Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
Traitors and Prophecies of a Lost World

Far from Hannibal’s home in aremote unknown cavern deep beneath Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina, an old manwearing a loose-fitting tan shirt and trousers with a dagger strapped to hiship sat at a large fire in an isolated cave within the cavern. Thirty otherpeople dressed in a similar manner congregated around the fire with him. Hisage showed with bronzed leathery skin, a long snow-white beard and shoulderlength snow white hair. The others sat silently and respectfully, giving theold man their full attention. He gazed intently into the fire: lost in thought.Suddenly, he looked up at those around the fire. His emerald eyes flashed inanger as he spoke. “You all know why I’ve summoned you here to this remoteplace. There’s a traitor amongst us. He or she has already betrayed us to theEmperor. You know who you are. Did you think that the Ancient of Days reallywouldn’t see? You thought wrong,” the old man hissed while standing up. Heslowly walked around behind those seated.

The group murmured as they lookedat each other with growing suspicion. “Didn’t you think that He wouldn’t know?”the old man growled angrily, hesitating behind a young man with short brownhair and eyes. Leaning close to his ear, the old man declared, “Whoever hasdone this has only one chance.” The old man patted the young man on theshoulder and moved on.

“The Emperor’s forces havedecimated and massacred our brethren in eastern reaches of Khitia,” the old manreported. “This was unexpected because we didn’t believe the Emperor couldextend himself that far that quickly. Our losses are extensive too, close toninety percent. Those that survived the onslaught fled into the deep caves,some making their way back to us. Now the Emperor controls Solomon’s Passage.This is a very disturbing development. We have controlled that area for nigh onsix hundred cycles. Now he prepares to take the surface. This is intolerable.Whoever you are that did this, coming forward now to answer for your actions isthe only recourse. The Ancient of Days knew of your treachery and showed me whoit is that has done this treasonous act.”

The old man looked around atthe group, fastening his eyes on one young man with green eyes and shortlycropped black hair across the fire from him, saying, “Coming forward now willspare your life and save your soul. The Emperor will consume your soul if youremain his agent.” The young man stared back in defiance without saying a word.They remained in their staring match for over a minute, alerting everyone ofidentity of the traitor. Silence reigned as several burly guards edged towardsthe black-haired traitor. The fire crackled and roared while the confrontationensued.

Finally, the old man spoke up.“So be it,” he said icily. “Go back to the Emperor. I know not what the Emperorpromised you. Whatever it is, you’ll never live to see it; however, fear not.Your death is not yet and will not be at our hands. I have a message for theEmperor.” The guards pounced on the traitor, restraining him and pulling him tohis feet while binding the young man’s hands behind his back. One guard drewhis dagger, placing it in the hollow of the traitor’s throat, ready to dispatchthe traitor.

“I wish to remind the Emperorabout the prophecy that we all know so intimately,” the old man stated. Then tothe guard with the dagger, the old man ordered, “Put your dagger away, Anwar.He’ll not be much of a messenger boy if he’s dead.” Anwar the guard sheathedhis dagger. “Sit and listen, especially you,” the old man ordered, referring tothe traitor. Everyone sat as the old man returned to his position at the fire.Three guards stayed close to the traitor, two flanking him, holding him firmly,and the third, Anwar, standing behind him watching like a hawk. All eyesfastened upon the old man as he began to speak again.

“You all know the prophecies,”the old man stated. “Back in the mists and fog of time from the time of thebeginning, from the days when our people lived on the surface come theseprophecies. Many millennia have passed since the Ancient of Days passedjudgment on the world. Many of the accounts of that event and time have beenfragmented and lost to us. For in time, history becomes legend, and legendbecomes myth. Things were forgotten that shouldn’t have been and for twelvemillennia the knowledge of what befell us passed from our knowledge as apeople. All that remained was a fairy tale: a myth of our origin that told ofthe days when the gods of old battled each other on the surface for the soul ofthe planet, decimating the world and angering to wrath the Ancient of Days.However, the Ancient of Days remembered His people and, at the time of Hischoosing, revealed the location of the fortress of Srandi and the last knownaccounts of our fall, the source of the prophecies. What you hear now is theonly known account left from that time, even though it is still fragmented andwe continue to search for the complete prophecy. Hear the words and take heedfor the days of their fulfillment are at hand. Listen carefully.

