Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion
Chapter 3: Acheron Compromised

At the same moment outside the citadel of Acheron in the secured portion of the city, Joshua, Nathanael, Doug, Bruce, Trevor, Morrison, Arabella, Thomas, Jonathan, Cracko, David, Timothy, Vergil, Zachias, and several of the Elders were meeting in their temporary headquarters discussing what to do about Hanna’s prolonged absence. They feared the worst and Hanna’s original team with the exception of Nathanael wanted to go in after them. “We must be patient,” Nathanael told them for the fourth time. “Exploration is not an exact science. It takes time. Hanna is more than capable of handling herself.”

“But it has been almost a day!” Thomas retorted. “I think she’s in trouble. She needs us.”

“Even if she is in trouble, how would we replace her?” Joshua returned forcefully. “Where would we look? It’s folly to run around in the citadel not knowing where she went. Do you not remember the last time we attempted to penetrate the citadel without her? We lost several good men. No. Nathanael is right. With the group she took with him, they are more than capable to handle whatever they replace, much more so than us.”

“But we can’t just do nothing!” Arabella said with great concern for their welfare.

“We aren’t doing nothing, Arabella,” Nathanael returned. “We are doing exactly what she wanted us to do: preparing our defenses to keep these people safe.”

Almost as if on cue, a scout burst into the room, getting the attention of all. “Joshua! Nathanael! The Emperor is coming!” he reported. “There is a great host gathering on the plains of Elar and Myria and they are moving this way!”

Joshua scowled, asking, “What kind of force are we looking at?”

“It’s at least three times the size of what sacked Arionath,” the scout returned. “There are so many that it is impossible to count.”

Nathanael’s face grew concerned as he said, “Just give us a rough idea, son.”

The scout looked them in the face and said, “I saw at least what I thought was three hundred thousand, many of which were Zarukar and Xenian. It appears that the Emperor has brought together all his forces for this one assault.”

“Three hundred thousand!” one of the Elders gasped in horror. The fear began to spread through the room and both Nathanael and Joshua noticed it.

“What kind of weapons are they bringing?” Nathanael asked pointedly.

“All of them,” a gruff familiar voice called out from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Gulez bound with two guards flanking him, swords out ready to dispatch him. Thomas, Jonathan, Morrison, and Arabella couldn’t believe their eyes. General Gulez was standing before them in fetters.

“Monster! What are you doing here!” Thomas shrieked, pulling his sword and charging him.

Nathanael stepped in the way and restrained Thomas, saying, “Hold on, Thomas. We need to know things first.”

Thomas squirmed futilely in Nathanael’s viselike grip. “He’s here to kill us!” he cried out.

Morrison and Jonathan quickly moved forward and restrained Thomas, freeing up Nathanael to interrogate Gulez. “You’d better give me a damned good reason for not letting this man cut you down where you stand,” Nathanael hissed.

“You know this man?” Joshua asked with amazement.

“Yes,” Nathanael replied coldly. “He was our first problem when we came here. He was fomenting a coup on the surface and we landed in the middle of it. He tried to kill us even though we were not his enemy. We were just passing through.”

Joshua drew his sword and approached Gulez menacingly, putting the sword to his throat, asking, “Is this true? Did you unjustly persecute them?”

Gulez didn’t bat an eye as he said, “Yes, to my everlasting shame. I followed them here to have all their heads.”

“See!” Thomas cried out, feeling justified in his attack. “He wants us dead!”

Gulez continued, saying, “Yes. I wanted you all dead. You cost me my coup and worse, you defeated me in battle. I followed you all, lost my regiment to the Emperor’s troops, and was taken to him where I thought to use him to further my own plans of revenge. But no more; I have seen what the Emperor really is. He really is a monster that isn’t human. When Beowulf escaped the arena as a woman and you all escaped from Kaal Bek, destroying his prized fighting force, I saw the Emperor change into a demon monster and explode his most trusted adviser in retribution. He is a demon and at that point, I realized that all Beowulf told me would happen to me if I followed happened. I fled him only to run into the Xenian bear Nemesis, who is on your side too. I begged him to get me away from there and to Beowulf, but he would not. He instead took me to Beowulf’s wife in the Harem where I learned the price of my folly. In order to get away from the Emperor, she first freed my mind from the insanity that possessed me, and then told me to conquer my fear of the Emperor and replace out what he was up to; in essence, to be a spy for you.”

