Team Seven of Heroes III Chapter 15 & 16

15.

Van Helsing woke up with a dry mouth with the head pounding as if it was to burst. He took view of his surrounding which resembled the interior of a train cabin but its décor was worn out. He sat up and checked his belongings, and they were all there, including the gyaling give to him by the Master but no weapons. He recalled last that he had boarded a train to South but he was not sure then where he was headed. He leaned out to look through the cabin opening and saw he was in barren land. One that he had not seen before for he spent most of his time at the European continent and the furthest from the familiar forest was the high mountains. He had seen the ones at the Alps ranges but with his journey to the South he was expecting more forest or denser ones but he was faced with barren lands. He was also not in a train but a carriage pulled by two horses. He was to signal the driver but he saw that the carriage was pursued by a group of riders. The shot missed him by inches and made him ducked his head inside.

“I will advise you to stay in.” Van Helsing looked to the other occupant inside the carriage. He was tall thin with the rounded shoulders and the complexion was tanned from the exposure to the sun. The man was dressed in a white shirt with dark pants tucked into the knee length boots. He wore a shoulder harness with the twin Webley pistols and the pockets for the bullets. He had on a waist belt with the footlong knife that was made popular by the Texan named Bowie. On the flooring of the carriage were three rifles with two opened boxes of bullets. Those were Remington rifles with scopes.

“The name is Roxton, Lord John Roxton late of … some lands in England but out here, I am known as Roxton the Big Hunter.” The other man introduced himself while he was loading the hunting rifle on his laps. “We …. well, I met you two days ago when they helped you on board. You were asleep and had been. I thought you had died at some stage.”

“I am…Van Helsing.” The other introduced himself. “I was…”

“That is unimportant. What we need now for you to help me.” Roxton passed over the rifle. “It’s loaded and I hope you can shoot.”

Roxton saw the gyaling held by Van Helsing, and then smiled.

“Those riders are assassins from the land. They may have a bounty on you or they won’t be so keen.” Roxton looked at Van Helsing. “Did you steal their treasure or something?”

“No, I am not sure. All I do know was to go to …. India and, where am I? “

“You are on the Silk Road to Xinjiang. So am I to pursue some …. hidden treasures.” Roxton smiled. “I won’t deny I am an explorer of sort and treasure hunting was one.”

“And you knew those who are pursuing ….me?” Van Helsing asked.

“Yes, I do. I was with them before I boarded the carriage.” Roxton smiled. “My friend is riding the horses for over two days now. His name is Challenger, Professor Challenger to those who wants to know him.”

“Why are you really here?” Van Helsing levelled the rifle at Roxton.

“I am here to take your to Jinjiang. It was the order of the Master of the Wolves who paid me with gold. We were going there and reckon your passage could be with us but we did not expect the extra company. What are you so important besides being bearing the Van Helsing name.”

“I knew of your reputation but to have assassins after you may be rare. Your enemies are mostly …. supernatural.” Roxton smiled. “Could it be you hold something precious inside your right arm?”

Van Helsing looked at his right arm. It was a part of him that he forgotten that it was implanted and metallic in design. The demon slayer shook his head at Roxton.

“Can’t hurt to ask?” Roxton return to his loading. “I have not seen one like you before.”

“Jump, Roxton. They shot the horses.” It was a fair warning if you do not want to be part of the carriage when it crashed. Roxton grab the rifles and then tossed it out of the carriage opening before he kicked open the doorway. He turned to Van Helsing but the other had taken his jump on the opposite side.

Van Helsing rolled on the ground and then crouched to look at the ones hunting him. He heard the warning and did the escape. He was unarmed and held only the gyaling. He turned to look at the carriage which had then overturned and the horses were caught in the pileup. He saw the riders; nine of them on horses and were armed. He then saw the one named Roxton half crouched at a distance with the hunting rifle levelled shoulder height. He saw another figure approaching Roxton at a run carrying a huge rifle which he had heard of before; the rifle was termed an elephant gun for its huge calibre and impact blast.

“Challenger, you could have had ….” Roxton was cut short of his words to the other when a bullet whizzed past his head. The hunter cum adventurer returned the response with his rifle. His aimed was true and dropped the rider at two hundred paces. He pulled the bolt back to level the rifle on the other riders. By then Van Helsing had joined the duo and grabbed a spare rifle on the ground. He levelled it against his shoulder and aimed at the riders. The three of them brought down four more riders before the rest retreated.

“Who are they?” Van Helsing asked.

“Mercenaries or bandits paid to capture you. I reckon from their garbs and horse, these are the Hordes from the Dry Lands. They were descendants of the nomadic Mongols and Persians who used to roam the land here.” The one who spoke was named Challenger.

