by Helen Allan
She was glad though, that if anything went wrong and Khalili didn’t make it in time, she had Raphael to fly her around on Heaven and act as her back-up. He had determined to come early in the discussions, saying he was keen to find out what the other planets looked like, now that the portals were allowed to be used.
“And,” he had whispered conspiratorially, “my contacts tell me that by next year the Angels would have gathered enough force and support to ensure all the portals are closed forever.”
“You mean they are going to blow them all up? So, no one can ever come or leave through the gates again?”
“Yes,” he nodded, “and that is a popular decision among many on this planet, Winged and Angel. In which case I, for one, do not plan to be trapped here. I want to spread my wings, so to speak, and explore this galaxy.”
Sorrow had nodded and agreed he could come with her to Heaven, but not beyond, and now, here they were, about to jump.
“Are you ready, Raphael?”
“As ever,” he said, his eyes, for once serious, “but I do wonder how it is that one with such a heart of rock engenders such devotion,” he turned as he spoke, watching Etienne walk away.
“Heart of rock?” Sorrow shook her head, “what makes you say that? The fact that I haven’t slept with you?”
“Of course,” he chuckled.
“I tell you what,” she smirked, “if we get out of this little trip alive, you can take me on that joy flight you’ve been promising ever since we met.”
“Really?” he drawled, “now that is certainly an incentive to live if ever I needed one.”
They both started laughing as Judge stalked up to stand near them, staring at the air where the portals would soon materialise. Dressed in his red suit, he looked to Sorrow more alien and indefinably ‘separate’ than he ever had. Their last conversation had helped her understand him more and solidified her belief that she could trust him, despite what had transpired, but she knew she and he would never be lovers again – a betrayal so deep was not something she could or would forgive.
“Ready?” she smiled at him.
“Yes.”
“And you will find a way to meet me at the gate when I jump through on day six, one day before the portal closes.”
“I won’t forget,” he said, his voice deep, turning to meet her eyes, “anything.”
Sorrow blushed. “You know, I never got around to asking you, the scars…” she left her question hanging.
“My second heart was cut out when I was 20 years old,” he said, frowning in remembrance, “it is a right of passage for us when we gain our first squadron and proves our devotion to our cause.”
Raphael made a choking sound and Sorrow frowned.
“How could this possibly prove devotion?”
“The heart is used to bring to life one of the Findaile, a warrior creature ridden by the Gharial Red Leaders on Galapo.”
“Oh my God,” Sorrow breathed out hard, “one of the twins’ little experiments?”
“We are bonded to the creature; we can hear its thoughts, it ours, we share a heart and a mind, although I’m not sure how the latter occurs.”
“Why didn’t I see any of these on Heaven?” Sorrow whispered urgently, “could they be coming here?”
“They are left during any Gharial Red Leader’s first mission, to ensure we return, and to ensure we succeed in our battle. If we return victorious, they attend every subsequent mission with us. If we do not, they are tortured to death. We feel their pain across the worlds.”
“Oh.”
“Is yours dead then?” Raphael asked, voicing Sorrow’s fears.
“No,” he shook his head, “I have felt nothing. I do not understand why, but my Findaile lives yet.”
“Perhaps he will be waiting for you when you get home?” Sorrow said hopefully.
“Perhaps,” he said quietly, but Sorrow knew there was more behind his word than he was revealing. She was going to question him further, when behind them the portal shimmered into life.
“Get Ready!” a voice boomed across the area from the Winged general.
Giving her one last long look, Judge turned to run and jumped immediately through the portal to his home world.
Sorrow took a deep breath and swung up into Raphael’s waiting arms.
“Be prepared for anything,” she said quietly, “fly straight up the moment we are through.”
“I don’t need to be told twice,” he murmured, as he beat his wings and flew into the sky, banking right sharply and zooming them through the portal to Heaven.
17
They arrived in light rain, to chaos.
