Angelus

by Sabrina Benulis

  “Angela, hurry! Do something!” Sophia dared to shout.

  Python’s voice interrupted Angela’s thoughts like a bullet smashing through glass. You’d better act fast, Archon. There’s no one coming to the rescue this time.

  “Angela!” Sophia screamed.

  Now the demonic crowd burst into a deafening roar of excitement. A creature covered in black fur slunk on all fours out of the tunnel, and the claws on its humanlike hands and feet scraped at the stone. Its growl reverberated through the Arena, echoing like distant thunder. Its three heads resembled the perfection of an angel’s, yet also had bestial manes of black hair and fences of enormous glittering teeth. The creature’s great green eyes burned like ghostly lanterns. It was a three-headed Hound. Even in their normal aspect, Hounds were Hell’s most dreadful creatures. They were descendants of Cherubim that had fallen to Hell and bred in the lowest darkness.

  The sound of the Hound’s great wings opening and closing again swept through the Arena.

  So—this was the monster that Python allowed to roam those lower tunnels and eat the captives of his choice.

  The Hound had already spotted them. The beast prowled closer, and a sulfurous stench saturated the air.

  The Glaive! Angela thought to herself.

  But even as she willed it to materialize from her still raw and bleeding hands, nothing happened. Sophia’s grip tightened on Angela’s arms, as if she had already sensed the problem.

  “The dome,” Sophia shouted. “It’s blocking you from using the ether!”

  They didn’t stand a chance on their own. Angela grasped the Kirin’s mane tightly. It seemed to disobey her as the Hound approached, ignoring Angela’s tugs and the kick of her heels. The crowd continued to roar and chant.

  Angela’s breath stopped.

  Her body rocked forward and she slammed into the Kirin’s neck, clutching desperately at its mane. Sophia screamed behind her. The wind shrieked as they charged together to attack the Hound, and then the Kirin leaped, air whistling beneath its paws.

  A heavy thump reverberated from the Kirin through Angela’s body. Blood sprayed back on her and Sophia. The Kirin’s horn must have struck.

  The Hound dashed to the side, its left flank streaming red.

  Jaws instantly snapped for Angela’s face. Then another of its heads turned on her, the creature’s teeth inches from her shoulder, its hot breath scorching her cheek.

  The Kirin kicked viciously with its front paws as its leathery wings flapped powerfully. Angela stared back into the Hound’s enormous fiery eyes. The world around her was now just a blur of color, a storm of incessant noise. A painful inferno filled every inch of her body, and she knew it was fear.

  Despite the hope within her, she wondered if Python knew something she didn’t. Perhaps he didn’t need Angela to open Sophia. Perhaps all he needed was her hands, or her Eye, or her blood.

  Perhaps there was no way to win.

  As the Hound’s jaws snapped for her head again, Angela squeezed her eyes shut, praying for the first time since she’d climbed onto the Throne of Hell.

  Then it happened, as if a bolt of lightning split the air. Something had changed. The Kirin dropped to the ground again, stamping its paws anxiously. The three-headed Hound lifted its many muzzles to the air and sniffed as a keen and hungry glaze stole over each head’s burning eyes.

  The beast turned around, snarling. Its growls rumbled through Angela’s entire frame, shivering her bones.

  More cheers erupted around them. Fists pounded rhythmically against stone. Trumpets blared.

  “What’s going on?” Sophia shouted behind Angela between gasps for breath.

  “I don’t know. But it can’t be good!” Angela forced the Kirin to turn.

  Python still sat in his chair, but the new goblet he’d raised to his lips had paused there, as if time had stopped. He seemed unable to believe his eyes. Slowly, he lowered the glass and slipped out of his chair, striding again to the edge of the balcony. Worry had tightened his mouth. He gripped the rails in front of him, and when an attending demon approached to whisper in his ear, Python shoved the demon aside like he was little more than a rag fluttering in front of Python’s face. He was focused on something entering the Arena.

  Angela tried to see through the hazy air. She coughed as the acidic air stung her lungs.

  A figure with black rags clinging to its slender limbs had crept onto the battleground. The intruder crouched on its haunches for a moment and glanced around the Arena, as if searching for someone.

