Legends of Amacia Srandi: Last Bastion of the Caverias

With that, Hannibal and Assad slowly crept forward with Harry following three steps behind them. The rest of the team stayed put, watching in fearful fascination at the bizarre scene unfolding before them. Hannibal held out the glowing alien disk in his left hand as if it were a scanner of some sort. Assad stood at Hannibal’s left a step behind him while Harry followed on Hannibal’s right three steps back. When they came within twenty feet of the hideous skeletal abomination, Hannibal suddenly stopped in his tracks with an urgent look saying, “Hold up a sec, guys. I think we need a bit more protection here. Assad, do you know of the Elder Sign and the sign of the Cross?”

“I do indeed,” Assad answered with a raised eyebrow. “They are amongst the most powerful and ancient of the signs of the Light. The Dark Powers are anathema to their use. You think we should invoke their protection here, don’t you?”

“I do,” Hannibal stated, “As you said, the Darkness has a real problem with both signs, which is good for us. We should use them now. Harry; don’t get any closer to that accursed thing. Just approaching it has stirred it up in a bad way. I can sense it. Assad and I will deal with this.”

“Okay, Hannibal,” Harry replied softly as he felt his blood running cold from the waves of smothering evil emanating from the ancient corpse of Bolthor, “Can do; besides, the shit I feel radiating from that thing is making my blood turn to ice and it’s giving me the most awful case of nausea that I believe I’ve ever felt. It makes me want to hurl right now. I do not want to get any closer to it if I can help it, but will if you need me.”

“That’ll do, Harry,” Hannibal stated, glancing at Harry with a grim expression. “At least you can sense the danger this thing poses. Come on, Assad; let’s invoke the signs and get a bit closer.” With that, both Hannibal and Assad prayed while tracing across their chests both the sign of the Cross and the Elder Sign, which resembled a weird star with a cross in its center. Once they’d finished invoking the signs, Hannibal instantly felt protected from the dark aura buffeting him and Assad, which suddenly became stronger, more aggressive, and much more chaotic in nature, almost as if feared them. “Do you sense it, Assad,” Hannibal asked tensely. “It’s reacting to the signs even more than the disk. I think we really aggravated it by invoking the primal protections of the Light.”

“I feel it, milord,” Assad agreed, “It’s not just angry with us now, it’s afraid of us. I think it knows we’re here to banish it.”

“I agree,” Hannibal said with growing confidence and courage. “It’s definitely afraid now, and that proves there is some sort of spirit or spirits still attached to these remains. We must test this disk at a closer range. I must know if it still has enough power left to contain this thing in some fashion. Come on.” He stepped boldly forward, holding out the disk to see how it reacted to the rising potency of the dark aura. Assad followed close behind, keeping all his senses attuned to the aura.

At ten feet from the hideous corpse, the disk’s glow brightened significantly as the power of the evil aura futilely tried to infest Hannibal and Assad. At the same time, the light in the throne room dimmed noticeably and the feeling of darkness, fear, and panic grew more potent. “Can you feel it, Beowulf,” Assad called out urgently, “I can now feel the power from that device rising to counter the evil aura that’s buffeting us. It’s actually restraining the dark power infesting those bones, but I can sense it’s struggling to do so.”

“I feel it too,” Hannibal stated, continuing his slow approach to Bolthor’s remains. “The dark aura is strongest right here at the body, but it’s definitely weakening because of this device I’m carrying. The device’s field is dampening the dark aura around the body, but it’s not completely shutting it down, and as you observed, it is struggling to hold back the dark power here. I’m thinking it may not have the power reserves left to completely dispel the spirit or spirits still haunting Bolthor’s bones.” At five feet from Bolthor’s mutated form, Hannibal stopped advancing and looked at the disk, and then at Bolthor. “This is as close as we get, Assad,” he ordered bluntly. “The disk is now having real trouble holding back the aura, but it is containing it, barely. We dare not put any more pressure on it otherwise the machine may fail and leave us open to attack.”

“Yes, but for how long?” Assad asked, “How much more energy does the device have before it fails and releases the dark aura from its containment field?”

Hannibal shook his head saying, “I don’t know, but it can’t have much left. This little machine has been containing the Darkness here in the throne room since Bolthor fell. That’s at least twelve and a half thousand cycles. I’m not sure if we should depend on it to keep the spirit infesting these remains tamped down. There has to be another way to dispel the dark spirit or spirits still inhabiting Bolthor’s remains.”

