None of these ships must be allowed to escape and go back to their military bases. None must report about the forbidden planet and its riches. None must call for help, or bring more ships to bear upon Azura.
If Acielon succeeded, no one outside Azura would ever know about this battle... as if this secret raid from the Trade Alliance never took place.
Fianna kept targeting and disabling more ships. The Avenging Angels drew new strength from the crystal. They fired their weapons and struck and disabled more ships.
Acielon focused upon his destructive power, hitting every target the Avenging Angels visualized. Gradually, the number of ships in the air dwindled. The mountain still emitted lightning bolts, crippling and destroying more enemy vessels.
Many shofars sounded in unison, creating a pulsating wave that shoved the enemy crafts sideways, colliding against each other. Some flew upside down and crashed against the mountain side in great explosions of fire. Smoke rose above the mountain, hiding the enemy from view.
Acielon cleared his mind to assess the progress of the battle. No ship must escape. Not one... or all this destruction would be for naught.
“Escaping ship at high altitude!” His thoughts transmitted the information to the new general of the Avenging Angels.
“I see it.” Urielle sounded determined. “This one is mine...”
In his mind, Acielon followed the escaping ship and saw the brave angel striking it with a flaming arrow. The crystal enhancing the power of the Avenging Angels gave the weapon more than enough force to pierce the metal hull. An explosion ensued, and the escaping ship streaked through the sky like a meteorite in a trail of black smoke. It exploded upon impact.
“Well done, Urielle.” Acielon experienced the joy in the angel’s heart. Only a few scattered ships remained. “None must escape.”
The Avenging Angels flew high above the battlefield, looking down and pursuing any ship attempting to flee. As they blew their shofars in perfect synchrony again, the combined sound wave hit the remaining ships and the vessels quickly descended in a barely controlled fall toward the ground.
Acielon searched in his mind for any vessel hiding from the angels but could see none. None in orbit... none in the vicinity... none anywhere around Azura.
A glorious hymn emanated from the Avenging Angels’ choir as they hovered in a crown over the sacred mountain. Acielon noted their small number with sadness in his heart.
He lowered the Silver Angel to the ground and set it down gently, as light as angel wings.
“You did it!” Fianna rose from the console, face flushed, green eyes sparkling with life.
“No more loud noise.” Sheba leapt from her gel box. She purred and rubbed her head against Acielon’s hips. “Sheba help.”
“We all helped, kitten.” Acielon patted the cat’s head.
Fianna walked up to him. “The battle is not over yet. Now the enemy is confined to the ground.”
Acielon nodded. “Usually the Azurans would only avoid the newcomers until the crystal changed them, but there are too many. And some of them are wounded and need care.”
“Besides, it would be dangerous to let them roam free. They might find a way to escape.” Fianna smiled. “That’s what I would do in their place... escape.”
“We must disarm and isolate them quickly.” Acielon walked toward the exit door. “After they turn into Azurans, they can be assimilated with the population.”
“Which is good, since you needed to increase the local population, right?” Fianna followed him along the exit corridor.
“I very much enjoyed fighting at your side for a good cause.” Acielon petted Sheba, who passed them to take the lead.
Fianna took Acielon’s arm to walk toward the exit hatch. “You never cease to amaze.”
Warmth filled Acielon at her contact. “You have only seen a small sample of my abilities.”
She smiled and leaned her head against his arm as they walked. “I can’t wait to see more.”
Chapter Twenty
Fianna blinked to shade her eyes from the red glare of the descending sun. Her booted feet squished into the black muck, as she trampled behind Urielle across the quiet battlefield, through swaths of burnt vegetation cut by the crashing ships. The shadows of sharp twisted metal plates lengthened above ferns and broken trees, forming unnatural dark shapes over the battle-scarred ground.
Sheba loped at their side through the destroyed vegetation like a weary bodyguard. Her hide took on the stripes of a greenish tiger.
Angel wings flapped overhead, beyond the tall canopy of trees.
Fianna couldn’t wait to see Acielon again, touch him, tell him how much she loved him.
The feline bumped her hip. “Sheba miss Acielon, too.”
Fianna scratched the cat’s furry head then turned to Urielle. “How long will Acielon be busy with the healers?”
“It will probably take all night.” Urielle hurried her pace up a hill. The blackened soil and soot from the burning ships did not stain the hem of her pristine white robes as she walked. Her sandaled feet remained clean. “But we must finish gathering the living before nightfall.”
Of course. Night would unleash the rain, and all sorts of nightmares.
“Let us get to higher ground, so we can see better.” Did the angel smile?
Even in top physical shape, Fianna grew winded as they climbed a rocky outcrop. The angel could have easily flown, but she used her legs to accommodate the foreigner. How kind of her... and how humiliating to be the weaker one.
Sheba turned the same shade of ochre as the stone. The cat seemed to enjoy the exertion.
Soon, they emerged upon a jutting flat rock overlooking the plain. From this vantage point, the devastation became more evident. From the far western beaches of the turquoise sea to the thick jungle of the interior, blackened wreckage still smoked. Scorched patches pockmarked the green vegetation, like wicked scars on the surface of this tropical paradise. Here and there, lay a lifeless angel with broken wings, twisted at odd angles.
