Hell's Ascendant (Mantles of Power Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Come now, is that all you can do?” Anna asked, savagely slamming Infinity’s Edge into the joint of Aelon’s right arm. His armor was good, as it managed to keep her from cutting clean through his arm, but the battered archangel cried out in pain as he nearly dropped his sword, and she continued derisively. “I thought you were supposed to be my successor. What I’m seeing is nowhere near acceptable.”

  “I don’t want to hear that from a damnable traitor!” Aelon snarled, his wings beating hard as he tried to open the distance between them. “You’re working against the heavens, which disgusts me!”

  Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes, since she was wise enough to not take her gaze off her opponent. She could see his arm healing slowly, which told her a bit about his powers. Much like Kitania’s power, he must have accelerated healing, if not full regeneration. In all honesty, if she’d had to take on the four archangels present on her own, she might have been in trouble, but with the deities taking on the others it was simply a matter of dividing and conquering. As it was, he’d only managed to land a couple of glancing blows on her, which her armor had easily absorbed.

  “Working against the heavens? Coming from an organization who murders those who’ve come to suspect that you’re trying to ignite a war again? You’re pathetic,” Anna retorted, but she saw the glow around his left hand increasing as he gathered power, and she kept any further commentary to herself, instead rushing forward like lightning.

  The archangel tried to dodge, but his reaction was a just a bit too slow. The butt of Anna’s weapon struck his left shoulder unerringly, and Aelon went flying back with a scream of pain and the tortured peal of shattering metal. Anna followed him, catching a glimpse of the three other archangels trying to regroup, but they were being harried by the deities.

  Catching up with the falling archangel, Anna caught him by the throat and spoke calmly, looking into his pain-filled eyes. “Do you have any last words? I’ll give you at least that much respect.”

  Aelon looked like he was about to spit at her but paused as a gold radiance played across his face, the source behind Anna, and he grinned. His voice was almost gloating as he spoke savagely. “You’re going to die, Anathiel. The Lord of Light has come, and you are nothing compared to him! I’ll watch him destroy you, and—”

  His reaction told Anna enough, and with his ability to heal she didn’t hesitate at all. With a single slash she cut Aelon’s head off just above his armor, and he had the time for his eyes to widen in shock as she murmured, “No, I don’t think you will.”

  Anna dropped the archangel’s head as his body fell, only her gauntlet stained by his blood. Someone would start claiming his mantle before the day was out, she was certain, but it didn’t matter that much to her. A tiny part of her regretted killing the man, but it was only a brief thing, considering what he’d been doing. Instead she spun to face the coming threat, and when Anna saw the oncoming foe her eyes went wide and her hair felt like it was standing on end.

  The figure approaching them shone like the sun itself, not with the relatively minor golden glow that Aelon had possessed. It was hard to look at the man, but Anna could still make out some details.

  Four wings extended from the man’s back, each feather on them a flawless white that radiated light, while he was sheathed in armor seemingly cast of solid gold and carried a hand and a half sword in one hand easily, the blade bearing powerful enchanted runes. She couldn’t make out his face under the helmet he wore, but brilliant golden eyes glowed like stars within the helmet. Worse, the degree of power he was radiating was like nothing Anna had ever sensed before, not even when going up against the most powerful demon lords in the hells.

  The man didn’t even slow down as he aimed directly at Anna, and she recovered from her shock, calling on all her power to reinforce her body and weapons, waiting until the last moment to dodge to the side and strike at him.

  Light flashed as she did so, the man changing course as though momentum meant nothing to him, and Anna barely had time to block his strike, shock rushing through her, along with more than a little fear as she braced herself, but it wasn’t enough.

  The blow hit harder than anything Anna had ever experienced, her arms feeling like they were almost going to shatter under the force unleashed. One moment she was in mid-air, and the next the wind blasted past her and she felt an immense impact as she hit something. That something shattered as Anna went straight through it, and she blinked. It took an instant to realize that he’d hit her so hard that she’d smashed right through the shield over the Eagle Citadel and into the main tower, and she was looking back through the tunnel she’d made in a momentary daze.

