by Ryan Hartung
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” Cliff asked no one in particular as he stared toward the middle of the room. The room was a perfect square, almost ten feet by ten feet. In the absolute middle of the chamber was a pedestal almost exactly like the one they had found in Peru.
The bright green aura was brightest there, where on top of the white marble stand lay Hades’ artifact. The relic was completely different from Colt’s Lightning Staff in that it wasn’t a weapon at all. A large pure black sphere, about the size of a large shooter marble, lay on the stone. Attached to the ebony orb were four long golden prongs. The prongs were then attached to a single point on a chain, all glowing a bright golden yellow. The eerie green light was radiating from deep within the black sphere.
As the party of five inched their way closer to the foreign glowing object, they saw that not only was the green light coming from the orb itself, but that inside of the sphere’s pitch black darkness, there appeared to be clouds of the green haze swirling in perpetual motion. It was as if the black orb held a small bright green galaxy where all of the stars were green instead of white, red, yellow, and blue. The eerie green haze was swirling out of the orb and around the chain and clasp, bathing the pure gold with its deathly green tint.
Leonardo, not realizing what he was doing, began reaching out to touch the glowing artifact.
“Stop,” Colt yelled as he saw the hand moving forward. Dominic leapt toward the Italian and swatted his hand away with a loud smack.
“You don’t want to touch that,” Dominic cautioned, after receiving the Italian’s look of surprise at Dominic slapping him.
“Why not? Is there something I don’t know?” he asked accusatorily.
“When Colt touched the Lightning Staff for the first time, it sent such a large jolt of electricity through him it stopped his heart. We had to beat on him for over a minute before he fully came too. We’ve all been feeling that this artifact has something sinister about it. Honestly, right now, I’m afraid for any of us to touch it,” Dominic said and shuddered.
“He’s right. I don’t think any of you should touch it,” Colt said stepping forward. “The Lightning Staff has protected me before when I was holding it, and I think it’ll protect me now.”
Colt was convinced something horrible was going to happen to the first person who touched the pulsing orb besides himself. Before anyone could say a word, he reached forward. Colt clasped his one empty hand around the sphere itself while keeping a death grip on the Lightning Staff. The others gasped, but nothing happened.
Unlike before, there was no surge of light or shock or anything else. The orb just continued pulsing its eerie green light like nothing had happened while Colt held it in his hand.
“Hmm, that’s definitely not what I expected,” Colt said as he turned the sphere over in his hand. The others crept closer and stared at the glowing chain and green hazy clouds swirling inside of the black sphere.
“I have a guess at what’s going on,” Hillary said. The others turned toward her, their faces bathing in the green haze looked like scary ogres as they waited for her to tell them her observation. “Both this chamber and the one in Peru said there could only be one god. Well, Colt already has the Lightning Staff under his control, so maybe he isn’t allowed to wield two artifacts at the same time. Someone else is going to have to grab it.”
“I’ll do it,” Leonardo said. “This is an Italian treasure; it should be an Italian that controls it.”
Against his better judgment, Colt replaced the artifact on top of the pedestal and stepped back. As he did, Leonardo stepped forward and reached for the pendant’s chain, when out of nowhere three Russians burst into the room with their guns drawn.
Chapter
8
“Hands in the air, nobody move!” Vladimir yelled as he aimed his weapon five feet from Leonardo’s head. Pavel and Dmitry with their weapons drawn shimmied through the doorway and fanned out from Vladimir’s rear to the right and left. Lastly, behind the others, Natalya entered the room staying behind Vladimir and to his right.
“Just give us the treasure and no one needs to get hurt,” Vladimir ordered with a firm commanding voice.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you take it,” Colt said, feeling emboldened with the Lightning Staff by his side. “All I have to do is think, and you and your friends are going to be like marshmallows roasting on a campfire,” he returned with bravado.
“Seriously my American friend, you are outmatched and outgunned. Why make matters worse, just give us the artifact.”
