33 - Kutna Hora - Part II
It was not the hissing in her ears that brought her back to reality, but the cold, fleshless hands that gripped her and pulled her from all sides. Instinctively, she raised her arms to protect herself, and pushed with her feet and legs to free herself. Someone grabbed her by the arm, and she was helped to her feet. It took her several seconds to come to her senses and remember what had just happened. Suddenly she found herself thrown back into the real world. Matēj and Roman were already on their feet, ready to leap forward. There was terrible chaos around them. Smoke mixed with the dust the explosion had kicked up. The skeletons were flailing about, unable to decide whether to attack them or run towards the opening they had just created in the door. Beyond, the adventuress could make out a few steps leading up to a new large room. They heard people shouting, and footsteps running in all directions. Shots rang out. She followed Roman, who made his way towards the door, almost bent in half, his hands clutching his assault rifle.
The Russian took a small canister out from his own bag, pulled the pin and threw it across the door. The object bounced with a metallic noise while letting out a thick smoke, which suddenly filled the space and blurred the field of vision of anyone nearby. That would create a perfect confusion.
The smoke spread very quickly in the enclosed space, and panic suddenly spread through the laboratory. They heard people coughing and shouting orders from all sides. They also heard the skeletons high pitch screams, and objects falling and breaking into pieces onto the floor. There were a few gunshots. Miranda's men, taken by surprise, were trying to get into position to fight back, finally understanding what was happening.
Roman was startled when a living dead emerged from the smoke and pounced on him. The young man wobbled slightly, thrown off balance, and pushed it back, stabbing it in the sternum with the shard. With a kick, he pushed the bones away, which fell at his feet. After making sure that everything was all right with a glance, Lara carefully put her own dagger in her back pocket, within easy reach. The smell of gas was strong, and stung the eyes slightly. In the same motion, the three friends pulled up their neck bands to cover their mouths and noses, and checked their firearms one last time. Matēj waved his hand at them; almost bent in half, the three of them thus entered the laboratory.
They climbed the few steps before finding a flat, almost even floor. Roman shot a man who suddenly appeared on his right, before grabbing a new gas canister, which he pulled the pin and threw a little further into the room. Their field of vision narrowed a little more, but this caused a new wave of panic among their enemies. They heard people coughing loudly, someone choking while shouting something, another one answered a little further, they heard them running around, but Svendsen's men were obviously struggling to contain the dozens of undead who had invaded the space. The diversion was perfect.
Luddick fired at a group of two or three men who suddenly appeared before him. He barely ducked to avoid one of the shots. Another henchman appeared from between the smoke, Lara hit him hard with the handle of her pistol and he went down heavily. They resumed their walk slowly, and even though the smoke was particularly thick and opaque, they could more or less make out the place, with its high ceiling. There were desks everywhere, medical and scientific equipment. They found a technician struggling with one of the skeletons, but just moved on.
A soldier came out from behind a piece of furniture and shot at them. Roman stumbled backwards, hit. The adventuress rushed towards him as Matēj shot the soldier in the head. Roman lay on the ground for a second, before the young woman realised the bullet had in fact gone into his bullet-proof vest. Without a word, she gave him a friendly pat on the arm and they resumed their advance, slaloming between the furniture. They found a whole case of boxes and crates piled on top of each other, Lara recognised the BIOTEKNIKA logo on some of the files.
Matēj suddenly let out a scream, hit full force by a skeleton. Roman and Lara saw them topple to the side, and fall on the boxes full of documents that spilled everywhere. But at the same time, several men appeared in front of them, and fired instantly. Lara had just time to dodge by rolling to the side, while Roman dived forward to take refuge behind a desk.
When Lara stood up, she kicked the nearest mercenary. As he collapsed in front of her, she reached for her weapons and shot him in the chest. She heard Roman fire at the other two, who fell heavily in turn. The young man then scrambled to his feet and ran to help Luddick, who was still down. The Russian grabbed the periapt shard and stabbed it into the skeleton's ribs, which immediately fell apart.
