Gods and Men- The Hank Boyd Omnibus, page 72
part #1 of Gods and Men Series
I watch Japanese kamikaze pilots dive bomb World War Two-era battleships, but as one hits, two more are blown out of the sky. Then, three more.
Enki flinches with every good deed done.
“It hurts you,” I say, preparing myself for something I know is going to hurt, “doesn’t it?” The fact that he pushes harder tells me I’m right, and since he’s in my head, I’m curious whether I can hijack his attacks.
I visualize one of the battles I saw earlier.
A peasant girl appears in front me. Her name is Jeanne d’Arc, and she’s from Domrémy—a village in northeast France. “Joan” would eventually be burned at the stake for her actions at the age of nineteen, but her feats would live on as some of the most courageous in world history.
We watch as she rides horseback, shouting in another language I don’t understand. Where’s Olivia when you need her? I may not comprehend French, but the fury in her eyes tells me all I need. She’s passionate about her cause and ready to die for it. Enki protests my showing of her valor, but I push back, focusing on her face.
“This little girl…” I say, doing my best not to scream in agony. “She faced thousands of enemies and still came out of this battle as the victor. With her death came sainthood. She died a martyr—a hero.” I step forward again. “She’s still idolized around the world six-hundred years later. You’ve been here for five thousand, and barely anyone knows your name.”
I growl, trying to switch us to another time in history when evil produced a worthy result. My growl turns into a groan as Enki fights back, sending us into a dizzying spiral
But in the end, I prevail…sort of.
41
The Citadel
We’re thrown from our mental combat and back into the real world. I land hard at the feet of some extremely surprised people. One shouts obscenities and the other screams my name and dives into my arms. The third—Ben—just stares and starts to laugh. I think everything that has happened may have shaken something loose in the older man’s head.
“This isn’t over!”
I watch Enki stand tall atop the altar. His shoulders bob up-and-down, following his heavy, labored breaths each time he inhales. Following each exhale, he growls in frustrated anger, his eyes never leaving me. I stand and meet his gaze, moaning as I do.
I know I’ll heal quickly, but damn do I feel exhausted.
“Now…what?” I ask, also breathing heavily.
But, like I thought, I can already feel myself regaining my lost breath and physical strength. In a matter of seconds, I’ll be back to my old-new-self, and unfortunately, I have a feeling I’ll have to do what I just did all over again. The visions are still fresh in my mind. He intended to break my will by showing me all the death in the world. But instead, he actually built up my defensive walls even higher.
Maybe to the top of the great tower.
“You know you can’t beat me in here,” I say, tapping my right temple. “You’re just going to have to find another way.”
His eyes squint, and his cheekbones lift.
“Good one,” Kane says, shouldering his assault rifle. “Why did you insist on pissing off another immortal god?”
“I have something even better planned for you…” Enki says, jumping down, “and your friends.”
He closes his large black eyes and tilts his head up. Next, his arms open wide, palms up as if he’s calling to someone.
“Hank,” Nicole whispers, “we need to leave.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.” I take three steps forward, feeling my fire burning just underneath my skin. I can call upon it whenever and for however long right now. So instead of burying deep, afraid of its draining effects, I just leave it skin deep and ready to go. Her eyes water as I turn and face her. “I have to finish this or Earth—we—are doomed.”
“We have incoming,” a soldier says. “Main entrance, coming in hot.”
I look past Nicole and see two men I’ve never met before running at an all-out sprint, away from the tunnel Terra and I entered through earlier. Four humanoid creatures enter the Citadel and keep coming. They meet eight well-placed shots and drop.
As do the four behind them.
“How much ammunition do your friends have left, Mr. Boyd?” Enki asks. “I can guarantee I still have more than enough of my mitutu army. Once they have exhausted themselves of their supply, my army will have nothing to stop them.”
“They’ll have me,” I say. I march past Nicole and Kane, continuing past the newcomers to our group.
I make eye contact with Kane. “Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”
He nods and faces the center of the room, once again shouldering his weapon. He calls one of the men over, and he positions himself next to Kane and Nicole.
I pick up my pace and start to run, advancing into the latest group of mitutu? I have no idea what it means, and quite frankly I don’t care. I double my speed as I meet the first of them. I simply, punch it with one sharp, fiery blow. Its head bursts on impact, dropping its body like a sack of potatoes behind me.
Three more share it's fate.
Then ten more.
I engulf myself in flames and enter the same tunnel they are trying to exit. As soon as one nears me, it burns and flails. Instead of entering the corridor, I stop and hold out my hands.
Holding back my smile at what I’m about to do, I tell my fire to come forth at the hottest I can conjure. It launches forward like a missile, cooking everything in its path. There’s something different with this version of my attack, however. I can feel the fire moving through the tunnel. I can feel its path.
It lives through me.
I tell it to break up and move through each of the corridors, like a snake. It wriggles back and forth, eating every last one of the mitutu. I can feel each one of the creatures touch my flame, feeling its kiss of death.
