[Mkguild] Past Present and Future part 5

[christian okane]

Here is part 5. Can anyone discover the scene where we pay tribute to a
favorite old Sci Fi movie?


Chris
The Lurking Fox




***************



   The trees thinned out and sunlight streamed down revealing a broad, wide
plaza barely visible beneath a carpet of weeds and wild grass. Across a sea
of green and brown vegetation a tall stone structure loomed up.

   "It's the coliseum," Nestorius commented.  "And it seems to be in fine
condition."

   Edmund used a booted paw to push aside some of the weeds, revealing the
old, tan, paving stones of the Seuilman plaza. "After five centuries the
paving is still tight enough to keep the forest at bay."

   "But it's losing to the weeds," Stealth countered as he ran a  hand
through the waist high plants.

   Cautiously the trio made their way towards the structure, wading through
the sea of grass and kicking up a cloud of pollen, dust and insects. The
walls of the coliseum towered over them. In spite of the centuries of
neglect it was still an impressive structure of tan colored stone covered.
In front of them was a large archway that led deep into the interior of the
massive structure. A lichen and moss covered stone centurion glared down at
them from a perch over the arch. Emblazoned on the shield the stone soldier
was holding was two letters IV.

   The small group slowly made its way to the right and came upon another
arch, just like the first. Above this arch was a soldier that was almost a
duplicate of the first one but on his shield was V.

   Stealth gave a chirp of laughter. "Those are gate numbers!"

   "It was used to control the flow of the crowd," Nest said "Everyone would
have a token for a specific gate." He walked through the archway.

   Slowly they walked through the stone lined tunnel. The gloom and shadows
tight around them as their footsteps echoed loudly in the silent structure.

   "I had four large women last night and satisfied them all."

   Edmund and Stealth stopped at those words and turned to their source. A
few steps behind them they found Nest intently looking at one of the side
walls.

   "You had four women and didn't share?" Stealth said.

   The lion turned and looked at his two friends. "What?" He asks confused.
"No! Not me." He pointed to the wall. "Someone scratched that message here
and I was reading it!"

   Edmund slowly nodded his head.

   "So no women last night?" Stealth asked teasingly.

   "NO!" the lion answered firmly. "I am happily married."

   "So does your wife know about these other women?" Stealth joked.

   Nest didn't speak but just pulled his lips back revealing an impressively
large and sharp set of teeth.

   Stealth stuck his tongue out at the lion.

   The paladin ignored the antics of his two friends and peered closely at
the wall closest to him. He could easily make out huge amounts of writing
scratched into the stonework. "These walls are covered with graffiti!"

   "Bored people headed to the games must have written them," Nest commented
examining more of the writing.

   "Patrician Lucirus Artinus is a thief ," Edmund read and then shook his
head. "Seven hundred year old gossip."

   "Even then people hated politicians," Stealth commented.

   "Times change but human nature doesn't," the paladin explained.

   Nest gave a low, coughing growl. "Sad," he said in soft tones. Both of
his compatriots turned to the lion morph.

   Nestorius ran his massive paw/hand along one section of the wall. "This
one says that the gladiator Saltorius the strong killed seven men in the
coliseum before he was defeated. Eight lives wasted for nothing more
important than entertainment."

   "We tend in this age to remember all the glory of good of the Suielman
empire," Edmund said. "But we need to remember the evils as well."

   "How can the empire have done so much good and so much evil at the same
time." Stealth asked, shaking his head.

   The lion shrugged. "Magic I understand, but humanity confuses me."

   The trio of felines stood on the floor of the arena and looked upward at
the grand stone structure that loomed up all around them! At ground level
there was a sheer wall that went up at least ten feet. Cut into that wall at
intervals were doors and doorways that led off into darkness. Above the wall
rows of weed and vine encrusted seats marched up and up until they were lost
in the gloom. The floor underneath their feet was carpeted with a thick
layer of grass.

   In places the grass gave way to openings. Stealth peered carefully over
the edge of one of the pits. And saw a yawning chasm that quickly
disappeared down into the bowels of the earth. "That's deep and dark!"

   "It undoubtedly leads to the underground areas where the animals and
scenery were kept," Nestorius said.

   "Scenery?" Stealth asked. "All they did here was fight each other and
kill people."

   "It seems just sticking someone in the chest with a sword is boring,"
Edmund said in a disgusted tone. "So they turned the killing into theatrics.
They would have scenery of all sorts including forests and hills for the
gladiators to fight in."

   "Recreating famous battles was particularly popular," the mage said.
"Some such recreations had hundreds, even thousands of participants."

   "This place looks familiar," Stealth was standing still his eyes taking
in the structure around him.

   "It closely resembles many coliseums I've seen in the south," Nest
explained. "It was a standard plan."

   Stealth slowly shook his head. "No, I've never been in any arena before
now. Not in this life."

   "This life?" Nest asked. "It is possible that you were here in a previous
life. Or in a place just like it."