They quickened their pace. They dodged some more skeletons, which appeared from from out the smoke and disappeared almost immediately. They heard men screaming again, maybe fighting the living dead they had just seen. They rounded another desk, and finally a much larger and more massive form loomed before them. After a few more steps, they came face to face with a sort of large, high stone table standing right in the middle of the laboratory, perhaps a worktop, covered with strange, macabre decorations. There was something on it, or rather, someone. An almost naked man was lying down there, he was connected to an impressive number of cables and other perfusions of all kinds. Lara immediately recognised the tattoos on his ribs, but also his dark brown hair. Her heart made a leap in her chest, she waved at Matēj and Roman, and walked straight towards the table. But just as she reached it, one of Miranda's guards appeared in front of her. They pulled the trigger at the same time, and she had just enough time to lean to the side to avoid the bullet, which ricocheted against the strange altar. Roman fired back, and this time the man had no time to protect himself. He fell face first, dead.
Lara stood up. Beside her, Luddick fired at another guard who was running past them, too busy evading the skeleton coming up behind him. He fell heavily to the ground, cut down in his tracks. The Czech and Roman then positioned themselves around the table in a defence position. The adventuress leaned over the altar, and her heart sank a little more as she discovered the state Kurtis was in. He looked like a common puppet, drowned under the dozens of cables that held him captive. He was almost unrecognisable under the bruises that covered much of his body. Underneath, his skin had lost almost all human colour. His usually lively eyes remained imperturbably half-closed, as if lost in another world.
Lara reached out to remove one of the IV drips stuck in the American's arm, but suddenly stopped, a little hesitant. If she disconnected it, she feared she would provoke a reaction, a shock too brutal for his body to bear. She glanced desperately at Roman, who also hesitated for a second, but nodded confidently.
It can't get any worse anyway
She then grasped the cable firmly and pulled. The syringe, several inches long, had no difficulty in extracting itself from his body, but left a nasty dark red stain on his skin. It was not a pretty sight, and no doubt quite painful for him, but she had no choice.
The adventuress heard gunshots echoing not far away. Roman and Matēj suddenly found themselves face to face with other men who had just appeared from between the thick smoke. The Englishwoman heard them fighting from a distance, concentrating on her movements. One by one, she removed the needles stuck in Kurtis' flesh. Several times, the demon hunter's body trembled. Lara kept her cool, controlling her breathing to keep her movements as precise as possible. But the more wires she removed, the more she felt like there were. The task seemed daunting.
A sudden flash of light blurred her vision, and there was a deafening noise. Stone exploded and shattered not far from her hand. And then, there was a total confusion. Everything happened so fast she did not immediately understand what had just happened. Lara was suddenly thrown to the ground. Her head hit the mosaic paving stones and she rolled several times before stabilising face down. When she looked up, she saw that Roman and Luddick had also been blown away by the explosion, or whatever it was. But just as she was about to sit up, she saw something glowing in the smoke. A bright and wavering light, like that of a flame or a fireball had suddenly appeared in the darkness. Its light flickered strangely, almost as if it were vibrating. It grew in size as it drew nearer to them.
Then a figure appeared in the smoke. Someone was moving towards them. But it was not the dark skin, the black eyes, or the hobbled gait of Svendsen who faced them. No, it was the much younger, much frailer figure of her assistant, whose pale eyes shone through the smoke. Despite the surprise of having discovered the Englishwoman still alive, an evil smile had frozen on her face. Her mad gaze focused on the adventuress with the deepest of contempt. Lara was unable to hide her astonishment, but also her disgust. But most of all, she felt a terrible sense of unease when she discovered the object that imprisoned the young woman's arm, and from which came the almost blinding light.
"Don't touch him," Saija seethed with rage.
Lara felt an uncontrollable anger wash over her. Her brown gaze firmly held the young Norwegian's.
"I'm certainly not taking any order from you, especially when it comes to my man."
The adventuress rolled onto her side and grabbed her weapons. She fired at the assistant, her face twisted into a grimace. A scream escaped her as the bullets whizzed past the young woman, who ducked and ran for cover a little further away. Lara only released the trigger when she was out of sight. But the vicious Norwegian suddenly reappeared from behind the altar, the glove brandished before her. The object began to glow a little brighter, as if it were heating to a very high temperature, before a powerful jet of energy shot out of it. The bolt of light shot through space, Lara had just enough time to roll to avoid it before it hit the ground.
