“You speak the language of the emperors,” he asked.
“Yes,” Hutchinson said. He took a step closer to the creature. Natalie grabbed his arm but Hutchinson gaining confidence pulled her hand away. Von Werner encouraged now stepped forward as well, eager to be part of this unfolding miracle.
“You are the one called Longinus?” Hutchinson asked.
“I am Gaius Longinus. Loyal servant to the emperor Tiberius,” Longinus answered.
“Do you know what year it is?” Hutchinson asked.
The creature stared at him puzzled. Then its eyes focused on the spear again. Hutchinson clearly forgotten.
“You have been alive for two thousand years,” the American said in perfect latin.
“I serve the empire for eternity,” came the answer.
“Your empire is dead,” Von Werner said, placing his hand on the spear, “It has been dead for fifteen hundred years.”
Hutchinson looked puzzled at the German Count, who smiled.
“I too speak Latin. Or did you think you were the only educated man here?”
Longinus was no longer listening. He suddenly snatched the spear away from Von Werner’s touch. Von Werner grabbed it and tried to pull it back but the Roman was too strong and Von Werner was losing the fight. Petrov suddenly stepped forward.
“Enough of this,” he said.
He flicked the safety off his AK-74M and fired a burst at Longinus hitting the creature in the chest. Longinus yelled and crashed to the ground.
“Petrov No!“ Von Werner shouted.
The other creatures snarled and moved menacingly closer. Longinus turned over slowly on the ground and began to get up. He then said something short and swift in Latin. The creatures near the men with guns suddenly pounced. One sunk its teeth into the throat of a Russian mercenary and ripped it out. Dennis shoved Hutchinson back towards the way they’d come in. he grabbed Natalie’s hand, ran forward a few paces and grabbed Katya’s hand and shouted, “RUN!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dennis shoved Natalie and Katja towards the narrow pass in the rocks. Hutchinson had already gone through. Katja was struggling to run in her three inch heels and she took them off and kept them in her hand, refusing to let go of a pair of shoes that had cost her five hundred euros.
The cavern was filled with the sound of gunfire and the howls of men and the white skinned creatures that had so long ago been Roman legionaries.
As the women rushed for the gap Dennis turned to a scene of carnage. He saw one of Von Werner’s men firing from the hip when one of the creatures dropped down on him from the wall above. It slashed at the man’s throat with its long fingernails, then it grabbed the man’s head and twisted, breaking the neck. Slowly it turned to look at Dennis with its teeth bared dripping blood. Then it was sent crashing sideways by a burst of bullets and it roared in anguish and bounced off the wall and knelt shaking its head and growling. Dennis rushed to the dead mercenary and snatched up the fallen man’s Kalashnikov. He fired the AK-74M at the creature and was relieved to see that the bullets which struck it in the head appeared to kill it. With a last howl it slumped against the wall and stopped moving.
“Shoot them in the head!” he roared.
He saw one mercenary grappling with one of the monsters when the pair of them exploded. The mercenary’s grenades having somehow been pulled in the struggle. A rain of blood and flesh rained down.
Von Werner was trapped near the edge of the crevice. He was between the sarcophagus and Longinus who was still holding the spear. Petrov was working his way towards his boss. He was firing a Remington 870 assault shotgun he’d taken from one of the SAS men he’d murdered. Firing from the hip he was blasting the creatures. Now he was almost on top of Longinus and he blasted him in the side. Strangely no blood came from the wound and he saw the black pellet holes heal in front of his very eyes. Longinus turned towards Petrov and roared his defiance. Petrov blasted him three more times in the chest and Longinus staggered backwards towards the edge. Petrov pumped the shotgun once more and fired again. Longinus dropped the spear and stumbled backwards into open air and fell from sight. Petrov suddenly yelled in agony as one of the white skinned monsters slashed the back of his head and neck. He turned with the shotgun and fired but the creature had already bounded away. Another creature grabbed the shotgun and yanked it out of Petrov’s hands and threw it away. Petrov fumbled for his handgun and drew it and fired twice at the vile being. He hit it in the throat and it roared away clutching the wound. Then it snarled at the Russian marksman and leapt at him. It knocked the handgun out of his hand and he was able to move out of its way enough to draw out his large hunting knife. The creature leapt at him again and he drove the eight inch blade straight into the white torso. The sharp blade slid in to the hilt. The creature howled and spat it’s foul saliva into Petrov’s face. Then it ripped at his face with its wicked talons. Despite the pain and being almost blinded Petrov was able to pull the knife out and slash the monster’s throat. It fell away clutching the gaping wound.
“I can’t hold them off much longer,” he yelled at Von Werner, “Save yourself Sir.”
Another white skinned monster jumped at him and landed on his back knocking him to the floor. The one with the slashed throat, still horribly alive and unfazed by its injury, slashed at him and then another dived on him and Dennis watched as the three of them tore him to pieces.
Dennis shot one of them and then another in the head. They fell where they were and were still. The third bounded away before he could fire and Dennis aimed the Kalashnikov at Von Werner’s head. The German Count stood slowly to his full height and stared down the barrel at certain death. Then Dennis lowered the gun.
“You need to get out of here.”
Von Werner stared at him incredulously.
“You’re letting me go?”
“You need to help Katja. Your daughter should not die here today in this God forsaken place. Go!”
Von Werner nodded once at Dennis then bent down and snatched up the spear. He ran towards the narrow gap in the cavern where Natalie, Hutchinson and Katja had run. Dennis fired at another creature knocking it into the wall then set off after Von Werner. Tosh was firing single shots from a handgun while backing one step at a time towards the gap.
“You should have killed him when you had the chance. Always take the shot.”
“We wouldn’t have been able to take his body with us,” Dennis said, “And besides we’re not out of this yet and may need him.”
Dennis pressed himself into the narrow gap.
“Go!” Tosh ordered, “I’m right behind you.”
He followed Dennis into the neck of the gap. Tosh pulled the pins on three grenades and lobbed them back into the cavern. The resulting explosion was deafening in the narrow space as Dennis and Tosh rushed after Von Werner. They could hear the creatures rushing into the narrow gap behind them.
“Go on!” Tosh shouted. He stopped and turned back. The creatures were slowed by the narrowness of the passage and Tosh shot the first one as it appeared around the bend in the head. It crashed to the ground and the one behind stumbled over it. The SAS Captain emptied some rounds into this one as well. He loaded a new clip then heard a roar from above and one of the creatures dropped down on him slashing at his head. Tosh felt the excruciating pain and he shot the creature dead. He wiped the blood that was running into his eyes and groped after Dennis who was waiting for him as the narrow cut widened again.
“Come on,” Dennis yelled, grabbing the man and helping him, pushing him on after the others.
Natalie, Katja, Hutchinson, Dennis, Tosh, Von Werner and the remainder of the mercenaries burst through the iron barred doors, up the stairs and into the bright sunlight. They could hear the creatures bounding up the steps behind them. When the white skinned beings burst out into the light they threw their hands up in front of their eyes, snarling at the bright sunlight as they were blinded for a moment.