In the permeating silence that followed everyone wondered what to do next until Carl began to moan from under his private avalanche. George and Henry ran over and cleared it away, allowing Carl to stagger to his feet, dazed but unhurt as the pile of books around him had cushioned him from the weight of the heavy bookcase.
While they gathered their thoughts and stared at the carnage that needed to be cleaned up, to their surprise the portal suddenly reappeared and the Guardian once again addressed the group.
“I trust that you are all relatively unharmed as the angel and I are also lucky to be. Toomak has once again evaded capture, and now she has recovered the amulet, she has the power to fulfil the curses she made on her deathbed. There is nothing I can do when she leaves my realm as I cannot follow for long. I will therefore have to put my faith in you. Somehow you must find a way to retrieve the amulet and bring about her defeat. This source of power allows her to once again have access to the land of the living and it may greatly enhance her abilities while she is there. I can guide you to the time and place of her chosen destiny where If you do not succeed in time, her prophecy will be fulfilled and tip the balance between Heaven and Hell, breaking the bonds that hold fast the demon's gate releasing all evil created since the birth of mankind.”
As the Guardian paused briefly to allow everyone to absorb the information, the angel reappeared at his side and whispered something into his ear. Looking very grave indeed he continued.
“The portents of doom are already beginning to show so you must prepare yourselves and return to this place exactly one days hence from today when I will guide you to the correct place and time. From then on, it is up to you.”
Before anyone could ask any questions the Guardian stepped back and the portal faded and closed, leaving the gathering bemused and dumbstruck. Professor Appleyard finally broke the silence with an announcement.
“I am sure the thought of what is to come troubles you greatly but you have brought it on yourselves. I also feel that I should burden some of the responsibility as it is through allowing George to read the paper regarding my first experiment it triggered this series of events ending here. In spite of my advancing years, I fully intend to enter the portal and then hope to retrieve the amulet and defeat Toomak, as the only alternative is to wait for doomsday to consume us all.”
The rhetoric of the statement was succinct and impossible to ignore, so void of any other objection they tidied up as best they could then all agreed to go home to prepare then return in twenty-four hours for their journey into the unknown.
As they all emerged into the half light of the morning, everything about them seemed the same but slightly different. There was no dawn chorus, even though it was November, there was always the sound of bird song coming from the nonmigratory species that lived in the woodlands growing on the university campus. The air somehow tasted bitter and the colours of buildings and grass verges appeared washed out and faded.
“This is a bad omen and can only mean one thing. If any of you had any doubts, the evidence present must confirm what we all need to achieve.”
The professor announced, as he turned up the collar of his jacket against the biting north wind. Nods and grunts of agreement was all that was returned before everyone spread out to head home and finalise relative plans.
BOOK TWO
PROLOGUE
‘There are many fears that old stories tell,
of what rests in Heaven or festers in Hell’
Around two million years ago, the first species emerged that we truly recognise as human, its name Homo ergaster. It is from this genus that mankind as we know it today has evolved to become top of the food chain and the most dominant force on the planet. But what if there is another? In our arrogance we believe that every corner of the globe has been explored, categorised, mapped and conquered, but there is still somewhere beyond our reach, deep underground. Many thousands of feet below the earth exists a vast subterranean civilisation that has existed since the birth of humanity. It has no physical entrance or exit and is only accessible by two methods, both through purgatory. The first is when the soul of the deceased is found guilty and sentenced to Hell from within this twilight world. Or second, via portals that transport a living being from the surface world directly into purgatory where they are then ensnared and dragged directly through the gates of Hell into the labyrinthine corridors deep underground. The inhabitants of this domain live in total darkness and navigate by a combination of bat like sonar, and ocular luminescence that allows them to see, even in pitch-black. To view this phenomenon, all the average surface dweller would be able to observe are masses of closely coupled pairs of glowing red orbs the size of marbles bobbing in the darkness as the night creatures approach. However, if you are unlucky enough to witness this, for you it is already too late!
Starting from the outermost reaches of this nightmare world, the route follows a gentle downward incline along the myriad of spiral tunnels, all of which radiate out from the central cavern. The closer to the core you progress, the echoing nightmare of pain and anguish growing increasingly louder until it reaches a deafening crescendo inside a stadium sized central cavern. One side of the dome shaped natural amphitheatre is where Toomak now stands next to the chosen assembly and at the feet of Satan who sits hidden in the shadows on his throne of skulls with only his cloven hooves visible to the masses.
This is the only place with any form of light, which comes from a seething mass of glowing red molten lava bubbling away in a central pit nearly two hundred feet below the cave floor. The heat produced from this liquid rock raises the ambient temperature within the cavern to that of a blacksmith’s forge, baking the cave walls as hot as fire bricks in a kiln, searing naked skin even at the slightest touch. Standing facing the pit and on a natural incline are the underworld inhabitants known as the night creatures who revel in the sulphurous smell and extreme temperature.
