Chapter 2 - Shroud of Sand
Under the whitish darkness and the calm of the limestone, the sand and the rock had taken possession of the kingdom buried by their tender embrace. Everything had become dust again; everything was returning to the earth. Governor of these lands, silence covered every sound with its icy and oppressive veil.
An insolent breath came to rebel against this sweet tyranny. A tiny breeze gently lifted the supple flesh of a figure huddled on its side, under the shade of an orange surface. On the ground, its legs curved, a being was trying to seize and release the rarefied air. With dry lips, messy red hair and pale skin dulled by dust, the woman finally let out a rocky cough, which seemed to tear at her lungs.
Slowly but surely, Adelaide slid down to position herself on her stomach. She could not remain in this shelter of fortune, undoubtedly fragile, which could finish by crushing her. The eyes still closed and the confused hearing, numbed by a diffuse pain, the archaeologist crawled with difficulty to get out of her metallic refuge, leaving a sour-sweet taste in her guts.
This enigmatic room had prolonged her inspection, this bronze office had saved her life.
What had happened up there?
The questions would wait. It was imperative that she ensure her own safety, first and foremost. There was no way she was going to do a "Peru No. 2," if she hadn't already.
She managed to do it as well as she could, feeling the stranglehold on her back and on her belly loosen a little. A little dizzy, she felt a thin net of blood running along her temple then of her cheek. Her right knee was sensitive, she could move it, but each movement burned her. Fortunately, her arms and hands seemed relatively unaffected, except for her lacerated gloves. As soon as she was free, the young woman dropped to the ground and sat down to rest her legs.
It was only then that she rubbed her eyes irritated by the rock, then half-opened her eyelids.
Seeing only darkness, she fumbled with her helmet to find the headlamp. It seemed to be slightly damaged on the left, at the level of the skull. With as much patience as she could muster, she went through it before finding the top of the lamp, then its switch. Alas, the latter was not working. Cursing, she put her backpack on the ground and rummaged in one of her first pockets, which she knew by heart. Adelaide finally extracted her emergency flashlight, which seemed to have been preserved from the shock. Reassured by its glow, she inspected the place.
Miraculously, the smallness of the nameless room had concealed its robustness. Little had been destroyed, except for some extra rubble and dust. Shadows were omnipresent, the archaeologist could hardly see beyond a few meters. She should advance with prudence until the exit, if however there remained one.
Her relief to be alive was such that a burst of laughter escaped to her, before her features darkened.
She was alive, but her survival was not assured. Water, food and especially air would eventually run out down here, her emergency rations were not infinite. She had a first aid kit to dress her wounds, but she would definitely have to see a doctor as soon as possible. However, she had no guarantee that the situation would be better up there. Karim's silence and the noises she had heard on his walkie-talkie, now crushed under the rock, were as unassuming as they were eloquent of the danger that most likely awaited her on the surface.
As the good old British would say, "she was screwed".
- Come on, girl, move your carcass if you don't want your beloved to cause a diplomatic crisis in Albion. Not to mention the kid, who's waiting for you to get back to him about his conference presentation.
She might be called a schizophrenic, but it helped her feel less alone and fight both despair and madness. Talking helped her to stay rational, to focus on the moment. Talking anchored her to life, like a rock in the swell and foam of a stormy sea. It was still too early to let herself sink into the earthly abyss of a slow and painful death.
She would not perish until she had given Dorian and the dear director a taste of her kleicha dish!
The teacher managed to make her way back to the lobby, using her earth magic skills sparingly to make her way or secure a path through unstable halls without exhausting her meager strength. Certainly, she didn't have enough energy to clear a way out, and all her magic crystals had been buried in her spare bag. The bracelets and the two rings set with crystals were also completely ruined, shattered.
The only thing that had held around her neck was a white gold chain with her engagement ring dangling from it, which she clutched to her palm for a moment.
Alas, her hopes were dashed when she saw that the entrance was totally blocked and impassable, buried under a gigantic mass of thick, heavy limestone rocks.
- Of course. If I am going to get into trouble, I might as well not do it halfway!
But she didn't intend to give up. Adelaide stuck her torch in the nearby rock to free her hands and took out her logbook from her bag. Opening it of a dry gesture, the archaeologist searched in its lining to extract an approximate map of the places. If her deductions were right, considering the state of the adjacent collapsed corridors, she would not be able to count on the ancient exit of the gardens or the secret exit which bypassed adjacent tombs. It was very likely that they were as impassable as the corridors that connected them.
The archaeologist had no way to contact the outside. Her walkie-talkie was in pieces, her phone had not survived, and her emergency beacon was dysfunctional.
