Death Raids A Heart

Pt. V

Alexandretta, Turkey
14:00 hrs

"... can suck my big. Fat--oomph! Cheap shot!" David bellowed when he grunted from being punched in the face. 

"Sucker," uttered David's captor. 

Rolling his jaw, David swore to get payback as he watched people enter the room, giving him no regard or an inappropriate remark as he was left tied to a chair. More scowling came from the captive as he figuratively spat at the feet of a man standing before him. It never occurred to him that foul play would come to be on his end. 

"So... you finally decided to help control the world, not explore it? How low can scum like you sink?" David hissed, chastising the man in the white suit before him. 

"Son, I tried to warn you," said Graham. "Trinity has offered to spare your life as long as you give them the Holy Grail." 

"I would rather die than give them the Grail." 

"And what of your girlfriend? Hm? What do you think they'll do to her once they stop the mess she caused?" 

"She'll do just fine without me!" 

"Will she?!" 

A man with glasses interrupted them by booming his voice, ordering one of his men to free David but to keep his gun trained on him as he was commanded to recover the Holy Grail for Mr Cruz. Reviving a grin did not help with Cruz' attitude as he drew a gun and pointed it at David, instantly removing the nervous mood he was in, now replaced with anticipation and fear. 

"The Grail will be mine. And you're going to get it for me." Mr Cruz said sternly. 

Knowing what he must do, David began to make his way up a few steps leading to the first trap. 

" 'The Breath of God. Only the penitent man will pass.' The penitent man will pass. Penitent man will pass. The penitent man will pass. Penitent? Penitent man? The penitent man is humble before God.. Penitent man kneels before God. KNEEL!!" David whispered to himself as he read his father's journal. 

Hunching over cobwebs, David continued to jog his memory when he suddenly ducked under a saw blade that almost severed his head where he found a mechanism running the trap before shoving a rock in the wedge. 

" 'The second challenge is the Word of God. Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed. The Word of God? Word of... Proceed in the footsteps of the Word of God." 

At the second challenge, David found a Latin alphabet where he realised he had to spell out God's name, Jehovah. In his cockiness, David planted his foot on a J, which collapsed underneath him, almost sending him to a deathly drop. Upon realising his mistake, David uttered to himself the correct answer in which he found the first letter in spelling Jehovah in the Latin alphabet, which begun with an I. Once he was across, he squeezed through a tight crevice, only to find no bridge or rope or vine to help him get to the other side. 

"The Path of God... 'Only in the leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth.' Impossible. Nobody can jump this. Wait... it's a leap of faith. I gotta believe." 

As David took a moment, he gave hope that he would not fall, that God would guide him on his quest to stop Trinity from gaining the Holy Grail for themselves. So, with one foot raised, he leaned forward before finding himself steady on an invisible beam. David threw dirt on the invisible beam before crawling into a room with a knight dressed in chainmail, a cape and with a book and sword in his possession. Suddenly, the knight swung his sword sideways, missing David's chest before raising the weapon upwards, only to fall back with the sword before David helped steady the old man on the ground. When the two made eye contact, the knight smiled in glee. 

"I knew you'd come," said the knight. "But my strength has left me." 

"Who are you?" David questioned. 

"The last of three brothers who swore an oath to find the Grail and to guard it." 

"That was seven hundred years ago." 

The knight nodded his head as his smile quickly died out, knowing that he too, would die. "A long time to wait. You're strangely dressed, for a knight. I was chosen because I was the bravest and most worthy. The honour was mine until another came to challenge me to single combat. I pass it... to you, who vanquished me." 

Holding out his sword, the knight knelt and waited for him to accept when two men entered the room, finding three dozen chalices - all to pick which is the real Holy Grail. Despite the glory of choosing such a fine item, Cruz felt greedy in belief that such a shiny chalice would suffice as the Holy Grail. 

"Which one is it?" Cruz asked, mildly concerned. 

"You must choose," answered the knight. "But choose wisely; for as the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you." 

Silently, David and the knight watched as the two men observed their options. Neither of them even need do anything as both men could not formulate not even a speck of an idea as to which was the actual Holy Grail. It wasn't until Cruz redrew his gun and pointed it at David, commanding him to choose the real Holy Grail. In a false pretence, David observed the chalice's quickly before choosing the most illustrious one and presented it to Cruz. 

"It's more beautiful than I ever imagined," uttered Mr Cruz. "I'm afraid... not that dumb. You've failed, yet again, to make a stooge out of me, Mr Gardner. Graham, drink from it." 

Shocked by this, Graham was at a loss for words as the chalice was forced into his care, resulting in Graham taking the item over to where the Holy Water resided and filled it. 

"Are you crazy?!" David yelled in frustration. 

"Ha! If you truly think you have chosen the right one, then taking the chalice from him will be easy once I kill the both of you. But should he be wrong, then to damnation with you!" Cruz shouted over him. 

As Graham held the chalice in his trembling hands, he gulped as he motioned to raise the chalice to his lips when David stopped him, begging him not to drink from the chalice when Cruz encouraged him to do so whilst keeping his gun trained on David. With one last regard to David, Graham mouthed something to him before his mouth was covered by the golden chalice, in which he took a large gulp of water before lowering the item. Peacefully, Graham faced the two directly when the burning, stabbing pain took over as he embraced his fate seconds before he turned to ash, his body moulded away to the bone as said bone collapsed into dust leaving nothing but dust behind. 

"He chose... wrong," said the knight. 

"You son of a bitch... I'll--!" David growled and motioned to attach Cruz, only for the hammer of the gun clicking which set him in his place. 

Mr Cruz stared heavily at the younger man before uttering, "Again." 

David sweat profusely as he observed his options before finding the most suitable item before he drank the water itself. 

"You have chosen... wisely. But the Grail cannot pass beyond the Great Seal. That is the boundary and the price of immortality," warned the knight. 

Together, Cruz and David made their way out of the room, back through the challenges where in the large area, Cruz' greed took over as he quickly ignored the knight's warning and passed the Great Seal, in which an earthquake rumbled the room, Cruz slipping along until one of his men caught him while the rest died from boulders crushing down on them or also falling into the abyss. As David made his way to the exit, he felt compelled to turn around. There, he spotted the knight staring back at him, standing up straight like a statue before he raised his right arm up, bidding the young man goodbye as he gave a nod back before fleeing to search for his girlfriend and help her save the world from a volcanic eruption.