Chapter VI
The Wraith
Germanicus retreated to the back of the column barking out orders as he went; he was desperately trying to compel the Stratiotai that lagged behind to keep up, but noticeably, most were tiring. On the road as they went they had gathered from people escaping the area that a decree had been past stating that at dusk the gates of Thebes would close; and would only be reopened again in the morning, and that this order was to last until the Saracens had lifted the siege of Constantinople. It was assumed by the local populace that the reason for this new protocol had nothing to do with directives coming out of the Byzantine capital, but that it was part of an insidious plot that had been conceived of by Charon.
On hearing of this, and the fact that his troop were in no shape to continue, Adamous had decided to stop at a small hamlet a few leagues outside the city and rest there for the night before entering. Unfortunately the rumours of Charon's excesses in the location were now proven to be true, as they approached the settlement they could clearly make out something was amiss. It became apparent to all, that it had been hit by some calamity; doors hung open and contents were strewn across their path, chests with clothes flung chaotically along the ground, were scattered all around, smashed amphora, broken clay pots of every description and size, all lay haphazardly in their way. What had once been a bustling settlement, had been silenced, its many brick houses, and temple looking municipal buildings, had been broken. At the far end stood a church, above it hung a veiled fume. The place appeared at one time to have been an ancillary commercial centre to Thebes. As they passed through, they could see that the inhabitants had either been chased away, or worse. Darkly stained windows sinisterly stared at the intruders: clearly they were not the first to have walked that path. The Mantador and a heavily armed Spatharios who were both out in front, drew their swords, and silently separated from the main group, they crept to opposite sides of the road, vigilantly peering into houses as they went. There was a thick choking taste to the air. And in the distance, as the church came more into view, they could see why, it was a smouldering wreck.
Thomas, a rough hewn soldier who did not look like he scared easily stepped forward, there was a strange fearful glint to his eyes, his bowed head and the way he reacted to any movement or sound clearly indicated how he, and the rest of the party were on edge, and with Charon in control of Thebes it was easy to understand why. Anything that would have normally been considered ordinary, took on the aspect of being unnatural.
“Sir, we should leave this place, it is cursed,” he said warily.
Germanicus regarded him mindfully, his instincts also told him there was something not quite right about the struggle that had taken place there; what confronted them was more than the usual pillaging of the Saracens, “And where would we go, we could stay in the wilds, but that would invite another attack from Garm, or we could push on to the city, and then, unless we arrived before dark, we wouldn’t get in. And also if we did approach them after dusk they would probably think we were Saracen spies and kill us, they may try to kill us anyway, but let’s not give them a ready excuse to do it.”
Soon Photis came running back he was gasping for air; he appeared grey, pale, crystal beads of sweat or tears clung to his face, “Sir the Church, its filled with the dead; women, children, it looks like they were herded in there, and burnt alive.” The shock in his voice brought everyone to a stop.
Germanicus imperceptibly nodded, “Well that rules out any civil conflict, these people didn't simply turn on each other.”
“Could it be the Saracens?” asked Merit.
“No, they would have taken the people as bounty, to be sold into slavery,” replied Adamous thoughtfully.
“Then Charon,” muttered Merit pensively.
Adamous guardedly looked around, “It could have been Avars or the Bulgars but they don’t usually venture this far south, the thing is, we don’t know who did this, so there’s no point guessing, right.”
“Right! Except for one thing, we may not know who did this, but we certainly do know who'd do this,” said Germanicus between gritted teeth.
Adamous nodded, it was easy to see that some malevolence had been at work there, and that, more than anything, pointed to Charon. “Right we’re going to split up; Gallus, Marius, Callistus, I want you to search the remaining houses, see if you can find out exactly what we are dealing with here. The rest of you come with me. When we’re done, we meet up at the offices of the Kephale, it appears to be the only building left standing, where the doors haven’t been ripped off their hinges and the windows haven’t been smashed.”
“Why do you think they left that building alone?” asked Merit looking at it suspiciously.
“My dear Merit in any combat situation, you never destroy your own centre of operations. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were after, unless of course it was the Avars; a mindless act of savagery is certainly not beyond them, and to be sure, this is exactly the type of mindless act they would do."
