Devils Own ( Steampunk and Mystic ) 5.5

5.5

“Merlin?” Irina was the first to speak. She saw Merlin strung up in chains against the wall. The dungeon was situated at the lower level, and like all dungeon it was damp and had the pungent smell. Derreen ran to her father but she felt herself held back by an invisible wall.

“Merlin, are you well?” Derreen stood there helplessly. “I can’t reach you.”

“No, you can’t. The wall is something new. It’s not known to us before, and even for many generations.” Merlin spoke up in a low tone. “I think its part of Atlantis. Somehow Ian must had found the means to access the structure workings.”

“I was wrong to doubt him.” Merlin sighed. “He was a bright kid, and so was his mother. She was an inquisitive person, which made me attracted to her.”

Merlin then realized Derreen was there and looked down.

“I was alone for a while. Your mother had left us.” Merlin continued on. “I  ...”

“You jumped into bed with another? Don’t you love my mother that much? She may have died, but she was your lover. Or there were more that was not told yet.” Derreen pulled back and stepped to the far wall. Irina went forth to comfort her.

“Derreen…” Merlin tried to call her but Kassius stepped in to ask on the more pertinent questions.

“Merlin, we need to know more than your affairs.” Kassius stood in and confronted Merlin. “You sent us here and soon we were told to march here. So tell me more for me to understand the situation.”

“Assassin, you are heartless. I expected that from you.” Merlin replied. He then slumped on his chains, but Kassius went forth for the answer.

“I did not know. I knew that the Ark was here. I came here several times to find it. The signs said that the one who cross over will find it once more. It was written in some ancient scrolls. Altib thought so and so was myself. We came here for that selfish means but Altib saw a new world. He then molded the plan to have his replica here; a younger version that will carry out his ambition but there was a shortcoming. The gateway does not allow much to be sent over and he improvised.”

“According to Ian, King Richard wanted to end our world with the Ark.” Kassius explained. “Altib or King Richard was dying.”

“So he had not deceived you entirely.” Merlin sniggered. “He is obviously a chip off the block. Altib is not dying as he is Richard II. King Richard is the replica which is dying. Richard II or Altib had been here for some time.”

“You decided to tell us now.” Kassius slammed his right fist on the invisible wall. It showed waves that rippled when he punched the wall. “What else did you not tell us?”

“Tell me more of what Richard II told you. I will explain to you the correct version if needed.”

Kassius told Merlin of his conversation with Ian. Everything told was true, but there was two items were incorrect. The first was the wasteland. The new world was partially destroyed but there was half of it still habitable. Richard II had a stalemate in the war, or declared the undeclared truce to stop the destruction. He focused on the Ark as that will give him the superior edge. The second was he did not know how to find the Ark. Only Merlin suspected of it, but he was confident that the Ark was there.

“The Bastion?” Merlin asked. “Did you tell him? You were supposed to find it yourself.”

“Yes. That was when he sent us here.” Kassius replied. “So Ian did not know about the Bastion at all. He baited us. He must have asked all the others before and when nothing turned up, he had them killed.”

“So is there a Bastion?” Kassius continued on his line of questions.

“I am not sure. There had been rumors but nothing was ever found.” Merlin replied. “So was Atlantis. This is my first visit here. Can I file a complaint on my accommodation?”

“How long have you been here?” Kassius looked to the elderly man.

“Not long. But in our world, it had been over six months now. The Citadel had fallen. King Richard is winning the war. That was why I came over.”

**********

Commander Ian Bering looked towards the big screen on the wall. He had discovered more than an invisible wall; he had acquired part of the technology of Atlantis. They had discovered Atlantis by chance, and during the years, the Selected Ones were re-designated to be station there as guards. He had the best of his people to research the wonders of Atlantis, but when Richard II had asked him about Atlantis, he disappeared with the Selected Ones to there. He kept the experts with to research further. Richard II knew he was on the island but not where, so he send his troopers and creatures to search the place.

