20 July 1870, Tuesday
~Late Evening~
After a dreadful day, it is now nearly midnight and the other shoes have dropped.
We are on the train making haste to the town of Metz in the disputed province of Alsace-Lorraine. An hour ago we discovered that Herr Hans Bopp, chief intelligencer to the King of Prussia (and formidable enemy whom we provoked to great wrath just a few hours ago) had sent a message to his agents authorizing them to assassinate the Emperor of France and confirming that the emperor is travelling to Metz. So we are once more speeding though the darkness. Hassan has joined us and, with Baron van Raalik’s consent, has taken custody of the Golden Lion.
Baron van Raalik will return to Antwerp with Brigadier Peacock, the horse calvary, and the prisoner, Baron van Gower. Once back at the Order’s headquarters Baron van Raalik will attempt to determine the location of both the fifth vampire and Herr Schmidt.
If I were doing a proper report, I would try to set things down in some order, but my own thoughts are in a such a jumble that I cannot focus my attention in the usual way.
~Later~
The rest of the ladies and I conscripted part of a train car for a dressing room and Miss Chigwidgeon helped me change into clean clothes. Tattvik offered to help me mend and clean this outfit. She and I both agree that the one from Saturday’s battle is beyond even her skills.
Baron van Raalik, Mr Ramsey, Mrs Cuthbert, Miss Chigwidgeon, Hassan and I cast a spell on the train that, as another variant on the Seal of Solomon, should force Schmidt to stay away from us. I hope.
I have decided to leave my hair loose in a braid for now, as every time I perform a spell of sufficient power my hair comes loose from it’s bindings and I leave hairpins scattered across the floor. There is the possibility that either Herr Schmidt or Herr Bopp will try to strike us as we travel and I want to be prepared. Tattvik rummaged though my trunks and found the large comfortable, if inexpertly knitted, shawl that my brother James made for me on a lark. He lost a dare in school and came to me for help. I have no idea why the boys at his school thought James needed to learn to knit, but he did, and he gave me the shawl as a going-away present when I left for India.
Right now I need all the comfort I can find. It is hard to remember how many amazing and wonderful things I have seen since joining the League when most of what I feel is dread and anxiety. I cannot muster Miss Sinclair’s irrational optimism. She seems to feel that there is no enemy we cannot vanquish if we set our minds to it. I wonder if it is a side-effect of kicking evil undead sorcerer’s heads around. If so, I should try it next time.
The fact that Salmalin reported that I stopped breathing earlier today, and would have died without the swift intervention of Mrs Cuthbert, is also affecting my mood.
I feel such an idiot. Everyone else was able to escape the Sisters of Jhe while I foolishly let myself be lured away by one in the guise of Mr Salmalin. After playing on my feelings for Salmalin and then frightening the wits out of me by making me believe that Schmidt had somehow possessed Salmalin, two of them set upon me.
I remember kicking the one in the guise of Salmalin as hard as I could and slashing at the second one with my sword but I could not get free of them. I was alone and swiftly beaten.
The next thing I knew, Mr Salmalin, Mrs Cuthbert, and Miss Chigwidgeon were hovering over me. I don not really remember what I said, but I do remember the feel of Salmalin’s hand holding mine. It felt so real and warm. It made me realize how rarely we touch, really how rarely I touch anyone. I felt like crying, but did not give way to tears as the rest of the League was still busy rescuing each other and ensuring that everyone was who they said they were.
I was too weak to be of much use so I stayed in the great hall with Salmalin. Various other members of the League came and went, not really leaving us alone but also not making too much of a fuss. I do not think I will be comfortable being alone, or alone with just one other person for quite some time.
It turned out that there were at least eight ghuls of the Sisterhood of Jhe. One attacked Mr O’Flaherty by attempting to poison him. Mrs Cuthbert said that he and the ghul he was fighting fell from the fourth floor of the building and would both have been killed if not for the intervention of Saint Cuthbert. Somehow Mr O’Flaherty’s foot caught one of the ornamental tapestries which then swung him across the arc of the room and into the third floor balcony where he made quite a crash. However, most of his injuries came about from the solvent that the ghul had induced him to drink. Dr Wilson made some comment about the evils of strong spirits. This from a man who slept through the attack!
Miss Sinclair was attacked by a ghul that took the form of Mr Frazer. Fortunately her keen sense of smell alerted her to the deception, and between Miss Metzger’s magik and Miss Sinclair’s iron hatpin they were able to dispatch it. I asked her later how she was able to avoid being fooled. She said that Mr Frazer always smells of soap and Neet’s Foot Oil. When I leaned against Salmalin after I was rescued, he smelled warm and comforting. However, I do not think I could distinguish with such clarity why his scent comforted me so.