Nathanael stepped forward, looking him directly in the face as Joshua held the blade to his throat, demanding, “Where is she? Where is my daughter?”

“She was taken in the night to the Tower not three or four days ago. How I know not, just that she was taken,” Gulez replied humbly, which Nathanael noticed. In fact, he noticed this wasn’t the same Gulez that pursued them like a rabid dog. “When I found out that she was taken, I immediately sought out the bear,” Gulez continued. “It wasn’t but a few hours after the killing of his vizier that the Emperor put me in charge of his whole army, telling me to gather them in Cydonia. He made me Vizier and commanded me to gather his forces. Therefore, when I tell you that he is coming with all his war machines, I lie not. When I told the Xenian, he told me that when an opportunity arose to escape, to do so. I come with the direst of warnings. He means not to conquer or subjugate, but to destroy every last one of you. It is annihilation…an extermination of every last rebel to his rule. The army he’s sending is over 500,000 strong and the Emperor himself is coming to make sure the job is not botched. We cannot let him do it. You have to get these people away from here.”

Nathanael saw the sincerity and fear in his eyes, so he told Joshua, “Lower your sword, Joshua. I believe him.” Joshua lowered his blade, but kept it ready.

“But he tried to kill us!” Morrison blurted out. “This may be disinformation! He is a master of deceit.”

Nathanael turned sharply, looking at Morrison and the rest of the original team, saying, “I said I believe him, not that I trusted him. Joshua, lock him up for now. When Hanna returns, she will know whether this pathetic excuse for a human is telling the truth or not.”

Joshua nodded, saying, “So be it. Lock him up.” The guards took Gulez away, who didn’t struggle as he was led away. Jonathan and Morrison released Thomas after Gulez had been taken away.

“Something strange is going on here,” Jonathan commented. “I can’t quite place my finger on it. That looked like the General, but he doesn’t talk or act like the General I know did.”

“So I’m not the only one to notice that,” Nathanael returned. “I think something has happened to him, and I believe it may be to our benefit. But I’m not going to take any chances with him until Hanna gets back.”

They all gathered back around the table and Joshua asked the scout, saying, “How did you see the army, from the ground or air?”

“From the air, Joshua,” The scout replied. “The caronadons were helping us scout lower Zaraphath along the border of Elar and Myria when we saw it: two great hosts becoming one, one coming from the Plains of Blood and the other coming from the direction of Tartarus.”

“The Cadre,” Bruce growled venomously.

Nathanael looked at them, saying, “Apparently, but we must not give up hope. It seems the scout wasn’t seen.”

“Oh, on the contrary, we were indeed spotted,” the scout returned urgently. “There were six of us and the other five were knocked out of the sky with flaming arrows from the war machines.”

“Flaming arrows?” Arabella asked; mystified by what the scout was describing. “How can flaming arrows bring a caronadon down?”

Nathanael thought for a moment, and then asked the scout, “Which end were the arrows on fire?”

“On the lower end, away from us,” the scout reported. “They shot the arrows at us and they followed us around. I was fortunate that the caronadon I was on was able to elude these terrible arrows. They exploded when they hit my friends.”

“So we have the answer, Arabella,” Nathanael replied. “Missiles: the Emperor has heat seeking missiles at his disposal. This will complicate matters.”

“What is a missile?” Joshua asked.

“It is a long cylindrical machine that’s launched from another machine with the sole purpose of destroying a target,” Nathanael replied. “They have a propulsion unit in one end which moves it and in the head of it is a warhead of some kind, whether it is explosive like the carite bombs we used on Kaal Bek, or something solid like a weight, or in some cases filled with a toxic brew of chemicals or germs. The last two can be more dangerous than the others because they are made to take out people and not buildings.”

