The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (9 page)

“
We knew his real
name, Natalie. Thanks to Sariel,” he added with a quick look at
Chris.

“
So we knew his
name. Big deal. What does that have to do with it?” Natalie
sounded dubious.

“
Well, it goes back
to ancient lore, I think.” Judge Hawkes began speaking in what
Chris had begun to call his teacher's voice. He wondered if the man
had ever taught law in university.

“
It is said that
names have power. That to name a thing gives you power over it. I
don't know how true that is, but what happened gives the legend some
validity.” At Natalie's confused look, he shrugged. “We
locked him into the form he chose to use. I think that Chris caught a
glimpse of his true form, when he saw that massive eye looking into
the plane.”

Chris shivered at the
memory. So it hadn't been a trick of the light. My God, he thought.
That eye was huge. How big are these Horsemen anyway?

“
Okay, fine,”
Natalie said. “So we locked him into the form of a man. So
what?”

“
Natalie,” the
judge said patiently, “you are forgetting the time of day. Dark
clouds don't matter. There wasn't an eclipse. We are in daylight. And
even the most powerful minions of Hell are weakened in the light of
God. Once he was fixed in human form, he was, for all practical
purposes, just a human being. If we'd been traveling at night, I
shudder to think what might have happened.”

He seemed to consider that
for a moment. “Doesn't make him sound very bright though, does
it? Hmm, perhaps one day we can use that to our advantage.”

“
Your honor?”
came Beatrice's voice from a seat behind them. “What exactly is
going on, anyway? We've been fighting the Fallen for years. But we've
never had even a hint that the Four Horsemen had been unleashed.”

The judge raised himself
slightly and looked over his shoulder at her. “Good point,
Beatrice. I was going to mention that myself.”

He sat down again and
looked first at Natalie and then at Chris.

“
Something has
changed in our war, I believe. Perhaps it was the defeat of Lilith.
Hell would have received word of that from their servants fairly
quickly. Or maybe our adversary has finally reached such a position
of power that he is confident enough to begin his end game.”

“
End game?”
Chris asked, not sure what the man meant.

“
His final push for
dominion over the world,” the judge replied evenly. Chris was
chilled by the simple statement.

“
Well, I have a more
practical question, your honor,” came the gruff voice of
George. “Since we beat him, is that the last we've seen of this
Askalon? I mean, we know his true name now, don't we?”

Judge Hawkes got up
abruptly and stood in the aisle. He looked around at each person,
catching each eye as if reassuring himself. Chris wasn't sure what he
was thinking.

“
No, we did not beat
him. We sent him back to his 'father' in defeat. I doubt that his
reception will be a joyful one. But he will return. And now, the
Devil knows that we have access to a source that knows the names of
his sons. He will wonder. He may begin to work out the fact that we
have an archangel on our side.” He paused for emphasis. “And
if he does, he will throw everything that he has at us. Not just
those of us assembled here, but against all of our people,
everywhere.”

He frowned and pulled out
his cell again.

“
I'm going to send
out a general text to all of our safe-houses. They will have to ramp
up security. From now on, no one enters any of them without being
vetted first.” He looked around for a moment, “I'll join
Chef up front and bring him up to speed. The rest of you, relax for a
bit. We'll be landing at Heathrow in about thirty minutes.”

He gave them all a general
smile and then headed off for the cockpit.

When everyone had quieted
down, Chris looked over at Natalie to find her staring at him.

“
What?”

“
Nothing. I was just
wondering how you're doing.”

Chris smiled wanly. “I'm
fine, Nat. You're the one that got beat up. I just stood there,
useless.”

He looked through the
window over her shoulder. “I just hope that Sariel gets back
soon. Without him, I'm just a thirteen year old runt who couldn't
fight his way out of a paper bag.”

“
Please don't feel
sorry for yourself,” Natalie said sharply.

He looked back at her in
surprise.

