CounterPoint (21 page)

Mary’s family remained oblivious to the fight raging around them: angels exploding and being thrown every way and shape. Nor did they see Ariel storming past in all-consuming fury and Uriel being sent into the air. They simply knelt round Mary in silence. Catherine picked up her glasses and squeezed them tightly. Hot salty tears stung her eyes and dove downwards over her roaring red cheeks. David and Claire held each other’s hands for comfort. Claire was devastated. She had always been an emotional child and this would have a grave effect on her for possibly the rest of her life. She was crying so hard David tried to soothe her, as she sounded like she was going to vomit.

At the bottom of the hill, Uriel lay on the ground panting as Ariel jumped up, staring down at him.

“Nuriel, attack!” he roared, propping himself up on his elbows to meet Ariel’s eye.

“Ah no darling, I do not think so,” said Lilith, her voice encompassing the entire clearing. She shot steam of white energy into the sky to meet Nuriel’s fire blast he had just launched. The two energies exploded in the night sky lighting up the forest for miles. Blasting herself off the ground, the white haired woman hurled towards Nuriel, trading blasts of pure energy with each other. Rising higher into the sky, her long hair rose up as she offered her hands up in what almost looked like prayer. She dived down towards Nuriel and launched a larger, more veracious white lightning attack straight into his chest. The trees around and below him were torn from their roots.

Sensing that he had crossed a line in killing that pathetic human termite, Uriel knew that now a fight would ensue between two of Heaven’s most respected warriors. They had both stopped, mesmerised with the battle taking place in the sky above them. Finding strength, Uriel propelled himself up and immediately engaged Ariel in extreme hand to hand physical combat. He initially had Ariel on the back-foot. The combat was fierce. In this type of situation it was considered ‘honourable’ to fight hand to hand without the use of weapons. This ensured that the best angel won. They fought their way violently up and down the hill repeatedly; vaguely registering the muffled screams and explosions coming from the top as the unknown woman in white blasted around the battlefield. It resembled something of extreme martial arts sprinkled with Heavenly force. Ariel jumped into the air and kicked Uriel across the field, while Uriel responded by catapulting himself like a bullet into Ariel’s chest, which sent him into the air before crashing down. Meeting in the middle once again, Ariel punched Uriel squarely in the jaw. Uriel clenched forward, quickly feeling Ariel’s knee pumping up against his stomach whilst being smacked in the back. He grabbed Ariel’s legs and trailed him to the ground. Both bouncing up quickly, they began circling. They eventually headed towards the top and Uriel changed his tactics in an instant. Standing slightly above Ariel on the hill, he watched as the infuriated angel charged towards him once more. Raising both arms to mid-point directly at Ariel he froze straight in his tracks and began sinking into the ground. Ariel growled at Uriel, there was no honour in this. He tried his best to blast out but he couldn’t. He had used a lot more energy the past few hours than Uriel. Eventually waist down into the ground Ariel was grateful for one small mercy. He would rather look his killer straight in the eye as he delivered the final blow.

“Ariel, Ariel, Ariel,” smiled Uriel, his eyes wide with joy, “you always knew it would end like this, at the receiving end of my sword.” Uriel stepped forward, the smile on his face broadening. He withdrew a large angelic sword from the inside of his coat and stood directly over him. “Goodbye Ariel”

Ariel closed his eyes, something he thought he would never do but it just seemed natural on this occasion. He heard a quick swishing sound and the feeling of hot blood. Opening his eyes he found the blood dripping onto his hands from a gaping wound in Uriel’s abdomen. He had been impaled through the stomach by an angelic sword, not his own.  Behind Uriel stood David, his face bleached in white anger.

“That” he whispered to Uriel as he drew his final breaths, twisting the sword in further, “was for my grandmother. You can die knowing you were killed by me.” He violently withdrew the angelic sword from him and watched as he collapsed to the ground. A white flash flew across his chest and began to slowly engulf his entire body before he exploded before their eyes. His explosion was far more violent than the others. A shockwave emanated throughout the field, causing the trees in the distance to croak and their branches to snap. The cottage took what looked like its final beating. The two remaining angels vanished, unable to comprehend the death of their boss by a mere human. Ariel still lay on the ground; the restricting energy binding him began to seep away into the muddled, trampled grass.

