‘God? God will protect them?’ Avery shook himself with delight. ‘Yes, he could, but we’ve made sure the masses worship brands, celebrities and money. It’s quite wonderful, most of those in bondage to Satan don’t even know it. They ridicule those with faith and say God doesn’t exist, or hate him if they think he does. We’ve worked long and hard to ensure our followers have no God, for without faith they’re far more easily corrupted and susceptible to despair. But no matter how desperate they become, they refuse to believe, and that’s when the most wonderful thing of all happens ... they take their own lives. That’s right, Sarah, there’s nothing better than driving someone to kill themselves, unless it’s driving them to kill someone else, as they’re driven by the madness of an addiction they believe they can’t control, when, in fact, their salvation is but a heartbeat away if they just surrendered to God’s will. But they don’t believe in God, so they continue with their addiction to suppress whatever horror they were subjected to, which drives it. Yes, Sarah, our systematic abuse of children is at the heart of almost all suffering and pain, and at once responsible for our wealth and power. We encourage sexual lust beyond all else and make sure it spreads far and wide, as abuse is the single horror that many people cannot and will not allow themselves to remember, let alone feel.
‘And those that do remember are driven insane as they have no God to hold onto, so they either commit the same evil that was done to them, proliferating our power over the masses, or they drink, fornicate, gamble or drug them themselves into oblivion, which hopefully ends in their endless suffering and despair and, you’ve guessed it, the crowning glory of them all – killing themselves.
‘If only they knew how to stop this cycle, if only they had faith, or knew that any trauma can be released if they just searched for the answer and resisted temptation. Wait a minute.’ He gave a puzzled look. ‘Doesn’t the Lord’s Prayer mention just that? “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The answer is staring them in the face, but we’ve ensured they ignore and deride it – and no, pay no heed to the English Standard Version, we’ve already begun to corrupt God’s word in the ESV, amongst others. We don’t just try to pervert Catholics, God, no, all Christians are fair game – the fools. All religions, for that matter. We’ve had particular fun demonising Jews and Muslims, and some entire countries have been cast into madness by pornography alone. Papua, New Guinea, is a particularly pleasing example. But I digress. Did you know there’s a whole raft of trauma release therapies that work amazingly well at curing virtually all mental disorders and addictions? They can even reverse some diseases and prevent the manifestation of others. It’s not very well known, but that’s because we can’t make money out of healthy people, we need them sick and disorientated and thinking they need drugs to cure themselves, when the cure is within them all along! Some people are so arrogant you could slap them round the face with the answer for their entire lives and still they would think they knew best; even if their life were a complete misery, they’d think they knew best. And long may it continue, as there will always be arrogant dumb schmucks ready for our harvest.
‘Of which you’re one.’ Avery stood up and gazed down at Sarah. ‘I was hoping to drive you to suicide, my dear, but you’ve proven far more useful than such idle pleasures.’
Sarah didn’t respond and Avery glanced up at Trish, Jason and Ruben. ‘You look at me like I’m a monster. Perhaps I am, but all those who meet me say I’m quite charming. Even you, Ruben, trusted and confided in me. I’m the master of disguise and have access to a circle of power that puts me beyond the laws of man. Which reminds me.’ Avery turned to Major Lanter. ‘We need to make the offering.’
Major Lanter nodded and, with one of his two men, strode over to where Alexander Konstantin remained tied to his two murdered knights. The leader of the Knights of the Apocalypse glared up at Lanter, before his eyes glazed over.
The Swiss guard behind him lowered the butt of his sword, then used the blade to slice through the ropes. He stowed his weapon and helped the major drag the unconscious man through knee-deep viscous fluid towards the largest sphinx, which continued to gush black ooze from its open maw.
‘Put him on the throne,’ Avery said, from where he stood near the centre of the Anakim eye, its convex surface creating a dome-shaped island within the black sea around it.
Lanter and his subordinate lowered their visors and hauled Konstantin up onto the giant throne, where the foul-smelling fluid cascaded over it and down to the floor.