“Okay, you asked for it,” Colt said as he imagined the three Russians with guns having the living daylights shocked out of them. He waited, but nothing happened. Vladimir stared at the American, wondering what he was thinking, while waiting for an additional response.
Colt tried again, but as before nothing happened. He quizzically looked at the staff and realized the power he normally felt running through his body had all but disappeared. Maybe when two of the artifacts were in close of proximity they canceled each other out, some sort of safety mechanism he wondered.
Regardless of the staff working or not, Colt was determined not to let the Russians have the green glowing orb. With a one fluid movement, he took a swipe at the Russian leader, however not being a trained fighter; Vladimir saw it coming a mile away. Without firing a shot, Vladimir moved to the side as the tip of the Lightning Staff swung harmlessly by. As Colt started to pull the staff back toward him, the Russian daftly flipped the gun in his hand and whacked Colt with its butt squarely on the top of his head. Instantly Colt dropped the staff and crumpled into an unconscious heap on the chamber’s warm floor.
“Colt!” Hillary said, dropping to his side. “You monster,” she screamed at the large Russian, who seemed not to care. Hillary gently brushed Colt’s dark hair off his forehead revealing a large purple and red welt begging to form. Colt mumbled something incoherent in response to her gentle touch, which made her pull him in even closer.
Leonardo began reaching down for Colt’s staff, thinking he could try its powers against the Russian intruders. However, he failed to remember that Colt would have to be dead before the staff would work for anybody else.
Irritated by the Americans not listening to his orders, Vladimir deftly flipped his pistol back into position and fired a warning shot at the floor in between Leonardo and the now dulled Lightning Staff. The bullet ricocheted off the floor, delivering a glancing blow to Leonardo’s right shoulder before hitting the chamber’s back wall, then the ceiling, and finally burying itself in Cliff’s flashlight as he dropped it to the floor. On each surface the bullet had ricocheted against was left a layer of lead at the point of impact, but the white marble floor, wall, and ceiling themselves were unscathed.
“I’m not going to say it again. We are taking the artifact, with all of your team either dead or alive. It makes no difference to us,” Vladimir bluffed. Pavel could have cared less about whether the Americans lived or died, but Vladimir felt differently. He’d seen enough death and destruction in his lifetime to know that every life was precious. However, just because Vladimir felt that way did not mean he wouldn’t use lethal force if necessary.
While Cliff stared at his now dead flashlight lying on the temple floor, he desperately wanted to draw his gun to defend the civilians in his care. Unfortunately, he could sense each of the other two Russians with guns was watching his every move. Being the only military operate on his team, and although he had done nothing to tip the Russians off, he stood out like a sore thumb. Cliff knew if he so much as reached for the gun in his pants, he’d be lying dead on the floor before even having a chance to shoot.
Vladimir warily took a step toward the pedestal. As the Russian approached, Leonardo scooted away across the slick floor, while holding his grazed arm. Only a small amount of blood was flowing through his open fingers as the bullet had just barely grazed the surface of his skin. Another step and Vladimir reached toward the object.
“I wouldn�
��t do that,” Dominic muttered, afraid to speak any louder.
Vladimir gave him a scornful look and with one fell swoop grabbed the bright green and gold colored device. The instant he did so, the artifact pulsed with the green light so bright it temporarily blinded everyone. Vladimir screamed in pain, but did not let go of the chain; the treasure was his.
As the light subsided and their visions returned to normal, both the Russians and the Americans were horrified at what they saw. In the middle of the room stood Vladimir, holding the chain connected to Hades’ Sphere completely covered in white leprous sores, lesions, and open wounds. He looked like walking death.
Vladimir saw the mixture of disgust and shock on the Americans’ faces and turned to his Russian subordinates. Even in Pavel and Dmitry’s eyes, which were blue and brown balls of steel, Vladimir could see their concern. Natalya put a hand to her open mouth and muttered, “Oh my,” as she took a step backward.
