Of Kingdoms Doomed and Drowned

The end of the ancient stone pier loomed high above them. The wooden pilings of the docks built onto the end seemed suspended in mid-air. Wilf turned white and nearly spilled his beer. They were still on dry land, but yet- from their vantage point, they should by all rights be dozens of feet below the surface of the bay.

The tide can't possibly have drawn out this far, he thought. And even if it did, why did the road seem to continue, heading further downhill into what by all rights, should have been the waters of the gulf? It now seemed to be heading down a canyon, like a tunnel, further down.

The fog cast an eerie pallor over the dark, looming shape of the pier and the rectangular shapes, like wings, of the twin docks above, looming out of the mist. And it was getting darker as they descended into the fog.

"Is the tide always this far out?" Henk asked, quietly. Wilf simply pointed at the dock above them. "What the FUCK??" was Henk's reply. "Dude, this is weird, I think we need to get out of here, seriously what is this sh..."

At that moment, two luminous bulbs of light suddenly grew, looming out of the fog. It was not until they got close that the two realized it was the silver A5 coupe that had blown by them earlier, madly careening back uphill toward them. They heard the blare of the horn, and saw the driver, no longer the smug yuppie they had imagined, with a wild, panicked look on his face, and he was waving at them, screaming something they could not hear. The coupe raced by and back up the hill, but it was gone as suddenly as it appeared. Curiously, Wilf could not even see its taillights once it had passed.

"Okay. Yeah, this is fubar, let's get out of here."

"But wait, where does this road go? And who built it? I didn't know the road continued this far down?" Henk exclaimed.

"Yeah, maybe the tide's out, like WAY out, but we don't want to be caught if it rolls back in. That guy man, he looked pretty freaked."

"Well, just drive a ways further. Just, like, to the water's edge. I wanna see how deep this goes! And maybe with the tide out, there will be some cool stuff to pick up. You know, maybe even artifacts!"

"What if it's like a tsunami coming in? You know, the tide always rolls out like this when there's a tsunami. I read that somewhere. This is sketchy. Seriously." Wilf exclaimed.

"Well, just let's see where it goes. You gotta admit, this is fucking weird, but kinda cool." Henk was almost itching to get out and poke around. There had to be some cool stuff lying in these exposed weeds and grasses that were usually underwater.

"And if the waves come in and we get stuck?"

"We'll out run it..."

"In THIS thing??" Wilf exclaimed. "This isn't no DKW in case you noticed."

"Yeah I see your point but... come on, let's just drive a ways further. I don't think it will rush in that fast."

"Okay, but...I'm sketched. This isn't right. Come on, you know, this shit is too weird." Wilf replied.

The road followed the canyon shaped depression, sloping downward for quite a ways further than Henk was expecting, and still no sign of the water's edge. In fact, it curved again, to the right, and now seemed to traverse an ancient marine sloped hill. Then, they saw something else astounding. Another ancient stone pier, much like Baldur's Dock which was now well above and behind them, loomed up out of the fog. It appeared to be the same construction type, only this one was longer and wider, and on its sides, strange symbols, some alphabet neither one of them could recognize, appeared to be carved. Two rusted rods of metal stood at the end.

They were both speechless. Wilf was half thinking that nobody knew about this, how long ago was this built and how cool was it they discovered this? The weeds and brush grew around the sides of the ancient stonework. It occurred to both of them that, if this place was normally underwater, then the grass and brush should be flattened, if it could even grow like this at all. Only, instead of being flattened, it appeared to be covered with rime frost, like the shrubs in the high country below their town often were in the foggy winters and early spring.

They drove slowly to the edge of the pier, following the road, which somehow still continued its winding downward descent through the fog. Here and there, dead fish, and other marine life, all dead, could be seen littering the road surface now. Victims of the receding ocean, perhaps. Off to the left, though barely visible in the dense whiteness, they saw, what looked like a row of tree trunks, and as the jeep drew closer, they realized they were columns of some kind, pillars sticking up. The remains of more ancient stonework loomed off to either side of the road now, amid the white, ice crusted vegetation.

Neither of them spoke now. Perhaps, overcome by curiosity and the utter alien strangeness of the fog-shrouded landscape, Henk kept driving, following the road. But curious as he was, he was also gripped with an unexplained fear and dread. He kept driving. Wilf said nothing. His mind was spinning, and he was suddenly wishing he had brought a camera.

A large black shape suddenly loomed in front of them, blocking the road. His heart going to his throat as panic set in, Henk steered the car around the carcass of what was probably a sea lion in the road. Both of them realized what they were seeing. It was the wreck of a ship, its steel hull brown and crumbling with rust, laying on its side. There was a narrow squeeze around the bow, which nearly blocked the road shoulder where the UAZ could still fit, and Henk realized that the road continued still further down beyond.

Finally, Wilf spoke. "Can we check it out?"

"Yeah, okay...but lemme just drive on a little further. I think the fog is starting to lift, we might be able to see a bit further." Henk replied. He threaded the car past the hulking sunken derelict- an old freighter from who knows how long ago- probably a century or more by the appearance of it- and kept driving.

Wilf realized he was right about the fog. Although it was still dark and gloomy, and the sky was now nearly black, the visibility had been increasing gradually over the last quarter mile or so. And the landscape that opened up before them was breathtaking. Here, in some strange valley that by all rights should have been deep below the water, was a lost world. Rolling hills covered with hoarfrost covered brush stretched away on either side of them and below them. Here and there they saw what looked like foundations- curiously even, carved walls of stone at any rate- on either side of the road. And still, the road kept descending.

