Chapter 6
A/N: I still don't own anything, not even the script. And like all the other chapters, this one is rated "R" for Yuri being a foul mouth, Koudelka being Sexy and James being an Ass – not necessarily in that order.
The only other exit from the room was another door and Koudelka opened it, stopping in her tracks at the sudden near darkness. The room was large and very dim, with only a handful of candles flickering in their sconces. One wall was piled high with crates, still closed with their labels peeling only slightly. Across the room was another door, but what got her attention was the font in the middle of the near left wall.
James pushed through behind her and stopped, exclaiming.
"What a beautiful font!" the walls around the font were gilded, the scrollwork fine and detailed with a pair of matching sconces with ghostly yellow candle light flickering; beneath the scrollwork panels the walls were worked in blue tiles veined in gold – the entire image was one of opulence. Two tall gilded columns framed the fountain platform but the font, made of marble, was blackened and dry, the basin was barren.
Yuri approached the font with a curious gaze, remembering that every fountain they'd come to had a monster lurking. As it turned out, this one was no exception. Yuri had no sooner put his boot to the platform when a huge dark creature lumbered out of the shadows. It stood well over twelve feet tall and looked, to Yuri's eyes, like a giant walking tree trunk! Its five legs were like great black columns, while its body was thick and blocky and the skin had whorls like tree bark with a long, vicious slash running perpendicular that opened to reveal rows of sharp teeth. For limbs it had four huge tentacles that reached upward, sweeping back and forth and no sooner had the others joined him but the creature attacked, whipping its branches around and slamming them into Yuri, flattening him on the marble of the platform and pressing him down with its weight.
Yuri, his face pushed to the marble floor, heard Koudelka's shout and a moment later the explosion of her flare magic before the creature moved off of him and he rose slowly; he pressed a hand to his ribs but they were only sore, not broken. Meanwhile James was summoning a barrage of ice, but the creature shook it off like nothing and then moved swiftly to slam into the elder priest, sending him smashing into a nearby pillar. Yuri unslung the bow gun and fit a quarrel into the slot, moving into the creature's path as it lumbered toward Koudelka. He waited, counting heartbeats until it was six feet from the young psychic before he let fly the arrow, sending it into the creature's body with a hollow thunk. Yuri growled and fished another quarrel from the quiver, moving in closer as he did so.
Koudelka was also moving, skipping out of the creature's path just as it reached her, skirting around to do a quick examination of James. The priest was dazed but coming around so she stepped back into the monster's shadow and summoned wind magic while James climbed to his knees and tried earth forces, summoning an earthquake. Koudelka's came more rapidly and a blast of wind struck the dark monster and twisted it around, eliciting a scream from it, and Yuri followed up with another arrow to its middle. But before James could finish his summons the creature changed tactics; raising its tentacles straight over its head, it suddenly let fly with a dark magic, a barrage of lightening that floored all three of them.
Pain washed over Yuri like a constant and unwelcome companion as he climbed to his knees first, setting another quarrel in his bow gun, and then letting fly before the others had recovered. He counted seven arrows left in the quiver and hoped they'd be enough. With a glance at Koudelka and James he loaded and fired again, and wondered why they weren't using their magic; but when he tried to call out to them, he discovered why: the creature's magic had constricted his vocal cords, silencing him! Yuri's teeth ground in frustration – there was no way he could do it alone with only arrows. He jumped up, ignoring the scream of pain that accompanied the sudden movement, and ran around the creature's near side, barely avoiding another swing of its massive tentacles and, catching up Koudelka, pulled her away. He handed her the bow gun and quiver and indicated she should shoot.
With a puzzled shrug she took the weapon and Yuri nodded at the creature and smiled, the feral look in his eyes telling her exactly what he planned to do. Koudelka loaded the bow gun and watched as Yuri moved back around the creature, swiping at it with his fist to distract it away from Koudelka and the priest. He did a little two-step in front of it, teasing the monster to follow him and it did, moving away from his silenced companions and further out into the room. The tentacles swung again, clipping him in the shoulder and sending another wave of pain to join the others that already assailed him, but Yuri rolled with the blow and came up grinning madly.
