Background

Water and drowning, the two constants that have shaped Cormac’s life. He’d been 10 and ¾ the first time he’d nearly drowned. He’d lost his younger brother and younger sister. They’d been on the beach as they often were. So it was winter, but aside from the gales and the rain, being in the middle of the Irish Sea had its advantages in terms of temperature and climate, if you lived there then you just put up with it. They’re heard the low rumble but hadn’t understood what it meant. Neither did they understand when the water rushed out. Then there was shouting, they tried to run but they were children, then the water struck like a truck travelling at 60mph. They didn’t really stand a chance. Not many did. It was down to luck.

Scientists had argued over Cumbre Vieja for decades. They argued over the validity of the models, and indeed over whether the volcano would collapse in the manner suggested. The problem was that the volcano didn’t erupt nor did it slide into the sea on that day, it exploded into the sea. The other problem was that its 2 neighbours in the chain did the same. This meant the MegaTsunami produced was far more than the models indicated it would be. By the time most people realised what the effect would be it was already too late. So it was with the population of the Isle of Man. At 15:45 pm, barely 15 hours and 12 minutes after the explosion the wall of water engulfed the island.

It had been several hours before his father had found him. He found his elder sister the following morning. She hadn’t been so lucky. That just left the four of them.

It was obvious to the survivors they couldn’t stay. The problem was pretty much everything was either gone, of smashed beyond use, at least on the Southern End of the Island. They headed initially towards Douglas, but Douglas was in the same state as the rest of the south. The growing stream of survivors headed North towards Ramsey. The North end of the island had two things in its favour; it was higher ground and closer mainland Scotland. Ramsey was also in something of a lee on the island, maybe something usable had survived.

took the survivors the best part of 4 days to get the ship off the slipway and back into the water, and a further 2 before they could get the engines started. The tanks were half full. Kirkcudbright was the closest point on the mainland, but it was due North and would have taken the full impact of the wave. They’re never make it to Ireland, not towing all the little boats, that left Whitehaven.

he crossing was anything but pleasant, but they made it, well 90% of them did. The problem was that Whitehaven was as much of a mess as they’d left behind. It took Cormac’s parents two days to find a usable vehicle, and 3 hours to reach Cockermouth and the road block. They doubled back and tried to find a way round. Just when they’d though they were safe on the road through Eaglesfield, they came under fire. With no choice but to keep going they did so. It was several minutes before they realised that Finlo, Cormac’s elder brother had been hit. Time ticked by, they needed to find somewhere to stop, the miles ticked by slowly, they made it to Wynthop, then onto the A66. More miles, more time. At the Bassenthwait viewing point they were able to pull in at last. There were half a dozen vehicles here, all abandoned. One had a basic first aid kit, but that wasn’t what was required. One of the others was a much better vehicle, and more significantly less damaged, they changed vehicle, losing more time as they had to salvage and transfer fuel. They pushed on. They managed to by-pass Keswick without incident, but the stresses of the last week now took their toll and they were forced to find somewhere to stop an rest. They found a hotel at Troutbeck. There was no power, and it looked and proved to be deserted. They found a limited amount of supplies, and made themselves as comfortable as they could. In the morning they buried Finlo as best they could and pushed on.

They narrowly avoided a mob close to the Rheged filling station, and raced for the M6 Southbound. They had no choice but to pull into Tabay services.. they needed fuel. They managed half a tank.

They passed junction 37 but a mile later were forced to turn around, the effect of the Tsunami preventing further progress south. Forced to turn inland they headed for Sedbergh. As they passed through the weather deteriorated, the first flakes of an unseasonal snow storm striking the windscreen. By the time they made it to Garsdale, the snow was several inches deep and driving was becoming treacherous. With no obvious place to stop and in worsening weather they were forced to press on, barely making it to Hawes, before conditions made further progress impossible. The storm proved to be a blessing in disguise. Seeking shelter they were taken in by the locals, used to dealing with stranded travellers in freak winter weather.

It was 3 days before conditions improved enough to consider travelling, but they wouldn’t be travelling alone. Martial law had been declared and the Army had a set up a major refugee centre near Catterick. If they could make it to Leyburn then they’d be taken to the refugee camp.

It was to be six months before they were evacuated, not to anywhere else in the UK or Europe but the newly aligned United States of North America. The problem was that the difference between what they left in the Isle of Man and southern Florida was temperature. Florida was considerably warmer, but the devastation particular along the southern and eastern seaboard was total and no different to that that they’d left behind.

At least they now had a place to live and Cormac’s parents had jobs, even if they were compulsory ones helping to clear the wreckage and remains wrought by the Tsunami, which would take the best part of 5 years to complete and claim the life of his remaining elder sister, after an accident lead to undiagnosed septicaemia.

At age 11 Cormac would escape the harshness of this reality and face a new one, getting to grips with the US school system. His junior high school years weren’t spectacularly remarkable, but his out of school ability at a local fencing club lead to a scholarship in his freshman year at a far more prestigious High School for the remainder of his years to 12th grade.