Whether she wanted to or not, her only option was to throw herself into the lion's den. And to do that, she had only one idea left. A risky bet, but it was all she had left.
A ferocious smile wove itself on his lips. If you're going to die, you might as well do it with panache!
Rummaging in the numerous pockets of her jacket, she put her hand on her Swiss Army knife, a tool as indispensable to her as the trowel for getting out of sometimes uncomfortable situations.
Since her vials of mercury had remained in London - customs refused to let her take them with her - and she had no rooster to sacrifice, the young woman could only rely on her own blood for the ritual. One was never better served than by oneself! That's why she slightly slashed her right palm, before carefully tracing with her fingers the family's magical seal, staining the clarity of the limestone with scarlet signs.
Honestly, Adelaide would have preferred to discuss this with her husband before going to such extremes. Command spells, servants, the battle royale, the Holy Grail... everything associated with this damn war was more the domain of her beloved and her two young Japanese colleagues. A few days before her imperative departure to Iraq, called with colleagues by the UNESCO of mages for an emergency mission, she had missed the opportunity - and the courage - to discuss with him or, at least, with them the marks that had appeared on her left hand.
If she wanted to have the opportunity to repair this mistake, she had to survive at all costs.
She stepped back to inspect her work, before putting down the golden stylus with the cuneiform characters. As soon as she was satisfied with her observation, she inhaled deeply before launching with resolution.
- As the good old Doctor would have said, "Let's go! "
Adelaide activated her magical circuits as much as she could, putting all her energy into channelling it to the summoning seal and the object she designated as the catalyst for the ritual. The archaeologist had not had the opportunity to examine it in detail, but she had nothing else. Her instinct had rarely betrayed her to date, so she should trust it at this moment.
At first, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, the teacher felt her energy being sucked up by the ritual she had just activated, which made the signs and lines of the invocation seal glow with a carmine glow. She had never felt her magical circuits being solicited so much, the Franco-British had however nothing to envy in terms of potential to her English counterparts.
The seal turned from a reddish glow to a golden light that blinded her for a few minutes.
When the glare was sufficiently dissipated so that she reopened her eyes, the archaeologist noticed at first the omnipresence of a thick golden mist, the reduced space was completely saturated with magic.
Had she reached her goal, or had she only dug her own grave?
The thirty-year-old believed, by squinting her eyes, to vaguely guess a big shadow in the fog. After having rubbed her irritated eyes, to check that her spirit did not play tricks to her, she distinguished indeed a silhouette of smaller and smaller, as well as steps more and more close.
- Hi! I'm, uh, Archer. Nice to meet you. What's your name? Are you my master?
Raising a hand briefly, a child had stopped in front of her. Quite tall, his youthful and delicate features didn't look more than a dozen years old. He was simply dressed in khaki shorts of military cut, an indigo T-shirt edged with gold, a white hooded jacket and high collar shoes of brown color. It wasn't the clarity of his skin or the blondness of his hair that struck her, but his carmine red eyes, both lively and curious.
Against all odds, despite her pitiful state, she had succeeded in this first step.
Nodding with a warm smile, she began to move toward him before bowing in a short curtsy and then extending a hand:
- Hi Archer! I'm Adelaide Fleury, you can call me Adelaide if you want. That's me...
- Ah, that makes me feel better! I was afraid that my master was crushed by these rocks.
The servant who had answered her call seemed rather friendly, which was a good thing considering the difficult temperaments of some of the servants of the Throne of Heroes of the Holy Grail. Magic reminded her of her cost at that moment, making her wobble on her legs. Adelaide reflexively caught herself on a half-collapsed pillar, feverish, but resolutely on her feet. The boy - Archer, she corrected herself in thought - gained her height before observing her carefully, then leaning towards her and sliding his right arm over her shoulders to help her. She left on her lips a reassuring smile.
- It was close, but I'm still standing and in one piece. That's the main thing, right? Remind me to reserve a place of honor for that stylus later.
- Ah, my stylus! I can produce any weapon, but I had completely forgotten what it looked like! Can I keep it?
- You can have it! I found it in that room over there. I'd rather it go to someone who can appreciate it for what it is... and it's only fair that it goes back to its original owner.
The enthusiasm she read in the boy's eyes, clear and limpid, was enough reason for her. Besides, what the patrons and curators didn't know wouldn't hurt them for such a small artifact that had gone unnoticed for several decades... it would stay that way a little longer. His remark aroused her curiosity and fuelled many questions in her mind, but Adelaide could wait a bit. Gaining the trust of her partner was more important. The thirty-year-old watched him move away for a brief moment to seize the stylus and put it away carefully, before joining her.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you very much! Uh, it's not that I don't like the place, but don't you want us to get some fresh air?
