2.3 Crusaders Book II - Demon's Deal

1.          Laying the Foundation

Lucifer stood there in the castle over looking the Rhine River as he sips his wine, when he heard the knocking on the door. He ignored the newly arrived guest to his chamber.

"Do you know that the Rhine begins as a small stream in the Swiss Alps but soon gathers speed and volume on its way to Lake Constance, a source of drinking water for large parts of southern Germany. As it continues on its way to the North sea, the Rhine flows over the famous Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen and through the industrial town of Basel. When its flowing through Germany it becomes the border between Germany and France. Through the Rhine Gourge the landscape changes again as the river narrows to form a steep sided-valley filled with vineyards and castles overlooking the river. Finally the Rhine reaches the Netherlands , a completely flat country, where it joins several other rivers on its final journey to Rotterdam and the sea. They all called her by different names; Rhein in Germany; Rhine in France and Rijn in Netherlands." His guest was kind to allowed him to speak on his knowledge of the history of this river before it interrupting.

"My name is...." The guest wanted to get the formalities through.

"Father Thomas Ricken, Emissary of the Vatican. A formidable man in your good days; battling evil and injustice in the name of the Church, and your Holy Father." Lucifer spoke out his mind again. "How are your retirement days, Father Ricken?"

"I am fine, thank you. As..." The priest statement was interjected by Lucifer with another of his.

"You know in Dachau; it was not fault she died. She could had been saved but you would had been sacrificed for her's. She was more noble to go first." Lucifer took up the wine glass and salute her. "You did love her? Good German stock; hardy woman but sadly too loyal to you. She would not betray you then and we had to make an example of her."

Lucifer could feel the priest holding back his anger; he has an oath sworn by him before he pressed into service. Lucifer then back to look at the Priest. He held out his wine glass and asked for a refill.

"I have a task for you." Lucifer paused in his speech. "I need you to find me the Crusaders."The original one who battle my son then."

The Priest looked at the demon, and shook his head.

"The original quartet had perished and more to it, none of their descendants served as member of the Crusaders. They are not known of their current whereabouts." Priest Ricken makes a good liar with the face hidden behind the veil of his master.

"You may not know. Your master may not know. But your angels knew. They are like me; ever vigilant and ever resourceful." Lucifer held out his right hand and grasp the wine glass offered to him.

"Find them, or perish in Hell." The wine glass melted and the wine became the fire flame. "You know very well my warning. Those princes are formidable foes with their own armies and the recent events showed that your Crusaders are not in their league. I would suggest you find te original members as they have the unique ability to fight this war."

"Was that why you call on us to see you? Surely, you know if we do find them, and the war may be to our favor."

"No one can predicts the outcome but the odds can be leverage on. In all the previous wars, your side had won, but this time unless you get them back; there would only be one outcome. Ours to win and imagine this, Father Ricken. A world split not into six continents but six domain of Hell." The Prince of Darkness smiled. "I don't like to gloat, but I could be their King."

"So why cautioned us now? To get even with the original Crusaders for defeating your son. Or was it for pride." Father Ricken spoke up in a loud voice.

"Loud vocals does not make me cower." Lucifer warned the priest. "I just want a even field of contestants. Heed my warning or not; its yours to decide." Lucifer dismissed the priest. 

The Priest took his leave of the chamber and walked to the ground level where he was met by the other six priest assigned to monitored the Demon of Hell.

"He wants the Original Crusaders." Priest Ricken sat himself on the nearest seat. Standing before him was the other six Priests representing each of the seven continents of the world. "Their descendants would be more correct. I know not where they are."

Priest Ricken recalled in his memory the image of the original four Crusaders; Sir Gerald of Lincoln; with his rapier, Baron Helmut of Bavaria; the holder of Excalibur, Sir Micheal of Moor; the gunsmith and the unknown squire or better known as the Crawler. Their fame and adventures sang of the heydays when the demons sulked in corners while these heroes walked in the light They were the Warriors of the Light.

But history does not imply repetition in its time line, but fades to oblivion the past. Their last adventure was to be their last as they were never seen again; some said they were taken to the skies but some were more vicious to foretell their doom at the hands of evil. But the name and quest of the Crusaders lived on; in many others who carried on the tradition and fight the devil where he may surface. Their name are etched on the secret walls of the hidden vaults just as their remains are kept there; saved for four tombs unfilled for centuries.

"I recalled in the books of birth, Sir Gerald did have a family once. He sent them off to the colonial states and then we lost track of their whereabouts." Father Sebastian of the Isle called on his memory.

"I have none of Sir Gerald after the Boston Tea Party Incident. Someone burned the archive the same night they threw the tea crates into the Bay. We been tracking the records till now." Father Mathew recounts his plight from the colonial states. "I pledge my limitations to the quest."

"Baron Helmut castle was destroyed in the Prussian French War, but we still have his records up to the last Great War when Kaiser ruled in Munich. Then the un-evitable happened; the archive chamber was destroyed when an airship crashed over it. Most unforeseen and regretful." Father Schmidt shook his head, as it was his predecessor who tried to save the records and ended up with a scarred face.

"We last heard he left for the dark continent." Father Schmidt made the comment as he was born in one of them. He lived there through the turbulent times. He seen the discrimination and fightback; the innocent and guilty not spared but who cares when they are others like these worldwide then. The only difference was the colors on the skin.

"Baron Helmut records never surfaced on my church." Father Kino let the last statement ride its own vibrations. He seen enough of such remarks in his time; white or black. He joined this flock to forget the wolves he was running with then; learned more humility and tolerance. "The Vatican once asked us to check their whereabouts. But we found nothing."

"Micheal of Moor surviving brother left for India; went up the mountains of Himalayas." Father Krishna rebuked back. "All of us know we are without any leads, but the demon had to taunt us."

"Pardon me, but in my continent; we had no records dating that far back of any European migrants. We are losing more to your side now; the faithfuls and none too. But we had reports of a fur clad man beast in our parish. The so called beast was sanctioned by us as it fought for the helpless and poor. Soon the demons got smarter and the beast of the good went missing. So the demons won after all."

"Brothers of the faith, please hold onto yourselves/ We are doing exactly what the demon planned for us." Father Ricken got up from his seat. "We are the shepherds' assistant; here to guide the flock. There is a rule; they are to protect the flock. To that, we need to congregate them into a group so the wolves would not get the stray. The young and infirm sent to the center while the robust ones build a barricade."

"Now we have our plan to find the Crusaders' surviving kins. They would be our barricade to protect the flock. We need to find them." Father Ricken told his Brethren. "If we fail, then we might as well forget about the sheep."