Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion
Chapter 9: The Destruction of Acheron

Meanwhile outside of the Acheron main gates, Joshua, Argus, Xavier, Corso, Amelia, and Harry had just herded the last of the people into the portal as the Cadre’s killer storm closed in on their position. The sky was dark as night, and the wind was beginning to blow. The chanting whispers on the wind increased with frenzy in Argus’ ears for he was the only one who could hear them. “Where are they?” Harry fumed anxiously. “They should have been back by now.”

Argus turned to Harry, saying, “Don’t fear, they will come.”

Amelia was very concerned as the storm continued to descend on their position. “We can’t wait too much longer,” she stated grimly. “This tempest is fixing to break upon us.”

“How long has it been since they went in?” Corso asked.

“Not quite five hours,” Joshua answered as he looked toward the city with anticipation. Spits of rain began to sprinkle on them as the storm gathered around their southern horizon like an army preparing to launch an assault.

A deafening crash of thunder shook the ground and Argus declared, “That’s it; time for you guys to leave.” A great flash of lightning streaked through the sky, followed by a roar of thunder that sounded like the roaring of a great beast. Joshua looked at Argus as he said, “There’s no more time. See to the living. I’ll stay as long as I can. Close the portal after you go through.”

“But we can’t leave them, or you!” Harry protested.

“You are brave, Harry Clint, but do not let your heart run away with your head. I do not intend to leave without knowing one way or another about their disposition. Now go!” Argus ordered as he used his ponderous bulk to force them toward the portal as the wind grew to almost gale force with a stinging rain being driven before it. “Hanna has a device to communicate with Antilla,” Argus added over the wind. “She will surely use it when she can.”

Grudgingly, everyone except Argus went through the portal. Joshua was the last through, saying just before he stepped through “Bring them back to us alive, my friend.”

Argus nodded as the lightning grew nearer and the wind howled. Joshua vanished into the portal, which then disappeared into thin air. Argus immediately took flight and went in search of Hanna, Elle, Muriel, and Morpheus.

Thirty-five minutes later, he found them coming out of the citadel. The rain fell in a torrential downpour with the howling wind growing worse by the minute. Hanna and her team ran out of the citadel to replace their horses gone and the storm practically upon them. “Damn it!” Hanna cursed as she saw their rides missing. She immediately tried the communicator, replaceing it still being jammed by the core overload that now physically caused the citadel to rumble.

“Now what?” Elle cried out as they hid in the entrance from the weather.

“I don’t know,” Hanna replied. “But we must have faith. Something will show. It always does.” No more than she had said that, a roar echoed down above the courtyard. Hanna ventured a look to see Argus circling. “Thank you, Lord,” Hanna whispered. “Argus! Hey Argus! We’re down here!” she cried out, rushing into the pouring rain waving the scepter to attract his attention.

Argus immediately saw them and banked, heading toward the courtyard. As he did, he caught something coming in out of the corner of his eye and aborted the landing to face the potential new incoming threat. He circled as the new creature shrieked like a bird of prey, announcing its presence to all. In seconds, the giant flyer closed on Argus to where its identity became apparent. Immediately, Argus turned and dove toward the courtyard, followed by none other than the Roc that had delivered the ring and locket to Hanna.

They watched as Argus came down first, calling out, “Come on! We have to leave now! The Cadre’s tempest is about to be realized!” Seconds later, the Roc settled down a few feet away.

The giant bird awed and surprised Elle, Morpheus, and Muriel. It looked toward Hanna and chirped urgently, sitting down while keeping a keen eye on the sky. “Upon my word, a Roc,” Morpheus breathed. “I thought they were just a myth.”

Hanna took one look at the Roc and slung the scepter, turning to Morpheus, Muriel, and Elle, saying, “Not so, Morpheus. Give me Muriel. You and Elle get on Argus and ride like the wind. Muriel and I will be right behind you. GO!”

