Lone Ranger Chapter 57

57.

Tonto tossed the wooden stake over to Quasimodo while he held onto the tomahawk. Lance protested and glared at his partner.

“Quit the sniveling. He has the brute strength to use it.” Tonto replied and then stood behind the other. “You have your other magic.”

Lance settled back and thought of his other gifts. He had not used them for some time except the Noir spell. He called on the other spell of this fight the monstrous creature before them.

“Bring forth the blade of Lion of Richard.” The request was made and the new streak of shades that snaked out like the scimitar from the inklings on Lance’s back... Lance held his hands together and the blade of Lion of Richard formed into a sword on his hands.

“I heard of these before at the docks but to see one now completes my day,” Tonto spoke up while he studied the creature that filled the tunnel walls with its monstrous shape. It was not the body that was of concern of his but the six tentacles that were flaunting at them. The body was well rounded; probably puffed up in the constraint of the tunnel with all the exertions of squeezing past. It could be seen the set of eyes on the body frame which resembled large orbs protruded there.

“I counted six tentacles. Don’t they have eight on them?” Tonto asked and was given an annoying lash by the tentacles. Tonto had stepped back and cut with the tomahawk at it. His weapon struck hard and deep causing the creature to retreat its other tentacles. The cut by Tonto had severed off the section of that tentacles and it dropped into the water.

“I did it. By jolly, that will make a good tale to the barmaids.” Tonto shouted out in glee but his joy was short-lived when he saw the severed end bounced back to rejoin the tentacle stem.

“Go for the eyes,” Quasimodo called out. “The other parts will rejoin when cut.”

It was easier said than done for the six tentacles that were able to attack independently at the trio. Quasimodo grabbed the tentacle before him and slammed it to the wall while he used the stake to stab at it and pulled hard with the other hand. He then tossed the severed path back to the other end of the tunnel.

“Crawl! You imbecile for a squid!” Quasimodo shouted out. It was then another tentacle grabbed his legs and then pulled him off his feet. He screamed as another tentacle was seen lashing towards him. His hands reached to protect his face but the blow never came. Instead, pieces of the tentacles fell to his face. He looked up and saw the creature had retreated to the corner. He looked to his savior and saw it was Lance holding the dark scimitar with both his hands.

“Gracias..” Quasimodo replied in his native tongue. “I would have died again if not for you.”

“Kemo-Sabe, we have to attack it. Relentlessly until we kill it.” Tonto told them his strategy and without waiting for the reply, he went at it with the tomahawk.

“Take the right, demon. I will take the center.” Lance rushed into action. He swung his scimitar without any planned swings. He managed to sever two tentacles before he went for what he thought was the mouth. Tonto had hacked at the left tentacles while the demon went into a berserk rage with the stake. His rage earned him a respite when he found the opening to stab the stake into the left eye. He held hard and pushed it in harder. Tonto was not far behind with his tomahawk hacking away. He cut off another tentacle and then moved in for the center. Five of the tentacles were cut and they were attacking the head. The creature with its left eye blinded had retreated further and then it stopped. It was quivering in its body and then it let off what may appear to be a squeal before it went into a hasty retreat. It slides back in haste and soon was splattered into parts. It was then Lance saw the cause of the death of the creature.

“You can’t fight a squid. You just splattered them across the area with this.” The figure was dressed in a wet suit with a face visor and donned one a breathing apparatus. It was the weapon held by the figure that intrigues them. It had a serrated extended blade and was powered by a small engine attached to the back.

“My name is Blade. I am good at it. Lilith knew you are here and sent me.” The figure removed the visor and revealed the face. It was a lady with crisscrossed marks on her face. She saw them looking and then explained.

“My husband did it to me. And with Lilith’s help, I did him worse.” The lady named Blade explained it all.

