Scorn of Angels (30 page)

“Report,” said Lucifer, glaring at Morrigan, who knelt in front of him. He had never gotten around to putting her in the Lake of Fire, which was fortunate because she was an apt strategist and a capable fighter, and right now, he needed as many of those as he could get.

The fight with Nyx had gone completely to shit in seconds. No sooner had they crossed blades than every Angel in Hell had smashed into them, it felt like. The first battle for control of Hell had been chaos. There was no order of battle, no standards and no challenges, just masses of Descended smashing into one another, hacking one another’s flesh, and cutting each other out of the sky. Nyx and Lucifer had been separated almost immediately.
Which was too bad because I could have cut the bitch down, and we wouldn’t be in this
mess.

Nyx had finally called her troops together and retreated from the field of battle. She had not given up or surrendered. Instead, she had divided her forces and sent half of them out into Hell to take over the cities and build strongholds against Lucifer’s power.

Now, Lucifer stood on the top of the tower in the city of Samina, looking out at the incredible mess that was Hell. The cities were crumbling under the brutal onslaught of both sides. The plains were in ruins, with the souls on them impaled on broken torture devices, or scooped up and taken away to be turned into Hellstone weapons for either side.

At least the fucking demons are gone.

“Iswednokkurn is under their control,” said Morrigan. “Dis is half and half. No one is controlling the plains, and the souls are going unpunished. Pandaemonium is under our control, but they’re still fighting in the streets. The demons have stopped attacking and have all vanished into the ground. No idea why.”

“Nyx,” said Lucifer. “You can bet it’s that bitch who did it.” He paced back and forth across the tower. “The question is why? What’s she get from calling the demons off?”

“They were attacking her troops as well,” said Morrigan. “It probably allows them to fight without distraction.”

Lucifer swore and wished he had something to fuck. He considered grabbing Morrigan, but he needed her doing other things. There were no souls nearby, nor were there any incubi or succubi available to satiate his lust.
When I finally take Nyx, I’ll fuck every hole she has until she’s split in
half.

“Right, bring all the troops here. No more of this divide and conquer shit. We all come together; we all move together. First we take on the troops at Dis, then Pandaemonium.” He reached out with his mind. Nyx was underground, and while with some work he could pinpoint exactly where she was, it meant she would be able to do the same thing to him, and he didn’t want that just yet. He let his mind spread all over Hell. Nyx’s forces were fighting everywhere, save the force she had with her.
They’re not really organized. Once we’re back together…
“Move it. I want this war ended. Fast.”

Got it!
Ishtar folded her wings and dove down toward the Earth’s atmosphere. The squad of Descended followed her. She sent to them an image of where they were going, and ordered them all to shield their minds and bodies from sight. She didn’t know how Epiphenia managed to know where they were, but anything they could do to hide themselves, they would do.

Years before, she and Nyx had gone through each other’s minds. Nyx had given her a glimpse of a place Ishtar had never been, a cavern deep in the Earth, where no light penetrated. It was a place where Nyx could seal herself away and, with the magic there, hide herself from any presence, human or divine.

That has to be it,
Ishtar thought, and her wings and body began to heat up with the speed of re-entry into the atmosphere.
Because if it isn’t, we’re
screwed.

Nyx sat on a ledge in the Mother of Demons’ chamber, eyes shut, following all the actions of her troops in Hell. Lucifer, as expected, had called his troops together. He was readying to attack, Nyx knew. There was no real way to hide the movements of the Descended in Hell. One could sense where anyone and everyone was with a little work.

Which was why Nyx wasn’t planning on using Descended for her next move.

The chamber of the Mother of Demons was filling up fast. Hundreds of thousands of demons were now in the chamber, along with Nyx’s thousand Descended. Millions more were in the tunnels around it.

Nyx opened her eyes and looked at the Mother of Demons. “How go the preparations?”

“IT IS NEARLY DONE.”

“Good,” said Nyx. “Then get your children moving. I want no delays once it begins.”

“MANY OF MY CHILDREN WILL DIE.”

“And since you never cared about that before,” said Nyx, “you won’t mind now.” She reached out with her mind to find Persephone, then grinned. Persephone was in the midst of being fiercely and thoroughly serviced by Belphegor. He was not the handsomest of the Descended, nor was he the most popular. He was, however, known for being the best hung. And judging from the noises Persephone was making, it was exactly what she needed.
“Tell him to finish up soon,”
sent Nyx.
“Things are about to happen.”