“
I really don't have
time for people like that, and I don't think you normally are. Sariel
will be back when he gets back. That's it. But you still have a
working brain, don't you? All your parts are intact, aren't they?”

Her sarcastic tone made
Chris blush, but he didn't bother to answer her obviously rhetorical
questions.

“
Good enough,”
she said with a nod, apparently reading something on his face. “So
let's think about what's happened, listen to the reports from our
people from around the world when they come in, and maybe work on a
strategy to use on these bastards. Because I agree with the judge;
they're just getting started.”

With that last,
uncomfortable statement, Natalie turned her face away, closed her
eyes and seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.

Well, Chris thought. That
put me in my place. She's right though. I'm alive and well, so far,
unlike poor Jake and Tyler. I didn't need Sariel to survive on the
streets and I can do just fine by myself.

A worrying thought came to
him then. Am I starting to depend on him too much? Chris didn't like
that idea one bit. You could only depend on yourself in this life. If
other people helped you, then fine. But in the end, he trusted only
one person implicitly. Himself.

He lost himself in the clouds, watching
the various shapes as they passed by the window and disappeared.
Perhaps he dozed. When Chef's voice came over the intercom, Chris sat
up, startled.

“We are on final approach to
Heathrow, my friends,” the deep, calm voice told them. “Fasten
your seat belts, trays in the upright position, and blah, blah, blah,
please.”

Chris heard other chuckles join his at
Chef's announcement. He adjusted his seat, buckled up and looked over
at Natalie.

She caught his eye and grinned. The
blanket was folded on the seat next to her and she was already
strapped in.

Huh, I must have fallen asleep, Chris
thought.

The plane started to nose down and he
took a deep breath. He always hated this part.

The Heathrow airport was a flurry of
sights and sounds. Chris was hustled along by Judge Hawkes and the
others. Once they'd passed through customs, Chris watched as the
adults formed a loose circle around him and Natalie. They moved
through the hustle and bustle very quickly.

Cars were waiting for them. The judge
said that the overseer of the British safe-house, a Mr. Mahony, had
arranged for transportation, and that their own people were driving.
He seemed to know all three drivers and greeted them by name.

The group piled into the large Mercedes
cars and they moved swiftly and efficiently away from the airport.

Judge Hawkes, Natalie and Chris were in
one car, while Chef was in a second with two of the staff and the
remaining three staffers were in the final vehicle. The judge
introduced their driver as Stevie. Chris and Natalie exchanged an
amused glance and said hi.

Stevie was a tall, lean man with a mop
of orange hair and a thick cockney accent. He was wearing the
standard dark suit that all of the staff seemed to wear. He smiled,
rapidly said several things that Chris thought were probably
complimentary, and settled into the serious business of negotiating
the busy traffic.

“How long will it take to get to
the safe-house, sir?” Chris asked as he stared out of the
window at the passing cars.

“Depending on the traffic,
probably an hour and a half. So sit back and enjoy the ride, both of
you.”

Judge Hawkes was sitting in the front
seat next to Stevie and they began to speak quietly and soberly
together. The driver did most of the talking with the judge nodding
several times. Chris found it hard to understand Stevie's thick
accent, but he found that he really liked it and listened to the
sound and rhythm of it for a few minutes with delight.

“You've never been to England,
Chris?” Natalie asked with an amused look.

“Nope. Why?”

“Just wondered. You're obviously
fascinated by what you see.”

“Well, yeah.” He gestured
out of the window. “Look. We're driving on the wrong side of
the road! And look at those funny little condos; they all have a
garden on the front lawn.”

There was so much to see that Chris'
head kept whipping back and forth, in case he missed anything.
Finally, he sat back with a sigh and looked at Natalie, who was still
smiling.

“Have you ever been here before?”

The smile disappeared from her face.

“Once, when we were coming back
after Angelica betrayed us.” At Chris' look, she frowned. “You
remember. I told you about it. How there was a report about a
possible angelic child on the run and I was sent to help find her? It
was a setup, of course. Well, on the way back, we stopped here for a
week or so to heal and rest up.” She looked out at the traffic.
“I like it, bad memories or not. And wait till you see the
safe-house. It's quite the place.”

