The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 75

Final planning

Three days passed since the meeting with Commander Eberhard in the asylum, since then, no one dared to set foot outside the limits of the solemn and cozy place they were in; that thin line that marked the passage from the garden of Eden to a dimension full of pain, death, suffering and destruction.

These were long days in which they not only planned their final blow against the Holzmanns, in the hope that peace would reign again, but also a chance to catch their breath. On that autumn evening, the sisters of the asylum had prepared a huge banquet in honor of the officers, in gratitude for helping their cause and to help the refugees forget their dreadful stay in the Günther concentration camp. Many of the officers had never seen so much food during their duties, although the style of cooking was more organic and characteristic of humble people. Several of the officers could be seen taking whatever they saw on the tables, only Steffi was selective with what she chose, in her work she usually ate whatever was available, but in general she followed a vegetarian diet. As part of the reception, they had also prepared a concert in which they played baroque and medieval Germanic music that transported their listeners to a solemn magical space that lasted until dusk and part of the night; the members of the order accompanied the dances with their songs and playing especially string and wind instruments.

The rest time was over for the agents, it was time to make the decisions that would put an end to the Holzmanns, only then, the nightmare would end and they could get all the refugees safe and sound out of the domains of Reich der Finsternis. Commander Eberhard had called a meeting of his officers, inviting the Americans to be part of it; ironically, among them Liz knew only Jake and pilot Steve Harris, who brought her and Bernard and Max to the gates of the horrid place. Next to her was not only her fellow institution member Jake, but also the four German officers who had been with her so far: Nick Deisler, Steffi Lenz, Andreas Berger and Tobias Fritz.

On the boardroom table, the map of Reich der Finsternis that Nick had rescued lay open with red marker scratches in several places; the largest markings corresponded to circles enclosing two buildings, a large mansion and a temple.

"Gentlemen," Commander Eberhard called his officers, with a serious look and respecting his authority, they all formed up. Liz and Jake went to join them "well, we have been deciphering several of the keys, in the time that has elapsed, Herr Günther should have already located the goblet, that is to say, they have an advantage over us. The fact that we have the girl Anika is our only point in our favor".

"Excuse me, sir" Jake asked for the floor "perhaps with the tools that the sisters have manufactured we could proceed in our attack, Amelie's diaries show that Anneliese fell in a similar way".

Jake's point was valid, however, they remembered how difficult it had been to reveal themselves against Anneliese at that time, this time, besides, Mr. Holzmann was not alone; his wife and children were another obstacle, as well as Dr. Günther. Even Liz remembered all that she had to go through in order to wipe Holzmann's executioner off the map.

"That's a good suggestion," Andreas acknowledged, "but we don't want to disabuse this place, it's thanks to it that we've slept in peace for three days".

"In that case, we must be recursive," Nick added, looking at the map, Eberhard asked him to explain himself better, "we can still use our weapons, they have shown effectiveness against the monsters; perfumes or other things we should use as a last resort, that's how we put an end to the monster that killed Captain Bunde".

"Well, this is all very interesting, really," Jake objected as he listened to everything "But where are we going to find Holzmann and his army of cheeky people, and that's assuming that we can really send those bastards to their eternal rest; although I think we'll be the ones to rest," Commander Eberhard pointed towards the largest circles on the map.