Okay, I guess I can get hurt in this dream world too, I think wincing at the spray of salt water stinging my new wound.

I kneel, getting up...again, still clutching my injured arm, and notice that I'm only a couple of feet from the newly formed end of the pier.

All the while the other three elders are still attempting to hold back...the storm? Can they do that?

Kneel before your new king! A voice booms across the water, originating from out in the maelstrom, one I've heard before, in my head. It's both familiar and dreadful.

Gritting my teeth to stand, I look to the water and see him.

Nannot is airborne, hovering about twenty feet over the thrashing surf. His robes billow in the whirling air. His black robes. His eyes are blood red and well...bleeding. "Just like Rhonar's," I say out loud. The words come out mute though, the raging wind drowning out my voice.

Then I notice his skin. It's jet black as well, whereas the three elders are a healthy tan complexion. It's like the wickedness deep within him has shown its hold over him on the outside.

We shall never call you king, brother. We serve our one true king!

Do they mean Thoth? It has to be. The realization finally dawns on me! The three, their hands raised in battle, the fourth confronting them on the coastline and the freakish weather. It all makes sense.

I'm reliving the end of Atlantis.

The cavern that my team and I are currently exploring is under where the actual city of Atlantis once stood. Its obliteration, and... I look over to Nannot, understanding why I'm being shown this. HE is responsible for the island nation's devastation. HE destroyed it all, killed thousands and is attempting to eradicate countless more.

Do not stand in my way traitors. You cannot defeat me! The Priests of An'tala are finished.

An'tala? Priests? The elders were Thoth's personal advisors and it would also look like his bodyguards.

An'tala is what we called our home. You have since renamed it Atlantis, says an elder...or should I say Atlantean priest. I know by saying you he means modern man and not actually me.

CRA-KOOM!.

Another incredibly large crimson lightning bolt hits the section of pier I'm standing on, decimating it, throwing me through the air and into the freezing water.

38.

I surface nearby, to see the pier completely gone. Obliterated. The three defenders of An'tala are hovering in mid-air, just like Nannot, arms still raised in defiance.

A wave rolls over me and pulls me under. I try to kick to the surface, but get rolled again and again...and again. I'm about to pa.s.s out when my head breaks the surface. As I find my bearings, I can still hear the four combatants conversing.

We may not be able to defeat you-only the chosen can achieve that-but we can delay you. Either way, that body does not belong to you.

The body doesn't belong to him? I think to myself while trying not go under again.

As I wade in the chilling seawater, a flash of what looks like green energy streaks across the sky and strikes Nannot in the chest. A wave crests and falls over my head, but I don't go completely under. It does make me struggle against the crashing waves, which are intense. I kick hard and clear it, sucking in another gulp of air. Through stinging, salt-filled eyes, I see the three priests with their fists outstretched in front of them. They let loose another attack, each sending an energy beam into Nannot. Then they send another volley, and another. The blasts must have severely weakened Nannot because, the wind slowly lowers him towards the now calming ocean, threatening to envelope him.

I look around, seeing no sign of the present day priests, the ones who brought me here. So they can leave but I can't! I think. So not right.

These three approach slowly, ch.o.r.eographing their moves. They surround Nannot, forming a triangle, and discharge more of the electric force at him all at once. And this time they pour it on, not letting up.

The black-clad twin wails in agony, his head tilted back and his arms and legs outstretched, cursing his brothers.

That's when I notice the water level around me start to drop. I continue to kick hard through the now lowering tide and try to stay afloat, but the surf is too strong. I slip beneath the waves a couple more times, almost not making it back to the surface. Every time I come back up I see less and less water, and more and more...sand.

Nannot's agonizing screams fill my head and intensify until he explodes and is turned to dust. I'm not sure what I just witnessed. Did they just kill their brother? Or was it just his physical body that was destroyed? Either way, Nannot is gone. The three warrior priests bow their heads, defeated.

