Chapter VII
Echoes of the Siren
The staff radiated so brilliantly, it was as though a star shone in their midst.
Arzealous immediately grabbed hold of Valerius, “Quick everyone into the antechamber.”
They rushed to the side of the great hearth where Sergius forced the door open, and they quickly disappeared inside shutting the door quietly behind them. Callinicus covered the crystal with a cloth to soften the light. No sooner had they closed the door than another opened at the far end. Heavy strides came forward; each footfall was as if someone struck the ground with a hammer. Arzealous could barely make out a shape through the keyhole; in fact he had to push Valerius away, as his uncomfortable stale breath was proving too much.
It was the Rageon but there was another being with him, he could not quite make it out, as it was covered head to foot with a dark cloak, all that could be seen of it was a strange coldness from its eyes.
"Are you sure you felt its power."
"Of course I'm sure."
“Then we need to know how soon it will be before the Romans are broken.”
“You make it seem that we’re just pouring water over a small flame,” The Rageon appeared displeased by the remark. “I have left my kin, the Siren in that great fortress of theirs to wreak havoc, but these Romans are a hardy folk, they’ve already lived for nearly a thousand years, so you know breaking them won’t be easy. Anyway how goes your part? Are the Saracens ready to climb the walls once more.”
“Ha! They would be willing it seems to wait at the door until Hadeck Prime froze over," scoffed the creature. "I do not know what is worse with these humans, that they have the patience of immortals, or that they have the life expectancy of an insect like the Dweeb.”
The Rageon grunted, “The Dweeb, I cannot devour; these humans have an energy I have not felt for many a cycle of the red moon; come let me show you how things fare, before we descend to the cove beneath. I have been working on a particularly nasty substance that is still in keeping with the Equilibrium, so once it is ready to be utilised; it will remain unnoticed when used against the Byzantines. I also have something that I took from the Mages that might be of interest to you: I have hidden it in the Mirrorverse, that plus what we've just discovered will be of high import to your master.” The Rageon began to tap parts of a large picture on the wall. It suddenly glistened, shimmered and a doorway appeared, the two entered into, what was a corridor. As soon as they were through, the picture returned to its previous state and was solid once more.
There was a collective sigh of relief as the two disappeared; Callinicus assured they were gone unfurled his staff, the crystal had dimmed once more, “What was that creature with the Rageon.”
Arzealous apparently was just as perplexed as the rest of them, “I couldn’t make it out, but whatever it was, it wasn’t very pleasant, and whoever they are, they appear to have a foothold in the enemy camp but that was not really what I found most disturbing, I am sure the Rageon spoke of something that they recently discovered which has great value.”
Callinicus thought a moment, and remembered their previous encounter with the being, and stared thoughtfully at his staff, he imperceptibly shook his head.
Valerius looked at the two of them pensively and carefully opened the door, “Sir, we should leave this place, especially since we now know the Rageon has through its associates been secretly using the Saracens, and that is something we should report to the Emperor at once.”
Callinicus peered through the opening, “Yes that's true, at least the Saracens are not wittingly in league with our foe, that much is certain.”
Arzealous grunted, “Willingly or not, the Saracens are still working for them. And until other information comes to light, I would suggest that both enemies have one desire in common, and that is the destruction of Byzantium; the only difference they may have is that they each have a separate agenda for it, but the outcome they want is just the same.”
Callinicus strode over to the table to see if he could find any hint of the weapon with which the Rageon had spoken of, that would so affect the war with Byzantium. As he rummaged through the papers something caught his eye. He rolled up a small scroll and placed it in a small side pocket.
“I would like to take a closer look at this when we get back. It might prove useful.”
“Do we investigate further or make our escape?” asked Valerius.
“I think there is much more that needs to be looked at, especially in that cove the Rageon mentioned, but the problem is, do we have enough time to search for something, when we don't even really know what we're looking for, let us at least leave this place, while we can.”
They ran toward the end of the great hall and through the door, and as quietly as they could they crept down the stair, listening for any that might be on guard, ducking behind pillars, even darting out of the way of their own shadows, but to their relief all was quiet, there appeared no one else in the citadel. As they reached the ground floor level they desperately pulled open doors to discover the one that was an opening to a basement or cellar, but none could be found that led down into a cove.
“There’s nothing here,” gasped Sergius, "and we cannot linger."
Valerius hands on hips just shook his head ruefully, “What if it is hidden like the one upstairs?”
