Fallen Empire

chapter 9

IX.

          Cloak swirling, the Shadow turns to face the ten Centurion horsemen. Five immediately pull their mounts to a halt and wait in a line as their five braver compatriots ride ahead in an offensive attack on the solitary figure standing motionless on the moonlit plain.

The lead Centurion raises his sword to signal his troops to surround the stranger. They obey and move into positions as the leader attempts to speak to his intended prisoner. As he approaches, the Shadow raises the broad curved blade in his left hand. The Centurion leader leans slightly, changing his seat to accommodate for the arc of his sword, and swings it towards the stranger’s head.

The Scimitar blocks with surprising force, twisting the short sword back and throwing the rider off balance. The Shadow reaches up and pulls hard on the leader’s leg, forcing him to the ground as the charging horse veers off. The lead Centurion remains on the ground, knocked unconscious.

The four remaining Centurions raise their swords and pull in closer for the kill. As the Shadow stands ready for all his attackers his shape wavers, like waves of heat in an Italian summer. An energy field emanates from his armor and expands to encompass the five flying Cerberions twelve feet overhead. As the energy field reaches the flying assailants they lose the use of their rocket packs and plummet to the earth.

The oncoming Centurion on the right draws his arm back to s***h the stranger; the Scimitar lifts and catches his chest, throwing him backwards off his horse, leaving him unconscious as well as unharmed.

The front left Centurion also slashes at the fiend and lands a sharp cut on the Shadow’s shoulder before the Scimitar comes up, striking his back and throwing him over the horse’s head. A hand shoots out of the cloak and pulls him to the side, out of the path of the frightened animal, which tramples a grounded Cerberion before he can get clear.

The two remaining Centurions continue the attack; the right one negotiates around his fallen comrades allowing the other Centurion to reach their target first. The stranger once again blocks a s***h, grabs the rider’s foot, and pushes him out of the saddle to the ground.

The Cerberions pick themselves up off the ground and look around in confusion. They don’t know why their technology failed but the stymie is outweighed by their furry. The unit commander stalks off towards the interloper, snatching a sword up from his fallen ancient counterpart.

The last attacking Centurion never gets near his target and chooses a strategic retreat. The Shadow raises the hilt of his sword that is decorated with a golden claw. The claw launches from its stationary home followed closely by and a long metal cable maintaining a connection with the hilt.  The claw catches the retreating Centurion and clutches his armor. The cable conducts a strong but non-lethal electrical charge from the Shadow to the Roman electrocuting the ladder. The Centurion slumps and falls, his mount veers around the stranger and fallen soldiers and is eventually caught and quieted by the right rear Cerberion guard. The claw releases from the Centurion and retracts back into the sword hilt.

The interloper whirls around as if he could see the Cerberion unit commander behind him and locks swords with a crash. The interloper backs off a few steps. At the touch of a button, the dull blackish metal surrounding the blade of the Shadow’s Scimitar slides back into the hilt, revealing a bright sharp and silver edge. The Cerberion moves closer and lunges at his opponent. The blades connect with a sharper crash that rattles his arms. They step back a few more steps, carefully avoiding the fallen Centurions littering the field.

The Cerberion raises his sword to block the oncoming attack and stands in shock as his antique blade is neatly shorn in half. He looks even more surprised as the Scimitar slices just as easily through his abdomen. He falls down dead over the pieces his broken sword.

The Shadow stoops over his victim’s body briefly, and turns to face the five waiting Centurion horsemen, who turn tail instantly and flee for the safety of the city gate. An arm emerges from under the cloak and a bolt of fire shoots from its wrist to land in front of the left wing of the Centurion’s line. The frightened horse rears up, discarding its rider to the ground.

The right rear Cerberion has mounted the horse he caught and rides towards the interloper, firing a round of decimating lightning bolts from his sidearm. All seem to hit, but leave no mark. The interloper turns as the guard approaches, intent on riding down the apparition. The Shadow slashes the soldier as he rides pass killing him instantly with one powerful stroke.

Turning his attention back to the fleeing Centurions, the Shadow fires another blast, which lands in front of the right wing and dismounts another rider. The remaining three pull into a tighter formation and wish the gate were closer.

The remaining two Cerberions realize their technology has returned. They launch their rockets packs and lift off the ground, leveling out at twelve feet. They fly towards the interloper, firing continuous bolts that should reduce their target to a smoking crater. As they pass overhead, the interloper fires the claw from the sword hilt and it clasps to the Cerberion’s leg directly overhead. With a sharp jerk of the sword, the Cerberion crashes into his partner and both are thrown to the ground, landing just ahead of the rear Centurion horseman. The horse rears and crashes into the horse to the right, tossing both riders. The claw detaches and retracts back to the sword hilt.

The last Centurion sees his companions dislodged as if by witchcraft and looks fearfully back over his shoulder. To his surprise, the fiend is no longer there. With a momentary pang of misgiving, he turns back expecting to see the mouth of the drain. He instead finds with a shock the figure of the Shadow, before the dulled blade sweeps him off the horse.