Henri was lured to the basement by a ghul in the form of a maid of the house. There he found another ghul who said he was to be the sacrifice. They had a spell circle set up. Henri tried to run but they caught him. A third ghul lured Dr Sinnaig (who Miss Sinclair had found in the cells earlier that morning) into the basement. The two men quickly discovered that both crosses and reciting the Lord’s Prayer were effective in keeping the creatures at bay.
That is how Miss Sinclair and her party found them. They were soon rescued and the three ghuls destroyed. I do not know exactly who was with her at the time but I did overhear Mr Cuthbert and Mr Deveril comparing notes on the best gun to use against the undead. Mr Cuthbert favours his elephant gun, which, as he said, has the advantage of being able to remove the entire head in one shot.
Miss Chigwidgeon was lured into a room by a seeming of Sir Cosmo but she was able to devise and effective attack, kill it, and fly to my rescue. I am not certain why she felt it necessary to tell me in such detail how Mr Salmalin, who was also coming to my aid, leapt from an upper floor to my own without using the stairs. He crashed into her. I do not know if they had heard my screams. Miss Chigwidgeon said that by the time they burst into the room the two ghuls had rolled my body into a blanket. Mr Salmalin ripped the head off of one of the ghuls with his bare hands. I was not breathing when they found me. Miss Chigwidgeon said that Mr Salmalin picked me up and jumped the three floors down to the great hall where Mrs Cuthbert was. Miss Chigwidgeon later showed me the cracks he made in the flagstones when he landed, miraculously, without damage to himself.
Mrs Cuthbert healed me and several of the others who had been injured and events continued as I have related above. I believe, and Mr Ramsey concurs, that the ghuls may have already been in the house when I warded it earlier this morning. I do not know if there is anything more we could have done at the time. Though after this event, Mr Ramsey, Baron van Raalik, and Hassan cast an exorcism spell on the house to drive out any evil spirits. No more ghuls appeared so we seemed to be safe for a time.
I realize that there are several things that happened before the ghul attack that I should record, if only for my own memory’s sake. Goodness knows, Our Employer might want a report once all is said and done.
In the pre-dawn darkness, before the ghul attack, Miss Sinclair went down to the basement to check on Mr Ramsey (who was interrogating the vampire) and Inspector MacGregor (who was ensuring that the vampire didn’t eat Mr Ramsey). While down there, Miss Sinclair heard some odd scraping noises and she found Dr Sinnaig manacled and locked up in a cell. She reported back to Mr Ramsey, who had, by this time, decided that the vampire would tell him nothing of use. He drove a stake through the heart of the vampire, but it had no effect. This was deeply alarming. Mr Ramsey retreated from the cell and locked the door.
He then cast a spell to examine Dr Sinnaig and found that he was himself. Inspector MacGregor let the Doctor out of the cell and brought him upstairs. Dr Sinnaig had been kidnapped from a symposium in London and brought here to examine and study various undead creatures that Comte d’Erlette was experimenting on. He said that the Comte had been trying various ways to make the creatures stronger or weaker and that there were at least four and possibly five other vampires who were now immune to many of the normal techniques for destroying a vampire. He also said the Baron von Gower had been involved in his kidnapping and in the experimentation on the undead.
In the meantime, Mr Deveril had found Hassan’s spell book. It was written in Arabic, so I took it to Mrs Cuthbert to see if she could tell me if it was safe to return to him. She could tell that it was probably a copy of the Koran, and a very old one at that, but could not read the script. I went looking for Mr Ramsey and met him, Inspector MacGregor, Miss Sinclair and Dr Sinnaig on the stairs. They told me about the vampires while Mr Ramsey looked over the book. I took Dr Sinnaig inside and found him some breakfast. He looked even more frail than when we had seen him last at the end of our adventure in the Cape Verdi islands. I also fixed his glasses for him, as they had been broken during captivity. I know that my sister Elizabeth always said there was nothing more annoying than trying to make one’s way around with a broken lens.
While I was fetching breakfast for the doctor, I made up trays for everyone with the help of the manor servants (who were in the midst of the normal breakfast preparations). I had Miss Sinclair check them before I took them round to everyone except Henri who had locked himself in a small room and was trying to develop the plates he took last night during the battle between the Comte and Kali.
