Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion
Chapter 24: Freeing the Harem

For nearly an hour, the women of the Harem heard the klaxons blaring along with the muffled voices from outside the door. Izanami, Myra, Tasha, Jennifer, Sakura, Jasmine, Hitomi, and Trinity remained chained and strapped spread eagle to the pillars in a weird perverted type of crucifixion without the nails. Izanami, Myra, Jennifer, and Trinity hung on the pillars in mortal agony, barely conscious while they slowly suffocated under their own weight. Sakura, Jasmine, Hitomi, and Tasha hung there delirious from pain and deprivation, mumbling incoherently. All of them had been severely beaten and sexually assaulted while bound. Those women not bound to the pillars were chained hand, foot, and neck to the floor and walls with short leads of chain to allow them limited movement of no more than a six-foot perimeter. Unfortunately, the chain limit stopped just short of those bound to the pillars, forcing the rest of the women to watch helplessly while their sisters suffered on the pillars. With Izanami and Myra incapacitated, Lola became the default leader of the Harem, urging them not to give in to the Emperor.

Soon, the women heard blaster fire and battle in the distance. Hope surged in Lola, prompting her to cry out, “It’s them! It’s Hanna! It has to be! She’s come back as she promised!” Lola’s hope became contagious and spread virally throughout the Harem. They started calling out to those on the pillars to rouse them with their words since they couldn’t reach them. Minutes later, the sounds of pitched battle roared just outside the Harem’s doors. Blaster discharges and machine gun fire mixed with clashing blades and rending flesh mingled with war and death cries resonated through the doors. In the blink of an eye, the Harem doors exploded, blown off its hinges with splinters flying everywhere. The women dove for cover, watching the fury of mortal combat pour into their midst. After the explosion, the women saw a large group of formidable Cimmerian warriors and gladiators pushing the palace guards into the Harem. They heard Nemesis’ roar from outside the demolished door. Seconds later, they saw him and a strange charred, ghoulish warrior with a huge sword ripping through the guard’s ranks heading towards the doors. Their eyes grew wide at the war in their midst. Lola suddenly recognized Hanna’s war cries coming from the charred ghoul of a warrior and she gasped. “It’s Hanna!” Lola shouted while the Cimmerians and gladiators pushed the guards farther into the Harem. “Let’s get ’em, sisters!” Regardless of their chained status, the women of the Harem fell upon the guards who came within their reach, killing them with their chains and bare hands. Before anyone realized it, all the palace guards who retreated into the Harem lay dead.

The Cimmerians and gladiators, splattered with blood and gore, stopped and gazed at the scantily clad women with great surprise. They looked at each other with smiles spreading over their faces as they lowered their weapons. Nemesis rushed into the Harem as the Cimmerians and gladiators moved aside, his claws dripping with gore. “Izanami, Myra!” he called out urgently.

“They’re over here! Hurry, Nemesis; they’re dying!” Lola called from the end of her chain limit, standing over the body of a guard she’d killed with her own hands.

Nemesis nodded to someone behind him, stepping aside as Xavier and Amelia rushed in, splattered with gore. Amelia looked over the room and the women as she sheathed her blade. A deep frown crossed her face when she saw the prisoners lashed to the pillars. A hush fell over the women as Amelia came forward with Xavier. They moved aside as someone else came from behind. Whispers raced through the crowd that it was the legendary Princess Amelia Singh, the only woman to ever escape the Harem.

The women gasped in horrified astonishment as Hanna entered in all her charred ghoulish glory. Looking like a bloody charred demon, she advanced into the Harem boldly with the blood-soaked Caverias sword in both hands. Her eyes burned of blood and fury from her berserker rage. Lowering her sword in one hand as her rage dropped to a simmer, Hanna scanned the Harem. First, she saw everyone chained heavily, and then she saw her sisters lashed to the pillars in a perverted crucifixion. Her anger flared with her face flushing. “Nemesis, Xavier; replace the keys to these damned chains,” Hanna ordered. “Amelia, you’re with me.” She moved forward towards the pillars with a deliberate gait as Amelia walked beside her.

Only when Hanna spoke did the women recognize her. They stared in fearful amazement at their savior, murmuring softly. “Hanna!” Lola cried out from the end of her fetters. “Please help them, Hanna! They’ve been hung up there for days! They’re dying!”

Hanna broke into a run, calling out to Nemesis, “Nemesis, we need your help over here.” Nemesis put Xavier and several Cimmerians in charge of the keys they’d just found and dashed over to the pillars. Hanna and Amelia stopped at Lola, seeing her pleading look.

Tears of joy and relief flooded Lola’s eyes as she begged, “Please help them, Hanna. Just look at what they did to them when they found out Nemesis was the leak! You must get them down before they die.”

