A quick note before starting this chapter :
Thank you again Ferilium for all those kind reviews, as you have guessed, there's something going on indeed, but this is not only about the statuette… ;) but if you read carefully you may find some other clues about it, and there are obviously more details and clues to come especially in the next chapters ;)
And a quick note of course to thank again all the people who take time to read this story :) hope you enjoy it!
4 - In The Depths Of The Golden City
BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON, ENGLAND, TWO DAYS AFTER
Great Russell Street was particularly crowded this morning. She slalomed deftly between the lines of cars, occasionally getting honked at, and drove straight into the large cobbled courtyard of the museum. She drove towards one of the remote corners of the building, now heading to the service entrances and unloading areas. The motorbike slowed down before coming to a complete stop in a corner away from the public, before she turned off the engine.
The adventuress get off the bike and strode confidently towards the southern access door. A security guard glanced briefly at her badge before nodding to let her in. Two men in suits chatting at the entrance to the building gave her a quick glance. She entered the huge dark corridor that led down into the most secret corners of the museum.
Mark had contacted her late in the evening to ask her to join him. He had an appointment with the head of Egyptology Departement here. Nothing too exciting in this case, as they would no doubt be reviewing the progress of the exhibition. Lara could already see herself entangled in an interminable meeting for the next two or three hours, during which it was very likely that she would not escape a thorough interrogation about her last mission in Egypt, which had obviously gone wrong.
She felt the mobile phone in her jeans pocket vibrate. She reached for it carefully, and couldn't hold back a smile when she discovered the number of her caller. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello, you've reached Miss Croft's mobile. I only answer in case of extreme emergency. If you are about to die, or if we know each other very intimately, I might make an effort to call you back."
She passed two women by, obviously museum employees, who looked at her with wide, surprised eyes. The adventuress heard her caller laughing on the other end of the line.
"Okay, then what about someone who's almost died several times already and who's very, very intimate to Miss Croft?"
The young woman smiled.
"Glad to hear from you, stranger."
"I had five minutes, 'just call to give you some news."
"How adorable is that. But who said that I want news from you or that I even care?"
The mercenary laughed in her ear again.
"I know you already miss my humour and my unfailing charm."
"Is that what you say to all the girls you leave behind whenever you go on a mission?"
"Only to you, the others don't ask so many questions."
Lara could not hold back a laugh. She imagined the smirk that must have appeared on the mercenary's mouth at that moment, and this thought made her smile even more.
"So tell me, how is it going for you?"
"Pretty well. I've put my physical abilities to the test, but we're making progress."
"Do you know more about what you have to do and the object you have to get?"
"Yes," the young man simply answered.
Lara shook her head. She felt unsettled by this abrupt response and the young man's serious, unemotional voice.
"I suppose you can't tell me nothing?"
There was a slight silence on the other end of the line. She heard the mercenary sigh.
"No. But I'm sure you'd love it. Underground galleries which entrance is underwater. But I guess this would be no problem for you."
Lara pouted, disappointed at not getting more details from him.
"Does this mean you've improved your swimming skills?" she asked mockingly.
"Kind of. I'll have to show you when I'm back."
"When you're back?" she repeated.
The mercenary held silence once again. Even without seeing him, Lara could feel his discomfort.
"Yeah, within some weeks."
"Some weeks?" she asked, a bit surprised.
The adventuress passed through a control door, which she pushed aside with her shoulder. She arrived in a large storage area with glass walls, through which she saw Mark, in the company of another man in a suit of dubious colours. The young man waved at her and gave her a big smile when he saw her in the distance. Lara quickly replied with a small wave of the hand too.
"If that bookworm keeps smiling at you like that, I think I'll probably show up sooner than expected to kick his ass."
She couldn't help but laugh, and turned away from Mark and the other archaeologist to finish her conversation out of sight.
"How did you guess?"
"I can feel from here what's going on in his pants as he watches you," Kurtis answered in an ironic voice.
"I've told you this problem was already solved."
"This is the kind of male problems which can never been solved. I just wanna watch your ass."
"We'll see that when you're back, indeed."
Kurtis let out a naughty laugh, and Lara felt the red rise in her cheeks as she imagined for a moment how their next encounter would end. All the anger she had felt over the last few weeks, all the doubts she had about the mission the mercenary had been given, had gradually faded away, although she did not feel totally at ease.
The silence fell between them. Again, Lara could feel the smile on the mercenary's face, but despite everything, she felt like a slight, but very present wall between her and the young man.
"So this is kind of a big contract you've found there?" the adventuress asked, returning to their original subject.
The young man sounded more and more uncomfortable. Or at least, reluctant to expand on the subject.