Morpheus handed over Muriel to Hanna and they ran to Argus, who waited for them to mount. Carrying Muriel, Hanna raced to the Roc. The beauty and size of the majestic bird of prey stunned Muriel. In seconds, they climbed on the Roc’s back and went airborne. Hanna called out to Argus, “Follow the Roc, Argus! He knows which way to go!” Argus didn’t argue. The Roc headed north-northwest with its precious cargo followed by Argus carrying Morpheus and Elle. Hanna held on to Muriel securely and marveled at the same time at the softness of the Roc’s feathers, along with how those feathers seemed to shed the drenching rains, keeping it dry and warm. In twenty minutes, they had passed well out of the storm’s reach some fifty miles to the northwest. At that point, the Roc landed on a tall peak that overlooked the wastes of Azrael. They also had a view of the storm. The bird chirped pleasantly as it sat down on the boulder-strewn summit. Some of the boulders were large enough to shield the Roc and Argus if they hunkered down behind them.

Argus landed with his passengers, wondering why they had stopped. “Why did we stop here?” Argus asked as he settled down next to the Roc. In the blink of an eye, he discovered the answer to his question. Off to the southeast where the storm raged over Acheron, a silent coronal flash of blinding light pierced the dark storm clouds, casting shadows and forcing everyone to avert their eyes. An ear-piercing roar followed the coronal flash two seconds later; a roar that echoed for over two hundred miles in every direction. The storm that raged over the city of Acheron vanished in an explosion that dwarfed the largest nuclear detonation ever set off on the face of the Earth. The storm of engineered destruction was itself destroyed by a force far greater than it was. The ground shook violently even at fifty miles from ground zero. After the flash receded, they all looked in that direction to see a pall of ash and molten rock rising high into the sky. The detonation set off a super-heated shockwave that literally ripped the storm to pieces, destroying everything in its path. They watched the shockwave blow over ridge after ridge, approaching their position. First, the shockwave itself flattened everything as it moved out from ground zero. Two seconds after smashing everything in its path, the heat flash associated with the shockwave incinerated all organic material. As the super-heated shockwave from the explosion radiated out from ground zero, it lost much of it power and heat. At a forty-mile radius, the heat flash ceased to spontaneously combust organic material as the shockwave slowed to 150 miles per hour. Yet the firestorm it generated continued to spread, lagging behind the main shockwave as it blew over ridge after ridge.

The main cloud resembled that of a catastrophic Plinean volcanic explosion, with ash, smoke, and debris rising all the way to the very roof of the great caverns. Pyroclastic clouds rolled out in all directions, following the superheated shockwave of the initial detonation. The caverns themselves shook and trembled at the massive explosion. As they watched the shockwave approach, everyone became concerned as the heat suddenly increased dramatically. Being familiar with the effects of nuclear explosions as well as volcanic eruptions, Hanna cried out, “Oh, shit! Everyone get off your rides and take cover! This is going to be bad!” She slid off the Roc’s back with Muriel and hunkered down beside one of the larger boulders. The Roc instantly covered them with its ponderous bulk as if they were its chicks, crouching next to the boulder. Morpheus and Elle did the same as Hanna and Muriel, taking cover next to a large boulder while Argus surrounded them with his massive body and wings, lying down to protect them from the incoming blast.

As Argus quickly moved to protect Elle and Morpheus, he saw the super-heated shockwave blowing up the mountain. “Everyone, get down!” he shouted, digging into the solid rock of the mountain with his claws as he ducked his head behind the boulder while shielding Morpheus and Elle. The Roc chirped urgently, tucking its head beneath its wings where Hanna and Muriel sat secured.

The roar of the shockwave grew as the heat rose to nearly 200 degrees. Two seconds later, the wave hit, sounding like a hundred locomotives crashing at the same time at full speed. The winds rose to 140 miles per hour as the firestorm swept over their position, blowing burning trees and other debris over them. Hanna, Muriel, Morpheus, and Elle started gasping for breath in the inferno from the heat and lack of oxygen. Then as suddenly as it came, the shockwave and firestorm passed. The heat level dropped dramatically as the winds dropped to an eerie calm. After a few moments, the Roc chirped and stood up, letting Hanna and Muriel out. It shook itself, ruffling its feathers shaking the ash from them. Noticing the Roc getting up, Argus followed its lead, letting Morpheus and Elle out from his protective care.

