The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (8 page)

“
What's this? The
boy wants to die a hero? Defending your lady love, is that it,
child?” He laughed loudly. “How delicious. Come then.
Come ahead.”

Chris walked slowly but
steadily forward. The intruder folded his arms and watched his
approach with amusement. When Chris was about six feet away, he
stopped and looked up at the man's face. He really was quite tall.

“
Well now, here you
are. You may, as they say, take your best shot.” His smile
faded. “And then, I will take mine.”

“
Yeah, you do that,
you son of a bitch,” Chris snarled. “But do it as a
human, not a demon.”

“
I am not a demon!”
the Horseman screeched in fury and reached for Chris.

He skipped backwards and
glared at the man. “Maybe not. But I know who you really are
now. I name you...Askalon!”

The man's eyes widened,
and widened again.

“
No!” he
bellowed. “You cannot know my true name! You cannot!”

“
Get him, Gloriel,”
Chris shouted as he dove into the nearest seat.

A rush of air whipped his
hair over his face and Chris heard a massive crash as something
slammed into the forward bulkhead. He popped his head up to look
toward the sound and his jaw dropped.

Askalon was pinned to the
wall beside the cockpit door by a glowing spear seemingly made of
pure light. Gloriel stood leaning on the weapon, her form small
enough to fit inside the plane, barely. Her red, metallic wings were
stretched from wall to wall and she glowed with a golden light. The
man, Askalon, squirmed on the end of her spear.

“
You cannot do
this,” he gasped, black blood leaking from his lips. “You
cannot. You are merely an angel. I am a son of Satan.”

“
Yes, you are,”
Gloriel said in her beautiful, echoing voice. The anger in that voice
was so intense that it made Chris' skin tingle.

“
But right now, you
are only a man. And as a man, you are going to die and go back to
Hell where you belong,” She leaned in with her massive head and
looked at him almost nose to nose. “And when you get back to
the Earth, we'll be waiting for you. And all of us will know your
true name.”

Then she reared back and
ripped her spear upward, its blade almost cleaving him in two.

“
Now get back to
Hell!” she roared and the remains of the man collapsed in a
heap of guts and blood.

Gloriel stepped back and
watched as the ruined corpse shuddered, then fell apart into dust
that quickly dissipated, leaving nothing but a sour stench behind.

The plane was suddenly
flying straight and level again and, as Chris looked out of the
nearest window, he saw the black clouds fade and the sun break out
into glorious brilliance. He sighed and smiled. It was good to see
the sunlight again.

The cockpit door was flung
open and a wild-eyed Chef leaped out, followed closely by Judge
Hawkes.

“
What's going on?”
the judge asked loudly and looked around. “Where's the
intruder?”

Natalie was standing in
the middle of the aisle, back to looking like herself once again. She
swayed unsteadily.

“
You know, that's a
funny story, your honor,” she began to say and then she
collapsed, caught adroitly by George and Beatrice, who had finally
been freed from their bonds.

The rest of the flight was
quiet and uneventful. Natalie was tucked into a seat, her wounds
treated, although they were superficial according to Tony, their
resident medic.

Margaret's remains were
stored in the back of the plane. They had shrunk into a small bundle
that Chris studiously avoided looking at and he heard that they'd
managed to get her into a large garbage bag, tucked away in a
relatively hidden spot. The judge hoped that she would simply be
taken away with the rest of the trash.

“
No more than she
deserves,” Beatrice said coldly. Judge Hawkes had sighed but
said nothing.

Everyone told each other,
and the judge and Chef, about their experiences when Askalon had
appeared. The staff had universally explained their captivity as
feeling like being wrapped in flexible cement. They could breathe but
that was about all.

“
I hope I never feel
that helpless again, your honor,” George had said grimly.

“
Yeah, tell me about
it.” Davidson wasn't as big as George, but he seemed to have
been even more personally insulted by his powerlessness. “I
wanted to help so bad I'm sure I almost had an aneurysm.”

They had all smiled or
laughed at this statement.

Chris couldn't believe how
good he felt after what had been a horror show. Between Margaret's
death and the final destruction of Askalon, he was surprised that he
wasn't sick to his stomach.

But at least he knew that
Sariel hadn't deserted him. And Natalie was going to be okay.

He looked across the aisle
to where she was curled up, wrapped in blankets. Her face was
peaceful, a beam of sunlight dancing over her pinched features. He
was glad that she could rest after what had happened. It seemed that
after an angel used their bodies, the human hosts were left exhausted
and drained. Chris wondered idly if there were some long-term
negatives in that.

Well, his weird internal
voice said dryly, considering how short their lives were likely to
be, it probably wouldn't matter anyway.

Yeah, thanks a lot, he
said to himself.

Once things had settled
down and the flight had resumed its normal route, Judge Hawkes came
back and sat next to Chris. The man smiled as he looked over at the
sleeping Natalie.

“
Is she going to be
okay, sir?” Chris asked, seeking reassurance.

“
Tony says she is
and I agree. She's built tough, our Natalie.”

He looked past Chris
through the window at the scattered fluffy clouds that were racing
by.

“
I never expected
our enemies to have such creatures as our attacker on their side,
Christopher.” He glanced at Chris soberly. “I want you to
know that. If I had thought for one minute that they would be able to
get an agent on the plane, or that we would be attacked in
mid-flight, I would have made other plans.”

Chris realized with a jolt
of surprise that the judge was apologizing to him. He stared silently
at the man for a second and then hurried to reply.

