LXIV
Underfoot

Clark awoke to the first rays of the dawn casting their warmth upon his bruised face. He realized that he had never known pain before… but he was sure that this was it. Lying flat on his back upon some sort of ancient, stone step he looked up to see a large, yellow boot resting upon his chest.

The man of steel's eyes followed the boot up the muscular leg to a brawny man of Middle Eastern descent, dressed in black and yellow. The seated stranger had a lightening emblem emblazoned on his chest, and seemed to be using a prone Clark as a footrest. The stranger looked out across the desert, and spoke to Clark in English.

"You have awoken, Great Eagle."

"…I am not Great Eagle. Where am I? What have you done with Lois?"

"These people call you 'The Great Eagle'. You are the Champion of America with the eagle upon his crest. You are now in Kahndaq, on the steps of the great pyramid of Hadrha. The one you call Lois, is this the tall warrior woman with long hair the color of desert nights, a heart equally as cold and eyes the color of a clear, blue sky?" Adam held his hand a full foot above his head to describe the height of the woman. "A true-born warrior saddled with a husband as cowardly as he is weak. Is this Lois?"

"Lois Lane… is the president of the United States of America. You're talking about Barda."

"Barda…" Teth Adam let the sound carry off into the distance before he continued. "…a fitting name for the Queen of the Universe."

"And you are?"

"I am Teth Adam. Champion of the Lightning, favored of the gods.."

"Did you attack the White House?"

"No, Great Eagle, I did not attack America… Nor did I poison you."

To his regret, Clark could still feel the poison coursing through his veins. Yet with every new ray of sunshine, an ounce of his strength returned. He was the weakest he had ever been, but at least he was alive and getting stronger. In the sunlight, Clark's blue solar-suit amplified and stored the sun's energy that healed him.

So this wasn't the man who had attacked America; he had wasted enough time here.

"Clark… My name is Clark. Now please kindly remove your foot from my chest. I have business in America."

A wide grin spread across the face of Teth Adam… insolence beamed down upon the Kryptonian - daring him to remove the booted foot that held him in place. So be it. He took a firm hold of Adam's boot with both hands to push it aside and… it did not move. With greater effort, he jerked the boot sideways, and… it did not move. Finally, with all his remaining might, he hard-pressed upward, straightening his arms… as the stone steps below him cracked, disintegrated and collapsed. The boot did not move… but Clark's strength had buried himself deep into the stone.

He was not as weak as he had initially believed; it was just that Teth Adam was incredibly strong. Now with room to escape, Clark let go of the boot and flew, crashing through the remaining stone like artillery through cinder-block and then up, up into the sky. He was free from that damned boot. He had to find Lois!

When Adam flew into him, he thought he may have been cut in half. He had never been hit like that in his life. It was painfully obvious that he was far from healed. The impact had almost caused him to lose consciousness. Carried helplessly through the air, Black Adam brought his prisoner back to the steps of Hadrha and tossed him upon the ancient stone once more.

"…Please…" Clark's breath was finally returning. "…I need to see her..."

"Understand this, champion… you may not leave here… Though I sense this weighs heavily upon you. I too was once in love. This time has the magic eye, allowing men to see and hear things from afar. Have you the power to operate this magic, Clark?"

"I do... Thank you, Adam." Clark brought up a wi-screen while Adam watched. He tried all four of Lois's numbers, even the White House. There was no response on any line. A feeling of dread came to him. He felt alone under wide open sky. With a deep breath, he brought up the news events in America from the morning, from the attack….

!

His screams of anguish shook the pyramids in Egypt six hundred miles away. Birds perished and fell from the sky as the heart of steel broke. The crack through his heart extended across his frame...leaving only a broken man, crumpled on stone. The fracture shattered his mind… questions, memories, emotion all fell as shards against a ruined psyche. Nothing worked anymore.

A mighty hand touched his shoulder.

"I too have loved and lost, Brother. Three thousand years ago, my wife Isis was taken from me by the very gods I serve. In my grief, I chose to become mortal and die beneath the sandals of slaves… just to be with her again."

"Was… she.. there? On the other side, Adam?" Clark had never cried like this before, unable to control the tears that fell from his eyes. For all his power, he was helpless to do anything… to save her. The only one that mattered was gone.

"Parts of her were, Brother. But the souls of mortals fade quickly with time… memories fade into the great sea of night. Even the love we shared was not forever… it too was washed away in the great sea to wet the clay for newborns. Aspects of her have been reborn and died countless times, one hundred lives, one thousand loves until even Adam is forgotten. But Adam remembers, Adam will always remember..."

"…Then kill me."

"If this is your wish, brother, then it shall be done. When Ra sits in his throne in the sky, to cast His gaze upon His champion, you will die by my hand. But not before then."

"Why do you call me Brother?"

"Are there two others like us? I sense the gods in you, Clark. You serve Ra, god of the sun. Even now he grants you his favors, I can feel it. Let him heal your heart, brother. There is no honor in killing a man defeated by love, the gods will do him no favors... Tell me of your Lois."

"… She is… was brilliant. So determined. Passionate… Forceful. Able to see things as they were, you could never fool her. She would always have the truth. That's why she found out about me… that I was… human. I had become like them. I wanted to be like them. To be loved by them. By her. To love her."

"You are an orphan, brother. This is why you sought the love of the Queen of America."

"…How… did you know that?"

"The gods grant me wisdom and sight. You are a child of heaven fallen to Earth. The mad star that killed your kind seeks to bring an end to the life of the last son of its poisoned soil. Even I can sense the lunacy of the star in your blood now. But the great Ra will heal you, he is a nurturing god if proper reverence is given."

"I don't know much about my home planet. It was called Krypton."

"Your people had lost faith with the gods and only believed in themselves and their ways. Perhaps that is why your lands rebelled against the men who would not honor its gods."

Below them, men with large cameras gathered near the foot of the steps of Hadrha, making signs with their fingers against Clark and spit. Adam called down to them in Arabic.

"Where is the old priest who attended me?" Finally, one of them bowed down to answer him.

"He was found dead this morning in his tent, great Adam. He was an old man."

"And the insolent cleric from the night?" They questioned one another in heated discussion.

"…we know of no cleric, Great Adam." All of them bowed now.

"LEAVE US!"

Clark watched as the men gathered their video equipment and left...quickly. Adam turned back to him, placed a firm hand on each of his shoulders, and looked straight into his eyes. Clark could feel the electricity coursing through him.

"For millennium, they've fallen on their knees to worship a god they can't even see. What will they do for gods that they can see, Clark? What becomes of gods who walk the Earth? How do they serve us? Shall I tell you?...

…They kill us, brother.

They skulk and kneel and curse our names under their breath. They wait and conspire, hating the gods who defile the world of men. Just as they have poisoned you with the cursed soil of your homeland and mercilessly crushed me beneath their filthy soles the very moment my heart was broken… so they may return to the god of the book.

And now, like slaves of old we are to dance for them. Our immortal blood spilled for their enjoyment, them who know nothing of honor or the true gods of the sky, the river, the sun, the land. If you still wish for death brother, when Ra sits high atop the sky, I will grant you what you desire.

But your Lois will no longer know you. Even the mighty Adam was as you are now, a broken man, felled by sorrow, mightiest of all weapons, seeking only the bitter taste of oblivion. In death, true love is like our blood poured into the salty sea. We die, but the ocean cares nothing of our sacrifice. Tears are better suited to it, my brother.

I offer you another choice. I offer you life…" Adam extended his hand to Clark.

"…Join me."