Legends of Amacia: The Rising

Two hours later after leaving the staging area of Nelfheim in the mountainous north of Srandi where Monroe, Tsu, and Jared had gathered a sizeable army in support of Hannibal’s war against the Emperor, Hannibal, Selina, Eris, Valeria and her twins arrived at Srandi riding on the backs of the Roc and the draken guardian Aeolus. The Roc vanished from sight as usual once it had safely deposited its passengers on the roof of Srandi’s keep. Likewise, Aeolus allowed his charges to dismount and then promptly left to call back his draken brood to the fortress. Selina led Valeria, Eris, and the twins in search of Aliya and Maia while Hannibal went back to his quarters, retrieving Thoth’s staff. He then went directly to the power plant core control room with Joshua, Harry, Lord Tau, and Assad after sending word for everyone to pull back into the fortress city and bar the gates. Nemesis, Enoch, Magnus and the rest of Hannibal’s inner circle made it happen as Hannibal proceeded to the core control room. By time he got there with Joshua, Harry, Tau, and Assad, everyone had been pulled back within the main walls of the fortress city, including the drakens. Hannibal examined the control panel closely, watching the gages for the various devices powered by the core. All were in the green except for the one system called Giants. Its gauge was barely reading, as it was when he first reactivated Srandi’s core days earlier.

“All right guys. This is the only one I’ve yet to power up. I’m sure it’s the shield,” Hannibal announced as he punched a few buttons and the hologram lit up, showing the fortress out to the perimeter where the stone giants lay partially buried in the sands a half mile away. “Well, here goes nothing,” he said as he touched the button on the console below the gauge, holding it. The core rumbled as the power levels spiked from it. The control room began to shake, as did the keep. It shuddered slightly but the control room itself shook noticeably from the power buildup. The giants meter began to register, the bar slowly moving up to the lower mark of two on the gauge. Hannibal kept the button pressed and silently prayed as he watched the hologram. Power levels from the core rose almost to the red and the air became charged with raw power inside the control room, making nerves tingle and hair stand on end.

“You know what you’re doing?” Joshua asked with some concern.

“I think so,” Hannibal replied soberly, “This one labeled Giants is the defense mechanism for the fortress. I get the power levels up sufficiently and it should raise a shield over this whole complex.” The power levels steadily rose and on the outside, the people were beginning to notice it as the crystal pyramid on the roof of the keep began to glow noticeably. “Just a little more,” Hannibal growled tensely as it got closer and closer to the lower line, which was over two-thirds the way up the scale. When it hit the mark on the meter, the core, which had been building for a discharge, it released its energy and the window, which had gone dark because of the impending power load out in the shaft, lit up as if the sun was just outside the window. It cast shadows, briefly blinding them, forcing them to look away. The massive energy surge raced upwards to the energy regulator at the top of the shaft and then it sent it to its destination: the stone giants on the perimeter.

They looked into the hologram while the people on the walls and in the courtyards look up because an earsplitting bone-rattling boom thundered from the top of the keep as the energy surge from the core reached the crystal pyramid. The pyramid blazed like the sun, casting shadows, and forcing people to look away. Suddenly from the apex of the pyramid, energy surged out of the crystal and arced like lightning out to the perimeter where the stone giants lay partially buried in the sands. The energy bolts struck each of the twenty of the titanic stone Sentinels and they suddenly came to life: the ancient machinery under their stone skin activating for the first time in 13,000 years. The ground shook as they rose out of the sand of the desert and stood with gigantic medieval weapons in hand ready to do battle...sand pouring off their colossal forms like water. Each giant soared four hundred feet in height with giant weapons perfectly matched to their colossal size. Each had two weapons: one in each hand ranging from swords to axes, maces, cudgels, even spears. When the awakened stone Sentinels lumbered into position, shaking the ground as they moved, the colossi reached out and clanged their weapons against the weapons of the giant next to them, making a picket line. Then they pulled their weapons back and stood at attention, apparently becoming inert and lifeless as the statue they appeared to be.

At that point, Hannibal released the button as the energy surge abated. He was stupefied by what he saw in the hologram as the stone giants came to life and took up sentinel positions at the perimeter.

“Holy Christ!” Harry exclaimed as he saw the unfathomable giants move like giant men waking out a deep sleep, and standing at attention with military precision.