Roman took a step forward and tried to step in. He stood firmly in front of Saija, and fired. But to his surprise, the bullets seemed to ricochet and veer off course before they reached their target. The young woman's bright green gaze suddenly focused on him, and with her mental strength, she threw the young man into the air. Lara saw him take off from the ground and land a little further away. His weapon bounced and slid on the ground. Fortunately, the Russian got up almost immediately, shaking his head, slightly stunned. Luddick came to meet him to attempt a counter attack.
Lara took advantage of the diversion to get up quickly to return to the altar. She grabbed some cables, and continued to pull them from Kurtis' body. The mercenary slightly moved his head and grunted. Underneath her, her injured leg protested, pain shooting through it deep into her thigh, she wobbled slightly.
This isn't the time to falter
But as she grabbed a new IV and was about to take it out, she heard Luddick scream in pain. As she looked up, a jet of energy shot across the room and hit him in the chest. Despite the bullet-proof waistcoat, the impact had left a gaping hole in the garment and seriously injured the fifty-year-old. He tried to get up, but suddenly collapsed holding his head in his hands, screaming for death. Roman did not have time to come to his aid as he was violently thrown to the side, pushed back by the invisible force that Saija had exerted on him again. Lara then picked up her weapons and fired at the assistant whose back was turned to her. One of them went into the young woman's arm, not far from the elbow; she let out a cry of pain together with the surprise of having been taken by surprise. She released the pressure on Matēj, and turned to face Lara. Despite the nasty wound on her arm, she managed to make a wide movement, which suddenly threw the adventuress against the furniture nearby.
Roman took the opportunity to go and help Matēj. But just as he managed to help him up, they were violently hit by a skeleton that had appeared from nowhere. They pushed it away with force, only to be taken by surprise by a group of men who appeared in front of them. They recognised one of the men they had met earlier in the day, the one with the headband covering part of his face. They all recoiled for a moment, surprised to find themselves face to face. But very quickly, survival reflexes took over. They all drew their weapons and fired at each other at the same time. One of the soldiers fell backwards, hit in the throat by Luddick. The man with the blindfold shot Roman in the chest, but fortunately the bulletproof vest worked again. The Russian hit the henchman in the arm. Against all odds, he retreated and took cover, disappearing into the smoke. Matēj grabbed Roman by his vest and pulled him to safety behind one of the desks.
But they had no time to breathe. No sooner had they reached the back of the desk than two men, including the one with the blindfold, appeared from behind another desk in front of them. Roman had time to roll forward to protect himself from the burst of bullets that was fired, but Matēj was not quick enough. He loaded his gun and took aim, but had no time to fire. One bullet pierced his hand, another his lower leg, he screamed. Roman got to his feet and found himself facing their enemies, he fired in turn. The man who had hit Luddick collapsed in a splash of blood. The man with the blindfold staggered slightly, wounded in the shoulder, but held on to his automatic rifle. But before he had time to straighten up and fire again, Roman climbed over the desk and threw himself at him. He kicked him in the face, the Argentine fell backwards. The Russian threw himself on top of him and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed with both hands the weapon the soldier held firmly in his hands. Then, pushing with all his might, he brought the weapon down on the man's face with a sharp blow. He grunted, stunned. Roman took advantage of his moment of weakness to hit him again, a little harder this time. The man's nose cracked ominously and blood began to flow in great quantities. The Argentinian let go and Roman snatched the weapon from his hands. He raised it above him, and hit him one last time. His head fell to the side, he stopped moving, his eyes blank.
The Russian immediately let go of him and stood up. But just as he was about to turn around, something caught his eye. A sort of transparent box, in which he recognised some of Kurtis' personal effects. The young man rushed to collect all the things he could, slipping them into his own bag. He hurried back to Luddick, who seemed to be holding up well despite his injuries. His hand was bleeding badly, but it was mostly superficial. His leg, however, was much worse. Roman pulled out a first aid kit and helped him to contain the bleeding.
"Do you think you'll be okay?", the Russian asked, pulling the bandage he had just put on the fifty-year-old's leg tightly.