Hanna and Amelia looked at the women lashed to the pillars with great dismay, their hearts breaking at the suffering of their sisters. Hanna felt an icy chill race down her spine as her rage ticked up another notch. With a flick of the Caverias sword, she broke Lola’s chains saying, “Come on, Lola. Let’s get them down.”

By time they reached Trinity on the end pillar, Nemesis rushed up and stopped short, gawking at what he saw. Quickly scanning them, he saw that they were barely alive. A hideous curse on the Emperor roared from Nemesis. “We have to get them down now!” he declared. “If we delay, we may lose them.” Turning to the Cimmerians and gladiators standing guard, he called out, “We need you guys here now to help get these girls down. As soon as they are off here and are stable enough to move, take them to the portal immediately.”

The Cimmerians and gladiators who were not helping free the women from their chains rushed to assist, as did the newly freed women. “Let us help!” one of the first women to be freed insisted. “They’re our sisters.”

“Let them, Nemesis,” Hanna ordered, “They have a sisterhood that cannot be broken. Come on...let’s get them down.” She then cut Trinity down with Amelia and Lola catching her. They laid her on the cushions. Nemesis started with Myra and Izanami. In less than two minutes, everyone who had been lashed to the pillars lay free on the cushions at the base of those pillars. By time they’d been taken down, they were unconscious. Nemesis, Hanna, and Amelia quickly checked their vitals as they were taken down. They found Sakura, Jasmine, Hitomi, Trinity, and Jennifer’s vitals weak, but stable despite the abuse they’d taken. However, Hanna noticed Izanami, Myra, and Tasha’s vitals weakening with low pulse, erratic heartbeats, and shallow, raspy breaths. Tasha also had a high fever.

Hanna sat her sword down and knelt down beside Myra as Nemesis knelt between Izanami and Myra, treating their wounds. Tears dripped from Hanna’s eyes as she saw Amelia utilizing her healing touch on Izanami. “Is she going to make it?” Hanna asked grimly.

“I don’t know,” Amelia admitted. “I managed to stabilize her heart, but she has extensive internal damage from the abuse. If we can get her to the healing chamber, she might make it.”

“The Princess is right,” Nemesis agreed. “She’s stable enough to move now, but we can’t waste any time. She needs the healer right now.” A deep, troubled sigh escaped Nemesis’ lips that betrayed his worry.

Hanna touched Nemesis on his organic arm, sensing his love for Izanami. “You love her, don’t you?” Hanna asked softly.

“Yes,” Nemesis admitted. “I see her as the mother I never had. She’s always been there for me. It hurts me that I cannot do more.”

“She’s going to be okay,” Hanna declared. “You’ll see. I can see it in her face. Despite her age, she doesn’t have the ashen death look I see here on Myra. This worries me.”

Nemesis turned his attention to Myra after injecting medicine and a sedative into Izanami’s neck. His concern blossomed as he scanned Myra with his cybernetic eye. “This is bad, very bad,” he growled. “She’s suffered significant internal damage from the abuse. Her heart is weakening and her breath is shallow. I need to give her something to strengthen her heart.” He touched her on the neck with his machine finger, injecting some adrenaline directly into her bloodstream. Her color improved a bit as her pulse stabilized.

Hanna leaned over Myra, putting both hands on the sides of her head. Reaching out telepathically while speaking, Hanna called out softly, “Myra, Myra...don’t give up, sister. Help is here. I came back for you as I promised. Come back to the light, Myra. Hear my voice and come back to us.”

Myra’s heart suddenly fluttered erratically. Her breath became very raspy and uneven. “No,” Nemesis cried out in dismay. “We’re losing her!”

Hanna immediately sensed Myra slipping away at the same time. She placed both hands on Myra’s battered chest, crying out, “Lord, I rebuke this spirit of death in the name of your son, Jesus. I command it to release her in the name of Jesus. Raise her up, Lord. Please, raise your daughter and show your mighty hand in the name of Jesus!” Hanna’s prayer attracted everyone’s attention. When she felt Myra’s erratic heartbeat slow dramatically, Hanna smashed her bloody clenched fist into Myra’s chest, shouting vehemently, “NO! You can’t have her! Come out of her, you demon, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and never enter her again!”

Myra’s back suddenly arched as her eyes flew wide open. A long, raspy gasp escaped her lips, followed by a thirty-second coughing fit. Slowly, the coughing subsided as her pulse and breathing stabilized. When she slumped back down on the cushion, her eyes closed again.

“By the Ancient of Days,” Nemesis breathed. “I don’t know what you did, Hanna, but Myra’s vitals are stabilizing. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Is she still alive?” Lola asked with great concern, having witnessed the entire episode.

“Yes,” Nemesis reported. “But she’s still in great medical distress. We must get her to the healing chamber immediately.”