“You could be right. Callinicus use your staff on the tapestries.”
Callinicus immediately reached out and touched them one by one; as he placed his staff against one of them, it suddenly exploded into life, the green stone on the crown of the king pictured blazed, forcing everyone to take a step back. A doorway materialized into what appeared to be a deep dark passageway.
Arzealous stood there arms folded, his eyes narrowing, “So that is the cove, how clever.”
They each took a light from the nearest wall and entered; as they did so, the darkness seemed to surround them; all that was seen of them were hovering lights that danced in the vastness as they made their way forward. It was a dark that clung coldly to their small frames, so deep was it that they almost walked straight into the door at the far end. Arzealous pulled at the handle and with some effort heaved it open. They were instantly filled with a dazzling radiance, once their eyes had adjusted to it, they relaxed and moved into the room, there was a waft of cool air to greet them, a high ceiling adorned with seven stars shone down giving light to the scene. There in the middle was a large table and on it what could only be described as an alchemist's dream, there were all types of substances in jars and ampoules, glass tumblers of different shapes and sizes were filled with fuming or bubbling liquids, and a glass tube connected at either end by goblets and beakers ran the length of the table and twisted back on itself.
“Valerius stand guard at the door, if anything tries to come through, kill it.”
Valerius nodded and doggedly faced the door daring any to enter.
Callinicus was drawn to something on the table, it was a formula, he placed the Seal he had taken from Leif Erikson over the script, it glowed softly, he nodded thoughtfully as the small parchment gave away its secrets to him, he then withdrew from his cloak, the small scroll he had taken earlier, and did the same, he then matched the two together, quickly he went over took a peace of graphite and making additions of his own, combined the two together, he then altered the one he had taken from the table and placed it back down.
“I found something similar in our archives, but I would never have thought to add these elements to it. This is good, very good.”
They could only afford a brief search as they could not tell how time functioned in that reality, the only indicator they had was a strange instrument hanging from the wall which had hands that moved irregularly in cycles, and even that could have been misleading. As they looked through the room more and more eyes turned to the door with the desire to exit that place. They found the realm of the Rageon a mixture of the arcane and the revolutionary, possibly thought Arzealous so that t
he creature could keep to the Equilibrium when it was called upon to visit less sophisticated civilisations.
“Callinicus, I do not wish to rush you but this is not a sightseeing venture we’re on; so if you’ve quite finished, let us leave, we’ve seen enough to know that they are planning something big.” Arzealous could feel the apprehension of the Stratiotai, who were straining at the bit, and warily standing by in anticipation of the door opening; he was also sure that they had lingered too long.
“I hate to leave this place there is much here that could aid us.”
“No time;" shouted Arzealous, "Valerius the door, we’re leaving.”
Valerius hauled the door open; and quickly Arzealous hurried everyone through, Callinicus stopped a moment looked back and shook his head before leaving. They raced down the corridor holding their small orbs of light aloft.
“Callinicus your staff.”
Callinicus rushed forward and thrust his staff into what appeared a dark design on the wall, which stood where they had originally made their entrance; it shimmered flexed and pulsed softly with energy, through it could be seen the empty hallway. Each in turn passed through. Immediately they were through the staff began to shine; the Rageon surely was close. Instinctively everyone carefully returned their lights to the walls. In an antechamber there were excited voices, all trying to speak at once. They crept quietly to the front door and eased it open; as they did so they heard a latch lift to a door on the far side of the hall; keeping to a disciplined silence and knowing that their lives depended on it, they calmly exited the building. As the door closed behind them, figures immerged from the rear, near to the stair. Now outside, Arzealous tried to catch a glimpse through a window, to make sure that they had not been spied whilst making their escape, and to get a better look at the allies of the Rageon. When the way was clear he swiftly directed everyone down the pathway. Fortunately their enemy was too preoccupied to notice the movement of shadowy figures. There was more than one Rageon and there were more of the cloaked figures. It had all the appearances of a council of war. Arzealous ducked down and raced after the others, they were quickly at the side door they had used to enter through, Valerius pushed everyone across, he then locked the door and clambered over the outer gate; together they then rushed to the trees, as they disappeared beneath the canopy Arzealous paused a moment and let the others race on ahead, facing the Citadel he contemplated what he had seen and heard; The Rageon, and their allies all working for some unknown master, who sought something of great value. He sighed deeply, turned and was gone; what was even stranger was that in that realm the Rageon felt so secure that they did not even think to post guards to stand watch.
