Beneath The Mantle

by Ahimsa Kerp

  Quick as a snake, Ra twisted and grabbed Doctor Gomez.

  “Nooo!” she called. Ra held her in his right hand. His left hand appeared over her and something red, an elongated crimson rain, shimmered down. Doctor Gomez vanished.

  Stuart saw all that in one glance. He ran faster than he’d ever run before as the flight aspect of fight or flight took over. He ran into a building, out through the back, jumped through a garden, climbed a wall, dropped to another building, ran around to the front, found himself on a different street, ran back up toward the center of town, and then, just as a stitch hit him, he tripped over nothing at all.

  He was going fast and fell with gawky lack of grace. His hands and knees scraped on the hard ground. His foot ached where it had hit something.

  “Hey,” a familiar voice whispered. It was Keshav.

  Stuart picked himself up and limped over to the house where the saffron turbaned man hid. He was alone. He was crying.

  “Did he?” Stuart asked.

  Keshav nodded, miserably. “I didn’t even try to fight back. I couldn’t move, right? I didn’t even think of the staff.” He had it now, though, clutched tightly in his left hand.

  “He took Harper too. It probably wouldn’t have worked,” Stuart added, nodding to the staff. “It’s his weapon, right?”

  “I should have tried. Besides, it worked on his aspects. I think we have maybe the only thing here to defend ourselves. Well, that and these three.”

  At his gesture, three golems shifted into the visible spectrum. One was the green haired Mohawk guard. The other two were clay golems, their bodies muddy greys and splotchy orange-reds.

  “Is that what tripped me?” Stuart asked.

  “Afraid so,” Keshav said. “I asked ’em to grab you. I didn’t expect that. Let me see your hands.”

  “It’s nothing,” Stuart said. His hands and knees were scraped and bleeding, but it was just road rash. He could shut away that pain until they were safe. “Are the golems still on our side?”

  “I think so,” Keshav said. “But I don’t think they dare face what’s out there.”

  “That limits their usefulness,” Stuart said.

  Keshav wiped sweat from his face. “Is it getting hot in here?”

  It was like someone had turned the thermostat up twenty degrees, like they’d stepped into an oven. Keshav and Stuart turned to face each other.

  “He’s cooking us!” Keshav cried.

  “We have to get out of here.” Already the heat had doubled. Sweat poured down both of them.

  They ran into the street. There was no sign of Ra, but all of the houses they could see were melting from great heat. The marble shaped material melted like candle wax. Burned wreckage spilled into the street. Out here the heat was better, but even their clothes felt too warm against their body. Both men were sweating profusely.

  “Back to the center of the city,” Keshav cried.

  ***

  It did not take long to reach the central zone. Ra was there, waiting for them. The long feathers in his headdress were shriveling in the heat, but his body was completely unaffected.

  Stuart and Keshav slowed and paced warily toward him. With a glance of acknowledgement, Stuart stepped to the right, while Keshav went left.

  “SURRENDER.”

  It was less difficult to deny now. Adrenaline and grief at losing Harper and Baruna made the siren call less dangerous. And yet it took fierce concentration. Stuart felt blood run down from his nose. It hit his mouth, all salt and copper.

  “Oi, wanker!” Keshav’s voice was loud and brave, but Stuart could hear how shit scared he was. “We’ve had enough of your shit, mate.” The tall man held the staff steadily aimed at the enormous deity.

  Ra did not so much as blink.

  “Right then,” Keshav shrugged and the staff sprang into power. Powerful energy shot into Ra.

  It was so bright that both men had to close their eyes and look away. Jubilation and joy filled Stuart’s heart as an odd noise sounded.

  As the light died down and Stuart blinked back to vision, he realized the strange sound was laughter.

  Ra laughed.

  “SIMPLETON. THOUGHT YOU TO SET FIRE TO THE SUN?”

  Ra gestured once. The staff in Keshav’s hand exploded with the lethal force of several grenades.

  Pieces of Keshav filled the square, but they were small chunks of flesh and bone. Nothing even recognizable as human.

