Chapter 15
Watching From The Shadows
As The Rector was ejected from the portal he gulped greedily at the viscous substance that surrounded him with an instinct that could not be denied. He sprawled forwards blindly, impacting with and then rolling across the gravelly floor of the cave. Coughing and spluttering, he raised himself to a kneeling position - as if in worship of the shimmering disc that hung in the cloying stillness before him. He forced himself to regulate his breathing until his lungs had cycled through the alien air and ejected from his system the remnants of that which had been inhaled on another world. Whilst he did so he contemplated his newly gained knowledge. Although knowledge was, perhaps, too concise a term for it at the moment. What he had extracted from the beast during the process of its destruction on the other side of the portal was currently little more than a fuzzy awareness of rightness and wrongness. He had sub-consciously sensed that the thick air which had blanketed him during his brief transition between worlds was intrinsically ‘right’ and, as a result of this, he had welcomed it even though his body had initially informed him otherwise. He had overcome that barrier now and was breathing in the substance more deeply, in awe of the fact that his human respiratory system could deal with it at all. What surprised him more at the moment was the uncomfortable feeling that he got from gazing into the brightly reflective phenomenon confronting him and through which he had travelled. Why should he feel such distrust of it when the creatures seemed to control it and use it to suit their own purpose? Because, he thought instinctively, it is not of their making! They had achieved some form of mastery over it, obviously, but it was apparently as alien to them as it had been to himself when he had first set eyes upon it. Initially, whilst his newly absorbed understanding was still sinking in, he had embraced the portal as a springboard which would enable him to reach dizzying heights of domination over two very distinct races. Now, however, he felt altogether more sceptical of it. There was an inate wildness to it which fostered mistrust and caused his stomach to turn, sickeningly.
And then, from off to his left where a more natural light glowed dully, there came the unmistakable rhythmic beating of wings, followed by a brief scrabble for purchase on the rocky surface not too far away. He eased himself backwards slowly into the shadows, cautious of slipping in the loose scree that surrounded him, not wanting to alert this new arrival to his presence if it could be at all avoided. He soon found himself with his back to the cold irregular wall of the cave and focused his attention on blending in with it, slowing his breathing and hoping that the compulsion to splutter out any hidden pockets of Earth air did not come upon him. Next, he heard the footfalls of the creature padding towards where he crouched and then it became visible as it stepped into the wash of unnatural light that emanated from the portal. For a second or two it paused, its head tilted to one side as if it was listening for something. The Rector held his breath and concentrated upon being a lump of stone, relieved when the beast appeared to return its attention to the shimmering anomaly suspended before it. He watched as the creature appeared to focus its full attention upon the portal, appearing almost to be paying homage as it knelt before it, head now lowered.
Tethering. The word came unbidden to his mind, yet at once he recognised the truth of it, understood from some newly implanted thought process that the wild nature of the portal needed to be harnessed, controlled. A being of mental potency, such as the one which crouched before him, was capable of doing just that - of tethering the portal to a point in time and space which would permit the safe passage of those who were about to transit through it. And yet he himself had arrived here safely, maybe by luck more than judgment? Perhaps he should have assessed the risk involved more completely before he stepped into the light but, if he had applied that philosophy to every impromptu decision he had ever made, he most certainly would not be in the position he was today. Most likely, he thought, recollecting some of the unenviable situations that he had found himself in over the years, he would be long dead. What happened next, however, required him to stifle a gasp of surprise, as Sean Perry came skittering forth from the luminous mouth of the portal, stuttering to a halt whilst managing to retain his footing, gasping ragged breaths as he had done himself only moments before.
Perry had, he’d presumed, preceded him through the portal. Upon The Rector’s entry into that dark and dusty hangar, that had certainly appeared to have been the case. And now, with his newly acquired understanding, he was quite certain of the fact. Both Sleet and Perry had stepped into that shimmering light before he had even entered upon the scene. So, he wondered to himself, Sleet and Perry go in and then, a while later, I follow. On the other side I come out and then, a while later, Perry appears. And Sleet James? Where did he fit into this mind-bending sequence of events? Was he already out there, beyond the cave mouth, having been disgorged by the portal earlier? Or was his arrival still awaited? His questions, he presumed, were about to be answered, as he watched Perry turn to consider the brightness of the impossible disc, pensively. He appeared to be anticipating the arrival of something, anyway.
