Legends of Amacia Srandi: Last Bastion of the Caverias

Hannibal was about to reply to Assad when a mysterious hum arose from all directions, but seemed to concentrate in and around the thrones. His face immediately fell with concern, prompting him to retreat quickly to the circle of his team with both hands on the scepter...its spearhead pointed forward in a defensive manner.

“What’s that?” Harry asked with growing unease. “Did you trigger something and not know it, Hannibal?”

“I don’t know,” Hannibal replied tensely, his eagle eyes searching everywhere for the source of the hum, which was now a deep rumble. “This is why I told you to keep your guards up. The ancient traps and machinery often activate without any warning. Whatever this is seems to be powering up. I can sense it and the source of it is right in front of us. Be ready for anything.”

Weapons were pulled and readied as the rumbling hum suddenly peaked with a brief ear-piercing shriek before quieting down to a level where it could barely be heard. Hannibal noticed both the scepter’s crystal spearhead and its shaft glowing prominently in response to the noise. At the crescendo of the shriek, a blinding flash appeared between Hannibal and the thrones, temporarily robbing the team of their sight. When their eyesight returned, they stared in muted fearful astonishment at a full-sized 3-D hologram of an armored Thoth standing in front of the thrones in a severely wounded bloody state with his blood-soaked draken sword in a lowered position. The hologram of Thoth appeared to be looking right at Hannibal as he swayed on his feet with his bloody face etched with pain and weariness. The look of grim finality etched his exhausted face. “I hope this thing is on,” Thoth growled softly in the Stone Language. “Let this be my final testament and confession to the generations, should anyone survive this cataclysm engulfing us.”

Hannibal relaxed his defensive stance and sat the scepter upright on its pummel end while Thoth staggered to the throne and sat down heavily on it, ramming the draken sword into the floor. His hologram seemed to merge with his skeletal form sitting on the throne, giving the entire scene a morbid grim feel. Keeping his armored hand wrapped around the sword’s handle, Thoth coughed and spit blood, grimacing in agony from his wounded bloody and burned state. After the coughing subsided, he leaned back with a grim sigh and said distantly with pain and regret, “Beowulf, my beloved son. If you should ever return to this place and see this, know that I have failed, and the demon Emperor in the guise of Bolthor has finally overrun this last refuge of our people in his wrath against me. Can you ever forgive my arrogance and folly against you, our family, and our friends and allies? In my rage and desire to take back what the Emperor took from me, I have alienated you, my son: all that I have left, even though you tried to stop me from walking this dark path to its terrible conclusion that I reap even now. Please forgive me, my son. As you can see, I have paid the ultimate price for my madness and revenge. However, before I go on to be with the Almighty Father, you must know that I truly loved you as did I your mother, brothers, and sisters with all my heart and soul. Furthermore, I’m truly sorry for allowing the Darkness to contaminate me and bring our line to such a miserable terrible end. May the Almighty grant me forgiveness for I do truly repent of the evils I committed in the name of my revenge now that I’m finally free of my insane dark rage.”

Thoth paused, and coughed, spitting more blood as a surge of intense pain wracked his frame. When the pain subsided, he wiped the blood from his lips with his free hand, and continued his confession, saying, “Regardless of my sorrow and repentance for my dark actions, I see clearly our war with the Emperor is coming to an end, and the Emperor has prevailed, my son. I tried to get our family back but it was not possible. Your siblings are lost and I know not where they are, or even if they are alive. I did manage to free your mother but at a terrible price that I should have never agreed to. The Emperor slew her before my eyes and I couldn’t stop it. Oh god forgive me, I couldn’t stop it. He wanted her for his queen and rather than see her free of him, he slew her just to spite me and I couldn’t stop it. He slew her in the throne room of his Black Fortress after I bested him in single combat. Rather than loose her to me, he killed her before my eyes and fled like the coward he is, sending in the Rakshasar to finish me. God forgive me. In my rage and grief, I snapped and slew his entire family and household, including the concubine he had forsaken in favor of Ariel. I slew them all in savage brutal retaliation whether they were innocent or not, and bore the body of your mother back here to Srandi. Now I have paid the ultimate penalty of my rebellion and heinous sins committed in this war.”