Sorrow’s prediction that the gate would be guarded by Earthborn was correct, but what she had not expected was an all-out battle raging between humans, Earthborn and Sin. It was almost as if she flew straight into what she had left, twelve months prior, the only exception being there were far more humans and no Gharial.
Flying straight up and avoiding the laser chainsaws firing all around them, Raphael levelled out of range of the weapons and allowed Sorrow to get her bearings.
Her shriek almost stopped his flapping.
“What?” he shouted, his heart pounding, “and fuck, didn’t I tell you about shouting while I’m flying.”
Sorrow laughed.
“It’s Han,” she said, pointing down to a large Sin fighting to clear a path for the humans to rush through the Earth gate, “he’s alive.”
Raphael looked to where she pointed just in time to see another, bigger Sin, emerge from the gate and run out, swords drawn, face grim.
“And that’s him,” Sorrow shouted above the noise of the weaponry, “that’s Khalili.”
“Right,” Raphael said, “got visual. He’s hard to miss, stands head and shoulders above the rest.”
As if he heard them, Khalili looked up and nodded at Raphael and Sorrow as she pointed to where Han fought. Even from her distance away, she saw the relief cross his face when he recognised his son.
Smiling, she signalled to Raphael to keep going, and they steered right, away from the portals and towards the capital. She crossed her fingers that her plan was going to work, that Anhur was still in a regeneration tank and vulnerable. She had scanned the battle in front of the portals and seen no sign of him.
“The infirmary is the third largest building in the main square,” she told Raphael as they flew, “but I need to clear the main gateway to allow Khalili to get in.”
“No problem,” Raphael smiled, “it looks like there are no Earthborn actually guarding it, they obviously think it is strong enough to withstand a siege. It won’t be strong enough to withstand this though,” he tightened one arm around Sorrow, and withdrew two small oblong canisters from his belt with the other.”
“Explosives?” Sorrow asked.
“Of the best kind,” he laughed, handing them to her.
“I’ll get us in low, hurl them at the gate base. Hold your breath; this will be close.”
Sorrow grimaced and nodded as he swung, fast and low towards the ground. Her stomach lurched in excitement, as it always did with such a fast dip, and she grinned as she threw the canisters with all her strength at the doors.
Raphael swivelled in the air and beat his wings hard as they made it over the top of the wall, just as the door and five metres or so either side of solid rock wall, exploded into a billion pieces. Sorrow heard him gasp and felt his arms tighten around her as they tumbled in the air, the force of the blast tipping and swirling them, before he righted himself.
“Are you ok?” she shouted, her hearing momentarily lost due to the loudness of the explosion.
“Yeah,” he said, keeping his eye on the buildings ahead, “I caught a bit of shrapnel I think, I’ll make it though.”
“Fuck,” Sorrow frowned and quickly pointed to the rooftop they needed. Below her she saw Earthborn running towards the shattered doorway and heard shouts from the Sin as they breached the break in the wall. As they skidded
to a stop on the infirmary roof, she pushed out of Raphael’s arms and turned to check his back.
“You have some deep lacerations to your shoulders and one of your wings,” she said, unzipping her suit pocket and pulling out a spray can. “This will stop the bleeding and seal the wound. But you need to limit your flying now, save your strength for getting us out of here and back through the portal.”
Raphael nodded and prepared to follow Sorrow as she put the can back into her pocket and headed down the stairs.
“Raph,” she stopped, “you can’t come. You need to use your weapons to cover Khalili when he makes a run for the entrance – you’ve got excellent sight-lines here, but don’t forget to check your back – I can’t guarantee Earthborn won’t mill up the stairs and try to knock you off your perch.”
“Enough with the bird jokes,” he laughed, “I get it, but I thought you were going to wait for him.”
Sorrow shrugged.
“He wanted to avenge his son, but his son is alive. I’m going in.” She didn’t add that she wanted to avenge her lost child and avert a future where she might have many more with the monster who had broken her heart – she wasn’t going to be hunted the length and breadth of the universe by someone who wanted to breed her like a broodmare.