“Just before the cataclysm theAncient of Days visited upon us and the world, the Demon Emperor ruled thewhole world with blood and terror. Billions perished at his hand. He allowedthe forces of the most Ancient Darkness to manifest in our dimension and plaguethe living. In those days, he was nigh unstoppable because of his power.Therefore, our great God, the Almighty Ancient of Days sent forth prophets andthey foretold the destruction of Amacia and the Emperor. These prophetsprophesied and chronicled the fall of Amacia and the destruction of the Emperorjust before the cataclysm. They wrote down the prophecies and hid copies ofthem from the Emperor. In many cases, the copies of the prophecy were split andsent to various lands as a way to keep the Emperor from circumventing anddestroying the whole of it. They also managed to secure a remnant of our racefor the Ancient of Days. The Emperor decimated them just as he decimated ourbrethren in Khitia recently. When the Emperor slew the last prophet in thethrone room of his Black Fortress, he didn’t realize that he doomed hiskingdom. The very same day the Emperor killed the last prophet, the Ancient ofDays raged in his wrath at the wickedness perpetrated by the Emperor and thosewho followed him. The Almighty sent the Hammer of Nibiru, the great wanderingstar that blasted the planet and turned it upside down. At His order, it causedthe ground to open up and the Earth swallowed our country up whole. Theperiphery of the Empire subsequently fell to the Deluge caused by the greatstar, reordering the surface of the world in the process. Amacia fell exactlyas the prophets had predicted. The world was cleansed and only a few handfulsof pure souls were allowed to remain above to start over; souls He warned ofthe coming calamity and who acted on His word. Nearly every trace of the Empirevanished and the Emperor was banished here with the whole of Amacia. The outerworld lost all knowledge of our existence when the Ancient of Days wiped thesurface clean of the Emperor’s vile Empire. The prophecy of the destruction ofAmacia occurred in that day just as the prophets had foretold; however, thedestruction of the Emperor didn’t happen at that time. The destruction ofAmacia and the Emperor are two different events separated in time and space.Now the Emperor’s downfall is at hand. Listen to the prophecy of the Emperor’sdestruction as we know it from the fragmented writings and take heed, for thetime is now. The Ancient of Days has decreed it and reads as follows from ourfragmented accounts.

“In the end of days, the DarkPrince will shake from his slumber and many will despair. The great Dark Catwill roar, the world will shake, and darkness will come as the Cat stirs. TheDraken Lord will arise in the east and rage in fury. A monster Chimera willsweep out of the northeast with vengeance and a Giant of immense power willarise with great strength out of the northwest. In those late days will hecome, the great Warrior guardian from the Outer World with his celestial mateand ten of his own and the great Ancient of Days guiding their way while beingpursued by an old enemy out for vengeance and an enemy who isn’t his enemy. Forin those days, the Ancient of Days’ anger shall be kindled against the Emperorand his kingdom will be plunged into darkness. Stars and fire shall fall on theDark City of the Damned in divine fury. The moon shall be struck and bloodied;the sun and stars hammered and their light shall be withdrawn. For therighteous Wrath of the Divine God will fall on the kingdom. Indeed, the veryEarth will stagger and sway as a drunkard, being pulverized by bolts of powerfrom on high for the Emperor’s transgressions and atrocities are piled up toHeaven and Ancient of Days has remembered his crimes. Even the great celestialHammers will be called forth from the heavenly armories to smash the Emperor’sevil as he tries to spread his dark power over the planet once more.

“In those dark days, theAlmighty Ancient of Days sends His Messenger – the mighty Warrior guardian fromthe Outer World and his allies into the cursed darkness of His Enemy. Uponentering the cursed domain, the Warrior and his celestial mate fall prey to atrap set by the Warrior’s old enemy and are taken before the Demon Emperorwhere the inseparable pair is separated: the celestial mate to become a slaveto the Demon Emperor, and the Warrior to be altered and mutated into hisopposite, tortured, and condemned to oblivion. Yet the Ancient of Dayspreserves the Warrior in his fiery trial, allowing him to escape the Evil,showing him the way to lift the curse that altered his form, and return to theDark City of the Damned to save his celestial mate and all souls trapped by theEvil in the deepest vilest darkness while awakening to his destiny as the hand,the very Sword of the Ancient of Days that spans the ages and saves all lifefrom the Evil’s wrath and its source within the most Ancient of Darkness thatseeks the extinction of all life.

