"No, James. You're not. What you did to Tarael was inhumane and only caused more problems." Dusty pulled up a chair then helped James sit down in it. He knelt between the man's knees and looked up at him. "Look me in my eyes, okay? I need to know who else you have been controlling like they're your puppets. You are dealing with forces far beyond your understanding."
Dave grunted as he opened another bottle of rum. "Why would a Nephilim want to figure this out? Don't you things usually like chaos?"
"Not me. But I need to figure out exactly how this works so I can clear my name." Dusty unbuttoned his pink shirt the rest of the way then unbuckled his belt. He pulled down the top of his baggy pants to show the Ka'taylin rune on his left hipbone. "Stephan did it to me. He used my body to do those things in Heaven. He did it to so many of us angels. We fought it, but we were overpowered by him. I need to know how to do this so others don't fall under this possession. The only reason I was able to live through that was because a demon's mark won't kill another demon. So please. Let me heal you, James. Then we can figure this all out and go to Ilyan."
"Will it help end the war?" James asked, hope flickering to life in his brown eyes.
"James, if I have my way, this war will end before this week is over."
* * *
Jaylen's bright blue eyes glistened in the mage-glow as he dug the stick into the dirt floor and carved a summoning circle as best as he could with his one hand. He didn't want to keep doing this, but he couldn't stop it. "Please don't make me do this."
Finalis sounded angrier than usual. "You're doing it. Now draw the demon mark in the middle then the name of the person underneath it."
"Who now?"
"I'll let you pick this time. Who has made you angry? Who do you want to pay for harming you? Who else deserves to pay for what they've done? What about your father? Do to him what you've done to Jeremiah. Put the Ka'taylin rune on him and let me control him."
"But Jeremiah has been mean and hurtful since you've been messing with his mind."
"Only to ensure that he does what needs to be done."
"You mean what you want him to do. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want this. I never wanted this. Why did you go behind my back and put a mark on Tarael?" Jaylen asked. "He deserved a better death than that."
"He was your enemy. Besides, I had no hand in that fiasco. Someone else put a mark on him."
"Who else do you know with this kind of ability?" Jaylen asked.
"Divinus."
Jaylen dropped the stick and rubbed his forehead. "I killed Divinus."
"Yes, yes you did." Finalis said. "And very good work with that, by the way. But unfortunately, things don't always go the way we want them to. Even seraphs have souls, you know? And all souls except for the ones being reincarnated by dragons and their strange mating rituals have to go through Purgatory before they reach Heaven or Hell. Divinus's soul was shut out of Purgatory right before he could be admitted. He then found a place to hide, one where he had been before. He was comfortable there in the tormented playground he made for himself in James Vallen's mind."
"James Vallen? My brother-in-law?"
"Yes. Kato's brother. Now he's doing whatever he wants with the poor kid."
"Why didn't you tell me that Divinus was still around?" Jaylen asked.
"Because hiding things from you is just too much fun. If you wanted to know all this stuff, you could have just asked me. I am you, you know?"
Jaylen stood up and smeared the summoning circle under his boot. "No. No, you're not. I'm not putting another mark on anyone. I won't do it, not even to my father. I'm going to tell Jeremiah that he's been marked and that you're controlling him. It's not right. I'm done with this. If you want to go around causing mayhem in the name of entertainment and bloodlust, then be my guest. But I am above that. I am above you!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, which I am."
Jaylen's body seized up to the point where he couldn't move or breathe. "What are you doing?"
"Teaching you a lesson. Night night, Jaybird. It's my turn to take the reins for a while. Don't worry. I only have my eyes set on helping Divinus with one special mark."
Chapter 10
Day 12: Morning
Sola Temple Ruins, Urani Mountains, Northern Vilyron
Rift Ambassador Naomi and Cavalry Detachment Four
Naomi's gallop slowed to a cautious walk as her hooves hit the cracked marble stones that made up the interior floors of the abandoned Sola temple. Her silver barding glinted in the light from the torches the human riders carried on their horses behind her. She usually did not like being lumped together with horses or cattle, but she had to deal with it in this case. The cavalry were the only ones who could keep up with her, and time was something none of them could waste. They had ridden for nearly three days straight, with only a few hours of sleep or for food in order to get here soon after Jeremiah spotted the red smoke signal coming from the area.
