Rise of Aen Read online

  You have shown me such kindness over the years, the voice was not his; it was hers! Not like some others around here. I shall return that kindness.

  54 extended his left hand towards her and began to squeeze the air as if grasping something; all the while holding Zero’s body tightly in his right arm. Phillips mind raced fearfully until she felt the rocks covering her quiver slightly. As this new motion began, he lifted his hand slightly and the debris that held her down began to rise. She gasped in surprise—she had no idea he had become telekinetic! As the rubble was clear of her body, he quickly flinched his wrist and the rocks were thrown clear out the hole in the building. Her body was free, but now the pain rushed over her as there was no pressure on the wounds on her body.

  Help is close by, the woman’s voice echoed in her skull. But I implore you to leave once healed as this won’t be a safe place.

  “Why, when no one on the planet knows this place exists?”

  Your general has set in motion events that have drawn attention to your sleepy corner of the galaxy. Ours is one of many peaceful races amongst the stars, but there are many monsters out there and one has focused its eyes on you!

  “Can your people help us, or have we damned ourselves for the way we’ve mistreated you?” Her words were becoming increasingly difficult as the pain was immense. Every ounce of her strength was being used to not pass out.

  My people will come, but they will not come in time to prevent the attack. My son will be the key to your salvation; your harbinger of the coming of the Empire. He alone can save your world, but he needs time to become the being he was destined to become.

  He began to walk towards the gaping hole in the wall as Phillips once again felt the charge in the air. This time she turned to watch him stop at the ledge. “Do we have enough time for him to change?” she asked in desperation.

  A blue glow surrounded them and she felt the air itself begin to spark. The light began to overtake their physical beings as the two creatures began to fade away. That is a question I cannot answer, child. But I hope that he comes around in time.

  The words left a chill in her soul as they simply disappeared from existence in the blink of her eyes. Phillips had understood the magnitude of the project when she was assigned, but all this had opened her eyes to the big picture. Humanity had an ally but tortured her, thinking she was the enemy—while the real evil was starting to look in their direction. The general had narrowed his vision on the captured alien, not realizing that there would be more out there that posed a greater threat to humanity. As unconsciousness pulled her down into its dark embrace, Phillips’s last thoughts were hoping that this creature they had created would be the promised hope because not even God could help them when the enemy really showed itself!

  FOUR

  Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet

  Aaron slowly opened his eyes, as slumber still grasped to hold him in its embrace, and breathed deeply. The air felt cold and fresh, not stale and sterile like the lab that held him for so long. Shaking off the last remnants of sleep, he propped himself up on his elbows to look around the room. It was a simple stone room with walls covered in plaster that were weathered and faded from time. There was a simple wooden door and two windows open to the cool air with wooden shudders swung open. The room was empty save a wooden chair beside his bed which looked to be older than he was.

  Pulling off the wool blanket, Aaron rose to his feet and stretched; not because he was stiff but because of a long seeded habit. It was then he noticed he was no longer naked but dressed in plain cloth pants and shirt. He took a moment to study them, running his fingers over the fabric while marveling at the sensations of his touch that he never felt before. His senses were heightened beyond what he had ever felt before; colors were crisper and clearer, smells were more detailed and sounds were more noticeable. A smile crept over his lips; he felt alive and free, which was something he hadn’t for a long time!

  His ears heard the footsteps long before he saw the doorknob turn and he watched as his host finally came to check up on him. To Aaron’s surprise, the person who entered was not military or a doctor, but a monk in orange and brown robes! The man was short, maybe five foot six inches max, and was of Asian descent. The man looked up at Aaron calmly with a smile before bowing at the waist, his hands pressed together tightly to his chest in a praying motion.

  “I see you have awakened at last. She said you would need to rest after all your trials and tribulations.” The monk spoke perfect English with a hint of definite Asian accent.

  “Where am I?” Aaron asked, still a little confused at the presence of the monk.

  “You are safe, far from those who have done you harm.”

  A panic gripped Aaron as the events of recent memory pushed through his veil of confusion and he began to look about the room nervously; his muscles tensing in anticipation of flight. The feeling of a warm hand on his left forearm roused him from his focused state and snapped him back to the present.

  “They cannot find you here, you must relax,” the older man said calmly.

  Aaron guided himself back to the bed and sat down awkwardly, still not used to his newfound height. He put his hands over his face and rubbed them over it and through his hair. “You hold me in high regard, but we have never met. What have I done to deserve such high praise from one such as yourself?”

  The monk smiled again and pulled the chair to face Aaron before seating himself in it, clasping his hands in his lap. “We have been waiting for you for some time now. Your arrival begins a time that shall reshape the human race. It is this journey that we have devoted our faith and study on.”

  Aaron went from stunned to completely floored; there was an entire religion based on him! “What...what makes me worthy of such accolades?”

