The Prophesy: Book 3 - The Hammer of Atlantis

 

As prime came, the soul-eater slowly, very slowly, climbed up the steep volcanic cone. Its form was barely visible in the darkness before dawn, and it tried vainly to divert from the path the dragons had set for it. The more it battled the narrow path it was allowed to follow, the weaker it became.

«Five miles to objective!» said Anbraxias, as he kept an eye on the path followed by the soul eater from thirty-five thousand feet.

«Blocking fallback in the rear,» replied Harp.

«It's trying to deviate east. I'm melting the cone along the path on its right side.» Jormungandr informed the others.

«Alignment is restored. Three miles to target!» replied Anbraxias. «Speed is two miles per hour.»

«Another hour of this, and I'm ready to eat a crocodile priest!» moaned Thorsten.

«Don't make me sick. I need my concentration!» replied Harp.

The minutes passed, and, like any minute associated with waiting for an event, they seemed to stretch and stretch!

«The entity had halted its progress.»

«How far is it from target?»

«A mile, Harp.»

«Let's wait. If it wants to live it has to move along the magnetic force line to produce energy.»

Another half hour passed before Anbraxias reported any change.

«It must have realized that immobility was not an option. It's moving again, at a very sedate pace. A turtle would win that race!»

«Report at one thousand five hundred yards, every five hundred to the five hundred mark.»

«All right.»

It took half an hour for the entity to cover two hundred and eighty yards.

«Anbraxias has the image right. A turtle would catch up with it!» piped up Harp.

«We are nearing tierce, if this continues, we will be here at vespers!» muttered Thorsten.

«It has reached the cone's top and is gaining speed!» Anbraxias informed them. «One thousand yards! Five hundred!»

«Melting the containment arc!» Thorsten informed the others.

«Four hundred! Speed increasing! It thinks it can jump our containment!»

«Jormungandr, assist me! Double the width!»

«Three hundred! Speed still increasing, but at a lesser rate! I think it played the weakling to lure use into underestimating it!»

«It underestimated teamwork. When you think it is committed to a decision, join us in widening the lava pool, Anbraxias!»

«Two hundred yards! One hundred! It's committed! Diving to widen pool in the expected cone of trajectory!»

«It's rising! Jump engaged! Setting the last back lock!» Harp interrupted.

A few seconds later came the verdict.

«It's going to be short by five hundred feet!» Thorsten informed Harp.

A second later came the damning verdict. «It's down, adrift in the lava!»

«Ok. I'm joining you, we'll break the dam and the lava will flow into the lava lake, taking the entity down with it. Are there any signs of activity?»

«None whatsoever.» replied Anbraxias.

A minute later the four dragons rammed the narrow dam that kept the upper lava pool from flowing into the crater, from crater-side. The two-foot thick wall collapsed instantly, draining the five hundred foot deep lava pool into the lake and bringing the entity with it. The soul-eater did not even react to the sudden movement of the lava or its fall in the lake. Being enormously lighter then the lava, it stayed on the surface.

«I'm sealing the crater with a magic dome. It should confine the plasma form of the Soul-Eater for quite a few years, enough that this one won't be able to play any role in the upcoming events.»

«I wonder who it is?»

«I'm not that interested, Anbraxias, but I'll ask to satisfy your curiosity. Being Atlantean, I'm immune to any tricks it might try.»

After sealing the volcano with a ward that covered the entire lava tree from the magma chamber to the mouth, in effect sealing the fate of the soul-eater, Harp concentrated.

«Be silent, guys. Given its current state, it must be rather out of energy.» Concentrating a bit more, Harp asked «Identify yourself!» in an imperative tone.

A weak, very weak answer came back, that took all of Harp's fine ability with magic to hear:

«Ninurta³³³³ ("Ninurta: Sumerian and Akkadian evil entity.") ... Who?»

«Merlin of Atlantis!»

«My defeat... inevitable!»

«Why didn't you feed on the souls of the servants of the Bomb?»

«No soul, not even kernel! Found out too late!»

«How long have you been there?»

«Since first war with Gabriel! Came out to feed, stayed hidden. Drank life essence, did not eat soul, resonates and would attract Gabriel!»

«Did you sire many?»

«Thousands... all dead! Could not live in sun! Burned! Thousands burned!»

«What did you feed on?»

«Life essence that flows!»

«Blood?»

«Red stuff. Let me die!»

«You cannot die because you are next to immortal. But why did you follow the magnetic line to travel?»

«Sustained shape...»

«It might have done so, but a perfectly perpendicular travel across magnetic lines would have done a much better job. To gain sustenance in this place, you will need to move continuously, collecting and aligning magnetite particles; the more you move the more sustenance you will gain, and also the more your magic will gain.»

«Why...?»

«Why did I tell you this? Simply because there will be no consequence on the upcoming events. This prison will release itself at the same moment the barrier will break down! I have synchronized the two. I doubt you will feel much better by then.»

