Divinity: The Gathering: Book One

by Susan Reid

  “Which one would that be?” I played the game.

  He studied me for a moment and then laughed again but didn’t answer the question outright. “Take me for anything but a fool Cam’ael and show me the same consideration that I do you. I may be many things and have been but an ass isn’t one of them,” He then stated.

  I simply smirked, unwavering in my own gaze upon him, “No, your minions have been doing that for you.” I said.

  He raised a single, thick, dark eyebrow and leaned forward with his elbows on the table now, “If you have something to say to me then say it. Remember, unlike the one you still give allegiance foolishly to and serve— I have no patience.” He then said in a low tone and making sure to pierce me directly with his dark glare. His pupils shifted back to their usual goat like slits. I challenged his gaze with an intense one of my own to let him know that I wasn’t anything like his cowardly minions and soldiers, and that I meant business.

  “Well, that’s not entirely true. Look how long you’ve waited and how many times you’ve failed trying to acquire some sort of sovereign status of your own. That’s a hell of a lot of patience in my book,” I grinned.

  His mouth and eyes twitched; his jaw working as he narrowed his gaze. I could feel heat rising in the room. I knew insulting him wasn’t in my best interest right now, but I couldn’t help it. I hated his guts. I interjected before he could do or say anything in order to smooth my insult over, “That was actually a compliment believe it or not. Anyway, I wondered if she'd be worth the price of the two you recently acquired.” I then said to ease over any hard feelings. His demeanor shifted instantly and this time; he smiled and leaned back in his chair once again. His calmness didn’t fool me; I was prepared for something he would unleash unexpectedly soon without a doubt.

  “She who?” He asked cunningly.

  “You know who. What is it that you’re trying to do anyway?” I replied.

  He looked at me inquisitively, “Do? I should be asking you that shouldn’t I?” He then said with an innocent expression followed by an accusing look.

  “Nothing is hidden from you. You know what I know as well as the angels. They’re all watching now. If you don’t get a handle on those shadow servants of yours, you’re going to ignite a new war with his son, the angels and divine warriors before it has even begun as it was supposed to have. If you continue to break rules in the process— you may not win no matter what.” I told him.

  As I predicted Rahab and I may have been correct. He didn’t seem alarmed or fazed at all by that possible outcome. He was some confident bastard; I’ll give him that much.

  He took another long drink, set the wine goblet back down and then paused for a moment as he licked his lips and thought about his words.

  Then he finally spoke, “And as long as none of their blood has been spilled, no true laws have been broken. I have no qualms or fear of retribution. You, on the other hand, have always been a being of your word, which is one of the things I am not ashamed to admit, that I’ve admired about you. Though I at no time thought you to deceive— let alone led you to believe that you could at any time deceive me, I do understand your dual dilemma Cam`ael. The wee bit of light remaining in you gives you somewhat of a conscience, so I guess I can’t completely blame you, and though you will never admit it to me, I know what it is that you truly desire,” He went on to say as he grinned complacently.

  “You have no idea what I desire.” I flatly replied.

  He chuckled with a patronizing nod, “I know what all men desire, I’ve proven it time and time again and the outcome is always the same. We as immortal beings male or female are no different.” He said.

  I ignored him.

  “I want to make a deal or a trade; two for the price of one. I can get the one you want for you faster and easier than you or your servants can, and you know it.” I then told him.

  His perfect face morphed into surprise and then seriousness as the dark energy in his eyes attempted to infiltrate mine. I steeled myself mentally against his power and remained poker faced.

