Dark Soul Silenced - Part Two (22 page)

Chapter Thirty

Finally the time came to move off.  Clara took the lead, warning everyone to be quiet.  She warned they had no idea whether the entrance at the other end was soundproofed, and that any noise might tip off the guards in the temple.  Daniel followed right behind Clara, straining his senses for any hint of a threat.  Sarah walked beside him. 

The passageway soon angled steeply down, twisting back and forth and in places forming a spiral.  Rough steps had been hewn into the stone at the steepest points.  Daniel became more and more tense as they descended.  He could sense something ahead, a raw reserve of dark energy that in some strange way seemed to be waiting for him.  He hoped desperately that it wasn’t Rafael.  If Rafael had that much power then he would sweep Daniel aside in a heartbeat.

Daniel tried to take comfort from the fact Rafael hadn’t been anywhere near that powerful at their last meeting, but it didn’t help.  This was Rafael’s home territory.  Who knew what powers he could draw on here?  Daniel’s thoughts returned to the keep and his own ability to draw power from the very walls there.  Was Rafael able to do the same within the temple?  Could he draw on the reserves of dark power?

Abruptly they reached the end of the tunnel, turning a corner into an apparent dead end only twenty feet away.  The switch to open the door was clearly visible, a raised section of stone that glowed slightly to Daniel’s senses.

Clara glanced back, confirming that everyone was ready, then reached out to the switch.  Josef focused on preparing as much power as he could, ready to unleash it at a moments notice.  Clara touched the control.  A crack appeared in the stone, then a large section began to swing open.

Josef stared around in amazement.  They had been pulled off the cart and into another fortified building.  When they were taken down two flights of stairs he had started to think they were simply being transferred to another prison.  When they entered a long tunnel lit by lanterns he became sure.

But instead of reaching cells the tunnel continued, always sloping downwards and taking large, sweeping curves that soon defeated his attempts to track where they must be.  They followed the tunnel for what felt like an age before it finally opened into a large corridor.  Rooms and corridors led off from each side but they were dragged forwards by the guards.  Then they emerged into the amazing space that Josef now found himself in.

It was a temple.  He had no doubt about that.  The grandeur of the architecture and the feel of the place meant it couldn’t be anything else.  Despite their situation Josef found himself lost in wonder for several minutes.  His fascination was cut short by a familiar voice.

“
So
pleased you could join us,” the Major said.  “If you are impressed by this then wait till you see the sanctum.  Bring them.”

The Major turned and walked towards the far end of the temple.  Josef and the others were dragged after by the guards.  Now the spell of the temple had been broken Josef looked around properly.  Bronze Order guards were everywhere.  For some reason Josef couldn’t fathom most were intently watching the walls.  There were night walkers in the huge space too — fifty or sixty at least.  All clustered near the end of the temple through which Josef had entered.  Many sent envious or angry glances towards the guards and prisoners as they passed.  Josef had the feeling the night walkers wanted to follow but that something held them back.

They neared the sanctum.  Josef’s eyes were immediately drawn to a large table, and to the child laying on it.  Mary!  She was alive and appeared to be unhurt, so far at least, but Josef could sense a powerful shell formed of dark power that surrounded her.  Even if he could somehow get free, impossible as that was, there would be no way he could pierce the shell.  How he wished to be free and wielding his own sword.  That would make the night walkers think twice, and it might even pierce the shell of darkness.  He might as well wish for the sun to somehow come out in the chamber, deep underground though it was.

Looking at Mary he thought of her mother, and so of Daniel.  Clearly they hadn’t made it to Mary, or had been killed or captured if they had.  Given that Rafael and the Major had clearly brought Josef and the others to witness their triumph it was likely that Daniel wasn’t a prisoner.  Josef felt sure Daniel would have been there in chains as well, to bear witness to Rafael’s victory.  Josef looked around the room, hoping against all sense that he might see Daniel hiding somewhere.  He didn’t.  There was nowhere to hide.

Then, reluctantly, Josef’s eyes turned towards Rafael.  The cause of so much misery radiated darkness.  Josef could sense a link between Rafael and the shell of dark power surrounding Mary, though he couldn’t tell which way the power was flowing.

Rafael paused for a moment, sweeping his eyes over Josef and the others.  He spared them a cold smile, then turned away.  Clearly they were of no concern to him anymore.

Just as despair threatened to overwhelm him, Josef heard a shout from his right.  A guard stationed there was pointing towards the wall.  Josef stared in amazement as a large chunk of rock swung away to reveal a tunnel.  A short woman sprinted out, closely followed by Daniel, Sarah and twenty or more others.  All were armed.  Josef felt his heart leap.  There was still hope!

Daniel charged out of the tunnel, sword drawn.  Clara ran ahead but Daniel held back, keeping pace with Sarah.  As he ran he scanned their surroundings.  They were in a huge space.  Slightly to the right was a large, raised area with a dome above.  The
sanctum.  Right where Clara had said it would be.  Standing in the Sanctum was a stunned looking Rafael.  Nearby Mary lay on a large stone table, cocooned in a shell of darkness.  Were they too late?  No.  They couldn’t be.  Mary was clearly still alive.  There was still time.

