(Start of Part 2)

A/N: Religious references inbound, you have been warned.

Nothing…

That's the only way I could describe my current state.

It wasn't cold. It wasn't draining. It wasn't anything. It was just…empty.

There was no sensation of anything. I wasn't even sure if I could feel my own thoughts echo through my mind as they usually would. For now, they would just…exist in this world of emptiness.

I couldn't even feel my own body anymore. It was such a surreal feeling, if I could still call it that, and I'm sure that if I still had a body it would be filled with absolute dread and fear from the situation that I was currently in. But for now, I was thankfully still left with the freedom and capability… to wonder.

'Wait, how is it that I'm still able to even think without a body? Is this what being comprised solely of a soul feels like? Is this hell? No…no, I don't think so. I mean, I've heard people disclosing their accounts of near-death experiences on television programs and such and it wasn't quite like this. They said they were often filled with a feeling of dread, misery, and absolute hopelessness. Luckily for them, they were revived and had the chance to turn their lives around after their experiences.' I thought to myself, trying to fill this empty void with some resemblance of my own reality, just to ease my own growing tension that slowly continued to develop within my own consciousness at the moment. Then, I continued along, trying to figure out this turbulent moment as best I could.

'Hmm, there was always one little detail in common with each of those accounts. What was it again? Oh right, it was a voice and it always said the same thing…but what in Christ's sake was it? Aarrgghh, why can't I remember?!' I yelled mentally, and I was more than certain that if I still had a body, I'd be smacking my hands against the sides of my head wildly in frustration.

'Was it "until next time?"…no. Hmm, what about "You have suffered an unfortunate fate."...no, not that either. So, what was it…Oh! That's it! It was-'

"THIS IS NOT YOUR TIME."

'Yeah, that was it!...wait, where did that come from?-'

Anything else that I was going to say was cut off as I felt the sensation of what I could only describe as levitation as I felt something seemingly lift me from this veil of emptiness around me. It was quite the experience and as I looked in the direction of where I was being pulled, I could see the darkness parting as if it were being stretched and torn apart like the black plastic of a trash bag.

Then, as the emptiness parted and I was brought out, white and gold rays of light sprouted through the tears created upon my pitch-black prison and at last I was finally able to see what it was that was carrying me out. I was surprised to see the ethereal outline of a giant hand as it gently held and carried me away, seemingly made entirely of a more solid version of the very same light that I had just begun to see moments earlier.

As I continued to gaze upon it, I also came upon a startling, if welcome, realization. As I was being brought out of the darkness, I could start to feel my body again, but there was no real sensation besides the warmth of life filling my body once again.

Eventually, as I was brought fully into the light, and the hand holding me began to disappear, I heard a single thundering sound that I soon recognized to be a voice. Looking for the source of the voice, I could only find nothing but the blinding glare of the light around me as well as the empty pervasiveness of pitch-whiteness for as far as I could ever possibly see. Perhaps it was the light itself that spoke to me or maybe it was something much greater that resided within it. Though, before I could ponder on it any further the voice continued to speak. So, deciding it would be best to listen to what it had to say, I focused solely on the voice around me.

"Heed my word, progeny. You have experienced darkness but were not manipulated by its clutch. Your tenacity has proven that you are indeed ready for your intended duty. You are near the crypt of the pledge. Find my Covenant and there you will be tried for your inequities. To proceed through it, you will have to present the invocation of the slain lamb, only then will you be able to clear its judgment, christened in my name. And only when you have passed the trial will you be able to find me. And through reaching me will you realize the true depth and purpose of what is to come. Now, go on, Crusader. I…will be waiting."

"Wait! Wait! I have so many questions! Who are you, and where exactly am I?! And what did you mean when you said all of that? And-"

My questioning was interrupted as an enormous clap of noise, not unlike that of thunder, sounded and I jolted up with a start. Though, as soon as I did so, I realized a couple of things. As soon as my eyes opened, I was nearly blinded by more blistering light, forcing me to once again close them. And, if that weren't bad enough, as soon as I sat up my body was wracked with pain along with a feeling I could only describe as being waterlogged from the inside-out.