"I think there is purpose behind this madness, what if it wasn't the Avars, and instead, it was just made to look as though it was them?" asked Merit.
"Then what we have to do is find out precisely who it was, and what they were after, and whether or not they found it? And to be honest, I too don’t believe this to be a random act of butchery,” replied Adamous.
At that Germanicus who always appeared troubled when confronted with such a mystery, took Adamous to one side and pulled him close, “We've seen this enough over the years to realise that whoever did this was looking for something; something worth killing for, even maybe dying for.”
Adamous nodded very slightly and sighed, “Perhaps you are right, but we cannot rule out anything until there is more proof to hand, though I wonder if it was Charon, this does not look like the handy work of someone as subtle and cunning as he is, unless of course there was something here that he truly desired, and that he needed to get hold of quickly, something of such value that he was so desperate to get it, that his customary guile was dispensed with. Usually such acts leave a trail: perhaps there are clues here that might tell us what truly occurred.”
With that the two groups began their search in silence, slowly scouring the ground and buildings for anything that might indicate what exactly had happened. By the time they had reached the other end of the thoroughfare, the sun had worked its way close to the horizon, and their examination of the scene had shown up nothing to indicate why the hamlet had been so harried. Still at a loss they proceeded on, more wary that whoever had done such a thing might yet return. What evidence there was; was both confusing and disturbing. As they approached the Church, its beams mockingly smouldered and glowed with the soft light of dusk; a mound of ash lay at its heart. Grotesque shadows greeted them: caught at the moment of death, bodies were fixed with harrowing empty howls, as they pleaded for mercy. A woman cradled a child in her arms: both lifeless empty husks seemed to be reaching out to some unknown figure. Timbers that had collapsed from the roof had fallen in the shape of a charred blackened upturned cross. A bad omen if ever there was one.
Germanicus stood by in the darkness, staring with growing concern at the scene; he could barely disguise his disgust, “What do we do now Adamous? The men certainly do not wish to enter that place a second time, and to be honest I don't wish to enter it a first time, especially at night, where we may miss the obvious.”
“Umm, well looking at it, I can see why the men are concerned, I certainly don’t want to go there either, but needs must. Germanicus you take Merit and three of the others back to the offices of the Kephale and set up our camp for the night, make sure you choose a room that we can use as a sanctuary, and by that, I mean make sure you use what are appropriate defensive measures to ward off anything that might be looking for wayward travellers. I’ll finish off here with the rest, and see if we can find anything.”
While the two groups parted, Merit seemed to hesitate, “I can be of more use
to you here, and I’ll help you better than the others can; especially should we find any survivors, so if it’s all the same to you, I’ll stay with you.”
Adamous gazed at her through the gloom and grimly agreed, “Very well then, but brace yourself, I feel no one could have survived this, then again you never know.”
They all entered the church and systematically went from pillar to post, taking care not to disturb the dead.
“Sir,” cried Gallus pushing away timbers that had fallen atop a stone alter, “there’s something here.”
They all quickly gathered round to help remove the burnt and ruined remains that had collapsed on top of it. Once done Spatharios thrust his heavy sword into a small crack between the stone lid and the thick alter beneath, he began to lever back the top until it fell to the floor, it broke at its centre with a crash. Adamous thrust a torch into the opening, where to everyone’s amazement stone steps were lit up.
“That looks like it hasn't been disturbed by the fire, perhaps some people made it down here,” cried Merit.
“I don’t think so or there surely wouldn’t be so many dead. There is a deeper purpose here than that which we can see. Well Merit I think perhaps this one’s for you and me, though I don’t advise that you use your amulet to light a path here, best keep it secret for now. Everyone else remain outside and stand guard.”
“Should we not wait till morning?” replied Merit.
“No, we’re going to examine it now, and besides you did after all volunteer for this, the others were just following orders.”
“Yes, but walking into a dark hole was not quite what I had in mind.”
“What did you have in mind?” replied Adamous.