"Yeah, seems like there are still quite a lot of things to sort out. It may take longer than we initially think to fulfill the mission."
She knew he couldn't see her, but the young woman couldn't help shaking her head, keeping silence.
"Are you okay?" the mercenary asked as he sensed the discomfort of the Englishwoman.
Lara frowned.
"Yes... well, I have to say that's not exactly what I expected, but... that's good for you," she finally answered as she tried to hide her astonishment.
Lara glanced behind her to find that Mark and the other archaeologist were still talking. The Egyptologist glanced questioningly at the adventuress again.
"I guess this is the moment when I should tell you that I'm really going to miss you..."
She heard Kurtis laugh again.
"Why, d'you miss me?"
"We'll, maybe you're the one who misses me, as you don't really call usually..."
They paused. She was happy to hear his voice, but found him strangely silent, and once again, relatively distant with her.
"Kurtis, is everything okay?" she asked abruptly.
Silence. She sensed the hesitation in his voice.
"Yeah... Just wanted to hear your voice."
"Alright," she answered, almost laughing now. "Since when are you kind of a romantic guy?"
She heard him laugh too.
"Stop complaining, all the other girls don't have that kind of compliments."
"Should I consider myself lucky then?" Lara asked provocatively.
"I think I'm the luckiest one here," Kurtis answered in a soft and mysterious voice.
She smiled at those words, and she knew the mercenary was too. As she turned her head again towards Mark and his colleague, she suddenly felt kind of disgusted and nauseous, and her head started hurting like hell, but she couldn't explain why. She shook her head, trying to ignore the feeling.
"Sorry Lara, I... I need to go."
Lara pursed her lips, a little destabilized by feeling suddenly that sick and also disappointed that their conversation was cut short.
"You sure you okay?" she heard him asked again.
Lara frowned, surprised by the young man's insistence. She wasn't quite sure what he meant, to tell the truth. The image of the statuette on Mark's desk a few days before briefly crossed her mind, but she pushed it to the back of her mind before the nausea got even worse.
"Yes, I'm okay. Just give me some news whenever you have the time to."
"I will. I'll have plenty of things to tell you."
"Great. Speak to you soon, then."
"Yeah, bye."
To Lara's astonishment, there was a loud click, and the conversation abruptly ended. Slightly offended, the aventuress turned around and walked back to her colleagues, not sure what to think about this conversation.
—
He put his phone away in his pocket, and for a few seconds he stood there, his gaze lost into the waters of the Vltava. The first rays of sunlight were now breaking through the morning mist, creeping between the hundreds of church towers and spires, but they were not comfortingly warm. The capital was slowly coming into view, just as cold and hostile as the last time he had left it.
After a last breath of fresh air, he turned around and headed for the car that was waiting for him a few metres away. The mixed-race woman, perched on her high heels and wrapped in her long, thick coat, watched him approach with a piercing eye.
"Is everything okay?" Miranda asked suspiciously, pointing to the phone Kurtis had just put in his pocket.
The young man merely nodded silently in response. With a movement of the hand, the Norwegian invited him to take a seat in the car, whose rear door was wide open. After a last second of hesitation, the young man resigned himself and sat down, not far from Tobias, who was himself sitting in the back of the car. The Norwegian gave him a broad smile.
"Where to now?" the mercenary finally asked.
Miranda slid into the front passenger seat and slammed the door.
"You'll know more in a few hours," Tobias simply replied.
He signalled the driver. The car started up quietly and left the industrial area. They entered the highway and headed for the airport, leaving the old city behind.
There was a dead silence in the vehicle. The mercenary's gaze fell alternately on the driver, on Miranda, then on Tobias, before stopping on the small leather case wedged between him and the Norwegian. A feeling of great anxiety such as he had not felt for a long time seized him again.
—
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, THE DAY BEFORE
He approached the large French window and lifted the velvet curtain slightly to look out. It had been dark for a few hours over the Czech capital, which sparkled brightly in the dark sky.
He looked down at the taxi that had just parked just below the hotel. His mobile phone vibrated in his pocket. He grabbed his things, and got out without delay.
When he opened the door, he was unpleasantly surprised to discover that a young woman with clear eyes, wrapped in a black camouflage outfit, was waiting for him: Saija. The mercenary's face closed completely, and he climbed into the car without a word.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. Renner," she told him in an awfully sweet voice. "How was your trip?"
Kurtis watched her without a word, and reluctantly took his seat next to her. The taxi set off.
"I will assume it was good," the young woman answered with a pinched look in front of the young man's persistent silence.