Once Hanna found it easier to breathe, she asked Muriel, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Muriel replied, panting and sweating profusely like Hanna. “You weren’t kidding that it was going to be bad. I thought we were done for when it got so hot I couldn’t breathe.”

“Me too,” Hanna agreed as she stood up after the Roc moved aside. It leaned down and looked down at her, chirping urgently. Hanna sighed and patted the magnificent bird on the side of its huge face. “Yes, my friend, we’re all right,” she stated. “Thank you for shielding us. I hope you weren’t seriously hurt by the blast.” The Roc chirped pleasantly and then started scanning the horizon.

“How did you fare over there?” Argus called out, seeing Hanna standing next to the Roc while Muriel sat propped against the boulder.

“A bit crispy around the edges, but okay,” Hanna answered. “And you?”

“We’re okay,” Argus stated as Morpheus and Elle walked slowly to Hanna in a daze. “Morpheus and Elle are a bit dazed from the heat, but they’ll be okay in a few minutes.”

“We’ll be fine,” Morpheus said softly. “But it’s obvious at this point that had we not taken cover and had Argus not shielded us, we’d be dead. How’d you know it was going to be that bad?”

“I’ve had experience in both nuclear weapons and volcanoes,” Hanna reported. “It seems that explosion might have been a combination of the two.” Just then, they heard a terrible noise from in the direction of Acheron, prompting them to look. What they saw astonished them. The blast flattened and charred everything between them and the city of Acheron. Smoke from smaller fires continued to rise from the still burning debris on the ridges and valleys between them and Acheron. Off nearly twenty-five miles distant, a column of dense ash and smoke rose into the sky, accompanied by the sounds of explosions that sounded like artillery. Static lightning discharges crackled through the twenty plus mile wide ash cloud like a giant Van De Graff generator. Thunder rumbled from the cloud constantly. Moments later, ash started raining down on their position.

“By the Elder gods,” Elle breathed in utter amazement.

“Holy shit,” Hanna cursed, not believing her eyes as she eyed the apocalypse unleashed by the detonation of Acheron’s core.

Morpheus picked up Muriel and showed her the destruction. Her mouth fell open as she whispered in total astonishment, “Good heavens!”

“I must admit, that was one serious blast,” Morpheus declared. “An explosion of that size hasn’t been seen in these lands since before the Kragonar, according to our legends. I’m just happy we weren’t any closer. I’m sure if we’d been any closer, the blast would have roasted the meat from our bones.”

“I must agree with you on that,” Hanna stated. “Apparently, our Roc friend here knew exactly where we’d be safe from the blast. I’m sure if we’d been airborne when that thing blew, we’d be dead.” The Roc chirped confidently in response to Hanna’s declaration. “We should thank him for his keen insight,” Hanna added. Turning to the Roc, she bowed formally, saying, “Thank you, my mighty winged protector, for saving us.” Everyone else, including Argus, thanked the Roc personally.

The mighty bird ruffled its feathers, shaking the falling ash from itself again. It chirped in an authoritative way while bobbing its head in response. It then promptly sat down and looked directly at Hanna.

“I think it’s time to go,” Hanna stated. “Morpheus, hand Muriel to me after I get on the Roc.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Morpheus answered as Hanna climbed on the Roc. Once Hanna sat down, he handed Muriel up to her and then took his place on Argus’ back with Elle.

When Hanna held Muriel securely, the Roc jumped on the boulder and then took off. Argus quickly followed, going airborne. Seconds later, they headed west over the charred blasted wastes. The Roc and Argus flew side by side within shouting distance of each other. Morpheus and Elle were still in shock at the magnitude of the explosion. “Did you know that the explosion was going to be that big?” Muriel asked Hanna.

