Tears of Blood (17 page)

"Good girl."

A voice sounded inside Lucien’s head. "General, where are
you?"

"At the rendez-vous point," he replied telepathically.

"Get your angel ass down to the portal right away,"
Nathaniel urged. "Something big is coming through!"

***

Something big indeed. A towering naked woman with black hair hanging to
her knees, glowing, pupilless green eyes, four inch claws, and huge
back-curving fangs stepped onto earth. Her aura, black as tar, seemed to suck
up the daylight. Around her, a host of women, claws and fangs extended, hissed
and shifted. Among and between them, hundreds of men, expressions vacant,
hefted swords and spears, ready to do battle.

Nathaniel took a deep breath, and sent a quick thought to his wife back
at the compound.

"Ready," he said to the company of nephilim and clerics.
High powered rifles were shouldered.

"Remember, the more you take out before they reach us, the
better. On my mark."

"Kill them all!" the tall figure hissed, her voice sibilant
as it whistled between fangs and over a forked tongue. The succubae and drones
rushed forward.

"Fire!" Nathaniel shouted. As one, his battalion squeezed
the triggers of their weapons sending metal into the oncoming mass of enemies.
Screams rang out across the desert sky.

***

Salome drew in an unsteady breath.

"What is it?" Sarahi asked. "Is your
husband..."

"He’s fine. It’s not him. It’s... oh no!
It’s my drones."

"What about them?"

"They’re calling me. All around them, their brothers are
dying. They’re fighting for her, and I’m not there. They want to
know what to do."

"They’re asking
you?
I thought they belonged to
her!
"

"So did I. Oh, Sarahi, I can’t abandon them! They
didn’t ask for this. I have to go to them! Rahab, Jael, can’t you
hear them."

Jael nodded, her lips compressed and pale-looking. "Mine are
calling too."

Rahab wiped her eyes and agreed.

"Can’t you hear them, Sarahi?"

She shook her head. "I’ve never made a drone. I
couldn’t. It was unfair."

They all stared at her.

"Well," Salome said at last, "I can’t leave
them like that. I have to go to them."

"What?" Sarahi gasped. "You’re going back to
Mother?"

"Of course not," her sister replied. "I’m going
to set them free. They shouldn’t have to fight and die for her."

Salome crossed her arms over her chest and disappeared.

"She’s right," Jael said, following suit. A moment
later, Rahab was gone too. Startled, Sarahi decided to follow her sisters, just
to see what was going on.

***

As the remaining succubae and drones approached the line, Lucien sent a
mental message to his commanders. "Move forward. Focus on the
leader."

He could feel the reluctance in the acknowledgment. He couldn’t
blame them. The towering demoness was terribly intimidating. She looked like
beautiful death. But the thought of what would happen to his Sarahi, his bride,
if this creature rose to power unchecked overcame his nerves and propelled him
forward. Pulling out the two thin blades from their crossed sheaths on his
back, Lucien pressed into the fray, dodging and slashing.

A naked woman, beautiful and seductive, slunk towards him, radiating
lust. Lucien scowled and swung one sword, reducing her to a shower of golden
dust. His lady had been right to urge intimacy the night before. Bathed in
Sarahi’s love, the power of the succubae had no effect on him. A quick
glance showed his fellow soldiers equally unmoved. Seeing their favorite
distraction strategy ineffective, the girls switched to claw and fang. They
were damned fast and strong, their lean bodies honed by millennia of training
and skirmishes.

A drone with a broadsword which would have done a medieval knight proud
came at Lucien, swinging his blade with an overhand movement meant to cleave
the naphil’s skull. Lucien sidestepped and the sword sank deep into the
earth. Lucien ended the poor fellow’s miserable existence with a quick
slash to the throat. The body fell to the earth with a heavy thud, raising a cloud
of desert dust, and decomposed instantly. Perhaps he really had been a medieval
knight.

Lucien moved forward again. This time, a smaller, slighter man engaged
him. He had an Asian cast to his features and moved like a cat, thrusting and
jabbing with a light, maneuverable sword. Lucien met him parry for parry,
holding his own, not pressing the attack, giving no advantage. If this man had
not been a soldier in the enemy’s army, he would have been a pleasure to
spar with.

But this was war. With a sigh of regret, Lucien dodged past the
whirling blade and opened the warrior’s belly, spilling his entrails into
the sand. The man fell shrieking until Lucien delivered a coup de grace through
his heart.

Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention and Lucien
turned. On a hillside, four slight figures were silhouetted against the
horizon. Three made beckoning motions with their fingers and a few dozen drones
abandoned the battle and walked towards the rise.

Another succubus darted into Lucien’s space, claws slashing, and
he rejoined the battle with a sigh.

***

Sarahi looked down from the rise over the scene of battle. Pride
swelled her heart as she saw how the brave company of angels and men held their
own against a much larger force of demons. She could see Lucien, the connection
between them telling her the tall dark figure cutting a swath through the melee
was hers. It occurred to her she might use that connection to help him. She was
full to overflowing with the loving he’d given her last night, and she
sent some of the energy back to him, not in a distracting burst, but a thin
stream. In the heat of battle, he might not even notice.

Beside her, her sisters reached out towards the scene before them and
called, beckoning with their hands. All though the mass of soldiers, men lifted
their heads and turned, heedless of the enemies they’d been engaging.
They marched as one away from the battle and stood, shoulder to shoulder, in
front of the women who’d made them.

"Well, Salome," Jael said, "they’re here. How
do you figure on releasing them?"

"Rather simply, I think. We made them by draining away their life
force, their will. I don’t know about you, but I have enough excess
energy to launch a rocket. Watch this."

