Transcending the Legacy (15 page)

I ask hastily, “So you killed the humans they possessed?”

He shakes his head. “Medicine men, shaman, healers would pull the Dweller from the vessel, then we would slay them. As the world became more populated, civilizations expanded, the humans became stronger more resilient. The Dwellers attacks were few and far between and we were called back to our world beyond your universe. We had done our mission and it was time for us to return home. Before we left, we asked the humans to build monuments scattered throughout your world to be used as beacons of contact when you needed protection.”

Monica asks, “Who called upon you to watch and protect our world from
the Dwellers?”

One of the colonists calls out, “Was it a god or goddess?”

Another asks, “Was it the God of Christianity?”

Ira tilts his head.
“What you may call a god, a being, or the God of Christianity is containable in a singular word so that you are capable of grasping a representation of this force. What we were called by cannot be embodied in a solitary word let alone a solitary being. I say this only because I have been in its presence beyond this universe. It is called by no name because a name would never encompass the full truth of its existence, our existence.”

Sebastian begins, “We have been beyond the veil of our universe and we have seen how far this force reaches.”

Ira nods. “You have been beyond one veil. There are more and you have barely scraped the surface of the magnitude of the force’s reach. You have been to the universe these unhallowed Dwellers come from. Your race has ignorantly arched and pierced the veil of a universe that represents destruction for you and your offspring. Once you punctured that veil, those beings flooded into your world just as freely as you traversed into theirs.” Ira looks at me now, “The veil you must pierce to bring about the purification of your world is beyond the three stars you have seen in your dreams. That is where my world is.”

“Orion’s Belt?” I ask.

Ira smirks, “Is that what you call it?”

I nod and guess, “That isn’t what you do though.”

He shakes his head, but says nothing.

Briggs asks, “Why did you come?”

Ira looks down at the small piece of bread he holds between his fingers, then scans each of the guardians faces. “You belong to the mounds. You are the branded ones.”

“Branded?” questions Nate.

Ira looks at him. “It is in your blood to be a part of this journey. Your ancestors made it so.” Ira looks at Sebastian. “This Copula device you have created and implanted in human beings, you did not have the knowledge of its ability to adapt you through an unsurvivable evolution when you created it, did you?”

Sebastian, “No I did not.”

Ira continues, “The legacy created long ago was put in place to aid your survival during this time. That knowledge was placed in your visions for you to find.” Ira looks at me again and says, “I have been watching for a long time. The bond you all share stretches beyond time to a civilization, a people much like yourselves. Guardians with abilities not of this world.”

Ira bounces back and forth between Sebastian and I.
“A ritual, a call to our universe beyond the veil, afforded your family’s legacy. The bloodlines that sustained the legacy then, have come to be a part of it now.” He looks at all of us. “It is not a coincidence that you all have found each other. You culminate the essence of humanity, redemption, faith, love, sacrifice, loyalty, and perseverance. All of you have become a part of this battle for salvation to lift up one vessel that holds the release needed to purify your world and make it anew.”

I
ra comes to rest his eyes on me. “The vibrations you feel, they have grown to become a defense for you and those around you to keep you safe. Your abilities have mutated, strengthened, once again to keep you safe. The divination you possess is increasing, revealing the depths of your legacy the closer you get to the Etowah Mounds. The visions you all will experience will only intensify.”

He said a ritual.
“What do you know of the ritual?” I ask.

Ira stand
s. “I do not know what you must do. Only you and the messenger can conjure what needs to be released within you. There is one among you that is a messenger between the human world and my world beyond the veil. You and that messenger will know what to do when you get to the mounds.”

He looks around the room at each of us, then his head snaps toward the main tunnel like he has heard something.
“My brothers need me.” He turns back to me before he leaves. “Don’t come out again! It is too dangerous!”

In a flash, he disappears
, leaving me wondering who this messenger is among us.

I consider not listening to Ira and charging out there after him, when Nate comes up behind me and says,
“Don’t even think about it. I swear I will drag you back by your hair.”