Naomi quickly braided her long blue hair and secured it with a few pins before holding up her hand to stop the others. She looked out through the sanctuary where the roof was crumbling, snow blew inside from the open courtyard, and the floor exhibited evidence of a recent fire. Tall white columns and statues were cracked with their pieces scattered around the area. Naomi walked down the rows of wooden benches, searching for any sign of Liam or Karix. There were a few claw marks that dug into the stone walls, but not much more than that. However, it was obvious that some sort of struggle had occurred there.
"Naomi, over there."
She went to the soldier who had dismounted his horse and was kneeling on the tattered and singed carpet. Peering over his shoulder, she saw the bruised and bloody woman with the purple hair who was sitting against the wall with her eyes closed. "Liaxa?"
The succubus's eyes fluttered open as she weakly pointed out into the courtyard. "Eggs."
Naomi moved closer in case she heard her incorrectly. "Say that again. What did you say?"
"Eggs." Liaxa fell into the soldier's arms and lost consciousness.
As the soldiers tended to Liaxa's injuries, Naomi went to investigate whatever the succubus had been talking about. She went out into the adjoining courtyard where the walls to the sanctuary had long since been reduced to rubble. Naomi held her fur parka around her arms and chest to ward against the blowing snow. Then she noticed two lumps under a coat of freshly-fallen snow. They were round and buried. She hurried over to them then brushed away the white powder to see two smooth spheres of polished hard shell. One was dark green with black spots and the other was purple. Eggs? When she put her hand against them, they were both cold, but not frozen. The layer of snow had insulated them. Hopefully it would have been enough to keep whatever was growing inside alive for however long they had been out there.
"Aren't they beautiful?"
Naomi looked over towards the soft female voice as an albino woman with piercing purple eyes stepped out from the shadowy ruins. She looked very familiar, but there was no way it could have been who she thought it was. "Amari?"
"Hello, Naomi. It's me."
"Your eyes. Your voice. You're healed."
"More or less." Amari shrugged her thin shoulders that showed under her flowing purple gown. "The truth is, I could have done this long ago, but I chose to remain flawed in order to prolong my punishment. I needed to feel how humans felt when they were injured. I wanted to pay for what I did to Jaycob."
"Jaycob?"
"My rider."
"Oh, that's right." Naomi said. "You're Astrinalix."
"That I am. The purple egg contains Xair's human child. I put him in there to keep him safe."
"Him?" Naomi asked. "It's a boy?"
"Yes. Without that shell and the warm nutrients inside, the baby would have been lost up here. I came up here to find Xair, but I was attacked when I arrived by a mass of demons and some very angry centaurs from The Rift."
Naomi became much more interested. "Centaurs? Do yo
u know where they went?"
"After they injured my dragon form, I watched them leave down the mountain. That's all I know. I fear they're heading towards Ilyan. I can't turn back into my dragon form, so I used all my remaining power to heal these injuries in my human form. I can't tend to the eggs like this. They're going to freeze. I can't lose my son."
"Who is in the other egg?"
Amari walked up to the eggs then patted the green one. "A baby dragon. Karix and Liam's child."
"So . . . is Liam . . ."
"Dead. Any remnants of Liam are in that dragon. We have to transfer these eggs to a much warmer place as soon as possible."
"Okay. We'll get them back to camp. It's no problem. We can build a fire and get them completely thawed out before we leave. I know how we can-" Naomi stopped speaking as a black rose petal drifted out of the sky and came to a rest near her hooves. A chill ran up her back when she heard the flutter of angel wings nearby.
A blue-winged angel landed behind her. "Hello, horsey."
She glared at him, but then read him a bit. He wasn't dangerous. "Who are you?"
"I am Payniel." He motioned back behind him to the incubus with the goatee. "And that's my master, Stephan."