If only there were another way. I know full well that these were once human. But I also know that they lost the same humanity eons ago. Now, they’re just kindling.
One hundred, I think, feeling the kill total.
One-fifty.
Two-fifty.
I push harder, feeling my body burnout, but instantly heal and regain strength. It happens fast, over and over again.
Five hundred.
Eight hundred.
I shove even harder and scream, my fire and voice meshing together in harmony. It’s like a roar from a bear mixed with a fighter jet’s afterburners.
I stop counting seconds later when I reach 3,476.
My teeth are clenched, and my eyelids peeled back, still lost in my mania. I’ve never gone that far before, and I never want to ever again. I was this close to losing it, becoming what Enki wants me to become. I could feel that craze taking over my mind and settling in for good.
It would have worked if there any others to kill.
I turn and walk, exiting the mouth of the tunnel. When I do, I see all eyes on me. The attention really doesn’t surprise me. Kane and Nicole have seen me in action before, but still, get locked in awestruck wonder at the sight. The other men may have seen me at Camp Arifjan, but I’m not sure.
I’m halfway between the tunnel and the others when I see Nicole break down and start to cry, pointing in my direction. I spin around and ready my fists, about to strike…nothing. There’s nothing behind me.
But I see my hands. They’re jet black, like Nannot’s, and they show off my electric green pulsating veins. I look down at my body and see the same. My clothes are gone, scorched by my own inferno. I didn’t even realize it. Usually, they stay put. My subconscious generally tells them too.
My arms, legs, and torso are all black, rippling with energy-filled blood. Not only have I turned into one of the Judges, but by the sound of Enki’s rising laughter, he indeed got what he wanted.
Hank Boyd is gone.
All that’s left is my enraged consciousness and a body made of pure power.
“Enki!”
I charge and leap, easily clearing Nicole and the others. I land and take two more steps and launch at the fallen demon. I visualize what I’m going to do to him, but don’t get the chance. Lost in my bloodlust, I land on the altar and slam to a stop, once again caught in its web of energy.
No, I think, waiting for another mental assault.
“Not this time, Mr. Boyd,” Enki says, looking up at my rising form. “No… This time, I will make you beg.”
He turns on the only humans in the room.
“My faithful lieutenants,” he says, his voice echoing around the round room. “Your time has come.”
Shaking with too many emotions to count, I watch as three living shadows appear from the corner of my vision. They race across the room, feeling no impact from the bullets being sent their way.
Lieutenants?
“No!” I shout, knowing who he speaks of.
The other Judges… They’re still alive.
One-by-one Susanoo, Phoenix, and Anu slither up to Kane, Nicole, and Ben. They each scream in pain but stop as soon as they started. All three look relaxed and at peace with being taken over by a ghostly apparition.
“Please, God… No…” I sob. My friends are gone, becoming one with the Judges of Man. I had no inclination that they could even do such a thing, but it’s evident that they can. It must be Enki helping them, or maybe the power of room.
“Um,” one of the soldiers say.
“Fall…back!” I grunt, shouting as loud as I can.
Thankfully they adhere to my advice and begin to backpedal. Enki and the Judges don’t even give them a second glance. They know they have nothing to fear from the mortals. After all, they only carry weapons designed to kill people…not gods.
It’s then I feel the room begin to quake. My heightened senses tell me something has gone terribly wrong in the world around the Citadel. Has my fire weakened the Kur? Is it about to collapse?
The wall to the left of the entrance bursts and a smoking form steps through. It’s absolutely massive and charred. It’s clearly made of stone, and I think I can even see parts of it—her—body glowing a molten orange, burned from my own fires.
“Terra,” I say, seeing her for the first time in this form. She must have changed and gone into the tunnels while I was locked in combat with Enki.
“Hank,” a female voice says in my head, “can you hear me?”
“Yes,” I reply without speaking it.
“Then it is true,” she says, looking up at me as she limps in. “You are one of us now.” At that moment, I witness something I thought I’d never see in a stone face…sorrow. “I’m sorry, Hank.”
42
The Citadel
Kane had never experienced anything like it before. His body was responding to someone else’s commands. It was like living a 3D movie or wearing those nauseating goggles that attach directly to your phone. He was experiencing life like he usually would, except Susanoo oversaw his body’s movements.
“Stop you piece of shit!” he yelled, cursing his own body for listening. “He’s your friend! Don’t do this!”
But as he expected, his body continued its casual stroll forward. His head glanced left, and he saw the others. Nicole was in the center of Ben and him, walking as confidently as he did now. Her face was a hate-fueled sneer, and it was most likely turning Hank’s heart to mush.
“Dammit,” Kane grumbled. He needed to do something—and do something fast.
But what?
Could he even do anything?
“I gotta try,” he decided, thinking of a plan.
He inwardly shrugged. “When in doubt…be annoying.”
“Hey Susan,” he said, attempting to antagonize his body snatcher. “What size bra do you need? I’m going to the mall with your boyfriend later and thought I’d look at one for you? You grow out of the junior sizes yet?”
