Gods and Men- The Hank Boyd Omnibus, page 17
part #1 of Gods and Men Series
“One other thing, why have the four of you only communicated with me while I sleep? Why not talk to me when I’m awake?”
All three react, staring straight into my soul, “Four? Who else has contacted you?”
I can tell they’re worried and they seem like they’re on my side, so I decide it can’t hurt to tell them about Nannot’s contact with me earlier.
Once I’m done, they just simply nod their heads and continue, answering my previous question like nothing happened. But I can feel the tension in the air.
“We deduced long ago that the human brain is in its most vulnerable state during sleep. We have an easier time breaking in while you’re at rest than when you’re awake. Also, we could potentially damage you if we tried and you resisted.”
Right…brain damage…not good.
That’s probably why Rhonar was in so much pain, I deduce.
I get back on topic.
“Then if you’re not kings, who are you?”
He gives me a slight turn of his head, cocking it to the side as if contemplating an answer.
“Let us show you,” they all say in unison.
The three Atlanteans open their arms out wide and look up towards the cavern’s high ceiling. I can hear them in my head, muttering some incoherent language, again in unison. It’s like they’re using the same mind—a hive mind. Every thought, every action, it’s all processed as one.
The room starts to spin, but I feel no ill effect. It’s not like the tugging sensation I had in my other dream. Nor is it like the mental and physical abuse I suffered in the last one either. No, this is like I’m experiencing the events through my own eyes, and not just through my mind. I can even smell the dankness of the cavern around me.
“That’s because you come willingly,” explains the middle one. “Your body and mind don't fight us like you fought our brother.”
Before I can ask him about his last comment, we are whisked away, quickly arriving on a coastline somewhere. There is a torrential downpour and an insane amount of lightning, worse than any storm I’ve been through back home. And that’s saying something considering Florida is known as the lightning capital of the world.
The rain is slapping against my face, causing me to flinch and close my eyes. Ouch. I’m soaked and being pelted by what feels like small paintballs.
“You mustn’t do this brother. These are your people too.”
I reopen my eyes, turning to see who’s speaking.
“Holy crap…”
37
My mouth is agape as I stare at the spectacle in front of me. It’s incredible and intense and well…spectacular!
First, I notice my new friends. They’re facing the water hands raised in defense of an unseen force. It looks like three mimes pushing against something that isn’t actually there.
“You are witnessing the end,” a voice says in my head, narrating the events taking place. “This is the night our home was destroyed.”
I spin and fall, startled. Looking up from my seated position, I do a double take, slightly confused. Another set of elders are standing not ten feet from me, but it’s not the same three I saw just moments ago. They’re still in their defensive formation, desperately trying to hold back the wind.
“We are here as onlookers, just like you. The past is written. It can only be viewed, not changed.”
I get myself together and stand, watching the battle unfold.
We—myself and the present world elders—are on a pier, standing fifty yards or so from solid ground. It branches out in three directions, continuing another fifty yards further forward and half that to the left and right. From above it would look like a stretched out addition symbol.
The past elders, the ones trying in vain to protect their home, are standing out at the very end of the forward section of the pier. The rest of us are standing halfway down the right-hand arm of the large dock.
The wind is unbelievable now, howling, swirling around us. It’s gotta be close to hurricane force strength now, maybe more, I think, shielding my eyes from the sideways rain.
I recoil in fear as a massive blood-red lightning bolt strikes the left-hand arm of the pier, some thirty feet away. The wood structure violently explodes, sending splinters flying. I instinctively dive to the ground, hoping to avoid the shrapnel that’s produced. I mean, it is a dream… Dreams don’t generally hurt, but then I remember my encounter with Nannot and the bruising I suffered after.
I feel something pinch my arm, realizing this will most definitely be the same. I look down to see a pencil-sized shard of wood buried in my exposed forearm. I clutch my arm in pain and yank out the foreign object, sending a spray of blood into the air. Then, I wince at the spray of salt water stinging my new wound.
Forcing myself to concentrate on what’s happening around me, I kneel, trying to get up. Still clutching my injured arm, I notice that I’m now on an island of wood, stranded. The middle section is gone, obliterated by the lightning.
Great… No escaping that way.
All while I’m getting the crap kicked out of me, the other three elders are still attempting to hold back the storm. Can they do that?
“Kneel before your new king!” The voice audibly booms across the water, originating from inside the maelstrom. It’s one I’ve heard before…in my head. It’s both familiar and dreadful.
Gritting my teeth, I stand and look out to sea.
Nannot is airborne, hovering fifty feet above the thrashing surf. His robes billow in the whirling air. His black robes. Against the ever-increasing storm, I look closer and also see his eyes. They’re blood-red and well…bleeding. “Just like Rhonar’s,” I say aloud. The words come out mute though, the raging wind drowning out my voice.
Then, I notice his skin. It’s jet-black like oil, whereas the three elders are a healthy tan complexion. It’s like the wickedness deep within has shown its hold over him on the outside too.