"Gabriel? And Lucifer?»

«They are keeping each other company in orbit at the Lagrange point. I'm sure they both enjoy the scenery of the stars and their close friendship must be getting a lot more cemented!»

«How long?»

«Gabriel said seven years seven months seven days after an event, but he refused to tell us what event. All we know is it is very close! So be patient, and start swimming, or you won't be in great shape to benefit of your recovered freedom.»

As the dragons returned south to rejoin the Atlantean column waiting for them, leaving behind a desolate volcano, the boys talked.

«Why did you give him all this information?»

«Why not? While he ponders them he won't be trying to escape. And contrary to what I told him, he is far from eternal. He will realize the fact but way too late to do anything about it. If he had given thought to this, he would know already. Quite a few of them died during the antimatter explosion that wiped Sodom. But it will come back to him, I'm sure!»

«How long does it have?»

«I say about two years, it declines as a tangential to death, never reaching it, but coming closer to it. And it was close, pretty close to be unable to think. That day, it's just about dead.»

«Let's not forget to signal Ian, he must be wondering what we are up to. We crossed the one hundred mile mark ten minutes ago,» Thorsten said, as the dragons took more altitude and speed on their southbound flight.

«Right! Ian, activate magic decree.»

«Finally!» After a few seconds came the confirmation. «It is done.»

Harp did a vertical roll, and came back behind his brothers.

«I have mage sight confirmation. The force field is in place. ETA to the column is in three hours. Get us food! We are starved. How will it be implemented, Ian?»

«Oh, I simply installed a space fold. You see it; you fly to it, walk to it, and get ported across to the other side. Even insects get the same treatment, as well as wind-blown seeds. I figured it was the best way to keep the area free of anything. All life forms in the area have been moved to either the Ark or the Eden tessaracts, minus a few lost orcs, that ended being kicked out. Combined with your containment sphere, nothing will come the soul-eater's way to give it the resources to escape. We'll be waiting for you around sext for lunch!»

***

Figure 8: Spare Ribs

The dragon boys reached the bunker slightly past sext. Jormungandr was carrying a sabre-tooth leopard kitten in her arms.

"What's this?" asked Annabelle, as the kitten purred in the dragon-lady's arm.

"My bonded found a nest of these little critters on our way back. The mother had been killed by a rock fall; the brother to this little furry is being treated in one of those special eggs that cure the sick."

Annabelle looked at Jormungandr and Harp, trying to decipher what she meant.

"Jormungandr is talking about the stasis chambers."

"How do you plan to feed it?"

To answer the question Harp converted to a full-sized, lactating sabre-tooth leopard and back to his human form.

"Does this answer your question? I already fed it on our way here. It was starving! My tits hurt!"

"I see. Well, you better be ready to be a leopard for a while, that thing has a lot of growing up to do!"

"That thing, mom, has a name. I decided to call it Spare Ribs!"

The name brought an explosion of laughter from everyone with some memories of the Ancients' lifestyle.

"I don't know if Yamato will appreciate your humour."

"Mom, he's of Japanese descent, not Chinese, and from what I know, cats were food in many cultures, not only Chinese!"

"Anyway, dragon lord, you have a lot to explain while you eat. We had expected you way earlier! Here is a big six-inch rib steak with all the trimmings!" Annabelle snapped her fingers and the table got set for the returning exterminator team.

"We are leaving in an hour. We are again late on our timetable," Ian said.

"Why the rush?"

"Do you know we are almost at the eve of winter Solstice? We have to be finished within a few days! And I have that urge to eat a bull! I don't know what drives me, but it's driving me nuts!"

"And us!" the other brothers replied to Ian.

***

The army left on time, and the cavalry flattened what was left of the snow cover in its progress south. Things went well until nones, when Fanfir spotted a giant colony of fire cockroaches on the warpath and moving down the mountains toward the army.

"Since they like to feast on fire victims, we'll give them a feast! I hope they are interested in cannibalism, because it's going to be their meal!" thundered Ian as he rose into the sky in his dragon form, «Typhoon, dragons, with me!»

The centurie of dragons did a first pass, porting every animal in the path of the fire cockroaches to the Ark. The only exceptions were fire ants, the archenemy of the cockroaches, which were left behind.

The next pass, every dragon breathed fire, setting the forest behind the cockroaches on fire and counting on the strong westerly wind to push it fast toward the rear of the troublesome insects.

Then came the cherry on the cake. The anthills, which numbered several hundreds along the forest floor, were summarily ripped apart by giant boulders dropped from a mile high. Not that it affected the ants much; an anthill is only the tip of the iceberg and ant colonies expand well below what is visible on the surface.

The final touch was setting the fire beyond the anthills, between the advancing troops and them. The firewall would do its office, and protect the legions from both the ants and the cockroaches.

