Hans' Diary : Edinburgh (4)
Cautiously the two of us descend the steps into the darkened crypt. On one side stone tombs crouched against the wall, on the other a dark passage opened up. The two of us move out into the room with a palpable sense of tension. I clutch my faithful rifle just that little bit closer while Heinz holds high a lantern to try and scare away the shadows ... it doesn't really work.
As we move away from the stairs I have this feeling we are being watched, but I can't put my finger on it ...
Suddenly, armed men burst out of the passage and surround us with swords!
Heinz jumps back towards me, fumbling for his pistol, while I level my rifle at the men. Even as I do, though I realise that there are too many of them. Staring at their grim faces and their wicked swords I find myself wondering, could these possibly be Templar knights? The red crosses on their breasts seem to suggest that they could be ... If they are, then maybe they held the chalics that I had promised to find.
One thing was for sure ... I would never find out if I killed them ... or they killed me!
So I throw down my rifle ... raise my arms, and tell them we come in peace!
Luckily for me it turns out that the Templars, since that's what they are, are only to willing
to listen to reason. Their leader decides that he likes the look of me and takes me over by
one of those tombs to talk.
They tell me and Heinz that they have been guarding this Chapel for hundreds of years, unseen by visitors and staff alike. No doubt there are many more mysteries hidden within than we have seen, but I know better to press my luck. When I tell him about the Chalice, though, he is very interested and the Templars invite us in to one of their hidden chambers to talk.
"We do not have this Chalice you seek" the Templars tell us "But we have heard of it. Our Legends
tell that when our brethern went on the Crusades centuries ago they found this Chalice, and
discovered that it had great powers, but it was stolen from them by paynims and hidden away where
they could not find it."
My face fell when they said this, but I needn't have worried. "Do not worry" they say "We think it now lies in Egypt." Egypt! Quite a long way of my route, I think, why I am due to visit Krystal in just a week or so, but the Templars have another surprise. "Return to us when you are ready" they say "And we can send you to Egypt faster than you would believe!"