Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this work.

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Chapter 8

Elfraine glanced at her watch. It was almost one o'clock in the morning, and the hounds had been silent for the last fifteen minutes or so. She looked over at the sleeping children and thanked her lucky stars they were such good sleepers. Agent Myers didn't seem to be having too much trouble sleeping either, she thought as she glanced enviously in his direction. It was only herself and the elven princess who were finding slumber elusive.

She looked over at the princess to find Nuala staring at her with a slight frown on her face. The elf looked as if she had something to say so Elfraine got up and went and sat beside her. "Do you have a question, Your Highness?" she asked politely.

"Yes, Miss Somerled, I do. How is it you haven't been killed yet?" said Nuala bluntly. She softened her next words at Elfraine's startled look. "I mean, if it weren't for you, we'd be dead now and it perplexes me that you've managed to keep both yourself and us alive so far," said Nuala.

"Oh... well, I've travelled all around this world... several times over I suppose, and I've learnt a trick or two along the way," replied Elfraine. "I must say, in all my travels I've never met an elf though. I've heard of your kind in songs and stories of course, but never actually met any of you," she remarked casually, as she turned the conversation around to Nuala. It would save her having to deflect questions about herself that she didn't particularly want to answer.

Nuala recognised the trick and gave Elfraine a narrow look but let her get away with it. "My people are not as visible in this world as we once were," said the princess, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Why is that, Ma'am?" asked Elfraine.

"You have to know something of the ancient history your people and mine share to know that," replied the princess.

"Please, do go on Your Highness," Elfraine requested, thinking it was as good a way as any to while away some hours until morning. She didn't think she was going to get any sleep this night anyway.

"Once, eons ago, your kind and mine lived together in peace. But humans have a fatal flaw; you have a hole in your hearts that nothing can ever fill and you grasp at all you see in the vain attempt to fill that hole," Nuala explained. She paused and looked at Elfraine as if expecting some disagreement.

However the elf's words made Elfraine think of the need she'd been trying to fill in her own heart some four hundred years ago, and she found she couldn't take exception to what Nuala said. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own selfish concerns and then been so wilfully blind, none of what followed would have ever come to pass. She simply nodded now in acknowledgement of what the princess had said.

Nuala continued her account. "We shared this earth once and all creatures – man, beast and all magical beings – lived together under Aeglin, the father tree, but your people soon wished to have everything for themselves. Eventually your kind waged war against the magical races as you tried to seize more and more of the world to hold for yourselves alone, and much blood was spilled on both sides. But your people were insatiable and would not stop in your efforts. My father, King Balor of Bethmoora, despaired of the wars ever ending and dreaded the consequences for our people.

When the Master of the Goblin Blacksmiths offered one day to build a golden mechanical armyfor the king, my brother urged our father to agree. So my father built an unstoppable army to finally put an end to the wars. But the destruction the Golden Army wrought was so indiscriminate and so terrible that my father refused to continue using it. Instead he made a truce with your kind; it was agreed the humans would take the cities and the magical races would take the forests, and there would be no more war between , your people may not have waged war on mine since then but there is no doubt you have not honoured the spirit of the truce. Every year your kind encroaches further and further on our lands. You do nothing to control your ever-growing towns and cities; they swallow up our forests and lands, and you leave us to make do with less and less."

Elfraine inclined her head in acknowledgment of the princess's point as she said dispassionately, "I can well imagine we leave very little of anything for anyone else. We number in the billions, and the world must be fair groaning under the weight of us."

"Yes, Miss Somerled," said Nuala. "That's why my people aren't as visible as we once were, and why you might now live your whole life and never see one of my kind; you are pushing us further and further out of sight, and our very existence is under threat from your ever-growing numbers and your insatiable greed."

Elfraine was much struck by what the princess said; she thought back to the decades which circumscribed what should have been her own natural allotment of years. Then, the belief in magic was as much a part of life as breathing, and fantastic magical creatures might be encountered anywhere, as she well knew to her cost. But things were indeed very different these days, as the princess so rightly stated.

"I can see why your brother might hold us in such contempt then," said Elfraine. "But you don't seem to regard us in quite the same way. Why is that Your Highness? I must say I find it surprising you don't."

"I know the truth of your people's nature and cannot hate you for it, though I might not like it. You are as you were made. My brother, however, is less accepting and absolutely loathes your kind for what you are," replied Nuala.

