Blood Legacy Origin of Species (16 page)

Ryan felt the connection and knew she had only to narrate what she was now seeing. “Many years later, on the eve of what was supposed to be a hopeless battle, the woman returned to Ambrosius. He was now a man, tall, strong, fearless, but the minute she appeared, he was lost to her.”

Victor could clearly see the man Ambrosius, but he could not get a clear picture of the woman and wondered why. He wondered if it was something Ryan was doing on purpose, or if it was completely involuntary. She continued her story.

“They had only a single night together and Ambrosius knew he would never see the woman again. He went out to battle the next day, and he drove the Saxon invaders back into the sea. They would not conquer the British Isle in his lifetime.” She raised her eyes to Victor.

“The man’s name was Ambrosius Aurelanius.”

Victor cocked his head to one side, as did Ala. Both were great scholars of history, having lived through so much of it themselves. Ryan nodded her affirmation.

“Your father was likely the inspiration for the legend of King Arthur.”

The room had been silent already but now the silence seemed to deepen. Ala mulled this revelation and it pleased her greatly. Edward and Susan were astonished. Kusunoki, as always, kept his emotions tightly controlled, but he, too, seemed startled and pleased. Victor, however, had not taken his eyes from Ryan.

“And the woman you are describing, she was my mother?”

All eyes returned to Ryan and it was apparent she was struggling, uncertain what to say. She had to move forward in her story before she could move backward. “At the end of my battle with Madelyn, she revealed that she was not human, and not our Kind.”

It was clear that Ryan was significantly editing this version of events and Victor was not certain he wanted to know exactly how Madelyn had made this revelation. These images Ryan did not share.

“Madelyn struck a mortal blow,” Ryan continued, “and I knew I wasn’t going to survive. But I suddenly realized that something was coming for me, something I had sensed for years, something I had feared and dreaded and thought was coming to destroy me.”

“But it did not come to destroy me,” Ryan said, “it—, I mean she, came to save me.”

Ryan turned her gaze upon her father. “The woman from Ambrosius’ memories, your mother, returned to save me from Madelyn.”

“And she was not human either,” Kusunoki said quietly.

“No,” Ryan said, “I have never felt or seen anything like her. She destroyed Madelyn effortlessly. I cannot even describe her power.”

“How much were you able to learn from her?” Ala asked, “we felt your near-death and sudden absence, but you returned almost immediately.”

Ryan nodded, “Yes, but it felt as if I’d been gone for weeks.” Again, Ryan did not think she had any words to describe the experience. She was trying to concentrate but the images began flitting through her head so quickly it made her nauseous. Her vision blurred and she tried to focus. She could feel the creature holding her, the warm, smothering claustrophobic, ecstatic feeling. Ryan forced herself to continue speaking, enunciating her words very slowly.

“Ravlen is from an ancient race, a species of predators that makes us look like infants. They are a violent, matriarchal society, a plague that spreads across galaxies, destroying, assimilating, or enslaving everything that crosses their path.” Ryan turned to her father, her tone half disbelief and half bitter amusement.

“Your mother, my grandmother, is over a hundred thousand years old and the undisputed ruler of this species. She came here because they were going to harvest this planet and the only reason they did not was because that boy, Ambrosius, intrigued her.”

“So how did I come about?” Victor asked quietly, trying to contain the horror that was growing within him.

“I cannot even describe the multitude of ways in which this species is capable of reproducing. Ravlen didn’t think humans capable of mating with her kind, and she had no idea that her final night with him had produced a child. Her gestation period was so long that you were born years after your father’s death, and he lived to be a very old man.”

Ryan was struggling with her own horror and was speaking as much to herself as to those in the room. “Apparently, early ‘experiments’ with humans yielded only monstrosities, so she was quite surprised to have such a child as you. But when you were born, she wanted you to stay here where you would be a king as opposed to staying with her kind, where you would be a slave.”

“And so how were the Others created?” Susan asked, finally breaking her silence.

“Ravlen, in her brutally benign way, did not wish Victor to be alone. So she sent others of her species to transform or ‘Change’ some companions for him. The attrition rate was catastrophic, and the vast majority of the attempts were monstrous failures, resulting in millions of deaths. Out of that campaign, the first generation of our Kind was born, and I believe that Abigail and Aeron are the only two out of that generation that remain. You,” she said, nodding to Kusunoki and Ala, “as well as Marilyn are second generation, transformed by one of the originals. I imagine that all of the others are dead. We are, after all,” Ryan said, mildly sarcastic, “the children of an extraterrestrial killing machine.”

Those in the room sought to digest these dumbfounding facts, unbelievable were it not that they were presented with such reluctant persuasion.

“And so what does this Ravlen want from you?” Ala said at last.

Victor looked sharply at Ala, then turned back to Ryan. “What is she talking about?”

“I didn’t think Ravlen was going to let me leave,” Ryan said, “but she sensed my desire to raise my son until he could be safely transformed.”

“And what then?” Victor asked.

“And then I am to return to her.”

Victor stared at his child. “I will not let you go.”

Ryan gazed at her father, and with the flexing of a mental muscle, allowed him at last to see what she would not previously reveal. Victor, as well as everyone in the room, had a sudden mental picture of Ravlen as Ryan saw her. Stunning. Terrifying. Beautiful. Cold. Reptilian. Unstoppable. Brutal. Omnipotent.

“There is no resistance in this matter. I don’t know what’s worse, father,” Ryan said, emphasizing the appellation, “the fact that I have no choice, or the reality that I would probably choose to join her even if I did.”