The car sped along and took them several kilometres away, taking shortcuts and sometimes merging into narrow streets. All the while, the mercenary couldn't help but observe every detail, every street they passed, desperately looking for clues to their destination. He couldn't believe he was there again.
Saija bent down and rummaged through a large bag at her feet. She pulled out a variety of weapons, ropes, torches and other accessories.
"You'll find all the equipment you may need in this bag."
The mercenary nodded slowly. The young woman closed the bag before handing it to him, and also handed him various documents.
"You'll have to progress in stages. Here are some additional plans Tobias and Miranda gave me."
Kurtis grabbed the papers and took a quick look. Some technical plans of old industrial buildings, among others, and obviously several underground galleries.
"This is quite convenient to give them to me now, dont'cha think?"
The Norwegian girl gave him a murderous look.
"This is not my fault. I imagine they're just taking precautions, which would explain why they are only giving them to you now."
The mercenary suddenly frowned as he took another look at the documents and plans.
"And what about the object?" he asked, a little unsettled.
"You'll find out in due time," the young woman answered in a detached tone.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Kurtis, who could feel the anger rising inside him.
"You don't have to be that vulgar," the young woman replied coldly.
"What's the point here exactly? Will I have to guess what I'm supposed to find? How am I supposed to identify the object?"
"Believe me, you'll have no trouble identifying it," the young woman added, looking away.
After one last turn, the taxi finally slowed down, before coming to a complete stop in a dead end, between two tall buildings in poor condition.
"I'll leave you here. The access is through the trapdoor further to the left," Saija told him.
Once again, Kurtis did not answer. He simply folded up the plans he was given and slipped them into one of his pockets. He readjusted his jacket and got out of the car. Before he slammed the door, Saija's voice echoed one last time.
"Good luck, Mr Renner."
He ignored her and walked into the dead end. The taxi reversed and disappeared around the corner. The mercenary found himself alone, in the silence of the night. His boots crunched on the damp ground. A few metres away, he saw a huge trap door with a padlock. He stopped in front of the gate.
His thoughts were confused. The hostess's unpleasant voice continued to echo in his head like the buzzing of a swarm of bees, and Miranda's piercing, inquisitive gaze haunted him. The intentions of the two Norwegians were still not clear to him.
He didn't have to continue at this stage, he could have just left and disappeared without a word. But he wanted to know. He wanted to silence his doubts. His instincts were screaming at him to run, but something deep inside him prevented him from doing so. He had a bad feeling, and an unpleasant sensation of déjà vu.
It can't be that
But the more he struggled with this idea, the more it forced itself upon him.
—
He easily picked the rusty padlock that held the access gate, which creaked with an ominous sound as he lifted it. He slipped through the conduit, which lead into a long underground technical gallery, obviously abandoned, like the two buildings that surrounded it. It was pitch black down there, and he carefully took out a torch. The smell of dampness was strong, almost sickening, and the walls were covered with stains of all kinds, from rust to mould.
Kurtis glanced at the plan and moved forward. He walked down this corridor for a good hundred metres, before turning to his right and taking another similar gallery. Water dripped everywhere above him and on the walls, and large pipes ran across the ceilings in all directions. He imagined he was in the basement of one of the two factories that stood somewhere above him.
A few feet away, he finally saw a sort of opening in the wall. To his left, a small metal staircase plunged into the darkness. He went down carefully, before discovering a rusty metal door, also locked with an old padlock that he had no trouble breaking. The door itself resisted when he tried to open it. He gave several blows with his shoulder before it finally gave way and opened with a loud squeak. The smell that overwhelmed him took him by surprise. When he stepped forward, Kurtis discovered a new gallery that stretched as far as the eye could see to one side and to the other. The light of his lamp enabled him to perceive a huge tunnel, or at least, a huge vaulted corridor with a fairly high ceiling, supported by high arches. In the centre was a sort of canal whose stagnant, unclean water emitted regular little "blops". Judging by the smell and collie of the waters, it didn't take Kurtis long to realise that this was the city's sanitary sewer.
Great...
The passage between the arches and the water was very narrow, but should be enough to keep him dry, and not have to wade through the foul-smelling water.
At least, I hope so
The mercenary took a moment to check the map before continuing. He had to walk through this gallery for a while before finding another access shaft that would take him a little deeper into the underground of the Czech capital.
He launched himself down the narrow passage, moving carefully and trying to keep his balance. One by one, he passed the arches, each time clutching the slippery walls to avoid toppling into the rotting water. Several old pipes above his head were leaking and dripping, the icy water sometimes falling in large drops on his hair and shoulders. He finally reached a slightly larger platform and took the opportunity to pause and catch his breath. The muscles in his arms were strained and he pulled himself up for a moment.
