Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
Dark Politics

Meanwhile halfway around theworld in a small private resort just west of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a smallgroup of men met in a lodge-meeting hall. They were a peculiar lot of lawyers,generals, politicians, financiers, doctors, and business leaders from all overthe world. They talked quietly as they sat around waiting for someone.Suddenly, the door opened and their attention fell on a couple of men whostrode boldly into the room. One sported a very high dollar blue suit anddripped of evil. His companion appeared to be a soldier of significant caliberin military fatigues, packing a semi-automatic pistol on his hip.

“Thank you for coming,gentlemen,” the man in the suit said as he sat in an empty leather executivechair near the fireplace. The soldier took up position next to him, standing atease behind the chair with his hands behind his back. “I think you all know whywe’re here: the renegade Beowulf,” the man in the suit stated icily. “He’sbecome a menace to our great cause. He knows our plans. He knows about ourtechnology. Shit, he even knows about our alliance with the Draconians andRuticulians. He knows what we’re about to unleash upon this festering world.And to make matters worse, he seems to have unlocked technology that’s farbeyond our own and our allies. He and those with him have become very dangerousto our cause. Now where is he?” Venom dripped from his lips as he spoke.

Everyone looked at each otherfor a few moments. Then a general stood, addressing the man in the suit. “Sir,he has disappeared off our scopes,” the general reported. “He and all of hisresearch and money have vanished. Neither hide nor hair of him has been seen inover six weeks. Somehow, he’s managed to stay one step ahead of us. The closestwe ever came to neutralizing him was six weeks ago when we moved on his friendHarry Clint and raided his offices and bank accounts. We had limited successwith Mr. Clint in that we were able to draw Beowulf out by attacking Mr.Clint’s wife, burning his house, and turning him into a terrorist.Unfortunately, we missed them on every other occasion after that.”

The man in the suit sat therewith a darkening countenance. “You god damned fool,” he hissed. “You gave awayour position with your incompetence. Now he is beyond our reach! Clarence.” Thesoldier beside him pulled his pistol, executing the general with one shotbetween the eyes. Blood and brains exploded from back of the general’s head,splattering on those near him. He fell to the floor with a thud with blood andbrains oozing out of the gaping holes in his head. Gasps escaped from the lipsof general’s comrades. “I will not tolerate this kind of failure!” the man inthe suit shouted furiously. He turned to the man nearest to his right, roaring,“Mr. President, you have but a little time in order to replace these people,otherwise, I’ll have your soul for breakfast. Do I make myself clear? Dowhatever it takes to replace these men. They must not interfere in our plans. TheBlack Prince is very, very displeased by your lack of progress. Find andexterminate them with extreme prejudice, otherwise you’ll be his blood tithe.”

“Sir, wehave operatives all around the world and the word is Beowulf is hidingsomewhere in the Far East,” another general fearfully informed. “Where exactlyhe’s hiding no one seems to know.”

“So, we dohave some intelligence on his location,” the man in the suit declared.

“It’s notso much intelligence as rumor,” the general stated carefully. “It’s said thathe can appear and disappear at will and has a couple of large alien cats ascompanions. It’s also been reported that he located the fabled Temple ofTiamat, but no one seems to know where it is.”

The man inthe suit raised an eyebrow. “The Temple of Tiamat; how long has this rumor beenfloating around, general?” he asked.

“It hasbeen floating around for about two years, sir,” the general reported. “No oneseems to know where this Temple of Tiamat is, just that it’s lost in themountains of Southeast Asia.”

“Why wasn’tthis brought to my attention earlier?” the man in the suit asked icily.

“Somehow itwas overlooked until a week ago,” the general reported fearfully. “I wasn’tbriefed myself about the rumor until four days ago. Why it took so long to cometo me, I don’t know.”

“Lapses inintelligence will not be tolerated. The only reason I don’t execute you overthis failure is we still need you. Don’t let it happen again. Next time I won’tbe so forgiving,” the man in the suit growled.

“I assureyou, this will not happen again. I’ll deal with it myself,” the generalinsisted.

“Good. Nowcheck with the governments of that area and see if there has been anyarchaeological digs opened in the last three years,” the man in the suitordered. “This may be the break we need in order to replace him. Beowulf has anose for antiquities. He seems drawn to them like a moth to flame. That’ll leadus to him. Now, has there been any success in tracking down his money?”

“Not as ofyet; but rest assured, we will replace it,” one of the bankers reported.

“Sir...isBeowulf really that big a threat to us?” one of the lawyers asked cautiously.“He’s never openly resisted us before.”

The man inthe suit’s countenance darkened again, forehead furrowing as anger rose in hisface. “Yes, he’s a greater threat than you can even imagine,” he said withgreat venom. “Let me tell you exactly who Beowulf is. He was a seventh-levelmaster wizard...the greatest assassin ever to walk the Earth. He became sopowerful that we allowed him to be a crucial part of our operation. He couldliterally kill with a word and was very good at it. He had access to the mostsensitive parts of our operational plans. It wasn’t discovered that he was athreat to our plans until six months ago. It was then that we discovered thathe had betrayed us and became a Christian. Even worse than that is he wassomehow able to hide it from us for almost twenty-seven years. That makes himthe most dangerous man in existence. Now if you dare question what I say again,I’ll have your head on a plate.”

“Y-y-Yes,sir,” the lawyer stammered fearfully.

“Okaygentlemen, you know what to do. Find this traitor and all his friends. I don’tcare if you have to torture every person he has ever associated with. Find him,or all of our asses are up shit creek and I’ll personally tear every one of youinto little pieces. Do you hear me, Mr. President? Do you hear the words comingout of my mouth?” the man in the suit asked, anger and hate dripping from hislips as he stood. “Find and destroy Beowulf.”

“Yes, sir,”the President answered fearfully, icy chills racing down his spine. “We’ll replacethis terrorist and eliminate him and all those who’re part of his cell.”

“Good. Nowget to work!” the man in the suit barked as he and his bodyguard started towalk out. The man in the suit turned and hissed, “And clean up this mess beforeyou go.” At that, he left the room with his bodyguard.

“How darehe talk to me like that! I’m the President of the United States!” the Presidentgrowled angrily after the man in the suit left with his bodyguard.

“You seemto forget your place, Mr. President. He put you in that position. He can damnedwell remove you as well any time he wants,” one of the generals rebuked.

“We all oweour positions to the Brotherhood. Lord Hades is in charge and if we value ourlives and position, we’ll do as we’re told,” one of the financiers stated.“Beowulf has made a monkey of us and our gods. He has to pay in blood for histreason.” Everyone agreed with that position.

“I’ll send in a cleanup crew to take of this,” thegeneral who rebuked the President said as they left the room.