The Wind Beyond the Walls of the
Mind
Chapter 8
"I, Lecritis . . ."
by Gaius Petronius
DISCLAIMER:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on
the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox
and Mutant Enemy, Inc. This story can be read on its own or as
a sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark"
from which the Ancient Ones, the Shining Trapezohedron and the
character of Robert Blake are derived.
The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind is set
roughly in mid-season four shortly following the death of Doyle
but before the creation of Adam and the death of Maggie Walsh.
Rating PG-13 for some violence.
A Note on the text: The character of Petronius,
the Roman governor is not me! I just chose the name because it
sounded good in the story.
* * * * * * * *
"Where to begin . . . where to begin .
. ." Giles mused as the Scooby Gang stared at him expectantly.
Even the display cases in the New Age Curiosity Shop itself seemed
to hold their breath in anticipation.
"Perhaps the beginning would be good,"
Willow offered, and Giles smiled at her gentle wit.
"The story only appears in its entirety
in Lecritis' Alexandrian Chronicles," he started, "and
that survives by pure chance. A single manuscript was secreted
away in the desert by a lone scribe when the Christian authorities
put all the pagan works in the Alexandrian Library to the torch.
The other historians of the period make only a passing reference
to the "great earthquake" of August 15, 212 A.D, but
Lecritis was an eyewitness."
"I have a copy of the Leiden reprint,"
MacDuffie volunteered.
Giles nodded his head. MacDuffie reached up
to a bookshelf lining one of the walls and brought down a particularly
dog eared small leather bound volume. He handed the worn book
carefully to Giles who opened the cover and scanned the pages.
"Yes, this is it," Giles said with
recognition and some awe in his voice, "I haven't read it
in a long time. It's quiet a tale."
For a moment, he looked up at the Scooby Gang
and gazed silently on their expectant faces.
"You must understand," he said, "Alexandria
at that time was the crown jewel of the Roman Empire, the greatest
port in the eastern Mediterranean with its towering lighthouse,
the Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, whose
beacon could be seen for fifty miles out to sea. Alexandria supplied
the grain that kept the empire fed and the mobs in Rome under
control. It was also the foremost seat of learning with the vast
collections of its famous Library unsurpassed in number until
the nineteenth century by the British Museum."
"The normally tempestuous city remained
largely calm for many years under the able administration of its
Imperial Governor, whom we know only as Petronius. He realized
that to manage this polyglot and contentious mixture of Greeks,
Egyptians and Romans he would need to exercise the greatest of
negotiating skills for mediating conflicts rather than constantly
resorting to the typical Roman solution to all disagreements,
the broad sword."
Here Giles began to read directly from the
little book.
"Lecritis says that he grew to love the
city and the mysteries of Egypt, so much so that he lost all longing
to return to his native Italy. He was a frequenter of the great
Library, could be seen often in the Hippodrome cheering on his
favorite chariot teams and spent considerable time with the religious
leaders of Egypt in an effort to better understand the culture
and beliefs of the people under his rule."
"One in particular, the High Priestess
of Isis named Cassandra, an Egyptian woman of Macedonian descent
on her father's side, became his confidant in all things Egyptian.
During the years of his governorship, Petronius and she were virtually
inseparable, so much so that his enemies, and there were many
among the Romans who chaffed under his even handed rule, spread
the word that their liaison was romantic and clouded his judgment
as governor."
"But their denunciations fell on deaf
ears at Rome. Petronius' patron, the old emperor Septimius Severus
would have none of it. Although a harsh and firm ruler himself,
Severus recognized Petronius' administrative skills. The grain
flowed, the city was quiet and taxes to the Imperial Treasury
grew with each passing year. But storm clouds were building on
the horizon."
"Septimius Severus died in 211 A.D. and
his cruel and unstable son, Caracalla, ascended the throne. A
reign of terror immediately swept the capital as the new emperor
eliminated the prominent heads of senatorial families. The wave
of assassinations culminated in the murder of his own younger
brother and co-ruler, Geta. Then Caracalla turned his attention
to Alexandria, dispatching a spy named Necror, under the guise
of a Priest of the Imperial Cult. Necror's assignment was to undermine
Petronius so that the emperor would have cause to recall him to
Rome and appoint Necror as his replacement."
"When Necror presented himself on his
arrival in Alexandria to Petronius, the Governor knew his days
were numbered, but he would not resign his position, as Necror
suggested, nor abandon the welfare of the city and country he
had come to love to the depredations of Caracalla. Lecritis, who
was the governor's stenographer, describes the interview as 'chilly.'
'Frigidus' I think was the Latin term."
Giles paused as Buffy and Willow grinned slightly
at his description. Anya's attention remained riveted on Giles.
Only Xander fidgeted slightly.
"Giles . . ." Buffy finally asked
as she stared at the pulsating Crystal, "What does all this
have to do with 'glow boy' over here?
"Within days of Necror's arrival in Alexandria,
. . . the Shining Trapezohedron surfaced in the city," Giles
said ominously.
Buffy, Willow and Anya's eyes all opened wider.
Buffy sucked in a little gasp of air between her teeth and Willow
frowned. As Giles began to read again, Buffy, Willow, Anya and
Xander were drawn in, spellbound by what they imagined were the
temples, towers, walls, harbor, the vistas out of time now come
alive in the ancient writer's tale.
Giles continued reading, his voice with a hushed
tension.
"A wandering tribe of Egyptians discovered
it among the sands obscuring the ruins of a pre-dynastic temple
beyond the Meriotic Swamps to the south of the city. After two
of their party gazed into it and their bodies were rendered alive
but empty of soul, the others took it to the High Priestess, Cassandra,
who recognized immediately the nightmare object they had uncovered.
