by M. R. Forbes
"This is unbelievable," Sarah said, turning around to look at the glowing writing.
"Look." I pointed at the wall, where a small door was pressed into the stone, so well measured that there was no seam. I only knew it was there because of a small gold handle. "I guess Obi was right."
The symbols grew brighter, and brighter still, until the entire room was bathed in white light. It reflected off the polished sandstone, and off the gold handle. It reflected until there was nothing but light, in a whiteness that reminded me of the wall between what Ross had once told be was the 'staging area' and Purgatory.
He appeared as though stepping through the light, or maybe stepping out of it. Malize. The archangel looked different from when we had seen him only two days ago, older and more wise. His hair was streaked with white, and he was a wearing a white cloak that flowed to his feet and covered most of his form.
"Diuscrucis," he said, bowing to all of us. "I'm glad that you made it."
"Malize," Charis said, returning his bow. "What's going on?"
"You were too late to prevent the Beast from being freed," he said, looking directly at Sarah. Her face turned red and she looked down. "Do not be ashamed, child. I had feared that such a thing would come to pass. So many thin threads, so many lost hopes. I knew one day the Pure One would come, and the Beast's prison may be shattered. You should be proud for escaping his grasp."
She looked up at him and smiled. "You're beautiful," she said. "So many colors."
He held up his hand, and as before we were transported back in time. To the building of the Great Pyramid. While thousands of workers lifted stone around him, Malize stood at the limestone panels that would line this room and carved his symbols. "From the first moments after Lucifer and I had imprisoned it, I surmised that the balance would require a way for it to escape, and that the likelihood that it would succeed was not minimal. To that end, I began to prepare. This room is one such preparation, a means by which I could intercede if needed, and offer guidance based on the experience and wisdom I have gained. More millennia than you can count have passed in the Cave of Christ since I first begged of my Lord Jesus to assist me in removing myself from your universe. I have spent much of that time in meditation and contemplation, waiting for this day that I prayed would come."
Of course. The Beast hadn't known Malize was still around, because he had never heard a peep from anyone about it. That was because nobody could remember who or what he was.
"And the clue to get us here?" I asked. 'That was another of your preparations?"
He smiled. "Yes. That was another. It was much harder to execute, as it required finding the right soul. One who would spend time in Purgatory, who could leave the clue. That; however, is in the past. What is more important is what I can tell you today. You have Avriel's Box?"
Charis reached into her pocket and removed it, holding it in her palm. "How did you know about it?"
"I would not be very prepared, if I had no way to observe," he replied. "I have seen your efforts. You've done well, although losing the Redeemer may be a challenging misstep."
"The Redeemer?" I asked.
He nodded. "The Canaan Blade. I had hoped it would provide useful to you. It was difficult to obtain."
"I saved Landon with it," Charis said. "So it did come in handy, even if we lost it."
"It only works on demons anyway," I said.
He smiled. "That is not the whole truth of it, but it is enough."
"What else does it do?"
"It is of no importance, now. It may be that losing it will cost us. It may be that it won't. I have made arrangements to help us adjust for its dispossession."
The location around us faded and changed. Now we were inside the Beast's prison. "This is the prison, the day it was completed," Malize said. It didn't look much different than I remembered it. "Hold up the Box, and compare."
Charis held it up, and we each looked at it, and then back at the prison. Both had sigils etched everywhere, though the Box's were in seraph runes, not Templar script. Other than that, I didn't see any similarities. I wasn't looking close enough.
"The symbols," Sarah said. "There." She pointed at the prison. "There." She pointed at the Box. "They are almost the same. Those also." She pointed at another section. "And those."
Malize nodded. "Yes. Almost the same. So many of the symbols are similar, yet different. Avriel's design is a wonder, a work of art. He had no knowledge of what we had done to capture the Beast, and yet he was so close to creating the perfect prison."
"Perfect? He ended up trapped in it himself."
"Not because the design is flawed," Malize said. "It was his understanding of the power needed to keep a creature like Abaddon contained that failed him. That is why I am glad you came, and why I am especially glad you have the Box."
"So, we can trap the Beast in it?" I asked.
He nodded again. "In time, yes."
Huh? "What do you mean in time? He's getting stronger, not weaker."
"Yes, I know. The trouble is that while the design of the Box is incredible, these symbols were made to catch a demon. You need to catch something else entirely."
I glanced over to Charis when I saw her smile. She must have been thinking the same thing I was thinking. We're gonna need a bigger boat. "So we need to make some modifications?"
"Not you," he said. "Avriel. He's the only one who can work out the calculations. He needs to convert these seraphim runes to Templar script."
I didn't like the sound of that. "Malize, I hate to sound ungrateful," I said. "But first, the Beast has Avriel. Second, I don't think he knows Templar script."
The room changed around us again. We were on a mountaintop, at what looked like an old monastery. I could swear I had seen the place before in a kung-fu movie.
"Avriel is here. Mortals call it Mt. Popa, in Burma."
"And..." I said, knowing it couldn't be that simple.
