Doorway
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:12 am
While I brainstorm for Tides and Conquest of Paradise....I present you, well a present.
Usual disclaimer applies, the IP is owned by MGM and probably Disney, not me.
Prologue
In between the departure of Atlantis and the rise of the Empire of the Serpent!
It is done, they are gone, expelled from the cradle of their power. After we fled, my father sealed the Star Gate, in which Ra and his treacherous brethren were cast, banished for all time. With him went his servants. the Serpent Apophis, mighty warrior. Golden Aker, mighty builder, depraved Kronos and Hathor, mother of chattel and behind them, the horror whose name shall not be written, whose hunger for souls is beyond madness. Whom even Ra feared... We pray that those who come after never enter here. Never unravel the mystery of the pyramids, never seek the accursed figures upon stone. Do not strive emulate them, do not look for knowledge and above all else, please, we beg to you, open not the doorway.
– The “Ballard inscription” alleged Egyptian Hieroglyphs found in a paleolithic era Cave settlement in Arizona Circa 1969.
Prologue
40,000 years ago North Africa
Sometimes he wished they would fail a hunt, just because he hated the singing more than he hated the dancing. They gathered around old mother at the mouth of the immense cave system where his tribe lived during the harshest moons of the raining season, outside a storm raged. They’d killed one of the great beasts with the long straight teeth. They were different from the other great ones, whose teeth curved, they had no hair as well, the same long nose and they screamed as horribly but they were different, the hairy ones came rarely. They tasted better, their meat was rich with flavors from far off places and when he touched their weak minds, he could see white sand as far as the eye could see, great big trees and people like his but with a lot of skin and fur from dead things about them to keep warm.
Once he even saw an old woman, who had the gift like him from the weird lands. There were so few of them, but Teltak the one who came before the boy said that there were more now than before. The boy didn’t know about that, he didn’t care, it wasn’t his place to care, it was his place to paint the animals, to “see’ the hunt and to use the gift to make sure the hunters succeeded. Teltak had failed, it was the last time the boy saw him alive; they took him and broke his head on a great big rock. The boy felt a measure of pity, he had used his gift to make Teltak see wrong. It was a mistake, the boy didn’t even know he was doing it, but they killed Teltak anyway.
It was what would happen to the boy if he ever should fail. It was stupid, Teltak was old, even when the boy’s fathers, father was young. It took a long time for a mother to birth a person who could see the animals and summon them with the paintings. The tribe would probably starve without him or must move and wander like those savages with the sloping brows, or those weird ones who were like the boy’s people but lived like savages. They had people with gifts too, he would “see” them sometimes, they were different than him, they spread out too far, their blood thinned.
The boy’s mate lay sleeping beside his furs, her belly was huge, she would probably die bringing their child into the world, good the boy thought. He never felt anything for her, she was distant kin to him but that meant nothing. The Elders forced him to breed with her “to try and make more who can see”. It succeeded, he knew that he could sense it. His replacement one day, part of him hoped the child died with his mate, part of him hoped he failed just so everyone would starve.
These thoughts were dark, they often made the great ones scream a lot, but it didn’t matter. He hated the great ones, he hated his mate, he hated the thing inside her, he hated his people. Not for Teltak. But because it was so, ordinary, everything was muted, everything was silent, it was all boring. The older the boy got, the harder it became to feel anything, to care for anything. Legends from gifted ones, from their dreams told of beings of light. Ancient ones, who slept with the peoples of the valley. Some say the gift was born from that union, others that it is a lie told by the sloping browed idiots. The boy believed differently that he existed to counter those descended from the children of the ancients, that it was a natural defense against their arrogance.
But the boy didn’t care about that.
The boy was meandering, his thought erratic, it was normal after a great one died while he was still inside its mind. This one, died badly. Duuurrron, the greatest hunter of their tribe hurt its baby so much, the baby cried and cried, its wild eyes searched frantically until it ceased to scream, Great one babies died from being scared all the time. It was funny, their little noses flailing about, they would get so scared and hurt that they would even seek comfort from their torturers and when you gave it to them only to hurt them more it made their little hearts ache so much.
Duuurron did this, he hurt the little Great One so badly it died of confusion and sorrow and its mother went into a blind rage at its cries and charged. But it fell into a great pit and then Duuurron threw a stick down into its eye and then throat. It died sputtering blood and meat from it and its baby would last them the rest of the raining season. The rains were colder now, it made it harder to focus, but the caves kept them warm. It was all so boring, so boring, so dreadfully boring.
