Transcending the Legacy (14 page)

I call to Ira, “This is Tom. He is one of the leaders of this compound.”

Ira looks down at him briefly, then back to me. “You are not safe out here. Go! ” He turns his back on us, concentrating on the woodlands in the distance.

“No,” I say evenly.

He whirls around and bends to come face to face with me.

Tom instinctively puts his hands on my shoulders to pull me back, but I resist, not afraid in the slightest.

Ira’s hot breathe hits my face as he
grumbles, “No?”

Keeping my eyes steady on his I
shake my head, “Tom and his colony don’t understand who you are. Neither do any of us really. All we know is that you are protecting us. Why? Why are you protecting us? Who sent you to our world? What do you know about us?”

Ira grumbles in his native tongue and looks around anxiously from me to his companions to the thicket beyond us.
The other Rephaim are watchful, keeping their eyes on the woods while Ira considers what he should say or do.

Without warning, an intense surge of nausea takes me to the ground
on hands and knees. Tom follows me down, hands on my back and yelling, “Jesca! What is it?”

I close my eyes and breathe through my loss of equilibrium.
I rebound quicker this time, coming back to my feet with Tom by my side. As soon as I open my eyes they lock on a Dweller webbing its way through the trees toward us. Before we have time to move, it wraps around a branch and catapults itself toward Ira, Tom, and I. Ira takes a hold of the Dweller in both hands and twists until it rips in half, obliterating the being to ash.

Having seen what Ira did to
the Dweller, Tom verbalizes his reaction, “Oh my God! He just...Oh my God! Jesca, go, move toward the tunnel!”

He tugs hard, but I resist. Ira and his men encircle us as I’m pulled against my will.

“Ira, you need to come inside! You need to tell us who you are! Explain to all of us what you are doing here!” I yell. I try to break free of Tom’s grip trying to pull me toward the tunnel. “Let me go! I need to talk to him!”

My demand falls on deaf ears as Tom gri
ps my arm tighter and makes progress on towing me toward the compound.

I lunge against him with e
verything I’ve got and his hand loosens enough for me to slip away and run to Ira. I hear him making chase, but I don’t stop until my arms are wrapped around Ira’s leg. I yell up at him, “I am not going back in there until you come with us!”

Ira and the other R
ephaim look at each other frantically. The titan with the blond hair and silver eyes approaches Ira and speaks urgently in their ancient language. Ira looks at him, then at Tom before roaring, “Fine!”

He pulls me from my strangle hold on his
leg with one hand, then takes hold of Tom’s arm with his other. Not a second passes before the world around us obscures and evaporates from the light of the outdoors to the dark of the cavernous compound.

They can astral project just like us!
When our surroundings illuminate and gather again, we are face to face with those we left behind moments ago. The colonists are no longer battling with our team, but rather frightened into docility, having witnessed Tom and I first astral project away and now project back with an extra being, an extra large being.

I mutter to Ira, “You can project.”

He answers back, “We can, but shouldn’t. Weakens us.”

The colonists donning weapons stumble away and
draw their guns on Ira. The team yells for them to stop and I jump in front of him blocking their shot, “No! Don’t shoot him!”

Tom holds his hands up and rushes to steps in front of me, yelling. “Don’t! Put your weapons down!”

The colonists ease, but consider his judgment curiously.

“The girl was right! They are not in our world to harm us.”
He turns to face Ira and me. “We need to know what you know.”

Everyone’s eyes linger on Ira, waiting for his reply.

Ira surveys the cluster of the colonists and our team of guardians, Tom, then rest on me. “I understand you need answers and I will tell you everything I know.” Ira’s eyes find Tom’s again, “But first, can you give my brothers food and drink?”

Tom runs his hand over his mouth and
nods. “Samantha,” he calls.

A young woman about my age steps forward to stand next to
Tom, keeping her gaze cautiously on Ira.

Tom asks her, “Please gather some food and water for Ira and his men.”

Samantha leans in closer to Tom and whispers, “How much do I get?”

I can understand her concern with their size. I wonder
ed the same thing. Tom and Samantha look Ira up and down at the same time, appearing to measure the amount with the sight of his girth. Tom leans over to her, “Enough for thirty men should be a good start.”

Samantha’s
eyes widen and she turns on her heels, pulling another colonist woman along with her to help gather the food for the Rephaim.

Tom and the colonists walk us deeper into the compound through the same tunnel Samantha and the other woman took moments earlier.
Ira follows behind all of us, lagging a little, body hunched over slightly to clear the passages. I slow down to walk beside him. “Why are you staying behind?”

He nods his head toward the colonists and the team. “To make them comfo
rtable. My size is intimidating.”

“Nah, really?” I smirk at him, but he doesn’t pick up on my sarcasm. I see his brow furrow and try to explain,
“I’m just joking with you.”

More confused than before
. Ira asks, “A joke?”

I roll my eyes at Ira.
“I’m pulling your leg.”

Ira stops walking and looks down at his legs, confused.

Watching him standing there bewildered by my play on words, I march back to him and say,
“Not really. It is a figure of speech. Never mind. C’mon.”

Xander, Ezra, and Nate are bordering the group ahead of us, keeping an eye on Ira’s and my exchange.
Once we start walking toward them, they divert their eyes back to the group we are following and keep pace with them.

“
They worry for you,” says Ira.

I take notice of
his observation with a simple nod. I don’t feel like revealing the back-story right now. There is too much he needs to tell us first. Ira continues, “They each care about you in a different way.”