Once in the trees they ran as fast as they could, the trees seemed more alive at that time of the night, and also so did the forest, as they moved between trunk and strange beguiling bush they heard a howl like that of a wolf, but the cry was much more intimidating. They all instinctively drew their swords, and increased their pace; it was not long before they approached the gateway; Priscus and Bacchus seeing their advance, came to meet them.
Bacchus was breathless, "Did you hear that?"
"Of course, I think the entire planet heard it," replied Valerius.
Priscus caught up to Arzealous, “You’re not going to believe what we saw.”
Arzealous looked at him, “Tall figures and I mean really tall; darkly cloaked from head to foot with a strange fire to their eyes.”
“Okay, you are going to believe us.”
“Quick Callinicus your staff,” cried Arzealous.
Callinicus thrust his staff into the gateway which immediately sprung to life;
Arzealous ushered them in, “remember everyone to leap forward or you’ll plunge into the trough at the other end.”
They did as they were told and were soon within the Catacombs beneath Constantinople; once more they lit their lanterns. And as the veil of darkness lifted, each one of them could see familiar surroundings, at which there was a collective sigh of relief.
“What do we do now?” asked Priscus.
“Now we shut this portal for good,” replied Callinicus removing a scroll he had kept with him throughout their journey.
"But I thought you said if you shut the portal they'd simply open up another one."
"That they might but at least we will give them pause to think when they discover they cannot pass through this one."
Using his staff, he reached out and began to scratch into the ground symbols that ran along the front of the portal; they began to emanate a dull red to begin with, until the final one had been drawn; the lettering then glowed, radiating wildly, everyone anxiously took a step back, flames suddenly burst forth enveloping the entire portal and disappearing inside it.
“Is it done,” said Arzealous warily.
Callinicus looked up curiously, “Yes, that should have shut the portal this end, and closed off any in close proximity, but it will not stop another opening by other means from a separate location. There is one more thing, any being not of our world, is now trapped here also.”
“That is our next job, to find any would be spy not of this world, and bind them, and hopefully send them back to where they’ve come from, and we need to do it before they realise we are onto them,” replied Arzealous.
They made their way to the surface; after their recent encounter in the realm of the Rageon the catacombs had taken on a less severe and ominous feel; even that subterranean part of the empire seemed pleasing to them; the air was fresher, the ground firmer, all in all it was a world they understood, and it was home.
Arzealous lifted his lantern his eyes straining to see ahead, “Once we are free of this labyrinth I am going to have to leave you for a while; you heard the Rageon say that his kin the Sirens were here, well you are going to have to continue the search for them while I report all that has happened here to the Emperor. Callinicus you come with me. Valerius you and the men are just to seek the creatures out, only engage them if you are confident of successfully defeating them. You’ve said you’ve dealt with these types of demons before, so you know to take care.”
Priscus joined Arzealous at the front, as he led the small troop forward, “Sir there’s a particular monk who we know, with your permission we’d like his aid in this. He’s a slovenly drunkard of a man, but demons don’t seem to have the stomach for him; it’s as though he can get under their skin so to speak.”
“Very well, but I don’t need to tell you that you’re all bound by secrecy, no wagging tongues whether you are drunk or not.”
“You have our word on that sir, and besides this is the big city not the outlying villages, there’s no one around here that would believe us, and any that would listen to us would want to lock us up for heresy, and to be honest none of us would know how to tell such a story.”
Arzealous smiled, nothing could have been closer to the truth. In such superstitious times as they were in, people that told tall tales of other worldly realms were often thought to be possessed by demons themselves.
Their feet stamped on the cold floor, as each step echoed they noticed how the air was becoming freer. The more familiar surroundings gave vigour to their tired limbs. Valerius pushed on ahead and led the way out; his lantern would hover one way then the other, as he searched for something familiar, a footprint, a column, even some discarded meal.
“What is a Siren exactly?” asked Priscus.
Arzealous eyed Priscus wryly, “A Siren is a spectre in the form sometime of a seductress but its disguises are many, such creatures make the perfect killing machine really.”
“Really, and who do you think they are going to kill,” cried Callinicus.
Now it was Bacchus turn to be concerned, “It’s the Emperor; they must be after the Emperor.”