My feet hit solid ground the same time his body is incinerated. I'm a hundred feet below where the pier was and where the coastline still is. I guess it's more of a cliff face now, I think taking in my new surroundings.

The elders turn and move inland, sailing through the air at an incredible speed, disappearing from sight. A loud sonic boom echoes from behind me as they break the sound barrier.

I turn and see the three priests from my time standing behind me.

"What was that? What happened to him?" I ask.

The middle one answers, That was not his true form, but a tool of his corruption. He has taken many in the past, but never used them like this. He holds out his hands, motioning to the current state of things.

I look around, fully taking in the devastation. The water is gone, evaporated maybe. Or maybe it found a new home in an undiscovered fissure in the seabed?

Our abilities are strong, says the middle one again, obviously reading my thoughts.

"You did this?" I say shocked.

The three of them all lower their heads, as if shamed for what they did.

Yes, but we had no other way of halting his advances. He wanted to destroy it all, every living thing. And who he didn't execute, he would enslave and experiment on. We could not allow this to come to pa.s.s no matter the consequences.

"Like the destruction of your home?"

He doesn't answer.

They look up together, Every few generations, he takes another and tries again. Each one is stronger than the last.

"Takes another?" I ask.

All three of them lift their hands and point their long fingers at me.

I get it. He takes another human, another host.

"Why humans?"

Humanity is naturally...unkind to one another. He uses their wants and ambitions against them. He gives them unlimited strength, and promises the world. What human would say no to that?

It's a bait question. They're expecting me to answer and say that I wouldn't. I mean, of course I wouldn't, but it would be nice to be asked these things instead of them being a.s.sumed of you.

"The Great Deceiver," I say to myself.

The who?

"It's what we call the Devil. Satan."

Yes, we know of him. Nannot's maliciousness has caused a few legends to arise over the millennia, that being one.

I shake off the notion that this man-or should I say monster-Nannot, is the real life version of Satan. It's just too absurd and quite honestly scares the s.h.i.t out me.

"What happens now?" I ask.

They just re-aim their outstretched fingers and point towards the outer limits of the city.

I follow their direction and turn my attention to the new cliff face.

CRACK.

POP.

POP.

CRACK.

The ground rumbles and shakes. A large crack appears in the cliff face, about half way between us and the edge of the city above. Then there's another crack this one even louder and then another. Each successive snap louder than the last.

Directly overhead, the entire coastline crumbles and falls apart. Chunks of rock and what look like buildings tumble into the newly formed canyon...the one we're currently standing in.

Before the priests and I are crushed by hundreds-of-thousands of tons of debris, we are thrown back into the dark and gloomy cave, where I first met them.

I'm in shock and breathing heavily, not being able to fully react to what I just witnessed. It's then I feel a large and strong hand on my shoulder and turn to find one of the elders standing next to me. He looks into my eyes. He has the same stone faced, armor plated mask as Nannot, which makes it very hard for me to gauge his emotion. But, I feel his sadness in my mind and in my soul. My heart aches for them.

"What ended up happening to your home?"

His hand slips from my shoulder and he backs up, rejoining his kin.

The reason Lord Thoth evacuated our homeland is because Nannot first attacked us with a series of immense earthquakes. Thousands of our people perished in the toppled buildings and fires. The faults and fissures underground started collapsing. The city eventually fell in on itself, where it would be buried by the newly formed desert. Erased. These caverns are the only thing that survived to your time.

The fact that they survived doesn't shock me. They are, after all, over a thousand feet underground. It's basically the world's most effective bomb shelter.

"So the earthquakes opened a fault somewhere and that's where all the water went?"

They nod.

"What is this place for? The necropolis," I ask.

The necropolis was a holy place to our kind, before it was tainted by evil. We buried our dead and remembered those who lead before us. It didn't always look the way it does now.

