Chapter 4.
The windows started at the floor and ended height at the ceiling, about four floors tall. The view was
magnificent; New York after dark, full of life and light. Sara thought for a moment that Kenneth Irons
must be spending most of his time in front of that tall windows, simply looking out, doing nothing else.
Except maybe for planning how to take over the world, but one did not rule out the other.
Lara was hopeless at buying sophisticated clothes; the only thing she got hold of in the store was a
tank top with British flag on the front. Sara took the matters in her hands, after all she regarded herself
as a girl with style. Certain kind of style, iron bikini to be exact, but she knew what can be worn at an
official banquet and what not.
Thus Lara was even more glamorous in a dark red, silky dress; very long and still very revealing. It
had nearly invisible straps and a large cut on the right side, a cut that led almost to the hip, showing off
stunning leg of Ms. Croft. Lara tied her hair in a free variation of a Japanese bun (Sara wondered if it's
because Ian revealed to her that he actually had a 'soft spot' for anything Japanese...) and even put
on a little bit of makeup. The whole result was more than good. Actually it was perfect.
Sara chose for herself black. Her dress was short, just the tight length and had a bateau neckline in
front, but a rather low cut at the back, going nearly as far as the loin. She did not know why she chose
it; just a spur of the moment, she guessed. She let her hair loose but spend two hours in the bathroom
trying to make it curl. She partly succeeded. The hair curled at the ends, staying straight at the roots.
Kenneth Irons, handsome as hell, greeted them cheerfully, commented on their superb looks and
invited to the dinner. The table waited by one of the tall windows.
'A beautiful piece of jewelry, Ms. Pezzini.' Irons smirked, naturally charmingly.
'Belonged to a friend of mine.' Sara put on the sweetest of her sweet smiles. 'But you probably already
know that.'
Nottingham, who actually escorted Lara and Sara from Pezzini's house in a nice, cozy limo, after
helping the ladies take their seats stood motionless nearby. He too was clad in black.
An hour into the dinner, just as Sara was about to try out the weird looking dish in front of her, Irons
stopped talking the chit-chatty crap and got the point.
'Ms. Croft... Have you ever heard of the city of Durkham?'
'I came across some records... None of them too specific. Called once "the Atlantis on main land", I
presume. No one actually knows where it was situated... Is that what you are asking about, Mr. Irons?'
'Yes... What if I told you now, Ms. Croft, that I know the location of that lost city...?'
Sara saw the light in Lara's eyes, as if someone has put a flashlight to the back of her empty head.
The city of Durkham? Never heard of it. What do you want, Irons? What is there that you seek?
Another ancient weapon?... Witchblade started to itch on Sara's wrist.
'You do?' there was hope and anticipation in Lara's voice.
'Some time ago I found... A reference concerning the location... Unfortunately none of the men I send
there returned.'
Sara smiled to herself.
'What happened to them?' she asked, quicker than Croft opened her lips.
Irons gave her his long, cautious look. The one she really, really hated.
'They've vanished.'
'Oh. And you didn't send your golden boy to pacify the territory? My, my, you're getting soft.' Sara's
smile was no longer sweet. It was totally vicious.
'I was waiting for someone... More into these things, so to say.' Kenneth answered with the same kind
of smile, only his was more malicious. Witchblade wriggled in anticipation. It was like a dog on a leash,
waiting to be let lose.
'He was waiting for me.' Said Lara, rising from her seat. 'I am flattered, Mr. Irons. Really flattered.
Now, what is there that is of such a great interest to you, Mr. Irons? From what I have seen and heard
here I doubt it is the sheer need of exploration that drives you at present...'
'Yes, what's there, Ken?' Sara took a glass of vine up to her lips. 'Another ancient weapon of mass
destruction? The next Seal of Apocalypse? Some distant cousin of the Witchblade?...'
Lara glanced at her, surprise in her eyes.
'He knows.' Sara shrugged her shoulders. 'They both know. Did I tell you that Mr. Irons is the chief bad
guy in town? Sorry, must have missed that.'
Kenneth Irons started to laugh. Sara put back her vine glass on the table. She gave a quick look at
Nottingham, standing few steps behind her back. He seemed a little bit uneasy, which was rather
uncommon.
'Now, that was good, Ms. Pezzini, really, really good.' Irons stopped laughing and now his face was
grim and dark. 'The fact is, yes, I need Ms. Croft to get to the city of Durkham. I believe that she is the
only living person apt to do so. With a little bit of help, naturally.'
