Part VI
Bohemian Forest, Czechoslovakia
South of Vimperk
A large Tatra army truck bumped along a dusty and winding country road, loudly making its way southwards, deeper and deeper into the Bohemian Forest.
A crescent moon adorned the starry sky above, shedding some weak light on the woody hills and dales of southern Bohemia. Tall pine trees loomed threateningly over the narrow road which meandered through the forest and along the ever steeper hillsides. The truck had left the last human settlement over seven miles ago, penetrating the sprawling woodlands further.
The thunderous roar of the old diesel engine was eardrum-piercing, but after over four hours of driving, the passengers grew accustomed to it.
There were five passengers apart from the driver; four Executors and Narbareck.
Only the latter didn’t seem to show any signs of fatigue due to the journey whatsoever, though Kotomine Kirei held pretty well himself.
The remaining three men weren’t doing so good, and were suffering from nausea and back pain after having spent the last four hours sitting on a hard wooden bench in the back of the truck. Kirei mostly just stared absentmindedly through the rear opening at the winding road behind them.
Narbareck, who was in the deepest corner of the truck, just behind the driver, was sitting calmly with her eyes closed and humming some obscure melody to herself.
Her black Peter Cross was resting on her chest again, rather eye catching when set against her white sleeveless shirt.
With her hands stuffed nonchalantly into the pockets of her coat, and wearing a blissful smile on her face, she puzzled her colleagues; they were on a hunting mission which would pin them against one of the most powerful Ancestors, and already inside the vampire’s territory, yet she was completely laid back and calm, as if they were on a harmless field trip.
Seeing the other three Executors eying the leader of the Burial Agency in disbelief, seeing them squirm and sweat in bewilderment, Kirei couldn’t help but feel slightly gleeful.
He wondered whether Narbareck acted like this on purpose in order to unnerve her companions. His lips twitched a little, as if starting to curl into a smirk, but he quickly regained control of himself.
He sneaked a peek at Narbareck, worried that she might have seen him, but thankfully for Kirei she still had her eyes firmly closed.
He didn’t really want to hear any more of her poisonous remarks; the conversation he had with her during their ride from the Vatican to the Rome Airport drained him of much of his mental energy.
In order to suppress the tide of dark thoughts that had assaulted him after her final question, he tried his best to focus on the mission at hand; running over the battle ‘plan’ ( which was really mostly vague guidelines, making Kirei think that the head of the Burial Agency placed little importance on detailed strategies, and mostly relied on her own flexibility, planning things on the go ), going through the map of the place with which Narbareck provided them, to make sure that he has all the route memorized, and fumbled with his cross necklace out of sheer boredom.
Suddenly the truck stopped, and the passengers all bounced a little at this unexpected halt.
“This is it,” came a muffled voice of the truck driver, and the four Executors immediately rose from the benches and stepped out of the truck. Narbareck followed them after a few seconds, seemingly in no rush.
The Executors took out a large crate from the truck and started distributing its contents among themselves; MP5 submachine guns, bayonets, pistols, and, of course, Black Keys - their armaments were truly formidable.
Kirei, however, did not take any firearms, opting for only arming himself with a load of Black Keys.
Narbareck raised an eyebrow at him as she took one suitcase out of the truck:
”Aren’t you going to take any other weapons, priest?”
”These will do,” he assured her, stretching his neck a little to overcome the stiffness that took hold of his body during the journey there.
“Suit yourself,” Narbareck said and opened the suitcase.
Inside was a most dizzying collection of knives that Kirei had ever seen.
Two M1905 long army bayonets, over a foot long; two shorter M1 bayonets; tactical knives; a large Swiss pocket knife; a fruit knife; and, the jewel in the crown – a pair of cutlasses. They were over fifty inches long, with a silver basket-guard, and the wide curved blade was decorated with elaborate patterns near the hilt.
Narbareck had all this weaponry blessed and coated in holy water back at the Vatican, after the Mass at St. Anne’s church had ended. Even in the hands of a less skilled fighter those would be extremely lethal anti-vampiric tools, and with Narabreck being the one to wield them, it was guaranteed that they’ll wreck havoc among the heretics.
There was something else Narbareck had gotten after the Mass ended and the four Executors left the church – she took out a small bundle out of her pocket and threw it to Kirei.
“Here, take this, priest. We might have a need for it soon.”
”What’s that?”