“David!” shouted Catherine and Claire in unison as they rushed towards him. “David, are you OK?”

“I’m fine,” he replied, exhibiting a weak smile across his face, though they all knew it was just for show. All three looked bedraggled. David had numerous cuts along his face and hands while poor Claire even had a piece of her hair singeing. David helped Ariel up and gave him a gratifying stare. No matter what he thought of angels in general, it was clear Ariel and Amber were the exception. Catherine walked slowly back over to where Mary lay, slouched over in that now tired war-torn wheelchair. She had turned cold, Catherine noticed, as she knelt down and held her hand tightly.

“We have to go, quickly, before reinforcements arrive,” urged Ariel, standing with everyone in a circle around Mary. Those two angels who had fled would most likely be reporting directly to Michael as they still stood here. They had perhaps only moments to flee.

“No,” replied Catherine, “we’re not going anywhere until we bury my mother.”

“Catherine we must...”

“No. Nowhere, and that’s it. This is my mother here,” she commanded with tears. “She at the very least deserves a burial. We’ll do it in front of the house. I don’t care how long it takes. We’re not leaving her here alone,” said Catherine, her voice now despondent.  David and Claire agreed. Claire was almost sure she caught a glimpse of emotion on Amber’s face, only momentarily. She agreed too.

Ariel used his power to lift a huge amount of soil from the ground in a prefect circular shape. There was no talk, burning questions had to be answered but not at this moment. This was Mary’s moment. They were going to respect that. Some fifteen minutes later, in a deserted part of Wales beside a grubby war torn old cottage Catherine and her family laid the stalwart Mary to rest. They gently laid her down and blessed themselves before having a few minutes of silence. Ariel blessed the grave and intoned a few words during the momentary service.

“What do those words mean?” asked Catherine, kneeling up and feeling the rain and wind return. It felt like the end of the world. She was drained: how do you comprehend or even begin to accept losing your mother in such circumstances? In any circumstances? These were questions she knew would never be answered. But, as a mother, Catherine knew she couldn’t mourn. David and Claire were her children and they needed to be looked after. No one was going to hurt her babies.

“I’ve placed a marker on her. She’s to be given priority assessment in the afterlife,” he said. In a way he kind of hoped this would make a difference to Catherine, that it would provide her and her family with some hope. They stood in silence, as the rain began to lash down. Amber and the blonde haired lady stood back from the proceeding to give the family a few moments of privacy.

Amber looked the woman standing beside her up and down, before whispering, “Who are you?”  She turned her head round to look straight at Amber, and the pupils of her eyes turned white. Amber knew the sign. She withdrew her sword and called Ariel in a panic.

Chapter 24

“Amber, what are you doing?” said Ariel, walking towards her with a grave look.

“She is a demon, sir. It’s a demon. A high ranking one. The eyes, white.”

The demon turned round to face Ariel and showed of her diverse pupil colours once more. Ariel’s response was predictable. Angels were almost pre-programmed to automatically kill any demon on sight. Ariel also withdrew his sword to compliment the staff and pointed it directly at her chest, the tip creating a wrinkle in her fine silk white blouse. She remained calm; she had a reputation for such. She respected this angel; he had a sense of morals, unlike many other angels she had to exterminate over the centuries. David had walked over to join them, an inquisitive look on his face.

“Ariel darling, one does not wish to be rude….but if I can destroy six angels with the snap of my fingers what do you think I could do to you?” she quipped, watching his jaw clench. “I have been genuine thus far. I am here to help.”

“Your name?”

“I am here to help.”

“Your name?”

“Lilith.”

The silence that swept over Ariel and Amber was palpable. Amber looked astounded and alarmed. Ariel was holding his ground but nonetheless didn’t look as confident as he once did – more stunned.

“Who are you?” asked David again. He clearly wasn’t up to scratch on his demon lore.