Wild thoughts, almost like memories, flooded Wilf's mind. The strange artifacts that beachcombers occasionally claimed to find- there must be all kinds of strange things, perhaps even valuable treasure, down here. Not to mention, the archeological significance of this place- he could picture it then, a lost empire, once powerful, strong and wondrous, lost beneath the waves and wind of the southern Norsland coast. And all for them to explore. But for how, Henk drove on, following the road ever deeper, down into unguessed depths. The vanished sea, and this road they now followed, inexplicable and strange as it was, was now just another mystery for them to ponder. Whatever was at the bottom of this road- they began to see what looked like a flat expanse of the valley floor far below them- seemed to hold the answer to the heart of the mystery.

They began to see roads branching off of the course they were on, narrower lanes off of what must have been some kind of main highway. More strange ruins, most of them curiously intact, became visible on either side of the main road they were on. On their right, atop a towering hill, was a stone castle with a strange unrecognizable standard still flying, albeit in tatters, and further on, a series of broad flattened plazas lined with drab, dead looking buildings , many adorned with the strange symbols, stood vast and empty. The rotted remains of wooden poles, much like power poles, began to line the road at intervals. They saw another carved stone dock, this one more ornate and larger than either of the ones they had passed on the way down. All signs of a civilization so wholly ancient and alien that their minds could not even conceive of it- something beyond all known recorded history and knowledge.

Eventually the road straightened its winding course and leveled out, and the surrounding terrain began to flatten. They had reached what could only be the uttermost bottom of the Gulf of Ivinnia. Yet, instead of the pitch blackness of the deep sea, there was a dim, wavering light from above, filtering through low clouds. And instead of a featureless void one would expect of the ocean bottom, there were streets, buildings, even dead, skeletal trees and shrubs; all grey, haunted and dismal looking in the flat light. Seaweed covered the skeletal trees and draped over the ruined marble buildings. From the buildings, inky black yawning holes of windows and portals gaped at them. No trace of people could be seen. And no sign of the vanished ocean, which by some trick known only to God and perhaps Moses, had utterly disappeared and revealed this strange lost world.

The UAZ trundled slowly along what was now a flat, broad avenue four lanes wide, with a center divider. Ornate pillars ran along the median, and on either side was a row of dead trees. Stone mansions, spectacular and ornate, rose on either side of the avenue, their once stately appearance now grey and ashen in the pale ghostly light, their windows black eyeless sockets, and their ornate grounds gone to weeds.

They came to an intersection where the road they were on bisected a more prominent, even wider road. Henk inexplicably, without saying a word, made a left turn and drove on. Here the buildings were taller, even more ornate and spectacular. This had clearly been some magnificent, beautiful and wealthy city, although incalculably ancient. High pointed arches, turrets, and curiously slender columns were the architectural motifs, although they saw temples with huge, broad pillars, and magnificent, almost fairy-looking castles. Almost all of it was strangely intact, structurally at least, although everything appeared grey, grimy and encrusted with seaweed and marine detritus.

The road ended at a vast square plaza which Wilf calculated must have encompassed at least a hundred acres. The plaza was paved in white marble, although strings of seaweed and grime covered it. On all three sides, cyclopean buildings with curious domed turrets and arches stood, while facing them across the plaza was a huge structure with a vast dome at the top center and two wings of tall columns on either side. This place must have been magnificent in its glory, though it was now, grey, forlorn, abandoned and ruined.

Without speaking, seemingly mesmerized by the spectacle in front of them, Henk parked the jeepster and killed the ignition. Both of them slowly exited the vehicle.

In a whisper, Wilf said, "Let's go check out the main temple. I HAVE to see what's in there! I gotta see it! This is the shit!"

Wilf set his empty beer can on the hood and set off across the plaza.

Henk merely nodded, and followed him.

They crossed the plaza, their footfalls seemingly muffled, giving neither an echo nor even barely a sound as they crossed the cold marble expanse, and mounted the stairs.

As soon as Wilf's feet touched the stairs, a faint bluish glow began to emanate from the interior of the vast domed temple. Then, a strange distant roaring sound began, gradually increasing in volume. As if in a trance, Wilf began climbing faster, perhaps lured on by the mysteries within, or perhaps by the promise of vast treasure within, or perhaps the thrill of discovering something so profound, so hidden- that had lain beneath the waves for so long. It would be the last thing he would wonder, however.

The last thing Henk remembered was a blind panic, of screaming, running madly back to the jeep.

Wilf reached the entrance to the temple as the glow within intensified. The rushing sound began to intensify as well. It seemed to be coming from all directions, until it was deafening. Wilf turned around, just as a vast, towering wall if inky darkness, blacker than black, cold as death, rushed toward him, enveloping him, crushing him. The last thing he felt was a blast of icy, deathly coldness that crushed his chest and body, obliterating all consciousness forever.

Ch. 3.

One sunny late April morning, a 23 year old local male named Henrick Alcealf was found, unconscious, floating in the surf at low tide. The man who had found him, 48 year old Theodric Ulfsted of Asa Bae Haetorr, happened to be on a fishing trip to the area that day and had sworn he had seen someone deliberately drive a turquoise blue UAZ-469 into the water off the edge of the pier at Baldur's Dock. How he had survived such an apparent suicide attempt was a mystery, and even stranger, the vehicle itself was never found.

Henk himself claimed to have no memories of anything that had happened that day, although sometimes, in half-remembered dreams, he would have fleeing visions of strange cities beneath the waves. And he had no memory of what had happened to his old happy go lucky, smoking and beer drinking buddy, Wilfred Aeddenswic, that day, either.

For Wilfred Aeddenswic was dead. His body lay two thousand feet below the unquiet waves of the Gulf of Ivinnia.