Ardat’s voice trailed off as she caught motion below. A group of dark-clad warriors were making their way across the beach. They had nearly reached the stone bridge connecting the mainland to the island where the lighthouse stood when Ardat saw them.
“Who are they?” Tracy asked as she too noticed the group.
“They aren’t angels,” Ardat said. “Say nothing. Let me handle this.”
Tracy nodded as the two women descended to the bridge below.
“Ahhhh … see! Green wings; I told you it was her,” the lead soldier said, motioning to the dozen men behind him to follow.
Ardat took a step forward, her eyebrow arched. “What is it you want?”
The soldier, a tall demon with red eyes looked Ardat up and down. “It’s not what we want; it’s what Sodom wants and the reward he’s posted. Anyone bringing him the Horseman of Disease is promised a huge purse and a place of high standing when the Apocalypse comes.”
The soldiers were standing only a few feet from Ardat in a single line. Twelve large-shouldered demons all carried weapons ranging from daggers to spears.
“There is nothing for you here but death,” Ardat said. “Turn around.”
A loud laugh came from every single one of Sodom’s soldiers. “Oh, come now,” the same speaker said once he recovered from his fit of mirth. “You’re not going to stand against all of us. Who are you, anyway? Some kind of angel?”
“I’m a Fallen angel, just like you.”
“What’s you name? You don’t look familiar.”
“Ardat.”
The demon’s face went pale. “The—the same Ardat that served as Usurper during the war in heaven?”
Ardat’s tone went cold as she looked each one of them in the eyes. “The same. The same Ardat that crafted celestial weapons from the Colossus of Rhodes and the same Ardat that will be your executioner if you insist on taking the girl.”
Silence passed as the group of soldiers looked at one another for direction. Hushed whispers passed between them as they conferred amongst one another.
Even before they knew they would decide to try to take Tracy, Ardat was readying herself for the attack. They were a group of trained soldiers and, more than that, they were all men. Their superior numbers, egos, and greed for the reward would outweigh their sense.
“Ardat!” Tracy whispered with a fearful voice. “What—what’s happening?”
Ardat’s eyes never moved from the group in front of her. “There is about to be a fight. “Stay behind me and if any one of them gets close, put the shield around you. You’ll be safe.”
“I—I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You can and you will, Tracy.”
There was no more time for banter between the women, as the lead soldier cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we are going to have to insist,” he said in an unsure tone. “The girl comes with us.”
Ardat drew herself up to her full height and rolled up the long sleeves of her cloak. “Well then, what are you waiting for? Come and take her.”
Patience had never been one of Ardat’s strongest traits. Even as her attackers began to fan out and flank her, she struck. Her power over gravity gave her the ability to assault her enemies at a distance. Sending her hands forward to manipulate the air between her and her enemies, she ran to meet them.
Ardat sent short but powerful jabs of force against her enemies’ throats and knees. Screams split the air from those who could still manage shouts of pain. All around her, her enemies fell. Some grabbing their throats, others crumpling under the lack of strength in their shattered knee caps.
The first six were easy to dispatch. Ardat’s speed and surprise attack gave her the upper hand. As she moved closer, her advantage began to decrease. One of the demons to her right swung in a wide arc with a long sword. Ardat ducked the blow and sent a strike to his stomach then two more to his jaw in quick succession. The demon fell to the ground, dazed.
Her next obstacle came at her in a pair, one slashing out with a razor-sharp tongue and the other transforming his right arm into a pointed spike. Rather than take her time dealing with them, Ardat sent a shock forward with both hands. Each of the men was lifted a hundred feet into the air and thrown so far they were lost against the horizon.
The three soldiers left looked at her then to each other. Before they could act, Ardat slammed two of them straight down into the stone floor. It would feel as though they were trapped under hundreds of pounds, but in fact, only the gravity above them, controlled by Ardat, was keeping them there.
The last soldier dropped his lance and fell to his knees. “Please, mercy, have mercy on your fellow demon. I beg of you, mercy.”
“Gather your wounded and go,” Ardat said through clenched teeth. “Tell Sodom the Horsewoman of Disease does not belong to him. And if he sends another force, tell him to send hundreds and do not insult me with another band of children.”
The demon trembled and nodded vigorously. Ardat released the weight on the other two demons. They wasted no time or words as they gathered up the wounded and fled before Ardat.
“That—that was amazing,” Tracy gasped. “You’re, you’re like a superhero.”
Satisfied her enemies were gone and they were safe for the time being, Ardat wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. “Not exactly like a superhero, but I get your point.”
“Will I be able to do that one day?” Tracy asked, mimicking Ardat’s moves as she chopped and swatted the air in front of her, fighting a horde of invisible enemies.
“One day soon, you will be able to do much more than that, Tracy,” Ardat said. “Your power as a Horsewoman is almost without measure. You are the only one holding yourself back.”
---
“And she just left?” Raphael asked, astonished. “She’s gone?”
“That’s what Esther said,” Danielle reaffirmed. “She blew past the guards at the Temple entrance and ran straight for the enemy camp. I think it was her attempt at saving Alan but …” Danielle shook her head, lost for words.
