“To the Five Points of the afterlife!”
Overtones of the underworld, shadows danced in a devilish nirvana around the antediluvian stone room, each chasing one another in the dark alcoves and recesses.
In precession, the next Priest spoke. “Your life will end so others may live, and the great redeemer will protect us all.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” again all chanted in unison.
Blood trickled down Learner’s mouth when he moaned a defiant but near inaudible, “Fuck you!”
Ignoring the dying man, the next Priest continued the ritual. “You will be cleansed by the future, giving your life meaning.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” they chanted.
Around the room each spoke in turn. “Your past failures will be washed away in a sacrament of fire and flame.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” all chanted.
The fifth and final Priest spoke. “Your soul will forever remain bound to your flesh’s atonement.”
Lastly all chanted, “To the five points of the afterlife.”
The Priests then decanted ceremonial vessels, simultaneously pouring a flammable liquid into a portico at each five points; reflecting like liquid glass, the thick solution glistened as it slowly moved down, filling the carved grooves of the pentagram.
“Light the fires of the Light and Dark,” commanded the lead Priest.
Encompassing Learner, the pentagram was set preternaturally ablaze, satisfying the ritual of fire; they then began to loudly hum in a harmonic meditative trance as the room brightly glowed.
The ground unexpectedly started to shake. Showering downward, cavorting dust particles pirouetted to life, sparkling in the light bathing Learner’s crucified body, which barely clung to life.
Stupefied Priests locked their gaze upward when the window’s light blotted out. The entire structure began to violently rumble, and the stone opening around the window turned amber in color when it began to burn in a molten glow. Within seconds, the stone around the window liquefied, widening the opening; debris seemed to have unnaturally evacuated upward, causing the Priests to loudly gasp in near unanimity from shock.
Sediment filled wind, howled and rushed downward into the chamber, dousing the pentagram’s sacramental flame. The five bewildered Priests ran for cover in the long dungeon corridor when a long mechanical arm shot down through the enlarged opening; its dactyl finger-like ends opened and gently grappled on to the upside down cross, snatching Learner skyward, leaving behind bewildered Priests of the Temple of Syrinx.
After pulling Learner’s blood-covered and crucified body aboard the Raven, Mitchell Thacker struggled, wrenching the nine-inch nail from Learner’s flesh; a squeaking noise emanated from the dry timber when he twisted the head of the imbedded nail. Standing over the cross, he pulled with all his might, slowly freeing it from the wood and Learner’s hand.
“One down, two to go.” Captain Rengar Falger assisted by holding Learner’s arm.
“I can count, Captain Rengar.”
“Again, it’s just small talk, Mitchell.”
“Can we small talk our way out of here before the Vril come after us again?” Mitchell Thacker was referring to when he and Learner Rotterdam, both were detained by the Fissure Point Security after their payload went nuclear; Learner was handed over to the Vril, and for some strange reason, he was let go.
Through his blood bubbling lips, Learner whispered coarsely into Mitchell’s ear, “Master Paladin betrayed me!”
“No, it was he who saved you.” Mitchell corrected the near comatose man.
“What?” Learner asked in complete shock.
“He gave us your coordinates, timetable, and everything; and instructed us ‘If you fail to bring him back alive, you will
Overtones of the underworld, shadows danced in a devilish nirvana around the antediluvian stone room, each chasing one another in the dark alcoves and recesses.
In precession, the next Priest spoke. “Your life will end so others may live, and the great redeemer will protect us all.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” again all chanted in unison.
Blood trickled down Learner’s mouth when he moaned a defiant but near inaudible, “Fuck you!”
Ignoring the dying man, the next Priest continued the ritual. “You will be cleansed by the future, giving your life meaning.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” they chanted.
Around the room each spoke in turn. “Your past failures will be washed away in a sacrament of fire and flame.”
“To the Five Points of the afterlife,” all chanted.
The fifth and final Priest spoke. “Your soul will forever remain bound to your flesh’s atonement.”
Lastly all chanted, “To the five points of the afterlife.”
The Priests then decanted ceremonial vessels, simultaneously pouring a flammable liquid into a portico at each five points; reflecting like liquid glass, the thick solution glistened as it slowly moved down, filling the carved grooves of the pentagram.
“Light the fires of the Light and Dark,” commanded the lead Priest.
Encompassing Learner, the pentagram was set preternaturally ablaze, satisfying the ritual of fire; they then began to loudly hum in a harmonic meditative trance as the room brightly glowed.
The ground unexpectedly started to shake. Showering downward, cavorting dust particles pirouetted to life, sparkling in the light bathing Learner’s crucified body, which barely clung to life.
Stupefied Priests locked their gaze upward when the window’s light blotted out. The entire structure began to violently rumble, and the stone opening around the window turned amber in color when it began to burn in a molten glow. Within seconds, the stone around the window liquefied, widening the opening; debris seemed to have unnaturally evacuated upward, causing the Priests to loudly gasp in near unanimity from shock.
Sediment filled wind, howled and rushed downward into the chamber, dousing the pentagram’s sacramental flame. The five bewildered Priests ran for cover in the long dungeon corridor when a long mechanical arm shot down through the enlarged opening; its dactyl finger-like ends opened and gently grappled on to the upside down cross, snatching Learner skyward, leaving behind bewildered Priests of the Temple of Syrinx.
After pulling Learner’s blood-covered and crucified body aboard the Raven, Mitchell Thacker struggled, wrenching the nine-inch nail from Learner’s flesh; a squeaking noise emanated from the dry timber when he twisted the head of the imbedded nail. Standing over the cross, he pulled with all his might, slowly freeing it from the wood and Learner’s hand.
“One down, two to go.” Captain Rengar Falger assisted by holding Learner’s arm.
“I can count, Captain Rengar.”
“Again, it’s just small talk, Mitchell.”
“Can we small talk our way out of here before the Vril come after us again?” Mitchell Thacker was referring to when he and Learner Rotterdam, both were detained by the Fissure Point Security after their payload went nuclear; Learner was handed over to the Vril, and for some strange reason, he was let go.
Through his blood bubbling lips, Learner whispered coarsely into Mitchell’s ear, “Master Paladin betrayed me!”
“No, it was he who saved you.” Mitchell corrected the near comatose man.
“What?” Learner asked in complete shock.
“He gave us your coordinates, timetable, and everything; and instructed us ‘If you fail to bring him back alive, you will
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