I find that I quite like being able to move independently of you. I will continue to lend you my strength, and while we are apart, you’ll only have a fraction of it, but since I doubt you’ll need all my strength all the time, I’d like to be able to move around myself, to see your world. Is that acceptable?’
Sameera sighed and looked into the glowing eyes that stared at her from the abnormal shadow. ‘You say only those who have seen the afterlife can see you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then I have a clause as well. If you wish to not inhabit my body all the time, to be able to roam free as you choose, you will wear the guise of my choosing.’
‘And what would that be?’
‘Look into my mind as I can look into yours. And tell me what you see.’
‘Surely you jest?’
‘You like looking terrifying, yes? Then to me, the guise I offer you is infinitely more terrifying than how you look right now,’ Sameera replied seriously.
‘And yet, every other person on this planet would disagree. But indulge me.’
‘The way you look right now, to me you're nothing but a creature of fiction, tales told to children to keep quiet at night. But the guise I offer you, it is a reminder of a time lost, a time of hope, joy, of innocence, a time I can never return to, and isn’t that infinitely more terrifying?’ she replied as a tear welled in her eye.
‘I accept,’ was the reply. The shadows swirled and congealed into the form of a floating black and white cat that looked no different than a stuffed animal.
The tear finally rolled down her cheek as her mind flew back to her favourite toy that she held onto tightly on the day her parents died.
‘Then I accept too,’ she replied, as her voice firmed up. ‘We still have a problem though. These cuffs were designed to hold a super soldier and I’ve not been able to break them.’
Sameera, Sameera, Sameera,’ laughed Nara, ‘Have you forgotten the part where I told you you’re only using a fraction of my real power. Come now, why don’t I show you tonight what we’re really capable of…’
As Nara dived into Sameera’s body, she instantly felt the surge of power. Her cuffs went from fitting, to too tight, flying apart at the hinges. The ceiling quickly got too low. The ancient stone held for a moment before yielding to her. She finally stretched her arms and chest as her upper body burst into the cell above hers, thankfully unoccupied. The darkness of the night vanished and the Wahat presented her with new smells and sounds. Then she felt it swelling within her. She inhaled hard and let out an animalistic roar that shook Wahat Muqmira to its very foundations. ‘And with that,’ said Nara in her head with a smile, ‘we declare war!’
Rock walls that had bruised her fists crumbled with but a shove. Within moments, she was through the old stone walls of the dungeon that had withstood numerous sandstorms and the constant beating of the desert sand and into the main courtyard. By then, the Wahat’s guards, those charged with maintaining order, rushed to greet her, probably alarmed by her roar from earlier, of the fact that their former dungeon was torn apart from the inside. They fired their darts and charged with their tamers and whips. They didn’t wear armour. They didn’t need to. None of their weapons slowed her down as her body burned away the drugs they tried to fill her with, and their shock sticks barely registered as a jab. With a casual swipe of her right arm, all fell. None returned to their feet.
Then came the soldiers. There was a small force tasked with external security. They were armed with assault rifles. Sameera instinctively looked for cover only to have Nara laugh at her. ‘Ah, my dear Sameera. It is they who should be hiding from you.’ He suddenly took over her body and with a leap, she found herself in their midst. Within moments, she was surrounded by broken and torn bodies. ‘You are a predator now, Sameera, You don’t have to be afraid of your prey,’ said Nara with menace in his voice.
Perhaps it was the surge of adrenaline or whatever passed off as that in her new body that Sameera did not hear the sound of tracks rolling into the plaza. She only heard the loud BOOM of the cannon followed by her shoulder being blown apart and her flying backwards and onto the ground. She grunted, but didn’t feel anything more than a sharp sting. She glanced towards the pain and was horrified at how what remained of her left arm looked, then looked on with even more horror as she noticed three tanks rolling into the plaza. She panicked and all she could stammer out were, ‘Nara. They have fucking tanks!’
