by Roy Bright
Father Fitzgerald looked all around, admiring the architecture. “My, my, this place is the very vision of incredible. Such beautiful work from a time before machinery.”
“We can admire the scenery another time Father,” Judas said, while taking his arm and hurrying him along. “Right now we need to save that little girl so less chat and more haste.”
Father Fitzgerald offered a nervous smile and picked up the pace.
The six men hurried through the large temple, following Judas. Large stalactites of ice hung from the ceiling with several smaller, broken pieces scattered over the floor.
Guzzi glanced at them. “Best be careful in here, guys. Looks like shit ain’t stable. Gunfire could bring more than bullets down on our heads.”
Ed took note of what he was referring to and nodded.
After a short while, they arrived at a set of stone steps carved into the floor and leading down.
“Okay,” Judas said. “This is it, the entrance to the catacombs. I need you two…” He smiled and looked at Ed. “Sorry, Ed, this is your department.”
Ed shook his head. “Nahh, it’s fine, you know what needs to be done so we’re in your hands now.”
Judas pointed to the two Privates. “Okay. I need you two men to take up position here. You kill anything that comes out that’s not us, and if it ain’t human, well… good luck to you fellows.”
“Wait, what?” Guzzi said, stepping forward, his face wide with confusion. “Not fucking human? What do you mean, ‘not human?’”
Ed interrupted him. “Guzzi, you heard what Father Fitzgerald said. The Nazis are attempting to raise demons from Hell.”
Guzzi looked shocked. “You’re not telling me you believe that bullshit, boss?”
“I don’t know what to think Guzzi if I’m being honest, but I do know that I cannot explain how that man jumped off a 200ft high cliff and survived, then killed four German soldiers using swords without a single shot being fired.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain that, brother. Can you?”
Guzzi looked at the floor and shook his head.
“Besides,” Ed continued, “I know the look of a liar when I see one and I don’t see liars here today, and that scares the piss outta me, Guzzi, it scares the fucking piss out of me. So all you men look alive, stay frosty, and fight like you are an avenging angel from God himself.”
Father Fitzgerald offered the faintest of smiles to Judas who returned the expression in kind.
Judas nodded. “Okay, you heard your Commanding Officer, let’s get to it.”
The four members of the 101st shared a moment together, offering each other a look that said ‘don’t get killed’, then got into position.
They checked their weapons and Judas drew his swords, then led them into the catacombs below, thankful that the Nazis had indeed lit all the torches.
Judas’s advance through the damp and musky corridors was swift, causing the men behind to pick up the pace, and as they moved in, the number of lit torches diminished until there were none at all, forcing them to utilize their flashlights. Judas stopped at a junction, attempting to recall the way from old memories. He turned in full circles left and right, angry with himself as he tried to force recollection to the fore. Father Fitzgerald tried to intervene, but this only caused him to cease his turning and hold up an angry finger. He placed his fingers to his temples and took deep breaths.
Guzzi looked at Ed who in turn, shrugged then shook his head.
At last he remembered. He had reached down into his memory banks far enough, willing it into life and it presented itself to him in a flash. His eyes snapped open and he sped off down the corridor to his right.
Their journey continued in much the same way, stopping at various crossroads for Judas to gather his bearings. As they hurried through the dark, cold pathways that stank of damp and decay, the sound of dripping water echoed around them amplified by the narrow corridors and an uneasy tension grew among the group as they moved through the inky gloom.
Although it had been no more than ten minutes, Father Fitzgerald felt as though they had been navigating the corridors for hours and his concern grew. He whispered to Judas. “How much farther? We may not have much time left.”
Judas was about to speak when he came to an abrupt halt.
Before them at the center of a four-way intersection was a carved stone statue of the Buddha.
“Yes,” Judas exclaimed in a forceful whisper. “The entrance is just down here.”
“How can you be sure?” Ed whispered back.
“You see the Vajra scepter that the Buddha holds?”
Ed nodded.
“Well, this is a very unique statue, the importance of which we don’t really have time to go into right now but trust me – the entrance is just a little way down that corridor.” He pointed to his right and headed off with speed and purpose, his swords held straight down by his sides.
The group followed him.
Moving up behind him, Ed continued to whisper. “Does this path lead directly into the room? Where are we gonna take up position?”
Before Judas could respond, Ed got his answer. Ahead he could see the entrance to a gigantic well-lit chamber set back from a small vestibule. “Never mind, I got it.”
As they drew closer, they could hear a solitary, chanting voice.
“What the hell is that language?” whispered Guzzi, puzzled.
“Aramaic,” Father Fitzgerald replied, unhooking the knapsack from his back. He took out a small wooden box and placed the bag to one side, careful not to make a noise. “It’s a very ancient language, Corporal, and from the sound of it the recitation is nearing its conclusion so we need to move now if we are to stop that foul necromancer in there, posing as a man of faith.”
Judas tapped Ed on the shoulder. “Okay, it’s go time. You and Guzzi either side of the door and kill anything that comes out that’s not me or the Father.” He nodded at Father Fitzgerald.
He nodded back and they stood.