'I do not...' Lara started, but Irons just wouldn't let her continue.
'...Need any help, Ms. Croft?' he twisted his head a little bit and the earring flashed a reflected light. 'I
am sorry, but I cannot leave the matter in your hands only, however charming they may be.'
'You have to make sure you'll get what you want from that Duruku-whatever?' Sara crossed her arms
across the chest and looked right into Irons' eyes, which actually started flashing red.
'Not necessarily. I'm just not so happy about leaving the fate of the mankind in the hands of a single
woman. And it's Durkham.' Kenneth did not escape with his eyes and locked his gaze with Sara's.
Sara felt as if she was definitely missing something very important.
'What fate of the mankind?...' She asked slowly. Irons turned to Lara.
'Ms. Croft, while reading materials on the city of Durkham, did you come across a passage describing
the One who watches from darkness...?'
Lara bit her lips. Sara was just about to remark that the one who watches from darkness is in fact in
town and his name is Estacado, when Croft started to speak.
'...viae urbis atrae erant...' She whispered. 'The streets of the city were covered in darkness... But that
was a Latin translation of a Hebrew text...'
'Which was a translation from a language no longer exists, Ms. Croft. From a very ancient language,
older than... Probably older than Witchblade, if you need a point of reference. In original it should be
read... "The streets of the city WERE darkness".'
'Than the further note of the end of the world may...' Lara's eyes glowed with a mixture of excitement
and astonishment. Sara suspected that Ms. Croft has for the first time met a man that could know
more about ancient history than her. That was certainly a shock.
'I understand the note was regarded as a prophecy of Durkham's end...' Kenneth waited till Lara
nodded her head. 'In the original it refers to the real end of the world. Our world, to be precise. Even
the time was given, the certain alignment of planets...'
'Oh, please!' Sara waved her hand in the air. 'How many times do we have to hear of the planets'
alignments? Whenever something apocalyptic happens, the planets align... Blah, blah, blah. Now wait
a minute! Such thing is suppose to be happening every thousand years or so!...'
'Ms. Pezzini, will you stop demonstrating to us your striking ignorance and keep your precious mouth
shut?' Irons' voice was cold as dead man's hands. 'What makes you think that the said thousand
years had not passed yet? Are, in fact, not passing as we speak?'
Dead silence fell. Sara could hear her heart pound. Irons walked towards her around the table,
stopped a step or so from her chair.
'This combination of heavenly spheres occurs not in a thousand years time span but in two thousands.
Something had happened before that prevented the darkness from creeping out. The texts do not tell.
What is mentioned, however, is the Orb. Whatever that may be.'
Lara smiled. 'And You are asking me to save the day? Just like that?'
'I can't do it on my own.' Kenneth answered with disarming simplicity.
'And it's all that you want?' Lara looked into Irons' red eyes.
'That is all.'
'I don't think I believe you.'
'Will you risk the world?'
By this time everyone already knew Lara's answer.
* * * * *
...Before they left, Sara turned to Kenneth Irons and asked him one question.
Lara was in Irons' library, studying the materials he has gathered on Durkham; Nottingham stood few
meters away, pretending to - or maybe truly - not paying attention to what was being said.
'Why? Why someone like you suddenly wants to save the world from impending doom?'
Irons smiled and it was a nice smile; a smile a parent gives to his or her child when it ask a nonsense
question.
'Oh, Sara...' he started and lifted his hand touching her cheek, caressing her lips with his thumb.
Instantly, Witchblade swerved forward, but Sara held it back. She just took a step from Irons and from
his surprisingly gentle touch.
'Oh, Sara.' He continued, still smiling. 'What's the fun in ruling over a pile of rubble? You have to have
a world to be its master, my precious, precious wielder...'
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
End of Chapter 4.
Now, explanation:
Durkham - stupid name, but the first one that came to my mind.
The alignment - everybody's using it everywhere to explain mystical apocalyptic things, so I thought:
"Why not?"
The darkness creeping - not Jackie Estacado this time. He may be doing a little cameo later on, but
I'm not sure yet. This darkness is something else, but I will not tell you what yet!
Irons' behavior towards Sara in the end - don't worry. It's just my twisted fantasy. Irons in the comic is
so damn sexy... And evil. Now, that's a combination!
OK, hope you liked it... It finally begins to speed up, hopefully I will manage to finish it sometime in the
future... But not yet. Not yet...