He heard a soft laugh as they descended, “Not this. And by the way so far I haven’t seen anything to suggest that you Byzantines are any different from the Saracens.”
“We saved you from the Saracens remember.”
“That you did, but you weren't looking to save me though, and since then I’ve almost been killed and made a meal out of. So thanks for that.”
Their torches lit the hollow darkness: they could barely make out the steps beneath them as they descended. At the base there was a small alcove that opened out into a crypt. Fortunately torches hung from the walls which they could light; the scene altered from a dark cavernous vastness to a murky shadowy realm of ghostly shapes and forbidding phantoms of the imagination. There were dusty columns either side of a shallow open space, and along the walls within recesses were caskets, the hard floor echoed to their shuffling as if in protest to the intrusion. Their shadows wavered and danced at their feet.
“What do you think?” asked Adamous.
“It’s a crypt.”
“Well of course it’s a crypt; but is there anything unusual about it?”
“Not really, though I don’t understand why the people were up top when they could have escaped down here,” replied Merit.
Adamous shone his torch around, “Perhaps they were protecting something down here; look at the floor it’s been disturbed. I think that maybe the people up top were killed for not divulging their secrets and then afterward the church was set fire to, to hide the fact.”
Merit slowly waved her torch across the stone slabs, “I guess if the opening to the crypt was sealed, the fire could have weakened it enough to make it possible for us to gain access, but you're right the floor does indicate that someone had made it down here, but if they were, where are they now?”
Adamous held up the flame to the wall, and ran it along, until the flame without warning blew back in his face. He carefully guided his hand across the wall, until he came across a small gap, “What have we here then?”
As he pushed against an inner brick, it swivelled at its centre revealing a latch, as he pushed it back something was released, there was an abrupt clanking, as though a chain were falling. The wall drew back into a short corridor: at its end was a thick oak door. The two quickly entered. As Adamous held his torch up to the door at the far end, they could see that it had recently been pried open, rust had fallen away from the hinges, and the floor held the signs of movement.
Adamous drew his sword and with the hilt banged on the door; they heard a sudden shuffling, as though people were backing away.
“I am Adamous from Constantinople we mean you no harm.”
There was a moments silence then they heard excited whisperings as something was heaved away from the door and flung crashing to the ground, a latch was turned, and slowly the door was forced open and a lantern was held up. Blinded a moment Adamous waved the light away as the door was thrust further back and a small group of fearful faces gathered to greet them.
“Sorry sir, as soon as we heard your voices we knew you were friends not foes. The enemy does not speak with such a pleasant tongue. My name is Dukas the Dekarchos this is Paulus, Romulus, Andromeda, Avril, and as for the rest, they are mostly locals really.”
“I see, so what occurred here; how is it a Stratiotai of the Tagmata has survived when so many of the townsfolk are dead?”
“Sir, it was purely by accident, we made our escape from Thebes and arrived here about two days ago, we had split up into several groups, myself and a few others were making a search down here, and as we were making our way back, we found the entrance blocked and smoke filtering down to us, we heard raised voices but they were speaking a language I didn't recognise, and there was something else. I’ll never forget it to the end of my days. Whoever they were, it sounded like they had the devil with them, a deep guttural voice rasped unnaturally and...”The man hesitated a moment as if he were recalling something truly distasteful.
“Go on,” uttered Adamous quietly.
“Sir, I heard the name Drakos.”
Adamous drew in his breath, “Drakos, as in the Drakos, of the Wraith, he's a myth, a very ancient and very old myth...could you have been mistaken,” the man shook his head. “Perhaps Charon is here after all; quick gather your things everyone we’re leaving for the Offices of the Kephale at once; Merit you lead the way.”
In silence everyone hurried through the dark corridor and out of the crypt. Torches lit their passage, as shadow after shadow filed past; Adamous and Dukas withdrew to the rear of the column.
“What were you doing down here anyway?”
Dukas pulled out from what was wrapped in a piece of cloth a metal plated disc with what appeared to be revolving segments, around each part was the script of the Angelos, “In the excitement I almost forgot.”