”You’ll see. Put it in your pocket for now, and be ready to take it out at a moment’s notice.”
“Alright,” Kirei said and obediently placed the package into the pocket of his coat.
Narbareck took her knives out of the briefcase and arranged them in numerous pockets and compartments on the inside of her coat.
She then took out a pair of leather sheathes from the case, hung them on her back with their belts crossing on her chest, and placed her cutlasses in the scabbards.
The only things left in the truck were two silver briefcases belonging to Kirei and Narbareck. Kirei’s bore a coat of arms of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament; Narbareck’s was blank. She pulled her fingerless leather gloves tighter over her hands, took the two cases out of the truck, and handed over Kirei’s to him. Now they were good to go.
“Alright men, it’s time,” she commanded, “Kotomine, you stay behind me at all times. The rest of you watch the flanks. Move out.”
Her silver case in hand, and her long black coat fluttering behind her in the gentle breeze, she headed boldly into the thick forest before her.
The four Executors followed after her.
The truck driver continued to gaze after them until they all disappeared into the darkness of the woods, and then drove back to the sleepy town of Vimperk. He would return here later in the morning to pick up those who survived the hunt.
(...)
As the team went deeper and deeper into the forest, they started to feel their hearts sinking, and the thicker the trees became the more did a feeling of dread creep into their minds.
The starry sky was no longer visible as the sprawling branches of the black pines covered the skies completely. Even in the open space the pale moonlight wouldn’t be enough to properly illuminate their path, let alone in the belly of this monstrous forest.
It was pitch black, but Narbareck had issued a strict order not to use any flashlights so as to avoid revealing their position. And while she had no problems finding her way around the forest in the dark, the four Executors who followed her were less skilled, and could just barely keep track of the silhouettes of the trees and their companions.
The company slowly advanced southwards, navigating their way over creeks, crevices, logs, and ever steeper slopes of the hills of the Bohemian Forest.
But neither the pitch black night nor the challenging ground bothered the men; they were used to operating in difficult terrain and testing their stamina to their maximum.
What ate away at the minds of the Executors, and what strained their nerves almost to the breaking point, was a thick miasma that covered the entire forest. Like a suffocating, toxic mist, it covered the entire land. They could feel it from the moment they entered the woods, and with each passing step and with every minute they spent in the forest, the terror gripped their hearts tighter and tighter. They were anxious to get out, just a step away from running back and out of this cursed forest.
However, they kept pressing on; both out of their discipline and sense of duty, and because they feared their team leader more than they dreaded the forest.
In stark contrast to the nervous twitches and frightened glances of the Executors – save for Kirei who, albeit feeling very uncomfortable, wasn’t really overtaken by terror of the forest like the other three men – Narbareck showed no signs of being affected by the forest at all.
There was no nervousness in her movements, no fear in her eyes; if anything, the deeper they penetrated into the forest, the more excited she seemed to get. The arduous journey through the woods did nothing to wear her down, and she energetically ran down the hill sides, climbed the rocks with ease.
Kirei wondered if her twisted, evil mind somehow protected her from the effects of the forest’s miasma. However, a question quickly ( and involuntarily ) popped into his mind about why he, too, showed resistance, after which he quickly cleared his thoughts and tried his best to just focus on navigating through the pitch black forest.
The Executors who followed her from behind couldn’t see it, but Narbareck’s eyes gleamed in the darkness with thrill and joy. While the others were numbing down with each passing step, her heart pounded faster and faster – after sitting idly for a year, she was finally back outside. Living for the hunt, she couldn’t wait to finally catch her prey. She could barely suppress her bloodlust at that point.
However, no matter her enthusiasm and her itching to fight, Narbareck was not satisfied. Even as she speeded through the forest, she didn’t fail to keep notice of her surroundings; rather than mindlessly dashing forward, she kept a close eye on the terrain. And what she was noticing didn’t please her.
Finally, after they had climbed yet another hill, and ended up in another valley, she had to come to terms with her suspicion.
“Stop. This is of no use – we’re going in circles.”
The Executors’ hearts skipped a beat as they stopped dead in their tracks. They said nothing, but their bewildered looks spoke louder than words.
Kirei approached Narbareck, distressed but still firm:
”What’s going on?”
”The bounded field is literally throwing us off the trail. We’ve passed this exact place already.”
”How is that possible!? We’ve been constantly going south, I’m sure.”