Once I recognized that sensation, I started to cough up salt water from my lungs for a few, good moments before lying back down onto the ground on my side as I tried to recover whatever strength I could. That was when I noticed that I was lying down on what could have only been fine sand, which I could feel through whatever articles of clothing were left on me as well as on my cold, damp skin; the storm itself more than likely the cause for my state of dress, or lack thereof. I could also feel the warmth of the sun beaming down on me as well, alerting me to the fact that I was probably lying outside on a beach or shore somewhere. I tried to open my eyes to see where I was but my eyes had yet to adjust to the light around me and I nearly blinded myself when I tried opening them again.

I took a few minutes to gather myself, waiting for my eyes to adjust themselves ever so slowly as well as waiting for the aching in my body to die down a bit so that I could start moving at least semi-comfortably again. After some time, I girded myself in anticipation for the pain that was bound to come and sat up, but I quickly noticed that the agony that I had been expecting had significantly lessened to a dull throbbing; With my eyes still closed, I quickly checked myself along my body and I was glad to note that there wasn't anything broken as far as I could. As soon as I was done with that, I once again mentally prepared myself for the pain that was sure to follow once I opened my eyes again. However, I was again pleasantly surprised to find that the almost searing pain from when I previously tried to open my eyes had disappeared and had been replaced with only a slight ache.

So I sat there, looking down the beach I was on as I took in my surroundings. There were familiar features that I recognized from my time living on the local islands of the Caribbean, but this wasn't anywhere that I could recall visiting during my times there. It seemed I had drifted off to a fairly-sizeable island somehow during the storm; perhaps through riding along the currents of the ocean- and mayhaps a little luck.

The beach I was on held nothing atypical, just more sand and a few rocks while the interior of the island seemed to consist of a bustling tropical forest. Though, with the condition my clothes were in, it seemed that it might be a bit of a treacherous journey.

'Hmm? What's this?...Yes!' I thought as I felt something in one of my pockets, which turned out to be my Kukri knife! Perhaps things weren't going to be so bad after all! As I brandished the knife in my hand, I took another sweeping glance of the island and the surrounding waters but still couldn't find any trace of civilization or people-Indigenous or foreign.

Deciding that sitting here wasn't a productive use of my time, I stood up and looked for a way further into the island, which seemed to slope slightly upwards as I went further into the forest, and if I were able to get to higher ground I could get a better view over the situation I'd be dealing with. So, I began the grueling journey forward through the thick canopies and bushes of the forest, using the aforementioned tool from earlier to slice away at any thick and dangerous underbrush whenever it got too cumbersome for me to pass through. Fortunately, my luck held out for me once again, as I wasn't bitten or attacked by any exotic and/or venomous animals on my trek, though I could clearly hear the distant calls of monkeys and birds alike throughout the forest.

It felt like ages until I reached the top of the island, but was probably more along the lines of an hour. As I reached the top of what could only be considered a forested-hill, the trees here spaced out far enough from one another to the point where I could see various parts of the island as I looked in any particular direction. I first looked back in the general direction I came from and saw the beach and shallows that I started at. As I looked in the various other directions of the island, I took notice that besides the beach, the other edges of the island seemed to end at sheer rock faces; meaning that the only way to get on the island, besides using climbing equipment, would be by the beach.

'Hmm, lucky me I suppose.' I numbly thought to myself, since this was still only a cold comfort to have at the moment.

Though, as I checked further into the interior of the island, I came upon a surprising sight. From what I could see there looked to be some kind of clearing with ruins at the center of the island. It looked to be professional masonry from what I could see, but I would have to reserve any further judgment until after I got there.

