Bone Diggers - Chapter Fifty Two

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Daniel was breathing. He was breathing, he was terrified, he was alive. The wound itself might not be the worst injury ever, but it was unexpected. It had thrown him out of sync enough that he heard voices of those who weren't playing. They were arguing, they were surprised too. Owen couldn't quite make them out without further losing his connection with Daniel.

He needed to focus. Focus on the fact that he was bleeding, that he was being dragged by other men who must be employed by Elijah.

Elijah.

That name meant nothing to him. How had someone come to hate him so much when he knew so little about them?

"The great Daniel Ortiz isn't going to give up the ghost already, is he?" Elijah taunted.

'Screw you,' came to mind but it wasn't the wisest thing to say right then. Daniel lifted his head, but couldn't manage to get the glare off his face. If only he could place him. How had this guy even found him?

Owen expected that question to be equally hard, but by the time it was even thought, he knew the answer. fnVR advertised this event, and made Daniel's life available for everyone to see. Being in the spotlight had cast a shadow. Made this possible without any bone digging required.

"Where are my friends?" Daniel asked. No other questions mattered at this point.

Elijah sat on a desk, his legs spread, taking up more room as he watched Daniel on the floor in front of him. "Always with your friends," he said before making a tsking sound. "People like you are always so concerned with your own story. You didn't even look at me twice today. Destroyed everything that mattered to me without even a second thought because it wasn't relevant to your version of the world."

Daniel pulled himself to a standing position. It wasn't very graceful as he held his side in the process. When or how he did what Elijah accused was lost to him, but the timing wasn't. "So you wanted an audience?"

"I do have that now, don't I?" Elijah laughed. Daniel didn't share in his amusement. He just wanted to know where Lance and Amilia were. Elijah went on. "That was the original plan. But then I realized just because your world has a bigger platform doesn't make mine any less valid."

Daniel stayed quiet. He was sure words wouldn't change Elijah's mind. Whatever pain Daniel accidentally caused wouldn't be fixed with an explanation or apology. He could see it in Elijah's unforgiving eyes. He found himself staring at this short man, who wore a smile as bright Daniel wanted to hate every inch, but was caught up in Elijah's point. It was such a cruel reminder that he hadn't taken a moment to wonder how his story intertwined with the world.

Snapping brought Daniel's attention to the moment. "Now isn't the time to get all introspective. I have a choice for you to make." Elijah gestured to the door, and Daniel glanced over expecting to see another guard...but it was just an empty hallway. "You first. I promise not to stab you this time."

Daniel forced a smile as he glanced back to Elijah. "Where are we going?"

"To church."

Where exactly that was, Daniel wasn't sure. But each step out of the hall, each step outside, changed the field. Unfortunately, it also meant reinforcements. Elijah picked up two guards along the way. Making it painfully clear he had plenty of back up. The church soon pointed itself out with a steeple that dotted the skyline towards the right. A clue which Daniel ignored as he continued walking forward.

"Now's not your moment," Elijah corrected.

Daniel paused. He stared ahead at the just-out-of-reach buildings. If he had just a few seconds to spare, he could use them to break the line of sight. But he'd been found once. Running would just delay this. If Elijah wanted to play the game, he would too.

Elijah took point, and Daniel glanced to the men waiting for him to fall in line. Once he did, they walked behind him. The church wasn't far, but it would need a lot of work before someone came here to worship. Stained glass littered the floor like broken jewels. Bits of red and yellow crushed under their boots.

If Spain hadn't needed so many soldiers, these mercenaries might have been easier to spot. Daniel wondered if any of the gold they'd given Elijah would end up in their pockets. They hung back at the door as Elijah strolled to the front of the church.

"Are you going to make me confess my sins?" Daniel asked.

Elijah stopped with a single foot on the altar. "That's clever," he smiled in a way that made Daniel want to grind his teeth. "But I believe everyone knows your sins. So, I asked myself, how do I stop a man like you in particular? What did Lance once say?"

Daniel glanced over at the name, but otherwise looked between the pews for anything that could give him the edge. There were people already inside. Scattered like wayward worshipers among the seats. When Daniel was on par with one, he noticed they weren't here to pray. They sat as still as the grave with weapons in their hands instead of prayer books. It made for a slow walk along the plank closer to Elijah.

"He said you can live your whole life with a man, but you don't truly know him until you threaten his life," Elijah continued. He was a few steps higher and now roughly the same height as Daniel. "Same can't be said for you, since it's always about them."

"If you are trying to scare me by claiming you have my friends, you showed too many cards, because I'm not buying it," Daniel said.

"Have? No." He held up a finger. "But soon."

"Will it be before I bleed out?"

Elijah's eyes narrowed, the first sign of doubt he'd shown. He glanced down to Daniel's side as if to judge how bad he was by the stain on his tunic. "Don't worry, I'll give your fans a good show."

The remaining stained glass shattered from both sides. With the colorful shards, Amilia and Lance came down like the rain. Each took out a guard that had escorted him here within seconds. Their ambush might have been a success if they hadn't walked into a trap themselves. Everyone in their seats stood and pulled their weapon. An army of swords, shields, pikes, and arrows.

