Epic Unearthed Page 4
Chapter IV
Doorway to a New World
On the thirty-first day of the excavation, Duncan has trouble concentrating, losing focus on normal tasks. The long hours and overwhelming work are having a toll on his mindset. He takes a breather alone, sitting on a chair in his tent to regroup. Suddenly, Rachael bursts under her mentor’s canopy. She is out of breath with excitement and says, “A crew has just moved rubble from another cave-in. They think they have found another cavity. We need to be there.”
Duncan leaps up and runs with Rachael, grabbing Kyle on the way. The three jump into a golf cart, en route toward the site. As they drive, Duncan starts getting lightheaded. They arrive at the new discovery. Duncan can barely think straight, feeling intoxicated without any mind altering substance. Amid all the enthusiasm, Kyle and Rachael do not notice that their mentor is behaving differently. The workers finally move enough debris for the archeologists to squeeze into the cavity.
After the archeologists dig and crawl through the fissure, they finally arrive in a large room. The three evaluate what they are witnessing. Kyle takes a stationary light and sets it on a large stone table. The room becomes bright. Inside, the chamber has nothing but ancient artifacts.
Duncan says, “This is what we’ve been searching for.”
Kyle points his flashlight at the walls and says, “Look at the architecture. This cavity has more integrated designs than the religious room we found earlier.”
Duncan picks up a large object from a stone table, saying, “This looks like a wooden crossbow. It’s in remarkable condition. The cave-in must have kept out the air and moisture. The wood is in good shape for its age, but crossbows were not invented for thousands of years after the Ice Age.”
Kyle carefully studies the weapon and asks, “I have never seen this kind of wood regionally, or anywhere for that matter.”
Rachael picks up another artifact, then looks at Duncan, and says, “This civilization appears to have taken great pride in farming and family. Look at this carved stone. It is a little boy plowing with an ox.”
Kyle, looking at a wall with shelves carved out of the mountain, comments “There are thousands of stone tablets telling their story. It’s going to take a long time to decipher what they say. Rachael, you have your work cut out for you.”
Something grabs Kyle’s attention. He walks to a corner, shining his light on another item, then yells, “Oh my!”
Duncan walks quickly to Kyle and asks, “What have you found?”
“Look at this sword. I think it’s made of gold, and the weapon is engraved with ancient writing. This relic must have belonged to a leader of this city. Since the sword is very heavy and thin, it would only have been used for ceremonial purposes rather than combat.”
Duncan shines his flashlight at the golden sword while trembling with excitement and says, “This is the most important item in this room.”
Duncan takes the sword and leans against a large stone table. He becomes weak and lethargic. The archeologist looks at the sword in wonderment, holding the artifact firmly to keep his composure. Suddenly, he cannot keep his eyes open any longer and collapses to the ground. Rachael witnesses her mentor falling and yells in a panic, “Kyle, something is wrong!”
Kyle takes notice and runs to Rachael and tries to help. Kyle softly slaps Duncan’s face to waken him. Rachael places her backpack under Duncan’s head. The unconscious archeologist tries to speak, but cannot stay awake. With Duncan’s eyes closed, Rachael and Kyle notice that his eyelids are rapidly moving as if he is dreaming.
Kyle shakes Duncan and yells, “Wake up!”
For a split second, Duncan becomes aware of his surroundings, grabbing Kyle and saying, “Wow, something is taking over me.”
Rachael lays Duncan straight on the ground and tries to comfort him the best she can, realizing her mentor is not in pain or having a heart attack. Duncan is breathing normally as if he is in a deep sleep. Kyle understands it will take at least a day to get his mentor out of the chamber. There is too much debris to remove a motionless body from the cavity.
Kyle rushes to the mouth of the fissure and yells to the workers, “Call Callaway; tell him that something is wrong. Duncan is unconscious!”
As if in a daydream, Duncan sees his team trying to help. However, his mind is being stripped from his surroundings. He knows he can trust his colleagues to keep his body in check. As the unconscious archeologist’s mind starts drifting, he feels like he is in a tornado of darkness.
In Duncan’s vivid dream state, he opens his eyes and sees a great battle taking place at the newly found city in Spain. Thousands of men and women in silver-plated breastplates fight with stainless steel swords, trying to save their homes. Although fierce warriors, the defenders cannot overtake the overwhelming numbers fighting against them.
