Pazuzu's Child part 2

Chapter 4 : THE Attack of the Trajans. THe paused in conversation should have brought about a quiet silence interrupted only by the rustling and sound of animals in the woods. INstead a loud roar resounded in the forest. THe sound of cracking tree branches made a lid crack much like an individual fire work being lit on the 4th of July. "Here they come again" complained the Jinn smacking his hand against the ancient wood table. " Thos stupid beasts just never learn" "Trajans?" Enquired Darren. "Remember those hairy ape like creatures?" The Jinn shot back. "Oh yeah" Darren answered back dreamily. "Ready to see me in my real Jinn form?" The Jinn smiled with a look of expectation written on his face. THE furious monsters screeched and howled outside the old wood cabin. Build like tall gangly chimpanzees they moved with a stark coordination that left one rather frightened at how easily they could move and how fluid for a creature so tall and skinny. Slowly like a cart hunting its prey they would creep towards the cabin making their frightening screaches. When the two figures appeared in the door way the monsters hurled their spears at the two. Seeing the oncoming missile like object hurtling toward him Darren barely evaded being hit as he moved put of the way . THe spear penetrated into the wood with a loud "thwack". With slight noise the spear vibrated in the wall. THE launching of the second spear brought about a very different reaction. THE Jinn had caught the missile hurtling toward him effortlessly . Upon his capture of the missile it immediately burst into flame. Darren looked at the jinn with a puzzled expression. "Locke I told you my body is made of smokeless fire" Daren just nodded. THE creatures turned their heads and communicated with each other with signals of shaking heads, grunts and growls. THey appeared confused but simple animals often make rash decision when they are in a panic. THree of them rushed forward with their javelins in a vain attempt to gut the older darker man in the stomach. "Get ready" the old man said giving Darren a wink. In a matter f seconds his body began to expand and change. THE loud explosion knocked Darren to the floor. When he looked up as if in a daze he noticed a large monster like figure was standing their facing down the three hairy Trajans with their razor sharp teeth jutting from their lower jaws. THe huge mister had a body of burning fire and his eyes were a deep blood read of flame like coals. As the three hardly masters attmpted their charge the Jinn caught one and held him in his hand. He inspected the squirming ape like a child examine an insect he is about to kill or smash. THe Trajan immediately burst into flame. Blood spattered too the ground while the rest f the body turned too ash which a sudden wind which came about rather conveniently blew them away. A second Trajans stabbed the giant fiery jinn in the back. THe wooden javelin thrust in with no resistance. THe wooden staff burst into flame and the metal tip fell to the dirty ground. A meaty ball of fire in the shape of a fist exploded the hairy creature and that was the end of him. When the Jinn walked away a glowing metal spear tip remained burning a bright red on the ground. The third Trajan groaned in fear and ran toward the darkness of the forest. A jets treat of flame erupted from the Jinn's right hand.. The fleeing Trajan burst into flame. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5: Horse and Carriage. "We. Must go and quickly" the Jinn said urgently. Darren followed along silently, reeling still from the jock oogf observing the transformation he was unable to speak. Quickly they ran through the forest and headed towards a dirt road with a lantern and bench on the side of the road. "Do they have busses on these dirt roads?", Darren ventured to ask. "THis is definitely not Los Angeles." "Like I said earlier, this is not Los Angles it is not your world, this is sort of liked an Earth 2" explained MUrad. The screeches and the yells of the remaining Trajans began to get louder and the crackling of bushes seemed to be getting closer. " I hope the carriage gets here soon because I do not like the sound of what is coming our way through the forest." A slight tone of panic invaded the Jinn's voice as he looked worriedly toward the direction where the sounds were coming from. "Shouldn't be a problem " Daren stated matter of factly " I saw what you did to those creatures back there and believe me when I say that that you could take out an army has of them" The sound of the horse and carriage came rumbling through . Murad grave a sigh of relief as the antiquated horse and buggy approached. THe driver brought the horses to a halt and the two got on. OOnce they seated themselves the conversation continued . " To do what I did back there expends a lot of energy" commented the jinn. "You've taken on five guys before how did you feel after the fight was over?" THE Jinn asked his question in a challenging manner. "I'll bet you might have been tired" he commented almost as if an after thought.. Darren kept his counsel. " I have more teach you" MUrad continued once he ascertained that no one would be listening in on the conversation . "You see Darren" He continued " My job is to guard the portal or vortex between this Earth and your Earth" " Are there any other Earths?" Questioned Darren. "No there is just these two, however let me explain something to you. But before I do that I would like to know if you