Alizel's Song (Angel Ward Saga Book 1)

by Pottle, Bill

  Life was good.

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  Gabriel walked through the gardens, silently contemplating the figure beside him. Would he be up to the task? Did Gabriel even have any right to ask? The trees draped their huge leaves in a canopy that parted as the travelers passed. They strolled by the river, walking leisurely and talking. The bushes burst forth with beautiful colors and flowers of deep purples, brilliant oranges, and fiery reds.

  Oliver, a Principality with dirty brown hair and wings that matched, began the conversation as they walked, their wings rippling back and forth in pace with their strides.

  “Do you think God will intervene?” It was obvious to Gabriel that the smaller angel had wanted to ask that question for some time. “I mean, He has to, doesn’t He? He can’t just sit there and let everything fall apart?”

  “I do not pretend to know the will of the Father,” Gabriel answered. “As for engaging in battle Himself, I do not believe that He will do that. Certainly, he could crush Lucifer and his rebellion with barely an afterthought. It must all be a part of His plan. But I can tell you that He has asked some of us to undertake certain tasks. That, Oliver, is where you come in.”

  The Principality looked up, his curiosity raising his facial features. “You know that I will serve the Lord however I can.”

  “You should consider well what I am asking before you reply,” Gabriel spoke as if a great weight was on him, “For what I am asking is fraught with peril.”

  Oliver thought for the briefest of moments and then nodded, his brown, shoulder-length hair dipping down over the curve of his chin. “You know that I will serve the Lord however I can.”

  Gabriel smiled sadly, satisfied. “In this war, perhaps the most crucial thing is information. If we can know the movements of the enemy, then we may spoil their plans.” He looked over at Oliver to see if he understood.

  Oliver nodded up and down slowly a few times. “I can help. I know several of the rebels.”

  “By itself, that won’t be enough,” Gabriel said. “You have to get close to him. You need to get Lucifer to trust you.”

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  Oliver’s face betrayed his confusion. “Lucifer is not someone to let another into his confidence easily.”

  “That’s true,” Gabriel agreed.

  “You’re asking me to deceive the master of deception.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “That’s true,” Gabriel agreed again.

  “How do I know you are truly from God?” Oliver demanded suddenly, looking at Gabriel, his eyes piercing, searching. “How do I know you aren’t setting me up?”

  Gabriel opened his palm and gestured for Oliver to do the same. When the Principality complied, Gabriel placed his against Oliver’s. The touch felt slightly warm at first, and then the edges started to tingle. Gabriel knew that Oliver also felt the power of the Most High flooding through his palm. There could be no mistaking that this was from God.

  He nodded once and dropped his hand. “How does the Lord wish me to proceed?” he asked quietly.

  Gabriel assessed him for a moment, then spoke in a low voice. “In order to get into Lucifer’s inner circle, you will have to tell him something valuable. Something that shows him he would be wise to trust you.” The Seraph spoke as if he was choosing his words carefully, but Gabriel had already thought the plan out many times. It was too important not to.

  “I suppose you have an idea.” Again, it was a statement, not a question.

  “We do. But before I tell you, you must swear to me that you are ready, really ready, to do this.” Gabriel’s eyes were hard.

  “I will do whatever I can to serve the Lord and return Heaven to a state of tranquility. I will do this.” He was no less serious than the Seraph.

  Gabriel nodded, satisfied once more. “Then we will trust you. You must go to Lucifer, offering to spy on us for him. No doubt he will know that you and I are close. We will feed you information, setups. You must act on the information that we have given you, and you and the rebels will achieve some victories. Do not fear for what is lost, for you will be gaining something much greater in return. Once

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  you have gained Lucifer’s trust, do nothing to lose it. Do not forget the price we have paid to get you there.”

  Gabriel could tell that Oliver understood him. Angels were going to have to sacrifice themselves so that he could gain the trust of the least trustworthy among them. It would be a heavy price to pay.

  “Lucifer has bragged to me that he has a plan that he is sure would defeat God,” Gabriel continued. “I myself am skeptical that such a plan exists, but one thing is certain— Lucifer believes that it will work. He was the most intelligent of us all. If anyone can come up with a plan that has a chance of success, it is him. You must discover this plan, Oliver. Whether or not it has the capacity to defeat God, it is certain to be a plan that sows great destruction here in Heaven. Once you discover it, find me immediately. I know Lucifer. He does not even trust his own troops. He will only tell each what is required of them, and will reveal the full plan only in the moment right before it comes to fruition. We may have only a few minutes at that point.”

  Oliver nodded again. He was stoic in the face of this great responsibility. “Is there anything else I must know?”

