“Your power is fading, Maya,” Birch said. “We resist, and you diminish.”
As Birch took yet another step forward, a monstrous roar split the air behind him and the ground trembled in tandem with a muffled crash. Without looking, Birch knew Kaelus was freed from Maya’s power. While the demon recovered, Birch and Danner took another step forward, bringing them even with the frozen bodies of Mikal and Uriel. As they came abreast with the two Seraphim, the angelic pair abruptly resumed motion and fell in step on either side of the two mortals.
Kaelus pounced forward and crashed down between Birch and Danner, and the five of them faced Maya from only a few feet away. Trames stayed on the floor below them, all but forgotten in the moment. He watched the scene playing out before him with sad eyes.
“You cannot!” Maya screamed. “I am Metatron! I have the power of the Throne.”
“And we have the power to deny you,” Kaelus growled. Blue flames engulfed his horns as he glared at the pink-winged Seraph. “No mortal am I, but now even I see the truth and the power of free will.”
“Impossible!” Maya gasped. “We are as we were created, granted power and dominion over the mortals to guide them to the light of God. What you say is heresy!”
“You’ve said that word a lot today, Maya,” Kaelus chuckled, a rumbling, ominous sound. “I don’t think it means quite what you think it does.”
Maya cowered back as Kaelus stepped out in front of the others and swelled slightly so he towered over her, even perched on the Throne of God.
“Mikal, Uriel,” he said in a firm voice, “you two yet retain the power as Keepers, yes?”
“We do,” Mikal answered.
“Only we two remain,” Uriel said grimly. He looked meaningfully at Mikal. “It must be done here, and it must be unanimous.”
“You know what needs to be done,” Kaelus said. “Let it be so.”
Mikal and Uriel exchanged another long look, then they nodded.
“Maya of Heaven, self-proclaimed Metatron, the so-called Voice of God,” they proclaimed in unison, “you are hereby barred from the Hall of the Throne. No longer shall the light of its power shine upon you. No longer shall the power of its glory be known to you. No longer shall the glory of its presence be yours to behold.”
Maya cringed as Kaelus loomed over her and added, “And no longer shall you blaspheme the power of God by assuming that which is reserved only for the divine.”
“Be gone from this place!” Uriel and Mikal shouted.
“No!” Maya screamed, staring at them in horror.
“Be gone from this place!” they repeated.
As they watched, Maya seemed to grow a little fainter.
“Be gone!”
Fainter still, until she was barely visible.
“Be gone!”
And with that, she vanished from the Hall.
Chapter 21
When Gerard died, Shadow Company shattered for a brief time. Garnet picked up the pieces and put us back together in a way no other could have, but I think he’s always worried about whether he put us back together the right way.
- Michael Semnriak,
private journal (1013 AM)
- 1 -
“It is done,” Kaelus said heavily, and his shoulders slumped as he shrank down from the tower of intimidation he’d presented to Maya. He was still taller and more massive than anyone else in the room, but he made an effort to reign in his āyus so he didn’t overwhelm the mortals with his presence.
The Hall of the Throne was silent in the wake of her passing, and even the least perceptive of men could sense that something profound had just taken place. None of the immortals present relished their momentary victory, but it had been necessary.
Danner stared at the Throne where Maya had stood.
“She’s not,” he hesitated, “destroyed, is she?”
Mikal shook his head.
“Merely banished from this hallowed Hall,” the Seraph said. “At the moment of our creation, Uriel and I, along with Raphael and Gabriel, were anointed Keepers of the Hall, and access to the Hall can only be granted through our sufferance. Anyone can enter the structure, but the closer you come to the Throne, the harder it becomes to approach. The stronger your āyus, the more impossible it becomes to near the Throne without permission. Those most able to use the Throne are restricted from doing so, and for untold eons, only we four were deemed worthy to approach without temptation. Maya convinced me to let her approach the Throne during the Great Schism, despite Uriel’s protests.”
“Already she was working her tricks into us,” Uriel said sadly. “So terribly subtle, none of us saw it coming until it was too late.”
Mikal sighed. “The sad thing is, I think she truly believed everything she did was for the greater good. For the longest time, I believed as she did, because I never stopped to question her. I stopped thinking for myself. I pity her.”
Uriel’s face hardened as he turned to Mikal.
“Pity her all you want, my friend,” he said harshly, “but never forget that consciously or not, we allowed ourselves to become a part of her madness.”
“Indeed,” Mikal said sternly. He turned back to Danner. “She is still somewhere in Medina, greatly reduced from her power here, but far from helpless.”
“She could still be a problem,” Kaelus grumbled.
Mikal shook his head. “We can’t spare the time or power to search for her. She may still have a hold over many of Heaven’s forces, but the strongest still command, and they will be the first to shake free as she continues to weaken. Given time, she’ll lose all control without the Throne to bolster her influence.”
“And now that Kaelus is here,” Uriel said with a broad grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her more terrified than the instant when you showed up, you horny devil,” Uriel said, clapping Kaelus on the shoulder. Blue sparks flew from the impact and both immortals winced, but Kaelus returned Uriel’s grin with a toothy smile of his own.
