Flynn got up from his leather chair, and poured them each a drink. The room was so silent, the only sound that could be heard was the popping from the hearth of the fireplace. It echoed so loudly, that it almost rang like the loud bells from Big Ben in Anthony’s ears. He could feel his body vibrating from the tension. Funds to last him many lifetimes? Anthony pondered. That was not something you heard every day. The look on Mr. Burkes face, as he said that, haunted him even deeper. What is he getting himself into? He had questioned his grandfathers age time and time again. He always had a romance story, when it came to his family tree. He thought his grandfather had married later in life, with a young bride. His grandfather was indeed a rich and wealthy lord, it could pass. However, that was a lie. Nothing made sense when it came to age, in his family. When outsiders questioned the age of his grandfather, Robert always passed it off as good health and travel. Anthony himself, even wondered, only at the end of his grandfathers days, did he show any deterioration and his frailty. He never knew his extended family, and there were always rumors. When Anthony was a child, his grandfather never looked a day over 70 and his father aged normally. What about his mother? Why did she get sick and die? Anthony was not in the greatest shape either. He always felt off, he never could place it. He attributed his constant fatigue to the London air, as well as his aching joints. He was too young to feel like this.

“I know what is plaguing you, Anthony. No, nothing could help your mother. We all tried. Your father went into madness due to it. We had to break some of the rules in the Order to help your grandfather. Normally once a member of the Order settles down, the clock then starts up again. If the son or daughter decides to take on responsibility, we step in to help. In certain cases, we can use manipulation and sometimes they refuse. Its personal preference actually. In your case, we are making some great exceptions to allow a non-bloodline member to come in. I know this may seem like a lot, but Flynn, I am talking to you, and I am not sure you are even compatible yet.” Mr. Burke said hesitantly.

Both men stared blankly at Mr. Burke, as if he had set the house on fire right before them. Their mouths were gaping open.

“Your reactions are quite natural. I do say, I remember when my father gave me the speech. You see, I deal with the paperwork side to this only. When my son becomes of age, it’s his choice to take over if he wishes. We try to keep this as tight and closely guarded as possible. There are many people who will try to pose as friends, if they knew the true purpose behind everything. Just like your grandfather, he kept himself out in the open as an archaeologist and as a fine art collector. Your collection is so eclectic, one’s hair brained hunt for months on end, for a few items will not seem so far-fetched. Since you already have a collection that is already so vast, continuation will not look suspicious. Sadly, most of the homes we have been protecting, have been raided. Only a few have government protection, such as your homes. The ones that never did have government protection, well I can say there really were rogues in the Order anyway.” Mr. Burke took a sip of the warm oak brandy. He took a moment to let the information sink in, with the men who looked dumbfounded on the leather sitting chairs.

“What exactly are you talking about? I know my grandfather dragged us all across the globe. It was for science or some damn fool thing. I mean half of the museums are up my ass every month to borrow something he found on our travels. Look on the desk. There is a stack of papers I have yet to write back. They are all from, who the hell knows, to borrow some damn thing to study.” Anthony retorted.

“Oh, I don’t deny any of that. We need you both to take a trip to the Americas. Again, everything will be paid for. You need not worry about dipping into your personal funds unless you want personal things to buy.”

“Alright, I am all up for a good adventure! Yet this is a bit off. You show up, tell us both some crazy tale. Sure, and just like that you’re expecting us to pack our knickers and go?” Flynn was getting a bit red in the face.

“Oh no, where are my manors? Flynn, I know you went to St. Andrews, so I am guessing you are at peace with the lord?” Mr. Burke asked nervously. Flynn’s face turned a bright shade of crimson.

“What bloody right do you have to ask if I’m right with the lord? Why I should baptize you myself? Drag yer sorry arse down and drown you into damn London River for asking a man such a question. That’s for my priest and myself, don’t you think, you wanker!”

“Alright! Alright young man!” Mr. Burke started to laugh. He popped open one of the old brief cases and pulled out a very old necklace. “Catch. It’s yours. I just needed to see your reaction.” He tossed the ornate necklace to Flynn, who caught it and began to inspect it. “Go on put it on. Keep it under your shirt, when you do wear it. In times of need it will help you and aid you on your journey.”

“Where did you get this? I know this symbol. It’s the Ichthys symbol, it was on our small church in Scotland. Growing up as a boy I used to walk by it every day. It was carved on a post as you walked in. It was on a stone pillar to be honest. My mother took us to church almost every day. We lads were such sinners ya know. Scaring the chickens, all such nonsense boys do. Whatever hell we brought; she would drag us there till the priest got sick of us. He just started coming to the house after too many visits.” Flynn chuckled. “His bible had that symbol on it as well. He was a good man of the cloak.” Flynn studied the pendant, it had no precious gemstones, yet his keen eye could tell it was an amazing piece of craft-work. It was very old and made with extreme care. He could tell it was made to last through time. How he knew this, he couldn’t understand. Yet deep in his heart he just knew.

“If I am also correct Flynn, you were studying medicine? My sources tell me you finished with honors?” Mr. Burke asked.