”Yeah, well, the boundary is probably messing with our sense of direction. At this rate we’re never going to get past it and find the castle.”
”Then what the hell are we gonna do?” asked one of the other three Executors, a dark-haired man with a slight Spanish accent, who had overheard the conversation between Narbareck and Kirei.
“Relax, kid,” she said with a condescending grin, “this is nothing unexpected.”
”Nothing unexpected!?”
”Yes. I thought something like this would happen. What? You guys didn’t honestly think we’d be able to storm an Ancestor’s castle just like that?”
“But...”
“Oh, quiet, I’m trying to think!”
Narbareck put her briefcase down on the ground and walked a few steps away from her men, crouching down on a nearby boulder covered in moss as she fixed her gaze on the thick wall of trees at the far end of the valley.
A few seconds passed in silence, with the Executors exchanging nervous glances. Kirei crouched next to Narbareck and followed her gaze.
“What do you see?” he asked, straining his eyes to see past the faint silhouettes of the faraway trees.
“Nothing,” came a cold reply. Narbareck clenched her fist, straining not only her eyes now, but all of her senses.
“But I can feel it.”
”Feel what?”
”Don’t rely on your eyes. Try to hear it. And sense it.”
Kirei listened to her advice and closed his eyes. Surprisingly, his mind got much more focused, and he strained his nerves to try to ‘feel’ what was in the woods. It didn’t take him long to get some results.
The miasma was deathly suffocating now, swirling around the valley even though the air was completely stagnant. The darkness was tangible and he had an ominous feeling of something hostile approaching them. There were no footsteps to be heard, no vibrations of the ground to be felt, but he was sure – something was coming.
”We’ve been discovered,” Narbareck said and stood up.
Kirei was a little impressed to see that she wasn’t wavering in the slightest; her eyes were stern and determined, her fists clenched and her muscles tense, ready for action.
He looked back towards the three Executors – they had obviously felt that something was terribly wrong, too, as they got deathly pale and clutched their weapons more tightly.
“What are we going to do?” Kirei asked in a hushed voice.
“I had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this, but it looks like we have no choice,” the silver-haired woman said with a sigh, and turned to her men. She started issuing orders quietly but resolutely:
“Alright, on your guard! Form a circle! Prepare your weapons and stick together. Don’t do anything without my order!”
“As you command”.
“And you,” she said, turning back to Kirei, “Put your case and your weapons aside for the moment. Time for you to play the role of a virtuous priest.”
”What do you mean?”
”Take out that thing I gave you earlier.”
Kirei blinked once before the wheels in his head finally turned. He quickly reached into his pocket and took out the small bundle.
“Unwrap it, quickly.”
Her order was unnecessary, though, as Kirei did just that as soon as he had taken it out. He was expecting to find some weapon, but his expectations were off the mark – wrapped in some dirty cloth wasn’t any kind of weapon, but a candle.
“A... candle?”
”Not just any candle. Take a closer look.”
Kirei looked down at the object. Even in the pitch black, he could see the Greek letter ‘alpha’ carved just an inch or two beneath the fuse. It was only a fragment of a candle, though, as it was clear that what he was holding was merely the top part of it.
“I took the liberty of borrowing the portion of the candle in St. Anne’s church after the mass. Thought it could prove useful.”
”This is a...”
“... a Paschal candle, yes. I didn’t want to use it unless the push came to shove, but we’re out of options right now.”
”And what do you need me for?”
”Well, using this requires a virtuous priest,” she replied with a grin, “I trust that you know the Exultet?”
“Of course.”
”Then move, and quickly! Get in the centre of the circle and set the candle up. Here’s a lighter, but only use it once you’ve finished the incantation.”
Without another word, Kirei took the lighter from Narbareck and moved into the circle, surrounded by her and the other three Executors. Feeling the threatening darkness coming closer by the second, he wasted no time.
He fell on his knees, stuck the candle into the ground, and started reciting the Exultet, the holy prayer of the Paschal candle:
” Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.”
The miasma crept closer to them, and the stagnant air dried up completely.
“Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!”
One of the Executors started shivering, and the other coughing.
Narbareck narrowed her eyes even more. Her gloves creaked as she started twitching her fingers, ready for action.
Kirei continued with his chant, unperturbed by the outside world. He completely focused his mind on the prayer, kneeling before the white candle:
“May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning...”
The Executors released the safeties on their weapons, looking around nervously.