«Ok. Keep an eye on the upcoming battle and keep me informed! I suspect it's going to be colossal!»

«Why aren't you staying to watch?»

«Typhoon, I got to get this army to destination and we are three hours late. I can't do everything!»

«And Ian hates the smell of ants, especially when they roast!» added Sitar.

«He never tried to take the shape of an anteater?»

«Not that I know of, but I doubt so.»

As the Atlantean army progressed, reports of the Battle of the Insects kept coming in. Sitar was fascinated by the ants' strategy to fight the cockroaches, that were thousands of times bigger then they were. The ants did not bother killing the giant blattaria, but simply cut their legs off, leaving the carcass behind. The cockroaches that still had legs immediately began devouring their sisters, ignoring the red ants, which cost them dearly, since the ants took the occasion to do to the cannibals what had happened to their meal.

It was apparent the battle raged on all fronts, be it in the trees, or underground, as revealed a suddenly falling pine. The uprooted tree, still burning fiercely, brought into view thousands upon thousands of ants fighting just as numerous cockroaches directly under the tree. Flames would catch at the bottom of a conifer, climb up the tree to the top, and it was not unusual to see burning ants mandibles firmly closed on the cockroaches' spindly legs as the cockroach fell back first in the flames below.

Ants crossed streams on bridges made by their co-workers, while cockroaches would let themselves float down pedalling with all their might to cross the same stream in diagonal, only to be assailed by balls of ants that would intercept them in their crossing.

Two concepts of war were facing each other: the big but cumbersome, almost armoured cockroaches, and the mobile but more numerous ants. It became apparent to Sitar that the ants were winning, even if their losses were astronomical. The ants killed about one cockroach for a hundred of theirs, but there were so many that numbers would prevail.

«Well, given this, guys, it confirms my idea: mobility is better then oversized and static.»

«And given what I see, the ants will be multiplying at an exponential rate. They will have a lot of food and a lot less competition for it!» added Harp.

«Anyway, let's join Ian. The last centurie has passed the battle, and we have another hour before the halt for vespers. I wonder if Ian plans on continuing during the night," Paschal commented.

«I say yes. We will be three hours from the next bunker, and I'm sure Ian wants to get this over with as quickly as possible. Dad and mom ported the last centurie of legionnaires on the road. We have only to beware of the insects behind us,» replied Sitar.

«And we will be entering the last settlement before the bunker near vespers anyway. It is the last concentration of civilians worthy of mention until the bunker marking the extreme end of the Arc of Safety.»

***

After a two-hour break for dinner, and disposing of the last settlement, the Atlantean army began its final push south and west along the Ark of Safety to reach the last bunker, one that had been designed to serve Houston, Texas.

The army came to a halt above the bunker, wind in its back, with a magnificent view of the Glows of the Houston Glass and, far away, the red glow of Pasadena and the underwater glows of the House Flats, with its numerous pockets of ground so hot water boiled. Below them, less then a mile down, lay the dark and foreboding doors of the last bunker.

«What is the size of this bunker?» Ian asked.

«It is one hundred and eight miles long. Houston wasn't that big, but I read somewhere it had a collection of fat jerks that lived off oil. Given that kind of food, no wonder they were fat! They seemed to have required a lot of space for their bums!»

«Paschal, they lived off the profit generated by oil, not from eating it. The oil in question is toxic but burns quite well; remember these little bottles of explosives I made oh so long ago? The base product is oil. I had wondered why there were so many of these strange artificial pockets of tar, and I discovered a book about the oil industry. One of the main centres of control for that industry was Houston. That's probably why it got vitrified!»

«Oh, ok, dad. There is so much to learn!»

«You know all that, Paschal, but you still got to consolidate the knowledge you gained in the Pyramids. Give yourself time!»

«It's almost matins, but I sense danger, imminent danger. Stay on a war footing. Horsemen, sleep on your horses! Dragons, Pegasuses, to the air! Strong coffee for everyone! Keep watch on each other, and make sure no one falls asleep! Your life depends on your state of awareness! Wolves! Stay close but watch the night! No one is to leave camp! No big fire, but keep a covered blaze.» ordered Ian.

The column organized itself according to the Atlantean Heir's instructions. The level of intuitiveness of the royals had made them reach this point with next to no casualty, and only a fool would have dismissed Ian's sense of flair!

***

Lauds had just passed when the wolves became very alert waking up those that had been dozing off.

«Alert! There is movement in the forest on our sides. A good number!»

«How far are they?» Ian asked, as all the royals silently stood up, readying for battle.

«Two hundred yards!»

«Sitar, you have command!» decided Ian.

«Archers! Dip your arrows in the tar! Dwarfs, light them on my signal!»

«One hundred yards.»

«Hold your fire! Dwarfs, light up the fire pots!»

«Fifty yards!»