“Hannibal,” Selina called out urgently. “You know what you need to do about that thing. Don’t rely on the ancient tech. The Lord has always been your greatest ally and weapon. Let Him deal with the demon squatters infesting those bones and this place. How many times have you driven off powerful demons with the power of your faith in the Lord and prayer?”

“Of course,” Hannibal beamed exultantly, looking back to Selina with a huge smile. “That’s the answer! Why didn’t I see it? It’s so obvious. If we all pray for the infestation to be removed, the Lord will do it. Thanks for the reminder, princess. I’ll kiss you later after we get rid of this thing.”

“You’re welcome, my prince,” Selina replied with a smile. “Now what do you want us to do?”

Hannibal turned to Assad as he said, “Your wife is correct. We saw what prayer did for your wife. If it can purge her of demon lord as powerful as Belial, it certainly can dispel the Darkness still contaminating these bones and this place by extension.”

“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do,” Hannibal replied with authority. “Since the disk seems to be containing the worst of the dark aura for the moment, I suggest we encircle Bolthor’s remains and call on the Almighty in prayer to remove this infestation since He made it possible for us to actually get in here.”

“Sounds good to me,” Assad stated. “Let’s do this, and cleanse this place of the source evil that’s contaminated it since Bolthor’s fall.”

“What do you want us to do, little brother?” Enoch asked.

“I want everyone to make a perimeter around Bolthor’s remains,” Hannibal instructed, “But stay back at least twenty-five cubits from the body. For the moment, this disk is holding the dark aura associated with Bolthor’s body in check, so you should not feel any negative effects from it at that distance. Once everyone is in place, Assad and I will start praying with you guys acting as our backup. I believe working together as a team in the power of the Almighty we can banish these dark spirits back to where they belong. If we work as a team in the power of the Lord, we will free Srandi of this curse. Now get to your positions and follow my lead.”

In moments, the team had surrounded the remains of Bolthor, with Josephine and Leila standing just behind Harry, who had Selina right next to him. Andrew and Enoch stood to Josephine’s left while Anastasia stood to her right. Looking around and seeing everyone in position, Hannibal said, “Okay, let’s do this. Harry; hand me the scepter.”

Harry quickly moved in, handing Hannibal the scepter before retreating to his place in front of Josephine and Leila. Leila reached out and touched Harry on the shoulder as he readied his war hammer. They locked eyes for a moment before turning their attention back to Hannibal and Assad.

Hannibal sighed deeply and glanced at Assad before focusing on the hideous demoniac ruins of Bolthor’s form lying before them. Assad nodded grimly and bowed his head, waiting for Hannibal to initiate. “On your mark, milord,” Assad said grimly, ready for a potent spiritual battle.

After a moment of silence Hannibal began his prayer calling out with his eyes closed, “Merciful Father in Heaven who is, was, and is to come, the mighty Lord of Hosts, and the Almighty Ancient of Days who created all things; we come humbly before you with a simple request in the name of your most holy son Jesus. You led us to this place and bade us to reclaim it as a sanctuary from the Rising. However, as we broke the seal on this sanctuary, we’ve discovered it is still contaminated and infested with the Enemy with the greatest source of the rot lying right here before us bound up in the bones of Bolthor Sai Keleb...the original traitor Emperor. We have no way to remove this Enemy for it’s a residue of the Black Prince left here when he failed to destroy our venerable ancestor Thoth Caverias. I can feel the dark power infesting these bones and it is Legion. We haven’t the ability to overpower the Legion infecting these bones and this place, so we humbly bow our heads in prayer in the name of your most holy son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and plead that you show us your mighty arm. In the name of Jesus, drive Legion back into the Abyss where it belongs. Cleanse your sanctuary of the darkness of Legion and free it of the contagion that has defiled this place since the Calamity. This we plead and ask this in the name of your most holy son, Jesus; amen.” As Hannibal prayed, the rest of the team prayed, each in his or her own way with one thought in mind: the banishment of the dark powers still infesting and contaminating the Fortress of Srandi through the power of the Almighty.

