Knight of the Cross by Steven A McKay Read Free Book Online

ran the point of his sword into the man's face which exploded in a spray of blood and bone while Jacob dispatched another with a thrust to the heart.
    The foreman panicked as he realized he was the last of his comrades still standing. He half-ran, half-fell down the stairs to raise the alarm but Sir Richard had guessed his intentions and was able to reach him before he hauled the door open, slamming the man's head against the stone wall before impaling him on his sword.
    “Now,” the Knight of Rhodes grunted into the inky darkness, breathing heavily after the exertion, “we find out what these people are doing down there.”
     
    * * *
     
    Again, as it had before, the stench of decay and some half-remembered damp horror pervaded the air of the tunnel and Sir Richard began to think of it as more of a tomb.
    This time, though, there was something else in the air: the sound of a large number of people congregated and chanting together as one. The Hospitallers couldn't make out the words through the dark caverns so they slowly made their way along the tunnel again as they had previously, only this time they held their bloodied swords defensively before them, ready for whatever this unholy place might throw at them.
    They passed the blasphemous wall-carvings, trying not to look too closely as the sound of chanting grew louder and the walls seemed to close in around them. Every so often one of the Hospitallers would turn with a low cry as they heard a footstep behind them or a whispered laugh in their ear, but they could see nothing in the gloom and the knight assumed it was some trick of the tunnel's construction that was causing the sounds.
    Eventually, Sir Richard grasped his sergeant by the arm, slowing their progress as the passage gave way onto a great cavern lit by dozens of torches and they spotted another guard, his back turned to them. It was a measure of their anxiety that the Hospitallers were glad to see a human enemy standing in the tunnel.
    “There may be more of them,” the knight whispered, gesturing Jacob back into a shadowy alcove in the tunnel wall.
    The pair stood and watched to get an idea of the guard's routine, if any, or if there were any more of the silent watchers. The chanting continued and, although it was meaningless to the Christian Hospitallers, the words became recognizable eventually.
    “Arra, Arra, Arra, Dagon, Dagon, Dagon...”
    The chant repeated over and over and, despite its obviously blasphemous intent, Sir Richard found the refrain hypnotic and he stood, spellbound for long moments until Jacob nudged him gently.
    “What do we do now?”
    Sir Richard looked at him in confusion before the realisation of where they were came back to him and he motioned forward.
    “We remove that guard and see for ourselves what the hell's going on in that cavern.”
    They padded forward, the chant masking any sound they might have made, and the knight grasped the guard from behind, bringing his dagger around, slicing it deep across the man's throat, sending a spurt of blood showering over the blade.
    It's hungry tonight , Sir Richard thought, smiling at his blade before he caught himself in disgust, wondering where such a monstrous notion had come from. The chant, the cavern, the ancient obscene bas-reliefs...it was enough to send a man mad.
    Jacob had moved to deal with the only other guard that seemed to be around, silencing him quickly with a sword thrust to the kidney and a couple of cracks on the skull with his pommel. He crossed back to stand with his master and they gazed down on the scene below, the chants of “Arra! Dagon!” filling the huge cavern as they rose in intensity.
    “Look,” Sir Richard growled, pointing to two separate places behind the great stone altar.
    Jacob squinted into the gloomy haze beneath them, trying to see what his master had spotted before his eyes widened in anger.
    Three red surcoats bearing white, eight-pointed crosses, hung from long poles like