“Professor Challenger, George Challenger.” The man was tall and huge in the build with half his face covered by the thick beard, and his hair resembled a wig with tangled ends. He was wearing a white shirt and dark pants with the strapped knee-high boots. The shirt sleeves were rolled up to reveal the thick body hair that reached the back of his hands. In some terms you may described him as apelike but no one will dare to say that to his face.

“I think the next time we pick a passenger for the coins do tell remind me to make sure it could pay for our carriage and horses.” The huge man turned to Van Helsing. “I be darned if I were to carry you on any more trips.”

“Thank you, gentlemen for …. assisting me but, where am I? I was to be on the train to India.”

“Well India is over yonder.” Challenger motioned with his left hand to the south. “You are somewhere at the edge of greater China now. Well, to be exact, we are on the fringe of Xinjiang. Your fare was to bring you here while we continued on our way to Mongol and there to Siberia. I am hunting the great Siberian Tiger.”

“Xinjiang? Why am I here?” Van Helsing asked while he looked at the land there. He was in some dry lands with the sand dunes that he once seen at the coastal areas but here the sea was vast sand.

“I won’t know but we were told that you are to come here.” Challenger then walked to the broken carriage. “We best be getting our stuff to move.”

Roxton followed suit leaving Van Helsing stunned by the action of the two. He reached out to Roxton and grabbed the shirt sleeve.

“You can’t leave me here. I have no …”

“Oh, that we have prepared for you. Water bags and some dried food. You won’t be alone for long. There is a settlement two clicks away to the east. Go there and the Wolves will tell you of the next destination.”

With that Van Helsing was left on in an unknown land but the locals called it Takla Makan in the ‘Uighur’ local tongue. It held no direct translation but the name meant one can get in but not out. It held another name by travellers; the Sea of Death.

16.

“Why would the Emperor come here? And then travel to the lake?” Watson was asking then of Sherlock. He found his desire to speak soon after they escape the storm to discover their port of call was just one of the destinations on their journey. After some gruelling inquiries and some harder ones with skulls cracked, the trail took them to Lake Onega; another gruelling journey by carriage.

“Lake Onega is young; formed during the Ice Age with a surface area of under ten thousand kilometres. It’s the second largest lake in Europe, and the eighteenth….” Sherlock was interrupted by the doctor.

“Tell me why you prompted us to travel there.” Watson was impatient to know.

“The Emperor seeks the petroglyphs.” The petroglyphs are rock engravings dated back to 4^th and 2^nd millennia BC. The engravings are one to two millimetres deep and depict animals, people, and other meaningful shapes.

“I was told the Emperor was mistaken by the signs and thus travel there. He thinks the rocks could provide him the answer to his elixir.” Sherlock looked out of the carriage towards the horizon. He was then contemplating his action to date. He was not one that cared for serving the King but himself. He was after all obstinate and selfish. He had spent years of studying the human behaviour and the ability of taking another life. Killing was the last bastion of humanity and that threshold broken was sacred. He had accumulated skills and knowledge to counter those evil doings. He had battled the lesser evils from the petty ones to the geniuses like Moriarty and even Fu Manchu. To what end? He had found himself serving Kings and leaders. He solved their issues and cleared their doubts but every time he ended up burdened. He soon found that Mycroft was involved like him but the later was sanctioned by the ones that he helped. He sought Mycroft and some balance to his own. He was then introduced to one named James Hamish Watson; a man of medicine and sort to cure the world his own way, his own healing ways little to know that he was born to be another, a killer that Sherlock had sworn to bring to justice.

Justice was sometimes doubtful at times.

Not all are the best for the outcome but the final result was better than the best; it’s a workable solution.

“So, we are still on the track of the Emperor or Fu Manchu to you.” The doctor remarked back to the silent then sleuth. Sherlock looked over and nodded.

“Fu Manchu seek the Elixir and it could be described on the rocks. We need to retrace his steps.”

“Fine, And what of the deranged priest?” Watson asked. “He is raging to get us killed.”

“He wants the scrolls. It’s with me.” Sherlock pulled out the scrolls. “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22.1”

“The scrolls also spoke of the four elements; the basic items like air, water, earth and metal but the four melted into became the fifth element that we have believed to be the Philosopher Rock.” Sherlock continued on. “Maybe the Emperor sought another treasure. Fu Manchu have many motivations and wealth dwells on him.”

“Okay, enough of your ramblings. You can do that to your clients but with me now, be sensible.” Watson replied.

“No, Doctor. You are still miserable and have not recovered from your loss at India. Grow up, Watson. You need to forget that loss and move on.” Sherlock lost control of his emotion then. “We need to re-shape our alliance. We work well together. We are a team.”

