Chapter 11: Encounter
Krovin paced back and forth inside the underground bunker in Khasan. “Where is that White Snake? He should be here by now…”
A face then flashed on his display screen; it was one of his Black Guards. “Sir, the visitor has arrived.”
“Excellent. Send him in.”
Croak entered the bunker, with several Black Guards escorting him. Krovin tilted his head, “Something seems very wrong here… Croak, did you take care of the major?”
Croak did not respond.
“Croak? Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
“Surprise, Arkady.” said one of the Black Guards.
“That voice… that annoying American accent… Alexei Mikhailovich!”
“Right you are – and I’ve brought friends.”
The Black Guards surrounding Croak took off their masks to reveal their faces –Charnaiz, Primrose, Valeri, and Nicolette pointed their stolen AK-47s and Uzis at Krovin’s face.
Krovin glared, “How foolish for you to have come – so few of you in number, against an entire regiment of Black Guards!”
“That’s been taken care of.” grinned Charnaiz.
Suddenly, a body of a dead Black Guard was thrown down the stairs behind them. Dym, Shruiken and Murad appeared behind it, their weapons bloodied.
Upon seeing the Turk, Krovin’s eyes grew mad and wolf-like. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Murad al’Khefar!” Just then, a mass of black matter engulfed him and sank into the floor.
“Where’d he go?” asked the Scorpion.
Suddenly, the black matter engulfed Croak as well and dissolved into the walls, leaving them without a ransom.
“This is bad.” said Kazansky. “First thing’s first people – we need to find Natasha and get her out of here.”
“Those are your priorities, major.” said Charnaiz. “My only priority is to prevent Aquilifon from achieving his true form! I don’t know about you – but that’s where I’m going.”
“You can’t abandon us at this stage in the operation! God, I knew I should’ve brought my men.”
“My mercenaries are at your service, major.” said the Scorpion, “Besides, your men would have been too conspicuous. A small squad is a stealthy squad, major.”
“Fine. Scorpion, you and your boys follow me – we’re going after Natasha. Shruiken, accompany King Charnaiz and his bitches.”
“Hey!” protested Primrose.
“My apologies, your Majesty. Dym, Murad – you people come with me. Squads, move out!”
Charnaiz sprinted through plain-walled concrete hallways, trying to find evidence that would lead him to Aquilifon. Kazansky went a separate way with his slightly larger group.
Suddenly, Charnaiz approached a large, steel door. Shruiken slashed it open and found their target – Aquilifon the Destroyer, holding Natasha unconscious in his hand – together with a being of dark matter and Croak inside a large, spacious cement room with a structure reminiscent of a roofless Roman forum in the center.
“Welcome, your Majesty.” Krovin said, mockingly. “You’re just in time for the final merger ceremony. The black creature you see in front of you is a Romanian strigoi-mort, a demon of the damned and a powerful foe. You may try to reach us, but the strigoi-mort has put up a powerful barrier that will only disappear once he has combined fully with the White Snake and the Destroyer. I must say, your Majesty, it was nice knowing you.”
“You lie! My blue Iris can get through that barrier!”
“Most probably – but I have planned ahead, your Majesty, and have placed a null-mana spell over this room. The strigoi-mort uses no mana, and is thus excluded from the spell’s effects.“
“Damn you, Krovin!”
“I already have been.” He said with a deep laugh.
“Charnaiz, listen to me.” Valeri said, as if she knew what to do. “I have a spell that can lift the protective curtain of the strigoi-mort. It’s mana-less, but very weak.”
“It’s worth a try, prophetess.”
“It’ll require a lot of energy, so I need a share of your power and Primrose’s as well. Shruiken can guard us while we concentrate.”
“Hai. I will make sure nothing happens while you prepare your spell.” the ninja said, slashing the blood off of his katana.
Suddenly, a group of Black Guards entered from the gate behind them. Krovin began chanting in an arcane tongue, something sounding like a cross between German and Latin – Gothic.
