Chasing Orion
Chapter 7: Rebirth

As night fell across the city, a low fog off the river spread through the streets. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, which was putting the Sah on high alert. Khafre put in a curfew forcing everyone indoors at sunset fearing another attack from the Greys.

My mother had fallen asleep from the exhaustion of tending to my sister. Cambrian’s heartbeat was very weak, and I could smell the infection setting in to her wounds.

I twisted the small silver sphere that Osiris gave me, and it floated into the air scanning the surroundings with a blue light that it emitted from a small lens. After a few moments, it hovered overhead of the bed staying fixed on my sister.

I could smell an Orionak nearby but could not tell whom the scent belonged too. All the Orionak armor had a unique scent given that they were composed of minerals not found on this planet. I assumed that it was Hathor given her abilities of stealth since all I could smell was the armor.

I argued with myself on whether to wake my mother, but this is not something that she should have to witness. The creature underneath my skin was fighting to get to the surface knowing that fresh pure blood was waiting just outside its reach.

Looking back to how Mara turned and the others did not make me wonder more about if this was even going to work. The only difference is that I wanted to infect Mara, and I was not even thinking about it with the others.

This was my sister and this would save her life. I wanted this to work and needed this to work. By that, it was going to work.

The sound of rain starting to fall against the roof became deafening with all my focus on my senses and the Ut’ari about to break free. The rumble of thunder echoed again overhead as I extended my fangs. It was as if nature knew that something unnatural was about to occur.

I slowly leaned down tilting her head to the side exposing her neck. I let the creature loose inside and my appearance changed. Despite being my sister, I found the scent of her blood intoxicating, and I wanted it.

Nature protested again with a loud and deep clap of lightning and thunder as my teeth sank into her neck. Within a few seconds, her heartbeat ceased as most of her blood drained. I released my bite and reared back roaring to more thunder and lightning.

The tiny silver sphere was frantically fluttering about watching and waiting. The Ut’ari subsided, content with its feeding and my teeth retracted back to normal. I looked back down to see my mother kneeling at the bedside shivering from fear of what she obviously just witnessed.

After a few moments of looking into my eyes, her fear dissipated and she picked up my sister’s hand, pressing it against her cheek. Cambrian’s skin began to lose its tan and fade to a pale white. My mother reacted by pulling her hand away and the coldness of her transformation swept over her skin.

The wounds on her body began to heal close, removing any sign of conflict. Her hair and complexion corrected itself to near flawlessness as her fingernails grew out slightly coming to a point at their tips.

I stood up repositioning myself pulling my mother away from the bedside and placing her behind me.

“Whatever happens mother, don’t run. She will only catch you and kill you,” I said approaching the bed preparing for her awakening.

The air became very still and time seemed to slow down to a crawl with all my concentration focused on Cambrian. Each thump of a raindrop on the roof was like a drum beating next to my ear. With a massive clap of thunder, her eyes flashed open glowing red with ferocity and bloodlust.

She curled her lips back revealing her perfectly white sharp fangs and let out a horrendous shrieking scream that sent a wave of discomfort down my spine. The feeling of slow motion made the next second last for nearly an eternity waiting in anticipation for her to move.

She blinked and turned her eyes to me. I could see her start to move and almost missed grabbing at her when she lunged for my mother. Using all my strength, I slammed her back down on the bed shattering it and pinned her to the floor.

“Focus Cam! Focus your rage,” I shouted holding her in place.

She growled and flailed trying to break free slashing at my face and arms with her claws. My mother started to cry and cowered in the corner terrified by what her daughter had become.

Cambrian turned away from me to my mother and the creature within her went silent. Her nails and teeth retracted and her humanity flooded back inside her.

“I’m ok,” she said, her voice was calm and normal.

She looked up at me and I just stared back into her eyes that were fading away from red.

“Do you know what has happened to you?” I asked her cautiously releasing my grip on her.

“Yes, I know everything,” her eyes fluttered around the room then back to me. “As you assumed, your memories passed on to me.”

I could see her mind drift off as she went through all the new information in her head. A tear rolled down her face and she put her hand up to my cheek.

“I’m sorry about Mara; I know what she meant to you.”

A small corner of my mouth turned into a smile, and I stood up turning to my mother. She was standing up now with her hands clasped together and held tightly against her chest. Cambrian sat up then quickly flitted around the room stopping in front of my mother.

“Thank the gods you’re alive,” she ran the back of her fingers along Cambrian’s jaw. “My sweet child, I thought I was going to lose you.”