- Good idea! I'll see where the nearest passable exit is and we'll be on our way. It's going to be a bit of a mess outside though, so we won't have to hang around.
- Couldn't I just make a hole and clear the way?
Adelaide had to admit that she hadn't thought about it, she put it down to her tiredness. Nodding absentmindedly, she took the time to think and inspected the infrastructure with her flashlight. The cracks she saw in the ceiling, in several pillars and the thin cracks in the walls did not reassure her much, but this would be the shortest and safest way. If she remembered correctly, it also led to the quickest way to Warka and the English embassy. Observing the room and the servant in turn, she commented aloud with more seriousness.
- We can try, but the structure is fragile. Too much pressure on the walls and the whole infrastructure collapses on us. I don't have enough left to fashion us an entrance with my magic. Do you think you can get us through without the roof falling in on us?
- It's a piece of cake!
- All right, then. We'll go through the front door then.
Her backpack weighed heavily on her shoulders, but Adelaide could not leave without her tools and identification papers. She just hoped that part of the expedition's convoy had made it safely back to the Iraqi capital where the embassy was located, with some of the excavated artifacts. She would have to learn more about her comrade-in-arms now that she was immersed in this Holy Grail War, and try to identify him with the elements she knew and as they got to know each other and fight as a team.
They slowly but surely made their way to the bottom of the stairs. Adelaide gagged when she noticed the presence of many fresh corpses, the stench of which stank of the entrance. She was even more pale when she identified one of them on her left.
- Karim!
She recognized without any difficulty his clothes and the cord around his neck, carrying his badge of authorization of excavation. The rest of his equipment had undoubtedly been stolen to be sold on the black market, but as for his face... a wave of nausea seized her in her guts and made her move back a few steps. There was nothing left of the features of the long time friend and colleague. Taking her courage in both hands, she bent over the corpse and took both his identification cord and the old pocket watch he always carried on his belt. It was dented, but when she opened it, the photograph of his wife and four children was intact. Adelaide wished she could close her eyes to it, but she was unable to do so. Shaken by this discovery, she slowly walked back to Archer and turned toward the entrance.
- We can go if you're ready. There's nothing keeping me here anymore, and the fresh air will do us good.
She was surprised to feel him take her hand to give her courage, before he turned resolutely toward the scree and they made their way to the blocked exit. She was amazed to see several golden circles appear around them, from which emerged several large shields that came to cover them, floating like a Roman military turtle. From other circles appeared various spears, swords and javelins - again, she thought she recognized Excalibur and Durandal, but it was not the time - that he levitated around them, before projecting them with a snap of his fingers against the rockslide. Adelaide could hear the shields vibrate under the impact of the huge stones falling on them, but they held.
A servant capable of recreating legendary, Archer-class weapons, associated with the cultural heritage of Mesopotamia... the wheels were turning in her mind too tired to analyse them.
Against all odds, they emerged alive and unharmed from this tomb of limestone and rock. Never would the professor have thought herself so happy to step into the Iraqi desert and feel the burning of the merciless sun of the region, to breathe this dry and much too hot air. She took off her helmet, which was no longer in good condition anyway and made her hotter than anything else, before grabbing a scarf from her bag and putting it on her head like an improvised turban.
- Thank you, Archer. It would have been complicated to go up in the open air without your help. We only have to reach the capital and the embassy, as long as we don't run into one of those uncultured fanatics...
- Don't worry, if they come, I'll take care of them! I know how to handle revolts!
The boy wore a smile at the same time radiant and ferocious, reinforced by a fierce look while slamming his biceps to show his strength. Oh that, she did not doubt his words in view of the magic and the aura of natural authority which characterized him. Adelaide felt both reassured by his confidence and a little worried about the confrontations to come. There was something a little darker behind his good temperament, she could not put her finger on it. The thirty-year-old had the intuition, however, that as long as they agreed on the broad outlines, she would not normally have to worry about being stabbed in the back. Speaking of wolves, they were showing their tails!
Like a bloodthirsty pack, she saw them cut them off and then surround them. They were numerous, with a clear technological and numerical advantage on their side. Armed to the teeth like American super commandos or the green berets of the Foreign Legion, composed exclusively of men and a few child soldiers, they sometimes chanted insults, sometimes called for murder, or called them infidels and traitors to the true God. Adelaide had no trouble deducing that the bodies, too many of them, lying in the desert sands were the members of her expedition. By noticing that none of the convoy vehicles had left, the archaeologist made the dark observation that there would be no other survivor of the team diligent by the UNESCO. The professor was aware of her own helplessness, and of the fact that none of her choices could have led to an end other than her own death at the side of her colleagues, in that burning desert.