"Yes, I think so."
As the Russian grabbed him by the arm to help him up, the Czech waved his hand and pointed to something on the floor not far from them. At the foot of the desk was a huge old book that had fallen to the floor. It had probably slipped and fallen when the young man had thrown himself at the Argentine. After an insistent look from Matēj, Roman rushed to retrieve it. He had to grab the heavy book with both hands to slip it into his bag. He then hurried back to the Czech, they both stood up.
A few feet away, Lara was face to face with Svendsen's assistant, they had to take advantage of the diversion while they could. The two men came out of hiding and headed straight for the altar. They rushed to Kurtis, and set about undoing the straps and the last of the cables that were holding him.
Saija paid no attention to the two men behind her, nor to the altar. She was far too focused on the adventuress. She was far too blinded by anger to focus on anything else. That idiot was still alive, and she had to find a way to fix that before the whole lab was destroyed, or worse, before they managed to escape with the American.
Her furious gaze stared at the Englishwoman, and she suddenly rushed towards her in long strides. She raised the igniting glove above her. Lara pulled herself out of the debris she was in and jumped to the side just as the glove was about to fall on her. The metal object hit the ground so hard that a long and impressive crack formed in the mosaic. Saija lost her balance slightly, carried away by her momentum. Lara took the opportunity to give her a powerful kick in the arm, then a second one in the ribs to destabilise her. The young woman fell on all fours and let out a hoarse sound, breathless.
Behind her, the Englishwoman suddenly noticed the form lying on the floor, half hidden behind a desk. She recognised right away the body of Miranda Svendsen, which lay in an impressive pool of blood, her skull had been obviously blown off by a bullet.
"So, you think you're the big boss now?", she hissed as she turned back to the assistant.
"I'm self-sufficient. I don't like to burden myself with useless people," Saija replied with a dubious smile.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lara noticed that Roman and Luddick had almost released Kurtis. A feeling of relief passed through her, but she knew the battle was far from won. Her gaze turned away and met that of the young assistant. It was then that she noticed the strange marks on her skin and the unusual colour of her light eyes. She also noticed that the various shots she had fired at her had stopped bleeding, and were now mere marks on her skin. Everything had healed incredibly quickly. Her gaze met the young woman's machiavellian one.
"Scary, huh?"
The Englishwoman's eyebrows furrowed, her determination stronger than ever.
"For you."
She rolled again and struck Saija in the face this time. The young woman collapsed again, staining the mosaic floor with her blood. Lara then noticed that the protective field around her was not activated. Chances were she didn't know how to perfectly control everything yet, or at least all the powers of the glove at the same time. She was still struggling to control the strength of the Devil's Hand obviously.
Small player
The adventuress drew her 9mm, and fired. The bullets pierced the flesh of the assistant, who recoiled slightly with another cry of pain and rage. Blood escaped from her nostrils, the Englishwoman felt her weaken. That was all she needed to have time to retrieve the periapt shard from her back pocket. Lara suddenly stopped firing, grabbed the weapon and held it firmly, before straightening up. But as she lowered the dagger, Saija turned to protect herself, and the shard finally ended up in her leg. The young woman collapsed in on herself, tearing the air with her high-pitched scream, which was no longer human.
Lara got to her feet. Not far away, Roman and Matēj had finally picked up Kurtis and were supporting the still half unconscious mercenary. When she turned her head back to the assistant, this latter was desperately struggling to grab the dagger stuck in her profusely bleeding leg. But every time she tried to touch it, the shard seemed to push her away with violent shocks. Saija screamed in frustration, writhing in pain on the ground, her eyes full of madness and hatred.
Lara turned to her friends, who gave her a desperate look. They had very little time to react and to run away while they could. Yet she had to find a way to get the glove back, she couldn't leave it here. She turned her gaze to Saija again, and without thinking, rushed towards her. She heard Roman shout her name to stop her, but she paid no attention. She couldn't leave without trying. She had to stop Saija now, and get the glove back, no matter what.
