A Mystery of Light

by Brian Fuller

  “Didn’t work with Andromeda,” Shujaa said.

  “Melody’s nicer,” Sparks said.

  “As long as she sings,” Finny said, voice dreamy. “That’s all I care about.”

  “Which does bring up a problem,” Sparks said. “Telling a woman she has the voice of an angel when she is an angel sort of makes the compliment meaningless.”

  Archus Mars raised a hand for silence. “Okay, everyone, now it’s time for more good news and where we go from here. The Dreads are retreating when I think they had intended to occupy. We’ve been watching them carefully, waiting to see where they will gather. We know where we’re going next. Be ready for marching orders tomorrow morning, but in the next couple of days, we are going to send Avadan a message he won’t forget. For tonight, let’s remember the fallen, let’s gather our courage, and let’s get ready to end this once and for all.”

  “Hoorah!” belted into the twilight.

  “See you at twelve-thirty,” Helo said to his team. He was ready to roll. What he wasn’t ready for was Melody, who was working her way through the crowd toward him. He slipped into the trees. He wanted to be alone a while longer. He wanted to keep Aclima in his head just one more time before the war filled it again.

  Gradually the noise faded behind him. The darkness invited him into its lonely embrace, and just before the sun fully fell, he found himself back at the river’s edge, though he’d never been to that particular spot before. A fallen branch provided a convenient place to sit and listen to the river flowing by. Night swallowed him, the patchwork sky between the branches a deep, inky black that let the stars pop into view with full brilliance.

  He thought of Aclima, but Melody joining Sicarius Nox kept nagging his brain. Grand Archus Mars should have shut her down. Now he was going to worry about her the whole time, and he couldn’t afford for that to happen. He had to focus.

  A white radiance was growing upriver, and he thought someone with a flashlight might have come searching for him. But the light was simply too pure and stunning. He got up and leaned around a tree to get a look, and there, floating above the water was Dolorem, light so blinding Helo had to put his hand in front of his eyes.

  But he didn’t come to him.

  Instead, he slipped into the trees, divine light arrowing around the trunks as he passed. What was he up to? Helo tripped through the forest, wishing he’d thought to bring his flashlight. Dolorem’s brilliance was too bright to be much more help than a general direction to travel.

  By the time he caught up to the Old Master-turned-angel, he felt like he’d been introduced to every branch and fallen log in the forest. But there, lying on the ground, was Melody. She was on her back, hair fanned around her, eyes closed almost like she was asleep. But Ash Angels didn’t sleep. Still, she was motionless, Dolorem hovering a few inches off the ground to her left. The light of his glory made her countenance divine.

  Only Dolorem’s face—scraggly beard and all—was recognizable. The rest of his form was lost in the overpowering brilliance of his person.

  “Helo,” Dolorem said, voice made for sermons turned voice of thunder. It vibrated his very bones. “I have come because the hour is late. I have come for her.”

  Chapter 21

  Burden

  Dolorem chuckled. His light dimmed a little, and when he spoke again the timbre of his voice settled into something not quite so intimidating.

  “I love that,” he said. “I could have scared all those bikers straight with that voice. Maybe they’ll let me go back some time and give it a try.”

  “What did you do to her?” Helo asked. Melody wasn’t moving, her face peaceful, like she was relaxing inside a beloved dream.

  Dolorem descended and then knelt beside her, eyes beaming with affection. “I’ve let her mind wander off into some paradise of her own making. It is so good to see her again. You know, she was always a good kid. Always. I sometimes wish I could have given her a better life than that of a truck driver, but then again, maybe not. Lots of good memories. Lots of good food, too. Not sure how she stayed so thin.”

  “She said you wouldn’t let her eat any of the good stuff,” Helo said.

  “True,” Dolorem answered. “But, believe me, she was really good at sneaking goodies behind my back.” He sighed. “But it is late, and we are late.”

  Helo sat in the leaves on the other side of Melody. “What do you mean?”

  Dolorem shifted his gaze, his penetrating eyes burning into Helo’s soul. “What Fleuramere said about you being disobedient and not awakening Tela? That’s what made everything late.”