Cambrian inhaled deeply and took a step backward away from our mother who jerked her hand back in response looking like she offended her.

“You did mother,” Cambrian’s tone was cold and harsh.

“It’s always hard at first for us to get used to what we are mother. We are dead, reborn into an abomination of this world, possessed by a creature with an evil and hatred that goes beyond imagination.”

I took the tiny silver ball from the air twisting it turning it off, and then tossed it out the window in to the street. Before it had a chance to hit the ground, a blur went passed the window snatching it out of the air.

Cambrian jerked her head to look out the window then darted over extending her fangs and growling ever so slightly. She crawled up into the window in a crouch and sniffed the air.

“Who is that? I can smell their armor,” she asked inhaling deeply again.

Lightning flashed nearby illuminating everything brightly and casting her shadow on the floor. It was different to say the least. The outlines of her features were not human. Raised ridges ran in three symmetrical lines down her head. Her fingers elongated coming to a point like long talons.

Her legs and arms had very defined muscles and what appeared to be a tail was twitching side to side. Two points also extended from her shoulders about a foot that curved inward slightly. The flash of lightning only lasted a moment but the image seared into my mind.

I looked to her perched in the window and her form looked normal to me. I did not know what it meant, but I assumed that in time that shadow would make sense. Mara ended up being able to fly; maybe Cam was capable of the same or something similar.

Cambrian vanished for a moment and appeared at my side. She was just as fast as Mara was, maybe even a bit faster. It startled my mother who was still having a hard time with all of this.

“I need to feed,” Cambrian said, turning slowly to look at mother. “My throat is full of hot needles.”

The way that her personality has changed was somewhat disturbing. She was cold and lacked emotion compared to how she was before. Mara was not like this. If anything, she was like a child inside, full of curiosity and playful. Cambrian had me concerned. The personality of the creature inside her was more on the surface.

Now she suggested that she wanted to feed on our mother, as if she meant nothing to us. Just a few minutes ago, she was crying over the memory of Mara, and now all I see in her is the malevolence of the Ut’ari.

“You know the gods won’t allow you to kill anyone, and you know they’re watching us right now,” I sighed.

“Who said anything about killing anyone?” Cambrian extended her fangs and took a step toward my mother.

My mother’s face turned to sadness and fear looking in to the eyes of the monster that her daughter became. I grabbed ahold of Cambrian’s shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

“Think about who you really are Cam. Push the darkness away. Fight it.” I stepped in front of her leaning over so our eyes were level with each other. “Remember when you were twelve, and you went riding on that black horse and fell off nearly breaking your leg?”

“That horse was so wild, I was the only one he would let ride on him,” she said cracking a small smile.

“Father brought you home and our mother cleaned your scrapes and never left your side for three days until you could get out of bed and walk again.”

A tear rolled down her face again and I knew she was still in there.

“Father sold the horse the next day to one of the priests, who gave it to Khafre, and that very same day it bucked him off and he broke most of his ribs,” I said laughing.

She laughed too sniffing her nose and retracting her teeth. Mother came over and wrapped her arms around both of us.

“I love you both,” she said moving her wrist up to Cambrian’s mouth that was dripping with blood from a cut she had made on her wrist.

Cambrian’s eyes turned red and I saw her fighting against the monster within.

“Mother! What are you doing? No!” I pulled her wrist away holding onto it tightly to stop the bleeding.

She yanked her arm away from me and held it back up to Cambrian. Cambrian closed her eyes as hard as she could, fighting the urge. Her lips curled back and her fangs extended.

“A mother’s duty to help her child,” my mother said pressing her arm against Cambrian’s mouth.

Cambrian’s eyes flung open, her appearance changed to the monster, and she sank her teeth into our mother’s arm. Mother made no noise or showed any discomfort from the pain. She just stared into my eyes.

I could have stopped her, but something made me respect her choice. I imagined that it was her way of giving one final time. By all accounts, her family was gone. Father was missing or dead, and now both of her children were gone as well.

I collapsed to my knees and grabbed hold of my mother’s other hand. Her body temperature was dropping and her heartbeat was slowing down as Cambrian fed. Her eyelids became heavy but she fought to keep them open.

“Take care of her,” she forced out before collapsing.

Cambrian let go of her and roared at the ceiling feeling the surge of energy. I caught her in my arms from hitting the floor and held on to her.

“I promise mother,” I whispered kissing her forehead, gently laying her on the ground.

