They were singing as they walked; a chant that spoke of men in their prime, strong male voices in harmony. Behind them she could see a starlit path through ancient oak and elm trees to a beach onto which several small boats had been drawn up. She knew they had come from the sailing ship in them and were at the end of a long journey. The sea beyond them lay becalmed.
The leading man was carrying a wooden five folded cross half his own height and he led them under the trees until they reached a path that ran horizontally across the face of a new building with crenelated walls. Guards stood upon the walls looking silently down as the Crusaders approached.
Stood alone where the paths connected a habited Monk awaited them head bowed in prayer. He turned to lead them to his right along the path until it passed through a small tunnel entered through a stone arch. Emerging on the other side they turned the corner of a watchtower to a heavy door set in walls of great thickness.
Cherie knew that whilst the building they now entered was new it was built upon the sacred ground of a golden haired girl. Her strange eyesight enabled her to see the cross of silver she had buried shining brightly beneath the new building
Half way along the line of men she saw two pairs of hooded monks walking together and carrying between them a heavy wooden box the corners of which were protected by metal. The box had been slung on two long poles and between them they were bearing the weight of it as they chanted.
On the front of the box a cross in gold with four smaller crosses above and below the arms in silver was engraved. Cherie knew this was also a form of the five-fold cross of the Crusaders, a form favoured by the Hospitallers of Jerusalem. She saw that it was they who were providing the armed escort that made up the rest of the line.
Knights dressed for battle. Eight of them followed the leading monk with his wooden cross and eight more followed the monks who bore the wooden chest.
The knights also chanted as they walked, but she could tell that they were vigilant. This was the solemn duty of hand-picked, battle hardened men conscious that they were in the presence of something they would willingly die to protect.
She waited for them to pass inside the building she now understood to be an Abbey. She knew this place but the time in which she knew it had long past.
The spirit of oak and mistletoe was comforting to her, a fleeting recollection of a circle of stones amidst tall trees. For a short moment Cherie could see the circle of oak around the Abbey itself.
Her spirit followed the monks into the building. It was lit internally by long white candles that illuminated many other monks stood in lines against the walls of the hallway along which the procession now passed. Behind her she heard the heavy fortified doors being fastened.
The Leading monk was out of sight ahead but all she had to do was follow and enjoy the song that gently floated everywhere in the candlelight. They turned several times and passed through many rooms before the way led through a panel in wooden walls and down a flight of stone stairs cut from the bedrock of the Abbey.
She knew that she walked now behind the rearmost knight and that others had waited until she passed before following her. Suddenly the song became clear in her mind and she began to chant with them. The words were familiar upon her tongue, although she had not sung them for a time that stretched back beyond her recall.
A long tunnel had been carved through the stone and they walked and chanted for almost half an hour, turning this way and that and descending many stairs before they entered a chamber that resembled a church. At one end there was a stone Altar and all along the sides, the flags of the Crusaders flowed upon the walls and reflected the light of dozens of candles.
Along the walls either side a dozen alcoves had been carved from the red rock and in each a knight or monk stood. Cherie recognised the stones from which they had been carved. They were older than this place by many centuries. Holy in themselves.
There were monks, the representatives of many orders forming a small congregation and they bowed their heads as the casket passed by and began to pray. She was aware that they were conscious of her presence as a woman amongst men and that her presence was of immense Importance to this moment in time.
When the leading monk reached the Altar he turned and placed the foot of the cross he bore upon the floor and bowed his head in prayer. The following knights took up positions on each side of him and the casket when it came before them was lowered to the floor and the monks who had borne it took up their places in the front of the congregation.
The chant came to an end and the silence that followed lasted many minutes before an old and crippled man limped from a darkened tunnel to one side and took his place in front of the casket.
His voice was clear and powerful and rang from the stones as he spoke. The words were Latin but Cherie understood them as though that were her own tongue.
“That which we must now protect has come here through the lives of thousands. Whole cities have burned to enable this journey. Kings have given their crowns, their Countries and their sons so that what we do here tonight could be made possible.”
He paused and let the silence gather again before he broke it further.
“'The Ark of The Covenant’ lies here at your feet. Made by God himself.”
He bowed his head and said several prayers, many of which required responses from the assembled monks.
“The City of Jerusalem burns as we meet, the heathen rule great swathes of the lands that have hitherto been Christian. Here in our own land the darkness falls about us on every side and monasteries burn and are destroyed by the ignorant. No one amongst you can now travel in safety or practise his beliefs without fear of persecution, prosecution, torture and death. The armies of Satan have taken control and the Lord's will cannot be done.”
The Chapel was quiet as he gathered his words.
