“The Knights of VanHelsing will live on,” Ana was defiant. She closed her eyes and waited for Andrew to strike her down. Andrew rendered Ana unconscious instead with a blow to the head.
Hours later, after the battle with Ana and her knights, Andrew finally had the courage, and took Talia’s body into his arms. He looked up and searched the parapets. There was no sign of any knights. Andrew carried Talia inside the castle. He ascended the stairs to the third floor of Gothica and looked for a place to lay Talia’s body.
Andrew soon found an unoccupied bedroom chamber. He opened the door and stepped inside the room. There was a beautifully adorned canopy bed. Andrew walked over to the bed and laid Talia on her side. He swallowed hard and grasped hold of the first arrow. Andrew breathed deeply, emotionally for several seconds. His hand trembled, and Andrew closed his eyes as he removed the first arrow. For each arrow Andrew took out of Talia, the anguish and tears built to an emotional crescendo. And as the last arrow was withdrawn, Andrew slumped to the cold, harsh floor. He stared at the bloody object in his hand for a moment, and tossed it away. Andrew pulled himself up and pulled back the covers. He gingerly rolled Talia on her back. Andrew drew up the covers to her waist and folded Talia’s arms across her chest. It looked as if she were only sleeping.
Andrew tenderly kissed Talia’s lips. He would come back for Talia’s body and bring her home. Andrew knew that her knights would search for Kara and Wyatt. Andrew hoped he wasn’t too late.
The passageways of the Gothica were empty. Andrew walked alone, a shadow of his former self.
Chapter 15
Andrew drew into the clearing among the forest and was met with a strange and unexpected sight. It was a graveyard of rusted heaps of war birds from the past. And there among those deteriorating carcasses was the newest addition, the black helicopter. It was still relatively intact and rested on top of a cargo plane. He was amazed that somehow Kara had managed to land the helicopter.
Andrew scanned the snowy ground. There were several boot prints that came in from the north, the direction of Gothica castle. Andrew followed them until he was at the cargo plane. It was at the plane that Andrew saw two more sets of boot prints. He crouched down to examine them more closely. One set was not as deep as the other. That must be Kara’s. The others must be Wyatt’s, for they were deeper. Andrew deduced that Wyatt was injured by the way his left boot dragged as he walked. Also, Andrew saw a perfectly round hole next to the boot print. Wyatt had to use something to support his injured foot or leg.
Andrew rose and began to follow their tracks. When he was some distance from the cargo plane, Andrew saw that the knights picked up the trail and were following Wyatt and Kara. Andrew continued on until all but the knights’ tracks disappeared. He could see that the knights continued their search in the surrounding woods. Andrew stopped. He deduced that the knights’ thinking was only one dimensional. They would assume that Kara and Wyatt would continue on through the rough terrain in order to escape. So therefore, the knights’ would simply search for them until they finally would just give up. However, Andrew thought that if Wyatt was injured, there would be no way for him or Kara to do that. Kara and Wyatt would have to find some place to hide and wait out the knights. It would have to be some place close by. Andrew turned and ran back to the war bird graveyard.
Andrew stopped at the set of tracks by the cargo plane. This time he knelt down and examined the boot prints more closely. A slight smile spread across Andrew’s lips as he came to a realization. Both sets of prints were made by the same person. Andrew further deduced that first one set of booth prints were made up until they disappeared. Then Kara grabbed a stick and used it to support her as she walked backwards. That was why the other set was deeper and the stick mark was next to them. Andrew stood up and walked over to the side door of the cargo plane. The door was slightly open. Andrew leaned closer and peered through the crack. He saw a taught string rigged to the door. Andrew stepped aside and flung the door open. An arrow flew safely past him and buried itself in the snow. Andrew jumped inside the plane and tucked and rolled as another arrow zoomed overhead. Andrew sprung to his feet and blocked a kick meant for his face. He grabbed the person’s leg and pushed them down.
“Kara!” Andrew called out. The attack ended.
Kara jumped up and threw her arms around Andrew. She gave him a full, on mouth, fervent kiss. Andrew gently pushed her away.
“Sorry,” Kara apologized. “It’s just that I thought they had killed you, and with the crash and all, well, I just got carried away.”
“It’s okay,” Andrew reassured her. He came up to her and put his arms around her. Kara rested her head on Andrew’s chest. “I thought you were dead too. But we’re okay now.” Kara looked up at Andrew, “How did you know we were in here?”
“I followed your tracks,” Andrew answered.
“If you did, then…” Kara started to say.
“Don’t worry your rouse worked on the Knights,” Andrew reassured. “They believe that you two are somewhere in the forest.” Andrew glanced down at Kara, “By the way that was pretty ingenious of you to make both sets of tracks.” Andrew now looked around the interior of the cargo plane. There among the deteriorating wooden crates, was a sleeping area made up of old parachutes and canvas tarps. That’s where Andrew saw Wyatt, who hadn’t woken up during all the commotion.”
“What’s wrong with Wyatt?” Andrew asked.
“He was knocked cold,” Kara answered.
“Let’s sit down and then you can explain it all to me,” Andrew suggested. Kara gave him a squeeze and took hold of Andrew’s hand. She led them over to Wyatt. She and Andrew sat down on the cushioned floor.
“The last thing I saw was the helicopter out of control,” Andrew said. “How did you manage to gain control?”
“It was part of my training,” Kara explained. “We used a simulator to learn how bring a helicopter out of crash situations just like that.”
“What happened after you landed?” Andrew asked.
“During the landing, which was still quite rough, Wyatt was knocked out,” Kara answered. “Fortunately there was a hole in the top of the cargo plane, so I lowered the both of us inside. After I got Wyatt secured away, I climbed back up to the helicopter. I grabbed the medical supplies and that’s when I noticed a weapons storage box. When I opened it, I found several crossbows along with arrows inside.” Kara paused to catch her breath as she was speaking so quickly to get all the information out for Andrew. Kara went on, “So I took the medical supplies down first and then went back for the weapons. I knew we had to lead the knights away from the plane. But with Wyatt still out cold, I had to make both sets of tracks. When I got to the edge of the clearing, I found a stick and used it, as a support. When I was done, it looked like Wyatt was injured. When I got back to the plane, I found some twine and rigged up the cross bow traps. It was just in case we had any unwanted guests.”
“Like me?” Andrew interjected.
“No,” Kara laughed. She turned more serious again, “After that I needed to get some rest. I had lain down beside Wyatt and fell asleep.”