“Thus the Ancient of Days sendsHis messenger – the mighty Warrior guardian from the Outer World, to His EvilEnemy, to prophecy against him, to be His divine wrath against his kingdom, tobattle the Evil at the Fortress of Srandi, and triumph. The Evil shall be asthe sands of the desert as they cross the face of the Earth to the Fortress ofSrandi to annihilate the redeemed of their species. The Almighty Ancient ofDays shall arise from His place and do battle for them as in the days of old,crushing the Evil underfoot with His mighty Hammers. Fire, brimstone, and billowsof smoke shall rain upon the cursed City from on High as the Earth itself risesagainst the Dark City, not leaving one brick on another anywhere. Then shallthe ENTIRE WORLD know that He, the Almighty Ancient of Days is the great andAlmighty God – Creator and true Master of the Universe!” the old manprophesied.

Turning to the traitor, the oldman said sternly, “Now go. Tell the Emperor that there is a prophet once morein the land. Tell him the Ancient of Days has finally set the day of hisdestruction. The time is now. The great Ancient of Days’ wrath is now upon him.Tell him!” The old man turned to those guarding the traitor and ordered, “Takehim to the Plains of Blood and release him.” Then speaking to the traitor, headded severely, “Show your face here no more. If you do, you will surely die.”At that, the guard Anwar pummeled the traitor on the back of his head, knockinghim out. “Remember Anwar…don’t kill him. Take him to the Plain and let him go.The day of our redemption is now upon us,” the old man reminded. “We must bevigilant. The Warrior will come.” Anwar and the guards dragged the traitoraway. “May God have mercy on that poor fool for the Emperor won’t. Go back toyour people,” the old man said to those remaining. “Be ready and vigilant. Thebattle is being set in array. Soon it will be joined.” The group filed outleaving only the old man standing there.

A middle-aged man approachedthe old man from the shadows. “How long have you known?” the middle-aged manasked.

Turning to face the youngerman, the old man said, “I was told who it was the moment he sold us out.Unfortunately, there was no way to get warning to those poor people in Khitia.”He shook his head sadly, adding, “The Emperor moved so quickly we couldn’t doanything about it.”

“How many did we lose?” themiddle-aged man asked grimly.

“We lost nine thousand. Only athousand managed to get to safety. It’s been the worst loss we’ve had in nearlyfifteen hundred cycles,” the old man reported grimly. “The Emperor’s troopsswept through there like a scythe. There was no warning. Everything wasslaughtered: men, women, children, cats, dogs, horses, cattle, chickens, goats– everything.” He shook his head again with tears welling up in his eyes,adding, “Such a terrible loss of life…it should’ve never happened.”

The middle-aged man put acomforting hand on the old man’s shoulder. “That it is, Nicodemus,” themiddle-aged man agreed. “That it is. I don’t pretend to know what the Ancientof Days had in mind when He allowed this to happen. The only thing that I doknow is that He will make it right somehow.”

Nicodemus looked into the man’sface. It was leathery, hardened by years of conflict. “I knew the Ancient ofDay’s will in this matter. It still doesn’t make it any easier, Joshua,” he saidsoftly. “He’s allowing the Emperor to fill his cup so that He can end thisthing. The end is upon us, Joshua. Many, many more will die before it is over.He has revealed to me that the great Warrior spoken of in the prophecies isalready on the move. He’s moving as we speak. I pray that the Ancient of Dayswill allow us to be there when he comes.”

“I’m sure He will,” Joshuareturned. “Are you going to be all right?”

Nicodemus nodded. “Yeah...I’llbe all right,” he murmured. “I just need to be alone with the Ancient of Days.He is my strength and comfort. Go home. We are safe for the moment. The Emperoris now confident of his power and in that confidence will be his undoing. He istoo busy right now to worry about us. He has a world and universe to conquer.”

“All right, Nicodemus, if yousay so. If you need me, you know where I am,” Joshua answered as he walked awayleaving Nicodemus alone with the fire.

Nicodemus sat down and quietlysobbed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked into the fire once again.Repeatedly, he asked the Almighty Ancient of Days why there had to be such agrievous loss of life, but received no reply from the heavens. Nicodemus staredinto the fire, weeping; a prophet of the Ancient of Days, the only one left ina lost world not known to the rest of the world, period; one member of a racevanished from the face of the Earth many thousands of years before. It was apeople thought to be root of all mankind with its core now buried deep in therugged southern Andes Mountains for many long, forgotten centuries; forgottenfor centuries but not forever.