Adamous looked at in disbelief, it was a Sacred Seal, similar in design to the one Callinicus had, but much more powerful. Quickly he wrapped it once more in the cloth and moved off.
“Have you any idea what this is?” asked Adamous.
“No sir, what we did learn from our dealings with Charon was that he was after this unusual device, so we endeavoured to find it first, so as to take it back to Constantinople. And since there are many people that are very much loyal to Byzantium in Thebes, it was an easy matter to escape the city. I am afraid we were all deceived by Charon, from the Governor to the most humble foot soldier; he had come to us at a moment of great need, as he said, to help save the empire; and by the time anyone realised what was going on, it was too late; the city was lost. I just hope by discovering this object before Charon could get his hands on it earns me and my men a reprieve from our stupidity.”
“You have earned that reprieve; with this in his charge he could have created a lot of mischief.”
The two turned to leave, once away from the Church, Adamous led the small group in single file toward the offices of the Kephale. When they arrived, the guards that were there appeared on edge; what they had seen at the church had certainly left its impression on them. Germanicus was busily scratching into the ground the last few symbols that he hoped would keep them secure from any unnatural machinations.
Germanicus looked up as Adamous approached, “so did you find out what we are facing.”
&nb
sp; “Apparently Drakos is here, which means…”
“Which means its Charon and the Wraith are helping him ; things are now a lot more difficult.”
“Also there’s this,” Adamous pulled out the Sacred Seal and smiled with satisfaction as he saw the look of surprise on Germanicus’s face, "Notwithstanding our orders from Arzealous, I would say that the Merovingian has just got a whole lot closer.”
Germanicus nodded, “Yes, but since Charon is here, what are we going to do about him, Drakos and the Wraith; we cannot just leave Thebes to suffer.”
“If my hunch is right they’ll be coming back here tonight to look for this, perhaps we should give them a warm welcome when they arrive, in keeping with the situation. We’ll gather up as much oil as is possible and soak everything that can burn in it. And we'll use the symbols of the Angelos to prevent them from seeing the trap.”
Germanicus drew Adamous to one side, “You know the Wraith are the type of beings that would strike a deal with Azazel; I wonder if they’ve gone over to his side. And since they are in league with Charon then perhaps it stands to reason that he now sides with the Dragon too. Charon was always disgruntled after you banished him to the outer realms for trying to manipulate the Equilibrium. Who knows what darkness came to him while he was alone trapped with just himself for company.”
Adamous nodded, “he was never alone, it does appear he had the Wraith with him; and many other less desirable friends. But he served his banishment well and when he returned to us he declared, that there was no ill will between us and that he had realised the error of what he had done. In fact he seemed quite contrite, indeed even in high spirits to be back in the fold.”
“Strange, that he could have returned in such high spirits as you say when you consider that the realm of the Wraith does not exactly set the heart at ease.”
Adamous sighed, “Charon was always a complex figure but he despised Azazel, that much is certain; in fact if I recall it was Charon that first warned us to keep a close watch on Azazel, although that was probably to keep our heads turned away from him. However I feel in this regard if anything he’s working on his own behalf, but think on this, if he is after the Sacred Seal then maybe he is once more out to alter the Equilibrium, which means he really hasn’t changed? Now that’s something I can well believe. Anyway let us gather up all the oil we can, and ready a surprise for any uninvited guests.”
They did not have to search far; in the cellar were kept two large kegs of oil, also there was a store of weapons, bows, arrows, spears. They found as many buckets, bowls as they could, and filled them with oil, also taking any arms that they needed for themselves, and then began to soak as much of the building as they could.
Merit became more and more apprehensive, “Adamous if you fire this lot with us in here we’re all going to burn, you do realise that don’t you.”
“No one is going to burn; Germanicus, take everyone into the back room, make sure it remains untouched, and place the Seal against the back wall, you know what to do after that.”
“Any particular location?”
“Send the civilians and some of the Stratiotai through to Constantinople they’ll be safe there at least. Tell them to take a message to Arzealous; Witch in Thebes confirmed, it is Charon, will engage at once have decided to use Seal, as enemies all around. When they are through, there should be enough energy left for us to get into the city of Thebes, but make sure it is a place away from the Palace so we cannot be detected. Merit we've seen by the way you dealt with Garm that you are more than capable of defending yourself, so you, I’m afraid, are going to have to join us on this little exhibition of ours.”
