Plague of Angels (42 page)

A horn sounded. Then another, then a hundred, and below her, the black plains of Hell swirled into life as the wings of a hundred thousand Angels leapt into the air and charge upward to meet Nyx’s small force.

“Faster!” Nyx screamed. “Faster! Get to the palace!”

From below Lucifer’s forces, a hundred times stronger than Nyx’s, rose up and engulfed them.

She came conscious as they dragged her into the throne room.

“About time,” said Lucifer.

“Where do you want her?” asked one of the demons.

“Against the wall, where the Angel was. And hurry up, I want her to be the first thing that bitch sees when she get here.”

They dragged her up to the wall, and drive Hell-stone spikes through her arms and legs, pinning her.

Lucifer’s Legions rose up like a tide to meet Nyx’s Angels.

Nyx had planned for this, of course. She knew that Lucifer would bring all his armies to bear. And so the Angels around her dropped down a hundred feet, forming a wall between her and the ones rising up. The air below became a maelstrom of silver blood, severed limps, flashing blades and cracking whips. It would not last, Nyx knew. There were too many attacking for her band to do more than buy her an extra few hundred feet towards her palace.

It’s less than half a mile away,
Nyx thought. Out loud she cried, “Press forward! Don’t pause or look back! Keep forward!”

Then the Angels below broke through, and her world was reduced to the chaos of battle.

Persephone stayed just behind Nyx, keeping a squad of Angels together to help protect Nyx’s back as she winged forward.

We’d be fine,
Persephone thought
, If we weren’t outnumbered a hundred to one.

And it was true. She had been one of the best fighters in the 6
th
, and these Angels who rose up around her now were no match for her. Again and again her blade struck through armor, smashed through faces and severed limbs and heads. Again and again her whip found eyes, wings and flesh to rip open. And every time an Angel fell screaming as its blood and ichor exploded from its body or the gaping hole where its head used to be, another Angel was there to take its place. They were unending, and were it not for the power of Nyx in front of them, they would have been forced from the sky.

Nyx slashed out with her blade and whip, not bothering to defend herself. Her power, grown so much from her encounters with Tribunal, made it seem as though the armor and flesh of the angels around her was as frail as tissue paper. Every cut hit its target, breaking Angelic steel and crashing through armor to rip open flesh. Every crack of her whip tore wings and flesh open and sent Angels hurtling from the sky. Even so, there were so many of them that she could not help but slow down. They blocked her way entirely, trying to reach her with blades and whips and howling in frustration as their attacks were ignored and Nyx kept moving slowly forward.

Below her, her escort was being destroyed. Hundreds of Angels from both sides were dropping from the sky, pulping their bodies on the jagged Hell-stone below, becoming temporary feasts for the demons who cavorted, waiting for them to hit, and then swarming over their broken bodies.

None of them would die, of course. Nothing died here. But having to regenerate inside a demon’s digestive tract was slow and painful and likely to take a hundred years.

There was a shout from in front of them, and the hundred-thick wall of Angels between Nyx and her palace parted, scattering away from Nyx’s much-reduced force like leaves scattering in the wind.

Then another flight of Angels, five thousand strong.

“Oh, fuck,” moaned Persephone. “It’s the 666
th
. Everyone get ready!”

The 666
th
smashed into Nyx’s force like a like a giant cast of falcons stooping on their prey, driving them down. Even Nyx’s power, which hacked through three of the attackers in a single blow, was not enough to keep them from being driven down toward the earth. Nyx realized that fighting was futile and screamed “Dive! Dive!” She put deed to word, stooping herself and racing toward the ground then pulling out to speed along a hundred feet below her attackers.

For a moment it seemed to be working. Then the legion descended on her again, mashing into her with their bodies even as she broke their weapons and ripped open their flesh, driving her towards the earth. It was less than 200 yards to the castle, now, and for every foot she flew she was being driven down ten. Soon she, too, would be smashed against the ground, and then the demons of Hell would fight over the scraps of flesh from their queen’s body.

A scream from above and Persephone, leading a flight of fifty Angels, smashed into the ranks of the 666
th
, buying Nyx a little more time, giving her a little more room to fly forward. More silver blood flew from the sky. More Angels crashed to the ground to be devoured. More limbs and wings and heads flew off as the two sides battled against one another.

Then the tide turned again as, from below and behind, the other hundred thousand Angels of Lucifer’s legions closed in around them.

The palace was gone from sight, now. Nyx could see nothing but red and black armor and the flapping wings of those that attacked. Her world was reduced to the length of her whip and her blade. More bodies smashed into her, driving her down again and again, until she could see the ground beneath her and the demons that jumped up, trying to reach Angel flesh. Nyx screamed defiance, even as she knew that her strength was not enough, even as the Angels forced her down further, sacrificing bodies and limbs to drive her to the earth.

I can’t break through,
she realized.
I’m not going to save her.

The thought tore Nyx’s heart in half, even as it made her realize she had one weapon still at her disposal.

God will hear it. God will hear it and come and destroy me,
Nyx thought.

If it lets me save Epipheneia, I don’t care.