  “Where did we go wrong?” Stuart wondered aloud. He would have screamed, but at that moment, Ra grabbed him in his warm hands.

  Chapter 22

  Far away from Graben, to the west of Selvage, in the very center of the subterranean world, lay the city of Omphalos. As seen from afar, it resembled nothing so much as an enormous stone beehive. It squatted with ungainly bearing on a desert floor that stretched toward a distant mountain peak. The urban structure was indeed carved from a massive, mountain sized stone. On the inside, a warren of tunnels leading to various chambers of varying sizes made it livable. There were chambers for sleeping, for cooking, and for storage. The function, if not the design, was not dissimilar to that of a human apartment complex, or castle. Some of the inner rooms were massive, betraying the same predilection toward the grandiose that all of the gods had shown. The broad stone structure was an eyesore, made of stone and hubris, but within dwelt some of the most powerful and twisted gods in existence. Deities of death, goddesses of destruction, malevolent spirits, catastrophic brutes and ghastly miscreations all made a home in the city of Omphalos.

  It was here that Ra brought them.

  Chapter 23

  Jesus. Where do I even start? I am in a cold stone cell somewhere that smells of mold and bones. Harper and Baruna are with me in nearby cells. Keshav is no more. It still makes me ill to think about it, and I haven’t cried this much since my cat died when I was eight. But I’ll say this. Keshav died like a hero. A secret geek who challenged a god to a battle? It’s not much, but it’s all I can cling to. I don’t even worry if I’m a crazy person anymore. When the world is crazy, only the crazy would try to remain sane.

  That sounded better in my head.

  Almost as bad as him dying was that I had to tell Baruna. She was captured first, and it was up to me to inform her. I almost didn’t. Couldn’t.

  Of course I had to. Just blurted it out, in the end. She didn’t cry. She didn’t make any sound at all. I haven’t heard her cry yet. Where did we go wrong?

  I never got a chance to write about it, but we found Graben. It was empty, except for some golems who seemed somewhat helpful, but also utterly useless. It was a pretty weird place. Architecture I couldn’t even begin to describe. A city made of marbles, with parks, fields, and meadows. I think we could have stayed. I certainly didn’t even feel the need to write. Not sure what that says about my “Self.” I also lost my camera, which certainly mutes the Stuart who began this trip. I don’t think that’s who I am anymore.

  Staying there was moot anyway. Ra came and took us. I guess he would have taken us all alive if we hadn’t fought back. Who knows with gods?

  I am not sure how long I’ve been here. They bring food twice a day, and it’s good. Rice, lentils, noodles, onions and tomato sauce. The first actual cooked meal I’ve had here. I have my backpack and all my possessions as well. They’re not too worried about us hurting them.

  We are closer than ever to the disc of power, which is apparently in Ra’s possession. But using it to go home seems pretty damned far-fetched right now. Five of us left for help, and now three of us remain, imprisoned. Some help we were.

  I wonder about that isle of Mu. Or Lemuria or whatever. I remember Keshav’s story about the lord of the volcanoes. Is that a different god than Ra? Surely the power of the sun is volcanic. Did he destroy his land? Was it to drive his own kind down here?

  Why?

  Keshav and I had wondered if we were on the right side. Well, Ra showed his true colors. We were fools to doubt Acan. He healed us
, saved us, and sent us with protection to a city he believed would help us. Ra crushed that city and killed/captured us. I don’t think I’ll ever see him again, but if I do, I owe a big apology to Acan.

  Earlier I thought we weren’t knowledgeable enough even to be pawns. Now I wonder if that isn’t the very definition of a pawn. I can barely see the board, but it’s clear that moves are being made. I just don’t know who’s making them, or why.

  Chapter 24

  Not long after Stuart finished scribbling his blog entry, a young blonde woman came to them. She wore a blank expression and was nondescript other than her pointy, almost elven, ears.

  Her name was Nakka, and she gave them hot water and towels to clean (“As is your custom,” she said) and more food. The water smelled of iron, but after Stuart had wiped the grime and dried blood from his body, he felt worlds better. Their clothes remained spotless and stench-free, which was an even greater miracle. Not one of them, after all, had packed deodorant.