“Christ, that Morning Star...” the chant went on.
Kirei’s voice did not waver, and not a single drop of sweat appeared on his forehead. Narbareck bit her lip.
“...who came back from the dead...”
There were silent creaks in the forest just a dozen yards away from the group, but they echoed like thunder.
Narbareck bent her knees a little, like a predator ready to jump on its prey.
The Executors raised their weapons, fingers on the triggers.
“...and shed his peaceful light on all humanity...”
As Kirei started reciting the final sentence of the chant, the rustling became louder and closer.
Narbareck reached back and drew out her cutlasses.
“...your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.”
He lit the lighter and brought the flame to the fuse of the candle.
”Amen.”
An explosion of light erupted in the middle of the forest.
As strong as a lightning bolt, a pillar of blinding whiteness rose from the candle. All five of them were left dazzled by the sudden flare.
A shockwave spread in all directions from the Paschal candle, obliterating the bounded field that covered the forest. Within a few seconds the formidable defences of Gransurg Blackmore’s castle lay in tatters, and it was left without any magical protection.
However, it didn’t mean that it was left completely defenceless.
While the candle continued to shine brightly, its powerful light illuminating the whole valley as if it were daytime, the initial explosion of light subsided within a second or two, and the five agents of the Church opened their eyes again.
The sight that greeted them was that of hell.
Only a few yards away, like a tsunami heading for the coast, a sea of the Dead was quickly advancing towards them. Dozens – no, hundreds of ghouls were coming at the intruders, thirsty for human blood. With the magical boundary of the forest obliterated, they lost their stealth and invisibility.
However, even without their protection, they still had the upper hand – not only did they have numerical superiority over the hopelessly outnumbered agents of the Church, but they managed to creep up to a distance of only a few yards by the time Kirei destroyed the bounded field. Even though they could finally see their enemy, it seemed as if it was too late for the Church’s vampire hunters to change the course of Fate.
But Narbareck had no intention of giving up.
“FIGHT!”
With that battlecry, she plunged into the advancing tide of the Dead, swinging her silver cutlass above her head.
There was no need for her ‘encouragement’ though, for the Executors opened fire as soon as they could see their targets. Their nerves were already at the breaking point when Kirei had finished his incantation, and they pressed the triggers of their weapons the second they saw the enemy in front of them.
But it was all rather disorganised on their part; they panicked, shooting wildly into the mass of bodies in a desperate attempt to fend them off. Their volleys did manage to hold back the advancing enemy a little, but too many bullets were being spent, and too many of them failed to hit the heart or the head, so the wounded ghouls merely continued marching towards their enemies.
The Executors had really lost their heads, and just randomly sprayed intense salvos rather than calming down and shooting in precise, controlled bursts.
It didn’t take long before their panic started costing them their heads; one of the Executors got overwhelmed by the advancing Dead while he was reloading his submachine gun. Another one followed him within a few seconds after emptying the clips of his pistols.
All of this unfolded so quickly that Kirei had barely stood up and took out his Black Keys when the second Executor had succumbed.
Kirei wasted no time, nor did he allow his mind to be overcome with fear and panic. He faced the faceless crowd of the Dead and plunged into them with no hesitation, tightly clutching the Black Keys between his fingers.
With a swift swing of his right arm, the sacred blades tore one ghoul’s head and neck into three pieces, and its lifeless corpse collapsed into a pool of blood on the ground.
The Dead did not back away after this; if anything, they only rushed faster towards the priest. He cut them down without mercy.
One ghoul was cut in half, the other pierced through the heart; another two killed in one stroke through their stomachs, followed by a swift and powerful cut upwards that spilled their entrails, collapsed their lungs, and pulverised their hearts.
Pulling his blades from the decomposing corpses of his latest two victims, Kirei noticed two ghouls running towards him from the flank; with an explosive move of his right arm, he launched three deadly steel missiles towards them. Each Black Key hit its mark. The ghouls’ heads were split open and their brains splattered over the roots of the trees.
Just as he had drawn three more Black Keys from his jacket, ready to fight a new wave of the Dead, Kirei took a quick peek behind him to see how the remaining fighters were doing. The third Executor, the raven-haired Spaniard, had already been devoured by the living dead, who were now descending upon the only other survivor on the other side of the opening.
Kirei followed the tide of the ghouls with his gaze until he managed to locate their target.