Eyes glowing a rich amber he reached within for a fusion. He'd seen the reaction of the monster to Koudelka's magical attack and heard its cry of pain. That gave him an idea. In the next instant he felt his body growing lighter, his arms elongating and itching as feathers sprouted over them and then down his body. His legs twisted and his feet grew talons and his now sleek and lightweight form launched itself into the air, floating with barely a down-stroke of his wings. He eyed the dark monster with sharp eagle-like vision and then fluttered his wings, calling forth the wind. The air around him began to churn and then with a negligent stroke of his wings, it became a gale that arced across the room and sliced through the monster, tangling its tentacles and rocking it on its thick legs. From behind, Koudelka let fly a quarrel and then ran to move away from the writhing tentacles as the monster attempted to pound her into dust. James followed her as she ran across the room to get behind the flying fusion that was Tornado.
The black monster whipped around and raised its tentacles again, straight and tall and sparking with dark energies. In a heartbeat, the magic exploded from the tips once more and Koudelka and James ducked conveniently behind the bird-like creature ahead of them. Tornado took the brunt of the electrical discharge, floundering for a moment only before flicking its wings, summoning magical winds once more. In another moment, blades of wind exploded from beneath sleek wings and sheared through the thick tentacles, one slicing it off just above the body. A geyser of black fluid gushed from the wound and Yuri took advantage of the sudden disability, swooping in to rake and claw the creature with his talons. When he moved away again, Koudelka followed up with another arrow.
The monster began to sway, its remaining tentacles moving in a distressing movement, jerky and confused. Yuri flew back over the creature and sliced at its limbs, yawing out of the way as one whipped out to smack him. He came around next to James and, feathers ruffled, eyes focused, summoned one more wind attack, spending his last ounce of strength to shear through the monster's gut, causing it to collapse onto itself and, with a noisome gurgle and an oozing of black ichor, it slid to the floor and faded into nothingness.
Yuri released his fusion and collapsed panting to the worn carpet. Koudelka set down the bow gun and ran to his side, one hand reaching into her pouch for recovery items while the other waived off James. With a shrug, James climbed up to the font and checked it, noting the blackened marble was beginning to glow in the candlelight. In another minute clear water began gurgling up into the basin. James crossed himself.
"Are you all right Yuri? That thing hit you pretty hard," Koudelka asked, offering a piece of stale bread and a slice of pungent cheese.
Yuri swallowed the proffered food with barely a chew and then sat on his heels, trying to control his panting.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. It took a lot out of me though and … well, shit, wind magic has never been my favorite attack. My arms get tired," he said with a feeble grin. "Got any more listel?"
Koudelka nodded but then pointed at the font, now flowing freely and babbling like a brook. "Why don't we try the font this time, okay? Holy water is supposed to be refreshing."
"Says a priest anyhow," Yuri said and stood with a groan. He approached the font and climbed up onto the platform. The marble basin now shone with an eerie bluish light and the water gurgled happily, bubbling up from below. He took a handful, drank it down, then another, and washed his face and neck with it, before taking another mouthful to drink. Standing there, leaning on the font, his eyes closed, and his face relaxed, he felt the holy water washing away the fatigue, injuries and pain and filling him with cool healing and relief. A smile wormed its way across his face and he turned to James who was standing to one side, watching.
"It is refreshing," he said and stepped back down to the floor and crossed the room without another word.
"Call no faith false which e'er hath brought Relief to any laden life, Cessation to the pain of thought, Refreshment mid the dust of strife," 1 James quoted and Yuri turned back to look at him.
"Are you sayin' something there James, 'cuz I don't get it," Yuri commented.
James shook his head, "It's like throwing mana to donkeys," he replied.
"Mana? I thought you used listel. You been holdin' out on me, buddy," Yuri quipped and then laughed. "I got ya. It's not that I hate you or yer religion, James," Yuri said and pushed open the door at the far end of the room and held it open for James and Koudelka to follow. "It's that I don't like bigots. Too many of them in my lifetime, and you don't seem to like foreigners. That's me all over, bud."