  It was a female Jinn.

  Her hair was a ragged black mess, and her chalky skin appeared marbled with scars. Her pointed ears pressed back against her skull as she cautiously stood up. A collar with a heavy chain dangling below it clung to her neck.

  Odd. She only had one wing.

  She struggled to open her eyes more against the light that for any Jinn must have been painfully blinding. Little by little, she scanned the crowds, the skies, and each and every balcony.

  Her gaze at last rested on Angela.

  It was Troy, the High Assassin of the Jinn, the terror of Hell and her race’s Underworld, who was Bound to Angela for eternity. The last time Angela had seen her, Troy and her young niece Juno had fought vicious Hounds to save Angela and her friend from certain death in Python’s cruel maze. Angela felt as if Troy’s gaze were an arrow lodged in her chest.

  Sophia was right. She isn’t dead!

  Angela’s prayer had reached someone, after all—the devil that was Bound to her soul.

  Eleven

  Angela heard nothing for what felt like forever. Sophia shouted something behind her, but every word vanished within the haze clouding her mind. There were only Troy’s great eyes burning through her. What could they say to each other, after all? Did Troy know that Angela was now the ruler of Hell in Lucifel’s place?

  Troy flicked her ears and crouched with her hair bristled by fear and anger. She bravely growled back at the three-headed beast between them. Angela knew Troy had reason to be worried. This Hound was insane with rage. Python must have starved it, hoping for a greater spectacle. Well, he was getting one.

  The demons began to chant again. Angela tried to listen to the words, waiting for the demonic speech to form into language she could understand, but the clamor of so many warring voices only confused her further. The Kirin beneath her threatened to bolt to the left. Its wings flapped, sending rocks and pebbles tumbling away from its paws. The thick muscles of its back felt harder and more unforgiving than ever. Angela could whisk herself and Sophia to safety now. The path was clear. But she refused.

  I’m no coward. And I’ll never let myself be a coward. This is what Python didn’t count on. Friends help friends.

  She looked at him pointedly, allowing all her triumph to brighten her face.

  Feeling nervous now? she whispered silently to him.

  Python never flinched. Instead, he watched her with a face that could have been chiseled from ice.

  Then the earth began to shake again. The three-headed Hound was galloping straight for Troy, its open jaws glistening with saliva. Troy’s eyes widened. Her single wing flapped weakly. She couldn’t fly, but she could at least run. She did neither, and pounced onto the Hound’s back, clinging to its neck, digging in her nails as ferociously as possible.

  In moments Troy dropped to the ground again, but not before her nails raked across some of the Hound’s eyes.

  The Hound screeched, and the chilling sound echoed throughout the Arena, overpowering the frenzied cheers of the demonic audience. Quickly, the monster twisted its necks and rounded on Troy, gnashing its teeth at her wing. The Jinn dodged at the last second, but it was clear that in her weakened state, she wouldn’t last long.

  “Angela,” Sophia panted behind her, “wait—”

  Angela spurred the Kirin toward Troy anyway. Sophia’s breath and words cut off sharply.

  Angela used the Eye to get Troy’s attention as she passed.<
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  We’ll have to work together, Angela said to Troy in her mind. Otherwise, neither of us will win.

  In the split second that Troy sprinted past Angela, Troy’s eyes locked on her.

  She’d heard.

  Troy paused, seemingly calculating her next steps, and then she took off in the opposite direction, returning to the Hound.

  She kept out of its way as much as possible but was clearly drawing it toward the wall of the Arena. The monster already had its back to Angela, and its sole focus was now its attempts to smack Troy to the ground with one of its cruel hands.

  We can trap it there!

  “Hold on tight,” Angela shouted to Sophia. She kicked the Kirin’s sides with her heels.

  It galloped, its great wings propelling them faster and faster as they raced for the Hound. The Kirin instinctively lowered its horn. Sophia’s fingers pierced into Angela’s sides like knives.

  Some groans of dismay rippled through the crowd, but they were drowned out soon by maniacal cheers.

  The Kirin’s horn connected with the Hound’s back. The monster screamed and rounded on Angela, its mouth frothing. Its angelic eyes burned with pure hatred. Then Troy took her chance and bit the middle head’s neck.