“The hunted becomes the hunter,” she whispered as she made her way down the stairs.
He was one of several dozen Earthborn under regeneration, but she knew him the moment she saw him.
Staring down as he floated naked in the green natron, she saw he was missing a leg, although it was partly regrown, and his arms were just stumps. Whoever had fought him had very nearly won. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing she would not have to battle him. In her heart of hearts, she feared she would not win; she had come to Heaven knowing it was basically her last stand. Now, seeing him lying helpless, his face reminiscent of when he used to lie next to her asleep during those short years of her marriage to him, she almost changed her mind. Almost, but at the last minute, she remembered Gaia’s mistake. She had cut off the head of a monster, her husband Malachi, but out of love, pity and an inability to destroy something once good she had left it behind, allowing his regeneration – and she had paid the price, running from him for eternity. Sorrow too had made that mistake, and it had cost her some very dear friends and much pain and heartache. She had no intention of making that error again.
“I learn from my mistakes,” she said quietly, “and I won’t fear you any longer.”
She pressed the button to drain the tank, the whoosh of the top slid back, and he coughed and opened his eyes.
Standing back, Sorrow waited for him to recognise her.
“You came back,” he chuckled, struggling to sit up and then frowning when he realised his arms were still not regrown, “you interrupted my regeneration?”
“Yes,” Sorrow said quietly, “I’ve come back to kill you, Anhur.”
His laughter boomed out across the infirmary, interrupted only by more harsh coughing as he hawked up a gob of green liquid and spat it on the floor near her feet.
“You won’t kill me, Sorrow, I know you.”
“You don’t know me that well,” she said, levelling her laser chainsaw at his hearts.
“I know you are a healer, a lover, someone destined to be a mother. You don’t kill unarmed people, wife.”
She swallowed hard and pressed her finger more firmly on the trigger. Her knees were shaking as she looked into his eyes and she closed hers for a second, willing herself to just put that tiny bit more pressure on the trigger, to finish this for good.
“You loved me, Sorrow. Give me the chance, and I will remind you why.”
Opening her eyes, she met his and shook her head, as out of the corner of her eye she saw Khalili enter the room. She felt stronger knowing he was standing right behind her, strengthening her resolve.
“I did love you Anhur; I loved my unborn child too. But you took that from me, and I realised I loved a fiction, a mirage. I ignored all your bad and only focussed on what I wanted to see. You took away my blinkers the day you killed my baby, and then, let’s not forget that day on the battlefield, you killed me again. You stabbed me in the heart, Anhur, and I don’t mean metaphorically, you actually stabbed me in the fucking heart.”
“You recovered,” he said quietly, “as we all do. But can you kill me now, Sorrow, as I lie here defenceless? I don’t think you will. Admit it, that is not who you are.” He closed his eyes and laid his head back down. “Stay Sorrow; we can rule this planet together. Let yourself feel what you know you feel.”
As he said this her anger overtook her reticence to kill an unarmed man in cold blood.
“I feel ok,” she said through gritted teeth as she turned and nodded to Khalili. No words were required to indicate what she needed. She stepped back and closed her eyes, her throat tight as he bought his sword down hard across Anhur’s neck, severing his head instantly.
Breathing out hard, she opened her eyes and forced herself to look at her dead husband.
“He can’t be left here. We can’t allow him to be regenerated,” she whispered, staring down at the body, but avoiding looking at his face, the face she had once held so dear. The face that had come to haunt her dreams.
“That won’t happen,” Khalili grunted, hefting Anhur’s head into a leather pack and throwing it over his shoulder, “I’m going to eat him.”
“Well,” Sorrow whispered, “that ought to do it.”
Khalili turned to stalk towards the door, but paused as Han rushed in, three humans at his back.
“Father, Sorrow,” he said, walking towards them but stopping an arm’s distance away.