The room they entered had once been a large dining hall, with a staircase climbing up to the second floor and wrapping itself around near the ceiling. There was a still elegant chandelier of wrought iron and cut-glass suspended from the apex of the ceiling while along another wall were displayed more paintings of sinking ships and, at one-time, elegant women. Crates and cases were also stacked along the wall, some piled high enough to reach a great bronze door well above their heads. Yuri pointed it out to Koudelka.
"Think that's the door I couldn't open before?" he asked.
"Possibly," she replied and began to cross the room, James and Yuri a few steps behind her.
"Let me ask ya something, James," Yuri began, "Do you always blame everything on the savagery of us un-believers and immigrants? Or is it just that men of the cloth are full of hate?"
James scowled then shook his head. "It's senseless to tell you this, as you have admitted being a foreign devil. But the truth is, your kind are the great unwashed of the world. God, in His love, tolerates you, but you'll never be more than ignorant, filthy, brutal savages..."
From above them came a gun shot, its report echoing in the large room, and Yuri, looking up, caught a glimpse of movement above them on the stairs.
"Look out!" he shouted and ran to push Koudelka out of harm's way, for the gunshot had severed the rope holding the chandelier from the ceiling and the huge metal and glass fixture came crashing down. Pushed away, Koudelka went skidding across the stone floor while James leapt to the side; but the tail of Yuri's trench coat was snagged by the lamp and shoved him to the floor, pinning his legs beneath it.
"Yuri!" Koudelka cried out and checked above them for any movement but there was none. She ran back across the hall and knelt at Yuri's side. "Yuri, are you all right?"
Yuri groaned as he moved beneath the chandelier, twisting and turning to free his legs. "Yeah, I'm just caught," he said and then looked up at Koudelka, catching her as she stood up again and watching the long expanse of her legs, and he craned to catch a glimpse of...
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, looking down. "Pull yourself out of there and let's get going."
Yuri chuckled. "Yeah, but it's a nice view," he said and quickly regretted it as Koudelka's boot met his ribs. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ah, you don't have to play hard to get for god's sake," he muttered and worked to pull himself free.
"Did the shots come from up there?" James asked, pointing up to the second floor.
"Yeah, I thought I saw someone too. Be careful," Yuri answered, finally pulling himself free with a wrenching tear that ripped the rest of his coat to shreds. "Ah damn."
"Never mind the coat," Koudelka said and started up the creaking wooden stairs.
As they turned on the first landing, Yuri strained to see the upper balcony but there were crates piled at one end and Yuri had a feeling they could easily hide their shooter. He pushed past Koudelka and took the stairs two at a time, making the upper landing ahead of the others and, with the dagger in one hand and a scowling expression, made his determined way toward the boxes. A heartbeat later a shadow moved in the background and shots fired. With a growl, Yuri burst into a sprint, covering the remaining balcony walkway in seconds and plowing into a pile of boxes, scattering them. The shooter was now behind the second set of crates and began firing directly onto Yuri, but his nervous shots pinged off crates, boxes and the far wall and missed the fusionist.
By now, James had caught up and had opened fire with his pistol, but the crates were in the way so he moved aside for Koudelka's fire magic to ignite the wooden containers, sending the first batch into a flaming pyre. Yuri had jumped over the boxes he'd scattered and had pursued the shooter who now ran around to the other side of the crates, but when he was faced with fire instead, he turned and fired rapidly at Yuri. One slug found its way into Yuri's shoulder, but the fusionist shook it off with a grunt, grabbed the other's shirtfront, and pulled him onto the waiting dagger. But the point was turned away and in the next instant, the shooter had pushed away and was reloading his pistol. More bullets followed the first ones and Yuri found himself dodging fire that is more accurate until he finally decided it was too dangerous and backed away.
"Look out!" Koudelka shouted as her flare magic erupted again and the remaining crates burst into flames.
"Bastard's got on some kind of armor," Yuri said as he returned to Koudelka's side, his hand pressing hard on the bleeding shoulder. "Turned the knife aside like nothin'."