"You never could choose," Elijah said, far too calmly for Daniel's nerves. "You always hesitate. Who are you going to save, hero? For once, decide."

Daniel glanced over to Amilia, who had her bowstring pulled taut, unsure of who to pick off. Then over his over shoulder to Lance as he stood ready to counter the first person to move closer. Daniel's gaze then fell back on Elijah. "No."

Elijah managed to tilt his head before Daniel charged straight for him. The collision sent them both to the ground and triggered a free-for-all. Daniel groaned as he tried to be the first back on his feet. His side erupted in pain again, and he rolled to his back to suck in a lungful of air.

Despite Daniel's best efforts, Elijah got back up first, and went for the classy move of kicking him while he was down. Daniel silently thanked whatever gods were still watching the place that it was his good side.

He rolled away before Elijah could take out any more of his annoyance and swung up to his feet. Daniel's expression twisted with pain and anger, making him look feral.

Daniel drew his arm back and threw a punch. Elijah leaned back enough to narrowly avoid it. Except that wasn't Daniel's real plan. With the closeness he gained, Daniel slammed his instep into Elijah's shin. His groan was oddly comforting, but not as much as the sound of Elijah's nose ramming against Daniel's hand seconds after.

He took quick stock of the church. Instead of drawing a weapon to use on Elijah, Daniel ran to the pews, or more accurately, on top of them. After a few he jumped on the back of an archer. The man screamed as Daniel's dagger bit into him. He tossed his attacker off. The motion caused the blade to drag down the man's spine until they crumbled onto the seat.

"I need this," Daniel said, grabbing the fallen bow and slamming the end of it against the man's head. As the archer sunk further, Daniel stole his quiver. Daniel popped back up and fired a shot at the nearest enemy. The arrow missed, embedding itself into a tapestry instead of the person attacking his friend. Daniel shook his hand out. He exhaled. And fired another.

This one sank into the back of an enemy's neck. Daniel worked like triage was flipped onto its head, and bought both Lance and Amilia some time. He lined up another shot before it went awry as someone bear hugged him from behind.

"If you refuse to decide, you can watch," Elijah said into his ear.

If Elijah expected him to watch in horror, or thrash around, Daniel didn't. He clasped both his hands together in front of him and brought them up. The leverage forced Elijah's grip to pop open. Daniel stepped sideways, and drove his elbow into Elijah's gut. He fell against the pew behind him.

Somehow, somewhere, there was a fire. Daniel stepped back to the aisle and could smell wood burning. A warm, golden glow flickered off stone walls. Daniel held his side as it started to look like the end of days.

The city was destroyed, and now it seemed a building meant for hope was also crumbling. With a creak, it did so. A balcony caved, and with a thunderous crack the burning wood came at them like an avalanche. Whatever choice Daniel could have made was now blocked off. He backed up, the little he could, and hoped both his friends were okay on the other side. Between the rubble he could see bits of the battle from the other side. A reflective shield here, fabric moving there.

"It's you and me now," Elijah said. He wiped his bleeding nose, and grinned when he saw it had stopped gushing. "God and the devil await whoever survives."

"The Greeks believed in fate, do you?" Daniel asked, as he turned around to face Elijah.

His eyes narrowed slightly, not understanding.

Daniel threw a small knife. It stuck in Elijah's shoulder as a distraction as Daniel moved closer. "My name means God is my judge," Daniel said, sliding a dagger between Elijah's ribs. He ripped the dagger to the side. Elijah wheezed, and leaned into Daniel for support. "Not you," Daniel said through gritted teeth before shoving Elijah away.

He stared up at the detailed architecture of the ceiling. By the time Daniel walked over, Elijah's eyes had closed for good. He was only a man, after all. Daniel fell to his knees at the altar, looking like he was ready to pray his own pain away.

Daniel closed his eyes. He could hear the crackle of wood, the heavy rustle of people trying to move the rubble to save themselves. It had been minutes and he realized that the blade was still clutched tight in his hand. "It's over," he whispered to himself. It was an exciting and terrifying fact that he didn't know what to do with.

"Daniel!" Amilia finally made it over to him and knelt down to his level.

"You're okay," Daniel said with a single breath. He didn't want to point out that she was risking herself further because of him. As if the same couldn't be said about many other moments, and many other people. Daniel only wanted one thing right now. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. Daniel was too afraid to see if she was injured, and while it wasn't the safest thing, he needed this precious moment.

"We both are," Amilia said. "Most of the mercenaries ran off when the building started crumbling. The rest left when they realized they weren't going to get paid. All the same, we really need to go. Are you okay?"

Daniel glanced up to Lance, who had a cloth around his nose and mouth to protect himself from the gathering smoke. "I'm alright, let's go." Daniel tried to stand, but getting up made his vision black out for half a second. "Okay, maybe I'm not."

"Don't worry, we've got you." Lance literally meant it as he scooped Daniel up. With the location of his wound, this was oddly the best way to be carried.

Daniel rested his head on Lance's shoulder. He breathed in then sighed, despite knowing he should be holding his breath against the smoke. Yet he simply didn't have the silence within him. "I feel like you are carrying me over the threshold."

"Two men married in a church?" Lance said, his words slightly mumbled behind the cloth. "How scandalous in this day and age, amant."