Chapter 8 - Raiders of the Lost Continent 

             -40 minutes earlier-

             Deep below the thick ice of Ultima; Lynn and Marseille creep around the colossal wreck of the Endurance carrying burning flares to light their way, having removed their strikers, which now lean up against a pile of shattered wood. 

                “This is incredible!” Lynn remarks in childlike wonder. “We read about Elizabeth Shackleton’s adventures in school. Her disappearance has always been a huge mystery back in Britannia.”

                “Yeah, the famed explorer; even I’ve heard of her. How on earth did her ship end up down here? Maybe she got sucked into a whirlpool?” suggests Hanna as she examines the entrance to one of the makeshift cabins which surround the ship, built from broken pieces of the hull and deck. 

                 “Maybe… But to end up in an air pocket like this? And something must have broken the ship in two as well.” puzzles Lynette.

                 “Hey! Come have a look at this!” calls Marseille over from inside of one particularly well preserved structure, her voice echoing all around. Soon enough Lynn makes her way over the debris field to join the Karlslander inside; where she stands looking over an old wooden table, the red light of their flares making the entire room blaze in brilliant crimson. 

                  On the table, flecked with shimmering frost, lays a fantastic ornate sword, its guard shining gold with intricate metallic details and its blade, over thirty inches long, appears as perfect as the day it was forged. 

                  “Now what would a Britannian ship be doing with something like that?” asks Marseille inquisitively. 

                 “Beats me. It's certainly not something the Royal Navy would issue.” says Lynn as she leans in to closer examine the exquisite artefact. She can't help but find the blade rather beautiful; however as she glances up she spots many more bizarre finds scattered about the display. There sit multiple pots and jars all in different stages of destruction, some with paper tags bearing numbers, a catalogue system perhaps the young witch wonders. 

                “This pottery has writing on it.” Marseille notices, picking up one large shard of ancient cookware. “I can't read it though. It's not any language I recognise.” she states, handing the piece over to her comrade.

                “Me neither. But… I don't know, it does look familiar somehow.” says Lynn, scratching her head in confusion. 

                “Someone set all this stuff up, so the crew wasn't killed when the ship was brought down here. Question is… where are they?” Hanna ponders as she goes to leave the tiny cabin, a wave of worry washing over Lynn suddenly.

                “Oh I hope there’s no skeletons. I hate skeletons.” Lynn shivers with fear.

                “You know there’s a skeleton inside you right now Miss Bishop?” jokes Marseille with a playful, sarcastic smile.

                “That's not funny Hanna! I’m serious!” yelps Lynn as she follows the tall Karlslander outside.   

                “I think our best bet might be to check the captain's quarters.” proposes Marseille, taking a step onto a staircase which leads up through the shattered wooden mess that is the bisected part of the ship's hull to the top deck. Upon putting her weight onto the board however it creaks and snaps clean in half, making the usually sturdy Commander yelp in shock. Serves her right, chuckles Lynette under her breath, looking away nonchalantly. “Let's be careful.” sighs Hanna, regaining her composure and adjusting her hat back in place. 

               High up on the main deck, after a perilously shaky climb, the pair of witches find the place awash with splintered wood, open crates and entangled rope. The ship's rigging had long fallen down and one of its masts had collapsed, coming to rest against the side of the cavern wall deep in the misty gloom. Every here and there they can see the remains of sections that had clearly been cannibalised to build the cabins far below. A few discarded open tin cans gives credence to the idea that the crew indeed survived for quite some time down here, quite a miraculous feat. 

               Soon, after many careful steps the two reach the ship's rear quarters, a tall metal chimney still standing tall towering above the wooden frame. 

              “It has a funnel?” says Hanna looking up in amazement.

              “If I remember correctly; the Endurance had a steam engine. Electric lighting as well. It may look like a pirate ship, but it’s anything but.” smiles Lynn as they approach the solid wooden door to the ship's interior. A quick rattle of the handle confirms that it is long frozen shut and it takes a few good bashes from Hanna to finally open the passageway, shaking free icicles from the lintel above which shatter at the girls feet. 

