Legends of Amacia Srandi: Last Bastion of the Caverias

As Hannibal led the team cautiously through the cavernous great hall, they immediately noticed colossal ornate columns of polished white granite five feet in diameter lining the white granite walls on either side of the Great Hall, rising into the dark gloom obscuring the ceiling. These columns lay forty feet apart with many of the great stone statues between them having been purposely cast down and shattered. In each slot above where the statues had once stood lay two large crystals set into sockets regularly spaced in each gap. Each of the columns boasted a similar crystal in a socket. Some of the crystals had been shattered while others remained intact. The walls and columns lay scorched and pitted from the battle that had taken place in the hall. Hannibal noticed the blast marks and pits were not completely random, as a battle would suggest. Certain areas of the walls and columns looked as if they’d been deliberately targeted as if to blast away something the attackers objected to. The ceiling remained lost in the darkness high above their heads with occasional chains hanging down ominously out of the darkness. The occasional shattered crystal chandelier lay smashed on the floor, many of them over six feet across as they lay atop several crushed victims.

The farther they proceeded into the Great Hall beyond where Hannibal discovered the alpha Grimm Beowulf skeleton, the more numerous, bizarre, and dis-articulated the ancient dead became. The armed skeletal remains of humans, demons, aliens, Grimm, and several other unknown creature types became piled in heaps chest high in places so Hannibal had to lead the team between them. The depth of the remains became so obnoxious Tau picked up Leila out of her chair and carried her in his massive arms as if she were a child because of his gigantic stature. Josephine picked up Leila’s empty wheelchair and carried it over the bones, watching her step on the unstable bone field. The savagery of the butchery the scene provided silenced all who picked their way through this charnel hall of the ancient dead. The only sounds penetrating the tomblike silence were that of bones being crushed underfoot and the heavy breathing of the team.

After slowly treading the bones and wreckage of the Great Hall for ten minutes and traversing two hundred yards, Hannibal saw a ray of light penetrating the darkness ahead of the team at a distance of one hundred feet. He lifted his fist in the signal to stop. The team stopped as Hannibal surveyed the hall ahead of him and the ray of light illuminating the passage. “I see light,” he announced, “and it’s not artificial. It’s natural light.”

“I see a doorway on the left,” Selina reported, pointing between two columns just ahead of them, “It’s just beyond those two pillars where the light is shining through.”

“So do I,” Tau confirmed, “It’s enormous, every bit as large as the door we used to enter here. Do you suppose it’s the throne room?”

“Yes,” Leila called out, seeing the outline of the colossal doorway in the gloom. “I remember. That should be the entrance to the throne room if my memory isn’t faulty.” Her eyes grew wide as she saw the head of the Ragnar Omicron statue lying partially crushed amidst the bone field, only half of its face intact. However, that was all Leila needed to positively identify it and confirm they had reached the entrance to the throne room. With a choked cry of grief, she sobbed, “My memory remains true, for there is what remains of Ragnar Omicron’s colossus! All they left of him is half his face! That means this is the entrance to the throne room.”

“It’s okay, milady,” Tau cooed gently to her. “Let out your grief. No one will mock or judge you for openly showing your sorrow and rage at what happened here to your venerable ancestors here.”

“Where’s Ragnar’s face?” Hannibal blurted out, instantly turning to Leila when she mentioned Ragnar’s statue.

Leila pointed down at the floor where a partially crushed stone head lay inert staring at the doors across the hall. “He’s right there in front of you,” Leila whimpered, quickly having calmed down when Tau had gently consoled her.

Hannibal instantly pounced on the head, savagely kicking the bony debris away from it to get a clear look at the partial crumbled face and stone head. When he finished and squatted down to get a close look at the image, he paled significantly for he was literally looking at a pitted ruined image of his own visage carved from solid white andesitic granite.

As everyone gathered around to see the legendary image of Ragnar Omicron, shock filled the faces of the team. The sight silenced them. Harry was the first to find his tongue after almost a minute of speechless astonishment. “My God, Hannibal,” he breathed in shocked awe. “This guy looks like your identical twin! How is this possible?”

“Holy Ancient of Days,” Enoch gasped in bewilderment. “He looks like us, Hannibal, but more like you than me. I’m with Harry on this. How can this be?”

