Reich der Finsternis court
Liz expected to fall into a deep sleep, although her feeling was more akin to passing into an alternate reality where only desolation reigned. Her whereabouts were shrouded in a darkness that gradually faded as lights from a chandelier on the ceiling took possession of the area; she knew that her senses were progressively returning. She felt no odor, and to her surprise, the residual pains from her encounter with Holzmann's executioner had subsided. Still with blurred vision, she desperately looked around for Bernard, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. Liz became distressed, until finally, she managed to stand up and catch a glimpse of where she had ended up. She thought for a moment that she had awakened from another long sleep.
She found herself in a wide hallway with pillars built of linen-colored marble on either side leading into a partially lit room. She didn't have her gun or her radio transmitter, which upset her almost to the point of screaming in despair, though at the same time, she felt her breath had been taken away. Everything around her looked as if it had been devoured by a thick gray haze, which added to the desolate and depressing panorama. Those sensations were disrupted by sounds coming from the east side that were heading towards the living room.
She felt control of her limbs in spite of everything, and with a notorious gesture of desperation she ran towards the point where the scene was unfolding. To her surprise, her footsteps did not produce any sound in the environment, which she did not know if it was an advantage or a cause for concern.
Without realizing it, Liz entered an immense room where the shocking sounds emitted by demonic creatures ended the little calm that remained in the inhospitable environment. She found herself in a sort of large auditorium, with a wooden partition, behind which she noticed how the horrors illustrated in the frescoes of the palace materialized in front of her to torment her. Beings taken from the deepest circles of hell, invaded the whole area on a side that rose to where a throne was located, disfigured faces with sharp teeth and depraved looks, triangular faces with deer horns and covered with wrinkles.
Seated at that side was not the sorceress Anneliese Holzmann, but an unknown woman. She wore an elegant white dress with black fractions, and a necklace of extravagant stones that reminded her of the three gems of the statue stolen by the executioner. Her face had a spectral pallor, her lips painted black, and although she had a serious expression, her red pupils dilated as she frowned, suggesting that she was up to no good.
Terror gripped Liz, although none of the beings became aware of her presence; she concluded that those images were not part of her current reality or her tangible world.
Liz looked to the other side; the place where the inmates would be placed. On the sides, two opulent young people, wearing elegant blue suits and extravagant pirate-like hats, were posing. One of them, a handsome young man, spectral complexion, with his blond hair tied in a tail coming out from behind his hat, with a serious and calm expression; and on the other side, a young woman, also pale-skinned, blond, scarlet-eyed and very beautiful, although in her notorious smile stood out a gesture of cruelty and dementia.
"Angeklagte in den Zeugenstand (The accused to the stand)," ordered the young man after lifting a parchment to read something from it. At that, from the east side, some beings covered from head to toe with black robes transported people to the front of the room, several of them unknown. Liz had seen others of them being taken in the floats before. She distinguished the bald American man she had seen at the entrance to the palace, but it was the last of the image that most excited her.
"MAX!" Liz shouted as she saw her leader with his characteristic face full of resentment towards those who have surpassed him in something, with his hands tied behind his back. She took advantage of not being heard.
"Let go of me, you fucking sack of shit!" their leader shouted to one of the black-robed beings.
"RESPECT!" shouted the young man in blue, when he heard Max's words, but he did nothing but spit towards where he was.
The young man did not react, although the demented girl, dressed just like the young man, swiftly moved towards him wielding a dagger over his throat, forcing Max to finally keep his composure. The young woman watched him with a macabre smile, her teeth partly covered in dark blood.
"Insolence and arrogance are not tolerated in this court," said the lady in the white dress among the multitude of loathsome beings that broke the calm with their bloodcurdling roars. The lady's voice was thick and imposing "Unless you have an interest in speeding up this process, in which case, I will proceed to schedule your execution. Ludwig, mach weiter! (Ludwig, continue!)" exclaimed the lady addressing the young man. Although she did not understand the last words, Liz recognized the name immediately, that handsome young man was Ludwig, son of Mr. Holzmann and the Duchess. On the other hand, the young woman holding the dagger to Max's throat was surely his sister Ulrike.
-Present at today's trial, Ludwig and Ulrike Holzmann, as the prosecuting party," said the young man pointing to himself and his sister, "Should the defendants be found guilty, the corresponding sentences will be handed down by the Duchess, Frau Beatrix Marie Grünewald, present in this courtroom, wife of Herr Friedrich Maximilian Holzmann. The defendants will have the right to present a brief defense," Ludwig smiled faintly and went on, "If they have the means.
Now everything was coming together for Liz; the woman sitting on the throne was the duchess, representing the sorceress Anneliese Holzmann. The woman had a serene attitude, but smiled at the terrified faces of the inmates. Her children were nothing more than a reflection of the two sides of her personality, her serene side corresponded to her son Ludwig, and her cruel and merciless side, to her daughter Ulrike, who looked at Max smiling at him with the desire to annihilate, after walking away from him.
The first inmates were called to the stand, the proceedings were conducted in German for most of them, so Liz understood nothing of what was going on inside the hellish den. Every time Ludwig read something, probably their charges and accusations and Ulrike intimidated them to keep order in the courtroom, the duchess issued a statement, which ended in a horrified reaction from the condemned. Afterwards, the black-robed beings took them to other sections; one of them, a blonde lady, made an attempt to escape, which was her worst mistake, because the merciless Ulrike did not hesitate to bury her dagger in her left breast, making her scream in pain and writhe horribly.
