Chapter 144 - Teaming Up!

"You took too long," said Duke Kurt, as he came face to face with 'Purple Mask' at the meeting point. 

With the Duke, there was a huge Moor with a scimitar around his waist and a strange turban, and a masked female figure that Alexa supposed to be Lady Duvignes.

"The message has only just arrived," said the Second Prince. "But were not a at social meeting. Where is Father Agnello and what will we possibly face?"

Ironically, while trying to sound like a noble and assertive prince, the frightened princess was imitating the men in her family, and was aware of it.

"It's possible that we face the same dangers that your wife has recently narrated, and others that you have seen yourself. In fact, I hoped she had come, given her fame," said the Duke, looking again at the men with the Prince, and showing his disappointment. 

Alexander snorted,

"Hey, Mr. K! Don't offend me like that! I know everyone is crying out for my wife to return, but don't disdain what you don't know yet! I had excellent teachers!"

Even though he knew who the man was and his title, they had never been officially introduced. Still, the Duke didn't show nor make any mention of taking offense by the treatment.

In fact, after the Prince complained, the Duke just looked at him as if he was seeing a fluffy white kitten squeaking, in amus.e.m.e.nt. Even Narses barely concealed a chuckle, pretending to cough.

Only Lady Duvignes remained silent.

Some things never changed. Even Alexander was not taken seriously because he was small and angelic.

Clearing his throat, Lex said,

"But it's irrelevant at the moment. We are here to act. What's the plan?"

Alexander's uncle quickly explained to everyone that due to Father Agnello's suspicious activities, the people who caught him could have believed that he was the one who invaded 'X''s room and removed a dangerous object from there. It was clear that the Duke didn't want to talk too much in front of the warriors.

Then he explained,

"In the past, a group of women gathered in the ruins of the people who lived here in the past. Some of these places were important to them. There are still 'Roman catacombs' underneath the city, which have been mistakenly maintained by a series of disastrous decisions ... But what matters is that, most likely, the priest is being kept in the same place of worship as before. A few days ago I noticed signs of use in some passages, and due to recent events, I am sure there they reactivated their place of worship."

Lex looked around the corner at Narses, who just pursed his lips when he heard all of this.

"Maybe we have no problem getting him out of there, or maybe we are dealing with the worst kind of witchcraft," added the banished Duke Kurt von Wuttenfal, or rather, Mr. K. 

"Since Mr. K knows so much about witches, how can we deal with the demons they summon?" the Prince questioned.

The Duke answered bluntly,

"Some may be defeated by the sword. Others, by faith. So I hope that everyone has in his heart the firmest purpose of resisting evil, knowing that the Lord is with us," he took the box that Lady Duvignes was holding and opening it, took out several vials with a transparent liquid, which he handed to each one,

"Keep that in mind, and see the despair of the witches as they know to be splashed with blessed water."

Narses made the sign of the cross when putting the bottles on his belt, Lex realized. "Milady will guide the carriage," said the Duke, motioning to Charlotte, who nodded silently. "And she'll be waiting for us outside."

Lex wondered if the Duke would do this operation to save anyone, or if Father Agnello was special in any way. But he knew he would soon have that answer.

If only, back in England, she had companions this brave and ready to help her!

Alexa had already seen parts of the Roman ruins as soon as she reached Holstein, and even ran over the aqueduct that crossed the city to the castle, when the city was flooded. 

But this time she was going to know some secrets of the city.

They proceeded discreetly to the area where blackened walls and columns clashed with current buildings. Lex recollected the time when she crossed the underground galleries, blindfolded and being guided by Magnus.

The Princess wondered if they would have another meeting with the old and long forgotten inhabitants of the Holstein underground, and what was the current relationship between this Cult and the Black Queen.

But Alexa suspected the answer.

However, in Alexander's body, she had to be even more careful.

They reached a semi-hidden part, which showed signs of recent use. There were remnants of candles and even an unlit torch near a stone slab.

On a first inspection, Lex saw nothing of note, but Duke Kurt made a sign and the Moor went to a wall and pushed aside a smaller slab, showing a circular mechanism, apparently connected with the trap door.