Ed admired Father Fitzgerald as he straightened his posture. For the first time since meeting him, Ed saw the man for who he was – a fearless and determined servant of God.
Judas readied his swords and gritted his teeth. The two men made their way into the beautiful and ornate ceremonial chamber.
Six large red painted pillars were equally spaced around the center of the room, stretching up to the roof. Within its circle knelt a man in ceremonial garb. Beside him stood two men in the uniforms of high-ranking SS officers, and in front of the kneeling man were two unconscious small children, a boy and a girl, their heads at his knees, their bodies stretched out pointed directly at Judas and Father Fitzgerald.
Judas quickly scanned the rest of the room and estimated that there were about 30 well-armed Shock Troopers present. He glanced at Father Fitzgerald, speaking to him out of the corner of his mouth. “You gonna be okay? It’s a lot…”
“We stop them. It doesn’t matter what happens to me. I thought you said there was only one child?”
“That’s what I was told by Gabriel. Maybe the old coot is losing his touch. You got the stone ready?”
“I have it,” Fitzgerald replied, opening his left hand to reveal a sparkling sapphire-colored round crystal.
“Okay, good,” Judas whispers. “Use it as soon as everything kicks off, understood?”
He nodded and swallowed hard, then followed Judas as he approached the center of the room.
The kneeling man lifted his head toward them, a sly and sickening grimace stretched taut across his face. The expression irritated Judas a great deal and caused him to grip his swords tighter.
They stopped around ten feet away from the children and the man wiped a strand of hair away from his face that had worked its way loose from under his headdress. He tucked it back under.
“You’re too late my friends,” he said with a heavy German accent, “it is done.” He stood up and dusted off his knees with his left hand, an open book in his right. �
��You took too long. Far too long, and now my work is complete.” He closed the book with a snap. “You know what your biggest problem is gentlemen, it’s your incessant—”
“Oh, fuck this,” Judas said, and hurled his right sword at him, interrupting the megalomaniac before he could get his pompous speech underway. It hit him square in the forehead, and he sprawled backward, landing onto the temple floor with a thud. Judas ran up to his prostrate form and planted his foot on the man’s face and with effort removed the sword from his skull.
“Shoot them,” one of the startled SS officers screamed.
Before the man could draw his sidearm, Judas decapitated him with a sweeping left swipe then spun to his right and removed the second man’s head; both fell to the ground simultaneously, such was the speed of the attack.
Father Fitzgerald wasted no time. In the moment that it took Judas to dispatch the three men, he had bolted forward to the children and slammed the crystal to the ground between them. A blinding light burst out of it and an electric blue shield surrounded all three of them.
The Shock Troopers opened fire and the chamber exploded into echoing gunfire.
Judas paid no heed as bullets ripped through his body. He raced anti-clockwise around the chamber and began dispatching the soldiers with ease, their gunfire failing to slow his methodical progress. Blood began to pool on the cave’s dirt floor as the bodies piled up.
Inside the vestibule Ed and Guzzi also sprang into action, leaping out of their position and moving into the chamber.
Guzzi spotted the crackling shield engulfing Father Fitzgerald and he turned toward Ed, silently mouthing, “What the actual fuck?”
Ed wasted no time and opened fire upon the enemy soldiers to his right, aware that Jude was ripping through the ones to the left. Unable to comprehend how the man was withstanding the level of gunfire slamming into his body, he pushed the thought out of his mind and shifted focus to the task at hand – ridding the chamber of the evil within.
Inside the fizzing protective shield Father Fitzgerald opened the wooden box he had brought in with him and removed its contents. He took out a white stole and placed it around his neck, then a worn brown book and leafed through to an appropriate page. Finally, he retrieved a small silver aspergillum and sprinkled holy water over the two children then, closing his eyes, he made the sign of the cross and mouthed a silent prayer. He then began to read from the book.
Ed and Guzzi advanced further into the room. A couple of confused Shock Troopers acknowledged their position by firing upon them, forcing them to strafe right before rolling out of danger. Despite the Troopers getting the drop, Ed and Guzzi’s control was much better than their German counterparts and their shots landed on target with deadly precision, causing blood to spray onto the wall behind them.
The floor of the chamber was now awash with blood as Judas beheaded soldier after soldier. He was moving fast, too fast for the human eye to accurately track, deadly and immortal. They stood no chance.
Almost as soon as it had begun, the fight was over and Judas stood in one corner of the chamber, soaked in gore and viscera, wiping the blood from his blades. Ed and Guzzi were in the other corner, their shoulders heaving from the heavy exertion and adrenaline rush of the engagement.
“Wooooo!” Guzzi shrieked, unable to contain his excitement at surviving such an insane battle. He pointed at Judas. “Who or what the fuck are you, man? You are some piece of work brother, some piece of work.” His smile was a big as his persona and he whooped once again while spinning in a circle. “Three goddamn men against 30! 101st baby, the mother-fucking 101st!”
Ed looked down and smiled a little. He couldn’t help but feel some of the same emotion that Guzzi expressed, and indeed it was the 101st that yet again came out triumphant in a firefight against improbable odds. He was about to ask Mr Jude some slightly more erudite questions of his own when the sword-wielding maestro strode over to the priest.