  “Goliath awakened her instead,” Helo said. “So why is it late?”

  Dolorem shook his head in a good-natured way. “Helo, Helo, Helo. You say ‘Why is it late’ without knowing what the it is that’s late. It is everything in this case, and until you know it, it is going to be risky. Got it?”

  “No,” Helo said. Angels and their apparent hatred of plain speaking.

  “Well, the sooner you figure it out, the better,” Dolorem said. “Time to get started.”

  Closing his eyes, Dolorem touched his forehead with his right hand, then gently touched her forehead with it. Then he put his hand over his heart, then over hers.

  “Wait,” Helo said. “You’re making her—”

  “You really shouldn’t interrupt this,” Dolorem said. He touched his eyes and then touched hers. “When she opens her eyes again, she will be Angel Born, like you. There are still gifts you’ve yet to uncover. You will find them together.”

  Helo remembered something Fleuramere had said. “Fleuramere said that giving this gift was a risk. Why?”

  Dolorem stood and lifted off the ground a few inches again. “Because if you fall, we do too. Fallen angels are a miserable lot. It would be like banning me from convenience stores.”

  Dolorem would certainly hate that. “By fall, you mean turn to Dreads.”

  “Yes,” he said. “Now, I am going to lay a charge to you, Helo.” His angelic glory building, his voice taking on its former ground-shaking quality. “You will teach my Melody the meditation. It is important.”

  “I’ll do it,” Helo said. “No need for the special effects.”

  “Good,” Dolorem said with a smile. “Now leave us. There are words I need to speak to her alone. It was good to see you, Helo. And remember what I tried to teach you about the real reason Ash Angels exist.”

  Helo nodded. “Good to see you too.”

  Even though the light was blinding and even a little unsettling, walking out of it felt like leaving home. In that light, nothing of darkness could enter or breed, a place of perfect safety. Once the shafts of glory had faded behind him, the vulnerability of the world returned full force. Even in their hidden camp, it seemed like malice stalked the night looking for them, waiting to crawl down upon them and destroy them all.

  He shook the feeling off. What he really needed to know was what the it was that Dolorem thought was so late. Did it really matter that Goliath had awakened Tela six months ago instead of him? She’d been trained and taught by some of the best. So what was missing?

  After about fifteen minutes of wandering, he found the rutted road wriggling through the trees back to camp. He swatted leaves and bark from his clothes and then checked his watch. Twelve fifteen. About time for the briefing with Sicarius Nox. He picked up his pace a little, not sure how far he was from camp.

  About the time he could hear the first hint of voices on the air, he found Melody leaning against a tree by the side of the road with her arms folded. He swore he could detect a bit of celestial glow still surrounding her. Her smile was wide enough to see, even in the dim light. He wondered if she would tell him about Dolorem.

  “I’m leaning against a tree away from everybody else,” she announced. “Apparently that’s what all the cool kids do. You ever think of maybe . . . I don’t know . . . joining the rest of us in our little gatherings? Middle front is always the best seat in the house.” />
  “I’m always late,” he said.

  She peeled herself off the tree and fell in beside him. “I’ll save a spot for you. So. I got my first Bestowal.”

  So Dolorem had told her his true angel name—and she had already used it. “Really? What did you get?”

  Her aura flared, and she socked him in the upper arm like she was trying to win the most important slug-bug competition ever. He stumbled left and ended up in a scrubby tree. So she had chosen Strength. Didn’t seem to fit her.

  “I’m so sorry,” Melody said, laughing. “The vision told me that’s what I was supposed to do. That’s how I knew you would be coming down the road.”

  She offered her hand, but he extracted himself from the clingy shrub without it. “Your vision told you to punch me?”

  “Well, yeah,” she said. “Sorry.”

  He couldn’t tell if she was really sorry or if he believed her. Why would the vision tell her to do something so . . . random? Seemed like she wanted to laugh as much as apologize. “Well, um, give me a heads-up next time.” And payback was fair game. She had to know that.

