UNCHARTED: Drake's Demise

"Father Santiago! Did you know of this gallery?" Francis called out.

"We knew of it, but not how to reach it!" came the reply.

From their vantage point, Francis could see that, in the altar area across the room, there was a section in the wall containing a stained-glass window. He studied it for several moments, before finally realizing why the image in the glass seemed so familiar to him. Checking his journal, he found that the image was nearly identical to the heart and keys symbol that Cassandra had sketched into the pages.

"That must be it!"

The trio made their way carefully across the sanctuary by way of the rafters and chandeliers. As they drew close to the far wall, they noticed a pair of platforms on either side of the stained-glass window, each placed under a stone carving resembling a key. John and Fletcher split up to inspect these carvings, which when pulled, opened the stained-glass window, revealing an area behind the altar. With a careful swing from a rope, the men leaped through the opening and onto solid ground once more.

Inside this hidden area, they found another window marked with the same symbol as the previous one. Opening it, they found themselves at the top of a wall overlooking a large graveyard, leading to the back entrance of mausoleum they had seen earlier, also marked with the heart and keys symbol. Knowing they were close, Francis barely managed to contain his excitement as they scaled down the wall to the graveyard below. All the while, John and Fletcher remained on guard, anticipating an attack by the monsters at any time, yet they remained alone.

Upon entering the mausoleum, the small room appeared completely empty at first, but Francis soon noticed a collection of symbols along the wall, each placed on a circular plate. Surmising that they must hold the key to the path forward, the group began to fiddle with them, finding that they could be rotated individually. It took quite a while of trial-and-error, but the solution was finally found when each of the emblems were turned right-side-up, save for one of the symbols that needed to be upside-down. After noting the solution in his journal, Francis watched in amazement as the wall opened before their eyes. Now moving underground once more, the trio found a massive underground cavern, filled with treacherous walkways and a bottomless drop into a pool of water below them.

"What is this place?!" Fletcher marveled.

"We are close. This must be the final safety measure the Spaniards designed," Francis replied.

"Francis, look here!" John called. "On the floor, Roman numerals."

"Indeed." Remembering seeing Roman Numerals very recently, Francis pulled out the map of the island. "Look here! The numerals II, V, and VII, written in the corner by the Spanish... this must be the key," Francis said, turning his attention back to the walkways before them.

"There are all manner of numerals on the ground," Fletcher noticed. "You suppose that we are only meant to follow those three?"

"It is the best theory we have," Francis replied.

They proceeded carefully through the room, being certain to only follow the designated numerals. Along the way, they encountered a water wheel which, when activated, adjusted the platforms and walkways, allowing for a new path forward. Unfortunately, it also activated several traps, as quite a few chandeliers with spikes on them began swinging across the remaining walkways. It took careful timing, but the men managed to brave these dangers and make it to the other side of the room, riding a wooden elevator back down to ground level, which opened the gate leading deeper into the maze. They continued into another room of twisting staircases, continuing to follow the same Roman numerals, before they finally reached a single wooden door at the very top of the room. Opening it, they entered a small, circular room that had to be the heart of the Spaniards' treasure vault. In the center stood the massive statue of El Dorado.

"There it is!" Fletcher exclaimed in joy.

"I cannot believe we found it so easily!" John marveled.

"Yes... quite easily indeed," Francis pondered. As they were about to approach the statue, a door on the other side of the room opened, revealing a group of figures.

"Congratulations, El Draque," one of the figures said. "You managed to find our hidden treasure store." As the trio began to draw their swords, the men immediately silenced them with their own blades at the ready. "Sheathe your weapons, if you please."

"Captain Alejandro Montoya, if I am not mistaken," Francis said.

"You remember me! What an honor!"

Montoya and his group of seven soldiers poured into the room, surrounding the three Englishmen. No retaliation was possible, as they were completely outnumbered with swords pointed directly at them. Francis knew that bargaining would be their only chance at this point.

"It seems that you are the one to be congratulated, Captain Montoya," Francis said. "No ordinary sailor could manage to evade my pursuits for as long as you did. Most impressive."

"Thank you, but please save your flattery. It will do nothing to spare your lives."