“That sir, is correct.” Flynn nodded his head.

“There are several doctors we have planned for you to meet along the way. This trip, we want to be an archaeological tour as well as, an educational one. That is our cover anyway. For the two of you, this will be an easy thing to do. Once you get to the Americas, we know you will be changing paths on where you will want to travel. It’s natural for this to happen. Our goal is to find something. We are really not sure what exactly. Your father and grandfather were the closest. It might be a person or it might be an item. We are really not sure.” Mr. Burke said bowing his head.

“What?” The men said in unison.

“Yes, you gentlemen heard correctly. We know very little, pieces and bits really. To be honest, your grandfather knew the most. There are so many stories about the pieces and parts. We are at a loss. He kept a full journal from all of your families accounts. There are rumors that he has entries going back to Alexander the Great, and his testimony of battles. That’s how he was able to unite most of the known world at the time.” He held up a key. “The journal is locked away, hidden, and we have no idea where. This key will unlock whatever the journal is being held in. We have tried to find it. We all have failed.”

“What exactly are we up against?” Anthony asked.

“Through time you know we have demons on this earth, I actually threw that pendant to Flynn because if he were one of the soldiers, well, I would have known.” He took a deep sigh of relief. “The power in the pendant would have taken care of him pretty quickly. The war in the Americas, do you honestly think that was all just over tea? No there is a constant power struggle here. We were lucky this time there was no sign here. The American Civil war however, we heard rumors and not in a good way. We don’t know if the rumors are true. We want you to investigate. Here is the other problem, your dealing with no ordinary being. The rumors we received are very odd, they change but are always similar. The rider has a very large black steed and you will see a cloaked figure on a pale horse after there is massive chaos. If there is not the pair together, there is no chaos. The rider will change, the horse stays the same, its hard to explain. I think the documents in the brief cases should help, I hope. Some of them are in dead languages. I am glad you studied that while you were at St Andrews, Anthony.” Mr. Burke took from the briefcase, a ring with a gemstone with the identical markings he gave Flynn. He stood up and walked the ring over to Anthony.

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“This was your grandfathers and your fathers. These artifacts will give you both longevity and health. In time, you will find what other gifts it bestows on you. Your ring, Anthony, has a shield so you may wear it in public.” He pulled down a flap over the symbol so that only the gemstone showed.

“Your grandfather had that added after the death of your mother.” Mr. Burke said sadly.

“What happened to her?” Anthony asked his voice again cracking. “All I know is that she got very sick, very quickly. My father then just withered away within a few years after that.”

“Someone within your inner circle betrayed the family. We are still hunting him. He still has his ring so longevity is still a possibility. There are rules with taking on this responsibility and this gift. In the Order, betrayal doesn’t happen. This is the first in over 900 years. This is a gift granted through faith, not one by evil. This has always been what we have been based on, since these gifts were given to us. They blended Jewish relics as well, you need to remember the first Christians were Jews. People seem to forget about that. Other Saints have bestowed these gifts upon us, although I think our darkest days were the crusades. Again, we are not even sure these are all based on what we have. The Order is very old, and I am only a part of one sector. You will meet many on your journey. It’s not all just our faith either. We are all in this together. As mankind develops, we will see more and more destruction. We have to know what exactly we are up against. We have a gentleman who you will meet up with in the states, his name is Erik Cullen and he will be your guide there as you both will be, as they say, green horns once you set foot in the Americas. He has been with us for quite some time.”

“When you mean quite some time…” Anthony trailed off.

“There are limits as I have stated. Once a member has found a family, it is tradition for relics to be turned over, the effects then begin to wear off. It is never to be returned to the bearer. Each family has their own relic handed down through generations. Your family was gifted with nine. We have accounts on how each family was gifted and with what pieces, unfortunately several have been stolen or destroyed. Remember we are not the only ones looking for clues.”

“You have not exactly told us what we are looking for.” Anthony said frustrated. “That is all I have taken away from this nonsense, which is rather hard to fathom.”

“I can tell you of the most famous one we do know of. Let me ask you to keep an open mind, please. You have heard of the Triclavianism?”

“Yes, we learned about it at St Andrews. The legend of the three nails that nailed Jesus to the cross.” Flynn said.

“Ah yes, representing the Father, son and holy spirit. Have you heard the tale of the Fourth nail? Or the founder of the Innocent Three? He was a Saint. He bore the markings of four nails. In his letters, he spoke about the fourth nail. It somehow represented Gods love for man and the pain that he felt. That it must be used to wash away mans' sins in the final hours. In lore, we have heard one of the nails had been made into a sword and possibly held by one of the great kings of Britain. You commonly know it as Excalibur, although it has changed forms through the years. Another tale is the spear of destiny, I am sure you two gentlemen are very familiar with.” Mr. Burke said calmly. He was starting to see the two men were looking at him as if he were stark raving mad. He sighed deeply.