Cambrian wiped the blood from her mouth voraciously licking off her fingers and looked down to us on the floor. Her appearance faded to normal and she collapsed onto the floor in shock.

“Nooo!” she screamed realizing what she had just done. She quickly scooted over and started to shake our mother. “Wake up. Please wake up. No, no!” She began sobbing and screaming holding our mother up to her chest and gently rocking her back and forth.

Thunder rumbled deeply again across the sky, and my senses noticed that the Orionak surrounded the house. I turned to look outside and a flash of lightning illuminated the outline of Osiris and Isis on the roof across the street looking in. Lightning flashed again and they were gone.

I slowly stood up, went into the other room, and sat down against the wall. I thought for hard about the nature of what we were, and I began to understand the danger we posed. Death followed us in one way or another. Killing was in our nature. It was a necessity.

We might not require it all the time, but for our survival it was a necessity. The animalistic drive for blood was more powerful than love or bond of family. We were not weapons as I previously thought. We were the end game, the destroyers of this world.

The Orionak did not intend to stop me from spreading this plague. I was the goal all along. They knew I would defy them, just as it happened before. As easily as they stopped Mara, how was this a threat to them?

If that was true, then what role did the Greys play in all this? Why would the Orionak be trying to stop the Greys from attacking the city? If the Greys were attacking the Orionak, then that means they were trying to stop them, and they were not abducting humans, but instead taking them for protection.

They were hostile to Mara and me because of what we are. They knew what happens from our kind. The Greys were trying to protect the humans from the Orionak. That explained Atlantis, and how the Orionak claimed not to have known about them.

I thought about this for several minutes trying to make sense of it all, until my concentration broke by the silence coming from the other room. I quickly got to my feet and dashed into the other room. Cambrian was staring out the window with her hands laced behind her back.

She had wrapped our mother in some white sheets and placed her on the bed. The air was still and slightly cold from the storm that passed through. I slowly walked up behind her looking over her shoulder.

“Cam, are you ok?” I asked placed my hand on the center of her back.

“What do we do?” she turned to me with a curious look on her face, “What are we to do now? We have no purpose and no responsibilities.”

“Well there are lots for us to do really. Mara and I traveled around the ocean. We could explore up north, or go east to see the savage lands,” I replied rubbing her back.

“Yes, but after we have seen everything then what do we do?” She asked turning around to me.

Part of me understood what she was getting at. Mara and I both struggled with trying to grasp the concept of immortality. There will become a time when we have run out of things to do. Humankind will not evolve that quickly to keep us entertained.

Part of the joy of mortality is knowing that you have a very limited time to do things and overcoming the challenges as you go along the way. We have no challenges anymore really. We have speed, strength, and senses that will allow us to overcome anything that would challenge a normal person.

“We have a very long time to worry about that,” I said smiling.

“Yes, I suppose we do,” she turned back to look out the window at the storm rumbling far off in the distance.

“First thing we need to do is find a place for us to hide out during the daytime,” I said opening the front door.

“You want me to wear this?” she asked me sarcastically repositioning her blood-stained clothes, tattered from her previous wounds. At that moment, I felt a waft of air flow past me from the street, and I turned to see Hathor fading out over the rooftop.

At my feet was one of the Orionak belts and necklaces like the one they gave me aboard the ship. I picked them up and handed them to Cambrian.

She ripped her tattered clothes off putting on the belt and necklace engaging up a very lavish set of garments reserved for the virgin priestesses of Isis. It was smart wearing that, no one would try to talk to her, or even look at her other than the high priest of the temple.

“I already have a place in mind,” she said jumping out the window into the street.

“You just want to leave mother here like this?” I asked looking back to the bed.

“Just leave the door open, someone will come by and take care of her. There is nothing we can do without causing questions.” Her voice was cold and uncaring again.

I sighed to myself and walked out in to the night following behind Cambrian.

She carefully wove her way in between all the buildings taking in everything with her new eyes and senses. We jumped up on to the rooftops and for the first time she smiled discovering her capabilities.

She ran and jumped higher and further each time, eventually skipping entire blocks of houses. When we got to the edge of the residential district, she went down in to a crawling position.

Her legs and body contorted around themselves removing the awkwardness that humans have on all fours, and she scaled down the side of the building like a spider.

Once on the ground her body corrected itself and she stood up. I admit it was impressive. She was exploring her capabilities in ways I never imagined trying to use them. I assumed that it was coming from the memories she inherited.

She had all my memories, plus the knowledge of the things that Mara did that I could not do, which must have pushed her to try think outside the norm. There is also a possibility that I am starting to believe that each of us has a unique set of special abilities much like the Orionak have on transformation.