Moments after Hannibal finished his initial prayer, he burst into a frenzied prayer speaking in a language no one initially understood. At first, it sounded like insane gibberish to those who heard it. A minute later in a turn that marveled every soul present, they suddenly understood his words in his or her primary language and immediately joined in. The team found themselves repeating Hannibal prayer in the same language he was using as if the words had been directly implanted into their minds. The atmosphere of the throne room suddenly shifted as they chanted the prayer with Hannibal in the unknown language, forming a perfect harmonic resonance without realizing it. The dimming of the light and the deepening of the darkness everyone saw and felt before Hannibal started praying ceased as the light level dramatically rose. Within seconds, the entire throne room lit up as a strong pillar of light descended through the giant crystal skylight on everyone surrounding Bolthor’s bones, lighting an area one hundred feet across as if someone had shined a titan spotlight on them. The light felt warm and full of life, driving away all the dark feelings of hostility, dread, and evil the dark aura had tried to instill in the team. It sparked their courage to feel the darkness retreating from their minds. Yet when the light initially appeared, those who had their eyes open were momentarily blinded by the appearance of the light. Regardless, they continued with their prayer chant, harmonizing with Hannibal in such a way it began to sound like a song. The appearance of the light galvanized Hannibal and his team to defeat the darkness through force of will, faith, and prayer since they were incapable of physically attacking the incorporeal dark power Hannibal had identified as Legion. As the prayer took on a singsong harmony that further empowered those who chanted it, the light itself began pulsing in tune with the harmony of the song. A growing excitement and anticipation of seeing another marvel started filling the team as they cast glances at each other while keeping their prayer song focused on the moldering festering bones before them.

Then, without warning, Hannibal shifted from the strange prayer to singing Grimm’s Requiem in that same language with striking boldness, sending the power of the primal song directly at the bones and the force inhabiting them. Everyone else except for Assad, Selina, Nemesis, and Anastasia followed his example, singing or humming Grimm’s Requiem as best as he or she could, sending the song right at the thing that used to be Bolthor Sai Keleb. While the others sang Grimm’s Requiem alongside of Hannibal, Assad, Selina, Nemesis, and Anastasia kept singing and chanting the strange prayer to buttress the force of Grimm’s Requiem. The power of the light combined with the harmonies of the unknown prayer mixed with Grimm’s Requiem further compressed and contained the dark aura until it was completely isolated within the circle of the team.

At that point, an ominous rumble rose from all directions as the bones of Bolthor started to rattle noticeably. Hannibal saw an evil dark mist start to form around Bolthor and kept his concentration on the skeletal abomination, reaching deep and belting out the Requiem from the deepest parts of his mind and soul. He knew the confrontation was about to come to a head, so he kept his mind locked on the spirits he now saw stirring the bones of Bolthor physically in what he felt was fearful wrath at being hemmed in on all sides by enemies. When the misshapen hybrid demon skull of Bolthor suddenly turned and glared at Hannibal with hellfire in its eye sockets, Hannibal stopped singing the Requiem and lifted the scepter in a stop gesture. Everyone fell silent and watched in horrified terror when the skeletal remains of Bolthor shifted and sat up, glaring with the utmost hate at Hannibal. No one made a sound or even moved, except for Hannibal, whose Berserker Battle Rage rose dangerously on his face, causing it to flush in rising fury. He scowled deeply and tightened his grip on the scepter noticeably at the movement of the old Emperor, sensing clearly the presence of an old but powerful enemy from his past rising before him.

Lifting and pointing its clawed skeletal finger accusingly at Hannibal, the thing hissed in a chorus of deep raspy reptilian tones, “What is the meaning of this intrusion in our domain, cursed traitorous son of Ragnar Omicron of the Silver Eyes? You dare much by invading our stronghold thinking you take it back after we annihilated and consumed every soul here when our great Emperor led us in glorious carnage and destruction of the last cursed Caverias that futilely took refuge here. This place belongs to us now, and no force in the multiverse can remove us, much less a traitorous human shit such as you. Now you will pay for your arrogance, impertinence and treason. We shall take great delight in slowly ripping your body, mind, and soul to pieces before we eat it. Once we’ve finished your rebellion to the Dark Lord we serve, we shall turn our attention to your friends and they will regret having ever followed you into the core of our domain. Yes, we can see your anger. You know who we are, and know we are your destruction for we are INEVITABLE.”