"The Beast convinced Abaddon to join him. This was how. He promised him that he would place Avriel somewhere that the demon could always return to torture him, even after the destruction of the rest of the world. After you slipped past him, the Beast had him return to wait for you. He knows the Box can hold him, but he also knows the Box can hold anything, if enough power is fed into it. He needs Avriel for his endgame."
It was the way he said it that made my spine tingle. "You mean he hopes to trap God?" That was a tough idea to wrap my head around.
"Yes. If the calculations are correct, with the full power of the Beast... I believe it can be done. You need to rescue the archangel from Abaddon."
I felt an uncomfortable rocking in the pit of my stomach. "How are we supposed to do that? Even Izak is afraid of him, and I got lucky with the sucker punch."
Malize smiled. "The Redeemer would have suited you well for this purpose, but as I've said, I've made preparations. It may indeed work out for the best, for the Deliverer is a much more potent weapon against a creature like Abaddon."
"The Deliverer?"
"Another of the Canaan Blades," he replied. "There is a Templar waiting for you in Kyoto, at The Golden Pavilion. He will assist you in acquiring it."
"You mean you don't already have it?" I asked. I didn't like the sound of that.
"Unfortunately, we do not. The Canaan Blades were stolen almost one thousand years ago. It took extraordinary effort and the deaths of many Templars to even recover the one."
"Wait," Charis said. "Malize, why was I never told about this?" She sounded upset.
"I'm truly sorry," he said. "The less you knew about the Blades, the better. We could not afford for you to attract the attention of the Inquisitors."
She still didn't look happy. It seemed like the perfect time to interject. "Okay, so I go to Japan and acquire the Deliverer. We use it against Abaddon. We rescue Avriel. Great. He still doesn't know Templar script."
"No, but Charis does. She can guide his hand. Based on the advanced nature of his original design, I have no
doubt he'll master the language in no time."
I laughed. "Which is about how much we have."
"Do not fear," Malize said. "Remember, as long as the Pure One lives, the Beast cannot claim his full strength. As long as you live, you have the ability to stop it." He reached under his cloak, and pulled out a pair of silver bracelets. They were covered in Templar scripture, and the white light refracted strangely off the etched surface. He tossed one to me, and one to Charis.
"I don't know how, but the Beast is using the power of your Source, of Purgatory, to track your movements. These bracelets will subdue that power, and prevent it from being visible to him. Be cautious, as this also means you will not be able to affect change to anything outside of yourselves for as long as you are wearing them."
I knew how. The power in Purgatory was the Beast's power. It made sense that he could track us with it. I put the bracelet over over my wrist and squeezed it closed. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you, Malize," Charis said. "For everything."
"I have done what I can. If you need to speak to me again, the Templar can help you find the other portal I've left in the mortal realm." He walked over to Sarah, and knelt down in front of her, putting himself below her. He took her hands in his and looked up at her face. "I know of the war that rages in you, child. Do not be afraid to open your heart, for it is that common thread that binds all of His children that will lead you to your destiny."
Sarah didn't respond. She just kept her head down at him. Were there words being exchanged in the silence? I'd never know.
Malize rose back to his feet, and bowed to Charis and I. "Godspeed to you both," he said. He took another step back, and was collected by the light.
I turned to Charis and Sarah. "At least we know what to do," I said. I didn't get a chance to say more, because the light began to intensify, reaching for us in blinding fury. Before I could even move, we were back out on the sand.
"Well?" Adam asked. "Is anything happening?" He was still facing the people Sarah had put to sleep, watching them for any signs of movement. In the twenty minutes we had spent with Malize, not even a second had passed here.
"We're done," I said. "We need to get to Japan."
We made our way back around the Great Pyramid, keeping an eye out for any more mortals possessed by the Beast. Between Sarah shutting down his vessels, and learning that Malize was involved, he seemed to have retreated.
"Who did you speak to again?" Adam asked.
I had explained everything to Izak and the seraph as we ran, in a condensed version. The details weren't that important anyway. Even so, he had already forgotten the archangel's name.
"The important part is that we get to Kyoto as soon as possible," I said. "Today is your lucky day. You might get two of your swords back by the time this is over."
"I still can't believe it," he said. "We've been searching for the Deliverer for over a thousand years. To think we have a lead on someone who knows where it is."
"Yeah, crazy," I agreed. "You said the Canaan Blades have special properties? What does this one do?"
"It makes the wielder immune to demons. Hellfire, cursed weapons, claws, Command, everything. It will deliver the carrier through any battle."
I could see how that would come in handy against Abaddon.
We pulled up next to the small airplane. It was riddled with bullet holes. Charis stepped up into it. "Let's see if this thing can still go," she said, hitting switches and starting the propeller. I knew from her memories she knew how to pilot pretty much anything that flew. She even knew how to drive a train, if needed. We rarely needed to sleep, after all.
I felt a tug on my shirt, and turned to look at Izak. He had a pissed off, dour expression on his face.
"What's up?" I asked him.
He knelt down and drew a circle in the sand, and a few runes. A rift. Then he drew a rectangle with a circle in it. He wiped both of them out with his foot.
"No rifts in Japan? Are you kidding?"