A loud crack made him jump. He pulled his boran X and turned around, trying to see something in the darkness. His chirugai unbuckled from his belt and scouted with a loud whistle, flying over the high duct at full speed. Its golden light spread around the mercenary and illuminated the surroundings. In one corner, a few points of light suddenly appeared.
Kurtis held his breath, finger on the trigger. His eyes squinted slightly as he tried to see through the thick darkness. The points of light moved slightly, but did not seem to be coming in his direction, quite the opposite. He heard a few squeaks, and the pressure went down.
Rats
The small mammals disappeared behind metallic columns, and the mercenary lowered his weapon. He resumed his progress, leaving behind the rodents that he heard scratching in some of the pipes above his head. At his back, he heard the chirugai following him with a soft, reassuring whistle.
The last few metres were the most complicated and physical, the concrete being particularly slippery under his feet. His fingers were beginning to tire from having to hold on tightly to the sweaty pylons. He thought he would have to end his advance in the pit full of excrement and other waste of all kinds. The stench here was unbearable and stung his nostrils.
After a few more meters, he reached a new, much wider platform, at the intersection of several drainage channels. He glanced at his map, careful not to spoil it with his grimy fingers. He followed Tobias' annotated directions, which led him between two arches behind him. As he approached, he discovered a concrete wall. For a moment he thought he had taken a wrong turn, but then he looked down and saw a semi-circular opening, no more than a metre high, closed by a thick metal grille. The chirugai came back to him, remaining in a stance above his master, as if awaiting his orders.
Kurtis crouched down. His fingers slid over the metal of the perforated grate, he inspected the corners. Scratch marks littered the wall in some places, as if a metal object had scraped its way between the grate and the concrete. The mercenary slipped his fingers into the grid and pulled. To his surprise, it came off without him having to force it. He laid it on the ground to clear the opening, and shone his torch into the black hole that had just opened.
Svendsen's men must have been there before me
The men of the two Norwegians had therefore progressed so far without any problems before him. For the moment, he did not see any difficulties that would have merited his particular abilities. His turned his attention back to the small tunnel.
Strangely enough, it was just a simple earthen gallery, nothing like the concrete maze he had just walked through. At first glance, he realised it was an old earthen conduit. He turned his head to one side, then the other, checking his surroundings, but he saw nothing more than the sewers around him. His gaze returned to the pipe.
As if to encourage him, the chirugai came to life, and rushed through the opening without even waiting for his master. After a short second of hesitation, the mercenary got down on all fours and followed the golden groove that led the way.
The advance through the earth tunnel was not complicated, but relatively long. The ground was rough and unstable beneath him, and very wet. The American was glad, however, to be able to get away from the pungent, suffocating smell of the sewers.
He could not tell how long he had been like this, crawling along on all fours in the earth. The pipe, which seemed to go deeper and deeper into the earth, was plunged into an oppressive darkness. Fortunately, the metal disc and the torch kept him on his feet and calm.
A few meters ahead of him, his flying weapon suddenly seemed to disappear. The mercenary pressed on, and finally arrived in a sort of cavity that was much wider, and much higher than the rest of the gallery. There was enough space here for him to straighten up. He caught the chirugai, and reattached it to his belt. He made a quick tour of the place he had just reached: a sort of airlock, perhaps a wider duct, but his hopes were soon dashed. A pile of stone and earth, obviously from a landslide, blocked part of the space. It was a dead end.
The mercenary frowned and pulled out his map to check his path. After many seconds of tracing his route with his fingertips, he finally looked up, his eyebrows furrowed. He was on the path traced by Tobias and Miranda. He shone his lamp in all directions. He looked at the pile of rubble in front of him, and his eye was drawn to a detail high up. A sort of hole between the last collapsed rocks and the ceiling, which he hadn't noticed because of the darkness. As he got closer, he also noticed traces of Svendsen's men.
He approached and climbed the rocks without much difficulty. He slipped through the small opening, not without scratching himself a little. From the configuration of the place, Kurtis deduced that it was a slightly wider duct, or perhaps a corridor, now condemned by the collapse. He progressed flat on his stomach, using his arms and pushing on his legs, trapped between the rubble and the concrete ceiling. He had to stop several times to catch his breath, disturbed by the dust he was raising. Again, he didn't know how long he had to cross before he finally saw the end of the shaft.
A few metres ahead of him, he saw another opening at the end of the shaft. Hidden under the pile of earth was a metal frame: a door. Or at least, what was left of it. The mercenary clutched at its edges to extricate himself, not without letting out a grunt. He let himself slide down the rockslide, and then stood up.
