Taboo Descendants and the Multi-Dimensional War
CHAPTER XXXIII—THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS

Oluh and Yzee, inter-dimensional diplomats and warriors, led the charge to the final battlefield in the center of the ancient Zapotec city of Mitla.

Ary and I followed them diligently as Sbapoid brought up the rear and ensured we would not be attacked from behind. We were headed to the central ancient plaza, running along the outside wall that surrounded it. If we had not been in a rush, we could have appreciated the intricacies of the wall itself. The top section of all the walls in Mitla were lined with amazing stone work, detailed carvings that formed reliefs of various repeating patterns that popped from the wall in vivid 3D.

When we reached the closest opening, we slipped in one by one. The inside of the ‘Palace’ was much like the ‘Columns Group’. It was an open, square-shaped plaza surrounded by a blocked wall on three sides. In the center of the Palace area was a square patch of brown and green grass. The fourth side of the square was a tall, platform with a small temple structure on top. A set of steep, narrow stairs in the center of a platform lead up to the temple openings.

Inside that temple was my son, projecting fear and trepidation.

The plaza was not empty when we arrived. What we had stumbled upon was the ultimate face-off, general versus general and commander versus commander.

Jules and Iris stood side-by-side, each one of them ready to strike their Zux opponent. Iris held a metal staff in her hand. She swung it around effortlessly, keeping her muscles warm. A limestone column floated in front of Jules, a threat to anyone who might try to harm him. I immediately remembered the night he had closed the door of my room without touching it.

It all made sense now.

Jules was telekinetic, able to move any object at will. The floating stone column practically screamed, “Try me and be crushed.”

A foul odor wafted over to us, carried by a warm breeze. It was a stomach churning musk nearly as awful as Oluh’s breath.

Following the scent to the other side of the plaza, we saw Yuda who stood next to Hayami. They were accompanied by a dozen of the most gruesome creatures to ever have been born or created. Their faces were twisted and deformed, clearly not there to benefit the scenery. The way their mouths hung slightly open and their eyes half-closed made them look dimwitted, and all the deadlier for it. One of them snatched a bat out of the sky and chewed on its head.

I narrowed my eyes at General Hayami.

I had never despised anyone as much as I loathed her. I was taught not to hate, but my strong aversion to her presence was unmistakable.

When she noticed my glare, she puckered her lips and blew me a kiss. I took a threatening step towards her, ignoring the gruesome alien guards surrounding her. Yzee pulled me back. Their skin was hot to the touch, almost to the point of burning my arm. I wisely followed their nonverbal command. If given the chance, however, I could have kicked Hayami right in her deadly mouth.

I could see that General Hayami had found the exchange between Yzee and myself humorous, but her amusement of me, as it turned out, was only on the surface. Fueled by adrenaline, I dug deep into her subconscious with my Empathy and discovered that she also felt afraid of me. I was taken aback by this revelation, but remembered that I had frozen her on the spot that last time we encountered one another.

She’s not so tough after all.

I capitalized on the opportunity and projected more fear at her from across the open space. Her smile faltered. Her face balled up in a grimace as she fought the urge to run and hide. She had never been afraid before and her first experience of the new sensation was quite unsettling. Knowing that a human had caused it, infuriated her.

But I was not just any human, I was a Huzeen.

A blood-culturing scream pierced the air and broke my concentration. The voice belonged to my son. I had not heard from him in countless days, but I knew it was my Jarrice. The scream was similar to the one he had let out the night General Hayami kidnapped him.

I won’t let you down this time, Son! I lost all sense of reason and ran towards the steps of the temple.

All hell broke loose as soon as I lurched past Yzee’s outstretched hand. First, Yuda tried to throw a fire ball at me, but Jules released his column and sent it flying through the air to deflect the flames. It caught the fiery sphere right before it torched me.

I felt the heat of the fire as it dispersed around the heavy mass of limestone. Driven by the need to protect my son, I ran quickly towards the temple at the top of the stairs.

Battle cries rang out on both sides as everyone charged to the middle of the plaza. I looked back one last time and saw a horribly violent scene. General Iris swung high then low at General Hayami with her staff. She missed twice, but connected with Hayami’s back with the blunt end of the metal stick on the third attempt.

The battle of the two commanders escalated as Commander Jules disassembled a small building to use it as cannon balls against Commander Yuda’s fireballs.

Yzee challenged four of the ugly, alien beasts wielding their double-ended sword. The Nibradaman blades glowed red with the same volcanic fire that lit the gem in the center of Yzee’s chest. Red-hot, they sliced through the alien Brutes, spilling dark gray alien blood all over the floor of the plaza. The more they fought the beasts, the more the jewel and sword shown.

Yzee seemed to know exactly where to hit the Brutes to strike, block, and counter. They swung massive fists at Yzee’s head and body, but Yzee moved swift and nimble as they dodged and struck. When they had one of them in a vulnerable position, Yzee grabbed hold of its flesh with their bare hands and squeezed. The skin of the beast charred and sizzled on contact as the monster let out a cry of torment. The severely burned beast ran out of the plaza in agony.

I turned my head to see Sbapoid battling four other Brutes at Yzee’s side. He made no effort to kill them quickly. With my ability, I sensed that he enjoyed himself. He used his guns to shoot them only in non-deadly places on their bodies as he approached. They oozed gray blood from several open wounds. Once in hand-to-hand fighting range, Sbapoid began to shoot a web-like substance from the tip of his scorpion tail. The beast fought the webs unsuccessfully while Sbapoid rained spells on them.