  “There is one critical thing.” They stared into each other’s eyes. “It will not be easy. You must try to resist using hate. Lucifer wants all his troops to be powered by it; he cannot stand the sight of anyone who has not rejected God. However, once you use it, the side effects are unknown. We have certainly seen irrationality in many demons’ behavior. If you use hate, I fear you will lose yourself. You must convince Lucifer of your value as a double agent so that he tolerates you staying in your present form.”

  Oliver looked up at Gabriel and smiled with his quiet confidence. “And all this time I was worried that the assignment wouldn’t be a challenge…”

  Alizel saw the rebels’ tactics in action soon enough.

  His troop was walking though the one of Heaven’s gardens, admiring the serenity of the flowers and the rivers of flowing crystal when it happened.

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  “It just doesn’t make sense,” Mupiel said to Katel. “How could Lucifer hope to defeat God?” Ever since the rumor about Lucifer’s plan had spread, Mupiel had asked anyone who would listen to him in a vain attempt to figure out what Lucifer was up to.

  “I agree,” Katel responded, looking none too troubled. “All this proves is that hate has addled Lucifer’s brain. He might have been intelligent before, but this idea is ludicrous.”

  “It defies explanation!” Mupiel agreed. “He’s trying to defeat God with a weapon powered by God. Sure, swords can send us to the Containment, but what would happen if someone tried to touch God with one? Touching the sword to the Father is how they make them in the first place. Surely no harm would come to Him!” Mupiel shook his head in confusion.

  “Perhaps we’re thinking about things too narrowly,” Alizel suggested. “What if Lucifer’s plan is only to wreak havoc until he believes that God will have no choice but to settle with him?” He shrugged, indicating that he didn’t have any more coherent suggestions than that.

  “That was Zebub’s plan, remember?” Mupiel was not about to let the conversation go so easily. “Why would Lucifer keep doing something that obviously hasn’t worked?”

  “Alizel’s got a point, though,” Katel mused. “Perhaps we are thinking of this too narrowly. Perhaps Lucifer has a different definition of ‘defeat God’ than we are thinking of.”

  Mupiel wasn’t convinced. “It seems pretty literal to me. Maybe he’s thinking of just trying to take over the Universe or destroying Earth.”

  “With Azazel and his Powers guarding the gates, I don’t see the rebels breaking through anytime soon,” Alizel objected.
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  “Plus,” Katel agreed, “I do not see Lucifer as one who would be content only to destroy something God created. No, he’s always been at the top and he wants the ultimate prize. He wants to rule Heaven. If he were to try to destroy the Universe, certainly God could just build another one.”

  Mupiel thought about the points for a minute and then nodded too. “Yes, Lucifer is like that. That means that either he definitely has

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  a plan that he thinks will work, or he is bluffing. I just wish we could figure out what that plan is.”

  “It’s a shame you will never get to know the brilliance of my master.” The voice came from behind a nearby bush.

  They whirled just in time to see a figure step from the underbrush. A slim, evil smile sliced from one side of his face to the other. Long black robes hung from his body and fires of hate danced in his eyes. “Your time ends here.”

  Twin arcs of light exploded on Alizel’s right and left as two more armed demons cut through the underbrush. It took a moment for the reality of the ambush to set in. They meant to destroy Katel’s group before anyone could react.

  One of the angels next to Alizel immediately burst upwards, trying to get out and get the signal to Azazel and the other Powers.

  The attackers were ready, though, and intercepted him in a flurry of blades. He screamed, and his body dissolved into a blur and streaked towards the Containment.

  One of the demons dived at Alizel, snarling and gnashing his teeth. He swung his sword sideways, and Alizel jumped backwards, letting his feet fly out from under him and catching himself with a quick flutter of his wings. He shot backwards and then regained his feet.

  They were all around, almost a dozen of them. Alizel didn’t get a real clear look because he was busy evading strikes and trying to stay alive. It was clear that they were all driven by hate. There was no chance to talk to them, and no one tried. Their purpose was so single-minded, and they bore down mentally on their objective with such focus that the rest of the world around them was blurry. They cared not what they did, only that they could destroy some of the Lord’s faithful.

  Alizel dove through the underbrush, turning to face another. He had a vague feeling that he knew who he was, but he couldn’t really recognize him. In any event, now was the time for staying alive, not remembering names. The demon brought his sword downwards, and the tree branch above Alizel twisted and turned, blocking the arc of his blade at the hilt. The demon howled in rage, yanking his blade free.

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  The split second was all Alizel needed to cry out. “Help us! They’ve ambushed us in the garden!” He could only hope that someone would reach them in time. They would have felt the angels being sent to the Containment, but not known exactly where in Heaven it had taken place.

  Alizel jumped up and flew backward, but the demon rushed forwards to follow him, extending the tip of his blade straight at Alizel’s body. He spun to the side and sucked in his stomach, hoping it was enough. Alizel came within an inch of losing his soul to the Containment as the blade ripped right through the end of his tunic. A piece of the tunic fluttered down to the ground below.