"You take a very charitable view of things, Ma'am," murmured Elfraine. "What do your people intend to do about the loss of your lands?" she asked.

"There's nothing we can do, Miss Somerled," replied Nuala, "at least not without going against our nature. Honour is as important to my kind as breath and it's in our nature to honour the truce, both in letter and in spirit." She paused though as she thought of her brother's actions in the auction house four years ago and honesty compelled her to add, "To my father's great shame, Nuada broke the truce with humans and slaughtered some of your kind in an act of open aggression some four years ago. We all paid a heavy price for that. But my brother still favours waging war to reclaim what is rightfully ours and put an end to the threat humans pose to our people. I fear he will not stop in his madness!"

"Forgive me for stating the obvious Your Highness, but the Elven Army is hardly knocking on the gates of the castle, as it were," remarked Elfraine.

Nuala gave Elfraine a look of consternation at that and said, "A word of advice Miss Somerled. In the unlikely event you ever find yourself discussing the matter within hearing shot of my brother, I wouldn't put it quite like that if I were you."

"Wouldn't you, Ma'am?" asked Elfraine innocently, as she stored away the phrase for later use.

"No, Miss Somerled, I wouldn't," replied the princess. "My father, the king, strongly believed we should fade rather than go against our nature and break the truce with your kind. Although he had his followers, my brother found it difficult to raise the necessary support for his cause, and that's long been a sore point with him. His most fervent hope has always been that our people will one day accept the need to take action against your kind."

Elfraine gave Nuala a puzzled look. "What do you mean by fade?" she asked.

"Your kind has already pushed us into the darkest corners of the earth, and one day you'll push us from even those places. Once we have faded from sight, it will not be long before we fade from memory too. And when the stories of us are no longer told, we'll be gone from this world forever," explained Nuala sadly.

"It seems a hard fate for your kind, and yet most of you are willing to accept it," Elfraine observed, though the hint of disbelief in her voice begged the question.

"I would not say we are willing to accept it," replied Nuala. "Rather, it's that we can do nothing but accept it."

"I cannot for the life of me see why you can do nothing but accept it!" Elfraine observed. "Surely you have a choice."

"We do, but we hold to our honour; it is not in our nature to do otherwise," said Nuala.

"And yet it's apparently in your brother's," remarked Elfraine. "He will not suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but has taken arms against a sea of troubles instead, and Elven honour be damned it seems."

"Not at all, Miss Somerled," said Nuala quickly. "To his mind, his course is the honourable one and those of us who accept our fate are the ones without honour," she explained sadly. As she said the words out loud, Nuala realised she'd never quite considered the matter in that light before. If what she said was true, her actions in the cave in Ireland four years ago would seem like the most terrible betrayal to Nuada rather than a principled stand, and that gave her pause for thought.

"A 'piteous predicament' indeed!" murmured Elfraine. "But what of the prize should you win the struggle? Does that not inspire you to at least attempt the thing?" she asked, with the disbelief now quite evident in her voice.

"Ultimately, there would be no winners in such a war. We would poison the earth for all time," replied Nuala somewhat shortly. She was starting to take exception to Elfraine's tone.

"And so you will fade and leave the human race in possession of the field which, given our record over the last couple of hundred years or so, will likely see the earth poisoned in any event! Pray tell me Your Highness, are you not the slightest bit inclined to support your brother in his endeavour?" asked Elfraine.

"I supported my father when he lived, and I honour his memory by continuing to support what he believed in... and what I believe in," Nuala added quickly as she anticipated Elfraine's next words.

Elfraine, who had indeed been about to ask the question, shut her mouth and eyed Nuala dubiously. But her disbelief got the better of her and she could no longer hold back her thoughts on all she'd just heard. "Good grief! I almost begin to feel some sympathy for your brother... though I don't expect it will last any longer than the length of time it takes him to open his mouth should we meet again."

Nuala frowned at Elfraine and said somewhat sharply, "Please explain yourself Miss Somerled. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make."

"Only this Ma'am: not only does your brother face the daunting, if not impossible task of dealing with a foe that is some seven billion strong, and growing apace with every minute of every day, it would seem he also has to deal with the insidious apathy of both his family and the larger part of his people towards their own eventual demise. It appears he's a solitary voice for your people and has chosen to walk a lonely path indeed. I must confess I don't know whether your kind's apparent willingness to so helpfully expedite matters by fading is one of the saddest things I've ever heard in my life or the biggest pile of nonsense!"

