Not caring for the laws of a modernizing era she wanted to ensure an Eoth victory. Grussia stood as any ally all the way through. Vunnace and eight city-states pledged to fight these invaders. Shabbilne gazed upon the temple altar expecting an answer from the gods. Wearing the traditional Eothan poncho Shabilne had two other companions accompanying her. Captain Grechin of the Eoth Jaguar Warriors, Walod the Mage brought a volunteer for a sacrifice. Shabanna, an Eothan enchantress who made a mistake in a spell. While enchanting a dagger for a youth seeking to be a Jaguar Shabanna had the dagger stab the poor youth. Elders of the village banished her to service of the cults who still practiced the old ways. Shabbilne was a priestess to the altars of Nemarho Yerza, the god of sacrifice, and payments. At the overgrown temple of Nemarho Yerza the four of them were at the very borders of the Unknown Lands. Wedged between two mountains, the temple altar sat as a doorway into the lands of vast jungles, extended mountains, marshes, tribal lands, and grasslands. All of such landscapes filled with savages, monsters, beasts, and wild carnivorous animals. Tales say the tribes are cannibals that kill and eat the outsider upon encounter.
They were within the mountain range itself that separated them from the Unknown Lands, the Dyhrex Mountains. A large mountain range that acted as a thick natural wall for them and Grussia. A rather large lake was shared with Grussia as well. Lake Nixorne, they called it, another natural border between them and the Unknown Lands. Fishing, diving, swimming, rowing, and sailing could be done on that lake. Nixorne bordered the Dyhrex mountains acting as an extra border between them and the Unknown Lands. Shabbilne had little time to waste. Eoth, Grussia, and Vunnace could hold out for a few years with combined forces. Their new allies in other parts of the world can increase their chances of holding out by a few months. Would that be enough to cripple the invaders? She doubted that it would even force the combined forces of the invaders and their collaborators to quit their offensives. More allies is what they needed and a miracle, according to her point of view. Leading the trio closer to the altar within the temple Shabbilne prepared the dagger.
"I don't know if this will work Shabbilne. It has been centuries since anyone has made a sacrifice here." Walod warned her.
"Bah! It will work Walod, it will! I have read the ancient texts on how to do this. Come now Shabanna, come over here." She beckoned for the enchantress to approach the altar. The young Eothan woman hesitated with a concerned expression on her face.
"What will you do to me?" She asked sounding like she wanted to back out of this.
"Just a slit of the palm or finger. Several drops of blud should drip onto the altar. Come on now. It is clean." Shabbilne urged her.
"You mean you have been here before?" Captain Grechin asked her, gripping the torch in his left hand. The lantern they used to traverse one of the mountains to get here ran through their tinderboxes.
"Several times, Captain Grechin." She replied as Shabanna approached the oval shaped altar with a small bowl crevice in its center.
Grabbing Shabanna by the wrist she pulled her over the altar drawing the dagger closer to the enchantress's skin. To her surprise the enchantress did not pull back or attempt to resist her. In her grip Shabanna's hand rest in her control at the moment. The enchantress bared her teeth and shut her eyes closed. She even turned away like some scared child or youth made to look at something or do something undesirable. Shabbilne chose to ignore her with some strands of her wild hair draping over her face as she began to press the blade into the palm. Making a cut into the sacrifice's palm she drew blood. Her hands acted on their own squeezing some blood out into the small bowl-shaped crevice in the altar. The red fluid seeped out of Shabanna's palm and onto the altar. It filled the bowl-shaped crevice. That was the only amount of blood required. Looking past the altar at the back walls she waited patiently. Do not fail me. Was all she could think as she released the enchantress from her grasp. Stepping back she placed the dagger on the altar in a position that it faced the center at an angle. From the altar itself stones grounded against each other from the altar's interior. It sounded as though a mechanism was built inside and the blood acted as the trigger.
Without warning the altar rose a few feet and the wall opened up. Stones grounded against stone, cogs, and other levers squeaked and groaned. Amazed by the success of the attempt they stood idle for a moment. Slowly the wall separated become two sliding doors making way. A secret door opened up behind the shifting walls revealing an outdoor tunnel like hall covered in vines, and overgrowth along the sides. The infamous dreadful Unknown Lands lay before their path. to the four of them this created a new path to take into the wild lands most civilized cultures avoided. Shabbilne could only guess how long it would remain out of the invaders' reach. Shabanna quickly wrapped her hand in a piece of cloth from her leather hide handbag.
"How many days of provisions did you bring with you?" Grechin asked from behind.
"First we need to let someone know we are here." Walod informed the Captain.