“Merciful Ancient of Days,” Joshua breathed in fearful awe as the ancient golem Sentinels awoke and assumed their defensive perimeter.

“I’ve seen a lot in my time, but nothing of this magnitude,” Assad declared in a humbled tone. “Even the Emperor cannot match this technology.”

“I would agree,” Tau concurred, “This is most impressive.”

“That it is,” Hannibal replied softly, likewise stunned and impressed by the activation of the Stone Sentinels. “The only place I’ve seen anything close to this is the Tiamat Colossus that guards Tiamat. It too must be a golem sentinel like these giants. I bet if I took a closer look at them, I’d find the same technology made them, but that’s something we can do later when we’re not so pressed for time.” He then noticed another smaller inconspicuous button labeled ‘Shield’ that he hadn’t noticed before right next to the Giant’s button and said, “All right. I believe this is what we actually want.” He pressed the button and held it as the core went into another build up for a power release. He watched the meter as it rose up to the high-level mark on the scale and released the button. The core once again surged and the entire fortress shook as a much larger burst of energy raced to the crystal pyramid on the roof. Everyone outside watched as the pyramid glowed like the sun again, shaking the fortress noticeably but not dangerously.

In a blink of an eye, the pyramid released a column of energy that was as half as big as the pyramid itself, shooting it straight into the sky. At the same time, seven hundred yards outside of the main fortress walls, the ground shook so violently that the sands moved like water. The sand churned and boiled as spires began to rise from the sand in a picket line mirroring the stone giants. The spires were dark octagonal crystal obelisks of a crimson violet hue so dark it nearly appeared black carved with massive arcane alien runes of obscene antiquity and power...the runes themselves being four feet tall lined with the purest darkest amethyst crystal Hannibal had ever seen. These runes glowed brightly in a peculiar shade of crimson-violet that seemed truly alien to him. These carved monolithic obelisks spanned fifty feet across and rose three hundred fifty feet in height by time they’d fully emerged from the boiling sands. At a hundred and fifty feet high, a wall sixty-five feet thick appeared out of the sands along the line of the obelisks, connecting them together as the entire structure emerged from its sandy grave.

The wall itself rose a hundred feet with the spires rising two hundred feet above them. Right in the middle of the wall sat a gateway to allow access from the outside through the wall. Two of the crystal obelisks, which were a hundred feet apart along the new perimeter, bordered the gateway. All the crystal obelisks glowed in an ominous crimson-violet hue as they rose from the boiling sands with the wall, eventually stopping at a height of three hundred fifty feet for the obelisks while the connecting wall stopped at hundred fifty feet tall.

At the same moment above the crystal pyramid, the energy column created a glowing orb three thousand feet above the keep and roughly seven hundred feet across. The people looked on in awe and some with stark terror as the very air became charged with raw power causing hair to stand up and nerves to tingle all over the fortress. The glowing ball of raw power began to arc and hiss as energy surges raced over its surface. The crystal obelisks started glowing brightly after they reached their optimum position at three hundred feet fifty, small electrical charges arcing over each crystal. It was at that point, the glowing ball hovering over the keep atop the pillar of energy began to arc very noticeably.

Before anyone knew it, it reached out with blue lightning tinted a faint crimson-violet hue to each of the obelisks. It crackled and snapped like a giant Van DE Graff generator. The air hissed and crackled with raw power on a scale not seen in tens of thousands of years at this location, causing hair to stand on end and nerves to tingle. It arced to all the obelisks at once, which in turn, redirected the energy, sending energy bolts between the obelisks. The people began to cower in fear of the ancient god-machines as the energy shield began to take form. Suddenly there was a thudding whoop and the shield took form, starting at the obelisks where they emerged from the top of the wall and working skyward. In less than a minute, the shield closed up at the glowing orb over the keep. The air ceased to be charged and the dramatic display that had accompanied the raising of the shield disappeared. All that was noticeable was the glow of the pyramid on the roof of the keep and a very faint trail of energy rising from it to the shield, which was a shimmering transparent dome of light ice-bluish colored energy over the whole fortress city complex tinted with a barely perceptible crimson-violet hue. A person could see through it without any problems, but knew it was there. It was like looking through glass. On occasion, a small crimson-violet electrical discharge would run over its surface. Once the shield was up, the people outside realized the machine wasn’t going to destroy them and a thunderous cheer rose from them for they now realized they were protected by the ancient god-machines of Srandi.