Yet another spasm of pain caused Thoth to stop and hiss in agony before he said, “Please, my son, don’t let anger and rage fester in your heart till it explodes like it did for me. If you wish to see your mother one last time, she lies in the heart of the keep in our family’s crypt where I personally laid her. However, as of now, I’m dying and there’s no stopping it this time. My injuries are too extensive and the machinery is wrecked by the Emperor’s assault. He followed me here with his unholy demon hordes unleashed from the pit, and overran us in his vengeance for the death of not just his family, but for Ariel, whom he desired above all others. When he killed her to keep me from having her instead of him, he went completely insane with rage. The fact that I took the body of your mother from him incensed him even further. His forces swept over Azrael and burned it in vengeance, laying waste to everything green and good that ever lived there. Even now, I, and a handful of my best men have finally driven them from the keep and have locked it down from the inside, but it was a costly battle. I lost all of them. All the people here are dead and I alone am left alive, but not for long. Death is tugging at me even now. My blood runs and I feel that life is slipping away from me. The sky is rending as I speak and the hammer of Nibiru is falling on us. The ground shakes and the Earth perishes like I.”

Once again, Thoth paused, wheezing a bit and spitting more blood as tears ran freely from his eyes. “Just know, my son that I tried, but it just wasn’t good enough,” he murmured, his voice becoming increasingly weak, “Please forgive me for failing you so miserably. Please forgive me for driving you away. Forgive me for everything. The only solace I now have now is our Almighty Father is shaking the Heavens and the Earth as I speak, and that He will stop the Emperor’s reign of fire permanently. The other comforting thought left is Cleo, your sister and the joy of my life along with you, may somehow be preserved in this blackest hour that our line may be perpetuated. We should have believed the crazy preacher who built that giant boat on the mountain, but it’s too late for me now. I can only pray Cleo made it to her fiancé and got on the preacher’s ship in time to be saved. If by some miracle you survive these next few hours, my son, know that I loved you.

“Also know one more thing about the Emperor if you decide to tangle with him. He is not a man but a demon lord of the highest order with multiple hosts that he can inhabit at will. This is his darkest secret...one I discovered when I retrieved your mother from the Black Fortress. Bolthor was merely the demon’s first host, whom I slew with great regret in this very throne room. However, that will not stop the demon force that is the Emperor. In order to kill the Emperor you must destroy his hosts, all of them. For the moment, I know he has six hosts that he has prepared for him, one of which the demon is most likely already inhabiting since I destroyed Bolthor. You must kill them all in order to defeat him in the end. Thus ends my confession and life, my son. I feel the Reaper tapping at my shoulder even now. My time is up. With my final breath, I will tell you that I love you, Beowulf...my beloved son. I love yo....” The hologram Thoth suddenly locked up in death and slumped on the throne, after which the hologram flickered and vanished leaving his ever-present bones still sitting where he died.

Leila sobbed softly, as did Selina and Josephine. Hannibal looked down in grief stricken silence. Leila had her answers finally as to what happened to Ariel and Thoth, and so did Hannibal. A deep troubled sigh escaped Enoch’s lips as Ana tried to comfort Leila and Josephine. Assad and Tau also tried to console the pair, purring comforting words to them. The rest of the team stared in numbed shock, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss without knowing exactly why.

Selina went to Hannibal and wrapped her arm around him from the right side, laying her head on his armored shoulder, sobbing softly. Hannibal drew her in with his free arm and kissed her on the temple, feeling not just her grief, but the grief and sense of loss everyone felt. Harry walked up to Hannibal and put a comforting hand on his shoulder in emotional support. “I’m so sorry, Hannibal,” he said softly, choking with emotion, “I wish I could say something to make this right, but I can’t find the words. There aren’t any words that can convey the depths of this tragedy.”

