Eden's Creatures

by Valerie Zambito

  “Is he really a… a snake?”

  “I think so, but all we have are the translations from our ancestors.”

  Screw it! He reached out and pulled her close. To his surprise, she clung to him and nothing had ever felt so good to him in his life. Whatever else happened, he would protect Stassi — with his last breath if need be.

  He thought back to the Elder’s words that he needed to unite the Faedin. “We can do this, Stassi,” he whispered, trying very hard to forget the second thing the Elder said. The time of the Faedin is over. “We can do this together.”

  She pulled back to look at him. “I’m glad you are here with me, Cal. I don’t think I—”

  A sudden shout pulled them apart.

  Gilad and the warriors were returning at a much faster pace than the one in which they had left. “They’re coming!”

  As one, the warriors clenched in alert.

  Julius flew off the pavilion. “The Fallen?”

  “Yes,” Gilad whispered breathlessly.

  “How many?”

  “All of them.”

  CHAPTER 23

  The Fallen Army

  Bannon wiped the sweat from his brow as he plodded miserably through the forest with two Fallen by his side. The human had proved a lot faster than Bannon thought he would be, and it was taking longer to find him than he had time for. The Fallen army would be attacking the Faedin any moment now which meant he needed to be there and not tramping through these blasted woods. For all the Fallen’s single-minded ability to follow through on a direct order, he had learned over the past few weeks just how much reinforcement was still required to get them to act together. Any slight release of the reins and they would be scattering like spooked chickens.

  A slight moment of hesitation slowed his steps as he briefly considered using the human, once he was found, to disappear through the veil without freeing Gai’tan.

  Could it work?

  He shook his head, quickly dismissing the idea. No, he would never make it. The Fallen, compelled and cursed by the devil, would tear him to pieces before he could ever make it. Especially now that they were already on the scent. Best to just see this thing through as planned. Zakiel promised him the veil would be destroyed when Gai’tan was reborn, and Bannon would be able to walk out at his leisure. He would wait for his opportunity.

  The creak of wood above his head stopped him. He slowly glanced up. There, perched precariously on a limb was the human, soaked through with sweat.

  “Get him down,” he ordered the two Fallen and they scrambled up into the tree with all of the agility of a Faedin still.

  The human tried to climb higher, but never made it. One of the Fallen grabbed his shirt and tossed him down to the ground, a good twenty-foot drop.

  Bannon hauled the man to his feet by the collar.

  “Let go of me!”

  “My apologies, son of Adam, but I am unable to do that.”

  “What do you want with me you… you monster!”

  Bannon showed the human his teeth. “Oh, you have no idea.”

  Battle lines were set. Rows and rows of Faedin silently preparing for combat. Cal stood with them, along with every man, woman and child, young and old. They carried whatever weapon they could find in their unpracticed hands. Knives, farming implements, even a broom or two. With the entire Fallen Army descending upon the village, this would be a fight for survival.

  For all of them.

  None would be spared. No mercy given.

  The quiet stretched out. Feet shifted uneasily. Eyes darted nervously.

  A frantic Eduard ran through the lines pressing leather neck shields into as many hands as he could. Cal took his from the clothier with a grateful nod, yet he quickly realized there weren’t enough. Eduard’s supply would run out long before the lines ended.

  Julius appeared, walking among the Faedin, a sword gripped tight in one fist. “Brothers and sisters! There is no nobler cause than the one before us! We must not falter from our duty to rid the world of evil. Release the Fallen from their devil-tainted prisons! Free them to the Wonder! With sword, bow or fist, we must fight!”

  The Faedin answered with a roaring thunder of voices and drawn steel.

  The first sounds of the Fallen crashing through the forest reached their ears. One of the children whimpered.

  “Hold!” Julius demanded.

  Cal swallowed back his fear. He held his bow with an arrow nocked in one hand and rested the other on the knife at his belt.