  He finally rose from his chair with his hands clasped behind his back in thought, still keeping me in his sights as he moved towards the wide window overlooking his kingdom. His wings hadn’t been out when he was sitting. Now they were folded in, and unlike the ones in my legion among other fallen, his no longer resembled actual angelic wings at all. They were hard, fully black and leathery like those of a bat. Now that was something to hide and be ashamed of, thought as he paced the large room. He began to speak, “You know Cam`ael, though you have apparently forgotten, I haven’t. I gave you shelter and allowed you to remain in my established kingdom, after you were newly cast out for your deviance, without judgment, punishment or rebuke— for nearly a thousand years and now, this is the way you choose to repay my graciousness?” He eyed me momentarily with mistrust to make his point but continued on, “I have a total of five hundred and twenty divine chosen in my possession that I’ve managed to acquire without your assistance. Six hundred and twelve if I had not allowed you to set some free and don’t think I don’t know about those. If they weren’t expendable to me, you would have not succeeded or been alive to try again.

  He could wipe me out any time he so desires, but he has allowed me to do what I do because I have been right all along about mankind, their undeserving gift of free will and their imperfections. I plan to utilize that advantage of the promise that earth will once again be ours to rightfully claim. The remaining humans that have been saved will be sent elsewhere and when they fail him yet again, that world will also become ours. What is so wrong about taking what he is giving to us? We were the original divine and chosen ones before at one point, never forget that if anything.” He went on to say.

  So, he allowed me to take them because they would not submit and choose darkness. He could have done things to them to render them insane or even killed them instead, but deep down, I know he knew he would not risk instant swift and blinding destruction. There were many ways to kill mortals without bloodshed and divine chosen were no different so if he didn’t bother, there was a damned good reason.

  If he was expecting a thanks or gratitude for that—he’d be waiting a hell of a long time. To think he took or benefited nothing from my presence in his kingdom— would be foolish. I paused and thought for a moment. I didn’t know why Elohim wanted me to kill these two in particular myself, contrary to simply delivering them to his arch angels like all the others. I honestly didn’t want to do it.

  I inhaled and sighed slowly, “The two you have just taken; they're both novices, and you obviously have no use for them now do you?” I then asked. “I wouldn’t have taken them if I didn’t. The young one is a virgin, and I know how much you love those…then again, so is the one you wish to bring. Those go for high prices here and extremely higher being a divine chosen too. Your trade doesn’t make sense to me unless you’ve developed a desire to lie down with young men now.” He simpered at me.

  As much as I wanted to lash out and destroy him where he stood, I was not allowed to, so I had to play up to him. My jaw worked incomplete animosity of him and simply being in his presence. “Is that why you want her so much? Because you obviously see and know that I do as well? You apparently already have a divine chosen virgin now and many more in your prisons. I’m sure there are many more out there,” I gestured with ire towards the window and referring to the mortal realm.

  Morning Star turned to face me with a smirk and an eye of suspicion as he began to pace back towards the table and this time I got up, not wanting to be sitting or too close to him at this moment. I met him halfway and we faced each other, eye to eye, standing at nearly the same height…me being slightly taller than he was.

  “I’ll bring her to you, but I get to keep her with me and I’ll impregnate her for you up to six offspring in exchange for those two but after that, she belongs solely to me. In the meantime, call your pets and servants off before they do something else asinine. Do we h
ave a deal?” I asked. If the deal hadn’t totally been in his favor, he wouldn’t buy it or bite. Whether or not he would hear me or still paid attention, I said a silent prayer to Elohim anyway to assure him that I had no intentions of following through with what I offered Morning Star. Morning Star actually beamed in surprise as a victorious smile slowly split his face in revelry,

  “Belongs to you? Tell me Cam`ael, why do you seem so interested in this one yourself?” He then asked. He wasn’t going to give in so easily.

  “I have my own preferences just as you have yours. We can sit here and go back and forth with this for a day while wasting three in mortal realm time. Since we both don’t know when she will die aside from it being very soon, I suggest you take my offer as it stands, or I will kill her myself to ensure that you could never get your hands on her at all,” I plainly told him and that was all he was going to get from me. Unaffected by my threat, he took his time to reply, “And when Elohim destroys you for doing so, what will have been your purpose? He mused. “If I can keep her away from you while she is still mortal— I need no other purpose.” I told him bluntly.