Tethering, he thought again. The concept kept popping unbidden to the forefront of his mind. When he had crossed over there had been no creature connected to this side of the portal. Those beasts that had entered it before he did had obviously had no intention of holding it open so that he could follow. In fairness, though, why should they have even presumed that it had been his intention to do so? He, therefore, had travelled through in a somewhat haphazard fashion and was probably lucky to be here at all. For all he knew he could have ended up arriving at a massively different time, or else maybe he could have emerged into solid rock, or both. And then this creature arrives and attunes itself to the anomaly - somehow harnesses it in order to ensure that it correctly links one time and place to another presumably vastly distant one, and allows those crossing over to do so safely. He turned the concept over in his head, matched it successfully with the alien perception that had not yet fully merged with his own understanding of how the universe ticked, and new it to be correct.
And then, to his continued amazement, Sleet James arrived. He came tumbling from the portal in such a desperate manner that it would have been completely impossible to maintain any kind of footing. The Rector watched with a wince as he fell forwards and impacted with the hard floor of the cave, causing a cloud of dust and sending gravel spinning through the air with scant regard to its substantial nature. Perry was upon him almost immediately, however. “Breathe, Sleet!” he urged the writhing figure. He watched as James shook his head from side to side.
If he doesn’t embrace this, and quickly, he’s dead.
“You must,” Perry insisted, “you have to!”
And what if he does die, here and now? The Rector pondered. What would that mean? He was quite certain now that Sleet James’ involvement in these alien affairs was by no means accidental. What he was uncertain of, however, was whether James’ demise would benefit his own cause or hamper him in his intentions. What if you are actually the key to all this, Sleet James? Perhaps I actually need you to open some doors for me. He found himself silently urging James to gulp this foreign substance into his lungs. He desired to know why James had been brought here by the creatures; what they needed him for so badly. He felt deep within himself, presumably from the thoughts he had ingested from the beast he had faced up to, that the impromptu death of their charge would present the creatures with a kind of dead end; that somehow all of their hopes and many of their fears were wrapped up in this seemingly inconsequential individual.
And then James was forced to release the breath that he had obviously been holding on to for so long and, in doing so, was left with no choice but to gulp in two great lungfuls of the cloying alien air. The Rector watched as the situation appeared to go from bad to worse, James retching violently, unwilling to accept the substance as something that his system could actually process.
“Again, Sleet,” Perry shouted, clapping him on the back, “you can breathe this stuff!”
Perhaps he will be too stubborn, The Rector thought. Perhaps he will die here after all. And then maybe the desperation of these animals will be to my benefit after all. Who can tell?
James appeared to be completely stupefied by this point; his eyes glazed over, on the apparent brink of drifting into unconsciousness. Perry grasped him by the shoulders and began to shake him frantically. The Rector found himself holding his own breath in sympathy, fascinated with the scene playing itself out before him.
And then, just when James appeared to be on the point of no return, he gasped out loud and began thrashing around, eventually flipping himself onto his back where he preceded to breath raggedly in and out whilst his hands scrabbled about in the dust of the cave’s floor.
Muffled words eventually issued from his swollen lips, “Where am I?”
A question indeed, The Rector mused, and not easily answered I daresay. He eagerly awaited Perry’s response.
“You’re here, on the other side,” Perry said. That much is obvious!
Perry helped James up into a sitting position so that the patient could look around himself. The Rector watched him blink several times before bringing his eyes to bear on the impossibility of the shimmering portal that continued to remain a focal point in the surrounding gloom. The effect which it had upon James was one of horror. He pushed himself backwards urgently, away from the brightness of the anomaly, obviously recalling the journey that he had taken through it. For The Rector with his newly acquired knowledge, that journey had appeared to last scant seconds, but by the condition it had left James in and the present look on his face he surmised that he had endured an altogether different experience. I accepted it, he realised, embraced it. I didn’t fight against it, rather I welcomed it. Perhaps that made it easier. And if James refused it; fought against it, maybe his transference was more arduous.
“It’s okay,” Perry placated, “we’re through now. You don’t have to go back in there.”
The Rector turned his head to consider the portal once more and immediately witnessed another figure stepping forth: one of the creatures this time and a particularly large one at that. Again, James tried to skitter away, although he had quite obviously not yet gathered enough strength to make any serious kind of a break for it. “What’s that doing here?” was all he could blurt out.
The Rector’s ears pricked up as Perry chuckled to himself, apparently more than comfortable with the situation. “Uvall?” he laughed, “he’s come home.” The Rector instinctively knew the truth of this. Wherever they had arrived, it was where these beasts had come from, where they lived. And that name which Perry had uttered, it felt so familiar to him; there was an undeniable rightness to it and yet it felt somehow unfulfilled.
