Legends of Amacia Rise of the Caverias
Chapter 40: Beneath the Citadel of Acheron

Five hours later in Acheron, Hanna led a team consisting of Enoch, Hunter, Elle, Magnus, Harry, Amelia, Aragon, Carver, Ned, and Sam into the bowels of the Citadel in search of the mysterious Muriel as Gabriel and Michael had instructed her. Everyone was heavily armed and armored. Hanna carried the Sword of Ezra Karac slung over her shoulder while held Shadizar Kahn’s Scepter in her gloved hands. The Scepter’s crown crystal glowed like a torch as they moved through the dark bowels of the citadel, looking much like a wizard’s staff in Hanna’s hands. Deep in the core of the Citadel after encountering a myriad of traps, puzzles, and lethal beasts, they approached a massive door. Magnus, Hanna, and Enoch examined it in the light of the scepter and other torches. The entrance barrier didn’t have the normal cartouche of the Acheron chimera they’d seen in many places during their search of the Citadel. In its place stood a strange etching of the Roc surrounded by the Acheron chimera and a nine-headed Hydra, hemming the bird in on all sides, looking as if they were about to devour the bird. When Hanna saw the glyph, her heart burned within her as Enoch said, “Look, it’s the Roc.”

“I know, brother,” Hanna replied as she gazed at the door intensely. “What can you see, Magnus?”

Magnus examined the door with his cybernetic eye in all spectrums and reported, “It is of a metal the likes of which I’ve never encountered. Its molecular structure is so dense that I cannot penetrate it in the X-ray or gamma ray spectrum. It has to be a shield of some kind.”

“That’s very interesting,” Hanna stated. “Elle, Amelia; what say you to this enigma…any thoughts?”

They studied the glyphs intensely and Elle stated, “The chimera and Hydra are the forces of darkness and evil hemming in the light from all sides, sealing it up forever. The Roc is the light of good being overwhelmed by the Darkness.”

“Very good, Elle,” Hanna congratulated. “Your knowledge and experience is an asset to us. Now, is there a way to open such a door that shows no obvious way to open it?”

Enoch examined the door closely, but did not touch it for in several places in the Citadel, touching such doors proved dangerous because they were booby-trapped. “There’s some writing here,” Enoch announced, pointing to the script. “It’s small and faint, but it’s here. It looks Atlantean or some variation.”

Hanna looked at the writing, which sat right in the middle of the Roc cartouche on one of its wings. She considered it intensely as everyone gathered around to see. “What is it?” Hunter asked.

“This is it,” Hanna replied resolutely. “What we’re looking lies beyond these gates. Stand back.” Everyone backed away from the door, staying behind Hanna as she moved back five steps. She looked at the scepter, and then at the door, calling out instinctually, “Eia coco trophaz undar!” With the uttering of those words, she smacked the pummel end of the scepter on the floor soundly and with such force that the strike echoed throughout the passage. The scepter suddenly blazed like the sun and the cartouche on the door suddenly lit up. “Oia, oai undar!” Hanna called out intensely as she smacked the floor again with the scepter. With the second set of words and hit of the scepter, the Roc suddenly blazed like the sun in unison with the scepter. The chimera and Hydra abruptly turned a crimson red as the door itself began to radiate a terrible heat. The heat became so intense that everyone except Hanna had to back away. She stood just five paces from the door with both hands on the scepter, almost hiding behind it. Sweat poured from her pores as she shouted, “Undar! Undar! Friacera oia gip undar!” Suddenly, the whole passage began to shake and tremble violently.

“Hanna! We must flee!” Enoch called out as he used his hand to shield his face from the blazing heat. “The whole place is coming down!”

Hanna ignored him, choosing to keep her focus on the task of opening the door. They began to back away, leaving Hanna when she called out without looking, “Where are you going, brothers and sisters? Where is your faith? Lo, the way is opened!” As she spoke, a seam appeared in the center of the door from the top to bottom. The seam circled around the blazing image of the Roc and went to the floor.

The heat abruptly dissipated as the door split in two, with each half moving into the walls on either side. A gust of old, stale air pushed out of the crack as the door slowly slid open. The air was foul, even more so than the air they were already accustomed to being so deep in the citadel. They all grimaced at the foul odor of death that rushed by them on the wind as the door slowly opened. It took almost two full minutes for the door to open wide enough for them to proceed. A troubled sigh escaped Hanna’s lips, her face reflecting a concerned look.