Lara narrowly dodged the jet of energy coming her way, and threw herself at the assistant. They struggled for a moment, Saija hit the adventuress to try to get rid of her. The young woman felt the heat of the glove burning her skin as the Norwegian tried to grab her neck. The adventuress threw a violent punch at her, which made her let go for a short second. She then grabbed the shard with both hands and ripped it from Saija's leg.
The assistant screamed at the top of her lungs. But before the Englishwoman had time to lower the dagger again, the Norwegian pushed her back with a powerful jet of energy. Her feet left the ground. She crossed the space and hit the altar with force. She rolled over it, before falling limply to the ground. Her vision and mind blurred for a moment, but she could hear the cries of her friends in the distance, and the footsteps of Saija as she ran towards her. She felt the firm grip of the gauntlet closing on her throat, and the assistant lifted her against the altar. Lara struggled for a moment, kicking and punching her several times to make her let go, but she clearly had no intention of doing so. She could feel the heat from Eckhardt's glove intensifying and burning her skin dangerously.
But the Norwegian suddenly let go and the adventuress slid to the ground, trying to catch her breath with great wheezes. She realised Luddick had literally thrown himself at Saija to throw her off balance and make her let go of the adventuress. They both fought for a moment, but Saija lanaged to break free from the 50-year-old's grip. Just as she managed to push him away, she sent a powerful energy discharge in his direction. The man had no time to dodge. The powerful flame pierced the vest and torso of the Czech, whose eyes rounded in surprise before he collapsed backwards with a glutinous sound.
Lara got to her feet and ran at the assistant who had her back to her. She gained momentum, took one powerful step to jump, then another one on the back of the Norwegian to jump even higher, and rolled in the air to turn around. As she sensed, Saija collapsed forward, thrown off balance by this attack. Lara drew her gun, and with a cry of rage, fired. The bullets pierced the woman's back, then her shoulders, scratched her face, before plunging into her chest. The young woman's screams of rage joined those of the adventuress. She tried to throw a flame in the Englishwoman's direction to defend herself, but collapsed head first before she could do so, her face twisted into an indescribable grimace.
Lara broke her fall in a roll before finally standing up, 9mm still smoking in her hands. She turned to Roman and nodded, he threw the second shard at her. She caught it in mid-air and immediately returned to the still downed assistant. She dropped onto Saija, blocked her with a knee and stabbed her in the back. A loud hiccup escaped from the assistant's mouth, who struggled more vigorously. However, as Lara reached for the second shard to stab her with, there was a hiss, and the weapon flew out of her hand. It flew into the air and bounced away. The man with the blindfold had suddenly appeared from behind the altar, assault rifle pointed at her. His evil gaze met the Englishwoman's for a brief second. As he pulled the trigger again, she ducked to avoid the bullets and yanked the shard out of Saija's back. She grabbed her own weapons and fired back at the soldier, striding backwards, bent in half, to retrieve the second shard that had slipped away.
Luddick, though badly hit, had managed to crawl to safety behind a marble column. He cocked his pistol, and tried to fire, even roughly, at the henchman. The shots of Roman, who had taken refuge behind a desk with Kurtis, sounded in their turn.
The shots stopped for a moment on the Argentine's side, he was reloading. Lara took the opportunity to go and find Matēj. She joined him behind the column, he was trying to contain the bleeding in his abdomen. The adventuress tried to hide her concern when she saw the gaping wound under his bloody hand. He grunted in pain as she grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him up. A skeleton, quickly eliminated with a stab, attacked them. And then the shooting started again, this time between the Argentinean and Roman. Not far away, Saija, her face distorted by anger and the traces of blood that covered it, was gradually getting back on her feet. Her green eyes lit up with an intense, macabre light, as intensely as the glove itself.
Lara pushed Matēj forward, and they ran through the bullets towards where the Russian had taken refuge. They crouched down and all four of them found themselves hiding behind a desk. Lara put the Czech to safety, next to Kurtis, who was obviously fighting to stay awake. After another shot to make the Argentinean retreat, Roman took cover with them.
