Alan Price and the Statue of Zeus (The Nephilim Chronicles Book 3)

by Jonathan Yanez

  When the rock moved from the entrance to the tunnel, Michael was jolted from his thoughts. He stared up into the now bright sun looming overhead. Though he couldn’t see her face, he knew without a doubt it was Ardat as soon as he he heard her voice drift to him from above, “Let me explain, Michael.”

  Anger Michael reserved for his enemies possessed him as he rose to the surface. Landing next to Ardat, he shook with anger, “No, you don’t get to say another word. They were right about you. They all were. You’ve only ever been in this for yourself.”

  Ardat looked at him through eyes wrought with pain and sorrow. She was so good at faking her emotions, it made Michael sick. “I should restrain you and take you to the Temple of Artemis to rot in a cell.”

  Ardat lifted both her hands and offered her surrender. “If that is what you want then I am your prisoner. Just know that I am sorry—”

  “Save your excuses, Ardat,” Michael said. Anger, at her yet more at himself for allowing himself to trust her again, shook Michael with fury. “I don’t care what you do anymore. Take your lies and feed them to someone else. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  Ardat stood back stunned as if Michael had slapped her across the face. She opened her mouth again to speak but Michael was done listening. The Archangel turned to go; as to where, he was unsure. He only knew he had no desire to be in Ardat’s presence a second longer.

  “I know where Kyle is.”

  Her words caught him midstride as Michael extended his wings to rise to the sky. All the reasons he should leave now were weighing on him. All the reasons he shouldn’t trust her knotting themselves in a thick coil inside his stomach. But if it was true, if there was the slightest chance she could be telling the truth.

  Ardat took his hesitancy as a sign to continue. “Whether you will admit to it or not, you would have died in a fight with Gabriel. Even now, despite his weakened state, he would be more than a match for us. I saw him, Michael. I know his location, his plans. I’ve seen Kyle. I’ll tell you everything.”

  Above all else, Michael wanted to go. He wanted to leave this twisted woman he hated himself for loving. She had struck him in the head, betrayed his trust and now she was spewing words she knew would make him stay. Whether they were true or not, only she knew.

  Michael finally consented to the voice inside telling him to hear what Ardat had to say. If he left now, he would have nothing. He would be forced to return to the Temple of Artemis without Kyle or Gabriel. “Speak, demon.”

  A sorrow that would have melted his own heart in any other occasion came over Ardat. Her lower lip trembled yet only for a moment. Gathering her thoughts, Ardat straightened her back and held her head high. “I do not regret my action. Only that you are too stubborn to admit I am right. You would be dead now had I not acted as such and allowed you to throw yourself at Gabriel. I will apologize no further for saving your life and gathering the information you needed.”

  “Save your argument for the tribunal you’ll face with when we return,” Michael said as an emotionless mask spread across his face. “You said you knew were Gabriel is and what happened to Kyle.”

  “Yes, Kyle has been discovered as a spy and Gabriel has him as a prisoner. Gabriel has refortified the Usurper’s stronghold, Golgotha, and I assume he is gathering his own army. He is weak from using the spell though still more powerful than either of us. He acted as if he was weakened to the point of incapacitation even so, I know better. Greater still, Gabriel has no desire to unite the Horsemen under the banner of darkness and have them bring about the Apocalypse. He wants to rule himself; not prepare the world for the Usurper’s return.”

  The information tracked through Michael’s mind as he examined Ardat’s story. Her information could be false for all he knew, perhaps even a trap. Whatever the case, if he was going to follow the only lead he had and travel to Golgotha, he would not be able to do so with a prisoner in tow. “It seems that my return to the Temple is required now. You’ll be given a cell there until the tribunal can be gathered to decide your fate.”

  Ardat was silent.

  “Will you resist or can I trust—no, trust is not the right word. Will you fly beside me?”

  Ardat’s face fell to the floor as a veil of her long hair hid her expression, “I will.”

