Angel of Distrust

by Tabitha Barret

“I’m sorry, My Lady,” Balthazar said as he held his stomach and tried to stay aloft. She nodded to him and acknowledged his need to retreat.

  Anjali watched the ground closing in on her and debated if she should remove her ring. Her power might save her from being squished, but it could very well obliterate the town, just as the Harpy wanted.

  Grabbing for her ring, she spotted two black streaks below her as Tristan and Haydn tried to reach her while Aello made sure that Balthazar did not return to the fight. Unfortunately, the Harpy saw Haydn and swooped in before he was close enough grab to Anjali. Aello knocked into Haydn’s wing, pushing him off course. She took advantage of Haydn’s instability in the air and slowed down just enough to smack Haydn in the face with her wing, knocking him into Tristan. When their wings became tangled, Aello dove at Haydn and Tristan just as she had done to Alazar and disabled them both.

  “There’s no one left to save you, Destroyer. See you on the ground,” Aello said, snapping her beak at Anjali.

  Aello dropped to the ground and disappeared from sight.

  Anjali wracked her brain trying to figure out what to do. Looking down at her unbound hands, she nearly cried for joy. She wasn’t alone. “Gabriel, I summon you,” she said softly so that Aello wouldn’t hear her. She prayed that Gabriel was listening closely enough to hear her plea.

  As she waited to see if her father had heard her, she watched the buildings come into view and the paved streets grow larger and larger. She was close enough that she could see her angels engaging Aello on the ground.

  Derick, Calin and Liam were upset and concerned for her. They sent her their love and told her that everything would be okay.

  Closing her eyes, she knew the landing would be painful, but hoped that she was strong enough to survive it.

  I love you all, she said to her Nachtghuls.

  Bracing for the impact, her body hit something, jarring her back and neck. The ground was hard, but not nearly as hard as she expected. When she felt the wind still blowing against her ears, she opened her eyes to see that she was flying. She turned to see Gabriel’s worried blue eyes staring back at her.

  “Father!” she cried. She threw her arms around him and hugged him until she choked him.

  He laughed at her enthusiasm. “I’m here,” he said brightly.

  Tears spilled over when she saw her father. She didn’t realize how much she had missed him.

  “I need to get to the ground before Aello realizes that I didn’t make a splat. I don’t have time to explain, but I need to find a way to kill a Harpy before she destroys all the mortals in town,” she said quickly when Gabriel banked left to carry her further away from town.

  He nodded, but appeared unhappy about her situation.

  “I had no idea that the creatures were alive, but yes, Aello needs to die. The Harpies have no morals and no conscience. They feed, they torture and they carry out their Master’s will; that’s all they do. They have no understanding of mercy,” Gabriel said gravely.

  “I believe that Hades was captured and is somewhere nearby. I don’t think Aello is following his orders anymore, but I can’t be sure. The worst part is that she’s impervious to bullets and knives, yet Hades was somehow able to kill Celaeno with a knife. I need a way to capture her so that she can be killed,” she said, trying to give him all the information she had.

  He grimaced. “I don’t know much about the Harpies. They were created by Zeus and given to Hades as a reward for his supposed loyalty. I was told that Zeus killed all the Harpies, but it seems that was not the case. Hades should know Aello’s weaknesses and strengths. The Celestial Warriors have never encountered them in battle because Hades cleverly kept them out of the war. It’s possible that only their creator or their master can kill them,” he said, dismayed by the revelation.

  “I need more time to find Hades but to do that I need to keep Aello from killing any more mortals,” she said.

  Sighing, Gabriel tipped his wings and circled back toward the town. “I will call for the warriors to engage the Harpy while you search for Hades. If they are colluding for some dastardly reason, you may have to convince Hades to kill her,” he said darkly.

  Anjali smirked. “I would love to convince Hades to do something against his will right about now,” she sneered.

  Gabriel frowned, but did not reply.

  “This is not the first time I have fought the Harpies, Father. Hades sent them after me during the Greek Dark Ages. They killed my lover, Pontius. Were you aware of that?” she asked, trying to hold back her anger.