The shimmer from the portal was interrupted once again then as two more of the creatures, smaller specimens this time, emerged from it. At first, whilst his focus was centred upon these latest arrivals, he didn’t notice the fact that the anomaly was shrinking but, as it drew further and further into itself, it attracted the attention of all three humans present who watched as, in a mere few seconds, it shrunk until it was the size of a dinner plate, whereupon it winked out of existence with a barely audible ‘pop’. As they were engulfed in the ensuing darkness, The Rector once more pondered the involvement of the other two men. James appeared to be completely at odds with his present predicament. Perry, conversely, seemed quite at ease and unfazed by the events which were unravelling so quickly around them. Perhaps I have underestimated you, Sean Perry. By what means have you contrived to be in control of this situation? And how has that been overlooked by me and those which I set to watch over you? He was suddenly concerned by the fact that Perry may well possess knowledge in advance of his own and that he himself might be the one playing catch up. He relished the sudden role reversal however. It was merely another piece of the puzzle which needed to be understood; required mastery.
“Perry?” he recognised James’ voice calling out, “you still there?”
Afraid of the dark, Sleet James? I never would have guessed! he chuckled to himself, feeling a sense of security as a result of the enveloping blackness which enshrouded him, ensuring his anonymity whilst he listened carefully to the events playing out before him.
“Look this way.” The Rector turned his head to where Perry’s voice had emanated. The faint glow of what he had assumed to be daylight was once more beginning to infuse the cavern now that the brightness generated by the portal had winked out of existence. He chided himself for not recalling it, for his assumption that he was wrapped in an all encompassing darkness. Fairly sure that he would not be descried against the irregular wall of the cave he hunkered against it. He was inwardly aware now that the sight of the creatures operated on a different level to his own human eyes. Light and dark they could perceive, yet their vision extended into the spectrum beyond that which was visible to himself. Be one with the stone, he commanded himself. His newly acquired abilities could well be sufficient to overcome all of those unknowingly sharing this enclosed space with him but he did not want to put that to the test right now. There was a time for such displays and he sensed full well that this was not one of them. This was a time to listen and to learn. There would be time enough to act later and what he could digest here and now would only serve to ensure his mastery in the final reckoning. He needed to fully comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, for that is what they were. That is what everyone was now, every being and creature, no matter of this world or his own. He had transcended above them - had bridged a chasm between two such different species that could never be surpassed. How to use his powers to their most devastating effect was what he now needed to determine.
He was distracted from his machinations by a sound which he associated with the creatures in flight. In this close proximity he felt the waft of their wings upon his face through the viscous air between them, listened intently and was able to sense two of the creatures skittering towards the entrance to the cave, their silhouettes becoming visibly discernible as they reached it and took flight, leaving silence in their wake. The Rector peered around the cave, managing to identify the last remaining figures now that his eyes were becoming accustomed to the dim light that had penetrated the grotto. Perry, James and the creature that Perry had named as Uvall. Where then was the creature that had flown into the cavern initially? He had perceived its departure via neither the cave’s mouth or the portal before it had vanished and yet it must have taken one route or the other for it most certainly was no longer present. Once again The Rector scolded himself for not having a closer grasp of proceedings. And yet perhaps he was being too hard on himself - these were, after all, particularly extenuating circumstances. He was most surely outside of his normal operating procedure and the comfort zone which he had constructed around himself within the subterranean warrens which had served as his lair for so many years. Whilst he pondered, he listened as Perry and James debated the nature of the alien air and how they were able to breathe it. James then made an odd inquiry as to the state of the other man’s glasses and then, as Perry reached up to remove them from his face, he had to stifle a gasp of glee as James pounced forwards without the merest hint or warning, striking Perry full in the face and sending him skittering backwards amidst the scree of the cavern’s floor.
“This is your doing, Perry!” Sleet yelled at the prone form of the other man, “all this, and what happened to those girls!”
And a further piece of the jigsaw clicked in to place within The Rector’s mind. He had obviously been way off track in his assumption that this pair had a cosy little association going on. You’re not here of your own free will, James, are you? he pondered. And Perry is to blame for the condition that he had found the two women in earlier - unconscious on that hangar floor. Click. You used them, Perry, either as bait or as hostages, but you coerced James into accompanying you.