Mr Ramsey found me and said that the book was safe to return to Hassan. I took it in to him (he was in the chapel with the lion) and he told me the history of the Lion of Damascus in greater detail than Baron van Raalik had.
Hassan is a very engaging story teller it seems a shame to boil his tale down to bare facts, but I do not have his gift for words. He told me the story in French, as that is one language that the two of us have in common. The bull, lion, fish, and eagle were created in Damascus over one-thousand years ago by thirty-eight wise-men, eleven wise-women and Ibrahim Ibn Abdul Zar-ad-Din, who brought the wise together. They gathered to foment a plan to protect mankind from evil powers that were being let into the world by other men.
The wise fashioned the four artifacts from four massive gemstones and placed the power of four efreet warriors in the devices. The artifacts were then used to drive evil from the Ottoman Empire and four custodians were chosen, one for each corner of the empire. There they remained until the Crusades when all, saving the Fish, were taken to Europe. The Bull and the Lion were then in the hands of evil sorcerers until the Lion was retrieved for a time and returned to the East.
Approximately 200 years ago, Gaspard du Nord stole the Lion once more and, according to Hassan, black sorcerers have had it ever since. Several adepts of Hassan’s order have set out in search of it and all died in the quest to reclaim it. Two years ago, Hassan had a vision of the Lion and where it was located. He came in search of it and was captured only a few weeks ago.
At this point in the story Hassan interrupted himself and said that the sun would rise soon and he would need a place to pray where he would not disturb others. I found him an unused parlour on the first floor and stayed to watch as he prayed, partly out of my own curiosity and party to keep watch. Mrs Cuthbert said he was a holy man, but that did not necessary make him trustworthy.
He whirled around and around chanting in what seemed a frenzy. I could see why he would want a room away from the others. As I was watching, what I can only describe as the hand of God touched Hassan lightly and withdrew. It was an amazing and humbling thing to watch. As he emerged from his trance he seemed calm and relaxed, much as Salmalin is when he has finished his meditations. I escorted him back to the chapel and met up with Mrs Cuthbert. She had been checking in on Miss Sinclair and Miss Metzger. We decided that we need to talk to Baron von Gower before too much more of the day escaped us. Inspector MacGregor offered to accompany us.
With Sir Cosmo and Brigadier Peacock’s permission, we went to interview Baron von Gower to discover what he could tell us of the vampires, but he refused to talk to us except to insult me, cast aspersions on my sanity, and continue to repeat that he would only talk if given immunity and sanctuary. I called for Miss Chigwidgeon as she is much more effective at interviewing prisoners. She attempted physical interrogation but I was reluctant to let that continue.
It is aggravating that he would not answer my polite questions! If I had it to do over again, I would tell him that, while I believe that prisoners should be protected and are under our care, I am out-numbered by others in our group who do not share that view. I wasn’t even asking for anything unreasonable. All I wanted to know was how many vampires there were and how to defeat them! Both of which were in his best interest to tell me, since, if we got eaten by vampires there would be nothing standing in the way of the vampires killing the Baron.
Miss Chigwidgeon then suggested that if Baron von Gower insisted that all this talk of vampires was indeed crazy talk, he wouldn’t mind being locked up with one. I got a good look at the Baron’s aura and it told me that he was indeed complicit in the experimentation on the undead. I believe that Mr Ramsey later found evidence that the Comte and the Baron had been experimenting on themselves by consuming vampire flesh. I didn’t get the details as I was either unconscious or asleep for much of the rest of the day.
We consulted with Sir Cosmo and he agreed to allow us to move the prisoner. I went along to ensure that things did not go too far. Mr O’Flaherty was recruited to help move him. We took him down the cells and when we showed every intention of chaining him within arms reach of a very hungry and angry vampire, he gave in and told us what we need to know.
The Baron said that there were four or five vampires who were expected to return to the estate that night. He said that the only thing that could kill them was both sunlight and fire. Mrs Cuthbert was convinced that he was now telling the truth and we locked him in a cell next to the vampire. I couldn’t resist mentioning to him, that if he had only answered my questions in the beginning he would still be upstairs in the comfortable room. Politeness pays.
We returned to the great hall just as messages were arriving for Sir Cosmo. Along with the messages came a train full of reinforcements for the brigadier and, to my great relief, Baron van Raalik in person. He kept patting himself and looking worried. He asked to be taken to the scene of the Comte’s death. He examined the area and confirmed that my lay-to-rest spell seemed to have been effective. I asked him why he was concerned. He told me that he had made a promise to see the Comte destroyed. Some One had granted him an unusually long life and he had spent it trying to defeat the Comte. The Baron had fully expected to die at the same time the Comte was laid to rest and he confessed bafflement as to why he was still alive.