"We need to retreat! We have Kurtis, we can't-"
"I have to find a way to kill her and get the glove back! "
Lara was thinking fast. Saija had found a way to use the glove. But it was technically impossible for her to touch it, unless she herself had Nephilim DNA in her blood... And those marks on her body, her attitude, everything reminded her of Karel's appearance when he had returned to his original form, that of a Nephilim… Maybe Kurtis himself had found out something about all this. This was a point that would have to be clarified for her, indeed. But for the moment, there was more pressing matters. She had to make a decision. The Norwegian had developed considerable strength, and perhaps the two periapt shards would not be enough to stop her.
"We have to find a way to destroy that damn glove!"
"I agree with you, Lara. But think about it, if we get away now, we might have a chance to get out of this alive AND find a solution..."
There was a resounding noise, followed by a string vibration against the furniture, part of which shattered. The three of them turned away, shielding their faces with their arms. They heard Saija screaming.
"Let's get away while we can, we'll find a way to kill her and get the glove back! Getting yourself killed here won't help!"
A henchman suddenly emerged from the smoke. Fortunately, Luddick had the reflex to fire and shoot him down. Lara glanced at Kurtis next to her, then looked straight into Roman's eyes. She shook her head sharply.
She knew she didn't have time to think anymore. But she had to face the facts: it would be almost impossible to get the glove back under these conditions. Their only chance was to flee, even if she could barely stand the idea. Deep inside, she hoped what she had found out about the Nephilim source would lead them somewhere. Maybe all the answers were there. The solution to countering the glove and destroying it might be there. It had to. Saija would surely try to go after them. But they were one step ahead of her, even if it meant they would have to stay hidden for a while, and counterattack once and for all when the time came.
So she nodded firmly to the young man, her gaze hard, but now confident. Immediately, the Russian reloaded his weapon, and put his arm around Kurtis to lift him up. He could barely stand, but he was awake at least. Lara helped Matēj to his feet, not without difficulty. The man was struggling to stand because of his injured abdomen, and his punctured leg. But he was holding on. After a last second of watching for their enemies' movements on the other side of the desk, the four of them stood up and headed down the steps towards the crypt and the tunnels. Behind them, the enemy's reaction was swift. Saija's shrill cry instantly went to their heads and even shook the walls around them.
The four companions ran towards the crypt, under the protection of Roman's fire, who was trying to keep the assistant and the Argentinian henchman away. The Norwegian then raised her arm in front of her, and seemed to grab something invisible. After a few seconds during which nothing happened, the vault of the laboratory began to crack dangerously, a large quantity of dust fell from the ceiling. The whole building creaked and squeaked, the cracks grew longer and longer, deeper and deeper into the stone. Suddenly large blocks came loose.
"Look out!", shouted Matēj.
The three companions suddenly quickened their pace and literally threw themselves forward to avoid the blocks, which crashed only a few inches from them. The blast from the impact threw them forward and knocked them to the ground. They got up as quickly as possible, aware that their enemies were about to chase them. They dodged some of the skeletons waiting for them in the lower part of the crypt. Already the walls around them were shaking again, the shots were coming, whistling in their direction. They heard the hurried footsteps of the few remaining henchmen in pursuit. Roman turned and fired blindly, hoping to slow some of them down. Saija was not far away either, more furious than ever, resisting the wounds caused by the periapt shard.
They were close, and even if the four companions had almost reached the gate that separated them from the tunnels, they knew they had to hurry. When they arrived, the few skeletons they had left there were waiting for them, their arms stretched desperately between the thick bars. Lara let go of Matēj for a moment to kill a few with one of the shard, and reopen the metal gate. Roman, supporting Kurtis on one side, also fired into the men coming at them. He suddenly saw Luddick collapse on himself, hit by a bullet. Lara rushed to help him up and the four of them retreated to the tunnels. The Russian went in first, taking Kurtis with him. Lara followed as best she could as Luddick could hardly stand anymore. He grunted in pain every time he stepped on the ground, not to mention the hole in his belly that had bled him dry. As they were about to enter the tunnel, he suddenly pushed the adventuress' arm away and pushed her forward with all his strength, before grabbing the heavy gate to close it behind her.
Lara straightened up and turned around, her eyes petrified.
"What are you doing?", she yelled, throwing herself at the gate.
"I'm helping you get out of here."
Deafening gunshots and voices rang out behind him. Saija's men would soon be here. The Czech then pulled from his pocket the same small dark paste surrounded by red lines that he had used on the sanctuary's door. Lara and Roman's eyes went wide.
