Between Heaven and Hell

by David Burnett

  Finally, only four rebels remained.

  Lucifer glared at Michael as he finally stepped toward the opening. “Don’t start the celebration yet, Lord Michael. I’m not quite finished. . .”

  Lucifer waved as though saying good-bye at a garden party, then he stepped over the edge and dropped away without a sound, his robe fluttering up briefly before vanishing from sight.

  Michael simply watched him go.

  Ami and Mia rushed over and clung to Adryel, crying. She shoved them away, and Ami lost her footing, toppling over. For the briefest moment her body dangled there with her fingers clawing at the edge of the pit. Dariel stepped forward and placed his boot down on her fingers, kicking a small pile of rocks in after her as she yelped and slipped away.

  Mia fell to the ground then, seeming to faint, and Dariel used the same booted foot to roll her over the edge.

  Adryel flung herself at Michael, stopping short of clinging to him the way Ami and Mia had clung to her moments before. “What will happen to us?”

  He merely shrugged.

  She grasped at his robe now. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t send me there. . .with them.”

  Dariel walked up behind her, and, leaning close to her ear, he growled, “You asked for no special treatment.” Then he stepped around, looking down at his boot, and then to Adryel. “You’re one of them. You go with them. Straight to—”

  Michael held up his hand, silencing Dariel. He faced Adryel. “Renounce Lucifer, and you too may ride back to the city with us.” He glanced at the young angel who had renounced at the very last moment and now clung to Gadriel as if they were glued together. He looked back at Adryel expectantly.

  In the background Dariel made a gagging sound, then muttered, “Can a tiger renounce its stripes?”

  Adryel took a deep breath and slowly shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

  “Then you’ve made your choice,” Michael said sadly as he turned away.

  Dariel stepped forward and laughed as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation before placing them on her shoulders, and shoving hard.

  Adryel tried to remain stoic but she lost her balance and fell to the ground, shrieking as her body struck the black rock. Then, as she rolled away and tried to stand, she slipped into the deep, dark pit.

  ***

  Adryel cried out. There was nothing but air beneath her. Hot, humid air. Above her the light was rushing away as she plunged into absolute darkness. The helpless sensation of falling threatened to overwhelm her. Faster and faster she went, farther and farther, as blistering, searing wind rushed past her face, until. . .

  She remembered Michael’s words, and spread her wings, stretching them wide.

  She’d seldom used them before, and after a few awkward attempts to move them, she simply held them out, catching the air, slowing her descent, and, gratefully, landing on her feet.

  Adryel stood for a moment, surprised to be alive. Her legs felt weak. She stumbled and cried out, a mixture of pain, fear, and relief. She breathed deeply and steadied herself. Then, she folded her wings and spun full circle.

  The dim light concealed anything beyond a meter distant, but she stomped her foot and her sandal clapped loudly as she struck hard rock. She angled her face up and discovered a tiny circle of light at the end of a long, black tunnel. The only reason she could see anything was because of the smidgen light that fell through the faraway hole through which she had dropped.

  Her eyes traced the dark, rocky walls of the tunnel to the point at which they spread out to form the roof above her head and the walls around her. She was in a cave.

  She was grateful that the darkness was not total. When her eyes adjusted, she would be able to see and to move about and. . .

  THUMP.

  The cave shook as the light disappeared, and in the sudden darkness she could no longer see Mia and Ami, huddled on the cave floor at her feet. She reached out her hands to feel her way and crept toward the wall she had glimpsed a few moments before the light was blotted out.

  Her heart pounded wildly as she found herself entombed in the darkness. She drew hurried, shallow breaths, imagining Michael’s soldiers prodding and pushing the great boulder until it fell into place, sealing her in the pit for eternity. She licked her dry lips and whimpered. She had never known darkness this complete in her entire life. Even in the middle of the night when she had slept on the Great Plain, she had been able to see outlines of angels and scrub bushes and the wild dogs, but here. . .nothing.