“Those of you who have elected to remain and take the Oath should make your peace with God now. Those of you who return to the Abbey above are sworn to the protection of this place and this thing which is God's alone. Be you ever mindful that from this place we will watch you, and our vengeance will be merciless against anyone who breaks his oath?”
He waited whilst those who had elected to leave made their way out of the Chapel and the sound of footsteps faded into the distance.
When the silence was complete he came and stood before Cherie.
“We meet again Isabella De Montferrat just as I promised.”
Cherie knew him now. Peter The Hermit. She felt a warmth from him that filled her spirit with strength.
He led her before the Altar and knelt and she knelt beside him.
“You have fulfilled the first part of your Oath Isabella by answering our summons across the waves of time. It is known to us that great evil exists in the place we have called you here from. A moment long foreseen approaches in your time. He that represents Lucifer has grown strong through many incarnations whilst he has sought the Ark of the Covenant. It has been as we said it would be that he seeks it without pause across the ages and will be born again and again to do his evil works until he can use it to call his fallen Master across the great divide. The battle between the forces of Light and Darkness is without end.”
He leant forward and removed a small flat stone from the floor before the Altar, revealing a hidden silver box. He lifted it out, opened it and took from it a cross of silver which he placed in Cherie's hands.
“This you have not held for long ages of time.”
Cherie remembered it; the bright daffodils and the soft voices in prayer without the circle of trees.
“In the days of the Prophet Moses God gave to him the design of the Ark of The Covenant and the Ten Commandments that are written upon the tablets of stone that are placed within it. These are the pillars of the Light as mankind knows them. These things have finally fallen into the hands of the evil one you were selected to oppose. The knowledge of God has become too weak in your time to oppose the strength he will now have b
ut in those lands an old power awakes and the Earth itself will have a voice, for without the Light there is only the Darkness and within the Darkness nothing grows. The Lord God created the Heavens and the Earth and within the Earth much of his power still remains.”
He took the cross from Cherie, replaced it in the silver box and put the box back into the cavity. The stone he placed upon it and pressed into the recess.
“In Jerusalem your ancestry was understood and your bond to the Earth itself also - for you had already journeyed long in time Isabella. By your own decision and oath you chose to be the one who will confront Lucifer's emissary at the height of his power. The strength you will need to attempt to defeat him lies within the silver box. Remember this when all is lost and the Darkness beckons your soul.”
Peter the Hermit took Cherie's hands and held them briefly. He smiled. “Blessed am I that knew such true heart Isabella.”
Cherie saw him fading and realised she was leaving him, rising unwillingly through the Abbey and seeing the circles of stone and oak falling away below her.
“Peter! She called out and stretched her arms in desperation to grasp him.
“Peter!”
Her head cleared and the crucifix hung upon the cell wall and Cherie realised where she really was; trapped in the lair of a Satanist who was planning to brutally kill her.
CHAPTER TEN
DINING WITH LUCIFER'S ENVOY
There was nothing Juliet could do to protect herself from the awful creature that was advancing towards her. It was an abomination, something from medieval superstition that had found the way from the darkness to invade her home and her mind.
She was conscious that it was trying to get inside her head even as it stalked her. It wasn't satisfied with filling her with dread it wanted to subject her to every ounce of cruelty it could inflict. Red eyes glinted with malice. “Get away from me you hideous swine,” she could only manage something akin to a whisper.
It was only a few feet from her now and surrounded by a vapour that stank worse than anything her nose had ever encountered. She could feel her stomach reacting to it making her want to vomit. It was attacking all of her senses at once.
The only way to avoid it was to move backwards and be burnt by the huge fire. Already it was scorching at her legs. On the table were all the small receptacles into which she had poured inflammable liquids but it would be upon her before she could light any of them. She could still use them though! She darted and grabbed at a glass into which she had poured brandy and swinging around threw the contents onto the fire.
She got more of a reaction than she expected, the whole fire flared brilliantly, throwing a wave of heat into the room. The awful Imp leapt backwards and a hiss escaped from it like an angry snake.
Juliet had the table between the two of them now and quickly she took a glass in each hand moving backwards towards the fire. At the bottom of the burning pile of logs was one that had an end sticking far enough out of the flames for her to take a hold of if she could just keep the evil thing at bay long enough.
It was a game of cat and mouse; she knew it had read her mind; it knew precisely what she wanted to do. It came around the other corner of the table and there were just the few feet between them. It couldn't cross in front of the fire as it knew she would throw the brandy on the fire and it would be scorched by the fire’s reaction.