“Perhaps, but in my opinion they are after just maintaining fear. It may be that they are after the Emperor, but that wouldn’t really help them, after all we are not like that proverbial snake that you lop its hea
d off, and it dies; with us we’re like the hydra, you cut off its head, and four more grow in its place. I believe that they need to destabilise our Byzantium to conquer it, and to do that they need to create panic among the masses, hence fear is their greatest weapon.”
They felt the air become cooler as they rose to the higher levels, the intense black seemed less foreboding, less angry, the tightness of the dark was no longer there, its release made them feel unchained and more comfortable.
Instead of as before where they stopped to make camp, they kept on, the journey back being quicker as they did not have to backtrack or search carefully for the Rageon. They rested once to eat. Still it felt like an eternity until they saw a dim light emanating from an open gateway that meant they were out. As soon as they entered the church they were surrounded by a profusion of incense, and silver and gold encrusted icons, there was a comforting warmth that reached out to them. The many tiered Iconostasis that was a wall of angels, prophets and saints greeted them, the screen of colour and mysticism seemed to call out peacefully; at its centre was a velvet door that was pulled back, monks and priests were within, reciting from the holy book. A lingering perfumed haze of frankincense hovered above them, calming the air. They stood a moment in mute reverence at the scene; each in turn had put their cross in the orthodox manner as they had escaped that deep dark tomb that lay beneath Constantinople.
Arzealous was the first to break the silence, “Callinicus will their swords be able to act against the Sirens.”
“I think so, remember those creatures are now in our realm so they have to follow the laws of nature that exist here, but I feel the problem they’ll have is locating and recognising such creatures.”
“I guess that’s where their monk will come in useful. Valerius I hope he’s as good as you all believe he is?”
“Sir, he’s a lot better than that.”
“Then begin your search with his aid; if you should discover anything, I want to know at once so send word. In the meantime we’ll see the Emperor and find out how goes the war.”
As they departed the church they were barely noticed by the priests and monks who were still praying intently. The Stratiotai separated and fled into the cool of the night, Arzealous looked around him; it was difficult to tell how long they had been away or what time it was. Callinicus who was standing at his side appeared to be thinking the same; as they left that place a shadow crept from behind a side street and followed them. The avenue they descended down was quiet enough, trees rustled and whispered as they passed. Arzealous sensed something in the air, the trees were fearful, there had been a fire, something for a time had burned uncontrollably, but what had happened he could not tell. Also he could sense there was something else, a deep sensation of unease crept over him. Could the Sirens have been at work, their great malady was to make people crazed and irrational, perhaps the overpowering urge he felt to flee was caused by them. He slowed, as he did so Callinicus fell in step with him; he too appeared concerned.
“Callinicus, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the palace, there’s something ahead that intends our destruction.”
“Are you sure could it be a residual feeling from our encounter with the realm of the Rageon. The thoroughfare is long, do you think that something or someone is hiding close by.”
“Callinicus look at me and nod your head; as if we just stopped to talk; far over on this side of the road there’s a tree; its shadow is different to all the rest, while the others are strong and certain this one moves, you would need the heightened sight of an Angelos to see it. Whoever it is, or whatever it is, has tracked us since we left the church, and now it's managed to get ahead of us. I cannot be certain how many there are, but I think perhaps that staff of yours may surprise even the hardiest adversary.”
Callinicus calmly twisted the end of his staff, and then the two moved forward, the hollow light from the stars and moon illuminating their passage. They passed tree after tree until they stood close to where Arzealous had said he felt something was waiting for them. It was the largest tree in the long avenue, the perfect place to waylay passes by.
All at once they were surrounded by a harmonious sound; so powerful was it that they stood as if fixed to the ground, as though they had been turned to stone. From above a swirling cloud descended upon them, it began to take shape, it was that of a woman, its form was perfect; her eyes were sharp, keen, and in one hand she held an ivory wand, and around her neck was a bronze amulet with an amber heart. Her long gown covered her feet, indeed it was as though she floated toward them. The sound did not come from her mouth, but her wand which was held up, invisible waves of energy ensnared them both, preventing them from moving, they were nothing more than flies caught in her web, and like a venomous spider; she slowly approached her now hapless prey. Arzealous and Callinicus tried to struggle free, but without success, something had hold of them and there was no escaping it. Their foe closed on them; helplessly they watched her approach. There was a sinister cold aspect to her eyes; they were as clear and penetrating as ice and just as dead. Their bodies felt as though they were made of lead, and every effort to move was denied them.