As King Atalon and his entourage stormed
towards the royal stage, it was difficult to imagine a bad mood given all the
fanfare, however, he looked mad, mad as hell and about to blow. Stage hands
scurried ahead, picking up flowers, ribbons, garbage and a lost tambourine, but
the efforts were almost in vain, the damage had been too extensive. As the king
reached the top stairs he was taunted by a sea of flower petals, glitter and
crystal dust strewn across the floor.
The
crowd hushed, heads bowed as he stood before them, his presence powerful, above
all. Confronted with a script-less program, Atalon searched for words to begin.
For what seemed like an eternity, Atalon stood intimidatingly before them as
the drummers circled the dance floor, reclaiming the space beneath the royal
stage. Their drums rolled to a stop, they stood in salute as the stage hand
slid the podium in front of the king and scurried off.
Order
restored, King Atalon raised his hand to address the crowds.
"Lunies and Gentlemen" he began his
speech with seeming cheer, offering hope for the guilty hearts. "I hope you all enjoyed yourselves today?"
No
one dared to cheer or whistle, still unsure which way the wind was blowing,
they had all seen it shift before.
"Luckily
for you all..." Atalon watered
the seeds of hope with an optimistic tone, "I am here to let you
experience REAL Entertainment!"
He gestured towards the Lemurian camp, noticing they were packing up to
leave. "While our neighbors are magicians at recycling the same old
musical notes over and over again, we have created a higher form of
entertainment and can enjoy a higher arousal from it!"
The
crowds fell silent, unsure where he was going. Was he officially disclosing the Soloha? Atalon touched his heart,
addressing the aribu with convincing sincerity.
"It
is because you have passion in your hearts that you could afford the poor
Lemurians some of your attention today. That was very charitable of you to
celebrate their recycling abilities. For this I must honor and respect you all,
for it is this quality that I wish to encourage in the New Empire!"
A
few flags raised in hopes of a positive outcome now, was this an approval? Was King Atalon actually enjoying the show?
Mina
listened to Atalon's speech with growing concern, she knew the Anunnaki king
only too well. Atalon's kind words were usually just a setup for some evil
scheme, it was constant with him, he just couldn't help it, he was never sincere, ever. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the Unicorn was
growing concerned too… He was looking the other way... She glanced towards the
entrance… What she saw made her heart stopped beating. There, on top of the
courtyard wall was a soldier, carrying a bucket!
"Look!"
She nudged Neter, standing beside her, alerting him to the ominous development.
Neter glanced at the wall, when he noticed a second soldier appearing on the
opposite wall, he too had a bucket and was making his way around the perimeter
of the courtyard towards the stage. Images rom the past flashed across his mind
instantly, paralyzing his thoughts, haunted by the inner echo of screaming
loved ones...
"What
are they doing" she asked hoping for a conclusion other than her own.
"I
don't know" Neter replied, realizing the fear had struck them both.
"Maybe they're part of Atalon's so-called Real Entertainment?"
It
was the best he could offer, he knew she was worried about the same thing he
was, the tragedy still haunted them all to this day... He would never forget…
It was a psychological reaction based on past trauma to fear the same fate
could be repeated… Would Atalon actually be so cruel as to set them all ablaze
once again?
"I
smell fuel" Mina's voice was laced with panic, even though they had
prepared for something like this it didn't harness her fears. "We've got
to go!"
Neter
needed no extra confirmation, he elbowed Vikkar sharply, but Vikkar had felt
the fear too, his sword was already in hand.
"It is with my SINCEREST pleasure" Atalon continued, "that I present to you the finest entertainment ever created, the finest fruit of the Atlan Empire!" He gestured towards the gates.
The
crowds turned to see... There were banners in the air, a parade was on it's way
into the Grand Courtyard...
Wafts of fuel were increasing. "Oh my god…" Mina covered her mouth as she spotted the soldier pouring his bucket of liquid along the inner edges of the wall. "What is he doing?"
Neter
shook her gently by the shoulder, noticing she was going into shock.
"Mina!
Deep breath! We have to stay FOCUSED! We have a plan!" He waved the Lemurians in the direction of the gate,
just as the agonizing sound of metal on metal clanged loudly throughout the
courtyard, announcing the closure of the old metal gates.
"Oh
my god…" Mina whimpered, her face white as a ghost, their worst nightmare was actually happening. "Did we
just get locked in?"
Neter
was having trouble remaining calm too, in spite of their foresight, plans and
focused minds, the reality was dreadful to face.… Had he led his loved ones to
their demise? He couldn't let it happen.
"Don't
worry" he assured, affirming to himself, there was no way they would let
history repeat itself.
With escalating fanfare the coming attraction made it's way into the grounds led by Malodon, dressed in a shiny red suit. He was leading a small parade of decorated soldiers pulling six red velvety draped carts, each of them wrapped in yards of golden chains, a colorful and glamorous presentation!
Atalon
beamed brightly as Malodon's spectacle made it's way to their designated spots.
He held his hand up to the crowd, commanding their attention.
"Lunies and Gentlemen! Before I entertain you with the heavenly
Grand Finale, allow me to present to you with a mere sampling of the talents and performances you can look forward
to in the New Empire!"
Cheers
and flags rose in hope from the crowds.
"The Dawning of the New Empire deserves our
finest Sacrificial Offering, for it is only by sacrificing our very finest
blood, that He should bring us this great wealth and happiness that the New
Empire promises of!"
Cheers
and flag waving multiplied in exponential ways.
"As a token of my sincerest gratitude to
Him, I offer my finest flesh and blood! And as a token of my sincerest gratitude to you, I present this
sacrifice, the Second Best Show of All, to celebrate the New Empire!"
The
drums filled the courtyard with a full roll.
"Allow me to present to you, The New Atlan
Dog Show!"
But
the audience fell silent, even though the king clapped with joy as the soldiers
and draped carts proceeded to circle the dance floor, until finally coming to a
stop in the center of the dance floor; it was just so spectacular.
Whispers
spread, everyone wanted to know, what was inside the carts? Dogs? They watched with baited breath
while the soldiers unwrapped the golden chains from the carts in time to the
drums, in a sort of dance and carried the untethered ends into the center of
the circle, forming a giant golden star.
"WOW…" Cheers and whistles broke
out once again as the crowds were awed by the spectacle, it was beautiful!
Atalon
clapped wildly as Malodon then marched around the perimeter of carts, whipping
the velvet drapes off one by one, exposing the most scary and hideous creatures
caged inside, bearing fangs! Gasps o delight turned to screams! Hope was
shattered unanimously. Then one by one, the aribu froze in shock, staring
stupefied at the terrifying beasts before them, straight out of the text books,
their electrical eyes savagely contemplating each and every one of them for
dinner, salivating with desire...
"Oh.
My. God."
"Mighty
Medel!"
"Those things are Atalon’s finest flesh and
blood?"
"Oh
My God oh My God oh My God…"
"Are
those, like, the dogons?" The
dogon rumor spread like wildfire, the dogons were real! Within mere
minutes the shocked stupor had morphed into frantic terror. Bella and Bria
scrambled up the bleacher steps as far back as they could go, they knew all
about the dogons, they had learned about them from the Breeders who knew the
farmers in Lochia, they were the reason that Lochia and Fina had to be walled
just like Atlan. The dogons were real, but they were supposed to be on the
other side of the wall.
The
goddesses were terrified. So were the merchants even though they knew all about
the dogons, they didn't have to feign their surprise. They had seen the bent
bars on the transportation carts, they knew
what the dogons were capable of, they couldn't believe Atalon would endanger them like this
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