«Set the arrows on fire! Fire!»

A huge wall of burning arrows took off for the forest, setting many trees on fire, while some managed to get to the ground and get the underbrush burning as well.

«Arrows on fire! Fire!» repeated Sitar three more times.

The fast spreading fire line revealed quite a few thousand humans charging with stone axes and wooden maces.

«You have your targets! First row! Fire! Duck! Second row! Fire! Duck! Third row! Fire! Duck! Fourth row! Fire! Duck! ..." Eight times the four rows of archers fired, killing thousands upon thousands of assailants, but still more came.

«Legionnaires! Shields up! Pilum horizontal! Porcupine formation! Canines! Behind the legions! Now!»

The canines, their role as watchmen of the night over, retreated behind the thick column of the legionnaires, waiting for further instructions.

The cavalry, disadvantaged in a thick forest environment, stood still, watching the unfolding battle.

"When will we be called to battle?" asked Viola, as he watched the attackers spit themselves on the wall of lances presented to them by the porcupine formation.

"We won't. This terrain is not appropriate for a cavalry charge, and it is too dark. Neither the horses nor us can see well enough to run. A horse with a broken leg not only is disabled for the duration of his healing in a stasis chamber, but the horseman has lost his major advantage in a confrontation," replied his legionnaire friend.

«Dragons! Torch the ground, fifty yards on the side, fifty yards wide!»

Two long trains of dragons began setting everything that could burn on fire, each one relaying the previous as it ran out of fuel. Shortly, a wall of fire several miles long extended from the bunker to well beyond the last centurie of the column.

«Pegasuses! Dive and bring the fairies within firing range, behind the fire line! Legions! Sound the walk and push the enemy toward the fire! Slow drum beat!»

The legions began separating themselves from the cavalry, the Equines, and the Canines, walking deliberately slowly forward to make sure they would not fall into traps. The few assailants that resisted backed away from the advancing lances, as the legions stepped on the wounded, those behind the porcupine units verifying all the enemies were dead by inserting their sword into their neck. After all, the leitmotiv of the legion was the only good enemy is a dead enemy. The legions advanced to within ten yards of the wall of fire and stopped. The heat was intense.

«We need protection from the heat, your Highness!»

«Ask and you will receive!»

The legion felt an immediate relief, as a powerful reflecting force field appeared right at the tip of their furthest pila. The soldiers resumed their progress, pushing the last attackers directly into the intense fire.

«Pila to the ground!» ordered Sitar, thus making sure any enemy underfoot got dispatched for good.

«About face! Back to your position! Pegasuses! Clear the area! Resume standby pattern!»

The legionnaires came back at the same sedate pace they had charged, while the Pegasuses rose up in the dark red sky to disappear out of view once again.

«Dragons! Land to refuel!»

As each dragon consumed something around six thousand pounds of meat to recharge fully, the princes had to materialize six hundred thousand pounds of prime meat for the dragon centurie to replenish itself. By the time the refuelling was completed, matins was on the column.

The fire was still raging along the column's flanks, but it was rapidly diminishing in intensity as it ran out of combustible products.

"Harp, go have a look at our attackers. Try to identify who they are,» said Sitar.

Harp quickly left the protecting cocoon of the close guards, and made his way to the edge.

"Wait for me!" hollered Viola.

Harp recognized his brother, and obligingly waited for him to come.

"Climb in front of me Harp, I'm sure Pokawonka won't mind you. I'd prefer you safe on a horse then walking in a battlefield!"

"Are you sure it's not because you are curious?"

"There is that."

Harp hopped in the saddle, and Pokawonka followed the directive of her rider, which was turning into one fine horseman, just to her liking. What else to expect, since she had trained him herself, she thought.

As the two riders explored the battlefield, the first thing they noticed was that the attackers were all humans, but wore no clothes whatsoever. Both sexes were equally represented. All weapons were for close combat: maces, hatchets, with an occasional pilum. And all were of stone-age make: no iron, copper, bronze, and no metal whatsoever.

As Viola inspected one body more closely, he noticed something. He kept his observation to himself until he could verify it further. It took him only a few more observations to notice that the pattern repeated itself.

"Harp, did you notice that all the eyes are white?"

"Yes, so?"

"They are blind! These humans have lost sight! I've looked at twenty bodies that died face up and they are all blind!»

Harp began examining more closely the bodies, and he had to come to the same conclusion as Viola. Their assailants were all blind. This was troubling.

«Brothers! Our attackers were all blind!» he informed the royals.

«That might explain why the sudden ignition of the forest did not stop the assault!» replied Paschal.

«Paschal is right, you cannot fear what you cannot see!» Thorsten added.

«What could make this happen?» Typhoon wondered.

«I read that animals caught in a cave without light become blind!» Annabelle replied. «It may be what happened here?»

«That may be true, but they sure came out!» said Ian, not convinced.