Ishtar led her squad of Descended into the caverns. Far below them was Nyx’s secret chamber, and Ishtar knew that they had to reach it. The tunnels and chimneys that led deep into the Earth were barely wide enough for the Descended to pass though. In a few places, they had to hide their wings and let themselves fall or jump from rock to rock like mountain goats. Ishtar held back, looking and listening for the trap she was sure was there.

They were nearly there when Ishtar heard the voice in her head.

“Hello, Ishtar,”
said Epiphenia.
“I think you should turn around
now.”

The walls around the Descended erupted in stone spikes, impaling all the other members of her squad. Five turned to dust at once. Three others had time to scream before they died. The last two were impaled through the head, and couldn’t make a sound as they flailed and squirmed to escape the agony. New spikes flew out of the stone and they, too, disappeared into dust.

The spikes vanished, and Ishtar had a clear path out the way she had come.

“Tell Tribunal,”
sent Epiphenia in a voice like the aftermath of a great storm at sea.
“Creation is mine. He cannot have
it.”

Ishtar fled.

The remains of the 666th landed in Samina just before everything went bad.

Lucifer beheaded the first six of them without waiting to get their report. The seventh he was tearing slowly in half while she screamed out what had happened on Earth. Lucifer finished what he was doing but didn’t kill any more of them.

It can’t be Epiphenia,
Lucifer thought as he paced the top of his tower.
I saw her die. Tribunal ate her fucking
heart.

For the first time, a small spur of doubt crept into Lucifer’s heart

It doesn’t matter right now,
Lucifer decided.
First I subdue Nyx. Then I tell Tribunal he fucked up. Should be worth it to see his
face.

“Get your asses down to Morrigan,” Lucifer growled at the remaining members of the 666th, who were kneeling on the tower before him. “You tell her you’re now the shock troops. You lead every attack against Nyx’s forces. If we win this thing, I will consider not cutting you all into fucking pieces and feeding you to the demons!”

The ground began rumbling.

What the
fuck?

The entire city fell.

Every building, every street collapsed at once, falling hundreds of feet into the earth. Descended shouted in surprise and screamed in pain. Many managed to take to the air and stared in horror as ten thousand of the giant tunneling demons rose out of the remains of the city and began feasting on the buildings and the Descended inside them. From out of each tunnel where one of the giant worm-demons had emerged, thousands more demons charged out. Half took to the air. The others raced across the ground, biting and clawing into Angelic flesh wherever they could reach it.

“Lucifer!”
Morrigan didn’t bother using his titles, and Lucifer was too stunned to notice. “
Nyx’s army is on the move! They’re coming from three directions at
once!”

“Four,”
said Nyx.
“We’re also coming out underneath you, and I will cut your fucking head off
myself.”

Lucifer’s eyes swiveled back and forth in his sockets until he spotted the first of Nyx’s Descended charging out of the tunnels. The demons paid no mind to Nyx’s army, settling for feasting on Lucifer’s troops. Lucifer screamed in rage and charged forward. Then the swarm of flying demons was upon him, and there was no time for anything save to fight and kill. The sheer weight of the demon’s numbers drove him back. They bit into him again and again, occasionally breaking flesh, but mostly nothing more than an annoyance. It was the fact that he could not get at Nyx that was most frustrating.

Lucifer threw flame after flame into the mass of demons. Dozens fried; hundreds took their place.

“Lucifer!” Morrigan’s voice rang out in his brain. “We are going to be destroyed if this keeps up!”

We cannot beat them. Not here. Not if they’ve got the demons on their
side.

Of course, we don’t have to fight them
here.

Lucifer changed direction and flew into the sky, his wings sending him aloft faster than any demon could fly. He swung his whip and then sent it farther skyward, tearing a hole larger than any between Earth and Hell since the Descended had first been cast from Heaven.

“Follow me!” Lucifer screamed, and his voice reached every ear in Hell. “Those who want to live in Paradise forever, follow me to Earth! We will destroy humanity, and Tribunal will bring us to Paradise!”

He flew upward, high and hard, into the hole in the sky, and tens of thousands of Descended followed him.

Far below, flying out of the tunnels, Nyx looked up as the remains of Lucifer’s army flew away.