“He’s right, Michael,” Ardat said turning to the man she loved. “You saw how powerful Gabriel was when we fought him last. The wisest course of action is to go, scout for weaknesses then hit him in force with Esther and Seraphim’s warriors. Then we may have a chance.”
“No,” Michael shook any idea of waiting from his mind. Even now, they were taking too much time. Kyle could already have been found out as a spy. Every second they wasted put Kyle in the middle of a growing danger. “We go now, no matter the cost.”
Ardat’s eyes lowered to the ground as she struggled to form nonexistent words that would change Michael’s mind. “And if we—if you fight him and die?”
Michael shook his head and reached for Ardat. A single cupped finger from his right hand touched her chin and gently lifted her eyes to his own. “If I die, then I died fighting for the Light and to protect a friend.”
Ardat nodded grabbing Michael’s hand in her own and kissing his palm. “That’s why I love you. Always ready to do the right thing despite the cost.”
Michael pulled Ardat in for an embrace. He wished he could have stayed in that moment for an eternity. However he needed to act. One way or another he was going to get the Shaman to send him to the same location he had transported Kyle and Triana. Michael broke his embrace with Ardat and took a step towards the Shaman. “I cannot tell you that I won’t fight Gabriel. You need to send me to—”
Michael heard Ardat whisper something behind him before he felt the blow to the back of his head. “Please understand. I can’t lose you again.”
The last thing Michael remembered was falling to the dirt ground in front of the Shaman. Then the void of unconsciousness came for him.
Chapter One Hundred
Alan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the outside of Raphael’s hut. Every day he spent at the beachside dwelling, his understanding as to why Raphael chose this place as a home grew. The fresh air, the soothing crash of waves on the shore, it all spoke of a calm serenity. Looking across the beach for the tenth time Alan was still amazed to see the angels that set up their base overnight.
After receiving word from Seraphim, Esther ordered her soldiers not currently searching for Gabriel or assigned to other tasks to converge at Raphael’s home on the beach. Now an army of white tents dotted the sand and hundreds of angels all wearing silver and white ran across the beach carrying out orders.
“It’s pretty, right?”
Alan was so deep in his thoughts that he failed to see Danielle walk up beside him. “Yeah,” he said smiling at his friend, “Yeah, it is. How is everyone back at the Temple?”
“Probably exactly as you’d expect. After the human and supernatural planes were split, Gideon started working on a solution. Artemis is being herself looking after her—I guess your Dogs of War. Angelica is in charge now guarding the prisoners and waiting for orders.”
Alan was doing his best to listen to the answers to the question he asked but Seraphim’s face and memories of their interaction the night before wouldn’t let him. “And Seraphim?”
“Don’t know. After she gave us the news, she said she was going to find Michael. She needed to warn him of supernaturals being able to die now without the need for a Celestial Blade. Why?”
Danielle’s question was innocent enough yet Alan still felt his face redden. “Oh, no reason. I just thought—I didn’t see her here so…”
The two stood in awkward silence as Danielle decided whether she was going to let him off easy. She did. “Well, I guess we’re as safe here as we would be at the Temple. I can’t imagine anyone getting by Esther and her army.”
“I agree,” Alan said shooting Danielle a relieved look. “I think eventually the safest place for Kassidy will be back at the Temple but for now, at least until she learns to trust us and accepts who she is, this is best.”
“And how have you been?”
It had been so long since anyone had asked him that simple question, Alan paused for a moment. “Surviving. Thanks for asking.”
“Of course,” Danielle said, “Any new abilities popping out of nowhere? You can’t shoot lasers with your eyes or turn invisible now or anything can you?”
Alan chuckled as he realized how much he missed Danielle’s company. “No, nothing like that.” Memories of the fight with the two demons who chased Kassidy haunted his thoughts. The way he lost control and how he wanted to kill them were things Alan still hadn’t fully dealt with.
“I know that look,” Danielle said with a soft voice. “You can tell me.”