  Angela balked at the blood splashing back on her bare legs. But Troy never let go, and she had almost severed the middle head entirely as the Hound crashed to the ground, twitching, its hands and feet grasping at nothing. Blood poured out like a river, and gradually the monster began to still.

  Troy backed away from the corpse, panting. She looked to Angela. “Well done, Archon,” Troy whispered hoarsely. She spat blood onto the ground.

  The battle was over. Python’s precious three-headed monstrosity was either dead or very close to it. Its green eyes turned glassy one by one. Angela searched the balcony for him, but Python was gone. “Something’s not right,” Sophia whispered in her ear.

  Troy stood beside them, still breathing hard as she scanned the crowds.

  The dome surrounding them began to flicker before dissipating entirely from the ground up, as if a curtain were being lifted. A new silence filled the Arena. Soon, many of the demons in the crowds slid from their seats onto their knees. Angela followed their collective attention to a spot high in the sky.

  Lilith was descending from above. Her dark beauty seemed to disappear beside the vision of her immense and horrible wings. The acidic air had worn them to little more than bone and ragged flesh, with metal struts supporting what remained. Then she landed before Angela with the grace of a swan alighting in a lake, first her ebony-colored feet, and then her entire body. Her black dress fluttered around her in the echoing breeze.

  “Hello, Angela,” Lilith said softly. “I’d been wondering where you’d been these past few hours. Come—I’m here to take you home.”

  Wherever Angela was going, it wasn’t back to her mansion. Lilith regarded Sophia almost hungrily, and Angela knew exactly what would happen the moment Lilith had them both under her power again.

  “I’m not returning,” Angela said, her voice shaking in spite of herself.

  Lilith tilted her head as if she hadn’t heard correctly. “Oh? And why not? Where is Hell’s Prince going to go if not back to Her Throne?”

  “Wherever She pleases, crow,” Troy snapped.

  Lilith turned to Troy, her elegant face twisting with disgust. “I told my son he was a fool to toy with you, you feathered rat. At least have the decency to know your place and be silent before your betters.”

  Troy’s eyes half closed to lethal slits. Her fingers clenched and unclenched. Angela knew Troy was only holding back because she had little choice.

  “You won’t speak to her that way,” Angela said. “And that’s an order from your Prince. Go back to your own nest, Lilith. My affairs are none of your concern tonight.”

  Lilith laughed, and shook her head as if savoring the moment. “Yes, but that’s where you’re wrong, my dear Angela. Let’s face facts—if it weren’t for me, you’d have been strung up in chains like Lucifel long ago. You’re only speaking and conscious because I’ve decided to be kind. Do we really need the demons to know you’re Prince in name only? Imagine what that would mean—imagine what they might do to you.” Her voice became lower and more dangerous than ever. “We both know that when it comes down to it, you’re just a human. You’re just a mortal girl whose shell hides Raziel’s soul along with yours, odd though it might be. Trust me, the best course of action is to let go of all this brave foolhardiness and see things sensibly.” Lilith’s features iced over with emphasis.

  Sophia’s trembling fingers locked tighter on Angela’s waist.

  Troy tensed, as if waiting for Angela’s word to rip Lilith’s throat open.

  “Where’s Python?” Angela muttered.

  Lilith arched an eyebrow. “Oh . . . I didn’t think you were so interested in him, Angela. But if you really must know, he’s being punished. My son’s deserved more than a slap on the wrist for a while, after all. This time I just can’t overlook the trouble he’s caused me.”

  “You’re insane if you think I’m going to just climb onto the Throne and let you erase half of my brain again,” Angela finally said.

  Lilith sighed. She wiped a bead of sweat from her smooth forehead and waved her hand. A dull rumbling sound approached the Arena. It sounded like thousands of hands clapping, or the rhythmic stamp of thousands of feet. Angela knew that noise from her time watching the demons assemble on the plains of Babylon.

  It was an army. Lilith had sent her entire personal retinue after Angela to drag her home. And once there, Sophia’s certain doom would be finalized.

  “Leave not a single one of this rabble that claims allegiance to my son alive,” Lilith said, and Angela knew she was speaking somehow to her army’s commander.