"No way, come with us!", Roman insisted. "There's still time to escape!"
"Don't worry about me. I wouldn't have survived anyway. At least I got the answers to my questions, thanks to you," the fifty-year-old answered, turning to Lara. "That's more than I could have ever hoped for."
The two companions looked at him without really understanding what was happening. However, the voices of the henchmen nearby and Saija's heart-rending cries brought them back to reality. The Czech clenched the dark paste in his fist and grabbed the detonator in the other. He smiled at them despite the pain on his face.
"Take care of yourself, kid. Lara, it's been a real pleasure knowing you."
Before they could make any objection, Matēj had pressed the detonator button and turned his back on them, taking a few steps towards the enemies while he could still stand. After one last look, Lara grabbed Kurtis by the other arm, and she and Roman abruptly turned around before running as fast as they could. They ran blindly for several feet, dreading the bang that finally came from behind them. Everything around them shook dangerously. The hot blast blew them away. The shock was so violent they were thrown forward again, they stumbled and all three fell to the earthen floor. They got up as quickly as possible, while everything around them was collapsing.
"Let's get moving!", Lara shouted over the terrifying sound of the earth's entrails closing in on them.
They heard the rocks rolling and collapsing into each other in the distance. The end of the tunnel suddenly disappeared behind them and they found themselves in darkness. Roman took out a lamp, and they ran faster and faster through the galleries, dodging the clods of earth that fell on them and blinded them. The wooden beams that once supported the entire structure creaked eerily over their heads as they passed underneath.
After endless minutes, and several passages through junctions that almost buried them for good, the earthquakes finally ceased, and the two companions finally discerned the light at the end of the tunnel. The light from outside, which would lead them back to the open air and the car that awaited them. Roman suddenly let go of Kurtis and ran forward to kick out the few stones that were blocking their way out. On all fours, he was the first to slip through the opening, checking the outside, before turning to help Lara get Kurtis out. He grabbed the young man by the underarms, and pulled with all his might to get him out. Lara followed, crawling through the mud that had formed at the entrance to the cave. Suddenly they found the damp air and the rainwater that had been falling since they left here, the storm still roaring overhead.
Roman unlocked the SUV that was still parked nearby and went to open wide one of the rear doors. He ran back to Lara to help her carry Kurtis at arm's length and they lay him down on the car's back seats. Lara got in, they loaded their bags, which she threw haphazardly in the trunk. The Russian slammed the door and rushed to the driver's side. Without missing a beat, although still slightly shocked by what had happened and the physical shock of the explosion, he started the engine and sped off. The SUV left the small dirt road with a screech.
"Where to, now?"
"Check the GPS and select the first address you'll find."
The young man did so, half-focused on the road. As the adventuress had just told him, an address had been saved. He could not hide his surprise when he discovered it.
"Athens?"
"Athens' harbour, yes. We have a boat to catch."
"We're not going back to England, right?"
The Russian took another look at the map and route displayed on the dashboard screen, then looked up at the rear-view mirror to meet the adventuress' gaze. The young woman stared at him intently.
"No, too dangerous. But we'll be safe where we're going. It's a country I know well enough to know where to take us to safety."
The Russian refocused on the road, and suddenly accelerated. They picked up speed, and quickly drove away from Kutna Hora. In the distance, after one last bend in the road, they saw the threatening silhouette of the great church looming in the dark night, a thick cloud of smoke made it look like a huge ship sinking into dark waters.
Lara looked away. She stood up and bent to grab some towels and a survival blanket into the trunk. She used them first to wipe and clean Kurtis's wounds and the dirt from his face and body. She then carefully wrapped him into the blanket, and gently pushed the strands of hair that fell into his eyes away. She put her warm hand on his cold cheek.
I don't know if you can hear me, but I know where the Nephilim source is
The adventuress then took out her mobile phone. She searched her contacts for a moment before dialling a number. The first attempt was unsuccessful, the line cut off automatically. She tried a second time, and this time, after several seconds during which she thought no one was going to pick up, there was a click, and someone finally answered.
"Hi, Jean Yves."