Touched by Fire (Atlantis Unearthed Series) (2 page)

As they walked they talked and I learned that they normally did not hunt together, but normally each of them oversaw a safe zone full of healthy human people, guarding it while hunting
in the surrounding area. However, this had been an exception as they met annually to share news and to renew their amulets. These amulets were made out of wood as far as I could tell, but the surface shimmered the same way the skin of the hunters did prior to catching fire. Yet these wooden amulets did not burst into flames but instead acted as if they held the power of the sun within. As I listened and watched I heard the warriors talking about the amulets and how they protected the area around them. Virtually making the area impenetrable to the vampires, but the warriors did worry. The making of the amulets was a secret entrusted to them, and each warrior held a piece of the required ritual. It was a failsafe for if the vampires gained the secret of how to make the amulets, they could turn them into an instrument of darkness and then even these guardians couldn’t stand against them.

Once again my dream changed, but this time the shock of what I saw was more than seeing a child turn into a blood thirty monster or seeing people bursting into flames. I saw myself
, yet it wasn’t me. My dream self was standing facing the sun with eyes closed. Leaning in as if to absorb the very rays it exuded, I looked different, I was in better shape for one thing, but there was something else I couldn’t put my finger on, an inner strength and power that I definitely didn’t have.  Then my dream self turned and faced me. I tried to look closer at this version of me but I was facing the sun and couldn’t make out details, but I did notice a mark of my forehead, and something strange about my eyes.

My
dream self started to speak . At first I thought she was just talking, but then I realized she was talking to me. She knew I was there.  She spoke to me again.

“Sit
down, I have little time to tell you what you need to know to prepare for what is to be.”

“Prepare for what?” I asked, “Who are you, are you really me, what’s going on, what are those things?”
Everything I was thinking just seemed to pour out in one jumbled question, but she seemed to know what I meant.

“
Shhhh, all will be explained, but to answer your question, to prepare for what you have already seen, ancient evil that walks the earth in the guise of man. We thought we had contained it eons ago, but we did not account for mankind’s innate curiosity and propensity for digging things up that should stay buried. “

“What? Wait, what do you mean “We”
your are me aren’t you, I mean a dream version of me?”

“Am I” My dream self asked, “You are you, I just took this form to gain you attention, to show you who you are to become, my real form is much different, but that it neither here nor there. I am here to give you the knowledge you need in order to help save humanity. Normally, we do not interfere with the workings of humans, but as we are the ones who made the mistake, who did not eradicate the evil when we had a chance, it is our duty to help you as much as we are able.”

“Who are you?” I asked again hoping this time for straight answer, it was unnerving to look at myself and yet know it wasn’t me. “And what evil, how the hell am I supposed to do anything to help, I working in marketing for Christ sakes. Do you want me to make flyers for you, I don’t think that will be effective to stop world war three.”

“
No, you are right flyers would not help” the other me said. “But you my dear can, do you know what your name means?”

“My name?
What does that have to do with anything?” I sputtered, here I was with fake me telling me the world is going to end, and it wants to know if I know what my name means.  However fake dream me just gave me a look that my mother would have been proud of.

“No” I finally answered. “
my mother just liked it” and glared back at fake me.

“Your name,
Siria means sun-bright, glowing, having the ability to harness the suns powers and Zander means defender” Began my other self “that my dear Siria is who you have been marked to become sense birth, the sun-bright defender. As you saw, the power of the sun is the only power that can purify what is touched by this evil, it is the power of the sun that marks certain individuals to become the defenders of humanity, immune to the touch of evil. You have belonged to the sun since birth, named after the brightest star in the night sky, a sun in its own right. You were also born under the sign of Leo, who is ruled by the sun. You have been touched by the suns fire.  You and a select few others can invoke the sun unlike most others. Very few can withstand the suns touch without perishing under its strength.  This is what will make you into a guardian, a defender as your name states, of the people around you.”

I laughed, partly because of nerves of what I was being told and what I had been shown, and partly because I burn to a crisp within five minutes
of being in the sun. I stood up and began to walk away thinking that I should stop eating Mexican food before bed because it was giving me messed up dreams.  Suddenly the fake me grabbed my arm with such strength it surprised me.

When the hand grasped my arm it began to change. It began to burn hotter than liquid metal landing on my skin. I cried out in pain and dropped to my knees, but still the hand held me. Surly this is going to burn through my arm I thought, yet it didn’t. The pain lessened as I sto
pped struggling. As I looked upon the hand that burned without leaving a mark I saw the hand was no longer that of my dream self, but that of a man.

Fi
nally the hand let go. A male voice asked me “Are you prepared to listen now? You have survived my touch when many cannot even abide my presence, you are of the sun Siria rather you choose to believe it or not.”

I looked up to see my dream self replace
d with a man of epic proportions towering to at least seven feet tall. He was built like a professional soccer play or a feather weight boxer, all powerful grace and agility, and he glowing with a light that seemed to come from within.

“Who are you!?” I asked one more time shakily coming to my feet and squinting to try to get a better look at this man.

“I am Helios, the God of the Sun” He said. And I actually believed him. 

“You are one of my chosen
, and have been since birth, you will listen and learn what you need to know to fight this evil, and you will begin now.”