“She’s a fool.” Raphael practically shook with anger. “I should have seen this coming.”
Danielle readjusted her glasses as she placed a hand on Raphael’s shoulder.
“I’m fine now,” he said, gently taking her hand off his arm. “Thanks to you and your healing powers, I’ve recovered in a fraction of the time it would have taken me otherwise.”
Raphael bit back a grunt as he forced himself from the bed. A wave of dizziness washed over him. He had to lean against the side of the bed to catch his breath.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Danielle said. “You were unconscious for a long time. Your body has to remember how to harness all that power you reclaimed from Gabriel. I’m not going to try to theorize past that, but your body is a mess. I mean—”
Raphael looked at Danielle with a raised eyebrow, bringing her to a stuttering end. “I’ve been through worse before. I’ll manage again. How’s Kassidy?”
“She’s recovered just like you. Esther and Angelica are seeing to her training.”
“Good, and her steed?”
“Her what?” Danielle asked. “Oh, you mean the gryphon? With Seraphim gone, I guess no one has awoken the animal as of yet.”
“Well then,” Raphael said, moving to the door, “it looks like we have something to do.”
“Yeah, okay.” Danielle followed Raphael from the room and through the Temple. “I’m the nerdy tech girl who can heal people, not a beast tamer.”
“And yet you’re still following,” Raphael said with a smile on his lips.
“I’m just trying to have a conversation with you. You’re the one being rude and walking away.”
Raphael grinned and wove his way through the Temple of Artemis. The Temple was a labyrinth of halls and levels that descended into the very earth itself. The section of the Temple he was looking for, however, was a higher level to the north side of the structure.
A tall spiral staircase s
oon appeared at the end of a long hall in front of them. “Ahhh,” Raphael breathed, “here it is.”
Danielle strode beside him, her curiosity at seeing a gryphon only just outweighing her urge to run in the opposite direction. “Should we maybe wait for Kassidy? I mean, it is her steed.”
“The gryphon must be awoken first then it will find her.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
Raphael and Danielle walked up the narrow flight of stairs that spiraled skyward. Hundreds of steps rose on and on until even Raphael was thinking he should just extend his wings and fly the rest of the way.
“Oh, I can feel it in my quads and glutes and hamstrings … and calves,” Danielle panted. “This definitely counts for my workout today.”
Raphael chuckled. “We’re almost there.”
His words proved truer than even he knew as they crested the last step a few moments later. The pair walked onto the very roof of the Temple. The sun was setting overhead and the whole of the supernatural plane opened up in every direction as far as the eye could see.
“Wow,” Danielle said, massaging her legs. “If it weren’t for that ginormous enemy camp surrounding us, this would almost be perfect.”
Raphael’s silence made Danielle turn to look in his direction. “Raphael, are you …” her voice trailed off into a low whisper, then to nothing as her eyes took in the sight in front of her.
In the middle of the roof, a large nest of branches and foliage surrounded a beast Danielle had only ever heard mention of in myth and legend. A gryphon the size of a horse had its head cocked to the side, staring at both Danielle and Raphael through large eyes.
The animal’s body was that of a lion, complete with massive claws and a long feline tail. Its head and the wings that lay flat on its back, however, were those of an eagle.
“Easy,” Raphael said, not taking his eyes off the gryphon. “No sudden movements. Approach slowly and keep your hands where it can see them.”
“Right,” Danielle managed. Her heart was pounding. The very last thing she wanted to do was approach the creature. “I think I’m just going to stay here while you do whatever it is you need to do.”
“That would be disrespectful,” Raphael warned. “Now that we’re here, we must approach together.”
“Of course we do,” Danielle said, screwing up her courage and forcing one foot in front of the other until she was standing beside Raphael.
Together, they took careful steps until they reached the edge of the gryphon’s nest. The animal continued to look them over with a stare that was one-part curious, one-part wary.
“You’ve already awoken,” Raphael said in a soft voice, keeping his hands out in front of him, “so you know what time it is. The battle is drawing near, our enemies surround us and your rider needs her steed.”
The gryphon finally made a move. Unfurling its wings, it raised its golden beak to the sky and let out a deep cry.
Danielle shuddered.
“Don’t be afraid,” Raphael reassured her. “He’s just stretching.”
Danielle swallowed hard. The gryphon shook itself then looked straight at Danielle and lowered its head in a slow down and up motion.
“He’s ready,” Raphael said.
Chapter 8
The roar of the crowd was deafening. Alan blinked as his eyes adjusted from the darkness they were accustomed to in their cell below the coliseum. Above ground, the air was dry and his throat was parched from the lack of water.
Alan’s suspicions were correct; when he tried to call on his wings and any of his powers as a supernatural, there was nothing. Alan glanced around him to confirm what he already knew. All those, both angels and demons, with him in the coliseum were finding the same to be true.
“I guess we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way,” Seraphim said, crunching her knuckles.
“How do you think they’re dampening our powers?” Bobby asked, siding up beside the pair.
Seraphim and the other angels were tolerating the demons, but only barely. Alan said a silent prayer as she opened her mouth to respond with a sneer. “Either they have their own demons here that can sap our powers, or they’ve used some kind of curse. Whatever they did, it doesn’t matter. All we should be thinking on now, demon, is our survival.”