Hannibal, Joshua, and Harry had watched the shield going up on the hologram, but really didn’t get the full impact of it until they were standing just inside the gateway through the shield wall to the outside. It was nearly four in the afternoon when they stood there looking at the shield up close. At this point, Selina was with him accompanied by Aliya, Maia, Valeria, Eris, Amelia, Elle, and Emma. Enoch also stood there with Kida, Electra, Nathanael, Elias, Hunter, Andrew, Nemesis, Ana, Magnus, Tau, Assad, Samantha, Minos, and Po the hybrid. They were all looking at the shield with fascination. Hannibal held the staff of Thoth in his hand as he examined the shield. “That’s a majorly impressive energy shield, Hannibal,” Enoch stated plainly, very impressed with what he saw.

“That it is,” Nemesis agreed. “The Emperor is able to generate energy shields too, but nothing like this or of this magnitude. This is a completely different energy signature than the Emperor’s shields and is much stronger, resilient, and more potent than his is.”

“I too am impressed with what I see here,” Tau rumbled. “I haven’t seen anything quite like this since I was a prisoner in Kartoom. However, this makes the Cadre’s tech in Kartoom look mundane. This is centuries ahead of what they had.”

“I agree,” Assad concurred, “This is truly a marvel of ancient engineering, as are the giant Sentinels you first awoke Beowulf. I’m truly astounded by everything I’ve seen.”

“I too am amazed by this technology,” Minos admitted. “I am well aware of the Cadre’s cutting edge tech as Lord Tau is, and this shield is nothing like what I saw as a prisoner in Kartoom’s maximum security prison and labs. This shield is far more powerful and resilient than anything they ever came up with.”

Just then, Argus swooped down and landed behind them with Calliope and Thantos. Hannibal noticed their arrival and tore his scientific mind away from the shield to greet them. Argus lumbered up and Hannibal asked, “What do you think Argus, impressive isn’t it?”

Argus nodded, saying, “It is indeed. The thing that surprised me was that the Sentinel golems still work after the severe beating they took when the Emperor was here the last time.”

Hannibal looked out at the giants on the perimeter saying, “So was I. Even though Azriel told me they were mechanized and he had their repair program going after I re-energized the core, I wasn’t sure whether to believe it or not. I now stand corrected. Azriel was right, and it seems the repair mechanism of the Sentinels has repaired them enough to allow them to activate when I engaged the Giant’s circuit. I am officially impressed by that since I noticed how damaged they were when we first got here. But what I’m wondering now is whether there is a way for us to move in and out of this shield without having to lower it.”

Aliya stepped up and saw that Hannibal held Thoth’s staff, asking, “Lord Beowulf; is that Thoth Caverias’ staff?”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “It is. Why do you ask? Do you know about the ancient machines of the 1st Age?”

Aliya nodded, saying, “Of course; as a direct descendant of Gordo the master builder, I was trained in the ways and traditions of the ancient machines in order to keep the knowledge alive. It’s been the tradition of our family line to always keep the old ways of the machine alive, even if we didn’t have the abilities to repair them. That way we didn’t allow that knowledge to pass away into oblivion. We kept it alive in Shangri-La and could use much of the older machinery we discovered to build the city because of it. I know we had shield generators not too different from this one, just not as big or potent. Tsu has a staff kind of like the one you hold in your hand to access shielded areas without having to lower the shield. Maybe this one can do the same?”

Argus nodded, saying, “She’s right. I seem to remember that staff vaguely as well. I wasn’t the one who really knew about such things. Aeolus was the expert, but I did see Thoth use that staff there to do something with the shield. Exactly what, I don’t clearly remember.”

Hannibal’s eyebrow rose a bit as he looked at the staff. “Well, there is only one way to find out,” he announced, walking right up to the shield.

“Be careful, Hannibal,” Selina called out in a worried tone.

Hannibal held the staff horizontally in front of him as he looked at it. “All right, Lord. How does this work?” he muttered to himself. He then took the head of the staff and started to reach out to touch the shield, but stopped short, saying, “Wait a minute. Hunter, grab one of those rocks and throw it at the shield.”