He shook his head, holding out his palm and quickly squeezing it closed. Destroyed.
"When?"
He shrugged, and then motioned with his finger. Not too long. Did someone know we were coming? Or had they destroyed them to stop something else?
"Next closest option?" I asked.
"South Korea," Charis said for him. "Across the Sea of Japan. It'll take us days to get there."
"Crap," I said, looking at the ground. I didn't like the chances of humanity surviving the Beast for hours, never mind days.
"I can take one of you," Adam said.
"Take?" I asked. I had an outside understanding of what he was suggesting, but I didn't think it was possible. "Won't you fall, if you help us like that?"
He smiled. "Before, yes, but I'm the Ninth now. As you know, we have certain... freedoms, that the others do not. Since helping you will allow me to retrieve one of the Canaan Blades, I believe the cause is just."
Angels and their games. I returned his smile, and then leaned into the airplane. "Can you get Sarah and Izak back to the rift?"
"Of course," she replied. "Meet at the church?"
"Yeah." I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and tossed it to her. "Try to get in touch with Obi, if you can. Tell him what's going on and to stay as close to the church as possible." I looked back at Adam. "I'm hoping Mr. Ninth back there can convince Kassie to give up the hunt and help us out with the Beast."
"Things are going to get messy, Landon," she said.
"They aren't already?" I replied. "We need to get the rest of the Divine involved, or we'll never have a chance of getting close enough to the real Beast to put him in the Box. Adam believes, so it's a start."
I helped Sarah into the plane. Izak hopped up on his own. "Take care of them," I said to him on his way by. He nodded.
"I'll see you soon," I said to Charis. I wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't come.
"You're damn right you will," she said. I saw her pull the bracelet off her wrist, and then she leaned over and pulled the door closed, and the plane began to roll forward. It would have been tough going in sand, but I could see it flattening and compressing in front of the wheels as she made herself a runway.
"Are you ready, diuscrucis?" Adam asked.
I walked back to him. "Watch where you put your hands," I said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
He laughed as he put his arms up under my shoulders. "This is going to feel strange, since you've never done it before." He crouched slightly, and then pushed off, his wings spreading and flapping a few times. I felt my heart drop beyond my stomach, passing down to my groin as we rocketed into the sky. It took me a few beats to get my breath back, and when I did I let out a scream of fear and joy. I felt like a kid on his first roller coaster.
"This is awesome," I shouted. I had flown myself in Purgatory, but it wasn't the same. This was real.
"I have missed this," Josette said, her voice rising up for the first time in a while. I could feel her excitement beneath my own, adding to it.
"It almost makes you wish you had been a little less evil, doesn't it?" Adam asked.
In other circumstances, I might have called him an asshole for making a statement like that. Right then, I was having too much fun to care.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," Josette said. "There is little enough to be had in times like these."
We were above the clouds in no time. Adam wrapped his legs around mine as he turned horizontal, holding me below him like a tandem skydiver. His wings swept back, and I felt our velocity increase beyond anything possible with mechanical flight.
The ride only lasted for a minute or two at most. Then we were falling, dropping towards the ground thousands of miles from where we started. I saw the Earth approaching once we cleared the clouds, and felt the blood rising to my head. Below us, I could see the grey of the city of Kyoto, and the green of the ground around it.
"That's the Golden Pavilion over there," Adam said, motioning with his foo
t. "I'll bring us down over on that brown area, where it's more quiet."
As we neared the ground, he flared his wings out again, turning the ends so they caught the air like a parachute, and slowing us down to a still jarring speed. The impact would have crushed human bones.
"Thanks for the lift," I said when he let go of my arms. "I take it you've been here before?"
"This is one of my favorite places," he said. "Heaven is amazing, but there is a lot to contemplate within the beauty of this world that He created."
We walked through the surrounding brush and down to a quiet path. There were only a few tourists and a small collection of locals still walking the gardens. The sun was hidden by a thin layer of high clouds, but even through them I could tell it would be setting soon.
"Who are we meeting?" Adam asked.
"I don't know," I replied. I hadn't told him about the Templars. It was too big of a secret to just go spilling to an angel, even if they had proven themselves at least somewhat reliable. Instead, I had just said there was someone waiting for us. "Either I'll know when I see them, or they'll know when they see me." In fact, as long as I was wearing Malize's bracelet I couldn't use my Sight beyond its natural range, which was visual. I'd rather be surprised by a seraph or a demon than the Beast and his puppet armies.
We turned right at the sign that pointed to the Pavilion, an impressive, gold-painted pagoda sitting on the edge of a small pond. It was a perfect Japanese botanical landscape, and despite everything I couldn't help but admire the composition. There were only a few people standing around, looking out at the water.
I recognized our contact right away. I should have known. I tapped Adam on the shoulder and pointed him out.
"Max," I said, shouldering up to him and leaning over the railing. Adam stopped on the opposite side.
He didn't move his head, only his eyes, from my side to Adam's and back. "Diuscrucis," he said, a little too excited. "You brought a playmate?" He looked back at Adam. "Not the companion I would have expected. Was it wise to leave our little peanut on her own?"