“We shall never call you king, brother. We serve our one true lord!”
Do they mean Thoth? It has to be. The realization finally dawns on me! Dammit, why didn’t I see it before? The three, their hands raised in battle—the fourth confronting them on the coastline—the freakish weather. It all makes sense.
Not only am I reliving the end of Atlantis, but it also shows me where my team and I have been since arriving here.
The cavern that we’re currently exploring is underneath where the actual lost city of Atlantis once stood. Its destruction, and… I look over to Nannot, understanding why I’m being shown this. He is responsible for the island nation’s devastation. It is he who destroyed it all, killing thousands, and attempting to eradicate countless more.
“Do not stand in my way traitors!” Nannot shouts, his voice echoing across the coast. “You cannot defeat me! The Priests of An’tala are finished.”
An’tala? Priests? The elders were Thoth’s personal advisors, and it would also look like his bodyguards.
“An’tala is what we called our home,” says one of the present-day elders, or should I say, Atlantean priests. “You have since renamed it Atlantis.” I know by saying ‘you’ he means modern man and not actually me personally.
Another incredibly large crimson lightning bolt hits the section of the pier I’m standing on, decimating it. I’m thrown into the air, splashing ungracefully into the freezing water.
38
I surface nearby, gagging on sea water. Clearing my stinging, salt-filled eyes, I glance to my left and see…nothing. The pier is completely gone. Wiped clean. The three defenders of An’tala are hovering in mid-air, just like Nannot, arms still raised in defiance. Each of their robes billow in the air, snapping back-and-forth, being held aloft by an invisible force.
Apparently, the trio can control the elements too.
A wave rolls over me and pulls me under. I try to fight against it and kick to the surface, but get churned again and again…and again. I’m about to pass out, but my head finally breaks the surface. As I gasp for air, I find my bearings. I can barely hear the four combatants conversing, but it’s there, being pushed towards me by the gale overhead.
“We may not be able to defeat you—only the chosen can achieve that—but we can delay you. Either way, that body does not belong to you.”
The body doesn’t belong to him? I think, trying not to go under again.
As I wade in the chilling seawater, a flash of green energy streaks across the sky and strikes Nannot in the chest. A wave crests and falls over my head, but I don’t go completely under. It does make me struggle against the crashing surf though, which is powerful, to say the least. I kick hard and clear it, sucking in another lungful of air. I again find them above me and see the three priests with their fists outstretched in front of them. They let loose another attack, each sending an energy beam into Nannot. Then, they send another volley and then another. The blasts must have severely weakened Nannot because, the wind has calmed some, slowly lowering him towards the calming surf.
I look around, seeing no sign of the present-day priests, the ones who brought me here. So they can leave, but I can’t! I think. So not right.
These three approach slowly, choreographing their moves. They surround Nannot, forming a triangle, and discharge more of the electric force all at once. And this time they pour it on, not letting up.
The black-clad twin wails in agony, his head tilted back, and his arms and legs outstretched, cursing his brothers in between howls.
That’s when I notice the water level around me start to drop. I continue to kick hard through the lowering tide and try to stay afloat, but the surf is too rough. I slip beneath the waves again, almost not making it back to the surface. It happens several more times, but each successive turn is more and more manageable. Every time I surface I see less and less water. I turn back towards the shore, seeing what I dreaded. There’s more of it too…
Nannot’s agonizing screams fill my head, getting my attention again. They quickly intensify until he explodes and turns to dust. I’m not sure what I just witnessed. Did they just kill him? Or was it just his physical body that was destroyed? Either way, Nannot is gone. The three warrior priests bow their heads, defeated.
My feet hit bedrock the same time his body is incinerated. I’m a hundred feet below where the pier used to be and where the coastline still is. I guess it’s more of a cliff face now, I think, taking in my new surroundings.
The elders turn and move inland, sailing through the air at incredible speeds, disappearing from sight. A loud sonic boom echoes from behind me as they break the sound barrier.
I turn, not surprised when I see the three priests from my time standing behind me.
“What was that? What happened to him?” I ask.
The middle one answers me, his voice still in my head. “That was not his true form, but a tool of his corruption. He has taken many in the past, but never used them like this.” He holds out his hands, motioning to the current state of things.
I look around, fully taking in the devastation. The water is gone, evaporated maybe. Or maybe it found a new home in an undiscovered fissure in the seabed?
“Our abilities are strong,” says the middle one, reading my thoughts.
“You did this?” I say shocked.
The three of them all lower their heads as if shamed for what they did.
“A result of our part in the fight, yes, but we had no other way of halting his advances. He wanted to destroy it all, every living thing. And who he didn’t execute, he would enslave and experiment on. We could not allow this to come to pass no matter the consequences.”
“Like the destruction of your home?”
He doesn’t answer.
They look up together. “Every few generations, he takes another and tries again. Each one is stronger than the last.”
“Takes another?” I ask.
All three of them lift their hands and point their long fingers at me.
I get it. He takes another human, another host.
“Why humans?”
