If you haven't done so yet, please check the note on chapter 9. Thank you.
The darkness has finally covered the wide sky, making his patient wait worthwhile at last. Slowly and deliberately, like a spilled spot of ink that covers the entire cloth with lasting, purposeful movements, the night grows and expands its grasp on the world.
Patience. The virtue of the hunters, as the creature uses to say.
But tonight he is not the hunter. He is but the stalker, the silent watcher that must cower in the shadows and then scurry off to meet his master and report what he has seen.
Invisible. Harmless. Oh, what a shame for the powerful, what a torture for the bloodthirsty… But do the creature's biding he must. He still needs it.
A hushed growl stirs the frightful leaves around the spot where Shadow hides. How revolting, how truly humiliating, this return to a puppet existence… Servant of the rotting remnants of an already deceased leader.
But growling will have to do for now. He needs the creature, if only for a short time. Soon… soon they'll be united once again. Soon the power will be theirs. The world…
No. Enough rambling, he can't blow it now. A servant he will be, a mere stalker as ordered. It is time to enter the house…
But what is this? A male crosses the wooden doors in a fierce rage, moving through the garden with a reckless and decided stride.
Shadow recedes to his hiding place once again, a sudden animal urge rushing over him. He doesn't need to recall the creature's words, not even put much though into it… he knows who stands before him.
Lux Veritatis.
Ah, the craving… the temptation of taking out the last one and feasting on his crimson life… Control yourself. Eternity must not be spoiled at the expense of a momentary yearning.
And so he waits. If the filthy guardian wishes to leave the house, he'll let him… his main target is the woman. Still inside, he gathers?
The man stops abruptly, alarmingly close to where Shadow is hiding. Too close. He bites back a growl and crouches further.
There is simply no way the pathetic mortal can sense him… That would go beyond humiliation.
Kurtis halts his enraged march halfway down the gravel path. Amid all his anger, he has no idea how he could gather the presence of mind to notice this, but he does: the silence. The overwhelming, crushing silence that threatens to fall on him and swallow him whole.
Things aren't supposed to be silent…
A country house, in the middle of vast grassy grounds and such a starry night… Why such silence? What happened to the crickets, to all the night time bugs and critters?
It's too silent.
A brief look around shows him a calm, peaceful garden. A silent garden. The cool breeze wipes through the bushes and ruffles their leaves gently, leaving a feeling of lightness in its path.
Why, then, does the atmosphere feel so heavy?
"Are you just gonna let him go?" Aysha asks, unbelieving. Lara's eyes fulminate her instantly.
"What will you have me do? Run after him and beg him to stay?"
The younger girl mouths a sound of frustration.
"You guys need each other!" noticing Lara's expression, she adds quickly "You need to work together, I mean! I though you were trying to work out this whole Cabal mess, how d'ya intend to do that on your own?" She receives a curt 'mind your own business' as a reply and curses loudly. Well, Lara has never actually heard a similar word, nor can she identify the language, but she is sure the kid meant it as a curse…
"Why do you humans always have to be so fucking complicated?" And with that, the proto storms down the stairs without a glance back.
Lara's first thoughts are of relief. Then comes the apprehension.
She wouldn't dare…
Quickly and in silence, she makes her way to the main hall and dares a peek out the door. Her eyes widen in furious disbelief.
She dared.
"KID! Get back here THIS INSTANCE!"
Kurtis shakes himself mentally. Could his screwed up brain be making up senseless excuses to keep him in that house? After all, he hasn't been acting very sane lately… What, with voices in his head and weird dreams… Another mental shake. He's going to leave now and get as far away from lady Croft as humanly possible.
With this resolve, he tears his eyes away from the garden and rushes towards the tall iron gates. He stops in his tracks again, however, this time halted by the annoyed calling of his name.
"TRENT!"
Oh for fuck's sake…
He turns around halfway, not even knowing why he bothers. The proto is running in his direction with Lara on her heels, the later apparently trying to preserve some of her oh-so-valuable dignity.