"Perhaps magic then?" and with that she summoned another spell, sending ice shards crashing down onto their assailant to no avail.
Behind him, Yuri could hear James summoning another spell and he moved away, letting the priest have a clear shot. He watched the two of them for a moment as Koudelka changed to fire magic once more. The shooter hunched down to reload and Yuri took the opportunity to try a fusion, one that could hurl fire much stronger than anything Koudelka or James could summon with their magic. A moment of concentration and Yuri fused his soul once more, this time with a seven foot red giant what screamed power and destruction. Unlike his earlier fire fusion Inferno, Forron was not something to trifle with.
Yuri towered over James and Koudelka who, seeing the massive fusion, moved back. Forron moved forward a few steps and gestured, defining the area of his attack with his hands and his mind and then summoned his fire magic. The balcony and landing began to shake and rumble, dust filtering down from the ceiling as well and suddenly the floor opened before them, a huge pit of darkness splitting the floor in two and the rumble turned to the screams of a million voices – the laments of the damned as the a huge gate rose from the darkness. Another rumble began, this one deeper, and the gates were suddenly flung wide, great gouts of sulfuric fire pouring out to flood the landing, searing and charring everything in its path, including the remaining crates and their assailant. And as the fire receded and Yuri released his fusion, they watched as the shooter collapsed to the now clear floor, his clothing smoking with char and revealing armor.
Yuri ran back across to the man and kicked the gun out of his hand and, hauling him up, slammed him against the wall.
"You bastard," Yuri growled, pounding the man's head against the wall. "Who are you, an' why the hell are you shootin' at us?"
"E – Elias," the man said with a groan of pain.
"He's the one sneaking around in the shadows and sniffing for treasure," Koudelka said as she joined them.
"Yeah, an' probably the one I saw looking down on us in that cell. Why didn't you help, ya bastard?" Yuri added before shoving the man down onto the floor where he collapsed once more.
James, brushing off his coat as if removing some noisome soil, joined them. "Well sir, explain yourself? It's plain as day that this ruffian is the bloodthirsty killer that's been chasing us!" he exclaimed. The man, in pain, frowned but said nothing. "Where are you from? Hamburg? Not that it matters; you're obviously a dirty immigrant – probably infected with cholera or something..."
"It's none of your business where I'm from, you bastard!" the man finally said, his voice revealing his foreignness as James had suspected, and then groaned when Yuri kicked him.
"I don't care where you were born," Koudelka said, moving closer. "And I agree he is a bastard – but tell me, did you kill all those people?" and she nodded toward the stairs.
"Look, I'm an immigrant, an' a thief, and maybe I did drop a chandelier on you... but that's just 'cause I wanted the whole thing to myself," Elias answered, squinting up at Koudelka. "But I never killed those people."
"Then who did?" Yuri asked, kneeling down next to the thief. He wanted to look the man in the face to judge his words.
"It was that old couple; I swear to God..." Elias said and looked up at James, "not your god..."
"You're saying it was that kind married couple? You liar!" James exclaimed, moving in with a raised fist before recollecting himself and moving away as if from an infected beast.
"It was them; the ones that take care o' this place. I've seen 'em! I've been down here a couple of months now, scouring th' place. They'll use an axe when they catch thieves. Thieves come down here unarmed... they're stupid," the man said and paused to catch his breath.
"Unbelievable," James retorted.
"No," Elias continued, "I tell you, the lucky ones die in th' first strike! I've heard the others screaming through the night – clutchin' their bellies. I find them in th' morning dead – no! Oh, I'm telling you the truth!" The thief was sagging against the wall, one arm clutching his side where the fire had scorched off his clothing and where his armor was not buckled. "Those two, they're Satan incarnate," he continued after a moment. "I may be a thief, but I'm not a killer; and th' more wholesome they look on the outside, the colder and uglier the heart is on th' inside," and Elias looked up at James, "just look at him!"
Yuri snorted. "Yeah, good assessment," he said.
James pointed at the wounded thief, his own features crinkling into a deep frown. "You're crazy if you believe this scoundrel! This killer has obviously executed hundreds of people. He needs to be turned over to the police and judged..."
