Chapter 24 ( Trip to Calais And Trapesing Through A Temple)

Meanwhile In Calais;

Valudaz, Kerari, Veldron, Lord Brennon and Betherina were going over the things that that would need to purchase for supplies when they got to Italy. Firstly, they would need a boat. Bricks could be used from the rubble that surrounded the Vatican city. However, Veldron needed a form of hydrolic cement. They needed it to harden under the water and make a tight seal with the vault's roof so no water leaked into the area in which they were headed. Much of what was in the vault was in an air tight room. However, soon as that seal was cracked it would no longer be air tight and they only had a certain amount of time to get any artifacts out so they would not deteriorate.

Daz thought for a moment and went to one of the people behind the bar." Sir, where is the harbor master this evening? I truly have need to wake him if he is abed for the night. There is a nice bar of gold in it for him. " Old Tomlinson thought for a moment and got his cloak and clasped about his neck and bid Daz to go with him. They walked through the high winds and rain for a few minutes and down two alleys before they came upon and very nice house hidden from the street. Tomlinson rapped on the door loudly and called for the harbor master. The door opened and the sleepy man inside yawned and spoke. " Aye , what d' ye need?" Daz took a breath and spoke quickly. " I need at least ten bags of hydrolic cement and a dingy. I know it is late but I have a bar of gold for your time. It's real, full, 27 pound bar of American gold." The harbor master yelled up to his wife. " Tisha! I need to go out. It'll be worth the cold bed in the morn." and stepped out before she could respond. His wife had a temper but the gold bar would shut her up quickly.

He took them down the alley to the warf and turned right and to a small run down shack. He opened the door and lit the lamp just inside and held it high. Sitting there with dust and debris covering it was a 16 foot dingy with a small mast and sails. There was enough room for all five people to comfortably sit there. there was a small cabin that you had to step down and duck your head to get into, just the perfect place for a dwarf to set up a bilge pump. Nearby to the left in the shack was twenty or so bags of hydrolic cement, which in this day and time was a little more than difficult to come by. Infrastructure plans did not happen like they used to a thousand years ago. The harbor master kept it to patch any old bridge pylons so they would not break and crumble to bits from pressure and time and weather. Daz looked at him and clasped his shoulder and said." Thank you so much old man. Here, take this to your wife, she can buy some good with that and maybe something nice." The harbor master was elated when he took the 27 pound bar of gold and hefted it into the satchel he brought with him. Turning to Daz he handed him the key. " Take what you need , leave the rest." Turned and went out the door. Daz and Tomlinson went back to the tavern and Daz ordered another round of mead and took it to the table. He looked at them and smiled a toothy grin," I have procured a dusty old dingy and some twenty bags of hydrolic cement. We leave first thing in the morning. All it took was one bar of Gold!"

Back in the temple of Supay;

Hadassah was breathing very fast and clinging to Richard tightly gasping for air. " If that bastard wasn't already dead, I would kill him with my own two hands!" she said defiantly. Richard nodded against the top of her head." Yes , he is a ruthless, petulant whelp, I am sure there is something at some point one of us demonologists will be able to do. However, right now is not the time. We need that medallion to control the undead masses. The young woman nodded and took a breath and pushed back off his chest. She looked around," Now we need to find a way around to get to that room over there." She said as she kicked a dead Chupacabra into the piranha pit and watched the swarm all over it decimating it in less than a minute.

Richard leaned to one side and then back again trying to see further into the " Indianna Jones" Pit of fucking death. He said, " Well from what I can see here, there is a way down there but Im going to have to go around and do it myself. See that lever on the other side? If I press that, there will be a bridge that pops over the the piranha pit of death over there and then you can walk your beautiful dainty little feet over there. I swear if you took that damned jewel off we could just go together because of your cat like reflexes from the Riooan dna in your blood." Thinking for a minute she turned around and lifted her long black hair so he could unclasp the jewel. She reached up and grasped it and tucked it into her satchel. Closing her eyes, she turned to Richard and opened them. Richard touched her face lightly, " Its ok doll, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and twice as mean." Hadassah smiled and took the old man's hand and followed him into the literal pit of death. " Ah Richard, you know just what to say to make a girl happy." She said with an airy breathy voice.

Down two more flights of stairs, she sat against the wall to rest for a second and they both heard a click. Richard turned midstride and said." What , did you do?" she looked at him and shrugged," I just sat against the wall for a minute trying to get my bearings. It is kind of  hot down here." She said as her ears began to twitch. Richard looked at her and said," Oh shit. something's coming. I can hear something scraping the stone." Hadassah's nerves were all a wreck when a large pygmy skeleton with two large axe blades came into view followed by three smaller ones with spears. Turning to Richard Hadassah said," Punch me!" Richard pulled back agast," We are not in bed woman!"

Exasperated, she said again," Punch me you thousand year old, tales from the crypt wanna be!" Richard half gasped , half laughed," What! Of all the 20th century references you could ever use or know, you actually know" Tales from the crypt? Yeah that deserves a punch." He pulled and socked her with a right hook in the jaw. Stepped back and put his hands up and watched. To his amazement she started emanating a deep eerie purple color and shook violently separating into 8 copies of herself. Looking at her he quipped," OOOH sexy party wanna come? Menage'Oct? NO? Here let me help you." He said flippantly as she turned to him with glowing eyes, she she replied with a rasp," Oh no, just sit there like the old man you are.Yes, get over here, call some damn demon you got locked somewhere in those bright ass red robes and help!" She said as she started pummeling one of them then back flipped to help Richard. She spun around to the left sweeping the third's legs out from under it and the skull bounced down the stairs and dropped off the ledge. The big one came after one of her copies and tried to hack it, when Richard blasted it with a shadow meteor, causing it to slow it's stride. Hadassah flipped around some more and landed matrix style in front of the beast and punched the rib cage shattering it. Reaching through, she gasped it's spine and pulled out roughly shaking it . She said," Ha, Another skull spine combo for Azazel. I hope he likes it!" She said as she put it in her satchel. Richard looked at her with a renewed sense of pride. This fantastic little beast was his. He definitely had to put a ring on it." 

The two dug into the pockets of the dead skeletons when Richard found a ring. Smirking to himself he said ," Hadass come here." She turned and went over to him still panting. To quote an old movie called ' Ghost Busters." My you are a nimble minx aren't you?" He dropped down to his knee and said," I have known many women in one thousand years, all of them pale compared to you. Will you kill things with me to  make my eternity worth living for a while." Hadassah said ," Oh you hopeless old romantic, yes, I'll kill things with you, you old horny goat."