  “The time for a new dawn has come, and all those who oppose it must be purged, that the heavens may shine with the glory they truly deserve,” the man said, his voice a deep rumble that echoed across the sky as he looked down on the battlefield arrogantly, his wings beating slowly. “I am the Lord of Light, and all those who fight my followers will die. Lay down your arms and you will be granted the peace of an easy death.”

  As he spoke, motes of light like dust drifted down from his wings and onto the battlefield. Where they touched his followers, Anna saw the injured healing, and their blades begin to glow with a similar light. She staggered to her feet, trying to remember the last time she was so sore, but unwilling to back down.

  “Ah, shut up, you damned featherduster!” Gandar roared, and the dwarf brought his axe down on the archangel with all his strength, only to be blown backward by a wave of pure energy.

  An arrow ripped through the air at him, and the Lord of Light deflected Alserah’s arrow with his sword, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. “So be it. Children of the Golden Dawn, destroy the heretics to light the way!”

  “For the golden dawn!” the army below exclaimed fervently, attacking with renewed spirits.

  “This… isn’t good,” Anna murmured, worry rushing through her, but she didn’t have time to delay, not as the other deities attacked the Lord of Light, only to be beaten back seemingly effortlessly.

  If they were going to have a chance, all of them needed to be in the fight, and with the other archangels… well, she was just glad she’d dealt with Aelon once and for all.

  Chapter 46

  Screams echoed through the room as angels fought one another, metal echoing on metal and blood splashing on the ground. Well, mostly angels fighting one another, Kitania reflected, her cloudpiercer spinning as she almost danced, sparks flying every which way as Haral’s golden whip bounced away and she deflected Sorm’s sword. The frustration on their faces was palpable, which almost made her laugh.

  “Why won’t you damned well die!” Sorm demanded, bouncing back to snatch up a crossbow and firing it at her from point-blank range.

  Kitania dodged pretty much instinctively, and her spells helped deflect the bolt as she did laugh, sweeping her blade around to hit the ankles of an angel fighting one of her mother’s soldiers. It distracted the woman a little too much, which ended that combat brutally.

  “You know, I do believe this is the first time we’ve had an honest fight. Every other time you struck from ambush, which means that you don’t have the slightest clue how we can really fight, do you?” Kitania taunted, ducking Haral’s whip as it lashed at her. She’d seen what it could do and didn’t want it hitting her in the head.

  “Shut up!” Haral growled, winding up for another strike, but Kitania caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye and took a step to her right.

  Isalla rushed past Kitania, her shield up as she charged Haral, who yelped as she hastily drew her sword and blocked the strike, stumbling backward as she did so.

  “Haral!” Sorm exclaimed, and Kitania took the chance to press the attack, stepping toward him.

  What she didn’t expect was for him to step toward her as well, and Sorm’s concerned expression turned to a grin as he drew a dagger with one hand, a ring of keys jingling on his belt as he slashed at her with
the dagger, his sword trying to get past her cloudpiercer. Kitania dodged as best she could, but he kept moving toward her, not letting her open the distance.

  “The problem with cloudpiercers is that they’re almost useless if you get inside their reach,” Sorm said coldly, dodging slightly as she tried to slam him in the face with the shaft. “I’ll disable you, then kill Isalla, once and for all.”

  “You’ll try,” Kitania corrected and dodged the dagger again. Even if she could regenerate, she couldn’t afford the time it’d take to recover.

  “You worthless brat. I should have just killed you and been done with it,” Haral hissed, trying to catch Isalla’s foot with her whip, but Isalla managed to get out of the way in time. “No one cared about you enough to search properly, and all you’ve done is cause problems.”

  The battle was in their favor, Isalla knew, even if the defenders had initially had better positions. They were outnumbered and had been injured in the opening blast, which gave the attackers a significant advantage. Now she just had to finish Haral, and one of her long-standing grudges would be over with.

