array had been a nightmare until he discovered a memory plastic being developed for a competitive government and decided to exploit its properties for his own uses. The compound actually has the capability to learn and remember certain shapes that mirror muscle memory in a human being strikingly well. Once that problem was solved movement and strength control became a huge stumbling block until Jesse ran god knows how many simulations in digital time and came up with what hopefully prove to be successful algorithms to allow for locomotion and a gentle touch. So while Master restored his strength with food Medaka rode every sensory nerve ending and muscular connection making sure that there were no defects anywhere. If this worked and the synthetic skin application went well she would have an actual physical form to move about in!

Half Hour Until Dawn

Akira raced to the top of the mountain when Night Wind returned to the Numenor without Nick and was shaking like a leaf. Something had frightening the predator to her core and Akira wanted to find out what it was. She reached the Black Pyramid in record time and was too concerned over Nick's welfare to feel her exhaustion. But there he was kneeling dressed in his finest kimono surrounded by what appeared to be the entire Osirin population on the island. It was as if the Egyptian Pantheon had descended from heaven and knelt in observance of whatever the hell was going on. All but one she noticed the silver haired woman in the feather dress. She was looking straight at Akira with the unblinking gaze of a raptor. She closed the distance between her and the woman and they met somewhere in the middle.

"What the hell is going on," Akira said her voice dripping accusation and venom in equal amounts.

"Nikolas' Apotheosis," she said in voice so beautiful that it could belong to no other being but her.

"I don't understand," Akira snarled.

"Understanding is not necessary," the woman said. "All that is occurring is Nikolas' decisions."

"Who are you?"