13.
Sean Mercer looked at the men he had hired. There were about fifty of them and every one of them was armed with the machete on their back, the dagger on their belt at the waist with the rifle they were all carrying. The Mannlicher M1895 rifle was the standard issue of the German Empire then with its five rounds clip on the bolt action rifle. It was the peer of the Lee Enfield and was comparison. He was also curious at the pouch they carried but did not question.
“Good rifle there.” Mercer praised the rifle held by the others. His own squad also carried the same rifle. He had it brought over from the German authorities although his favourite was the hunting rifle of his own. His was the Elephant rifle modified from a Winchester rifle with the .375 cartridge that could pierce a rhinoceros three hundred yards.
It was then the half past the hour after the stroke of midnight to the clock.
“Can someone silent the dogs? I can’t think with their howling.” Sean’s request was challenged by the head warrior of the assassin guild.
“The dogs are contained. We cannot stop their barking but they won’t bite.” The leader looked to the rounded canines which were then held by the leases at the side of the wall.
“Well, I can’t think with their howling.” Sean challenged back. “I am your master now for I paid for your services.”
The dogs were then silenced.
“Move the warriors out. We will strike in three hours.” Sean gave the command. He saw the fifty trained warriors scaled the wall and then disappeared over it. He looked to his own group and then told them to move out. He was headed for another target.
Mistress Fa Lo Suee.
Sean knew of her from his German counterparts. The officer served another Emperor which was from the Far East which was generous with the rewards. The Emperor was seeking the doctor to find the island but his errant daughter had also the same intention. She was trying to better her father at the empire building and at times in conflict with him. He had eliminated the Emperors German lackeys and with that had sealed the death warrant on him. He needed to find the island or he will be a dead hunter prey soon. He had to cover his trail and that included killing the daughter. His paid killers from among the Raj guards had failed so he decided to do it himself. He knew she was nearby and had followed the doctor to the area.
The mistress was housed in a safe house not far from his then location. She was guarded by the Mysore Guards which was not a problem to remove but she also have her personal guards led by one named Black Cat.
“We need to skin a cat tonight.”
“A cat held nine lives but that’s one too many that they forgotten how many they still have.” Lord Greystoke mumbled to himself then when he saw dark feline climbed in through the open window and into the room he was in. The feline creature approached the Lord and rubbed its body against his knee. The former leaned further against the wall where he was seated. He found the hard surface was more comfortable from his young age of seated on the thick branches. He had removed his shirt and only wore his dark pants with the feet bare. He was then holding the joined up short staff similar to the one given to Van Helsing. The staff he held was different in its function, that one releases the eight feet length of electric energized whip which could cause damage on contact. .
The feline creature then moved on and crawled under the bed posts.
“Stay there. The hounds won’t find you there.” Lord Greystoke whispered to the feline creature under the bed. He had not heard the dogs howling for some time and in his assessment, the battle might begin soon.
It was then an hour past the stroke of midnight to the clock.
“Mycroft, why are you still in the dining area?” Sherlock asked his brother then seated at the table. “I thought we agreed that you stayed in the front lounge.”
“I would but I felt hungry. Are there any more roasts left?” Mycroft moved to the dining table. He could not find the leftover roasts. He looked at Sherlock who was licking his fingers then.
“I tossed it to the garden but the dogs did nothing to it.” Sherlock recounted his own experiences with the canine in the case of the Silver Blaze. The dog in the barn then did not bark for it recognised the one who came that night there.
“I though they will be going for the roast but I guessed they are well fed or dead.” Sherlock shrugged his shoulders. He then remarked on his choice of weapon.
“Do you think the Lee Enfield will be a good rifle now? Or should I grab that double barrelled shotgun?”
“Don’t be fickle, Sherlock. You were a good shot at the ducks then.” Sherlock did indulge in studying the rifle ever since the threat on his life by the Colonel Sebastian Moran. He took to shooting clays to learn on the recoil and shooting sights.
“I do detest the guns. I had once almost killed a man because he shot Watson.” That was the incident in the case of the Three Garridebs. “I did not use the bullets then but clubbed the man with the gun.”
“Where is Watson anyway?” Mycroft asked.