I can make more of us and heal at a rate that makes me virtually indestructible. Mara could run at speeds that made her practically invisible. Not to mention she learned how to fly. Something was different in Cambrian as well. Her abnormal shadow was a hint to that, but what it means I was not sure, but knew I would find out soon enough.

I leapt off the building landing next to her. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and grinned. She looked up at the stars and I saw her eyes flashes through different colors as she focused in on their colors.

“It’s beautiful,” her voice cracked with emotion.

“If you quiet your mind and focus on a single point of attention you will find that everything will have a life of its own,” I said tossing a handful of sand in to the air.

I focused in on the sand granules losing myself in the vision of them. As they reached the peak of their travel, everything went into slow motion. The moonlight reflected off the smooth surfaces of them making them sparkle like the stars.

Each imperfection of their surfaces was clearly visible yet somehow made them even more beautiful to watch.

A pair of guards rounded the corners snapping my focus off the sand and speeding things back up to normal. As the sand hit the ground, Cambrian was already in a crouch with her teeth and nails extended, ready for attack.

I could feel an intense heat starting to emanate off her and noticed that her abnormal shadow had returned with its tail arched toward the guards coming to a sharp point like a spike at its end.

“Don’t Cam, we can’t attack anyone here,” I whispered down to her.

She growled quietly to herself that came out like a giggling growl, and quickly stood back up grabbing hold of my hand. Compared to me her skin was scorching hot to the point it was almost uncomfortable.

We started to walk towards the guards and her temperature cooled back down to match mine. The guards looked at us curiously, but continued their way passed us. When we rounded another corner, the street opened into the main square in front of the pyramids.

As expected, the square had a dozen guards backed by the Sah. I turned to look at Cambrian, but she was already climbing up the side of the building. I quickly followed her leaping on to the roof.

“Follow me if you can,” she hissed.

With a single step, she launched up in to the air clearing all the buildings heading for the larger of the two pyramids. Her shadow cast on the side of it from the moonlight and I dropped to a knee from what I saw.

Her shadow had long wings like that of the cave bat, with talons at each of the points. Her hands and feet resembled talons and reached out for the wall. When she landed, the shadow of the tail snapped at the wall as if it was impaling into it. Then she looked back over her shoulder at me.

Part of me was both concerned and curious as to just what she was, but I made the jump after her anyways landing next to her on the pyramid. She dropped down about fifteen feet to the small entranceway leading inside the pyramid.

She leaned against the massive limestone slab that was sealing the entrance, and pushed it open just enough for us to slip through it, sealing it behind her. Inside was completely black but our vision easily allowed us to see.

We worked our way up past the Queen’s chamber and the gallery to the tomb of Khufu.

“Well, we’re rich,” she said looking around at the hoard of gold jewelry and objects spread throughout the chamber.

As I looked around the chamber, I realized just how great of a hiding place this really was. The only way in was through the massive limestone slab, and that was not only near impossible for someone to move, but it was one of the most illegal things that a person could do.

For most people, the pyramids were completely off-limits to enter, including the Pharaoh, let alone crawl inside one of the royal burial chambers. Gold primarily made up the material of everything in the room. Cut from the granite within the tomb, the grand sarcophagus of Khufu shimmered in plates of gold and various gems. Two small shafts leading upwards to the sky paired opposite sides of the room letting in some moonlight.

“Those shafts will let sunlight in to the chamber, we need to plug them shut with something,” I said to Cambrian as she was searching through the piles of jewelry trying them on as she went.

She picked up a large golden pot, climbed up the wall, and slammed it into the shaft forcing the gold to bend and fill the shaft sealing it. I picked up another pot and tossed it to her as she was already crawling toward the other one.

“Easy enough,” she said sealing the other one shut and dropping to the ground. “How long until sunrise?”

“I would say at least three or four more hours,” I said sitting down against the wall of the sarcophagus. “At sunrise, I will go and talk to Osiris and Isis on the flagship.”

“What am I to do?” Cambrian asked, her voice sounding unenthusiastic.

“Well, you can try to sleep. I know it might sound weird, but I think it’s something that you can do given your external restrictions.”

“You don’t have to sleep, though right?” she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think it’s something we really have to do, just something that you might be able to do to pass the time,” I said throwing a ruby at her.

She sighed catching the gem and crumbling it in her hands into a powder letting it fall to the ground.

“Well, until then, I’m going back outside,” she said darting out of the room.

