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My arms compressed against my chest, I can do nothing but throw my feet in all directions. The second monk comes to my captor’s rescue. Even in his wildest dreams, he won't get his filthy hands on me! Despite the lack of air, I redouble my efforts and give him a well-felt kick right in the family jewels! He's got no use for them anyway!
“Ember!” I shout again, hoping my cry will cross the basement and reach him.
“Be quiet!”
“Is she really calling him?” exclaims the other, unsure of his understanding of the situation.
Delighted to see them unsettled, I continue.
“Ember! Ember!”
Just as the second comes charging back and is about to grab my ankles, he collapses as if he had hit something and knocked himself out.
Just in time!
Am I talking to myself or has my knight in shining armor come to my rescue? Since I can't see him, it's hard to say.
“It’s me,” he confirms, a smile in his voice.
Now my stiff is talking to me in my thoughts!
Taking advantage of the surprise caused by the chief pathologist's fall, I elbow the second monk in the stomach, and he immediately loosens his grip and lets me fall to the floor littered with dissecting instruments. I grab a scalpel and brandish it in front of me. This weapon is ridiculous, but if it can inflict even minor damage, it's worth it.
The coroner stares at me, poised on his feet, ready to parry any attack. If I lunge, he'll knock me off my feet. I wait. But for what? If reinforcements arrive before he attacks me, I lose any chance of escape. I need Ember.
“Ember!”
I'm... I'm coming!
Why the softened tone? Could it be that he's suffering from the same ailment as he did on the upper floors? He probably is. In fact, that's why I brought him back to the basement and told him to stay there. How did he reach me? Why did he do this?
My opponent's leg buckles at the knee. He crashes to the ground, surprised to see no one around.
Without dwelling on it, I take advantage of his confusion to flee. Which way? The only exit is also the one that will lead the reinforcements here. If I enter the corridor, I'm bound to run into them!
In the middle of a stride, I'm petrified. I won't have time to hide; a divine squadron stands before me. These men are monks in name only. Everything about their posture, facial expressions, and gestures betrays that they’re authentic warriors. Modern-day crusaders, armed to the teeth—and not with unwieldy swords, but with cutting-edge weaponry that would be the envy of the British Army! Where did they get such an arsenal?
“See you there!”
I have no choice. I raise my hands above my head, even though there's no doubt about the outcome of this fateful day. Did Eltz know this was how it would end when he entrusted me with his succession? That I would be unable to honor his silent promise to save the soul of his daughter, Elsa?
In my trembling flesh, I feel Ember's discomfort writhing farther away. A fine pair of cripples we are. At least we'll perish together, united against adversity and against this Church that only preaches for its parish, to the detriment of universal magic.
“So it's you who's disturbing the serenity of our abbey, miss?”
I remain mute. There's no answer to this rhetorical question.
“Has the cat got your tongue?”
I spit on him; he doesn't even deserve my consideration. Upset that I'm resisting him, his skin takes on a red hue that makes him even uglier.
“That's the one! I recognize her!” exclaims a guy who clearly doesn't belong with the commandoes.
I recognize the voice I'm hearing for the third time in just a few days: that of the man who welcomed me to Sir Jones’s manor! I imagine that, after his clandestine interview in the corridor in the middle of the night, he preferred to stay in the abbey rather than return home in a hurry. He's not done dragging us around yet, that idiot!
“Explain yourself, will you?”
“She's the one who worked with Ember Crow!”