  Stassi stood beside him, similarly armed. Resolve had replaced the fear and she looked ready to take on the Fallen single-handedly.

  The menacing sounds grew louder.

  “Hold!” Julius shouted once again.

  The chieftain’s order held Cal in place when his feet itched to run. Either toward the Fallen or away — it didn’t matter. As long as he was moving.

  Julius made his way over to Stassi. “As soon as we meet in battle, I want you to take a team of warriors and go to the Tree That Will Not Die. Whatever happens, we cannot let Bannon free the serpent. If… if the worst happens and Gai’tan escapes, do not be tricked by one such as he. He can be seductive. He can dress up evil to make it look good. To tempt. You mustn’t let him succeed.”

  She bowed her head. “I will not fail you, Sire.”

  Julius reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, his face grave and sad. “I love you, daughter.”

  Stassi sucked in a surprised breath and tears pooled in her eyes. “I love you, too.”

  Cal watched as the two Faedin embraced each other in a fierce hug. When Julius let her go, he faced Cal with an earnest look. “Use whatever strategies you bring from your world. We will need them.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Julius turned back to the Faedin. “Brothers and sisters! Our final battle is upon us! Prepare for war!”

  Another loud cheer went up, drowning out all sound.

  Cal wished more than anything to have a few more moments with Stassi. To tell her how much she meant to him and how much she had changed his life in such a short time, but he never had time.

  The Fallen broke free of the woods, crouched and loping at a primal, deadly pace. The screaming and crying filled Cal’s heart with unmitigated terror. His mouth dried. His lungs stopped filling with air. His limbs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

  I’m about to die.

  “Stassi,” he said softly.

  That single utterance passed between them and their eyes met. No other words were needed.

  “Me, too,” she said and gave him a long, lingering look, the tears still glistening in her amber eyes. “Be brave, my love.”

  Julius thrust his sword into the air. “Faedin! Charge!”

  Stassi turned from him then to meet the Fallen stampede, letting loose her arrows as she ran.

  Cal was yanked after her as though attached by a string, her confidence bolstering his. Feet pounded all around him and he was swept along with the tide. He stumbled once and hands on either side hauled him back upright to continue on. And he did. The Faedin cause now his. Their resolve infusing him with purpose.

  They’re unstoppable, he thought. Not because they don’t have fear, but because they soldier on in spite of it.

  He almost pitied the Fallen in that moment, until he realized how badly they wanted to die.

  Battle cries filled the air and Cal joined them as he sprinted, every step taking him closer to violence. He never thought running feet could sound so deafening. So ominous. He lost sight of Stassi in the mob, but it no longer mattered. Blood lust filled his mind, colored his eyesight red. His hands itched to choke the life from the enemy.

  Yet he skipped a step when he saw Abram at the forward point of the Fallen Army. The former warrior’s features were twisted with unbearable grief at what he was about to do, but Cal had no time to dwell on it as the two opponents came together in a ferocious clash. A jarring impact that rippled through the Faedin like the echo of a r
ung bell and sent dozens flying backwards to the ground — including him.

  Cal sat dazed for a moment as all around him the Faedin fought for their lives with blood-curdling screams, grunts and snarls. The glint of metal reflected the sunlight as swords sliced and knives slashed.

  The Fallen are all armed!

  Sense flooded back and he staggered to his feet. A high-pitched whistle gave him a hairsbreadth warning of the sword seeking his head.

  He ducked just in time and reached for the knife at his belt. With a grunt of effort, he flung himself at his assailant and jammed the tip of the blade up under the Fallen’s chin. Adrenaline coursed through him. He snarled like an animal, shoving and twisting his blade into flesh. Blood frothed at the Fallen’s mouth, staining his lips red. Teeth gritted, Cal kept pushing the knife, buried to the hilt until the Fallen finally died beneath his hands and slumped to the ground.