“How is it that you knew how to open this door?” Hunter asked, astounded by Hanna’s ability to unlock the door by speaking to it. “This is the Emperor’s technology. How can you do that?”

“I’d like to know that myself,” Magnus admitted. “The Cadre have their own dialect they used to access their technology. What you said sounds much like it.”

Hanna turned to them with a shaken look. “I have no idea how I’m doing these things,” she declared. “I’m doing these things by instinct in such a way that suggests I may have been here before. It bothers me tremendously that I seem to know how to access the Emperor’s darkest, most secret technology. Furthermore, the déjà vu is eating me alive right now. I could swear I’ve walked these corridors before. I wish I had an answer I could give you, but I don’t.”

Enoch touched Hanna on the shoulder and smiled. “Don’t let this shake you, little sister,” he reassured Hanna. “The Ancient of Days has given you this gift so that we may shine the light into this darkness. In time, you will discover why and how you know these things. Until then, have faith and don’t doubt your skills or your god. He’s led us into the very inner sanctum of the Cadre’s stronghold in the 1st Age. Surely, there’s something important here we need to find.”

“I didn’t mean to question you, Hanna,” Hunter apologized. “I’m just curious. That’s all. You seem to have an uncanny knowledge of the ancient machinery that baffles me.”

“It’s all right, Hunter,” Hanna replied, feeling her courage rising with Enoch’s encouragement. “Sometimes, I wonder about that myself. Regardless of that, my instincts are telling me what we’re looking for lies beyond this gate. I must follow where the Lord leads me, even if I’m afraid to do it.”

“Then lead on, little sister,” Amelia chimed. “You’re the only one here who seems to know where you’re going, so I trust you not to lead us into a trap.” Everyone else agreed with Amelia’s statement.

“Very well,” Hanna stated soberly, feeling her spirits rise from the team’s support. “I hope that your faith in me is not misplaced.”

“It isn’t,” Harry assured Hanna, patting her on the shoulder. “Now, let’s go find what needs to be found here and quit this place. Everything about this place has me riled. I’d soon get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“I hear you,” Hanna replied, turning back to the open gate. “We must be very careful from here on. It’s obvious that was no ordinary door or lock. Beyond this threshold I suspect is where the Cadre worked some of its most terrible evils. Who knows what we will find.” She looked through the opened gateway and saw that the passage slowly began to decline. “Stay close together and be ready for anything,” she ordered, taking up the lead with the scepter. They followed the passage in stoic silence, through the gloom of the passage that was silent as a tomb and smelled as foul. The passage began to take a more pronounced drop two hundred feet from the gate, forming long steps as it descended. Hanna, always vigilant and observant, noticed they had suddenly left the masonry of laid stone and were now moving through a passage hewn from solid rock with such great precision that no instrument of modern man could even come close to its perfection and smoothness. The walls were absolutely smooth, much smoother than the finest glass or silk. The passage began to spiral downwards in a tightening radius until they were descending rapidly a great spiral staircase. For fifteen minutes and almost two thousand feet, they descended.

Abruptly, the stairs ended and the passage continued for a hundred yards, opening into a mammoth cavern. Hanna abruptly stopped as a menacing feeling came over her at the same time the Seal of Khitia began to get cold against her chest. “What’s wrong?” Amelia asked.

“I don’t know,” Hanna replied while scanning the darkness urgently. “Something isn’t right here. The Griffin Seal is getting cold like it did when I first found it too. There’s something dreadfully wrong in this darkness. Watch yourselves carefully and do not get out of the light.” Just then, they heard a series of sounds that came from several directions at once…a sound like wail and chirp of something alien. Hanna listened closely to the noises, and then asked, “Hunter, what do you make of that? Is that a language?”

Hunter listened closely, and then replied, “Yes. There are too many variations and I hear syntax in it too. There are several of them and they are talking to one another, maybe trying to find out why we are here and most likely whether we are a tasty morsel for them.”

“I agree,” Magnus stated, scanning the darkness with is cyborg eye. “There are a number of them out there, though I cannot tell what they are. Something is jamming my ability to scan the cave. It’s scrambling everything except the visible spectrum.”

