26Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own any rights to Tolkien's works. I simply enjoy them and enjoy ripping into them.
A hall of kings is found- under the New Mexico Desert
by Brian Gronchi
It all started with a New Mexico man trying to drill a well on his property. When he hit a gap that did not contain water, he sent his son's drone, a Christmas present, down with a camera. The images he captured are jaw dropping, showing a marble funeral catacomb shrouded in darkness beyond the range of the flash, deep under the desert.
The first thing he did was to show his friends, one of whom suggested that he take the photos to the University of New Mexico. It was greeted with disbelief and only after adamant insistence did Prof. Sandoval of the university archaeology department agree to visit the site. There the man (who preferred to not be named) had his son pilot the drone down the well shaft again and showed Prof. Sandoval the feed as it came through.
She was baffled. "There's no record of any such burial catacombs in the state," she said, "Not from the natives, and not since colonization either." With new enthusiasm over the site, Prof. Sandoval called in her colleagues for further investigation.
After various safety checks, Prof. Sandoval insisted on being the first lowered into the deep hole in the ground. Her equipment: a hard hat, gloves, flashlight, and her archaeological tool belt. When she finally reached the bottom, she turned on her flashlight and was overcome with wonder at what she found.
The entire construction was of expertly carved marble, arched ceilings and beautiful accent carvings. Rusted remains of oil lamps laid where they fell from the chains that had held them to the ceiling. On both sides of the catacomb laid beautifully lifelike marble sarcophagi depicting men crowned and holding swords or rods of office. Several halls were discovered, all containing sarcophagi, and a platform in the middle with traces of ash.
Academics from all fields were called in and the property in question was soon turned from a farm to a research center. Tents were pitched, generators brought in, and eventually several ladders provided easy access to the catacombs. The sarcophagi were opened to study the remains and grave goods inside.
In what scientists are calling an absolute miracle, fragments of DNA were recovered that showed the men found in the main catacombs were all related. All descended from one another, generation after generation, 33 times over. Their features are strangely European for their location and the weapons found with them closely resemble those made in Europe between 1100 and 1400 AD.
The kicker: when the bones were dated, they were found to be between 175 million and 190 million years old. Several tests of each skeleton by different labs and scientists confirmed the results; they were declared genuine.
Already the scientific community was in an uproar. When interviewed, Dr Sandoval admitted, "I didn't believe it, I thought I was dreaming." Screams of fakery and lab mistakes and degraded material radiated from all around the world.
To combat these allegations, Dr Sandoval invited world renowned experts to work with her. They came from Japan, Russia, Egypt, Australia, and the UK among others, expecting a hoax or some mistake made in testing.
Instead they found a sealed door. Cautiously a gap was made that a drone could be piloted through while the ancient room was vented of potentially dangerous biological material; no one wanted another Lord Carnarvon. The room was dark and relatively small, containing three sarcophagi; two small stone blocks flanked a much longer one in the center.
The large sarcophagus was much like the others found: European in looks, impressively tall, and with the trappings of royalty. In the context of the catacombs, he was very normal.
It was the smaller ones which interested Dr Fiala, a paleontologist from the University of Oregon. The faces depicted were of adult men and they had swords in their hands, but there was no crown on either of their heads and the sarcophagi were only 4'6" long. The bones inside were of an adult 4' to 4'3" tall, but of normal proportions if very stout when they were alive, and did not die violently. One of the skeletons had a healed broken leg and scar on the forehead which, combined with the swords and daggers they had been buried with, suggest that they had seen battle.
When the bones and teeth were sampled for chemical analysis, the results showed extremely high levels of a great many toxins that are found in nature. This was not likely the cause of the mens' deaths, however; the toxins were consumed in great quantities over the course of very long lives.
The man who they were buried on either side of was determined to have been approximately 6'6" tall, which is rather impressive even today, and has scars on his bones which indicate a rough life but which he had healed from before his death: broken ribs, toes, arm, leg, cheekbone, and skull; bone deep scars from sharp objects on the hands, arms, shoulder, and thigh; and a tooth which appears to have been knocked out before death. In his folded hands was found a sword with similar proportions to a Scottish claymore.
In this seemingly ordinary (for the complex) sarcophagus, history was challenged yet again. On the skull a circlet crown was found, forged in extraordinary detail of gold and what at first appeared to be white gold, which on its own would have been ground breaking, as white gold was only invented in the 1920's. Upon examination the white metal was shown to be titanium, of a purity which wasn't seen in the modern world until 1910. A titanium, gold, and emerald ring, a titanium and diamond pendant, and a titanium and diamond ring were also found with the remains.
"It was unbelievable. The quality of the ring alone- the tiny gold crown on the serpent, that one serpent is eating the other, the scales outlined- I keep wondering how on earth this was possible back then," Dr Scherer, a metallurgical historian, said, "I would be impressed with such a quality piece made today."
Upon further investigation, the swords had designs forged into them made of titanium, and the daggers in the small graves were themselves titanium. Part of what makes titanium so valuable even today is its lightness combined with its sturdiness, stronger than steel but much lighter, and doesn't rust. In previous centuries it was valued even more highly than gold.
