Legends of Amacia Srandi: Last Bastion of the Caverias

Hannibal motioned to Josephine, who nodded and retrieved Leila from the throne. “Where is Leila’s wheelchair?” he asked. “I think it might be better if she used it rather than being carried around like a sack of potatoes. It’ll allow her to be more independent in this exploration.”

“I’ve got it,” Carver called out, carrying it to the base of the dais. “I went back for it when I realized we left it out in the Great Hall.”

Suddenly, Tyr called out urgently, “Uh...guys, I think you should see this.” He stood to the right of the dais at a distance of two hundred feet, looking down in fearful awe at one of the ancient dead.

“What did you find, son?” Assad asked, seeing Tyr’s ashen face and expression.

“I don’t know,” Tyr stated hesitantly, “...but I think it might be the old Emperor himself. However, I cannot be sure for this is an armor type I’ve never seen before. It’s right down ghoulish and very disturbing.”

Hannibal felt his heart sink at the report. At the same moment, he felt the Darkness suddenly concentrate in that area as if being attracted by something. Moreover, his danger meter pegged off the scale. “Don’t touch him, Tyr,” he warned sternly with an outstretched hand. “I’m feeling a large surge of sinister dark power from that spot. Let me take a look at it first.”

“Don’t worry,” Tyr insisted. “I’m not touching this thing. It looks like none of the other dead here, not the aliens, demons, nor Grimm. The evil coming off this thing is so bad even I can feel it. It reminds me of that terrible evil we encountered going into the gate temple in Kartoom.”

“We’d better take a look, Hannibal,” Nemesis urged. “It’s not like Tyr to exaggerate such things. It must be pretty bad to have shaken him this much.”

“I agree. Let’s take a look,” Hannibal stated grimly. “Jo, you should prepare yourself. If what Tyr found is what I suspect, well, I think you understand what I’m trying to say.”

“I do indeed,” Josephine said softly. “I’ve already prepared myself for this eventuality. Let’s see if it really is what’s left of my husband since Thoth’s message said he killed my husband in this very room.”

“Come,” Hannibal replied soberly with a wave of his hand, “Let’s find out for sure.” He immediately rushed down the dais stairs, heading directly to Tyr and his find with the rest of the team following close behind in fearful anticipation.

As Hannibal stopped beside Tyr, he noticed the Cimmerian fearfully standing back almost thirty feet from a true misshapen skeletal monstrosity in an alien, almost demoniac armor unlike anything Hannibal had ever seen, even in his worst nightmares. It lay twenty-five feet in length with a roughly bipedal humanoid structure. The elongated skull stretched almost four feet in length from front to back with vague shadows of human facial structure obvious around the eye and nose areas. However, that’s where the human element stopped. The rest of the skull appeared to be some form of feline unknown to those who witnessed it. Apart from the skull being elongated with a truly enormous brain cavity, the skull’s facial area spanned nearly eighteen inches across and stretched two feet vertically with a hideously long lower jaw that mated with the main skull. These jaws boasted three-inch long serrated shark-like teeth with a pair of six-inch fangs protruding from both the upper and lower jaws. Just above the temples on the skull sprouted a pair of giant bull-like horns that reached out three feet in length from the skull and spanned six feet between their tips. Spikey bone spurs two inches in length crowned the enormous eye sockets, making the thing look as if it had jagged bony eyebrows. Three rows of jagged bony ridges six inches tall lay equidistant from each other running along the long axis of the elongated skull giving the thing a truly menacing quality.

Most of its torso structure lay hidden by the black, bloodstained armor covered in demoniac runes of hideous dark power and terrible antiquity. The dark armor was punctured and breeched with as many hits as Thoth’s armor took. However, its clawed reptilian hands could not be ignored. They were eighteen inches long with six fingers twelve inches in length with each finger ending in a six-inch razor-sharp claw. In the creature’s splayed right arm and hand lay the broken remains of his colossal evil sword still clenched in his hideous fist.