The windows started at the floor and ended height at the ceiling, about four floors tall. The view was
magnificent; New York after dark, full of life and light. Sara thought for a moment that Kenneth Irons
must be spending most of his time in front of that tall windows, simply looking out, doing nothing else.
Except maybe for planning how to take over the world, but one did not rule out the other.
Lara was hopeless at buying sophisticated clothes; the only thing she got hold of in the store was a
tank top with British flag on the front. Sara took the matters in her hands, after all she regarded herself
as a girl with style. Certain kind of style, iron bikini to be exact, but she knew what can be worn at an
official banquet and what not.
Thus Lara was even more glamorous in a dark red, silky dress; very long and still very revealing. It
had nearly invisible straps and a large cut on the right side, a cut that led almost to the hip, showing off
stunning leg of Ms. Croft. Lara tied her hair in a free variation of a Japanese bun (Sara wondered if it's
because Ian revealed to her that he actually had a 'soft spot' for anything Japanese...) and even put
on a little bit of makeup. The whole result was more than good. Actually it was perfect.
Sara chose for herself black. Her dress was short, just the tight length and had a bateau neckline in
front, but a rather low cut at the back, going nearly as far as the loin. She did not know why she chose
it; just a spur of the moment, she guessed. She let her hair loose but spend two hours in the bathroom
trying to make it curl. She partly succeeded. The hair curled at the ends, staying straight at the roots.
Kenneth Irons, handsome as hell, greeted them cheerfully, commented on their superb looks and
invited to the dinner. The table waited by one of the tall windows.
'A beautiful piece of jewelry, Ms. Pezzini.' Irons smirked, naturally charmingly.
'Belonged to a friend of mine.' Sara put on the sweetest of her sweet smiles. 'But you probably already
know that.'
Nottingham, who actually escorted Lara and Sara from Pezzini's house in a nice, cozy limo, after
helping the ladies take their seats stood motionless nearby. He too was clad in black.
An hour into the dinner, just as Sara was about to try out the weird looking dish in front of her, Irons
stopped talking the chit-chatty crap and got the point.
'Ms. Croft... Have you ever heard of the city of Durkham?'
'I came across some records... None of them too specific. Called once "the Atlantis on main land", I
presume. No one actually knows where it was situated... Is that what you are asking about, Mr. Irons?'
'Yes... What if I told you now, Ms. Croft, that I know the location of that lost city...?'
Sara saw the light in Lara's eyes, as if someone has put a flashlight to the back of her empty head.
The city of Durkham? Never heard of it. What do you want, Irons? What is there that you seek?
Another ancient weapon?... Witchblade started to itch on Sara's wrist.
'You do?' there was hope and anticipation in Lara's voice.
'Some time ago I found... A reference concerning the location... Unfortunately none of the men I send
there returned.'
Sara smiled to herself.
'What happened to them?' she asked, quicker than Croft opened her lips.
Irons gave her his long, cautious look. The one she really, really hated.
'They've vanished.'
'Oh. And you didn't send your golden boy to pacify the territory? My, my, you're getting soft.' Sara's
smile was no longer sweet. It was totally vicious.
'I was waiting for someone... More into these things, so to say.' Kenneth answered with the same kind
of smile, only his was more malicious. Witchblade wriggled in anticipation. It was like a dog on a leash,
waiting to be let lose.
'He was waiting for me.' Said Lara, rising from her seat. 'I am flattered, Mr. Irons. Really flattered.
Now, what is there that is of such a great interest to you, Mr. Irons? From what I have seen and heard
here I doubt it is the sheer need of exploration that drives you at present...'
'Yes, what's there, Ken?' Sara took a glass of vine up to her lips. 'Another ancient weapon of mass
destruction? The next Seal of Apocalypse? Some distant cousin of the Witchblade?...'
Lara glanced at her, surprise in her eyes.
'He knows.' Sara shrugged her shoulders. 'They both know. Did I tell you that Mr. Irons is the chief bad
guy in town? Sorry, must have missed that.'
Kenneth Irons started to laugh. Sara put back her vine glass on the table. She gave a quick look at
Nottingham, standing few steps behind her back. He seemed a little bit uneasy, which was rather
uncommon.
'Now, that was good, Ms. Pezzini, really, really good.' Irons stopped laughing and now his face was
grim and dark. 'The fact is, yes, I need Ms. Croft to get to the city of Durkham. I believe that she is the
only living person apt to do so. With a little bit of help, naturally.'
