Chapter Two
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RAHAB SENSED SOMETHING was wrong after he and his men hauled themselves out of the water and climbed up onto dry land. Naked and dripping wet, his soldiers shook off their daze from the fall. They’d all landed together this time, which meant he wouldn’t need to waste time hunting for them.
“I have news,” Rahab said to his unit. They immediately stopped gawking at the towering buildings and turned to face their commander.
“Anarchy spoke to me before sending us back to Earth,” he told them.
Anarchy was Chaos’ right hand and Fate’s nemesis.
“Our eons of service will be rewarded if we’re successful in our war against the Knights of Order this time,” he said.
His gaze swept over his crew, seeing the same red tint that was the mark of Chaos that tinged his own eyes.
“What will our reward be, Lord?” Phul, his second in command asked, using the title Chaos had bestowed on their commander.
All of the Soldiers of Chaos were over six feet tall and were heavily muscled, just like their enemies.
Phul was cruelly handsome, with black hair, dark brown eyes and dark olive skin.
“We won’t return to the Void this time,” Rahab said. “We’ll remain here and rule this planet however we see fit.”
Low murmurs of surprise came from the team.
They were too disciplined to cheer loudly.
Deep down, they found the prospect hard to believe.
Anarchy had promised them many things during their long existence.
This was just the latest lure to incentivize them to comply with his orders. Not that they had a choice.
Phul’s head turned towards one of the gigantic buildings that loomed nearby. The city was dark and the shadows were heavy. He knew someone was watching them and he reached out with his mind.
“Do you see something, Phul?” Rahab asked.
His sharp tone had his second glancing at him for a moment. “I can sense someone watching us, Lord,” Phul replied.
“Is it one of the knights?” one of the soldiers asked, drawing on his dark gray sword that was embedded with rubies. Lachial was the blood-thirstiest of them all.
“No,” Phul denied, straining to dig into the mind of whoever was watching them. He flinched when a mental door slammed shut, then the person fled. “I believe she’s my offspring,” he said, picking up that the being was a cambion.
“That’s what’s different!” Rahab snarled, finally pinpointing what felt so wrong. “Fate must have meddled with us after we were briefly released from the Void,” he said. She’d targeted all of his soldiers rather than just the ones who’d been let loose.
“What do you mean, Lord?” Lachial queried. With pale skin, white-blond hair and glacial light blue eyes, he was even more sadistic than most of the soldiers. He’d been one of the men who’d been released from the Void to impregnate a human.
“We’re sterile,” Rahab said, fists clenching in rage. “The cambions we sired during our previous visit will be the last offspring we will be able to produce.”
“That must be the penalty Anarchy paid for breaking the rules,” Xathan mused. The opposite in appearance to Lachial, he had dark skin and eyes, but was bald. He was the smartest soldier, but less bulky than his kin.
“We’re the ones who will pay the price,” Phul said in annoyance.
“How long will we rule, Lord?” Lachial asked.
“Chaos planned for us to become immortal once we bind our offspring to us,” Rahab said.
“I think Fate did more than just make us sterile,” Phul said reluctantly. It wasn’t wise to be the bearer of bad news to their commander, but he needed to share this information.
Rahab narrowed his eyes. “Explain yourself,” he commanded.
“I didn’t feel the usual ability to be able to compel my youngling to do my bidding,” Phul said. “The bond has been severed.”
That shocked them all and Rahab growled in fresh rage. “We need to find our offspring and force a bond with them so we can remain here indefinitely,” he said, striving to control his temper.
“Should we begin searching for them now, Lord?” Xathan asked, flicking a look at his naked body.
Rahab mastered his anger enough to think logically. “First, we need to find clothing and shelter,” he decided. “Then, we can begin our search.”
Xathan had been listening to the humans who inhabited this modern city. “It appears something has gone awry, Lord,” he said cautiously. “The humans are at war with each other.”
“That’s hardly new,” Phul scoffed. “They’re always trying to kill each other.”
Rahab cocked his head and made a shushing motion.
They all tuned in to the mayhem that had resumed after they’d landed.
Screams of pain and anger came from everywhere.
Anarchy had given them all the information they required to function in this new era.
The city should have been lit up even at this late hour. Instead, there was a total blackout.
“Grab a coherent human and bring them to me,” Rahab ordered Phul.
“Yes, Lord,” Phul said, bowing subserviently.
He headed for a short tunnel beneath an overpass where he could sense people hiding.