Normally, Naomi would have taken off running. At the very least, she would have backed away and found a weapon. But not this time. Something was different about them. "What's going on? You two aren't here to attack me. I can feel that I'm safe."
"That you are." Stephan strutted up to her then began stroking her blue braid with his claws. "We are on your side now, sweetheart."
Naomi was not in the mood for that. "Don't call me that. If you say you're on our side, then you won't mind coming back to the camp in shackles."
"Do what you have to do, but I'm not lying. Though, we have a Ka'taylin to bury before we leave this place."
That's when Naomi saw the Ka'taylin man's body where it had appeared in the sanctuary, surrounded by black rose petals. "Karix."
"I'm afraid so." Stephan said, actually appearing to be saddened by it all. "We were fighting here a couple of days ago, I guess. He tried to leash me, but my power was too much for him. He then finalized the mating process with Liam. That's why the little thief is now covered in scales and inside that green egg there."
"All right. Men, get these two in shackles. I want them absolutely secured before we head back down the mountain. I need some of you to wrap these eggs up and place them in one of the supply carts out front. They are our one and only priority at this point. Protect the eggs at all costs. After that, bury Karix. We will have him a proper funeral once this war is over." Naomi took a vial from her pack then shattered it on the ground. A plume of blue smoke rose in the air. "Now Jeremiah knows everything is going all right up here. Let's get to work."
* * *
Day 12: Morning
Vilyron Military Camp, Outer Ilyan, Central Vilyron
Various Infantry, Angelic, and Allied Forces
Oviel stirred his current potion where the liquid had began to boil over the fire near his tent as he looked out from his long white bangs to watch the interrogation that was occurring in the middle of camp. All the troops that were still stationed there were gathered around and shouting at the clay golem that Jeremiah was dangling dangerously close to the large bonfire. The demon faerie inside of it was screaming and waving the clay arms of the doll as he struggled to get free from Jeremiah's grasp.
Oviel wasn't proud of having tricked Shane into entering the golem body, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. Jeremiah had been going insane, threatening everyone around the camp with anything from starvation to lashings to outright execution. He had threatened to bury Oviel alive if he didn't get the faerie into the golem. When he had protested, Jeremiah ripped out a handful of his feathers, which was incredibly painful. Even as he thought of it, Oviel's right wing throbbed where the blood had dried.
But that was nothing compared to what Jeremiah did to Jaycob.
He couldn't think about what had happened the night before without feeling physically ill. So instead of dwelling on that brutality, Oviel stirred his bubbling healing potion and watched as Jeremiah threw Shane down in the mud and kicked him. Just when Oviel was about to pull his kettle off of the flames, a strong arm surrounded his chest and held him still. There was a flash of metal then a sharp edge dug into the delicate skin on his throat.
"One sound and you die, Oviel."
That voice. Oviel bit his lip then held up his hands.
"You will walk backwards behind the tents then kneel down and put your hands on the back of your head. I want those wings of yours to remain relaxed. No flying off. Carvael wants a word with you."
Oviel's heart sank as he followed the orders of his attacker word for word. Once he was in the shadows behind the yellow canvas tents, he knelt down on the soft ground with his hands on the back of his head. He took a breath as the blade was removed from his neck and his wrists were secured in shackles behind his back. "Axa, I-"
"Shut up." The black-winged angel kneed Oviel in the stomach then pushed him down to stand over him with his legs on either side of him. "You look pathetic."
Oviel lifted his head up from the ground where his face was streaked with dirt and he stretched out his wings. "Axaniel . . . what are you going to do to?"
Axaniel ran his hand over his bald head then flexed his muscles where tattoos of dragons had recently been added. "I was thinking about that, actually. Everyone is so busy over there that they wouldn't hear your screams. Maybe I should take what I think you owe me."
Unfortunately, Oviel knew exactly what he meant. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not. I tried tirelessly to make you love me, but you refused every time."