“I couldn’t help it, Sleet,” Perry replied to the accusations, “I wasn’t in control - I was compelled by them to do the things that I did.”
So, The Rector realised, neither was Perry in cahoots with the creatures - they were controlling him, using their abilities to impel him to do their bidding. But when had Perry come into contact with them? In what other ways might these beasts have infiltrated his operation? Not that it mattered particularly now - he did not foresee that he would have need of the underworld organisation which he had worked so strenuously to establish. Steiner, Mendelsson and all of the others - they had served their purpose and he did not envisage himself requiring their services again. Thoughts of the doctor, however, caused him to recollect the creatures that he had captured and which he had had dissected, deep in the underground bowels of The Rectory complex. I sent him down there! he realised, I sent Perry down to witness the creature. It had been an intentionally pompous act, a move designed to shock the man and to impress upon him that he had no option but to obey. If monstrously hideous beasts of an other-worldly appearance were incapable of defying him how could a mere youth like Perry do anything other than closely follow his instruction? How could he contemplate doing otherwise? And yet something had occurred; some event had taken place that had resulted in the creatures’ will being imposed upon the man. He recalled the fact that they had not yet operated upon that particular animal at the time. Maybe it hadn’t been dead after all. Mendelsson obviously had an excellent grasp of human physiology, yet he had clearly been very much in the dark when trying to comprehend the anatomy of these beasts, and understandably so.
James continued his condemnation of the other man, criticising him for his lack of will power. I almost pity you, Perry, The Rector thought, having to put up with Sleet James and his ‘holier than thou’ attitude. I really thought that he would be different - noticeably special in some way. What these creatures interest in him may be is beyond comprehension - for now anyway. Perry could only put up a pitifully childlike defence of his position but their altercation was curtailed by the gruff rumbling of the beast which Perry had referred to as Uvall. It appeared to be getting agitated. Probably fed up of this incessant bickering already - I know I am.
“It’s time to go,” Perry announced, as the creature began padding towards the mouth of the cave. Perry followed, leaving James little choice but to rise from his seated position to see what lay in store for him. Hurry up, for God’s sake - I can’t sit here all cramped up for much longer and I seem to be keener than you are to see where we actually are. The trio soon passed out of sight and then earshot, permitting The Rector to stretch his legs out before him which provided no small degree of satisfaction. He permitted his mind to wander, allowing it to explore the additional components which were slowly fusing together with his human consciousness. Bizarrely, he was firmly aware of the alien nature of the intelligence that he had ingested yet, now that it was becoming inextricably linked with his human psyche, he considered it to be perfectly natural. He was more than simply comfortable with it, however - he felt exulted, fulfilled, and he knew full well that he had reached nothing like the full potential that would ultimately be available to him. He continued to sit there in the darkness, allowing the minutes to tick away. He desired to maintain his secretive presence for a while yet and wanted to be sure that the others had departed the immediate vicinity before he followed in their wake. Eventually, however, his curiosity caused him to rise and cautiously pick his way across the floor of the cave towards the dim light that announced the presence of a world outside of this stony vault. The light became brighter and he progressed, but not in the way that Earthly daylight would. There was a particular hue to it that led him to comprehend that he would not be stepping out into brilliant golden sunshine. Where the hell am I, he pondered.
This question became partly answered as he reached the cave mouth and was confronted by an amaranthine vista - a sky that abounded with lavish tones of mauve and lilac and, beneath it, a vast wine coloured expanse of jungle that stretched all the way to a vague horizon. He glanced quickly to each side, recognising at first that he was high up a mountain or cliff face and that there was no more than a narrow ledge before him. He immediately confirmed that the others had departed and then he spied them making their way ponderously along a narrow pathway that led down from his current position. He watched them, wondering at their destination and once again puzzling over what the intention of the creatures might be. He then turned his attention back to the undeniably beautiful heavens, surprised that he had not previously noticed the glistening procession of diamonds that continuously twinkled as they made their way steadily across the centre of the firmament directly above his head. Fascinating! The only thing that appeared to mar the otherwise perfect view was an ugly yellow scar across the sky far into the distance and towards the left of his current position. He found it immediately repulsive, inducing a discomforting queasiness in the pit of his stomach. As of yet he had far from integrated the knowledge which he had extracted from the creature and hence he was unable to comprehend some of the reactions that he was experiencing. All in good time, he thought, looking away from this disturbing blemish on the otherwise magnificent skyline and back to where he had last spied the unlikely trio making their way down the side of the cliff face. He could no longer make them out, the narrow ledge itself becoming lost in the distance and the uncertain light. That, in itself, did not present him with an immediate problem. What he required now was freedom - the freedom to explore and understand this new world that lay spread out before him. And a little time - time to fully assimilate his newly acquired understanding of the beasts that Sleet James called Shadows. And what better way to accomplish both of those tasks could there possibly be? Oh, not for him that precipitous track and the subsequent crawl through the oppressive undergrowth. He was superior to that - his newly acquired kin were superior to that. He stepped right up to the edge of the lofty outcropping, sparing not a glance for the staggeringly sheer drop beneath the toes of his shoes, flung his arms wide open and his head right back so that he was staring directly up at those twinkling jewels which coasted serenely by, so many thousands of miles above. With a degree of focus beyond that which he had ever possessed he radiated a mental instruction upwards and outwards, palpably sensing its emission from his being...