Nuala started forward in fury at those words, and Elfraine thought the elf was going to strike her. It would have probably served her right if the princess did slap her. She was well aware she should have exercised at least a little discretion however the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She was clearly getting careless in her advanced years, and complacent in her immortality; it was not a mistake she would have ever made when she was younger... and mortal. Her Queen would have likely spat at her or thrown a slipper at her head, if not actually had her head, for such a misstep!

Nuala, however, had too much experience to give in to her baser instincts and restrained herself, although with some difficulty. "I would not expect you to understand Miss Somerled," she replied angrily. "In my experience, humans don't easily accommodate points of view other than their own, and your kind has never understood the sense of honour that is at the very base of everything my kind does."

"You're right on one point," Elfraine admitted. "I don't understand you. I don't think I could ever understand anyone who wouldn't fight to the bitter end for themselves and their loved ones, or indeed a leader who wouldn't do the same for his or her own people."

Once again, Elfraine's thoughts flew back to Gloriana; this time, to the day the Queen had reviewed her troops at Tilbury as they made ready to face the Spanish fleet. Elfraine had only been eight years old but she still remembered, even after all these years, sitting on her uncle's shoulders and hearing Elizabeth speak. And she remembered some of Her Majesty's words in particular:

"I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood even, in the dust."

It had been a stirring moment, and the queen's fighting words had made a great and lasting impression on the little girl. Elfraine looked Nuala in the eye now and remarked, "Forgive me if I offend Your Highness, but you appear to be not so much standing on your principles as giving up... not that it's any of my business, of course."

"I would have thought you should be glad my people's sense of honour would spare your kind the senseless slaughter that a war would involve!" exclaimed Nuala, stung by the accusation of giving up. Her people had fought for many centuries before it had come to this.

Elfraine was brought up short by the princess's words. She knew only too well that like those she'd once loved, and the one she still did love, she should have died and crumbled to dust centuries ago, and she was painfully aware she now had very little in common with any other person on this earth. She said, with a bitter sadness, "That should be my response, shouldn't it. But I can find no concern in me for the fate of humanity, or indeed for the fate of the world at large. You can blast this earth to perdition, or not; it's all of a one to me. I have my own affairs to settle, and they are all I care about."

"I find that hard to believe, Miss Somerled," said Nuala. She was shocked at the other woman's words and tone, and her anger abated as she recalled just what Elfraine had done for them over the past twelve hours or so. "You've shown great care in helping us to safety and preserving our lives."

Elfraine gave her a hard look. It was clearly time to disabuse the princess of some wrong-headed ideas. "Don't read too much into that, Ma'am. The only reason I'm still here now is because it suits me... and because of them," she said with a nod in the sleeping children's direction. "And that reminds me, we should be discussing practical matters now, and not debating existential questions which we are only likely to come to blows over."

Nuala was more than happy to change the subject. She had some thinking to do about her actions four years ago and she no longer wished to discuss her people or her brother until she'd done that and sorted things out in her own mind. "What do you mean?" she asked now.

"We're unable to contact the outside world at the moment, and I suspect we'll have to rescue ourselves. I can chip away at the hounds, and the shadows too if I must, but I think you and Agent Myers need to be ready to mount some sort of defence should anything happen to me." Elfraine was concerned she might not withstand too many more encounters with the shadows but kept that piece of information to herself. If she had to explain her earlier fight with one of the creatures, she would in all likelihood have to reveal her secret and she was reluctant to do that unless she absolutely had to. People always expected an explanation once they found out about her immortality, and that was something she was most definitely not prepared to give.

"What experience do you have with weapons?" she asked the princess.

"I can use a bow and a knife reasonably well," replied Nuala.

"What about a sword?" asked Elfraine as she glanced at the Varangian blade in the display case.

"I know the basics but I'd hardly say I'm skilled at swordplay," answered Nuala. She was somewhat unnerved by the enigmatic smile Elfraine gave her at that.

"Well, we shall just have to practice then, won't we," said Elfraine as she walked over to the display case and took down the Varangian sword. "And I have the very weapon for you, Your Highness!" she exclaimed as she unsheathed it. "In my hands it's merely an ordinary sword, but in yours it should be something quite extraordinary."

Nuala had no idea what Elfraine was talking about. The sword the human woman held was an ornate one, with an intricately crafted pommel and cross-guard, and strange markings along the entire length of its gleaming blade.