For Juliet it was just a temporary respite. Elsewhere they would be breaking in now and soon she would be confronted by them too. This was merely their terrible servant and it had her trapped and unable to prevent their entry. To warn it she threw more brandy on the fire and immediately took up a cup of methylated spirits to replace it.
Her mind was beginning to function again now. There was still a way to escape if she could get to the bathroom window before it. There was no glass there now so she could get through the shattered frame very quickly if she could only find a way to buy those few seconds.
The creature was getting ready to spring at her. She saw it tense and launched the meths at the fire and immediately the brandy in her other hand at the Imp. The fire flared as the methylated spirits met roaring flames and the flames leapt across the brandy and onto the Imp.
The creature’s scream was like nothing in Juliet's experience - it was a noise so painful to hear that her head reeled away from it and she threw an arm up to defend herself as though it were a physical blow.
The speed at which it leapt backwards was a further shock to her senses. Nothing normal moved that fast. The flaming brandy was burning all over the Imp’s body and legs. It wailed again and then leapt straight at her in fury. From its gaping mouth some dreadful fluid was vomited at her as at it came through the air and even before it landed upon her chest the fluid was burning her skin and making her mind reel. The stench of it was more than her senses could manage and she fell back gasping in horror as the claws entered her shoulders and thighs, its horrific mouth was forced against her own.
The air it forced into her was so utterly alien that she felt as though she was being ripped apart cell by living cell. The Imp’s hideous eyes so close to her own were like feeling the flames of hell inside her own skull. She knew she had lost as she felt her consciousness slip away from her and her head crashing against the wall was the last she knew.
The next thing she was aware of was cold. She was being bumped around and it hurt! She was in darkness and as her mind started to function, she knew she was in the boot of a car. Her wrists and ankles were tightly bound and she was unable to protect herself as the vehicle's movement forced her first one way and then another.
It took her some time during which she received several bruises to find a way to wedge herself into a position where she could try to prevent further injury. Her mouth was covered in some sticky plastic tape and her head ached as though she had fallen onto it from a great height. She was bemused and frightened and for some minutes all she could do was try to get control of her mind.
The horror of her last waking thoughts crawled all over her senses. As memory returned she realised that she also had pains where the claws had penetrated into her flesh. The speed at which it had flown at her had completely taken her by surprise, Ferocious anger lent the awful thing even greater evil purpose. Taken unaware the stinking fluid ejected from the alien mouth had hit her before she could avoid it and the effect had been her undoing. Her mind recoiled from the full memory of it.
The car was only moving very slowly sometimes and she remembered that it was snowing outside, the same lovely, white flakes that had danced upon her windscreen as she drove home. The tears were hot and hopeless.
She was their prisoner now and she knew at once that she was not a prisoner they were thinking of ever releasing. Quickly her mind made the connection between the curator’s ring and her questions about Ilsham Chapel. She had walked right into the lion's den. The boy on the motorcycle, the lights of a motorbike on the Bovey - Strait’s was the same boy who had driven away at the Museum. She had made it so easy for them!
She was thrown against something very hard as the car skidded but didn't stop. She heard a car drive slowly by in the other direction as the one she was in accelerated. Whoever was driving was taking a chance with all their lives. Driving that fast on the Moorland roads in these conditions was just asking for disaster. Perhaps if they crashed she would be able to get away!
She realised that first she herself would have to be uninjured. She would also need to be untied. She tried the bonds and realised at once that she had been secured very expertly. There was no give in the tape at all. It had been applied with real tension; it wouldn't be long before her circulation suffered.
For half an hour she was subjected to knocks and bumps as the car negotiated the treacherous conditions. She guessed that they were going to Torquay. Once they had her there she was lost. Again and again she tried to find some way to affect her bonds, but cramped and needing to try to prevent herself from being thrown around, made it impossible.
At last the journey finished. She had been dreading this moment, she realised as the boot was opened and the light from a garage streamed in. It was a high room, probably part of a large old house she saw. Looking down at her was a small blonde woman with badly cut hair. She reminded her instantly and forcefully of a character from a Bond Film whose name she could not now recall. The same hard scheming personality was recognisable.
Beside her was a large red haired youth; the boy with the motorcycle, and another man with a bandaged hand who looked like he was not a savoury character at all. The woman was obviously in charge as she told them to get her indoors and turned and marched away. If she thought having a bound woman in the boot of her car was in anyway strange she singularly failed to show it. As far as she was concerned Juliet was just another job that needed managing by the servants.
Juliet was lifted out and hoped that they would untie her feet, but another younger man appeared from a door at the rear of the garage and between him and the red haired teenager she was lifted and carried into the house. The injured man walked along behind them - his eyes on Juliet's legs all the way.
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