His voice sounds stronger, more animated than it had just hours before. I turn around to catch the infamous smirk plastered on Nate’s
face and the glimmer returned to his brilliant blue eyes.

I gauge him closely as I say,
“You seem to be feeling better all of a sudden.”

Nate stretches his arms out in front of him, his smi
rk shifting into a gentle smile. “I am. There is no rest for the weary around you, Jes.”

I look around for Xander, wondering why he isn’t at Nate’s side.
“Where is your bosom buddy? I thought you two were attached at the hip now.”

Nate crosses his arms over his
chest and tilts his head at me. “Funny.” He thumbs toward a side tunnel. “Using the facilities.”

I shrug and start walking
toward Tom when Nate catches my arm.

“Hey, I thought you would be happy that we were getting along,” he says.

A small spark of electric current from his touch raises goose bumps on my flesh like it had so many times before.

Nate quickly releases my arm and I try to overlook the sensation by changing the subject. “We should join the others with Tom.”

I notice Xander appear at the entry of the side tunnel suddenly. He is leaning against the stone wall of the cavern, his face ashen with shadows cast under both of his eyes. Nate catches me looking at him and reacts quickly.

He announces, “I got him,” and stalks off.

As Nate approaches Xander,
he is shaking his head at something Nate says. Xander’s eyes find me again and he forces himself to stand taller, trying to appear stronger somehow.

I know better;
he is not well. Nate pats him on the shoulder, then Xander looks at him squarely before nodding in agreement to whatever has been said.

I’m distracted when Tom makes an announcement.
“Jerry, gather the extra bedding. Looks like you all are staying the night. Follow me and we will get you settled.”

Keeping an eye on Nate and Xander, I fall into line behind them as we tunnel deeper into the compound. Nate looks back at me and moves closer to Xander. I dodge his glare as he
sizes me up, suspicious of my attention to Xander. What is with the territorial crap all of a sudden?

“Remind you of your old training grounds?” Ezra asks as he comes up along side of me.

I survey the passage opening we are walking through and remember the feeling of being underground back in our facility. “Yes, it is kind of like going back home in a weird way.”

I fix my gaze on Nate and Xander again. There behavior is not settling well with me.

Ezra must have picked up on my pre-occupation and asks, “Everything alright?”

I don’t want to tell him something is going on with
them until I know what it is. In light of not having our telepathic ability back, I take advantage of it and lie to Ezra. “Yep. A-okay.”

We are coming up on
a chain of cavities along the wall of the tunnel. Each outlet contains the fundamentals of sleeping quarters; make-shift cots, blankets, and lantern. Tom and another from the colony hand out blankets and the guardians start to peel off into the outlets. Elisha and Nick are first to peel off. Sam and Corinna follow. “It is amazing how much expansion you have done in a short amount of time,” comments Sebastian.

Tom explains, “Right after the first wave of
Dwellers attacked, the number of natives exploded.”

Nate asks, “Natives?”

Tom replies, “Those that are not implanted. As more and more came, we had more working hands to cut into this mountain further and deeper. Most of these quarters were dug during that time. The numbers of natives finding us has gotten smaller for obvious reasons.”

Ezra
acknowledges, “The climate shift and Dwellers.”

Tom
answers, “We are still seeing natives that have somehow survived without implantation and haven’t been captured by the Dwellers.”

Ms. Olivia and Luke, then Siobhan and Jake part company into three more honey-combed sockets while the rest of us walk on.

Tom points to a passage. “Our compound is one of the few in the U.S. that has enough devices to still perform the implantations. We also have enough specimens of trace elements to survive another climate shift.”

Daniel interjects, “Tom’
s colony is one of only seven remaining implantation facilities in the United States including ours.”

Tom shakes his head.
“Not as of two days ago.”

Daniel stops walking
, as do all of us behind him. I feel the burn in my chest flare as I think about the possibility of the Etowah mounds facility collapsing.

Sebastian makes his shared panic known, “What has happened?”

Tom sees the sheer panic in our eyes and shakes his head, “No, not your facility in Georgia. The facility in Seattle. It is gone with no none survivors.”