'Huh, I wonder who built that.' I thought. Then, I thought back to what the voice said, remembering that it said I was near something and that I needed to find a crypt of sorts, whatever that meant. 'Well, it's the only lead I've got.' And so I began the slow and steady climb down towards the ruins that would hopefully give me the answers I sought, or at least point me in the right direction.

On that note, I started to wonder about what to do about my situation. I started to ask myself questions such as: 'How am I going to get off the island?' and 'What am I going to do for food and water after I find the crypt?' I mean, there wasn't going to be a helicopter and a steak dinner waiting for me once I got there, so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. I mean, I've seen a few survival documentaries in my time, but I wouldn't necessarily call myself a survival expert, not by any means. Though, I could only hope for the best that once I found the tomb I'd find some means to help me escape. So with that, I decided that I would wait on making a plan on how I was going to get out of here until after I found the tomb and take things from there.

(One hour later)

The trip through the forest went off without a hitch. Well, besides the fact that my feet were starting to develop blisters from the amount of walking I was doing. Along the way, I grabbed some large tree leaves and made some coverings for my feet until I could make something a bit sturdier to walk in later.

In any event, I had made it to the ruins, which appeared to be the remains of what was once a compound of sorts, if the stone walls were anything to go by. It looked to have been a single story tall, with the tallest portion of the interior walls having been anywhere around 8-10 feet (approx. 3 meters) tall in its prime. The ceiling and roof having seemed to have collapsed and became rubble all throughout the compound, leaving just some of the walls standing. In a sense, they reminded me of the ruins of Stonehenge, though these seemed to be a bit more uniform and perhaps not quite as thick and cumbersome.

Aside from all of this, the bones of the previous occupants were scattered around the area haphazardly, some skeletons still wholly attached to their bodies while others were in various states of dismemberment. Though, whether they were scattered from either natural or other means was unknown. Nothing on their person suggested a means to identify their affiliation, as any clothing they wore was terribly worn out, in tatters and/or rusted away. Though, I did find a silver cross necklace near one of the corpses which was propped against one of the walls and decided to keep it for myself in remembrance of these men, offering a quick prayer for their souls before inspecting the area further.

I traveled throughout the compound, looking for anything of interest despite the bleak outlook I had that I would find anything obvious. The compound itself seemed to span a fairly large area, perhaps around 40,000 square feet (13-14.000 sq. meters) overall, given the location of the corner stones, which meant that it would take an extensive amount of time for me to completely examine the area on my own.

After a significant amount of time searching later, I was at the point of tearing my hair out in frustration after not finding a single clue or lead as to what I needed to do or where I needed to go. In my state of aggravation, I began to stomp around the area erratically, not really caring about what I was doing. Only just cursing the fact that my only lead came up empty and trying to figure out what I was going to do next. In my fit, I stomped over a particular mound of dirt which was facing opposite of where I figured the entrance of the compound to be, and heard a resounding thud come from it, one that was remarkably different from the ground around it once I stepped on it.

I bent down to examine the area that I had previously stepped on and began to brush and dig away any dirt that was covering whatever made the noise that I stumbled on. The more superficial dirt I cleaned off of the structure, the greater my clarity became over what exactly it was that I stumbled upon.

Once enough of the ground was sufficiently cleared away, it revealed a trapdoor which had a large iron handle. The trapdoor was bordered with stone slabs that were buried into the ground, indicating that this part of these ruins led underground.

As I gripped the handle to open the trapdoor, it turned out that it was fairly difficult to lift up and I ended up having to get into a more stable stance and use all of my weight to budge it open, and I wasn't a weak guy by any means. This probably meant that either the wood of the hatch had swelled from moisture to the point that it plugged itself into its molding or that it was meant to be opened by two people; The handle certainly being wide enough to allow that many people to grasp it, if just barely.

