The Angel of Tarut Read online

  “Oh, it was nothing, glad to help, really,” Matt replied, blushing.

  “Goodbye, Matt.”

  “Will you be alright?”

  She nodded and smiled. “Goodbye.”

  “Bye.” He smiled after her as she turned away, her red hair catching the wind as she walked. It felt like he was in a daze or some kind of fugue state where nothing seemed real. It was such a bizarre thing. He’d just helped a stranger give birth in a hotel room. If that didn’t qualify as odd he wasn’t sure what did.

  Walking away from the hotel, Matt stopped a short distance up the street and turned back around, quickly catching sight of the distinctive red hair through the crowd.

  He just couldn’t let her go like this. She was vulnerable, alone in a strange city with a newborn. It was madness to let her wander off without offering help. She seemed quite strong-minded, but he had to make sure they were safe and he needed closure.

  Breaking into a run, Matt sprinted through the crowds, pushing his way through as they protested and shouted at the stupid Westerner. He didn’t listen and continued on, seeing the girl disappear around the side of a building.

  “Damn it,” Matt gasped, and ran faster.

  Rounding the same corner, he spotted her a block away. Chasing after her she took another turn before he was halfway along the next block.

  Rounding that corner, Matt scanned the sea of people, but couldn’t see her. There was a crossroads ahead. Dashing into the middle of it, he craned over people’s heads in an effort to spot her. He caught a glimpse of scarlet hair disappearing between two buildings and wasted no time in charging after it.

  Reaching the alleyway, Matt turned and slowed to a jog as he moved through the tight space. The alley was deserted. Only a few lines of washing hung above him and the rubbish scattered on the ground.

  Why did she come down here?

  Reaching the end of the alleyway, Matt stepped out into the light, finding himself on the edge of a large patch of wasteland. Cracked concrete, broken bits of stone, and other detritus of life were strewn all around him. A burnt-out car, bits of fencing, and scrap metal lie here and there while yellow and green grasses grew up through the cracks.

  Sophia stood in the middle of all this, nearly fifty metres away, unaware of his presence. Pausing for a moment, Matt watched her with a frown, wondering what she was doing. She just stood there, turned slightly away, and there was no sign of the baby.

  Keen to find out what was going on, and help if he could, Matt took two steps into the wasteland, before the ground lurched violently. Matt pitched sideways and back into the wall of a building. People on the street behind him yelped and screamed, and then there was silence for a moment as the movement stopped.

  The ground shifted again and started to shake. Screams came from the street as Matt clung to the wall for dear life. He watched a crack race up the side of the building he was leaning against and came to the conclusion this was a bad place to stand. He ran forward and into the open, heading towards Sophia. She stood in the middle of the open ground, untroubled by the earthquake, with her hands held wide, her palms up, and her head back.

  Matt noticed the baby lying on the ground at her feet. What was she doing?

  “Sophia!” he called. “Sophia. It’s not safe.” But she didn’t hear him over the rumble coming from beneath his feet.

  The shaking got worse. Matt fell to knees as a deafening boom of cracking of rock sounded all around him. A great cloud of dust shot up consuming Sophia and the baby as the ground where they stood ripped open. Screaming at them to run, Matt couldn’t even hear himself over the noise. Seconds later, his shout caught in his throat as he saw Sophia and the baby again.

  She was rising up off the ground, slowly levitating up through the dust cloud, the baby a few feet in front of her and floating as well. Within moments they were thirty feet up and hanging in mid-air.

  He stared up at them in shock, the noise and chaos around him failing to register anymore.

  I must be going mad, he thought.

  Rubbing his eyes, Matt looked around for the crane and the TV crew ready to jump out and say, “Surprise!”

  But there was none of that.

  Just the deafening sound of the earth ripping itself apart and people’s terrified screams from the nearby streets. Looking up at Sophia again Matt stared in fascination as blue and golden energy, like lightning, crackled around her and lashed at the ground, making it explode wherever it hit.

  Thoroughly engrossed in this impossible spectacle, Matt ignored the madness unfolding around him, until the patch of concrete he’d knelt on tilted violently and dropped, momentarily leaving his stomach behind.

