Mark of Orion

by S L Richardson

  The whoosh of the massive Throne Room doors opening stirred the still air. Fire flared in Lucifer's eyes, but it wasn't for her. She turned, wondering who had caused this heated reaction. Her hand froze on its trail up Lucifer's leg. Delilah recognized a few of the Fallen, but the middle one stood out. His long white hair fell forward when the guards shoved him from behind. Blazing green eyes locked on her through the strands of his hair, his rage directed at Delilah.

  Zar... What have you done?

  Sickening dread flushed her nerves. It was an ominous sign for him to be escorted here. Delilah's teeth clenched, returning his hateful gaze with one of her own.

  If he's ruined this−

  "Leviathan, why have you brought Zar and Kalma before me?" Lucifer asked with a hint of boredom. His thick fingers stroked down her hair, tugging her scalp. What should have delighted her turned her hot blood into ice.

  Leviathan moved forward with the same grace and power of a lion. His black dreadlocks rained down around him while his bare black chest glowed green with tribal-like tattoos. His six wings flared, making his presence even more impressive. Leviathan's green eyes flickered at Delilah, seemingly unimpressed by her presence next to Lucifer.

  Delilah smirked at the Lord of the Envy Realm but still bowed her head at him. Leviathan couldn't hurt her, nor did she care what he thought of her. Causing friction was part of her plan, and he was playing right into it. But Zar was under Leviathan's realm, which posed a problem for her.

  Leviathan... First to go when she has her way.

  "My Lord." Leviathan bowed at the waist. "Zar commandeered a few fellow Fallen and went on a hunting mission." He looked back at Zar. "Without permission."

  Delilah tried to look bored on the outside, but claws of distress slashed inside her.

  He wouldn't have−

  "And what was this forbidden mission?" Lucifer lifted Delilah's thick hair off her shoulder, exposing her neck, his breath heating the vulnerable flesh.

  The hesitation in Leviathan's voice confirmed her fears. "They went through the portal to kidnap the girl, Olivia."

  Zar cried out as an invisible force sent him crashing to the ground. Lucifer soared down the stairs as Zar received a pounding blow to the stomach, and another, snapping his head back. Terror reigned on Kalma's face. She fell to her knees, her eyes riveted to Lucifer's approach. Delilah was livid with these idiots, wanting to throw punches of her own.

  Lucifer retracted his wings, landing inches from Zar's face.

  "Why would you do such a thing?" Lucifer asked. His voice was deadly calm, but his rigid body vibrated with evil intent.

  Zar didn't move, looking up at Lucifer with wary green eyes. "I only wanted to honor you, my Lord. Bring her to you in our cause to destroy man and Heaven−"

  "Our cause! It's only my cause unless I tell you otherwise! Don’t ever presume to know what I want!" His roar echoed off the walls, cascading down like acid rain. Lucifer glanced at Leviathan. "Bring me the girl."

  "They were unsuccessful, my−"

  "I had her, but the archangels showed up−" Zar interjected.

  "Michael!" Lucifer spat. He picked Zar up and heaved him against a large stone pillar. It cracked on impact, sending dust and stone into the air. Zar landed near the pool's edge. Terror coursed through Delilah; her hand clutched the throne arm so tightly, she thought she might break it.

  How could he! What a fool! All my plans…

  Lucifer struck with lightning speed. He lifted Kalma by the throat and launched her high over the pool. Her high-pitched scream screeched like nails against glass. Waves rippled in the pool as the serpent tracked his prey. Delilah watched Kalma's hot-pink hair and flailing body fall toward the water. The floor tilted beneath Delilah, who was not able to turn away from her personal nightmare.

  The serpent broke surface and launched itself beneath Kalma's flailing body. Water glistened down its wicked red-finned body. Its enormous mouth opened, revealing rows of long teeth ending in sharp, deadly points. Its roar drowned out the hysterical screams of Kalma as their fate met mid-air. The serpent's jaws snapped around her middle like a metal trap. Black blood exploded into the air, raining down on the serpent. The deadly creature slipped back into the pool as quickly as it had surfaced. Kalma's hot-pink hair was the last to sink under the choppy water. A sickening horror washed over Delilah.