               “After you Lynette.” gesture’s Marseille with overly courteous manners. 

               “Oh, no! No, I insist Commander Marseille, after you.” stutters the Britannian smiling a nervous grin. It takes a few moments before Hanna grows the courage to submerge herself in the pitch black of the cabins, and while her sizzling flare does light up the room, at least mostly, it's a leap into a frightening unknown even for this combat ace. 

               Inside she finds a hallway, the floor a mess of paper and ripped up material, probably from the sails, torn up to help keep the crew warm. From the ceiling hangs exposed electrical wiring and burnt out light bulbs, looking as if the crew had once tried to remove it all to repurpose elsewhere. Two dark passages disappear down her left and right leading to numerous individual quarters. Marseille only dares stick her head inside one, not seeing much of any interest beyond a messy, unkempt cot and more empty tin cans. 

                Waving Lynette in behind her; the two tip toe carefully through the dark, their clouds of warm breath illuminated by the flare’s red glow as all outside light vanishes. Before long they discover the quarters of Shackleton herself at the far end starboard side, the door cracked open just a fraction. 

            The witches breathe a deep breath, Lynette's hands quivering in apprehension. It’s dead silent, even the creaking of the ice within the cave would be more comforting than this deafening nothingness. Hanna gulps and grips her flare tightly as she pushes open the door, its base scraping along the floor as it shifts built up frost out of its path. 

             The room inside is instantly bathed in red. The part sleeping quarters, part library is filled with odds and ends, navigational equipment, maps, charts and papers are strewn all over. It takes only a moment for the pair to notice that they are no longer alone; as sitting at a writing desk, propped up as if still reading the documents before her, sits the withered, emaciated corpse of Elizabeth Shackleton herself. 

              Lynn screams in terror and hides herself around the corner, dropping to sit against the wall and covering her face with her arms. Meanwhile, although rattled by the sudden shock, Marseille quickly gathers herself and coughs away the fear. 

              “It’s ok Lynette. She’s dead.” Hanna says in an attempt to comfort the shivering Brit.

              “I know she’s dead! That's the problem!” cries Lynn, clearly not put at ease by her words. Huffing a heavy sigh Marseille enters the room cautiously, avoiding the equipment scattered all over the floor. 

              “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shackleton.” Marseille says quietly as she looks over the frozen solid body. “It's quite amazing Lynn. When I was in Cairo I saw some of those old Pharaohs turned into mummies. It seems the ice does similar things. She’s really well preserved. Just come in here, it's not that scary.”

               “Nope! I’ll stay out here until you're done, thanks.” calls Lynn from outside the room. 

               “Suit yourself. But remember we’ve only found her, we don't know where the rest of the crew are!” smiles the Karlslander, instilling more fear into her younger companion. Realizing that she’s now alone in the dark hallway Lynn swallows her terror and inches her way into the room to be closer with Hanna, desperately trying to keep her eyes off the wrinkled corpse. 

                “It looks like she was writing something… She was transcribing those strange symbols we saw earlier.” Marseille remarks as she looks over the sheets frozen in place on the desk. It is just then that she notices something strange about Elizabeth's body; her hands are under the table, resting in her lap. Bending down to get a better look Marseille see’s that the body is actually holding an object tightly. “She has something. It’s a bundle, or something wrapped in cloth.” 

                “Well just grab it and let's get out of here!” begs Lynn as she scans her eyes over the nearby bookcase. 

            “Sorry Shackleton…” Marseille sighs as she reaches out and takes the mystery object in hand. It's quite a struggle to wrench the item from the bony, locked up fingers, especially as even Marseille would rather not touch the long dead, leathery flesh. Eventually a sickening snapping sound fills the room when it finally gives way and Hanna can pull the bundle out from under the desk. “Got it!” she calls out, prompting Lynn to summon the courage to turn and check it out herself. 

            Almost immediately however the Britannian wishes she hadn't, as sitting among the unwrapped cloth in Marseilles hands is a sight far more terrifying than the body behind her; a small stone statue - an idol. 

