Samuel

Chapter 8

Reaching the tower penthouse after a series of aircraft transfers, Alm finally disembarked from a helipad, atop a lofty penthouse amid Manhattan.

"Huh... Impressive." Alm thought to himself as he witnessed the lights of the other buildings twinkle below and adjacent to the skyscraper.

"Dayum! Who the fuck lives up here? This dude must be a king or some shit!" The figure called out to Alm as they paraded around the helipad. "Turning back to Alm, the figure continued, uncharacteristically serious as they puff on their pipe, "Stay present, buddy boy. I don't think we are dealing with Mr. Rogers here. Better double your mental barriers. That prick over there sure got it pretty quickly." The figure said motioning towards the stocky man walking before the two of them, towards a glass entrance. "We can't let ourselves be that powerless again, man." The figure said pleadingly, breathlessly.

Considering the figures word further, Alm thought to himself, "I can't let myself lose focus again. I don't know how I escaped it in the helicopter. The heli..." Alm's mind trailed off as he glanced at the man who accompanied from the island. Alm's eyebrows knitted as he considered the improbable. Suspiciously scrutinizing him, Alm mused, "Why would he?"

"C'mon. Let's go. I want to check this spot out!" The figure called back to Alm.

Grunting in acknowledgement, Alm ducked his massive frame under the rotors. Shaking his thoughts away, he strode towards a middle-aged man with a toothy smile standing in a welcoming gesture, next to the familiar man who escorted him from the island, Alm's chest heaved with mounting pressure. The wind around them whooshed and caressed his large frame. A soft hum flowed within his ears as the smell of the Hudson Bay enshrouded all.

Adorning a gray beard with salt and pepper hair, his features, far from striking, the man appeared, absolutely, ordinary. A face easily lost in a crowd. Deep grooves around his eyes betrayed his age. His lustrously vibrant skin evidenced the man's ambiguous ethnicity.

The man's hair and suit billowed from the assault of wind swirling around the tower as the rotors from the helicopter slowed. Easing their torrent of noise and wind, Alm's shock mounted as he noticed the energy emitted around him. A pressure continuing to mount in Alm's chest as his senses focused on it.

"Oh wow, this weight is coming from him" Alm surmised while eyeing the confident man before him.

Returning from his investigation of the area around them, the figure moved next to Alm as they leaned in close to his ear, their breath tickling Alm's ear, they said, "I don't like em'. I say we get the fuck out of here, while we can."

The man's smile continued as he glanced toward Alm and then the figure, in turn. His eyes lingered on the figure for a few moments as they froze in place. Alm watched curiously as this silent exchange transpired while the man's overwhelming presence loomed over his head like a thick fog.

"D-did. You jus see that?" The figure said breathlessly.

Deaf to the figure's words, Alm's body worked hard to stay conscious. Weakened by his release of power, the giant man's bioenergy proved impotent against the onslaught of the man's energy before him. As Alm nearly breathed in the man's ambient power, radiating like heat off a furnace, it enveloped him warmly. Goosebumps tingled around his skin as Alm's hairs stood up on end.

"It'll pass, do not worry." The man said still smiling. "You will become accustomed to me." He silkily said, eloquently stressing every syllable, pronouncing every letter. "Welcome Alm and thank you Chandral for accompanying him." The imposing man stated to Alm's escort.

The figure stepped back silently as their eyes remained locked on the man before them.

"Who are you?" Alm asked inquisitively marked with mild defiance, his eyebrows knitting tightly as his chest continued to heave with the mounting pressure upon it.