Deux- A Folly
Bashir called out to Amin, "I think I found him".
Amin began to pull rubble off of a lifeless Camille. The three men were surrounded in the bombed out ruins of a temple. A temple to the old pagan gods. It looked every much as timeless as a Roman ruin. Villagers would be sacrificed to the gods on these old corrupted altars.
Everything had the look of inverted redemption. Gods that should have been saving men demanding a blood price.
Alojzy limped into view calling out to the brothers "I found a peasant farm. They are no friends to the Rus. We can treat him there." Glancing at Camille's pale skin, "Or at least prepare his body."
The brother lifted Camille's body. Although the pallor was gone from his it seemed there were no visible wounds on his body.
They laid him on a table inside of the barn. Then to both the peasant and Alojzy's surprise Amin and Bashir began tying Camille to the table. Then the brothers asked Alojz and the woman to leave. Bashir smiled "Oriental medicine mustn't be witnessed by outsiders. Give us some time and trust in Allah. Camille will be better by the morning.
Alojzy looked lustily towards the peasant girl. He wouldn't have to be told twice. They disappeared into the house.
Bashir and Amin began chanting. As they muttered these lost words Camille's body began convulsing. These death throws were accompanied by an apparent verisimilitude, it looked like his entire body was rejecting itself.
Camille's eyes finally opened but the pupils had expanded so far as to give his entire eyes a blacked out look. As he writhed he began to spit blood everywhere screaming like a mad man. The brothers just kept chanting.
Finally the convulsions slowed and the red blood from his mouth began to look the brownish color of stagnation. The brothers stopped chanting and wiped the blood from his face. Finally Camille spoke, in short halting sentences "Where am I? What happened? Why can't I see?"
Bashir smiled "You are very sick my friend. How much do you remember?"
Camille, regaining his composure "we were going to follow up on some of the information the priest had got for us."
Amin's lips pursed a few more words, "Ah, well I think you found what we were looking for. The good news is that those immortals aren't invincible. We were able to kill one. Or at least you were."
Camille looking shocked "what do you mean?"
Bashir smiled let me explain what happened, "When we found the temple it looked like it had been there since time immemorial. We were welcomed in by peasant girls scantily dressed drugged little servants of the priest. "
Amin "they brought us to the priest. A soft spoken gentle old man. He seated us and began to speak. It was a black mass. As he continued profaning the name of god, the old priest from Königsberg began to grow heated. As if the scars on his body felt the ancient wounds."
Bashir continued "The priest began an incantation from his God. It was to banish this demon back to hell. At the sound of these words the gentle old man grew angry. He ran towards the priest and tore his beating heart out. The men panicked and went to run but the servant girls ascended on them. They ripped our men a part. Only Alojzy, myself, and Amin were the only survivors."
Camille growing impatient, "Well I survived right?" A nervous laugh follows.
Amin paused "Well technically no."
Camille in a joking hesitation said "Yea so what this is hell?"
Bashir looked at him, "Yes in a matter of fact. After tearing the priest a part it came after you. Your bones broke under each punch as the three of us tried to pull him off you. He bit your throat. Ripping you skin off. The blood was flowing out in torrents. Alojzy hit the creature with a candle stick."
Camille "That brave little Pole!"
And Amin interjected, "The priest threw him threw the wall out into the woods. When we found him he could barely even blink. Broken arms, legs, and bloodied to a pulp. We stitched him up and cured him."
Camille laughed "how did you two stop it?"
And Bashir continued, "We didn't. You destroyed it. Amin and I were thrown to the ground and it was planning on finishing us off when you got up, still blood soaked, but something evil was unleashed. Your eyes had turned black and you ran at it like a mad man. You fought him for hours as the temple was destroyed all around you. Finally as the temple started to fall we ran outside."
Camille "I fought him after bleeding to death."
Amin spoke "When we came to we grabbed Alojzy and began rummaging through the rubble looking for you. We found him first. You had torn off one of his arms and there was a gaping hole in his chest. We removed his head then burnt the body for good measure."
"So how long was I out for?" Camille retorted.
Amin smiled "you were knocked out for an entire year"
Camille's shock was obvious, "Well since we cleared all of that up can you tell me why I'm tied up?"