“Oh yeah? What's so special about
it?” Chris was intrigued.

“Just wait. I don't want to spoil
the surprise.” She giggled at his expression. “Come on,
Chris. Not all surprises are bad.”

“Yeah, just the ones we've had
lately,” he replied soberly. “Okay, fine. I'll be
patient.” He looked up front.

“Judge? Any chance we're being
followed?”

Before the judge could answer, Stevie
jumped in.

“Oh aye, mate. Scythe have had us
on their radar since you landed. There's no shaking them. They're
nosier than a granny at a hen party.”

Judge Hawkes smiled at that and looked
over his shoulder. Seeing the puzzled look on Chris' face, he
elaborated.

“Scythe is the local equivalent
of Talon. There are groups like them on all of the continents. In
Australia and New Zealand, they call themselves the Reapers. In Asia,
their Cantonese name translates roughly to Jagged Blade. And in South
America, they are the Fangs. Different names, same world-wide group.”

He looked beyond Chris through the back
window. “They are all aware of our safe-houses and all keep an
eye on the airports and train stations in the cities where we are
active. And after the attack on the Nest, I'm sure they're even more
alert.”

He turned around again and Chris
exchanged a glance with Natalie.

“Big crew,” he muttered and
she nodded.

“Yeah. It's amazing how many
people are willing to sell their souls to the Devil for a few pieces
of silver,” she said bitterly. “Short-sighted idiots.”

Chris watched the traffic for a while
and then drifted into a light doze. The judge and Stevie spoke a few
times, but it was just background noise to him as he napped. After
what seemed only a few minutes, he was woken by a gentle shake and
sat up blearily.

“Hey, welcome back,”
Natalie said with a grin. “We're passing through the village
just outside of the safe-house, but I thought you'd want to see it
before we arrived.”

Chris cleared his throat. “Uh,
yeah, Sure.” He dug the sleep out of his eyes vacantly. “Where
is it?”

She pointed ahead and to the left and
Chris peered out of his window.

They were passing a small group of neat
two-story houses, gardens glowing in the late afternoon sun. Chris
saw people walking on the sidewalks or standing in small groups
chatting amiably.

It all looks so normal, he thought with
wonder. None of these folks have a clue how close we are to the end
of days. He felt an odd wave of sadness for them, and a stiffening of
his resolve. If there was any way he could help to stop it, he would.
Then he raised his eyes to look beyond the houses and gasped.

“Told you, didn't I?”
Natalie said in a teasing voice. “Some surprises are worth
waiting for.”

It was a castle. Chris blinked away the
last of his sleep and stared. Yup. A castle. It rose above the town
on a low hill, several towers soaring above massive walls, pennants
bravely flying in the early summer breeze.

The car turned into the drive leading
toward the towering double gates and Chris craned his neck to look up
as they drove under the main wall.

In the courtyard, a group of cars were
parked in an orderly fashion to the left and several people, men and
women, stood about, wearing the standard dark suit and sunglasses
that Chris now associated with the judge's people. Stevie swung the
car around toward the wide steps flanked by a pair of huge lion
statues and slowed to a stop. He looked over his shoulder at Chris
and grinned a gap-toothed smile.

“Welcome to the headquarters of
the Angelic Dominion, Mr. Wright,” he said and then looked at
the judge. “And welcome home, Lord Hawkes.”

Lord? Chris thought with confusion. The
judge simply nodded gravely.

“Thank you, Stevie.” He
looked out at the castle and sighed. “It's been a while.”

Stevie jumped out of the
car and ran around, opening the doors for Chris, Natalie and the
judge. He grinned at their thanks and just rambled on about his duty.
Then he hopped back into the Mercedes and drove off, leaving them
standing at the base of the wide stone steps that led to the
iron-studded main doors of the castle.