“That’s not good,” Hanna returned. “Everyone, be on you guard. Stay close and don’t go out of the light.” Just then, the sound of wings nearby echoed through the cavern, followed by a low rumbling growl from the darkness. “Maybe you all should just wait here while I check this out. Now stay together and in the light. If anything attacks, kill it.”

“Wait. I’m coming too,” Harry called out.

“No,” Hanna refused. “This unknown is too dangerous.”

Harry’s face contorted with anger and concern. “Someone needs to go with you to watch your back,” he blurted out.

Hanna turned as saw the concern, saying, “Very well. Elle will accompany me. Shall we, sister?”

Elle stepped forward with her bladed bo-staff ready. “Ready when you are,” she declared.

“Stay close to me,” Hanna ordered. At that, they moved out of the shelter of the passage into the cavern. The cavern was so large and dark that its periphery couldn’t be detected by sight. Hanna and Elle moved slowly into the open and the noises and chatter became more energetic. The sound of flapping wings increased as well. Elle began to fear as they penetrated farther into the chamber. The growl came again, this time louder and more menacing. The scepter cast a bubble of light around them nearly twenty-five feet around. Elle gripped her weapon tightly and moved closer to Hanna, shadowing her. Hanna could sense Elle’s fear and said, “It’s going to be all right, Elle.” About a hundred yards into the chamber, Hanna got the distinct impression that she was being watched, possibly stalked. She looked around and saw only the darkness beyond the bubble of light. Back behind her, she saw the light of torches from the passage. The growl rose again and this time, it was no growl, but a roar that stopped them in their tracks. The sound of hundreds of wings along with the chattering noise that surrounded them abruptly ceased after the roar. An icy fear rose in Hanna. Elle stood ready to deal with the source of the roar if she had to. The floor began to tremble slightly as they heard something of predacious size moving toward them. They heard another growl from the darkness. Suddenly, Hanna decided to speak to whatever it was that was facing them from the darkness. “Who’s there?” she called out. “I know you’re there. I can hear your breathing.”

From the darkness came a deep, gruff reptilian voice, returning harshly, “The question is not who I am, but who are you who dare to tread the cursed darkness of Acheron so boldly with the scepter of Shadizar Kahn in hand and the Sword of Ezra Karac on your shoulder.”

Without any hesitation, Hanna declared to the voice, “I am Beowulf, descendant to Thoth Caverias and Ariel. Once, I used to be a man, but I have been condemned to this mutated female form by the Emperor’s rage. I come seeking the wisdom and guidance of one known as Muriel. I was told to search for her here by the Almighty Ancient of Days.”

“Beowulf you say?” the gruff reptilian voice returned harshly. “Maybe you are and maybe you are not. Maybe you were a female to begin with, and the Emperor had nothing to do with your form. How did you breech the gateway sealed by the Emperor himself many eons ago in the 1st Age?”

“I know not how, great one,” Hanna returned politely, trying not to antagonize the intelligence behind the voice in the darkness. “My life is driven by powers greater than I. They allowed me to find the mighty Tiamat. They led me to this great underground domain of the Emperor. They allowed me to be captured by the Emperor, mutated, and then they brought about my escape from the Arena of Death in the Black Fortress. They brought me to Acheron and led me to Antilla. Now, they have driven me into the terrible darkness of this place to seek a potential ally against the Emperor. If you know where this Muriel is, please tell me. It is imperative that we speak with her. Both the archangels Gabriel and Michael have charged me to find her.”

Silence reigned for a few moments, and then the gruff reptilian voice spoke again from the darkness, saying, “Your heart is honest and true, Beowulf, mutated son of Thoth and Ariel. I see the Ancient of Days with His hand upon you. Yes, I knew you would come. From the days of old in the 1st Age, I knew you would come, and in this mutated form no less. It was foreordained. I also see you wear the symbol of Caverias on your hand. I knew them as I know you now. You seek Muriel? I know Muriel. She is a solitary creature who has awaited your coming for ages on end.”

By now, Hanna could sense that this voice was not only far more intelligent than she was, but also had a powerful telepathic mind. “May I know where she is, great one?” she asked humbly. “I desperately need her help. My wife languishes in the Tower, prisoner of the Emperor, who intends to make her his queen, and the only means to reverse my mutation lies with the cyborg Josephine, who lies captive in the heart of the Emperor’s domain. Please, I beg of you to tell me where Muriel is before it’s too late.”