Joshua and the Elders were flabbergasted at Nathanael’s description of what a missile could do. “Who can even conceive of this kind of evil!” one of the Elders breathed in horror.

“Well sir, on the surface missiles are a fact of war and life,” Nathanael added grimly. “Every government and nation has them, and they are more than willing to use them. There are even missiles with enough firepower to wipe out entire cities with a single stroke.”

“We must prepare accordingly then,” Joshua stated. “Do you have any idea how much time we have?” he asked the scout.

“The army is gathering in the southern reaches of Myria and when we spotted them, they were beginning to move in our direction with great speed. I have never seen such an army move like that. It was moving as if it were a single entity. I would say three days if they do not quicken their pace.”

“Three days!” Trevor growled. “We will not be ready in three days to meet such a force! Not in three years could we be prepared to withstand such an assault by those kinds of numbers. What are we going to do?”

Nathanael stood in Hanna’s place and everyone knew it, even Joshua. He looked at them, seeing the fear rising inexorably in their faces. “We will do as Hanna would want us to do,” Nathanael declared. “We will do all we can, and then stand. Have faith, friends. She will come back with a plan. I promise.”

The air suddenly became rarefied and the hair of everyone stood on end. Swords were drawn instantly, as a flash of light appeared near the end of the room next to a window. Nathanael’s attention snapped to the anomaly as it grew to a glowing ball of fire. Everyone backed away from it as the ball of fire grew to fifteen feet in diameter, and then dissipated to a ring of energy with a translucent shimmering center. “It’s a portal,” Nathanael declared as five figures appeared behind the shimmering curtain. Instantly, Hanna stepped through the portal followed closely by Harry, Morpheus, Hunter, and Muriel. Muriel stood close to Hanna as they stopped just outside the portal. They all looked at the five in stunned amazement. Hanna looked like a ghoul that had stepped out of the pits of hell with her hair singed and burnt, her leather coat charred and armor melted together, and her face streaked with soot and red from battling the ancient demons and monsters. The Sword of Caverias hung from her shoulder and at her right hand, holding her hand was what they considered a grotesque aberration with human and feline features, cybernetic enhancements, and a reptilian arm. At Hanna’s left stood Morpheus in his regal splendor, standing there like an ancient wizard with his staff. Harry and Hunter stood behind them. “Come on Muriel, don’t be afraid,” Hanna said to her, leading her forward. Muriel allowed Hanna to lead her forward, staying very close to Hanna, fearful of the reaction her presence would elicit from the normal people.

Nathanael stared without words as they came forward and stopped in front of the table and Nathanael. The room became silent as a tomb. “I tried to get her to come in like normal people but she claimed we didn’t have time,” Harry called out to the rest of the team.

Nathanael grinned at the comment saying, “You always did know how to make an entrance, Hanna.”

Hanna sighed deeply, replying, “It’s good to be among family again.” She let go of Muriel and embraced Nathanael as a daughter would a father. “God, it’s good to see your face,” she said as they hugged.

Nathanael could still smell the stench of brimstone on Hanna. “Yes, little sister. It’s good to see you alive and in one piece,” Nathanael replied as they separated. “But my word, what have you been doing, dancing in a firestorm?”

Hanna chuckled at the comment, saying, “You might say that, my friend. I’ll tell you about it later. But there are two people I’d like you to meet.” She stepped back next to Muriel and Morpheus, saying so that all could hear, “Our expedition into the citadel was an unmitigated success. We found more there than we ever hoped for. This is Muriel…the object of my search, and this is Morpheus…the leader of a strange group of people who have been imprisoned beneath the citadel since the Kragonar.”

A hush fell over the people present as Nathanael stepped toward Muriel with a fascinated look on his face. He did not fear her. She cowered behind Hanna as Nathanael reached out his Lynxian hand. “It is an honor to meet you, milady,” he said gently. Muriel looked on in awe and fear at the great Lynxian.

“Go on, Muriel; this is the father of my wife, Selina. His name is Nathanael,” Hanna said gently to her. She inched forward, looking up into his face, seeing nothing but kindness and gentleness.