"I did love you. I did. Don't you understand? But you were a human at the time and my paladin and-"
"If you say Gawain's name one time, I will cut your tongue out. Do you think I'm stupid?" Axaniel asked, his grip tightening around the hilt of his dagger. "You're the one who rewrote the scriptures to hide the fact that Zeriel is the angel scion. Yes, everyone knows now. It's not a secret anymore. If you loved me, then why did you change the scriptures to ban our relationship? Why?"
Oviel dropped his face back to the ground and let his wings droop low. How could he possibly explain that?
"Answer me!"
Oviel jumped as Axaniel's boot collided with his side. "I . . . I was afraid."
Axaniel grabbed Oviel's robe in his fists and hoisted him up onto his knees. "Afraid of me?"
"Afraid of myself!"
"What?"
"I was afraid of the way I was feeling. I needed structure. I needed punishments and rules set in place to keep me from doing something that I would regret. I was confused and alone and just . . . so alone. You have to understand it was never about you. This was so long before you were ever even born as a human. I had been struggling for decades, centuries before you came into my life. Everything was going great with those laws until Gawain."
Axaniel's muscles in his arms flexed as his fists clenched.
Oviel made eye contact with him as he continued. "The day I met Gawain was the day I became his angel. He was my paladin, so according to the scriptures I wrote, anything between us would have been illegal. I tried to remain strong, but things happened and years passed. Then I couldn't hide it anymore. I gave in. We were so happy together. Then Gawain died and all of my mistakes came flooding back."
"They punished you a little, right? Oh, go cry about it. I know they didn't do anything bad to you."
"You're right. The punishment the Angelic Court handed down to me was light and more of a stern reprimand than anything else. I could deal with the forced slavery to my fellow angels. I didn't care about that. It was what they did to Gawain that made me lose hope in justice. I never told anyone this, but you deserve to know. After Gawain died, he was going to become an angel. I was so happy. But at my trial, they gave him a sentence as well. Instead of becoming an angel for his h
eroic death, Gawain's soul was thrown into Hell where I was forced to listen to his screams as he was ripped apart by demons. And it was all because of the false scriptures I had written into law."
"What does this have to do with me?" Axaniel asked.
"Everything!" Oviel nearly shouted in desperation. "It has everything to do with you. I couldn't let any other paladins of mine be reduced to criminals and be thrown out of Heaven because of me. I loved you, Axa. I loved you beyond anything. You just don't get it. I couldn't return your advances because I couldn't see you be punished like Gawain was. I couldn't do it. Believe me, I wanted to so bad. Every part of my body, my mind, my soul wanted you. But I couldn't do it. Then when you died, I knew I had made the right decision. You got to be reborn as an angel, a glory that Gawain didn't get to know. Then a year later, they placed that tiny little cherub into my arms. I held you so close and I knew that all my sacrifice had been worth it. You're alive today because of my self restraint."
"You're selfish. You didn't want the guilt. All you saw in me was another chance to make the Gawain situation better. But you can't go back in time, Oviel."
"You're right, I can't go back in time. But I can look behind me and know what mistakes I've made, which ones I can't make in the future. That's why I gave up loving you because I loved you. Axa, listen to me. If you never listen to anything I ever tell you again, listen to me now. I refused you because I loved you more than I ever loved Gawain."
Axaniel's face softened. "W-what? N-no. You're lying."
"I'm not lying. You were the love of my life. And for some unknown reason, even with me on my knees in shackles with your blade pointed at me, you still are. So if you believe that warrants a death penalty, then go ahead and kill me. I know you didn't come here to take me to Carvael. You came here to kill me. You wanted revenge. Go ahead. I won't fight you or beg for my life. Because after this war is over, I won't have anything to live for anyway. Even if things go Vilyron's way, I don't know if there will ever be clergy again. Without a paladin to serve, an angel's life is boring and void of anything of importance. My own genetic children are adults. Zeriel is grown. He doesn't have a baby. Cael is growing up so fast, and he has both Jeremiah and Trevor for daddies. Liam is . . . Liam belongs to Karix. I don't have anyone who needs me anymore. All I've ever done is nurture cherubs and paladins. Without them, I won't have a purpose."
Angel of Darkness Books 6-10 Page 61