Because Duncan seems to be in control and feels he can either wake up or keep going on his journey, he chooses to continue. He then senses a great earthquake and sees a beautiful heavily damaged city being destroyed by the forces of Mother Nature. In a split second in his mental picture, the city is engulfed by the sea.
Duncan floats in his mind again and feels as if he is slipping into an unread book. Almost like a fairy tale, he sees mammoths, elephants, giant rhinos, and giant elk. The animals seem to be domesticated. The archeologist witness people riding these creatures as horses are ridden today.
The archeologist feels his heartbeat and the visions start to slow and become more vivid. Trying to sort his thoughts, Duncan wonders if the discovery of Spain has anything to do with what he is viewing. He feels he has gone back eleven-thousand-five-hundred years. The archeologist does not want to believe what he is witnessing, but accepts the idea that he might be observing a great civilization that has been forgotten in time.
Like a hot-air balloon, Duncan’s mind is swept thousands of feet into the air, feeling as if he has been here before. He sees a landmass connected to a large continent, known as Atlantis.
On the peninsula are four city-states, or kingdoms, which have united to make one centralized government. Three city-states have more than one-million people within their city walls. The inhabitants have amalgamated their culture, resources, and technologies to become the most powerful empire in the world.
An important city to the Atlantean Empire is Halotropolis. This metropolitan area contributes the best infantry units on the peninsula. Every day, the citizens of Halotropolis spar with one another. Apprentices must spar with each other every week, in the presence of a council. Following each match, novices move up in rank until they become masters of their art. Also known as the City of God, Halotropolis is the center of the Atlantean religion, which brought the word of God to the peninsula five-hundred years prior.
The city of Atlantis is also the center of knowledge and the capital, with many universities, libraries, and military schools. Outside the gates of the great city are orchards that produce the molless tree. The wood is used to construct the best bows of the known world. Each bow can shoot almost sixty-five yards farther than that of an enemy. Starting at the age of six, each child in the capital is first trained with the bow.
The city of Masaba is the center of commerce for the peninsula, trading elephants, mammoths, giant rhinos, and horses. With well-irrigated farmlands, the city has learned to feed the entire empire. The urban area is closest to the western passage to the continent.
Something grabs Duncan in his dream and sweeps him to the Atlantean seaport of Vasic where their navy is being built. The harboring city’s population is two-hundred-fifty-thousand, making it the smallest city-state. For the last two years, Vasic has been building a new navy, consisting seventy-eight destroyers, twelve battlecruisers, and two massive heavy battlecruisers. The task is almost complete. The Atlanteans expect their new navy to be ready within the next two months. The archeologist drifts through the city toward the waterfront, observing carefully every building he passes. Once inside the massive harbor, he no
tices the destroyers are one-hundred yards long and twenty-five yards across. The ships are thinly armored, and used for speed. The fast ships have artillery, but ramming is their main strength in battle. The older destroyers are going to be refitted and used as military supply and transport ships.
Turning around, Duncan looks at the Atlantean battlecruisers; since each is almost one-hundred-fifty yards long, it needs six-hundred oarsmen. The ships support large catapults and giant crossbows. As the latest technology, Atlanteans put rotating turrets for their artillery on the new vessels. Since the ships can change the artillery’s direction at a moment’s notice, they are able to concentrate firepower in battle. No other navy in the world has this kind of technology. The rotating turret is a simple innovation, but will wreak havoc in future sea battles.
On their trial run at sea, Duncan witnesses the Atlantean heavy battlecruisers slipping into colossal docks. Each of the ships is two-hundred yards long, seventy-yards across, and requires one-thousand oarsmen. The navy’s flagships are a giant catamaran with two parallel hulls, connected with a large deck, spanning two separate superstructures. Due to the size of these ships, thirty people are required to operate the rudders on each hull.
The archeologist’s mind starts to overload, feeling the visions are real. Suddenly, he sees the sun passing in front of his face hundreds of times in a matter of seconds, as if his mind is transported to a momentous time. The archeologist’s dreams are like déjà vu. He can almost remember and see the religious and social structure of the predominant culture he is witnessing. The empire on the peninsula has a form of socialist government and believes in God. However, civilizations on the main continent connected to the peninsula have different ideas with more communistic views, and believe in multiple gods. Duncan understands from history that two different religions and social structures usually end up in chaos. He knows something will have to give in what he is about to witness.
Duncan’s vision rushes miles into the main continent, witnessing an ancient army dressed in silver-plated breastplates, red cloaks, and carrying stainless steel swords in preparation for an offensive battle.
Chapter V
A Desperate Time