III

III

 

"I have not been crushed by anything that has happened so far," he proclaimed firmly.

In the counts former office, which was now being used by New Vatican, Alfonso d'Este looked into the faces of the priests lined up.

Whilst they had been immersed in the meeting, the sun had come up. The snow was stopping, and through a break in the clouds, brilliant sunlight shone. The light reflected off the fresh snow, making the whole world seem to shine like silver. The priest looked up at the light, a burning defiance in his eyes, as if he had the gall to challenge God himself. "I follow the will of God. Of course the heavens will shine on us. Is that not right?"

"Yes, Your Holiness." Heidrich nodded. He was still wrapped in bandages, after sustaining injuries at the battle of Brno. He was a famous soldier, known for wielding swords in both hands. He adjusted the two large swords on his back and nodded with a confidence that bordered on fever. "The proof is that I escaped from Brno safe, despite being surrounded. The rotten scum in Rome will be wiped out if it's God's will."

"It is as my brother says, Your Holiness!" Friedrich, a priest, spoke up in agreement of Heidrich. He wore long whips that were attached to his belt on both sides. He clenched his fist and, turning to his master and allies, raised his voice to spur them on: "When spring comes, we will leave this rural town and head north. We have heard that there are considerable numbers of men who are opposed to the tyranny of the Vatican. We will work with them and bide our time."

"Until we are able to fight again," Alfonso commented. He looked out at one of the castle gardens and nodded.

This snow was their ally. The church's forces had not been able to track them down because of it. Using this to their advantage, they had regained their strength and were waiting for the time when they were strong enough again. The Vatican's authority was by no means firm. There were many cracks in which they could hide.

"Your Holiness, I'm sorry to disturb you when you're busy..." From behind, a monk called for his attention. "There are some men here who urgently need to speak to you."

When Alfonso looked around, he saw that there were several people at the doorway to the office—many townspeople, wrapped up against the cold. With them, they carried two coffins.

"What are the caskets for?" Friedrich eyed the boxes suspiciously. He took a few steps forward and looked in.

"No, you mustn't," the largest of the townsfolk hurriedly recommended. It was Sergei, the owner of the town's hotel. "They are in a very bad state. I would recommend that you do not look."

However, his warning was ignored. The priest bent down and easily lifted the lid with one hand. Immediately he screwed his face up. "Wh-what is this?!"

Inside the coffin was a corpse. Of course, just any corpse wouldn't catch Friedrich off-guard. The corpse was completely wrapped in bandages, with not a single section of skin showing, and the bandages themselves were covered in blood.

"What is with this body?!"

"It's... it's the body of the monk," Sergei answered. He closed the lid again and continued. "This is Alois and Richter... We found them dead last night in the street."

"WHAT?"

They were being told that their friends were dead. The blood ran out of the priests' faces. But both men had been well last night. They had gone out to patrol the town, but they had returned as corpses.

"It is very difficult to say this, but they must have been murdered by one of the townsmen." Sergei timidly offered an explanation: "Last night, I heard yelling outside my hotel. When I went to look, there were several men in the streets, fighting. I ran out as quickly as I could, but I was too late."

"How? Two of our monks..." Alfonso said, his voice quivering with anger. His vision blurred in rage. He knew that there had been unrest among the locals, but this was the first time there had been casualties. And it was clear that something considerably violent had occurred. "The names of their killers? Do you know where they are?" Alfonso asked.

"Yes... In fact we caught one of them. Shall we bring him to you?"

"Yes! Now!"

Sergei didn't have to be ordered. From among the small group of townsfolk, a young man in chains was pushed forward.

"So this is him..." Alfonso looked down with contempt at the man. He was covered in bruises and looked pitiful. But Alfonso was surprised when he looked into the man's face. "It's the count! You disappeared very quickly from the castle. We've been worried. It's not very polite to neglect your guests," Alfonso chided.

"Guests? You're nothing but thieves! And disgusting heretics!" The count looked up at Alfonso. His face was not only bruised but covered in blood and dirt. "Well, the master of the house has returned. So get out!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that. It's still snowing. We're not moving until spring. Anyway, are you the man who killed these two? Killing men of the cloth is a serious crime, you know that, right?" Alfonso was playing with Eulis.

"Men of the cloth? They looked like heretics to me!"

It was a precarious situation for the count, but he was giving the bluff his all. He wasn't letting up, and his face turned paler as he screamed: "Soon, you will be annihilated! The church will come here. Your time on this earth will be short!"

"I'm sorry, Count. The church won't find us here. And if they do find where we are, they won't have enough time to send troops here. As long as we are here, our safety is secure."

"Safety? You're so sure of yourself." The count curled his lips. It was a strange face to pull, somewhere between laughter and tears. His voice still trembled though. "Tallinn isn't as safe as you think it is. Do you really think that I did nothing between your attack and the fall of the castle?"

"What do you mean?" Alfonso was now no longer in the mood to ridicule Eulis. He looked down at the sickly man. "What are you telling me?"

Eulis didn't answer. Perhaps he was sulking or had lost his nerve. Either way, he glared straight back at Alfonso, completely silent.

Alfonso nodded to Friedrich. "Bring him here, Friedrich."

"Sir." The tuned soldier quickly grabbed the young count's arms. With some force, he dragged him over to where Alfonso was standing.

"I'll ask you again. What have you done? Perhaps you know something that I should?" Alfonso repeated his question.

"I..." Eulis looked over his shoulder to the townspeople who had brought him in. Alfonso was about to repeat himself again but—

"Wait," a calm voice interrupted. It was one of the priests who had been watching Eulis. The tuned soldier walked up to the young count, his face grim. "I suggest you don't move. What are you hiding?"

