“Tell me your request,” Ungeo said, knowing full well she was going to accept whatever it was they suggested. Knowing it would likely lead to her own death, to her final journey to obtain her Pri.
Crescendo
Ko was given no training, no special instructions on the protocols of military life. While he already knew the proper addresses for the officers above him, he knew nothing about marching, falling into position, or folding down his sleeping area.
He expected the others to meet him with scorn. After all, he had been the reason their Marid companion had been taken away. But they greeted the large demon warmly into their ranks. They patted him on the side and offered him drinks of berry extract. They called him “brother.” He was a Footie now. It was an honor. He hadn't been punished. He'd been commended.
Their captain, the same Daityas who Ko had ordered to assist in the arrest attempt, was not as jovial as the others. Still, he wasn't as abrasive as Ko remembered. He even made a comment about how it was good to have someone bigger than him on the team. Even if it was a demon with only one arm.
After several drinks of extract, Ko admitted he had never once fired a weapon before. They laughed at that. And after even more of the drink, they all set out from their barracks, Ko toting his newly-issued Geyrun-sized weapon. Later, he was to meet with a surgeon and have a weapon surgically attached to his stump. He didn't like the idea at all, but he certainly preferred that to awkwardly holding the gun with his one hand.
They found an empty section of the city, and Ko—more drunk than he'd ever been in his entire life—began to practice with the weapon, blowing out window after window. With each direct hit, his companions whooped and shouted encouragement.
Through the fog of the drink, he began to think about his journey. This was exactly what he had wanted all along. Here he was with Marid, Daityas, a Gorgon, a pair of Shishi, and others, and they were all working together, living together. While they still had many problems and arguments, they had become a very tightly knit group. That had been his dream, and here was proof it could work.
But that damn Charun. Ko's hatred toward the evil whore was as potent as ever.
Later, after his head cleared, he inquired of the captain if they were being given orders to help pick up the traitorous Charun again.
“Your obsession is a weakness,” he said. “I have no such orders at this time, but if we are given the order to move against the Dahhak, I'm of the mind to keep you back.”
“You can't do that to me,” Ko said. “You don't understand.”
“I do understand,” the captain said. His long fingers were fixing two grenades together. They said the captain always played with explosives. He almost never had an accident. “It has become a personal matter. That makes you weak. I do not accept weakness.”
“Give me the chance, and I'll prove you wrong,” Ko said, his voice a growl.
The Daityas looked at him for a long moment, an odd expression upon his meaty face. “You are not like any Geyrun I have ever met.”
“All I want is a life for my son. I wish to fight so he won't have to.”
The captain placed the now-fused grenades down. He almost looked sad. “That's what we all like to think, Geyrun. But peace never comes because of war. Only despite it.”
* * * *
Levi's fingers bled. He had no tools, and he was forced to remove the sleeve of the wires with his teeth and nails. He couldn't disconnect the generator, so a biting current coursed through him as he worked. He discovered that angel blood was an excellent conductor.
It wasn't a matter of defeating the internal security system that protected the messages. That would be impossible. However, he could work around it. It required removing the receiver for the battle display, replacing the imaging chip with a speaker for the missile warning system, and then attaching it after the descrambler but before the radio security on the stack—all without allowing a power flux more than .32 crands above or below the loaded standard. And since he didn't have a scope to measure it, he was doing all the electrical measurements in his head.
Levi was almost finished. He didn't dare guess what the message might say, but he worked feverishly. Before, as he crawled through the fields, he had nothing. Not even hope. But now—now he had a glimmer. A spark of expectation that he converted to energy.
A twist of wire, a press of a makeshift button, and he was done.
A burst of static. For a panicked moment, Levi thought it hadn't worked. But then the message sprang forth, almost too quiet, but he jumped forward, pressing his ear against the speaker. He was prepared for anything, but the sound of his commander's voice, Colonel Tamael, was almost overwhelming.
“This is an urgent Critical Action Message originating from the Seraph chambers in the Tower. I am here with a small number of Principalities, two other Powers, and a human who at one time was a Seraph. Also present is an Ophan who protects the entrance to this section. I am Colonel Tamael, and I was originally stationed in the 701st Battalion of the Subterranean Defense Militia.” She listed a long string of her commanding officers and various other protocols, designed to assure any who listened that this wasn't a trick of some sort.
“To any and all who might receive this message: We need your help. We have discovered a method to defeat this menace upon our world. However, the tools required for this are not with us. You must listen to the following instructions.”
As Levi listened to the long list of things that must be done, he realized how desperate this scheme was. The odds of it working were small. With a pang of guilt, he understood a portion of this was a result of his failure. If they had all the periscepters, none of this would be necessary.
And if you had been more diligent in your original duties, the demons might not be here at all.
There was something in the message, critical to the success of their plan, that could only be completed by someone on this side of the city. He didn't know where the others were, but Tamael clearly stated they weren't with her. What if they were all gone? What if he was the only one?
The fact that Tamael was away from their underground base was telling. Something must have transpired. Maybe the whole thing destroyed. The thought made him shiver. Was that something else that came as a result of their failed assault?