Following the advent of religion, guiding the majority along the righteous path of morality, the decline in supply of wicked souls forces the inhabitants to seek further nourishment. Most of the time the night creatures live below ground but periodically transport to the surface to reap an extra source of sustenance, the human race.
This mainly unaccounted and endless supply comes from the millions of people who every year all over the world disappear without trace. Some may go to the corner shop for a packet of cigarettes or a pint of milk never to return. Others may disappear deliberately for their own respective reasons, maybe to start a new life or stay one step ahead of the law, but most are abducted and taken forcibly deep into the bowels of the earth never to return.
The underworld dwellers have the power to place portals on the surface of the earth that lead directly into purgatory. It is in this twilight world that they sit, and wait. If someone takes the wrong turning down a back alley or across waste ground, in fact anywhere hidden that they do not usually go, there may be a trap. You cannot see it but it is there.
There are some who are fortunate enough to avoid a terrible fate, these lucky souls walk into the trap, wander lost in the dark and then stumble back out the way they came without ever meeting the night creatures. This may only take them a few minutes, but when they return, several weeks or months may have passed causing consternation amongst friends and family as to why they cannot explain where they have been and why they are still dressed the same as the day they left.
The unlucky majority are ensnared and then taken kicking and screaming deep below ground, never to be seen again.
Completely blind to their surroundings, the terrified surface dwellers are stripped naked then herded from one torture chamber to another and forced to endure unimaginable agony for the harvest of energy from their pain. A few are given back to the night creatures as payment for services rendered, where they are taken away and given a ritual cleansing before being sacrificed to appease the gods. This consists of high pitched screaming followed by feeding frenzy, using their needle thi
n teeth to rip their captives into tiny pieces until all that remains is a pile of scarified bones and blood caked hair.
For Satan’s entertainment, a select few are forced down a narrow tunnel leading out onto a promontory rock overhanging the lava pit. For the first time, the glowing molten rock offers enough light for the condemned to see their grotesque captors and even a glimpse of the Devil himself. With an audience of snarling creatures standing on one side, and the antichrist with his chosen acolytes on the other, the sorry few inch closer to the end of the precipice, clinging desperately to one another until forced by the weight of people behind them, they slip over the edge screaming their last. As the tormented souls disappear into the fiery soup below, the assembled throng moans in orgasmic rapture from the absorption of the final vestige of terror and pain. The only sign that these poor victims ever existed is a narrow column flame belching skywards and dispersing along the soot-coated roof of the cavern.
Toomak stood watching the spectacle with a religious zeal then finally turned to kneel before her master.
“Lord of the underworld, I beseech thee to listen to my plea and grant your aid in my lust for revenge.”
Toomak began as she leaned forwards, brushing her cheek reverently against the back of his outstretched hand. On hearing no refusal to her request she decided to continue.
“For over two thousand years I have suffered in purgatory searching for the amulet of the ancients. Now that I finally have it in my possession it gives me the opportunity to fulfil my prophecy.”
Toomak felt the long fingers of his bony hand turn over and gently stroke the top of her head like a bitch sitting by her master’s side. Revelling in the attention, Toomak plucked up her courage to pursue with her request.
“Even though I possess the power, this feeble carapace that contains me no longer has the strength required to fulfil my needs. Therefore I throw myself at your mercy to grant me the power of rebirth, the new body combined with the amulet will give me the strength to tip the balance of power in your favour giving you full autonomy over the living world.”
The stroking stopped and Toomak ventured an upward glance to see her master narrow his fiery red eyes while he placed both hands together under his chin as if in prayer. Toomak held her breath for what seemed an eternity, wondering if this would be regarded as insolence and would seal her last seconds of existence before being cast into the fiery pit.
“Show me the amulet.”
The deep rasping of the devil’s voice resonated through the chamber, chilling everyone through to their very core including Toomak who shivered visibly as she placed her trophy in his claw like outstretched hand. She watched avidly as his needle sharp bloodied hooked fingernails traced the ancient lettering around the emerald centre and Toomak could see the precious stone begin to glow from his caress. An evil grin started to grow across his face as he cupped the amulet tightly between his palms and black smoke poured out from between the cracks in his deeply creased and semi-petrified skin. He then he threw back his head and released a deep throated belly laugh as loud as a thunderstorm, vibrating across the floor of the cavern. Hundreds of night creatures fled down exit tunnels as loosened rocks cascaded down exploding onto the cave floor and coating everywhere in dust and debris. Added to this, plumes of fire sprayed high into the air as some of the rocks splash landed into the lava bed below. Toomak shielded her head in terror and ran for shelter under her master’s throne as rubble continued to rain down. Suddenly he stopped and as the cloud of dust settled, Toomak emerged from her hiding place and turned to see what had happened to her prized possession. Satan opened his hands and lifted up the still smoking talisman between his bony fingers. Toomak stared in rapture how the attitude of the pentagram had now flipped from north to south. It originally pointed upwards for positive pagan enlightenment but now it aimed directly to the floor to signify worship of the devil. Satan grinned as he stared Toomak directly in the eye and paused to enjoy the sight of watching her visibly quake as he said just one word;
“Granted.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
ANCIENT JUDEA
The Roman year 753.