“Han,” Sorrow smiled, breaching the distance between them and hugging him tightly, smiling over his shoulder to the humans who fought with him. “I am so very happy you are alive. And,” she paused, leaning back and searching his face, “Jess?”
“My wife is dead,” he said, looking away from her and to his father, “but my son lives.”
“Oh Han, I am so sorry,” Sorrow said, giving him an extra squeeze before letting him go.
“We fight to kill all Earthborn who would seek to hunt us,” he said, still looking at his father, “and to allow the humans to leave this planet. Many choose to stay and fight with us,” he indicated those standing behind him, “many thousands more are travelling from all over this world to get through the gate.”
“You will not have to lead this fight alone,” Khalili said, nodding to acknowledge his son’s words, “nor will my grandson.”
Sorrow smiled and looked from father to son. The fact that Khalili had acknowledged a half human, half Sin as his grandson boded well for the future of this planet, she was sure of it. Hearing the sound of weapons fire getting closer and not wanting to be stalled any longer, she kissed Han on the cheek and turned to make her way back to the rooftop without a backward glance. She knew there was no need for goodbyes with Khalili, that had been done long ago, and she knew she was no longer needed on this planet. The humans were pouring through the gates back to Earth, where her mother and the Chortles would transport them to their own time. The Earthborn were being turned away from the gates at gunpoint. They would be forced to stay, and the Sin would eat them, or enslave them, or maybe, just maybe they would learn to live together. Just like the Angels, Winged and Chosen, safe from external threats and interference from the Gods, they had all the time in the world to fight that out.
For her part, she had another planet to try and heal.
Running to the rooftop she stepped into Raphael’s waiting arms. Soaring into the sky, they spun a tight circle, and he zoomed them like a bullet back through his home portal.
Entering Avalona she saw The Winged army stood as she had left them, at the ready around the portals. They lowered their weapons when they saw it was one of their own. No Gharial had come through.
As they landed, Sorrow ordered Raphael directly to the infirmary.
“What? No victo
ry fuck?” he frowned in mock anger, “after I risked my life for you, lady.”
“I said we would do it; I just didn’t say when,” she laughed, “and besides, if you don’t get some stitches in those wounds you won’t be flying or fucking anywhere my feathered friend. Now get going, I have packing to do.”
18
Sorrow settled into the pod and called home for one last goodbye to her mother and an update from the Chortles on how they were coping with the influx of humans returning from Heaven. Many had been born there and knew nothing of Earth.
She found her mother happy, but alert as always for any new threat.
“Mum is everything going ok there?”
“Is he dead?”
“Uh, oh, yeah, Khalili did it in the end. Took his head in a bag as a snack for later,” she grimaced, “mission accomplished.”
“That is great news, sweetheart,” her mother sighed, “and yes, everything is fine and has gone to plan here too, although we had an unexpected arrival, Osiris, we have him in custody until we can deal with him.
“You told him not to come.”
“Yes,” Megan shook her head, “but since when have these bastards ever done what humans ask.”
“Watch those scarabs, Mum, you know he could try to take them and use them as a bargaining chip with Seth, or worse.”
“We know,” Clara said, coming to stand close behind her mother, angling her body so only her face could be seen, “we are taking every precaution.”
Sorrow frowned, “Clara is something wrong? Are you injured? You seem to be standing strangely behind Mum, come closer so I can see you.”
Clara shared a look with Megan before stepping into plain sight.
“Oh Clara,” Sorrow beamed, “how many months are you?”
“Six,” Clara smiled gently, “but I didn’t want to tell you because, well, you know, I didn’t want to...”
Sorrow cut her off.
“Clara, I couldn’t be happier for you. Honestly, its wonderful news. My miscarriage is something in the past now. I’ve accepted it, I’m Ok. Killing Anhur was really, well, I’m at peace with it. Please don’t feel uncomfortable discussing your baby with me.”