“We need to get them out of there and—”
Before he could complete his sentence, the shield exploded into a thousand shards.
Guzzi took the brunt of the explosion, shielding Ed from most of it, but Ed cried out in pain as a large piece of shrapnel hit him in the shoulder.
“Guzzi? Guzzi?!” Ed screamed, frantic as he grappled with his friend’s inert body, attempting to turn the man over. Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder and the blood running down his arm, he managed to slide him onto his back. His eyes flooded with tears and he screamed his name again, but lifeless eyes stared back at him and Guzzi’s lacerated face oozed blood onto the floor.
The countless bullet wounds and shrapnel that had shredded Judas began to heal and he rolled over on the floor. He blinked several times, sound and light muffled as he attempted to stand. Small fragments of blue splinters worked their way out of his body and fell to the ground with gentle chinking sounds as he got to his feet and looked around for his swords. Ed’s screams drew his attention to him as he cradled his fallen friend.
Deep, demonic laughter bubbled up from the center of the chamber as the smoke cleared. Where the children laid stood a jackal demon, its yellow eyes blazing and its mouth dripping saliva.
“Ahh, Iscariot,” it murmured in its deep demonic voice. “It has been such a long, long time.”
“Zenaku Hotoke,” Judas said, regaining his composure and bending down to retrieve his swords.
“It wasn’t very nice of you to send me into the abyss, Iscariot, all those years ago,” he said reproachfully, stepping forward and towering over him.
Judas didn’t move. He stood rock-like and determined.
“Do you know what it is like in there? Do you know what 500 years feels like in that place?” He chuckled. “Well, I’m sure you will find out some time, Iscariot.”
“I fucking doubt it, demon. I don’t die you see.”
Zenaku grinned at him and lowered his horrific face down to his. “Is that so?”
Judas looked beyond the demon, toward Father Fitzgerald who was crawling across the floor away from the exploded corpses of the children, blood pouring from the man’s multiple wounds. “They were just children, children you fucking monster.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Zenaku said, screwing his demonic face up. “What the fuck do you think my job is? You should know by now, Iscariot, these creatures are meaningless to me.” He glanced back at the priest, then crosses to him, covering the distance in a split second before Judas had time to react. Wrapping his powerful talons around the priest’s neck, He hoisted him into the air, and held him out in front of him.
Despite his terrible injuries and blood loss, Father Fitzgerald attempted to resist, kicking his legs back and forth weakly.
Zenaku squeezed his hand tighter and the priest ceased his squirming. “I have to go. It’s time to make some plans.” He smiled. “It won’t be long now.” Zenaku flicked the priest up and caught his head within his massive claws, then crushed it. Blood spurted out between his fingers, and brain matter oozed from within his hand, dripping onto the floor. He dropped the body and it landed on the ground with a sickening thud.
Judas screamed and attacked him but the demon reacted faster, leaping over his head toward the chamber entrance.
“I don’t have time to play with you today, Iscariot,” he called out without stopping or looking back, “but we will run into each other soon, very soon by our time standards.” He disappeared off into the tunnels, laughing wildly.
Judas considered chasing after him but realized it was pointless. It was too late, he was too fast, and he knew he could not catch him. He sank to his knees and closed his eyes. Ed’s pain-filled voice caused him to open them.
“My men?” he asked.
Judas shook his head.
“Demon from Hell?”
He nodded.
“Who are you? Please?”
“I am Judas Iscariot, Sergeant Harrison. And I fucking hate my life.”
Twenty-Four
He adjusts his thin, black tie. “Snazzy, eh Judas?”
He looks back down into the dirt. “Is this how it is to be? Showing me my greatest failures, my greatest pain over and over while I try to figure how to defeat you? Is this how it is?”
“Pretty much. But you cannot defeat me, Judas. You can only accept me. When you figure out how, at least. But for now, the game will continue.”
He drags himself to his feet and wipes his eyes. “Then I accept you. I accept you.”
Azazel laughs. “My dear man, that is not how it works. The game will go on for a long, long time in here, Judas. Out there it will seem like mere days, but in here it’s centuries. I now give you something I have never given anyone else before.”
“What’s that?” he asks, wiping more tears from his eyes.
“Why, a choice of course. A choice of whether to stay in here – or not.”
He scoffs at him.
“I’m serious my friend. For some reason I kinda like you. I see a lot of myself in you.” He smiles. “And because of that, I give you a choice. Leave now and no harm will come to you. Stay, try to outwit me, and suffer for centuries.” He rubs his hands together and his face beams a smile. “Let us see if you truly are the man to own me, Judas Iscariot, to call on me. So, what’s it to be?”
He takes a deep breath, then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
Twenty-Five
Charlotte’s eyes open, blinking. Awakening from a dream that she just can’t quite remember. A dream that lingers at the very edge of her mind, taunting and teasing her. She takes a deep breath and rubs her face, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Smacking her lips together, she grimaces at the taste of her stale breath, sticks her tongue out, and clears her throat with an ‘acch’. “Disgusting!” she says, propping herself up onto her elbows. “You’re such a fairy princess, Charley.”