“Agreed,” Bobby said, surveying the mob in the stands.
Alan moved to the center of the coliseum, ignoring the many degrading shouts aimed to crush his spirits.
“You’re dead; you’re dead already.”
“Fresh meat for the grinder!”
“I want to see an angel bleed.”
More and more calls came, but Alan blocked them all out. He wanted to take the center of the ring to get a look at the surrounding walls. There was no doubt the structure was poorly constructed, but if there was any weak point, Alan didn’t see it. The only breaks in the walls came from four iron gates, one of which they had come out of. Behind each gate, a pair of armed demons stood guard.
One moment, the air was filled with roars from the mob, the next silence. Alan scanned the scene for the reason why. His eyes landed on a shaded platform, where Sodom stood with his arms raised. To his left, Rolf sat with a smirk on his face. To his right, Sodom’s nephew, Trubric. Alan recognized the demon from their previous run-in, when Alan had saved Kassidy from his grip.
“Here before you stands an example. Both angels from Michael’s army and demons that would turn their back on their own kind,” Sodom shouted. “Unbelievers that will not inherit the kingdom to come. They are among the first to feel the cold touch of death, but many will follow. The dawn of the Apocalypse has begun, my followers. Now let the blood flow.”
A cheer louder than any thus far rang through the air as Sodom sat in his chair and waved at Alan.
The ragtag group of imprisoned angels and demons made a circle in the center of the coliseum. There were less than two dozen of them, but they would have to make do.
“This is pointless,” Kyle said to Alan’s left. “We’re already dead.”
“You’ll see,” Alan responded, his head on a swivel, checking all four gates, and preparing for the inevitable attack. “We’re going to make it through this.”
“There,” Seraphim said, pointing to the gate in front of Alan.
The iron bars were slowly being raised. A horrible screeching came from somewhere deep under the coliseum. The cries reminded Alan of overgrown crows. A multitude of shrieking voices added to one another until the noise was almost unbearable.
An eternity passed before the gates were finally raised. Blurs of dark feathers shot out from the blackness behind the gate. Dozens of creatures moving too quickly for Alan to track swarmed around Alan and his group.
More cheers from the crowd mixed in with the horrific cries the beasts were making.
“Harpies!” Bobby shouted. “Stay away from their feet; they’ll use their claws as their primary weapon.”
Alan was having a hard time understanding what they were facing until one of the beasts slowed its descent and came to a rest in front of Alan. It was nearly as tall as a minotaur but nowhere as thick. From the waist down, legs covered in scales met a four-toed foot with thick razors for nails. The harpy from the waist up looked like a cross between a woman and a bird. Molting brown feathers covered her torso and large wings were attached to its back. Its face was that of a haggard female. Long pointed ears and wild hair gave it a look of insanity.
Alan tore his eyes away from the single harpy on the ground and searched the air for a reason the other monsters weren’t attacking the demons in the stands. He didn’t have to wait long. Alan witnessed multiple harpies break off from the main pack that swirled around them and dive toward the crowd. An invisible field stopped each one as if walls they couldn’t see were trapping them in the coliseum.
“It’s an invisible bird cage they’ve locked us in,” Bobby muttered.
“What are they waiting for?” Alan asked.
“The
y’re smart pack animals,” Seraphim shouted above the cawing. “They’re testing any weaknesses in the coliseum to try to escape. Once they know they can’t, they’ll come after us. The one on the ground must be their leader.”
Sweat poured down Alan’s forehead as he struggled to come up with a plan that didn’t involve all of them turning up dead at the end. With no powers, no weapons, and outnumbered, things were looking bleak.
Before Alan could come up with a course of action, the lead harpy in front of him gave a shrill cry. The harpies flying above them attacked as one.
---
“Good,” Ardat said, leaning to the side to avoid a blow. “Don’t stop now. Keep going.”
Tracy was breathing heavy as she aimed a string of punches and kicks in Ardat’s direction. Each attack, Ardat maneuvered around by either dodging the blow or deflecting the strike with her own hands and legs.
“Come on, hit me.”
“I’m—trying,” Tracy said through determined eyes.
“Well, stop trying and do it. Trying will not be enough. You need to succeed.”
Frustration finally won out over Tracy’s emotions and she became careless, swinging high to strike Ardat’s left temple. Ardat caught the blow and used Tracy’s own momentum to send her sprawling face first into the sand, where she landed with a thud. She lay motionless where she landed, panting.
“Get up,” Ardat said without sympathy. “There’s still a lot to learn and we haven’t even begun training with weapons.”
Tracy rolled over in the sand. Tiny granules poured out from her nose and ears. Her face was a mess of sweat and sand and her hair was atrocious. “I feel disgusting and there is definitely sand in places there shouldn’t be.”
Ardat’s glare melted at the sight of Tracy’s state and she even surprised herself with a smile and a short laugh.
Tracy’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, you can laugh?”
Ardat recovered quickly. “Of course I can. But this is not the time for laughter.”
Alan Price and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse Page 5