Come for me!
And then, from off to his left where a more natural light glowed dully, there came the unmistakable rhythmic beating of wings, followed by a brief scrabble for purchase on the rocky surface not too far away. He eased himself backwards slowly into the shadows, cautious of slipping in the loose scree that surrounded him, not wanting to alert this new arrival to his presence if it could be at all avoided. He soon found himself with his back to the cold irregular wall of the cave and focused his attention on blending in with it, slowing his breathing and hoping that the compulsion to splutter out any hidden pockets of Earth air did not come upon him. Next, he heard the footfalls of the creature padding towards where he crouched and then it became visible as it stepped into the wash of unnatural light that emanated from the portal. For a second or two it paused, its head tilted to one side as if it was listening for something. The Rector held his breath and concentrated upon being a lump of stone, relieved when the beast appeared to return its attention to the shimmering anomaly suspended before it. He watched as the creature appeared to focus its full attention upon the portal, appearing almost to be paying homage as it knelt before it, head now lowered.
Tethering. The word came unbidden to his mind, yet at once he recognised the truth of it, understood from some newly implanted thought process that the wild nature of the portal needed to be harnessed, controlled. A being of mental potency, such as the one which crouched before him, was capable of doing just that - of tethering the portal to a point in time and space which would permit the safe passage of those who were about to transit through it. And yet he himself had arrived here safely, maybe by luck more than judgment? Perhaps he should have assessed the risk involved more completely before he stepped into the light but, if he had applied that philosophy to every impromptu decision he had ever made, he most certainly would not be in the position he was today. Most likely, he thought, recollecting some of the unenviable situations that he had found himself in over the years, he would be long dead. What happened next, however, required him to stifle a gasp of surprise, as Sean Perry came skittering forth from the luminous mouth of the portal, stuttering to a halt whilst managing to retain his footing, gasping ragged breaths as he had done himself only moments before.
Perry had, he’d presumed, preceded him through the portal. Upon The Rector’s entry into that dark and dusty hangar, that had certainly appeared to have been the case. And now, with his newly acquired understanding, he was quite certain of the fact. Both Sleet and Perry had stepped into that shimmering light before he had even entered upon the scene. So, he wondered to himself, Sleet and Perry go in and then, a while later, I follow. On the other side I come out and then, a while later, Perry appears. And Sleet James? Where did he fit into this mind-bending sequence of events? Was he already out there, beyond the cave mouth, having been disgorged by the portal earlier? Or was his arrival still awaited? His questions, he presumed, were about to be answered, as he watched Perry turn to consider the brightness of the impossible disc, pensively. He appeared to be anticipating the arrival of something, anyway.
Tethering, he thought again. The concept kept popping unbidden to the forefront of his mind. When he had crossed over there had been no creature connected to this side of the portal. Those beasts that had entered it before he did had obviously had no intention of holding it open so that he could follow. In fairness, though, why should they have even presumed that it had been his intention to do so? He, therefore, had travelled through in a somewhat haphazard fashion and was probably lucky to be here at all. For all he knew he could have ended up arriving at a massively different time, or else maybe he could have emerged into solid rock, or both. And then this creature arrives and attunes itself to the anomaly - somehow harnesses it in order to ensure that it correctly links one time and place to another presumably vastly distant one, and allows those crossing over to do so safely. He turned the concept over in his head, matched it successfully with the alien perception that had not yet fully merged with his own understanding of how the universe ticked, and new it to be correct.