Just then, a second, more distinguished voice spoke from the darkness, saying, “Who have we here?”

“Beowulf, descendant of Thoth and Ariel, mutated, and apparently from the outer world,” the gruff reptilian voice replied.

“I know, my friend. I heard,” the distinguished voice answered. “You must forgive my friend. He’s highly protective of us, and has forgotten what it’s like to have guests. No one has entered here through the Citadel since the Emperor himself sealed it twelve thousand cycles ago at the end of the 1st Age. Congratulations, Miss Beowulf. You are the first.”

“Who are you, sir?” Hanna asked plainly.

“Introductions are forthcoming, Beowulf. But first, let’s shed some light into this darkness that you and all your people there in yon passage may see,” the distinguished voice replied. “All right! Let’s light up the great hall for our guests!” Immediately, the chatter rose and the fluttering of wings. A chorus of metallic ringing echoed from the darkness, as if something metal had struck an exceptionally hard stone. “Be careful,” the distinguished voice told them as light from great crystals scattered around the walls of the chamber chased away the darkness. When the crystals illuminated the grotto, Hanna found herself face to face with a draken even larger than Argus. The draken was dark gray with a head seven feet wide, spanning a solid eighty feet from head to tail. Its wings lay folded against its sides but could easily span two hundred feet. Hanna estimated that this draken weighed at least twenty tons. Its softball-sized eyes were a golden yellow and, unlike Argus, whose head was more rounded, this draken had a longer head and snout, standing twenty feet to the shoulder with a slightly longer neck than Argus. The magnificent draken shocked both Hanna and Elle. Those back at the passage recoiled in fright at the sheer size of the great beast. Beside the beast, however, stood a being nearly as big as Magnus, standing eight feet in height, dressed in a flowing white robe with a matching cloak and hood that reached to his feet. The hood was down. A dark-colored leather belt with a caronadon buckle lay buckled around his waist. He had long flowing hair that was snow-white and a snowy beard that reached to his waist. His face was long and oval with deep-set eyes that were the strangest feature about him. His eyes shined with great intelligence and power, and didn’t appear to be human, but feline in nature, very similar to Lynxian eyes. They were the deepest blue and it clashed against the rest of him, setting them apart. His ears were slightly elongated at the tip, swept back much like the ears of Hunter and Andrew. In the hand of this formidable man lay a strange staff nearly seven feet in length. The staff was metallic with runes etched on it like the Scepter. On the crown of the staff lay an octagonal crystal held in place with a metallic claw on the top of the staff. The claw reached upwards on the crystal approximately a third of the way at the edges of each facet.

Both Hanna and Elle stood there in utter surprise at the unlikely pair. The next thing Hanna noticed was they were not alone with the draken and the old man in white. Making a semicircle around them was a host of creatures that looked like miniature drakens of every shape and size. Among the little drakens, Hanna noticed a number of beings nearly seven feet in height, clothed in plain gray clothing. There were about thirty of them in addition to the twenty or so of the smaller drakens. Some were distinctly human while others tended to be feline hybrids. Still others tended to be genetic aberrations…some rather grotesque and deformed. There were even some avian/ human hybrids having feathered wings and talons. Hanna looked around in astonishment at the variety of mythical creatures around him, nearly every one represented in some way or another in the myths on the surface. The ancient man in white said sternly, “You risked much by coming here by this route. The light we’re seeing right now will only last for several minutes. When they go out, the devourers come out. Come. This place isn’t safe to linger in.” Calling to those in the passage, he ordered, “Come, follow me. We must leave these caverns quickly for when the light goes out, the devourers descend. We took a great chance meeting you in here. Come quickly.”

Hanna looked at the old man, which reminded her so much of Nicodemus that it astounded her. She saw the urgency in his eyes and waved for the others, saying, “Come on guys. I think we’d better do as he says. These guys here aren’t the only things in this cavern.” They began to come forward toward them. A thought suddenly hit Hanna and she asked the old man, “What about the door we opened? I sure don’t want anything to get out that isn’t supposed to.”

“Fear not, Miss Beowulf, mutated son of Thoth and Ariel,” the old man answered, “The door seals itself automatically when opened. The problem is that it cannot be opened from this side.”