“Upon my word, you are a Lynxian,” Muriel said in a hushed, awed tone as she slowly grasped Nathanael’s hand with her cybernetic hand. “I’d heard of them, but never thought I’d actually see one.”

“That I am, milady. I am one hundred percent Lynxian through and through,” Nathanael said as he shook her hand gently but firmly.

“Not to be presuming anything,” Joshua finally said after getting over the shock of Hanna’s appearance with Muriel and Morpheus, “But where is the rest of your team? We have a situation here. The Emperor is coming here as I speak with the greatest army ever amassed. He will be here in three days.”

Hanna pushed by Muriel and Nathanael, going to the head of the table where Joshua stood. She unslung the sword and said, “I know, Joshua. I’ve seen the army with the portal generator at the Red Tower. It’s an army built and created for only one purpose: to destroy the human world as we know it. But before you ask any more questions, I have something to show you all.” Hanna pulled the sword and held it up for all to see. Gasps of astonishment raced through the room. “You all should recognize this blade,” she stated. “You have heard about it all your lives in the stories and myths of the days before the Kragonar. This is the sword of my ancestor, Thoth Caverias and this is his seal.” Hanna laid the sword on the table, and then pulled out the seal, laying it next to the sword. “These were not the only treasures we discovered in the darkness. In that darkness, we found many strange and powerful friends and allies imprisoned here by the Cadre since the 1st Age, as well as many powerful enemies. Those allies are presently on the isle of Antilla with the rest of my team at my request. However, as you know, we have no time for pleasantries. The Emperor moves to strike Acheron and I know you all have been worrying about what to do about it. Well, I have a plan. We must empty the city. The people must go to Antilla for the time being. It’s no longer safe here with the Emperor coming. From there, we will launch our counter offensive. Joshua, Elders…gather the people outside the city walls. I’ll have Elias open the portal on the ridge just outside the main gates. As soon as the people are ready, send them through. They are expected in Antilla. But be warned. The allies I found beneath the citadel are not normal folk. They were castaways of the Cadre, what they deemed to be failures in their experiments. Some will be bizarre and even grotesque to some people. But do not fear them and tell the people to not fear them. We also found with them a whole family of drakens: the guardian of Amacia before the Emperor usurped the throne, his mate, and their children. There are twenty-five of them of all shapes and sizes. They too are with us and came out of the darkness of the citadel with Morpheus and his people.” A murmur arose amongst the leaders present. “Tell them Morpheus. Do I lie?” she asked.

Morpheus shook his head, saying, “Miss Hanna lies not. The guardian of Amacia has been imprisoned there for over twelve thousand cycles with his mate. They and their offspring are my friends and are your friends too. They and my people stand with Miss Hanna in this crisis hour. We stand with our friends and with you too. The Emperor is a peril to us all. Either we stand together and maybe die together or we shall surely perish separately without hope.”

The shock of seeing Muriel and Morpheus started to wear off those in the meeting. One of the Elders stepped forward, saying, “You are strange to us but we know what you say is truth. If the Queen trusts you, then so shall we.” A rumble of agreement arose from the Elders.

The statement pleased Hanna as she said, “Hunter, Morpheus, Muriel, and I have one final job to do here before we leave.”

“What is that?” Nathanael asked.

“We have to bring down the citadel,” Hanna declared. “There are things in there which if the Emperor were to let loose would cause great distress to all. We have to destroy the machines and the beasts for all time. They must never be allowed to escape.” Hanna’s words struck fear in the people there. “How long will it take for you to get the people away?” she asked.

“Several hours if we use the portal like before,” Joshua stated.

One of the Elders asked, “Is Antilla safer than this place?”

Hanna nodded, saying, “Yes. Antilla is the last free place in this great underground. The Red Tower has somehow kept the Emperor from seeing it. If he knew of it, the whole world would be at risk. But as of now, he doesn’t see or know of it. It’s a safe area. The island is good with plenty of food, water, and shelter.” The Elder nodded at the explanation. “Does anyone know where Argus is?” Hanna asked.

“He’s out there watching our perimeter, as always,” Bruce replied.

“Very well,” Hanna replied, “Okay, people. We have purpose. Get the people to the main gates as quickly as possible.”