Hanna ignored the exchange between Nemesis and Lola. She gently turned Myra’s face with her hands, calling softly, “Myra, come on, sis. Don’t quit on me. I know you’re not a quitter. Come back to us. Come back to me. I need you. We need you.”

A moan escaped Myra’s lips as her eyelids fluttered before opening. Not recognizing Hanna due to her ghoulish appearance, Myra whispered hoarsely, “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

“Oh, Myra,” Hanna cried in great relief, gently scooping her up in a warm embrace. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Hanna?” Myra gasped, recognizing Hanna’s voice before her face. “Is that you? It can’t be. I must be dreaming.”

“It’s no dream, little one,” Nemesis declared with a slight tremor in his voice. “Hanna has returned. She’s holding you in her arms as I speak.”

Myra looked up at Nemesis as Hanna laid her back down on the cushion, holding her hand. Tears started flowing as she looked from Nemesis to Hanna and back again several times. “Oh, Nemesis,” Myra cried softly, “You came through. You brought Hanna back to us.”

“That I did,” Nemesis cooed softly, scanning Myra intensely again with his cybernetic eye. “But you shouldn’t speak. You’re gravely injured. How’s your pain?”

“It’s insane,” Myra whispered. “Every nerve in me is screaming bloody murder. Please, do something before I lose my mind!”

“Do it, Nemesis,” Hanna ordered. “Give her something to put her to sleep. I can feel her pain. It’s as bad as what I endured on that damned cross on the sex floor.” Nemesis nodded and instantly gave her a powerful cocktail of painkillers and sedatives to ease her suffering. As Nemesis administered the shot, Hanna looked deep into Myra’s eyes, saying, “Relax, sis. We’re going to get you out of here alive. Trust me.”

“I...do...trust you,” Myra murmured before the sedative sent her plummeting into unconsciousness.

Hanna leaned down and kissed Myra on the forehead as Hunter and Andrew rushed into the Harem. The sight of all the scantily-clad beautiful women made the pair pause and gawk. They suddenly got over their shock and rushed forward to Hanna. The women themselves gawked at the Sons of Thunder with their godlike build and looks.

“Hanna,” Hunter called out urgently, “We need to finish this. Reinforcements are now pouring in from the city.”

Hanna sat back on her knees, looking first at Myra, and then at Hunter. “Right,” she answered. “We’ll leave as soon as everyone in here is free.”

No sooner than Hanna had spoken, Xavier ran up, calling out, “Everyone’s free. Let’s get them and us the hell out of here.”

“In a moment,” Hanna replied, turning around to tend to Tasha lying behind her. She reached out and felt Tasha’s forehead, feeling it hot to the touch. A moan escaped Tasha’s lips as Hanna prayed silently, rebuking the fever in the name of Jesus.

Tasha’s eyes flickered and opened, seeing a ghoulish, charred Hanna hovering just over her. Hanna noticed the far, glazed look in her eyes. “Can you hear me, Tasha?” Hanna asked softly.

Tasha moaned again and nodded. “Hanna,” she whispered slowly. “What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story,” Hanna cooed, leaning down and kissing Tasha on the cheek. “I’ll tell you when we get you and everyone else out of here. Okay?”

“Okay,” Tasha murmured. “Thank you for coming for us.”

“You’re welcome, my beloved sister,” Hanna replied, choking with emotion.

“Hanna!” Andrew intruded urgently. “Time’s running out. We need to get out of here now.”

“I hear you, Andrew,” Hanna stated, standing up as she retrieved the Caverias sword. Raising her voice, she announced, “Okay sisters, now’s the time to choose. I came back as I promised. Who wants out of here?” Everyone capable of speaking returned a resounding, “I”.

“In that case, let’s go,” Hanna ordered. Turning to the Cimmerian warriors and the gladiators, she added, “Help them carry their wounded to the portal, guys. Xavier, Amelia; lead them out of here and be sure that Izanami, Myra, and Tasha get to the healer. It appears they took the worst of the punishment. Nemesis and I have a few more stops.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Xavier stated, gently scooping up Myra. “I’ll make sure they’re the first to be treated. Come on, fellas; let’s help these girls get out of here.” In seconds, several Cimmerian warriors gently picked up the wounded women and followed Xavier out of the Harem. Amelia followed right behind Xavier carrying Izanami along with the women of the Harem, including Lola. Those Cimmerians and gladiators who didn’t carry anyone made a perimeter with their weapons ready to protect the women with their lives.

Nemesis, Andrew, and Hunter watched Hanna as she watched everyone leave. They saw the berserker rage building in her face. When Nemesis saw the rage turn Hanna’s face stone cold, he motioned for the Sons of Thunder to back away slowly. “She’s about to blow,” he warned them. “Move back slowly and don’t say anything.”