  Though there was obvious consternation on his face as he considered that for a moment, I knew it was nothing he hadn’t realized already long ago. He frowned and sucked in a breath, displaying just how agitated he was with me even though he knew I had him by the balls.

  “Are you challenging me? You know better than to speak words and make threats you have no intentions of following through with. You can’t lie to me…I invented the lie Cam`ael or did you forget that too?” He chuckled.

  I raised a brow and simply smirked, “No, I always keep that in mind.” I replied. He sat back down across from me and eyed me as if trying to read my mind past what was coming out of my mouth. However, he wasn’t that damned powerful.

  He inhaled slowly as if in reverent thought, “You know Cam`ael, as much as you’d like to believe or pretend that you aren’t a demon or by some strange, notion claim to be different from any of us here, let me remind you how frequently you tend to partake in the many pleasures that I offer at no cost in comparison to even my own arch demons. The games you’ve played and the lives you’ve helped to destroy of all those supposedly innocent mortals for centuries still count against you and now that you’ve become some self-professed renegade, suddenly you’re better than me? Than all of us here? Why, because you still retain light in you?” He sneered leaning forward on his elbows again to drive home his point.

  I preferred to remain standing now.

  “He allows you light but refuses to communicate with you, that is who you give your loyalty to as well as the rest of the laughable, gullible and doomed humans of this world. But I’m the cruel one? Don’t hate me for allowing people to indulge in the pleasures he gave them to enjoy and free will to choose it on top of that! He gave us all free will and then punishes and condemns us for exercising it. That’s the cruelest bullshit of all if you ask me, and you know it. I tell you that nothing, and I mean nothing…will ever change the fact that beneath your flesh, no matter how attractive you are to women— you are still a demon,” He said, making sure he defined each of his points, and then he began to smile once again, “However, I find your denial and your other quirks very amusing, so I’m going to call your bluff and play your game,” He grinned, though his tone dripped with derision, and it instantly flared rage in me to hear.

  Morning Star was notorious for his long-winded soliloquies, although I believe he just liked to hear himself talk most of the time.

  I flashed a half smile with confidence.

  “And what I find amusing is that you were created first, held in the utmost highest regard and glory above all of us, favored with both grace and love and now…you are the most shunned, vile, disgusting, rebuked and hated being in the entire universe by just about every living thing with a brain to reason. You are doomed to your own personal hell with loathing of yourself for having the brilliant idea that you could ever be greater than or equal to the one who created you in the first place,” I continued on with my personal smug grin of satisfaction.

  That wiped the smile entirely from his face and his eyes went utterly flat black this time, his face twisted into a scowl of anger and disgust.

  I felt the heat and crackle of power begin to rise and permeate the room, so I readied myself.

  “If it’s war you want with me personally Cam`ael, just give the word. Jealousy is an ugly thing to harbor.” He then said as he slowly rose and stood up again. His face switched instantly back to the calm demeanor he held when I had first arrived.

  Morning Star was the poster child of a true violent, schizophrenic and bipolar being here in the spirit realm, and I’d be shocked if he didn’t create those conditions in the mortal world himself or by virtue of his bad behaving voids and shadows.

  “You’d know that better than any of us ever would.” I said coolly.

  He grinned again, casually moving across the opposite side of the room in a slow stroll with hands behind his back once again.

  I watched him closely then.

  “At some point, you will return groveling to me and beg to join my alliances. I’ll wait for that day because at that point, nothing else will give me the most satisfaction and pleasure. . .” He trailed off and then turned back to face me.

  “Than to destroy you with my own hands but not before I’ve made you watch me defile and kill her slowly— divine warrior or not, right in front of you first. And to show you how sure I am of this ending and of myself, I’m going to give you exactly what you came to ask for, and I will even call off my servants for now since you think it will matter,” He finished nonchalantly with certitude.