The Moor had no trouble handling the mechanism, and Lex heard crackling and clicking noises, until the trapdoor started to move aside. Of course, Lex could not believe that the mechanism had been operating without any maintenance since the times that the Romans dominated that region. It was clear that modern people made use of that place.

As soon as the slab was removed, Lex saw a rough-made staircase disappear into the darkness below. Lex was not in the least afraid of this type of place, but asked,

"Mr. K, do you know what it's like down there? Or do we have to explore blindly?"

"Fortunately, yes, I know what the place is like, although I can only count on my memory. I will go ahead,"

But Narses interrupted him,

"Let me go ahead. I have some experience as a scout," Lex was not surprised by his brother's proposal, he certainly didn't want to risk an ambush in a dark and unknown place. The Duke shrugged,

"As you wish, I'll go on, then."

Lex followed behind the Moor, looking back and waving to Lady Duvignes, who would be outside. The line ended with Balbo coming in the rear.

"Brother Narses, just keep in mind that we suppose these cultists are practitioners of necromancy..." Lex felt he needed to warn. 

Narses just spoke over his shoulder,

"God is with me, I will fear no harm. We will hope that Father Agnello will also have his company here."

Lex wished these to be true, even though the words from his brother's mouth, once an ardent Tanaion, seemed so strange. 

After walking a few meters, the dark tunnel curved and they could see a dim and distant light.

Lex's heart pumped faster.

The group started to walk more cautiously, trying to make as little noise as possible, although it was impossible to walk without the torches. They had no way of knowing when they would be noticed.

Lex also felt a strange itch, and was sure that invisible Shades were watching them. His hand went from scratching to hurting, and the Light Bearer just hoped it wasn't strong enough to be impossible to control the Torch with only his Willpower. She sought to monitor Narses' reactions to the environment. As someone who was also born with the gift, he was probably feeling the same things. But between Narses and the Prince, there were The Duke and his warrior. Alexa couldn't see almost anything ahead, to be honest.

Then, in that strange, suffocating gloom, Lex heard Shades' whisper very close to him. 

Looking both ways, he realized that the place had a dense atmosphere and the limits of the earthly world with the lower worlds were very weak there.

He heard a cry of warning, in a high-pitched female voice. The people in front of them ran towards the end of the corridor, drawing their weapons. Lex did the same, and went through other passages that crossed that path without looking at the dark holes where the shades watched the living disturbing their nebulous existence. 

As he chased after the Moor, seeing beyond his broad back only a halo of light coming from the room ahead, Lex was not quite sure what was going on. He just imagined that a witch had given an alert about the presence of intruders, and the men in front of him wanted to prevent them from preparing for a counter attack or even fleeing.

When Lex reached the entrance to the great hall lit with a few torches, the Moor turned to him, closing the gate that served as a door before the Prince could pass, pulling the lever of a device from inside the room. The railing fell like a guillotine from the top of the door, fast enough to make Lex take two steps back, startled.

Alexa was totally taken aback by this maneuver, and tried to push the fence, but the Moor approached only to look the Prince in the eye as if he laments,

"Sorry Your Highness, it's dangerous!"

"GRRRR! Open it!" Lex demanded angrily, while his short arm tried to touch the lever, but the Moor disappeared into the room on the other side of the bars.

It was possible to hear screams and noises of violence coming from there.

Balbo reached him without speaking. Muttering a curse directed at the Duke and his minion, the Castilian reached the railing and pulled Lex out of the way to open it.

Lex held the torch so that Balbo could reach the lever on the other side of the grid and open it. 

"What's the point of bringing me if I couldn't help?"

"It's hard to believe that you are capable of what you are, just by looking at your appearance," Balbo explained gruntingly, reaching out to reach for the device. Busy as they were, they realized too late the figure who approached them coming down the dark corridor.

It wasn't a Shade. But Lex's hands stabbed and moistened with blood immediately.

"I was at your wedding, weren't I?" a strange male voice with a strong accent spoke.

Lex turned the torch in the direction of the voice.