The Madness at Koresh Manor Part 12

Raphael didn’t have trouble getting in the underground castle to his surprise and found the door leading into the golden room with ease. He chopped up his ability to be able to recall his path down here, only walking the path once, to the training for missions all his life. Of course, he knew the experiences in the field had a lot to do with it; too many missions for him to count in the years since his family joined up with Paladin, so many lives were saved because of his actions. Lives like the people above him but he wasn’t sure he could save them from the madness of their leader. A madness he had no idea how deep ran in their minds.

                He crashed through the door into the bright golden room to find Karalius waiting for him.

                “Always late,” she remarked at him.

                “I was seeing if there was a diamond room in this place,” he joked back. “Didn’t find it but find a room full of wine, had a little fun.” He glanced around looking for Rain. “Where is he?”

                She pointed at the door. “He told me to wait for you.”

                “That is dumb,” Raphael said walking over to the door still cloaked in his armor. He could have removed the invincible armor, but he would be running the halls of this place naked, not something he wished to do while on the mission. It wouldn’t go well to run into a man with guns while butt-naked, no matter how trying to keep the armor on was on his body. “His mind was control once by whatever is behind that door.”

                “Carp,” Karalius said. She defaults to trusting her friend no matter what and it might have done more damage than good. She ran for door following Raphael into it.

                They stepped into the blinding light only to find themselves standing in a dark cave far larger than anything they have seen before. The roof of the cave was far be on their eyes and was lost in the darkness of it, but they were not trying to find the top of the cave, they were staring at the two large doors in front of them. The door was dull gold and black stone with the faces of the dead weeping on it. Each of these faces was different from the other, and each one of them was looking at the man standing in front of the door like an ant standing in front of a man’s boot. The red dots within the eyes of the terrified people screamed for them all to run.

                “Father,” Cyrus shouted to the doors on his knees with Rain lying behind him. “Come, show these fools what you can do. Show them your great power.”

                Karalius pointed at Rain, but Raphael couldn’t remove his eyes from the door. He wanted to know who built it and most of all what was behind it. Whatever it was could not be good.

                “Raphael,” Karalius yelled back at him.

                He spanned too and took off after Rain.

                They got to Rain in time to see the door starting to crack. There was an eerie silence in the cave as giant fingers pushed the stone door open, fingers so large they would be the sizes several city buses. The skin of the thing coming into the world was a deep gray like the skin of a dead man. Soon, the door was open enough to see the face of the monster coming out as if the beast was too big for the door. It had to be on one knee trying to crawl into the world. The face, if you could call it that, was a square red box over the eyes and nose, where the box was made from the roots of tree dipped in blood. Under the box, either placed on the head or mixed into the skin from how long it had been there, was the teeth of a skull. And yet, the skin of the monster was tightly pulled back against the bone of it’s chin.

                “Father,” Cyrus cried out with joy. “They come to stop you.” He was on his feet pointing at them. “Give me the power to end their lives.”

                “I order the death of the Lovecraft,” a voice echoes from the walls.

                “I use his power, fa---” But Cyrus never got to speak his word because the hand of the Lesser One came crashing down on him ending his life like a man ending the life of an ant. If the ant protested in his unseen death, it was lost under the hand of death.

                “Give me the Lovecraft,” the voice said. “And I’ll give you power be on your understanding.”

                “Nah,” Raphael yelled back with Karalius pulling Rain’s body from the monster, “I have read Lovecraft’s book, it never ends well for those people.”

                “You cannot defeat me. I am a god to you,” the echoing voice said from everywhere.

                “I’m sure you are right,” Raphael said stepping up to the monster, “but I’ll die fighting.”

                “Then you shall,” the voice said with the monster trying to smash him as well, but Raphael rolled out of the way but barely. He stared at the gray skin of the hand knowing to hit it would do nothing to it, and he wasn’t sure his armor could withstand the force of a hit. Sure, he believes it could save him from everything he faces, but he never faced something this big before in his life. He believed it would hold up against the monster, but he was sure he didn’t want to find out.

                What’s the plan? Karalius asked into the radio.

                Wake up, Rain and then pray he knows what to do.

                That’s it.

                You have a better plan?

                There was nothing over the radio as he had to jump for his life again. The monster was trying harder to kill him while not thinking about the other two which was his plan. A plan he hoped would pay off soon because he was started to get tired and having to do everything to will his armor from fading back into his flesh. If that happens, then there was no chance for him in this fight. He might as well lay down and accept the end, naked, like the day he came into the world.

                But his armor was still warped around his body keeping him alive, hopefully.