"What now?" He snaps harshly, preparing to tell the bloody kid to get inside and stay out of grown-up business. He doesn't get the chance, however, as she halts suddenly, halfway across the gravel path, with the look of someone whose brain as just been frozen solid. Or seen a ghost. For some reason, he thinks the first option is more likely…
The girl just stands there for a few seconds, a wide-eyed surprise written across her face, blood still carelessly dripping from her ignored cut. Then she begins to frantically scan her surroundings, as if she had suddenly woken up in an unknown place.
Under the cover of the bushes, Shadow can't believe what his eyes show him.
No. It can't be.
Frantic eyelids snap shut over steel orbs and he shakes his head furiously. Checking again. She's still there.
Impossible.
And she knows he's there. Maybe not where, or who exactly he is… but she knows someone's there. Someone familiar. She's looking for him.
All thoughts of stealth or the creature's orders vanish as Shadow stands up abruptly, automatically sending his sister into a defensive stance.
Aysha greets the newcomer with incredulous eyes.
It can't be.
"Ethaniel?" the name leaves her lips feebly, a shaky whisper, almost as if she were afraid to pronounce it.
He nods slowly and reaches out to her with an awe that she doesn't remember. Apprehensive and slightly frightened, she draws back at once. It doesn't feel right… She's been looking so hard for all of them and now he's standing right there, before her… Just like that… It just doesn't feel right…
"It can't be you" she mutters, not knowing what to say. Ethaniel seems to have awakened from his trance-like surprise and his confident features are back once again.
"Audite me, sanctimonialis de meus gens. Cruor de meum pater" he recites in a hushed tone, so only she can hear him.
Aysha shakes her head in mere disbelief, but replies shakily:
"Audio, frater de cruor. Viscus de mea mater" She makes no effort to stop him as he smiles broadly and grasps her hands in his, even though every cell in her body is screaming at her to stay away from him. A question in his eyes when he notices the blood, soon silenced by a shake of her head.
"I had no idea I'd find you here!" he admits. Aysha can only smile feebly. So may alarm bells… But why? He's her brother…
"Where were you all this time?" she demands, forcefully shrugging the disturbing thoughts off. And the pain. Pain travelling from her hand and spreading throughout her entire arm, hurting so much more than a simple blade cut should…
Shadow seems to hesitate for a moment, another trait so unlike him that it leaves Aysha even more nervous.
"I've been looking for the others… listen, I need to tell…" He suddenly seems aware that the two humans are watching them "What the hell are you doing with these people?" he snaps.
Aysha glances from a very apprehensive Lara to thoroughly pissed Kurtis.
"We met by chance… Kurtis is…"
"I know what he is!" Shadow grasps her arm and yanks her forcefully to his side. Not that she's unused to this kind of treatment, but his attitude is leaving her anything but comfortable…
"Ethaniel, they've fought the Cabal too! They can help us…"
"'Help us'?" he hisses "Since when do we need any help from humans? From that filth, of all humans" he nods disdainfully towards Kurtis.
"Damn it, will you just let me explain?" she yanks her arm free and, before he can say anything else, starts "We can use their help all right, it's in our best interest to get rid of what's left of the Cabal! They can help us do that! Then we can just blend in with the humans and live our lives, nobody else will bug us!"
Shadow eyes his impertinent sister up and down, somewhat surprised at how fast she's forgotten seventeen years of harsh military hierarchy, but he'll have to deal with that later. Something she said is stinging him like a sharp thorn on his side.
"Blend in? With humans? What's gotten into you? Humans are the enemy!"
"But if you just…"
"No 'buts'!" What's with her? Humans are their natural enemy! They were the ones responsible for the mass slaughter of their ancestors, for their life long curse! Does she, even for a moment, think that the human society would hesitate in eliminating one of them, should they ever find out what they were?
"Don't you see? We can rule them!" Aysha winces. He's once again gripping her already throbbing arm "We're the superior race, we were always meant to rule! The time for humans is over…" Aysha tries in vain to break free from his grasp. His demented rambling is scaring her and her panicked thoughts are now returning to Lara and Kurtis, just a few feet away, both armed. She only hopes they don't make the fatal mistake of facing Ethaniel…
"We can do it on our own, the seven of us" Ethaniel continues, now seeming somewhat desperate to tell her all about some insane plan "With Karel's help, we can…"
"KAREL?" She draws back from him as if hit by an electrical jolt "What does Karel got to do with any of this?"