The boy reached out to touch his mate’s belly, it would be so easy to paint the child, but they would kill him.
In secret he painted his mate.
She was so boring.
He wanted something new, something exciting, he wanted to “see” something new.
Even if that meant being killed like Teltak. At least it would be something different.
Teltak told him to always stop his thoughts when they grew dark, the boy always thought Teltak was a fool for saying such things. Outside, lightning roared, it seemed to grow louder than normal, and the ground trembled below his feet, that was odd. The storms were getting worse, but as long as they stayed in the caves, they were safe. Never had the ground shaken below him. People who were singing and dancing went silent, he was happy for this, they really annoyed him. People began to scream, he understood why when he looked from objects of his drawings and saw, something in the skies. It was enormous, in a weird shape he’d never seen before and it came down with stars and sun. Bright and yet dark, it was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. His, clutched at him, the boy pulled away, she’d woken up and was screaming. Everyone ran, meat which was being cured got knocked over into the dirt, things began to appear at the mouth of the cave., they screamed and spoke, but he wasn’t sure if he was seeing them, or “seeing” them. They were odd though, not men, not quite beasts, gigantic, reptilian and snarling. People began to run deeper into the caves, but he walked forward excited. The ground rumbled below his feet; his mate clutched at him again. He dashed her head into a wall, she fell, she was bloody. The creatures if they were even there, seemed to ignore him and focused on those who ran.
He sealed his fate in that instant; but he if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared. His prayers were answered, he could finally experience something new. The stars and sun that seemed to wrap about something that looked like a mountain and were joined by a chorus of thunder and lightning and he finally felt it. Something inside the mountain called to him, the boy could feel it. It had the gift as well! But its spirit was different, unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was so powerful, so old, so different, its drawings were of animals the boy never saw before and shapes he didn’t understand. It was in so much pain as well! That was so, different, never had another with the gift been so strong that the boy felt its pain as more than a distant hum. This was vivid and loud and overwhelming, something around it decayed, its power was holding it together, but the effort grew more and more painful. It was so fascinating, it was searching for something, it was seeking something new. New beings?
Was it bored as well?
They fled, they cowered, but he came forward.
He called back.
Here I am.
Something new.
Something new!
Here I am!
Usual disclaimer applies, the IP is owned by MGM and probably Disney, not me.
Prologue
In between the departure of Atlantis and the rise of the Empire of the Serpent!
It is done, they are gone, expelled from the cradle of their power. After we fled, my father sealed the Star Gate, in which Ra and his treacherous brethren were cast, banished for all time. With him went his servants. the Serpent Apophis, mighty warrior. Golden Aker, mighty builder, depraved Kronos and Hathor, mother of chattel and behind them, the horror whose name shall not be written, whose hunger for souls is beyond madness. Whom even Ra feared... We pray that those who come after never enter here. Never unravel the mystery of the pyramids, never seek the accursed figures upon stone. Do not strive emulate them, do not look for knowledge and above all else, please, we beg to you, open not the doorway.
– The “Ballard inscription” alleged Egyptian Hieroglyphs found in a paleolithic era Cave settlement in Arizona Circa 1969.
Prologue
40,000 years ago North Africa
Sometimes he wished they would fail a hunt, just because he hated the singing more than he hated the dancing. They gathered around old mother at the mouth of the immense cave system where his tribe lived during the harshest moons of the raining season, outside a storm raged. They’d killed one of the great beasts with the long straight teeth. They were different from the other great ones, whose teeth curved, they had no hair as well, the same long nose and they screamed as horribly but they were different, the hairy ones came rarely. They tasted better, their meat was rich with flavors from far off places and when he touched their weak minds, he could see white sand as far as the eye could see, great big trees and people like his but with a lot of skin and fur from dead things about them to keep warm.
Once he even saw an old woman, who had the gift like him from the weird lands. There were so few of them, but Teltak the one who came before the boy said that there were more now than before. The boy didn’t know about that, he didn’t care, it wasn’t his place to care, it was his place to paint the animals, to “see’ the hunt and to use the gift to make sure the hunters succeeded. Teltak had failed, it was the last time the boy saw him alive; they took him and broke his head on a great big rock. The boy felt a measure of pity, he had used his gift to make Teltak see wrong. It was a mistake, the boy didn’t even know he was doing it, but they killed Teltak anyway.