Hannibal looked over into Harry’s eyes, seeing and feeling his sorrow and concern over what they’d all witnessed. “It’s okay, bud,” he answered softly in a grateful tone. “The truth can sometimes be very harsh, but truth is truth and we saw the ultimate truth concerning Thoth in this tragic recording.”

“That it is,” Enoch agreed solemnly, “We all knew about the Darkness contaminating Thoth, but I never believed we’d actually stumble across his last testament like this. I’m shocked to my core at what he said, and how different he was in this recording than he was from the one we saw where he betrayed the Yetis. He’s a totally different person in this one, as he realized what his lust for revenge had actually done to him and his family in the end. I’m heartened to see how sorry he was for what he’d done.”

“Yes,” Selina agreed, sniffling. “I agree. Thoth was so deeply sorry and repentant in his last moments. It makes me think he truly broke free of the darkness that had taken him in the end.”

“It seems this final battle showed Thoth what truly mattered,” Assad declared softly. “It’s good to see he turned back to the Light and sincerely repented before he passed. I suspect he made this recording to clear his conscience before death could take him. He desperately wanted his son to see it and forgive him so he could find peace in the afterlife. However, his son never saw it, so his spirit has been tied to his place until now. Maybe that’s what you sensed when we first entered the throne room, milord. Thoth’s spirit lingered here, bound to this place awaiting the forgiveness that never came.”

Hannibal suddenly realized Thoth and he were not that very different, just like Leila had suggested shortly after she woke from stasis. He also saw how history had nearly repeated itself in a way upon hearing Thoth’s account of Ariel’s capture and death. An icy chill raced down his spine at the epiphany as Assad’s comments broke through his musings. When it registered on Hannibal what Assad implied, he nodded solemnly, saying, “You may be right about that, Assad. Maybe we should do something about that. It’s time Thoth finally found peace.” Leaving Harry and Selina standing with the rest of the team, Hannibal walked right up to Thoth’s skeletal remains and bowed his head while saluting the ancient monarch with his fist over his heart. “Most venerable grandfather Thoth,” Hannibal said softly, “I am not your son Beowulf, but I am your descendant and the one you heard of in the Caverias prophecies from the time of Ragnar. With me are more of your descendants. We’ve heard the accounts, and seen your last testament. Please know that we forgive you for what you did in the heat of your anger and revenge and don’t hold it against you. Go; be at peace Thoth. Ariel awaits you beyond the gates of Paradise. Go and find your rest with her and the Lord.”

A strange distant rumble seemed to echo from every corner and stone of the throne room with Hannibal’s declaration. He abruptly gasped as Thoth’s image flickered on his long-dead skull for a half a second as if the holographic image had tried to reappear. Only Hannibal saw the ghostly visage as it smiled at Hannibal with great relief before vanishing along with the rumble. A sense of peace swept the throne room, replacing the edgy restless feel to the fortress. It was so potent everyone noticed it. When the shock of seeing the ghost lifted, Hannibal nodded solemnly, whispering, “Farewell, my friend. Fly to your rest.”

“What is this?” Ned asked urgently, “This place doesn’t feel like it wants to kill me anymore. What happened?”

Hannibal sighed and turned back to his team. “It seems Assad was right again,” he announced, “Thoth’s spirit was attached to this place. When I told him we forgave him, it released his spirit so he could finally be at rest.”

“How can you tell,” Thomas asked.

“Because I saw Thoth’s ghost appear and smile at me as it left his body just now,” Hannibal replied softly, “He was truly happy and relieved to finally be free of this place. That’s why it feels so much better in here now. Thoth’s pain and sorrow are no longer contaminating it.”

“Oh, I didn’t know a ghost could do that,” Thomas admitted in wonder.

“They can,” Hannibal declared, “...that is if that soul had unfinished business in this world. It appears Thoth’s desire for forgiveness kept him tethered to this place until we came and gave him what he needed: forgiveness. By offering him the forgiveness he craved, he passed the torch of responsibility for this place to me, to us, finally allowing him to be at peace with Ariel. That’s why this place feels so much more friendly than it did when we first came in. All the dark negative emotions Thoth harbored went with him when he left. However, that doesn’t mean we can let our guards down. This place is still very dangerous to us. A very dangerous shadow still haunts this place. I can feel it.”