Daniel lengthened his stride, closing in on Clara.  Without warning he crashed into an invisible barrier.  His skin burned where it touched the barrier.  Following close behind him, Sarah ran into the barrier too.  The air in front of them and to the sides started pulsing with a visible darkness.  Those following behind skidded to a halt.  Turning Daniel saw that the energy formed a cage around them all.  A trap!

Turning back he realised he was wrong.  One of them wasn’t in the trap.  Clara.  She had calmly stopped and turned around, and was facing him now.  She shook her head slowly.

“
Too easy,” she taunted.  “So trusting — all of you.”

Rafael’s expression changed from surprise to glee.  He ran towards the cage of energy with all the speed his unnatural powers gave him, laughing as he came.

“So we meet again,” he said to Daniel.  “For the second time.  Or the third if you count our shared dream.  Things will end very differently this time.  This is
my
territory. 
Mine!
  You have no idea of the power I can call upon here.  This temple has housed a huge pool of dark power for more centuries than you can imagine, and tonight that power will become fully mine.  No one will be able to stand against me.  Especially not you, the pathetic shadow of what you could have been.  I may even turn you again, force you to be my slave through the centuries.  Yes, I’d like that.”

Daniel didn’t answer, instead he sent a blast of energy at the cage.  For a moment it gave under the assault, then it reformed into an even tighter knot of darkness than before.  Daniel tried again, using different patterns, different combinations of powers.  He tried subtle probes and all out attacks.  The dark cage adapted to every attempt.

“Give it up,” Rafael said, gloating.  “You are trapped.  Nothing you do will work.  The power of the Dark God is too strong here.  Now, I have a ritual to complete.”

He turned away.  Daniel desperately looked around the room.  To his amazement he saw Josef and some of the other guards nearby, but it turned to despair when he saw they were securely chained.  There would be no aid from that direction.

“Daniel… please… there must be something you can do,” Sarah pleaded.

“
I… I have tried…”  Then he saw the look in her eyes, remembered what was at stake.  “Do not despair.  I
will not
give up.  Be ready.”

“
It won’t work,” said Clara.  “He’s far too powerful for you.”

“
Why?” asked Daniel.  “Why did you betray us.”

Rafael stopped and turned back, smiling.  Apparently he wanted to hear this.  Clara stepped closer to the barrier, holding her lantern up high, as if to better study Daniel.

“Oh Daniel, why do you think?  Power!  Rafael can offer me the power of the Chosen.  Eternal life.  Power.  Safety.  How could I resist?  Besides, do you really think you could ever have penetrated so far into the temple
without
there being a double cross involved?”

Daniel stared into Clara’s eyes, trying to read her soul.  He wondered how he could have misjudged her so badly.

Chapter Thirty-One

As Daniel stared into Clara’s eyes her lantern seemed to grow brighter, and her words kept running through his head. 
Double cross
. 
Without there being a double cross
.  There was no doubt now, her lantern was glowing brighter and brighter.  Yet no one else was reacting.  Sudden realisation dawned and Daniel focused his powers, preparing to react, just as Clara turned and threw the lantern at Rafael.

It exploded in a blinding flash of white power, sending a howling Rafael reeling backwards.  The blaze of white power washed over the dark cage trapping Daniel, causing it to flicker and die.  Rafael continued to retreat, jumping back up to the sanctum.  The guards and vampires around the room all collapsed to the floor holding their heads.  He smiled fiercely as he understood.  Rafael kept almost every one of his servants closely bound to his own will and power.  The blast of white energy had bled over into that link, striking at the vampires and guards as well as Rafael.

Knowing they had only a few moments before Rafael, the vampires and the guards recovered Daniel leapt towards Josef and the other prisoners.  He slashed out with his powers, cutting through their bonds, then he ran for the sanctum.  Ignoring Rafael he ran to where Mary lay.  Unleashing all the powers he could muster he desperately tried to pierce the shell of darkness.  Like the cage, the dark power in the shell reacted to his efforts, adapting and blocking them.  Undeterred Daniel kept pressing forwards.  He had seen the effect Clara’s blast of white power had on the cage and Rafael, so he used that as the basis of each new pattern he tried.  Soon he and the dark power of the shell were locked in fierce battle.  Flares of energy of all types flew away from the fight, visible to everyone in the room.  Daniel pressed on, knowing he had to pierce the barrier before Rafael recovered and attacked.

The moment his shackles fell free Josef was in motion, grabbing a sword from a guard who had fallen nearby.

“Get weapons,” Josef yelled. 

Every one of his men did, even William he was pleased to see.  Several turned the weapons against their owners.  Josef realised he needed to do the same, though striking down someone who was defenceless felt very wrong.