  Nakka opened the metal door to their cells after and observed dispassionately as all three of the Upworlders hugged.

  “It is from me you will learn something of the city,” she said. “Follow me.”

  They hadn’t taken more than three steps when she added: “And don’t even think about trying to escape. I would take no joy in killing you three where you stand.”

  Stuart did not remember anything from being taken in Graben until waking up in the cell here. Thus, the long, smooth tunnels were something of a revelation. Such a wonder could not exist in the world above.

  Harper likewise shook her head in amazement.

  “I’ve seen cave homes in Cappadocia, but the scale here! I didn’t dream of anything like this.”

  “Who lives here?” Stuart asked of Nakka.

  “Many,” she said. “Depending on how you define the word ‘live.’ Perhaps how you define ‘who’ as well.” More than this she did not say.

  They passed an open room where rusting automatons chopped vegetables, boiled water, and washed dishes.

  “These are your chefs,” Nakka said. “They cook for all the prisoners. Your dish is one that was popular in Lemuria.”

  “I know the separate ingredients,” Stuart said. “But I’ve never had this before. They’re pretty good cooks for robots.”

  “They are useless at all else,” Nakka said. “Come on.”

  Harper followed. Baruna stared at the kitchen scene for a long moment, her face as blank as it had been since Stuart had told her. At last he grabbed her arm and gently led her after their guide.

  They followed her through the warren. The tunnels between rooms were rounded and circular, and at times they shifted up. Some were at angles that would take magic or wings to get up. Not a problem for most who live here, I guess, Stuart thought. There were no windows to the outside, not where they were.

  Selvage had felt earthy, at one with the world around it. Graben, even the ghost of it, had also felt somehow harmonious with nature. This place, for all of its novelty, felt unnatural, a constant sense of nails on chalkboard. He felt himself breathing heavily though he knew not why.

  Other than the automatons, they saw no others on their level. Most of the rooms they passed were either empty or closed with locked doors. Nakka told them that they were close to the bottom of the city. So far down they were beneath the Earth. As the city rose, more important gods could be found. Ra himself dwelt in the uppermost chambers, the pointed top of the stone that resembled nothing so much as a pyramid.

  “Let’s go up now,” Nakka said. They entered a stone cylinder. Nakka lifted her left hand carefully, and the chamber slowly rose.

  “It’s an elevator,” Stuart said, surprised. It felt entirely too modern for this series of caves, even if it did appear to run on magic.

  “You have something like this?” Nakka asked. “It has been long since I returned to the crust. Too long, perhaps.”

  Her long face grew even grimmer. “You need to know. What you’re about to see. It’s entertainment for us, but for you, it’s the stuff of nightmares. Prepare yourselves, and know that no harm will come to you.”

  The center of the city, they soon saw, was a single chamber. Like a football stadium or hockey rink, but much larger and grander. There were rooms and seats surrounding a sunken rough stone floor. There was perhaps room for a thousand humans but currently only a few dozen sat in the stands. It was enough like the one at Graben that one clearly must have inspired the other.

  Beneath them, the stone floored pit was covered with a translucent ceiling. And in the pit? It was far worse than mere nightmare. Stuart felt his heart beat faster as Doctor Gomez gasped audibly. Even stone-faced Baruna cringed back.

  It was a full-on brawl. There were ugly one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged monsters riding eight-legged serpents. A three-headed giant made of iron stomped across the floor, the pulped remains of something in his hands. Winged felines as large as bobcats dripped venom from their fangs as they soared up toward the invisible ceiling. A group of twelve black furred yeti-like apes growled and rutted, ignoring the hundreds of eyes upon them, and the fighting of their companions. A skeleton with tattered wings fought against gibbering ghouls. A giant crow squared off against a fox with a hundred tails.

  Worst of all was she; part-woman, part-snake, all evil. The air around her pulsated with disease, and creatures who approached her fell dead to the ground from her very aura. After staring at her for some seconds, Stuart vomited all over himself. There was no warning. One moment he felt fine, and the next spew covered his chest and legs.

