The Underworld was like a ghost town, the
perfect place to meet for last minute tweaks. Halios took his food tray and
made his way a booth in the corner of the Gourmet Chamber, now bare of artworks
on the walls it looked quite different but the food was still the same. It
wasn't long before Halki showed up, ordered some food and took a seat beside
him, helping himself to the jug of wine he seemed quite relaxed, but there was
still a body missing so Halios couldn't relax, he scanned the entrance again.
"Where's
Torus?"
"Had
to sort out some gravel invoice. He'll be here shortly."
Halios
didn’t like it, this gravel business was exactly how the Lunies infiltrated the
celebration grounds.
"Listen,
there's something I want to talk to you about. Torus is going to Fomora…"
"Yes"
Halki smiled. "Good luck to him with that!"
"Luck
aside, that leaves the Underworld in need of new management."
Halki
wasn’t sure if he heard right. "You really think it's going to
survive?"
"I
think you'll be right god for the job."
Halki
scanned the entrance now. "I thought you were shutting it down. I thought
that's what the War Bunkers were for!"
"Not
at all" Halios winked.
Halki
knew now, there were layers to the onion. "What's your plan?"
"Go
to Lemuria. Make friends."
Halki
frowned. "What?"
"That's
right! Atalon had it all wrong. They're a resource, we shouldn’t treat them
like an enemy. We’re going to mine them, just like we mine the other resources
over there. Make them happy and they'll throw us their resources, for free!
Just like they did today!"
"Really."
"Really
classified too, that's why it's news to you."
Everyone slipped into shock and disbelief as the sacrificial ceremony unfolded before their eyes, no one had ever seen the glamorous beauty queen crumble in despair like this before, unsure whether they were supposed to cover their eyes or cheer. They watched in terrified silence as the glossy gods chained her to the hub of the theatrical star, each one pinning her more firmly to a fate none of them could rescue her from. Once Mel was secure in the center of the star, Nolan and Dion left the set and headed back towards the maintenance door.
But
as they left, Mel lost control and let out agonizing cries.
"NO-O-O-O-O! DON'T LE-E-E-EAVE ME!"
"LUNIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Atalon
bellowed over her voice. "IT IS
WITH MY SINCEREST GRATITUDE THAT I MAY PRESENT OUR GREAT MEDEL WITH MY MOST
HUMBLE OFFERING, WITH THIS BLOOD MAY THE SOILS OF THE NEW EMPIRE BECOME RICH
AND PLENTIFUL! HAIL MEDEL!"
But
the crowds barely cheered, numb with in shock, unsure whether they were
supposed to listen to the king, or Mel’s screams…
"HE-E-E-E-E-ELP!"
Difficult
questions were burning behind sealed lips, each one of them terrified to ask
about the things they didn't dare or want to believe. Why were the gates
closed? Weren't the dogon's getting
sacrificed? What did the fuel have to do with it?
The
dogons paced in their cages, from their vantage point they could see each other
vying for the same vanilla dinner, fueling competitive urges among them.
Growling increased. One by one they began to pull at the bars, knowing they
could escape them if they worked them really hard.
Malodon
raised his hand, commanding the drumming begin once again. Then with a demonstration
of unbelievable strength, one of the dogons bent the bars enough to squeeze
it's head out!
Beyond
terrified, Mel sobbed in despair as the vile monster clambered out of the cage,
barely able to see it clearly, her vision so blurred from the tears.
"A-AH-H-H-H-H!" The king held his
arms out as a waft of fuel filled his lungs, enhancing the adrenaline rush in
his veins, the emotional cocktail was exquisite, the performance sensational,
he couldn't help but applaud Malodon's success.
"Ha-haaaa!
You're GENIUS!"
The
praise went almost unheard, Malodon had been rehearsing and fine tuning this
thing for decades. This was the moment he had been waiting for, this was the
real launch of the New Empire, as far as Malodon was concerned, the bombs were
just convenient decor.
"Ha-HA-A-A-A-A!" Atalon was unable
to contain himself as Mel's sobs and screams accompanied the drums and growls
so magnificently. "Now THIS is what you call MUSIC!"
Neter studied the unfolding holocaust in utter horror, he knew Atalon was a can of worms, he knew exactly where this thing was headed. Nerves of steel were strung tight, the beasts were a card he hadn't slipped up his sleeve, he knew first hand how vicious they really were, why hadn't he thought of this potential nightmare?
No comments:
Post a Comment