  The monk stood and offered his hand to Aaron. “It will be far easier to show you than explain it. Your ancestors have prepared the answers for you long ago. Come; let us walk to the temple.”

  Finding himself trusting this stranger, Aaron rose to his feet without hesitation and followed the monk out the door before he even thought about it. Sunlight poured down on him as he ducked through the doorway to emerge into the morning mountain air. He stopped to look around, letting the cold air kiss his skin as he closed his eyes to enjoy the moment. He breathed deep once again, his lungs drinking in the pureness. Opening his eyes, Aaron began to look about. They were definitely high up in the mountains. As far as his eyes could see were peaks upon peaks around them, some disappearing into the clouds themselves. He returned his focus to the monastery which he was now housed in, looking upon building centuries old. Made from stone, wood and plaster, the buildings appeared to be from an age that predated North American culture. He was truly in a place that would never be found; it was a place that the modern world had forgotten!

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” the monk commented beside him. “It is this epic and wondrous sight that greets us each day and makes us grateful for what we have been tasked for.”

  “And what task is that?” Aaron asked, his eyes still taking in his surroundings.

  “This is the Temple of Lyarra’s Light, and we have been tasked to prepare the Harbinger for the coming storm. We will help you realize you potential; your mother and her brethren have guided us throughout the ages for it. And after you are ready and the sky falls on humanity, we shall guide them through the new age; an age among the stars.”

  Aaron turned and stared at the man who gazed upwards to the sky before turning his attention back on him. “If I had heard that before today, I would have run from you screaming for the funny farm to take you.” He commented with a smile.

  “While that terminology doesn’t sound familiar, I assure you that I am quite sane and in full possession of my mind. Come, let us venture to the temple and I can better quench your curiosity there.” He said with a smile and a gesture of his hand. Aaron
walked forward, a half step behind his host. “My name is brother Nyun, and I am your humble servant.” The monk continued as he led Aaron through the monastery. The road was a stone path of considerable age, worn and smooth with sand packed between its spaces. Everything around them was in shades of brown and orange, from the buildings and their roofs to the monks going about their daily chores. All would glance up from their duties and bow as they passed, leaving Aaron more confused than before.

  “I’m just the result of a mad doctor, the patchwork monster of a crazy man. Why do they bow to me like I’m a living god?”

  Nyun stopped suddenly and turned to stare up at him; his smile gone from his face. “You are no monster of Frankenstein, my liege! No, you are the promise of a new world, one that is united and whole for the first time in its history. Many will die, but those who survive will usher in the future of our race, led by you. You are the Harbinger, the light in the darkness which will rally the human race to fight back against that which will try to exterminate you.”

  “So I’m some kind of hero? I think you have the wrong guy here.”

  “It is you who is thinking wrong. Yes, you have had horrors inflicted upon you, but you must look at the gifts bestowed upon you and learn to use them. Your birth has turned the head of the darkness towards our home, and they will come to claim it for themselves. You are not destined to lead the resistance, but you are the light that will rally the troops.” Nyun’s began to smile once more. “But that is a time to worry about later, for it is not today. Today, we must show you why you are here. Come; we are close to the temple.” He waved for Aaron to follow him as he began to walk again.

  Aaron followed mindlessly, his mind shaken from the reality check the monk had slapped him with. He longed to be back in his simple life with his wife and daughter. “My family!” he said, suddenly realizing the danger they might be in. “We’ve got to save my family. I can’t let some alien kill them!”

  “Relax, time is on our side here.” Nyun kept walking and spoke with his back to Aaron. “Your family will live rich lives and be gone from this world before this happens.”

  “But…you just said…”

  “To us, days are like years. The storm has yet to even turn in our direction. It will be a full generation before the enemy lands on our shores. Now forget about trivial things and concentrate on the here and now, for that is what matters most.”

  “It’s kinda hard to forget about everything I love and cherish!” Aaron shot back sarcastically. “To me those things aren’t too trivial.”

  “Ah, but to run back to them now without knowing what you have become and understanding how to use that new body of yours would play right into the hands of those who started this in the first place.”

  Aaron paused for a moment to digest what he had been told. The monk was right; they would be waiting for him to go back to his family. “You said I couldn’t go back to them now. Does that mean I can go to them sometime in the future?”

  Nyun stopped and waited for him to catch up. “I wouldn’t ask you to abandon those you love; that is not the way of Lyarra’s teachings. I simply meant that you must be able to master your abilities so that when confronted you may prevail.”

  The two men continued through the maze of huts and buildings, following the winding path silently with the sound of their feet shuffling through the sand. Aaron began to wonder if the monk had gotten lost during their conversations. Right when he was about to make a comment, Nyun stopped and spoke.

  “Ah, we are here! Welcome to your home; welcome to the Temple of Lyarra’s Light!”