  She might be next.

  All because of the impulsive fool, lying docile on the floor.

  Lucifer paced around Zar. "Not a big splash this time." Leviathan chuckled as he leaned against another massive pillar. Delilah sneered at his obvious enjoyment of Lucifer's taunts.

  "What to do with you, Zar? Should I throw you over the pool to Tannin as I did Kalma, or tear you limb by limb and let my ravenous serpent play fetch?"

  "Master—"

  Lucifer's swift kick to Zar's back ended his plea. "I have one question for you first before I decide. Answer wisely, and it might save you. So here it is: You aren't daring enough to have thought of this plot on your own. Who planted this seed of betrayal for you?" He cocked his head.

  "No one, my Lord."

  "So, first you betray me, and now you lie," Lucifer planted his boot against Zar's chest. "And now Michael knows."

  Delilah's breaths came in erratic spurts. The Realm's colors exploded through the windows, matching Lucifer's growing rage. But for Delilah, the waves of brilliant color only accented the pure evil dominating the room. Her eyes darted to the door behind the throne.

  I could slip out... portal away…

  But brutal realization halted her rash plan. Delilah didn't know how to raise a portal from down here. She was trapped in her own personal Hell.

  Lucifer struck again, tossing Zar closer to the pool's edge. Zar hit the floor hard but caught himself before he rolled into it. He sat up, but Lucifer was upon him.

  "Wait! There are more guardians!" Zar yelled, raising his hands in defense. "Two teenage boys... they were with her. All of them used mental powers against us." Zar's chest heaved. "I've seen them before... with Olivia. I'll help you find them."

  Delilah froze. Her mind reeled at Zar's revelation. She couldn't believe it! How could she not have known? She racked her memory, licking her lips, finding nothing. She'd been so focused on Conner, she didn't pay attention to Olivia, let alone her friends. Her eyes narrowed at Zar, seeing him in a new, twisted light.

  What else are you keeping from me to protect your miserable hide?

  Lucifer's head whipped around, pinning her with his dark fury. His foot stayed planted, shoving Zar further against the floor.

  "Does he speak the truth, Delilah? Are there more of these guardians?"

  The room stank of fear and malice. Her mind raced for a solution, one she needed to answer carefully, or she was the next meal for Tannin.

  "Conner only spoke of himself as a guardian. His trite way of trying to protect the knowledge of others from me. Conner is a liar, a sneak. I should have known not to trust his word." She lifted her chin toward Zar. "But if what Zar saw is true, this could benefit us." The weight of the room's eyes bored into her, waiting for her answer: one set desperate, one curious, and one looking for blood.

  Be right...

  Delilah's heart pounded as she took the first step down the stairs with a false bravado she needed to satisfy their hunger. "These guardians don't know that I've shared their secret with you. So that means the archangels are clueless too. Conner said he'd battled many Fallen... said they could sense each other when close enough. There's no reason for Michael or the others to think this encounter was any different. The guardians would have known this and prepared for it." Lucifer's body relaxed as she weaved her tale. "So, if Zar has found other guardians, it gives us a better opportunity to watch them and find out what they've learned. We can then pick the weakest one when the time arrives to strike."

  The outside wails mixed with her internals cries, waiting for Lucifer's next move. Delilah took a few more steps and glanced a
t Leviathan. She found him staring at her with renewed interest and a sickening grin.

  Lucifer gave Zar a final shove, but not into the pool. "You disappoint me, Zar, but I'll give you a second chance. Find these new guardians, and I might let you live. I'm watching you. And our past ties won't give you consideration for life or death again."

  Zar nodded as he raised himself up. Delilah flashed a chilling look to Zar.

  Past ties... You owe me.

  "Leviathan, punish him for his disobedience." Leviathan walked over to Zar, but Lucifer splayed his large hand across his chest, stopping him. "But if it happens again, you'll be punished next to him."

  "Understood. I'll make sure disobedience never crosses his mind again."

  Delilah dared not imagine the torture waiting for him, but Zar didn't let his fear show as Leviathan led him down the glass walkway. The massive doors closed along with Delilah's eyes as she sighed in relief.