  Breathing heavily through his mouth, Cal crouched, bow still in hand. It quickly became clear that his weapon would be of little use in the tight confines around him.

  I need height.

  He took off, weaving through the fighting mass toward the tree line.

  And ran smack into Abram.

  The Fallen howled in regret, but was no less dangerous because of it. Cal turned to flee, but before he could take three steps, Abram leapt at him and tackled him to the ground. The Fallen twisted Cal around and straddled him. Red hair filled Cal’s vision as Abram bent to his neck, not smart enough to remember about the shields. Sharp fangs tore and tugged at the leather, searching for a way to inject the devil’s poison.

  “Abram!” Cal struggled beneath him, but the Fallen was too strong. “Abram! Stop!”

  His pleas had no effect.

  In a panic, Cal frantically searched the ground and found his bow lying next to him. He picked it up and smashed it into the side of Abram’s head.

  The strike did nothing.

  Cal continued to batter at his attacker, blow after blow, before finally getting Abram to lift his head.

  An unexpected warm mist blasted over Cal’s face.

  He looked up to a gaping hole where Abram’s head had once been. A blood-splattered Gilad stood behind the headless corpse and gave its falling momentum help with a vicious kick.

  Cal lifted himself to his elbows in utter shock. “Why? Why would you save me?”

  “Because you are Faedin. A stupid Faedin, but one nonetheless.”

  Gilad extended his hand down toward Cal.

  After a slight hesitation, Cal took it and Gilad pulled him to his feet.

  “You ready to end this?” Cal asked, glancing at the circle of warriors that Gilad had brought with him.

  “What trick do you have in mind now?” he asked dryly.

  “What can you do that I can’t do?”

  A smirk appeared. “All right. Let’s do it.”

  “We’ll hit them from three sides at once. Left, right and above.”

  Gilad turned to the warriors. “You heard him! Split up.” Without another word, he exploded into the air, taking a third of the warriors with him.

  Another group took off to the right and Cal headed left with the remainder. They ran together for the trees, dodging through the battle. Several times, they had to stop to clear the Fallen out of their way with bloodshed. It took longer than Cal would have liked, but eventually they made it to the edge of the woods, minus three of their number.

  Cal scrambled to the top of a large tree. The carnage he saw from his new vantage point made his heart stop. Faedin dead littered the ground, twisted in death. Mangled corpses were everywhere. Men, women and children. The Fallen had delivered more death and taken more ground than Cal would have believed possible in such a short time.

  He wanted to run. To hide. To close his eyes so he could blot out the awful scene before him.

  Please, don’t let Stassi be one of them.

  His grief was cut short as the warriors on the other side lobbied their first arrows into the enemy. At the same time, the sky above the enemy turned white as Gilad’s fliers swarmed in to rain heavy rocks down on their heads.

  “Fire!” Cal screamed, and he and his group sent their barrage of missiles, taking down dozens at a time.

  Chaos ensued as the Fallen horde pushed and shoved at each other to get out of the way of the lethal projectiles. They turned on each other, tearing and clawing into their neighbors with deadly consequence and stalling their forward momentum.

  Julius flew into the air with his sword. “Push, brothers and sisters! Push them back!”

  The Faedin’s faces lit up with hope and they crashed into the Fallen with a new show of force that rocked the enemy to its knees.

  Come on! Just a little more! Cal urged silently.

  The world’s guardians were relentless, finally gaining back some of the ground they had lost. The Fallen were dying in huge numbers, free will reigning over subjugation.

  Suddenly, a large figure appeared in the skies. “Fallen! Retreat!”

  Cal growled at the sight of Bannon hovering behind the enemy line.

  “Retreat! Fallen! Retreat!”

  The Fallen obeyed the command that they couldn’t have thought of on their own and started to flee.

  The Faedin cheered and gave chase.

  One recklessly brave warrior took to the skies to go after Bannon. A girl with silver hair and a bow slung over her shoulder.

  Damn it, Stassi!