This did not suit Elle well at all and she asked with a touch of fear in her voice, “You mean we’re sealed in?”

The old man sighed as the others walked up and the crowd of small drakens and hybrid people closed the circle behind them. “I’m afraid so,” he admitted. “It’s a safety feature set up by the Emperor in case anyone was able to get through it. It’s a trap to keep anyone who would enter here in here. But come, let’s go. The light is nearly spent. We can speak of this later. If you listen closely, you can hear the devourers in the shadows. They cannot abide the light.” They listened carefully and heard the strange noise they first heard when they reached the grotto. “Come. We must not delay,” the old man urged and he led them across the cavern floor. At this point, Hanna noticed the extent of the cavern. It spanned nearly three hundred feet in height, five hundred feet wide at the widest point and almost a mile long. It was irregularly shaped with all manner of stalactites and stalagmites, flowstone and columns of beautiful colors. Crystals were embedded in everything and the few big crystals that were lit were starting to dim noticeably. Toward the far end of the grotto, a chasm two hundred feet across and seemingly bottomless loomed ominously. A narrow bridge, not much more than ten feet wide, crossed the chasm. On the other side of the bridge, Hanna spied a hole in the wall of the cavern just large enough for the big draken to move through. The old man in white immediately started across the narrow bridge, saying, “Hurry; our light wanes. Don’t fall in either for this chasm is bottomless and is the home of the devourers; quickly now!” By now, the old man was running. The old man reached the other side and stopped, saying, “Quickly now, into the passageway.” Everyone ran across the bridge as the smaller drakens flew over their heads, heading to the passage. Some of the avian hybrids were also flying toward the hole. The large draken waited behind everyone. The old man called out to the large draken, “Make sure everyone clears the bridge, Aeolus.”

Just then, a terrible roar echoed from the abyss below the bridge, which stopped Hanna cold as she stepped off the bridge. The Seal of Khitia went from merely cold to frigid when Hanna heard the roar. She abruptly sidestepped to let everyone else by and turned to face the new threat. The scepter blazed with unearthly brilliance as she looked into the abyss. Both Aeolus and the old man watched her reaction.

“Hurry! We have no more time! The Beast knows we’re here!” the old man called out as the last of the hybrids followed Hanna’s team across the bridge. Hanna’s team paused as she looked into the stygian darkness yawning blackly before her. Amelia, Elle, Enoch, and Harry moved next to her as another angry roar, much louder and closer than the first time rumbled from the pit. Hanna was tensed, poised like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.

“What is it?” Amelia asked with some concern. Hanna said nothing, seemingly entranced by the abyss and the sounds of closing doom.

Aeolus saw something was amiss and called out, “Miss Beowulf! Snap out of it! They’re coming! You must get away!”

Hanna ignored even Aeolus’ pleas. Amelia and Elle laid hands on Hanna, and to their great surprise, weren’t able to budge her as if she rooted to that very spot like a tree. “She’s under a spell or something!” Elle called out to the old man as another roar rose from the pit, this time shaking the ground they stood on. “We cannot move her!”

The old man rushed forward and barked to the rest of the team, “Get out of here! Follow my people into the passage.” He literally pushed them away from Hanna. “I’ll deal with this. Aeolus, go!” Aeolus made a mighty jump and crossed the abyss effortlessly, landing just to the side of Hanna and the old man, shaking the floor when he landed. “Come!” Aeolus urged Hanna’s team, literally driving them forward with his very presence, leaving Hanna and the old man on the edge of the abyss. “Morpheus knows what to do.”

Morpheus put his hand on Hanna’s shoulder and shook her. “We have to leave, Miss Beowulf,” he urged. “The Beast of Fire is almost upon us.” At that moment, Hanna’s eyes made contact with what she was looking for. Yet another terrible roar rose, and this time, the stygian blackness of the chasm fled away as it lit up with fire from a colossal demoniac creature clambering up the walls. Morpheus grabbed on to Hanna’s arm and tried to move her with no success. He looked into Hanna’s face and saw the most intense and battle-hardened look he’d ever seen in all his long days. At this point, he too saw the fiery beast rising from the abyss.