The sword itself was a thing of hideous dark power with a six-inch wide black blade etched with scarlet runes of dark arcane power unlike anything Hannibal had ever encountered. The blade itself lay snapped off diagonally twenty-eight inches from the blasphemous hilt with the break itself ending eighteen inches from the hilt in a jagged line showing the shattering power of the blow that had ruined it. The hilt and handle was a gruesome revolting thing to behold being formed from what appeared to be an image of a Grimm dragon lord skull, neck, upper torso and forelimbs forming the hilt itself. The forelimbs and clawed hands formed the cross guard of the hilt with the claws pointing forward along the blade almost a foot ending in razor-sharp points, making it a weapon unto itself. The left side of the cross guard of the hilt was missing with the break showing evidence of melting and slag. The handle of the sword itself stretched three feet from the hilt, looking to be in the form of a metallic human spine, ending in a demon-head pummel crowned with foot-long metallic spines made of the same metal as the blade. Crusted blood still coated the blasphemous ruined demoniac weapon.

Looking to the legs of the beast, everyone saw its legs appeared to be reverse hinged at its enormous knees much like the hind legs of a great cat ending in hideous clawed feet that were very reptilian in nature. The feet resembled the feet of both a T-rex and veloci-raptor terminating in six taloned toes with an abnormally large scythe-like claw on the largest toe. Each foot spanned twenty-eight inches in length by a foot wide. The upper portion of the feet remained armored with the lower portions being armor free. When Hannibal looked at the feet, he noticed the armor looked as if the foot itself had burst from inside an armored boot with the entire sole and end of the boot ripping off when the foot exploded out from the boot. This caused Hannibal great pause and concern for if this was truly Bolthor, it meant he could transform himself physically into his demon form at will.

Finally, Hannibal noted the black demon armor itself with dread. It reminded him of what Grimm’s Mask had done to his armor when he used it in the rescue of Corso’s people from Hreidmar’s Bastion. However, this armor was far worse than what Grimm’s Mask had done to his armor. This armor looked both metallic and organic at the same time and had the vile stench of the Old Ones all over it. Hideous demoniac runes of terrible dark power mixed with Grimm-like scarlet markings lay etched into every part of the armor as if to empower it with the darkest foulest power of the Void, Chaos, and the Abyss. Foot-long spikes decorated the shoulder pauldrons. Long jagged hooks six inches long lined the vambrace armor down to the wrists. Two, scorpion-like appendages six inches thick sprouted from the Emperor’s back armor on each side of his spine. These obviously mechanical insectoid arms spanned fifteen feet in length ending in a combination scorpion stinger and three fingered grappling claw. One claw had a partially melted human skull of great size still in its grip while the other held an enormous femur four feet in length. Both appendages lay inert to each side of the fallen Emperor. Down the spine of the armor lay a row of razor sharp spines a foot long. Then to Hannibal’s amazement, he saw the broken framework of what was left of giant wings just below the scorpion appendages.

As he continued to examine the monstrosity’s hideous armor, he noted two extra mechanical limbs sprouting from the armor just below the main clawed arms, just as Josephine had when he rescued her in the raid on the Black Fortress. However, these machine arms had been severed from the frame of the armor. The left machine arm had been blown off as if a powerful charge had hit it at what would have been the elbow. Only a fused stump six inches long remained attached to the armor. The right arm was a different story. Some impossibly strong force had literally ripped it out of the armor by its roots. Only a jagged hole that reached all the way to Bolthor’s mutated body remained. In that hole sat a blade with is foot-long handle sticking out, showing everyone what may have been the lethal strike that brought the creature down.

“My God,” Hannibal finally breathed, gawking in violent repulsion at the sight while feeling the hideous dark power still lingering within the corpse. “This is insane. What is this...thing?” When he saw the team crowding forward to get a better look at the abomination, Hannibal stretched out his hand, saying urgently, “Everybody needs to stay back from this thing. It’s definitely the source of the Darkness I feel lingering in the fortress and it is hostile. I don’t want anyone to be contaminated by it. I will deal with this since I have the greatest resistance to the forces of the Dark Powers.”