This message, while revealing many terrible things, had indeed given Levi the hope he yearned for. He stood from the cockpit of the Foray. He could no longer crawl because there was no more time. He didn't have a gun, and he had no sort of alternate protection. But he flew for the first time since being ripped out of the sky. This was important, terribly so. He would not fail. Not this time.
* * * *
It was more angels than Dave had ever seen. As the host of them poured up from the foggy valley where they'd lived for almost an eternity, he began to fully comprehend the beach on the other side of the city. Each grain of sand was a dead angel. When he was younger, he'd learned the names of numbers after a trillion. Quadrillion. Quintillion. Sextillion. He now knew what such numbers looked like.
They had given him a set of tattered robes and sandals, which he now wore. Underneath him, Vila trembled. The mighty wolf did not like being near so many. And they followed her now as she tread back they way they had come.
Beside him floated the angel who had originally greeted him. His name was Zydkiel, and he was stout and bald. The first angel he'd seen with no hair. His body was football-player wide with arms thick like solid pipes of iron. He had a long scar down his face just right of his nose. Long and straight like it had been caused by a quick chop to the face by an ax.
“Why couldn't you find your way out?” Dave asked as they traveled. “It's not like it's that hard, even with the fog. We walked right there.”
The angel sighed. At first he had been downright hostile, but after Dave had told him and a few others his story, he had softened a little. Still, many of the others refused to even acknowledge Dave. The mass behind him was like the lion in the zoo,
pacing back and forth. The lion that wanted nothing more than to eat him. And once he and Vila led them free of the fog, the cage would be gone.
From what Dave gathered, they had been placed there as punishment for revolting against Cibola when the humans first came. This was the second time there had been war in heaven. It seemed that some regretted their decision to take up arms against their leader. But most were bitter and angry still. They all had weapons, but they were swords and knives and bows with full quivers. Not a gun amongst any of them.
“We were more than just lost in the fog,” Zydkiel said. “For us it was only a short time ago that we were banished. And an eternity all mixed together. You're more than just physically lost. Your mind is, too. Like it's mired in the syrup from a tree's wound. It was only when you approached that we began to have more lucid thoughts.”
“I think I understand,” Dave said. It had been like that in the forest.
“Do we mean to help defend the city?” an angel asked Zydkiel, another with the blue-fringed robe. “I doubt many will be willing.”
“Then tell them to go back,” Zydkiel said, spitting. “Have they not learned? We were fools. Even if they choose not to fight, they will not be free to roam. The city has been overrun.”
“Because of the humans,” the other angel said.
“There's more to it than that, you pungent old cow,” Vila said. She spoke for the first time in the presence of the angels, and the ones around her became suddenly silent. As if they hadn't realized she could talk. “The humans were created out of necessity. Your petty insurrection did nothing but exacerbate the situation on our world. Without the humans, the balance would've been upended. And you spoiled fools couldn't see it.”
No angels around them spoke for a long while, but to whisper down what the wolf had said.
“How long before we find our brothers and sisters?” Zydkiel said after a long period. Already, the fog began to clear.
“Soon,” Vila said. “Once you are free of your prison, we will leave you.”
“No,” Dave said. “I stay with the angels. I promised I would take a message to the ones outside the city, and that's what I'm going to do.”
“I will not approach the city,” Vila said. “And I will not allow you away from me.”
“I am never away from you,” Dave said. “I never have been.”
The angels said nothing. Dave put his hand on Vila's neck.
I'm about to say something really, really stupid.
“I promise I will return when it's over.” You dim-witted idiot, the voice in his head cried. Don't say that!
“You would do that?” she said.
“I don't want to, but I will.”
She didn't reply for hours. Only the crunch of her massive claws and the gossamer flap of trillions of wings filled the air. “I will find you if you lie.”
“I know.”
The fog parted to reveal the edge of the massive forest. Nearby stood a beacon, a pyramid that rose high into the cloudy red sky like a behemoth emerging from the waves. The ground was wet and muddy, like it had recently rained. Beyond the hulking pyramid was the ether, but on this side there was no sand.
“We can find our way from here,” Zydkiel said to Dave. “Shall we take you along?”
Dave met Vila's eyes. Her teeth hung like stalactites, gleaming. She still terrified him. Vicious, brutal, and oddly innocent all at the same time. She reminded him of Carumba at that moment, though he wasn't sure why.
He could ask the angels to kill the wolf, and they probably would. He would be safe and free. He opened his mouth to say so, backing up at the same time. But he simply said, “Yes.”
“I will wait,” Vila replied.
* * * *
Ungeo found an empty building in which to rest and watch. She was tired and hungry, but she didn't dare go for food. And she couldn't sleep. Not now. She questioned herself again. Was this the right thing? For Moloch? For the Charun?
It was pointless to second guess herself now. Her part in this was already done.
She didn't know how her people were going to react, but she suspected they would side with the Dominion. If they did, and the Molochite revolution was a success, she may be the only voice her people would listen to. Only through her—through her leading them to Moloch—could they hope to survive.