“You said you saw the army,” Joshua stated as some of the Elders started to leave. “How big is it?”

Hanna looked at Joshua with a stern cold look of a battle-hardened warrior, saying, “Joshua, this army is beyond your comprehension. My closest estimate would be four hundred thousand with every type of weapon and war machine that you can imagine. We cannot be here when they arrive. We cannot fight them on their terms. We must make them fight on ours, in a place of our choosing. Trust me, Joshua. This is not the place. I plan to use Antilla as a temporary base. Ultimately, we must flee to Srandi to make our stand.”

Joshua listened intently and when he heard the size of the force, his face fell. He became especially despondent when Hanna mentioned Srandi. “You can’t be serious. Srandi is in the deepest part of the wastes of Azrael,” he stated grimly. “There’s no way for us to get this multitude across the wastelands to it. They would perish in route.”

Hanna smiled confidently, saying, “Oh, you of little faith, you still don’t understand. But you are right, of course. Srandi is practically unreachable in any normal manner. But we shall not travel by any normal manner. The answer to that dilemma sits right in front of you.” Hanna pointed to the portal that continued to swirl just at the wall. “You forget that I have the Red Tower at our disposal with its portal generator. Just as we use it now to move these people to Antilla, we shall move the people from Antilla to Srandi by the same means.”

Joshua was still unsure, but a little more convinced. “I wish Nicodemus was here. He’d know what to do,” he said.

“I know what Nicodemus would tell you and so do you,” Hanna returned as Muriel inched up beside her. “You have to trust me on this. We will not go blindly into Srandi. It must first be re-coned before the people can go there. But we first have more immediate concerns…getting these people to safety.”

Joshua looked Hanna in the eye, saying, “Yes, I do. He would say do what you say. And you’re right. I’m just not used to such upheaval.”

Hanna smiled, patting him on the shoulder and giving him a little kiss on the cheek, saying, “You are a good man, Joshua. Good men are hard to come by these days. Trust me as you did when we first met. Oh, just one more thing before you leave. Touch Muriel and know that she is not a demon. She’s just a mutated outcast like I am.”

Joshua hesitated as Hanna moved behind Muriel, whispering in her ear, “Do not fear this man. Show him that you are not evil. Touch him telepathically, but very carefully.” She reached out her hand as Joshua hesitantly reached out. “Go on, Joshua; she will not bite,” Hanna urged.

As Joshua touched Muriel on her scaly reptilian hand, she gently touched his mind telepathically, encouraging him, letting him know that she was not the enemy. His face lit up with both amazement and puzzlement as she touched him telepathically for just a moment to show her benign nature towards him. Hanna interpreted the look, saying, “Yes Joshua. Muriel is telepathic. I asked her to touch your mind to prove to you that she was not a demon or agent of the Emperor.”

Joshua became a little peeved toward Hanna and showed it. “I thought you trusted me?” he asked pointedly.

“I do,” Hanna replied. “But because of our lack of time, I couldn’t prove to you in any other way that Muriel was friend. Time is literally against us.”

Joshua sighed, knowing the truth of the statement, and then turning back to Muriel, he said, “Do not be alarmed at my anger, sister. I am not used to having telepaths knocking around in my skull. You really didn’t need to do it. If Hanna trusts you then so do I. But it was good to see your intentions first hand. You are welcome among us, Muriel.”

Joshua’s warm welcome took Muriel aback. After a brief moment of hesitation, she said softly, “Forgive me, sir. I’ve never been welcomed by anyone. It wasn’t until this day that I found out that anyone would have anything to do with me. Everything is happening so fast.”

Joshua smiled, patting her on the hand, saying, “So it is with all of us. Time seems to have accelerated and events are taking on a life of their own, especially since this outlander from the surface showed up in our midst with her ten companions.”

“Ten you say?” Muriel asked, looking back at Hanna. “Milady said nothing about her companions. Where is the eleventh?”

Joshua then remembered Gulez, saying, “Oh, speaking of that; just before you arrived, the outlander that pursued you here showed up claiming that he’d given up his hunt of you and that he was now in charge of the Emperor’s armed forces.”