I followed her back out and up to the top of the pyramid. Perched on the edge of the capping stone just like Mara used to do, she looked out over to the new burial grounds. I sat down next to her letting my feet dangle off the side.

“There’s so many of them,” Cambrian’s voice was soft and low.

“Yes. The true cost of any conflict is measured in the loss of the innocent.”

“Do you think they will come back?” She asked sitting down.

A part of me wanted to tell her no to help put her at ease, but I knew that was most likely a lie. If the Greys really were protecting humans and the Orionak were the threat, then they would be back, and with a much larger fleet.

“I don’t know Cam. My instincts tell me yes, but they didn’t expect the amount of resistance that they got. If they do come back, it will be in full force,” I said putting my arm around her.

“Well if they do come back, there will be two of us now to deal with,” she raised one of her hands up and extended her claws flexing her hand then retracting them.

“I need you to promise me something Cam,” my voice was low and serious.

“What’s that?” she asked nervously and slouching her posture.

“If it comes to a fight, I need you to stay by my side. They will try to take us out and we are better off together. Even with the Sah, they know me, but technically, you don’t exist. It’s too dangerous for you to be by yourself.”

“I’m not Mara,” she said defensively.

“That’s right, you’re not. You’re my little sister,” I told her harshly.

She sighed and nodded her head in agreement.

“Thank you,” she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Thank you for saving my life. The moment I saw you again, I knew you would.”

For the first time since her transformation, I recognized my sister again, instead of the cold emotionless monster inside of her.

“I will always be there to protect you,” I kissed the side of her head.

We sat up there watching the night start to turn into morning, until it was time for her go into hiding to avoid the sunlight. I followed her back to the massive limestone door, which she again moved with ease.

“I have to go talk to the Orionak, but I promise I will be back before sunrise, and I’ll bring you someone to drink,” I smiled.

“I want to hunt for my food,” she said turning inside the passageway. “We can go away from the city, or somewhere the Orionak have no presence. It can’t be against the rules in a place where they have none.”

She made a good point. Something I had never considered before was going elsewhere. We knew of the other groups of people that we traded with on the northern side of the sea, and the native tribes in the deep southern areas.

“Ok, we can go north of the sea to the Minoans on Crete. Think about what you want your clothes to look like. We can’t let them see us as Egyptians or Orionak,” I started to close the door to the entrance.

She nodded and darted up through the gallery as I sealed her inside.

I leapt from the door toward the main platform overlooking the square, changing up my armor and mask mid-flight. I landed making no noise and sliding to a stop a few inches from the edge.

I decided to wait there, knowing that the Orionak would come looking for me, which would be easier than trying to approach the flagship and not starting a conflict with the guards.

Within a few minutes, dawn began to transition into daylight as the sun crested the horizon. The fighters took their patrol high into the sky, and Isis’s flagship shut down its external lighting.

The external armoring contorted and slid away from the main ship exposing the inside of the ship like columned windows.

From this vantage point I could see the sky deck of the ship which resembled a large atrium filled with various plants and trees that they had collected over the years from other planets. Just below the sky deck was a sort of museum or trophy room with hundreds of artifacts and objects they had collected as well.

The Orionak ships served as more than just combat and research vessels. They were cities in space carrying several generations of the Orionak and their subordinates. They designed the ships to last thousands of years in deep space and be completely self-sufficient.

Isis, being in the ruling class, had a ship that was far more grandiose than the others were, and almost double in size. It dwarfed the large pyramid by comparison. It was magnificent to say the least.

As the hull locked in place, the main hangar doors slid open launching the ships personal defense drones. About fifty of them in total that swarmed around the ship settling on the outside of its hull like parasites.

The drones themselves were a bluish grey in color and looked as if four crescent moons had been stuck together at their bases. Forming eight outward facing points with each armed with plasma-based cannons capable of melting and piercing almost any known composition of metal.

The Orionak fighters had similar weapons, which is what made them so effective against Mara. It was like shooting her with a solar flare. The guards of the Orionak did not use plasma-based weaponry, as it was just too lethal and would near disintegrate their enemies, which prevented interrogation.

The Sah carried biological weapons that had a small serpentine like creature in it that when stimulated through a small electrical current would emit an audible pulse capable of disabling the nervous system of almost any living creature.

They mixed that pulse with a smaller ball of static energy, which helps to disrupt shielding technology, allowing the pulse to make contact. I did not know what would happen if that pulse hit me, but I also did not want to find out.