Hannibal’s scowl grew fierce to the point of wrath. White lightning started arcing in his eyes and around his hands as a white aura of divine intensity abruptly swirled around him from head to toe. The scepter started shining like a lighthouse with electrical discharges arcing from its crystal spearhead. To the surprise of everyone, the bizarre alien disk sitting in Hannibal’s hand started to blaze with an uncanny light while it seemingly drank in the elemental buildup arcing over Hannibal’s hand, seemingly recharging the device without him realizing it. Hannibal’s brow lowered in a sinister manner as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “LEGION,” he growled menacingly in an icy tone so cold it made the entire team shiver in fear. “You have uttered your last threat on this plane of existence.” Hannibal suddenly smacked the scepter against the floor of the throne room and it blazed like a flare, chasing away every shadow laying bare everything to the light.

The demoniac force inhabiting Bolthor’s mutate misshapen skeletal corpse shrieked in surprise and utter pain at the light, crying afterwards, “Impossible; you have no such power that can subdue us! We are Legion! The Black Prince himself gave us this domain for our help in overrunning this cursed fortress.”

“In the name of Jesus, be silent you pestilent demon horde,” Hannibal roared with divine authority and wrath. He was now physically glowing with the raw divine power of the Almighty. “I’m in charge here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the only begotten son of the living God...the Almighty Ancient of Days, not you. You know of whom I speak. Shall I give you our most merciful Father’s other names to make sure you know exactly who sent me? Yes, you know because of your rebellion against Him. Is the title the great Lord of Hosts familiar, beast? How about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or does the name Yahweh ring a bell in your pestilent demon ears? Yes, you know whom I now serve, you wretched demon filth. I surely remember you along with what Dezarcus had you do to me so long ago. Now judgment day has come for you and I’m the vessel of that judgment.”

“Enough, Beowulf,” Legion hissed in its chorus of raspy demon voices, “You have made your point. What do you want with us?”

“What do I want?” Hannibal asked so icily it caused his entire team to shiver at his menace, “Surely you jest. It seems twelve and a half thousand cycles locked in this place has done nothing for your intelligence or memory. I thought you would have already figured it out, Legion.”

“What do you want, you pestilent yapping un-evolved piece of ape-shit,” Legion snarled viciously, truly incensed at Hannibal’s mockery of him.

Staring darkly with great menace into the hellfire eyes of Legion, Hannibal hissed frostily, “Retribution. What I want is you gone from this place, every last piece of you and I don’t want to ever see or sense you near this place ever again.”

“You haven’t the power,” Legion balked defiantly with a hint of fear the demon couldn’t hide. “You’re just a single pestilent human germ, and we are Legion. The hordes of Hell itself tremble at our power. What do you think you can do to us?”

“Do you really want to test that, you pestilent horde of demon filth,” Hannibal returned darkly, “You obviously sense the power the Lord has imbued into me otherwise you would not be trying to negotiate and get me to back down. Your lies and bluster mean nothing to me anymore. I’m well beyond your pathetic threats and my blood literally burns for your destruction. Let me tell you exactly with who you are dealing with, you pestilent demon horde. I’m not the corrupted broken soul you once ravaged at the order of Dezarcus. I’m a cleansed completed soul filled with the power and love of our God...the God you so stupidly rebelled against. I’m also the Last Caverias, the true heir to the Amacian throne as the prophets of old foretold, and have bested the likes of Tsasthoagguah, Shiargoriath, and even survived an ambush attempt by vile Lord Grimm himself when he stupidly tried to intrude on my palaver with the Kings of Amacia, whom I made peace with. I have united the people and creatures of this savage cursed underworld, and am presently about to go head to head with your master, the Black Prince himself. Shit, I even tangled with that son of a demon bitch inside his own Black Fortress and lived to tell the tale. Shall I go on?

“Hell, I’ve even seen the dreaded Cthulhu awake and aware in Vendikar as, in the power of the Lord, I prevented Surtur’s most recent incarnation from consuming the Vendo in their very city while still here in this cursed underworld. I have even looked into not just the Abyss you called home and kept my sanity, but also have seen into the Void itself and witnessed the maddening cosmic abominations your kind dread...the terrible Ancient Ones and the Dark Titans, so don’t bandy wits with me, you horde of demon shits. I’m in no mood for it. Now shall we do this the easy way, or the hard way? It doesn’t matter to me because I’m actually itching to send you and your horde back into the Abyss where you belong. Now which is it going to be? As much as I’d like to just blast your dark asses back into the Abyss, I thought I’d be fair and give you the chance you never gave me all those decades ago. All you need is to walk away, leave this place and these people alone forever. Otherwise, we will dance and you won’t like how the dance ends.”