"Nothing!" he rushes to assure "He's just a means to an end, he'll help us find the others and then, when his usefulness ends…"
"Stop!" the conscious part of Aysha's brain is racing with all sorts of disturbing thoughts while the unconscious one is simply worried about putting as much distance between them as possible "Don't you see? You're talking just like him! You're becoming him!"
Ethaniel glares at her, missing her point entirely.
"But we are the future! Don't you get it?" his sister's expression doesn't change and, in his frustration, he's overcome by some irrational rage.
It has to be their fault. The humans. It's always their fault. All of a sudden he doesn't care about the creature's orders anymore. A deep growl assembles deep in his innards, making its way up his throat and threatening to explode at any second.
"Them… it was them, wasn't it?" he hisses dangerously. Aysha just shakes her head and mouths a 'what?' "It was them! They've been getting these ridiculous notions into your head!"
Things have hit the red zone and she knows it. Whoever Ethaniel has become, she doesn't know him anymore. It's one thing to hate humans, but to raise an army to wipe them out?
Their army…
This is getting out of hand.
"Nobody's getting anything into my head!" she bellows desperately "I'm just not as blind as you!"
But he doesn't hear her. His eyes are full of some animal anger and he's staring intently at 'the humans'.
"It's not your fault…" he rambles "You're young… you don't know anything yet… Don't worry, I'll put an end to this…"
"Ethaniel, no!"
"Everything will be like before, don't you worry… Except this time we'll be in charge" Before she has time to react, he's begun, going for Kurtis first.
Time slows down to about a third in Lara's eyes and everything seems to happen in slow motion. Still, Ethaniel is too fast to be more than a passing shadow, a fluid spot of colour lunging towards Kurtis. His Chirugai flies through the now stale air, so slow and yet so noisy… the turning of blades pierces the air with the sound of a thousand swords, an unbearable clashing of metal that wounds her ears.
A spot of red sprouts from the form that is Ethaniel, not stopping it for a second. And then her own hand automatically shoots up, gun in hand. One. Two. Three shots. More red. Beautiful crimson flowers bloom from the Nephilim's body, never halting his movement.
Everything is happening too fast for her to even assemble thoughts. So slow and yet so fast… And then, all of a sudden, time regains its natural course. Ethaniel is no longer lunging for Kurtis, but lying on the floor. Aysha is on top of him, hand clasped claw like around his throat, the blood flowing from her palm mixing with the one from his wounds.
He looks surprised for a millisecond but then a wide grin spreads across his twisted features. Lara can't make out the words he hisses to his sister.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Aysha shudders as he speaks, but the perfect balance of anger and fear keeps her where she is. It all happened too fast to be planned and, before she knew it, she was on him. Her fingers, she notices with dread, have elongated into pale, sharp claws, clasped around his throat. She's downright terrified, a sensation increased by his proud and delighted smile.
He's demented. She's sure of it now.
"I know you do" he insists, rising a tempting finger to trace the newly formed markings on her face. Her mechanical reaction is to tighten her grip on his throat, making him gasp but never erasing his grin "It feels good, don't it? The power…" Stroking her freezing cheek now "Embrace it, it's yours"
"Quiet" she hisses in a voice that isn't quite her own "You've lost it"
"Maybe" he chuckles "But you've gained it, little sister. Watcha gonna do with it?"
Silence. She feels the overwhelming urge to dilacerate his throat.
"Embrace it" he taunts "It's yours. Use it, join me. Together we can make them pay, all of them"
A growl makes its way out of her pursed lips. That offer hurts way too much, much more than it should, much more than the wounded hand. It sends a sickening feeling to the pit of her stomach, as if something had begun to twist around in there, struggling and wriggling to make its way out.
She tightens her grip once again, razor sharp claws drawing small rivulets of blood this time.
"Go away" she whispers, an icy hiss that freezes the night around them "Never come back. And stay the hell away from them"
Ethaniel chuckles painfully. In two seconds, his body is evaporating and darkening, a foggy shadow making its way out of his sister's grasp.
"You can't hide from it" the warning echoes in the night, following the parting shadow "It's your destiny. And mine. We'll meet again, sis" and, with that, he vanishes from view, leaving blood spots as the only trace of his passing.