  Cal shimmied down the tree and pushed through the crowd, but knew he would never make it in time. Stassi would have to confront Bannon on her own.

  The thought almost killed him.

  CHAPTER 24

  A Sacrifice

  Stassi sped across the sky with jaw set tight, determined to chop off the head of the monster leading the Fallen.

  Why Bannon? Why?

  She had always looked up to the affable Faedin like an older brother. How could he have hidden so much darkness inside? For what? Why would he want to free Gai’tan? Worse, why would he sacrifice his own daughter — his own people — to do it?

  Regrettably, she thought fiercely, they would never know the answer as she planned to give him no time for explanations.

  She shrieked in fury when Bannon looked back at her with a smile. So confident, my friend? Your Fallen failed at the door to our village and you will, too.

  He dove down into the trees and she followed, dodging and dipping, blazing a blurred trail across the landscape.

  An image of Cal flashed in her mind and she felt a surge of pride at what he had done to defeat the Fallen, for she had no doubt that he’d had a hand in the united attack. But she quickly clamped down on her thoughts. Right now, there was only room for killing.

  A powerful burst put her within inches of Bannon. She reached out with her hand. Reaching further still, stretching as far as she could until her talon finally snagged the bottom of his wing.

  He roared in surprise and twisted his head to snap at her with his fangs. She refused to let go, sending them downward in a tangled, uncontrolled spiral. They hit the ground with brutal force, stunning them both senseless.

  Stassi groaned in pain, but fought it, refusing to give Bannon her easy death. She staggered to her feet, delivering a solid kick to Bannon’s temple on the way.

  The traitor cursed, but managed to lurch to his feet before she could strike him again and took off running.

  Stassi gave chase and burst out of the woods into another clearing. She skidded to a stop when she realized where they were — where Bannon had led her.

  To the Tree That Will Not Die.

  Her eyes took in the horrific sight before her and she felt sick.

  It had been a trap.

  They had not defeated the Fallen as they had all assumed. Most of the Fallen had stayed behind.

  She shot into the air for a better look. Where did they all come from? Hundreds and hundreds of Fallen stood in rows before the tree. An army of crying, hostile forces that stood in wait
for their prey to arrive.

  Bannon had the Faedin right where he wanted them.

  No!

  She never had time to warn her people as they came forward at a full run, still chasing the remaining Fallen from the fight in the village.

  The result was worse than she could have imagined. The weary Fallen peeled off and fresh forces stepped up to attack the Faedin with a devil-compelled fury she had never seen before. Arms were ripped from sockets. Heads lopped from shoulders. Throats torn out.

  Time stopped for Stassi as every terrifying detail came into sharp focus. Every bloodthirsty scream. Every violent death.

  She found Julius, his mouth opening impossibly wide as he took a sword thrust through the back. Caliphy’s vengeful scream and lunge looked mired in molasses. Her resulting death even slower yet.

  Everywhere Stassi looked, people were dying. Her people. In hideous and unspeakable ways.

  Even the children.

  She covered her mouth to stifle the grief-filled moan that clawed its way out of her throat. Dear Maker, why is this happening?

  “I’m sorry, Stassi.”

  Stassi whipped her head to the side and snarled. She might not have the otherworldly answer at her disposal, but she knew the worldly one.

  Bannon.

  He, too, seemed transfixed by the scene happening below them as he hovered in the air next to her. His eyes turned her way. “It’s over, Stassi. You have lost. I am truly sorry that it had to come to this.”

  “And what have you gained, Bannon? What was worth all of this?” she cried, spreading her arms wide.

  “My freedom.”

  He dove down toward an elevated section of ground behind the pit, and that’s when Stassi saw the human.

  “Move!” Cal pushed and shoved in a desperate attempt to find Stassi, but it was no use. There were simply too many combatants. Fallen in the hundreds and outnumbering the Faedin three to one.

  Where had they come from?