  Gabriel’s frown deepened until it turned into a sneer. “Do whatever you must to force Hades to kill Aello,” he growled.

  Pleased that her father was on board with her plan, she set about deciding how to deal with Hades.

  When they were less than a mile away from the battle, Gabriel lifted his voice to the Heavens and yelled, “Warriors, I summon you!”

  Approaching the town, Anjali saw Aello zipping around and pummeling her angels. They were doing their best to block her attacks, but she was unrelenting.

  “Where is your Master?” Aello screamed.

  “Fuck you!” Alazar yelled as he blocked Aello’s wings from hitting his face a second before she turned and slammed Haydn’s face into the ground.

  Before Gabriel could land, Anjali jumped from his arms and ran toward Aello. “Coward!” she yelled at Aello. “How dare you attack my angels instead of attacking me directly. Are you so afraid of engaging me in battle that you would let gravity kill me instead? I would have expected you to fight me yourself after I kicked your ass centuries ago,” Anjali yelled. She lit her hands with Hell Fire and waited for Aello to slow down.

  Aello zipped past Balthazar and flew straight at Anjali. “I will kill you myself this time, Destroyer!”

  Anjali rolled to her side and lit the air next to her on fire when Aello’s beak was less than a foot away from her. The fire engulfed Aello, who was unable to stop fast enough. She was confused by the fire and misjudged where she was. Aello flew too low and hit the ground hard enough that her wings crumpled around her.

  Anjali swung around and hit Aello in the face with two fireballs to distract her. Derick and Calin appeared on either side of Aello and combined their effort to cage Aello with a wall of flames.

  “Fools! You cannot harm me!” Aello said shrilly, waving away the fire with her massive wings.

  “Who said anything about harming you?” Anjali chuckled.

  Blessedly, she heard a voice that she typically detested.

  “Lord Gabriel, what do you require of us?” General Tabbris shouted from the middle of the intersection.

  “More fire!” Anjali yelled, waiting for the warriors to get their shit together and realize that Aello was not only alive, but also unharmed by Hell Fire.

  “Detain Aello as best you can, General Tabbris. Do not let her escape or harm any of the mortals,” Gabriel commanded.

  Without another question, the warriors surrounded Anjali, Calin and Derick with their Celestial Swords drawn. Anjali flinched when she saw so many blue flames within striking distance of her Nachtghuls. She remembered Demyan’s sword coming toward her and wanted to punch the closest warrior.

  Focus, Anjali! Derick yelled as Aello tried to use her wings to push the fire back at them. Thankfully, the flames did not bend or lessen from the strong current of air coming from the Harpy’s wings.

  “Kill that creature!” Tabbris shouted.

  Aello smiled gleefully. “I finally get to kill the shiny warriors who attacked the gods,” she said falling down into a crouch.

  Lord Commander Marcus and High Commander Orrin were the first ones to step forward to engage Aello.

  “Step back and allow us to kill her, My Lady,” High Commander Orrin said from behind Anjali.

  “Good luck with that High Commander. Our weapons haven’t been effective as of yet and she is completely unfazed by the Hell Fire. I doubt that your swords will do anything more than piss
her off, but you are welcome to take our place,” Anjali said over her shoulder to the self-confident warrior. She saw his look of surprise, though he appeared undeterred by her warning.

  The Warriors closed ranks and tightened their circle around Aello, while Anjali, Calin and Derick slowly backed away. Once the Warriors were in position, Anjali gave a nod and everyone extinguished their Hell Fire.

  Blue flames sizzled through the air and filled every available space within the circle. Anjali held her breath, hoping that the creature could be killed, but braced herself just in case the warriors failed.

  Swearing erupted from the warriors, which made Anjali’s heart sink. The Warriors were tossed into the air two at a time until only Aello was left standing.

  “Shit,” Anjali muttered as she looked to Calin. Calin’s frown did nothing to calm her nerves.