"Nächstes mal, steche ich dir die Augen aus (Next time I'll gouge out your eyes)" Said the girl with her signature cruel smile, although the spectacle became more grotesque when she licked the remaining blood from the dagger "So süß (So sweet)" The last words were pronounced in a soft, sensual and macabre touch. In the meantime, the beings in black were forcing the condemned to leave the area.
Once all the prisoners had passed and their sentences had been read, only the two Americans remained, the bald man with glasses and Max, who, to Liz's surprise, were put on the stand at the same time. Ludwig Holzmann began the reading, while Ulrike looked at the two men with her macabre gestures, while the woman's blood still trickled down her lips. The bald man with the glasses stared at her in horror, while Max glared at her with disdain.
"The best part of the show was to be saved for last," said Ludwig, smiling in a very subtle and malevolent way, "Gentlemen David James Rowland and Max Allen."
Liz remembered the name of David Rowland, named by Ulrich in the camp and then by Holzmann's executioner, before killing the Americans. He was one of Warren's collaborators, those responsible for the looting.
"Please, gentlemen, I do whatever you say, but I just want to see my family" the man pleaded almost in tears.
"I have not given you permission to speak!" Ludwig exclaimed, holding the parchment in front of his eyes. David shuddered at the seriousness with which the young man spoke the words, "You are charged with desecration of the statue of Queen Anneliese Katharina Holzmann and the Queen's crown, in concert with Mr. Mark Warren, who was apprehended by Herr Dr. Klaus Wilhelm Günther last Thursday and awaits sentencing, scheduled for next week in the main square of Reich der Finsternis by order of Herr Holzmann. Do you have anything to say?"
"Mr. Günther has my family," David Rowland shuddered, also having difficulty pronouncing the name, although he was forced to keep his composure once Ulrike gave him a murderous look, "I, I promise to cooperate... but I want to see my family".
"Mr. Max Allen," Ludwig went on, ignoring Rowland's pleas, "You have been found guilty of the same crime, the jury here present so declares" It was incredible to think that the jury was made up of such horrifying beasts, which did nothing but emit frightful screams, which were interpreted as words by the authorities present "Our jury testifies that you were found in possession of the blue gem, right from the moment you entered Reich der Finsternis, which was stolen two years ago from its original hiding place by Mark Warren."
The last sentence made Liz feel exalted; she didn't understand that, Max had the blue gem in his possession since before starting the mission, and it had been stolen before.
"Max, for God's sake," Liz complained, "What the fuck have you been hiding from us all this time?"
"You have entered our lands with other Americans," continued the young Ludwig, with his impeccable countenance expressing elegance, "Are they involved in your activities, are they in search of the other relics?"
Max threw a furious look at Ludwig with the intention of challenging him.
"It hurts you very much that we have overcome your brainless army" Max mocked "You have no idea of the power and influence I count on in my agency, all waiting for results. When they find out about this, they will come to riddle you, and you and your stupid family will be licking the ground we walk on, from the fucking hell, which is your natural habitat".
"ENOUGH!" shouted the Duchess, finally asserting her authority. "Mr. Allen, you have information of interest, and so do you, Mr. Rowland." Her voice went from a low tone to one that expressed sweetness mixed with cruelty, "Having insulted my family is reason enough for you to spend the night here, on the rack! But since we have the crown and the stones, your sentence will be reduced if you reveal information about the missing relics."
"I will cooperate," David interjected in terror, although Max gave him a furious look.
Ulrike approached the two Americans, who were being wrestled by the black-robed beings. David closed his eyes in horror, knowing what the girl was capable of, although her attention was diverted to Max, whom she observed with a seductive smile.
"Look at those muscles," said the young woman with her characteristic German accent, looking Max fixedly in the eyes and caressing his pectorals delicately, " Don't you want to collaborate with me, make me yours," she said, passing her tender hands to caress Max's face, who suddenly felt attracted to Ulrike. Liz couldn't believe it "If you join our family, and share our blood, you will live and we will spend MANY nights together. Cuddling, caressing each other, taking off our clothes, and.... " before uttering her last word, Ulrike grabbed the dagger she had stabbed the woman with, wiped the remaining blood with the palm of her hand, then rubbed it over the lower part of her pale face "Give us kisses all night long!" She finished screaming and revealing her blood-covered face to Max while wearing a psychopathic smile. She tried to kiss him, but her leader refused, changing his initially seduced face to repulsion. Ulrike let out an unrestrained laugh that, to Liz's ears, was the picture of evil and sanitylessness at its finest.
"All right, that's enough!" exclaimed the Duchess, rising from her throne and walking through the crowd of beings from beyond the grave towards the dais, "Mr. Rowland has decided to cooperate with the justice of Reich der Finsternis. Now, I, the Duchess, order him to be returned to the dungeon and there he will await my verdict. As for you, Mr. Allen" The Duchess turned to Max, with a malevolent smile, almost imitating her daughter "Perhaps your time on the rack will make you reflect on your attitude; prepare the execution room for this very afternoon. Once finished, bring his remains to me at the cathedral square. There we will decide whether to burn them or throw them to the hounds; our subjects will enjoy the spectacle".
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