"We're crazy?" Koudelka interrupted, "Why, because he's a dirty immigrant? Or is it because he is one of the unsaved? That's bull and you know it you pig-headed bigot!"
James turned to Koudelka, his hand raised as if to cuff her but Yuri stood and quickly caught the arm, holding it unmoving in a vice-like grip.
"I believe him," he said quietly. "Thieves can be very honest ya know," he continued and let James' arm fall free. James rubbed the feeling back into his numb wrist and moved away from Yuri, once again feeling wary around the admitted thief and monster. "Still, ya did try ta kill us," Yuri continued and his voice grew cold and his eyes darkened to nearly black. He moved back to the thief and before either James or Koudelka could stop him, he pulled back one fist and sent it slamming into the thief's face, crushing his nose, eyes and forehead with the force of the blow and sending a shower of blood spattering along the wall.
"What did you do that for?" James cried in shock and knelt by the dead man's side as Yuri rose and shook the blood from his hand.
"Can't trust him not to try again. This way is better," Yuri said.
Neither James nor Koudelka commented and Yuri bent beside the cooling corpse and methodically searched the body, ignoring James' quiet Pater Noster. He removed the ill-fitting armored vest and, giving it a critical eye, handed it toward James.
"Here, this looks like it would fit you," he said.
"What! You would rob the dead?" James exclaimed with distaste.
Yuri looked over at the priest and scowled. "Fine, but don't expect me to waste any magic healing you when you get hurt."
James hesitated and looked toward Koudelka but no sympathy came from her. Instead, she too had knelt down and was pulling off the padding that the thief wore under the armored vest and inspected it. With a nod, she pulled it on, tying the laces in front. James took the armor and Yuri stood and helped him strap it on under his coat, then he went back to searching the corpse. In all they relieved the dead man of his armor and padding, his double-action pistol and several boxes of extra rounds; he also wore several brooches that Koudelka laughed at when she found them.
"Well this explains his resistance to everything but fire," she said showing off one brooch. It was shaped like a small, wide shield with blue enamel inlaid in one part and faded silver whorls in the chevron pattern. "A water brooch," she said and pinned it on.
Yuri took the other braces, and gave one to James, showing him how to use it; they were leather and brass for the most part, with odd sigils engraved in the brass pieces, and would afford minimal protection from physical assault but a little better help than mere coat sleeves against magic.
"Are you anticipating magical enemies?" James asked, adjusting the brace on his arm.
"Well, we've already seen several; and I just like to be prepared is all. Never hurts to be ready in case," Yuri answered.
Koudelka stood and showed the last of the items she had pulled from the thief's pouch: a handful of miscellaneous medicines, a half dozen small bottles of listel, which the non-magic using thief must have thought mere wine, and a small leather bag with bread, cheese and dried food, mostly fish.
"Ahh, good, we can eat," Yuri said with a grin and Koudelka chuckled as she put the items into her own pouch.
"Shall we go?"
"What's next do you think?" Yuri asked no one in particular as he approached the door at the end of the landing. "Let me guess," he said, "another store room."
He swung open the door and snorted. James looked over his shoulder and laughed quietly.
"Good guess," he said. "What's this? A puzzle?"
All three entered the room and stared at the floor. It was laid out like a checkerboard, with four squares from right to left and four from bottom to top. Each square had a symbol in it and Koudelka and James stood looking at it while Yuri crossed the floor to the door opposite.
"It's locked," he said and turned in disgust toward the others. "What's with the puzzle, Koudelka? Does it mean anything?"
Koudelka was staring at the patterns on the floor. "I'm not sure."
James walked out and stopped in the middle of one square, knelt and pressed onto the floor. He repeated this over several other squares before finally turning with a scowl.
"It's a pressure puzzle. We step on the right squares in the right order to open the door," he said. "I've seen similar at the Vatican; an interesting conundrum as we have no clues regarding the symbols. Did we miss some hidden room or something?" he turned to Yuri.