  If Alizel would have gotten in close and grabbed his attacker’s wrists, he might have had a chance to wrestle the blade away. But he was too scared to do that. All he wanted to do was get as far away from that Heaven’s Blade as he could.

  The lost angel continued to follow up on Alizel, but whenever he would come at him, Alizel would move back; whenever he would move to his right Alizel would move to his as well, always moving steadily upwards.

  Alizel don’t know how long this went on, but he could tell that the more he evaded him, the more determined and upset the demon became. He weaved and threaded away, around, always upwards. Soon he could look down and see the tangle of the battle below.

  Tangle really was the best word to describe it, as the trees and shrubs were doing their best to get in the way of everything Lucifer’s minions were trying to do. Yet, the brush was doing little more than slowing them as blades flashed right and left, cutting through branches and stems almost as easily as if they were slicing through air.

  Alizel looked down on the battle and caught sight of Abbadon. He didn’t recognize him at first, he was so completely changed. He was huge, over four meters tall, and he had shed his alb for a pair of close-fitting black leather shorts that freed his movements. His chest was bare and the muscles looked like they were ready to burst out of his skin even when he wasn’t flexing. His chest was a deep red, the color of dirty clay, and several odd markings were burned into his skin. His neck had shortened as his shoulders hunched up. His face

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  was only vaguely recognizable as that which used to belong to the angel who took leisurely strolls through the very gardens he was now leading his group to destroy. It wasn’t so much that his wings had shrunk in size, although it was clear that they had lost their power as the feathers fell off and the leathery black substance replaced them, as much as the fact that his body had grown. Looking at him, Alizel knew there was no way he was now an effective flyer, if he could even lift off the ground at all. He was at least three or four times more massive than he had been before.

  Alizel heard a scream and knew that they had destroyed another one as he felt the life leave Heaven and go towards the Containment. There were only four of his group alive still, and time was running out fast. The others had to be alerted by now. Where were they?

  He could see the purple and black blur of Katel still fighting bravely, taking on three of them at once and trying in vain to lead them away. They anticipated his tactics, and tried to come at him from all sides and from above. Alizel heard another scream and feared the worst, but the essence he felt was not one of his friends. It was strange, corrupted. He knew at once that it was one of the demons who had died. Surely that meant help had arrived, but when he looked around, no one was there. Watching the way they fought, however, he soon surmised that the rebel had been killed by one of his own men. They fought with no concern for safety, wanting only to hurt others.

  Alizel wanted to help Katel, to attack one of the rebels from behind and grab his sword so that he could give his Archangel time to fight his way free. Even as Alizel flexed his wings and prepared for the burst that would send his sleek body towards them, though, he saw he was already too late.

  Katel spun his body sideways to avoid a vertical slice and then dove forwards and grabbed the wrists of the one who had attacked him. He used the downwards momentum to swing the blade around and slice upwards into an arc that sent the nearest attacker into the Containment, a look of shock etched on his face as he went. Yet, as he cut down that demon, another one stabbed through Katel’s back, right between his purple wings. It was so sudden, he didn’t even have

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  time to cry out as his body dissolved, hung in the air for what seemed like an eternal moment, and then was gone.

  Alizel thought he must have screamed Katel’s name aloud, for one of the attackers looked up in his direction suddenly and pointed at him. They screeched as two more flew up to meet them.

  But help had come. Powers burst through the trees in a blinding, golden flash. The rebels screamed in rage but did not flee this time. Azazel was there, and about twenty of his Powers. His face blazed with holy fury, and it made such a beautiful sight.

  The Powers lunged at the attackers, but Azazel himself went straight for Abbadon. Abbadon chuckled, and swung his blade down just in time to block his blow.

  “A little late, aren’t you?” He pushed on his sword and flung Azazel backwards in the air. “We’ve already completed most of our work here.”

  Azazel brought his sword up toward his heart and swept it downwards in the customary salute. “The way I see it, I’m right on time. My work is just beginning.”

  He lu
nged at Abbadon again, swinging his sword straight downwards. Abbadon blocked it again and struggled, planting his feet squarely in the earth, but managed to fling Azazel backwards once more.

  Alizel couldn’t believe it, watching from above. He had seen Azazel move with such brilliance, punishing rebels with barely an afterthought. Had Abbadon gotten faster just as he had gotten stronger? Was Azazel losing his edge?

  But Azazel’s face was calm, too calm for someone who was struggling. Then Alizel understood in a flash. The Power was buying time. If Abbadon was killed or overwhelmed, the others would flee. As long as he felt in control of the situation, Abbadon would not order a retreat. Without the order, the Powers could continue destroying the rest of Abbadon’s squad. Abbadon was so focused on himself, he did not even realize that his forces were being annihilated.