The Enki

Chapter 61

My mother has decided to leave with Christophe. I wasn't hurt. It made sense for Christophe to have backup,  but it meant I had two people to worry about now. I was more irritated by her doing the opposite of what I asked. Things hadn't improved between the three of us. It was clear my mother supported Christophe more than she did me. It was surprising to see them so close only after two months, considering she hated him for so long. A twinge of jealous entered my brain, making my stomach drop, but I quickly willed it away. I had to remain stoic. The mother would not have wasted her time on petty emotions. She would have squashed the whole war by now. She trusted me to fight this war, and I could not let her down, no matter the consequences.

My mother and Christophe's departure meant that I was left alone with my father. Strangely, our lack of emotional connection made it easier. We spent most days in his lab brainstorming energy fields and testing our theories. I had come to respect his vast knowledge. Of course, years on Earth would do that to you.

He had tasked Amahle to go through his black book of Enki contacts. It suited me as I had never been fond of her. Her moping after hearing of Magnus's death was annoying. The further away she was, the better.

Today, we were pushing energy fields more than we ever had.

"You see Tapeqh, too much increase in energy in a short space of time can cause too much disruption to matter. Push it too far, and hazardous things can happen. In theory. I've never pushed my physics this far. One knot up, and the whole building could be pulled into some sort of black hole."

"We have already pushed it so far. The power I wield is bursting from me. It feels like my brain rattles at times."

"That is common. When I first experimented with energy fields, it became too much for my scientists. All the humans eventually left. I didn't trust many Enki, so I postponed and kept the data I had. It proved more than effective at controlling me. I'm the oldest Enki I know, so it seemed safe to stop."

I couldn't help but think about my mothers experience that she shared with me. I should hate this man, yet here I was doing father daughter science projects.

"Why did you do it?"

Tharn placed his pen down and looked at me, standing back sensing my tone.

"Do what?"

"To my mother, your wife. You allowed her to be raped by multiple men repeatedly. It makes me sick to think of it."

A puzzling look crossed his face.

"Is that what she told you?"

"You say she is lying?"

He shrugged.

"It maybe felt like that to her after she left, but I never forced her into anything. She shared the same ideals as me until she didn't. Once she found out she was pregnant, she abandoned me and abandoned our mission."

I frowned.

"You really expect me to believe that she willing had sex with multiple men and you were happy about it?"

"You may find this hard to believe Tapeqh, but it was never my dream to be monogamous. Nor was it your mother's. We were placed here to protect Earth, not procreate. We live forever, and there were enough in the beginning to carry out the wishes of The Mother. She used to visit us regularly. Guide us, lead us. As the years progressed, Enki started to develop as all species do. We have seen the humans make more and more progress, and we wanted that for ourselves. Naturally, more Enki were created, but we began to realise that the offspring of Enki didn't contain the same power that we did. They were more vulnerable. For thousands of years, I refused to make a lesser version of me. Years passed, and admittedly, we lost our way. Life wasn't about protecting the Earth. The humans created systems of power, and the Enki followed. We started to organise ourselves as they did. We had leaders. But you must understand that without leadership, we couldn't have competed with the humans. Without order, we would never have been able to save the Earth."

I looked at his with a mixture of admiration and confusion. The man I had thought he was is much far removed  from the story he was telling me.

"But Tharn, look at the Earth. It's dying. Whatever you were trying to achieve has done the exact opposite."

He slams his fist on the table, which makes me jump as the power bounces for miles.

"You talk about things you can never understand. Of course, I realise the damage that has been done... the Enki... my family have taken their life more times than I can bear. Something had to be done. We had to ensure the Enki survived. Your mother... she believed in it, too. Until she didn't."

"She feared that you would treat me like an experiment. The first Enki that was born in years. You wouldn't have been able to contain yourself."

"Perhaps not. But I didn't know you, Tapeqh. I was robbed of that chance. Maybe I didn't treat Enki women the way I should have, that I am guilty of. There were some that didn't believe in our cause that I did detain."

"Detain? You make it sound like they did wrong and were imprisoned."

"I didn't always have a clear mind. I know this."

For once in this entire time of knowing my father, I saw regret.

"And here we are. Father and daughter. Working together."

It wasn't said kindly. It wouldn't take a heart to heart for me to ever trust anything that came out of his mouth.

Tharn walked over to me menacingly.

"The one thing that protects you is that I can not kill you. But I can hurt you. A lot. I have been here more years than you can imagine. It isn't just energy fields I have up my sleeve. Maybe we will never have the relationship you would hope with a father. But trust this. I do not lie. For I have no need to. You may have the power of the Mother in you, but she hasn't walked this Earth in thousands of years. You may be one step ahead, but I will always be two. We can either work together or we can't. You choose."

I stared defiantly into his eyes as our energies bounced around the room. The door opened, distracting us.

"What!?" Tharn bellowed.

A woman with long golden red hair entered the room. She looked like a child but her firmness of face showed her to be anything but. Tharn relaxed upon seeing her.

"Thee Joan of Arc answered my call?"

The woman smiled, revealing a large broad sword.

"Someone told me there was a war to win?"