Legion growled darkly as it stared at Hannibal through the glowing sockets of Bolthor’s skull. “No deal, you pestilent piece of cursed hybrid ape shit,” it snarled viciously, futilely hiding his fear through his anger, “We admit your power has grown tremendously since the last time we had our claws in you. However, you forget whom you’re dealing with. We are Legion, and no force of the Light or Darkness can counter us, so do your worst. It will make our victory over you so much sweeter, especially when we deliver your chained soul to the Black Prince himself so he can have his final revenge on you. Let us dance, pestilent curse son of Ragnar Omicron of the Silver Eyes.” The hellfire glow in Bolthor’s skeletal eyes flashed, setting Bolthor’s entire form on fire. The flaming armored skeleton started clambering to its feet as everyone saw demoniac flesh filling out the armor, seemingly forming out of the infernal fire itself.

Deep terrible dread filled everyone who saw it, except for Hannibal whose Berserker Battle Rage instantly went full nuclear. Seeing and sensing the dread in his team, Hannibal called out boldly, “Do not fear the Legion. Stand still and pray. You will see the power of our God this day. After today, you will not see his likes again.” Turning his fury to Legion as the hellfire rebuilt the body of Bolthor, Hannibal hissed ominously, “So be it, Legion. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Let’s dance. Now Caverias; do it, bind Legion in the name of Jesus!”

The spotlight shining on the entire scene suddenly pulsed like a strobe, temporarily blinding everyone except for Hannibal. Even Legion shrieked as he too was blinded. When sight returned to the team, they stared in mute awe for a full company of elite war angels led by Caverias and Tsang had surrounded and bound the reconstituting demon form of Bolthor with massive glowing angelic chains of shining light. The only thing they didn’t bind is the beast’s head, which suddenly became aware that he was completely immobilized when the thing’s eyesight returned.

“What?” Legion railed in demon rage, “Why you treacherous pestilent little human shit; I’ll get you for this!”

“I think not, Legion,” Caverias growled as he stepped nose to nose with the demon. “I finally got you after all these eons. You thought I’d never find you, much less be able to capture you with such ease. It appears you and your horde became so arrogant and complacent in your victory over Thoth here that you didn’t see us sneaking in under your nose. Now we have you and justice will be served on you and your horde for your part in the tragedy of this place.”

“This isn’t over, Caverias,” Legion hissed.

“Oh, I beg to differ,” Hannibal said so icily even the demon horde of Legion shivered at his menace. “Caverias is right. Your arrogance and complacency is indeed your undoing, just as it will be for the Black Prince and the Emperor. Did you really think I’d come into this place without proper backup? Did you truly think I didn’t sense your hideous presence as I stood outside the fortress? I did, and fully expected your interference for I knew the dark power Bolthor threw against this place. It was the greatest assault of the Dark Powers since the attack on Drakonia, so I knew the fortress would be infested with your ilk.” A dark sinister laugh escaped Hannibal’s lips as he stared fearlessly into the flaming eyes of the now reconstructed demon of Bolthor. “You made the fatal error of underestimating your enemy,” he growled, as his berserker fury demanded an outlet. “Now you will reap the reward of your arrogance and complacency. However, I will give you one last chance to do what I asked. Leave this place with your entire ilk and never come back, or you will be cast forcibly back into the Abyss where you belong. It’s your choice, you vile demon horde.”

“We’ll see you and all your kind in hell,” Legion spat in venomous rebellion and wrath. “Even if you do banish us, we will return to again drown your kind in your own blood. It’s inevitable, so use your power. Banish us if you can. We dare you.”

“So be it,” Hannibal answered with the sternness of an executioner. “But it will not be I who puts an end of you, but the Lord Himself. You have heard the rebellion and blasphemy from Legion’s own mouth, Lord. In the name of Jesus, render your verdict to us as the great and mighty Lord of Hosts...Judge of all that is. What is your answer to Legion’s rebellion, Lord? Show us your justice and mercy. Render judgment on Legion and purge this sanctuary of his vile presence in the name of Jesus.”