            “No! Quick Marseille put it back! Don't touch it! Oh no!” Lynn cries in obvious distress. Her extreme reaction confounds Hannas utterly baffled confusion. 

            “What?” she asks in a daze. “It’s just a statue…” Marseille stammers, showing off the jet black figure.

            “No it isn't! I’ve seen one before! Get rid of it quick!” 

            “Ok Lynette that's quite enough! Calm down and explain to me what's wrong. I can understand being afraid of the corpse, but this thing? What even is it?” Marseille snaps, getting rather fed up with Lynette's cowardice. 

            “Those things are cursed! One of them almost destroyed the 501st!... In a really strange way…” Lynn desperately tries to explain, although leaving out some of the more embarrassing parts of that story. 

            “Looks harmless to me. But if it’s cursed then it's magical. You're saying witches made this thing?” Marseille asks as she examines the bizarre figure under her flares light. 

            “Yeah but… Actually that one looks different. The other one was a fertility idol, this one is less… ummm, round.” Lynn notices, drawing closer to look at the statue herself.

           “Fertility idol? What were you guys getting up to!?” laughs Hanna.

           “No, it! Ugh! Never mind. This one really is different. It looks like it’s wearing armour or something. But what’s it even doing here?” Lynn asks looking up at Marseille with a deeply puzzled expression. Without an answer the two shift their gaze around the small cabin hoping to find anything that may give them a clue. 

           “There! On the wall!” points Marseille as she shines her flare against a large, rough looking sheet of paper nailed into the room's far wall. “Does that look like a map to you?” she asks rhetorically. Indeed Lynn agrees this does seem to be a map, and one of the cave systems at that, bearing a striking resemblance to the readout Ursula pulled up on the sonar scope. 

            “That big cave must be where we are, and there’s only two tunnels leading out.” Says Lynn as she reaches up to trace her fingers over the charcoal drawn lines. 

            “If we came in through the big one, then where does that smaller tunnel go?” questions Hanna, pointing to the only other exit from their subterranean location. “I say we go have a look.” 

            “It might be too small for the strikers.” posits Lynn.

           “Maybe.” Marseille simply remarks as she zips the idol up tightly in her backpack. 

           “We’re taking that thing with us!?” 

           “Sure, why not? I’m sure Ursula will love to get a look at it. C’mon, let's go. We’ve disturbed Miss Shackleton enough.” jokes Hanna as she leaves into the darkened hallway.

           “No! Wait, Hanna! Stop making jokes like that!” complains Lynn as she quickly follows close behind. 

            It turns out Lynn was correct about the second tunnel being much too small for the pair to fly their striker units through, as the witches resort to walking down the cramped passageway on foot. 

            “Man, it's tight down here!” says Lynn as the barrel of her rifle snags on an icey outcrop.

            “You could have left the gun behind with the strikers.” 

            “I’d rather keep it.”

            “Suit yourself. Hey! It’s opening up!” Marseille notices. Clambring out from the narrow cave the two emerge into a much wider section, a cave which, to both of their utter surprise is lined with large stone bricks.

            “Well this isn't natural.” quips Hanna. “What are we gonna find down here next? Dinosaurs?” 

            “Don't jinx it.” smiles Lynn as the two look at the ancient walls around them. As Lynn runs her glove over the stone, removing a thin layer of ice from the surface she notices writing inscribed underneath. “Marseille look!” she calls over. 

            “It’s that same script from before.” Marseille states, rubbing more ice away and revealing yet more strange symbols. Suddenly a spark fires inside Lynette's memory and she recoils with a fascinated realisation.

            “I knew I recognised those letters!” Lynn beams with excitement. “I’ve seen them before. They were in the ruins underneath our base in Romagna! This is the language of ancient witches!” she hypothesises, uncovering even more carvings under the frosty sheen. 

              “Ancient witches? I know witches used to build structures all over the world back in the day; but in Ultima? I suppose if anyone could do it, it would be us witches.” Hanna says with smug pride. 

              “Who else could build something like this in the freezing cold?”

