Chapter 21
He turned upward and the water ended in a wide chamber seemingly made of stone. He knew that it was just Isaac’s clever design, but it still looked realistic enough to make him wonder. Marcus looked around the chamber and found no human life. There was a submarine docked at a small harbor at the chamber wall opposite him, but nothing moved save the waves Marcus’s body created. Behind the harbor was another set of gates far too large for any menial purposes. Marcus swam to the chamber wall and climbed ashore. He pressed his head to the gates and they slid open.
Marcus looked down into the hall. It was as large as the door; more than large enough for Marcus to walk through. He looked for any possible handholds, but none existed. Four small carts meant for human transport were lined up above large metal railings. Marcus stepped on said carts and they screeched as their brakes gave way under his colossal form.
He fell for nearly a mile at a forty-five degree angle and his speed did not diminish. Marcus pressed his wings to the wall and tried to create air resistance. Isaac must have thought past that and made the air circulate with the carts. When Marcus reached the end of the tunnel, there was no level surface for him to slow down upon; fate was much crueler than that.
Marcus was punished for every sin he ever committed since birth when his head smashed into a wall a hundred feet away from the end of the decline. He felt pain for the first time in nearly a month. It almost cracked the armored plate on his head, but even that kind of protection did not grant him relief from the shockwave that rippled through his body. Marcus was only injured because he did not know it was there; had he known, Marcus could have braced both physically and mentally. Marcus’s head spun around for a moment before the vertigo stopped and the pain faded.
When he was in complete control again, Marcus looked around and saw a large passageway where he expected to find another gate. His guess was correct when he ran into another doorway. This one was locked, so he had to force his way through in the same fashion in which you are forcing your way through this book to see how it finally ends.
When the hinges gave way, Marcus was in complete shock and awe for the first time in his life. He had seen many inconceivable constructions back in the lab, but nothing to this extreme.
The chamber had to be at least two miles wide. The ceiling was a perfect half-sphere with hundreds of lights imbedded in the synthetic rock. Marcus looked at the ground and saw hundreds of skyscraper sized buildings circling the outer rim. At the rearmost of them was an Aztec-looking temple topped with a radio tower. In the middle of the chamber were four large bundles of the spiked chains Isaac described to him earlier.
The largest of the bundles had a gold tint to it and seemed to reflect light better than the others. To its left was a smaller bundle with a crimson hue. The two beside it were of similar size and shape, but the overlying chains were too dense for the creatures underneath to be noticeable.
Marcus flew to them; the size of the chamber allowed for that. When he approached, a group of men in lab coats ran away to the nearby buildings. They dropped giant needles, drills, and other utensils no doubt to take samples from the titanicus and replicate the cells. Marcus bit down upon the chains, but they refused to move. None of them broke. Marcus called out Dem’s name, but there was no response. Marcus’s heart grew heavy as he realized that he may be too late to save his friends.
He looked around the chamber and found that a single human worked in the temple. He could not escape from such small quarters, and Marcus used his ignorance of the giant’s presence to his advantage. When Marcus reached his tongue in to apprehend the man, the area was filled with the noise of frantic gunfire as he made a last ditch effort to save himself. Marcus quickly overwhelmed him and pulled the frightened, broken man out of the temple. He allowed trails of smoke to escape his jaws as he prepared to burn the man alive if he saw fit. He said in a booming voice, “Those creatures your race imprisoned are of immeasurable importance to me. How do you remove the chains?”
The man’s face was turning pale. He started to yell, “I don’t know anything! I swear! I was hired to forward calls. I don’t know anything!”
“Then I have no further use for you.”
Marcus opened his jaws and pulled the man inward. Before passing his teeth, the man started to cry and yelled, “WAIT!!! I know something!”
Marcus pulled him out and closed his jaw. He said, “Information is the only reason you still live. Tell me what you know and I might not eat you.”
“When I was moving calls, I heard of a weakness in the chains. Some of the links melt under intense heat.”
“You just saved your life.”
Marcus placed the man on the roof of the temple and flew back to his friends. Their bodies were starting to shake and stir. Marcus built up a large flame and let it out forcefully enough to melt the chains, but not so much that it would harm the titans below him; he did not think it was possible, but he had been wrong before.
The chains started to shake violently and eventually came apart. Dem was the first to be freed. Karen, Marcus’s old lover and assistant, was soon free to fly around the chamber in her new form; a crimson phoenix with green wings and a gold tipped tail. Mish and Dragoon were last, but they were happy nonetheless. Marcus looked at Dem, who seemed to be in a very solemn mood. He said to Marcus, “I’m sorry.”