Hunter looked around, finding a large rock the size of a football nearby and threw it at the shield. The moment it hit, it bounced off instantly and electrical charges ran over the impact sight, rippling it like disturbed water. “Thank you, Hunter,” he called out, “That gives me some idea of how the shield works.” He then reached out cautiously with his hand to touch it.

“Watch yourself little brother,” Enoch warned as Hannibal gently touched the shield. It immediately shocked him, throwing him back into Nemesis’ arms with some force.

Hannibal growled, the shock having numbed his arm briefly and made his entire body tingle painfully. Nemesis chuckled, saying, “That’s very scientific. Would you care to try that again? If I remember, energy shields are designed to reflect and enhance the force used against them. I see this shield is no different.”

Hannibal shook himself, shaking the numbness out of his hand and arm before walking up to the shield, saying, “Yeah, Nemesis. I think I will, but I will be a bit more careful this time. This shield has quite a kick to it.” This time, he reached out deliberately with some force and touched it with the flat of his hand. His hair stood up as he gritted his teeth, pushing forcefully on the shield as he felt voltage running though him. Only for a couple of seconds did he withstand the power before being repulsed again by the shield, making him stagger back a few steps. “Yikes! I was right. That shield has a really potent kick to it,” he announced as he worked his hand and arm trying to get feeling back in it. Once he had, he suddenly noticed that the staff’s head and markings were glowing softly, saying, “Interesting.”

Hannibal then called out as he took the staff in both hands saying aloud, “Open sesame,” touching the shield with the staff and it promptly opened a hole in it between the two obelisks and up nearly fifty feet. A brilliant blue band of energy bordered the opened hole. “Well, now; How about that,” Hannibal chimed, abruptly stepping outside the shield as everyone watched. He looked around, then stepped back inside the shield and called out, “Close sesame.” Instantly the shield closed as Hannibal glanced at everyone. They were in stunned silence as Hannibal experimented with the shield. This time, he just called out, “Open sesame.” The shield opened back up and he said, “Close sesame.” It closed. “Well, what do you make of that? This is the den of Ali Babba and his forty thieves,” he stated humorously. He had lost everyone with his comment except Harry and Selina.

“What are you talking about?” Magnus asked for everyone.

“It’s just a little legend on the surface. I’ll tell you about it later. Selina, why don’t you try to open it?” Hannibal replied.

“Open Sesame,” Selina called out and the shield promptly opened.

Hannibal stepped outside and said, “Close it.” She said the words and it closed. Hannibal then spoke the words from the outside and nothing happened. “Ah ha!” he cried in epiphany. They watched as he touched the shield with the staff and said the words. This time, it opened just enough for him to walk in. He walked in and it promptly closed behind him.

“How can you open the shield just by speaking to it?” Andrew asked, mystified by what he’d seen.

“Because he’s the Last Caverias and heir to the Sapphire throne son,” Enoch answered.

“So Uncle Hannibal and Aunt Selina can just speak to it because of their Caverias genetics?” Andrew queried, trying to understand.

“It seems like a logical conclusion,” Assad chimed. “Beowulf has control of every aspect of this fortress, especially since he holds Thoth Caverias’ staff in his hand. Between that and the fortress’ AI having recognized Beowulf and Lady Selina as the heirs through their direct genetic connection to the Caverias line, it would seem logical that they would have the ability to speak to the machines of this place and they would obey.”

“I think Assad is probably right about that,” Hannibal stated. “Azriel has confirmed my identity and allowed me and Selina full access to all the systems of this place, including the defensive shields and mechanisms. Moreover, it helps that I’m using Thoth’s staff to do this, so it’s not a big deal. However, we are quite a distance from the fortress proper, so I’m thinking this shield wall is also connected to the fortress in some manner. I’m betting there’s a control panel close by that could be used to control this gate. It might be right here on one of these obelisks that frame this gate.” He began to look around at the obelisks, saying, “We should find it so we don’t have to speak to it. Spread out and start looking.”