  Aaron stopped and looked up at the three-story building set in a basin below them. The answer to the question of why he couldn’t see this temple before was answered—it was built in a crater which made its roofline level with those around it in the village. The roof was covered in brown terracotta shingles, but that is where the resemblance with the rest of the monastery ended. Carved into the crater wall were steps of solid granite, devoid of any debris whatsoever. The stairwell curved elegantly down to the front of the building which was adorned with a beautiful garden of exotic flowers and bushes. The temple itself was opaque in color and as they slowly descended the stairs, Aaron figured the walls themselves were made from quartz. As they neared the bottom, he could make out veins of gold in the walls, confirming to him the quartz theory. Then they stood before the massive front doors, gates made from silver and gold that were inset a few feet into the building, so as to not reflect light in a fashion to be noticed from above. Aaron stood at a loss for words, the architecture was so foreign and strange and the walls were single cuts of rock so massive that there was no way these monks could be able to drag them up a mountain and place them here.

  “This was their gift to us.” Nyun’s voice interrupted his quiet admiration of this unseen wonder of the world. “In the first days, they built it to show us their kindness and entrusted us with the greatest of all secrets. So we pledged our service to the Empress, and devoted our lives to preserving the future of mankind. This is where you will have your answers, this is where you shall discover your true potential. Come, the priors await you with great eagerness.”

  Nyun motioned for him to follow up the few steps leading up to the massive two story doors. As his foot touched the first step, a loud thud rumbled the crater and the doors slowly opened. Aaron swallowed hard and followed the monk into the temple to begin his new life.

  Rocky Mountains, Utah –

  Military Installation Code Named White Rock

  Damage control was his highest priority, and General Taylor sucked back the vomit that threatened to escape his body every time he moved. There was no doubt he had a concussion, but there was no time to rest, not now. He had let the medics put an air cast on his right forearm and taken a crutch to keep the weight off his injured knee; obviously he had torn tendons and/or ligaments in it. The blast had heavily damaged the eastern side of the building, but its construction was meant to withstand damage to ninety percent of its structure and remain standing. Taylor’s worry was of the project’s subjects and its senior staff and that is what he focused his attention on currently.

  The lower levels were almost inaccessible, save for throwing a repelling line down one of the empty elevator shafts and traversing down that way. He had sent team of specialists down to the morgue and limped to the security wing, which was only two floors from the roof; Taylor now sat in a chair awaiting word on the results from the team. One by one, the teams reported back with “floor clear” and “no significant damage” calls on the radio. He let out a sigh of relief—the heart of the project had been spared from the blast. All had not been lost!

  The infirmary and ICU had been another story. Those two floors had taken the brunt of the explosion and were now only accessible from large ladders from the ground as they were only two floors from the mountain’s base. Casualties had been high here—two of the experimental soldiers had been critically injured, most of the medical staff on duty had been killed and his right hand, Major Phillips, lay in a coma with internal bleeding, along with both legs being horribly broken. The doctors were prepping her for surgery, but had warned him that they might have to amputate.

  “That is not an option, doctor.” He had responded coldly. “The Major deserves better than that, so make her right again, got it?”

  “Yes sir!” the doctor gulped, sensing the grim undertone of the general’s words and left to go ready himself for the marathon surgery.

  Taylor focused on the present now and tapped the radio button. “Team Alfa, I need a status on the morgue.”

  “Stand by.” The voice responded, followed by an unnerving long silence. Taylor was starting to become restless by the time the comm line became active again.

  “Not much left here, sir.” The voice reported. “Can’t get any thermal readings and EMF is off the charts. Recon team was sent out twenty minutes ago a
nd hasn’t reported back yet.”

  “Are they MIA?”

  “No sir, more like they just vanished! Shit’s real weird down here! I mean there is rubble and debris hangin about everywhere!”

  Taylor sighed before responding, figuring the Corporal’s lack of field experience was showing. “Son, the building blew up, I’m sure there’s pieces of the body shack all the way up here!”

  “Sir, I think you misunderstood me. I mean the debris is just hanging in place out here, like floating and shit! Creepin the fuck outta me and the men!”

  Taylor leaned forward quickly, “Get me some eyes down there son, I need to see what you’re seeing!”

  “Stand by,” was the only response.

  Taylor sat impatiently, waiting for one of the men down below to link their helmet cams with the security system. After an agonizing few minutes, the screen to his right flashed with blurry images.

  “Give us a moment to adjust for interference.” said the soldier whose camera came on. The image wavered, cut out, and then came back clearly but with intermittent color. Then it panned around and Taylor got to see what had the Corporal so flustered. The morgue itself no longer existed; in its place was the sum of its parts, all suspended free of gravity in a dome like shape around where it once was. The soldier approached a five foot section of what once was a cinderblock wall that floated near eye level. He reached out at it and poked it as the rubble moved slightly from the contact before settling back into its previous position.

  “You seeing this shit, sir?” The Corporal’s face appeared in camera view.