As Shruiken fended off the oncoming Black Guards, the trio from Gondwana concentrated and began to lift the curtain very slightly. Shadow, the strigoi-mort, began to absorb Croak, who went along with it all; soon, the new being was a mess of black matter and entangled electrical wiring, and it began to expand and engulf the thirty-foot-high mass of Aquilifon’s body. Aquilifon dropped Natasha to the ground, where she remained unconscious. The curtain was lifting too slowly, and Aquilifon was becoming larger – forty feet, fifty feet, eighty feet… until he reached a height of over one hundred feet. Now the new being no longer resembled the pseudo-humanoid form of Aquilifon but rather a shapeless blob.
Finally the curtain was opened just enough for Charnaiz to slide through. Shruiken killed the last of the Black Guards and slid through after him.
“It’s too late now, warrior, your Majesty… the transformation is in its final stages. It is irreversible.” Krovin said with an evil smirk.
Charnaiz stared up at the mass of black matter, now sparkling with electricity – it started sprouting legs – arachnid in type, like a giant spider.
But as Charnaiz looked down, he noticed that Krovin had drawn twin PP-19 Bison submachine guns. As soon as the latter started firing, Charnaiz dove for a pillar to hide behind as the Bison’s 9mm rounds shredded the flooring where he previously was.
Shruiken ran towards Krovin, sword raised, but was readily received with a sharp kick to the stomach. Shruiken was thrown back with a thud.
Suddenly, Shadow’s curtain went down – along with the null-mana spell – and Primrose and Valeri ran towards Krovin. The black knight turned to face them and sprayed them with bullets, just before Charnaiz hit him with an energy blast to the head.
Primrose cried out in pain. Valeri knelt over her and examined her with her ancient desert magic – only to discover, “Charnaiz! Your wife has been hit near the lung! And she’s pregnant!”
“She’s what?” Charnaiz yelled back, surprised, just before Krovin landed a blow on his cheek with the grip of his submachine gun.
Shruiken flipped back on his feet after the initial shock and rushed towards Krovin, who, to his surprise, threw the twin submachine guns at his face, which he promptly slashed in half, only to be met by Krovin’s own Varangian long sword. Charnaiz then ran to aid Shruiken by attempting to strike Krovin from behind, but Krovin grabbed Shruiken by the collar and threw him onto Charnaiz.
Charnaiz shouted out to Valeri, “Protect Primrose!” right before Shruiken fell on him.
The Varangian raised his long sword and prepared for the final blow, when Shruiken thrust his sword upward and drove it through Krovin’s torso. The Varangian, seemingly unaffected, eyeballed the ninja, swung his own sword and hit Shruiken on the hand, making him release his sword. Krovin stepped backward, removed the sword from his torso and threw it upwards.
Suddenly, an explosive charge went off from another entrance. Out of the smoke stepped Alexei Kazansky, Dym, the Scorpion and her men, and Murad al’Khefar.
“Holy shit, look at the size of that thing!” Kazansky remarked at the sight of Aquilifon.
“That’s Aquilifon’s true form!” shouted Charnaiz.
“You figure out a way to stop it before it reaches the capital! We’ll handle the antichrist and his –” before Kazansky could finish, Krovin had leapt into their group from seemingly out of nowhere and had crossed blades with Murad al’Khefar.
“Shoot him!” yelled Kazansky.
“Êtes-vous fou?” asked Nicolette. “We’ll kill him if we open fire! They’re too close!”
“Do you have any other suggestions, Lieutenant Blanchfleur?”
“No, major – but I am confident in the Moor’s abilities…”
“That’s it – I’m joining this game.” Dym said, leaping into the air.
“Hey, what the – are you disobeying orders, defender?” shouted Kazansky, frowning.
Dym did not reply, already drawing his quarterstaff and smashing it on Krovin’s head. The black knight, in response, kicked Murad down and slashed Dym’s body in half with one rage-filled sweep. He then turned back to Murad and brought his sword down on the Turk’s twin scimitars
Dym’s torso fell from his waist and dropped to the ground. The head spoke, “Um… I’m okay… I think. Vitals are going down… waaay down, but I feel fine!” Just then, the giant black-matter spider began moving, creating a hole in the cement wall of the large chamber.
“Oh this is so TARFUN.” said Kazansky.
“TARFUN, major?” asked the Scorpion.
“You wouldn’t understand.” He said as he watched the giant black-matter spider walk out into the snow, letting a large contingent of Black Guards and a stolen Red Army T-90 battle tank roll into the chamber.
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