Dominic placed his hand directly over Alan’s chest, where muscle and bone protected his heart. The swirling power of red energy exploded. The world went black.
Chapter 70
Michael was covered in both is own blood and the blood of his enemies. Since the arrival of the Death Angels, the battle had turned in their favor. All around him, his men and women took heart. A passion for victory possessed his warriors as they witnessed the most powerful beings in history take the battlefield on their side.
Wherever a pair of dark wings flapped over the battlefield, the Fallen and their Nephilim either fled or met their end. Michael grinned and said a silent prayer of thanks to the Creator who, contrary to Ardat’s beliefs, had not forsaken them in their hour of need.
The fight was nearing its end. In all directions, the enemy lay dying or fleeing. Michael knew Ardat would not surrender. He knew that she would not, could not endure another defeat. It was for the love that still beat in his heart for her that he forced his broken body to flight. Pain seared across multiple wounds that still oozed his angelic blood. His armor was punctured and torn in a dozen different locations. The once royal blue cloak that trailed behind him was reduced to tatters.
Focusing beyond the pain that sought to bring him to a standstill, Michael gained altitude in the hot desert air. The sight below him confirmed what he already expected to see. The enemy army was in full retreat. All but one of their giants lay dead on the field of battle. Small pockets of resisters still struggled against the Death Angels but were dealt with in a brutal and swift manner void of any quarter or compassion.
Panic began to wrap its cold fingers around Michael’s hopeful heart. He couldn’t find Ardat anywhere. A voice told him that he was too late. It whispered images of Ardat lying dead and alone on some forsaken corner of the battleground. Michael was burdened with guilt. Had he done everything he could to save her? Should he have tried harder to stop her during her secret visit to his tent? Before more doubts could tear his heart asunder, Michael heard a familiar shout in the distance.
Beating back the frantic hold on his heart, he searched for Ardat. His eyes scanned the scene below him and stopped on a group of four Death Angels surrounding a single foe. Without hesitation, Michael headed for the conflict. As fast as his wounded wings could carry him, Michael raced to stop the fight. Ardat was in the center of the four warriors, a sword in either hand. She was not going to go without a fight.
“Stop!” Michael screamed as he came to a less than graceful landing next to Ardat. He shouted the command to all of them as once. Faces recognized him as the Archangel and stopped midstride. Ardat still stood crouched and ready for her final clash.
Michael looked at the woman he still loved despite himself. She was bruised and bloodied. Her eyes darted to him first but refused to linger long. She was shifting her stance trying to take on the other four Death Angels at once.
Michael wiped the sweat that dripped into his green eyes as he recognized the familiar faces of the Death Angels who had fought alongside him during the first conflict in Heaven. “Enough,” he said. “Brothers and sisters, you will always have my thanks and gratitude for your assistance this day. However, the fight is over. Thanks to you, the day is won. Whatever Fallen or demonic Nephilim remain will be taken prisoner.”
“You should tell that to your, girlfriend,”
Michael turned to look at Deborah, she was one of the fiercest female warriors in the Death Angel clan, only second to Sera herself. Michael chose to ignore the jab at his relationship with Ardat. He knew that the stakes were high and everyone’s nerves were at the breaking point. Instead of replying to Deborah, he turned to Ardat. “It’s over. I know you see that. There is no victory to be won here.”
Ardat still refused to look at him for more than a second. Michael could see the gears turning in her head as she considered her options. “How? How?” she asked. “How did you convince them to join the fight? They haven’t taken part in our war since we fell centuries ago. How did you get them now?”
Michael shook his head. “I didn’t. I’m looking forward to hearing that story just as much as you from a Nephilim named Alan Price. But now the how is not important. Right now I need you to make a decision.”
The passion and intensity in Michael’s voice made Ardat stop her shifting stare and look into his eyes. “I need you to put your weapons down and give us another chance. No matter how small that chance is.”
Ardat’s weapons lowered the slightest bit. “They will kill me for what I’ve done or sentence me to a life worse than being condemned to this world.”
Michael refused to lie to the woman who held his affection. “They might. No matter what, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Ardat swallowed hard. “You’d still stand by my side? With all that I’ve done?”
Tears filled Michael’s eyes as he threw caution to the wind and stood next to Ardat with open arms. “The path that you chose was one I could not follow. That was your choice. Despite that, I never stopped loving you. No matter what happens now, I won’t stop loving you. Just give us a chance. Stop this.”
In a very unlike Ardat fashion, she dropped her weapons. Still too strong to cry in the presence of others, Michael could see her fight back the tears that pooled in her eyes. “I’ll surrender, Michael. I’ll surrender for you. For us.”
Chapter 71
Darkness swirled all around Alan. Overhead, beneath him, all around him was nothing but a void, blackness. He looked down on himself. Still dressed in the same suit of armor with his white cloak and blue wings behind him, Alan knew he was dead – at least he thought he was.
As he remembered the events that led to this moment, his thought process was interrupted by a familiar voice. “You’ve done so well, Alan. You’ve surpassed any limitations I though you would encounter.”
Alan spun around to see Jacob approaching. The man was just as he remembered. Behind him and all around him the darkness ran in fear of the light. Brilliance surrounded Jacob and with every step, the blackness dissipated. As Alan witnessed the wondrous change of scenery, he also realized what these events meant. “Jacob, am I dead?”
Jacob stood in front of Alan with a wide smile. The last of the darkness was gone. “Well, sort of. You’re in a kind of limbo right now.”
Alan tried to wrap his mind around the unfamiliar words that Jacob spoke with such a relaxed attitude. Witnessing the confusion on Alan’s face, Jacob picked up the conversation. “I know it’s a lot to understand and there is much I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that your work on earth is not done. I was sent here to give you a message. He’s very proud of you, Alan. He needs you to continue to discover and learn who you are. You are special, Alan Price. I hope you can see that by now. It won’t be easy but everyday you can choose to grow and evolve into the person you were always meant to be.”
