hellbound: the chronicles of vincent black
"Tell us something about this place," demanded Brand.
Hilda kept walking cautiously down the long tunnel, as did the others. "Such as?"
"Anything would be nice. I just want to be reassured that we aren't walking into a deathtrap here..."
Hilda smiled a somewhat bemused smile. "This, as I stated at the outset, is an Enochian temple. Named thus for its reported connection to the biblical prophet, Enoch."
"Yes, Enoch," volunteered Vlad. "From the Revisionalist Old Testament. Eldest son of Cain, first of the four great prophets of the, ahem, non-heretical bible."
Hilda nodded. "His legacy, transcribed from "Seth" rein oracularus, has been bequeathed secretly to many men throughout history. It is the well from which all mysticism flows, the trace origin of all rites in which mortal man attempts to draw power from the supernatural... and as its secrets have been passed down throughout the ages, from the secret kingdom of Solomon, to the order of the Knights Templar - and so on and so forth - it has become an eclectic doctrine unto itself."
"The Order of the Divine Light," stated Vlad. "The apocryphal teachings which founded the basic principles applied to all Urgomantic-based conjuration."
Vince stopped for a moment. "You mean like.. summoning demons?" He was the embodiment of Visible Concern.
"Summoning enlightened beings of a higher order," corrected Hilda. "The Middle-Age's concept of the demon is somewhat antiquated, you know."
"So..." Vlad continued solomnly, deep in thought. "We are in, or very near to, the ancient borders of Jerusalem, then?"
"I did not say that," smiled Hilda efficaciously.
Vince, having stopped, moved slightly faster to catch up. "I'm still a little concerned about this 'demon-summoning' part," he stated worriedly to Hilda's back.
Hilda simply ignored him. "There is a chance, however, that this is the predecessor of Solomon's sacred temple, hidden away from the encumbrant sight of mortal eyes. Possibly even... the very temple itself. If they are, indeed, one and the same... as I suspect they are."
"You have spent many years devoting yourself to this task.." questioned Vlad, his hands behind his back in thoughtful pose. "Or am I wrong?"
"Yes, I have," replied Hilda with a slight, self-pleased smile. "You might call it my secondary goal in this life."
"What's your first goal?" asked Brand.
Kain, as usual, said nothing.
Hilda parted her lips slightly again, this time in a dangerous and darkly implicative smile. "Pray you never need find out."
"I am impressed," stated Vlad. "It must have taken a great deal of dedication, say nothing of years of insightful research, to discover this location..."
Hilda nodded with just a trace of musing pride. "Yes... It has been a great struggle to arrive here. And yet, here we are. And suffice it to say, I am here to uncover the answers I seek."
Everyone grew silent again as the tunnel, with little warning, formed an archway which extended further into a more expansive darkness. Brand and Hilda, now in the lead, shone their lights into the room ahead.
Their lights were met with another smooth, stone floor, which stretched outward to meet walls covered in strange, grey shapes, slightly distended from the walls themselves.
"Oh my god," uttered Hilda quietly. She shone her light across the dark, alien expanse of the walls, which were covered in a bas-relief of primitive figures. Watchful in her awe, she reached long fingers out over their smooth lines and shadowed surfaces.
Vince eyed the figures on the walls carefully, and with his usual suspicion. The relief depicted a series of persons, of unknown gender, with arms raised upward toward strange, indeterminate shapes - perhaps clouds - above. Each figure was crudely done, with seemingly all the tell-tale traits of a rudimentary, newly-awakening intelligence behind it: exaggerated, poorly-characterized features hinting toward an underdeveloped skill at protraying the physical "self", and a roughness of hue that grittily personified its primitive nature. Even the relief itself, though decorative and smoothly polished, seemed crudely chisled despite all attempts to hide beneath its self-elaborate facade.
Vlad seemed equally suspicious, although perhaps for differing reasons. He leaned in toward Vincent, looking to be sure he was outside earshot of Hilda, and whispered. "Something is amiss here."
Vincent's eyes widened slightly in the faintly-lit chamber. "Like what?
"These carvings... They don't seem characteristic of such a primitive civilization. Even the structure of the temple itself seems far too advanced for what should have been, by all logical standards, a barely-sentient people. They would have been living in caves, or something of the sort - their capacity for art would have been simplistic primitive writing, at best."
"After all, manuscripts of an oral history passed down and "recorded" much later is one matter. To be standing in something constructed during the specific time period in question, and have it bear - in both such protoglyphic and archeolithic forms - the same history as it confesses to describe... that, is another matter entirely."
