Sol Invictus - Part 2(b)
Posted on Sat Jun 22nd, 2024 @ 8:58pm by Connor Bruin & Iris Walker & Jade Farwynd & Bliss Hawkins & Kennedy Kelly
2,379 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: Sacred Caves | Savage Land
Timeline: September 17th, 1990
While the main army marched to the gates of the City of the Sun People, a small detachment broke off at a fork in the road toward the Sacred Caves. Their dinosaur beasts of burden made haste toward the far side of the mountain where entry to the deep could be found. Haste was their ally more than secrecy, especially since most scouts would be watching the United Tribes in their march to the city in hopes of counting their numbers. Nothing would be gained by losing time to stealth.
That was why Connor let out a shameless hoot from the back of the brontosaurus he shared with Bliss. "Whoooo!"
Iris shared Connor’s sentiment, but did so silently. Riding dinosaurs was just as amazing as she would have expected and 9-year-old Iris was shouting just as loud as he was in the back of her mind. But, 19-year-old Iris recognized that they didn’t want to attract too much attention, so she only giggled softly.
“You are noisy like a child.” Shanna said with a slight chuckle. “You cannot hear the land when you are that loud. Which is a shame because she is always trying to talk to you.”
Shanna urged her mount forward a bit. While the X-Men rode massive herbivores that were docile and calm, her beast was a large and nasty looking raptor. Its bright yellow eyes and vibrant red skin told everyone that the predator feared nothing in the Savage Land, yet it submitted its will to the She-Devil.
“These caves are rather simple in their design, they are meant to keep prisoners in and are easy to defend. But you can still get lost in them if you are not paying attention. Listen for the sound of water and travel away from it if you get turned around.” Shanna rounded a blind turn before the rest of them, her eyes scanning the jungle for danger. “King Akeem will be in the deepest part of the prison. They keep him alone so he does not inspire a rebellion. He is a good man, his people have been poisoned by Zaladane. He will cure them once he is liberated.”
Connor calmed down enough to ask a question. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. "HOW DID SHE OVERTHROW HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE?"
“Garokk.” Shanna said the name like it explained everything. “The Sun People worship Garokk, he is the sun god that makes them the sun people. Zaladane was the High Priestess of Garokk, a position of immense power amongst the Sun People. When she conquered the Fall People she claimed to do so in the name of Garokk and he blessed her with great power. Her magic became stronger and in return her desire for more of the Savage Land came with it. The Sun People believe she is doing their god’s work so they follow her. But Zaladane has grown mad from whatever magic is flowing through her, it has corrupted her and now she seeks to conquer all of us for her own hungry desires.”
Shanna’s raptor sniffed the air and let out a high pitched scream. It caused all of them to pause and wait. The raptor began to growl at the bushes surrounding the trail and whatever was stalking them moved along. Shanna patted the beast’s neck and offered a few mumbled words of praise. They continued toward the caves at their quick pace.
“There is a balance to this land. We all have a place and a role. Zaladane has been poisoned by her absolute power and seeks to enslave all of us. If we remove the boone Garokk has given her and King Akeem is there to do so, the Sun People will surrender and return to their peaceful ways. Akeem understands that we all have a place and deserve our space.”
The turned one final corner and the mouth of the cave came into view. “There it is. Are you ready, X-Men?”
Jade nodded and extracted her dagger, slicing against her scarred palm. Blood droplets coalesced into a sword in her hand as she set the dagger back in its sheath.
Iris had very carefully allowed everyone to walk ahead of her, reactivating her power. Now was the time to be invisible.
Escapade rubbed her hands together, her expression one of focused eagerness. She felt she had let down her friends with her capture. She was hungry for payback.
“Good.” Shanna hopped off her raptor and began to tie up the herbivores the rest of the group rode. She removed the reins from her raptor before patting it on the neck affectionately. “Patrullay hinaspa amachay sumaq sipaschayta”
The raptor screamed once more before heading off into the jungle, it would patrol and protect their mounts while they ventured into the cave.