“Commander, Atlantis”, the expert on the metallic console spoke up from it. “It showed us four possible places which could be the Bastion.”

Ian looked to the big screen which showed him the layout of the seven continents on the world. Richard II occupied four of it, while Ian controlled two and the last was left out from either side. The four blips showed on three continents, of one were on the continent occupied by Ian.

“How far are they from the Gateways?” Ian knew of the Gateways from the big screen. It was how he captured the ones that were on his continents. The big screen showed nine more blips, and one was on the island. He looked to them and none of them was new to him.

“Close it.” Ian told the expert. He had been to all the blips, and found nothing. So the Bastion may not be a bastion at all. It may be a namesake or an icon of reference. He was not getting anywhere at all. He had removed more than a dozen of those sent over by Merlin. He turned to his aide standing nearby.

“Calvin, check on my guests.” Ian told the aide while he looked towards the sword. “I would be in my chamber if you need me.”

Later at the chamber, Ian sat down on the seat reserved for him. In front of him was a smaller screen that showed him the layout of his island. He filtered it with voice command, and analyzed the details. Three years ago, when they cracked the code to access the screens, they had made progress. Contrary to what he told the guests, not all the experts died from Atlantis machination, but by his command. He had executed three of them to spur the others to be more diligent in picking up the works. Since then he had only uncovered the screen details, the dungeons and some hidden chambers but nothing that he could use for battles. Ian held up the sword to the light and looked at the gleam off its blade. He had earlier slashed it on several items of hard surface and was amused at its edge.

“Perhaps you have a sharper edge than your blade.” Ian muttered to himself. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the arrival of the Sergeant.

“Don’t you learn to knock before, Sergeant?” Ian asked but the other ignored him. They had been friends too long that during their personal hours, they had been dropped the ranks from their conversation.

“Ian, I was told you had sent our new guests to the dungeon.” Sergeant Harper walked in to the chamber without announcing his presence. He had served with the commander for a long time, and felt that they were close beyond the ranks.

“Harper, I appreciate the friendship but do not question my orders.” Ian replied. He then turned to look at the Sergeant. “Tell me why you are here?”

Sergeant Harper was taken aback by the coldness of his friend. He had found his friend had become more obsessed with the Ark. He knew that the war was turning bad for Richard II since Ian found Atlantis. He was able to position his army to counter the enemy weaker spots. Ian had earlier told him it was his strategy but they had doubted it. Soon Ian told him the truth and that scared Harper. He was of the old school; the hard tasks of scouting and then the reporting. He was also concerned on the new inventions that Ian had shown him. They looked evil, and to Harper that was sinful.

Harper excused himself from Ian and moved to his own command post with the others. He found himself walking to the dungeon. He met the Ian’ aide and checked with him on the actual dungeon units. He met Merlin and the others. He actually liked Merlin, and having met the elderly man several times.

“Merlin, I am sorry. I could not stop Ian.” Harper told the elderly man. “When I knew, he had imprisoned you and sent me to do another task.”

“It is okay, Harper. Ian is not in his right mind, but you must save the others.” Merlin told Harper. “They could end the war.”

Harper nodded and left the dungeon. It had been some hours since Harper had left the dungeon and Kassius was seated on the flooring. He was seated with his crossed legs and mediating for calmness. He found difficulty to concentrate unlike other places. He was to get up when he sensed the arrival of someone new.

The new person stood by the doorway and looked in. He was young, and then disappeared from it. The door was soon opened and the figure entered. He looked to Kassius.

“You got to get out. I had disarmed the door locks. And also the wall.” The figure leaned to look out. “The system will kick in soon.”

Kassius got up and attended to Merlin. The chain locks was easy to pick and soon he had the elderly man carried out. The ladies followed him and they were led to a secure chamber under the tower. There was one other person there.

“Hello again.” Harper spoke up. “I had to get help. Calvin is a good friend.”