  A tumult of ear-piercing screeches broke suddenly over the Arena.

  Hellish birds with leathery wings spiraled up from the turrets surrounding Python’s Arena, panicked at the approaching danger. Already, arrows streaked like red lightning and methodically shot them down.

  Whump. One fell to a twitching lump near the winged Kirin’s paws. The Kirin trotted to the side, whinnying fearfully.

  Angela kept a tight grip on its mane.

  There was no way she could make the beast fly without it being shot down.

  The noise grew deafening, even worse than the cheers and shouts that had filled the Arena. Demons screamed. Others moaned in sheer terror as Lilith’s army broke through a pair of iron gates and poured inside like a flood. Troy looked to Angela, motioning to follow her to one of the only exits from the Arena, another tunnel on the far side. Angela spurred the Kirin to turn from Lilith and follow. The beast jumped over the dead Hound’s body and galloped after Troy. Troy was already a few paces ahead, sprinting on all fours with a feline grace.

  Wrong way, Lilith whispered in Angela’s mind, her voice working its way down to the soul.

  The screams followed them, swelling until Angela’s own ears rang with pain and threatened to bleed. Then they entered the tunnel and blackness descended on every side. The horror suddenly sounded and seemed far away, but Angela knew Lilith at least would be in hot pursuit.

  All they had was the eerie light of Troy’s eyes to guide them.

  Show me what kind of a hunter you are, Troy. Find a way out of here.

  Troy didn’t bother answering and her blistering pace never slackened. She took them right, then left, rounding one sharp corner after the next, and then they weren’t ascending but descending, farther and farther. Angela couldn’t help fearing they’d be trapped again. Worse yet, what if other creatures more vicious than the three-headed Hound dwelled in this darkness? But there was no turning back now.

  At last, Troy slowed a little, and it took all Angela’s strength to tug on the Kirin’s mane and make it obey, bringing them down to a trot.

  Without any warning, Troy skidded to an abrupt halt.

  The Kirin instinctivel
y did the same.

  An absolute silence crushed them all, as if everyone now stood in the middle of a great void. They’d run to a dead end and what could have been an enormous silver mirror lay on the ground, illuminated by pulsing hieroglyphs in the rock. One of the Kirin’s paws brushed its edge and the mirror rippled slightly. It was a pool of some kind.

  Troy stared at the water with an intense and horrified look.

  “What . . . what is this?” Angela finally dared to say.

  “It’s a Mirror Pool,” Sophia replied. Her voice sounded so far away, but it struck Angela like a slap. Sophia had been so quiet for so long, she could have disappeared. “Very few of them still exist. This might be one of the last.”

  “But what are they?” Angela whispered. A great reverence stilled her as she gazed at the water, if that’s what it was. Angela couldn’t say how she knew, but she was sure this mysterious pool was incredibly ancient.

  Troy crept nearer to the water and sniffed. She looked up, flipping back her ears.

  “There are many theories,” Sophia said. Her words fell without echoes. The air weighed on them like a still, dead thing. “Those with the proper skills can use them as a way to see into the present. This was how Israfel probably found you. When he was imprisoned in Ialdaboth, he was certainly looking into one of these pools at some point and saw you, the Archon, alive. There was no other way he could have known you existed.”

  “But it’s just water, right?” Angela whispered.

  Sophia seemed about to speak again, but stopped. Her fingers still clenched Angela’s waist tightly.

  A soft whisper found them, as if sprung from dreams. Angela might not have even heard it if they all hadn’t been so silent. It was coming from the pool, and it sounded like voices, calling her name.

  Troy began to back away. Her eyes seemed wider than ever. The miniature bones and teeth tied into her hair rattled ominously.

  Now Angela noticed she’d been prodding the Kirin into entering the water. Had she been in a trance? Why wasn’t Sophia stopping her? Why wasn’t Troy saying anything? Or maybe none of them could stop what was happening. Angela froze, battling with her fear. Perhaps this was a trap. But the Kirin had already allowed its paws to slip into the pool. It barely hesitated but walked in deeper, as if following the voices. Maybe it heard something just as enticing but entirely different.