He continued, a grave tone to his voice. "No, I find it somewhat difficult believe this temple could date that far back. In fact... even as incredible as it is, I find it hard believe this is an Enochian temple at all."
"Then that is where you are mistaken," Hilda sternly corrected from afar. She stood with her back to them, her arms behind her as she stared thoughtfully at the opposite wall.
"These walls are deceptive, and if they are deceptive, then it is for a purpose. You forget how little is known about the civilization that predated the Diluge. What I know, however, is that they were far more advanced than anyone, even - or perhaps, especially - a learned scholar such as yourself, would dare guess."
"You see.. the earliest humans had assistance. Guidance. And the manner and means of that guidance is what we, regardless of personal threat, are here to ascertain."
Hilda turned, and walked slowly down the length of the chamber toward them. "Look at the walls again," she instructed, pointing vaguely about them. "What do you see?
"Funny-looking people," stated Vincent somewhat blankly.
He began to say more, but the rhetorical nature of Hilda's question was made clear when she continued her previous thought. "This is a visual interpretation of Enoch's prediction of the Great Diluge. Not just the one Great Diluge, but the first of a cycle of Diluges, several catastrophies designed to exterminate this reality and purge the evil away with the tides."
As if defusing the tension, she smiled. "At least, that's what Enoch himself wrote on the matter."
"Ah, yes," said Vlad, rather submissively. "The Enochian books. Of course."
Hilda moved toward the far archway, her jaw set harshly again. "Now, regardless of how fascinating this is, we must move onward immediately."
Vincent shot Vlad a puzzled look, who only shrugged in response. Vince followed Kain and Brand's lead, and moved to take up his position in front of Hilda.
The next chamber was far more expansive, and not even the powerful beams of their flashlights would penetrate its gloomy depths. They each stood near the entrance, awaiting the command that would mean entry.
Hilda took her time, however, and produced an electronic clipboard/notepad from the sack slung over her shoulder. "If the notes from the previous expedition are correct, then this is where they set up base camp. But... but..."
Brand, with scrutinizing eyes, looked from the dark, blank expanse to Hilda. "I sure as hell don't see anything."
"And therein lies the problem." Hilda frowned, and consulted the clipboard again.
Vlad, from somewhere now in the rear, coughed as if to draw attention. "Question."
Hilda turned to look at him impatiently. "Yes?"
Vlad frowned. "These facts strike me as slightly incongruous. If you are uncertain of what befell the previous team, how is it that you have a copy of their notes?"
"Simple," answered Hilda promptly. "The data which they recorded was to be uploaded on a permutable schedule. The last transmission sent contained, among other information, a rendered map of their progress."
She paused for a moment, smiling with an amused expression. "You're not suspicious, are you?"
It was Vlad's turn to smile amusedly. "No, not especially. It merely... seems to me that it must be a powerful signal, indeed, to escape both an underground structure such as this one - located in a desert, no less - and a disruptive field of such magnitude as the one behind us."
There was - again - a dangerous silence, as Hilda frowned in thought. "You make a valid point," she said after a moment. "But this is simply explained, by way of the fact that we were using state-of-the-art equipment, and yet..." Her eyes narrowed as she peered at the notepad again. "Yes... odd..."
Vincent, unable to contain his rising paranoia any longer, leaned over Hilda's shoulder. "What? What?!"
"Well, you see, the signal from the original team's portable communications link was sent to a larger transmitter, located in the exterior camp, which was then routed to a satelite." Her eyes never left the notepad as she spoke. "And yet.. they never once made note of a field such as the one we encountered. No mention at all. And they must have passed that point to reach the interior base camp, located here."
"Not likely that they would have left such an important detail out, eh?" said Brand.
Hilda shook her head without a trace of humor. "No, it isn't."
Brand squatted on the dark floor, examining it leisurely. "So, what now?" He cast an eye into the vast, eerie chamber all around them.
Hilda looked up, frowning again. "Now, we rest. We set up camp here. And at 0800, we find try to find out - one way or another - what happened to the first expedition."
episode 03: echoes of dysphoria
Vincent, Hilda, Brand, Vlad, and Kain were lead by a trail of runes down the otherwise stark and featureless stone tunnel. Silence followed them heavily as they each, individually, absorbed the importance of Hilda's speech, and the potential consequence of their trespass. No one could guess, or even make mental allusion to, what would await them ahead.
