Into Erebus

[Ascendancy]

Continued in Fallout

[Michael Vellas]

"Commander, the Ascendancy has just foiled a nuclear attack, he is unavailable. I don't care who you are,"
the soldier said.

The man was terrified, the hand on the gun at his hip shaking. Michael didn't blame him, he must have cut a terrible figure. His long black coat was half peeled away from his body. His hands were stained with soot and blood and his face dripped with sweat streaked with ash.

Now that Nikolai had proclaimed their powers, most in the Kremlin knew who Michael was; and what he and his men could do. He could only imagine what the guard thought he had been up to.

"I see,"
Michael responded in an icy voice. "Rykovi, let's go."


The young British man was exhausted, the ever present smile on his face was wan and sickly pale. Michael had sent the others back to the Facility as soon as they returned but he wanted one man he could trust with him.

As they turned, the guard spoke up. "W-where are you going?"


Michael's gaze passed over the man. "Nowhere that concerns you. You have done well. Continue."


The man didn't challenge the two of them as they walked away. Rykovi had to quicken his pace to catch up to Michael. "Where are we going? Shouldn't we go back to the Facility and question those Andlain worshippers?"
he asked, glancing around at the halls of the Kremlin. ZARS swarmed the place, running about like ants.

"Later. Something happened here, I want to know what."
Michael didn't bother explaining. Rykovi had felt it as well. The Ascendant power - lots of it - and...something else. Something that passed through them all like a wave of...wrongness.


***

"Well...shit,"
Rykovi whispered, unable to do much more.

They had found the source of the conflict, apparently, and it was no nuclear site. Deep in the bowels of the Kremlin, it looked like a private sanctuary. Nikolai's, there was no doubt. The ZARS who contained the area had permitted their entry. As well they did, all things considered.

As they arrived, the ZARS were in the process of picking up the pieces of whatever happened here. A team of half a dozen grabbed his attention.

"Stop,"
Michael commanded them. The beat of his heart hammered against his rib cage as he saw something he had hoped he would never see again in his life.

One of the ZARS members looked up. "Sir, we are preparing the specimen for study. You'll have to ask the Ascendancy for permission -"


Michael stared at the creature's face. Ijiraq. A beast that fed on the Ascendant power, a monster of shadow and mist. "Get it out of here."


Rykovi was silent and the ZARS continued their work. It was not their job to question an Ascendant. Pushing the creature from his mind for the moment, he made his way over to the other body. Michael crouched beside the dead man, the stench of death filling his nostrils. "Strange."


"Strange?"
Rykovi chuckled almost hysterically. "Bloody right it is strange. This whole damn night has been strange!"


Michael glanced at the man. "Calm down, Rykovi, the danger has passed. Come here, I want you to see something."


Reluctantly, the blonde man made his way to Michael's side, stifling a groan and holding his nose as he crouched beside him.

Michael pointed to the familiar mark. A snake eating it's own tail. Atharim. He kept his voice low so that only Rykovi could hear him. Trust in the Kremlin was a precious commodity. "That is the mark of the Atharim."


Rykovi made a face. "Those snake bastards? What do you think they were here for?"


Michael didn't answer. Rykovi knew well the answer, he just talked when he was nervous. Instead, he rose to his feet, yanking the sword from the dead man.

So, the Atharim had made their move, and the Sentient had been true to her word. Then there was that...thing.

Without another word, Michael simply left, Aria's blade grasped at his side. No-one challenged him, and the ZARS members that he passed took a step back out of his way. Though covered in sweat and ash, his face was as cold as a glacier.

And so it begins...


Edited by Michael Vellas, Oct 5 2016, 06:44 PM.