It was easy enough to recover Devin, Juliet and Ashley. They had been locked in three consecutive cells along the corridor leading to the main part of the temple. When Devin asked about their escape, Christel explained everything to do with Bernard and the mercenaries that were coming to assist them.
“Excellent!” Devin remarked. “I suppose that leaves us time to conduct a plan then.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
Devin nodded. “Our first point of concern should be saving Hazel. Christel and Arlandra can handle that. Secondly, that witch Petra won’t let you go easily to Sam, Jules and Ashley, why don’t you deal with her?”
“What about you?”
Devin made a show of glancing around the temple walls. “I’ll see how I can go about destroying this temple.”
A sudden rattle of armed men echoed down the hallway. “We have company!” Juliet called.
Arlandra stood up – his eyes glowing – and went into the hallway. “I’m on this. Just get ready to run.” He placed a hand on the bricks at his feet and discharged a pulse of energy that fluttered across the floor and exploded at the enemies’ feet. Those that remained standing were cut down by Sam as he led the charge into the main chamber.
Outside the narrow hallway the group almost marched into a firing-squad of a dozen men. Instinctively they darted behind the large pillars that supported the building before being raked with bullets. A shard of stone cut Juliet across the shoulder and Arlandra swiftly took her close and used his body to shield hers. He drew his pistol and shot a man who was trying to flank them, and then noticed more reinforcements coming from within the temple. “They have an army!” he cried.
A well-timed explosion brought down the heavy wooden door of the temple, launching a piece of shrapnel large enough to crush four or five men. The firing-squad was forced to scatter and face the impeding wall of smoke that clouded the entrance. The heavily armoured Saizo stormed through like a demon carrying a heavy machinegun. Those in the centre of the room were bloodied corpses before long, and the rest that tried to flee were shot down by the mercenaries that followed Saizo.
Christel seized the opportunity and took Arlandra’s arm. “This is our chance.” Together they fought through the straggling remainder of soldiers around the outside of the room until they came to the stairway that led to the inner sanctum. In his haste Christel rushed blindly around the corner and was forced to duck the incoming strike of Petra’s sword. He spun around and raised his sword above his head to block again, knowing that if he stepped too far away she might use her lighting on him. Unfortunately, a kick delivered to his abdomen put him within perfect striking range and the dreadful energy began to gather in the point of her sword. Arlandra hastily performed a similar attack and hit her in the side with a dark red cloud of energy. Petra staggered and her aim faltered so that the lightning bolt exploded towards the ceiling. Petra turned on Arlandra now, running her hand along her sword to make the blade crackle with electricity. Arlandra met a fury of attacks but he maintained the upper hand. He managed to punch her in the nose and loosen her balance to allow for a finishing blow but suddenly she pulled a pistol and shot him in the stomach.
Juliet screamed when she saw Arlandra fall against the wall with his hand over the bleeding wound; she, Ashley and Sam attacked Petra simultaneously to draw her away from Arlandra. Christel then ran over to his fallen friend and tried to look at the wound. “Stop,” said Arlandra. “It hurts like hell but it’ll heal soon enough. Go on ahead and find your wife. I’ll catch up. Go.”
Christel shook his head. “I can’t beat Josiah without you.”
Arlandra coughed and laughed. “Hell, I couldn’t beat him either. You can do it. You’ll find a way. Now go.”
Anxiously trembling, Christel left his friend behind and went alone into the dark depths of the temple, but he called back to Arlandra. “Don’t die, alright? I’ll be seeing you soon.”
The fighting in the central chamber was beginning to die down. The surprise attack from Bernard had put Grey Skull at a disadvantage which lasted the entire battle, and by the end those who had not yet thrown their lives on the line were unwilling to do so. Frightened soldiers either hid themselves in the dark recesses of the temple or tried to slip past to the entrance and run. Few survived. Petra held her own against her three opponents however she was becoming mentally unstable and tried to scare her men back into action by killing any deserters. For Grey Skull the battle was lost.
Petra Underbridge soon found herself surrounded and alone. She turned and growled at each enemy like a cornered jackal, but did not act. Arlandra – having recovered slightly from the gunshot wound – staggered towards her. “It’s over Petra. You’ve lost.”
“Nothing is over!” Petra wailed. “If Ludovic isn’t freed today then someone will do it tomorrow, someone far worse than us, and you will regret the day you made Grey Skull your enemy!” She spun around drunkenly and flashed her skull tattoo. “Either way, all of you mortals are going to burn!”
At first they didn’t know who pulled the trigger. The sound rebounded all through the chamber however Ashley knew that it was not a regular gun shot. Germaine Underbridge had taken one of her specialised pistols and shot his sister in the back. Though he kept his composure he could not repress the single tear that fell down his cheek as he lined up the second shot. Petra had fallen to the floor, streaks of blue radiating from the bullet as the power was sapped from her body, and as she laid her eyes upon her brother they filled with betrayal and heartbreak. “Why?” she murmured. She stood up angrily, her eyes consumed with fire and hate, and charged her brother. The second shot struck her between the eyes. She fell onto her back, her hair strewn out like rivers of silver upon the floor. Her body seemed lifeless but Ashley had perfected the design. Petra Underbridge was alive and the battle was won.
ns 172.70.179.102da2
and then Add to home screen.