As the smoke from the stoves in the residential district started to fill the air, the Sah and the guards started to get into position for the day around the construction site. The architects and the foremen for the build were having their morning meeting down at the entrance coordinating with the artisans on what they would need for the day.

I paced along the edge of the platform watching the workers start to assemble in the main square and could hear the whips coming from the slave camps starting to assemble their labor pool.

About twenty minutes went by before the red and orange of the sunset started to bleed away from the sky illuminating the main square and making me visible from down below.

One of the workers noticed me on the platform and alerted the others who ceremonially bowed in response to my appearance. Regardless of my past actions in town, the people still considered me one of the gods and treated me as such.

The Sah, although hesitant in accepting exactly what I was, they were aware of my capabilities and knew that the Orionak treated me different thus, the Sah also held me in a position of extreme power, bowing to me accordingly.

I never wanted the status of a deity, but it did make it easier for me to blend in with what I was. People and the Sah avoided contact with me, which helped to keep up the secret of what I was.

In addition, in a perverse manner I took joy in knowing that I was effectively a sheep in wolves clothing masquerading as one of the gods. At any time, I could cast off my guise and strike with ferocity even the Orionak did not possess.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a girl walking up the long ramp toward me. It was the same girl from my first appearance again. There was no fear or concern in her eyes at all. The pair of elite guards that had positioned themselves at the top of the ramp raised their weapons to her in defense.

She tried to push past them and they pushed her back making her stumble and fall backwards tumbling down to the lower flat of the ramp.

A very distinct hiss emerged from within me and I bolted over to the guards kicking the closest one into the other as hard as I could, creating a small shockwave in the air and launching them sideways off the platform hundreds of feet crashing down on to one of the buildings below.

I expected the people below and even the Sah to go in to a panic from that attack, but as they had seen the altercation from the start, they understood my reaction. They disliked the abuse from the guards as much as I did.

I leapt from the top down to the lower flat, landing at the girl’s side. A pair of men were running up the ramp to help her but stopped in their tracks when I landed. She had fallen hard and was struggling to move, clutching at her ribs.

Another set of guards from the bottom were making their way up the ramp grabbing ahold of the men and forcing them off the ramp, while more were heading up toward me.

I placed my hand on the girl’s arm then looked up at the approaching guards. I made my armor emit a larger than normal amount of black smoke that engulfed most of my body and blanketed the girl.

I let out a deep guttural growl and made the eyes of my mask flash red. The guards stopped hesitantly and slowly backed down the ramp. I focused back to the girl who was now trying to sit up and shake off the fall.

I scooped her up in my arms and jumped back to the top of the platform, setting her down gently in the middle blocking our view of the ground below.

“Are you ok?” I asked helping her to sit up.

“I think so,” she said putting her hands on the side of her face pulling her hair back.

The Orionak’s transporter flash went off behind her materializing Ra. She must not have noticed, as she made no reaction. Ra straightened up engaging his ceremonial staff.

“Why are they always so mean to us?” She asked looking up to me.

“Mostly it’s from poor leadership. They don’t have a need to respect you, and they can treat you that way, so they do,” I looked up slightly to Ra, knowing that he was listening. “Are you sure they didn’t hurt you?”

I helped her getting to her feet, still protecting her ribs with her hand.

“Thank you, I will be fine. It’s not the first time I have been pushed around by the guards.”

I glanced over her shoulder to Ra, who was intentionally turning himself away from having to look at us.

“You don’t have to be afraid of them or me. They won’t hurt you unless provoked, just like anything else,” I brushed her hair back to the side of her face with my finger.

“I’m not afraid of you in any way. I know you won’t hurt me,” she said moving closer to me.

“Because I am not a god like they are. I’m something different,” I said taking a step back from her.

I could see the curiosity on her face as she processed that, as well as the annoyance starting to build in Ra.

“I will prove it to you,” I said grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around to face Ra.

She gasped in surprised and walked backwards in to me. I could feel her start to tremble in fear.

“Respect him. Don’t fear him,” I whispered into her ear pushing her forward gently, and taking several steps back leaving her in the open with Ra.

He turned to face her pulling his gold and white cape to swing around him. The young girl quickly looked down and slowly dropped to her knees and bowed to him formally.

“My lord,” she said in acknowledgment.

Ra looked to me and I gave him a quick nod. He walked off passed us to the edge of the platform overlooking the construction site, as he usually did daily.

The girl got back to her feet and walked over to me.

“You should probably go do whatever it is you do, so you don’t get in trouble,” I told her raising my hand toward the ramp in invitation.