Eyes grew wide at the abomination lying before them. Gasps and swears of horror and terrified shock quickly followed. Even Nemesis gawked in disbelief at the demoniac alien abomination lying dead before them. Andrew stared in horrified awe at the thing, unable comprehend what he saw nor able to find the words to properly express his loathing revulsion of the abomination. Leila saw it and hid her eyes as Josephine held her, the terror of the creature plastering her face. Josephine looked on in muted horror and recognition at the armored skeletal abomination lying there. She choked emotionally at the sight and finally had to turn her back to it with Leila. Seeing this, Hannibal went to her side and touched her on the arm, saying sympathetically, “That is Bolthor, isn’t it...at least what’s left of what he became, right?”

Josephine nodded grimly, sobbing softly, “Yes, it’s him. The Dark Powers completely corrupted and mutated him. I didn’t realize how bad the transformation into a dark god was going to be. It’s terrible beyond any comprehension. The things that did this to him must pay for this.” Her grief swelled into a rage beyond anything anyone had ever seen from any living being, even Hannibal. Josephine’s face twisted in growing grief-fueled wrath until she looked up and screamed so loud in her fury it hurt everyone’s ears.

Hannibal instantly knew the rage she felt for it was very similar to the Caverias Berserker Battle Rage when completely unleashed. He also understood the rage she felt intimately for it was exactly how he felt when he saw the assassins execute and burn his family in front of him as a teenager. He grabbed Josephine’s organic arm firmly as she vented her sorrow and rage, gently getting her attention as the scream subsided. When she finally looked down at him seeing a very concerned but empathetic look on his face, he said soberly but firmly, “I know your pain, Jo. Don’t let your rage overwhelm you. It only leads to the Darkness that took Bolthor. Believe me; I know this from savage brutal experience. It’s okay to be angry to wrath, but you can’t let it control you. You must control it. Let it out in a controlled manner so your wrath doesn’t hurt those you care about, including Leila whom you hold in your arms. You can do this. I know you can. You have the strength and will to tame this tempest of wrath you’re feeling now. Tame it. Release it constructively, and know the Almighty sees and feels your anguish of spirit. He will make this right and punish those Dark Ones who stole Bolthor from you. That I can guarantee. After all, am I not the Last Caverias...the hand and fist of the Almighty sent here to smash and punish the Dark Powers for the evil they caused everyone? The Lord will make this right. I promise.”

Hannibal’s words made their way through Josephine’s rage and into her mind and heart. Her anger melted and the grief spilled out again in soft sobs. “Listen to Hannibal, Jo,” Leila urged her softly while cradled in Josephine’s arms. “He speaks the truth and knows the rage you feel for he’s felt it too, as have I. You mustn’t let your anger lead you into the Darkness, where there’s only misery and death. Release this burden and let us help you bear it.”

By this time, everyone had gathered around Josephine for emotional support. Tau gently rested his giant clawed hand on her shoulder, saying, “You needn’t bear this alone, milady. We’re here for you too, just as we’re here for Mistress Leila in her anger and grief. Release this poisonous anger and hate, and be free of this horrendous burden. You can do this. We all believe in you.”

Josephine’s emotions slowly calmed as the rage and hate melted away with her grief. Her sobs quieted as she looked down into Leila’s face first, then to Tau, Hannibal, and the rest of the team who surrounded her with looks of great kindness on their faces. No one mocked her emotional outburst since everyone understood why it happened. Andrew’s look of shock and extreme concern for her proved most beneficial for she saw him as a beloved nephew and a kindred spirit. He truly cared for her welfare and she knew it. “Thank you,” she whimpered, “Thank you all for being so kind and understanding. You have no idea what that means to... me.” She suddenly gasped in astonishment, not believing her eyes as the spectral apparitions of both Thoth and Ariel clad in their war armor looked on from the edge of the dais. They smiled warmly, nodding to her. The moment she saw Thoth and Ariel appear, the temperature in the throne room dropped abruptly and the sense of someone watching filled every mind. Hannibal felt it first and turned to the source of the disruption from the throne, seeing the ghosts. When the rest of the team turned to the throne and saw the spirits, they stared in muted awe for the appearance of Thoth and Ariel had smothered the darkness surrounding the bones of Bolthor.