have ever heard of read such classics as "Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz or the Chronicles of Narnia?" Darren nodded in the affirmative. The Jinn continued . "In those stories you see characters going through a rabbit hole and winding up in a different world or maybe a windstorm takes a young lady to Oz or some kids go to Narnia through a wardrobe .Those are like portals or vortexes to other worlds. After your experience you may find that those classics were really not that fictional but rather based on reality" "You mean these authors traveled through these portal and went to the worlds they wrote about?" Darren asked excitedly "that is is awesome." "I am not so sure about those authors or those worlds they wrote about but there are people and we call them "GateHoppers" they make it their business or should I say there fortune t travel through these gates and exploit whatever they can" the Jinn answered back. " THere are some people that actually conduct commerce between the different worlds but it is very disruptive and it messes up the natural order of things." "Are saying that people bring stuf from one world too the next and sell it?" Daren questioned the Jinn. "Basically yes" the jinn with a sour expression written upon his face. "Most of the stuff they sell is not your typical merchandise like clothes, games or books but rather like weapons and slaves." "Slaves?" Darren asked jolting bolt right into his seat. "Like I said earlier there are a few people not a lot who travel these gate ways." the Jinn responded with slight irritation in his tone. "Which is where my tribe of Jinn come in." A bit of joy crept back to voice as he continued to explain his tribes role with regards to watching the gates. It was obvious that this was a source of pride for MUrad. "Our job is to stope these gate hoppers and prevent them from going through the gateways and bring their weapons and slave." MUrad paused as if to let the information slip in. "Just imagine there is a primative world and two. Nations or tribes are fighting. If someone from your world sells them weapons or firearms why that could tip the balance . As for slaves nay rich people can afford them and they keep their slaves inside " "Yeah I guess you are right abut that" Daren said sounding rather abject. "There are world that a man can find himself , now sometimes these gateways will take you to a different time period and that could be past or present." "Let me ask you something" Daren interjected " Go ahead" replied the Jinn. "If I went to the past. That means I could change it. Right?" Darren asked. "Here is the catch my young friend" explained the wisened Jinn 'what has happened has happened the past cannot be changed. You can try too change or prevent some historic event but the timeline corrects itself and goes back to the way it was." "So you can watch but you cannot change anything what about the future? Is that right?" "Going through the gateway can take you into the future, but one thing" the Jinn paused and again he habitually rubbed the stubble on his chin "I call it a false future, because I can only temporarily exist because someone can always change their mind in the present and that in turn effect the future." "So what your saying is that I can jump into the future but if I go back to my time and somehow reach that futures I once saw it will be changed? Is that right?" Asked Darren. "My point exactly" confirmed the Jinn " If you should cross a gate and go into the future and then go back to your time line you will have already changed the future" " How is that ? " Darren asked almost demanding an answer. "Nothing is set in stone, we have free will and we can do what we want" replied the Jinn. "You see someone goes into the future or they step through a gate, guess what happens?"MUrad said quizzing Darren. He spent a few moment trying to figure it out before he came up with an answer. "You can see the future and you can see how things are going to be" Ventured Darren "Well that is one ways of looking at it but you are only partially correct" MUrad countered with a slight laugh. "Point is once you enter the gate you are no longer in the timeline , it is like you disappeared, your future self is not there , but the current you will be." "What's the point of going through this future gate then?" Mused Darren. MUrad folded his hands on his lap. "See where your friend end up, look at investment trends" answered MUrad " You know which stock will make money which ones lose, that kind of knowledge fright there could make you a millionaire " "I see" Darrent said quietly. "It's not like I can see my future self and learn from his mistakes " THe jinn shook his head back and forth with a smile. A sudden roar etched through the woods as the carriage rambled through the dark woods. MUrad adopted a very serious look. