Chronicles of Gondwana - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4-IN THE LAIR OF THE DESTROYER

Aquilifon the Destroyer lay sprawled on a humongous dais tat could have seated a hundred men. He was inside his citadel, a dark, foreboding structure in the mountain ranges, so distant from the deserts in which the objects of his wrath were now bickering against each other.

Aquilifon was amused. Although he had enslaved the dimension and caused it’s inhabitants to display a drama of bloodshed, he still felt quite bored, and now he had set into motion his time-travel experiment. He had watched his subjects from different worlds for quite some time now. And how he hated them. But he needed them also to bring out his true form, since he was already tired of dwelling in his golem body. But he also was wary, since one of them possessed the power of the Prophecy that could end his life.

Two of the guards in his extremely spacious chamber gestured to him that someone was outside, waiting for an audience. He gave an approving sign, and the chamber’s massive iron doors creaked open.

“My newest slave. What brings you here to my benevolent presence?” the Destroyer spoke with a light, conversational voice. It was truly his genuine tone; strangely he never rasped or growled when talking to others.

“I came here to ask when would I be used for your glory, Destroyer,” spoke the figure in white before him. He was in military uniform. His eyes were completely white, and an air mask covered his nose and mouth. A cavalry sword he had in his right hand. This was Gerhardt, also from Kazansky’s world, one of his deadly enemies, in fact, and for now Aquilifon had taken control of his mind and soul.

“Be patient, servant of mine. The hour draws near in which we might rout those who plan on killing me, and in which I might have my true form. Be patient, and wait.”

“It will be as you say,” Gerhardt said and he awkwardly bowed to the Destroyer.

“You enslave this man easily, but I am different,” a rough voice growled out of one of the dark corners of the room.

“Ah, my other servant. Come forth, come forth.”

“Hardly your servant, monster. No one enslaves me,” the voice replied. Then a huge figure stepped out of the shadows. The man had long, unkempt hair and a similarly unkempt beard. He had dark, steely, eyes. He wore a thick hauberk on his upper torso and the rest of his body was also inlaid with a knight’s steel armor.

“ “Whether or not your mind belongs to me is of no object. You are in my world now, and you will obey me, Arkadius Krovin. I can satisfy even your pleasures and fulfil your wishes.”

“Then you are a fool!” Krovin barked. “You truly do not know me, much less force me to do your will. I do things because I want to.”
Aquilifon remained calm. ‘Well, it’s always been your style, hasn’t it, Krovin? Or should I say, Al’Iblis?” Krovin was startled to hear someone say his true identity for the first time.
Aquilifon spoke again. “I know more about you than you could ever fathom, Krovin. I know how many lives you have destroyed, how many hearts you made bleed---and how much human flesh you have eaten. I could tell you a whole lot more than that.”

Krovin laughed, showing his gnarled teeth. “You have amazed me, Destroyer. Never have I met one before who could actually see through me. But yes, for now I will play along with you---for a while only. You promised me challengers that would conquer me. Well, I’m out to prove you wrong. I am imperishable and unbeatable, Aquilifon.”

“We’ll see about that then, Arkadius Krovin.” Aquilifon eyes began to flicker with an intense red light. Then he too, began to laugh. And his whimsical laughter echoed throughout the desolate citadel. Krovin just growled, mumbled something incoherently, turned his back, walked past Gerhardt and was enveloped again in the darkness.