The Passage

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Lieutenant Herkules Göldli gestured frantically at the two men hurrying towards the opening of the Passetto, "Hurry, there is no time to waste!"

Andreas and Aloysius came out of the stairwell, listening to the pounding of feet coming up behind them. Fellow Guardsmen or enemy mercenaries? Andreas turned to look.

"Hold up Aloysius!"

Aloysius stopped and turned, his halberd at the ready, now he saw them, Landsknechts!

Göldli shouted at the two men, "What are you waiting for? The Pope must be taken to safety! Your comrades in the piazza have fallen, come with us."

As Andreas plunged the point of his halberd into a mercenary at the top of the stairs, Aloysius shouted back, "Landsknechts in the stair well, Lieutenant! We'll try and hold them here, get His Holiness to the Castel!"

Göldli could see that the two men were exhausted, game, but exhausted. Turning to the man next to him he barked, "Corporal, take four men and hold this corridor. To the death. Do you understand?"

"To the death, my lieutenant. We understand."

"Damn these Swiss bastards!" Franz Schmidt bellowed. "Hold up lads, no use dying in this squalid corridor! Back to the courtyard."

The Landsknechts stopped their rush, but not before one of them was cut down by one of the two Swiss on the landing.

Schmidt saw his friend collapse on the stairs, bleeding profusely from his chest. He was insane with rage as he bulled his way towards the two Swiss. His own men were concentrating on getting back to the piazza, they were more interested in loot at this point.

"Persistent aren't they?"

Andreas pulled back as Aloysius brought the axe of his halberd down on the crazy German charging at them. The man's helmet clattered down the stairs as he fell to his knees, his head bleeding badly, his eyes glazed as he tried to bring his own weapon up.

Andreas drove his halberd into the man's throat, "Die you German bastard!"

Schmidt's hands went to his destroyed throat. His brain was dying but there was a spark left which desperately wanted to live. For a moment he thought he saw the streets of München before him, the city of his youth. Then all went dark as his soul fled.

"Come on, that's the last of them. Let's get to the Castel!" Andreas turned and headed after the lieutenant and the men guarding the Pope.

The covered way, the Passetto di Borgo, led from the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo, known to many of the locals as the Mausoleum of Hadrian. The Castel was far more defensible as it was smaller, had plenty of cannon, and with enough men to man those guns would probably withstand a siege for a number of months.

Andreas and Aloysius dashed down the covered way, listening for the sounds of fighting, but hearing nothing. It was beginning to look like they might survive this day after all.

The corporal and his men came up with Andreas and Aloysius, "Steady lads, are the Germans coming up?"

"No, they fled, they weren't really interested in fighting." Andreas answered.

"Good enough, head to the Castel, we'll stay here and hold this place. You lads, look done in."

Andreas and Aloysius continued on towards the Castel and safety.

Captain Röist was bleeding badly from a deep wound in his side. He had managed to get away from the massacre of his men and had made it to the quarters he shared with his wife and children.

He regretted leaving his men, but he was incapable of holding a weapon and his remaining sergeant had told him, "Leave now, while you can. Go, protect your family. See there?"

The sergeant had pointed towards the Castel where the Pope's banner now snapped in the dying light of the day. "You've accomplished your mission, His Holiness is safe."

So he had fled. There was no other way to look at it, he felt shame and relief at the same time.

"Sit husband!" His wife snapped at him as he staggered into the kitchen.

He groaned as his wife began to cut his shredded tunic away from his wound. She cleaned it as best she could, then she began to bind the wound with clean linen. It hurt, but he felt better already. He was home and ...

There was shouting outside the door, in German. Then someone began to pound on the door to the Röist home.

Captain Röist turned to his wife, he wanted to tell her to flee and take the children with her, but it was far too late.

The heavy door splintered and then fell in, Röist heard men in the entryway, they were in the kitchen quickly.

He tried to draw his dagger, but before he could, an enraged, drunken Landsknecht swung his short sword and took Röist's head.

The death of Röist's family took far longer.

"Andreas, you're hurt!"

And he was, blood was staining his tunic and was beginning to drip onto the floor. They were nearly at the end of the Passetto. Aloysius was concerned, he had noticed a number of bodies along the way, both Guardsmen and Landsknechts, it was apparent that the enemy had forced their way into the passageway at some point.

The two men stopped, Andreas went down on one knee. "I'm afraid this is it for me, laddie."

Aloysius shook his head, "You've come this far, surely you can make it a few more rods!"

Andreas' halberd clattered to the stone floor of the Passetto, his hands were cold and his grip had loosened involuntarily. "I think not, lad."

Aloysius stood over the corpse of his friend and shook his head. Now what should he do?

"Da ist noch einer!¹"

The shout came from behind him, in the direction of the Castel, he was cut off!

The two mercenaries rifled the clothing of the dead Guardsman sprawled on the floor. One spoke.

"There was another one here, standing over this fellow. Who apparently hasn't been paid in ages, he has nothing on him!" The Landsknecht spat on the dead man in disgust.

"Maybe you saw a ghost, Norbert?"

Norbert's companion then shook his head, "Should we follow him?"

Norbert Schoerner stood up and shook his head, "Why, d'ya think he's richer than this one?" Schoerner kicked the body for emphasis.

The two Germans went back up the passageway, they had no desire to fight anyone armed, there were riches elsewhere.

Aloysius waited until nightfall before making his way back towards the Castel, he passed the body of Andreas, his clothes were torn and his meager possessions scattered on the floor. Bastard Landsknechts, he thought as he walked past. He said a quick prayer for his friend. Then he disappeared into the shadows. Rome was being raped, he had to get back to his comrades.

He had no other hope.

¹ There is another one! (German)