Hanna’s reaction perked as she said, “Really? You didn’t kill him?”

“No,” Joshua replied. “Though several of your people did want to cut him down when he showed up here in chains.”

“Whose idea was it to keep him alive?” Hanna said coldly.

“It was mine,” Nathanael stated. “When he came here, we were talking about the army and what kind of weaponry they had. He said they were coming with everything they had and numbered over 500,000. He also claimed to know where Selina was. That’s why he’s not dead. There was something different about him. He doesn’t seem to be the same maniacal madman that attacked us at the hangar and we fought that running gun battle with in the valley of the Zinzera. He actually seemed ashamed and admitted that he was wrong to have followed us here.” His report perked Hanna’s interest tremendously. “I told them to lock him up until you got here, that you’d know whether he was on the level or not,” he added.

Hanna nodded, saying, “Very well. Bring him to me. Joshua, Elders…go gather the people.”

“Bring the outlander here to Hanna, Bruce,” Joshua ordered. He then turned to Hanna, Muriel, and Morpheus, bowing while saying, “Hanna, Morpheus, ma’am.” He left and the Elders followed him.

Hanna pulled out the communicator and said into it, “Elias, Close the portal. I’ll call again in a couple of hours letting you know where to open it.”

Elias’ voice came back through the device, saying, “Sure thing, little sister. We’ll be waiting.”

“One more thing, Elias, when we bring the people through, be sure to have Morpheus’ people and the drakens out of sight. I need to be there when we get them together to make sure there are no misunderstandings,” Hanna added.

“Yes, that would be a good idea. We can’t have them going at each other when we are trying to make friends of them,” Elias replied. “We’ll see it done.”

“Good man. I’ll be in touch,” Hanna crowed. At that point, she turned it off and pocketed the device. Turning to Nathanael, she asked, “Where are Kida and Electra?”

“They’re off with Andrew and Emma helping in the cafeteria,” Nathanael said. “The people have really taken a liking to them.”

Hanna smiled, saying, “That’s good. If it isn’t too much trouble, could you bring all of them here? They need to be aware of what’s happening.”

Nathanael nodded and left the room on a mission. “So Muriel, what do you think of these people?” Hanna asked. “Do you believe they can accept you?”

Muriel shook her head. “I don’t know, milady,” she admitted. “Some like the Lynxian and the man you call Joshua probably will, but I don’t know about the others.”

“It will take time,” Hunter said softly. “When we first came here, we were not received too well either. It took a little time before they accepted us, even after Hanna told them we were friends.”

Hanna nodded. “Yes,” she agreed. “That’s true. It is in the nature of man to be suspicious of anything different from him. But don’t worry. Even if they do not accept you, I do and so do those who came out with you like Morpheus and his people.”

“Thank you, milady,” Muriel replied gratefully. “It’s good to be loved and accepted for who you are. Over all those long cycles, the few that did reach me never loved or accepted me. They always wanted something of me. Not one ever did anything for me as you did. Only one came besides you that didn’t want anything from me…only to keep me company.”

Hanna looked at Morpheus and he smiled, saying, “Yes. It’s true. I visited her on a regular basis when I learned where she was and how to get by the guardians unnoticed. But I did not go often as I should have, nor did I have the guts or will to bring her out. I simply didn’t know how to get her and myself by the guardians.”

“Don’t think anything of it,” Hanna replied as she leaned on the table, “Water under the bridge. I know Muriel loved it every time you came to her.” Muriel smiled and nodded.

Hanna picked up the seal, looking at it. “I still have a hard time believing what I did down there,” she admitted. “Surely, Caverias, Jarret, Gideon, and Bannon were there saving my ass as always. Without them in the power of the Ancient of Days, I would have perished in the abyss at the hands of that fiery prick, Baal. If there was any time in my life that I should have been killed, that was it.”

Hanna put the seal back in her coat and picked up the sword as Morpheus asked, “Who are they that you speak of with such kinship?”