With a good grip, and no small amount of effort, I pried open the trapdoor and heard the wood clatter with the ground as it swiveled on its hinges 180 degrees. Looking into the previously covered space where the trapdoor once sat, I saw a ladder which led to a stairway that went further on into the darkness. Though, I saw that at the base of the ladder was a protrusion in the wall, which turned out to be a holder for a torch, with one still in it!

I quickly looked around the area around the ruins for some rocks that I could use to set alight the torch, and thanks to my familiarity of survival shows, I knew which types of stones to look for. After a moderate amount of time searching later, I found a couple of rocks along with some dry grass that I could use as kindling to ignite the torch, and went back to the entrance. I dropped the rocks along with the small bundle of kindling down the short distance of the ladder before making my way down as well. The wood on the ladder was rough and I took great care as I traveled down on it, not quite sure how stable the wood was after aging for who knows how long.

I finally reached the bottom of the ladder without incident and gathered the rocks that I dropped down as well as the kindling. With the two rocks in hand, I knelt down and started to strike the two rocks together to get a spark, and after a significant amount of time and effort later, the sparks were enough to get the grass smoking. As soon as this happened, I quickly bent forward and blew some air onto it so as to set it ablaze. After a minute of doing so, I was finally rewarded with my first ever hand-made fire!

Quickly picking up the bundle on its un-ignited end, I picked up the now-lit kindling with one hand while picking up the torch in my other before bringing them together. Fortunately, the oil was still viable and the torch ignited with a flourish, and with that done I dropped the nearly exhausted kindling that I had previously been using and stomped out its flame, so as to not risk causing any accidental forest fires or excess smoke inhalation.

With the torch in hand, I was finally able to venture into the stairway safely. From atop of the staircase, even with the additional light created from the torch, I was still unable to see the bottom of the stairs. Deciding that I had done enough dilly-dallying, I started the slow and tedious descent down the shrouded flight of stairs, taking great care as to watch my step as well as keep an eye out for traps or anything else that would ruin my day.

My descent down the flight of steps was largely uneventful and as I trudged further on I took note of the tunnel and noticed that it was all bordered with the same stone slabs from the entrance. The amount of effort taken to have built this stairway alone must have been taken a great deal of planning, let alone the whole fortress along the surface as well as whatever was at the end of all of this. I didn't even want to the think of the casualties that may have happened here during its construction.

After a minute of careful travel, I could finally see what I thought was the end in sight, but as I reached the bottom I realized that the stairway then connected to a long hallway, the end still nowhere in sight, and not just because of the veiling darkness. So, with a resigned sigh, I continued my trek further on into the structure, keeping an eye out for pressure plates, trip wires and any other typical dangers.

It was a couple more minutes before I finally reached the end of the hallway, in which there was a small open chamber. At the far end, which was perhaps twenty feet away, I saw what could only be described as a vault door. The door was circular and had a trench dug into the ground before it, which I assumed was its path for when it needed to be pulled outward; It also had a large circular handle, not unlike the ones used for hatches on a ship. Casually strolling towards it, I looked for any other indicators on how to open it but found only disappointment-only taking note of the fact that the door itself must have been fairly heavy, seeming to be made entirely out of some metal alloy.

Setting down the torch nearby, I stepped up to the door and firmly gripped the handle. Giving it a testing yank, I tried to gauge the strength that I would need in order to turn it as well as finding out which direction I would need to turn the handle in, in order to actually cause it to open- it was clockwise by the way. Unsurprisingly, I found that it required considerable effort to turn it, and after a few moments of turning I heard a loud clunk, which I guess indicated that I was done turning. So, with all of my effort, I pulled the vault door back, and slowly but surely it began to move. Several moments later, the door was open enough to where I would be able to comfortably slip inside or run back out and quickly close it again in case there were any hidden threats inside.