She opened her mouth and spoke the Word.

The Word was all things. It was the essence of God and creation and birth. With it, one could shape the very fabric of the universes and make time itself twist to serve whoever spoke it.

It was also, when the speaker chose, the greatest force for destruction known.

It was the Word that had rained fire on Sodom and Gomorra, that had ripped open the molten core of the world so that rock would flow and become the continents. It was the Word that, before time itself, had cast the Angels from Heaven.

And when Nyx spoke the word, when she called on its power, she called for destruction, and nothing could stand before it.

The power of it exploded around her, and the shock of it ripped apart flesh and bone, rock and ground, Angel and demon as if all were just paper. The very foundations of Hell shook and the ground split in a hundred places, sending demons, Angels and souls into the Hellfire below. The blast of wind that that followed the shock had the force of a hundred hurricanes, scattering her enemies and allies alike, sending them spinning out of control to smash to the earth or be hurled far, far away.

When the dust cleared, Nyx was the only creature on the plains of Hell. And all of the power that she had gained from Tribunal was gone. She felt weak and exhausted in a way she never had before. Any Angel with a sword could have defeated her, had any been near. And she knew with certainty that the Word would never work for her again.

Forgive me, my Tribunal for giving up your gifts,
she thought.
I could not let them stop me.

But I am still Queen of Hell. And I will not be defeated here.

Sword in hand, Nyx rose from the earth and flew, an arrow of rage driving towards her palace. The walls of her palace were cracked and tilting, and holes appeared in them in a dozen places. She smashed through the doors before the Angels within could recover. She cleaved the flesh of any being that got in her way. She flew down the hallways faster than any creature had flown before.

And when she reached the throne room Nyx saw three things.

The first was her Angel, hung upside down between two pillars of Hell-stone, her flesh naked, her legs and arms and wings spread wide and chained to the pillars. Her red hair dragged against the ground, but her blue eyes were still unblinking, her face still expressionless. Around her a circle inscribed with runes and sigils glowed red in the darkness of the room.

The second thing Nyx saw was Lucifer, standing behind her Angel, holding one end of a jagged-edged Hellstone-bladed saw that rested in the cleft between her Angel’s legs. His beautiful face was twisted with anger and joy and his muscles were tensed, waiting to saw through the flesh of her Angel.

The third thing she saw was Ishtar, missing an arm and her wings, her bloody head broken open, pinned to the wall of Nyx’s throne room like a broken butterfly.

All these things she saw in the instant before she was struck so powerfully that her entire body crushed to the ground, the bones of her legs and spine and ribs breaking and folding in on themselves.

She wanted to scream, but could not draw breath. Wanted to struggle, but could not move a limb, wanted to cry out, but could not find her voice.

“You have gravely disappointed me,” said Tribunal from behind her. She could not turn her head, but she could feel Him, feel the waves of His anger flowing over her, feel how badly she had disappointed Him, and how terribly, terribly wrong she had been to do less than she was asked. Her soul crushed in on itself as her body had done, grinding down smaller and smaller until there was only a small, bleak part of her left, desperate for His approval. Her eyes, the only part of her that could move, flicked back and forth, desperately searching for Tribunal.

“Do not look for me,” said Tribunal, His voice dripping with a contempt that burned into her soul. “You are not worthy to look upon me. Not worthy of those gifts that you received from me and squandered when you used the Word a second time,, let alone the Paradise that I was offering you. Your lack of faith, your lack of belief in me, has brought you to this end. You disgust me.”

Nyx felt her soul crying out, though she had no voice to give it.

“I had hoped,” continued Tribunal, “That you would have the strength to overcome your love for the Angel; to make the sacrifice necessary so that you and all your brethren could achieve Paradise. But you were weak. And so, your brethren will have Paradise without you.”

Nyx cried silently, knowing that He was right, and knowing that, given the chance to do the same again, she would. She shifted her eyes from their search for Tribunal and caught sight of Epipheneia, staring directly at her.

“My Angel.”
Nyx opened her mind to Epipheneia,
“Can you hear me?”

“I can, my creator,” said
Epipheneia.
“Do not allow yourself to despair.”

“I am sorry.”
Nyx’s grief at her failure overwhelmed her.
“I am so sorry.”

“Mother!”
The word snapped through Nyx’s grief, forcing her mind to focus. Epipheneia’s voice roared through her mind. “
Listen to me, Mother!”

“I… I’m listening.”

“This little Godling is nothing, Mother. His works are nothing, and to bow down to Him is to forget that you are the Queen of Hell, and one of God’s true Angels.”
Despite being hung upside down, despite her chains, Epipheneia sounded strong and sure of herself and not afraid.
“When He kills me, He will be no more powerful than He was before. Less, because He will no longer have you serving Him. This I know.”

“But… but He is my beloved….”

“He was never your beloved,” s
aid Epipheneia.
“He was never anything more than a selfish little Godling, set out to destroy us all.”

“He cannot
be
…” Nyx tried to make sense of Epiphneia’s words.
Is this the truth? Can she see what I did not…