“I can see you both believe me.” Mr. Burke said sarcastically as he took off his worn spectacles and began to clean them carefully. The fire behind them was crackling and popping nicely. The room was indeed very comfortable, despite the icy discussion. He took in a deep breath and stood up. “Flynn, I ask you, how deep is your faith?”

Mr. Burke stood there solemn and grave. His brown eyes looked very sad. There was nothing taunting or jovial about his remark. It was as serious as a dead mans' last request.

Flynn and Anthony could see the haunting nature in his eyes. It sent chills down both of their spines and made the hair stand up on both of their necks, even though the room was very warm due to the warm fire blazing in the hearth.

“I try to live right as a good man. I may not always go down the right path, but I hope the Lord sees I do right.” Flynn gulped.

“Why did you want to practice medicine in the first place?” Mr. Burke asked softly, now leaning on the desk.

“That is easy question.” Flynn’s head slumped down. “I watched my whole family, almost my whole town, die from the pox. There was nothing I could do. Only a few of us survived. I didn’t catch it. Those who didn’t, walked away with nothing to live for. The only reason I got into St. Andrews, was the town gathered what money from those who had died and sent me off. I wanted to find a cure. I gave my blood to the university with hopes they would find something. I buried so many. I was just a lad myself. I burned the house. Gave away the livestock to those who needed it more than I did.”

“I have to test your resolve,” Mr. Burke said with a heavy heart. “For this, I am sorry. If I am correct, you shall not be angry with me once this is all over with. I promise. I ask you, how strong is your faith?”

Flynn just shook his head, his reddish blonde hair swept into his eyes. He ran his fingers through it to clear it from his face.

“How can you ask a man such a question sir? That’s like asking how high can I try to jump to the moon? I don’t know.”

“Then please forgive me son.” Mr. Burke turned around and pulled out a small kit from his pocket. The box opened with a loud click. Neither of the gentleman could see what he was pulling out of the box, until it was too late. Inside the box was a small dagger, a white cloth and a very small surgeons’ kit. Before they could even realize what was going on, Mr. Burke had dropped the silver case at Flynn’s feet, took the dagger and slit his own throat.

Blood poured everywhere, gushing all over the desk and pouring down Mr. Burkes clean gray tunic. Anthony had been in the cadaver room several times with Flynn, so he was used to seeing a bit of gore. He had also been in several viewing rooms watching procedures to cheer his best friend during several of his procedures. Seeing the horror in the room was beyond anything he had ever witnessed. It shook him to his core.

Flynn, without hesitation, picked up the kit. He knew that there was no hope. In his mind, all he thought about is that this man had a family. With his skilled hands, he was going to do everything to try and save him. He took a deep breath, he laid his hand on Mr. Burke and without even touching the kit, he felt the pendant beneath his shirt getting warm. Flynn and Anthony saw the wound begin to close immediately as if nothing happened. Mr. Burke started to blink his eyes and coughed a bit.

“I am dreadfully sorry to scare you both like that. Another few moments and I would have been done. It’s part of our line of work, hazards of the job I guess you could say, having faith in your fellow man as well, as well you know already. I know the throat is a bit unbearable to watch, but these shirts are rather expensive. I have a cleaner now. I have learned that it's easier than repairing bullet holes to the chest. It's much easier than asking my wife to do it. She said figure something else out. She has really not a clue what I do.” He began to chuckle. He sat up and began to unbutton his shirt. “I always bring a spare when I have to do this. Thankfully I rarely have to do this. I wish protocol would say I could cut off a hand or something, but no it clearly dictates to the brink of end of life. Thankfully, we have never lost anyone. I am glad to say I will not be the first to fail at my job.” He stood up off the floor and began to pull another shirt out of the second briefcase.

“My wife gets a bit testy; blood is a bit hard to get out of my shirts. She yelled for a week when I had to test your uncle, Anthony,” he smiled and put the soiled garment away.

“I have an uncle?” Anthony sunk into the chair flabbergasted.

“You did, great uncle actually. He was killed in Egypt; we aren’t sure of the exact location. His relic was never recovered, either. We are guessing they were looking for the journal. Your grandfather, being the oldest, was entrusted with that. You are the last of the Lowery bloodline.” Mr. Burke began to dig into the briefcase and pulled out a stack of old books and papers. “These are all for you, they will help you on your way. We will stay in contact, either by telegram or by post. We figure you will need about two months to get ready for your trip. I will return here in exactly two months with tickets for your trip to America. I will send updates to wherever you are. Oh, by Jove I almost forgot to give you this.” Mr. Burke handed Anthony a very heavy gold ornate key.

Anthony could feel the weight of it as the key was placed in his hand. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. He saw a man almost die in front of him. Yet that did not phase him as much as getting this gold object, with its beautiful hand-crafted golden chain placed in his hand. He might as well be holding a ten-pound brick in his hand, he thought. He immediately wanted to throw it across the room due to pure fear of what this key represented. Deep in his heart he had a feeling it contained more than just a hiding place for a book. He couldn’t place it, but his gut was wrenching at him. Anthony had a feeling that there was much more to the secrets that was being told to him. His hunch was they were much darker than he could fathom.