But Necror's spies were everywhere. Realizing what the Crystal
could do, he devised the mad plan of releasing the Ancient Ones
which, in his egomaniacal world view, would then turn their powers
to the support their benefactor, himself."
"Petronius and his few loyal Roman troops
would be easily overthrown and Necror installed as Governor of
Egypt. Perhaps, he even had twisted dreams of his own imperial
glory or the establishment of himself as divine Pharaoh of Egypt.
Whatever his thoughts may have been, it would not be the first
nor last time that megalomania would reach out to touch powers
and evils beyond all human comprehension."
"Necror hired a band of Syrian mercenaries
who stormed the Temple of Isis. They seized the Shining Trapezohedron
and butchered all those inside but one, Karintha, the young initiate
and designated successor to Cassandra. She was kidnapped so that
her Life Force could be twisted to the support of Necror's designs."
"Miraculously, Cassandra, too, escaped
the blood bath and fled to the only person she knew she could
trust, Petronius. He immediately launched a city wide search but
by the time his troops uncovered Necror's hideout, the Imperial
Priest had already begun the ritual to open the Void and summon
Nyarlethotep. Karintha, not yet trained in the skills of combat,
had been restrained by the Scythians and Necror sewed her eyelids
open so that she could not resist gazing into the Shining Trapezohedron.
By the time Cassandra and Petronius arrived with a cohort of the
palace troops, Karintha's soul and Life Force had been drained,
drawn over into the realm of the Ancient Ones."
"Petronius launched an assault against Necror's lair and
the Romans easily scattered the Syrian mercenaries and captured
Necror but the damage was done. Pointing to the south of the city
into the darkness of the night, Necror laughed and taunted Petronius
and Cassandra.
"'Gaze on your fate, Petronius! And you
Egyptian Harlot! Nyarlethotep is coming!' he cried. 'The Preparer
of the Way, the Feaster of Souls! And It is very hungry!'"
"Petronius grabbed Necror by his thick
greasy locks and twisted his face towards the Shining Trapezohedron.
'Then you, my dear creature of Caracalla, shall be an evening
snack!' With those words, the Governor rubbed the Priest's face
against the burning surface of the Shining Trapezodron and Cassandra
stepped forward, drawing Necror's eyelids open with the long sharp
points of her fingernails."
Willow and Buffy winced at the description
of Necror's fate.
"All right!" Xander exclaimed, finally
finding some action in the tale that held his wandering attention.
Giles stopped reading and the others stared
disapprovingly at Xander.
"What? He is the bad guy, isn't he?"
"Xander . . . shut up," Willow said
firmly.
"Go on Giles . . . what happened?"
Buffy said, her eyes fixed on her Watcher.
Giles continued reading again, using his finger
to follow down the lines on the page.
"Lecritis reports that. . . 'the Imperial
Priest's screams died out in less than a minute, after which Petronius
dropped his living but soulless body to the pavement. But there
was no time even to reconnoiter. Across the Meriotic Swamps towards
the city from the direction Necror indicated rolled a wall of
blackness far darker than even the night itself."
"Petronius commanded his troops to fan
out back into the city and make their way towards the harbor,
alerting all citizens and soldiers alike to light every candle,
lamp and torch they possessed. He ordered two of his most trusted
guards to bear Karintha's living body back to the Temple of Isis.
Then he turned to Cassandra."
"I, Lecritis was an eyewitness to these
events and heard his words. I report them exactly as I remember
them. 'Cassandra?' the Governor asked, his face painted with uncertainty
in the torchlight, 'it's hours before dawn will come to our rescue!
What do we do? How do we fight it?'"
"'Torches and lamps will do little good,
now that Nyarlethotep has been summoned,' the Priestess replied
as she pulled back her long black hair off her shoulders. 'We
may yet have a little time. I can sense that Karintha's soul is
still struggling against It on the other side, but she won't be
able to hold out long. Already I see Nyarlethotep joined by Cthulhu
and Azathoth swirling in around her.'"
"'What is its strategy?!' Petronius asked,
his voice trembling with urgency. 'If I know what it will do,
I can devise a plan of counter attack!'"
"'It's ultimate goal is the Shining Trapezohedron.
Without that, it still remains vulnerable to light and cannot
complete the union between the Void and our world. We must protect
the Crystal above all else!'"
"'Nyarlethotep will first attack concentrations
of power that It perceives as a threat. Spread your troops out
into small contingents. Swords are no good here. They must be
armed with torches of tar and pitch. You must . . .' here Cassandra
paused as if she were preparing to plunge a dagger deep into her
own breast. ' . . . you must torch strategic blocks of the city.
Only that way can you produce enough light to keep Nyarlethotep
at bay so that both your soldiers and the citizens may fall back
towards the harbor.'"
"They set the city on fire?" Willow
whispered.
Giles glanced up from the book for a moment.
"Lecritis reports that the hardened Governor's
face blanched in horror at Cassandra's solution," Giles began
reading once again.
"The Governor turned away for a moment
and stared at the whirling wall of black advancing on the city.
He then faced her once more and spoke."
"'Cassandra,' he said, 'I've trusted you
in all things these past five years, even that which is most precious
to me. I see no reason not to trust you now.' Petronius then turned
to a centurion standing rigidly at attention by his side. He uttered
only two words, and his heart sank as he spoke them."
"'Do it,' the Governor commanded, his
words barely audible to those standing around him."
* * * * * * * * * *
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