And if the Dahhak were struck down like she feared, it wouldn't matter who the Charun affiliated themselves with. The wars that would ensue would likely lead to all of their deaths. Ungeo did not like this precarious position the Dominion was in. She clicked her beak as she stared out the window at a marketplace. Most of these fools had no idea. How many of them would be fighting each other in the coming hours?
It was too soon. The angels weren't completely defeated. But now she at least understood the urgency in all of it. If what the prelate and the chancellor said was true, this mysterious group, Broken Fist, would have the Dominion ripped apart anyway. At least now it was on Moloch's terms.
Ungeo had made her speech to the congregation before leaving the temple. She told them that Moloch wanted this more than anything. They'd cheered her for that. Afterwards, she had been smuggled into the chancellor's transport as he returned to the council. After he landed, she quickly escaped outside, no one taking notice of a fast-moving Charun carrying no weapon and several papers.
Before she first came to the temple, she had killed several Dahhak in order to cover her own failure. A strange feeling overcame her now when she thought of it. Guilt? She prayed to Moloch now that what she was doing wasn't worse.
Ungeo watched solemnly as the dark raindrops began to pound against the stone streets of Cibola. The clouds moved fast, and a swift wind threatened to overturn the booths of the market. Several of the keepers began to hurriedly close up their wares as customers scattered. A pair of Shishi tried to fly away, but their wings couldn't take air in the rain.
Then, she saw them. An enormous litter was carried through a side street. In it was one of the corpulent Overseers. This particular one was the council sector commander, and envoy to the council for the rest of the Overseers. Only Dahhak carried his litter. They stopped before a building, the one adjacent to Ungeo's. One of the Dahhak looked back and forth, looking to see if they were alone. The doors to the building opened, and the Dahhak quickly hurried the rain-battered litter inside.
Ungeo knew at this moment this scene was being replayed all over Cibola.
Soon afterwards, Dahhak began to emerge from the same building by the thousands. Armored and armed, they were ready for combat. The council chambers were not far from here, and a large contingent was converging on it from several directions. One of the soldiers carried a blood-red flag that flapped in the wind and rain.
As the Dahhak continued to erupt from the building, a huge number of them that flew easily and steadily in the ever-increasing torrent, the remains of the Overseer's litter were pushed back out into the street. It was covered with blood, and the pieces began to wash down the street toward the marketplace for all to see.
Ungeo wondered where Ravi was. She hadn't time to say goodbye to her young friend. He could very well be somewhere in the sluagh before her now, rushing toward the council chamber. While Dahhak prayed for death in glorious battle, she hoped for his safety. He was still a boy, not yet given the chance to truly live.
A concussion she couldn't see resounded, shaking the walls. The council building being rent open. They had a small, fierce security force that guarded the building and each of the council members, but there were many Dahhak and Asag in those ranks, too. The rest were mostly Pazuzu, and they would soon be overwhelmed if they weren't dead already.
It was too late to turn back now, she thought sadly.
* * * *
Rico had gone insane. Completely, utterly insane. As Gramm sat in the cold, marble room waiting for his aching foot to fully heal, listening to the boy's amazing story, he began to realize that Rico's incredible journey since being swept out of
the forest had more than just changed his body. His mind was different, too.
It was like Rico had joined a cult. His hatred for the angels was fanatical. When he spoke of being confronted by the two angels in the temple, he practically spit the words.
But even if he was going crazy, these strange powers were not imagination. He could disappear and reappear in a different place in a blink, and he claimed he could slow down or speed up time under certain circumstances. He promised Gramm would be able to do it, too.
“Angels aren't as bad as you think they are,” Hitomi said quietly when Rico was done with his story. “I can think of some who are bad, but the rest don't hate us.”
“They only tolerate you because they need you,” Rico said. “They view you like you are nothing. I have seen where they made us live. It's horrible.”
“I know,” Gramm said. “I've been there, too.”
Gramm slowly, but forcefully, told his story from when they were first separated from Rico. Hitomi listened quietly, and she closed her eyes as he got to the point where Dave and Gramm had been divided from Indigo and Hitomi. He described the marketplace of the demons as well as he could. And the maze and their frantic escape, and of the behemoths they had unleashed upon the city.
Rico asked no questions, but Gramm saw he carefully soaked all of it in. When he told Rico what Indigo really was, he pursed his lips but said nothing. Hitomi told some of what happened to them, too. Of their return to the beacon. How they returned to find the others dead.
Telling their stories made Gramm think about Dave and Indigo. He prayed for them. Their plan had been to seek out the angels on the other side of the front lines, but Rico seemed to believe they were in the mighty Tower based on some recent news.
“You're lucky to have hung with so many angels and still be alive,” Rico said when they were finished. He produced a small knife from the depths of his robe, spun it on his fingertip, and hurled it across the room. It sank into the marble wall like he had thrown it into butter. “Next time best let me take care of ‘em for you.”
The Shivered Sky Page 41