For the first time, Danner realized Kaelus’s teeth were sharpened points.
“Speaking of Maya’s reactions,” Kaelus grumbled, then turned to look pointedly at Trames, “you caused quite the stir, old man. How is it that you were able to resist her power where none of us could?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Trames replied. “I was certain you’d at least be able to hear, but maybe you were too focused on staying afloat in the air.”
Danner choked back a laugh and ended up in a fit of coughing.
“I heard your explanation, Trames,” Kaelus said with an indulgent smile, “and I’m only now coming to believe it myself. Free will. But how was it you were so thoroughly convinced in your own mind that she held no sway over you from the outset?”
“I’ve lived with it a long time,” Trames answered simply. “All my life, I suppose. It just felt wrong to give it up now, after having it for so long.”
Kaelus opened his mouth to reply, but a groan behind them brought everyone’s attention back to the other full mortals in the room, most of whom were just now being freed from their frozen state. Kala hurried to Trames’s side, aware that something had just happened involving her ward, but not entirely sure what. The elves, Siran included, immediately stared about distrustfully and backed into a circle, weapons at the ready. Garnet and the other paladins had their swords drawn and stared about in perplexity.
“She’s gone, mortals,” Mikal said. “There is no need for alarm.”
“No bloody need for alarm?” a harsh voice cried. “What ass-spawned idiot ever uttered such a blatant piece of water-weak tripe? We’re in the middle of a God-forsaken war with the damned demons of Hell itself, and just because some angelic bitch gets herself dethroned, you think there’s no need for alarm?”
Danner locked eyes with Garnet and just barely held back a burst of laughter.
“I guess that means Gerard’s back to normal,” Flasch said dryly as he sheathed his sword.
“We’ve missed you, sir
,” Garnet said with a broad grin as Gerard shoved past the elves. The demi-humans reluctantly parted for him and relaxed their guard. Danner saw Trebor trailing in Gerard’s wake, a broad grin on his denarae face.
“God above, it’s good to feel like myself again,” Trebor kythed into Danner’s mind.
Danner’s answering grin was the only response needed.
“You bet your ass I’m back to normal, you skinny Violet,” Gerard said, cuffing Flasch lightly on his head, “and while you’re all standing about either in shock or patting yourselves on the backs, you’re ignoring the war going on outside.”
“We just defeated her not five minutes ago,” Uriel said lightly, a patient smile on his face.
“And four minutes ago, you should have had your asses in gear and already been in motion toward the front lines,” Gerard snapped. Uriel stiffened, but Gerard pushed right past him and confronted Mikal, Kaelus, and Birch. “You boys may have been living the easy life for the past few months on Lokka, but even through the mind-numbing pleasantries that witch forced on us, I know things have slowly been sliding into a cesspool around here, and she didn’t have what it took to dig our way out.”
Mikal crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at an unflinching Gerard. The Seraph’s six emerald wings rustled behind him in suppressed irritation.
“Am I to assume from your tone that you think you do have what it takes?” Mikal said flatly.
Birch and Garnet both let out sharp barks of laughter. Mikal snapped his attention toward Garnet, then Birch, his eyes demanding.
“Ease off, Mikal,” Birch said, and there was steel behind the calmness of his words. “You may have lived since the beginnings of time, but Gerard here knows more about modern warfare than any ten men combined. He’s more than capable, and he’s just what we need right now.”
Before anyone else could speak, Kaelus came forward and stood next to Birch. He stared at Gerard with blue flames flickering in his eyes.
“And you, mortal, must recognize that Mikal is now the most powerful angel in Heaven and has fought more battles than there are stars in the heavens,” Kaelus rumbled. “You would do well to put aside your pride and work with him. Teach him, yes, but learn from him. As of this moment, you two are in charge of crafting our defenses and developing a strategy to save Heaven.”
“Kaelus,” Uriel said grimly as he stared at the stunned faces around him, “you act as though you have authority, when…”
“I do have authority,” Kaelus barked, and the Hall echoed with the force of his voice. He stared at Uriel as blue flames pulsed and slowly coursed their way up and down his black horns. “My friend, Mikal may be the most powerful angel in Heaven now, but I am the most powerful immortal here, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.”
Danner wasn’t terribly surprised when everyone remained silent.
“By immortal law and custom, I rule,” Kaelus said.
“I don’t think that putting a demon in charge of Heaven was what we had in mind,” Mikal said stiffly.
“I don’t think anyone ever thought to try it,” Uriel added with a sly smile. Mikal glared at him.
“If I have learned nothing else from observing mortal history, I know that an army must have one commander and one commander only, and while the Heavenly Hosts will never accept a demon as their commander, it is not them I command, but you,” he said, pointing to include the entire group assembled before him. “Through you, I will command the Hosts themselves, with them never the wiser. None of us can succeed without the other, and each must play his role as it has been handed down.”
He locked eyes with Mikal.
“You know this to be true now more than ever before,” he said grimly. Mikal nodded reluctantly and clapped his fist to his breast in salute.
Gerard mimicked the salute, as did Birch, Garnet, and all the assembled paladins and elves.