Yuri shrugged. "Yeah, we probably did; no keys for some of them and doors too thick to open. But we should be able to figure this out, yes? You're both smart; you knew it was a – a pressure floor," and he indicated James with a wave of his left hand.
"That doesn't solve the puzzle however," James retorted.
"James come over here, Yuri get back," Koudelka said and stepped up to a puzzle square. She stepped into the center of the square and then took another step to the second row. Nothing happened. "Where should I go from here?"
Yuri was standing next to the fourth row, his boot next to a trident. He looked at the pitchfork and blinked. Next to it was something that looked like an eye.
"Say, Koudelka, remember the stairwell? We were looking at those funny symbols on the doorjamb. These four here," and he pointed at the four symbols painted onto the floor. "What if these are the symbols you have to stand on to open the door?"
Koudelka looked at the four symbols and followed them from where Yuri was standing to the middle of the checkerboard. "We'd still have to figure out how to get to them Yuri. They end here, in the middle," she said.
Yuri was chewing his lower lip and pacing back and forth like a caged lion, scowling at the floor.
"Well what if you step on the one below the bottle, then follow the path to the middle and go down toward James?" he suggested.
Koudelka tried it, starting from James' side and tracing the pattern of symbols. When she got to Yuri's side, he tried the door. Nothing happened.
"God damn," the fusionist cursed.
"Yuri, if you please," James admonished with a deepening scowl. "God will grant us wisdom if some would only have faith."
Yuri looked across the room at James and wished he was close enough to hit. "I don't believe in yer religion, James. I don't care. I believe in me, 'cause that's all I've had. Now if you can come up with the answer to this puzzle, then I might listen. Might," he said. 'But not soon,' he thought and waited for James to suggest something.
James paced back and forth, his hands steepled in front of him as if in prayer. He seemed oblivious as he paced first to the left and looked at the marked squares, and then returned to the right. Finally, with a sigh, he looked at Koudelka.
"I think the designer of this puzzle must have been steeped in forbidden magic; there have been sigils and runes carved everyplace we've gone, including onto the Lord's fonts. I remember reading once, while studying at the Vatican, that many ancient occult forces were involved with numbers - three, seven and nine being prominent. I think nine might be the answer here."
Koudelka looked at James with a look of surprise. "Of course," she exclaimed. "My teacher often mentioned things like that. Three was the Trinity – father, mother, and child. Nine was the number of the universe."
"Your teacher?" James asked as he moved back to let Koudelka stand at the beginning again.
"Madame Blavatsky. She took me in and raised me; and helped me hone my psychic skills. I – I haven't thought of her in a few years – not since she passed away."
"So what's that about nine and stuff?" Yuri asked.
"It's quite simple," James said, sounding like a school lecturer. "If the number of the world is nine, then all things must add up to or reduce down to nine. In this case we have four symbols, the bottle, the pitchfork, the mirror and the eyeball, as you so eloquently described them." James was smiling as he said that, knowing full well that Yuri wouldn't know the true names of the markings.
"James, don't be mean," Koudelka muttered and pointed out the four symbols in question. "A bottle of elixir, Neptune, Mercury and Prestor John's All Seeing Eye," she said. James snorted. "Four symbols. And a need to make five more to add up to nine."
Yuri pointed at a jug and a mixing bowl leading off from the bottle. "Well, there's three right there, and the triangle where you start at yer feet."
"But that's only eight," Koudelka said, then pointed at another painted block just beyond the last known symbol. "Either that one, or this one," and she then pointed to the one closest to her.
"Well, try them then," James said.
"Okay, triangle, bowl, jug and then bottle," Koudelka walked the path she named and then stopped. "Now what? Go back to jug?"
"No, go forward Koudelka," James suggested. "Take the arrow, then return, like Mercury in retrograde."
Koudelka smiled and did as suggested, stepping onto the square with an arrow then returning to the bottle.
"And now pitchfork, eyeball and mirror," Yuri said grinning and moved out of Koudelka's way. They all heard the click as the door unlocked when Koudelka stepped on the last square. "We did it!"
1 Sir Lewis Morris, 1833-1907, "Tolerance".