Alfonso was taken aback. Eulis had been hiding something in his sleeve. And that would also explain why the townsfolk who had brought him here were looking so anxious.

"Your Holiness, stand back!"

"Combat Open."

Friedrich pushed his leader back just as one of the coffins burst open in flames. The bandaged corpses jumped out of the coffins and bullets skimmed the top of Alfonso's head.

"The enemy!"

"Take the false clergy!" The small room was suddenly full of screams, gunshots, and clashing swords. The two corpses had jumped out of their coffins and run toward Alfonso. Their bloody bandages unraveling, Abel and Tres charged.

"We won't let you!"

"Get back, heretic scum!"

However, two tuned soldiers — one wielding two whips, the other wielding two swords — stood in their way.

"Crap. Eulis! Quickly! Get Cardinal d'Este!" Abel yelled as he narrowly avoided the swords aimed at his body. A few strands of blonde hair fell to the floor, as he fired shots in return. But the bullets were deflected by the sword. Not one hit its target. Tres was locked in a ferocious battle too, so Abel couldn't rely on him for help. Abel yelled again. "What are you waiting for, Eulis?! Quickly! Get Cardinal d'Este!"

"Ah, oh, yes. . ." Finally, Eulis seemed to remember his role in this operation. He took off the shackles and took out a small gun that he had concealed in his sleeve. Fortunately, the other New Vatican followers had scattered in the confusion. The townsfolk were guarding the room. There was a strange tension between Eulis and the false Pope. The young count raised his gun. "Do-don't move, heretic!" His voice trembled, along with the hand holding the gun. He was so pale, one might think that the gun was aimed at himself. "Al-Alfonso d'Este, we are taking you hostage. Don't try anything stupid! Or I'll shoot!" Eulis threatened.

"Shoot? Me? Could you?" Alfonso didn't seem to be scared that he was looking down the barrel of a gun. He looked into the eyes of the count. Cold sweat was running down the aristocrat's face. The New Vatican Pope slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can tell you, you couldn't do that. Eulis Ruutel... You could not defeat me.

"Ngh."

Alfonso's voice was full of confidence. When Eulis took a step forward to overwhelm Alfonso, Alfonso grabbed the gun with his wrinkled fingers. He didn't just grab it. He made it so that Eulis couldn't pull the trigger. He then skillfully manipulated it out of his hand.

"What are you doing? Count?!" Abel screamed at Eulis. While avoiding the sword thrusts, he was watching the scene unfold. Eulis still didn't move, though.

"I was chosen to lead, Count," Alfonso spoke calmly and authoritatively to the man from whom he had taken the gun. "So many people have tried to hurt me. But God has punished them. It is the only way things can happen, Count of Estonia."

"Ngh... ngh!"

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. A slew of bullets flew at Eulis. He closed his eyes. However, the bullets never reached him.

"Tre-Tres!"

With a quick leap, Tres had pushed Eulis to the ground. The bullets hit his right leg. Tres aimed his M13 at the false Pope, who was already taking aim again.

"Too slow!" Friedrich screamed. A black light came from his fingers. The whip wrapped around the M13. Nevertheless, Tres still tried to shoot at Alfonso.

"Your Holiness, are you okay?!"

It was then that the door to the office was kicked down, and guards rushed into the room. The priests quickly stood between their Pope and the attackers. There was no way that they would be able to take Alfonso now.

"We failed!" Abel yelled. He was still firing as he looked around for an escape route. He ran to the desk where Eulis was.

Eulis pushed a concealed button, and the floor at their feet opened up, revealing a dark hole. It the very same escape route that Eulis had used a week ago.

"The plan failed. Everyone run!"

Abel kicked the desk over to use as a shield. To buy their friends time, they fired rapidly toward their enemies.

 

***

 

Fifteen-thousand feet above the Baltic Sea...

At an altitude well over what was normally possible, the morning passed by quietly. AX member Kate Scott looked into the blue stratosphere. She was trying to be calm. This was her favorite place for thinking up new herbal tea recipes.

However, this morning she wasn't in the mood.

"Is there still no word from Cardinal Borgia? They arc an hour late already. Could something have happened?" Kate was talking to Antonio over the radio.

"It is certainly strange that we haven't heard from Abel or Iqus. Something may very well have happened." Antonio's voice was grim. He had uncharacteristically not cracked a single joke. "Perhaps the plan was never feasible. Could Abel Nightroad have fallen in Tallinn? Goodbye, my brother. I will never be able to forget yon."

"Please don't talk like that." Now that Antonio was slipping back into his normal ways, Kate was furious. Her voice betrayed her anger. "If you have time to be speaking like that, then yon can find out if they're safe or not! If something has happened to them, then it will be the end for Caterina as well."

"I know that." Antonio tried to protest against the sister's abuse. Unfortunately, Kate didn't hear what he said. A loud noise drowned him out.

"Huh? Cardinal Borgia? What's going on? Cardinal?"

Kate checked the connection. But the equipment didn't indicate that there was anything unusual.

"What is it? Is the signal bad?"

Kate wondered if Cardinal Borgia had pushed the wrong button or something. But still she had a bad feeling about it.

"Could it be?"

Kate's instinct was telling her something. She twisted the dials to match the Vatican's exclusive channel. She couldn't understand what was being said. But when the electric filter kicked in, Kate could make out words.

"Top secret orders. This is being issued by the Department of Inquisition. The Eighth Special Forces, Group B, is to head north. When the Inquisition officer Brother Matthaios arrives, the troops will move out. Arrival in Tallinn is expected at twenty-four hundred."

"Oh God," Kate muttered.