  The crack had grown into a fissure and swept past him, widening further as it went. It was easily a few metres across, and the section of ground Matt clung to had moments ago become the edge of the fissure before falling into the crack. It stopped a few metres below ground level. To his left, a wall of jagged rock rose up above him, raining stone and dust down everywhere.

  Everything shook. The incredibly violent movement caused chunks of rock and boulders to fall down the sides of the fissure, while others were flung up from its depths as pressure built.

  Having lost sight of Sophia, Matt clung onto the ledge for dear life.

  The fissure steadily widened. Buildings pitched into it, crumbling away like they were nothing and disappearing into the roiling depths. Time seemed to lose its meaning as he crouched there, watching the disaster unfold. He was terrified, but also fascinated by the destruction and unable to look away.

  Matt’s thoughts returned to Sophia again as he crouched on that rock. What on earth had been happening with her? People can’t float. They can’t fly. That was insane. He had trouble making any sense of it. He just couldn’t comprehend it. For Christ’s sake, it looked to him like she had caused this earthquake. And that energy around her, what was that? Magic or something?

  Was he losing it? Was he going crazy?

  A distant rumbling roar grew louder. As he watched, a massive torrent of water surged through the fissure, white and foamy as it crashed through the rocks and debris. The crack must have reached the edges of the island, and into the sea. It passed below his ledge, but he got soaked anyway by the mist that came with it.

  Below, the water began to rise up, filling the fissure. Was this the end for him? Thoughts of death and how his passing would affect those close to him bubbled up in his mind. He wished he could say goodbye to them, talk to them once more, and tell them he loved them.

  “And you will, Matthew, you will.”

  Looking up, Matt stared in shock at Sophia, who hung in the air before him. She floated with her hand out, reaching for him. Words wouldn’t form on his lips as he blinked at the incredible sight. Had she read his mind?

  “Take my hand, Matthew. You will not die here today,” she said gently and with no real urgency in her voice.

  The earthquake seemed to have lessened. There was a bubble of calm all about them, now that Sophia had arrived. “How are you doing that?”

  She smiled. “That’s not important, Matthew. What is important is your life, and making sure you don’t lose it today.”

  Gingerly, he rose to his feet, unsure whether this calmness would last. Straightening, he looked up at Sophia again and paused for a moment. He had so many questions, but no answers. But this was neither the time nor the place to start such a conversation.

  Reaching up, he took her hand, her fingers closing gently around his palm. Beneath him, the ledge fell away as they rose up, weightless. Matt knew he should have been terrified, hanging in mid-air like that, but he wasn’t. Not at all. He felt calm and safe. Protected.

  Looking at the beautiful girl who was saving his life, he saw confidence and wisdom in her eyes that seemed in excess of her apparent years.

  “Why?” he asked, “Why are you doing this?”

  “It simply must be, that is all you n
eed to know.”

  “But the baby, where’s the baby?”

  “She’s safe, she will have her own life to lead, and it will be extraordinary.”

  What was she talking about? he wondered. It made no sense.

  ***

  He must have blacked out at that point, because the next thing he knew, he was waking up in the back of an ambulance as a paramedic spoke to him in the local language.

  Shooing the medic away, Mat got up and jumped down out of the ambulance. Desperately, he scanned the area for Sophia, but she was nowhere to be found. People were walking through the streets covered in dust, helping each other as emergency vehicles and personnel moved around, trying to help. Smoke and dust rose from the island in the distance as Tārūt split into two new landmasses.

  Matt wandered through the endless streams of people, hunting for any sign of the redhead, hoping he’d see her, but there was nothing.

  Nearby, he heard someone speaking English in excited tones.

  “Yes, a red-haired girl, she saved me. She helped me get out of my house. Lifted huge wooden beams as if they were nothing…”

  Matt turned and spotted who was talking. He walked over as the man gesticulated wildly as he spoke.

  “It’s true I tell you. I think she’s an angel.”

  “I saw her too,” said another person, stepping up to the man. “I think… I think she healed my broken leg. I mean, I think it was broken.”

  Matt listened in amazement as two more tales were told of this mysterious red-haired woman appearing in different places and helping people.

  As he wandered, people were talking animatedly all around him, but he couldn’t understand them. Were these people telling similar tales of this angelic redhead?