The doctor did not reply then but he did glare at the other. He knew that his miserable taunting and silence was not dampening their relationship. He felt bad at times but the pain of his loss was to him greater. He thought then of it and realized he had to end it or there will be no good ending. His mind moved to the times that he has shared with the sleuth.

The days and nights they have spent together.

The hours of him treating the patient of the addiction.

The aching sessions of the violin strumming by the so named maestro.

The number of times they made Mrs Hudson bring their tea and scones.

How he wished he had ended his life at the Final Frontier where it was all quiet and serene.

Well most times.

So was the Sea of Death to Van Helsing. He heard of it from his earlier adventures that the place was bad omen to many. The Chinese called it Taklamakan and in the local Uygur language spoke of the place as the “you go in and you will never come out’. Some of his enemies have mentioned the place as treacherous like them but they have been tamed by him. He wondered if he could really tame that vast land. He found the settlement told by Roxon. Yatongusi was more like an oasis stop with the few clay huts and scattered herds feeding on the sparse grassland. He met the locals there and was introduced to the so named headman.

“Your journey may be just beginning.” The elderly man replied. “We could offer from here is the direction and the camel that will take you. But beware the land of its temperament for it could be your foe or friend. Out here we have seen demons but we are not plagued by them for we are the few that held the prayers for them.”

Van Helsing asked of the demons and was told the nature of demons he was to face.

“Out here, the demons are not of the spiritual world but among the ones that tread onto our trails. They are of blood and flesh and yet they remove that of the enemies. We called them Hans, the people of the Eastern side. They treat us like animals while they are the animals themselves.”

Van Helsing thanked the elderly man and took to his journey. He had with him the gyaling and one of the rifles loaned to him with a box of bullets. He took with him a sewn skin containing water and some dried food. His travel was uneventful but his sleeps were disturbed.

“I know you do not like me. I did wonder why.” Van Helsing looked from the fire he had built with the droppings of the camel and the dried twigs of the dead trees that lined the area like sentries of the perimeter. The night in the desert was cold and his stare was at the dark figure standing at the fire place fringe. “Pardon me if I stay here. The fire won’t do me any better. I am immune to the elements. After all I am the undead.”

“The King of the undead.” Van Helsing corrected him. “I have been …No, we have been doing it for generations. All I knew was we were to hunt you.”

“Yes, to hunt me like the demon I was assumed to be. Do you think I am who you assume to be? The blood drinker.” The dark figure took a step closer to the fire place. “I will be lying if I tell you I am immune. I may be….”

“Clam it, Dracula. You appearing in my dreams while I am …. travelling alone in this vast land.” Van Helsing snapped back. “How will I know why…I mean what made us hunt you? Maybe you killed my ancestors…. Yes, you did to some but….”

“Stop your whimpering.” Dracula replied. “There is nothing to ashamed of for your action. I am your …. nemesis from what you have perceive. Catch me if you can when you could. You are on the correct trail. U may find out more of me that your ancestors have not discovered. We have to end this one day and it may just be sooner.”

Off the shore of Mumbai, Mycroft hitched up his pants at the sight of the continent that he had left some weeks back. He recalled his last trip there was full of excitement but there were moments spent in the bidet. Besides that, he liked the place and the food; spicy to the taste and most times making him belched, he did asked Watson how did the other survived the period on the Frontier. Watson was plain with his reply; you learn to eat what is offered. And your body digest it and then you continue on.

Mycroft wondered if his old enemy was keen to continue on. The Raj which he had offended was still influential there.

“I believe you have some memories here.” Mrs Hudson looked to Mycroft. “I have some too. I was here once before on a task. I killed a Rajah’s wife acting as her friend.”

“Wow, we are confession row now.” Mycroft snapped out. “I have done more sins in most of the continents except the two polar points. Every time I take a step, I do wonder if I will fall down by the next. I have taken down many and stayed alive. I will shelf my confession for now.”

“I am not your conscience nor your nanny. I am here to tell you that the Princess is adamant on gong ashore. She need to see her mercenary.”

“Sean Mercer? I wondered why she want to see the scoundrel.”

“He held the key to her legacy here. She was his lover once before and lost their child while in London.” Mrs Hudson revealed. “You wouldn’t understand. You were never attached to anyone to have one inside.”

Mrs Hudson did not wait for the reply and walked away. Mycroft was puzzled by the lady’s words for he was unlike what she said. He was attached once to someone but she disassociated herself from him. They did not have a child but they had love feelings.

Mycroft was in love with Mrs Hudson before. He sighed when the ghosts of the past haunts again.