The longer Vladimir stood, the more he felt his energy starting to wane. Quickly he threw the glowing sphere around his neck, then thrust out a hand toward the pedestal, needing its solid surface for immediate support. Although disgusted by the man before her, Natalya rushed to his side and threw one of his arms over her shoulder.
The green swirling haze inside of the black sphere dramatically increased its movement at Natalya’s closeness to its master. The chain and clasps pulsed a radiant golden-yellow, while the sphere itself a radiated a brilliant emerald-green. Unlike Dominic, who a week ago had wanted to touch the Lightning Staff, Natalya wanted nothing to do with Hades’ Sphere and kept her distance.
“We’re leaving,” Vladimir hoarsely commanded. Pavel and Dmitry nodded, but remained where they were, watching Dominic and Cliff. Leonardo had since stood, but the Russians did not consider him much of a threat with his injured arm. On the floor, Hillary had brought Colt to a sitting position and was still trying to bring him out of his groggy state.
Vladimir took a step toward the door, as did Natalya carrying the weight of the right side of his body. Vladimir could feel the sphere’s power rushing through his veins, yet his body seemed to groan with each movement he made. A few steps further and halfway to the door, in only a matter of seconds, their path was blocked. Six Chinese nationals armed with semi-automatic machine guns rushed through the door’s openings on both sides of the marble slab like water leaking through a cracked dam.
“Put down your weapons,” their commander said in slurred English. “You are outnumbered and out gunned.”
“Where have I heard that before?” Dominic snarkily said to Leonardo, who gave him a questioning look, clearly not understanding the joke.
“Put down your weapons. You’re clearly outnumbered,” the Chinese officer said again to the two Russians. Four of the six members of the Chinese militia had now spread out against the wall between the room’s entrance and exit. Two sets of two Chinese gunmen each flanked one of the singular Russians who still held their firearms.
Pavel and Dmitry looked to their weary and malformed commander for instructions, although they already knew his answer. “Pavel, Dmitry, lay down your weapons,” he ordered. Dutifully and without hesitation, they each laid their firearms on the floor. For both Dmitry and Pavel it was two machine guns to one pistol. What else were they supposed to do?
“That was very wise of you,” the Chinese commander said with an evil smile. “Now hand over the artifact,” he said to Vladimir who was standing directly in front of him.
“Come and take it yourself,” Vladimir growled. He had been listening to every word the Americans’ had spoken within earshot, and if he’d heard them correctly, trying to take one of these artifacts from its user would have dire consequences for the aggressor.
“So be it,” the Chinese commander returned taking the bait. He gave a quick glance to his five fellow citizens, making sure all was in order. Seeing they had the situation in complete control, he approached Vladimir to take the artifact.
As the Chinese commander reached for Hades’ Sphere, hanging on the chain around Vladimir’s neck, the sphere began to pulse its odd emerald green light even faster and harder than when Natalya had first approached.
“You disgust me,” the Chinese commander said as he looked up at Vladimir’s disfigured face for a brief second. Vladimir’s yellowing eyes met the commander’s, showing him that the feeling was mutual.
The Chinese leader grunted a hint of admiration at Vladimir’s bravado, as sick as he was, and returned his gaze to the pulsating orb. Carefully he raised his hand and touched the black and green hazy sphere. Instantly the commander’s skin bubbled with bright red welts at the point of contact. The welts then spread out across his body, while turning purple in front of everybody’s eyes before finally bursting open into pockets of bright red blood and puss.
The Chinese commander gasped for air, trying to breathe, but found none. He grabbed his throat searching for the obstruction he could feel within, only to feel his skin peeling at the very touch. Doubling over, the commander coughed as hard as possible to remove the impediment from his throat and splattered blood over the floor. He dropped to his knees and fell face forward toward the unforgiving white marbled floor, dead before he hit its white marble surface.
The rest of the room gasped in unison at the Chinese commander’s death, which came with blinding speed, lasting no more than a few seconds at the most. Beneath the dead Chinese commander’s body, a pool of bright red blood started to form.
