Evenstar (9 page)

Michael grinned.
 
“How fast can you make it?”

Gabriel looked at Barachiel.
 
“You still have his seal and sigil in the register?”

“Of course.”

“Not long at all.”

Uriel made a face.
 
“Can you make the lamin so that we do not have to use a human interface?
 
The human wielders ended up handing Lucifer every one of the other lamins!”

Gabriel gave him a blank look.
 
“It is a physical object that works on a physical creature in the physical realm.
 
Explain to me how
we
can use it and I will do it.”

Uriel glared at him and walked away.

Michael swung his spear, causing them to duck.
 
“Once the lamin is complete, give it to me.
 
I will send it down.”

Selaphiel stalked over.
 
“So what are you going to have Helion do?
 
You cannot kill Ladriam or we start this all over again.
 
You said that Helion was not even with her when you left.”

“He is following her with one of her human friends.
 
We could use the girl as a hostage.”

Selaphiel frowned.
 
“Why do you not leave the human out of this?
 
Just have Helion grab Ladriam and run.”

Barachiel frowned.
 
“Run?
 
From
Andrealphus
?”

Selaphiel’s mouth formed an O.
 
“Forgot about that.”

Raphael spoke softly, “They planned ahead and knew you would come.
 
Of course they would give her to Andrealphus.
 
None of us can catch him, no one can.”

Michael got in Raphael’s face.
 
“Any other tidbits of information you want to share since you seem to have so much insight?”

Raphael stared at the floor and shut his mouth.
 

Michael turned to Gabriel.
 
“Forge it.
 
I will deliver it.
 
For now, we will get Helion to kill Andrealphus, grab Ladriam, and turn her over to the Solomon Soldiers.
 
They can hold her until you.”
 
He pointed at Gabriel.
 
“Figure out how to get around this new pendant of theirs.”

Selaphiel looked towards the throne.
 
“What does He think?”

Michael tossed his spear from hand to hand.
 
“He has remained silent, so we go forward.”

“I go to pray.”
 
Selaphiel grabbed Jegudiel by the arm and pulled his brother away.
 

Uriel watched them go.
 
“Soft and stupid.”
 
He looked at Raphael.
 
“Worthless.”
 
He saluted Michael.
 
“I will increase patrols.
 
If any of the Fallen use their gifts they will be spotted.”
 
He looked at Gabriel.
 
“I want more of those pendants.
 
Regardless of their supposed counter measures, they were effective.”

***

Dahlia rode on Andy’s shoulders as they hiked through rugged terrain.
 
The sun hung in the sky directly overhead and would have beat down if not for the billowing clouds that painted the sky white.
 
They ran into no one and heard no noise of human origin.
 
They had spent the last few hours going over the more colorful bits of his history.
 

Dahlia tried to digest all that she’d heard.
 
“So she’s Ishtar?”

“Yeah.”

She mulled that over.
 
“But Belial doesn’t have anything to do with sex.
 
Isn’t Ishtar a sex goddess?”

Andy shrugged.
 
“We took some liberties on the descriptions.
 
Everyone likes sex, so it made sense at the time.”

“Who wrote the stories down,
you
?”

“I wrote a few, others we had commissioned.
 
Paimon wrote some, but his tend to be
really
fucked.
 
He likes leaving weird things for humans to find, it’s sort of his personal game against the human race.”
 

“Patience did always laugh during our ancient history unit, but so did Faith actually.”
 
Dahlia stared at the unending forest around them.
 
“Andy, how do you know where we’re going?”

“Good memory.”

Helion dive-bombed them.
 
Whitney laughed and threw pinecones at the pair on the ground.
 
“Got you!”

Dahlia covered her head.
 
“Stop it already!
 
Seriously, how many times can that be fun?”
 

Helion and Whitney laughed and soared up into the sky.
 

Dahlia smiled.
 
“Glad they’re having a good time.”

Andy shaded his eyes as the sun broke through the clouds.
 
“He needs it.”

Dahlia watched Whitney.
 
“She accepted him real fast.”

“How could you not, he’s completely harmless.
 
Besides, she’s partially Lilliam, it feels good to be around us.”

Dahlia looked into the sky.
 
“Huh.”

Helion flew in corkscrews.
 
Whitney shouted something down at them, but they were too high up for Dahlia and Andy to hear.
 

Dahlia’s stomach grumbled.
 
She rubbed her belly.
 
“I should have eaten more last night.”

Andy looked up at her.
 
“I’ll find you something it eat.
 
Sorry, I forgot.”
 
He lifted her off his shoulders and set her down.
 

Helion and Whitney noticed and they dropped to the ground.
 
Helion looked around.
 
“What is wrong?”

“Nothing.”
 
Andy smiled.
 
“They’re yours to guard.
 
I’m getting food.”
 
He turned east and ran, becoming a blur.
 

Helion smiled and hopped from foot to foot.
 
“Want to fly, Dahlia?”