Briggs adds, “I can’t confirm, but I’m positive our compound outside of New York was destroyed as well. That leaves us only five.”

Ezra questions, “Why would they destroy the Seattle facility?”

Briggs
answers, “Why does there need to be method to their madness? They are savage, creatures. They don’t need a reason, they just take and destroy.”

Briggs starts to pace, “They took my family. When the first wave hit, I was on base.
I don’t remember the drive to the house. I only remember walking room to room searching for them. I looked under beds, in closets, the car in the garage. I even looked in the under sink cabinets for my little Analise.” His voice audibly clefts as he says the name of his child, then he becomes silent as he stares at the ground in front of him.

Frustrated by Briggs’ visible pain, Daniel groans, “
The Dwellers, they know we are here. Facility by facility, they are eliminating our means of survival.”

Bri
ggs looks back at me accusingly. “Or searching for our means of survival.”

I want to retort, defend myself, but I do my best to ignore him and bear his leer. I figure he has been through just as much
, if not more than, I up to this point with the loss of his family so I cut him some slack.

We move on to
disperse into the outlets ahead when I hear the sound of a child giggling. It catches me off-guard and I stop walking. The giggle comes again and I turn into the sound. It is coming from behind us. Ezra must not hear it because he keeps walking.

I call to him,
“Did you hear that?”

Ezra
stops and walks a few steps back toward me. “Hear what?” he asks.

I take a few more steps backward, then I hear the hushed laughter again to my right.
It is coming from a channel that branches off from this one. Like that wasn’t odd enough, I hear something else; a bark.

A bark?

I move through the tunnel with lightning speed and enter a small room housing a little girl sitting cross legged with a silver puppy in her lap and a full grown silver dog to her right. The little girl is startled by my appearance and she pulls the pup up close to her body protectively. The full grown dog’s hair is standing on end as it growls and steps in front of the girl and pup. I stand perfectly still, making no sudden moves.

Ezra is by my side now. He hisses, “What is a dog doing in here?”

The little girl looks Ezra and I up and down, then pulls on the large dog’s collar with one hand as she commands, “Shiva, no! Be nice.”

Shiva quiets and sits on her haunches and the little girl places the puppy on a pile of blankets in the corner of the room. Sh
e stands up quickly next to Shiva, only a few inches taller than the sitting canine. The little girl extends her free hand to me first. I eye the dog cautiously as I carefully extend my hand to meet hers. Shiva licks her chops, then closes her mouth, keeping her golden eyes on my movement.

When our hands meet
, I look at the girl and say softly, “I’m Jesca and this is my dad, Ezra.”

The girl smiles with her large, brown eyes and nods. “I’m Tessa.”
She looks at the grey dog and says, “This is Shiva,” then back at the puppy, identical to Shiva, just pint-sized. “That is Stella.”

The pup doesn’t look very old. I
cross my arms and nod at Shiva. “Is she the mother?”

Tessa nods, turns toward the bundle of blankets,
and sits down next to the grunting infant hound.

Shiva rises from her seated position and steps toward me. Instantly, I tense up and hold my breath
expecting the worst from this huge pooch. Her cold, wet nose nudges my hand, then she leans her body against my leg. My hand grazes her silky coat and she leans further into my leg.

Tessa giggles, “She wants you to pet her. She likes you. I bet Bear would have liked you too.”

I slowly breathe out my tension and run my hand over the Shiva’s shiny coat again, and again. She pushes the weight of her body into my leg and wiggles her back end making me grin.

“I guess she does. Wait, did you say a
bear?” She did say bear, I heard her.

Shiva runs her body along side of Ezra now, nudging his hand with her nose.

Ezra clarifies, “She said ‘Bear’, not ‘a bear’.”

Tessa looks sad all of a sudden. “Bear was my other dog. Stella’s daddy. He died.”

As I stroke Shiva’s coat, I look at Ezra sideways. His face looks grim; he must being thinking what I am. How did Bear die? Better yet, how are Shiva and Stella still alive without a device? I mean, the climate shift should have killed her and the pup. I didn’t want to ask Tessa so bluntly how one dog died and how the other lives, and how its offspring is able to survive in our transformed climate. I step toward Tessa and sit down next to her. Shiva walks over to the little hound and nudges it with her long snout, then lays down next to the pup.