Dem barred his teeth, Mish turned invisible, Dragoon was nowhere to be found, and Karen dived to Marcus’s back. Dem repeated his apology before leaping at Marcus’s throat.
Marcus looked down into the hall. It was as large as the door; more than large enough for Marcus to walk through. He looked for any possible handholds, but none existed. Four small carts meant for human transport were lined up above large metal railings. Marcus stepped on said carts and they screeched as their brakes gave way under his colossal form.
He fell for nearly a mile at a forty-five degree angle and his speed did not diminish. Marcus pressed his wings to the wall and tried to create air resistance. Isaac must have thought past that and made the air circulate with the carts. When Marcus reached the end of the tunnel, there was no level surface for him to slow down upon; fate was much crueler than that.
Marcus was punished for every sin he ever committed since birth when his head smashed into a wall a hundred feet away from the end of the decline. He felt pain for the first time in nearly a month. It almost cracked the armored plate on his head, but even that kind of protection did not grant him relief from the shockwave that rippled through his body. Marcus was only injured because he did not know it was there; had he known, Marcus could have braced both physically and mentally. Marcus’s head spun around for a moment before the vertigo stopped and the pain faded.
When he was in complete control again, Marcus looked around and saw a large passageway where he expected to find another gate. His guess was correct when he ran into another doorway. This one was locked, so he had to force his way through in the same fashion in which you are forcing your way through this book to see how it finally ends.
When the hinges gave way, Marcus was in complete shock and awe for the first time in his life. He had seen many inconceivable constructions back in the lab, but nothing to this extreme.
The chamber had to be at least two miles wide. The ceiling was a perfect half-sphere with hundreds of lights imbedded in the synthetic rock. Marcus looked at the ground and saw hundreds of skyscraper sized buildings circling the outer rim. At the rearmost of them was an Aztec-looking temple topped with a radio tower. In the middle of the chamber were four large bundles of the spiked chains Isaac described to him earlier.
The largest of the bundles had a gold tint to it and seemed to reflect light better than the others. To its left was a smaller bundle with a crimson hue. The two beside it were of similar size and shape, but the overlying chains were too dense for the creatures underneath to be noticeable.
Marcus flew to them; the size of the chamber allowed for that. When he approached, a group of men in lab coats ran away to the nearby buildings. They dropped giant needles, drills, and other utensils no doubt to take samples from the titanicus and replicate the cells. Marcus bit down upon the chains, but they refused to move. None of them broke. Marcus called out Dem’s name, but there was no response. Marcus’s heart grew heavy as he realized that he may be too late to save his friends.
He looked around the chamber and found that a single human worked in the temple. He could not escape from such small quarters, and Marcus used his ignorance of the giant’s presence to his advantage. When Marcus reached his tongue in to apprehend the man, the area was filled with the noise of frantic gunfire as he made a last ditch effort to save himself. Marcus quickly overwhelmed him and pulled the frightened, broken man out of the temple. He allowed trails of smoke to escape his jaws as he prepared to burn the man alive if he saw fit. He said in a booming voice, “Those creatures your race imprisoned are of immeasurable importance to me. How do you remove the chains?”
The man’s face was turning pale. He started to yell, “I don’t know anything! I swear! I was hired to forward calls. I don’t know anything!”
“Then I have no further use for you.”
Marcus opened his jaws and pulled the man inward. Before passing his teeth, the man started to cry and yelled, “WAIT!!! I know something!”
Marcus pulled him out and closed his jaw. He said, “Information is the only reason you still live. Tell me what you know and I might not eat you.”
“When I was moving calls, I heard of a weakness in the chains. Some of the links melt under intense heat.”
“You just saved your life.”
Marcus placed the man on the roof of the temple and flew back to his friends. Their bodies were starting to shake and stir. Marcus built up a large flame and let it out forcefully enough to melt the chains, but not so much that it would harm the titans below him; he did not think it was possible, but he had been wrong before.
The chains started to shake violently and eventually came apart. Dem was the first to be freed. Karen, Marcus’s old lover and assistant, was soon free to fly around the chamber in her new form; a crimson phoenix with green wings and a gold tipped tail. Mish and Dragoon were last, but they were happy nonetheless. Marcus looked at Dem, who seemed to be in a very solemn mood. He said to Marcus, “I’m sorry.”
Dem barred his teeth, Mish turned invisible, Dragoon was nowhere to be found, and Karen dived to Marcus’s back. Dem repeated his apology before leaping at Marcus’s throat.