The black elixir splashed over the soldiers’ red armour as they positioned Konstantin upright on the throne, the dark waterfall washing over his shoulders, coating him from chest to toe. The two men then waded back through the thick liquid to rejoin their master, while their sole remaining comrade stayed where he was: standing watch over Ruben, Trish and Jason.
‘Excellent,’ Avery said. ‘We’re almost set.’ He looked down at the sunken altar as the last six glowing symbols faded in turn, until only one remained. Avery turned to Sarah as she stared up at him with bleary eyes. He smiled at her, as the last light disappeared and said, ‘Let the games begin.’
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Four
The altar stone within the pyramid’s Anakim eye spiralled down into darkness, leaving a six-foot-wide hole right next to where Sarah lay motionless. A howling wind whistled up from below and the body of one of the murdered Swiss guards slipped down into the abyss. Down and down it fell, the headless corpse vanishing into darkness, its descent unimpeded.
Another deafening noise blared out through the pyramid. The deep oscillating sound reverberated around the chamber, making the sea of black fluid ripple in response.
‘My systems are back online,’ Lanter said, the lights on his helmet flickering on.
The helmets of the other two Swiss guards also powered up, and Avery used the newfound illumination to discard the cross from the chain round his neck and replace it with the pentagonal pendant, still gleaming red with Sarah’s blood.
The wooden cross fell to the floor and Avery held out his hand. The Swiss guard next to him gave the cardinal his sword; a flame continued to flicker at its tip.
‘Alexander Konstantin!’ Avery shouted.
The knight moved his head and opened his eyes.
‘Can you hear me?! All your attempts to stop us have failed. How does it feel to be abandoned by your God?’
Konstantin glanced at the cascade of black ooze just inches from his face, the dark fluid continuing to pour down over his body. ‘God is always with me, Satanist!’
Avery held up the scroll. ‘Then how is it I have the very thing you cherish?’
A smile spread over Konstantin’s face and he looked to Ruben. ‘You fight on the wrong side, brother, but I have not forsaken you!’
Avery frowned and then unfurled the scroll to the end. ‘There’s a piece of it missing.’ He showed it to Lanter. ‘There’s a piece missing!’ He turned to Konstantin. ‘Where’s the rest?!’
Konstantin laughed. ‘I’m the only one that knows the location, and I’ll die a thousand deaths before I tell you anything!’
Avery’s expression darkened; he dipped his sword and Major Lanter shouted, ‘NO!’ but it was too late, as the Irishman touched flame to liquid.
A whoosh of fire spread across the chamber, growing hotter and hotter, brighter and brighter, as it filled the air with roaring flame.
The fires spread and Konstantin struggled on the stone throne as the blaze raced towards him. A moment later flames swept over his body and he screamed in agony. His head thrashed beneath the sphinx’s mouth and more ooze coated his head, which also lit up in a fiery glow.
A smile crept across Avery’s face as he enjoyed the spectacle, before a shimmering form emerged before him in the fire.
The Irishman bowed low as the fluctuating light of the Pharos remained where it was; its massive transparent form invisible to the eye.
‘On your knees!’ Avery shouted, over
the roaring flames.
Major Lanter bent his knee, as did his two Swiss guards, giving Ruben the chance to motion to Jason.
Jason released a grieving Trish, picked up a knife, glanced at the soldier behind him, to see his head was still bowed, then tossed it to Ruben, who turned and caught the blade in his bound hands.
An instant later Ruben was free. He took two steps and delivered a sickening kick to the Swiss guard’s helmet, knocking him to the floor.
Major Lanter spun round to see Ruben drag his longsword from Zinetti’s body.
Avery turned and his eyes widened. ‘Stop him!’
‘GO!’ Ruben waved Jason forward and, without a second thought, Jason grabbed Trish and dragged her to the edge of the hole.
‘What about Sarah?!’ Trish reached out to her friend, but Sarah’s eyes remained closed.
‘She’s gone!’ Jason said, as the fires closed in on them.
Trish struggled against him. ‘Sarah – no!!’
Lanter and his subordinate moved to either side of the warrior monk and Avery said, ‘She’s dead! The one person who could have saved you,’ – Avery pointed at Ruben with righteous fury – ‘and you killed her!’