Alan let an eyebrow rise and flashed a grin. “Oh really? You know me so well, do you?”
“Please, I knew you back when you thought speed was your only ability. Remember that bar we met in. You were being all fancy reading your book and ordering bottles of the most expensive whisky they had.”
Alan allowed himself to think back to his life before he realized he was a Nephilim and then a Horseman. A laugh escaped his lips. “Yes, I remember I thought you worked for the CIA or something when you came and found me.”
Danielle laughed in turn, “Yeah, well, the FBI or CIA might have been after you soon if you had kept robbing those banks.”
Alan laughed again then sighed. How far had his life changed in such a short time? And Danielle had been there through all of it with him. “I guess I’m still having trouble harnessing the fury being the Horseman of War brings. When I’m in a fight, it’s intoxicating like a drug. I just want more of it. I don’t want to stop. It’s like a piece of me I never knew I had comes alive.” Alan paused to look at Danielle with an apologetic glance. “Sorry, does any of that make sense?”
Danielle slowly nodded, “It does. And whatever this is I know you’ll figure it out. You’re not alone, Alan. I’m here for you if you ever feel like you need to talk. You’ll figure this out just like you did everything else.”
Before Alan knew what was happening Danielle was pulling him into a hug. Her embrace was warm and full of peace. She pulled away the slightest bit to whisper in his ear, “I’ll always be here for you as a friend—or whatever you need.”
If life wasn’t already complicated enough, Danielle kissed him on the cheek and walked away down the beach.
---
“No, again,” Esther said picking up Kassidy’s sword and throwing it to her. Alan watched as the two women circled each other in the sand. Esther had wasted no time in beginning to train their new Horseman. Esther, Alan, and Raphael were to be Kassidy’s mentors.
The first lesson of the day was basic fighting skills. Raphael had objected under her needing more rest but Esther denied the request. Alan could guess why. As a Horseman, Kassidy could heal faster than anyone else, and the heat from the sun’s rays would sweat out any drugs still in her system.
Alan watched as Kassidy ran at Esther swinging her sword like a club. In one fluid move Esther disarmed her and threw her to the ground. Alan winced as he saw Kassidy face plant into a mound of sand. “That’s all for today,” Esther said. “You’ll do better tomorrow. We have to start somewhere.”
Kassidy came up from the sand spitting granules out of her mouth and glaring daggers at Esther’s back. Alan walked over to his fellow Horseman with a water canteen as he remembered back on his own training. At times it was harsh, but it was always necessary. “Need a hand?”
Kassidy accepted Alan’s offer as she shook the sand free from her hair. On top of the sand and sweat that covered Kassidy’s body, she looked worse than ever. Her wrist bandages were already gone thanks to a combination of her accelerated healing and Danielle’s gift of restorative powers, however the drugs were still working their way out of her system. Kassidy’s complexion was pasty white and glaring against the sun’s rays. “What’s her problem?”
Alan handed Kassidy the canteen, “She’s not that bad when you get to know her. She’s just training you the best way she can. Trust me, you’ll thank her for it later when you need those skills in a fight.”
Kassidy took a long drought of the canteen, then another and another, until it was empty. She handed the bottle back to Alan. “Do I look as miserable as I feel? I don’t know why I’m not sicker or going crazy from the withdrawals.”
Alan cocked his head to the side, “Well, that’s because you’re not like everyone else, you’re a Horseman. As far as whether you look like how you feel … I don’t know. Do you feel like death?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes.”
“Thanks for that. My head fills like it’s splitting in half.” Kassidy looked at Alan with large eyes. “A nap wouldn’t be part of you training me, would it?”
“Sorry, kid, I can’t swing that but maybe I can arrange some shade.” Alan led Kassidy over to an empty tent constructed to hold weapons for the angels stationed at the beach. Alan motioned Kassidy to take a seat on a barrel in the middle of the rows of swords, spears, bows and shields.
“Wrists look better,’ Alan said situating himself on the edge of a table holding arrows.
