It is built on the sleeping bones of another kingdom

Kúr'Gal, Primary Archives, Ki'Gal, Hollow Earth

Under the reluctant guidance of a still-convalescing Enlil, yet imbued with a new and grim urgency, or perhaps by Enki's own insistent exploration, the small surface group delved deeper into the inner sanctums of Kúr'Gal, the main palace of the Anunnaki citadel of Ki'Gal. Previous revelations about the winged Anunnaki and their role as the "gods" of Earthly antiquity still echoed in their minds. Now, Enki led them to a different chamber, one where the visual records showed not the glory of the First Coming, but the stark and brutal reality of the consolidation of Anunnaki power deep within the Earth.

A new series of three-dimensional holographic projections came to life, this time with a more austere, almost military quality. The images showed a vast subterranean realm, unlike the caverns they had passed through to reach Ki'Gal. This was a place of ethereal, lunar beauty: fifteen graceful citadels, built from what appeared to be self-illuminating moonstone and crystals pulsing with a soft silver light, rose from an immense cavernous vault, connected by bridges of woven light. In the center, dominating the landscape, rose a sixteenth fortress, a spiral of shimmering towers and domes that was clearly the capital of this realm.

"The Kingdom of the K'aasil Uj Kaanob," Quetzal whispered, recognizing the name from ancient Mayan legends. "The Serpents of the Waning Moon... the Moon Elves."

The projections changed, now showing Enlil's Anunnaki forces on the offensive. They were not the radiant, winged beings of old, but warriors clad in battle armor of dark, angular metal, wielding energy weapons that hissed and unleashed blinding explosions. Hovering assault vehicles, emblazoned with Enlil's horned serpent, swept the subterranean skies.

"After the Great Cataclysm on the surface and our retreat into the depths," Enki narrated in a gravelly voice, as if reading from an obituary, "Enlil saw the need to secure absolute dominion over this new subterranean realm. The Moon Elves, ancient inhabitants of these depths, with their powerful lunar magic and fierce independence, were an obstacle to his vision of a Ki'Gal unified under their single law."

The images depicted the brutality of the conquest. The Moon Elves' delicate but potent magical defenses—beams of cold lunar light, barriers of illusion, elven warriors moving with lethal grace—crashed against the superior technology and ruthless military efficiency of the Anunnaki. A younger Enlil, the fire of ambition burning in his golden eyes, was seen directing the invasion from a floating command center. His orders were cold, precise, implacable.

"Subdue them," echoed Enlil's recorded voice, translated by Enki. "Take their bastions. Their lunar energy, drawn from the veins of this inner world, will fuel the heart of our new citadel, Ki'Gal. Their knowledge of the depths, their secret routes, their sources of power... will be ours."

One by one, the fifteen elven citadels fell. The projections showed the destruction, the desperate resistance of the elves, their graceful moonstone structures crumbling under the Anunnaki fire. Enlil's "unorthodox methods" were evident: he used sonic disruptors that shattered the elven mages' concentration, unleashed small biomechanical beasts that infiltrated their defenses, and even seemed to employ a form of psychological warfare, projecting images of despair or false promises of surrender to break their morale.

Everyone in the room felt a chill run down their spines. The calculated cruelty of Enlil's army was palpable.

Finally, the Anunnaki forces reached the sixteenth fortress, the capital, where the King of the Moon Elves—a being of noble and sad bearing, with hair like liquid silver and eyes that reflected the light of a thousand waning moons, whom Nyx had named Eldrin in her own memories—resisted with his last warriors.

The battle for the capital was fierce, but the outcome was inevitable. Projections showed King Eldrin standing on the battlements of his besieged citadel, watching his kingdom being consumed. And then, he made a desperate decision.

The King and his most powerful mages were seen beginning a massive ritual. A sleepy, silvery light began to emanate from the heart of the citadel, spreading like a slow but unstoppable tide. The Anunnaki warriors who tried to penetrate it fell into a deep, instantaneous sleep. The elves on the walls, in the streets, in their homes, also succumbed, their bodies slumping gently, their faces frozen in an expression of sadnes serene.

"To escape my brother's tyranny of Gold and Steel," Enki explained quietly, "King Eldrin chose the Long Sleep for his people. A stasis spell that would last for centuries, millennia if necessary, in the hope that one day they would awaken in a world where Enlil's tyranny had passed, or where an opportunity to free themselves had arisen."

The final projection showed the elven capital completely silent, its inhabitants asleep like beautiful and tragic statues, while Enlil's forces, frustrated but victorious, secured the perimeter, claiming the slumbering citadel as the heart of their new subterranean empire, Ki'Gal.

A heavy silence filled the archive gallery. Aria felt a deep pang of grief for the elves, whose tragedy she now understood in its full magnitude. Merlin shook his head, recognizing the pattern of conquest and assimilation that repeated itself in all histories of empires. Quetzal watched with an ancient sadness, as if seeing an echo of his people's own conquest.

"So Ki'Gal," Merlin said finally, "is built on the slumbering bones of another realm. And Enlil, our... desperate and potential ally... is capable of this cruelty, this systematic conquest."

The revelation was terrifying. Not only did it show them the depth of Enlil's ambition and capacity for total war, but it also made them wonder what other secrets and horrors lay beneath the surface of Ki'Gal, and what the true price would be for any aid the Anunnaki Commander could offer them in their fight against Cthulhu and the Netlin. The path to Hollow Earth grew darker and more complex with each revelation.