“Humanity is naturally…unkind…to one another,” he says. “Nannot uses their wants and ambitions against them. He gives them unlimited strength and promises the world. What human would say no to that?”
It’s a bait question. They’re expecting me to answer and say that I wouldn’t. I mean, of course, I wouldn’t, but it would be nice to be asked these things instead of them being assumed of you.
“The Great Deceiver,” I say to myself.
“The who?”
“It’s what we call the devil, Satan.”
“Yes, we know of him,” he says, nodding. “Nannot’s maliciousness has caused a few legends to arise over the millennia, that being one.”
I shake off the notion that this man—or should I say, monster—Nannot, is the real-life Satan. It’s just too absurd, and frankly, it scares the shit out me.
“What happens now?” I ask.
They just re-aim their outstretched fingers and point towards the outer limits of the city.
I follow their gaze and turn my attention up to the new elevation.
The ground around me rumbles and shakes as a large crack appears in the cliff face. It’s about halfway between us and the edge of the city above. Then, there’s another crack this one even larger and then another. Each sequential snap is louder and bigger than the last.
Directly overhead, the entire coastline crumbles and falls apart. Chunks of rock and what looks like buildings tumble into the newly formed canyon…the one we’re currently standing in.
Oh, God…
Before the priests and I are crushed by an insurmountable amount of debris, we’re thrown back into the dark and gloomy cave, the one where I first met them.
Ω Ω Ω
I’m in shock, breathing heavily, on the verge of a panic attack, not being able to fully react to what I just witnessed. It’s then I feel a firm hand on my shoulder and turn to find one of the elders standing next to me. It’s the first time I’ve been this close to any of them, giving me a great view on this one’s face under his cloak. He has the same stone-faced, armor-plated mask as Nannot, which makes it extremely hard for me to gauge his emotions. But, I feel his sadness in my mind and in my soul. My heart aches for them.
“What ended up happening to your home?”
His hand slips from my shoulder, and he backs up, rejoining his kin.
“The reason Lord Thoth evacuated our homeland is because Nannot first attacked us with a series of immense earthquakes,” he explains. “Thousands of our people perished in the toppled buildings and fires. The faults and fissures underground started collapsing next. The city eventually fell in on itself, where it would be buried by the newly formed desert. Erased. These caverns and the necropolis within are the only things that survived to your time.”
The fact that they survived doesn’t shock me. They are, after all, over a thousand feet underground. It’s basically the world’s most efficient bomb shelter.
“So the earthquakes opened a fault somewhere, and that’s where all the water went?”
They nod.
“What is this place for—the necropolis?” I ask.
“The necropolis was a holy place to our kind before it was tainted by evil. We buried our dead and remembered those who led before us. It didn’t always look the way it does now.”
The scenery changes again.
We’re standing on the same landing where I slept and had my first encounter with Nannot, it’s almost impossible to tell that this is the same cavern.
For one thing, it’s full of…life. Hundreds of Atlanteans roam around, going about their normal lives. They dress the same as the priests too, if only a little more informally. Also, they’re people... Ordinary people. Their faces are a melting pot of every race and creed from around the globe, making me wonder if the demographics of this kingdom prove that many of the world’s dominant cultures started here.
I hear a giggle followed by more laughter as a small group of children romp by me. They look to be playing a game of tag as they run down the steep steps at full speed. Not a single one of them falls or slows.
Huh, anyone else would have fallen hard and probably ended up being rushed to the E.R.
As I scan my surroundings, I hear the sound of rushing water and look to my right, towards where the moat of lava should be. It’s gone, replaced by crystal-clear water. It’s like looking into a stream filled with ultra-purified, spring water. Liquid glass.
There are more people down on the perfectly usable beach too. Gleaming white sand lines the shores all the way around the bend I saw before. No cracked, burnt earth, and certainly no molten lava pits, either. It’s the ideal island getaway beach, minus the scorching summer heat.
This place is a hodgepodge of activity, not exactly what I pictured it to be from my prior experience here.
The trees in the stone forest are actually trees too. A gorgeous canopy of green encircles the courtyard. Within the green foliage, is a mixture of dotted colors as well.
Fruit trees?
Every conceivable fruit is on display. I watch as a random person just strolls up to a tree, picks what appears to be an apple, takes a bite, and walks away.
What is this place?
As I scan through the trees, I see a slight glow radiating from deeper within this Eden… The word resonates through my mind. Eden. Could it be? Maybe. It’s definitely something for me to check out later. But, first…
I redirect my attention back to the glimmer of something in the distance. The top half of a beautiful golden pyramid shines across the now thriving necropolis. It’s completely covered in orichalcum—or knowing these people—it’s made entirely of it.
So, it wasn’t always black.
I take a step and trip, looking down at my foot. I’m not sure what I stumbled over but, I see my shoes and then my shorts. I’m still dressed in my regular clothing, except I’m freshly bathed, and my clothes appear to have been expertly cleaned and pressed. And thank God for that… I don’t think I’d be very comfortable walking around in a bed sheet.