BLOOD LEGACY

CHAPTER 12

RYAN LAY ON HER BED staring up at the stone ceiling. The recount she had provided to Victor and the Others had left her drained, and she could tell that it had horrified them, most pointedly her father. It was one thing to be a semi-controlled predatory species that preyed primarily on itself. It was another thing to be the offspring of the destroyer of worlds.

A noise in the adjacent room attracted Ryan’s attention and she rose from her bed. She thought it might have been Edward come to check on her, or perhaps Susan. Either way, she felt she would have enjoyed the company.

It was neither.

“Well, well, well.”

Ryan stared at the creature who was seated in her anteroom, baffled. He immediately reminded her of the two deformed creatures she had seen previously. He was mildly hideous by human standards, with a mouth that did not quite close properly, a nose that was slightly pig-like and nostrils that were a little too large. His skin was stretched tight in places it should not be, yet loose and hanging in others. His left arm was misshapen, and he had tumors sprouting from various places on his personage, not unlike the “Elephant Man.” His voice was throaty, full of mucous, and he spit as he talked.

“So you are Ryan Alexander.”

“Okay,” Ryan said uncertainly, “and you are?”

“My name is Petrus,” the creature said phlegmatically. With immense fanfare, he hawked a great wad of mucous and spit it upon Ryan. Ryan gazed at the blob of spit on her torso, still uncertain.

“Was that an insult or a greeting?” she asked.

The creature stopped, stunned. “And if I said it was a greeting?”

Ryan matched the creature in the crudeness of his hawking and spit back on him, skillfully landing the missile.

“Then hello,” she said.

Petrus stopped. This was the last thing that he had expected, and Ryan successfully interpreted his expression.

“You have to remember,” she said, “I was born in the Dark Ages. It’s almost impossible to offend me unless intended.”

The creature simply gazed at her.

“How did you get in here?” Ryan asked. “This facility is impenetrable.”

“Well who’s to say I am even here?”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

The creature glanced around him with interest. “Seems to me you’ve been having some mental problems lately.”

“And how would you know about that?” Ryan asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” the creature said shrewdly, “how would I know about that? Maybe I’m just a figment of your imagination.”

“Well that should be determined easily enough,” Ryan said, unperturbed. She reached out mentally to Edward, gently touching him and requesting his presence. Within seconds he strode through the door.

“Is there something you require, master?”

Ryan glanced at Edward, then over at the strange man in the corner. Edward followed her gaze with no reaction. He turned back to her. “Is something wrong?”

“You,” Ryan said slowly, “you don’t see anything odd in this room?”

Edward glanced about, again passing by the deformed man without pause. “No,” he responded, just as slowly, “is there something I’m missing?”

Petrus laughed raucously, which again failed to produce any response in Edward. Ryan gave him a dirty look, then spoke to Edward.

“Could you check the security cameras, see if you can identify anything out of the ordinary?”

Edward was uneasy. “Of course, however, they are constantly monitored right now, so I would think anything unusual would have provoked an immediate response.”

“Very well,” Ryan said uncertainly, “that will be all. Thank you.”

Edward bowed low, and with one last apprehensive look, exited the room.

“See, girly?” Petrus said. “You are a complete lunatic.”

“Really?” Ryan said, “‘Girly?’ I am almost 700 years old. I hardly think ‘girly’ is an appropriate moniker. And certainly nothing my own mind would come up with.” She propped her chin on her palm, somehow darkly amused by the whole situation. “So are you my id, ego, or super ego?”

“Freud was an ass,” Petrus said bluntly, “someone far too interested in excrement to be taken seriously.”

“Ah, so we agree on something,” Ryan said. Strangely, she felt no danger at the creature’s presence. In a way, she found him invigorating, something new and interesting in her self-imposed confinement. This thought did give her a little pause, however, as she recognized the possibility that maybe she had created him just to entertain herself.

“So why exactly are you here?” Ryan asked.

“Well,” Petrus said, “I see two options. Either I’m real and here for reasons unknown, oddly and impossibly undetectable by your colleagues, or I’m some mental construct you have created for some therapeutic reason.”

“Ah,” Ryan said, nodding, “so either you’re here for nefarious purposes, or I’m losing my mind.”

“Let’s go with option number two,” Petrus said. “I don’t see your pal Edward running back here with camera footage.”

“Alright,” Ryan said agreeably, “so why would I manifest you in such form?”

Petrus’ tone was bitter. “You mean so hideous?”

The response was mild. “Actually, no. Although humans probably would cringe from you, my perception goes a bit deeper. I’m far more concerned with the fact that I can’t get a fix on you at all.”

Petrus would not let this go. “Wait. You mean you’re not appalled and disgusted by the way I look?”

Ryan shrugged. “No, not really. When I was a child, physical abnormality wasn’t that abnormal. No real medical care, lots of inbreeding, horrible hygiene. The church always tried to make any ‘defect’, for lack of a better term, a judgment from god. But the church and I parted ways very young.”

Petrus leaped to his feet and stormed towards her. “This is not right!” he practically screamed, “you’re supposed to be disgusted with me. Why the fuck are all your kind so beautiful?”

Ryan’s demeanor was still perfectly calm. “I hardly think profanity is necessary,” she said, more sarcastic than serious, “and I don’t have the slightest idea why we’re drawn to beauty. Perhaps it’s a human thing, but ‘beauty’ changes from generation to generation. I’m guessing it’s more an evolutionary bias towards survival of the species. A lot of times what is considered beautiful also serves some subtle genetic purpose.”

Petrus stood before her, practically trembling in fury, angered as much by her lack of reaction as by the position she was taking.

“Then how is that I am as old as your father!” he raged, spittle flying from his lips.

Ryan cocked her head to one side. “Now that’s interesting,” she said, “how is it that you are as old as my father? Or, going with option number two, that I would create you the same age?”