“The prophecies are true,” Assad declared softly, “...all of them. This is the final proof that Beowulf is the true bloodline descendant of the legendary Ragnar Omicron of the Silver Eyes. The resemblance depicted on this fallen statue is beyond any coincidence. Your destiny is revealed, milord. Now you only have to reach out and embrace it.”

Hannibal stared in numbed wonder, falling to his knees before the uncanny stone face that even with only half of it remaining spanned four feet across. Laying the Scepter down, he shuffled forward without a word and started feeling the face as if to read its history through touch. Selina joined him, kneeling down and feeling the face too with shock in her features. “He’s real, Hannibal,” she whispered, shaken to her core by the revelation, “Ragnar is real and his spirit still inhabits this place. Can’t you feel it? He haunts this place and calls to you even now to come and let him rest. Even I can hear it now. Can’t you?”

“I can,” Hannibal replied in a shaken tone. “I’ve seen Ragnar only in my dreams and through the few records and images I’ve uncovered about him. This is the first time I’ve seen a physical image of him, even if it is shattered.” An icy chill raced down Hannibal’s spine when he saw the one intact eye of the stone face flash imperceptibly with a barely noticeable silvery glow. He suddenly let go of the face and backed away, looking urgently to the doors for a moment, and then back to the face. “Oh man,” he moaned in fearful awe. “I know what’s been calling to me now.”

“Who’s voice have you been hearing, milord,” Assad asked bluntly.

After looking back and forth between the doors across the hall and the stone face several times, Hannibal nodded in grim resignation. Taking the Scepter and rising to his feet with Selina at his side, he turned to the team and declared, “I’ve been hearing Ragnar’s voice this whole time and not realized it. Selina is right. His spirit is haunting this place. That’s the call I heard that’s drawn me here, and even now screams at me from beyond those doors. Ragnar’s spirit is protecting this place and now begs for me to come and give him rest as Selina said.”

“Then you should do just that,” Assad ordered with authority, “You heard him because you are his direct descendant. The responsibility as the guardian of the Caverias line now belongs to you and you alone. Answer his call. We’re here to back you up.”

“That we are,” Nemesis agreed, “All of us. Now, get that door open. We have much work to do here and there’s little time left to secure this fortress.” The rest of the team rumbled loudly in agreement to his declaration.

Hannibal instantly straightened up and his warrior king and explorer spirit came forth once more. “You’re right, Nemesis,” he agreed soberly, “Time to answer Ragnar’s call and get to work. Everyone stay behind me, and whatever you do, don’t get into that beam of light until I have a chance to check it out.”

“You suspect a trap, don’t you?” Harry asked bluntly.

“I do,” Hannibal answered sternly. “Ancient traps are often triggered by light beams such as this. You guys stay here while I check out the door. I don’t want you too close if there is some kind of trap still active here.” He instantly headed across the hall with stern purpose and anticipation to the doors while the rest of the team remained with the broken form of Ragnar Omicron’s statue.

In moments, he stood before the doors at a distance of twenty feet, eying it intensely. Between two of the giant pillars lay an arched doorway thirty feet tall by twenty-five feet wide, constructed in the same manner as the main entrance to the fortress. One of the differences between this entrance and the fortress entrance was the size of the arch stones, which were smaller, being cubes of white granite five feet across and three feet thick with each stone being inscribed in not just the same alien runes as seen at the front entrance, but also the Stone Language. Unlike the front doors of the fortress which had been blown completely off their hinges, these doors still hung to their hinges, and laid slightly ajar, though they were heavily damaged.

A jagged three-foot wide gap lay blasted through the doors ten feet off the floor where the doors came together in the middle. It showed the doors were foot thick wooden doors laid over with an inch of an unknown gold alloy that seemed extraordinarily resilient. The light everyone saw shined through that hole and the six-inch wide crack from the door being ajar. A silver and gold alloy Roc with large crystal eyes as seen on the Caverias Seal lay in prominent bas-relief spanning six feet across in the center of each door with numerous other images surrounding it that no one could make out because of the intense damage to the door. Even the Roc image had been attacked and desecrated with plasma and blaster fire that left the bas-reliefs pitted and charred. In spite of the direct damage to the Roc bas-relief, it remained intact, unlike many of the other images that were almost obliterated from the surface of the doors.