  Her hands flailed in front of her, and tears stung her eyes as she found nothing for support. She tripped over what felt like a body. A hand reached out and grasped her leg, a voice called out, begging for assistance. She ignored them all as she shuffled forward through the darkness. Finally, her hands touched rock.

  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed a faint glow coming from behind the wall against which she leaned. She stepped around a corner and found a fire burning far away in a cavern to her left, its flickering light dancing across the walls of the cave, apparently the sole source of illumination. She peered at the fire. She saw no coals, no wood, no fuel of any kind, only fire. It appeared to be almost liquid, like water, like. . .a lake.

  This will seem pleasantly warm once you’ve splashed about in the lake of fire.

  That was how the pit had been described, a lake of fire. Her face began to tingle with heat, as though burning the way it did on a summer day when she lay too long beside the stream in the garden, basking in the glory of the sun. . .a glory she would never see again.

  Adryel turned away from the fire, gagging at the acrid smell of sulfur. She used her hand to cover her nose, and attempted to breathe through her mouth.

  “Where are we?” She recognized the voice of one of her students, a first-year, one of the youngest. “I’m afraid,” he cried. “I want to go home.”

  Adryel bent over and rubbed her hand across his head. “We’re in the pit, Johniel. It’s dark and it’s hot, but we’re all together. It will be all right. We’ll figure it out.”

  Johniel curled into a ball, his arms wrapped tightly around his legs, and began to rock back and forth. “I want to go home. Please let me go home.”

  He began to cry, and Adryel sat with him for a few minutes. Finally, she stood and looked around.

  The rebels who had survived the fall sat around on rocks, dazed expressions on their faces. Many, like Johniel, were crying. Others had been injured, their moans and calls for help filling the air.

  Several bodies sprawled across the cave’s floor, angels who had failed to spread their wings. One was near the spot where she had hit bottom, and she could see she had narrowly missed landing on him.

  Perspiration ran the length of her body, soaking her robe, too much for her to even wipe away. As she stepped away from the fire, seeking a cooler part of the cave, she scanned the floor. No scaly creatures, not here, anyway. Perhaps that part of the story was wrong.

  “Adryel. Welcome,” Lucifer called from across the cave, motioning for her to come. “Adryel, this is Robiel. He and his followers are old residents of—what did you call this place? Not the pit. Hell, was it?”

  Robiel nodded, his eyes intent on Adryel.

  She recognized the name. The rebel who had objected to the creation of the powers. She stepped away.

  “Don’t be shy. Come here,” Lucifer beckoned again.

  She crept toward him, watching her steps so she did not fall. In spite of the fire roaring nearby, the floor was wet, slippery. . .she shuddered to think why.

  Lucifer placed his hand on her shoulder. “This is Adryel, one of my chief lieutenants.”

  “An orb?” Robiel looked like he was going to be sick.

  Lucifer chuckled. “Ah, yes. Interestingly, the powers were quite aptly named. They developed into very powerful, ferocious warriors. Michael’s army is mostly powers, I regret to say.”

  “Indeed?” Robiel seemed to be impressed.

  “Adryel is quite
intelligent too.”

  She felt embarrassment sting her cheeks, her face warming even though she was facing away from the fire.

  “Thank you, Lord Lucifer.” She cast her eyes down.

  “Remarkable. An intelligent orb. I’d have said there could be no such thing. . .And a female.” He seemed to have just noticed, and he leered at her. “I have not even seen a female of any kind for. . .eons.” He scanned the new arrivals. “Are there others?” He giggled like an adolescent and rubbed his hands together.

  Lucifer looked questioningly at Adryel.

  “Mia and Ami are here,” she said. “We fell in close together.”

  “So there are two others, at least.” Lucifer clapped Robiel on the back. “I will introduce you.” He turned to Adryel. “Robiel knows where to procure food. I’ll send them with him. Perhaps they will do a bit of bartering.”

  Lucifer and Robiel both had a good chuckle at that.

  “Sit and rest,” Lucifer told Adryel as Robiel led the others deeper into the cave. “We have much to do. Much to plan.”

  “Much to plan? What could we possibly have to plan now?”

