Babel Found by Matthew James Page B

this head start.”
    She nods again as I close my eyes and think of the rest of my team. Then, I recall something that Susan said.
    If only you knew your true potential…
     
    *
     
    Susanoo laid still as his body healed. His eyes were closed, reluctantly taking the opportunity to contact the others. The last time he’d spoken to them they were beginning their individual assaults on the additional members of Boyd’s team.
    “Phoenix, report,” he said sternly.
    “These two have proved…elusive…but I have them where I want them, Susanoo.”
    “When?”
    “Soon, brother. Very soon.”
    He mentally smiled towards his sister. Phoenix had never let him down. Neither had Anu for that matter. Then, there was Terra… She was the most inexperienced of the four, having less drive than they did. She was extremely powerful—the most powerful if she so chose, but lacked the will to fully use her gifts.
    “Terra.”
    “Yes, brother?” she replied, nervously.
    “Report.”
    He heard only silence in their communication, instantly telling him she had failed.
    Disappointing…
    “I send you after the weakest of them all and you can’t even take care of him. He isn’t even a soldier.”
    “He had help, Su—”
    “Excuses!” He let the berating sting a while longer. Then he spoke again. “Don’t let it happen again.”
    “I won’t…”
    He quickly cut the communication and tried Anu.
    “Anu, report.”
    Nothing.
    “Anu, I said report.”
    Still nothing.
    “Anu!”
    He sighed.
    Anu had been known to go rogue on occasion, focusing wholly on his task. Of the power they wielded, his was the most difficult to control. While the natural power of the Earth’s land and oceans were the most devastating of what the planet could offer, the sky itself took the deepest of concentration to manipulate. It wasn’t that Anu didn’t want to speak, it’s that he couldn’t while summoning it. Any lapse in focus could mean terrible things for him and his prey.
    It was truly a primal force to be reckoned with.
    The older man, Fehr, didn’t stand a chance.
    His eyes opened to a bright and clear south Florida sun, but before he could even contemplate enjoying the view, he wailed in agony and fear. His back arched and he clawed at the ground, kicking his legs in protest. Susanoo’s mental intrusions carried none of what he felt now—nor did the other Judge’s. This was a far stronger force invading his mind, piercing its depths like a hot poker.
    “You have failed,” the hiss-like voice said. It scraped down his spine, making his skin crawl.
    “No, my lord,” Susanoo croaked, his body still locked in terror, “I have only been delayed.”
    “Fool!”
    The voice boomed through the Judge’s consciousness, threatening to tear away his very existence. Susanoo screamed for the master to stop, begging for mercy and another chance, but all he did was laugh.
    “You’re weak, Susanoo. If I wasn’t resigned to using you and your siblings, I would have destroyed you all centuries ago.”
    His body was released and the attack on his mind lessened. Susanoo breathed in heavily.
    “ Phoenix and Anu may have better success with their weaker prey,” he quickly added, desperately trying to ward off another cerebral invasion. “Boyd is much more powerful than we realized. If he were to unlock his true potential and—”
    “Don’t tell me about power!”
    Susanoo’s body writhed again, lifting off the ground a foot before being violently slammed back down, cracking the asphalt beneath. The master laughed again at his torment.
    “It’s ‘your’ job to make sure he makes it to the tower ‘before’ he comes to that conclusion, while he’s still unsure of himself. It’s only a matter of time now. I do not care what condition he is in or if he is willing or not. We—you—must succeed.”
    Susanoo would like nothing more than to bury a fist right into the master’s face and cease his mocking tone. It had been years since he had