Selina, Samantha, Assad, Valeria, Aliya, and Maia looked around the left hand obelisk while Hannibal, Ana, Enoch, Tau, and Nemesis looked around the obelisk on the right. A couple minutes later, Aliya called out, “We found something. I think it’s what you are looking for.” Everyone gathered around as Hannibal moved to the front where Selina and Aliya were standing. There were some worn and faded engravings in a strange-looking panel that appeared to be carved into the obelisk. Selina brushed the sand and dirt away. It was positioned right where a guard would be posted for watching the gates with the Stone Language etched on it. “All right,” Hannibal cried happily. “You found it! Now let me see here if this works.” He read the worn faded inscriptions and suddenly pushed a spot and the gate opened like it did when he said, ‘Open sesame.’

Hannibal pushed the same button again and it closed. He methodically went through the controls, finding it controlled how big the opening could be for the gateway. The smallest hole was for someone rough his size, and could expand until the entire gateway between the obelisks was open. Finally, he got to one inscription was partially eroded on and pushed it. Immediately the shield sealed up, becoming translucent and much denser as a klaxon began to wail throughout the fortress, causing everyone to pause fearfully. “Oh this is good. An alarm,” he said in an impressed tone as he fumbled until he found the cut off for it. The klaxon shut off and the shield returned to its shimmering transparency. He turned and looked at the assembled group, saying, “What do you think? That’s a handy way to get in and out of here without me or Selina being here to open it. I think we should post some sentries in case someone comes in at the last minute that’s friendly to us, though I don’t think it’s apt to happen.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Nemesis stated. “I think we should post sentries not just here but at every entrance to the fortress and on the walls so we can have a lookout.”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Do it.” Just then, he heard something that caused his heart to sink into his boots, a strange unearthly rumble echoing in the distance. He abruptly looked up and out toward the wastes. In fact, they had all heard the eerie noise. The air was beginning to look truly weird out over the desert. It was as if twilight was falling but it wasn’t twilight. The air was getting dark and almost cream colored. It seemed to shimmer like auroras. There was a noticeable darkening of the light everywhere. Then the ground began to shimmer just a little. It captivated everyone. A dreadful silence fell over the whole city of Srandi as everyone who was outside in the streets and on the walls stopped to watch.

Finally, Calliope spoke up asking, “Argus, what is that? Why does the sky look like that? It doesn’t look right, and what was that strange wailing rumble. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

Argus looked at Hannibal as he looked back. “It has begun!” Hannibal cried with deadly seriousness in his voice. “That, Calliope, is the first evidence that the Rising is upon us, but do not fear. We’re safe here in the Almighty’s pavilion. What you are seeing now is just the beginning of a storm that is going to shake the world literally from one end to the other. Come, my friends, we must get under cover. Even under the shield, it may not be safe to be out here. Andrew, come here.” Andrew walked up and Hannibal said, “I want you to remain here for the next three hours in case someone happens to come. You have a gift for determining what people’s intents are. Use it. Keep an eye on the sky too. However, if no one shows in three hours, lock down the shield as you saw me do and come back to the keep. I want no one outside after that. This storm isn’t going to be pleasant. I have faith the shield will hold, but I’m not going to tempt fate by letting people watch from out here.”

Eris stepped forward and said, “I’ll stay too, to keep him company. No one should be left on guard duty by themselves.”

Hannibal smiled, saying, “That is so true. Now just remember: three hours. After that, no one gets in. If anyone does happen to come, you call me immediately.” Andrew nodded and Hannibal then said, “All right. Let me show you how to operate this thing.” Andrew and Eris gathered around as Hannibal showed them how to operate it. Once he did that, he said, “One final thought: if for any reason your hair begins to stand on end and your nerves tingle significantly, come in immediately. That would indicate an impending energy discharge is imminent that you do not want to be anywhere near when it cuts loose. Such a discharge could be fatal.”

Andrew looked Hannibal in the eye, saying, “You got it uncle: three hours unless our hair stands up and nerves tingle. If anyone comes, let you know.”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good idea of what to do. I’m sorry to have to leave you on guard duty like this.”

Andrew patted him on the shoulder, replying, “Don’t fret it, uncle. After the things we’ve been through recently, guard duty sounds pretty good, actually. Besides, I’ve got someone to keep me company.”

Hannibal smiled and turned to the group, saying, “All right people, let’s get under cover.” They followed him back to the keep, leaving Andrew and Eris alone at their post. The light level continued to drop slowly as the magnetic fields fluctuated wildly as they deteriorated.