Huh, maybe he already knows the back
-story.

We pass multiple channels that branch
off from this main vein tunneling deeper into the compound. I peek down one of the channels and see an area with two gurneys, a cabinet, and a tray of utensils as a side table. A large unlit lamp hangs over one of the three gurneys. Maybe an implantation room?

Tom is
not far ahead of us and says, “We are using that less and less now, but have it just in case. We are sure to use it for the future climatic shifts when they come.”

He said “when they come”, like he is confident that it is going to happen.

We pass two more estuaries. One looks like sleeping quarters. Tom assesses,
“The beds aren’t much, but they serve their purpose and we have plenty of room to cut out more tunnels and quarters like these.”

Sebastian comments on how well they have used the space to accommodate the colonists.
The next hollowed out inlet contains a dusty, old computer tower with monitors hooked up to a clamorous generator.

Tom explains the set up,
“Access to the networks. Not elaborate, but it works. Don’t ask me how they rigged it. I leave that to the techies in our colony.”

It reminds me of the provisional media network the Kyoto facility had set up. Daniel told us that the colonies had formed a
network among each other for communication. This must be the extent of their network. I move away from the opening and catch up with the others.

The tunnel empties into a substantial common area.
Some of the colonists that did not come out to greet us are scurrying around helping the girl, Samantha, gather the food and water for the Rephaim. They have a collection of about six crates filled with bread, water, and containers of other food to carry out to the Rephaim.

A little troubled, I hear Tom tell them,
“Just sit it at the tunnel entrance. Open the door enough to push it out to them.” Tom looks at Ira apologetically, “You have to understand my people are frightened. I am frightened.”

Ira nods with understanding.

I can tell the words that Tom chose to use makes him realize that he meant no disrespect to his race.

The colonists that are with us begin putting their weapons down against the wall of the cavern. A few hold onto theirs, keeping their eyes on Ira.

I follow the lead of the colonists and other guardians, sitting down on the ground, but sit right next to Ira’s monstrous leg. I look up at Ira and nudge his calf with my elbow. “Sit.” He does as I say while the rest of the team looks at me timidly watching Ira towering over me as he takes his seat next to me. I scoff at them, “What are you waiting for? Sit.”

Xander and
Nate take the few steps toward me and sit by my side. Ezra, then the others follow their lead.

Tom has told two of the colonists to bring food.
As the bread, water, and broth is brought to us and we have settled, Daniel starts the conversation with Ira.

“Ira, our apologies again for being afraid of you.
Once we learn about your race and your intentions here in our world, our fear will lessen I’m sure of it. Please understand that the only beings we have experienced among us have been these Dwellers.”

Ira’s brow furrows as he asks,
“Dwellers?”

The colonists have a similar look on their faces, not recognizing the jargon for the dark beings.

I divulge the meaning. “The beings that attacked us out there and the ones terrorizing your colony.”

Ira’
s amber eyes peer at me. “That is what you call them?”

I shrug.
“It seemed to fit.”

Ira
replies, “Yes it does.”

I probe curiously, “What are they exactly?”

Ira shakes his head. “They are malignant beasts that desire what you have; it feeds them, makes them stronger...your souls. We have been successful at keeping them away from this world for a very long time.”

Ira quiets and looks down at the plate that has been set before him. There is a paired
heaping mound of cut bread and a large bowl of broth. The rest of us are given a cup of broth and one slice of bread. Ira interlocks his immense hands and looks out at the colonists and guardians sizing him up, inspecting him, as they eat.

Again, I jab Ira this time in the arm and take a piece of his bread in my hand and hold it in front of his.
Ira looks down at me, then at the bread. He tenses, eyes darting uncomfortably between me and the mass of eyes scrutinizing his every move. He slowly loosens his hands and takes the bread.

He regards Tom and the colonists by lifting the bread in his hand and announces,
“Thank you.”

I
bite into my bread, and chew quickly. I didn’t realize how hungry I actually am until I taste the flavor of the bread. Actual flavor of food.

Tom asks Ira, “Is that enough food?”

Ira nods graciously. “More than enough.”

Okay, that is plenty of small talk for me.
“We know you are Rephaim, a breed of giants, but that is all. What are you and where do you come from?”

Daniel, Ezra, and Sebastian lean forward and look at me flabbergasted by my lack of diplomacy.

I look up at Ira, “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude, it is just that we don’t have a whole lot of time.”

Ira takes the bowl of broth in once hand,
cups it to his mouth, then drinks. “No you don’t have much time, you are right.”

Him saying I don’t have much time doesn’
t sit well with me, but I let it slide.

Ira continues, “
Rephaim, like Nephilim are watchers of your world.”

Ezra
asks, “Are you fallen angels?”

Ira tilts his head toward Ezra.
“An angel, is that what you think I am?”

Ezra clears his throat, “I’m not sure.”

Ira answers, “We are ‘the fallen ones’.”

Daniel nods his head eagerly.
“I knew it! Able to come to our world from yours freely.”

Sebastian asks, “Are
the Dwellers demons?”

Ira
replies, “The beasts are pure evil able to take hold and adapt to your bodies. If that is what a demon is to you, then yes they are. To us, they are just vile beings attacking you and your world. When your world was born, we were sent as watchers, protectors, to keep your race safe. The beasts, they belonged to another universe, another realm corrupted with the evil they spread. The beasts, these Dwellers, they found ways into your world through those that were weak and vulnerable. In those small instances, we were able to keep them away by slaying them.