A wide smile suddenly swept Hannibal’s face and he waved to the spirits of the old monarchs of Amacia. They nodded to Hannibal and waved back with a look of gratitude on their faces. Ariel then looked Leila in the eye as she lay in Josephine’s arms, sobbing with joy. A broad beaming smile crept across Ariel’s ghostly lips as she nodded solemnly to Leila. Leila waved as she wept and Ariel waved back smiling as she shed ghostly tears.

Thoth then looked directly at Hannibal soberly and pointed to a spot directly between him and Hannibal on the main floor, his intent obvious and urgent. Sensing Thoth wanted him to find something important, Hannibal instantly responded, moving slowly back towards Thoth as a mysterious telepathic call reached his mind. It felt urgent and vital to everyone’s survival. Every so often as Hannibal searched, he’d glance up at Thoth’s ghost, who nodded knowingly while continuing to point at the same area. Approximately half way back to the dais, Hannibal stopped dead in his tracks and stared in shock at glowing disk six inches across and two inches thick made of an unknown golden alloy sitting clutched in the skeletal claw of one of the ancient dead. The warrior’s Roc engraved armor declared the warrior to be a defender of Srandi. The desiccated armored corpse of the mighty warrior stretched twelve feet in length with its skull crushed along with one arm and leg being literally ripped from the torso. The armor around its chest and belly had been punctured and crushed as if by a giant clawed hand or maw. Had the armor not been more robust, Hannibal instantly saw this valiant defender would have been torn in two. He grimaced at the damage done to the brave giant human defender. After getting over the shock of the human wreckage lying before him, the glow of the strange golden disk drew his attention again. Immediately, he discovered the disk to be the source of the call he heard.

Squatting down and laying the scepter aside, whose spearhead crystal shined like a lighthouse light, Hannibal quickly saluted the fallen warrior with a few kind words and procured the strange item. Once he had it, he looked up at Thoth for confirmation. Thoth lowered his arm and nodded soberly, cracking a wry smile that caused icy chills to race down every spine present. Looking back at the ancient relic with fearful fascination, Hannibal saw it was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. It boasted a bas-relief carving of a strange draken and Roc with their backs physically touching while smaller draken icons surrounded the main image. Mysterious alien writing completely unknown to Hannibal covered every inch of the disk where the images were not present. The runes lay etched in concentric circles in a very similar manner to what Hannibal had seen in the Sacred Circle of Eternity. The eyes, claws, and talons of the Roc and draken images consisted of various gemstones such as diamond, ruby, emerald, and a mysterious bluish-white crystal that seemed all too familiar to Hannibal. “Whoa,” he whispered in baffled wonder as he turned the disk over, seeing the back devoid of images, but had ample runes circling a small two-inch diameter round indentation with three deep slots carved a half inch into the material of the disk. His eyes grew wide as he murmured, “It’s a key to something of vital importance, but I have no idea what it is.” Once he’d finished examining the relic, Hannibal grabbed the Scepter and stood, facing Thoth’s ghost, asking it while holding up the bizarre relic, “Is this what you wanted me to find?”

Thoth’s ghost nodded knowingly with a sober relieved smile before saluting Hannibal, placing his right fist over his heart. Hannibal pocketed the relic in his leather coat and returned the salute with respect and a nod. Everyone saw Thoth’s ghost seem to sigh deeply as he ended the salute and put his arm around Ariel, smiling warmly at everyone. Moments later, the ghostly pair of monarchs vanished like a fog in the wind, leaving everyone with peace and purpose in their hearts.

“What a tremendous sign,” Assad breathed in wonder, “To have Thoth and Ariel appear together in this place truly shows we’re in the last act and the Emperor’s days are numbered. All praise and honor to the Almighty for giving us this boon of hope.”

“Amen to that,” Hannibal agreed as he turned around to face the group. “We’re definitely in the right place at the right time. The Lord has done this and it’s marvelous in His sight.”