Hearing their voices annoyed her. When travelling with them they brought a few weeks' worth of rations. They even stayed at several villages along the way riding in Grechin's automobile that broke down a few times. Hunting and staying at a few settlements helped maintain their stock for each mouth. Shabbilne lived alone these days and lived off the land. She could not say the same for Shabanna, and Walod. Captain Grechin brought two rifles, and a hunting crossbow. The Tiger's Roar 93 bolt action rifle, and the king's favorite, Scorpion Sting 33 breech loader. All three projectile weapons would do them good. Grechin brought a curved machete knife, sickle weapon, and bamboo warclub. All three weapons would prove useful. She possessed a dagger, short sword, metal claws, and retractable staff on herself. At the age of fifty, Shabbilne could still hold out on her own. She was once a Manticore acolyte of the Manticore Circles.
"Walod, take Shabbana back to the nearest village. Captain Grechin and I will explore this new discovery for the next few days. We will return of course." Shabbilne ordered the Mage.
"Are you sure Shabbilne? There is only two of you. Who knows what monsters and perils lay beyond those doors." Walod warned them.
She ignored the Mage plucking up her dagger, and grabbing her own satchel bag. Eager to find out what lay beyond the temple doors she opened, Shabbilne welcomed Grechin to join her. His footsteps behind her said he was joining her. Walod and Shabanna's footsteps faded behind her as she entered the overgrown tunnel. Vines, moss, mushrooms, wildflowers covered the walls of the tunnel. For a ceiling this tunnel did have rough parts of stone overgrown, showing signs of crumbling. Fifty-two lunges away from the last crumbling part the tunnel opened up at the ceiling. Another twenty paces past the opening in the ceiling the tunnel became sheltered by leaves of jungle trees dotting the landscape. With Captain Grechin following her she sauntered ahead for a mile before spotting hints of humanoid life. Various animals chirped, let out caws, loud purrs, and rustled in the foliage. Shabbilne raised her arm to stop Grechin in his tracks. Squatting down she spied what looked like a hut or lodge mixed together. Topped with a flat roof this structure appeared put together with logs, branches, rocks, stones, and mud as the mortar. To her it seemed strange for there to be a structure this well made in an area such as this. Who was she to judge, she had never been here before.
Drawing closer to the structure they found a few more huts and some inhabitants. Excitement grew inside then faded when she saw some of them had tails. Through some trees, and tall bushes she could see a group of humanoids gathered in the center of a small hamlet in the jungle. Nine horned lizard demons with green scales that looked like armor on their bodies. Each one wore a leathery vest with fur grieves over their legs. On a chain linked leash the lizard demons possessed some bumpy fat dragon of orange, green stripes. Standing on four fat legs this one reminded her of the type of bulldogs Shabbilne saw among Grussians. At a closer glance she noticed these Lizard Demons wielded black ion weapons such as spears, tridents, axes, and machetes crafted in crude shapes. Confronting them or attempting to were three Lizardfolk that held more native appearances. Clad in bones, hides, and shells these Lizardfolk possessed claws, tribal Spears, and tipped tails for weapons. At their flank stood a large, mutated crocodile humanoid fighting one of the Lizard folk archers. In their own language these humanoids held a heated argument about something. Each growled, roared, and hissed at the other. The Mutated crocodile started to swing at the archer, which rolled back to loose an arrow at it. Shabbilne felt her hands reach for her weapons while Grechin prepared to shoot at the lizard humanoids. Just the amount of noise these monsters made gave her goosebumps. Her heart raced as she watched the heated argument turn into a brawl of claws, swinging blades that drew blood. For several minutes it dragged on until something else burst out of the jungles to their left flank. Another lizard beast with a large head and two arms appeared before them. Yet this one possessed two heads attached to another body of another beast. Squinting her eyes, she spotted two metal collars linking the heads to the body revealing it was more of an experiment of some mad scientist who hid in these parts.
Not taking any chances with any of these lizards the pair of Eothans turned tail and ran from the scene. Knowing what the outcome was they raced back the direction they came. They tried to as there was no clear path to take beyond the tunnel. Finding the tunnel would be rather difficult. What did not help was the sun setting into dusk for the day. Several minutes of sprinting through the jungle one of them lost a boot, and likely a few items from their bags. Neither of them turned around to retrieve anything. Even though she felt like a coward, Shabbilne admitted to herself this was a part of the world she did not know. A Ranger would have helped. She thought to herself when she spied another structure in the jungle. Stopping in her tracks to see what it was the Eothan noticed it was a military aircraft propeller that was usually found on the invaders' choppers for assault. According to the stories such craft were easily taken down with machineguns or handheld modernized cannons.
"We need to get back to that tunnel!" Grechin shouted as he rushed past her.
"Yes." She replied taking another glance at the aircraft. Have the invaders already been here or are they just sending scouts? She asked herself before chasing after Grechin. Her discovery of some lost altar opened the door to an older world that was likely alive with monster who could be hostile to both them and the invaders.
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