A nameless feeling suddenly came over him as his eyes darted around him. He felt his body drained of all energy, he felt as if the ground was collapsing beneath him and as if he was being sucked into an endless vortex.
In front of him was a huge space, like a cave. However, he knew that it was not a cave. It was a modern building, a sort of gigantic dome, with a high, vaulted ceiling, topped with metal beams. Part of the ceiling was completely destroyed and had spread tones of spilling rocks, earth and dust into the cavity. The water level had risen very high, drowning the lower part of the dome, which was now completely submerged. The mercenary saw rails and platforms hanging on the walls and which otherwise went all the way round the place. Below, there was also a huge opening down below in the wall opposite him, but which was certainly not due to the collapse of this place. It was a gigantic door, built by men. A huge, armoured metal gate, which had contained death, and which sat in the centre of what was now the remains of an arena.
Because this is exactly what it was. He was in the Strahov arena.
—
Kurtis could not believe his eyes. And besides, it seemed to him that his brain was unable to accept the reality that was imposing itself on him. No matter how much he shook his head to try to wake up, he remained stuck in this nightmare.
It can't be this, he kept repeating to himself.
His gaze wandered over the great ruined arena once more. His heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour, unable to calm down. He tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together to understand what was happening.
What the fuck is this...
The Svendsens had not been playing fair with him, and he now understood why. He also understood why they had been so insistent that he be the one to carry out this mission. As he had feared, the two Norwegians knew much more than they were letting on. He couldn't help but be angry at himself for not having heeded Lara's warnings. He ran a nervous hand through his hair.
So he was back at the Strahov. However, he still did not know why. No matter how much he searched his mind and his memories, he was sure he had never heard of the Svendsen couple before, even among the members of the Lux Veritatis. All kind of questions started running through his head. Could they be allies of The Agency, as he feared? How could these people be, even indirectly, linked to The Shadow War?
Or are they descendants of the Nephili?
He took a deep breath to try to calm himself down.
Okay, stay calm, boy. Just take a minute to think
They knew him, and presumably knew of Kurtis's connection to the Lux Veritatis. The Svendsens needed him. They had sent him here on a specific mission.
What would they need from here?
He glanced around again, then pulled out the map the Norwegians had given him. He recognised quite easily the arena he was currently in. The underwater access by which Lara had arrived before the fight against Boaz was condemned, and judging by the state of the place, so was everything behind the big armoured door. Everything had partly collapsed in the explosion that had destroyed the Sleeper. Given the state of the dome in general too, the mercenary quickly understood there was not much room for manoeuvre left. There was only one way to go.
It didn't take him long to spot the corridor he was looking for. The one through which Eckhardt and Gunderson had escaped, and which led directly into the depths of the Strahov.
Once again, his instinct was literally screaming at him to turn around and run, but his reason demanded that he find out why the Svendsens had sent him here. If there was anything happening here, it was his duty as a Lux Veritatis to find out what, and to put and end to it. He had to find out what was going on here.
Unsure of himself, he put his map away and stepped onto the slippery slope formed by the rockslide in front of him, and set out to reach the other side of the platform. He felt that the rock was particularly unstable under his feet, which did not reassure him. He held on to some of the electrical cables hanging from the gutted ceiling to help himself. His foot slipped a few times and he nearly toppled into the large pool that was the old arena. After a few minutes, he finally reached the other side of the twisted and warped platform. To the side was a tunnel dug into the earth. The American couldn't help but think of the last image of Eckhardt, who, after sacrificing Müller, had gone off to accomplish his awful plan.
A shiver ran through him as his gaze fell on the darkness in which the gallery was plunged. His chirugai suddenly sprang to life, unhooked from his belt and shot straight down the dark tunnel. The mercenary sighed.
Okay, I'll follow you buddy
—
Strangely enough, the gallery had been spared the explosion and collapse of the bunker, and Kurtis progressed without difficulty for several hundred metres, occasionally avoiding a few mounds of earth and rocks that blocked his path.
He was following the chirugai with his eyes as it continued to move at a reasonable speed a few metres ahead of him, when his foot suddenly slipped. He lost his balance and suddenly toppled backwards. Luckily, he had the reflex to catch himself before falling into the void. He let out a grunt as his head hit the wall he was clinging to. Overcoming the shock of his inattention, he grabbed the wall with his second hand and pulled himself up to find solid ground.
He got to his feet and caught his breath, still surprised by what had just happened.
"You could have warned me..." he whispered to his metal disk.