“Well, there’s nothing quite like being volunteered for a dangerous task.”
Every object was soaked with oil; shelves with file upon file of parchment were all ready to burn. Wooden pillars, stair and banister glistened and shone in the dim light, as though they were part of an image only seen through a mirror; and everyone who had been throwing the oil down slowly retreated to the rear room, the only one that had been left untouched, Adamous left Paulus to stand watch and making sure everything else was in order departed to join the others. When he made his way to the back he could hear Germanicus in a heated discussion with Thomas and Marius, apparently people should not be able to walk through walls.
“Sacred Seals are not Witchcraft, so stop behaving like children over this, and start dealing with what you saw.”
“Germanicus calm yourself, gentlemen what appears to be the problem?”
“What appears to be the problem, I’ll tell you what the problem is, those people just disappeared through that solid wall. If that’s not devilry then what else can it be.”
Merit folded her arms and looked at Adamous, “Nice pragmatic scientific rational Greeks.”
“There’s no Devilry here. As you are aware, from your history and myth, there are things in life that are beyond the ordinary, the Seal is one of those things. It merely creates a doorway that enables people to pass from one place to the next no matter the distance.”
The Stratiotai looked on with a disbelieving glare.
Merit began to smile, “Very good explanation, who would have guessed when I started my journey it would have been this amusing.”
“Okay we’re all agreed that everything is created by God, right.”
They nodded unenthusiastically; “The Devil creates things too,” replied Thomas.
“Yes, but not the Seal, and must you doubt everything. Forget I just said that….look what I mean is this; the Devil cannot create anything that can be used for good; we just saved those people, which is a good thing, therefore it’s a good device.”
They seemed to look at each other with uncertainty, “Very well, if that truly is the bench mark, but when we get back, the Bishop shall here of this, and there shall be a thorough investigation.”
“By all means tell the Bishop but only in confession, this tool, for tool it is, shall be thought of as a secret of the empire, and you shall all be held to account should word of it get out; and there shall be no investigation agreed.”
The Stratiotai though disgruntled, grudgingly all agreed.
“Well,” replied Thomas, "I guess it could be something from antiquity, they built many strange wonders that our craftsman today would find difficult to replicate.”
“Yes, yes by all means believe whatever you want to believe, but let’s stop bickering about this. Now at least you understand why Charon wants the device.”
“Sir,” cried Paulus rushing in, “it’s the Wraith, they are here and Garm is at their head.”
Quickly Adamous turned to face everyone, “Germanicus you know what to do, I want some of you to remain here, everyone else to the front.”
"The Seal has not enough energy to open another corridor to Thebes just yet, not for how many are to make the journey. You'll need to hold them off."
Adamous nodded and exited with a few of the Stratiotai, Merit stayed close to his side. As they quickly drew up to peer outside the windows, they saw the Wraith move down the roadway; Adamous had been right, they had returned for the prize the Seal offered to be. Garm seemed every so often to stop, stoop down low, then lift up his head to taste the air, while the Wraith kept behind him, they were ominous to look upon, even in that dim light they seemed covered from head to foot in dark hooded cloaks, as though they were nothing more than penetrating shadows, a blackness that deepened even the night; all except for their eyes, which shone with a cold flame. Adamous signalled for everyone to make ready, quickly they ducked behind a barricade of upturned tables. There seemed a collective intake of breath as Garm stood opposite the door, the Wraith slowly shuffled forward; they drew up to their full height which was greater than that of a man's. One reached out placed his hand on the door handle and began to turn it; there was a heavy clanking as it eased back. Merit took her amulet in hand and with the other tightly gripped Adamous’s arm. He peered at her in the dark and gently removed it
, and then took hold of the hilt of his sword and turned to face the door as it began to open. Now they would find out whether the symbols of the Angelos had afforded them any protection, and to be sure they would now see exactly what effect they had had.