  Aello let out an ear-piercing squawk and launched herself at Anjali. Both Marcus and Commander Nathanael tried to dive in front of the Harpy, but both of them were hit so hard that they flipped through the air and landed awkwardly against the wall of a gas station. Anjali tried to disappear, but Aello was faster than she expected. The impact was unlike anything Anjali had ever experienced. Her chest felt like it had a giant hole in it and her bones rattled so hard that she feared they would explode into tiny fragments. North and south, east and west were concepts that no longer held any meaning as she tumbled through the air ultimately crashing through something that felt like glass. Skidding to a stop, her head hit a heavy wood wall.

  Anjali cut off her connection to her Nachtghuls so that they didn’t have to feel her skull splitting in half. A familiar voice called out to her, but Anjali was in too much pain to figure out who it was. She tried to roll to her side to vomit or spit up blood or some strange combination of both, but she was too disoriented to move.

  “Anjali, look at me. Are you okay?” the voice asked.

  Her eyes rolled inside her head and refused to focus on any one object. There were three people kneeling next to her, but she only heard one voice.

  “You’re stronger than this!” the voice shouted. He sounded concerned and scared, but she didn’t think it was the angel who was afraid of everything. What was his name…Trillion...Trooper?

  “You have to get up. I will not allow you to be defeated by that abomination!” the voice shouted. He was getting angry.

  “Oww,” she groaned. She tried to move her legs, but it was too much effort.

  She heard shuffling next to her and felt her head lifted. Something soft was now under her head.

  “Please get up. I know I said that I wanted this, but I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things. Shit! I’m not even sure if you can hear me,” the voice muttered. He sniffled and began to wipe her face with something coarse. She tried to swat away his arms but it was too difficult, so she laid there and winced whenever she felt pain in her face.

  “Anjali, I wanted to be a Chancellor because I believed in justice. I left because I realized that I didn’t just want to talk about the law, I wanted to enforce it. By joining the warriors, I thought I could stop the wicked mortals before they hurt anyone, but soon I learned that it wasn’t the right path for me. It know it sounds like I can’t make up my mind, but that’s not the problem. I knew what I wanted; I just didn’t know the best way to do what I was meant to. Volunteering to become your Predznak was the right decision. I was able to discern which mortals were on the spiritual path to Heaven, and which ones needed to be punished. When I became Distrust, I felt like I was finally on the right path to fulfilling my purpose in life.

  “There was once a time when I was proud of my decision to stand by your side. Regrettably, I lost faith during your absence and allowed my power to create doubt everywhere I turned. It got so bad that my memories became distorted and I couldn’t trust anyone or anything. That’s why I turned against you. I couldn’t remember anything except my pain. I blamed you when I should have blamed myself for being too weak to resist the lure of my own temptation. I told you that I wanted to kill you, but it was a lie. I had ample opportunity to harm you, yet I did little more than shove you to the ground and stand by while the bonds made you suffer. I admit that I wanted to punish you for not being there, but I don’t really want you to die,” Distrust said, choking up.

  Anjali felt the hair on her forehead shift to the side and a hand on her shoulder. She wanted to open her eyes to look at Haydn, now that her brain had figured out who was with her, but she was too dizzy.

  “Anjali, you have to fight. I can’t lose you now, not after finding you and accepting the truth. You are everything that I want and everywhere I want to be. You are home. I felt so lost until I felt your power tearing through the cobwebs in my mind and burning a hole in the fog that kept me from remembering who I really was and who I was meant to be. I am your Predznak, Anjali. I was wrong to attack you and I will spend the rest of eternity making amends. Please accept my humble apology,” Haydn said. She felt a drop of water splash against the back of her hand and moved her fingers to comfort him.

  She tried once again to move her legs, but the pain was too great. She wanted to tell Haydn to go on and leave her to sleep, but she couldn’t form the words properly.