  Then he moved towards me, and I tensed and readied myself for his physical attack, calling the power of light within me to the surface.

  “Your biggest mistake was allowing me to know just how much you obviously want her. That’s what happens when you give into the weaknesses of humanity that I spit on. You have the nerve to bite the hand that’s been feeding your sins free of charge, but I forgive you Cam`ael, for now. You will find what you came for at the entrance of the first level, and I expect to have what I want and what you promised me in return within two daybreaks and not a moment longer. I want to be there to witness the conception of my firstborn and just remember…you don’t have to draw blood to cause excruciating and long lasting, extreme physical pain, trust me.” He held up a finger and pointed at me with a grimace, his young face then contorted with elated wickedness.

  I wanted to rip the smile right off of his face with disgust. “I know; your long-winded speech proved just that.” I quipped defiantly.

  He merely laughed but there was absolutely no humor in it whatsoever— it was almost maniacal.

  He was right though, that had been my stupid mistake. His spies had been no doubt relaying the details of my every move in the mortal realm in the last few day breaks apparently, and now I wouldn’t put anything past him.

  “Wanting something has nothing to do with attaching any kind of sentiment to it. You’ve never learned any of your lessons apparently.” I told him.

  He smiled with confidence.

  “Then why bother wanting it at all?” He said smugly with quaint shrug of one shoulder.

  “You tell me? Apparently, she must really mean something to you for you to go through all this trouble,” I challenged, hoping to get him to slip in giving away some of his plans for either, her or the army of dark divine that I now believed he was no doubt amassing.

  “I’ve learned many lessons Cam`ael …the most important one is always knowing when I’m being fed bullshit.” He countered.

  It took everything I had to bite my lip.

  The best weapon against Morning Star was silence, to say nothing at all. He was notoriously known to retain and remember everything and then use it against you in the most negative, vindictive, destructive and spiteful way no matter who you were or what it was.

  VIII: Starl
ing:

  Sweat dampened my forehead, and cold rivulets ran down the length of my back, chilling me to the bone. I was afraid of complete darkness, and something told me that this was way more than the weather and a simple power failure to blame. Ms. Hawthorne was keening in a low wail in between her prayers, her bony fingers still digging into my skin harder and making me wince— and then the shadow moved. It was even more visible now as weird as it sounds— shadows were more prominent in pitch darkness to me than in the light. I fumbled and fingered the area around the area where I thought the call remote was mounted in frantic desperation.

  The lights then flickered once and finally came back on but for how long I had no idea, and I didn’t want to risk being caught in the dark again. My heart raced as my eyes darted around anxiously from the ceiling to the floor. I had to pry her fingers gently from my forearm so that I could reluctantly crouch down on all fours and peer under the bed slowly, just to be sure. So far, there was no trace of the shadow in the room, and I felt the sudden urge to back away from Ms. Hawthorne, who had gone motionless and quiet, though there was still a slight quiver of fear in her soft keening. She looked at me, and her eyes were wet with tears. There was still light in them and speaking of, I finally spied the call button, which hadn’t been that far out of reach from my hand to begin with.

  “I think we did it, it’s gone,” I breathed as I stood straighter and gave the room a once over again. I consoled and worked to calm her down, but it wasn’t working; she was insistent and remained terrified.

  She shook her head no, “No, he s-s-still ‘round…” She whispered in a quavering voice as her eyes moved to the door. I followed her gaze and swallowed as I frantically pressed the call nurse button. Just then a soft ding followed by a static pop sounded, and Lenell’s voice came over the hospice’s intercom: “To all staff and patients, we are experiencing a temporary power outage due to the storm. Please remain calm. We have a back-up generator that’s seems to be acting up, but it is being worked on, and in the meantime we don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt. We have flashlights to distribute at the front desk as well if anyone can and wants to pick one up now. If the power goes off again though, stay where you are for your safety and await further instructions. Thank you.”