Hanna shook her head, replying, “No, Muriel. I didn’t. I had an idea that it would destroy Acheron, but not spread out as much as it did. The Lord was certainly watching out for us. I’m sure that if the Emperor had managed to regain control of Acheron, we all would have been in very big trouble.”

Muriel nodded, saying, “He surely would have, maybe even becoming unstoppable. You have no idea what monstrous prototypes he had locked up beneath the citadel. I thank the gods that now he’ll never return to that accursed place to reclaim those weapons of mass destruction.”

“I figured as much,” Hanna admitted. “We never had time to completely search the citadel. But I’m really glad we found you, and your fellow prisoners. For me, that made everything worth the hell I went through.”

Muriel looked up at the weary face of Hanna and loved her as a sister. Hanna looked down at Muriel with a faint smile as they flew on. She could tell that Muriel wanted to say something of a very personal nature.

“Yes, Muriel? What is it?” Hanna asked softly.

Muriel’s face lit up with shock, and then a smile came over her face, a true smile, the first she had ever had in six hundred years. A tear formed in her eye as she said softly, “I....” She couldn’t continue. Muriel latched on to Hanna with tears of love and gratitude, burying her face in the charred leather coat that covered Hanna’s chest.

Hanna smiled, returning the hug, patting her on the back and saying, “You don’t need to say anything. You are most welcome. How could I not have acted the way I did? You are my friend and sister.” She let Muriel cry, cooing soothing words of comfort and strength in her ear.

Morpheus and Elle finally opened up to each other and began to converse with each other and Argus as they rode on his back. The Roc suddenly changed direction radically, heading southeastward toward the Avernian Mountains. It shrieked and its cry echoed over the wastelands for miles. Argus altered course and he called out to Hanna, “Where is the Roc taking us?”

Hanna shrugged, shouting, “I don’t know. I’m not driving this bird. The Lord is. There may be something we need to see.” Argus wondered at Hanna’s words, wondering what the Roc had in mind. Hanna tried the communicator again with no success. They were at the mercy of the Roc as it sped to the southeast.

At the time the machinery in the citadel detonated from the overload, the Emperor’s army rapidly approached the Cimmerian Gap separating the Avernian Mountains from the Draken’s Teeth. The army covered the eastern reaches of Zaraphath, the western portions of Frygia down into Myria and Elar where the supply lines were moving like great arteries bringing more troops and equipment up from behind. The head of the army had just entered the gap, following the storm that had moved by them when the coronal burst went off. The light penetrated the storm followed by a deafening roar. The ground shook violently, stopping the army in its tracks. It was all they could do to keep standing as the quake triggered landslides on the mountains framing the Cimmerian Gap. The Earth itself roared as the core ripped apart the city of Acheron, blasting it to dust. Seconds later, the blast wave raced down the river they were following, enhanced by the lay of the land. The mountains funneled the blast into a tempest of wind, fire, and debris. The storm cloud of the Cadre was replaced by a much larger and more dangerous pyroclastic cloud that followed right behind the super-heated shockwave. The troops in front were Zarukar, Xenian, and droids. When they realized their peril, the troops hunkered down. The shockwave spilled out of the gap and over the mountains on either side with devastating results. Just as the shockwave emerged from the gap and spread out, the pyroclastic cloud caught up with it, making a maelstrom of super-heated air, ash, and rock. The shockwave and cloud hit the front line of the army with terrible results. It vaporized and buried a hundred and fifty thousand troops in seconds. The lethal heat combined with the blast wave threw the war machines in the frontlines like toys while incinerating them, melting many into pools of molten metal. Everything within two and a half leagues of the gap fell to the hellish apocalypse unleashed by Acheron’s detonating core. Out beyond that, the blast injured eighty thousand troops and damaged almost half of what remained of the army’s mechanized assets. Ash fell over the whole army, inhibiting the war machines severely. The surviving generals of the army quickly relayed the news to the Emperor of the catastrophe.