Destiny

by Jason A. Cheek

  Sean heard frighten screams as Hans lifted the two closest police officers next to him into the air by the back of their necks. Stretching his arms out wide, the large man brought his hands forcibly together with a resounding clap as the islanders immediately went limp. While on the far side of the room, Wolfgang held one of the police officers on the ground, while pummeling him unconscious with his fist.

  The blood rushed in Sean’s ears as he saw Larissa fall back out of sight with the Mayor on top of her. As they disappeared, he raced to her aid just as the Lieutenant jumped in front of him blocking his path. Without slowing down, Sean hit the smaller man like a rugby forward retrieving a ball from the scrum. One second the Lieutenant was crouched in a wrestler’s stance and the next he was bouncing off the far wall of the office as Sean effortlessly battered him aside with a bellow.

  “If that pompous ass hurt Larissa, he was going to …” Skidding to a stop, Sean swore under his breath at the sight before him. In stunned amazement, he laughed out loud in relief as the Mayor shrieked in agony.

  “Bloody hell, Larissa … “, stuttering for a second Sean quickly recovered. “ I mean, bloody hell, Doctor Evans.”

  On the ground before him, Doctor Evans held one of the Mayor’s arms isolated between her muscular thighs. Using both arms, she forced the screaming man’s elbow backward to just before the point of breaking. Sean heard several gawfing laughs as his lads walked up behind him. A second later, he felt a rough hand grip his should.

  “We should do this more often.”

  The Chief Engineer’s gruff words brought a smile to Sean’s hard face as he looked around the destroyed office. Scattered in small piles across the room were groaning or unconscious men. As scraps went, this had been relatively tame. In these smaller ports, the law wasn’t always so cut and dry. Being legal was more about who you could bribe or being strong enough to fight off the local thugs dressed up in uniforms.

  Sean gave a nod of thanks as the Chief Engineer used his boot to push a moaning Lieutenant onto his back. He was a good man to have in a fight. Kane had grown up on the streets of Limerick’s Southside with a reputation for having a hard head and a big mouth. A self-taught mechanical genius, the young boy learned his trade working on the old cargo ships left over from the last World War. Nowadays, the old Seadog was pushing fifty, but he was still good to have in a fight.

  “Would someone get this crazy bitch off of me?”

  “Aaarrrggg!” The Mayor screamed in agony as Doctor Evans twisted the man’s arm near to the point of breaking. “Not before you explain why you want us dead.”

  “I don’t have to answer any of …”

  “Aaarrrggg!”

  “Next time, I’ll break it. Now talk!” Sweating profusely, the Mayor stubbornly kept his mouth shut as his body strained against the submission hold’s intense pain. Calmly, Doctor Evans continued. “On the count of three, I will break your bloody arm if you do not answer my question.”

  “One …”

  Kane squatted next to the Mayor to look into his beet red face. “Lad, I don’t think you want to piss the Lady off anymore. If I were you, I would tell her what she wants to know.”

  “Two …”

  “Thr …”

  “WAIT!”

  Looking down at his feet, Sean was surprised to see the Lieutenant weakly pushing himself up to his knees. Looking at Doctor Evans and the Mayor, he spoke haltingly. “Don’t hurt Father Aixi. I will tell you what you want to know.”

  “Xion-” The Mayor’s exclamation cut off before he could say anything more by Doctor Evans as she caught the young Lieutenant’s eyes. Locking gazes with the young man, Doctor Evans spoke evenly.

  “Continue.”

  Looking back and forth between the two of them nervously, the young man slowly started talking. “It is because Nea Kameni is a sacred place for my people.”

  Sean scoffed loudly. “Hundreds of tourists visit the island every day during tourist season, and you’re not trying to kill them.”

  “That is because the Labryaden Guardians always escort them.”

  Sean was about to laugh again at the young man’s words when Doctor Evans spoke quickly. “Labryadens are the guardians of the Goddess Britomartis.” For a long moment, Doctor Evans froze deep in thought when her eyes suddenly snapped towards the Lieutenant as she spoke sharply. “Show me your chest!”