As if to taunt him, the disk made a large circle in the air before slowly returning towards him. The mercenary took out his torch and scanned the space around him. He discovered a new cavity, the floor of which had partly collapsed, no doubt after the explosion that had destroyed the sleeper. Obviously, large blocks of stone had fallen from the ceiling and destroyed what had once been a passage. Kurtis grabbed a torch, and threw it forcefully in front of him. The object twirled in the air, before slowly falling back down and disappearing into the darkness. Pillars of unstable rock rose from the depths of the earth. All around was emptiness. When the mercenary bent down, he saw nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see, and total emptiness. To cross, he would have to jump from one platform to another. If he slipped or skidded... no, he didn't want to think about that right now.
He lit up a new torch, and threw it forward. He stretched his arm and hand before him, focused his attention on the object and stopped it on the first platform. He would at least have a first visual cue.
He took a deep breath and concentrated. He did a few backward steps, before launching himself forward. He picked up speed, and at the last moment, his momentum lifted him off the ground. He floated for a short second in the air, before falling abruptly. He landed without difficulty on the first platform, skidding slightly. The chirugai approached and seemed to point out the next place to jump.
Kurtis caught his breath and pulled out another lamp, which he threw so that it too landed on the next platform. The object nearly toppled over, but remained balanced on the edge of the stone. The mercenary concentrated again, and leaned forward, ready to go again. The jump was wider, but he should be able to make it. He took a step back, and hugged himself again.
Like the previous time, he took off from the ground with a powerful impulse, but he soon realised that he would not land on the platform. Feeling himself tipping into the void and seeing that he was going to miss the platform by a short distance, he had the reflex to take out his pocket knife, which he brandished above his head. As he feared, he passed by the platform. To catch himself, he tried to grab the edge of the platform with one hand, but with the momentum and the strength of the jump, his hand slipped. With all his strength, he then stabbed the knife he was holding into the wall. To his relief, his fall was instantly stopped. He hit the stone with force. But he held on.
Without waiting, he tried to find support with his feet. He pushed with all his might, and before his fingers went numb, he lifted himself up and went to grab a piece of rock that stuck out a little higher above his head. He brought his second leg up and placed his foot on the knife firmly planted in the rock. He let out a grunt as he managed to stand, and as his hand gripped the edge of the platform above him. After a final push, he finally managed to pull himself up onto the platform. He let out a loud sigh.
He lay on the ground for a moment to catch his breath before standing up. With the back of his hand he wiped the few drops of sweat from his forehead. He took out another torch, and in the same way, threw it forward so that it would indicate the next platform to reach. Luckily, it was all close, but extremely narrow. The mercenary took the time to think for a moment. The chirugai, still floating quietly above his head, moved forward a little further and Kurtis discovered that he had only a few more metres to go.
Without waiting, he gained some momentum, and jumped. He landed safely on the stone pillar, but no sooner had his feet touched the ground than he sensed that something was wrong. The ground was moving under his feet. In a fraction of a second he realised that the platform was collapsing beneath him.
Fuck that sh...
He had no time to think. He gave a new impulse and dashed forward, without really knowing where this would lead him. At the last moment, his gaze was drawn to a wooden pontoon just in front of him. In a desperate gesture, he stretched out his arm and hand in front of him. He felt the wood under his grip, but no sooner had he grabbed it than the piece he was holding onto broke and shattered. He didn't let go, and luckily his hand closed on a second, much stronger piece of wood. He felt the pontoon crack, but resisted. His legs dangled in the air. Without waiting, he gave his last strength to pull himself up onto the gangway. He remained on all fours for a moment, out of breath, then glanced back.
Feels like good old times
When he had regained his senses, he let himself be guided by the chirugai, who had entered a new dark underground gallery. However, Kurtis realised quite quickly that he would only have a few metres to go, he was already in another cavity, bounded by a heavy iron door.
He stopped for a moment at the doorway. Although he had recovered from his emotions, his heart was still pounding and beat violently against his ribs. He had not yet entered the next room, but he understood where he had arrived. A place he himself had not been able to reach because he was trapped in the arena with Boaz.
He took a step forward. He suddenly thought he was in another world, completely out of step with what he had just been through. It was a large room with a high ceiling, all made of stone. High wooden shelves covered with old books decorated the walls, imposing rusty chandeliers hung from the ceiling. On one side he noticed a large solid wood desk, and on the other, a space virtually empty of anything but a large iron cage and some fixtures. Kurtis felt his blood run cold in his veins.
Eckhardt's lab
Once again, he couldn't believe it. Was this where the Svendsen wanted him to come? His gaze wandered up and down the room. It was partly destroyed, like the rest of the Strahov. Most of the documents that had been there were now buried in the ground or drowned in the streams of water dripping from the ceiling.