Sadness and frustration gnawed at her insides, but that was not what set her blood on fire in her veins. She was filled with an anger she had never felt before, angry that bloodthirsty savages had murdered intellectuals who were trying to protect this heritage that the criminals wanted to erase from history.
She searched for her words in Arabic to express her thoughts fully to them as they became more and more threatening, but could only clench her fists until her palms were bruised with blood. There was no point in trying to negotiate or beg for life from these thick brutes. At best they would become hostages to weaken their country, at worst they would be executed on the spot.
- I leave them to your judgment, Archer. Be careful, and thank you in advance.
- Thank you, I'll take care of everything.
Archer's clear voice sounded more serious, however, as he answered her. The golden circles reappeared around them, though in far greater numbers, several meters high and long. There were so many of them that their golden glow was somewhat blinding, revealing such a number and variety of weapons that Adelaide could neither identify nor count them exactly. The jovial features he had shown until then had closed into a cold and ruthless indifference, in stark contrast.
- It's time for punishment. You have been very, very undisciplined. "Gate of Babylon!"
The scene that followed should have shocked her, revolted her, but it did not. At the moment, her heart was cold and bruised, her mind relentless and furious. They would not let them go quietly. She had no intention of dying so soon or being defeated in such a cowardly way. They had shown no mercy or compassion to her colleagues, why should she show it to them? "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" was one of the mottos that ran through her house. She felt nothing as she watched their ranks grow thin, their cries left her unmoved, their hatred and threat indifferent. These things, which in her eyes did not even deserve to be called human beings, would understand nothing but force and violence.
Soon, the desert fell into a deep silence, its sand reddened like the crimson seas of one of the ten plagues of Egypt. The vultures would soon come to claim their due, and the sands would swallow up what remained. Adelaide, however, would not do that again. She was not an avenger or a vigilante. She was just a teacher, an archaeologist, a civilian. There would be no more bloodshed, her comrades had been avenged. Justice had been done.
Her morality would not allow her to go down this path. It was not her job.
Suddenly, she felt calmer, more in control of herself. She was still in shock, of course, and she wanted to leave Iraq behind for a while, to return to perfidious Albion, her academy, her colleagues, her students and the arms of her spouse.
- The international army will soon arrive and ask questions. Normally, I don't risk much other than a formal interrogation. If you prefer to stay back, you can, Archer.
- I never back down in the face of danger, much less the riders on their little ponies who always arrive after the battle.
Her determined look and stubborn pout made it clear that he would not change his mind. The expression that he had - more or less - innocently distorted, however, gave him a smile. The kid was definitely one of a kind, sometimes with the innocence of an angel, sometimes with the implacability of a demon. He was still endearing, however, and had shown loyalty to her, including not abandoning her to her doom in the ruins of the mausoleum.
Archer's voice and a slight tug on his jacket brought her back to the present.
- I have to ask you something. Can you hold this for me? I'm afraid I'll break it if I don't.
She turned her attention from the distant rumour of approaching vehicles to the young Servant. Her battle companion's outstretched hand held a clear, oval-shaped vial, with a stem like a champagne glass and a stopper close to a triangle with sharply curved sides. A clear liquid, as clear as spring water, was preserved in it.
- Are you sure? Wouldn't it be more protected in the... place... the space from which you draw all these weapons?
- Nothing of value is as safe as in the hands of someone you trust. My best friend told me that once, a long time ago!
Archer wore a confident smile, his crimson eyes both serious and relaxed before turning to laughter, raising his index finger and swaying it back and forth like a teacher giving a lesson. Adelaide had still difficulty to determine his personality, as rich, complex as contrasted of thousand and one nuances which she struggled to distinguish all. The danger of characters gifted with such charisma remained the blurred line between sincere compliment, flattery, irony or subtle maneuverer. Two things were certain in her mind, however: first, she would rather have him on her side than in front of her, and second, he had been a good companion to date.
- I'll take care of it until you want it back. In return, I give you the stylus I found in the ruins. Does that sound like an acceptable deal to you?
- Hm-hm!
With a bright smile, he nodded, giving her a thumbs up and a wink. Adelaide didn't know what she had gotten herself into, but she was sure of one thing: she wasn't going to be bored for the next few weeks. All she had to do was stay alive until then!
It was a piece of cake.