A sense of calm and peace penetrated every pore of Alan’s body. “And you?” he asked. “Can you come back with me?”
Jacob smiled and shook his head. “My work on earth is done. Yours on the other hand, is just beginning.” Jacob’s handsome features took on a tone of worry. “This wasn’t the end, Alan. The Colossus was just the beginning. Look to the other six Ancient Wonders for answers. Train. Learn. You will be needed desperately very soon.”
The peace that held and rocked Alan only a moment before began to dissolve at Jacob’s foreboding words. “What do you mean? What’s going to happen?”
“Nothing. Nothing is going to happen as long as you choose to fight for what you know is right. We are all capable of a lot of good and a lot of bad, it’s up to us to decide what we become. There is always a choice, Alan, never forget that.”
“I don’t know if I can, Jacob. If there’s more coming, I don’t even know how I’m managing to keep it together now. I don’t even know what I am. Nephilim aren’t even supposed to have wings.”
“It’s alright to be scared, Alan. Courage isn’t the
absence of fear. It’s victory over fear. I’ve divulged too much already. I have to go now. Remember what I said and always know that you are not alone.”
“Jacob, Jacob, wait.” Alan extended a hand to grab the man that had played such a brief yet powerful role in his life as a mentor. Only air filled his palm.
Alan sat bolt upright breathing hard. Angelica sat beside him with a smile. “Easy there hero.”
“Where, where am I?”
“You’re safe. We’re in one of the Angels’ secret bases called Haven. It was too long of a trip to take the wounded back to the warehouse. We’ve set up a kind of triage center here.”
Alan nodded still hearing Jacob’s words echo in his head. He was wearing a light blue pair of pants with a matching blue shirt. His body ached but he had more important things on his mind than his own wellbeing, “Did we win? The war, I mean. Is everyone okay?”
Angelica grinned, “Yes, thanks to you and Danielle we were victorious. We lost many in the battle. If you are asking about Danielle, she’s fine.”
Alan let a gasp escape his aching chest. For the first time he took in his surroundings. They were in a large long room set with a clean white bed every few yards. Supernatural healers gifted with abilities similar to Danielle, walked from bed to bed, administering treatment and checking patients. As Alan’s gaze panned across the room, his eyes stopped on a man and woman walking toward them. It was Danielle and Michael.
“Hey there, look who’s awake,” Danielle smiled and threw a light punch that connected with Alan’s chest and sent a bolt of searing pain through his entire body. Alan grunted as Danielle winced, “Oh, sorry, sorry, probably not the best idea.”
Alan’s pain turned into joy as his grunt transformed to a laugh, “It’s okay. I probably have you to thank for me being alive in the first place.”
“You do,” Michael said with a grin. “We all have both of you to thank for convincing the Death Angels to side with us. Danielle told me about what you did, Alan. Everyone is talking about it. You two are heroes. However, there is still much to be done. Prisoners need to be sentenced and guarded, there are still hundreds if not thousands of escaped Fallen and dark Nephilim to be captured and, if it’s possible, we need to make the Death Angels see eye to eye with us. If we can get them to agree to an alliance, their help will be invaluable in the future.”
Alan took a deep breath as he thought on all the work that still had to be done. “What I’m trying to say is you’ve proven yourself more than I could ever ask: we need you.”
Alan again remembered Jacob’s gloom warning of the days to come. “I’m in. We need to take a closer look at the remaining six Ancient Wonders of the World. I need to know everything you know.”
Michael nodded with a grim smile. “You will, for now rest. You’re not going to do anyone any good from that bed.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Danielle said, “we just saved the world from a demonic invasion. I don’t think things can get much worse than that.”
As the group of friends chuckled, Alan prayed she was right.
Chapter 72
Triana shifted from her kneeling position. Her eyes remained lowered, staring at the dark stone floor. It was only hours since she escaped the battle. With the arrival of the Death Angles, she realized the day was lost and was among the first to flee. She was responsible for reporting on Ardat’s actions and it seemed that this would be the last report ever made, Ardat’s death was all but certain. “Ardat has failed.”
Triana didn’t dare look at him. Still with her eyes pointed to the floor, she was able to catch his strong form glide across the room and look out the arched window to the coming night. “Ardat may have failed at her personal plan but, unbeknownst to her, she has only aided in progressing our own. She has revealed one of the Four Horsemen in this Alan Price. What is better is that Michael still has no idea what power lies within this Nephilim.”
Triana squinted as she struggled for understanding, “But in doing so, she has given them the Colossus and revealed the secret to one of the Seven Ancient Wonders.”
“Widen your vision, Triana. Six more remain; each with their secrets of the past still intact.”
Triana let her swollen tongue play over the rows of sharp bones she called teeth. “When do we make our move, Gabriel? When do we emerge from the shadows and strike?”
“Soon, patience is a virtue. The component of surprise is still with us; they have no idea that I have returned. They have no clue as to the power that I have begun to amass. We will strike when we are ready and Alan Price will join us, whether he knows it yet or not. Fate itself will dictate this to be true.”
Alan Price will be back in the second installment of the Nephilim Chronicles, Alan Price and the Temple of Artemis, coming soon. Until then, stay informed by visiting www.jonathan-yanez.com and be sure to sign up for the newsletter, which will keep you updated on release dates for upcoming projects and give you access to exclusive excerpts on the next book.
Jonathan Yanez is also the author of The Elite Series, Steam and Shadows, Thrive and Bad Land. His books have been optioned for films and are available in ebook, print and audio book. He would love you to leave a comment after you finish reading Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes.
Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Page 21