The Shadow pulls the small claw on the hilt of his sword and attaches it to the tip of the sheathed blade. He swings it over his shoulder by the cable and adjusts it to sit comfortably on his back.

•

Turning their horses to avoid the wall, Seren and Ryland wheel around to face the new threat. As Alice and Ryland look around frantically at the collective antagonism of the Centurions, Cerberions, and unknown pursuer, Seren is greatly confused. His thermal-imaging-optic-sensors show nothing but Alice, Ryland, and the horses. He switches to light filtering, pushes back his hood, and sees to his surprise, that they appear to be in the same field surrounded by men of horseback, foot, and rockets. He looks back at the wall and notices a pass-through at the end of it. He dismounts and walks into another room.

Alice jumps down from the horse, still staring at the scene around her in horror. She watches the Shadow dispatch Centurions and Cerberions with frightening ease and efficiency, not noticing that Ryland dismounted beside her. One of the freed horses gallops past and Alice reaches out to touch it as it passes. Her hand moves through the horse as easily as through a ray of light.

“A hologram,” she whispers, “How remarkable,”

Ryland spins nervously in all directions. She turns to him and says soothingly, “Relax, we’re not there anymore.”

“Then where are we?” Ryland asks, his accent becoming more pronounced as his anxiety increases.

“I really don’t know, but we do not seem to be in any immediate danger.”

“I am not sure that is an accurate assessment.” Seren’s voice echoes from the next room.

Alice turns in the direction of Seren’s voice and notices the pass-through. She walks through the doorway and stands paralyzed in amazement at the enormous flat monitor on the wall. The screen displays two views of the scene currently happening in the other room on a split screen. A desk sits under the monitor, partly built into the wall; drawers are on both sides and a space for a chair in the middle. Next to the technologically advanced computer parts and accessories sits a hand chiseled chess set on a table with a built in chess board. Alice’s attention never wanes from the screen as she watches and compares the views in each room, she notices that the views on the computer seem to be the front and rear sightlines of their mysterious savior.

“Jannus….” Alice releases breathlessly “The gatekeeper of Heaven who looks two directions at once. What kind of being could have the powers of the Gods?”

Ryland brushes past her and inhales sharply.

Seren is standing by a small rectangular window in the opposite wall, which appears to be circular. Through the window they can see the vastness of space. They see stars and planets in the distance and huge pieces of rock floating past.

Ryland is mesmerized by the view from the window, “We’re in Heaven!”

“No,” Seren corrects, “We are in outer space.”

Ryland turns to Seren and his eyes widen in horror at seeing a man of metal for the first time. Ryland jumps away and points the spear at Seren’s face, “What has this sorcerer’s witchcraft done t’ your friend?”

Seren sighs, “There is nothing wrong with my appearance, I am not human, I am a multifunctional, lithium-powered, robotic data processing transport programmed as a scientific assistant – or simply a D.P.T. Robot. I have always looked like this, If you do not approve she is to blame.”

Alice is still preoccupied with watching the Shadow work. She looks over at Ryland and says, “I can put that into English for you later. Right now, I need to know if this is the man who hired you?”

“No.” Ryland says not moving his eyes or spear from Seren.

“Are you sure?” Alice asks as she watches the Shadow.

“I think I would’ve remembered meeting the Angel of Death”

Satisfied, Alice continues to watch the Shadow as he dismounts the last Centurion and swings the sword onto his back. The Shadow casually walks to each Centurion and bends over them for a second. He then pulls out several disks only a half-inch in diameter from a canister on his belt and lays one on each Cerberion as well as the broken sword. As he moves away from the body of the first Cerberion, it disappears.

“Alice!” Seren calls from the window, “A body just appeared outside... and another one!”

“It’s the Cerberions,” Alice says still trying to figure out why he is doing this, “He’s sending them back. He will probably be here any minute.”

Seren turns from the window to see the angry spear aimed at his face. Seren pulls out Ryland’s dirk for a peace offering, “Here, you should probably take this. I am not your enemy. The enemy is very powerful and will be here very soon.”

All at once, the holograph of Rome vanishes, leaving the room with the horses in a dead silence, overhead lighting automatically turns on. Alice is left standing in a large empty room with the two animals, she faces a curved wall.  On her left is a section partitioned off and filled with machinery that she assumes is the holograph generator. On her right is a seven-foot square metal door protruding several feet into the room. In the corner, made by the doorway’s axis with the circular wall, stands a circular staircase leading to another floor.

Alice looks around the room; she notices an odd shadow collecting in the center of the room. It grows into a long oval and rises off the ground until it disappears. She looks up to see Ryland’s ‘Angel of Death’ standing in the room in front of her.  Behind him is an oval-shaped opening with a view of the wall around Rome, the Shadow takes a step forward and the image of Rome vanishes along with the strange shadows.

“…Seren!” Alice vocalizes tightly