              “You have a point. And we did find that idol.” States Marseille as she shines her light around the room. “Say; what is this room even for? It’s just a box of stone… Except for down there.” she continues, pointing her headlamp at the far end of the long chamber where the wall appears slightly different to the rest.

              “It looks like a door maybe?” ponders Lynn.

              “Yep. Looks like a door to me. But now how do we get through?”

              “I’m sure Barkhorn could open it.” Lynn sighs.

              “Ha! Trude and her monkey strength sure would be useful. But saying that maybe it is a good thing you brought your gun. It can't be that sturdy; shoot the door down.” Marseille suggests with a smile. 

              “No no no! I can’t do that! This is a historic place! And what if it collapses?” Lynn quickly dismisses, shaking her hands in rejection. 

              “Well maybe there’s a switch or something?” Marseille says as she takes a few steps towards the end of the hall. As she does so however her footing sinks down, a slab stone beneath her foot clicking a mechanical chime, likewise sinking Marseilles heart with deep foreboding. Both girls remain silent and completely motionless, a bead of sweat rolling down Hanna’s brow despite the freezing cold temperatures. 

               “Well it’s not a landmine.” stutters Hanna morbidly just as the room begins to shake and rattle. Chunks of stone and ice break free and slam to the ground all around the witches who dodge and dive out of their way.

               “I told you it would collapse!” worries Lynn in horror as the pair retreat to the rear wall and embrace one another. Just as they do two sections of the wall near the supposed doorway crash open, creating a thick cloud of dust and debris. The girls cower in fear, expecting to be crushed to a pulp at any moment, however the sound of heavy footsteps creates a wholly new terror. 

               They open their eyes wide to see two colossus emerge from the swirling dust - two giant statues just as animate as any human being. They stand almost fifteen metres tall and must weigh nearly one hundred tons each. Clad in stone armour and massive, knight-like helmets they march slowly towards the cowering witches. In stark defiance of her fate Marseille draws her pistol swiftly and fires several rapid shots into one of the lumbering golems, to little effect. Their eye holes begin to glow a blood red as the enchanted monstrosities become enraged at the girls' annoying attacks. 

               “Shoot them Bishop!” Marseille demands as she unloads the rest of her magazine into the beasts which square up to charge down the hall. Lynn fumbles as she draws the anti-tank rifle around to her front, pulling back on the heavy bolt and taking aim. The statues roar an ear piercing cry as they begin to run at full speed, their massive steps shaking the entire room and knocking Hanna off her feet, her empty pistol sliding out of her grasp and across the floor. 

               Lynn gasps, bracing her back against the rear wall as she pulls the trigger…  only for nothing to happen. “Safety!” she screams as she flicks the small switch before letting off a powerful, magically accelerated shot right through the centre mass of one of the charging behemoths. The second golem shatters through the crumbling remains of its partner as it rampages forward, pulling back its car sized fist to land a crushing punch. Lynn closes her eyes tight, expecting nothing but death, only to hear the gigantic stone hand crash into the solid, bright blue shield of Marseille, a thunderous shockwave being unleashed upon impact. 

              “Do it Lynn!” Marseille demands as the statue roars once more, pulling back to attack again. Lynette chambers a second round and funnels an extreme amount of magic through her body and into her rifle, her survival instincts taking over as she unleashes her round at almost point blank range, a sonic boom kicking up smoke all along the hallway as it passes straight through the golem and into the other wall. The beast quivers and its eye dims as it crashes to the ground in a hundred pieces. 

              Both witches breathe heavily and shake with adrenaline. It's been a long time since they faced such an intense threat. Maybe even these soldiers have gotten a little rusty. 

               “Nice save Commander Marseille.” Lynn says through broken gasps. 

               “Nice shooting Miss Bishop.” the panting Karlslander says. They remain this way for a few moments, catching their breaths until the sound of more crumbling stone catches their attention. Luckily this time is far more benign as the rear wall holding the door crashes down thanks to Lynette's super powered rifle shot. Marseille, with a huge smile across her face, can't help but turn to her comrade and laugh. Likewise Lynn simply shakes her head and chuckles at the absurdity of the whole situation. So much for preserving history.