The provinces of Judea and Syria are in turmoil as tens of thousands of people have been on the move for many weeks, some travelling many hundreds of miles to return to the place of their birth following the directive of Publius Sulpicius Quirinius as new governor of the province, formally delegated by Emperor Augustus. An idea composed for the purpose of an accurate census for taxation following the enrolment of the two provinces into the Roman Empire. The entire army has been mobilised, with all leave cancelled in order to police this extraordinary experiment, with troops stationed along all major caravan routes, patrolling by day and protecting camps at nightfall from the innumerate robbers and bandits drawn in with the hope of easy pickings. This mass migration, never attempted before in the history of the known world looks like the entire population was mobile and if a view could be obtained from above it would be not too dissimilar to a colony of ants leaving trails across the vast desert landscape.
Two of the people travelling for this census are Hajer and his wife Psyom who are returning to Hajer’s childhood home of Bethlehem. The journey has been long and arduous, especially for Psyom as she is heavily pregnant, which added to her suffering in the incredible heat of the day followed by the bone numbing cold of the night. Fortunately for them the journey was almost over with only one day left to travel and then they could rest in the comfortable home of Hajer’s father Domrem. This would give Psyom roughly one month to prepare for her imminent birth of their first-born child.
Late the following day they arrived amid local consternation and discovered from Domrem’s housekeeper Mino, that Hajer’s father had been arrested and jailed, accused of practising dark magic and that he is responsible for the strange fiery glow in the sky above their heads that suddenly appeared a few days ago. Domrem, being the town’s shaman and apothecary is an ideal target for the local priesthood who disapproved in his militant ways, and as they held sway with ecumenical decisions for the district they were confident of approval by the local Roman commander of the town. Their fear of Domrem’s knowledge and power with the added appearance of the fiery glow in the sky, forced the issue and it was seen as a good way to rid themselves of a troublesome antagonist. Domrem being an obstinate man refused to neither accept nor deny any responsibility, guessing that the strange phenomenon was just a natural occurrence and it would soon disappear. This would spread trepidation amongst the populace of how powerful he really was, and it would be worth a few nights in jail for this purpose.
Psyom took the arrest of Domrem to be another augur of bad news. For many days towards the end of the journey she nursed a foreboding that something was wrong with the baby she carried but had kept the information to herself, guessing Hajer would dismiss it as silly women’s superstition. Anyway, Domrem’s incarceration was a much more important issue.
“I told him to deny any involvement, all he had to do was say he had nothing to do with it, but would he? No he would not and look where it’s got him, in jail.”
Mino exclaimed in-between clapping her hands for the servants to carry Hajer and Psyom’s belongings into his old quarters that were now converted into the main guest accommodation. Two identical twin girls dressed in matching grey tunics and probably not much older than fourteen years of age came running from the kitchens and began to carry all of their belongings to their rooms, while another servant boy of similar age, lead their three beasts of burden down the road to the stables. Domrem had purposely chosen the girls for his employ believing that twins were an omen good fortune, something he believed in most deeply. While one of the girls’ fetched wines from the kitchens, the other carried a lighted taper around the room igniting the wall mounted oil lamps adding illumination and a cosy glow to Hajer’s familiar environment. Mino stood in the doorway with her hands on her massive hips, paying close attention to the proceedings and when satisfied she dismis
sed the two girls leaving her alone with her guests. She was a formidable woman, very tall and grossly overweight due to her passion for honeyed dates and fine wine but her energy was limitless and she ran the house with vigour and efficiency. Hajer smiled at the loving face of this gentle woman that seemed to have hardly changed apart from a hint of grey hair at the temples and the odd laughter line bringing character to her face. This surrogate had cared for him from birth after his own mother had died in labour with Hajer, almost taking the yet unborn infant with her to the grave. It was only down to good fortune that Domrem, in his grief, cradling his wife’s limp body gently in his arms, sobbing quietly and rocking slowly back and forth, felt movement in her abdomen. With the aid of a quickly acquired sharp blade, Domrem operated on his dead wife and delivered Hajer into the land of the living.
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