The Vatican soldier who’d been kicked in the head struggled to his feet and Ruben shouted at Jason again, ‘Get out of here!’ He swung his sword and Lanter’s weapon met it with a clash of steel. ‘Go! NOW!’
A Swiss guard moved in for the kill and Jason swore, hugged Trish to him, swore again and jumped into the bottomless pit.
♦
Sarah opened bloodshot eyes as Trish’s scream vanished into the depths and the fires of Hades swirled around her like a storm. A man stood over her holding a gleaming sword, slick with blood, his tunic – decorated with a red cross – blazing white as he fought off Lanter and two other Swiss guards.
‘You killed her!’ Avery said to Ruben, who kept fighting. ‘You led her here to die and it’ll be the same for those you protect. Your precious Catholics will burn when the asteroids hit, along with all mankind!’
Konstantin’s terrifying screams echoed round the pyramid and Sarah gazed down at her blood-soaked hands in shock, her vision from the wall finally coming true. I’m dying, she thought as her eyes drooped closed. I’m really dying.
As Ruben swung his sword again, he glanced down at Sarah and said, ‘Forgive me, Sarah.’ He forced Lanter back and ducked an attack from another guard. ‘May God be with you.’ He rolled under another blade, which whistled past his head, and dived into hell.
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Five
‘Your Eminence.’ Major Lanter held up a hand to ward off the blazing heat. ‘We need to go!’
Avery peered down into the pitch-black hole into which Ruben had just flung himself.
Another scream made him turn to see something writhing through the flames and up onto the throne.
Fire breathed from the stone sphinx’s mouth and Konstantin, still alight, stared through fire as the snake-like head of the Pharos, now detached from the beast itself, slithered up his oil-soaked body towards his head.
‘The perfect vessel,’ Avery said, smiling. ‘Do you hear me, Konstantin!’
The leader of the Knights of the Apocalypse dragged his eyes from the horror that approached him and onto to Avery.
‘You’re to be possessed by a demon!’ Avery said. ‘Your soul belongs to the Devil! You become your worst fear!’
Konstantin let out a roar of insanity, broke the melted cable that bound him and grasped the object of terror, inches from his face. The creature thrashed in his hands and then pushed forward, extending like a worm into his face. Konstantin screamed and screamed again as bone buckled and flesh parted. The Pharos entered his body and blood gushed down his chest.
‘I know where you dwell,’ Avery murmured, watching the unfolding scene in fascination. ‘Where Satan’s throne is.’
The fiery oil continued its advance towards the hole at the centre of the Anakim eye and Major Lanter peered down into its depths. ‘I can’t see the bottom,’ he said, narrowing the light beams on his helmet.
Avery returned to his side, crouched down beside Sarah’s unmoving form and touched her shoulder.
Sarah moaned and opened her eyes.
‘Still alive?’ He tapped her bloody chest. ‘I forgot about that metal in there. It looks like you’ll burn alive instead of bleeding out. Either that,’ – he glanced at the throne and Konstantin’s unmoving form – ‘or you’ll become something else.’
♦
Sarah felt the heat of the fires growing ever closer and reached up a hand to touch her chest, where she’d been shot three times. The blood no longer flowed and Avery’s words rang in her head, ‘I forgot about that metal in there.’
I’m not dying, she thought, amazed as she felt some strength returning. I thought I was dying.
‘No,’ said her inner voice, ‘you believed you were.’
Avery continued to study her, as Sarah’s vision grew stronger and the shock of being shot faded. The Irish cardinal went to stand, hesitated, and then bent lower, pressed his lips to hers and wormed his tongue between them, deeply kissing her resistant mouth and running a hand over her chest and down between her legs.
Sarah raised a hand to push him away, but couldn’t muster the strength and she felt him smile and bite her lip.
After sating his lust, he withdrew and licked away her blood from his mouth.
‘We need to leave,’ Major Lanter said again.
Avery stood up and pointed to Konstantin. ‘Not yet, I want to see what happens next.’