“Come here,” shouted a voice.  He realised it was the woman who had appeared to double cross Daniel, but had then turned the tables on Rafael.  He saw that she was drawing in white power from her surroundings, forcing it into the weapons of those who had accompanied her.  Once done the weapons gave off the same pattern Josef remembered seeing from his own sword.  Somehow she was infusing them with the power to destroy darkness.  He didn’t hesitate.

“
Follow me,” he shouted, running over to the woman and offering his sword.

She smiled at him, forcing the white power into his sword, then moving on to those of his men.

“We have to aid Daniel,” she said.  “And give him time to save the girl.  Some of us need to attack Rafael.  The rest need to keep the guards and night walkers from reaching Daniel.”

“
The night walkers are mine,” Nathan said fiercely.  “I owe them.  Josef, you take Rafael.”

“
All right.  Take the men Nathan.  You have to cover a wide area.  They can anchor the line for…” he faltered.  “For those that came with this lady.”

“
Clara,” she said.  “Now let’s go.  Alf, Tanner — with us.”

She turned and started towards the sanctum.  Josef ran beside her.  They weren’t the first.  Sarah was already twenty paces ahead of them.  Someone suddenly stepped in front of her.  The Major!  Josef cursed.  Sarah had shown promise, but the Major would be a highly experienced swordsman.  Josef ran even faster, hoping to reach her in time even as he knew he would be much too late.

Major Zentmann grinned as the woman ran towards him.  Everything from the way she held the sword to her balance told him she was an amateur.  Talented perhaps, but without real experience.  He saw the leader of the prisoners, Josef, racing along behind her, but he was far too far back to help.  The Major knew he would enjoy this kill.

As the woman came close enough she raised her sword high to strike down.  The Major lunged straight for her.  With her sword held high she couldn’t possibly block.  Her only option, given how her body was turned, was to dodge towards the left.  No amateur could avoid making that move, for that matter any professional stupid enough to be in the position she was would do so too.  At the last moment Rafael swung his sword to the left, just in time to impale her as she changed direction.

She didn’t change direction.  Eyes burning she came straight at him — as if she didn’t care whether he killed her.  Now it was the Major whose sword was hopelessly out of position to block, and there was no time to react.  The last thing he saw, and felt, was her sword crashing down onto the top of his skull.

Josef couldn’t believe what he had seen for a moment, then he grinned fiercely, remembering Sarah’s utter disregard for her own safety when fighting.  The Major had been arrogant, assuming his greater experience would guarantee him victory, and he had paid the price.  Josef ran past the body, resisting the urge to kick it, and followed Sarah who had now mounted the steps and was fast closing in on Rafael.  Josef saw with horror that Rafael had recovered and drawn his own blade.  He would have seen what happened to the Major and wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

There would be no tricks this time.  Sarah was hopelessly outmatched.  If she knew she showed no sign of it.  She continued to close on Rafael.  Josef sprinted forward, trying to join the fray before Rafael swatted her aside.

Sarah ran on, eyes fixed on Rafael.  She was aware of Daniel to the side, locked in a fight to free Mary.  She fought the urge to run to his side.  There was nothing she could do there.  She had to distract Rafael, keep him from attacking Daniel.  She knew it would only ever be a delaying action.  She had no illusions about her ability to defeat Rafael.

As she drew close her limbs started to feel heavy, moving became difficult.  She recognised the feeling — it was the same as the spell Rafael had cast over her and Jon the night Mary was taken.  For a moment she faltered, then she fought back.  Every night since she had dreamed of the attack, of being helpless while Mary was taken from her.  Those dreams made her stronger, as did the thought of Jon who had been with her then but was now gone.  Anger drove the lethargy from her muscles.  With a scream of rage she reached Rafael, lashing out at him.

For a moment she surprised him, forcing him to counter awkwardly.  She lashed out again, and again.  But the advantage was gone.  Rafael had centuries of experience to call upon, and the speed and strength of a night walker.  He deflected several more blows then struck, lightning fast, easily sliding past Sarah’s sword and striking for her heart.  Steel rang on steel as Josef’s desperate block turned the blade so it slid just past Sarah’s body.

Josef quickly recovered, preparing to block the next strike, or take an opening of his own.  Even an experienced fighter could struggle against two opponents.  Rafael hissed and pulled back.  Josef sensed the dark power Rafael was drawing ready to lash out at Sarah and he.  Before it could be unleashed a bolt of white energy crashed into Rafael, forcing him backwards.

Several more bolts crashed into him, Josef turned enough to see they came from Clara.  Rafael easily blocked these though, then he squared off against the three of them.  Once again he drew in dark power, preparing to strike.

“Daniel,” Josef bellowed.  “If you can’t free Mary now then we need to kill Rafael.  He’s linked to the darkness.”

Rafael unleashed a storm of darkness.  Josef found his sword deflected some of it, as did Sarah’s, but it was like standing in a hurricane.  He saw Clara try to block the power for a moment before she was sent crashing back.

“Daniel!” Josef yelled desperately.