“I am Blade as you knew now. I work for Lilith in return for the little killings I do here. I loved to kill those who hurt women.  In my time-honored life, I was a housewife but here I am Blade. I have been watching you since you came into the Pit. You may want to know more of here with your whirlwind of escapes and numerous attempts to kill you.”

“Stop, Blade. They must not….” Quasimodo cut in but Blade stopped him.

“They ought to know if they are to survive and above all restore Hades to its rightful place.” Blade glared at Quasimodo. “Lone Ranger, we are in Hades but it’s not what you think. It’s beyond your feeble mind to imagine where we are. Hades is not another dimension as you may have been told.”

“Hades is a ship.  A huge ship that sails not on the sea but in the void of what we termed as space.” Blade smiled. “It’s a construct that huge like the lands you rode but it served one purpose. It was the home of the original demons or shall we say the fallen Angels. It was written in Revelation 12:4; a third of the stars being swept from Heaven, and approximate that a third of the Angels; to be exact in numbers 7,405,926 demons was among them.”

“We were banished here. There were the seven princely Angels which guided us led by one named Lucifer. The later was a fine leader until he disappeared one era and was not seen until now. We believed he went back to the main star but there was no way of knowing. Another came to take over his rank and soon made Hades to what it's today.”

“How can it be? We rode the harsh lands and then the descent into the pit.” Lance started his protest.

“And how did you arrive here? Through a deep sleep or was it a transporter that sent you here.” Blade asked him and he recalled none of it. All he remembered was the riding with Tonto. It was like a missing part of reality.

“The harsh terrain was the accumulation of the space dust from the fragmented meteors. Did you see any vegetation there? Sparse or barely sums it all. The pit you descended was true but it was a major vent structure in the ship where the multi structures were built on. The carriage you rode was real and so were the steam engines. The tracks that your carriage went over were magnetic thus keeping you from falling over. The dirigibles were real unfortunately for the impression of reality.” Blade let out a snigger. “Just like my marriage life. A farce to please the general crowd but none saw the real side.”

“We are re-living an antique age with the new leader. All of Hades was changed to suit his desire for the new world. He wants us to live like that and all of us are to do so without objections. Our advanced skills were all taken away and forbidden to use the advanced tools known to us before. Our unique materials were withdrawn and the tools are broken. We were forced to be what the previous generations were then. We were subdued to be his subject.”

“Then tell me of Charon and his boat?” Lance asked.

“Not all he had done was to be antique but he did retain Charon in a façade of illusion for the new ones. Not the gold though. He needed that for some of the recalcitrant souls only sees the gold from the real goal. The souls you saw coming here were the rejects of the Main Star here. Those sent here are the ones that failed the test of ‘lifetime journey’. Man is given a reprieve after the fall of the Fallen Angels.”

“Spare me your biblical thoughts, lady.” Tonto hit back. “I know myself well.”

“And why did you become the rider with the one named Kemo-Sabe? You could save the lost souls with your upbringing and yet you were called to the new role.” Blade corrected him. “We are all lost souls here.”

“A lifetime journey was the Creator’s choice for those who were destined to join the Stars. After the induction by the Fallen Angels, the Creator was …how will it be placed? Disappointment to the Creator perhaps. There’s one, the passage to the Stars had to undergo one journey through a lifetime.  If you ever notice in the lifetime journey the choice was always there. Born of innocence and death with knowledge but of what knowledge determined the next part of the journey. Those who are here have failed. And those who constantly failed here remain for eternity.”

“You mean there is redemption in Hades?” Lance asked.

“An outlaw sent to prison has the choice to reform so why not here?” Blade asked. “We are after all misled souls.”

“And what have the new leader differed in here by withholding their redemption?” Tonto asked in a meek voice.

“The souls are accumulated here to form an army to take on the other Stars. Lucifer intends to stop it.”

“And how can we trust you? You are one of Lilith.”

“And Lilith is with Lucifer. You may one to know that this is the real waste tunnels. And the smell here is …” The drop of the visor displayed the needed reply.