‘We burn to death,’ Lanter said, the fires surrounding them reflecting in his visor.
Avery stood framed against the swirling flames, while Lanter and his two Swiss guards formed up beside him, allowing Sarah to glance down at the scroll of parchment clutched in her hand. When attempting to fend Avery off, her fingers had closed around the document nestling within his robe and she’d seized the opportunity to withdraw it without his knowledge.
It was the same scroll Avery had prised from Zinetti’s death grip, which had previously belonged to Konstantin. Whatever it contained, other than her supposed prophecy, it sounded important, and she realised if she was to do something with it, the time was now.
She took a deep breath and reached for the lip of the hole. The movement sent something skittering towards the opening.
Avery’s discarded wooden cross teetered on the brink and Sarah made a grab for it, but it disappeared into the black.
She glanced at the Irishman, who stood with his back to her, and knew she couldn’t let him beat her. She couldn’t let evil win. Not like this. With a grunt of effort, she dragged herself towards the hole, grasped the edge and plunged head first into the void.
♦
Avery Cantrell continued to wait for something else to happen to Konstantin’s comatose form, but as the seconds passed with no developments, Major Lanter grasped his shoulder. ‘We can’t wait any longer!’
Avery looked to where Zinetti’s body floated away in the swirling sea of flickering black ooze, which now closed in on them with alarming speed. The Irish cardinal nodded as another blaring sound reverberated through the pyramid. The deep note gained in volume, shaking their very bones as it built to a crescendo.
‘Where’s Morgan?!’ one of the soldiers said.
Avery spun round. A streak of blood ended at the hole’s edge and, as he watched, a spiral of oblong stone blocks appeared within, each one grinding slowly inwards towards the centre of the six-foot-wide opening.
The howling winds lessened and the fires encircling them, now just feet away, lowered and dimmed as their oxygen supply decreased.
‘Hurry!’ Lanter said, ushering Avery to the edge and motioning to his men, who sheathed their swords, lowered their visors and stepped out into the abyss.
‘Go!’ Avery said to Lanter.
The major hesitated; then he looked at his master’s uncompromising expression, gave a nod
and followed his men into oblivion.
Avery glanced down at the pendant round his neck in satisfaction and then his heart skipped a beat. He frantically searched his inside pockets. ‘The scroll!’ he said. He whirled round, looking for the furled parchment, and then a memory popped into his head of Sarah’s feeble attempts to push him away. His eyes narrowed as the wind from below made his black robes flutter like a cape. ‘You sly, little whore.’
The hole was now three feet wide and closing fast. The Irish cardinal faced it, took one last look at Konstantin’s unmoving form and, with a leer of contempt at his fallen adversary, Avery Cantrell stepped into the pit.
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Six
The stone blocks closed with a cascade of clunks and the fires extinguished, thrusting the pyramid back into darkness. But the mirrored walls still glowed with their ethereal light and, in the pervasive gloom, smoke sifted up from the unmoving figure of Alexander Konstantin. The leader of the Knights of the Apocalypse sat slumped on the oversized Anakim throne beneath the stone sphinx, which had ceased to regurgitate its black solution. His hooded cloak had melted to his body in a charred mass and his skin was similarly blackened, all except for his face, which re-formed from the gaping bloody hole that covered it.
Bone knitted to bone, sinew connected to sinew, and flesh merged with flesh until an unblemished tattooed face emerged from the trauma. At the same time the light in the walls grew brighter and brighter and a low vibration sent waves rippling through the smouldering sea of black oil, which now covered the entire floor of the stone pyramid.
As the light strengthened, so did the sound, until the entire monument shook. The black ooze vibrated, and tiny spikes and strange shapes appeared and disappeared within. The blazing radiance increased and the liquid shroud vaporised. Fluid became gas, forming a black cloud that spiralled around the pyramid’s chamber, funnelling into the centre like a tornado. Round and round it swept, coalescing into a single pillar. Lightning flickered within and thunder rumbled, before it sank down through stone and disappeared into the abyss beneath, leaving behind the stone altar once more positioned at the centre of the Anakim eye.
Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2) Page 133