  “Anjali, please don’t give up,” he begged. “I didn’t give up when Farouk betrayed me and stabbed me through the back. It took so long for me to recover, but I never once thought about giving up. All I wanted was to see him punished for touching that woman. Even though Tabbris disregarded my story and refused to believe that Farouk was in the wrong, I didn’t give up. I know I did the right thing. Farouk’s lies didn’t dissuade me from walking away from the warriors with my head held high. I knew the truth was on my side and I wouldn’t give Tabbris the satisfaction of breaking my spirit. My only regret was allowing Farouk to live, but the warriors were on his side. They would have branded me a traitor if I had killed him and sent me to the Hall of Shadows, if they didn’t outright kill me. I am proud of the fact that I stared him right in the eyes and told him that I would find a way to expose his crimes. I didn’t see him out there with the Warriors, so I can only hope that someone finally figured out that he was a monster,” he said, taking her hand in his.

  Farouk, the face from her dreams appeared in front of her. Hearing that Farouk had stabbed one of her angels with a Celestial Sword through the back enraged her. She used that rage to fill her with purpose until it healed every cracked bone and torn muscle.

  It seemed that Farouk had more secrets buried inside of him than she realized. When her power had broken free of the Celestial Bonds and reached into Farouk, she had felt his sins. What if his death hadn’t been an accident? What if the Destroyer had understood Farouk’s darkness and had punished him for it?

  She quickly sifted through all the emotions she felt that day and pushed beyond her anger. Despite the difficulty she experienced in reading the sins of the angels, Farouk’s sins were easy for her to see. As a Celestial Warrior, he was supposed to devote himself to the mission and desire nothing more than the knowledge that he had performed his duties to the best of his abilities. Unfortunately, Farouk had devoted his life to other pursuits. Lust was one of his favorite sins, but he was also guilty of vengeance, deception, and fear. The darkest of all his sins were desire and hunger. He desired power and control over others. He craved it. He thought he was better than everyone else. He felt that he deserved whatever he wanted or needed, and that he was entitled to it all. In reality, Farouk was on the path of becoming a Rogue.

  Her power rose, just a little, and helped to heal her beleaguered mind until the pain melted away. She opened her eyes and shifted her head to see Haydn sitting next to her.

  She carefully pushed herself on her elbows to look at him. “I was the one who figured out that Farouk was a monster. I may not have completely understood all the sins he had committed, but my dark side, the side that is the true Destroyer, understood his crimes, and made him suffer for them. I killed Farouk because he was in the pr
ocess of becoming a Rogue,” she said as she gained strength from the knowledge that she had been in the right to put down a failed warrior.

  Haydn’s eyes opened wide. “You killed Farouk?” he asked in disbelief. When she nodded, his expression grew dark. “What did he do to you?” His indignation was clear as he clenched his fists.

  “He tried to…” She attempted to tell him, but her voice cut off and her lower lip trembled.

  Haydn was on his feet and pacing. “I should have killed the son of a bitch!” he yelled. “When I’d heard that you killed a warrior, I was so far gone that I didn’t bother to ask who had died. Part of me was happy to hear that one of the losers was dead. Had I known it was Farouk, I would have hunted you down just to thank you.”

  Anjali sat up and took a deep breath. “No, Haydn, you did the right thing. The Council forced me to become a mortal because of what happened, but I don’t regret it. Neither the Council nor the Celestial Warriors have any idea what happened because they only saw my crime of killing one of their precious warriors. They would have done far worse to you if you had killed Farouk.”

  “I could have done more to stop him,” he yelled in frustration.

  “I’m glad that you understood your true purpose and volunteered to become my angel. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I was meant to judge Farouk and keep him from hurting anyone else because you had a higher purpose. You were meant to stand by my side and help me end the world,” she said. She held out her hand to him, hoping that he understood that she wasn’t just asking him to help her off the floor. She was asking him to join her…forever.

  Haydn stared at her outstretched hand and hesitated. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he whispered.

  She smiled at him and pushed her hand out further toward him. “I’ve made more mistakes. Can you forgive me for not being there for you?”

  He nodded. “After knowing what happened with Farouk, I don’t blame you for not being there for the Predznak, I blame the Council and the Celestial Warriors. While I’m glad that Farouk can’t hurt anyone else, I don’t believe that the Council forced you to become a mortal because of his death,” he said. He grabbed her hand and carefully pulled her off the floor.