Of Ancient Kings

Prologue

Two phials sit in a decaying metal box, one a brilliant ruby red, the other a sapphire blue. High up above a city bustles about its daily life and knows not of the millennia of power beneath its deepest roots.

~~~

The contaminated site formed a dark brown blemish on the landscape, any plants that had come in contact with the contaminant had withered and died leaving three-square miles of un-inhabitable wasteland. Six figures traipsed across the foul-smelling compost, covered from head to toe in bright yellow hazmat suits, they continued until they reached the black heart of the scar; a burnt-out warehouse full of burst chemical drums. The team moved forwards cautiously, the ground around them still smouldered despite the blast that had caused this devastation having happened several months ago.

The shortest member of the team held out an atmosprobe and checked for toxins in the air.

She spoke in a precise but slightly muffled tone. "Aerosolised contaminant levels within safe levels. Permission to remove helmet, sir?"

"Sure, I can barely breathe in this thing." The taller figure at the front began loosening his sealed helmet. As he pulled off the helmet, his long blonde hair flopped over the seal of the suit and he breathed a deep breath with his slightly crooked mouth.

"Ok, remember. Our mission is to recover the substance. All other items are to be considered contaminated and are to be left be." The man said as he led the party into the burnt-out building.

"Reading's nominal." The women with the probe tucked her helmet under her arm.

Mathew walked out into a clearing. Light shone through the sizeable hole in the roof above him.

"Split up,' he ordered, 'Crawford, Narotam, you take the left. Mohammed, Manson, you take the right. Linda, come with me." He walked forward to the epicentre of the blast and looked around. The scorch marks on the floor spread out around him in straight lines. He orientated himself using features that hadn't moved, like the foreman's office to one side and the doorway to the other, then he pulled out a tablet and studied the storage plan for a few seconds. He frowned.

"Linda, run a scan for Serum-B contaminant," He asked as he started comparing a different plan to the layout. Mathew looked up as a drop of ruby red liquid splatted onto his forehead.

"Fifty-six parts per million...." Her voice trailed off. She bolted for the door.

"RUN!" He shouted as he scrambled after her, wiping the liquid from his forehead. Mathew made it out after Linda but the others had started making there way through rubble and took a few seconds longer.

Linda made it a few hundred meters from the warehouse then doubled over panting. Mathew reached her first but he could only look on in horror as Linda retched and the serum contaminant activated and her body collapsed. Mathew couldn't move as he felt something stirring inside him, starting from his forehead. It felt like a spark jumping through him. The rest of the group caought up with the two of them and rushed to Lindas aid. He wanted to help but his body wouldn't move but just then as soon as this paralysis had started, it faded.

He rushed forwards and aided his fallen colleague by helping the group turn her on her side so she couldn't swallow her tongue. Eventually her convulsions subsided and the group began to relax as a rescue helicopter soared over the rotting forest.

"Hello." A gravelly voice echoed inside Mathews head.