"Really? After the consideration I gave you and your crew during our last encounter?" Francis asked.

"I have not forgotten," Montoya replied. "This is why... I have decided to allow you the opportunity to inspect El Dorado, so that you may see and know its true beauty for yourself."

Francis was immediately perplexed by Montoya's reply. He certainly did not intend to spare their lives, as Francis had done with him, yet the consideration of allowing them to inspect El Dorado was both generous and meaningless at the same time, allowing them to see the world's greatest treasure, yet die knowing that the Spanish had taken it from them. Still wary of his intentions, Francis made no move whatsoever, neither of retaliation nor acceptance.

"I shall inspect it, Francis," John said quietly.

"Very well," he replied.

John slowly approached the statue, admiring its brilliant craftsmanship by the torches lit in the room. The entire piece appeared to be solid gold, expertly cut and carved into the shape of a man. Inlays of small emeralds and rubies were scattered throughout the statue on all sides, further attributing to its stunning beauty. Inspecting the face, it was indeed sinister, as John had surmised from the drawings they had found in the Customs House, and gave him the sense that they might be in the presence of something exceedingly unholy. As he continued his evaluation of the piece, his hand suddenly slipped into a tiny crack in the side of the statue.

"Captain, it appears that it can open!" John called to Francis.

Francis was exceedingly confused by the revelation, unsure of how to instruct John to proceed. However, Captain Montoya did that for him.

"Then open it!" he instructed John harshly.

Standing up straight, he replied defiantly, "I take orders from MY captain!"

Placing his sword at Francis' throat, Montoya calmly said, "Open it, or your captain dies this instant."

Francis dared not move, nor even breathe. He was not afraid to die, but he still suspected that something else was in play. In resignation, he nodded, indicating for John to follow Montoya's instructions. As he began to pry at the statue, Montoya lowered his sword, allowing Francis to relax momentarily. John had finally figured out that the front of the statue was actually a hinged lid, intended to swing out like a door. As he began to pry it open, Montoya and his men immediately took several large steps back, alerting Francis to immediate danger.

"Wait, John! DON'T!" he cried.

It was too late. El Dorado stood fully open now, revealed to be not a statue at all, but a sarcophagus. Inside it was a disgusting, decaying corpse, still preserved by the container it was kept in. Francis, Fletcher, and John immediately felt their stomachs turn at the sight of it.

"What is this?" John wondered.

Before any could react, a cloud of dust suddenly sprung forth from the corpse, enveloping John's face. He coughed and hacked as it invaded his lungs, having just enough reaction time to slam the door of El Dorado shut to prevent the spread further. Seeing his friend struggling to breathe, Francis immediately rushed to his side.

"John... John, speak to me! Are you alright?"

"F... Francis," came the labored reply.

"Do not give in, my friend. Whatever this may be, fight it!"

Francis gazed into the eyes of his best friend, watching as he slowly succumbed to whatever it was that was afflicting him. His face slowly became more twisted, his hair began to fall to the ground before his very eyes, and his voice started to become barbaric, almost animalistic. Finally, John's eyes, once bright blue with hope and confidence, glazed over and became black as tar.

"No..." Francis whispered. He feared his best friend dead, but soon began to realize that it was worse than that. John soon grabbed Francis by the collar, beginning to strangle him with seemingly superhuman strength. He hissed and snarled terribly at Francis, and it was those dreadful sounds that finally understood exactly what had happened.

"Dear God... those creatures!" Francis gasped, finally realizing that John was now one of the monsters that had chased them before.

"Hang on, Francis!" Fletcher shouted, rushing to free his captain from John's grasp. "Unhand him!"

At first attempting to kick and punch at John, Fletcher's attacks were merely shrugged off as he was slapped backward by John's sharp claws. Still, this gave Francis just enough leverage to break free and draw his sword. As he circled the room, eying his friend warily, his blood boiled with rage at hearing the laughs and wagers being made by the Spaniards. His rage was soon abated by John's incoming onslaught. Francis continually sidestepped, doing all he could to try and subdue his friend without hurting him, but it was no use. Fletcher was still on the ground, trying to catch his wits, and Francis knew he was on his own. Evading another attack, he took the chance to charge his friend and tackle him, pinning him to the stone floor of the vault.