«At night, son, at night! And there was very little light!» commented Harold.

«Ok, admit that they are now blind and purely nocturnal. Where could that vast number hide? It must take a cave of huge proportions!»

«Ian, we are headed for just such a cave. A bunker is an artificial cave, but a cave nonetheless!» Sitar noted.

«So, according to you, they came from the bunker? We saw no one leave!»

«Who said those inside did not dig out a new exit? After all, imagine that, for once, those it really intended to protect occupied the bunker. It was sealed during the Cataclysm, but those inside were unable to leave due to the excessive radiation. However well planned this place was, it was bound to run out of energy and light one way or another. Darkness fell, probably shortly after the Cataclysm, and they found themselves in the dark, with no power to move or otherwise work the doors. They had to dig their way through four to ten feet of reinforced concrete. That takes time without proper tools. By the time they managed to dig their way out, there must have been hundreds of generations and they were blind.»

«That hypothesis stands, especially with the radiation that must have managed to seep in.»

«Ian, there is no need for radiation to seep in. I suspect the first generation got exposed as explosions detonated all around them. Then there is natural radiation from the earth.»

«Ok dad, if they ran out of energy, how did they cook? And what did they eat?»

«They ate raw, son. And they ate each other! Given extraordinary circumstances, man is well known to take extraordinary measures. And by now, cannibalism must be common. We were food knocking at their door, so to speak!»

«I also noticed another thing,» intervened Viola, taking the royals by surprise given the mastery of telepathy.

«What is it, Viola?»

«Those that we saw were almost translucent, albinos! They showed no protection against the sun whatsoever. Even their eyes reminded me of white rabbits' eyes. They were all red.»

«I noticed that too, dad,» confirmed Harp.

«What do we do now, dad?» asked Ian, perplexed by this turn of events.

«Do we need to take the bunker?»

«Yes! We need to make sure this is not a waiting food supply for the orcs. We must see to the rescue whatever persons are in there, whatever their deformity, and we must see to repairing their genetics so they can see anew. Then it is also the only safe passage across to my final goal!»

«What about their culture?»

«Dad, if you worry about them remembering any of it after they get treated in the chambers, I can make sure their memory gets wiped out. They will be reprogrammed, and remember nothing, absolutely nothing of this place.»

«Under these conditions, and only under those conditions do I approve of the effort in rescuing these people. Is that clear, boys?»

«Yes dad,» chorused the boys.

«Next point: how many people are there in this bunker?» asked Samson.

«From the number of dead corpse, I'd say about two to three million, of which we just about cut off the middle range. Given they practice cannibalism, I suspect the old, therefore less productive of the population, are the ones getting eaten. We may have cut off the entire population above a certain age group,» Diamondcutter commented.

«Minus those that are pregnant, and given the conditions, birth control must have been a cannon of law, so unbridled breeding is very unlikely!» Annabelle added.

«Taking into account this, and the constraints imposed by the need to have a sustainable population, I think we may expect to find about seven hundred fifty thousand to a million and a quarter in that bunker. Can we handle this, Paschal?"

«Unfortunately, it is not the case. I will have to rotate. We do have cryogenic chambers, which will keep them in suspended animation indefinitely. They are a lot more simple and a lot more numerous then the stasis chambers. I have just ordered their activation under Thebes.»

«Will it stress the crystals?»

«It won't dad, their consumption is minimal, and we are barely touching the ten percent power output, even with the important number of stasis chambers in use presently.»

«When do you plan to deal with the bunker, Ian?»

«We will do it at sext. We need the rest. Six hours of rest is needed before we begin dealing with that. I doubt the residents of the bunker will venture out in the daylight.»

«Nonetheless, I want guards every five hundred feet, replaced every hour.»

«All right, Sitar. Viola? How about assuming the command of first guard shift?»

«Are you sure? I've never commanded more then a decade.»

«Well, we had not even commanded that when we took shift command, and it lasted six hours. I'm easing you in, with an hour!» said Sitar.

«Ok. I'll do it. But you better find me some hair colouring, I'm sure I'll have white hairs in the next hour!»

«A proof of maturity!»

«Are you telling me I'm immature, little devil?» said Harold, laughing.

«If the hat fits...»

«... Wear it!» replied the other boys in support of Sitar.

***

Sext came and the cavalry took position ahead of the column.

«Dragons, Pegasuses! You have rear guard. Let nothing enter behind us!» thundered Sitar. «Dad, Harp, Thorsten, Samson, it's your call! Get that door down as quickly as possible!»

The four advanced cautiously to within a hundred feet of the looming doors, then, on a signal from Harold, Hammers, Trident and Bata combined their energy to shatter the huge doors. They resonated like a powerful gong when the Hammer of Atlantis hit them square in the middle, as the Hammer of the Dwarfs hit just behind Thor's instrument of power, slightly to the left. The beams of light coming from Bata and the Trident of Atlantis began cutting the doors drilling holes through the five-foot thick steel.