  ---

  The flight to the Temple was short and uneventful. Michael poured his anger and pent up aggression into flying as his mind worked overtime to weigh all the possibilities. No matter how much he wanted to reach out and touch Ardat, to comfort her during her distress, he knew he couldn’t. He would just be retracing the same steps that led him into this situation in the first place.

  Another thing bothering him was the fact Ardat was right. Left to his own devices, he would have convinced the Shaman to send him to Gabriel and a fight would have ensued. What may or may not have been the outcome, it was his decision to make, not hers.

  Michael was soon saved from these thoughts as they reached Artemis’ Temple. Seeing the ancient structure remade and returned to its previous glory gave Michael the briefest respite from his anger. The Temple was inspiring with large white marble pillars rising to the heavens. Michael landed at the entrance to the Temple, Ardat quietly behind him.

  The spirit of Artemis awoken for this one thousand-year cycle walked out to them. She was a small girl with wild brown hair and eyes to match. Artemis made her way down the flight of steps leading from the Temple to the ground careful to remain on the last marble step before reaching the ground. As the prophet Artemis, she was not allowed to leave the Temple until the Horsemen’s choosing and the one thousand-year cycle was complete. “Michael, Ardat,” the young girl said with a huge smile, “please come in. The Temple has been so lonely without you.”

  Michael nodded and followed the girl up the flight of stone stairs. “Thank you, Artemis, I’m afraid we come with dark news. Ardat has betrayed us again and—”

  Artemis stopped on the steps and turned to Michael with a shake of her head. “No, she didn’t.”

  Confusion spread across Michael’s features as he looked first to Artemis, then Ardat and back again. “Artemis, yes, she did. I’m afraid you don’t understand—”

  Artemis interrupted him again, “Don’t forget who you are addressing, Michael,” Artemis said holding his gaze with a stern glare, “I’ve seen what has happened. Ardat saved you. You would be dead if not for her and along with you, our best chance at stopping Gabriel.”

  Michael couldn’t believe his ears, even Ardat stood beside him with wonder written over her face. “And I’m not putting her in a cell,” Artemis continued, “If you don’t want her to travel with you, fine. Should she be punished for anything, it would be for striking you.”

  Artemis leaned to the side to look around Michael and catch Ardat with a raised eyebrow. “Really? You couldn’t think of any other way than to knock him out?”

  Ardat shrugged, “My window of opportunity was closing quickly I needed to act. I do regret my actions.”

  “Enough,” Michael said in frustration. “If you want her to walk free in your Temple, that is your decision. I need to speak to Esther and Seraphim. Gabriel has reclaimed Golgotha and if we act now, we may have a chance at stopping him before he regains even more power.”

  “I would think your best bet lies with Raphael reclaiming his abilities,” Artemis said pursing her lips deep in thought.

  Michael felt like laughing, the idea was so absurd. “Raphael? The same Raphael who turned his back on us more than a millennia ago and renounced his allegiance to the Light?”

  Artemis nodded. “Alan has been with him and—”

  It was Michael’s turn to cut off Artemis. “We can’t wait to see if and when Raphael will change his mind. Please, Artemis, I need to see Seraphim and Esther.”

  Artemis shrugged, “Well, neither one of them are here. Seraphim is recalling her Death Angels from guarding the Celestial Weapons and consolidating the stockpile of arms here at the Temple
. Esther’s men have been in a battle with an army of demons led by Sodom. They are encamped around Raphael’s hut on the beach. Esther and her forces held with Alan’s help but the Horseman of Famine has been found and lost. Sodom has her now.”

  Artemis said these words as if she were reciting the weather forecast for the next week. Her face was expressionless and when she finished, she even reached for Ardat’s hand and started back up the stairs. In any other circumstance, the idea of Ardat holding a hand with a young girl and being led anywhere would be unthinkable. Even Ardat understood the irony as she looked over her shoulder with a grimace at Michael.

  Michael bit back the urge to accompany them both as his mind fought through all the new information related by Artemis. The Horseman of Famine had been discovered and captured. Sodom held her now, which boded well for neither Gabriel or Michael. Sodom was not the kind of man to make a deal or align himself with anyone.