“
Oh, come on, sir.
You don't actually blame yourself for this, do you?” The man's
silence was answer enough. “Judge, there is no way you could
have known. A last minute charter? Who knew Talon could get someone
on to the crew that quickly? And as for Askalon, well, that monster
was something I've never even heard of, not even with all the stuff
my dad told me over the years. And he was a religious scholar,”
he added for emphasis. “Don't be too hard on yourself.”

And then Chris smiled and
shook his head. The judge raised an eyebrow at his expression and he
chuckled.

“
Sorry, but I never
thought that I'd be the one reassuring you, sir.”

They both laughed at that.

“
No, I suppose not.
Thank you. You're right, of course. We are all still human, even
those of you with angelic souls. And we're all okay, thankfully.”
He looked at Natalie again. “We're all okay,” he repeated
under his breath.

“
I did want to ask
about Sariel though,” Judge Hawkes continued. “Could you
repeat what he said to you? Exactly, please.”

Chris did so, as best he
could, and the judge nodded thoughtfully and sat back, staring
blankly at the seat in front of him. Chris waited for him to speak.

As the judge looked at him
again, Ramona stopped beside them in the aisle. She was holding a
tray and offered them both their choice of plastic-wrapped meals.

“
The microwave's
working, so I thought I'd heat something up,” she said in a
soft voice. Her accent was exotic but Chris hadn't been able to place
it. She had dark, small features and a mane of black hair, tied back
in a pony tail.

“
Sometimes food can
help after a crisis like the one we just went through,” she
explained.

“
Oh, thank you,
Ramona. That was very thoughtful.” The judge smiled at her as
she extended the tray.

“
Not at all, your
honor. You can choose either chicken, or chicken.”

Both Chris and the judge
chuckled at her dry tone and accepted the meals and utensils. She
nodded and moved on down the aisle.

“
Yes, back to
Sariel,” the judge said as he unwrapped his dinner. He began to
pick at the food, while Chris dug in, surprised that he even had an
appetite. “Well, it sounds like he's having trouble at home.”

“
Trouble?”
Chris gave that statement some thought. “But how is that
possible? He told us that Purgatory can't be attacked by Hell's
forces until the Earth is taken. And that certainly hasn't happened
yet.”

“
No, it certainly
hasn't. But I don't mean trouble from outside. I mean trouble from
within. Some of his own people might be upset with him.”

Chris stopped eating. “His
own people? But they're angels, sir. They all followed him into exile
voluntarily. Why would they be giving him problems?”

“
Ah, that is the
question.” Judge Hawkes said. He dropped his plastic fork on to
his barely eaten meal and set it aside. “I don't have any
evidence of this, but I can see one possible scenario. Sariel took
Lilith back with him. She was the first female angel that God ever
created, so she has a certain amount of fame among her peers. Yes,
she turned to evil, but perhaps some of Sariel's people see her as a
sort of bad girl, a bit of a rock star.”

Chris had to laugh. “Come
on, sir. They're angels, not a bunch of teenagers. They're pure, not
like Lilith. If they felt anything for her, wouldn't it be hatred? Or
at least disgust?”

The judge didn't answer
Chris' smile with one of his own.

“
Would it? The
angels in Purgatory aren't pure, Christopher. They followed an
archangel, who had attacked his brother, out of Heaven into what
could be eternal exile. They chose him over their service to God. And
remember, angels have the same emotions as we do. They feel love,
anger, sadness. Certainly some might feel admiration for Lilith.”

Chris had suddenly lost
his appetite and handed his half-empty plate back to Ramona as she
walked by again. The judge thanked her as he handed his plate to her
as well, and then he settled back and looked soberly at Chris.

“
But sir,”
Chris said as Ramona walked back toward the galley, “so what?
Lilith is still evil. She tried to kill Gloriel. Heck, she tried to
kill all of us, including Sariel. The angels should be happy that he
beat her.”

“
And if he had
destroyed her, I'm sure they would have been.”

The judge pulled his cell
out of an inside pocket and tapped it a few times. “We should
begin our landing sequence shortly.” He continued to tap the
cell as he spoke.

“
But Sariel did not
destroy Lilith. He took her back to Purgatory and imprisoned her in
the Frozen Sea for all time. This could be seen by some as demeaning,
insulting. Better to die in battle, some might say, than be displayed
like some sort of trophy.”

“
Huh,” Chris
said and looked out at the clouds. “I hadn't thought of it like
that. So that's what you think is keeping him there?”

“
I have no idea. But
it's certainly one possibility.”

“
What are you two
looking so intense about?” a quavering voice said from across
the aisle.

Chris sat up and leaned
forward to look past the judge. Natalie was awake and staring at them
sleepily.

“
Hey Nat! How are
you feeling?” he asked anxiously.

“
I'm fine, thanks.
Just needed a little nap, I guess.” She grinned a twisted grin.
“But between my stay in hospital after our fight with Lilith,
and me conking out here, I'm starting to see a trend that I don't
like.”

Judge Hawkes laughed
lightly. “You've been taking the brunt of the abuse lately, my
dear. And we are very grateful for that. Try not getting hit in the
head as much in the future. See if that helps.”

All three of them laughed,
and Chris heard a couple of the staff behind him join in.
Conversation carried easily in the small plane.

Natalie's expression
became serious. “Sir, I was thinking a bit about what happened.
And I have a question.”

The judge simply waited
for her to continue.

“
What I'm wondering
is, how did we beat him...it? He's one of the Four Horsemen. We
should have been smeared across the sky and left to float on the wind
like dust.”

Chris could sense the
others listening closely, waiting for the judge's reply.

The man hesitated a moment
before answering. Then he slipped his cell back into his jacket and
folded his hands on his lap.