The progress was slow, as the Hammers resonated with a staccato cadence on the metal, and the white-hot metal melted but needed to be constantly reheated because it cooled down while escaping the narrow cuts. After an hour the light beams finally connected and the Hammer of Atlantis, thrown with a power unmatched until that day, hit the doors right in the slit separating the two panes. The doors wobbled but held!

«Shit, that door extends below the ground level! We need to cut it at the base as well!» complained Harp as he intensified Bata's power to such an intensity it outshone the sun. He began cutting the base of the left panel, while Samson began on the right. Fifteen minutes later, the two beams merged.

«Let's cut along the midsection slit as well, Samson. It might cut some locks!»

The two beams began another slow progress from the doors' base to their top, cutting any bars or other locks that might have been in place. Another quarter of an hour and the doors were ready for another assault by the Hammers.

«Thorsten, handle the left pane; I'll handle the right one. On my mark! Mark!»

The two hammers left their respective owners to hit the doors at precisely the same time, bringing them down with a powerful thud. Behind them, as the dust cleared, was revealed the vast hall that travelled from one end of the bunker to the other. It was conspicuously empty of occupants.

«Forward! March! Keep silent! I want to hear if anything is waiting for us! Canines! You have the lead! Guide each unit to occupants!»

Fifteen canines accompanied each centurie in their exploration. The bunker was divided into four layers, with the lowest layers having the biggest rooms. The initial, ground level, was occupied by what seemed to be storerooms, mostly empty except for huge piles of bones. Apparently, once a person was consumed, the bones were unceremoniously thrown into one of the upper rooms. Most bones showed traces of butchering, and long bones were systematically cracked to extract the marrow; skulls too were opened to extract the brain, a high source of fat in the human body.

The Atlanteans, once they realized the architecture of the bunker, divided themselves in four still formidable armies, and progressed on all four levels at the same time. Sitar decided this would be safer then risk having a group of attackers run under them to attack from behind.

At first, the population was composed mostly of women in relatively advanced stages of pregnancy and younger children, aged less then twelve. But as the Atlanteans progressed, they met a new population distribution, even entering a segment as a war raid was being done on the population they were occupied at removing. Things began to turn a lot bloodier from then on.

Archers took the front line, accompanied by wolves, and began decimating the assailants, while the mages ported the wounded to Thebes for immediate treatment in the stasis chambers. The wounds were mostly bone fractures targeting the lower limbs, as if the attackers had planned to harvest their food for later consumption.

Once the battlefront had been pierced, the next issue was taking the rest of the bunker. This time, the mages took front line, disarming anyone carrying anything. The bunker occupants seemed to guide their assault on noise, so Harp began creating false sounds to mask their progress. The result surpassed anything he could have imagined. Misled by the illusions, the warriors would attack walls with ferocity, unaware that their true foe was walking on them stealthily.

Progress was rapid, at about six miles per hour. By vespers, the army had penetrated thirty-six miles inside the atomic shelter, covering a third of its overall length.

«Vespers. Mages, set force fields at the next airlock, and assist the wolves in cleaning up the current segment. We are resting for six hours! We resume advancing at matins!» ordered Sitar, much to the displeasure of Ian. Ian knew better then to oppose Sitar while he was in command, so he kept quiet, whatever feelings he might have held toward the break.

The army welcomed the rest and fresh food. Everyone slept except for a decade keeping watch on the locks. The reveille was met with a cacophony of grunts, but everyone was ready to leave on time. Sitar's temper positively drove even the laziest legionnaire to jump at the first note.

Another six hours added another thirty-six miles to the progress along the bunker. By prime, when Sitar called for another six-hour rest period, Ian was ready to chew his way through the concrete to keep going.

"Ian! I am in command! You will obey! Is that clear?"

The fire in Ian's eyes did not bode well for Sitar until Harold grabbed Ian, turned him and looked at the furious boy.

"You know the rules of engagement, Ian. You used your status as Heir to the throne to bring Sitar back in line! Well, my turn to remind you that until I'm dead, you are only the Heir. Get it? Sitar has ordered a rest period, and even I will not overrule his command! Deal with it! These were the exact words you used against Sitar."

Ian was shaking violently in his dad's grip, eyes almost out of his head. Harp applied a nerve pinch at the base of the neck, and his little brother collapsed in Harold's arms.

"Sorry dad, Ian was ready to do the unthinkable. I don't know what bug bit him, but he is getting more and more anxious, no, that is not the right word, a better one would be aggressive, as we walk further down that tunnel, like he is faced with a repeated challenge."

"I understand the feeling Ian has, Harold. I have a similar urge, like I had a score to settle, and it's just around the corner," replied Diamondcutter. "I have the same urge to run forward, battle axe swinging, froth at my mouth and yelling obscenities."

