Our innocence may shield us

“The catacombs are old, Adonis.” Cassia explains once you had moved well away from the fire lit square. “Much older than Athenapolis; older even than the gods themselves.” Her voice takes on a slightly different tone, more like the wandering poets who in exchange for a dry bed, bellyful of food and whatever coins they could get would recite stories of days past and the deeds of heroes. “I was taught that the catacombs were built by the Titans and that when the gods still walked the land they fought for possession of this city. Once the titans were defeated the gods gave this land to us, their children, so we would have a home to live in.” You heart pounds with excitement as she speaks. “After the Titans had been defeated, their servants were driven deep into the ground. These creatures hid in their dark lairs from the gods, they would sneak out at night and raid the first inhabitants of the city carrying them back into the darkness and corrupting their souls turn them into mindless beasts who wander the catacombs to this day.” Cassia still hasn’t answered your question, but you know better than to interrupt.

“In order to protect the citizens of the city great magics were used to seal the catacombs - locking all who were inside forever into darkness.” She leads you cautiously down side-streets as she talks, twice more you see the fires burning in squares and you know that the scene you witnessed is but one of many in Athenapolis tonight.

“The dark forces that served the titans – we call them demons for lack of a better word – are believed to be creatures of lust. When they still inhabited the city of the titans they engaged in every kind of deviant sexual behavior, it is said that their strength grew with each man, woman or animal whose body was joined to theirs.” It seems very much like what you know about Athenapolis even before the siege and even more like what you’ve seen today.

“It sounds just like Pyrrhus.” You venture into the silence. You expect to be laughed at, after all Pyrrhus is a man – a truly evil man – but just a man, and Cassia is talking about demons from before history. But she nods her head in agreement:

“There have been several of us who wondered at that weasel's rapid rise to power. One of the tasks the Temple of Apollo is charged with is to keep citizens from the catacombs. But in addition to the sealed gates, there are many secret passageways that lead into the catacombs. A man like Pyrrhus with his mind already sexually twisted could easily fall to the demons below. In exchange for wealth and power he could be working for these demons, providing them with information and …” her voice trails off as she realizes that you are too well aware of what Pyrrhus could be providing. “But it may not be like that at all,” she adds, “there are evil men who are nothing more than fat rich merchants, as small in mind and spirit as they are corpulent in flesh.”

As she speaks you reach a small courtyard occupied only by flat topped monolith roughly hewn from dark stone. It stands a little taller than your hand can reach, is roughly circular maybe ten paces in diameter. None of the houses that overlook the small courtyard have windows facing the stone and the area around the monolith is completely void of life. Not a single weed peaks from the cracks in the tiles paving the yard, nor are there any droppings from birds or rodents anywhere near the rock. Perhaps in daylight the monolith is not so ominous, but under the moonlight with the distant sounds of looters plundering the city it feels like the gateway to Hades itself. You look at Cassia for reassurance.

“The gate is up there.” She says pointing to the top of the stone block “We always use ladders; can you climb it?” Were it not for the coldness radiating from the stone you might have smiled. Running straight at the face of the stone you brace one foot against the rough texture of the rock and easily propelled your body up and into the top of the rock. Unlike the rough stonework of the sides, the top is polished so smooth that you can see the night stars reflected in the dark stone like a mirror. Lying on your stomach you offer your hand to Cassia; you note with a hint of pride that she seems in awe of how easily you reached the top. Everyone has to be good at something, but it makes you feel good knowing that you impressed her.

Cassia places her soft hand in yours and scrambles up the side of the monolith as you lift her body to join yours. In the center of the stone is a round metal hatch and on the hatch, you can see a faint web of light glimmering softly.

“Just as Pyrrhus may have fallen to the demons because of his nature, we should be safe from them because of our innocence.” Her face blushes prettily in the moonlight as speaks but her voice continues with just a hint of nervousness. “We were taught that any man or woman completely innocent of sexual contact cannot be harmed by the demons. The boys at the temple would make crude jokes about testing a girl's purity by locking her in these passageways overnight, but they were as scared of this place as we are now.” You are glad to hear that Cassia was afraid too, your heart is pounding in your chest and a cold sweat is covering your body in spite of the nighttime chill.

“The demons have no power over us. Remember this Adonis. They will try to tempt us with power, wealth and carnal delights, but they can do us no harm.” She takes a deep breath and continues “but there are other dangers, the mindless beasts who were once men, venomous snakes and always the danger of loose stonework collapsing after generations of neglect. Do you still want to do this?”