The scenery changes again. We are standing on the same landing where I slept and had my first encounter with Nannot. It's almost impossible to tell that this is the same underground cave we stood in just a short time ago.

The cavern is full of...life. Hundreds of Atlanteans roam around, going about their normal lives. They dress the same as the priests, if only a little more informally, and they are in fact people. Ordinary people. Their faces are a melting pot of every race and creed from around the globe. I wonder if the demographics of this kingdom prove that many of the world's major cultures started here.

I hear a giggle followed by more laughter as a small group of children romp by me. They are playing a game of tag as they run down the steep steps at full speed. Not a single one of them falls or slows.

Huh, anyone else would have fallen so hard and probably ended up being rushed to the E.R. if they tried that when they were a kid, I think.

As I scan my surroundings, I hear the sound of rushing water and look to my right, towards where the moat of lava should be. It's gone, replaced by crystal clear water. It's like looking into a stream filled with ultra-purified, spring water. Liquid gla.s.s.

There are more people down on the perfectly usable beach too. Gleaming white sand lines the sh.o.r.es, all the way around the bend I saw before. No cracked, burnt earth and certainly no molten lava pits, either. It's the ideal island get-away-type beach, minus the scorching summer heat.

This place is a hodgepodge of activity, not exactly what I pictured it to be from my prior experience here.

The trees in the stone forest are actually trees too. A gorgeous canopy of green encircles the courtyard. A blend of dotted colors is mixed within the foliage as well. Fruit trees, I think.

Every conceivable fruit is on display. I watch as a random person just strolls up to a tree, picks what appears to be an apple, takes a bite and walks away.

What is this place?

As I scan through the trees, I see a slight glow radiating from deeper within this Eden... The word resonates through my mind. Eden. Could it be? Maybe. It's definitely something for me to check out later. But, first...

I redirect my attention back to the glimmer of something in the distance. The top half of a very ornate and beautiful golden pyramid shines across the now thriving necropolis. It's completely covered in orichalc.u.m-or knowing these people--it's made entirely of it.

So, it wasn't always black.

I take a step and trip, looking down at my foot. I'm not sure what I stumbled over but, I see my shoes and then my shorts. I'm still dressed in my normal clothing, except I'm freshly bathed and my clothes appear to have been expertly cleaned. And thank G.o.d, because I don't think I'd be very comfortable walking around in a bed sheet.

That's when I notice that I'm alone. The three Priests are gone. It's just me and a very much alive Atlantean civilization.

39.

I slowly and methodically make my way down the left hand stairs, the one leading towards the pyramid. The walk through the leafy forest takes a few minutes, but it's all a dream anyway so I might as well take my time. What's the rush?

I pa.s.s a few families picnicking and some more children playing in the trees themselves. The scene reminds me of when I used to play in the tree outside my grandparent's house in Lake Worth.

I pick an apple from a nearby tree and examine it. The fact I could actually touch it tells me I'm in no ordinary dream again. It's actually there! Sitting in the palm of my hand is what looks like a Granny Smith-my favorite. I hold healthy green fruit up to my nose a sniff. It even smells like a real apple.

"Aw, what the h.e.l.l," I say and bite into its perfectly polished skin. It's the most delicious apple I've ever had. Nothing new or different, it's just so fresh and perfectly grown.

That's when I notice my head clearing of exhaustion and my body returning to its usual strength. I flex my arms and legs. Dang, I may even be stronger than normal. I've never felt better in fact, not even when I was in peak physical condition playing ball.

I look down at the apple. The inside of the fruit has a very soft, golden color fused into its flesh. Hmmm, I mumble to myself rubbing my chin. The apples back home don't have that. I wonder what it is. I shrug off my discovery, not knowing anything beyond what I've seen, and continue my stroll through the shade of the trees. As I finish, I hear birds singing in the trees, of which I haven't been able to spot. Eating the apple down to its core, I look around and find a barrel labeled trash, tossing in my completed snack.