It was what would happen to the boy if he ever should fail. It was stupid, Teltak was old, even when the boy’s fathers, father was young. It took a long time for a mother to birth a person who could see the animals and summon them with the paintings. The tribe would probably starve without him or must move and wander like those savages with the sloping brows, or those weird ones who were like the boy’s people but lived like savages. They had people with gifts too, he would “see” them sometimes, they were different than him, they spread out too far, their blood thinned.
The boy’s mate lay sleeping beside his furs, her belly was huge, she would probably die bringing their child into the world, good the boy thought. He never felt anything for her, she was distant kin to him but that meant nothing. The Elders forced him to breed with her “to try and make more who can see”. It succeeded, he knew that he could sense it. His replacement one day, part of him hoped the child died with his mate, part of him hoped he failed just so everyone would starve.
These thoughts were dark, they often made the great ones scream a lot, but it didn’t matter. He hated the great ones, he hated his mate, he hated the thing inside her, he hated his people. Not for Teltak. But because it was so, ordinary, everything was muted, everything was silent, it was all boring. The older the boy got, the harder it became to feel anything, to care for anything. Legends from gifted ones, from their dreams told of beings of light. Ancient ones, who slept with the peoples of the valley. Some say the gift was born from that union, others that it is a lie told by the sloping browed idiots. The boy believed differently that he existed to counter those descended from the children of the ancients, that it was a natural defense against their arrogance.
But the boy didn’t care about that.
The boy was meandering, his thought erratic, it was normal after a great one died while he was still inside its mind. This one, died badly. Duuurrron, the greatest hunter of their tribe hurt its baby so much, the baby cried and cried, its wild eyes searched frantically until it ceased to scream, Great one babies died from being scared all the time. It was funny, their little noses flailing about, they would get so scared and hurt that they would even seek comfort from their torturers and when you gave it to them only to hurt them more it made their little hearts ache so much.
Duuurron did this, he hurt the little Great One so badly it died of confusion and sorrow and its mother went into a blind rage at its cries and charged. But it fell into a great pit and then Duuurron threw a stick down into its eye and then throat. It died sputtering blood and meat from it and its baby would last them the rest of the raining season. The rains were colder now, it made it harder to focus, but the caves kept them warm. It was all so boring, so boring, so dreadfully boring.
The boy reached out to touch his mate’s belly, it would be so easy to paint the child, but they would kill him.
In secret he painted his mate.
She was so boring.
He wanted something new, something exciting, he wanted to “see” something new.
Even if that meant being killed like Teltak. At least it would be something different.
Teltak told him to always stop his thoughts when they grew dark, the boy always thought Teltak was a fool for saying such things. Outside, lightning roared, it seemed to grow louder than normal, and the ground trembled below his feet, that was odd. The storms were getting worse, but as long as they stayed in the caves, they were safe. Never had the ground shaken below him. People who were singing and dancing went silent, he was happy for this, they really annoyed him. People began to scream, he understood why when he looked from objects of his drawings and saw, something in the skies. It was enormous, in a weird shape he’d never seen before and it came down with stars and sun. Bright and yet dark, it was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. His, clutched at him, the boy pulled away, she’d woken up and was screaming. Everyone ran, meat which was being cured got knocked over into the dirt, things began to appear at the mouth of the cave., they screamed and spoke, but he wasn’t sure if he was seeing them, or “seeing” them. They were odd though, not men, not quite beasts, gigantic, reptilian and snarling. People began to run deeper into the caves, but he walked forward excited. The ground rumbled below his feet; his mate clutched at him again. He dashed her head into a wall, she fell, she was bloody. The creatures if they were even there, seemed to ignore him and focused on those who ran.
He sealed his fate in that instant; but he if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared. His prayers were answered, he could finally experience something new. The stars and sun that seemed to wrap about something that looked like a mountain and were joined by a chorus of thunder and lightning and he finally felt it. Something inside the mountain called to him, the boy could feel it. It had the gift as well! But its spirit was different, unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was so powerful, so old, so different, its drawings were of animals the boy never saw before and shapes he didn’t understand. It was in so much pain as well! That was so, different, never had another with the gift been so strong that the boy felt its pain as more than a distant hum. This was vivid and loud and overwhelming, something around it decayed, its power was holding it together, but the effort grew more and more painful. It was so fascinating, it was searching for something, it was seeking something new. New beings?
Was it bored as well?
They fled, they cowered, but he came forward.
He called back.
Here I am.
Something new.
Something new!
Here I am!