There, alone in the middle of the army of the Dead, stood Narbareck.
Even the cold and collected Kotomine Kirei felt his jaw dropping a little at the sight. He was left speechless and in awe.
Her eyes were glowing with the thrill of the hunt, with ecstasy of killing, and her wide and gleeful grin revealed her two shining fangs. It was truly a face of a demon.
She moved around as if dancing, cutting down her enemies without a single pause or break to catch her breath. She wielded her two silver cutlasses with such skill and such speed, that Kirei could only see a bright silvery blur from time to time.
While Kirei cut his enemies down with cold precision and deadly efficiency, Narbareck played with her prey. As opposed to Kirei’s quick and short blows, she danced around, making elegant yet unnecessary moves as she chopped the ghouls’ heads down.
Whereas Kirei always aimed for the lethal spots, Narbareck would often toy with her enemy, chopping one limb at the time, obviously drawing immense pleasure from the act. She jumped, and dodged, rolled over, but with each and every move she made sure to make a cut or a slash, always landing a blow without fail.
Kirei only saw a glimpse of her fight, as he had to quickly turn back to face his own opponents, but had he continued to watch, he would have been in for a spectacle.
Narbareck brought her cutlasses together, placing them horizontally to the right of her body. With one explosive swing, she decapitated the ghoul in front of her, and even cut the throat of another coming from her left.
She then spread her blades, and with a turn to her right and an accompanying swing of her right cutlass, she slashed another ghoul over its face. This slash was followed by a joint cut of its stomach with both blades as she crossed her arms in opposite directions.
Then she placed her cutlasses on the ghoul’s shoulders, crossing the blades right under its bleeding throat, and with one fell swoop, cut off its head.
Two Dead who were charging at her back were each met with a blade through their forehead as Narbareck just pointed her cutlasses backwards over her shoulders and, with a short and strong jerk, pierced their skulls.
Another ghoul charged at her from the front, but with a lightening fast high kick of her leg, she literally blew its head off.
Rotating her sabres a couple of times in her hands, she stepped forward and cut off the arms of the ghoul coming at her, then decapitated him, too.
Two Dead used the opportunity to grab her by the shoulders - she just bent her knees, taking her centre of balance lower, and with a powerful swing from her hips, she pushed them both face first onto the ground, using her elbows and upper arms to send them on their merry way.
The two ghouls quickly got up to their knees and turned towards her, huge trails of saliva coming out of their gaping mouths.
Narbareck just shoved her cutlasses into their gobs and pierced their brains.
As the indomitable number 1 of the Burial Agency continued to effortlessly cut down one ghoul after the other, the battle drew to a close.
And it was just as well – Kirei was down to his last six Black Keys, so he opted to use them for hacking rather than throwing them at the Dead, even though this manner of fight was rather strenuous since the weapons were difficult to wield that way.
Still, over a dozen ghouls paid with their heads for testing Kirei’s skills with the Keys; as the number one in his class, he wouldn’t have even had much problem beating the Dead with his bare hands ( something he was still a little reluctant to do, considering the overwhelming number of enemies he was facing ), let alone using the Black Keys for close quarters combat.
Once he had dispatched the last remaining ghoul by turning on his toes and cutting him diagonally from hip to armpit – spilling all of its guts out in a bloody stream – Kirei took a deep breath and turned around to inspect the battlefield.
The Paschal candle was still standing in the middle of the opening, casting eerie white light over hundreds of corpses scattered throughout the forest.
A good portion of those had been taken out by Kirei, with some negligible contribution from the three dead Executors, but by far the largest part of the defeated ghouls had been killed by Narbareck.
She stood there, some two dozen yards away from Kirei, looking perfectly calm. Her breathing was only slightly faster than before the fight, and she didn’t seem to have even broken a sweat. Even her ponytail was still in perfect shape, despite all her acrobatics during the carnage.
Her black coat was splattered with lots of blood, though, as were her boots and her face. Huge drops of sticky, crimson red liquid were slowly dripping down the tips of her curved blades. The ornaments on the cutlasses were now almost completely obfuscated by the blood of the ghouls.
And yet, she appeared to be completely composed.
No, she didn’t just seem calm – she looked happy.
There was an expression of blissful satisfaction on her face; even the burning fire in her eyes seemed to have subsided a little following the carnage.
“Are you alright?” said Kirei, more out of habit or politeness than actual concern.