She started slowly walking towards the ramp.

“Why are you always trying to avoid talking to me?” She asked me curiously.

“So, I don’t feel the urge to eat you, or worse,” I replied, raising my hand up in front of her extending my claws.

She squinted her eyes at me still disbelieving that I would hurt her. I drug a single nail very carefully down the side of her cheek, neck, and the exposed part of her chest. She grinned and started walking backwards down the ramp.

“Still not going to hurt me,” she said spinning around and bounding down the ramp.

I turned and joined Ra at his side looking out over the city.

“You should not encourage them Ut’ari,” he said repositioning his staff to his other side. “Chances are high that most of them will perish the next time the Grey’s attack.

“I have a theory about that actually.” I changed to speaking Orionak.

“Oh?” he said curiously.

“See what I can’t understand is just why you allowed me to make something that you destroyed the world for last time. You wanted to study us? Maybe, I could almost understand that,” I started to pace back and forth behind him.

“However, what again doesn’t really make sense is why the Greys are here in the first place, and you unable to detect them. If they were malevolent I would imagine that a species capable of hiding from you would also be able to destroy you.”

“They didn’t really attack with that large of a force, and then really was only attacking you and the Sah. Sure, some humans died in the process, but they made off with hundreds.”

I could see that I clearly had his attention now as he began to fidget with his staff breaking his normal routine of appearing like a statue.

“The only conclusion that makes any bit of sense is that you intentionally wanted me to make more like me. Mara, I think was an accident. I think you assumed that she wouldn’t survive the confrontation I had with the creature, and convincing you to let me turn Cambrian, well, was ridiculously easy.

If that was true, then that would also let me speculate that the end goal is an entire army of Ut’ari which you could control and most likely use as a weapon against anyone you wanted.”

Ra inhaled deeply looking over to Isis’s flagship.

“So, let’s assume for a moment that my theory is correct. The Greys now come in to the equation not as the aggressors, but as more of a rescue team. They know what you’re trying to do, and their abductions are actually a form of protection taking them away from the threat of my infection,” I stopped pacing facing Ra with my hands behind my back ready to draw my swords if need be.

“How close am I?” I asked him, lowering my voice to the Ut’ari’s.

He stood there for a minute completely silent, and then pressed a tiny gem on his bracer. It blinked red a few times, and then turned off returning to normal.

“That’s what I figured was the case,” I took a few steps backward giving room for anything that was about to happen.

“You really should have just served your purpose creature,” Ra shifted his staff into his sword and held it down to his side.

“Oh, were going to resort to name calling now are we charlatan?” I retorted changing back to Egyptian and raising my voice so they could hear down below.

Ra looked over the edge at the people that had stopped and were looking up at us. I drew Mara’s swords from my back and swirled them in my hands taking a fighting posture.

“It doesn’t have to be this way Ut’ari,” Ra said changing his armor for combat.

“You would really have me turn all these people so you could have an army of living weapons?”

Ra turned looking out over the people down below now gathering in the square.

“Look at those people down there.”

I humored him and turned looking down. He continued,

“You know how completely worthless they all are in the grand scheme of the galaxy. They’re weak, slow, and have one of the shortest life spans of anything in the galaxy. The Ut’ari makes them strong, fast, fierce, and nearly indestructible.

It gives them purpose. Your people evolved long ago prime for conquering, we simply chose to advance them instead of slaughter them like we should have,” he turned back to me.

“Who are you to decide what species deserves to live or die?” I lowered my mask and extended my fangs to him.

The crowd down below gasped and started to gossip amongst themselves seeing underneath the mask of one of the gods for the first time.

I changed my appearance to the monster inside me and roared at Ra.

“We are the superior species!” He yelled back taking a step toward me pointing his sword at me.

Behind me, I heard two of the Orionak transporters materialize followed by a low hum that quickly went silent. I quickly sniffed the air trying to figure out who it was that just arrived.

One was Anubis, and the other I could not even detect, which meant it was Hathor. Isis’ scent lingered faintly in the air, and I knew they surrounded me.

“Do you really want a fight with me?” I asked turning my head to the side toward Anubis.

“If it means protecting what we have done here, then yes. We have fought your species for a very long time, we aren’t afraid.” Ra pushed a button on his sword and it engulfed in blue static.

“Not like this,” my voiced lowered as I said it letting the monster come to the surface.

I lowered the armor as my appearance changed to the Ut’ari. I flung my hands out to the side extending my claws squeezing tightly onto Mara’s swords and roared at him loudly.