  Michael rubbed the sides of his head weary with the mental strain of trying to wrap his mind around all the implications of things to come. What was more important now? Finding and rescuing the captured Horseman or defeating Gabriel and freeing Kyle?

  “You look horrible.”

  Michael looked up to see Alan and, to his surprise, Raphael land on the steps beside him. “I meant that in a good kind of way,” Alan said retracing his words, “like you look horrible and we’re here to help.”

  Michael flashed a smile at his protégée, but his eyes didn’t stray far from Raphael. There was a time he would have welcomed the man with a hug; however, that time was long ago.

  “Michael,” Raphael said tilting his head.

  “Raphael,” Michael said. He knew he should be happier to see the former leader of the Archangels; however the stained events of the past dictated a different response. Raphael turned his back on both Michael and the Light. There was just too much history to forget on a whim.

  “So,” Alan said clearing his throat, “Raphael has agreed to help us fight Gabriel.”

  “I’ve agreed to help rescue Kassidy,” Raphael said still staring at Michael.

  “Right,” Alan said with an uneasy smile, “that’s what I said.” Alan looked back and forth at the two Archangels before slowly backpedalling to the Temple entrance. “Okay, well, I’m going to let you two hash this out. I’ll be inside talking with Gideon if either of you two need me.”

  Michael nodded, seeing Alan disappear into the Temple entrance out of the corner of his eye. “So, you’re back then?” Michael finally asked looking Raphael up and down. “Just to help rescue the captured Horseman, I take it.”

  Raphael nodded crossing his arms over his chest, “That’s right. I made a vow to stay out of the dealings of the Light and Dark and I will continue to do so after I see that Kassidy is safe.”

  “And once you do, then what?” Michael asked, “You’ll turn your back on us all again and disappear to your little hut by the sea? You’ll sit in your home powerless against the past while we bleed and die to keep the darkness at bay?”

  Raphael’s eyes burned with rage. At first he opened his mouth to speak then thought better of his response and rephrased his words, “I do not need to explain myself to you,” Raphael turned his back on Michael and started up the stairs.

  “That’s your problem,” Michael said clenching his fists, “you don’t answer to anyone anymore. The only reason you’re here now is because you think in some way this will atone for your past. But Raphael, what you did—what we all did—was necessary for our future. We can’t make up for our actions because we did what we had to do and there is no dishonor in that. ”

  Raphael stopped as his feet crested the top step. He swayed in the breeze before turning to address his counterpart. He fixed Michael with a firm look. It was impossible to tell through his cold grey eyes what he was about to say. When Raphael spoke, his words laced with a thick tone, it was clear he was still living in his guilt. “You say there is no dishonor in killing our own?”

  Michael licked his lips and nodded.

  “I say you are the one I pity for you do not know what you do. One day they will come back to haunt you, Michael. And their memory will be the penalty for the life you have led.”

  Without another word, Raphael turned and walked into the Temple.

  Chapter 15

  “Oh, yes, they’ve been good while you were gone. I knew you’d come back when they started howling like they were going to take the whole place apart.”

  Alan chuckled as he was nuzzled and welcomed back with low growls and barks. As the Horseman of War, Alan’s steads were three gigantic animals that closely resembled a wolf and dog hybrid. The only real difference being, his dogs of war were larger than he was.

  Gideon, the eccentric angel inventor, continued on as he tinkered over a table of shining metals and ancient tools. “I take it Danielle found you. When she left with Esther, she was in a panic to get to you. I think she…might have thought something happened to you.”

  Alan scratched one of the beasts behind the ears as his attention piqued at Gideon’s careful words. “What do you mean?”

  The angel lifted his eyes to Alan from his bench. Shaggy white eyebrows arched with a look of innocent intrigue, “Well, it’s not my place to say but it seems to me Danielle cares for you in a very…deep way.”