Hannibal glanced back at his team, warning darkly, “Remember, stay out of the light and keep your eyes open while I take a closer look at this door before we try to open it. You should be safe where you are. Usually, booby-trapped doors are designed to kill anything within three to six cubits of them. Leila, do you remember anything about these doors having a security system associated with them?”

“There’s a control panel on the third stone from the floor on the left hand arch support,” Leila stated softly, her voice echoing dully off the stone of the Great Hall, “It’s in the lower right corner of the stone, but I seriously doubt it’s active seeing the level of destruction here. I see no sign that any of the fortress’ internal systems have had any power for a very long time. It seems even the backup power supply has failed too since even the lights failed to trigger the moment we entered. Just our physical movement should have triggered them. I fear the entire system may be down.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Hannibal retorted softly with a wry smile, “There is some power still coursing through this place. I can feel it. Besides, if the entire system was down, then the consoles controlling the outer bulkhead doors would not have responded, no matter what we did.”

“And it would have certainly not reacted in such a hostile manner when I attacked the door probing its defenses earlier,” Nemesis commented. “I suspect the system is still active, but on a deep lockdown, only keeping the most critical systems of this fortress operational at the most basic level. That would explain why the security door at the entrance remained active and nothing else we’ve seen thus far. The AI running this place may have powered everything else down when all signs of life ceased here. There was no point in keeping infrastructure necessary for human activity running when there was no one left alive.”

“You’re probably right about that, Nemesis,” Hannibal agreed. “It would explain why we’re not seeing anything reacting to us. Still, we mustn’t let down our guard. There could still be unknown hazards or hostiles present, though I’m not sensing anything overtly hostile at the moment. What I do sense is that same restless spirit of Ragnar screaming at me from behind these doors. It’s begging for me to free it of the Darkness that’s contaminated this place and give him rest.”

“Then you should answer that call immediately, Beowulf,” Assad declared grimly. “I can feel the Darkness contaminating this place, but I cannot sense the presence you insist is Ragnar Omicron’s spirit calling to you. Still, because I cannot sense what you do doesn’t mean it isn’t real. It’s obvious Ragnar’ spirit and this place have called to you for help. You know what to do.”

“I do,” Hannibal stated soberly, “Let’s not keep Srandi or Ragnar waiting any longer. Everyone stand clear while I examine the door, just in case it’s booby-trapped.”

“Do your thing, bud,” Harry urged. “We’re here if you need us.” Everyone else chimed in agreement with Harry.

Hannibal nodded with a grunt and started using the scepter to illuminate the area in front of the damaged doors. His eye saw no tripwires or other obvious trap triggers but did see the control console Leila pointed out. However, he ignored it temporarily as his eyes devoured the entire scene. The remains of the ancient dead were not as deep in front of the doors as they were in the main causeway of the Great Hall. The beam of light through the hole and crack in the door caused Hannibal serious pause because the beam shown down at a steep forty-five degree angle through the gaps, indicating the light source to be up high in the chamber beyond. Reaching down, Hannibal procured a disarticulated broken femur three feet in length with the broken end suggesting it had been bitten off by something powerful. His face grew dark as he examined the bone before standing an arm’s length away from the light beam and thrusting the bone into the light. When nothing happened, he used the bone to check the beam in several other spots. Each time he did, nothing happened. With a sigh of relief, he tossed the bone aside and declared, “The light is not a trap. It’s just light shining through this hole and not a trap trigger. I also don’t see any tripwires either. Let me check for pressure sensors now.”

Taking the pummel end of the Scepter, Hannibal gently tapped the floor in front of the door in numerous places, pushing the bones aside where necessary. In less than a minute, he’d tested the entire area in front of the door out to edge of the columns that flanked the door. A satisfied grunt escaped his lips when he found no pressure triggers. “Floor’s clear too,” he announced, “Now I’m going to take a closer look at the console Leila pointed out.”

Stepping quickly to the console as everyone watched in fascination, Hannibal eyed the panel quizzically, which was a smaller version of the control panel on the bulkhead door at the entrance. It had a handprint sensor, a darkened crystal eye and display screen sitting over a smaller signet-sized socket. It appeared someone had tried to destroy the console for the display screen lay shattered with pieces missing from it, revealing a bank of fused circuitry behind it. The crystal eye had been broken with only a shard of crystal remaining embedded in the mechanism. The handprint scanner was likewise crushed like the crystal eye. “This thing is totally wrecked,” Hannibal stated grimly, “It appears the invaders destroyed the control console trying to unlock the doors. When smashing the console didn’t work, they obviously brought out their big guns and literally blasted the door open, which accounts for the big hole in the doors.”