"John, please! It is I, Francis! You must remember me!" he desperately cried, but to no avail. John continued to hiss and snarl, struggling to break out of Francis' grip to attack him. Finally seeing nothing left to convince him that his friend's soul still lived in the body below him, Francis decided he had no other choice.

"I am so sorry... John. Please forgive me."

Taking his sword in one hand, Francis raised it overhead and stabbed John directly in the throat. As he continued to struggle, Francis stabbed him twice more, first in the mouth, and finally square in the chest. After that, there was nothing but silence. John Hawkins was dead.

Francis breathed heavily, dropping his sword on the ground as he came to grips with what he had done. Before he could regain himself, he found that he was restrained by two of Montoya's men.

"Most impressive. You still fight with the spirit of a young man," Montoya sneered.

"What hell have you unleashed here, Montoya?" Francis asked defiantly.

"The true power of El Dorado, that is what. True, when we first discovered it in Brazil, we thought it was merely a golden statue, its value immeasurable. We brought it here to be kept safe until we could inform King Philip of our discovery and decide how best to use it. However, we soon discovered, as you now have, that there is far more to this treasure than meets the eye.

"It started innocently enough. We brought the treasure down here for safekeeping, thinking none would be able to find our hideaway. As we first placed it in this very room, I left a group my men alone for a few moments while I delivered a message to the rest of my crew. Upon my return, my men were gone, and had been replaced with those things. I knew not what had happened to them, but fled for my life, returning later with my entire crew. By that time, the creatures had gone, fleeing deeper into the caverns somewhere. However, as we gave chase, we eventually found ourselves back in this same room once more, as several of the passageways in here are circular. As before, we found that monsters had also replaced the men that had stayed behind as guards.

"After slaying the creatures, I began to have my suspicions about the statue. I ordered my best men to fully inspect it as I watched. They eventually discovered that the statue opened, and were transformed just as your friend was. I knew now that the gold of El Dorado had to bear a curse of some sort, one that immediately afflicted any man who discovered its secret. However, I soon realized that this curse could end up being of great help to the future causes of Spain. I... experimented with this power, using the remaining soldiers on the island, to see how potent the statue's effects were, and how far they could reach. The results were quite impressive, if I may say so myself."

"You sacrificed your own men?! You cold, callous bastard!" Fletcher roared, struggling against Montoya's men.

"Those men pledged their lives to the service of Spain, and they gave their existences willingly to further our standing in this world. They are heroes, martyrs," Montoya said calmly. "Unfortunately, the monsters soon managed to escape these caverns and began to roam the island proper, slaughtering the entire population of the colony below. An unfortunate side effect, though it did demonstrate the full power of this curse if used properly. When we use this power to afflict even a small portion of an enemy population, England for instance, that small group will be more than enough to exterminate all in such a nation who would dare to oppose us!"

"You... are... insane," Francis said. "And I pity your immortal soul, for you are surely destined for the clutches of the devil himself."

"Do not lecture me, you filthy pirate!" Montoya spat. "You have plundered our riches, sunk our ships, and brought shame to the great kingdom of Spain! You know NOTHING of what God the Almighty wants! He has delivered this power to us so that we may finally achieve victory against you and all of your traitorous brethren!"

Before Montoya could end Francis' life, the group heard the faint sounds of a familiar hissing in the distance.

"Ah hah! It seems my former soldiers are near," Montoya mused happily. "Sir Francis, we must leave you, for we are now to depart for Spain and inform King Philip of our discovery. I do wish the two of you the best of luck."

After his men had piled out the door Francis had entered through, Montoya slammed the door shut, barring it from the other side.

"No!" Fletcher screamed, banging against the door.

"Save your anger, Fletcher. We have greater problems," Francis advised, hearing the hissing grow closer from the gratings in the floor.

"We cannot just sit here and wait!" Fletcher argued.

"The find a way to open the door, boy! I'll cover you!"

Fletcher scanned the room frantically, trying to find anything that could give them enough leverage to pry the door open. Just as he was about to lose hope, he suddenly had a brilliant, if disgusting idea, and walked over to the body of John Hawkins.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Hawkins, but I need your help one last time," he said, drawing his sword.