Kassidy twisted her arms with both wrists face up. Alan was right. Instead of two long gashes ripping through her skin, two pink lines showed where scars would soon take over. “If only my body would deal with the lack of drugs the same way. This sucks.”
“I can only imagine,” Alan said. “Think about it this way. How bad would things be if you weren’t a Horseman with an accelerated metabolism? Give it another day or two I’m sure the withdrawals will be gone by then.”
“Yeah, but that only fixes part of the problem.”
“How so?”
“Well, unless you’re not telling me something, it’s not like I’m all of a sudden going to stop craving the drugs. I’m a junkie, Alan. I’m just going to put that on the table.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
Kassidy shrugged. “Are you sure there hasn’t been a mistake? There’s not some holier human out there that was chosen for this?”
“Nope, trust me. I’ve spent my fair share of time thinking about that. We were chosen for a reason. If we can’t see why yet, we will one day.”
Kassidy rolled her shoulders and winced with the discomfort. “So, what’s next? Are you going to ‘teach’ me how to fly?”
“Not yet, but I do want to see if we can channel the power that makes you a Horseman.”
“And how do we do that?”
Alan recalled the very first time his powers manifested. It was during a situation when he was helpless, when he was about to be killed under Ardat’s sword and he needed to survive. Alan shuddered at the memory. He wouldn’t allow Kassidy to have to go through the same thing. Whatever it took, Alan would make sure she had an easier transition in awakening her abilities. “We’ll have to simulate a time when you needed help.”
“What?”
Alan paused and regrouped before answering. “My powers came to me when I was in trouble. I don’t know if yours will work the same way but I need you to think back to a time when you were desperate for help. I know it may be painful but that’s where we have to start.”
“Well, that won’t take long,” Kassidy said with a sardonic smile. “My life hasn’t exactly been balls and butterflies.”
“Close your eyes,” Alan instructed. He waited until Kassidy obeyed. “Pick your moment. I know it will be painful but relive that experience in every detail. The smells, the sounds, everything.”
Alan kept his eyes open measuring Kassidy’s progress. It killed him to imagine what she might have to relive, but it was necessary. Kassidy brow furrowed as she kept her eyes closed and breathed hard. The nightmare she was remembering had to be horrible. Within seconds, Alan could see a gleam of sweat on her brow. Her heartbeat quickened now even audible to Alan’s ears.
“I—I can’t,” Kassidy said eyes still closed slowly shaking her head.
“Tell me,” Alan said forcing any sympathy from his voice. “Where are you?”
“I’m—I’m eight. My father is back again from drinking. My mother and I are hiding in the closet. She tells me to be quiet but I can’t stop crying.”
It tore Alan’s heart to hear her recount such a horrible memory. Alan was having second thoughts about being ready to mentor. He was about to call the exercise off when he saw the first spark. It was faint like the last ember of a dying fire. A yellow line of energy racing around Kassidy as if it could surround her and protect her from the pain that was to come. Just as soon as it appeared, it was gone. This spurred Alan on, “Keep going, Kassidy. What happened next?”
Kassidy shook with the memory, a tremor took her body. “I’m still in the closet with my mother, my dad hears me crying. My mom is begging me to stop. He’s throwing around furniture trying to find us. He hears me. He hears me crying. He’s coming.”
Multiple yellow lights the color of the sun showed like lines and wrapped around Kassidy racing to protect her from harm. “He found us. My mom begs him to stop but he starts beating her. He’s beating her because I couldn’t keep quiet.” Kassidy’s voice was the sound of fear laced with regret and self-loathing.
Alan couldn’t take anymore. Hearing the pain in her voice was even beginning to bring his own past to the surface: the bullying, the loneliness. “Open your eyes, Kassidy.”
There was no hesitation, as the girl ran from her past. With a sigh, her eyelids snapped open. As Alan witnessed Kassidy see her true powers for the first time, he knew it was worth it. The trepidation from only a second before was replaced with an expression of wonder.