The black-haired succubus closed her eyes. Sarahi gasped. A cord like a
golden string lay across the desert sand connecting her to one of the men, a
young blond. She sent a pulse of energy though the cord and back into the man.
Awareness dawned in the blue eyes.

"I’m sorry for what I did to you," Salome said
softly. She made a slashing motion with her hand and the bond between them
severed, the cord shriveling and disappearing. "You do not need to fight.
Go in peace. There’s a town over there." She indicated the north,
away from the battle.

Interestingly, as the connection between the two faded, the man seemed
to age. No longer a handsome youth, he suddenly looked to be in his
mid-thirties. He nodded to Salome and turned, walking slowly away.

"How did you know to do that?" Rahab asked.

"I’m not sure," Salome replied. "I never
thought about trying it before. I always thought the drones belonged to
Mother."

"Did you see how he aged," Jael asked? Some of these men
are centuries old. If we release them, they will die."

Rahab nodded. "But they are human, and that is their destiny. I
think, at least for mine, they would prefer to die as men than live as
slaves." She sniffled, visibly steeled herself, and pulsed. A dozen thin
cords flared and then shriveled. A moment later, three men were walking towards
town. Sarahi felt a pang of sympathy for the others, lying in various states of
decomposition on the sand. But the flare of gratitude in their eyes as they
regained their souls helped... a little.

***

Lucien fought his way through a pocket of drones. He really did try not
to kill them. Some were staggeringly bad soldiers. And all were acting on the
will of others. He knocked them out and pushed them aside, always pressing
forward, always trying to get to Lilith. He should have been feeling tired by
now, but he still bubbled with fresh energy.

Another warrior rose up between him and his target. Lucien ground his
teeth in frustration. Long blond hair straggled down a powerful back. Blue eyes
glittered with blood lust. This one wasn’t fully engulfed in the will of
the succubae. He fought at least in part because he wanted to. Lucien
recognized the furry loincloth and heavy weapons of a Viking Berserker. The man
was splattered from head to foot with blood and other, less mentionable things.
He swung hard at Lucien, who dodged the blow and aimed low with his own sword,
trying to take out the fellow’s knees. The Viking jumped over the thrust
and shot out a meaty fist, catching Lucien under the jaw and sending him
sprawling in the dust. The battle ax fell and Lucien scrambled back to avoid
it, placing his hand squarely on something soft and wet. He risked a glance and
regretted it. His hand had landed squarely in the split-open chest of a dead
cleric. The boy’s intestines tangled around his fingers. He shook them
loose. His moment of distraction came at a heavy price. With a wild yell, the
Viking pounced, ready to land on Lucien with both his leather boots and all his
massive weight. Lucien braced for the blow, but serious injury was unavoidable.
He closed his eyes.

A blast startled him back to awareness. The Viking lay sprawled on his
back several feet away. The Assassin stood over Lucien, a shotgun braced
against her shoulder, a wisp of smoke rising from the muzzle.

"You need to be more careful." Annie’s amused voice
came from behind the mask. "It’s dangerous out here." She
dropped the weapon and extended a hand, helping him to his feet.

"I didn’t call for you, Assassin," he teased.

"I know," she replied. "You didn’t have to. Now
come on. There’s an evil  bitch over there who could use a bit of
humbling."

Lucien nodded, reclaiming his sword from where it had fallen. Together
they stalked into the fray once more.

***

"You know something?" Jael said from their perch above the
battle. "Our men are doing better than I expected. They really are holding
their own."

"They are," Sarahi agreed. "But Mother isn’t
fighting. She’s just standing by. They’ll be hard-pressed to take
her after fighting through that lot."

"And she stands there," Rahab added darkly, "like the
overgrown leech she is, letting her own daughters die so she can have an easier
time of it."

"Is there anything we can do?" Salome wanted to know.

Jael thought for a moment. "We could call our sisters. See if any
of them are wiling to walk away. Even a few could make a difference. Especially
if they take their drones with them."

"Good idea," Salome said. Joining hands, the four
concentrated on calling their sisters, touching each heart with a summons.

***

Lucien blinked in surprise. Whereas the path before him had once been
clogged with fighters, suddenly large patches had opened up. With careful
maneuvering, he and The Assassin wended their way through until they stood on
empty ground, with nothing between them and the oversized form of their enemy.
The enemy and her much smaller companion.

Lucien closed his eyes against a wave of pain. His son stood beside and
slightly behind Lilith.

"Josiah," Annie breathed beside him.

He nodded. "We can’t worry about him now. We have a job to
do."

"I know," Annie said, but her voice was unsteady.

"Don’t go girly on me now, Assassin. Put Annie away a
little longer." Then he called to Josiah, "Son, you don’t
have to do this. She has no power over you. You can leave at any time. Walk
away."

"Son?" The demon laughed in her hissing, snake-like voice.
"So you’re the one? Ah yes, you do look like my little
darling." She turned and ran one long black claw down the center of
Josiah’s cheek. The boy did not react in any way.

"You know something," Lucien said, feigning bravado,
"You are, without a doubt, the worst mother-in-law the world has ever
known. Fortunately for me, my wife will not be angry if I kill you."

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Wife?" She shook her head.
"What a pathetic succubus that Sarahi is. I should have eaten her when
she was a baby. All right, angel, you want to fight? Have at me."

She stepped forward and her claws grew longer and longer until they
became ten swords in the sunlight, black like the tarry darkness of her aura.
Lucien drew his own blades. The two warriors regarded each other in silence,
each weighing the threat. Then Lilith shot forward like a striking cobra, her
claws flying straight towards Lucien’s heart.

***

"What do you traitors want?" Cali demanded. "Why are
you calling us away from the battle?"