They were huddled behind a paltry wall made out of cardboard, warming their bodies with a large metal drum that had a fire inside it.
Picking one at random, Phul grabbed the man.
He compelled him to be silent with the innate ability Chaos had imbued his soldiers with.
Their power was weaker than their foes’, but they’d learned to hone their skills.
Rahab waited impatiently until his second in command returned a couple of minutes later. He took over the mind control of the dazed, filthy man. “What happened to this city?” he demanded.
Short, rotund and half-drunk, the human was trembling in terror even beneath the mind control. “The Rapture took all of the good people,” he mumbled. “Only the bad ones have been left behind.”
“What is the Rapture?” Rahab asked. Modern religion wasn’t a topic Anarchy had taught them.
“God has judged us all and took His faithful and the innocent up to heaven,” the man said.
“The rest of us have to live in this stinking hellhole,” he added bitterly.
“My wife was good enough to be raptured, but me? Hell, no! I’m still here, trying to scrape by and eating rotting food I find in Dumpsters. ”
At a flick of Rahab’s finger, Phul ended the man’s ranting complaints by snapping his neck. “Get rid of the body,” he ordered Lachial.
Disappointed that he hadn’t been given the kill order, the pale-haired soldier picked up the corpse.
He trotted over to the edge of the river and tossed the body into the water.
Dozens of other dead people were floating in the river, so at least he wasn’t alone.
Laughing silently at his own wit, Lachial returned to his comrades.
“Fate may have ruined our chances to procreate, but I’m betting she didn’t alter our offsprings’ reproductive organs,” Rahab said craftily. We can build an army of cambions by breeding them with suitable humans.”
“Cambions aren’t genetically compatible with humans, Lord,” Xathan reminded him.
Rahab curbed his instinct to send Xathan back to the Void for his impertinence. “You’re correct, of course,” he said, seething on the inside that he’d forgotten that fact. His careful plans for world domination had just been destroyed. Or had they?
“Lord?” Xathan asked, recognizing the rare spark of genius their leader showed from time to time.
“I’m sure I’ll come up with a solid plan that will ensure our eternal dominance over humanity,” Rahab said, turning to study the city again. His confidence in his abilities was supreme. “For now, we should stick to my original plan to find clothing and shelter.”
“At least we don’t need to find food or water,” Lachial murmured to Phul. Unlike humans, the Knights of Order and Soldiers of Chaos were above such petty biological requirements.
Xathan did a quick headcount. He was unsurprised to see Anarchy had sent all of his underlings to war this time.
He usually kept a couple of dozen in reserve, deploying them if the knights were winning too quickly.
If Rahab was wise, he would listen to Xathan’s counsel.
Their commander would need his advice if he wanted to win this war.
Rahab headed for 5th Avenue. The knowledge he’d been given told him it was where the elite of New York lived. Wealthy people tended to skew towards gray or black souls. Most of them would have been left behind. They would be cowering in their homes if they hadn’t already fled from the area.
Choosing an apartment building that speared high into the air, Rahab headed for the door. Several men were guarding the entrance with guns. “Stop right there!” one of them barked. Soft and pampered, the human’s hands were shaking in terror. They were taking turns to guard their premises.
Rahab moved so quickly that the five men didn’t have a chance to react. He shoved the glass door open and took three of them down with swift, economical punches. Lachial killed the other two, chuckling beneath his breath in pleasure.
“Clear the building,” Rahab ordered. “Keep any attractive females, but dispatch all of the males and remove their corpses,” he added.
“Should we send someone to search for clothing, Lord?” Xathan asked, keeping his tone servile.
“Of course,” Rahab said. “Most humans are smaller than us, but there are bound to be some stores that have clothing in our sizes.” He turned his attention to Phul.
“Head up to the penthouse and clear it first,” he commanded.
“Try not to make a mess,” he added, intending the penthouse to become his private domain.
His men scattered to do his bidding. Lachial led the bulk of the soldiers up the stairs after Phul.
He was eager to root out the human scum and end their miserable lives.
Several soldiers remained behind to guard their leader.
Xathan chose a dozen men to follow him back to the street.
They would scour the stores along 5th Avenue for suitable clothing.
Most stores would have been looted already, but there had to be some clothes left.
Rahab sat down on a plush gold seat off to one side, enjoying the soft sensation of the velvet fabric against his naked skin. His gut still churned with rage at Fate’s machinations, but he intended to win this war despite her interference.