Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘No,’ he said — unknowingly passing just a few feet from his prize. He turned at a loud crash to see the roof of the prayer wheel hall collapse, sending a great spray of sparks into the air. ‘One will have to be good enough.’

‘I’ll let you be the one to tell him that.’

‘Just get ready to take off. I’ll be with you soon.’ He and the Nepali set off at a jog down the hill.

Eddie threw open the tower’s entrance. ‘At least this isn’t on fire.’

‘Yet,’ said Nina. The blaze seemed to be actively pursuing them through the monastery. She looked back as they rushed through, seeing fire licking along the corridor’s ceiling beams — then flinched. ‘Oh my God! But he’s dead!’ The man she had killed in the furnace room charged around a corner, rifle in hand.

Eddie stared in disbelief, then slammed the door. ‘And you said this wasn’t a haunted house!’

They ran past the laughing Buddha and pounded up the wooden staircase. Explosions came from somewhere nearby, more gas cylinders or stocks of fuel going up with enough force to rattle the tower’s ancient timbers. But any hope that their pursuer had been caught by the blasts vanished as the Nepali barged through the door.

He saw them and yelled in rage, opening fire. Nina and Eddie ducked as bullets ripped through the wood around them. The banister splintered, holes exploding through the steps at their feet.

Then the shooting stopped — but only while he changed magazines—

More explosions, these much closer — and larger. The entire tower jolted as if hit by an earthquake, knocking the gunman off his feet. His Kalashnikov skidded across the age-worn stone slabs and vanished into a great crack that tore open in the floor.

Eddie and Nina fared little better. The Englishman almost fell through the broken banister before his wife grabbed him. The whole tower swayed sickeningly, like a ship pitching in a heavy sea. ‘What the hell was that?’ she cried.

Another detonation below, a smoky shock wave belching up from the widening chasm. The tower tipped further over, stones grinding and wood creaking to the point of fracture before it slowly reeled back upright. A smaller but more violent movement rose beneath it — a frantic shuddering, unyielding blocks crunching over each other…

Slowly, but inexorably, the entire tower tore away from its base and began to slide down the hillside.

With Nina and Eddie inside.

Axelos was two thirds of the way to the helicopter when he heard multiple explosions from the monastery. He looked uphill — and his eyes popped wide in surprise as the tallest tower leaned forward as if bowing, before shakily tipping back upright… and then the stone wall at its foot crumbled and collapsed. The gridwork of thick wooden beams making up its foundations burst through the debris, acting like the runners of a sledge as the whole structure began to slither downhill.

His initial disbelief became astonishment; he expected the tower to shake itself into rubble, but somehow the ancient building held together. It gradually picked up speed, tilting forward again as the gradient became steeper—

Another shock ran through the Greek, this one of fear as he realised it was coming straight at him.

And the helicopter.

‘ Run! ’ he shouted at his Nepali companion, before charging through the snow towards the AW169, waving furiously at Collins. ‘Take off, take off !’

Cracking plasterwork showered Nina with dust. The building was lurching like a truck traversing rough ground — which, she saw to her horror as the burning monastery slid past one of the narrow windows, it actually was. ‘Oh my God !’ She tried to haul Eddie to safety—

A huge jolt sent her reeling. Her head hit the wall with a painful smack — and she lost her hold on her husband.

Eddie grabbed at one of the banister’s supports as he went over the edge. He caught it with his left hand, but his prickling fingers lost their grip.

He fell to the quaking floor below. Even rolling to absorb the impact, the landing still hurt.

‘Eddie!’ Nina cried.

‘I’m okay!’ he shouted back, feeling anything but. The mercenary, whom he now realised must be the twin of the dead man, staggered to his feet. ‘Get up to the door to the ledge!’

‘But we’re moving , the whole tower’s—’

Nina’s words were lost beneath the twin’s enraged roar as he charged at the Englishman.

Eddie scrambled aside, darting beneath the golden statue’s outstretched arm — then abruptly reversed direction as the mercenary followed, grabbing the Buddha’s forearm and using it to pull himself up and deliver a two-footed kick into the Nepali’s chest. The man flew backwards, catching himself at the edge of the crack.

The Yorkshireman dropped back to the floor, looking up to see Nina ascending the shaking stairs. He was about to run after her when sudden disorientation struck him. It felt as if he was leaning backwards…

He was leaning backwards. Nina’s words finally registered. The entire structure was on its way down the mountainside, pitching forward as the slope steepened—

Floor and wall switched places as the tower toppled past the point of no return and smashed down on its front.

Debris showered the interior as chunks of the walls broke apart, debris showering the interior — but somehow the building as a whole remained intact, its fortified framework withstanding one final assault. Great sprays of snow came in through the holes in the stonework as it careered roof-first down the slope like a massive toboggan.

Eddie skidded down the new floor and hit the underside of the staircase. Momentarily dazed, he opened his eyes to see the great statue of the Buddha looming over him. It was still fixed to the tower’s stone base, clinging like a rotund spider to a surface that had now tipped past the vertical, but the spreading cracks in the surrounding slabs warned him that it would not hold on for much longer.

But the metal figure was not the most immediate danger. The mercenary had grabbed the Buddha as the tower went over, and now he let go, jumping down to land in front of Eddie. A kick caught the Englishman in the side as he tried to stand. The Nepali screamed at him, oblivious to the perils around him in his vengeance-fuelled rage.

Eddie scrambled out from under the staircase, only to take another blow to his stomach that sent him slithering downhill. The mercenary snatched a knife from his belt and bore down on his winded target—

Stone exploded, the statue finally breaking loose and dropping with a metallic boom.

It rolled like a boulder, rapidly picking up speed and smashing straight through the wooden staircase. The mercenary whirled — and was mown down by the laughing holy man.

Eddie dived aside as the golden figure tumbled at him, the protruding hand delivering an agonising karate chop to his shin as it passed. Then it was gone, demolishing another leg of the stairs as it continued towards the tower’s roof.

‘Nina!’ he roared. ‘ Incoming Buddha! ’

Nina had been thrown across the tower when it fell, hitting the wall hard. Debris bombarded her. The satphone flew from her pocket and skittered away.

Eddie’s shout gave warning that something else was coming towards her. Half blinded by swirling snow, she looked up — to see the Buddha burst through the staircase like the Kool-Aid Man, his smile now anything but reassuring.

She shrieked, flinging herself out of its path. The statue thundered by, obliterating another section of stairs before slamming to a halt against the thick beams supporting the topmost floor.