"I see. Harp, how long shall that nerve pinch last?"

"I've put him in an artificial coma, he will be resting for the next twelve hours. If Sitar maintains our current schedule, we should be out or nearly out of that tunnel."

"OK, you did good. But if he is like any animal waking up after this, I do hope that the exit will be what he sees! I won't give much chance to any of us surviving his fury otherwise."

"I know."

***

The last segment of the tunnel to be cleared of occupants was dealt with the same efficiency the rest of the shelter had been cleansed. As matins came to pass, the first units reached the closed southern door of the bunker. Ian had been sleeping all the time, riding on Silver Moon, which took care of keeping him in the saddle. Ian grumbled in his sleep about bad beds and unending campaigns, but did not wake up, even after the compulsion to sleep had eroded. Everyone took the rest of the night to rest from the horrendous day.

Many scenes of horror had assailed the troops as they had progressed along the bunker's unending and winding corridors. Falling on a scene of cannibalism where the future meals were watching the previous one being consumed was more then enough to get many to return their meal, however hardened the Atlanteans soldiers were. Apparently, the bunker had been divided into miniature principalities, constantly raiding each other for food; a common factor to all these entities was that the affluent were deeper into the bunker, and the common folks were above, in a total reversal of known social stratifications. Nonetheless, richness was relative: it mainly manifested itself in more spacious rooms, servants, soldiers in charge of protecting and feeding the affluent by capturing enemies or useless members of the society. No one wore cloth or jewels. The reason for this organization was simple: you cannot be ashamed of what you cannot see; and jewels must be visible to be admired.

It was prime before Ian finally woke up from his sleep. At first, he was disoriented, but his memory came back in a flash!

"Harp!" he hollered, furious, "What did you do?"

"I brought you under control, little brother. You were ready to literally let loose your berserker. While non-magical kids of your age can be allowed to have temper tantrums, you are way too powerful to be let loose without control. You were ready to kill us all to get your way. Now, get that temper under control, or I'll repeat the trick!"

"You would have a lot of trouble repeating it!"

"Don't bet on it, Ian. I am still the Great Grand Master Prince of Magic, and you have a long way to go to even come to my belt! Now, get your brain into gear and control your guts before I do!"

"Anyway, Ian, you slept eighteen hours non-stop. Have breakfast; we will be leaving this bunker in an hour. By then the sun will be up," commented Sitar.

"I did a survey of the area. There was a mechanism for manual opening of the doors, but it got jammed or broken somehow. I think they tried too hard to open sealed doors and broke it, but that is speculation."

"That may be problematic, Paschal. What do you suggest we do?"

"We could cut the doors open like we did, or try to revive the mechanism?"

"Look at the later first, Paschal. Harp, you go with him."

"All right, we'll do that dad."

"Diamondcutter, do you still feel that strange urge?"

"Yes, Harold. It's stronger then ever."

"And you, Ian?"

"You know I do, dad. If I could chew those doors down I would! My goal is just beyond, I can taste it!"

"Ok, both of you listen: the goals aren't going to disappear, but spending energy on doing what others can do better will tire you uselessly. So, let Harp and Paschal tackle the doors."

The two grumbled and looked at each other, understanding their mutual frustration at the waiting game.

***

At tierce, Paschal and Harp returned.

"It's about time. I think Ian and Diamondcutter are burning their shoes walking in circles like lions in cages," Thorsten said.

"These bastards never bothered repairing the manual override. It's so damaged it's useless," Paschal informed them.

"We will have to cut out the doors," completed Harp.

"Well, let's get to work!"

Just as the royals got ready, a thunderous boom was heard coming from the doors.

"I wonder what could have caused this?" asked Harold.

"I have dragons in the air, I've just asked a couple to fly to the this end and look!» replied Typhoon, just as another resounding boom travelled along the halls of the bunker.

"Whatever it is, it's stubborn as an ox. It's not stopping at anything to get in!" answered Thorsten.

While the doors continued to be banged on furiously, Thorsten and Harold answered in kind. Harp, Samson, and Paschal each took a part of the doors' frame to cut with their respective instruments: Harp tackled the left, Samson did the right, and Paschal took to cutting the top of the doors. The regularity of the impacts from the outside combined with the violent and thunderous answers by Thor's hammer and the Hammer of the Dwarfs made for a continuous roll of thunder. Sitar and the dragon prince stood behind the two kings, ready to assist once the portal was open to fight whatever was assailing the doors with the regularity of a metronome.

Behind them, Ian had converted to a giant wolf, feral with saliva dripping from huge fangs, while Diamondcutter was handling his war axe with an implacable intensity. Well aware that the sound level prevented any verbal communication, Harp warned the others:

"It will collapse in three seconds ... two ... one ... collapsing!"