She didn’t immediately reply to him, waiting for a few long seconds and drawing a deep breath before she spoke:
”Of course. Do I look hurt?”
“You are covered in blood.”
“So are you, priest.”
Kirei looked down on his clothes and saw that Narbareck was telling the truth; his black jacket and trousers had a few big blood stains. His shoes were completely soaked in blood, and there was even some on the edge of his golden cross. He quickly wiped it on his sleeve until the cross was speckles and shiny again.
“I’m surprised you’re still alive,” she said, walking over to the part of the ground that wasn’t covered in corpses, and wiping her bloodied blades clean against the grass.
“It seems Cardinal Naro really did give me one of his best men. Unlike Cardinal Rossi,” Narbareck said with a snigger, looking over the dismembered and disfigured corpses of the three fallen Executors.
Her words and her attitude towards the dead men disturbed and angered Kirei. His righteous mind rebelled at such a pathological lack of any empathy.
Her attitude was just wrong.
“Show some respect for the dead.”
“What good is my respect gonna do them? They’re already dead.”
“Don’t you feel anything for your fallen comrades!?”
Kirei's voice trembled with anger. However, he was perfectly aware that his anger at Narbareck and his brash attitude – for which this maniac might just take his life yet – were not really motivated by righteous feelings or respect for the dead. On the contrary; by questioning her for her lack of empathy, he wanted to avoid confronting his own lack of feelings for the dead men.
His mind, molded by the righteous and virtuous teachings of his father and the Church, screamed that he should be feeling sorry for the fallen Executors, and be disgusted by Narbareck.
But he just couldn’t.
Narbareck once again looked deep into his eyes, and once again they told her the truth.
‘I wonder to whom your question is directed, Kotomine Kirei,’ she mused to herself, but refrained from saying it out loud. Instead she said:
”Of course not. They weren’t my comrades. Why should I feel anything for them?”
”Not your comrades?? Then why did you ask us for our help on this mission!?”
”Oh, I didn’t really need you. All I needed were the things that are in these briefcases of ours. That’s why I contacted your Cardinals. Well, I guess I did need someone to carry the other case – thought even that I can do myself - but as for the rest of you...” she said, waving nonchalantly towards the corpses of the Executors, “It was really just a whim. A meat-shield, if you will. You must have already realised that I could have taken care of this bunch all by myself.”
“So you asked for men knowing fully well that they’d die? And you didn’t even try to do anything to help them!?”
”And why should I help them? Those are their lives, not mine. Why should I be responsible for them?”
”Because... you’re our leader, are you not?”
”I think you got this all wrong, Kotomine,” Narbareck said,
“I’m not your ‘leader’. You just happen to be following me. I prefer to hunt alone, to be honest. But considering the enemy I’m hunting now, I thought that having someone to serve as a distraction would be smart. If you don’t like this, you’re free to hand over that briefcase to me and go back home. I can go on from here on my own.”
Kirei was at a loss for words. He knew that Narbareck was a monster, but her complete lack of emotion for anything besides killing disturbed him greatly. He was disturbed because, in a way, he felt like looking at himself in a mirror. His nature, which he constantly fought against and which he despised, was not that different from hers. Looking at the devil and seeing some of your own reflection was bound to disturb anyone.
However...
“No.”
” ’No’ what?”
”I won’t just back off and leave you with this case unguarded,“ he said, walking over to the candle, next to which he had left the silver briefcase, "I am a member of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament, and as such it is my duty to safeguard this holy relic.”
The familiar combination of confident voice and empty eyes once again made Narbareck grin in sick amusement.
“How admirable. Truly you’re a virtuous man, Kotomine Kirei. Well, then, let’s go,” she said, and picked up her own briefcase, “the dawn is approaching and the castle is nearby. Let us bring this hunt to a close.”
Her silvery hair and her blood-stained coat fluttered behind her in a sudden gust of cold wind as she made her way across the valley and towards the hill to the south.
After standing still for a while, Kirei picked up his case, collected some Black Keys from around the field, took a pistol from one of the dead Executors, and followed after her.
***__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________
Author's notes:
- Just to clarify, since some people were wondering about it - the story is set in June 1992. Hence 'Czechoslovakia', which existed until 1993.
Also, the 4th HGW occured in 1995/1996, and Kirei left the Church to study under Tokiomi ~3 years prior to the War, so there.
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Originally Posted by Mike1984