“That sounds logical,” Nemesis agreed. “So do you think it’s safe to move the doors?”

“Yes,” Hannibal stated, “but before I touch it, I want you and Josephine to scan the door for anything unusual. The trap triggers could be on the other side of the door, you know.”

“I do indeed,” Nemesis rumbled softly, “Come on, Jo. Let’s take a look at this door. With the state it’s in, I doubt a scan will trigger anything.”

“Right,” Josephine agreed. In seconds, she and Nemesis scanned the entire door. “The door is exceptionally well built,” she reported, “but its mechanisms are completely deactivated. Furthermore, I don’t see any kind of improvised traps attached to it. I do believe it’s safe to move the door.”

“I see the same thing,” Nemesis stated, finishing his scan, “However, I will say I’m impressed with the mechanisms buried inside these doors. They’re far beyond anything the Emperor has. If this and the security doors at the entrance is any gauge of the tech in this place, then we’re sitting on the most advanced fortress on the planet.”

“I’m sure it is,” Hannibal chimed, “It may be as advanced as Tiamat, but I’m going to hold off on that idea until I can see the full extent of this place. Since you and Josephine have given us the all clear for the door, come here and help me push the door open, Nemesis. I’m sure this door is going to be a bitch to open because of how old and how much damage it took in the attack.”

“So it’s okay to get closer?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah,” Hannibal stated, “It’s safe to get closer. Come on, Nemesis. Let’s get this thing open.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Nemesis growled softly, stepping up beside Hannibal as he stood in front of the left door, which lay pushed open roughly six inches.

Placing his hand on the ruined door, an icy chill raced down Hannibal’s spine. Once again, in a flash vision that took only a fraction of a second, Hannibal witnessed the breeching of the throne room by the Emperor and his unholy hordes. A soft gasp escaped his lips at the vision, causing him to hesitate and stagger slightly.

“What is it?” Nemesis asked, seeing his shocked look. “Did you see something?”

Hannibal shook off the shock of the vision and said grimly, “Yeah; touching the door caused me to see a flash of what happened here. Plasma cannons didn’t make that hole in the doors above us. Bolthor himself breeched this door. I can still feel the dark power he used to blow open this thing lingering in the door itself. Come on, Nemesis; let’s open this thing up and see the ugly truth of what happened here.” With that, Hannibal pushed on the door with one hand. When it refused to budge, he leaned the scepter against the arch stones and pushed on the door with both hands, putting all his strength behind it. After a couple of seconds of seeing Hannibal struggling with the door, Nemesis threw his immense strength against the door with Hannibal. In moments, a deep grating noise rose from the hinges as the door finally started to give slowly inwards. “Yes, we’re doing it, Nemesis,” Hannibal growled with rising excitement. “The door is starting to move.”

“That it is,” Nemesis agreed with a deep strained growl. “But this is the most stubborn door I’ve ever seen. Andrew, Tyr, Carver; come here and give us a hand.”

“Okay, Nemesis,” Andrew replied, sheathing his sword and quickly advancing to the door.

“Right,” Tyr called out, stowing his weapon and rushing to the door with Carver. “Come on, brother, let’s give them a hand.”

“I’m with you,” Carver answered as he, Tyr, and Andrew moved in and started pushing on the enormous door with Hannibal and Nemesis. The door started moving a slightly faster, but groaned loudly in protest to being forcibly moved. “Gods; this thing is majorly heavy,” Carver wheezed as his muscled rippled from the heavy exertion. “It’s like trying to push open a wall.”

“You’re telling me,” Andrew agreed, straining hard against the stubborn door. “This thing is really tight.”

Seeing more help was needed to open the door, Tau turned to Josephine, saying, “They need more muscle to open that door, Miss Josephine. Please hold Miss Leila while I give them a hand.”

Josephine set Leila’s wheelchair down, saying, “Of course, milord. Let me have Leila and help them open that door.” She stretched out her arms and Tau deposited Leila in them, quickly going to the door as everyone else looked on in amazement at the massive door being slowly opened, letting more light into the Great Hall.