The team headed into the cave, where they were met with excessive heat and humidity. That perfect mixture of volcanic activity meeting flowing waters. The environment was stifling and muggy, the immediate discomfort made it obvious as to why prisoners would be kept here.
As they explored the prison, the lack of guards was both expected and suspicious. All able bodied guards were sent to defend the city or the temple. Yet it felt foolish to assume the prisoners would be left alone. As if on cue, a series of loud resonating bass notes echoed off the cave walls.
“Rumm… rumm… rumm…Mistress said you would come… rumm… rumm… rumm.”
A tall and lean figure stepped out of the shadows and into the torchlight. While standing on two legs, the man was barely considered human in form. His eyes were bulbous and yellow and his skin damp and green. His features were frog-like in composition, a beast-made mutate from Magneto’s time in the Savage Land.
“And I will do as Mistress commands… rumm… rumm.” The skin of his throat inflated with air as he continued to croak. “You will die in this cave.” Without hesitation the frog-man sprung through the air. His bi-pedal stance gone as his powerful legs allowed him to ricochet off the cave walls at a frantic pace.
He needed to be slowed down so that the heavy hitters could take their shot. So Jade sliced at his leg as it swished past her. She missed by the tiniest margin, but enough for the sword of blood to swing in empty air. "Fuck! No good!" Jade swore inwardly as the sword dispersed and she withdrew her dagger again and made another cut. She dove for the floor, smearing the dripping blood over the floor and rolled over to the other side.
The dodging pattern formed a quadratic value in Connor's mind. Seemingly random movements established a predictive pattern once one solved the variable. The root was evasion. Connor jumped into the air, spun around, and turned sideways to orient his body in a traverse position. It caused an aerodynamic shift which propelled him much farther through the air than his launch would've anticipated, at least another two meters.
The amphibian man was unable to adjust his trajectory. It was all he could do to hold up his arms to block the collision. And they did collide. Connor's superior mass crashed into the frog and sent them careening head over heels together, each fight for the topside. Despite the amphibian's dexterity, Connor's superior strength and agility won out. When they landed together, Connor twisted him into a slam onto the ground that knocked his wound out.
"Argh! Barbarus! Help me, rumm, rumm..."
Connor pulled back his fist to prepare a hammer strike to the frog's face, but an overwhelming force hooked him around the arm and pulled him off his knees.
"Hands off Amphibius!" The giant of a man boasted four powerful arms, each like oak trees. Two of them held Connor up under his arms while the other two pummeled punch after punch into his ribcage. "Stupid traitors!"
Shanna was called the She-Devil of the Savage Land because she embraced that fierce and vicious spirit that hummed through this harsh land that time had forgotten. With an animal’s grace she leapt through the air and climbed up the wide back of Barbarus. Thanks to the distraction provided by Connor, Shanna easily made her way up to Barbarus’ shoulders. Where Shanna locked her thighs around the man’s neck and began a life ending squeeze.
“Keep his arms away from me, Caveman,” demanded the She-Devil while leaning to the side to avoid the swipe from one of Barbarus’ free hand.
Barbarus’ face began to turn beet red as his exertion and her strangulation began to work together. If Connor could manage to keep his hands occupied it would only be a matter of minutes before Barbarus lost consciousness.
Meanwhile, Iris found herself again attempting to sneak past their enemy. Silently, she stuck close to the walls, attempting to stay as far away from everyone as possible. If she could get past them all, she would go find this King Akeem and concentrate on keeping him hidden while they simply walked out. She grinned, imagining the looks on their enemy’s faces when they realized their prisoner was gone.
Escapade stepped up to take hold of the wrists of Barbarus to prevent a protracted struggle. She gave the mutate a chilly smile and waited for the struggle to fade.
Escapade’s assistance with Barbarus allowed Shanna’s crushing squeeze to finish the multi-armed mutate with little struggle. The light left his popped and blood shot eyes as his massive, muscled body went limp. With an unceremonious thud, Barbarus’ body hit the cave floor and Connor was freed from his grasp.