  The backhand was swift and hard, snapping Delilah's head back. Shock struck her as she prepared for another blow. Evil measured her as a trickle of blood rolled down her chin. His hand snaked into her hair. She stumbled as he yanked her to him.

  "What else do you not know, Delilah?" His fingers pushed into her scalp. "Hm? Or are you keeping secrets from me?"

  "Nothing. I've told you everything." She laid a shaking hand on his chest. "I promise."

  Lucifer shook her head like a rattle. She was so close to him, she could suffocate in his brutality.

  "You please me for now." His wet tongue licked the line of blood from her chin to her bruised lip. "But don't think pleasing me would ever save you."

  His hard lips slammed down on her bruised mouth, not interested in her reply. The serpent broke the surface, sending water splashing over the sides like an exclamation point on his promise. Survival kicked as she leaned into the ruthless kiss, raking her hands down his hard, muscular back, hoping to disguise her trembling as wanton desire... not primal fear.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Zar

  Zar remained silent as he followed Leviathan's massive back over the bridge to the Realm of Envy. Black lava below churned and boiled between the jagged rocks. As they passed the green pool, frothing with human souls mutating inside it, two Fallen stepped in stride behind Zar. He unclenched his fists, concentrating on showing no emotion as they entered Envy's dark, malignant mountain's entrance. Zar stumbled, uncertain if it was the change of rocky terrain or from the unknown of what lurked inside the cavernous hole.

  One of the Fallen shoved him forward, but Zar ignored their sneers. He searched the dark crevasses of the mountain's tunnel. The air was stifling and smelled of sulfur mixed with the reek of fear and torture. He'd never been inside the mountain, avoiding it at all costs. Punishments happened in the mountain's bowels, and some Fallen or Lessors never returned.

  I will... I have vengeance to seek.

  As they walked deeper inside, Zar heard them before he saw them.

  Their wailing.

  Their begging.

  Their suffering.

  The tunnel widened, changing the landscape. The edges of the opaque rocky walls morphed into a mixture of glowing green streaks and globs. The glow cast an eerie shifting light on the floor and ceiling. The walls moved in undulating waves, but not because of the lighting. His vision sharpened on the tunnel walls, moving as if it were alive.

  Because it is alive... with the damned.

  Encased inside the walls and around the ceiling, the damned were piled on top of each other like a neon green dumpsite, their naked bodies in constant motion as body parts sought relief from their claustrophobic dog pile. Their hostile eyes watched him. Some hissed while others cried for release. The only thing separating him from them was the thick transparent membrane covering the tunnel like a macabre aquarium. With each step through their prison, the opening at the end of the cavern grew wider and taller. His punishment loomed somewhere beyond it.

  Zar stopped when Leviathan moved to the right of the enormous cavern's mouth. Leviathan swept his arm wide, an atrocious smile spanning his black face.

  "Welcome to my Realm's pit of the damned, bursting with human souls who spent their lives envious of others." He scoffed as he scanned the shifting mass. "Never satisfied with what they had... always wanting more and hating others who had what they felt was their entitlement." He turned back on Zar. "But you're familiar with this, aren't you?" Not waiting for his reply, Leviathan jumped, his six black wings disappearing over the edge.

  Zar cast a wary eye over the side, watching Leviathan circle the edges of the pit. The damned, trapped inside their embryotic membrane, layer by layer, ending at the bottom of the pit, cried out to their Prince. The roars drummed against Zar's body as their cries thundered, shaking the walls of the pit. For a brief second, he thought of fleeing. But they'd kill him, and that wasn't his plan. Whatever Leviathan had in store for him, he had to survive.

  "Jump," a Fallen hissed behind him. "Before I cut off a wing and push you."

  His anger jettisoned him off the edge. The Fallen guards followed, not allowing him much room to maneuver. The sweltering air grew thin, yet thick with violence on his flight to the bottom. Green blurs rushed by him as their wails and lurid cries assaulted his ears. Leviathan waited for him on a large circular pad, standing between two metal pools with heavy dangling chains.