“Baal,” Hanna hissed venomously, knowing what clambered up out of the abyss. Her head suddenly snapped to Morpheus and she ordered, “Get out of here now!” Her hand went to the sword and drew it in a flash…its blade blazing like a torch. Morpheus backed away as the light from the crystals went totally out, leaving only the light from the scepter, Ezra Karac’s sword, and the flaming beast rising from the pit. “Get out of here!” she ordered again as she back away from the edge. “This foe is beyond your power! Run!” Morpheus chose to obey and fled to the passage, waiting in the shadows watching the spectacle unfold before him. Hanna raced onto the bridge as the fiery beast leapt onto the bridge in front of her, landing with an earth-shaking thud. Hanna looked at it with a wry smile and said icily, “So we meet again, old friend. This time, only one of us is leaving this place alive.”

The demon reared up and fire flared from his body as it bellowed, “Beowulf! At last, now you’re mine!” Spreading its great wings, the beast roared, releasing a withering blast of intense heat from its mouth. Hundreds of smaller creatures known as devourers rose from the abyss in a cloud, many nearly as big as Hanna was, in response to the roar. They seemed to be great bats with enormous heads and tails. They circled the demon and Hanna as they remained in their standoff. The light from both the scepter and the sword kept them at bay. Morpheus literally cowered in wonder at what he was witnessing: a mutated woman facing one of the most dreaded and terrible demons ever to walk the face of the Earth without any apparent fear. The demon towered a full twenty-five feet in height with a great wide head and two enormous curved horns coming out of its skull curving downwards. The devil’s body was black as pitch with flames coming out of the skin in various locations. “Go back to the infernal fires where you belong, Baal,” Hanna hissed, “I haven’t the time to fuck with you today, and you know it.”

“You dare to speak to me like that, you mutated bitch?” Baal roared, “I will roast your flesh until it falls from your bones!”

“Then let’s dance, you malignant fiery fuck!” Hanna responded brazenly. “I beat you before. I’ll do it again.”

This taunting challenge incensed the demon, and Baal responded viciously with sword of hellfire. Hanna rushed the demon, taking the offensive. The demon’s sword flashed through the air and knocked the scepter out of Hanna’s hand, sending it clattering onto the bridge. In an instant, Hanna engaged the great beast in mortal combat. She flailed with Ezra’s sword, dancing and parrying with the giant demon. Baal struck hard with the hellfire blade, sending Hanna careening back to the edge of the bridge even though she soundly blocked the blow. The berserker rage exploded in Hanna as she landed, rolling to her feet. “Fuck you, Baal!” Hanna roared, instinctively drawing back with Ezra’s sword. “Let’s see if we can’t quench some of that infernal fire of yours!” An ice-blue aura swirled around Hanna as Ezra’s sword blazed with the same color. In the blink, Hanna struck forward by instinct, sending an icy elemental blast off the sword that caught Baal utterly by surprise. The ice attack plowed into the fire demon, knocking him back to the middle of the bridge freezing the demon’s midsection. Baal howled in pain and rage. “Now you’re mine, you god damned fiery fuck!” Hanna roared, poised in an attack stance with her blade drawn back into a classic hasso samurai position on her right side. This time, a white aura swirled around her. Seconds later, Hanna darted forward with such speed that Morpheus could barely see her. He gasped as he saw Hanna deliver five massive strikes to Baal’s frozen abdomen, driving him to his knees. Baal shrieked as sulfurous smoke and burning yellow blood spewed from the slices. Just as Hanna pulled away from the huge fire demon, Baal got lucky, knocking Hanna off the bridge into the abyss with a backhand swipe of his huge clawed hand.

Baal rose to his feet, holding his sliced midsection that spewed caustic yellow blood that melted the stone of the bridge where it fell. “You’ll pay for that, you mutated bitch!” he bellowed. “No one hurts me like that and gets away with it.” The demon then jumped into the abyss after Hanna.

Morpheus watched in horror as Hanna plunged off the bridge with the demon following in hot pursuit. He was heartbroken and slipped forward to get the scepter, ever watchful of the devourers. The scepter was still blazing like a sun. Morpheus carefully picked it up with a cloth protecting his hand. He heard a howl and roars from the abyss and looked in, seeing nothing but the stygian blackness. With great grief, he turned and quickly left the scene, going into the passage where he’d sent everyone else.

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