Elfraine saw Nuala's puzzled look and explained. "It's one of only a small number of swords that were once used by the Varangian Guard. The Guard was an elite unit tasked with defending the Byzantine Emperor, and beauties such as this were prized by those Guardsmen who could wield them properly. I've only ever seen it done by one, ah, person which was, of course, long after the Guard ceased to exist."

Strictly speaking, that last part was not true, though the princess didn't need to know that. Elfraine had encountered the Varangian Guard but by then its golden days were many centuries behind it, and it had been little more than an ill-disciplined, rag-tag band of murderers and mercenaries hiring themselves out to the highest bidder and hardly deserving of the name of the once-proud Guard. But there'd been one amongst the group who'd been born of magic - a priestess and a warrior - and she'd possessed such a sword. Dihyā al-Kāhinat had been one of the best and dearest friends Elfraine had ever had. The Englishwoman been honoured to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her in the heat and the dust beyond the walls of Constantinople when Dihyā had used the Varangian sword for the last time ever, and it was with a heavy heart that Elfraine had raised a memorial to her friend, and laid to rest her friend's murdered infant son on an outcrop of rocks deep in the countryside.

"Here, give me your hand Ma'am," Elfraine said now as she walked over to Nuala and held out her own.

Nuala hesitantly took Elfraine's hand, and Elfraine gave the princess a sharp look as she warned her, "Now, don't be alarmed Your Highness. As soon as you touch it, the sword should light up." She guided Nuala's hand to the weapon and closed the princess's fingers over the hand grip.

Nuala gasped and started as the sword did indeed light up the second she touched it. "It's amazing!" she whispered in awe as she looked at the golden fire.

"Yes, it is quite impressive, isn't it," agreed Elfraine. She stepped away from Nuala once she was certain the elf had a firm grip on the weapon. "The swords only do that in the hands of those born of magic. Mere humans, such as myself, and those who obtain their magic by other means can't command their special powers."

"How do the swords come to have such powers?" Nuala asked, still staring at the flaming blade in wonder.

"I have no idea Ma'am. I don't even know how they originally came to be made or how old they really are," replied Elfraine. "The swords are supposed to have other powers too, and it apparently takes years to learn how to use them all properly. Otherwise that's as much as I know about them. I'm hoping though it'll prove to be more effective against those shadows and hounds than ordinary weapons have been so far. And now, I think we should start practising with what we do have."

Elfraine took Nuala to a far corner of the armoury and drilled her for the next three hours. At the end of it, she was pleased enough with the progress the princess had made during that time. The elf did indeed know the basics of swordsmanship and she was quick to pick up the more advanced techniques Elfraine showed her. Nuala was as well-prepared as she could be in the time they'd had to practise, although Elfraine was only too well aware that facing an actual enemy was quite a different matter. She hoped the princess had the mettle to rise to the occasion should she be called upon to do so.

... ...

It was now almost morning and the others were starting to stir. It didn't take the children long to bounce up and let everyone know they were in imminent danger of starving to death. Nuala laughed and took them over to the food supplies to pick out their breakfast; a little leniency with the rules went a long way in trying circumstances.

Elfraine had something to eat too and then went over to speak with Agent Myers. "Good morning John. I trust you slept well," she remarked as she sat on the floor next to him.

"Uh, yeah. I think I did, thanks. I was hoping this was all a nightmare though," he replied ruefully, as he ran his hand through his hair.

Elfraine gave him a sympathetic look as she replied, "But sadly it's not, is it. And now it seems we're besieged, with no sign of rescue on the horizon."

He looked worried as he agreed with her. "Yes, I know. I still can't get a signal on my mobile and the battery's starting to run flat."

"I'm going to make a few more sorties this morning so I'll keep my eyes open for a charger or another phone. We might as well keep trying. I'll also try to knock off a few more of those blasted puppies," said Elfraine as she looked over at the children. "You never know, something new might turn up today!" she added in an attempt to hold out at least some hope to the young man.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked. He was quite prepared to do what he had to but he was relieved when Elfraine declined his offer. The only weapon he could use with any skill was a gun, and as he'd found out yesterday guns were useless against the hounds.

"I think the best thing you can do for the moment is stay here with the princess and the children," Elfraine advised him. "If anything happens to me, you'll be their next line of defence. I'd suggest you search the armoury whilst I'm gone and try to find some weapon which might be more effective than your Glock. Which reminds me, I found a weapon for Her Highness last night and we spent several hours practising with it."

