Chapter 10 #3
The Demon of the Shadows raised its arms of solid smoke, and the rusted iron chains orbiting its pitch-black body whipped through the air.
The heat of the sacred metal of the two hidden rings in Alejandro's chest burned against his skin, emitting flashes of blue light through the seams of his wet uniform.
The engineer steadied his fingers on the metal, ready to channel the relic's energy against the creature.
"No, Alejandro! No!" Father Bartolomeu's cry cut through the roar of the waters, sharp and desperate.
The Jesuit threw himself into the water, gripping Alejandro's arm with a strength the young soldier did not know the clergyman possessed. Bartolomeu's eyes were bloodshot, fixed on the bluish glow escaping from the captain's chest.
"You cannot use evil to defeat evil!" the priest cried, his voice trembling but carrying a celestial authority.
"These rings bear the weight of the pride of the kings of antiquity! If you yield to their power to destroy this demon, your soul will belong to the shadows before we even leave this temple! There is another way! Trust in the Lord our God."
Alejandro hesitated. His brown eyes shifted between the Djinn's obsidian maw, advancing to devour them, and the priest's convinced face.
The soldier's pragmatism said to use the weapon at his chest; his survival instinct said to listen to the man of God.
Slowly, Alejandro relaxed his fingers, and the blue glow beneath his uniform faded.
"Then work your miracle, Father!" roared Lieutenant Vance, throwing himself against the stone wall as one of the creature's chains shattered the sandstone block where he had stood a second before. "Because my luck has run out!"
Father Bartolomeu released Alejandro's arm and took three firm steps forward, submerging into the brackish water up to his stomach. He raised the heavy silver crucifix with his right hand, while his left pointed directly at the demon's sickly yellow eyes.
The Jesuit closed his eyes, drew a deep breath of the sulfur-laden air, and began to invoke. This time it was not merely a prayer of protection; it was the full formula of the Great Exorcism in Latin, his voice ringing out as if hundreds of monks chanted in chorus behind him:
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio adversarii infernalis" — Bartolomeu's Latin lashed at the darkness. We exorcise you, every unclean spirit, every satanic power...
The Demon let out a sharp shriek, a sound like twisted metal.
The black smoke of its body began to writhe violently, as if being burned by an invisible fire.
The monster tried to lunge at the priest, raising its obsidian claws, but stopped in midair, held back by an invisible wall of force emanating from the silver crucifix.
"In nomine Iesu Christi, eradicare et effugere a Ecclesia Dei, a animabus ad imaginem Dei conditis!"
the priest continued, the veins of his neck straining with the effort, sweat mixing with the temple's water.
In the name of Jesus Christ, be uprooted and flee from the Church of God, from the souls fashioned in the image of God.
The water around the demon began to boil sickeningly. The iron chains binding it to the underground well began to glow red, as if thrown into a blacksmith's forge. The Demon thrashed, its yellow eyes losing their glow, becoming slits of pure agony.
"Imperat tibi Deus Pater! Imperat tibi Deus Filius! Imperat tibi Deus Spiritus Sanctus!"
roared Bartolomeu, taking one last step forward and driving the base of the silver crucifix into the damp sandstone wall, right at the entrance of the exit arch.
God the Father commands you! God the Son commands you! God the Holy Spirit commands you!
With one final roar of frustration and pain that shook the underwater foundations of Taposiris Magna, the Demon of the Shadows disintegrated.
Its liquid black form dissolved into the cistern, becoming nothing more than a harmless slick of oil quickly carried off by the current.
The rusted iron chains sank into the abyss of the well with one final metallic clang.
The way out to the Nile was clear.
Father Bartolomeu collapsed forward, exhausted, caught at the last second by Don Luiz's strong arms. The Jesuit gasped for breath, but kept the crucifix pressed to his chest.
"Faith moves mountains, Colonel... and banishes hell," the priest whispered, weak, but with a smile of peace on his lips.
Alejandro looked at the priest with renewed respect.
He discreetly raised his hand to his chest, feeling the metal of the two rings now completely cold and silent.
The clergyman's faith had saved their lives, but the engineer knew the danger was far from over.
The world of men, with Napoleon's armies and Mendoza's treachery, still awaited them on the surface.
"Move!" Alejandro ordered, taking charge as he held the bronze box with the other eight rings. "The channel will take us to the river. Let's get out of this hell before the French discover the dead don't walk anymore."
The group swam through the stone arch, leaving behind the secrets and demons of Taposiris Magna, advancing toward the moonlight beginning to reflect on the waters of the Nile.