The crowd down below went into a minor panic as people started to scream and push through the crowd trying to flee. Ra took a step backward moving his sword to a defensive position.

Behind me, two more Orionak transported in, Horus and Osiris, and drew their weapons.

“We better give them a good show then,” I said going into a crouch.

The others changed their armor for battle.

“Don’t do this Talrin,” Osiris begged, moving around to my side so I could see him. “This isn’t how it needs to be.”

“Leave. Take your guards and leave this planet,” I declared pointing up to the sky. “And never come back.”

“You know we can’t do that,” he replied.

“Then every one of you will die here today,” my skin darkened and hardened as I let go of the last shred of being human.

Osiris sighed and gave a nod to Ra, unsheathing his own sword. The air became very still and everything slowed down to a crawl as I focused my senses.

A low deep vibration started to build and slowly rose through my feet up into my chest. Ra lunged at me in a blur. He moved much faster than I expected and nearly caught me off guard.

He swung and thrust his sword at me about six or seven times within the span of about a second, each one moving not nearly quick enough to hit me from my heightened senses. I blocked his last strike with my sword bringing the blur back in to focus.

I countered his attack punching him in the chest with my fist sliding him backwards toward the edge of the platform. He braced himself from the slide and darted back toward me with another flurry of sword strikes.

Each one of them I blocked with my swords and countered with my own turning us into a vortex of chaos. The strikes were so hard that small shockwaves burst out from us each time out swords contacted.

To the people down below we had to look like a blurred ball given how fast we were moving. I went on the offensive quickly slashing at Ra who was using all his ability to block my attacks, until one slipped through ripping open his abdomen.

He stumbled backward grasping at his wound dropping to a knee. Horus dashed in from behind wrapping his arms around me pinning my arms to my sides with an enormous strength. As Ra struggled to get back on his feet, I started to fight back against Horus slowly lifting my arms to break free.

A moment later Horus’s armor unleashed a wave of electricity that engulfed me. I roared at the pain and bit down on Horus’s arm. He let go flinging me to the side and nearly off the edge of the platform. He dropped down to his knees as my infection spread through his blood.

His body was trying to fight it putting him in agonizing pain. I regained my balance from almost falling off the edge and turned to dart back to Ra. He was already waiting for me.

He thrust his sword into the center of my chest, which engulfed me in electricity again. The initial impact of his strike stunned me shortly until the pain took over, and I dropped my swords. He pulled me away from the edge like a harpooned animal, throwing me into the middle of the platform pulling out his sword.

I fought against the electricity turning to look at Osiris and slowly dropping to a knee. The electricity began to subside and the wound in my chest started to heal slowly. I slumped over catching myself with my hand.

Blood from my chest was pooling onto the platform underneath me and I could see Ra approaching from behind. I pushed myself back upright and growled preparing to strike back at him.

The tip of his sword slowly emerged from my chest as he slowly skewered me shocking me again. The first wound ripped back open and blood poured down onto the platform again.

Anubis sprinted over drawing both of his swords and plunging them into my side. Hathor materialized on my flank driving her long silver spear through my ribs and exiting out near my hip and into the platform.

I could feel my energy rapidly fading along with my blood that was now pouring out of me being unable to heal from the electric weapons.

“Always the defiant,” Osiris scoffed.

Isis appeared at the end of the platform and gracefully walked over toward me drawing an intricate silver sword. Osiris moved to the side allowing Isis to take a position in front of me.

She stopped a few feet from me and twirled her sword around in the air, which slowly started to glow the traditional blue of the Orionak. She pulled her arm back preparing to thrust and paused turning her head toward the pyramids.

A deep and ferocious roar echoed off the pyramids. The sound was far away but seemed to make the others concerned. The roar passed by again but seemed to come from above this time.

The Orionak removed all their weapons from me and spread out on the platform cautiously looking all around for the source of the roars. I collapsed on to the ground fighting to keep my eyes open.

A wailing scream pierced the moment along with the sound of something flying past at tremendous speed, snatching Horus off the platform.

“Horus!” Hathor shouted concerned and leapt off the edge of the platform.

Isis and Osiris transported away the instant before a blur flew past me where they had been standing.

“Kill her!” Ra commanded picking up Mara’s swords and moving to the middle of the platform.

Blackness started to consume my vision and everything started to go blurry. I could feel my energy bottoming out and heard one final thing before I blacked out, in a low guttural voice,

“I believe those swords belong to me.”

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