Ezra asks gingerly,
“How long did you have Bear and Shiva?”

Tessa runs her small hand over the pup’s back. She answers innocently in her high pitched voice, “A long time. We got them before the changes happened and we had to come here.”

Feeling sorry for this girl, I say, “I’m sorry about Bear, Tessa.”

Tessa tilts her head as she continues to provide small, gentle strokes to Stella. “That is okay. Daddy said that life is like a bicycle.”

Ezra questions, “Like a bicycle?”

“Something like that. There is a beginning and an end. Then, there is a new beginning. It happens over and over again, like a bicycle wheel.”

It clicks, “Oh, a cycle.”

Tessa looks at me. “Yep, that’s it.”

She looks back down at Stella and continues to run her hand the length of her small back.

Ezra asks, “Who is your dad?”

She answers simply, “Tom Porter.”

I’m a little surprised since she is so young and he is, well, older.

Ezra continues to probe, “Do you have any brothers or sisters
, Tessa? Where is your mom?”

I nudge Ezra, warning him that he is getting too personal too quick with her.

She pulls her hand back from Stella, rests them in her lap, and
becomes very still as she says softly, “They went to Heaven.”

Ezra bows his head, realizing he has stepped over a line, leaving her upset.

I don’t think I could bear to see this beautiful child cry.
I sit down next to her on the ground and say gently, “I’m sorry, Tessa.”

She fiddles with her fingers and whispers, “It’s alright. It’s a cycle.”

She lifts her glassy eyes to meet mine and I about lose it. I reach my hand out to rest on her light golden brown hair, softly smoothing it down. She has to be the smartest and bravest little girl I have ever met.

All of a sudden, she does something I am not expecting. She scoots closer to me and
rests her head in the crook of my arm. I tenderly place my hand on her shoulder, lean my cheek to rest on her head, and look up at Ezra as he watches us.

The quietude between Tessa and me
is broken when Shiva exerts a deep canine rumble. Her yellow eyes are sharpened on the passage opening behind us. I whip around expecting to see something, but I only see darkness beyond the cavity.

Shiva
is still staring at the opening with ears folded back, teeth showing, and snarling fiercely.

The contents in my stomach, which isn’t much, rolls suddenly. The nausea and wave of heat mix within me and I almost lose the few contents right then and there.
How the hell did a Dweller get in here?

“Ezra, I feel a
Dweller!” I call through my watering mouth.

Like a shot, Ezra turns toward the doorway and I rise to crouch in front of Tessa protectively. Shiva stands next to Ezra ahead of me, back arched and tense, ready to attack
whatever crosses the darkened threshold.

Swallowing hard, I am able to push down the queasiness quicker than the times before.

All of a sudden, the heavy, oppressive sensation bearing down on me lifts.
Shiva must feel it too, because she abandons her snarl, her ears perk up, and she recedes back to sitting on her haunches next to Ezra. I hear the sound of crushing gravel under foot before I feel the familiar comforting aura of Nate.

At that instant, he comes into the light of the outlet. He stops at the threshold and takes in the scene; Tessa peeking from behind me, Shiva sitting next to Ezra panting, and me crouched ready to strike at
whatever comes through that door. Bewildered, Nate’s crystalline, blue eyes find mine, and he asks, “What is going on?”

In a flash, I’m by Nate’s side, looking beyond him into the tunnel, but I see nothing, just lanterns lining the path. I tell him,
“Something was following you. Something dark and evil; a Dweller.”

I pul
l Nate into the room with us.

Tessa immediately asks, “Who is he?”

I don’t answer. I’m too focused on the possibility that a Dweller has gotten in to the compound.

Nate mumbles a bit put out by my protective nature, “Nothing is following me
, Jes.”

Shiva doesn’t waste time greeting him.
She walks over to him and nudges his hand with her snout.

He is more startled than amazed, “Woah! A dog?”