And then, to his continued amazement, Sleet James arrived. He came tumbling from the portal in such a desperate manner that it would have been completely impossible to maintain any kind of footing. The Rector watched with a wince as he fell forwards and impacted with the hard floor of the cave, causing a cloud of dust and sending gravel spinning through the air with scant regard to its substantial nature. Perry was upon him almost immediately, however. “Breathe, Sleet!” he urged the writhing figure. He watched as James shook his head from side to side.
If he doesn’t embrace this, and quickly, he’s dead.
“You must,” Perry insisted, “you have to!”
And what if he does die, here and now? The Rector pondered. What would that mean? He was quite certain now that Sleet James’ involvement in these alien affairs was by no means accidental. What he was uncertain of, however, was whether James’ demise would benefit his own cause or hamper him in his intentions. What if you are actually the key to all this, Sleet James? Perhaps I actually need you to open some doors for me. He found himself silently urging James to gulp this foreign substance into his lungs. He desired to know why James had been brought here by the creatures; what they needed him for so badly. He felt deep within himself, presumably from the thoughts he had ingested from the beast he had faced up to, that the impromptu death of their charge would present the creatures with a kind of dead end; that somehow all of their hopes and many of their fears were wrapped up in this seemingly inconsequential individual.
And then James was forced to release the breath that he had obviously been holding on to for so long and, in doing so, was left with no choice but to gulp in two great lungfuls of the cloying alien air. The Rector watched as the situation appeared to go from bad to worse, James retching violently, unwilling to accept the substance as something that his system could actually process.
“Again, Sleet,” Perry shouted, clapping him on the back, “you can breathe this stuff!”
Perhaps he will be too stubborn, The Rector thought. Perhaps he will die here after all. And then maybe the desperation of these animals will be to my benefit after all. Who can tell?
James appeared to be completely stupefied by this point; his eyes glazed over, on the apparent brink of drifting into unconsciousness. Perry grasped him by the shoulders and began to shake him frantically. The Rector found himself holding his own breath in sympathy, fascinated with the scene playing itself out before him.
And then, just when James appeared to be on the point of no return, he gasped out loud and began thrashing around, eventually flipping himself onto his back where he preceded to breath raggedly in and out whilst his hands scrabbled about in the dust of the cave’s floor.
Muffled words eventually issued from his swollen lips, “Where am I?”
A question indeed, The Rector mused, and not easily answered I daresay. He eagerly awaited Perry’s response.
“You’re here, on the other side,” Perry said. That much is obvious!
Perry helped James up into a sitting position so that the patient could look around himself. The Rector watched him blink several times before bringing his eyes to bear on the impossibility of the shimmering portal that continued to remain a focal point in the surrounding gloom. The effect which it had upon James was one of horror. He pushed himself backwards urgently, away from the brightness of the anomaly, obviously recalling the journey that he had taken through it. For The Rector with his newly acquired knowledge, that journey had appeared to last scant seconds, but by the condition it had left James in and the present look on his face he surmised that he had endured an altogether different experience. I accepted it, he realised, embraced it. I didn’t fight against it, rather I welcomed it. Perhaps that made it easier. And if James refused it; fought against it, maybe his transference was more arduous.
“It’s okay,” Perry placated, “we’re through now. You don’t have to go back in there.”
The Rector turned his head to consider the portal once more and immediately witnessed another figure stepping forth: one of the creatures this time and a particularly large one at that. Again, James tried to skitter away, although he had quite obviously not yet gathered enough strength to make any serious kind of a break for it. “What’s that doing here?” was all he could blurt out.
The Rector’s ears pricked up as Perry chuckled to himself, apparently more than comfortable with the situation. “Uvall?” he laughed, “he’s come home.” The Rector instinctively knew the truth of this. Wherever they had arrived, it was where these beasts had come from, where they lived. And that name which Perry had uttered, it felt so familiar to him; there was an undeniable rightness to it and yet it felt somehow unfulfilled.
The shimmer from the portal was interrupted once again then as two more of the creatures, smaller specimens this time, emerged from it. At first, whilst his focus was centred upon these latest arrivals, he didn’t notice the fact that the anomaly was shrinking but, as it drew further and further into itself, it attracted the attention of all three humans present who watched as, in a mere few seconds, it shrunk until it was the size of a dinner plate, whereupon it winked out of existence with a barely audible ‘pop’. As they were engulfed in the ensuing darkness, The Rector once more pondered the involvement of the other two men. James appeared to be completely at odds with his present predicament. Perry, conversely, seemed quite at ease and unfazed by the events which were unravelling so quickly around them. Perhaps I have underestimated you, Sean Perry. By what means have you contrived to be in control of this situation? And how has that been overlooked by me and those which I set to watch over you? He was suddenly concerned by the fact that Perry may well possess knowledge in advance of his own and that he himself might be the one playing catch up. He relished the sudden role reversal however. It was merely another piece of the puzzle which needed to be understood; required mastery.