“Do any of the rest of you want to take this from me?” Vladimir weakly coughed. He felt like utter crap, and from the expressions he saw around him, he knew he looked even worse. Vladimir coughed and looked down at his hands, which were disgusting and without a doubt resembled every other part of his body. Although he had received nowhere enough schooling to be even considered close to a doctor, his military service had brought him in contact with numerous diseases.
Quickly he studied his hands. He knew the white scaly patches of skin were a type of leprosy, which thank God was treatable. The large red bumps appeared to be a rash of some sort. However, the lesions and open sores concerned him the most. Hopefully the skin mutations were only a horrible case of eczema, cellulitis, or dermatitis, something modern medicine could treat, not some new, horrible unknown disease.
“Give me the artifact,” the fifth Chinese soldier said in broken English, taking his commander’s place. Standing on each of his sides, the pair of soldiers appeared torn as they glanced between watching Pavel and Dmitry and staring at the fallen corpse of their commander. While they looked on, the fifth soldier assumed command by stepping forward. Careful not to touch any of the flesh of his fallen comrade, their new leader pulled a small canvas bag from the dead commander’s belt.
“Put in here,” he said showing his lack of command over the foreign language. He held the bag out in front of him for Vladimir to drop in the glowing relic. The Chinese soldier smiled a wide malevolent grin showing three teeth plated in gold, hoping to find riches beyond his wildest dreams.
Chapter
9
As Pavel and Dmitry noticed their Chinese captors’ attention waning, they stole a quick glance out of the corners of their eyes in each other’s direction. They were careful not to move their heads for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Seeing their chance, while the Chinese soldiers were still distracted at the sudden death of their commander, Pavel and Dmitry simultaneously delivered punishing blows to two of their Chinese captors, knocking each of them semi unconscious and to the ground.
The fifth Chinese soldier, who’d now assumed command, whirled around at the sudden commotion, but unarmed at the moment, was unprepared to act. While his back was turned, Natalya kicked him as hard as she could in between his legs, connecting with his family jewels. As she was still holding Vladimir upright, she was unable to do much more than watch as the poor soul threw up on the ground, writhing in agonizing pain. She didn’t feel an ounce of sorrow for the man.
“
Good kick,” Vladimir hoarsely commented, clearly impressed with Natalya’s skills. She smiled at his comment, while trying not to look him in the face.
While the new Chinese leader was still rolling on the floor, Pavel and Dmitry were each engaging their second gunmen watching over them. As they tried to wrestle away the Chinese’s semi-automatic rifles, the two soldiers knocked to the ground began coming around. Still entangled with the second set of Chinese soldiers, the two knocked down soldiers stood up and reentered the fray. Eventually and through no fault of their own, both Pavel and Dmitry, although having fought valiantly against their odds, were both forced to their knees on the hard marble floor with guns pressing against their heads.
The new Chinese commander looked up from his fetal position on the floor. Seeing his troops were once again in control, he gave them his first orders. “Shoot them!” he yelled as he tried to stand. Stumbling, he moved a few feet further away from the Russian woman whose foot had intimately connected with his manhood, not wanting her to kick him again.
“I said shoot them,” he spat again after his initial order had yet to be carried out. Although a distasteful act to the Chinese soldiers, nonetheless they moved the barrels of their semiautomatics against the backs of the two Russian’s heads.
“Stop.”
Vladimir voice was hoarse, barely louder than a whisper. “Don’t do it.”
Now back on his feet the new commander said, “It’s already done.”
Before the two soldiers had a chance to shoot, Hades’ Sphere began to throb with the brilliant emerald light for a few seconds before a channel of the bright green haze, stored within the ebony ball, shot out and engulfed the five remaining Chinese soldiers. They screamed out in pain as the mist traveled through and around their bodies. A few seconds later, each of them had fallen to the floor in various states of consciousness, no longer a threat. Each of the five fallen soldiers had dark bluish purple spots covering every part of their body that the Americans and Russians could see.