Picking up the torch at my feet, I ventured into the waiting darkness of the vault and noticed that on the other side of the door was a trench built into the wall. I waved my torch over it to see what it was for and noticed that there seemed to be a shiny substance coating it. I stuck my hand to gather a bit of the substance to check to see if I could recognize the smell and found out that it was some kind of oil. So, I took a page out of an old movie I once watched a long time ago (The Jungle Book, 1994) and stuck my torch into it. Almost instantly the substance went aflame and trailed along the trench in the wall, further lighting the darkness ahead and spreading out to both sides of the room through separate trenches. What I saw next struck me speechless. Well, it would if I were talking anyway.

The expansive room that I wandered into was massive! Being approximately 50 feet (15 meters) high from the ground to the ceiling, and must have run the length of a football (American) field, being just as wide as well if I had to guess. As I gazed around the room, I took note of the major characteristics of the room. With the additional lighting presented, I noticed that there seemed to be two channels of water flanking the room on both sides, giving the room a regal feel to it. Between the two trenches, running along the length of the room was a wide pathway. Lining both sides of the path was a series of enormous pillars that reached the ceiling, being spaced about 15 feet (5 meters) from one another, and each pillar was 4 feet (1-ish meter) in diameter!

'How did they even bring those down here?!' I thought, truly perplexed. But, taking a closer look at the pillars, I noticed some small lines that ran horizontally along each pillar and speculated that they brought each pillar down in sectioned slabs and stuck them together with a type of plaster or through other architectural means.

Though, this would pale in comparison to what I would discover next. Arranged along the tops of the pillars were banners and though they were a nice touch in and of themselves, it was the symbols presented on them, as faded as they were, which caught me the most off guard out of everything I encountered so far on this small journey.

On each of the aging banners a design consisting of a white and black background split horizontally and the foreground containing a blood-red cross. This was the flag of the Knights Templar.

I was speechless. One of the wealthiest orders in human history, let alone the medieval ages, somehow, someway, found its way to the new world and built what may have been one of their last hideouts. And I was standing in it!

'What could have been so important for them to have built all of this? Underground no less!' I thought to myself. 'Wait, how could they have done this? Travel to the new world didn't start until around the end of the 15th Century and early 16th Century. However, the order was said to have been disbanded by the Papacy around…what was it…the early 14th Century? Meaning that whatever stray members that were left had to have been in hiding and kept the order alive in secret for close to 200 years!'

I was baffled, so many unanswered questions racing through my mind unconsciously while my own thoughts continued, unbidden. 'What could have been so important for the order to have been preserved in secret for so long after its "dissolution"? Was it just to continue plotting their eventual return for one last attempt at a crusade or something as mundane as continuing their legacy until they could rise again?'

While I was stuck in my thoughts, I unconsciously wandered further and further into the chamber. My thoughts were mostly the same, coming up with question after question, trying to come up with a clear idea for why this was all here. Though, soon enough, as I reached the end of the room, my questioning, along with my mind, stopped as I gazed upon the answer to all my questions and much, much more. This final discovery frying my mind more so than the discovery of the extended existence of the order of The Knights Templar.

At the end of the room stood a raised platform which was reachable by a wide set of stone stairs, and along the wall there was a slab of man-made stone which held the two Seals of The Knights Templar; Sigillum: Militum, and De Templo: Christi. Each with their carved symbols in their centers, respectively. But this wasn't what shocked my mind to a halt. It's what was in front of the carvings that mattered the most, perhaps more so than anything else in the world today.

On the center of the platform sat an intricately carved golden chest. Attached along the length of its sides were two poles/handles that extended a good foot past the chest on both sides. There were also four supports that ran vertically down the corners of the chest, which were connected along the extended lid of the container and continued for a small distance below the chest to keep its base from touching the ground. On top of the golden container was a golden lid, known as the Kapporet or "mercy seat", which held 2 golden cherubim.