Graduating High School he applied to the Honours College at the University of South Florida to study Anthropology and Forensic Archaeology. It was in the summer term of his second year, whilst on an archeologically expedition to Wales, to attempt to recover artefacts buried by the Mega-Tsunami that he had his second “Near Death” experience due to drowning.

The dig had gone reasonably well, and they’d uncovered what appeared to be a flag floored section of a larger dwelling dating from the 5th or 6th century, consistent with what may have been some form of chapel. As they progressed it became obvious that there must be a void under the floor, as a significant portion was cracked, distorted, and sunken. Ground penetrating radar did indeed confirm that there was a void under one section of the floor.

The decision was made to excavate the most sunken portion, and scaffold boards were brought in to securer the area immediately behind the sunken portion to allow the excavation from a safe platform. They had managed to remove a strip of flags (4” square sections of cut stone) about 18” wide and 5ft in length when disaster struck. The ground penetrating radar hadn’t revealed the true scale, or extent of the void, neither had it shown up the cause of the mechanism that had created the void. Without warning the section of floor uncovered collapsed along with a significant portion supporting the scaffold boards dropping you into the void below. As you hit the ice cold water, the breath knocked from your lungs, the cold water did its thing, triggering a “shock” reaction. Shocked by the cold you involuntarily inhaled water. You tried to surface, only to be hit a glancing blow on the head by one of the falling scaffolding boards. Your vision swam as you choked, symbols formed, then a phrase, in a last gasp effort you surface and voiced the phrase. As you blacked out sinking into the blackness of the water, you thought you heard two things, the sound of a firecracker, and a significant splash.

When you awoke you were in hospital. Your head was bandaged, and restrained by a neck brace, and you were coupled to a drip. It took you a few seconds to register the accent of the nurse speaking to you, and therefore where you were. “I see you’re back with us Mr Camilleri. By all accounts it was a bit touch and go whether you’d live or not. You took a nasty blow to the head, and your two colleagues said if that section of wall hadn’t given way when it did then you’d most likely have drowned. Don’t try and move too much. I’ll let the doctors know you’re awake.”.

They kept you in for another 48 hours, running a whole series of checks just to make sure you were okay. Your Professor and two of your colleagues, Sarah and Miles, came to see you the next day. What the ground radar hadn’t shown up was the underground stream that had caused the void. It had slowly been undercutting the whole floor and in the 3 days prior to the accident the rain had caused a surge, causing it to undercut the area on the far side where the planks were resting. It was just pure chance that it collapsed when it did.

At the point Sarah and Miles had jumped in after you, you’d been out of sight for about 30 seconds. As they tried to locate you in the dim light from the fallen lamps in the room above, they’d heard you speak something that sounded like gibberish. Immediately after they heard what they though was the sound of a fire-cracker exploding, and then a section of the wall on one side of the room gave way, allowing the water to find an exit. As it collapsed more of the wall, they’d managed to locate you and haul you to the surface. As the water level dropped they were able to get you onto one of the planks and get you breathing again. That was four days ago.

They’d managed to get some pumps brought in yesterday, along with some more manpower, and materials to help shore the room up. Until they can get back down into the room they have no idea what you’ve inadvertently discovered.

It was another 3 days before you were allowed to go back down. The room you’d fallen into was a sort of ante-room with two exits. One had been completely blocked by the mud and debris caused by the undermining of the ground above, whilst the other had been sealed by the force of the rising water against the oak door. Whatever had happened had caused the section of wall adjacent to the top of the buried door to give way, allowing the water to rush through into the room beyond. This room at one time probably had a staircase to a dwelling above. The other exit led to another room with two rooms off it, one of these leading to a 3rd much larger room, approximately 20ft wide and 35 feet in length. This room was lined with intricate carvings, pillars, plinths and decoration. At the far end of the room on top of a very intricately carved plinth was an intricate statue, about 3 feet high, 2 feet wide and 5feet long of what appeared to be what could only be described as a Chinese Dragon. In the dim light the statue flickered and shone. Closer examination showed that its scales were made entirely from cut and polished garnets. In the dark, it also showed you something else.. it shone with a dim inner light, although you could feel some sort of power emanating from it when you’re close to it. There was also another, much smaller source in the plinth itself.

It was nearly 2 weeks before you got a chance to examine the plinth on your own. As you ran your fingers over the surface near where the “source” was a pattern of “warm” spots emerged as you increased your concentration. With a not insurmountable amount of effort you were able to cover the hotspots with your fingers and apply the necessary amount of concentration. There was an audible click, and part of the plinth popped out. Carefully applying pressure you removed the section, revealing a void behind. Inside the void was a cylinder, 7” tall and about 4” in diameter, ornately carved from some sort of wood, and inlaid with silver and cut gems. It was warm to your touch.