In one swift motion, he sliced off the arm of his former superior, shaking off the blood before taking the arm in his hands. Fletcher then carefully slipped the arm through the bars, attempting to use it to undo the bar securing the exit door from the other side. In the meantime, three of the creatures had entered the room, breaking through the gratings in the floor and beginning to surround Francis.

"Mr. Morgan, are you almost finished?!" Francis shouted, beginning to fend them off with his cutlass.

"I'm... trying! It just keeps slipping!"

"Well try harder! We haven't much time!"

Francis tore into the creatures, driving them back with a flurry of precision slashes and inflicting heavy damage upon them. However, they were more resilient than John had been, and were completely in control of their thin, powerful bodies. One charged for Francis, knocking him off his feet and attempting to claw at him. Francis managed to keep his wits about him, however, and beat the creature senseless with the basket of his sword, finally managing to roll away from it as the other two were approaching.

"Got it!" Fletcher shouted, opening the door.

"Then go! I'll be right behind you!"

Another flurry of strikes to stun the creatures, and Francis turned to flee for his life. Fletcher slammed the door shut the instant Francis was clear, locking the bar back in place as the creatures began to pound and claw at it.

"I think... we are safe, for the time being," Fletcher heaved.

"No time to waste then! We must stop Montoya!" Francis urged him. "He intends to unleash this curse upon the world, and we cannot allow that to happen!"

"Right!" Fletcher agreed as they sprinted through the maze of walkways towards the mausoleum. "Do you think the rest of our crew would be able to stop him?"

"They would, but I think it more likely that Montoya and his men would be able to avoid them altogether. Montoya is no fool; he knows that I brought more than two men with me onto this island. Additionally, he and his soldiers know the area far better than we do, so they would easily be able to avoid detection if they wished. We must gather our crew and make for the harbor."

The pair rushed through the caverns as fast as they were able, soon reaching the graveyard once more. After scaling the wall and reentering the church, they were greeted by a rousing cheer from the crew, glad to see that they were alive and well. However, the crew's celebration quickly died down when they saw that John Hawkins was not with them. After climbing down the elevated stained glass window by way of a rope, Francis was greeted by Father Santiago.

"Sir Francis, what did you find?" he inquired.

"Hell," Francis replied simply.

Moving to his crew, he began to address them. "Gentlemen, we have been given a sacred duty this day. John Hawkins has perished. He has perished because the gold of El Dorado is not the glorious treasure we believed it to be, for within it lays a terrible curse. This curse afflicted our beloved Mr. Hawkins, driving him mad and forcing me... to end his suffering. The creatures we have encountered are not native to this island, they are former Spanish soldiers, twisted and transformed by El Dorado! Captain Alejandro Montoya now flees for his ship, intent on returning with an army. They will then take El Dorado with them to be used as a weapon against all who would oppose King Philip of Spain. We cannot allow this to happen, gentlemen! Make no mistake, we shall certainly die here today, but we shall die having given our final breaths to prevent the evils contained on this island from ever being unleashed upon Humanity! Now, to the boats!"

Francis had feared that his brutal honesty about their survival chances would dampen his crew's spirits and efforts, but they quickly proved him wrong when they erupted into thunderous applause. Fletcher led them out of the church and towards the riverbank where their dinghies were moored. Francis then turned once more to Father Santiago.

"Father, as we shall not be removing El Dorado from this island, will you now accept my offer of safe passage away from this awful place?" Francis asked.

"We will," he replied with a smile. "I pray that God will give your brave crew strength in the battle to come, Sir Francis."

"Thank you, Father."

*****

As the men began to board the boats, Fletcher and Francis divided them into two teams. The first would go with Francis to the city along the bay, intending to fill the harbor with gunpowder and blow it open, flooding the cursed home of the monsters. The second team would make for the fortress and turn the cannons within upon the three Spanish ships still moored in the harbor, sinking them all and preventing Captain Montoya from escaping. Additionally, they would provide Francis' team cover from the creatures, which would surely be attacking them in the midst of all of this. As the final boats were loaded, Fletcher was preparing to join the men headed for the fortress when he felt a hand on his shoulder.