Thinking we should get as much use out of him as possible before he did die, I briefed him on the five areas of concern: Schmidt and how soon he might return from beyond the veil, Vampires who have been made immune to all but sunlight and fire and who are expected to return this evening, Velika Metzger and her plight, Hassan, and the Lion of Damascus.
I then realized I was repeating myself and forgetting which questions he had already answered. I had not slept in over 36 hours. I went to look for a room to lie down in (as did many of our party) and was set upon by the ghul’s as mentioned previously.
Once everyone had been rescued from the ghuls or otherwise rounded up and their identities confirmed we still needed desperately to sleep. I refused to be parted from the group even to sleep. My fears were taken into account and Brigadier Peacock and Sir Cosmo arranged for the League to camp out in the great hall.
I managed to stand rather shakily, with Salmalin’s assistance, while the floor was converted to beds and a screen rigged for privacy. I leant on Salmalin until Miss Chigwidgeon came to put me to bed on the women’s side of the room. I was still quite battered and bruised. One of the things I remember from the fight is the false Salmalin throwing me into a wall, after which I lost consciousness, so I was grateful to be alive to feel my aches and pains.
We all slept for about six hours and even I was the better for it. When Mrs Cuthbert came to check on me, she decided to use her gifts to heal me further. I was glad of her aid as I could now be of some use as the battle with the vampires approached. This is the second time she has rescued me from death and my attempt at thanking her felt rather feeble. I have noticed Mrs Cuthbert makes light of her abilities. Perhaps that is the only way to remain sane while having such power over death.
Hassan and Baron van Raalik had been comparing notes and they had several suggestions for dealing with the vampires. One of them was to summon Schmidt’s spirit and bind his power to the Lion, thus crippling Schmidt and giving us more power to draw from against the vampires. I did not think that was a good idea, since, if we erred, we would have Schmidt and the vampires to deal with all at once. And Schmidt fully incarnated can go though our group like a threshing machine though a hayfield. Mr Deveril was badly injured in last night’s fight, and if it were not for Kali’s assistance we would have been... well, I would definitely be dead or worse since she snatched Schmidt away just as he was going to attack me.
We made a different plan and decided to focus our attention on just the vampires at that time.
Miss Chigwidgeon and I did find a few minutes to exchange gossip and compare experiences with the ghul’s that had impersonated our loved ones. She made me blush rather hotly when I realized that in the chaos and confusion I had left her unchaperoned and that she had taken advantage of both the situation and Sir Cosmo. Somehow I do not think they will have any difficulty with married life, assuming we all live to see that day.
I was reminded by our conversation that I needed to talk to Mr Salmalin now that my head was clear. I sought him out and told him that the ghul had impersonated him and had played upon my hopes and feelings.
He said something about Miss Chigwidgeon talking to him about me and I said that I would tell her to leave him alone on the matter.
He said that things were complicated, but when
I gave him the opportunity to confess to some vow or problem other
than the difference in our social status as an impediment he did
not take it. I hope I made it clear that I do not see our relative
status as a bar to ... well I don’t know what exactly.
My gifts and abilities are held in esteem within the League, however,
my status outside the League is certainly compromised given that
I am divorced, barren, and either insane or a witch (depending
on the persons point of view). Not much of a dowery, I’m
afraid. But it does not stop my devotion to Salmalin from continuing.
He said we must wait to discuss the complications and we must also wait until February. About all I can draw from this is that he did not say ‘no.’
I am neither a patient nor subtle woman, however, I must let things rest for a time. I have so much to say to him and each time I think that I have said what I need, I find that there is more welling up within. Now I must wait. And I must not be fooled again by ghuls or other creatures that might try to take advantage of my unsettled state. I will be unsettled from now until February and that is all there is to it.
I did remind Miss Chigwidgeon not to tax Salmalin about his discussion with me and she said that she had already reached that conclusion after her first conversation with him on the topic. What a vexing woman.
At that point we were both called away to experiment on the vampire. Baron van Raalik believed that, with the Lion of Damascus and the powers of those present, we could turn night into day, at least briefly, and with the addition of fire, destroy the vampires. I had suggested testing this on the vampire in custody to ensure that it would actually work. However when the time came to set up the spell, I felt an odd urge to apologize to the vampire. It was a person once, even though I know it that now it would kill me as soon as look at me.