  “A heads-up? That wouldn’t be fun,” she said as she helped him swat the rest of the bush off his clothes. “But I am sorry. And I’m sorry about Aclima, too. I can’t imagine what a loss that was. I’m here for you, okay? Not knowing where you were for these last six months has been hard, especially when I found out about . . . well, when I found out what was going on. When I was a mortal, I thought everybody in the ‘Guardian Protective Services’ must have worshiped you. I was so sad to hear they were actually trying to hunt you down.”

  “Yeah,” he said, though it came out as little more than a grunt. Of all the topics he didn’t want to revisit.

  “Sorry again,” she said. They had almost reached camp, the noises of celebration and laughter still alive. “Look, I know you don’t want me on Sicarius Nox. I get it. But I am a fast learner. And . . . well, I . . . just . . . Well, I just want to work with you, okay? I know I might get stuck back with Faramir flying his little drones and whatever else, but I want to be in it. I want to make a difference. I hope you can respect that.”

  He nodded. “Just don’t let your music go, okay?”

  “Of course not,” she said. “I’ll sing to you anytime. You know that. So what do you do for fun, you know, in between missions and stuff?”

  The question almost stopped him in his tracks. What did he like doing anymore? He used to do puzzles, but that was mostly to keep himself out of his own mind. There were games with Aclima, and just the thought of Go-fish saddened him. It was so stupid, but they had played it so often he could never play it again without thinking of her. He trained. He listened to music—Melody’s music. But it had been missions and training and running and hiding for so long he had no idea what there was to enjoy anymore. Or if there was even time.

  “I, um,” he said. “Well, just, normal stuff, you know.”

  She glanced knowingly at him. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  They arrived first at the command tent, where Grand Archus Mars and Archuses Ebenezer and Magdelene were surrounded by aides who darted in and out with glowing tablets.

  “Have a seat, you two,” Archus Magdelene said. “We’ll be a minute.”

  Andromeda came next with Shujaa and Faramir. Then Sparks and Finny.

  “There she is,” Sparks said, gray eyes on Melody. “Our newest teammate. You ready for this, sweetheart?”

  “Watch it, Sparks,” Archus Magdelene said, glancing up from a tablet.

  Sparks raised his hand. “Oh, no offense. I’m not trying to demean her or anything. I mean, look at her. She is a sweetheart. The girl you’d take home to Mom and have babies with.”

  “Sparks—” Helo said.

  “No, no! Okay,” he backpedaled. “I’m just saying she looks way too happy to be in this group. Everybody in Sicarius Nox has had the polish rubbed off them a long time ago. She’s still shiny. Not even a Bestowal to her name.”

  “Just got one,” she said, not seeming the least bit offended.

  “And she’s Angel Born,” Helo added. That shut everybody up. Even the Archuses stopped what they were doing.

  Her eyes shot wide. “I am?”

  “He didn’t tell you?”

  “He told you?” she said, face full of wonder.

  “We were tight, you know.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Faramir jumped in. “Who is he?”

  Helo met his eyes. The geeky Ash Angel still had his ridiculous knit hat with the dongles. “Dolorem, the Old Master who helped train me—and raised her.”

  “So I’m awesome now, right?” Melody said. Then her eyes widened again. “And I can’t be torched! Yes!”

  The Archuses angled their direction. “Is this true?” Mars asked.

  “It is,” Helo answered.

  “This is great news,” Magdelene said. “Sit down, everyone. What else did Dolorem say to you?”

  “To me?” Helo said. “He complained that something was late. Wouldn’t say what. I don’t know what he said to Melody.”

  She blushed a little. “Not much, really. Personal stuff. He told me his angel name, and I got to say it and choose a Bestowal.”

  “Good,” Archus Mars said. “Two Blank Angel Borns is a great advantage. And you’re probably going to need it. We’re about to send you into a hornets nest.”

  “Where is it?” Helo asked.

  “It’s an amusement park,” Archus Magdelene answered, flipping her tablet toward them. A picture from the internet read “All Fun Amusement Park” in a jazzy yellow neon. “It’s in Kansas City.”