Suddenly he perceived a movement to the side. An awful moan, accompanied by a metallic scraping sound, could be heard somewhere in the back of the room. Kurtis pulled out his Boran X and pointed it in front of him defensively. He knew it wasn't rats this time. In the semi-darkness, his eyes struggled to make out the figure coming towards him.
Something was coming at him. Luckily, the chirugai took the lead, and charged forward at full speed. Its golden furrow lit up the large room a little more, before the weapon plunged towards the threat. The blades of the disc whistled loudly through the air, before striking with force what looked like a helmet.
The mercenary could not contain his surprise as he discovered a skeleton advancing towards him, with its long, heavy sword.
Great, first time with a zombie knight
Without further thought, he fired the first burst of bullets, but the creature dodged with its large iron shield. The bullets hit the metal with a deafening noise, which echoed all around them. Kurtis then aimed directly at the skeleton's skull. Its rotten yellow teeth were snapping, ready to close in on his flesh and devour it. The American pulled the trigger, and the bullet went straight into one of the beast's eyes. The bone shattered with an unpleasant sound, the creature staggered backwards slightly, but did not collapse.
Damnit
The creature let out a shrill cry, halfway between the cry of a hungry animal and a human scream of rage. It was close now. It suddenly raised its sword and brought it down sharply. Kurtis had just enough time to step aside to dodge. By reflex, he kicked the knight's arm to make it drop the sword, but it was faster. Kurtis's foot passed by the arm and hit the ribs bones, which broke with a sharp snap. But again, this did not seem to faze the undead.
Kurtis then grabbed the skeleton's hand and blocked it, holding the sword down. With his foot he struck the bone of the forearm, which shattered into a thousand pieces. The creature grunted and clacked its teeth as it toppled to the side. The mercenary grabbed the heavy sword tightly, swung it above him and brought it down on the skeleton. The metal shattered the bones of its spine, and the creature was cut in two.
Out of breath, Kurtis sat up and looked down at the beast, which was not moving anymore. He dropped the sword and the laboratory fell silent again.
After taking a few moments to recover his senses, the mercenary took a quick look around the room, making sure there were no other knight around, before resuming his walk. Boran X in hand, he made a quick tour of the place, glanced into the large cage. When he turned around, he noticed another door at the other end of the room, partly buried under the rubble.
The mercenary retraced his steps through the laboratory, and stopped in front of this door. Leaning forward and looking through the rocks, he realised that there was another room on the other side. He took a step back and looked at the rocks blocking his way.
He jumped when he felt something grabbing his leg. When he looked down, he understood that what was left of the skeleton knight had crawled to the ground towards him. With his hooked fingers, he desperately grabbed the mercenary's trousers and was trying to bit him.
Give me a break, asshole
Kurtis tried to push it away with several kicks, but the creature held him tight. He nearly toppled over. Annoyed, he pulled out his gun and fired several rounds into its skull, which gradually shattered into small pieces, but the creature struggled and became more and more aggressive. Kurtis frowned, he suddenly realised that he could not kill it with a gun.
With an agile gesture, he grabbed the Periapt Shard from his back pocket and crouched down. He grabbed the skull of the undead man, carefully avoiding the teeth that kept snapping in his direction, and stuck the black blade into his forehead. The knight suddenly stopped moving, and collapsed to the ground.
Kurtis straightened up and put the shard back in his pocket. After one last look at the half-skeleton lying at his feet, he caught his breath and refocused on the rocks that blocked his path to the other room.
Then, taking a little momentum, he kicked several times to knock the rocks down. He spent several minutes like this, struggling with the rocks, even pushing them with his shoulder, before finally managing to clear the way just enough. He wriggled and slid through the opening he had created.
The room he had just reached was a mess. Like the Strahov arena, he realised that it was a large, round room, albeit smaller, carved from the same stone as the laboratory. There was not much left, except for some wooden and metal beams on the ceiling. Everything else was a pile of rubble and ruins. Another shudder ran through him as his eyes fell on cables hanging everywhere, connected to a rounded wooden structure.
This was where he kept the sleeper
But there was no trace of the Nephilim. He imagined that his body must have been blown into thousands of pieces in the explosion. All that remained was the pile of stones in front of him. A doubt came over the young man.
Everything's here has been destroyed... What do they want? What would they need from here?
His eye was suddenly attracted by a glow. At first he thought it had been a trick from his own mind, but as he blinked and moved a little closer he saw that it was real. A light, though very dim, was emanating from under one of the piles of rocks. Kurtis knelt down, and began to clear away the boulders one by one and the earth to understand, intrigued. He spent several minutes clearing away, before he came across something. An object, whose colour, then shape, was familiar to him. His heart leapt in his chest.