  “Maybe so, but fortunately you didn’t. You’re a bitch, Haral,” Isalla retorted, blocking with her shield as she probed for an opening, but Haral was a little more agile than she’d expected. In fact, Isalla hadn’t expected Haral to be so good in a fight, which was a little frustrating, and rage was seething in the back of Isalla’s mind. “You betrayed me, and I’ll bet you betrayed Rose. I’m going to kill you and rip your conspiracy to shreds.”

  “Oh, you might try, but you’ll fail. And Rose… well, she may not remember it, but I’m the one who stabbed her and handed her over to the demons. I should’ve killed her as well, but it was amazing how gullible she was,” Haral said, her eyes narrowing, then she smiled thinly. “On the other hand, I’ve already cleaned up some other loose ends. Your family, for one.”

  “You what?” Isalla demanded, shock and fear freezing her in place for a moment. Haral took advantage of the opening, striking like a snake as her sword shot at Isalla’s face.

  Ember flashed by at that moment, blocking Haral’s sword as Rose stepped up next to Isalla, her face calm as she spoke softly. “Don’t let her distract you, Isa. She’ll say whatever she needs to in order to win.”

  “T-thanks,” Isalla said, catching her breath, only to have her blood run cold as Haral laughed.

  “Oh, but that’s where you’re both wrong. I was ordered to kill both of your families,” Haral said, laughing as she took a couple of steps back, grinning at them. “I only killed Isalla’s, because Rose’s family was too large to easily eliminate. I killed them and burned the house to the ground, Isalla.”

  “You bitch!” Isalla roared, and she charged Haral recklessly as her vision practically turned red, her thoughts overwhelmed by rage. Haral dodged at the last moment, slipping behind Isalla, and her sword hit the ground in a clatter as a loop of the whip slipped over Isalla’s head and around her neck. The angel tightened it suddenly, wrenching Isalla around to block Rose.

  “Yes, that’s right, that’s how I feel about you,” Haral crooned in Isalla’s ear venomously, tightening the whip to where Isalla couldn’t quite breathe. “Sorm will cut down your precious demon while you watch, then I’ll kill you, too. Even if the others somehow survive this, the Lord of Light and other council members will hunt them down, Isalla. You’re all dead, you just don’t know it yet.”

  Isalla choked, her eyes going wider as Rose hesitated, obviously torn on what to do, and behind her Kitania was trying to open enough distance between her and Sorm to fight him properly, but he’d almost pinned her to the wall.

  Kitania barely caught sight of Haral and Isalla, and what she saw chilled her blood. How Isalla had let herself get caught up in that sort of situation was beyond her, and it was almost a fatal distraction.

  Sorm’s knife glanced off her skin as he shoved it into her armpit, and only the fact she dodged kept it from penetrating fully. He cursed, growling as he hissed, “Would you go down already?”

  “No,” Kitania retorted, a couple of ideas rushing through her mind on how to turn the fight around, with Sorm’s sword pressed hard against the haft of her cloudpiercer. Then she caught a glimpse of Vinara and Eziel in the doorway and smiled.

  “Hello, Sorm,” Eziel said calmly, an arrow nocked and aimed at him, at the same time that Vinara was casting a spell, one which Kitania recognized.

  “Eziel? What are you—” Sorm began, his eyes widening in shock.

  Kitania took the chance to will her cloudpiercer to collapse into a hair stick, and Sorm lurched forward as he was suddenly pressing against nothing. Eziel loosed her arrow at the same time, causing him to flinch and dodge, and in that moment Kitania flipped the hair stick around and slid it under the edge of his breastplate before willing it to return to its normal size.

  Vinara’s spell caught the arrow and twisted its path, whipping it around the room in a half-circle that terminated in Haral’s left knee, and the angel screamed as she collapsed and a fountain of blood erupted from under Sorm’s armor. His expression turned to one of shock as his gaze dropped, blood dribbling from his mouth as he tried to speak, yet couldn’t.

  Isalla pulled away from Haral, barely having gotten the whip away from her neck. She’d drawn her dagger, Kitania realized belatedly, and Isalla savagely stabbed the angel, burying the blade in Haral’s throat, then ripping it out again as she stepped back, panting as she looked around the room.