  “That’s Ajatar,” Nakka said. She gestured, and Stuart had warm, wet towels in his hands. “The Devil of the Woods, pernicious mother of plague and pestilence. Never has she fallen. Of all who have ever fought and bled here, she is the only one who ever joined voluntarily. It is a rare treat to see her here today, but do not stare too long at her.”

  “The others?” Harper asked. “The cats? The skeleton?”

  “Creations of the assembled gods. They battle here, daily. Those with particularly useful or original creations receive high social status for some time.”

  “I see,” Harper said, her voice subdued.

  “Some of the monsters are new. Creativity is highly valued. But there is a status awarded to those who can win with a classic creature; a dragon, a Cyclops, a vampire. The battle is eternal. For thousands of Earth years, monsters have fought and died on the cold stone floor.

  “Which one is Ra’s?” Baruna asked. Her voice remained flat.

  “Ra?” Nakka could not keep the scorn from her voice. “It is not fitting for him to participate. It would be as a father to children. Besides, he sent in a Sphinx once. It won, but the preceding riddle contest is remembered as the most boring of all fights.”

  A terrible feeling gripped Stuart. “Are you? Are we? Do you mean for us to fight here?”

  “Perhaps,” Nakka answered casually. “There is certainly some interest in how upper crusters would fare. You would be provided with modern weapons and armor from your world, of course. But you are a known quantity. We have killed humans by the millions, with sacrifice, disease, war, and ignorance. All qualities various gods have introduced into your world.”

  “Why are we here?” Harper asked.

  Nakka shrugged. “I do merely as instructed.”

  “Is Ra coming for us?” Baruna asked. Her voice was harsh with disuse.

  “No, I think not,” Nakka said. “I know not why he came for you personally, but I suspect you will not see him again. The Falcon Lord has many duties.”

  She hesitated. “I hear he found you in the city of Graben.” Her voice was low, confidential.

  Stuart had to lower his ear to hear her over the sounds of the monster fight below. “I don’t really want to talk about it. We lost a friend there.”

  “Aha. I understand human sentimentality. It makes no sense to grieve over what would have only been a few more decades anyway, but I understand that custom,
and won’t press anymore. Besides, considering the reputation of the guardians, you are lucky it wasn’t more.”

  “Guardians?” Harper asked. “There were no guardians.”

  “You must have found a different city. The guardians of Graben are ferocious.”

  “We were in Graben,” Stuart said. “Big city, amphitheater in the middle, lots of golems, weird shared hallucination balls.”

  Nakka stared at them. Her jaw actually hung open. “You survived the golems? I suppose it makes sense, though who would have guessed? No wonder Ra took an interest in you. I want to ask you.”

  Before she could continue, two figures approached them. Both were human-sized. One was dark-skinned and had a certain twinkle in his eyes. The other, also dark-skinned, had a faint fragrance about him. Neither looked familiar, though, either as people he had met, or familiar gods.

  “Ah,” Nakka said. “These are the ones who summoned you to the fighting pits.”

  “That will be all,” said the twinkle-eyed god. “We will discuss with them the fight tomorrow. And then we shall return them to their cells.”

  Nakka hesitated. It was clear that her curiosity had been piqued.

  “That will be all,” the other one rumbled in a deep voice.

  The tall woman bowed deeply and departed.

  “Let us go down now,” the first god said. They journeyed back to the stone elevator chamber in silence. Stuart still felt ill and frightened from the monsters they had seen. The five of them returned to the prison level, passed the automaton servants, and found themselves in front of their cells.

  Before they could be reassigned to the cold dungeon cells, Stuart hugged the twinkle-eyed god.

  “What are you doing?” There was as much amusement as outrage in his voice.

  “I told myself if I ever saw you again, I’d apologize. We didn’t trust you as much as we should have.”

  The air shimmered, and the men before him revealed themselves as Acan and Ek Chuaj. The former reverted to the same short and coarse hair, and broad nose. The latter looked bruised and somehow smaller, and his scorpion tale was nowhere to be seen, but it was undoubtedly he.