Yellow lines sped around her like tiny comets eager to chase their own tails. Words were clearly past the budding Horseman, leaving Alan to fill the silence. “This is only the first step. Now that you can call on your strength, it will get easier and easier. Eventually, you won’t have to remember the things that drove you to be who you are today. You’ll be able to find your own trigger to call your abilities.”
Kassidy nodded along with Alan’s words yet it was clear she was in shock. Alan couldn’t blame her. Kassidy moved her arms out to her sides and forced them up and down in a slow steady beat. The yellow comets sparked and followed her motions careful not to touch her skin, always within inches of her body.
Alan wanted to say more. He wanted to share in her enthusiasm and excitement, however fate had other plans. A horn from somewhere in the encampment sounded. Shouts and the sounds of running feet and whooshing wings reached Alan’s hears. He stuck his head from the tent looking for answers.
Esther was running across the beach shouting orders. Alan caught her eye, “What’s wrong. What’s happening?”
Esther met him with a grim response. “Demons have come to claim the new Horseman.”
---
Alan’s first thought was of Kassidy’s safety. Looking back into the tent he caught her wide-eyed. The yellow energy swirling around her was now gone. “I need you to stay here,” Alan said. “I’ll send Danielle or Raphael to watch you. Promise me you’ll stay here.”
It was clear Kassidy was frightened but just as easy to see was her will that set her apart as a Horseman. “I can help.”
“No,” Alan winced as the word came form his mouth more as a shout than an answer. Already, Alan could feel his body tingling with the promise of battle. He fought back the feeling trying to focus on Kassidy instead. “Please, just stay here.”
Instead of waiting for an answer, Alan hurried off into the rush of running bodies. Alan’s eyes ran over the crowd of angels preparing for war. Esther wasted no time in forming her company into ranks of armored defenses. Above, a long line of angels were already positioned and held shining silver bows and quivers full of arrows. They formed a line in the sky just ahead of the camp. Likewise, another line was forming on the ground. These angels were equipped with shields half the size of their bodies and spears as long as they were tall.
Alan ran to the front of the line to find Esther while still searching for a familiar face. Finally, he saw Raphael. The Archangel was walking from his hut, a haunted
look of anxiety plastered across his bearded face. “Raphael,” Alan shouted changing his course to intercept the Archangel. “I need you to look after Kassidy. She’s in the weapons tent. I—” Alan paused as he witnessed Raphael’s eyes glaze over. It was obvious amidst the clanking armor and captains shouting their commands that Raphael was reliving events eons old.
Alan grabbed the Archangel by the shoulders and shook. “Listen to me. Kassidy needs you. This isn’t the war you were in. This isn’t any of your friends or Uriel.”
That did it: Raphael snapped out of his haze at the mention of his lost friend. He blinked like he was seeing Alan for the first time. “Do you hear me?” Alan asked. “Kassidy is alive in the weapons tent and she needs you right now. Go protect her, Raphael.”
Raphael nodded dumbly and ran for the encampment. Alan wished he had more time to ensure the Archangel found Kassidy but he needed to get to the frontlines. Alan maneuvered his way through the maelstrom of activity in the camp. Every angel was either already at his or her station or in the camp preparing their defenses.
The frontline was the area just before the beach ended and touched the first outcroppings of grass. Esther stood tall just behind the frontlines taking council with Danielle and a handful of her advisers. Alan craned his neck to see what evil approached but to his dismay he could see nothing. Past the broad shoulders of the angelic core, only green landscape appeared.
“What’s going on?” Alan asked, skidding to a halt beside the group of conferring military leaders.
Esther gave him a sideways glance, which clearly communicated that she was not used to being interrupted. “Our forward sentries came in contact with Fallen scouts in advance of a much larger company. The demon scouts flew a white flag and spoke with our sentries.”
The Complete Archangel Wars Series: A Shared Universe Series (The Archangel Wars) Page 45