Nuala, hearing their conversation and having set the children up with a picture book after they'd finished eating, came over to show the Varangian sword to John. He was as impressed with it as she was, and they stood together to admire it while Nuala held the brightly flaming blade aloft. Elfraine was rather taken with the sight as well, and also paused to stare at it.

Whilst they were looking at the sword, Nuala's eyes glanced past the blade and fell on a Celtic stone head affixed high on the wall, near the roof of the armoury. She thought it an unusual thing to be in an armoury and was about to look back at the sword when she noticed something odd about the cold, grey, stone eyes. They seemed to be almost moving, with a strange rippling effect. She blinked, thinking her own eyes were playing tricks on her, but the effect remained and she got an uneasy feeling.

She leaned in close to the others, and whispered to them, without taking her eyes off the artefact, "Miss Somerled, John, don't look now but I think that stone head on the wall up there in front of me is watching us."

John had his back to it and couldn't turn around but Elfraine, who was facing in the same direction as Nuala, slowly and carefully moved her gaze to where the princess had indicated. She gave a gasp of surprise as she saw a distinct rippling movement chasing back and forth across the empty stone eyes. At that sound, the effect disappeared and the head was nothing more than a lifeless artefact once again.

She nodded at John's enquiring look. "There was something there. John, are you able to get it down off the wall?"

"Sure thing," he replied as he looked for something to stand on. There was a small table with a bench-mounted press for re-loading ammunition on the far side of the room, and he quickly dragged it over and positioned it under the stone head then jumped up on the table. The head came off the wall easily enough, and Nuala and Elfraine gathered around him to take a good look at it after he'd got it down. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it and they didn't learn anything from their inspection.

"I've noticed these heads all over this building," remarked Elfraine, thinking back to the uneasy feeling she'd had when she left the building after her first day with the BPRD. "I thought they were just curios, but maybe they have another purpose."

"Yes!" exclaimed John as he was struck by a sudden insight. "Don't you think this attack was a little bit too conveniently timed?" he asked. "I mean, if you were going to attack this place, what better time than when our best agents are out in the field, along with pretty much everyone else?"

"You're right," agreed Elfraine.

"So perhaps whoever directed the attack was able to get the timing right with the help of these heads!" exclaimed Nuala.

"I think we need to destroy as many of these things as we can find," said Elfraine. She quickly unscrewed the re-loading press and took it off the bench. "This should do the trick," she murmured as she raised her arm to smash the head to pieces with the press.

"No! Wait!" John cried out as he grabbed her hand. "We should save one for the scientists to examine properly later. Manning will probably want to have a look at it too."

"Good thinking, John," agreed Elfraine, "though I don't know if you've got any scientists left to examine anything!" She looked around for somewhere to store the head and saw some empty gun bags on a shelf. "This will do perfectly," she said as she opened one of the bags and put the head inside before zipping the bag back up again.

"Well," she said when that was done, "I think it's time for me to go back out again. I'll take care of as many of those heads as I can find, and I'll see if I can't rip the guts out of a few more of those mean bloody puppies too." Elfraine spoke without really thinking about her audience but she quickly realised her mistake when two sets of big, round eyes looked up from their book to stare at her from the other side of the room at the mention of puppies. She coloured slightly and admonished them, with a twinkle in her eye, "You didn't hear that, did you my poppets."

Aithne nodded and Daman shook his head, and Elfraine groaned; she could tell from the looks on their faces that they were very taken with what they'd just heard and were probably storing the words away for later use, much like herself the night before. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it now.

Elfraine strapped on her own sword and headed for the door, which John and Nuala had opened for her. "Keep that close," she advised Nuala, with a nod at the Varangian sword as she slipped through the opening, and then she was gone.

... ...

Elfraine hadn't been gone for more than ten minutes when John and Nuala were surprised to hear an urgent knocking at the armoury door. Thinking Elfraine had forgotten something, they quickly opened the door and found instead a badly-wounded agent who was on the point of collapse. John was just about to grab the man and haul him inside to safety when a shadow creature appeared from out of nowhere and tore into the injured agent right before John and Nuala's eyes. They could only watch in horror as the shadow ripped apart every particle of the man's being before collapsing in on itself, leaving only an empty and somehow thinner space where the man had once stood.