“Perry?” he recognised James’ voice calling out, “you still there?”
Afraid of the dark, Sleet James? I never would have guessed! he chuckled to himself, feeling a sense of security as a result of the enveloping blackness which enshrouded him, ensuring his anonymity whilst he listened carefully to the events playing out before him.
“Look this way.” The Rector turned his head to where Perry’s voice had emanated. The faint glow of what he had assumed to be daylight was once more beginning to infuse the cavern now that the brightness generated by the portal had winked out of existence. He chided himself for not recalling it, for his assumption that he was wrapped in an all encompassing darkness. Fairly sure that he would not be descried against the irregular wall of the cave he hunkered against it. He was inwardly aware now that the sight of the creatures operated on a different level to his own human eyes. Light and dark they could perceive, yet their vision extended into the spectrum beyond that which was visible to himself. Be one with the stone, he commanded himself. His newly acquired abilities could well be sufficient to overcome all of those unknowingly sharing this enclosed space with him but he did not want to put that to the test right now. There was a time for such displays and he sensed full well that this was not one of them. This was a time to listen and to learn. There would be time enough to act later and what he could digest here and now would only serve to ensure his mastery in the final reckoning. He needed to fully comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, for that is what they were. That is what everyone was now, every being and creature, no matter of this world or his own. He had transcended above them - had bridged a chasm between two such different species that could never be surpassed. How to use his powers to their most devastating effect was what he now needed to determine.
He was distracted from his machinations by a sound which he associated with the creatures in flight. In this close proximity he felt the waft of their wings upon his face through the viscous air between them, listened intently and was able to sense two of the creatures skittering towards the entrance to the cave, their silhouettes becoming visibly discernible as they reached it and took flight, leaving silence in their wake. The Rector peered around the cave, managing to identify the last remaining figures now that his eyes were becoming accustomed to the dim light that had penetrated the grotto. Perry, James and the creature that Perry had named as Uvall. Where then was the creature that had flown into the cavern initially? He had perceived its departure via neither the cave’s mouth or the portal before it had vanished and yet it must have taken one route or the other for it most certainly was no longer present. Once again The Rector scolded himself for not having a closer grasp of proceedings. And yet perhaps he was being too hard on himself - these were, after all, particularly extenuating circumstances. He was most surely outside of his normal operating procedure and the comfort zone which he had constructed around himself within the subterranean warrens which had served as his lair for so many years. Whilst he pondered, he listened as Perry and James debated the nature of the alien air and how they were able to breathe it. James then made an odd inquiry as to the state of the other man’s glasses and then, as Perry reached up to remove them from his face, he had to stifle a gasp of glee as James pounced forwards without the merest hint or warning, striking Perry full in the face and sending him skittering backwards amidst the scree of the cavern’s floor.
“This is your doing, Perry!” Sleet yelled at the prone form of the other man, “all this, and what happened to those girls!”
And a further piece of the jigsaw clicked in to place within The Rector’s mind. He had obviously been way off track in his assumption that this pair had a cosy little association going on. You’re not here of your own free will, James, are you? he pondered. And Perry is to blame for the condition that he had found the two women in earlier - unconscious on that hangar floor. Click. You used them, Perry, either as bait or as hostages, but you coerced James into accompanying you.
“I couldn’t help it, Sleet,” Perry replied to the accusations, “I wasn’t in control - I was compelled by them to do the things that I did.”
So, The Rector realised, neither was Perry in cahoots with the creatures - they were controlling him, using their abilities to impel him to do their bidding. But when had Perry come into contact with them? In what other ways might these beasts have infiltrated his operation? Not that it mattered particularly now - he did not foresee that he would have need of the underworld organisation which he had worked so strenuously to establish. Steiner, Mendelsson and all of the others - they had served their purpose and he did not envisage himself requiring their services again. Thoughts of the doctor, however, caused him to recollect the creatures that he had captured and which he had had dissected, deep in the underground bowels of The Rectory complex. I sent him down there! he realised, I sent Perry down to witness the creature. It had been an intentionally pompous act, a move designed to shock the man and to impress upon him that he had no option but to obey. If monstrously hideous beasts of an other-worldly appearance were incapable of defying him how could a mere youth like Perry do anything other than closely follow his instruction? How could he contemplate doing otherwise? And yet something had occurred; some event had taken place that had resulted in the creatures’ will being imposed upon the man. He recalled the fact that they had not yet operated upon that particular animal at the time. Maybe it hadn’t been dead after all. Mendelsson obviously had an excellent grasp of human physiology, yet he had clearly been very much in the dark when trying to comprehend the anatomy of these beasts, and understandably so.