White flocks flew around like hives of busy bees in search of survivors.
Sheba’s ears twitched and she narrowed her eyes as she scoured the battlefield with an intense stare. “No rabbits.”
Fianna also noticed the absence of wild life. “I guess the explosions during the battle scared the animals into their dens.”
The big cat shook her hide in a deep shudder. “Sheba not like noise.”
“No doubt.” Urielle chuckled. Amazing how she could stand so straight. She pointed to an angel on the ground, who rolled his shoulders then gently flapped his wings. “The Avenging Angels who survived their fall have healed themselves by now.”
Fianna took heart. “You think most of the fallen survived?”
“Most of them, yes.” Urielle angled her chin toward the stragglers. “All of you capable of flight, join the cleaning crew!”
Several grounded angels straightened upon the booming order, brushed their wings and took flight. Teams of angels flew through the bulkhead of wrecked ships and reappeared in mid air, carrying the dead and the wounded. Some lay the dead on the ground in neat rows while others carried the wounded soldiers one by one over the jungle, toward the town of blue domes.
“Are they taking them to the temple to be healed?” Acielon’s face flashed upon Fianna’s mind.
Urielle nodded. “They should all recover, even the most severely injured.” She shook her head. “Quite a trick Acielon showed us... using the Sacred Crystal to boost our abilities.”
“You never thought of doing that before?” As simple as it seemed, Fianna realized without free will the Azurans had forfeited independent thinking, curiosity, and imagination... except for Acielon.
“We never needed to enhance our abilities before today.” Infinite sadness slackened Urielle’s serious face. A light breeze blew strands of her dark flowing hair around her head like a halo. She looked like a statue of grieving angels on holograms of ancient human cemet
eries, back when they buried the dead.
Fianna glanced up as a flock of angels overhead carried away a group of paralyzed prisoners in invisible nets, like they had done for Tarkan and his louts. “These are not wounded. Where are you taking them?”
Urielle pinched her lips and narrowed her bright turquoise eyes. “Usually, we would let the survivors roam free until the planet changed them into beings like us. But there are too many. We shall keep them in isolation until they turn. Once healed, the wounded soldiers will also join them in captivity. None must escape.”
None. Fianna wondered if that included her and Acielon.
By sunset, only the dead remained on the battlefield... lifeless Azurans with twisted limbs and broken wings, and bloody soldiers in the blue uniform of the Trade Alliance. “What will you do with the dead? On Byzantium-5 they would be cremated.”
“Not here.” Urielle straightened up her wings high above her head and gazed upon the battlefield. “We leave them on the ground as fodder for the night-crawlers. By morning, there will be no trace of them. As if this carnage never happened.”
“Even the angels?” It seems somewhat cold but efficient.
“It is the most natural way to dispose of dead bodies after the soul has left them. The dead angels will continue to feed the life force of the planet.”
“What about all the wreckage?” Fianna adjusted her vision implant and scanned the battlefield for metal. “Ships and debris are strewn everywhere.”
Urielle shrugged. “The ships will remain here until we finish studying their archives and add their knowledge to our library. Only then shall we carry them away to an active volcano. Their material will melt and mix with the magma... return to its natural state.”
Fianna sighed. What a perfect way to insure no one ever rebuilt a working ship from so many available parts. “That sounds like a lot of work.”
Urielle shrugged. “Work is a welcome distraction here.”
“And the weapons you confiscated?” Fianna did her best to sound casual, but she wouldn’t mind salvaging a few for herself.
“After we study them, we shall also drop them into the volcano.”
Fianna shook her head. “It seems like such a waste. These devices are worth a lot of credits in my world.”
Urielle huffed. “Devices and credits are useless here. By the time these people integrate with Azuran society, they will realize it.”
“Right.” Fianna smiled but the power of these angels made her uneasy. Azurans did not need human communication devices or weapons. They could read minds and kill with the blow of a shofar or a mental thunderbolt.
Urielle stared at her as if she’d read her mind. “A regular Azuran would never kill.”
“Except when manipulated or ordered by an Archon. Or when the planet is threatened,” Fianna blurted. There were exceptions to all rules.
“Only Avenging Angels kill, only in battle, and only in defense of Azura.” The authority in the angel’s voice brooked no objection.
“Yet, the Archons almost tricked the Azurans into condemning Acielon to death.” Fianna forced her voice to stay low. “It happened once, it could happen again.”
“That will never happen again.” Naive certainty hardened Urielle’s voice.
Fianna scoffed. “How can you be so sure? Forcing you to stay here against your will and exploiting you is unfair.”
“But Acielon is the chosen one.” Urielle straightened her robes. “He will convince the Archons to grant us free will.”
“I am surprised the Azurans didn’t fight for these basic rights long ago.” Fianna remembered most of them had lived in the outside world before getting trapped on Azura.
Urielle shrugged. “Who would ever complain about our life here? Even less want to leave?”
“Some might.” Including Fianna and Acielon.
“Not after they acquire their abilities and feel the rejuvenation. Not after they realize they can live forever in peace, in this idyllic paradise.” Unshakable certainty strengthened the angel’s voice.