  Eventually, resigning himself to the fact that he wouldn’t find Sophia again, he made his way towards the edge of the island, hunting for a taxi or something to take him back. He’d seen enough.

  He needed to go home and think about what had happened to him, and what he wanted to do with his life. He’d love to find Sophia again. He had so many questions. So many things he wanted to ask her.

  He also found himself wondering about the baby. What would happen to her? Where was she? Was she with her mother?

  He wondered if he could find them…

  -Fragments from news reports about the disaster on Tārūt Island.

  “Seismologists are baffled by a freak earthquake that hit the Oasis of Qatif near the island of Bahrain in Saudi Arabia today. The quake was localised to the island of Tārūt, its epicentre right in the middle of the island. Preliminary reports indicate a huge disaster for the islanders with experts predicting many deaths. Estimates of the death toll cannot be confirmed at this time, but are expected to be in the hundreds. There are already calls for humanitarian aid….”

  “…Isn’t there a connection with the island’s name and Ishtar, professor?”

  “Yes indeed, the island was named after the goddess Ishtar, an Assyrian and Babylonian goddess, the mother goddess of compassion, love, sex, and war. In fact, she was known as the guardian of prostitutes. Related to the planet Venus, the embodiment of everything female in Babylonian astronomy, and one of the most powerful gods in the Pantheon, she became known under a variety of names in a whole range of cultures. The island of Tārūt had originally been known as Ish Tarout, taking its name from the Goddess Ishtar, before the name evolved over time to its current form. Some think the island of Tārūt might also be the actual site of the Garden of Eden…”

  “…we’re just hearing now that the earlier estimates of the high death toll were apparently wildly inaccurate as it seems there were almost no serious injuries caused by the earthquake. The worst report so far is of a broken arm. In what some are calling a miracle, everyone else suffered only cuts and bruises. This is incredible…”

  “…we can now confirm that the earthquake has indeed ripped open a huge chasm through the whole island which is, as we speak, filling with water from the Persian Gulf, effectively splitting the island in two. Earlier today, one Saudi politician was quoted as saying, ‘Ishtar has given birth.’”

  Author Note

  Thank you for reading The Angel of Tārūt.

  This short story is a prequel to the seven-book Magi Saga series and details an event that is important to those books.

  The Magi Saga is a large universe with several series of books set within it. The main series follows a young woman called Amanda, who learns that she is a Magus—someone with the ability to wield Magic—and follows her as she finds her place in a world of fantastic adventure.

  The first book, Magi Dawn, can be found on Amazon.

  I hope you enjoy them.

  If you enjoy my books and wish to connect with myself and other fans, then check out my Magi Saga Fans Facebook Group:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1700893393268961/

  Thanks again.

  Andrew.

  Booklist

  Star Magi Saga – Space Fantasy

  Star Magi – Book 1

  Magi Nexus – Book 2

  War Magi – Book 3

  Star Magi Saga Tales – Space Fantasy

  Maiden Voyage – Prequel

  Epiphany – Book 2

  Quantum Legends

  Anomaly on Cerka

  The Magi Saga – Urban Fantasy

  Magi Dawn: The Magi Saga Book 1

  Magi Rising: The Magi Saga Book 2

  Magi Omen: The Magi Saga Book 3

  Magi Edge: The Magi Saga Book 4

  Magi Odyssey: The Magi Saga Book 5

  Magi Descent: The Magi Saga Book 6

  Magi Rebirth: The Magi Saga Book 7

  Tales of the Magi Saga – Urban Fantasy

  Angel of Tārūt

  His Love

  Hack Imperfect

  Casino Red

  Uprising

  A Thoroughly Modern Witch

  Pilgrimage

  Arcanum Black Ops

  Nights Rise

  Wasteland Road Knights – Post Apocalyptic

  Liberation

  Exploration

  Revelation

  Determination

  The New Prometheus - Cyberpunk

  The New Prometheus

  The Prometheus Gambit

  The Prometheus Trap

  Prometheus Vengeance

  Anthologies I am part of:

  The Expanding Universe – Sci-Fi

  The Expanding Universe 3 – Sci-Fi

  Pew Pew – A fist full of Pews

  Bobs Bar 1

  Bobs Bar 2

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