Watson was standing before the tall mirror admiring his usual attire of the tweed three pieces with the dark shoes and his homburg hat. Soon after his recent incidents with torture and constant hidings from being killed he felt the need to take homage in his usual garbs to get a feel of home. He adjusted the lapels on his shirt and took a side view of his profile. He felt that he had lost weight and his face looked drawn in.
“You looked fine, Sahib.” Watson turned to look at the man who had stood in his room doorway. It was Nathan dressed in the knee length loose tunic and pants.
“Thousand apologies for having disturbed you but I was doing my nightly rounds and saw the light on. So was your door which was ajar open.”
“You are a caring host, Nathan. I wondered….”
“There are no secrets in my house. I know who you are, and why they sought you.” Nathan sighed. “I will miss my bitches. They are probably dead by now.”
“Bitches? Oh, you meant the dogs. Yes, I may agree with you.” Watson removed his jacket and then walked to his slung bag. “How many they are out there? Those wanting to kill me?”
“To kill you, probably none. To grab you probably all of them. You are a wanted man by many, Doctor.” Nathan replied. “I best be back in my room. My bitches need their avenging master to be ready.”
It was then five minutes to the third hour before dawn.
Doctor Watson examined the vest with the special sewn slots for his blades. The vest held a dozen blades on the front and six more on the back.
The doctor was ready for the surgical strike.
At that moment fifty warriors made their way across the garden towards the two level structure led by their leader.. A distance away, Sean Mercer was also making his approach towards another two level structure in the town of Kochi.
The only group not moving was the Dark Wolves who decided to sit out the raids and watched who will emerge winner. Another group to were the German’s who had crossed the sea to dock outside of Kochi waters.
“Captain, our anchors are away.” Captain Heinrich nodded to the Mid-ship crew who relayed the report him. He in turn told the crew to check on Hauptmann Hessler.
“Tell him to stand down. The Kaiser had given orders for us to wait.” The crew was to step out when Hauptmann Hessler came in.
“I heard the order too. I cannot understand why we need to wait. I want to fight this battle and redeemed our pride. The other Hauptmann had betrayed the Kaiser with his affliction to the other criminal Emperor.”
“Hauptmann Hessler, criminal or not, both are Emperors although one held the name of Kaiser.” Captain Heinrich stated his view on the matter. It was then zero minutes to the third hour before dawn. The old tower clock clanged its drums and at that moment the sound of the breaking window glass echoed into the dark night.
14.
The assassin reached for the tall glass door that opened to the library area. The inside of the library was dim with only a single light at the wall. The single light on the side table illuminated the book shelf there but the other arm chairs before it cast shadows to the other side of the room. The figure turned the knob ever lightly and stepped in to the library. The lurking figure saw the outline of a form seated on the arm chair. As the person was not moving, it was assumed that the seated one was asleep but the dim light hid most of the frame in darkness. The figure took two more steps in to allow the other two on the rear to come in. The first figure unslung the German made rifle and levelled it at the sleeping form. He took another step and realised his mistake.
“Pardinhappan!” The figure saw the sleeping form moved and he called out in the native tongue for God Father. That delay was all Lady Jane needed to pulled the trigger on both the Webley she held.
The sleeping figure had fired both Webley into his other figure’s chest and he was thrown back by the impact against the other two that was stepping in. One of the rear ones hit the wall but the other fell onto the glass door to shatter it. Lady Greystoke stood up with both her arms extended firing the Webley. She shot the attacker who was recovering from the fall against the wall in the face and chest. She turned her aim then on the one who was cut by the glass panes. She then dropped the emptied Webley and reached for the Mauser. She rushed to the broken down glass entrance but then stopped when she saw the powders tossed in.
“Darn!” The powder was the typical chilly red grounded powder which filled the library and agitated her eyes causing it to drop tears. She did not rub her eyes for her arms were coated with the powder. She retreated but then the attackers have rushed in. She was taken with the body slam and was then brought down to the flooring. She screamed out the only name she knew she could rely on.
“Tarzan!”
