Chapter Fourteen
Walking gingerly around his laboratory, Paulus is still tender from the wound in his side. He also aches from the crippling thought of who did it. Antonia, her name persists in his head even though he's finally decided to take his brother's advice. Yet, he's still thinking of her when something grabs his attention through the window, a black Corsair assault vehicle, headed straight for him. "Antonia!" He proclaims as once again, his futile faith attempts to lift his hapless soul.
Paulus hobbles outside to get a closer look and surveys the interior of the truck as it pulls in front of him. There's only one occupant and it's the absolute last person he expected to see. "Where is she?" Paulus demands as stares down the tattooed face of the man climbing out.
Brutalius holds his hands out to Paulus in truce, "I'm regret to say, dear Paulus, Antonia's dead. It was your brother, I'm afraid. He tried to kill me too but I manage to escape. He's has taken up with a young Alcazarian girl. He's betrayed us, dear Cousin."
Paulus' judgment is bombarded with the conflicting news and his reaction is disbelief, "You lie!" But Brutalius continues pleading his case, "They all betrayed us, Paulus. The Nephilim is alive and it's clear Antonia helped him.” With that, Brutalius holds out a small dark pane of glass, "Go on, and see for yourself." Paulus takes the panel and it instantly lights up with images of the beautiful dark-skinned woman handing a black bag over to the teenage boy. Then Antonia's voice follows, "Make your way back through the tunnel and to the Acropolis. It is imperative no one sees you until you reach the library. There is a Corsair uniform in here."
Brutalius takes the imager from Paulus and concludes his point, "They want dissolve the Corsair, lead us all back to Alcazar as slaves. Seth, Furious, your father, the whole lot of them. Our only hope is the End Game and the only one left who has any intimate knowledge of it is you." Paulus then replies in a tone that resembles a man who is starting to listen to reason, "And Seth, what about him?"
Brutalius quickly answers, "Seth is a fool! If I wield the final version of the End Game weapon, then no one can stop us, not even him. I will make certain Alcazar ceases to exist and the Corsair will reign over the entire region." Paulus wonders about how much Brutalius really knows about the new technology, "You are aware; you'll have to be in range of the Host in order for it to function properly." Brutalius replies, "Yes I know. That's why I am taking the fight back to Alcazar, to raze the Acropolis. And when the Nephilim tries to stop me, I will slaughter him."
"Then follow me," Paulus goes back into the laboratory. He takes a seat behind his computer and begins pressing keys on the touch screen. Instantly, the same footage of Antonia and Apollo plays and it shows exactly the same scene as the imager, except this one is several minutes longer. After Antonia speaks to the boy, Paulus distinctly hears Apollo ask, "Oriah is that you?"
He looks up at Brutalius, "She did try to help him, but there was someone else controlling her. Maybe it was Oriah, maybe it was you." Brutalius' voice thunders, "It was Oriah you fool!" as his impatience gets the better of him. He attempts to regain composure, "But Oriah is dead now. And I need those results from your experiments Paulus, to finish what we started and put things as they should be." Paulus slightly sighs at the words and it instantly sends Brutalius back into a rage.
He snatches Paulus up by the collar, "I demand you relinquish it, at once!" He punches Paulus' rib cage, ripping open several sutures. The man falls in agony and Brutalius stomps his side, causing even more damage. "Now where is it?" Paulus groans and Brutalius lands another hard kick. Paulus quickly relents, "It's...it's over...there."
Brutalius sees him feebly pointing at a large glass display case. Suspended in a transparent box is a small, flat cylindrical object, brightly glowing in an eerie red light. Brutalius slowly approaches it with awe. He examines the glass, trying to discover a way to get inside. He looks back at Paulus still writhing on the floor, "Open it!" Paulus struggles to pull a small remote out of his pocket and presses a key. The glass around the glowing disk suddenly evaporates, "This is the device that draws power directly from the Host, channeling it to the wielder." Brutalius can now see the object is a small medallion made of a strange reflective copper-like metal. He reaches out and touches it with his fingers.
"Just have it anywhere on you. You can wear it around your neck or even put it in your pocket. It was designed to be concealed. You just have to stay in range of the Host. He serves as the wellspring, if you will. Without him, the weapon is useless."
Brutalius then fires off a series of questions illustrating his doubts about his cousin's loyalties, "What else is there? What else do you need to tell me? What about the glow? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of concealment?" Brutalius' inquiry makes Paulus notably anxious and he stutters to speak, "Just stay in range. Believe me, when it activates the glow will be the last thing anyone will be worried about."
Brutalius slips the radiant coin into his pocket and looks Paulus directly in the eyes, "Any surprises, I will come back here and kill you first. It would be best if you and your brother remain out of my way from here on out." When Brutalius gets out of earshot, Paulus grimaces and lets out a long sigh. He hid most of his pain from Brutalius as to not show him any weakness but now that he's alone he can barely stand.
As the truck roars away in the distance, Paulus stumbles over to the other side of the room, pressing a button on his desk, "Please send medical..now." The effort causes him to fall to the floor in sweaty convulsions, bloody, and nearly unconscious.