  Sitting on his knees, the young man hesitantly unbuttoned his white linen shirt and slowly bared his chest. Tattooed over his heart was a stylized double-headed battle-axe with a large tree stretching across both heads.

  “That is the symbol of the Order of the White Moon.”

  Sean was surprised to hear the awe in Doctor Evans’ voice. “Your order has guarded the Crypt of Britomartis for all of these centuries?”

  Not waiting for the Lieutenant’s response, Doctor Evans released the Mayor. Rolling quickly to her feet, she ripped open his torn dress shirt. Tattooed across his broad chest was a matching tattoo.

  Sitting up painfully, the Mayor moved his arm tenderly as he spat at Doctor Evans. “There is no such thing as a Crypt of Britomartis.”

  Reaching behind her, Doctor Evans threw a thick envelope at the Mayor that she’d pulled from her back pocket. “Really, then what do you call that?”

  Tearing open the envelope like a crazed man, the Mayor sucked in a sharp breath as he flipped through the pictures inside. Looking up at Doctor Evans in horror, he leaped at her screaming.

  “You must stop what you’re doing.”

  Moving quickly, Sean caught the Mayor by his collar, yanking him back to the ground hard. “Why don’t you just sit down and tell us calmly why we should stop what we are doing before someone really gets hurt.”

  The Mayor’s eyes took on the gleam of a fanatic as he met Sean’s gaze squarely. “There is nothing you can do to hurt me without the entire island of Santorini rising up against you. Leave now while you still can.”

  Doctor Evans cut off the Mayor speaking harshly. “We’re not going anywhere. By now those pictures have hit every Associated Press Office around the world. By tomorrow afternoon this island will be crawling with reporters, biologist, archeologists and Atlantis fanatics and there is nothing you can do-”

  The absolute look of horror in the Mayor’s face brought Doctor Evans up short as the man suddenly cried out terror. “You have doomed us all!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Location Irlendria / Tiberius Decius Lupus:

  SSSHHHRRRIIIEEE

  SSSHHHRRRIIIEEE

  Turning around at the shrill warning, Tiberius took one look at the situation and began bellowing commands to the bulls around him.

  “Brace the rear!”

  “Brace the rear!”

  Throughout the formation, legionnaires spun around to face the new threat. Grabbing the hooks on the back of the armor in front of them the bulls locked their elbows bracing for impact. A second later the other half of the Praetorian phalanx slammed into their formation at a fast trot.

  SSSHHHRRRIIIEEE

  SSSHHHRRRIIIEEE

  The clanging sound of metal on metal was the only noise from the Praetorians attack as Tiberius felt the whole formation rock backward from the force of the impact. Straining with all their might, the legionnaires slowly slid to a stop as Tiberius heard Decanus Marcellus bellowing orders to his contubernium.

  “Clear the walls at will!”

  Hacking sounds of blades slicing through metal and flesh filled the air as Tiberius saw his rearguard slam their shields into the compact, silent wave coming at them. Following standard tactics, the legionnaires punched through the gaps in their shield walls with their gladiuses.

  Instead of falling back like any sane enemy would do. The Praetorians simply threw themselves atop the shield walls. Ignoring the blades piercing their bodies, they clutched at the legionnaires’ scutas in a death grip as the next wave began climbing over their shoulders in an overwhelming mass.

  Seeing the enti
re rear of the formation suddenly collapse into a chaotic melee of struggling bulls, Tiberius triggered his gauntlets once again. At once the tinnearlian metal of his scutum began reforming into a second gladius as the next rank of his legionnaires was bore down by the silent wave.

  Tiberius’ vision narrowed as adrenaline began pumping through his veins. Squaring his shoulders, he bellowed new commands.

  “Legionnaires to me … Attack formation Omega!”

  Triggering their gauntlets, the legionnaires still standing rushed to Tiberius’ side as the next silent wave leaped at them. Crossing his gladiuses across his armored chest, Tiberius prepared to strike.

  “Head strikes only!”

  “Hhhuuurrraaalll!” Tiberius’ legionnaires answering shout echoed off the walls around him as a bull charged past his shoulder. The berserk cry was the only warning Tiberius had before Centurion Vitruvius Aquila charged past him. Swinging his battle-axe with the force of his entire body, Aquila slammed into the wave of Praetorians blade first slaughtering all in his path.