“What did he show you, Hannibal?” Harry asked urgently as Hannibal returned to the group, who had not moved.

Fishing the ancient glowing disk out of his coat pocket, Hannibal displayed it saying, “This alien thing, which is obviously a key of some kind. That poor fellow over there gave his life to keep it away from Bolthor and his minions. What it’s a key for I have no idea for I’ve never seen its like before. It’s as mysterious as the pyramid Relic we found in Tiamat, and the Artifact we discovered in the pyramid temple on the other side of Skull Pass before we came to this savage underworld. Leila, Josephine...can you identify this thing? It has to be important since Thoth went out of his way to help me find it amongst the carnage of this place.”

“I have never seen anything like it,” Josephine admitted softly, “But I can say it is of alien origin. That much is obvious. Neither the Caverias nor Bolthor or his Dark Hordes had anything to do with forging that strange disk. However, I do agree with you when you suggest it’s a key to something. I just don’t know what it could be a key for.”

“What about you, Leila?” Hannibal asked, holding it up so she could clearly see it. “You were part of the Caverias inner circle when Thoth ruled. Is this one of his secrets?”

Leila turned ashen in fear upon seeing it up close. “Yes,” she said hesitantly, “But I cannot tell you about it right now. It’s not safe to speak of it here until this place is cleansed of the darkness still contaminating it.”

“I understand,” Hannibal replied with a grunt. “This thing must be pretty important for you to not wish to speak of it here, but can’t you give us a hint that won’t jeopardize your oath of secrecy or our safety?”

“I guess I can give you a hint since we all saw Thoth’s ghost lead you directly to it,” Leila conceded. “All I can tell you is that thing is one of those forbidden objects that were to never be used except in the direst of circumstances. In that way, you can consider it as dangerous as Grimm’s Bane since it meant to be used only as a last resort. Since it’s out here and not locked up, the situation obviously must have been desperate enough for Thoth to okay its use.”

“That means the situation must have been dire indeed,” Nemesis commented, “Though with what we’ve seen thus far around us, I believe the circumstances were dire enough to call for its utilization.”

“I agree,” Tau concurred. “This was obviously Thoth’s last stand with every asset being deployed to stem the dark tide of annihilation the Emperor unleashed on him.”

“What did it do?” Enoch asked with great interest, shifting the conversation to the actual artifact. “If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, the writing on that thing looks a lot like the writing on those relics Hannibal showed us a few days ago, especially that pyramid one.”

“That’s why I thought I looked familiar,” Hannibal crowed in epiphany. “The writing is almost identical to those other artifacts I gathered that seem to be associated with the Four Winds. This is a most important find. Leila, this is one of those artifacts, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Leila whispered fearfully, “But all I can tell you about it right now is that this one has a peculiar ability to disrupt the emanations and power of the Dark Gods. I have no idea how it performs this miracle, only that it does. That may be why Thoth brought it out. He must have tried to use it to hamstring Bolthor’s dark powers to even the battlefield so he and the defenders would have a chance at repelling the invaders.”

“That would have been a brilliant tactical move on Thoth’s part,” Tau declared, “If that disk is capable of dampening or completely shutting down the elemental and thaumaturgical abilities of the attackers as Miss Leila suggests, then it would have been vital to the defense of this fortress. However, even if it worked, it didn’t stop what happened here. It appears to me this place was overrun by sheer numbers and not so much elemental or thaumaturgical attacks.”

“I would agree,” Nemesis concurred, “It was a brilliant tactical move, but a fruitless one if that’s the case. The Emperor and his troops completely breeched this fortress and there’s plenty of evidence stating they were actively using elemental, thaumaturgical, and energy weapons in this attack in spite of that device. All you have to do is look around. The evidence is all around us. However, I cannot say if this device actually helped to dampen or even block the Emperor’s dark powers. At the very least, I’d suggest it may have worked initially, but I suspect the sheer volume of the dark power the Emperor unleashed here might have overwhelmed the dampening field. What do you think, Hannibal?”