James continued his condemnation of the other man, criticising him for his lack of will power. I almost pity you, Perry, The Rector thought, having to put up with Sleet James and his ‘holier than thou’ attitude. I really thought that he would be different - noticeably special in some way. What these creatures interest in him may be is beyond comprehension - for now anyway. Perry could only put up a pitifully childlike defence of his position but their altercation was curtailed by the gruff rumbling of the beast which Perry had referred to as Uvall. It appeared to be getting agitated. Probably fed up of this incessant bickering already - I know I am.
“It’s time to go,” Perry announced, as the creature began padding towards the mouth of the cave. Perry followed, leaving James little choice but to rise from his seated position to see what lay in store for him. Hurry up, for God’s sake - I can’t sit here all cramped up for much longer and I seem to be keener than you are to see where we actually are. The trio soon passed out of sight and then earshot, permitting The Rector to stretch his legs out before him which provided no small degree of satisfaction. He permitted his mind to wander, allowing it to explore the additional components which were slowly fusing together with his human consciousness. Bizarrely, he was firmly aware of the alien nature of the intelligence that he had ingested yet, now that it was becoming inextricably linked with his human psyche, he considered it to be perfectly natural. He was more than simply comfortable with it, however - he felt exulted, fulfilled, and he knew full well that he had reached nothing like the full potential that would ultimately be available to him. He continued to sit there in the darkness, allowing the minutes to tick away. He desired to maintain his secretive presence for a while yet and wanted to be sure that the others had departed the immediate vicinity before he followed in their wake. Eventually, however, his curiosity caused him to rise and cautiously pick his way across the floor of the cave towards the dim light that announced the presence of a world outside of this stony vault. The light became brighter and he progressed, but not in the way that Earthly daylight would. There was a particular hue to it that led him to comprehend that he would not be stepping out into brilliant golden sunshine. Where the hell am I, he pondered.
This question became partly answered as he reached the cave mouth and was confronted by an amaranthine vista - a sky that abounded with lavish tones of mauve and lilac and, beneath it, a vast wine coloured expanse of jungle that stretched all the way to a vague horizon. He glanced quickly to each side, recognising at first that he was high up a mountain or cliff face and that there was no more than a narrow ledge before him. He immediately confirmed that the others had departed and then he spied them making their way ponderously along a narrow pathway that led down from his current position. He watched them, wondering at their destination and once again puzzling over what the intention of the creatures might be. He then turned his attention back to the undeniably beautiful heavens, surprised that he had not previously noticed the glistening procession of diamonds that continuously twinkled as they made their way steadily across the centre of the firmament directly above his head. Fascinating! The only thing that appeared to mar the otherwise perfect view was an ugly yellow scar across the sky far into the distance and towards the left of his current position. He found it immediately repulsive, inducing a discomforting queasiness in the pit of his stomach. As of yet he had far from integrated the knowledge which he had extracted from the creature and hence he was unable to comprehend some of the reactions that he was experiencing. All in good time, he thought, looking away from this disturbing blemish on the otherwise magnificent skyline and back to where he had last spied the unlikely trio making their way down the side of the cliff face. He could no longer make them out, the narrow ledge itself becoming lost in the distance and the uncertain light. That, in itself, did not present him with an immediate problem. What he required now was freedom - the freedom to explore and understand this new world that lay spread out before him. And a little time - time to fully assimilate his newly acquired understanding of the beasts that Sleet James called Shadows. And what better way to accomplish both of those tasks could there possibly be? Oh, not for him that precipitous track and the subsequent crawl through the oppressive undergrowth. He was superior to that - his newly acquired kin were superior to that. He stepped right up to the edge of the lofty outcropping, sparing not a glance for the staggeringly sheer drop beneath the toes of his shoes, flung his arms wide open and his head right back so that he was staring directly up at those twinkling jewels which coasted serenely by, so many thousands of miles above. With a degree of focus beyond that which he had ever possessed he radiated a mental instruction upwards and outwards, palpably sensing its emission from his being...
Come for me!