They quickly roused themselves and went to shut the door, but they were too slow. Another shadow tore into the room just as they got the door shut, and it whirled about furiously. John pulled his gun but he couldn't fire at the shadow; it was moving too rapidly and he risked hitting either Nuala or one of the children, and in any case he quickly realised the bullets would only go straight through it.

Nuala had grabbed the Varangian sword as soon as they got the door shut and she held it out in front of her now as she shielded the frightened children. Her hands were trembling and she was almost mindless with fear, and then the shadow turned in her direction and made straight for her. Her last thought was an instinctive and terrified call for help to her brother... and then the shadow was upon her.

... ... ...

Station Nord, Greenland

The technicians finally got the generators running again around midnight, and everyone had at least been warm for the rest of the night. It was now very early in the morning and Manning, determined to follow protocol, had gathered everyone together for the debrief on the previous day's events.

"Right, so what did we learn out there yesterday?" he asked as he rubbed his hands together and looked at the team.

"I recognise der hounds," replied Kraus. "Zey are scuccas. It is said zey are der Hounds of Odin und run in der Vild Hunt. Zey are ancient creatures of darkness und serve whoever holds Odin's Rune of der Hunt."

At the mention of the word rune Nuada looked up sharply. He'd already recognised the hounds but hadn't made the connection between the rune Kraus spoke of and the Director's rune. It suddenly all seemed a little bit too much of a coincidence, and he examined Manning closely.

But the Director didn't seem to have made the connection, and he remained oblivious to the elf's intense regard.

Nuada, as usual, kept his thoughts to himself. He would try to work out what it meant once they were back at the BPRD; there might be some way he could use it to his advantage. With one last scowl at Manning, he turned his attention back to Kraus, who was still talking.

"Bullets won't work against dem, as ve haf just seen. Only cold steel or elven silver can kill dem... und obviously Hellboy can rip dem apart. I think too, Liz might be effective against dem vith her fire."

"What about those shadows?" asked Liz.

"I don't know Fräulein," said Kraus. "Zey are entirely unlike anything I haf ever seen or read about. However ve learnt something about dem yesterday. Zey are very dangerous..."

"No kidding!" muttered Hellboy. He'd smarted for a long time after his encounter with them.

"But fire seems to work quite well against dem," finished the doctor.

"Good, good!" said Manning. "All in all, it's been a successful trip! What?" he asked in response to the scepticism on the faces around him at that pronouncement. "We've now had firsthand experience of the enemy and we've got a way of fighting them. I'd say it's been well worthwhile!"

The others grudgingly acknowledged there was some truth to that.

"Now we've just got to get back home so we can share this information with everyone else!" exclaimed Liz, who was anxious to get back to the twins as quickly as possible.

As they turned to the problem of getting out of the remote and isolated station, Nuada suddenly straightened up with an urgent look on his face and cried out, "Nuala! My sister! She's in danger!" Her terror and distress reverberated through his mind, and a sudden visceral fear cut straight through his bitter resentment of her; it never even occurred to him to hesitate, and he reacted instinctively.

Everyone turned to look at Nuada with surprise. Abe had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach at the expression on the elf's face, and Liz and Hellboy's thoughts immediately flew to the twins. They quickly looked at each other then all three dived for the prince and grabbed onto whatever piece of him they could reach as he answered his sister's call for help.

"Well that's just great!" muttered Manning as he, Kraus and the other agents stared at the empty spot where the others had stood only a second beforehand. "How do we get out of here?"

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References:

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them."

Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1.

'Piteous predicament' – Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 3.

Varangian Guard: an elite unit of the Byzantine Army 10th - 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors. Members were predominantly from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland (Viking countries) until the late 11th century by which time the Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons. They and other Germanic peoples shared with the Vikings a tradition of faithful (to death if necessary) oath-bound service, and after the Norman conquest of England there were many fighting men who had lost their lands and former masters and looked for a living elsewhere. The Varangian Guard also participated in many wars involving Byzantium and often played a crucial role, since they were usually used at the critical moments of a battle.

Dihyā al-Kāhinat: O/C inspired by and based (very) loosely on Daya Ult Yenfaq Tajrawt (c. early 7th century AD – c. late 7th century AD). A Berber religious and military leader who led indigenous resistance to Arab expansion in Northwest Africa. Al-Kāhinat (the female priestess-soothsayer) was the nickname used by her opponents because of her reputed ability to foresee the future.

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Chapter posted 3rd May 2012