Aysha stumbles backwards, painfully connecting with the ground. Her vision is covered by a red haze and her body feels so hot that she begins to shiver with cold. She has the overwhelming urge to dive into some pond to wash it off her… to wash him off her… to wash something off her. But she feels that if she stands up she might throw up. Or faint. Possibly both.
Lara stares at the slumped proto on the floor, not quite knowing what to make of her. It all happened so fast… She takes in her quickly disappearing marks, being disgustingly reminded of Karel, her red eyes and retracting claws. She can't deny that, more than once during the fight, she felt the urge to shoot them both to hell… Not that it would do much difference, anyway… And the kid did save Trent's ass…
Her eyes are suddenly drawn to Kurtis', a couple of steps away from the iron gate. He returns the look, mutely placing his Chirugai back on its resting spot around his waist. A meaningful gesture, she thinks.
"What now?" the rhetorical question escapes her distracted lips as her eyes return to Aysha.
"Now we hunt them down. Again" Kurtis replies simply, voice devoid of any emotion.
"And what do you intend to use? No more periapt shards, remember? Karel's still alive and those things are" a quick glance to the proto "at least faster than us"
"We'll manage" he answers.
"We have to move" The sudden hoarse intervention makes them both jump in surprise and face Aysha's kneeling form "You can't waste time or hesitate. They won't"
"That's very nice, kid, but we can't exactly use bullets" Kurtis retorts, somewhat surprised by her attempts to get up, in her condition.
Lara rushes to her side and supports her by the arm.
"Aysha, do you know why your brother came here? I mean, it wasn't for you, he didn't even now you were here…"
Aysha shakes her head sadly.
"Karel… he said something about Karel" she mumbles, grasping her forehead with a shaking hand. Kurtis and Lara exchange worried glances.
"He said a lot of things… about a lot of things" Lara tries, but the girl seems to dizzy to even understand what she is talking about.
"Karel is dangerous…" she rambles "Ethaniel's being naïve…"
Kurtis snorts, earning a reproachful glare from Lara. Of course, naïve is also the last adjective she would choose for that guy, but now isn't the time to…
"Blood" Aysha speaks suddenly "Their blood… we can use their blood" Kurtis is left under the strong impression that she is delirious and is about to tell to make sense or just shut up when she completes the statement "The blood sign… from the paintings…" and, with that, she falls limp.
Unprepared, Lara almost drops her on the ground, but manages to support her weight in time. Completely lost, she turns to Kurtis.
"It's just exhaustion" he shrugs "She mustn't be used to this sort of power display… Come on, we're leaving" he announces, turning on his heels and striding towards the gate without a second explanation.
"Leaving? Leaving to where?"
"Prague" he replies curtly.
"Prague? What the hell are we going to do in Prague?"
"We're gonna get the Blood Sign" Lara is about to retort, but he cuts her off "No time now, we'll chat along the way"
Defeated, she shrugs.
"I'm driving" she warns "Oh and be a gentleman and carry the kid yourself, will ya?" he curses under his breath, but complies, supporting Aysha's limp body all the way to the garage.
"Winston!" Lara suddenly remembers as she inserts the key in the ignition.
"You'll call him when we get there, there's no time now" Kurtis snaps. There's a certain urgency in his tone "We gotta be out of this country by sunrise"
Lara grunts but snaps the gear into position. With a last glance at the back seat to make sure Trent didn't just throw Aysha in there like some rag doll, she drives the Aston Martin out of the garage and into the night.
And here we go again…
Translations for the fragmented and most likely inaccurate latin:
Audite me, sanctimonialis de meus gens. Cruor de meum pater - Hear me, sister of my clan. Blood of my father.
Audio, frater de cruor. Viscus de mea mater - I hear, brother of blood. Flesh of my mother.
The title, as I'm sure you can deduce, means Brothers of Blood or Siblings of Blood, or whatever the heck you like... it doesn't sound very nice in English...
Chapter eleven is on it's way, hopefully in the next few weeks. Summer gets me into a creative mood (aka insomnia), so I'll be writting a lot.
Thanks a lot for reading and please take a few minutes to review, I'll be very grateful ;)