“Let me give you a hand, milord,” Tau rumbled deeply as he pushed on the door above the heads of everyone struggling. A growl escaped Tau’s lips as he realized how stiff the door was on its hinges. Throwing more weight against the door, a roar escaped his lion mouth, causing the door to move even quicker.

When the door suddenly stopped moving at eighteen inches open, Hannibal’s fury at the stubborn door exploded, along with his elemental power. A white aura briefly swirled around him as he stopped pushing on the door. His eyes crackled with white electricity as he stood back a step from the door. Nemesis saw Hannibal’s elemental aura powering up the moment it started. Tau saw it a fraction of a second after Nemesis did and instantly retreated. Nemesis stopped straining and urgently ordered Andrew, Tyr, Carver, and Tau, “Get back from the door guys. It’s pissed Hannibal off. His elements are manifesting again in his anger.” This caused the Cimmerians to beat a hasty retreat with Nemesis and Tau as Hannibal glowered at the door.

“You’re not going to stop me,” Hannibal hissed furiously at the door, “...not when I’m this close. Open up, goddamn you!” With that, he launched himself at the door, generating a potent directed concussion blast at the door with his hands the moment they touched the door. At the same time, both Draken Gauntlets discharged upon contact with the door, adding to the power of Hannibal’s elemental concussion attack. A loud shrieking bang reverberated throughout the Great Hall and the chamber beyond as the blast broke loose the hidden mechanism and hinges that caused the door to jam. The door flew open and smashed against the wall flanking the doorway in a thunderous crash that caused it to bounce back and swing back towards the closed position. However, it screeched to a halt before passing the center point on its swing, leaving that portion of the entrance completely open. A sigh of relief escaped Hannibal’s lips as his fury melted into the floor after unleashing the elemental blast. “That door didn’t know who it was messing with,” he growled darkly with a wry sinister smile while turning back to his team, who gazed at him with some trepidation.

Selina quickly went to Hannibal’s side and took him by the hand saying, “Are you all right, Hannibal? I felt you get really pissed with that door.”

Hannibal nodded as the anger in his face finished fading away. Looking first to Selina, and then to his team, he declared soberly, “I’m okay. The Rage is gone now that the door is no longer hindering our progress.”

Andrew stared with his mouth agape at what Hannibal did. “How’d you do that, uncle?” he asked in stunned amazement.

“You used an elemental concussion alongside the Draken Gauntlets, didn’t you?” Tau asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Hannibal replied with a raised eyebrow, “I used a controlled elemental concussion blast on the door. It seemed like the proper thing to use, though I didn’t intend to use the Gauntlets. It just happened without me purposely firing them. Maybe the Gauntlets went off because of the force of my punches. I don’t know for sure about that. Either way, I was able to control how much force I applied between the two in spite of my rage. Had I lost control, I would have probably blown that door completely off its hinges, but I didn’t want to do that. All I wanted was the door opened and not damaged any more than necessary. It seems the amount of energy I released was just enough to break loose whatever was jamming the door.”

“Your control over your elements is quite impressive, milord,” Tau congratulated. “It takes quite a level of finesse to tune a concussion blast with such precision. Well done, milord.”

“Thanks, Tau,” Hannibal replied. “Now that we’ve gotten this door open, let’s go see what’s inside. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Harry called out. “Don’t forget to pick up the scepter first.”

“Right, bud,” Hannibal chimed, taking the scepter back into his gloved hand. “Come on; time to go to work. Once again, let me go first. Nemesis...you, Tau, and Samantha follow right behind me to help secure the area around the door. Enoch, Andrew; cover us from behind.”

“Yes sir,” Nemesis growled readying for action.

“You got it, little brother,” Enoch replied, ready for action with Andrew beside him.

“We’ll follow your lead, milord,” Tau answered formally. “Any time you’re ready.”

Samantha placed her armored hand on Hannibal’s shoulder, saying, “Lead the way, Hannibal.”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Follow me.” With that, he quickly but cautiously advanced through the open door holding the scepter point forward like a spear while Nemesis, Tau, Enoch, Andrew, and Samantha followed. The rest of the team gathered at the open doorway, waiting for the signal to proceed.