Lord Greystoke heard his name called and that was when he jumped out of the window to land on the garden. The moment his toes touched the grass there he was soon jumping up with his arms extended. In his right hand was the short staff weapon which he had then pressed the lever to release the energy whip. The whip extended out on the release to a length of eight feet and then the electrical power set energize the whip. He flicked it above and over his head with the electrical charge whip searing flesh that was hit by it. He then ran into the library through the broken doorway with the whip trailing behind him. He saw Lady Jane was held down and without hesitation he flashed the whip forward and the electrical length went out like the mantis tail. He struck the one holding the lady down at the face and then with the flick of his wrist, Lord Greystoke whip was lashing then at the attackers standing nearby. By then he had reached and with his body strength he stepped on the attacker who holding his burnt face from the whip. The savage instinct of Lord Greystoke then prevailed over aristocrat nature. His right knee went down and smashed the attacker in the face before he used the staff handle to thrust into another attacker in the chest. He then jumped at two attackers who were at the wall bringing them hard into the wall and breaking it down with his brute force.
The battle had moved to the front area where Mycroft was putting his effort into the rifle he held. Mycroft had earlier stepped up to the window in the front area and broke the glass there. He levelled the Lee-Enfield and fired at the dark shadows. He had to retreat to take cover when five or more shooters replied his shots.
“Darn! They are good.” Mycroft crawled back to the cover of the cupboard at the wall. He was joined by Sherlock who was pulling along a side table which he overturned. He told Mycroft to pull the cupboard over and formed a barricade. They saw the Lord Greystoke droping in then but the later pulled up to return to the library area.
“Nice of him to come over but he will fare better there.” Mycroft ducked behind his table.
“We could shoot them when they come through the doors. That way we could narrow our firing corridor.” Mycroft did as he was told and then came the attackers in a single file to get in through the front door. He managed to shoot two of the attackers before the rest sought cover behind the wall outside. On Sherlock side, he got the first attacker but the rest stayed away from the door. It was then Lady Greystoke rushed in and joined them.
“I can’t hold them. They are too many.” Lady Greystoke was holding the rifle having discarded the other guns. “We need to get to higher grounds.”
Mycroft could not help it then but sneezed out loud. It was the powder irritating his nose. Sherlock saw the pouches dropped by the dead attackers. He grabbed them to toss it at the open doorway before rushing to take the stairs upstairs. He would had made it but stopped before it. It was Van Helsing who was there at top of the stairs holding the double rifle and was shooting at the attacker massed there.
“Get up here!” Van Helsing called out to the ones trapped below. The Holmes brother’s followed by the lady who took to the upper level. The situation was equally tensed.
The doctor stood there with his eyes on the two figures climbing onto the room balcony and then approached the room. They saw the doctor standing there and unslung their rifles which were on their back. When they had their rifles on the front, the doctor have thrown the blades into their throat.
“That was….” The doctor jumped aside then just before the bullets razed his bedding where he was standing to then. He had then crouched down and saw the two other attackers were climbing in through the window. They levelled the rifles at the doctor and fired. Watson rolled to the left and then he threw another two blades at the attacker. His aim was true into the faces and then he took to run out to the corridor outside. He had heard the shooting and then he saw more of the attacker.
It was then they heard the clanging of the bells before a spate of bullets ripped through the ground level. The attackers were mowed down like the blades of grass against the blade of the cutter. The surviving attackers retreated out into the garden and saw the new threat. There were three attackers lowering themselves from the attic area. He grabbed his blades and threw it hitting two of the attackers in the chest but the third one did not get hit. The doctor could only tossed two blades with each throw. He had no time to reach for the blades so he charged at the third attacker who had then just landed on the flooring.
Doctor Watson body slammed into attacker and both of them fell onto the corridor. He took up his left hand into a fist and slammed into the attacker’s throat. It was one area of the body which was vulnerable to damages. Then the doctor pushed himself up and saw the others have joined him.
“Watson, we are in trouble.” Sherlock rushed to the doctor and then looked to the end of the corridor for more attackers. “We need to find more weapons.”
The sounds of the attackers were still downstairs and then the sound became noisy with the sound of some loud shooting. Sherlock rushed out to see what was causing it. It was a four wheeler but the difference was the vehicle as covered at the top with the metal square casing and mounted on the top was a twin assembled Vickers’ machine gun seated on a swivel stand. The water cooled .303 machine gun was deadly with its four hundred round rate of fire and at the range of less than a hundred yards, it as ripping the timber structure as if it they were clay pigeons in the flock. There was not one but three of these vehicles there laying the shooting into the ground level.
Then it all stopped.
The shooting and the noise went silent.
And the voice of Nathan sounded out.
“My guests please step out. Captain Nemo will see you.”
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