“Yet, Acielon couldn’t wait to explore the universe.” Fianna immediately regretted her outburst.
Urielle smiled. “Only because he was born here.”
Fianna raised a brow. “And you weren’t?”
“No. I was a soldier, over a century ago... Galactic Security Forces.”
“Wow! A Devil Dog?” Fianna swallowed through a clenched throat. “The fiercest soldiers in the galaxy... and of course, you are still a soldier.”
“With a new loyalty.” Urielle smiled and in that moment, she looked soft, beautiful, and vulnerable. Then her face tensed again. She patted the small shofar hanging from her belt. “And with a new arsenal.”
Fianna nodded. And just as deadly.
* * *
Later that evening, inside Acielon’s blue crystal dome, now luminescent after nightfall, Fianna eagerly awaited the return of the man she loved... the only man who made her feel like a woman. The only man she wanted at her side for the rest of her life.
She stopped pacing and sat next to Sheba, sprawled on the wide step above the white couch of the sunken living area.
Distractedly, Fianna scratched the big cat’s head. “Can you believe this gorgeous angel with extraordinary powers would choose to lose it all, including immortality, to spend a short human life span with me?”
The cat stretched and yawned. “Sheba like Acielon.”
“Do I even have the right to ask him to leave? Didn’t he suffer enough in our mean world? The Blood Eagles tortured him, then the Prince of Darkness abducted him and made him suffer even more...” She sighed. “And all because of me.”
“Acielon like Sheba, too.”
“Acielon likes everyone. That’s the problem.” Fianna scratched Sheba under the chin. “His loyalties are divided.”
Sheba purred loudly and her tan pelt turned as white as the couch.
“Of course, now that Tarkan is back in lockup, I could stay here and become an angel, too.” Fianna shook her head. “Nah. I can’t live like these Azurans. I would get bored.”
“Sheba bored, Sheba hunt rabbit.”
“Exactly. I need action and challenges. I need my freedom.” Fianna scoffed. “I only feel happy at the helm of a ship cutting through black space across the galaxy. That’s where I belong.”
Sheba harrumphed and nudged Fianna’s hand, begging for more head and shoulder scratching.
Fianna laughed then obliged her with both hands. “Of course, I also like outsmarting and catching hardened criminals.”
Sheba butted her head.
Fianna grabbed the big cat by both cheeks. “What do you want to do next?”
The puma rolled muscular shoulders and purred. “Sheba like rabbit.”
Fianna chuckled. “And there will be plenty of rabbit for you wherever I go. I promise.”
The cat purred louder. At least, Sheba was easy to please.
“What if Acielon changes his mind about exploring the universe?” Fianna recoiled at the thought. Might he feel duty-bound to his planet and his Azuran brothers and sisters?
She also wondered why the Archons vanished during the battle instead of fighting the invaders. What if they forbade Acielon to leave? And if they did, would the Prince of Darkness still want to put Acielon to death?
So many questions.
* * *
In their secret abode on the largest moon of Azura, Abraxas, the Chief Archon, straightened his silver robes as he rose from his seat at the oval table of white marble. By the orange light flooding the translucent cupola above them, he considered the eight other Archons in charge of Azura. All stared at him with serious, tense faces. At the opposite end of the table, sat the tenth and temporary member of this council... the Prince of Darkness.
Abraxas took a deep breath. “This invasion attempt could have ended badly.”
The Prince of Darkness scoffed. “You let it happen. You failed to prevent Acielon and his mate from leaving the planet in
the first place.”
Abraxas shrugged off the accusation. “As a silver lining, this unexpected invasion provided us with the largest and much needed influx of population on Azura in over a century.”
The other Archons nodded their agreement.
“We were lucky this time.” As much as Abraxas resented giving credit to a renegade, he must be fair. “Acielon’s original strategies and his leadership abilities won the fight for the Avenging Angels.”
Agreeing mumbles circulated around the marble table.
“The victory had nothing to do with luck!” Another Archon straightened but did not rise. “Acielon’s contact with Fianna broadened his way of thinking. The girl also fought for Azura with her ship, even though she is not Azuran, yet.”
The Prince of Darkness at the end of the table cleared his throat.
All eyes turned to him.
The dark prince shook his head. “The crystal won the battle... and our Avenging Angels... not any single Azuran, or an outsider with a fancy ship.”
An Archon to the left drummed his fingers on the white marble. “We cannot allow any Azuran to ever leave the planet again. Since they cannot lie, they would be a liability. A danger to Azura and to our mission.”
Another Archon frowned. “Even Acielon and Fianna must stay grounded? After their great service?”
His neighbor nodded. “We cannot allow their ship or the crystal inside it to leave the planet again.”
Abraxas sensed troubled division in the collective mind of the Archons. “Those two may not agree to stay.”
“Then we must destroy their ship.”
The Prince of Darkness winced. “I tried. Somehow, the crystal inside it makes it impervious to our attacks.
“With a death sentence hanging above Acielon’s head, those two will leave, unless we give them a reason to stay.”
Angel Mine Page 22