A zap shut his mouth. He almost bit his tongue in half as a result, tasting the blood. His plan of attack worked, but now Kane had another problem. He could still feel pain. If Hank fought the Judges—Nicole, Ben, and him—they would experience everything their bodies did.
Hank will never forgive himself if he hurts Nicole.
Think… What else could work?
He remembered that these guys could communicate telepathically and since Susan caused him pain after his jeering, he was assured that the Judge could hear him.
“What’s in it for you and your siblings?” Kane asked.
“The world,” a hissing voice responded.
“The old ‘world domination ploy,’ is it?” Kane asked. “Well, I’d hate to burst your bubble, but I don’t think Enki has any interest in this rock. I think he intends to destroy it.”
“You know nothing,” Susan said, but Kane could feel the unsureness in his voice. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure either.
“Why don’t you ask your boss then?” Kane asked. “What’s the worse that will happen?”
The Atlantean was silent. Kane knew he was contemplating the suggestion. Susan had apparently experienced some friction with his master. The fact he was second guessing Enki now proved as much. Would they really turn on Enki if it meant saving their own skin? Kane sure as hell would. If some psychotic commander ruled him, he’d do whatever possible to ensure his own survival.
Ask him, Kane thought, trying to push the proposal into Susan’s consciousness. He wasn’t sure it was his own mental warfare against the Judge or not, but Susan did, in fact, ask.
“Master, what is our next move here?”
Kane watched and listened.
“We are to rise and rid us of these pests,” Enki responded.
“Humanity?” Susan asked.
Kane carefully paid attention to Enki’s body language and his speech habits. Since joining the CIA, Kane had been taught how to read a liar.
Enki exhibited those tells now.
Just like playing poker, Kane thought.
“He’s lying to you—to your family. Look at his current state. He won’t look you or the others in the eyes. He’s only paying attention to his goal. You guys are as good as dead.”
Another wave of pain coursed its way through his mind, but Kane honestly didn’t care. He was dead either way if his internal sabotage didn’t work. He needed to keep at it until he saw an opening. Once he did he’d really push and see if he could get Susan to act rashly.
“You can’t possibly like working for this schmuck, can you?” he asked.
“We do what we must.”
What?
Kane wasn’t expecting such an honest answer. He was readying himself for more pain. But he couldn’t get past that Susan truthfully didn’t want to serve Enki.
“You’re more like Terra then you think.”
That got Susan’s attention as Kane was forced to scream.
He fought the nausea and continued his barrage. “She hates Enki—despises him actually. All she wants to do is to live in peace among us scum.”
Silence.
“What do you want?” Kane asked.
More silence.
“Freedom,” Susan finally said.
I knew it.
“Well, then, what are you waiting for?”
“It’s not that simple,” Susan said. “Enki is stronger than us all.”
“He’s stronger than you and the other Judges, maybe,” Kane quickly said, not wanting to lose this opportunity, “but not Hank. If you five were to set aside your differences for a couple of minutes…”
“Anu and Phoenix won’t be easy to sway,” Susan said.
“They’re soldiers, right? They do as they’re ordered, even if they don’t like what’s being asked of them. Believe me, man, I know what that’s like. I dealt with that for a long time—still do sometimes.”
An explosion interrupted their conversation as the hulking form of Terra burst through a wall behind them. She looked to be exhausted from her brawl in the tunnels and was currently, sort of, melting. If there were anyone that could turn Susan, it would be her. Terra was a lot like her brother, in that she obeyed Enki out of fear.
“Terra,” Susan said.
“Don’t do this, brother,” Terra said, looking straight at him. She knew he would listen to her. He may not be persuaded, but at least he’d listen.
Kane’s head was forcibly turned back to the center of the room where he saw Hank, again at his place in the middle of the golden beam. He looked to be in agony, but if Kane knew Hank—which he did—he knew it was mostly mental and not physical pain. He was an emotional guy and was probably getting torn apart from witnessing what happened to his friends.
“Hank always puts others first,” Kane said, thinking aloud.
He felt a grumble from his captor.
Hmmm.
“Do you want to know why Hank succeeded against your boss? It’s because he never puts himself before those in need. He fights for others before he would ever fight for himself.”
Kane was hoping his rah-rah speech would impact Susan into fighting for his family and not his master. Even the word master reminded Kane of subjugation. You bowed to a master. You washed his feet while you kissed his ass. If Susan did what Enki wanted, everyone, including Terra and the others, would surely die.
“There’s another way,” Terra said. “We must help release Boyd. He’s the only one who can truly free us all.”
Nothing. No answer from Susan at all.
“Dammit, man!” Kane shouted. “Listen to her. I barely know her, and even I can tell you she’d never lie to you.”
Susan growled, but stepped forward, towards Enki.
“Master?” he asked. Kane could hear the reluctance in his voice. Calling him master was like when Kane had to address certain higher-ranking officers, Sir. They may have been total douches in real life, but there was a chain of command to follow. You needed to show them respect even if you didn’t want to.
Enki turned. “What?”
“What happens next?”
“Freedom…”
