08-04-2015, 08:00 PM
The water rolled over the back of his neck and washed down shoulders slowly releasing their stresses from the morning. Taking a breath every three strokes was the extent of concentration needed to reach the end of another lap. Breathe. Stretch. Glide. The weightlessness of water rendered the image of one soaring through open sky.
A thousand stresses delegated to a thousand people flickered in his mind like lightning. Another stroke, another wash of water rinsed them away. Another lap gone, another minute worn. But what was time to a man whose decades were as other men's years? Sixty-one years old and he appeared thirty, if that. What were minutes, even decades, to the immortal? Nikolai was unwilling to test the theory of murder, but even the ancient gods could be killed. The Atharim knew as much, but for the patient, time immeasureable was his gift. He began with molding the world into a new map, but the memory of the ruin on which he built his power faded in mortal minds. New calamities were needed to draw the remaining nations beneath his banner, but the decay of economic ruin was slower to be felt than that of earthquakes. There was no hurry for Nikolai.
One last deep breath and the surface of the pool moved on smooth ripples as he dived for the turning of a lap. He stretched, eyes closed, and flew far through the water when the loom of a distant power caused his form to break. His arms and legs bent, slowing him. The water suddenly grew too heavy and he raced for the surface, sputtering and coughing as he found air.
He was in the middle of the pool. Humidity filled his lungs even as his throat burnt from swallowing water forcefully. He was alone, but a menace bred of pure darkness crept along the walls, threatening to smother him with its presence. Solitary and darkness were his domain. His. He focused on steady breaths, and alarm subsided into demand.
"What's happening!"
He spoke to the rocky ceiling. The Ascendancy was never truly alone. A Barrier Preator agent hurried in. The entireity of his focus fell upon the Ascendancy in the center of the water. "Sir?"
He asked, but Nikolai knew the pursuit of answers from such as he was useless. "Alric! Now."
He ordered for the presence of the former GSG9 and a god in his direct employ.
Going to the edge, he pushed himself from the water and wrapped a towel tight around his waist. "And track down Commander Vellas. I want to know exactly where he is."
His voice hissed of anger. Michael was the only one Nikolai was aware that was capable of power of this magnitude, but if he were responsible for summoning it so near the Kremlin, he better have a damned good explanation.
A thousand stresses delegated to a thousand people flickered in his mind like lightning. Another stroke, another wash of water rinsed them away. Another lap gone, another minute worn. But what was time to a man whose decades were as other men's years? Sixty-one years old and he appeared thirty, if that. What were minutes, even decades, to the immortal? Nikolai was unwilling to test the theory of murder, but even the ancient gods could be killed. The Atharim knew as much, but for the patient, time immeasureable was his gift. He began with molding the world into a new map, but the memory of the ruin on which he built his power faded in mortal minds. New calamities were needed to draw the remaining nations beneath his banner, but the decay of economic ruin was slower to be felt than that of earthquakes. There was no hurry for Nikolai.
One last deep breath and the surface of the pool moved on smooth ripples as he dived for the turning of a lap. He stretched, eyes closed, and flew far through the water when the loom of a distant power caused his form to break. His arms and legs bent, slowing him. The water suddenly grew too heavy and he raced for the surface, sputtering and coughing as he found air.
He was in the middle of the pool. Humidity filled his lungs even as his throat burnt from swallowing water forcefully. He was alone, but a menace bred of pure darkness crept along the walls, threatening to smother him with its presence. Solitary and darkness were his domain. His. He focused on steady breaths, and alarm subsided into demand.
"What's happening!"
He spoke to the rocky ceiling. The Ascendancy was never truly alone. A Barrier Preator agent hurried in. The entireity of his focus fell upon the Ascendancy in the center of the water. "Sir?"
He asked, but Nikolai knew the pursuit of answers from such as he was useless. "Alric! Now."
He ordered for the presence of the former GSG9 and a god in his direct employ.
Going to the edge, he pushed himself from the water and wrapped a towel tight around his waist. "And track down Commander Vellas. I want to know exactly where he is."
His voice hissed of anger. Michael was the only one Nikolai was aware that was capable of power of this magnitude, but if he were responsible for summoning it so near the Kremlin, he better have a damned good explanation.