The Dark Goddess

Chapter 32

During the briefing while in Haven, the group had been told that the stolen items were ancient artifacts that held immense powers of darkness although there were dormant as of the time being.

They were also informed that whoever or whatever had been responsible for stealing the artifacts must know exactly what it is, and the fear was that they also probably know how to awaken the darkness within.

The group's actual mission was to stop them by all means necessary.

Now while sitting around their lunch in a diner, the group have identified two possible locations that whoever is controlling the monsters must be planning to use for the awakening.

“We have to split up” Mariam stated point blank.

“Unacceptable” Alec responded almost immediately, “I am in charge of this mission, if anything happens to anyone, it is on me, I can’t have us splitting up to that effect, we stick together abd watch each other’s backs always” he said to them.

But this time, no one agreed with his sentiment, they all knew the best way to cover both possible locations was to go at once as two groups, especially considering the vast distance between both locations.

“These are the only two museums with such specifics fitting the activation of the artifacts, they are days away from each other, meaning if we go as a group we can only achieve one museum before the next auspicious event which is required to activate the artifacts” Ami said to give a clearer picture of the situation to Alec.

She felt he needed it, he had really been in an uncomfortable spot since the mission started unraveling, he is a good guy and a great leader as well, he just needed to believe in his team this time around and trust that everyone will be okay.

“We need to split up, we just need you to come up with one of your awesome strategies so that this will not end up biting us back yunno” Ami said to him reassuringly but she felt a pang of guilt mixed with nostalgia as she used Casey’s slang.

“You can do it boss, we believe in you, so believe in us too and get us in game mode” Sidat said as he was as well eyeing the ladies food as they have hardly ate half of their meals.

Kyle shrugged and said “We can do it” then he relaxed back into his pie.

“Yeah, what they said” Mariam added trying to look indifferent, but it was obvious on her face that she agreed with the whole thing and had actually started feeling complaisant towards Alec.

Alec sat up straighter, having being encouraged by his teammates, now wasn’t the time to give up, or take the easy way out, now was the time to go all in and achieve the aim of their mission.

“Mariam, for this to work, we’ll need you at your utmost best, so you need to finish your fries and be well fed as well” he said as his battle and strategy wired brain started to strategize.

Everyone else started to get excited, Alec’s strategies were always something to look out for, they were usually formidable and hardly was there ever faults found in them, if his strategies fail it wasn’t because they weren’t good enough, it was most probably because the opposing force was really more powerful or much more better at strategizing.

“We need two artifacts of our own, ones packed with enough fuel for transport, portal transport that is” Alec continued “So we will have to visit the closest museum first and “borrow” a few things before heading out to the two main museums that are our targets, so now lets all finish refueling” he said.

“And no! Sidat” he added “The girls won’t give you their food, they need it as well for the journey ahead is gonna be hectic” he finished.

Sidat relaxed back with a whine, he had in truth wanted to ask if the girls were going to finish their food so he could have it if they weren’t going to.

When they got to the first museum where they wanted to “borrow” the artifacts they needed, Ami and Kyle snuck in to nab the most powerful items they could find.

Most artifacts in museums are usually replicas without any magical content and some might be the real thing and still be empty of magic, those wouldn’t do.

The ones that are real and pack immense magical powers either dormant or active are the best ones to use for what their plan entails.

After Ami and Kyle scavenged for a while, they found two dormant powered artifacts, an ancient scroll that Ami was sure must contain ritualistic rites for it to be dripping of so much dormant power, while Kyle found a royal seal with a really bloody history, the seal packed just as much power as the scroll.

After searching for a while, they found no other object of power, except an ancient sarcophagus, but a sarcophagus can’t be carried out without people in the museum noticing.

“Guys, we found two, but the third is tricky” Ami said when they got back out to meet up with the group.

“Why? Too much security around it?” Sidat asked.

“On the contrary, it has its own security in the sense that it can’t be lifted, it’s a sarcophagus” Ami answered, “Whatever we want to do has to be done in there” she stated.

“Ok, a little kink in the plan, but we keep moving, we surge forward” Alec encouraged “We can’t all sneak into the museum unnoticed without using Mariam’s magic can we?” he asked.

The group turned to look at Kyle at the same time, to which he just shrugged and said “of course, camouflage plants”

Then he took some seeds from his pouch and put them in his mouth before spitting them on the ground, the seeds upon touching the earth grew out immediately in vines and bushes, then he controlled them to wrap around each of the guys in the group.

Ami thought they all looked exactly like marine soldiers that were camouflaging with plants, it felt both cool and dreadful at the same time but it worked.

They had to move really slowly for the plants to blend with their environment, but eventually they got in and to the sarcophagus, her the work really started.

Mariam had made a binding spell on the scroll and the seal as the entered, Kyle and Ami hadn’t taken them yet lest it springs an alarm.

Now she had to create two portals to take them as close as possible to their actual target museums, and as well bind the remaining two artifacts on one person in each group.

They had agreed to pair Alec and Ami as a team whilst Mariam, Sidat and Kyle were the other team, reason being that Mariam wasn’t going to contribute in terms of fighting should a battle ensue, but rather she’ll be responsible for bringing the other team forth or taking her team to meet the other as the case may be.

The plan was simple, the two teams are to portal as close as possible to the target museum and then on getting there they are to seek out the evil perpetrators.

If found by Mariam’s team, she is to pull the other team to her via a portal of the bonded artifacts, and if found by the other team she is to take her own team to meet Alec’s via the same process.

Alec had made the plan at the diner even before the girls had finished eating their meal.

“Hey what are you guys doing there, the museum is closing up already!” an official shouted tat the group.

“Oops, we’ve been made guys, please hurry Mariam” Alec said.

“Don’t rush me if you don’t want your body parts scattered all around the continent” Mariam mumbled.

“I’ll have to call security!” the man shouted again after which he indeed called the security personnel when he saw that the five were unmoving despite his warnings.

Two well built individuals in uniform headed towards them now.

“Uhm, not to rush you Mariam, but we gotta go, we gotta go now!” Ami pressured as the security men started running towards them.

The two bonded artifacts flew from their casings into the hands of Ami and Kyle and at that point all hell broke loose as the alarms went off.

One good thing was that the sudden alarm made the security men falter in their steps which gave Mariam just enough time to complete her spell before they pounced on them.

The portal shone bright blue, blinding everyone and when it disappeared, the group was gone as well, leaving the whole museum and its employees in a state of panic and shock and disbelief.