'I do not...' Lara started, but Irons just wouldn't let her continue.
'...Need any help, Ms. Croft?' he twisted his head a little bit and the earring flashed a reflected light. 'I
am sorry, but I cannot leave the matter in your hands only, however charming they may be.'
'You have to make sure you'll get what you want from that Duruku-whatever?' Sara crossed her arms
across the chest and looked right into Irons' eyes, which actually started flashing red.
'Not necessarily. I'm just not so happy about leaving the fate of the mankind in the hands of a single
woman. And it's Durkham.' Kenneth did not escape with his eyes and locked his gaze with Sara's.
Sara felt as if she was definitely missing something very important.
'What fate of the mankind?...' She asked slowly. Irons turned to Lara.
'Ms. Croft, while reading materials on the city of Durkham, did you come across a passage describing
the One who watches from darkness...?'
Lara bit her lips. Sara was just about to remark that the one who watches from darkness is in fact in
town and his name is Estacado, when Croft started to speak.
'...viae urbis atrae erant...' She whispered. 'The streets of the city were covered in darkness... But that
was a Latin translation of a Hebrew text...'
'Which was a translation from a language no longer exists, Ms. Croft. From a very ancient language,
older than... Probably older than Witchblade, if you need a point of reference. In original it should be
read... "The streets of the city WERE darkness".'
'Than the further note of the end of the world may...' Lara's eyes glowed with a mixture of excitement
and astonishment. Sara suspected that Ms. Croft has for the first time met a man that could know
more about ancient history than her. That was certainly a shock.
'I understand the note was regarded as a prophecy of Durkham's end...' Kenneth waited till Lara
nodded her head. 'In the original it refers to the real end of the world. Our world, to be precise. Even
the time was given, the certain alignment of planets...'
'Oh, please!' Sara waved her hand in the air. 'How many times do we have to hear of the planets'
alignments? Whenever something apocalyptic happens, the planets align... Blah, blah, blah. Now wait
a minute! Such thing is suppose to be happening every thousand years or so!...'
'Ms. Pezzini, will you stop demonstrating to us your striking ignorance and keep your precious mouth
shut?' Irons' voice was cold as dead man's hands. 'What makes you think that the said thousand
years had not passed yet? Are, in fact, not passing as we speak?'
Dead silence fell. Sara could hear her heart pound. Irons walked towards her around the table,
stopped a step or so from her chair.
'This combination of heavenly spheres occurs not in a thousand years time span but in two thousands.
Something had happened before that prevented the darkness from creeping out. The texts do not tell.
What is mentioned, however, is the Orb. Whatever that may be.'
Lara smiled. 'And You are asking me to save the day? Just like that?'
'I can't do it on my own.' Kenneth answered with disarming simplicity.
'And it's all that you want?' Lara looked into Irons' red eyes.
'That is all.'
'I don't think I believe you.'
'Will you risk the world?'
By this time everyone already knew Lara's answer.
* * * * *
...Before they left, Sara turned to Kenneth Irons and asked him one question.
Lara was in Irons' library, studying the materials he has gathered on Durkham; Nottingham stood few
meters away, pretending to - or maybe truly - not paying attention to what was being said.
'Why? Why someone like you suddenly wants to save the world from impending doom?'
Irons smiled and it was a nice smile; a smile a parent gives to his or her child when it ask a nonsense
question.
'Oh, Sara...' he started and lifted his hand touching her cheek, caressing her lips with his thumb.
Instantly, Witchblade swerved forward, but Sara held it back. She just took a step from Irons and from
his surprisingly gentle touch.
'Oh, Sara.' He continued, still smiling. 'What's the fun in ruling over a pile of rubble? You have to have
a world to be its master, my precious, precious wielder...'
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
End of Chapter 4.
Now, explanation:
Durkham - stupid name, but the first one that came to my mind.
The alignment - everybody's using it everywhere to explain mystical apocalyptic things, so I thought:
"Why not?"
The darkness creeping - not Jackie Estacado this time. He may be doing a little cameo later on, but
I'm not sure yet. This darkness is something else, but I will not tell you what yet!
Irons' behavior towards Sara in the end - don't worry. It's just my twisted fantasy. Irons in the comic is
so damn sexy... And evil. Now, that's a combination!
OK, hope you liked it... It finally begins to speed up, hopefully I will manage to finish it sometime in the
future... But not yet. Not yet...