Xander, Tom, Daniel, and Briggs are standing at the entry way. Xander is no longer lethargic, rather alert and lively. “Why did you all run off?” he asks before seeing Tessa, Shiva, and Stella. He quickly changes his tune. “Oh.”

Tom pats his thighs and calls for the dog, “Come
, Shiva.”

Shiva practically jumps into Tom’
s arms, all seventy odd pounds of her.

Tom stumbles back into the rock wall from the force of her. “Woah
, girl!”

Tessa stands, and walks over to Nate with Stella in her arms again. “Her name is Shiva, and this is Stella.
I’m Tessa.”

Nate crouches
down and looks at all three of them with wide-eyed fascination. His voice is gentle as he says, “Hi, Tessa, I’m Nate. I’m a friend of Jesca’s.”

T
essa looks at her dad curiously. “Who are they?”

Shiva has moved onto greeting Xander and the others now, rubbing her snout against their hands.

Tom introduces her to Briggs, Daniel, and Xander.

“
Where is everyone else?” I ask noticing only the three of them.

Tom says, “We left them at their quarters for the night. That is when we noticed you two missing.”

Xander walks toward us from the open doorway. His eyes move first from Tessa, to me, then back to Tessa uneasily. His tired eyes brighten a bit as he speaks to Tessa. “How old are you, sweetheart?” he asks softly.

Tessa
answers, “Six.”

Xander’s blue-green eyes widen and
light up comically. “Wow, you are an old lady!”

She giggles quietly
, and it makes me smile. Xander studies Tessa as she cuddles the tiny canine, laying small kisses on the top of its small head.

I hear Ezra asking Tom from behind me,
“How have the animals survived?”

I am
listening intently for an explanation since it should be impossible for them to have survived since we cannot.

Tom calls to his daughter, “Tessa
, baby, why don’t you take Stella to Samantha. She needs to feed her.”

Tessa nods and cuddles the grunting pup to her chest. “Okay
, daddy.” She looks back at me before she leaves the room. “Bye, Jesca.”

I wave back. “Bye
, Tessa. See you soon.”

Tom waits until Tessa is out of earshot then tu
rns back to us and addresses me. “She has taken to you,” he says.

I can’t read him to decipher if
that is a good or bad thing.

Tom smiles and adds, “Since her mom and older sister passed, she pretty much stays to herself.”
Tom leans against the stone wall of the hollow and regards Ezra, saying, “Shiva and Bear were our first indicators that something was changing. We would let them outside and they would immediately claw to come back in. When we caught word of a climate shift, I got in touch with Daniel.”

He nods at Daniel with gratitude and honor for a moment before continuing. “My wife, Susan, and daughte
r, Tiffany, fell ill days later, respiratory problems. Couldn’t walk more than three feet without feeling like passing out. I’m not sure why it hit them and not Tessa or I. I didn’t know what to do. The government was telling us that their resources for the implantations were running low. We were put on a waiting list. A week later, they were no better, but no worse. That same week, the attacks began by the beings...the Dwellers. Another week passed and the main guy heading the implantation program, Griffin, off’ed himself and the entire program collapsed. The government was running just as scared as us. I had been out of the military for years now, but I still had my connections. I called Briggs. He told me about a group that he and his family received implants from. Suzy and Tiff had taken a turn for the worse and were immobile. I was able to get my hands on an oxygen tank and breathing apparatus supplies, which was like gold to us. Briggs told us not to worry. He said he would call on this man, Daniel, who would come to us.” Tom pauses, closes his eyes, and smiles weakly. “They stayed together in our bed, laying side by side holding hands. Suzy told me that holding Tiff’s hand would remind both of them to hold on just a bit longer.”

Tom opens his eyes and wipes away any evidence of emotion
before they can fall. He continues, “The next day, I went into my bedroom to check them and they had passed.”

I look over at Daniel, just as he lowers his head and runs his hand over his forehead, sharing Tom’s grief through his remembrance.

Tom clears his throat then begins again, “I know they would have been too close to death, too weak, to make it through the implantation surgery. I knew that the moment Briggs told me that he could send help.”