Just as it began collapsing inward, Harold launched the Hammer of Atlantis one last time at the top of the door with all his might, and the fall reversed itself to begin a slow fall outward. Another powerful bang at the bottom of the door sped up the process as the impetus added momentum to the moment of rotation. The door literally rose off its base as the cause of the constant banging came into view, charging the royals. It was the Minotaur!

«What must be, must be! No one is to intervene in these confrontations!» Sitar ordered, from behind the two kings.

The Minotaur roared and his nose produced a twenty-foot long flame, as it charged Harold and Thorsten. Just as Harold was readying to fight the monster with his hammer, a white blur jumped clear over the two royals and landed thirty feet from the man-beast. The wolf form growled in defiance, as the beast answered in kind.

Meanwhile Edward had managed to enter the hall, and looked around. Diamondcutter barely recognized the king such was his state of decrepitude. Edward recognized Diamondcutter and charged, an old rusty sword above his head. Diamondcutter countered with his axe, resulting in a powerful exchange of sparks between the two colliding steel weapons. Edward had become hardened by his ordeal, and his strength surprised Diamondcutter, who ceded ground to gain a better angle of attack.

The Minotaur charged the wolf, head first, and Ian jumped over him. The two beasts turned to face each other, and charged again. The bull tried to jump to tackle the wolf, but Ian had expected the move and stayed on the ground. The ox was not as agile as the wolf, and paid a price for his error: Ian closed his maw around the lower left leg, snapping the femur in the process.

The two kings were engaged in a fight between a war axe and a rusty sword. Strangely, Edward was doing pretty well given his lack of exercise with that type of weapon for years. Sparks flew, metal cried its pain, but the two belligerents kept at each other with unabated fury.

Yet, as the bull fell, it rolled off, and managed to scratch Ian from his broken horn, drawing blood. Using magic to heal itself the Minotaur recovered its capacity to charge. Ian was ready when it came for another attempt to skewer him with its horns. Ian used his magic to add momentum to the charge and send the bull flying over his crouched body, slamming it hard in the reinforced concrete of the sidewall. Ian ran forward, intent to bite the beast at the neck, but the Minotaur turned just in time to present his shoulder. Unfazed, Ian closed his jaws on the shoulder blade and broke the collarbone. The Minotaur slammed Ian on the wall repeatedly, trying to make him lose his hold so he could turn his head and gore the wolf.

Diamondcutter kept his cool and studied the swordsmanship of Edward, trying to find a pattern. Unfortunately, this proved more difficult because the deposed king used more instinct than technique to fight, and was totally schizophrenic making mindreading a technical impossibility. He decided to wait it out, letting the man get tired, counting on his endurance as a dwarf.

Well aware of what the bull wanted to do, Ian realized that, unless he changed tactic, the bull would manage to break his hold and succeed in gutting him. That perspective did not appeal to him one bit. Wolf claws and canines were too small to actually penetrate to a vital organ and kill the bull, as it healed itself as fast as the teeth shredded the meat. He shape-shifted to his newest acquisition of genetic mapping, that is the baby sabre-tooth leopard, but in its adult from. The sabre sized canines suddenly increased in size, and nine-inch feline claws dug deep in he bull's back, lacerating it with fury.

Diamondcutter finally noticed a mistake in the up to now perfect use of a sword by Edward. He repeated the pattern and observed that Edward committed the same error. After a few more sparing, Diamondcutter repeated the pattern a third time waiting for Edward to react the same way he had the two previous sequences. As Edward brought his sword wide to deviate the low strike from the axe, Diamondcutter dove under the swinging blade and brought his axe up, gutting the king. The sword left the now numb fingers of the king that fell on his back. A few hiccups followed, and the eyes of what once was King Edward turned in their orbit, indicating death.

Ian released the shoulder, and using the grip his elongated claws gave him, held on while changing his bite. The Minotaur thought he had a chance and tried to turn his head to burn the assailant. Ian had been waiting for this: the rotation opened the throat to the powerful jaws, and he did not miss the occasion. His jaws snapped tight around the neck, the interlocking canines sectioning the muscles, crushing the trachea while the second and third vertebrae got compressed and crushed like they were in a compression screw. The Minotaur had lived. His formidable magic core released its energy, which was absorbed by Ian in a blinding light.

The sabre-tooth tiger roared and, as it converted to a white wolf, the roar became a wolf howl that invited every wolf within hearing distance to add their own cry of victory: Their king had won! Diamondcutter hollered a cry of victory and satisfied vengeance, a pale imitation of Ian's powerful and drowning voice.

A quick ceremonial was held to bury the Minotaur and King Edward, to the theme of My Way Home.

"This is as it was foretold," said Sitar, as the last bars of My Way Home faded, sending Edward and the Minotaur to their final resting place. "It is time to finish this war. We have the branch leading to Boson to deal with!"