I just sat there and list
ened to him as he outlined what was to come. Helios informed me that Atlantis did in fact once exist. It was there that this evil was born. Seeking to capture the powers of the Gods the Atlantians performed rituals and sacrifices seeking unlimited power. One powerful priestess named Nokto, delved deep into the sacred texts and found a way to transform herself through the sacrifice of a virgin, but it had to be a virgin who was the daughter of a god. Blending rituals to her will she forged something no one, not even we Gods had thought possible.  Nokto merged the immortal essence of the demigoddess with her own dark essence creating an entirely new being, but it came with a price. The goodness of the sacrificed women was completely reversed, what were once her strengths were now Nokto’s weaknesses. Nokto had so aligned herself with darkness that she could no longer tolerate the presence of the sun, and to feed the darkness within, she began to partake of the blood of the innocent, spreading her vile darkness. Thus the darkness spread corrupting the island of Atlantis. The others of the time called them
nosophoros,
or plague carriers for they carried the evil within.

Helios looked wearied
as he came to a stop, I had never thought that a God could look worn out, but Helios did. He continued explaining “ As Nokto learned more about her new powers her strength grew. She was as powerful as some of the Demigods, and had the spark of the immortal essence within her. This gave her a since of being immortal. However it was not true immortality as she had stolen it, she could still die. The sun would burn away the darkness that bound the immortal soul within her, piercing the heart or decapitating the head would allow the soul an avenue to escape. Other than these methods one could only dissuade or confuse the evilness that spread like the plague enslaving most of the populace of Atlantis. As the darkness continued to spread, the Gods convened to discuss the new threat, knowing that if something was not done soon there would be nothing left untouched by its corrupt hand.  They formed a plan of action, isolate and bury the island of Atlantis and trap all of its corruption with it.  However, one God spoke out, it was his daughter whom Nokto has merged her withered soul with, and he held out hope that they could somehow sever the bond Nokto had over his daughter. However, as the darkness spread the other Gods over ruled him, but he could not give up hope. In secret he abducted Nokto who now wore the form of his daughter. She also had taken her name,Circe.  He carried her to a secluded Island hours before the Gods sunk Atlantis into the depths of the ocean.

“At first the plan seemed to work, no more outbreaks of darkness, no more spreading of the evilness
was heard of. Years went by, the thing that called her herself Circe hid in caves and feasted on the blood of pigs, but no one crossed her path. She was unable to spread the darkness. Then a lone sailor and his crew descended upon the island. Odysseus. Circe placed upon them a curse and once again began to build her strength and slowly the darkness began to spread again. However the God had been keeping an eye on her. He descended upon the island and once again took possession of Circe, binding her in chains of light he forced her into a vault blessed with the power of the sun so it was strong enough to hold her and her darkness. He then cast her down once again into Atlantis, to lay forever in its ruins hidden by the power of the Gods. He was unable to kill this creature of darkness that bore the likeness of his daughter even though he knew what would happen if she were ever released, not while he knew his daughters soul was still bound to Nokto’s. Banishing Nokro’s spirit to the depths of Hades would banish Circes as well, so despite the threat, despite the danger, he let her live and prayed her internal tomb would never be uncovered. However, as I have shown you, that is exactly what is going to occur“

Helios stopped there either unable to go on or giving me time to process all of this. Either way I didn’t know what to think or say.  I had no doubt of what he said, for some reason I knew it was true, all of it, even if I didn’t want it to be. This evil existed, and was about to be uncovered. Then it hit me, who had let it live? They could have killed it then, and all those people who were going to die would have lived, all those innocent people could have escaped this horrific fate. What
idiot could not see that his daughter was dead and kill the monster that lived within her body? I didn’t know so I asked “Who was he, who was Circe’s father, the one who wouldn’t kill her when he had the chance?”

Helios looked up at me
eyes ablaze with an anger that chilled me to the bone. At the same time heat waves began to radiate from his skin and the grass around his feet began to wither. With hands clenched at his side I knew the answer before he even spoke it.

“It was I, the one God who can summon the power to kill her that could not do so. It is I who am responsible for the deaths to come. I know it was
my own weakness that allows the events to unfold that release Nokto from her crypt in the form of my beloved Circe. While I cannot undo what I did all those eons ago, I can give you all the chance of survival, the ability to fight this evil. I have searched the earth for mortals that can bare my touch so that I can bless them with the abilities to fight this evil. As you were shown, I will grant those individuals the power, speed, and endurance that they will face in the enemy, along with the ability to be immune to the darkness. I will give them the words of truth to convince others of what is to come, and the means to prepare safe havens for survivors so when the darkness is defeated they can rebuild society once more. It is the most I can do.”

I sat there in numbness realizing that the one who could have prevented any of this from happening is the only one giving us a chance to survive. I was angry that those people would die, that all of this was to happen, but at the same time, how could I blame him. It was his daughter, an innocent herself that he was trying to save. Granted the price was too much to justify it completely in my books, but I wasn’t looking at it through the eyes of a parent. Either way, did it really matter? This was the only help humanity was going to get, even if we wouldn’t need the help if not for him.

“But why?” I asked. “If you had the ability to defeat her then, why not know, why can’t you use your powers to kill her now before any of this happens? Why can’t you stop it now?”

“I am unable to do so without ensuring the complete destruction of humanity.
Even the Gods cannot completely overthrow fate. If I intervene now and kill her or stop Circe’s unearthing, the very fabric of life that the fate weaves will come undone. Time will collapse upon itself.  This world would exist no more. The only hope I can give is to gift you and others like you with what powers I am able. I can only give humanity the warriors it will need, and time to prepare as much as possible for the battle yet to come. I am sorry.”

With that Helios reached out and touched my forehead where I felt a searing pain spread across it as I faded into unconsciousness I heard his parting words.”