  “Let me guess,” Finny piped in, voice subdued. “It’s a creepy, abandoned amusement park staffed by evil clown Dreads.”

  Magdelene’s lips slid into a half grin. “Not exactly. It’s an actual, functioning amusement park, but it is closed for the season. Early recon doesn’t show anything unusual. It’s just . . . empty. I spoke with my Old Master contacts in the area, and they said the Dreads are going in and disappearing. The Old Masters aren’t following or engaging at this point, so we don’t know much more than the general location.”

  Sparks’s face twisted in disgust. “The Old Masters could at least thin the herd a little for us.”

  Mars harrumphed. “They’re more interested in bake sales and raking leaves. Look, we hope to have more intel before you get there. But we’ve got to get in there and search the place. If Aclima was right and he’s storing Vexus there, it’s not above ground.”

  “It’s got to be in water, right?” Melody asked.

  “Yeah,” Helo said, “water that isn’t running. Stagnant, like a pond or a container of some sort.” He remembered the metallic pool on The Tempest where Cain had gathered his Vexus. “He’s probably going to try to do the same thing Cain did. Fulfill the deal. He’s shown a liking for underground lairs. So it’s got to be under there somewhere.”

  Melody tapped her lip. “And a flair for entertainment—he’s used a theater and an amusement park. I guess the mine-prison doesn’t fit.”

  Helo felt like she was on to something. “Even in the mine the guy had a huge room just for his massive wardrobe. I had to go through it when I escaped. Have the shrinks—”

  “Profilers,” Magdelene corrected.

  “Right,” Helo continued. “Have they had any luck figuring this guy out?”

  “Can’t understand crazy,” Sparks said, leaning back. “Six thousand years of mommy issues doesn’t need to be understood. It just needs to be put down.”

  “Hoorah,” Mars said.

  “There is value to understanding his madness,” Magdelene said. “Aclima helped some, but she was disgusted by him. He never felt loved by his mother—and as far as I can tell, Aclima never did love him—and he never felt good enough to please Cain. So one possible motivation is that he wants to outdo Cain somehow, though that would make more sense if Avadan would have worked it so Cain could see
the fruition of whatever master plan he’s enacting right now.”

  “Yeah,” Faramir said. “But what about the fashion statements? I mean, he dresses so weird.”

  Magdelene shrugged. “That is disconcerting. It could be he isn’t comfortable with who he is, so he continually changes, trying to find something that fits. Or maybe there’s some sort of code in the way he pieces together his ensembles.”

  Mars stood. “Or maybe he enjoys it because he’s lost his damn mind. Whatever the case, we’ve got to get to him fast. We don’t know if this little setback at the Foundry has delayed his plans or if he’s already got the Vexus he needs to do whatever he’s going to do. You all ship out at 0900. I think we’re close to bringing this animal to his knees, so let’s bring it.”

  “One question, sir,” Sparks said. “I take it Argyle’s not in command anymore. Who’s our team leader?”

  “Helo is team lead,” Mars said, though Helo thought it cost him some pain or pride, or both, to say it out loud.

  “As it should be,” Shujaa said in a low tone.

  “Sparks,” Mars continued, “you’ll be his second. So get out of here and get geared up. You’ll be the tip of the spear, as usual. We’ll park a couple more teams on the perimeter for you to call in when you’ve located the nest. Briefing will happen on the way. Dismissed.”

  Everyone stood to go, but Helo just sat there. Team lead of Sicarius Nox. It had been a troubled position to occupy. He was honored and stunned at the same time. His first command.

  Sparks slapped him on the arm. The Sheid-fighting veteran had wanted the job, but his face didn’t hold any of the disappointment or anger Helo would have expected. Faramir looked a little grumpy, but he seemed more entranced by Melody at the moment.

  “Well, Finny,” Sparks said, “I’m sad to report that our days of unending sitreps are over and that you have a commander who’s almost as reckless as I am.”

  “God help us,” Finny said.

  “I don’t believe in God,” Sparks said.

  “Which is increasingly stupid, my friend,” Finny added. “Promise me there won’t be any more clowns.”