  Oblivious to the carnage before them, the next wave of guards leaped forward only to meet the old Centurion’s deadly backswing. Once again the great battle-axe cleaved through the Praetorians’ wave as bloody chunks flesh flew through the air. As the old bull leaped atop the pile of fighting Minotaurs, Tiberius’ bellowed to be heard over the raging battle.

  “Legionnaires advance!”

  Striding into the melee Tiberius’ glowing blades flashed as he struck the heads off the nearest Praetorians. Next to him, his legionnaires followed suit as they fought to help their embattled comrades fighting for their lives. With battle-axe leading the way, Aquila threw himself at the next wave of guards with a wordless bellow of rage as Tiberius struggled to catch up with the old bull. Scrambling over the pile of grappling Minotaurs, he called out to the legionnaires behind him.

  “Legionnaires to me!”

  Before Tiberius could catch up to Aquila, the enraged Centurion slammed into the last Praetorian formation. Blinded by his berserker rage, Aquila waded into their ranks with his battle-axe as ironidium spears slashed at him from every direction. At first, the old bull’s fury seemed to drive the Praetorians back, but it was only an illusion. A second later the packed guards bore Aquila to the ground in silence.

  Going to the rescue of this long time mentor and protector, Tiberius charged into the fray as his legionnaires followed in his wake with their blades slashing around them in a deadly wave of death. Within moments, they surrounded the old Centurion in a defensive ring. As his legionnaires stopped the last Praetorian rush, Tiberius slaughtered the guards piled atop Aquila with precise strokes. Clearing the last of the dead Minotaurs from atop the old Centurion, Tiberius heard the shrill call of Decanus Cornisus’ whistle suddenly cut off as a rasping voice rang out behind him.

  “You dumb animals disgust me.”

  Turning around, Tiberius froze at the sickening sight of Centurion Brutus’s misshapen maw tearing off the head of one of his legionaries. Somehow the Centurion’s muzzle had stretched to encompass the bull’s entire head! A gasping murmur ran through Tiberius’ soldiers as the headless corpse was casually tossed aside without a second thought.

  “Worthless meat sacks can’t even follow the simplest of orders.” Bile rose in the back of Tiberius’ throat as he watched the Centurion finish his grizzly meal with a loud slurping gulp. Pointing his oversized jagged sword at Tiberius, Brutus spat on the ground in contempt. “You will learn the consequences of defying the Emperor’s comm-.”

  The grating tirade cut off suddenly as Decanus Cornisus rushed forward with two bulls of his contubernium at his side. With a guttural shriek, the Centurion’s arms shot out from its body.

  “On your knees worms!” The great two-handed sword smashed into the legionnaires shield walls with a resounding metallic clash that blasted the bulls off their hooves. Bouncing off the wall behind them, Cornisus and his soldiers crumbled to the ground unmoving from the force of the impact.

  Swiveling around, Centurion Brutus suddenly grew another foot taller as his entire body began to swell into a misshapen muscular mass. As his glowing red eyes focused on Tiberius, the Centurion began striding forward.

  “I’m going to rip your still beating heart from your chest, prince meat sack!”

  Ignoring the Centurion’s threats, Tiberius’ powerful voice called out to his legionnaires.

  “Attack formation Alpha … shields on me!”

  Alarms went off in Tiberius’ head as the Centurion began growing larger and larger. He had seen this before, but he just couldn’t remember where. The loud clanking sounds of metal plates shifting into place rang out around Tiberius’ as his legionnaires triggered their Wolf Gauntlets. Immediately their second gladiuses began transforming back into scutas once again. Before Tiberius could trigger his gauntlets, the Centurion’s clawed fist shot out as if fired from a ballista.

  Tinnearlian blades crossed instinctively across Tiberius’ chest as the deadly missile impacted his heavy armor. There was a bright flash of light as the world suddenly spun out of control. The next thing Tiberius knew he was lying on his back against the hard stone of the alley.

