Chapter 24

Lara stared at the mystical scroll in silence as the newly rented Peugeot moved quickly through the vast wilderness of Turkey, patiently waiting for her and Kurtis to guide it toward their next destination.

Her words spoke loudly, repeating the sentences that graced the ancient paper, repeating the sentences that she had been constantly speaking for the last half hour. "Death can leave you mourning, but can lead you closer to your goals. For the death of the King meant damnation for all, but the infinite revival of the faith."

"I still don't understand it." Kurtis stated as he steered the small vehicle into a right corner. "No matter how many times you read."

"Then you're not listening." Lara returned, her eyes still fixed upon the newly retrieved scroll.

"So you understand it?" He asked with sarcasm.

Lara playfully turned to him with a smirk. "I shouldn't have to. It's your responsibility, not mine."

Kurtis returned her sarcastic humor. "That's what I thought."

"The death of the King." She spoke to herself with question. "Death" she repeated, running the word through her mind as she looked back to Kurtis. "That word must have some significance or else they wouldn't have mentioned it more than once."

"But it's in different perspectives." Kurtis explained as he quoted the scripture. "'Death can leave' is in future tense, and 'death meant' is in the past. So they really have nothing in common."

As Kurtis ended his sentence, silence prevailed. He looked to Lara to find the familiar expression, her eyes stared forward, spastically moving back and forth as her mind raced with unknown thoughts.

Kurtis smiled. "You know something, don't you?"

"The King." Lara spoke as she turned to him, unfazed by his previous statement. "It says, when the King died, damnation spread." She paused. "So who was the King."

Kurtis smirked with confusion. "Who, or what?"

"No. It isn't like that." Lara stated with enthusiasm, though she didn't entirely understand. "I don't think it's a metaphor like before. It means a physical person."

Kurtis shook his head unknowingly. "There were a lot of kings in the Byzantine Empire."

"I know that, but who would've been considered the most important?"

"Constantine." Kurtis simply stated. "It could mean Augustine, but he was never an actual king."

"Then it's Constantine." Lara stated before shaking her head. That was common sense. It couldn't be that easy.

A silence fell from confusion, before Kurtis spoke again. "Then what did it mean by death? Do I have to kill someone, or-"

"The scrolls don't tell you what to do, but where to go." Lara corrected his statement. She shifted toward him as to explain her notions further. "Remember the scroll at your home, it lead you to Samandira, but mentioned nothing about needing faith."

Kurtis expression conformed with disarray. "So where can I find death?"

Lara stared forward once again at the conformity of his words. The answer was there, waiting for her to uncover-

Her mind found it. "A tomb."

"What?" Kurtis asked at the quietness of her words.

"A tomb, a graveyard." Lara repeated the words. She smiled with assurance in herself. "Constantine's body was never found, but there was a rumor that he was killed and buried in Peribleptos."

"That's not far from Cerkezcoy." Kurtis stated in return. "There is a monument their to honor his death. It serves as his honorary grave site."

Lara nodded her head with surety. "How far is that from here?"

Kurtis paused with thought. "About 250 miles tops, but the place is packed with tourists during the day."

"Fuck." Lara stated at his words. She stared at the digital clock that caressed the rented vehicle's dashboard. "It's already after midnight." she paused thinking and calculating in her mind. "We might can get their before dawn if we drive through the night. We need to be their before people start to show up, probably around 5:00am."

Kurtis looked at her before smiling and putting his hand forcefully on the gearshift. "Better hurry then."

Lara felt her head violently push into the head rest as the cars speed dramatically accelerated forward, turning with a road sign labeled Cerkezcoy.

A/N: Wow, this is the first chapter I've actually been impressed with writing wise. See, told you the short ones were good. ;)