The spell was successful. We made sunlight in the dark cell and then lit the vampire on fire. He disintegrated into ash. Left behind were the manacles hanging on the wall and a pair of armlets that had a strange seal embedded in them.
Hassan said that he had read of such seals. They were variants of the Great Seal of Solomon. They could give the undead and other non-mortal creatures protection from elements that would normally kill them. In Solomon’s time they had been used to bind efreets that had agreed not to harm ‘the children of Adam.’ The bands limited the efreets power but also protected them from being killed in the usual manner.
Hassan said that the bands used on the vampire were a perversion of the original spell and may have been what prevented the vampire from dying when Mr Ramsey staked it the first time.
Once back in the chapel, Hassan said that he had been thinking over Miss Metzger’s plight and he believed that he had a spell, or rather a series of spells that could rescue her soul from its bondage and return it to her. He felt that this should be done now so that Miss Metzger’s captor would be taken by surprise and would not be able send forces against us though her during the vampire attack.
Since some sections of his Book had been present when the four artifacts were made, he believed he could manipulate the Bull from afar, creating a distraction and allowing him enough time to free Miss Metzger. We put the plan to her and she agreed to let us try it.
After Hassan set up the circle, Miss Chigwidgeon, Mrs Cuthbert, Mr Ramsay, Baron van Raalik and I began our chant. The power came very quickly. Suddenly Miss Chigwidgeon’s head snapped back, her eyes glowed red and she floated above the floor. I could not take much attention from the spell, however, I have seen her so before and I hoped she would once again return to us safely.
Hassan completed the second part of the spell and suddenly we could see a vision of Herr Bopp. He was standing in a street in front of a large imposing building. He was talking to a girl we had never seen before and he looked very angry. There were the makings of a spell at his feet. Hassan completed the final spell just as Herr Bopp thrust a knife into the girl.
The spell ended and we all fell to the ground. Miss Chigwidgeon was clutching her chest but seemed to be unharmed. It seems that her spirit had been transported to the girl in the street. Herr Bopp had asked her who she was and she said a messenger of Kali. He was not happy when Miss Chigwidgeon would not confirm that Kali was on his side. I can add arrogance to Herr Bopp’s long list of sins, as even I know enough about Kali to realize that Kali is on her own side.
Herr Bopp will have to be dealt with soon. He killed that girl in the street with unthinking malice– he is powerful enough that he should have been able to see that the girl was possessed.
Our spells were successful and Miss Metzger’s soul returned to her and Herr Bopp was not able to prevent it. Not only that, but Hassan had enough power left to cast a powerful veiling spell that should block him from finding out though mystical means where we struck from.
That just left the vampires. Mr Deveril, Mr Cuthbert, and Inspector MacGregor took the time to set up a bonfire, torches, and crossfire positions throughout the back yard. Gefreiter von Erbersbach and Gefreiter Lichtenwaller of the Prussian army volunteered to help us. Erbersbach is a werewolf and Lichtenwaller is a Dhampire (a human child of a woman and vampire). They gave us their oath that they would not try to escape or free their comrades while they were helping us and Brigadier Peacock and Sir Cosmo agreed to let them help.
For once everything went as planned. After waiting for several hours after sunset, our team outdoors spotted four flying figures coming toward the estate. Inside the chapel we raised our power and cast the spell. Miss Sinclair later said that it looks as if a giant sunlit eye had opened over the sky and light came pouring though as if the darkness were clouds. The light crippled the vampires and Miss Sinclair and the others managed to set fire to all four of them without burning down the estate.
One of them had been carrying a dispatch box. Dr Wilson retrieved it and brought it inside. We checked for hostile magik and then Baron van Raalik opened the box. It had only a single sheet of paper inside. The note was in code. It took me a bit longer than it should have, but I was able to decipher it. It was the previously referenced orders from Herr Bopp to assassinate the Emperor of France.
It was at that point that I decided to check the box that I had been keeping Herr Schmidt’s head it. I found to my great dismay that the head had vanished. Someone out there is raising a body for him, or has already pulled him from beyond the veil. We have warded the train to the best of our abilities but we cannot predict when he or Herr Bopp will strike us.
We have survived one challenge only to be met with three more... And now I see Miss Sinclair making her way down the rail car to my seat. She has a look of determination in her eye recognisable to governesses and chaperones everywhere.
I am in for it now.
Proceed to Little did we know…
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