Dahlia grinned.
 
“Only if your lover says yes.”

Whitney blushed.
 
“Who says that’s what we are?”

Dahlia laughed.
 
“I was running through last night’s events and I distinctly remember coming downstairs to find Helion in just his boxers and you in his shirt and pants, which you’re still wearing.
 
I think I can guess what you were doing.”

Helion went red too.
 
“It’s not our fault.
 
You and Lucifer were doing the same.”

Dahlia looked at him.
 
“So?”

Helion wrapped his wings around his chest.
 
“Things happen when you two are intimate.
 
We weren’t given fair warning.”

Dahlia laughed.
 
“We have to send out a warning prior to fooling around?”
   

Helion nodded, dead serious.
 
“Yes.”
 

Dahlia frowned.
 
“Why?”

“When you two get close things change.
 
You influence the environment around you.”

“Like what.”

Helion’s brow wrinkled as he thought of examples.
 
“How do you think life was created?”

Dahlia looked at the grass under her feet.
 
“Evolution?”

Andy jumped into the clearing.
 
“Lunch!”
 
He handed Whitney and Dahlia two plates of pancakes, silverware, and a mug of coffee each.
 
He looked at everyone’s expression.
 
“What?”

Dahlia sat down and set her plate on a stump.
 
“Helion just implied that I created life on this planet and it’s because Lucifer and I had sex.”

Andy nodded.
 
“So?”

Dahlia stuffed a pancake in her mouth.
 
“So?
 
Can you do that?”

“Doubtful, but I wouldn’t know, never had the pleasure.”
 
Andy sat on a log beside her.
 
“You and Lucifer do create things when you get intimate.
 
I’m guessing you didn’t go all the way last night because I think we would have seen more than just turtles and a white forest.”

Dahlia went red.
 
“How does everyone know what we may or may not have done last night?”

Andy grinned.
 
“I don’t think you quite get what you are and the influence you have on everything around you.”
 

“Yeah, okay.”
 
Dahlia sighed.
 
“So what’s the threshold?
 
When do we reach the danger zone?”

Andy pulled out a can of pop from his pocket.
 
He tossed one at Helion.
 
He cracked his open.
 
“You start making stuff change when you kiss.”

Dahlia pointed at him.
 
“I
knew
there was something weird!
 
Those flowers in the field and I saw these weird moths one time.
 
I made those?”

Andy nodded.
 
“Making out increases the radius and intensity.
 
Sex, partial or otherwise, and you start making big changes and affecting a larger area.
 
To put it in perspective, the first time Lucifer and you fooled around you populated the entire planet with flora.
 
The second time you created fauna.
 
The third time sentient creatures, the Lilliam.”
 
Andy grinned.
 
“I should have brought you a cigar for this.
 
Dahlia, you’re a mommy!”

“I—
what
?”

“You’re a mom.
 
You have millions of family members now!
 
Isn’t that cool?”

Dahlia held her stomach.
 
“I gave birth to millions of something?”
 

Andy laughed.
 
“No, you were all old school and things just popped into existence.
 
This whole
pregnancy
nonsense started with the fourth generation Lilliam.
 
I wonder if you’d get pregnant this time though since you’re a human now.”
 
He mulled it over.
 
“You didn’t last time; you two just did your thing and you created eight kids, if you can even call them kids really.
 
They’re more like energy forces.
 
Ra was light; Gaea is life itself, four elements, that kind of thing.”

Whitney raised her hand.
 
“I’ve heard those names before, I know I have.”
 

Dahlia nodded with her.

Andy grinned.
 
“Well
yeah
, what do you think they were doing, napping?
 
They’re gods as far as any mortal creature is concerned and they acted like gods.”

“So that’s what the Lilliam are, my eight kids?”

He shook his head.
 
“More than that.
 
They went on to have their own creations, divisions of themselves.
 
Apple for example is fourth generation.
 
Her great grandmother is Gaea, making her great, great grandfather Lucifer and making
you
her great, great grandmother.”

Dahlia rubbed her temples.
 
“Right,
Apple
is my great, great granddaughter.”

“Yep.”
 
Andy grinned and rubbed her shoulders.
 
“Apple’s parents’ generation was the first to remain in the flesh all the time.
 
There was a lot of spontaneous creature creation, I guess they got bored or something.
 
Anyways, they’re all long lived and you can pretty much find them anywhere on the planet including under the water and in the air.”
 
He looked at the sky.
 
“You know all those fairy tales you read as a kid?”

Dahlia put her head in her hands.
 
“Andy, time to shut up.”

He punched her arm lightly.
 
“Mommy angry?”

Helion hugged her.
 
“Congratulations, Dahlia!”

Dahlia grimaced.
 
“Helion, if I knew you weren’t such a dolt, I’d think you were being sarcastic.”
 
Helion frowned and Dahlia hugged him.
 
“I’m kidding.
 
Thanks.”
 
She looked at Whitney.
 
“What no hugs?”