An ominous silence filled the throne room for a few moments. Then a more brilliant focused spotlight blazed from above, shining directly on the reformed chained demon form of Bolthor. A wail of agony erupted from the throat of the beast as the hellfire that had reconstructed the flesh on Bolthor’s mutated bones suddenly consumed that demon flesh. At the same time, a deep alien bone-rattling voice of ultimate authority and justice spoke from all directions shaking the very stones of the fortress and the bones of all who heard it, declaring in the fashion of a judge, “Legion, you have touched my anointed against my will and have not repented when given the opportunity. Thus, you have garnered my wrath. You and your horde will be bound and cast into the Deep of the Abyss. There you will remain until the end of all things when I judge all my creation. I, the Lord of Hosts, have spoken, and will perform my will in the eyes of my children so they may believe I still rule over all things.”

The hellfire burning the demon form of Bolthor suddenly shifted from the orange/crimson hellfire to a cleansing white flame that consumed every shred of the demon flesh Legion had reformed around Bolthor’s bones. Legion’s wail rose to an insane shriek of total agony as the fire turned white, consuming his demon flesh in moments. A cloud of fetid black smoke rose from Bolthor’s armored skeletal form as it collapsed from the cleansing fire, free of the confining angelic chains. Bolthor’s armored skeleton fell like a tree on its back again, lying inert once more. Legion’s shrieking chorus followed the smoke up as it gathered in a single inconceivable hideously insane form that rivaled that of any Old One or Dark Titan one hundred feet above Hannibal and his team. They stared in muted horror and awe as the form of Legion coalesced into a hideous smoky spectral abomination.

The abomination appeared to be a dark ghostly spherical mass of writhing demoniac forms, heads, faces, arms, and tentacles amidst a conglomeration of giant alien eyes and toothy maws that constantly formed and dissipated into the mass. Partial demon heads, torsos, and arms desperately tried to escape the central mass, often reaching out twenty feet before the being pulled forcibly back into the mass by the dozens of writhing black tentacles that boasted a reach of fifty feet. The tentacles would grab the demon forms and pull them back into the ball as giant toothy maws surrounded by enormous hideous alien eyes opened around the escaping demon, devouring the escapee in a gruesome gory display before it could completely break free with the tentacles pushing the escaping demon form into the slavering maws while the eyes watched lustfully. These maws and tentacles would literally rip apart the escapees in complete bloody carnage of severed body parts, consuming them in explosions of their demon blood and flesh that no sane mind should ever witness.

This cycle of demons trying to escape only to be drawn back into the central mass of the monstrosity by its tentacles and slavering maws happened constantly with such rapidity no one could tell exactly how many demon forms were trying to escape the abomination. However, one massive blackened demoniac face six feet across remained static in the mutating writhing spectral mass. This face resembled a hideous demoniac Cyclops with long ensanguined fangs and several barbed tentacled tongues licking in and out of its mouth. This face glared down in violent hate and rage at Hannibal and his team. As the team looked up at the Lovecraftian demon abomination that truly was an amalgamation of hundreds, if not thousands of demoniac entities, they saw the angelic chains that had vanished when Bolthor’s physical remains collapsed had reappeared surrounding and containing the abomination of Legion.

Hannibal felt his rage dissolve the moment the angelic chains reappeared around Legion’s heinous incorporeal smoky form. An intense sense of justice being served seeped into his mind as he looked up at the chained thing. A minute after the form had been completely contained by the angelic chains that the company of war angels kept a firm grip on, a wind started to rise from nowhere. The air around the bound thing started shimmering violently as a swirling ring of white light encircled the thing. In seconds, the shimmering air inside the white ring collapsed into a vortex, the war angels released their grip on the chains and the vortex dragged the bound abomination of Legion into the nether regions beyond the known universe with a panicked roar and curse. Once Legion disappeared into the dark gulf, the swirling white ring shrank and collapsed into a point with a flash. The company of war angels disappeared at the same time, leaving only Caverias and Tsang standing next to Hannibal and Assad.

Caverias sighed deeply, patting Hannibal on the shoulder, saying, “Good work, my friend. Legion has contaminated this fortress since the fall of Thoth. With Legion gone, it’s safe to bring the people in to clear the sanctuary now.”

Hannibal nodded solemnly as he crashed from the adrenaline rush. “That’s good to know,” he murmured, “God help me; I despise dealing with these demons of my old life. It’s troubling to keep running across them down here. Are all of them under the thrall of the Black Prince?”