This was the Ark of the Covenant. One of the most renowned religious artifacts of all time…

I was speechless, awestruck, overwhelmed. All of these and more, all at once. Then, after a few minutes of inactivity, my mind decided to reboot itself to try and comprehend the mystery presented before me. In a state of almost blithe ignorance, my body marched itself up the steps and towards the chest. Though, the closer I got, the more I could feel a resonating aura coming from the chest as I neared it; By the time I got to within a foot of it, it was nearly overwhelming. Though whether it was my own body's, or soul's, innate sense of reverence or something else was unclear to me at the moment.

I once read that there were those who would carry the chest into battle and journeys, and I wondered to myself, 'How were they able to withstand such an overwhelming presence?'

Then I thought, 'What if it wasn't active back then? What if they weren't able to feel it and I'm an exception to this for some reason? Was it because of the experience I had right before I woke up on the beach? Wait, the voice told me that once I reached his' covenant, which I'm fairly certain this is considering it's the Ark, that I would have to provide the "invocation of the slain lamb", whatever that means.'

I pondered this for a moment, then thought, 'Okay, so the only thing that I can associate with a slain lamb is a sacrifice. Do I have to do a blood ritual? But there isn't anything I can use for that, and I don't think it meant that I was supposed to be the "slain lamb". So, what could it be? Well then, what is an invocation…oh right, a request. So he wants me to do a request of the slain lamb? Wait, this is a Christian artifact, which means that all of this has to be connected to Christianity in one way or another, and what's more connected to Christianity than the Christ himself? Wait, he was also known as…the Lamb who was slain…so that's it! So I have to make a request to Christ himself, but how exactly am I going to do that? A ritual, what kind? A prayer I suppose would work, but which one? There have to be dozens scattered throughout the bible and I'm not prepared to go to Sunday school today so I don't have a bible with me to help me out.'

I thought on this for a while longer, each question getting no closer to an answer than the next. Then, after some time, I decided to do something desperate. With the only prayer I knew by heart in mind, the Lord's Prayer, I slowly made my way towards the chest.

Though, perhaps through innate curiosity or perhaps it was something else that I can't quite explain, I felt a sudden urge to do what may have been one of the stupidest and most ridiculous things I've ever done and went up to the Ark of the Covenant, looked at it for a long moment, then grasped the lid and lifted it open.

Big mistake.

As soon as the cover was removed, whatever aura was exuding from the chest was magnified immensely. Instantly upon removing the lid, light brighter than any other in existence filled the chamber. As soon as I saw it, I tried to close my eyes as quickly as possible but it was already too late-I was blinded, unable to even see the darkness that appeared whenever I closed my eyes, only the same shade of white that blinded me in the first place.

Fear gripped my heart as I realized this, my thoughts racing through my mind a mile a minute, but they soon stopped as something much more grotesque and painful occurred. Even though I couldn't see anything, I could still use all my other senses, but it was touch that became the issue. Within moments, boils and ulcers started to develop along my body; the pain they created was excruciating as they continued to grow and spread all across me.

It seemed that perhaps the light sensed my impurities, my sins, and brought them forth in the physical form of a plague. Feeling this happening, I was starting to quake in both fear and agony, causing me to almost forget what I was planning to do in the first place. Though, luckily, I did remember, and proceeded to do something I hadn't done since I left home; I prayed. Both physically and spiritually.

"Our father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us of our debts,

As we have forgiven our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation,

And bring us out of evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power,

and the glory,

Forever.

In the name of Jesus the Christ I pray,

Amen!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then I realized that I was no longer in pain. It seemed that all my afflictions which had been steadily growing had suddenly ceased.

Then, in the next moment, I was filled with warmth unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It was comforting, calming, and it brought me peace, and I soon realized that my mind and body were being lulled towards unconsciousness. For a brief moment, I once again opened my eyes and noticed that the light that had blinded me had disappeared, and that the lid I had previously removed was once again back onto the Ark. Before I had a chance to ponder this any further, my mind decided to shut down all efforts to remain conscious.

The last thing I remembered before blacking out was the sensation of falling backwards, then immediately the feeling of weightlessness.

And then I was gone from this island, forever.

(End of Part 2)