The Mantis Variant - Book One - 27. Chapter 27 - New Principal Messiah

Within the tower, the Principal Messiah wailed in agony. She was one of the few still alive.

From around the city, most of the other Messiahs were arriving, those who were not part of her assault on the underground. Only a single Biological Shift was among the dead. The corpse of the man with four arms still lay in a pool of blood at the top of the tower.

Because Messiahs are virtually invincible, it was not necessary for the tower to contain any medical facilities. Besides the Principal Messiah, there were only two others who survived the rescue assault by the Biological Shifts. They lay on separate tables.

One man was silent. His spirit was tipping the balance and beginning to drift away from him. Part of his head was missing. The flesh and bone and brains were cauterized and smoldering. He twitched gently as he approached death.

The other Messiah moaned through gritted teeth, too weak to scream. Both of his arms were gone, and the bandages over his gristly shoulders were seeping with his blood, as it slowly drained from him.

The Principal Messiah screamed her suffering to the world. She was sprawled on her stomach with her head turned to one side. Her back was completely flayed of its flesh, and within her exposed ribcage, her lungs ballooned as they wheezed her screams. Her left leg was gone, and the stump was smoking. She was missing one hand, and also an eye, and the hair on the side of her head was scorched away. There was a brutal gash in her side, and its bandage was saturated with blood and dripping.

"Release the cataclysm device," she hissed between ragged breaths. "That is my final order as Principal Messiah," but her second in command leaned down near to her.

"We will not," she whispered in her superior’s ear. "It will not be you who gets that honor; it shall be mine. You will die as the disappointment of Messiahs, the one who got herself and her entire company killed on the schemes of a renegade group of Demifae. No, Principal Messiah," and the woman spat the title with disdain, "you are through giving orders."

When the High Chemist of Teshon City arrived, of the remaining three who needed medical attention, only the Principal Messiah was still alive. As the High Chemist entered, she stopped in her tracks, overwhelmed by the shock of what she witnessed. She was the city's most skilled Demifae healer, but rarely did she attempt to treat anything as gruesome.

The High Chemist leaned over the Principal Messiah's open back. The woman was barely bleeding, despite the hideous wound. The bones of her spine and their encased cord were writhing like a dying snake. Her ribs squeezed into her lungs, and every time she breathed in to scream anew, the scorched pink fleshy balloons pushed and bulged into the spaces between the stripes of white bone.

"She is not long for this world," the High Chemist said in a low voice.

"Make her passing more peaceful," one of the other Messiahs urged.

"And make it quick," added another.

"As you wish." The woman pulled out a tiny blade and stabbed twice.

The Principal Messiah's eyes bulged and her mouth gaped like a fish, as she gasped at the air that would not remain within her lungs.

"What did you just do?!" a Messiah shouted and grabbed the High Chemist's wrist.

She cried out in pain, as the empowered fingers broke the bones in her forearm. The short knife clattered to the floor, as she dropped to her knees and declared through her pain, "I did what you asked! She was already going to die, and now her suffering will soon be over."

"How did you even pierce her?" another Messiah asked.

The High Chemist groaned, gripping her mangled arm. "It's a diamond-dagger." She winced and cried out in pain. "I need to get this fixed," she hissed through her teeth.

On the table, the Principal Messiah clawed at the wood with her remaining hand, as asphyxiation slowly dragged her spirit from her ruined flesh. Her body convulsed, and she tried to take a final breath. Then her eyes became unfocused, and she fell still.

The High Chemist left the tower and rushed back out into the city towards other healers, and a new Principal Messiah was appointed.

"I solemnly swear to uphold and support the continuation of the Messiah line. I swear to always lead for the good of all Messiahs, above and beyond all other life. I recognize that my responsibility is to my fellow Messiahs, and every other being is below us. I will take on this duty with the most serious mind and conscience."

The new Principal Messiah completed repeating the vows of office, then with a wicked grin she said, "Release the cataclysm device."★