  Kitania shrank the cloudpiercer to free it, then returned it to its normal size, wincing at the gore covering her weapon. The last of the enemy angels were going down as she watched, and she took a deep breath, then let it out as she murmured, “Well, that was unpleasant.”

  “Yes… we have a couple of injured, but nothing major,” Karakel said, stepping away from the pair of angels she and another two soldiers had dealt with, looking at Kitania warily. “You were… impressive. I don’t think I could have beaten him.”

  “It would’ve been harder without Eziel’s help, but thank you,” Kitania said, nodding to Eziel as she did so, and the angel smiled warmly in return. Kitania’s attention turned to Isalla, who was being examined by Rose closely, and Kitania asked worriedly, “Is she alright, Rose?”

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Isalla replied, taking deep breaths as she looked around, then down at Haral in distaste.

  Rose clicked her tongue in disapproval but spoke calmly. “She’ll have a couple of bruises, but nothing more. Fortunate, considering the fight.”

  “No I won’t,” Isalla disagreed, but Rose ignored her.

  “We have a few injured, as well as at least a few potential prisoners,” Karakel informed Kitania, frowning as she looked at the squad. “I’m trying to decide what to do, considering that.”

  “Rose? You’re the one who’s more practiced at military matters,” Kitania asked, looking at her. “I’m a bit out of date, I’m afraid.”

  “Have half the squad wait here and keep anyone from ambushing us from behind,” Rose said instantly, looking at Karakel with a smile. “The rest of us can see what they were guarding.”

  “As you say,” Karakel acknowledged, and quickly turned to snap out her orders.

  Kitania turned and looked at the large doors at the back of the room. Before the fireball had detonated, they must have been pristine and breathtaking, but now they were soot-covered and charred in places, which ruined the images of angels kneeling before an immense, four-winged figure. The doors also bore a lock, and she frowned, then looked down at Sorm, since she vaguely recalled him having a ring of keys on his belt.

  The key ring was where she thought it was, and Kitania grimaced, realizing that she’d inadvertently covered them in gore when she’d killed Sorm, and she carefully removed the ring, trying to wipe off the worst of the mess.

  “What’s that?” Vinara asked curiously, stepping close to Kitania, adding with a smile, “Also, that was an interesting way of killing him. Gruesome, b
ut interesting.”

  “I was going for speed, nothing more. At least it was quick for him,” Kitania said, standing and nodding at the doors. “I saw it has a lock, and I’m hoping he has the key.”

  “Ah, much is explained. Why don’t you go take a look? I’m afraid I haven’t seen that conduit since we entered the mountain… I think it entered at an angle that hasn’t intersected with any of the rooms we’re in,” Vinara said, frowning. “That, or we passed it. I don’t think so, but it’s possible.”

  “Hopefully not,” Kitania said, quickly heading for the door. They’d wasted more than enough time in the room, and she examined the door for traps for a moment, then began testing the keys to see if any fit the lock.

  It took six keys before Kitania found the right one, and she let out a breath of relief, looking at the others as she smiled slightly. “Here we go. I’m taking point from here, I think.”

  “Are you sure? If we run into anyone…” Isalla began, then her voice trailed off and she laughed softly, shaking her head. “If we run into them here, they aren’t going to listen to any excuses. Go ahead, we’ll be right behind you.”

  Kitania smiled at her reaction, taking a deep breath, then opened a door and stepped through it.

  The door opened to a short hall, at the end of which was a vaulted chamber where a circular table rested with five chairs arranged in a semi-circle across from the entrance. Like the rest of the building, the room was lit by glowing orbs on the ceiling, though they were brighter here, and positioned such that Kitania suspected that anyone sitting in the chairs would have their faces mostly shrouded in shadow. There were three short hallways attached as well, each with a door set into them, but Kitania focused on the one directly behind the table, up a half-dozen stairs. The door was ajar, and Kitania could hear voices from beyond them, only faintly but rather upset from the sounds of things. She paused as she heard Vinara’s breath hiss out.