  Alan took a deep breath. Faced with what he knew he needed to address, he only wished there was a better time. Gideon took his silence for confusion, “Well, Alan, what I’m trying to say is that sometimes when two friends come together—”

  “Whoa, whoa,” Alan stood up from his seat with both arms extended, “I know what you meant, Gideon.” Images of Seraphim drifted through Alan’s mind, the kiss they shared. “It’s just complicated.”

  “It always is,” Gideon smiled.

  At that moment, the dogs’ ears perked up and all three of their large heads swung towards the door. Raphael walked in a moment later nodding to Alan and Gideon.

  If Gideon was surprised to see him, he showed none. Instead of welcoming back a missing colleague, Gideon smiled at the Archangel, “Hello, Raphael. How have you been?”

  Raphael exchanged a confused look with Alan before responding, “I’m well. Thank you, Hephaestus, and you?”

  Alan perked up at the mention of one of Gideon’s alias used during the time of the Grecian-demonic uprising. He made a mental note to ask Gideon about it in the future.

  “Oh,” Gideon scratched at his beard musing over Raphael’s use of the name, “ I haven’t been called by that name in such a long time. I’ve been better. You know getting older and all that. Can’t stop the wheels of time. But you didn’t come here to hear me talk about my age. You want your abilities back, don’t you?”

  All three canine heads swung to Raphael to hear his response, “Yes,” Raphael said, “is there a way?”

  Gideon straightened his back, bringing a series of cracks and groans from him as he spoke, “I knew the day would come when you returned.” Gideon shuffled around the room looking in stacks of books and piles of tools. To Alan, the inventor’s workshop looked like a cyclone had ran through and spit out whatever it didn’t destroy.

  “Let’s see here,” Gideon rummaged through a pile of books in a corner of the room that closely resembled the end result of an avalanche. “Here,” Gideon said as he lifted a leather-bound book that looked as if it could be as old as the angel holding it. “When you first decided to relinquish your powers, I was intrigued by how you did it and whether there were a way to obtain them once again.”

  Gideon made his way back to the table careful to avoid stepping on any of his many tools strewn over the floor. “I did some research and took some notes compiling them down here in this book.” Gideon opened the book on the table careful not to tear any of the crisp pages.

  Alan’s eyes tracked along as Gideon flipped through the sheets muttering under his breath. What Alan saw was amazing. It was like a book he read as a child full of mythical monsters an
d ancient beasts. Along with the writing in the book were drawings of creatures. Some were familiar to Alan, like phoenixes, gryphons and sea serpents, others Alan had never seen or heard of before.

  “Here it is,” Gideon said turning the book upside down so Alan and Raphael could tell what he found. Gideon pointed a knobby finger at the open page.

  Alan reminded himself to breath. “What—what is that?”

  “minotaurs,” Raphael said in a hard tone.

  Alan looked at the picture again still not believing his eyes. A creature half man, half bull was etched on the page. The figure Alan was looking at stood erect like a man but his head was horned. His gigantic, muscular frame was covered in fur and was accompanied by hooved feet . The bull-like eyes on the drawing practically taunting him to try and deny the possibility of its existence. “How…” Alan’s voice trailed off into a stupor.

  Raphael picked up where he left off, “Gideon, how are the minotaurs supposed to restore my power?”

  Gideon pointed to the next page where a series of notes were written down in neat order. Alan listened as his eyes refused to move away from the minotaur’s stare. “Well, this is purely conjecture to be sure,” Gideon said. “Nothing like this has ever been done. I mean, no Archangel has ever given up his ability let alone try to reclaim it. However, if a way does exist, they would know. Their own abilities in internal regeneration and the way they are able to transfer their power from one of their kind to another is the closest example we have of what you are trying to accomplish.”

  Raphael stared long and hard at the picture, “It’s a long shot, Gideon.”

  “Still, it is the only chance you have,” Gideon said.

  Chapter 16

  “How much longer?” Ardat turned startled by the voice that caught her off guard. She chided herself for being so naive to her own surroundings. Her eyes tracked the landscape outside the Temple for the Shaman.