  Lucifer laughed heartily. “My dear Adryel, Michael and Adonai are fools. They believe that dropping us into the pit, consigning us to Hell, as Robiel calls it, spells the end of our struggle. Well, it’s not the end. It’s only the beginning.” He began to pace.

  “You surely do not expect me to sit in this place and molt, do you?”

  He paused, as though in thought, a finger tapping his chin before he thrust it in the air and began to wag it for emphasis, while simultaneously resuming his pacing. “I say bah and double bah. Adonai thinks that’s what I’ll do. It’s what Michael expects.”

  Adryel flinched as Lucifer stopped walking and lunged toward her, his face inches from hers. “They’re wrong. We’ll find a way out.” He glared into her eyes for several seconds as though searching her very soul. Finally, he stepped back.

  “You told me Adonai created a human. One of the soldiers said there are two of them, now, a male and a female. They’re on their planet. They are happy. They are. . .good.”

  He turned to stare at the fire, the finger going back up to tap a beat on his chin. “We’ll have to do something about that.”

  He stood entranced by the fire for several minutes, and Adryel used the reprieve to sit quietly and contemplate the past few days, everything from her audience with Adonai to her consignment to the pit.

  Just then, Robiel, Ami, and Mia returned pushing a cart loaded with a dark moss.

  “It looks awful, but it tastes good,” Mia called.

  Ami pushed the cart into the cavern while Mia hung back. “It is cooler if you move away from the fire.”

  Adryel noticed Robiel’s hand resting on Mia’s shoulder.

  Mia looked up at Robiel and smiled. She rubbed his arm. “We have beer to drink. Robiel made it himself by boiling the moss and distilling the mash.”

  “Come and eat.” Lucifer turned to face the others, his arms spread wide in welcoming. “Michael believes we are finished,” he called. “He believes we are powerless, relegated to this pit, but he is quite mistaken.”

  A murmur began to filter through the eager rebels, and Lucifer reveled in it, his voice and arms rising higher. “Mark my words. We will escape from this place. We will go back and take what is rightfully ours.”

  The crowd began to cheer.

  Lucifer leaped onto a boulder, his face split into a wide grin. “We will not stop until we bring Adonai to his knees.”

  ***

  The meal had ended, and Adryel leaned against one of the large boulders, about to fall asleep. Lucifer knelt beside her, observing the remnants of his army.

  A few had already drifted off. Others were talking, drinking, choosing sides for rokmon—a board game that was popular among the angels. They had sketched a board in the dust on the far side of the cave and had assembled small stones of various colors to use as game pieces. Ramael had been a master at the game.

  Lucifer interrupted her thoughts of Ramael. “All of these angels who have followed me here. . .Inspiring, isn’t it?”

  Adryel nodded. “It truly is. I’m surprised more did not desert you at the mouth of the pit.”

  “Yes.” He bobbed his head in reluctant agreement. “I was pleased.” He gazed around the large room. “Not the quarters I would have chosen, certainly, but. . .perhaps in time.”

  Adryel studied the area. “I suppose it could be worse.”

  “Indeed.”

  “It is rather hot here though,” Adryel added.

  “Heat you say?” Lucifer pondered this. “I say, it’s not so much the heat, Adryel. . .” he thrust his finger into the air, “. . .it’s the humidity.”

  He grinned with satisfaction, and even Adryel found herself smiling. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  “And. . .” Lucifer’s face brightened further as he leaned toward her, “I even have a private space. A smaller cave opens off of this one, right back there.” He pointed.

  Adryel’s eyes followed his hand, but a large boulder blocked her view.

  “Behind the boulder. Private,” he said again, pausing to look into her eyes. “I want you to be my companion tonight.”

  Surely she had heard him wrong. He couldn’t truly want her to. . .

  Adryel found her voice. “But I. . .I’m paired, Lord Lucifer, you know that, and—”

  “And your pair is dead. Even in the city you are free from that obligation.” He stood, towering over her. “Besides, we are no longer in the city. Clearly. The old customs, they no longer apply. The rules have changed.”

  He bent down to her ear and whispered, “We have no pairs here.”