Hannibal stared at the device, feeling an eerie familiarity with the bizarre alien machine. “Both of you have valid points,” he admitted distantly without looking up from the device, “And that may have very well happened. However, I cannot ignore what I sense about this thing. I can feel it actively countering the Darkness I’m sensing emanating from Bolthor’s corpse, though it’s weak as if its power against the Darkness is almost drained.” He suddenly looked up with determination in his eye. Casting his eye to the creature Josephine said was her deceased husband, Hannibal declared, “There’s only one way to discover the truth about this thing. It still has a residual charge I can feel restraining the evil emanating from Bolthor’s corpse. Therefore, I propose to use this alien thing to disperse the evil from those bones so we may safely remove them. Presently with what I sense coming from that cadaver, we dare not physically touch it. The darkness still inhabiting those bones may infect and turn whoever touches it. Maybe if I can somehow jumpstart this thing, it will be able to disperse the evil infesting those bones if provided with enough power.”

“That’s a very big if, Hannibal,” Harry said skeptically, “You know nothing about that device and what makes it tick. Remember the last time you messed blindly with ancient tech. It nearly killed you, causing you ill effects you’re still dealing with. I don’t think it’s worth the risk to have a repeat of what the Teacher of Tiamat did to you.”

“Point very well put, Harry,” Hannibal agreed. “The Teacher of Tiamat did almost kill me when I stumbled on it, and as you said, I’m still dealing with what it did to me. However, I’m not going into this blind this time. I have access to the knowledge of not just what Tiamat showed me, but also the archives at both Kaal Bek and the Red Tower. This little alien gadget is just that...a machine and I’m the master of the ancient tech now thanks to my studies of the various technologies in the archives.”

“That may be the case,” Samantha intruded, “...but this machine IS an unknown to you. You admitted it just a couple of minutes ago. Is it worth the risk of trying to operate this machine to disperse the evil shroud around those bones? Activating that thing before you have at least a rudimentary understanding of it has a high chance of backfiring badly on you. I’m with Harry in saying it’s a risk you shouldn’t take...at least not this late in the game.”

Hannibal nodded with a grunt, now seeing the real dangers of using the device without knowing something about it first. “You and Harry are right, Sam,” he admitted, “I don’t know enough about this device to safely activate it, so I won’t right now. I need to study it more before trying to use it. However, it still has enough charge left in it that I can feel it tamping down the darkness in those bones. Let me try something.” When he noticed the shocked concerned look on everyone’s faces, he declared, “Trust me. I’m not going to try to activate it. I just want to see what happens when I bring it close to Bolthor’s remains. I promise not to touch him for I can feel how corrosive the Darkness infesting those bones is.”

“Okay,” Enoch replied cautiously, “...but be very careful. I’m nowhere near as telepathic as you or many of the others here, but I can feel the evil pulsing off those bones. I can tell it’ll jump on anyone who gets too close to it, especially if it suspects that person is of the Caverias line as you are.”

“Trust me,” Hannibal reassured everyone. “I’m not going to get that close. I just want to get a sense of what this little gadget does to the evil aura of those bones. Besides, the Lord is with me and He will keep that vile slime off me.”

Assad walked up and put his hand on Hannibal’s shoulder, saying, “Then I will assist you, my friend. You should not go in without backup. I believe our combined light and faith will stave off anything the darkness of that corpse will throw at us.”

“That’s a very good idea, Assad,” Hannibal chimed, “I like it. Just stay behind me. If something goes haywire, I want it to hit me first since I have the greatest resistance to the influence of the Dark Powers of anyone here, as I stated a few minutes ago.”

“That you do, milord,” Assad agreed. “Now, shall we test your theory?”

“Yes,” Hannibal stated. “Follow me in. The rest of you stay here and be ready for anything. I have no idea how the dark aura is going to react to this field this machine is generating. Harry, hold the scepter for me and be ready to hand it to me should something bad go down.”

“You got it,” Harry replied, taking the scepter into his gloved hand once again. “In fact, I’ll go in with you, but I’ll be sure to stay back behind you and Master Assad.”

“That’ll be fine,” Hannibal replied. “Okay, let’s do this.”