  Maybe I won't make it out alive.

  Zar landed and walked with his head held high between the two poles. The pounding malice from the damned nearly broke his control and focus. He zeroed in on Leviathan's face, pushing out the assaulting distractions. Zar set his rage and resentment free inside himself. He needed it pulsing through him while he harnessed his inner strength so he could withstand his torture. The chains rattled, locking around his wrists and ankles. Whatever maniacal persecution was inflicted, Zar would absorb it. Keep it buried deep until he'd return the favor and release this pain upon others.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?"

  Zar shook his head. Leviathan spoke, but his lips didn't move.

  "There's no need for the damned to hear us. They only want your punishment."

  Over Leviathan's shoulder, a huge lumbering form emerged from the dark cave. Each step crushed the gravel beneath his misshapen bare feet. The mutilated beast was twice the size of any Fallen. The hideous creature's body was scarred from head to toe with jagged whip marks so thick there was no flesh left unmarked. The damned's roars grew deafening as the beast stalked toward Zar.

  Icy dread drenched him. Zar leaned back, but the chains gripped him in place. There was no avoiding the beast. But it wasn't his size that Zar feared. It was the wicked device attached to his forearms. A thick steel rod ran down the front of each arm, held in place by three sets of metal claws buried in his scarred skin. A long, green, electric whip sizzled from the end of each rod. The beast raised his arms and brought the whips down, snapping at Zar's feet. The damned's cries were a frenzy matching their bodies thrashing against the membrane, thinning against their force.

  "You've shamed the Envy Realm with your deception, your failure. I must remind you of who you are and why you chose to become a Fallen."

  The first lick of the whip tore a deep line across Zar’s chest. Black blood spilled, but his skin was quick in rejuvenating, closing the wound.

  If the beast is slow...

  Two green blurs landed at the same time across his neck and thigh. The creature paced around him, landing blows at will. A slice across his face caused Zar to cry out, heightening the pit's madness as his pulverized skin leaked his blood into the pit's black gravel.

  "These humans became damned because their sins ruled them with their flesh and passions! We're here because we want to be their masters, not their slaves. To be masters of our own flesh and desires, not ruled by them. To destroy humanity, not serve them! They are nothing! We are everything!"

  The blows came faster and harder, shredding Zar's body before he could heal it. His body sagged against the
chains, losing his battle of will and healing. The ragged, excited breathing of the beast grew louder as it laid its whip across Zar, leaving no part unscathed.

  A green blur flew in front of Zar’s face. But it was too late to escape it. The whip snapped across his eyes. His head fell back in agony as a roar of mindless pain tore from him. Zar's eyes were ripped away, remaining flesh burned to nothing. Blood stained his tattered body, his lashed face, his empty eye sockets.

  "You are of the Realm of Envy!"

  Leviathan's voice railed against him. Zar's chest heaved as visions began in the darkness, his blindness. Man, and their endless, tireless wants of bigger and better things, envious gossip, friend desiring his best friend's life.

  "These petty passions feed their weak souls. But you"−Leviathan's voice was thick with malice−"this is what you want, but you'll never gaze upon her again."

  Delilah’s face assailed him. Her as an angel, a Fallen, and her with Lucifer. Visions of the two of them together, laughing, kissing, mating, plotting. A snarl of agony tore across his face while a pit of deep despair took root. His desperate need for her shamed him, feeding his driving desire to kill her. And Lucifer−

  "Yes, Lucifer. He's the real problem. He's taken Delilah from you and is so enamored with her, he doesn't see the time for war is now! Destroy Heaven and its angels! Stop the Second Coming before it's too late and make man our slaves, our victims for as long as we want them, trapped in Hell forever."

  Zar hung breathless from the chains, destroyed, his body depleted from the agonizing torture. But his mind was renewed by the shared vision, his more profound mission, and Leviathan's persuasive words.

  Wrists and ankles freed, Zar crumpled face-first at Leviathan's feet. He lay there until his body healed enough for him to move. He pulled himself up on all fours, then staggered to his feet, blindly facing his Prince. The pit grew quiet, anticipation palpable.