Hanna looked at the sword, and then at Morpheus and Muriel, saying, “We are but temporal beings living in a blip of eternity. What we see around us is not the real world, but what is beyond our sight is the real world. All around us are beings of ruthless unimaginable powers, good and evil, locked in a perpetual war that is quickly coming to a head. Angels, my friends, demons; they are real and in certain cases, they can manifest physically, but both are eternal and cannot be killed. The Old Ones that I bested in the abyss were physical manifestations of their true form. I destroyed their physical bodies but their spirits cannot die. Only the Almighty God has that power. He has a place reserved especially for them when this final battle is finished. Lucifer, his minions, and all who follow him will be cast from the Almighty forever into the Abyss. We are just bit players in a thing that is far bigger than we are, and spans the universe and maybe even farther. The names I spoke of are angels, very special angels. You see, every person has an angel assigned to him or her, a guardian angel. Even you, Muriel, have a guardian angel.”

These words astounded her. “Really? You mean I have my very own angel?” Muriel asked.

“Yes, Muriel,” Hanna stated, “You do. Even Morpheus and Hunter have one. And if I may be so bold, so does the Emperor.” This statement puzzled them, so Hanna clarified, “Yes, even he has one. The Emperor’s guardian is called the Black Prince. He’s the second most powerful demon in existence. There is only one other who has more power and that is Lucifer himself, the fallen archangel.”

“Oh, so what you’re saying is that evil men have demons as guardians and good men have angels as guardians,” Hunter announced.

Hanna nodded. “Yes,” she answered. “That’s a simple way of putting it Hunter. These demon guardians give men like the Emperor and the Cadre their power. They’re very powerful entities not to be underestimated. As for me, Caverias, Jarret, Gideon, and Bannon are my guardian angels. Jarret and Gideon have been at my side since I turned from the ways of evil. Bannon became my guardian when I became entangled with the Emperor and mutated. She’s helping me cope with being a man trapped in a woman’s body. I don’t know where I’d be without her. But Caverias is special. He brought Bannon to me when I needed her the most.”

“I’m sure he is just by the name of him,” Muriel stated.

“Yes, very special,” Hanna replied with a smile, “He has been with me since I was born, but I didn’t know it until here recently. It was with the second telepathic assault by the Black Prince that Caverias was permitted to show himself. Before that, he was cloaked and mysterious, only coming to my help when I was in dire peril. When the Black Prince tried to kill me directly in that last psychic dream, Caverias came out of hiding for everyone to see. He saved my ass. Caverias is the guardian of the Caverias family, in particular the personal guardian of Thoth and Ariel back in the days of the Kragonar. Now, he is my guardian. He has done battle with the Black Prince before. I am the way I am now because of him. The Lord has used him in a very special way to strengthen me in ways I still don’t quite fully understand.”

“The spirit guardian of Thoth and Ariel,” Morpheus breathed in awe. “Such power and might having been given to you even in such a mutated state, and yet you remain humble and subservient to your God. It is a marvel. Most men and women would take such power and abuse it severely, trying to use it to rule over their fellow men and women.”

“Oh, how I know it,” Hanna replied, looking at the floor. “I have actually feared this day because of the power that the Lord has entrusted to me. I feared the temptation to use it improperly, so the Lord keeps putting me in situations, such as this mutation, where it is impossible for me to use it improperly. When I say that I’m just along for the ride, I truly mean it. For with great power comes great responsibility. I thank the Lord continuously that He has not allowed me to abuse that power. When this is all done, I hope that he will relieve me of this burden.”

Muriel marveled at Hanna’s words, saying, “You are unlike any man or woman I have ever met before. You give praise to your God in all things and take nothing to your credit. Even with the apparent power you have, you still stubbornly refuse to think it is of you. Both men and women kill to have the power you do.”

Hanna nodded, saying, “So true, but they just don’t understand that power, real power comes from the Almighty Ancient of Days, not the false gods or demons they worship.” At that moment, Bruce and two guards brought in Gulez. “We’ll talk about this later. There is much more that I need to share with you. But first, let’s take care of this situation with the General,” Hanna said suddenly as Gulez came in in chains, exchanging her gentle demeanor for the hardened warrior attitude to deal with Gulez.