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 Attack of the Anzu THe carriage careened off the road into a clump of tree.. THE banging and the bouncing knocked them around like marbles on a jar Being shaken up. Darren's head banged solidly into the carriages roof Ceiling. HIs head made a hollow thud sound like a customer hitting a watermelon to determine it's quality. The roaring gt louder and louder . THe sound seemed to be descending from the air. Murad had not lost consciousness, after all a Jinn cannot get knocked out that easily. Murad moved the small curtain aside that acted as a barrier between the driver and his passenger. THe driver was not there. All that remained was large puddle of drying stick,y blood on the seat. If this is what I think it is Murad thought to himself things are not looking too good. The large cat likes roar echoed through the wood. A sound like wood being torn apart like paper could be heard as a large paw punched through the wall of the carrage. The paw felt around as is searching for something . Murad put up his Pinter finger and it lit up like a knife or blade cast into flames. The Jinn's hot finger penetrated the huge oversized cat like paw like a hot knife going through butter. THe creature immediately wrapped its paw and belched 0ut a furious roar. A series of intense bangs rocked the carriage and it seemed as though the wall would not be able to hold up. Another paw reached through and knocked the jinn down. Darren was just beginning to stir and his eyes were still a blur. Noticing that his fridge end was down and that this creature might well devour or at least kill them both. Darren realized that he would have to act quick if they were to get out of this mess alive that he would have to act quickly . A sharp spear like piece of wood broke free from the carriages wall and was lying right next to Darren. Quickly he grasped the wood , careful note to get splinters and rushed toward the probing paw that was searching the cabin as if looking for something. The harsh hitting movement of the other paws knocked against the carriage , knocking Darren to his feet at least three different times before he got close enough . A tool box slid it from under a seat and spilled out all it's. Contents some of which consisted oF sharp tools which could prove useful in trying to defend against what was beginning to seem like an oversized cat. It seemed like a cat but why did it come from the sky? The walls of the carriage were beginning to cm e apart. Acting quickly Darren pierced the creatures not hand and wedged his wooden spear into the crack. The giant creature's paw was trapped. An axe fell it of the tool box and slid to where Darren had the creature's paw trapped. Furiously he hacked at the monsters wrist. As the hand was severed from the wrist blood gushed every where. Murad grabbed Darren's wrist and pulled him through the carriage door. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Part 2 Chapter 1 Desert Oasis The smoke of Frankincense, Myrrh and permeated the inner sanctum of the temple. THe small cubicle liked room was filled with fragrant smoke that made me feel as if they were trapped with hi a small room of fog/ Grasping for air the elder priestess struggled to breathe. THe dream had been frightening ,the dream had been a portent. The last time she had such a vivid dream was when the conqueror from the north assumed the throne of Uruk. It had been dark days since. THe dream slowly came back to her, but it was no dream but rather a vision. In the dream a wounded creature flew through the air and died right at her feet. THe creature was an Anzu which was basically a leopard with wings. Known to be quite ferocious and powerful, due too their large size. Anzus could fly through the air swoop down and catch a grown man for a meal.. The vision had been vivid. The leopard like creature with it's yellowish brown skin had been flying through the air in lame circle going round and round. Upon seeing a town with people the Anzu flew down and landed. In the vision , the priestess head been on the outskirts of town collecting herbs for healing and offerings. The wounded creature was bleeding profusely with a bloody trail that followed him wherever he flew. When he landed, it was a few feet from where she was. "Frightening beast who have you decided to hunt this time? " she had asked knowing full well that these predators were dangerous and responsible for killing people. "Priestess of the Sacred God Sin please believe I have been deprived of food for days. On the brink of starvation I believed I would die when I chanced upon a human and a Jinn wandering about in the Central woods across the sea in a carriage. I attacked they fought back , the human stabbed me through the hand and pinned it to a wall in the carriage then he got it an axe and cut off my paw. So now death calls me back to Ereshkiagal's realm" the Anzu told his story his voice tinged with regret and anger. THE priestess leaned down too touch the dying beast to sea if she could heal him, he had lost too much blood . THe vision was too vivid. Dark clouds were forming on the horizon . Slowly the aged priestess ambled her way it of the room and into the main chamber. Catching her breath again she stiffened her body and picked up her pace. WIth deftness she dodged through the thronging crowd of people in the sook on her way to the temple of Nabu, the scribe God would be able to interpret this vision. Breathless from her run through the sook, she straightens herself up and walked toward the Zigguarat of Nabu. Although a priestess and one with an excellent relationship with the god she still could not storm up that mountain of building and petition the god. No she had to go through the lower levels with all the other worshippers. "Your face looks troubled moon priestess" noted the priest of Nabu. Concern was etched on his face. THE light shined off his bald head as he bowed reverently to the moon priestess. "It is a vision, priest and a troubling one at that." Sheer replied gulping down saliva "I can see" said the concerned priest. THe priestess shared the contents of her dream.