“She’s a demon,” muttered Ariel.

“I consider that classification insulting,” shot back Lilith bitterly. “If you want to put it in rank. I’m in charge. The first, the last, the everything. And I am here to help you in your cause.”

“How could a demon help angels? Why would you even care?” questioned Amber, her eyes wide.

“Well, from the proceedings tonight I can certainly highlight some angelic attributes which are missing from the two of you. How many did you kill yourself tonight dear?” she quipped, ignoring Amber’s scornful look. “It’s time for you angels to analyse the situation. It is meant to be one of your strong points after all. It’s not in my interest or yours to bring an end to the human experiment which in all likely probability will lead to the destruction of this world. I don’t want my kind to be exterminated because angelic management decides the time is now. But that’s irrelevant anyway,” she said moving the conversation along before the burly angel had a heart attack.

“If the experiment is evaluated now it will lead to the total annihilation of this planet and everything on it. Demon kind is not prepared to allow such a confrontation. If this war starts then you’re going to have every major player fighting on the battlefield. It makes tactical sense for us to combine forces. One has no real wish to perish and you don’t want to upset God. Be under no illusion. Someday he will be back. Any misconception about him not returning, or humanity being surplus is unfounded. I think the death of God would be felt throughout the universe in ways that no one would be under any doubt of his passing. If you don’t believe me, contact Death. Last time I spoke to her that was the line she was taking too.” She gave them a few seconds to take in everything before continuing. “The simple fact is you aren’t strong enough to take on the forces of Heaven and Hell alone. Neither am I.  But if we work together we have a better chance at surviving this and figuring out why exactly this family is so important. The other Gods of this planet will not stand idly by while angels create chaos. We are on the verge of true Armageddon.”

“If you’re in charge, why do you want to combine forces to fight demons as well?” asked Ariel in his usual interrogation style tone.

“Not all demons are as forward thinking as I. Most will want to face angels on the battlefields of Earth. I’m a pragmatist. I know what must be done.”

“That’s new,” said Amber, not believing a word from this demon.

Lilith chose not to reply to that remark, she had said enough.

Thunder and lightning returned to the night sky and the wind grew to storm speeds once more. It was as if Mother Nature herself was making her presence known, that she could see what was happening. Ariel again absolutely refused to work with a demon and Amber agreed. They would find another way to win this. David and Catherine, though, had different ideas.

“No, Ariel. You’re not making this decision. This is a group one. We need her Ariel, we just need her. We can’t get away from that fact. Pravuil isn’t here and by the looks of things he’s been held up, maybe indefinitely. My grandmother has just been murdered by an angel of Heaven,” he started shouting, letting his burning anger get the better of him. “I don’t care if she’s a demon or not. She’s just being practical the way we are. She’s looking to save her own backside as much as we are. So let’s work together because if we don’t we are all screwed.” He walked over and helped his mum off the ground.

“Thon human David has an excellent point,” agreed Lilith to the two angels.

“We have to go home!” said Catherine to everyone.

“What do you mean, back to Ireland?” enquired Ariel. Amber burked her head up, fixing her hair at the same time.

“Mum told me in her final words to go home. She needs us to go home. I don’t know why but we have to go.”

David and Claire both looked at their mum and knew that it was final. Their mum was what they considered the easiest going person they knew but when she decided to do something then that was it. It was going to happen no matter what it took.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to come can stay here. Me and my family are going back home. I need to know why she wants us home.”

“I like this one. She’s got gusto,” said Lilith, smiling mischievously and cocking up an eyebrow.

Catherine shot Lilith a look. She didn’t know much about demon lore or anything, but she knew demons were evil. Unfortunately, they weren’t in the position of cherry picking who they would let help them anymore.

“You do realise that trying to get back to Dublin, with this demon in tow will be almost impossible. All of Heaven will be looking for us,” put out Ariel to everyone.

“Ariel, we have nowhere else to go. My grandmother would not be sending us home unless there was something of importance there. We must find it. As for Lilith, she’s proven herself tonight just as you have,” replied David.