Another sealed door has been found, leading from the Knights' Chamber, as Dr Sandoval has dubbed the strange room. Processes are scheduled to open it within coming days.
Already, there are heaps of questions being asked. What kind of people could have been able to make such difficult and intricate works of art, before humans are believed to have existed? Are we wrong about our entire timeline as a species? And how did such a place end up under the New Mexico desert, forgotten until a farmer tried to dig a well?
Perhaps, this next room to be opened will answer some of these questions. Perhaps it will only bring up new questions. All we can say for sure is that our view of our past has changed irrevocably.
Impatiently, Dr Sandoval waited for the go-ahead to enter the new chamber. Fellow experts bustled about doing their studies, occasionally letting out a murmur of awe. Flashes of cameras were nearly blinding even out of the corner of her eyes.
Subtly she adjusted her mask; while she acknowledged the necessity of it in the face of such delicate relics and possibly lethal bacterium, it itched like the dickens. She swore her sweat and the damp of her breath was pooling on her skin.
A fellow with sensors monitoring the air of the new chamber gave her a thumbs up. It was safe to break open the rest of the doorway and enter.
The bricks were taken away carefully, piece by piece, themselves to be studied. Half-watching, Dr Sandoval wondered what she would find. Immediately her mind went to King Psusennes I of Egypt, the unrobbed 'silver king' of the 21st Dynasty, and all the riches found there. The image was shaken away; if nothing like that had been found so far, it shouldn't be expected now.
Sick with excitement, Dr Sandoval entered the room. How strange was it, to be the first to set foot herein millions of years? But that thought was wiped away the moment she shone her flashlight around.
"Dr Khachaturyan? You might want to see this," she called to the art historian of her team, eyes wide behind her glasses.
The room was comparatively tiny, only ten foot wide by seven foot long, but intricately painted in beautiful scenery. Against the far wall a sarcophagus was laid lengthwise under a scene of trees backed by dark mountains and a black tower, dotted with houses painted in the bushy tops of trees. The left wall showed a city that looked to be half-built, half-grown into a mountain around a waterfall. At the right side, a ruined stone city straddled a river with two log houses and a garden painted in the foreground.
Entranced, Dr Sandoval barely resisted the urge to touch the delicate paint. It was so beautiful, the rolling hills and the sunlight depicted so honestly and yet fantastically underground.
A whistle at the doorway made her jump. Had she really taken those steps inside without noticing?
"Wow," Khachaturyan murmured, head swivelling on his thin neck, "This might be the most impressive thing I've seen yet."
Internally, Dr Sandoval had to agree. So far there had been no color in this place and this felt like a burst of life within corridors of death. She continued into the chamber to examine the sarcophagus, only to stare in disbelief for a long moment.
The marble face was round and soft but with several chips on the face, where none of the other sarcophagi had been damaged. Neck-high robes were carved in luxurious flowing curves and a hand was positioned over the chest, holding a war hammer. The chest with clearly defined breasts.
Dr Sandoval's breath caught in her throat as her eyes darted back to the stone face, recognizing the familiar feminine features. The perky nose, soft cheeks, and half-smiling lips; the curly hair depicted around her shoulders and falling several inches from the bed she was laid on. The earrings carved onto separated earlobes and delicate circlet tiara on her stone head.
"What?" Khachaturyan nearly shouted, voice echoing harshly in the small chamber.
Fully intending to tell him off, Dr Sandoval spun around. The words died in her throat upon seeing the beam of his flashlight shaking against the wall that the door separated in two. "Isaac?" she asked, taking the few steps to his side.
"I must be going crazy," Khachaturyan said hoarsely, still staring at the wall, "I swear I can read that. Can you read that?"
To soothe his nerves, Dr Sandoval shone her own flashlight at the same area with every intention of telling him that he needed a rest. Instead she blinked. Then blinked again. "What the hell?" she asked no one.
The writing on the wall was in the style of a medieval manuscript, if the manuscript were copied down by someone illiterate. The illustration was in gorgeous shades of burgundy, hunter, and navy. It was also in fucking English.
We're both mad. We're both seeing things that aren't there.
In a fascinated, excited, horrified fugue, Dr Sandoval took a picture of the wall. Maybe someone not exposed to ancient air could tell her what it really said.
What she saw, read:
Born unwanted, I grew up poor. In my youth I became a Marine, where I learned to kill and heal alike, and was willing to give all for my comrades. When I was brought to a strange land in ways that I do not understand, my family became traveling merchants and I offered my services as a healer and midwife. Together we defeated bandits and orcs, and brought my sisters to their weddings.
I fought in the War of the Ring at Moria, Helm's Deep, Minas Tirith, and the Dagorlad when the Dark Lord Sauron was brought to nothing. I was the bodyguard of Queen Arwen Undomiel at the Palace of Tents and served in the Haradrim Civil War. When Tolfalas was besieged by pirates of Umbar I commanded the defense until relieved by the armies of Gondor. I am the Hammer of the Uruks and the Star of Ithilien.
As I lived for love, so I died by it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