  Rolling to his knees with a wordless grunt, Tiberius gasped for breath as the battle raged around him. With growing horror he realized his veteran legionnaires were being slaughtered as the jagged blade brutally tore gaping holes in their ragged formation when it suddenly dawned on him. The creature was a godforsaken Tuonellian Hulk!

  Leaping to his hooves, Tiberius raised his gauntlets before him charging in a blind rage. Pivoting suddenly, the Hulk immediately turned to face him as a wicked smile spread across its distorted face. A part of Tiberius’s mind registered the fact that the creature seemed to have difficulty holding its mask in combat when its clawed fist launched at his chest at almost point blank range.

  Ready this time for the attack, Tiberius drove his fists forward, punching out with both gauntlets. The impact reverberated through his whole body as an earsplitting shriek split the night. A split second later Tiberius was yanked off his hooves as the Tuonellian’s fist whipped away blood sprayed across his muzzle as he was flung to the ground. Rolling with the motion, Tiberius leaped back to his hooves only to be slammed into the nearest wall by the creature’s spinning backhand.

  Instead of being blasted off his hooves, the Hulk’s ruined fist yanked Tiberius into the air and slammed him against the wall of the alley. Coughing up blood, Tiberius watch weakly as the creature drew its jagged sword back for the killing blow when Aquila’s great battle-axe cleaved through the Hulk’s arm holding Tiberius.

  Dropping to his knees, Tiberius watched the enraged Hulk pummel Aquila to the ground with the pommel of its blade. As the Tuonellian raised the jagged sword into the air to split the Centurion in two, Cornisus appear from out of nowhere leaping onto the Hulk’s broad back with his gladiuses flailing.

  Spinning around in confusion, the creature roared in agony as Tiberius lurched to his hooves. Staggering forward, he slammed his blades deep into the center of the Tuonellian’s chest. With a screeching roar, the Hulk smashed Tiberius back into the wall, but before the creature could jam the blade down his throat, Aquila’s battle-axe was in motion once again.

  SCHLICK

  The Hulk’s second arm went flying away as the Centurion’s battle-axe hewed the malformed limb off at the elbow. Spinning around to face the old bull, the Tuonellian staggered as Cornisus’ blades hammered into its spine. With a howling shriek, the Hulk collapsed to the ground.

  Limping forward, Aquila’s lifted his great battle-axe once more above his head with both hands.

  With one last mighty bellow, the old Centurion cleaved through the Tuonellian Hulk’s thick, misshapen neck.

  ***

  Location Irlendria / Gaius Vitruvius Aquila:

  “They are all dead.” Centurion Gaius Vitruvius Aquila silently stood by his Prince as silent sobs racked the larger bull’s frame. “It makes no sens
e!”

  Older than the prince, Aquila knew well the terrible fury that was building inside Tiberius’ heart. Aquila had lost his entire family herd at the onset of the Tuonellian War when the Horde first invaded the city of Garrona. Throughout the long war, Aquila had held out hope that somehow his family had survived the invasion. It wasn’t until the Tuonellians had been driven back into the Scar that the true horror of what happened to the cities’ inhabitants had come to light.

  On that day, Aquila’s nightmares were given life. When the Legions had entered the first freed cities, they had learned that most of their people had been slaughtered in cold blood like cattle to feed the Horde’s armies. By the time the Legions had driven the Tuonellians from the cities like Garrona, which had been taken first, there was no one left alive to be freed.

  After holding out hope for so many centuries, Aquila had nearly lost his mind from grief. His only prayer to Akras was that his young bullock and beautiful wife had a quick death, but later on even that small solace had been lost to him once it had become common knowledge that the Tuonellians consumed their prey alive. If not for his duty of guarding the young princess Aquila would have gone insane from grief, but over the last twenty-five years, Tiberius had become a son to him.

  Looking around the blood-soaked courtyard, Aquila gripped Tiberius’ shoulder firmly. “We must go, Legatus.” Aquila saw Tiberius’ shoulders flinch at the title, but it had the desired effect. Slowly Tiberius seemed to pull himself back together. Rising to his hooves, Tiberius wiped the bile from his black lips as he looked around the courtyard of his walled domus before his voice croaked harshly.