“Not all of them,” Caverias replied soberly, “But it’s good to see you using the Lord to defeat them again and again and not your own strength. Trust me; you’ll not see these old enemies again. Once the Lord deals with them like this, they can no longer harass you.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” Hannibal replied gratefully. “I appreciate it.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Caverias said warmly, “Now don’t you think it’s time to get back to work? You still need to get into the Caverias Crypt, and the Rising still approaches.”

“True,” Hannibal agreed. “Thanks for reminding me. I do have a lot of work yet to do.”

“Sure,” Caverias chimed, patting Hannibal on the shoulder again. “Give me a shout if you need me. You know I’m always close by.” With that, he went translucent and merged with Hannibal in front of everyone.

“Legion may be banished, but you should keep alert, Hannibal,” Tsang declared as the rest of the team finally got the courage to approach. “The fortress is still dangerous. You never know what may lie in the shadows, if you know what I mean.”

“I do, my friend,” Hannibal replied. “I know we’ve just started exploring this place and it may be fraught with traps and defense mechanism we haven’t seen yet, along with a few dark holdouts that didn’t get the memo to vacate. However, they should pose no serious problem now with Legion’s eviction. Thanks for the warning and the help with him and his minions. We really appreciate your backup.”

“Not a problem, my friend,” Tsang chimed warmly, “It was my pleasure. Caverias and I have been hunting Legion since the fall of this fortress. I’m so glad we were able to finally bring him to justice after all this time. He’s been a thorn in all our sides since the Rebellion. Now we have the last laugh, thanks to the Lord.”

“That you did,” Hannibal stated as Nemesis walked up beside him. “We’ll give you a holler if we need you.”

“Like Caverias, I’m always available when needed,” Tsang stated. “But since my physical presence is hindering your work right now, I will return to my place so you can get back to work. I’ll see you around.” With that, Tsang turned translucent and vanished into Nemesis in front of everyone.

“Well, now that Legion is gone, what’s next?” Nemesis asked. “Do you feel anything from Bolthor’s scorched bones now?”

Hannibal looked down at Bolthor’s misshapen scorched skeleton and said categorically, “No; Bolthor’s remains are no longer infested and the level of the Darkness I’ve felt since entering the fortress has drastically diminished. It appears Legion was the source of the infestation. With him forcibly banished into the Abyss, the Darkness is dissipating rather quickly as if the remaining evil forces are actually fleeing this place. However, we mustn’t lower our guard as Tsang suggested. This place is still ridiculously ancient with unknowns still lurking within these walls, so we must tread carefully in here.”

“That is a wise choice, milord,” Assad agreed thoughtfully. “The angels who obvious watch over you and Master Nemesis would not have warned you if it weren’t so. I’m so honored to have gotten to see your guardians in the flesh, and see you really do have a deep connection to the Light, milord. You should not take your guardian angels for granted for they are amongst the mightiest war angels in existence. They will protect both you and Nemesis well.”

“That’s so true, and I absolutely do not take them for granted,” Hannibal agreed with a weary sigh. “Caverias is why I’m still here, but that a story for another time. Come on. We’re not going to get anything done if we keep standing here flapping our jaws. Let’s find the Crypt. Are you ready to show us the way, Leila?”

“After what just happened, yes,” Leila stated, “I think it would do me good to put some distance between me and this spot where we saw that...thing. God, it was so hideous that I almost lost my mind.”

“I’m with you on that, Leila,” Samantha agreed, “That thing was damned near as atrocious as Shiargoriath. Is that thing really banished back to the Abyss, Hannibal?”

Hannibal nodded solemn, saying, “Yeah; the Lord threw him back into solitary confinement in the deepest dungeon of the Abyss. Legion won’t be bothering anyone else for a long, long time. You can be sure of that since the Lord Himself took care of the banishment.”

“That’s a relief,” Leila replied softly, “Just the thought of that thing still being around makes my blood run cold. Can we leave this area now? Just being here after that happened still has me a bit frazzled.”

“Of course,” Hannibal stated, “I too need to get away from this area for a while so I can truly digest what actually took place here. Besides, we need to go to the Crypt and secure it so we can lay Thoth where he belongs. Come on. The Crypt guardian golem awaits us.” With that, Hannibal pocketed the alien disk, which now barely glowed, and led everyone to the spot Leila had identified as the way to the Caverias Family Crypt.