  Adryel looked out at the angels who filled the cavern. Ami was in the middle of one of the groups, matching the males drink for drink, waiting her turn to play rokmon. Her eyes strayed to Adryel and she frowned, then she flashed a bright smile at Lord Lucifer before returning her attention to the game.

  “I had Beliel take a census,” Lucifer announced. “As of an hour ago, one hundred of us had reached the cavern alive. Robiel and fifty of his followers were already here.”

  He smiled grimly. “Of those one hundred and fifty, well, the statistics are not in your favor, my dear. It seems we have only three females among all us brutish males—Mia, Ami, and you.”

  He paused as though to let his words sink in, which they were. Only three females, and a full third of the males had been holed up down here for who knew how long. . .

  Lucifer clucked his tongue. “Robiel seems to be quite taken with Mia. They disappeared some time ago. So that leaves two.” He smirked. “You and Ami. One of you will be my companion tonight.” He licked his lips. “The other will be very busy indeed. . .” he swept his arm around the cavern, “with them.”

  Adryel couldn’t help but follow his gesture, and his implication. She gulped past the lump that had formed in her throat.

  “Should I whistle,” Lucifer continued, “Ami will kick over the game pieces, and anyone in her way, as she rushes to my side.” He smirked. “She’s so eager to please. But you know me, Adryel, I value the intellect far beyond any bodily pleasure. More than food or drink or idle conversation, or. . .anything. So, naturally I’d prefer you as a companion.”

  Adryel’s heart pounded and her breathing became shallow. She stared at Lord Lucifer, unable to form words. Ramael had often questioned Lucifer’s intentions. When he had spoken of ravishing her, his example of how a human might behave, Ramael had been ready to cut Lucifer’s throat. She’d dismissed it as simply a vivid example, but now. . .

  “You have a choice, Adryel. You can come with me, for a nice relaxing evening in a private cavern, or. . .” he glanced at the raucous throng of males already drooling over Ami as she guzzled her drink, “you can stay with them, for something else entirely.” He shrugged. “I know Beliel, for one, hopes you will refuse me. Maliel, too. And the others. . .”

&nbs
p; He paused briefly, seeming to be waiting for her response, but she still could not find her voice.

  “We could leave it to chance instead.” He pulled the wooden disk from his robe. “You recall my disk, don’t you? On one side we see an X, on the other side, a circle. Take it.” He held it out to her. “Toss it in the air. Flip it. If the disk lands with the circle facing up, I ravish you. The X, well, Beliel will be first in line.”

  Adryel made no move to take the disk.

  “All right, I’ll do the honors.” Lucifer placed his thumb under the disk and flipped it high into the air.

  Adryel lunged for it, but it slipped through her fingers. And that quickly, finding her voice was all she had. She blurted out the words that would save her. “Lord Lucifer, I’d very much like to be your companion tonight. . .”

  The disk hit the ground, the X visible. Adryel swallowed hard.

  “. . .and every night in the future.”

  A wicked satisfaction spread across his face. “A wise decision, Adryel. You’ll not regret it. Come.” He reached out to help her to her feet. He nudged her toward the small private cavern behind the boulder. “You’ll be my first, you know. Could Ramael have said that? You should be honored.”

  Adryel drew back her hand to slap him, but she heard Beliel call out for Ami, and her arm fell to her side.

  “Honored,” she whispered, her eyes cast toward the ground.

  Then, as Lucifer gently took her hand in his, Adryel lifted her gaze and allowed him to lead her to his room.

  Mistress of Hell

  Several weeks had passed in Hell.

  Adryel stood in front of the pot of boiling water and poured in a handful of dark moss, then began to stir as her eyes took in the space around her.

  It certainly was a large cave, at least. And she had been right. . .it could have been worse. That was the mantra that had gotten her through it all.

  The morning following their arrival, Robiel had given Lucifer and Adryel a tour. The cave seemed to stretch out forever, with multiple smaller caves opening off of it, like tiny alcoves in a large house. Robiel’s followers and a few others who had been sent to the pit over the years lived at the far end.