However, the moment of neglect allowed Amphibius to recover from Caveman’s previous attack. A thick, strong tongue wrapped around Bliss’ ankle and dragged her to the ground with a hard smack against the stone.
"Nnnnnuh!" shouted Connor, his face contorted in anger. He grabbed a river rock, jumped between Bliss and Amphibius, and brought it down on the slimy membrane with all his might.
The tongue severed under the blunt force impact between the river rock and solid granite. Amphibius let out a hissing cry of pain, but he didn't suffer long. Connor wound up the rock behind his back and pitched it straight for the frog man's yawning mouth. It caught him right in the inside of the throat, which sent him sinking to the ground in a twitching fit where he soon laid still.
"IS HE DEAD?" Connor asked.
Jade didn't have to look to know. "Very. Good work."
Iris merely had to follow the sound of rushing water and her explorations led her to the center of the prison. As Shanna had described, King Akeem was the sole prisoner in a cave; a single guard was left to watch him.
Quiet as a mouse- or maybe even quieter as mice tended to squeak- Iris sneaked around the guard and examined the chains. It appeared that the only thing holding King Akeem in place was a single pin in each of two manacles around his wrists holding them shut. Very carefully, she began working the pins free.
"What is going on?" Akeem was chained to a boulder. Sounds of battle had echoed through the caves to his location, but he was still wary.
"Nothing that matters to you!" the guard yelled as he threatened Akeem with his spear.
"It matters if my people have come for me." Akeem did not back down, but looked at the guard with a regal bearing despite being shackled. "Release me and I swear on my throne that I will not allow harm to come to you."
"Zaladane has defeated all who come before her," the guard said. "So you're staying right there."
By then, the rest of the group had caught up to Iris even if they couldn't see her. The guard held his spear out toward them, though he couldn't keep it from trembling.
"Do not harm him!" Akeem called out. "He was just going to surrender..." The deposed monarch drilled the guard with a hard stare. "Right?"
Now that he was outnumbered, the guard swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yes... my king."
“Aw!” exclaimed Iris- who had managed to silently work the pins free. “That totally ruins my surprise!”
Freed from his bonds, Akeem led the others up through the labyrinth of Sacred Caves to an outlet near the Throne Room to the edge of the city. Just as the group made their exit, a loud horn blast sounded off. Three short bursts to rally the army's attention followed by a long, sustained blast. It was the sound of victory.
Soon other horns joined in with their blasts, followed by triumphant cries of warriors who cheered for the good fortune of the day.
"THAT MEANS THE ARMY WAS VICTORIOUS," Connor informed King Akeem. "WE CAN SEAT YOU AND RETURN THE CITY TO YOUR RULE."
"Praise Garokk!" Akeem bowed low. "I am in your debt."
“Shucks,” said Iris, pretending to be embarrassed. “It was nothin’!”
Jade shrugged, "it was the right thing to do."
“Allinllachu Yachaysapa Rey, inti lluqsimun qanwan tupananpaq.” Shanna greeted the King in their native tongue. She patted his shoulder in encouragement and appreciation, the return of King Akeem to his throne was a good day for all of the people of the Savage Lang. “Come my friend, let us take you back to your throne.”
Before Akeem could be escorted to the Throne Room, however, all eyes turned to the sky and the horizon where it met the land.
Across the valley below, in the foothills opposite from the City of the Sun People, stood Magneto's Citadel. Its narrow sky beam had given off pale, translucent energies the entire time they had been in the Savage Land, undoubtedly the cause of the geomagnetic storms wreaking havoc throughout the planet, had turned a stark shade of purple tinged with red, like an infected wound.
Words echoed throughout the region in a language few understood and even fewer could utter.
"Denique! Liber sum! Et mox venit infernum!"
END
Note: Shanna the She-Devil is played by Kennedy Kelly.
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