09-30-2013, 04:49 PM
There were long moments when Nik steeled himself for the breaking of this inevitable avalanche. Yet he refused to allow crisis to overwhelm logical reasoning. Alric must comply. There was no other option.
Finally, the impression of danger diminished. If ever there was a time to breathe a sigh of relief, it was now. He knew Alric’s struggle. Had sensed it keenly. The air was thinned of their battle with the Ascendancy retreating the victor. Yet that cripple of doubt threatened once more, and he knew the war was only now beginning.
“Well done,”
he stated plainly. Conscious manipulation of their shared powers was the key to surviving, but Nikolai was unsure whether their interaction had slowed the man’s approaching death or had ushered it forward in time. We will find out.
A brief wave summoned the scientists. One entered immediately wearing the same white labcoat as before, but his face was covered with a surgical mask. He held a spare in one hand, but the Ascendancy refused the offer. It was a little late to worry about quarantine measures now. “The sickness may come upon him again,”
he started, glancing briefly at the subject of their discussion. “Likely today or tomorrow. Watch him. And inform me of the outcome.”
The man turned slowly toward Alric, “Ascendancy, how can you predict--”
“Because I can,”
Nikolai interrupted, frustration sharpening his tone. The doctor paled but did not argue again.
Looking down upon Alric, he processed the man’s confusion. “If it comes once more, survive it. When next we speak again, I will explain what you are.”
An ominous cliffhanger, but Alric’s future hung on the next forty-eight hours. It was up to him what he did with it.
With that, Nikolai disappeared behind the two-way glass. His thoughts shelved all thought for what the boy was facing, and returned to considering another, more harrowing, possibility than the existence of a second god. That there may, in fact, be a third.
Finally, the impression of danger diminished. If ever there was a time to breathe a sigh of relief, it was now. He knew Alric’s struggle. Had sensed it keenly. The air was thinned of their battle with the Ascendancy retreating the victor. Yet that cripple of doubt threatened once more, and he knew the war was only now beginning.
“Well done,”
he stated plainly. Conscious manipulation of their shared powers was the key to surviving, but Nikolai was unsure whether their interaction had slowed the man’s approaching death or had ushered it forward in time. We will find out.
A brief wave summoned the scientists. One entered immediately wearing the same white labcoat as before, but his face was covered with a surgical mask. He held a spare in one hand, but the Ascendancy refused the offer. It was a little late to worry about quarantine measures now. “The sickness may come upon him again,”
he started, glancing briefly at the subject of their discussion. “Likely today or tomorrow. Watch him. And inform me of the outcome.”
The man turned slowly toward Alric, “Ascendancy, how can you predict--”
“Because I can,”
Nikolai interrupted, frustration sharpening his tone. The doctor paled but did not argue again.
Looking down upon Alric, he processed the man’s confusion. “If it comes once more, survive it. When next we speak again, I will explain what you are.”
An ominous cliffhanger, but Alric’s future hung on the next forty-eight hours. It was up to him what he did with it.
With that, Nikolai disappeared behind the two-way glass. His thoughts shelved all thought for what the boy was facing, and returned to considering another, more harrowing, possibility than the existence of a second god. That there may, in fact, be a third.