Second Circle

Chapter Three: The Empress

A ball of flames engulfed Combat Unit One after they passed through the vault door. It hit suddenly. And with such ferocity they did not have time to scream out. John watched the Lieutenant’s face melt and slide down onto his smouldering Kevlar jacket. Only a gaping skull remained. It charred in seconds before being shattered into a cloud of ash as Molly’s arrow sped through to an unseen target somewhere behind the wall of white smoke that was now rolling towards them.

Molly reloaded and nodded to John. “ Let’s go.”

The remains of the team who had just moments before impressed him with their sheer size and fearless approach now lay strewn in a bloody bubbling mess across the narrow corridor. John froze.

Molly held his stunned gaze and shrugged. She smiled and then ran at full speed through the open vault door, jumping over the fallen bodies and diving head first into the smoke.

John tried to shake himself out of the shock of what he had just witnessed when he heard Natalie’s voice behind him. She spoke softly.‘Where is Agent Morgan?’

John Pointed

‘On her own?’

John nodded weakly, keeping his eyes to the ground.

Natalie snatched two staffs from the vault guards and threw one to John. A deafening roar resounded down the corridor. Natalie walked calmly into the darkness and towards the source of the noise. John followed, keeping his back to the wall and making a note of any cover he might be able to dive behind should another burst of flames come their way.

As they walked the smoke began to clear until they found themselves in a large underground cavern. Stalactites of damp white rock dripped water into a clear green underground lake.

Apart from the occasional drip of water there was silence. John scanned the cavern. It was large, but not so large that he could not see every end of it. There was no Dragon here.

A low moan brought his attention to a figure. A man lay naked by the lake. He appeared to be wounded. Natalie was beside him in a heartbeat.‘Crow. Here. Now.’

John joined her. The man was in a bad way. One crossbow bolt protruded from his shoulder, another from his thigh. His blood seeped down across the white rock of the cavern floor and into the lake creating veins of black and red in the still water.

Natalie was crying. John looked away. He had never seen her look anything other than in control or pissed off.‘John, I need you to pull out the arrows.’

‘But he’ll bleed to death. We need to get help.’

‘Now.’

John pulled on the arrows. The tips were not barbed so they gave way more easily than he expected. As soon as the arrows left the body blood began to pour and spurt from the open wounds.

Natalie stood up. ‘Take my hand.’

John took her hand.

‘Now place the end of your staff on his shoulder and repeat after me.’

John did as he was told. Natalie had her staff fixed on the man’s thigh. He repeated the sounds she uttered, but it was either in a different language or else he was in too much shock to understand what she was saying.

The body before them started to convulse and then taking a coughing fit, rolled over into a ball. Natalie fell to her knees beside him. She took off her coat and draped it over the pathetic form, hugging him and rubbing his back until the coughing subsided.

Molly Morgan appeared beside them. Her clothes were torn and her face and hands were covered in scrapes and bruises. She put her hand on John’s shoulder. ‘ Let me introduce you to Natalie’s husband.’