“I’m going to get the Emperor for what he did to my sisters in here,” Hanna snarled. “He’s not going to get away with it. He crossed the line and now he’s going to reap the whirlwind.” With a shriek of rage, Hanna lashed out at the pillar Izanami, Myra, and Tasha had been tied to with the Caverias sword. The ancient blade flashed through the solid marble column as if it weren’t there. Several moments past before the column grated and rumbled, sliding along the diagonal cut as Hanna stood there frozen with the Caverias sword outstretched. It toppled against the pillar next to it, making it fall in domino fashion until every pillar the women had been lashed to come crashing to the floor in a deafening roar. The falling columns shook the entire Harem, kicking up a cloud of dust as Hanna relaxed from her sword pose.

“Whoa,” Andrew murmured. “I didn’t know the Caverias sword could really cut through stone. I just thought she was exaggerating when she said that it could.”

“Shhh,” Nemesis hissed at Hunter and Andrew. “Be quiet. The rage has her. Hanna, are you okay?”

Hanna looked up with an icy gleam in her eye, but with an obviously lower level on her rage. “I will be,” she stated grimly. “You were right to stand back just now. If you’d been within reach, I may have done something all of us would have regretted.”

“But you didn’t, little sister,” Andrew replied cautiously, “for which I am glad. You scare me when I see you like that.”

“I’m sorry, Andrew,” Hanna said with a deep, troubled sigh. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but now you see the bane of my existence. Fortunately, my rage hadn’t gone off the scale. I’m just so ticked off by what the Emperor did to my sisters here. They didn’t know where I was or when I was coming back. He had this done to them just out of spite. Now, he’s going reap the whirlwind for that. Come on...let’s get Selina, Nicodemus, and Josephine and bug out of this rock pile.”

They followed Hanna to the ruined doors only to be greeted by Enoch and a remnant of his team. “Good timing, Enoch,” Hanna called out. “Did you see Xavier and my sisters?”

“I sure did,” Enoch replied. “I sent half my team to help guard their escape into the dungeons. I had no idea there were so many prisoners in the Harem.”

“Well, there were,” Hanna answered coldly. “And you no doubt saw some of them had been savagely abused.”

“I did,” Enoch agreed. “It’s one of the reason I reinforced their numbers. Hanna, the reserves are really starting to pile in. We need to get Selina and get out of here.”

Hanna started to speak when Nemesis’ communicator chirped. “Nemesis, this is Horace,” Horace’s voice echoed from the communicator.

“Nemesis here,” Nemesis answered. “What is it, Horace?”

“We found out how to extract Josephine,” Horace reported. “But we need to do it now. The Cadre are tapping Josephine’s power reserves in their attacks. If we don’t do it now, we may lose her.”

“We’re coming,” Hanna called out. “Protect Josephine until we get there.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Horace answered. “We’ll do what we can; Over and out.”

“Does anyone have any explosives on them?” Hanna asked.

“I do,” one of the rebel guards in Enoch’s team replied, approaching with a pack in hand. “Help yourself.” He opened it, revealing six small blocks of carite explosives with timers. “Be careful,” he warned. “These are carite contact explosives. They pack quite a punch. Furthermore, once set, they cannot be disarmed, so make sure you have plenty of distance between you and the bomb.”

Hanna reached in and pulled out a bomb two inches by two inches by four inches long with a digital timer on the detonator. A wicked smile crossed her lips. “You’re not going to do what I think you are, are you?” Enoch asked.

“You’re damned right I am,” Hanna chimed wickedly as she sprinted to the ruined columns she’d cut down. Planting the bomb in the exact center of the Harem, she set the timer and stepped away. “The Emperor is never using this room again. Come on, let’s go get Josephine,” Hanna ordered, boldly walking out of the Harem. She headed down the corpse-strewn corridor with a deliberate gait in her stride. Everyone fell in behind her.

“How much time did you give us?” Nemesis asked bluntly.

“Ninety minutes,” Hanna stated. “We should be well away from this area by then. By the way Enoch, how did your raid into the labs go?”

“It was rough,” Enoch stated, “We lost a third of Marvin’s guards and a few hybrids, but we punched in, rescued the prisoners, and wrecked their equipment. I personally cut down two Cadre wizards in the process and Morpheus slew three more.”

“Did you see Ahriaman?” Nemesis queried as they rushed down the corridor.

“No,” Enoch replied. “The snake was not there.”

“Not good,” Nemesis stated. “Ahriaman is the Cadre leader and the only one who can hide their activities from me. We need to replace that snake and end his wretched existence.”

“Amen to that,” Hanna agreed. “He’d better pray he doesn’t encounter me because I’m going to send him to the Old Ones personally for what he did to Selina.”

“Whoa,” Hunter murmured to Andrew as they followed near the back of the team. “I’ve never seen Hanna like this before.”

“None of us have,” Andrew answered. “It’s like she’s another person. I hope she pulls out of this funk when she leaves here.”

“Me too,” Hunter whispered, “Me too.”