“What do you mean, milord?” Assad asked quizzically.

“It means this place is still contaminated with the darkness that sacked it,” Hannibal said sternly. “Yes, Thoth’s restless spirit has been placated and lifted some of the hostility we felt in here, but there are other dark forces still lurking in the shadows of this place that are still enraged at their defeat so long ago. I can sense it, even though they feel very weak and impotent as they hide in the shadows. Purging this place of the Darkness that soiled it is going to be a process, just as it was with Tiamat.”

“Is this going to interfere with bringing the people here?” Enoch asked bluntly. “We can’t just bring the people here if this place is still contaminated by the Dark Powers.”

“Oh contraire, big brother,” Hannibal answered with a wry but confident smile, “We can and we will. Just because this place is still tainted doesn’t mean we can’t bring them through to safety. In fact, we’re going to need them to help secure the fortress.” Seeing the confusion in not just Enoch’s eyes, but also in the faces of over half his team, Hannibal clarified, saying, “I can see you’re not getting what I’m saying. This is how I see it. We’ve already begun the process of securing the fortress by opening the main entrance and coming here to the throne room to relieve Thoth of his burden. The way we secure the fortress and purge it of the darkness contaminating it is to clean the place up. That’s why I said we need the people to help secure this place. Just look around and you’ll see what I mean.” He pointed to the fallen ancient dead and declared, “As long as the enemy dead remain here, their vile spirits will continue haunting this place. Removing and properly disposing of those remains will send their vile spirits back to where they belong.”

“Ah, I see,” Tau chimed in understanding. “By getting rid of the bodies, the spirits attached to them will be removed as well, thus purging the fortress of their wicked influence.”

“Exactly,” Hannibal chimed. “We must understand that the Almighty Himself has delivered this fortress into our hands. He wants this place cleansed and sanitized of the filth corrupting it. Of course, this will take time and when a room or sector is sanitized, we will have our prophets and seers bless the cleaned areas in the name of the Almighty. When that happens, any residual darkness will flee for once the Light takes over, Darkness cannot remain.”

“Yes, I see precisely what you mean,” Assad stated, “I would be honored to help you bless and sanctify this place alongside our brothers and sisters. However, I wonder about the more secure areas of this fortress...places the people are not going to be able to readily access. What are we going to do about them?”

“That’s our job,” Hannibal stated firmly. “What we have to do is open the various locked areas and secure them so the people can get to work clearing them out without being worried about any potential hostiles or booby traps. It is going to take time to do this, but we will get it done. We will retake this fortress and once again make it a beacon of light to the entire world.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, Hannibal,” Harry intruded, “But what about our war preparations? We still have the Emperor breathing down our necks, you know.”

“Point well put, Harry,” Hannibal stated as the spirit of the warrior king seeped into view. “I haven’t forgotten about that devil and what he wants to do to us. The defense preps will take priority over everything. I’m sure Nemesis, Tau, and Enoch can handle that side of things while I take a team to open up the locked areas of the fortress.”

“That we can,” Nemesis rumbled, “Now that the fortress is accessible, we can truly get to work.”

“Excellent,” Hannibal chimed. “We have a plan now. However, there is one big thing eating at me we need to attend to right now.”

“What’s that?” Enoch asked.

Hannibal looked directly at Leila and said solemnly, “We must find the Caverias family crypt and lay Thoth where he belongs...at the side of Ariel.”

“But no one knows where the crypt is,” Ana insisted. “Where is it? Nothing in any of the records ever even hinted at where it was other than to say it was hidden deep in the bowels of this fortress.”

“I beg to disagree,” Hannibal retorted with a wry smile. “There is one amongst us who knows for she alone has seen it before. What do you say, Leila? Can you show us the way to the crypt so we can place Thoth next to your sister as is proper?”