   Stealth looked at Edmund for a moment. "So you suppose if I was I
legionnaire I'd be throwing you to him?" He said and pointed to Nest.

   Edmund shook his head slowly at the bad pun and Nest just scowled
silently as his tail lashed back and forth furiously.

   "It is possible, you're talking about reincarnation."

   Edmund nodded, "To be a follower so soon after the time of Yashua and
anger the empire. I can understand that. To give my life. I like the
thought, the punishment not so much."

   Nestorius puffed up and turned away, "I was never an animal."

   Edmund couldn't help but laugh out loud.


***********************


   After a long time the steps abruptly ended in a intersection where the
corridor split into three directions. The group stopped for a moment. Misha
peered down each passage in turn but all he could see was bare walls and
flooring leading off into the darkness.

   Rickkter pointed off to the left. "We took that direction the last time
we were here."

   "All right," Misha said. "So let's go this way," the fox pointed straight
ahead.

   "Why that way?" Charles asked.

   The fox shrugged in response. "Why not? We haven't seen what's there
yet."

   "Seems a good enough reason," Rickkter responded cheerfully.

   The group made its way down the corridor moving at a slow, careful pace.
All of them were on alert for the slightest hint of trouble. Suddenly the
walls fell away and they found themselves walking on a narrow walkway in a
vast hall. The ceiling if there was one was lost in the endless distance
above. A soft humming noise filled the air and seemed to be coming from
everywhere and no where all at once. On the wall opposite him a vast metal
object hung on the wall over his head. It was shaped vaguely like a cylinder
with a glowing orb on top and bottom. This massive object slowly started to
move, sliding smoothly and silently downward.

   Misha stepped to the edge of the walkway and peered downward. All he saw
was a stone lined shaft that seemed to go downward forever. He watched the
strange object slowly descend that shaft growing smaller and smaller until
it was too distant to see. If it ever reached bottom Misha never saw nor
heard it.

   "Where are we?" Caroline asked.

   "I have no idea," Misha said in an amazed whisper. "I'm not sure we're
still in Metamor valley."

   "I'm not certain we're still in the Midlands," Rickkter added.

   "We're very deep inside the mountain," Charles said softly. "The stone
here is ancient and powerful. The only thing keeping them from crushing this
place is the magic that created it. That is still powerful."

   "The order was here for several hundred years," Misha said. "Plenty of
time to build many things so I expected a grand complex but I never
considered something this grand."

   Caroline waved her arms at the vast structure around them. "What does all
this do?"

   The fox shrugged. "No telling what it does."

   On the opposite side of the vast space a door was set into the wall. The
small group made its way across the narrow walkway and towards that door.

   Madog suddenly appeared in front of the group blocking their path. "No
papa! No!" Madog insisted.

   The group came to a halt a few short feet from the metal vulpine. "Why
not?" Misha asked, confused.

   "Yucky path!" Madog explained.

   "Madog," Misha sighed.

   "Forbidden," the metal fox whispered with a shake of the head.

   "Madog!" Misha scowled at the metal fox.

   "Forbidden!" He barked in cold tones. The automaton was standing as still
as a stone  idol in some long forgotten jungle temple.

   "Why forbidden?" Misha asked calmly.

   "Because it's yucky," came the reply from Madog.

   "Yucky?" Misha asked slowly.  "Why is it yucky?"

   "Because it's forbidden!" Madog answered solemnly.

   Misha pondered that silently for a moment. "And it's forbidden because
it's yucky?"

   "You not allowed there," Madog said. "Yet."

   "Yet?" Charles asked. "So what does all that mean?"

   "It means," Caroline explained without taking her eyes off of Madog.
"That not only are we not allowed to go that way but Madog won't tell us
why."

   "That's a good assessment of the situation. Do we go on?" Rickkter asked
but already knowing the answer.

   "No," Misha answered with a shake of the head. "When Madog says no like
this he means it."

   "You're just going to accept that?" Rickkter asked. The raccoon was
standing with his arms folded.

   "Yes," Misha answered bluntly. "Sometimes you push and other times you
just have to back off and let things be."

   Rickkter nodded in agreement. "We need to move with great care here. This
place is still very dangerous in spite of the centuries of decay."


***********************


   "Where's Nest?" Edmund asked.

   Stealth looked around for the lion but all he saw was an empty arena.
Where Nestorius had been standing was a dark hole in the ground.

   "The stone must have given out under his weight," Edmund commented. "And
he fell through to the basement."

   "How far did he fall?" Stealth asked.

   The paladin shrugged. "Uncertain but at least twenty feet or so."

   The two cheetah's looked at the hole and the darkness beneath. "Is he
still alive?" Stealth asked.

   "Of course," Edmund answered. "He's a mage and a small thing like falling
a hundred feet won't kill him."

   "So how do we find him? We can't just jump!"

   "There must be a way down," the paladin said and walked towards the side
of the arena. In front of him was a doorway that in times past must had been
closed off with a door that long ago decayed and vanished..

   Edmund peered into the darkness. "This one has stairs leading downward."


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