The periapt shard
He felt stress suddenly rise in him. With one hand he pushed back the strands of hair and sweat that were falling into his eyes. Then he pushed another large stone away, which revealed another crushed, misshapen form. Something that looked awfully familiar too. He swept the dust off it and suddenly moved his hand away.
There was part of a face, and grey and white hair under this pile of stones.
Kurtis couldn't help but straighten up and step back. Everything around him went dark, as if the whole word had suddenly collapsed and disappeared all around him. His limbs and body felt strangely heavy, he was suffocating. He shook his head, as if to regain his senses. He stood there for a long time, staring at what the stones had buried. He tried not to let his own emotions overwhelm him.
That's impossible
Something called out to him. Like everything else that was happening here, something was wrong. He suddenly realised the light he had seen wasn't coming from the periapt shard itself. It was coming from something else. The American's eyes naturally fell on the glow, a few dozen centimetres away from where the face and hair he had discovered were.
And that's when he understood. The whole world suddenly seemed to fall apart around him. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place in his head. So this was what the two Norwegians were after. And this was why they wanted him.
How could he have been so blind and so stupid?
He staggered backwards, shocked. He felt the darkness slowly taking shape all around him and imprisoning him.
It can't be real...
He knew there was only one thing left to do.
—
KRIEGLER CASTLE, GERMANY, 1945
The dark night closed in on them like a huge, suffocating dome. The snow crunched under their feet, the air was freezing. They had made rapid progress through the woods, and could now see the top of the hill and the first ramparts. One by one, in single file, they passed the first mound of earth and ruins, before arriving at the castle grounds.
There was almost nothing left of what had once been one of the most beautiful residences in the region, except for a piece of the southern building. Everything else had been destroyed. The small colourful turrets had disappeared, and the extinct gardens were buried under thousands of pieces of stone. Embers littered the ground wherever the eye could see, and high flames tore at the sky, threatening. It was a real battlefield.
The small group of soldiers gradually spread out over the area, guns in hand. Their progress was slow and difficult through the debris. They didn't really know where to go, and didn't really know what to expect.
One of the men moved slightly away and headed towards the buildings still standing. He carefully stepped over a huge broken beam that blocked his path, and almost lost his balance when his foot slipped in a pile of still smouldering ashes and embers. His equipment weighed heavily on his back and slowed him down. He stopped in the middle of the debris to take a break. Behind him he heard his colleagues combing the area and moving some of the stones, but they couldn't find anything either.
Something suddenly caught his eye, somewhere to his left. A sort of glow, or perhaps a small light that bridged the darkness of the debris. To remove any doubt, the soldier decided to get closer to check. He resumed his progress, at a measured pace, slaloming between the blocks of broken stone.
The still smouldering ruins of the castle gave off an unmistakable heat on this side of the area. He felt drops of sweat form on his forehead as he approached the light, which seemed to be real. He felt his pulse quicken suddenly. He tightened his fingers around his rifle. The light was only a few metres away from him.
Suddenly the soldier jumped and stopped dead in his tracks. He pointed his rifle straight ahead in panic. He called out to his other comrades to join him. Something had moved in the ruins.
He took another step, holding his breath, but trying to stay focused. Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was just the collapse of the ruins, still consumed by the embers. He was not safe from coming face to face with a wolf either, the area was infested with them.
There was a new movement ahead of him, much more important and much more sudden this time. Rocks rolled and wood debris slid. Something was coming out from under the crashes. The light he had seen came into focus a little more and shone a little brighter.
The other soldiers joined him. They formed a defensive line. The debris moved one last time, revealing a living form. There was a kind of grunt, and a piece of beam slid to one side. A shape appeared in the night and in the embers. A man.
He pulled one of his arms free, then his legs. Weakened, his feet slipped several times as he tried to stand up. He let out a cry of rage and frustration. The soldiers closed in around him, their guns still pointed in his direction.
After a last effort, the man finally managed to get up on his feet. The soldiers took a step back as they saw him slowly stand up. His clothes, or at least what was covering his body, were in tatters. Strange dark marks marked his wrists and legs, and despite the dark night, they noticed his extremely pale, almost translucent skin. His wild hair made him look like a madman. His two piercing eyes were focused on the soldiers, and shone in the night with an evil glare. A strange smile appeared on his twisted, dust-covered face. For a moment the soldiers thought he was laughing.
He took a step forward. In the darkness, the soldiers had thought one of his hands was missing, but they soon realised that it was actually wrapped in something. Metal plates glowed in the flames' light rising from the castle's ruins, and a thick, dark cloth, held together by thick, intricately carved leather straps, reached far up his arm, almost to the elbow. A glove, which seemed to be charged with a strange energy, and which suddenly lit up in the night.