One alien beast exploded when the curse struck it on its chest. His innards accompanied by gray goop flew in every direction. Some of the goop even reached the steps where I stood watching, but I did not flinch despite the horrid stench. A second beast was hit with a spell to its cranium, it became confused and started attacking Commander Yuda.

The Zux Commander dodged a large piece of flying limestone sent at him by Commander Jules then quickly set the rouge monster aflame. The burning beast wandered around the plaza with its arms flailing in the air. It let out an agonizing groan before it collapsed to the ground in a smoldering heap.

Oluh was on my heel again. “Go!” he hissed. “I’ll cover you!”

There were two more beasts on their way up the stairs. The closest of them stepped in the remains of the one that had exploded and tumbled down the narrow steps backwards. Oluh let out a battle cry and launched himself at the other monster, sinking his poisonous tooth into its shoulder.

I turned and faced three short, cubed tunnels by which to enter the temple. My ability heightened by adrenaline, I tracked emotion like a scent now. I could sense my son’s fading fear where it lingered in the air. I ducked my head and took the middle tunnel, following the disappearing trail.

I ignored the screams and yells behind me as I walked into the chamber. I looked around, but all I saw were ancient walls with pictographs and crumbling stone columns. The room even felt empty and I wondered if I had been tricked somehow.

Something strong pushed me in my back and I fell forwards stumbling. I turned around to face my assailant, but there was no one there. Out of thin air, hands hit me in the stomach causing me to double over. Whoever attacked me did so like a coward.

“Show yourself!” I screamed into the empty room, swinging my fists in the air.

The invisible aggressor kicked me in the back of the knees and I toppled to the ground. Lying helplessly on my stomach, I felt the invisible one mount my back. I fought and writhed, but they held me down, pulling my arms roughly overhead. I yelled out in pain.

From behind a pillar walked my son, looking sleep deprived, but in one piece.

“Jarrice!” I choked, “Son, help me!”

“No!” he screamed at me. “This is all your fault!”

“What are you saying?” I asked confused. He looked exhausted and insane. “What have they done to you?”

“They showed me who you really are, Mother! You’re the reason they killed Nana! You lied to me about my father! He was never a bad person—it was your fault he left!”

“Son—” I stammered hurt, “Please, you can’t believe anything that they told you!”

“Is it true you knew who my father was all along?” he questioned.

“Yes, but—”

“And is it also true that he lived nearby my whole life?”

“Yes, he did, but—”

“Were you with an alien the night Nana died?”

“Yes, I was, but—”

“But, nothing!”

“Son, I can explain all of that.”

“STOP! Lying. To. Me.” He stared at me angrily with more hate than I thought him capable of possessing. He looked above me to the invisible one on my back and said, “Break her arms.”

Whatever was there obeyed. I felt my arms bend at an uncomfortable extend towards my head. I screamed again in agony, my arms only seconds from breaking.

I had to concentrate.

I focused on the person that squeeze my hands together. I did not need to see them to image them in my mind. I choked their neck with all the force I could and they stopped pushing my arms. I lifted them off of my back and threw them against the wall. Their body hit the stone with a heavy thud and they fell to the ground.

Once unconscious, their cloaking ability wore off exposing the unseen aggressor as a teen-aged girl only a couple of years older than Jarrice.

“What did you do to her?” he yelled at me, tearfully.

I straightened myself up as I rose to my feet. My arms hurt at the rotator cuffs, but they functioned just fine. I stared at my son, once sweet and innocent, and now deadly and dangerous, his mind warped by the Zux who held him hostage. He needed my help, but first, I would have to stop him.

I took a step towards him, but he lifted his arms with his open palms pointed towards me. “Stay back!” he shouted.

I took another step and he blasted me with cold air, knocking me backwards into the wall behind me. I scrambled to my feet before he could hit me again. My son had abilities like Fetu.

“I warned you!” he hollered.

“Jarrice,” I spoke calmly, “You’re sick and you need help.”

“Shut up! I won’t listen to you anymore!”

“We came here to help you, Son.”

“Liar! You just want my powers. You’ll kill me like you killed Nana.”

I stopped and stared at him. “What?”

“I know why she’s dead. You wanted her powers for yourself!”

“That’s ridiculous. I would never—”

“And now you’ve come to take mine!”

“Son, how could you think that? I’m your mother. I love you!”

“ Hayami told me you’d say that. Well, I don’t believe you! Look at what you did to my friend!” He pointed at the unmoving teenager in the corner. I could see blood seeping from her ears.

“She was going to break my arms!” I countered. I did feel bad for hurting the minor, but I had not known who or what she was.

“I’m going to do more than that,” my son threatened. “With you out of the way, I will hold all the powers!”

“Can’t you see? They’re just using you!”

But he was not listening. He swung his arms around his head in a great, circular motion. A tornado manifested in the middle of the room and rushed towards me. I could feel it pulling me into its center. I jumped to the side, just barely missing the rocks that swirled along the periphery of the twister.

“Jarrice! Stop this!” I screamed over the whirling howl of the tornado, but it was no use.

The twister grew in size, threatening to swallow up the entire temple interior.

It would be me or him. I realized that as I lifted his body into the air with my mind. His tornado dissipated as he lost control of its movement. Up and up he went. I was not sure how to bring him down safely.

He shot another cold blast at me and it hit my squarely in the chest. I felt my body hurdle backwards towards the ground.

“No!” I yelled as my back hit the stone floor. I knew I would lose control of him.

I could hear my son fall screaming to the ground. Thump. I coughed and sputtered as I lifted myself from the dusty floor, bruised but not broken. I turned to replace my son lifeless, his body sprawled across the floor.