Nara laughed. ‘I know! I’ve been poking around them since I first got here. I’ve been itching to test them out myself. I have literally been waiting for you to give me the word.’ She suddenly felt her fear melt away as Nara’s thrill of the hunt took over. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Nara just stuck their arm back into place and it seemed to re-form its shape. ‘Can I handle them, please? I'm curious how good modern weaponry is,’ he said, as she felt themselves growl and drool.
‘Yes, yes please, if you think you can.’
Nara laughed. They roared. One tank fired as the other two took aim. Then everything was a blur and the next thing Sameera noticed was that they were on top of the first tank. ‘With time and practice, you’ll get used to seeing at the speed we can move at,’ said Nara as they sunk their claws into the joint of the turret. She felt their body surge in power again. Then they had ripped the turret clean off the first tank.
Just then, the second tank fired. They moved the turret to absorb the shot then flung it into the second tank, knocking it off to the side. They sidestepped the shot of the third tank, then leaped in front of it. ‘I wonder if we can do this?’ said Nara, as Sameera sensed his curiosity. She felt the surge again as their body dug its claws into the armour, then proceeded to lift the tank over their head, and toss it towards the main gates, sealing it shut. ‘I guess we can!’ said Nara excitedly.
The second tank returned to the fray, dented but still in the fight. It fired its main cannon at what the tank commander assumed was a stationary target, but Sameera was no longer controlling their body. Nara casually avoided the shot. ‘Sameera, you’ll have to forgive an old deity for wanting to show off to their newest avatar,’ he said as leaped towards the exterior wall of the Wahat, landing in front of a minaret. They dug their arms into both sides, their claws and their hands going through rock like it was paper. They uprooted the minaret and ripped it free of the wall that held it, and dropped it on the last tank, crushing it effortlessly. And with that, Nara roared again, and the Wahat trembled for the third time that night.
‘Oh, interesting,’ said Nara as he looked towards one of the distant minarets, but by then Sameera had calmed down. ‘Don’t get distracted. You called this a den of snakes, didn’t you? It’s time we paid the head of the snakes a visit.’
‘Ah! The Malik, Salim, Noor and a few dozen names I didn’t bother remembering! Since you’re new at this, I’ll lead the way, but I can tell you are ready to do what is necessary.’
Sameera growled as she felt control of their body return to her. Without a second thought, she had ‘shrunk down’ to fit into the corridors of the Wahat and was bounding through them, tearing apart anyone who stood in her way. By now, all the slaves would have been secured in their rooms and cells so only the guards should have been out. Then almost as if intruding on her thoughts, Nara spoke. ‘Don’t worry. You will know who is good and who is evil, who is afraid and who is not, who has something to hide and who is innocent, who has the blood of other humans on their hands and who doesn’t, and as long as you do not give in to the animalistic rage you are capable of, you can ensure that no innocent dies at your hand.’
But Sameera didn’t need Nara’s help. She knew the face
of everyone who was in charge of the Wahat, so she didn’t need to rely on clothes or uniforms. The corridors of the Wahat were stained red with the blood of the masters and the oppressors. When she finally tracked down the last guard, she found herself in front of a terrified lot of prisoners and slaves, locked in their cells for safekeeping. The locks barely stood a chance before her might, but none would step out. In their eyes, she knew what she had become. As she turned and walked away, she noticed a well dressed man, standing by the door to the holding cells. He was dressed like the men of the Wahat and yet, he somehow did not have their stench. She had wiped away all that stench from the place. She finally transformed all the way down to her ‘human form’, only to realise her entire naked body was covered in blood. The blood of everyone they, no, she had slaughtered. Their eyes met and all he could utter was ‘Alwahshu’.
She tiredly smiled and replied, ‘Yes. That is what I am.’
***
Writer's note: alwahsh or الوحش
is Arabic for monster / demon / creature / Beast.
I don't speak Arabic, I got this off Google Translate and
Reverso, so if I got it wrong, let me know!
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