Uriel was the last to salute Kaelus, but he did so without any sign of reservation or rebellion.
“Now,” Kaelus said firmly, “I believe it would behoove us all to follow the suggestion of our master warrior and get our asses in gear.”
Very deliberately, Kaelus turned toward Uriel and winked.
- 2 -
Kala listened attentively to Brican’s description of the meeting he had just left. Nearby, Trames hummed happily to himself as he peered intently into a hole he’d just made in the cloudy surface. When asked, he said he was trying to decide whether the hole was empty or full, and if not one, then why the other?
Since their return from Medina and the incredible events there, the various officers from the expedition had been closeted in a meeting with their new commanders, Mikal and Gerard. A handful of angels arrived soon after and immediately joined the meeting without speaking to a single mortal before they entered the command tent.
An hour later, mortals and immortals alike had erupted from the tent in a flurry of activity. Most were intent on their tasks, some were flustered. A few were angry.
“Gerard doesn’t want anything all that unreasonable,” Brican told her, “he just wants it all now. Immortals aren’t used to immediacy. They’re used to immortality and timelessness. Now has never meant very much to them.”
“Until now,” Kala quipped. Brican flashed her a brief smile, but it was immediately lost as he turned his eyes to the soft ground and sighed. Without looking up, Brican held out a hand as Trames handed him a roll. Wordlessly, Brican started picking the bread apart and stuffing pieces into his mouth.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Kala asked, peering intently at him.
Brican looked up, startled, then nodded.
“Garnet’s brother and sister said she got away safely, and I’ve even seen it in their minds, but,” he trailed off.
“She was in danger, and you were here,” Kala said, “and you’re worried about your unborn children.” Brican nodded.
They were silent for a moment with only the sound of Trames’s humming to intrude. Kala hesitated, then asked as nonchalantly as she could, “How is he, by the way?”
“Garnet?” Brican asked, immediately picking up her thought. He had to hide a sudden smile at her studied disinterest.
“I haven’t seen him since we came back from Medina,” she said lightly, “and I was just curious how he was taking things. Not just what happened, but having Gerard back, and back in command, no less. I gather he’s gotten used to not really answering to anyone except the Prismatic Council. I imagine it must be hard for him.”
Brican shrugged.
“You have to understand Garnet,” he said. “He never wanted to take command of Shadow Company. If he’d had his way, Gerard might have lived forever. Losing him the way we did when we did forced things on Garnet rather abruptly.”
“He wasn’t sure he was ready, was he?” Kala asked.
Brican shook his head. “And he’s been fighting against the memory of a man he practically reveres as a saint. Hell, we all do. You didn’t see what happened that day,” Brican said, a hint of awe in his voice. Kala was well-aware of Brican’s lingering feelings towards humans, but even after coming to know Brican as well as she had, still she was amazed at his reaction to the first human to break through that barrier. “Gerard became something more than just a man for a brief moment before he died. I swear he glowed with some sort of power and strength I’ve never seen before.” Brican shook his head. “We lost a lot when we lost Gerard that day.”
Kala frowned. “But it’s Garnet who’s been in command since that day, and you’ve been nothing but complimentary toward him and his leadership.”
Brican nodded.
“So again, I ask you, how is he coping with having Gerard back in command?”
Rather than respond verbally, Brican kythed his answer into her thoughts as he stood and calmly walked away.
“He’s torn, and if he doesn’t come to terms with it soon, it could tear Shadow Company apart.”
- 3 -
Danner watched Gerard
intently as his face pulsed and seethed with anger. A lingering anxiety from his training days made Danner feel relieved he wasn’t the focus of the dead man’s fury.
“What was that Sin-accursed woman thinking?” Gerard bellowed as he stared at the ground. Mikal had provided a topographical map scaled perfectly down and made from what passed for the ground in Heaven. The Seraph dipped his hands into the cloudy white substance and immediately a perfect map appeared of any area he wished to see.
There were two such realistic maps, one which was permanently set to show the entire landscape of Heaven where the armies of Hell intruded, and another which Gerard used to more closely inspect a given strategic area.
“When you’re dealing with a battlefield of potentially infinite size,” Gerard had said aloud to no one in particular, “you have to have perspective. Up close and eagle-eye both, or else you’ll lose something.”
Garnet was standing across the larger map from Gerard, likewise peering intently at the miniaturized terrain.
“She did a good job creating deathtraps,” Garnet agreed with his mentor’s observation, “but she made them for our side, not theirs.”
Gerard nodded, furious.
“See here and here,” he said, pointing, “she’s diverted the course of the Philion and the Alethion and widened the rivers, funneling the demons to choke points. Great in theory with a smaller force facing a larger, but if that’s all you’re doing, it also tells the enemy exactly where you’re going to be and you have to stay there. Against a conventional army, it forces your enemy to concentrate his army where you choose to negate his numbers.”
“But here, Mephistopheles has an all-but infinite army,” Garnet said, “and instead of choking his army to our advantage, it’s pinning us down and leaving us vulnerable. No matter how strongly we defend a single point, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s overwhelmed by sheer press of numbers, and there’s an infinite amount of Heaven they can use to circumvent the places she chose.”
“Exactly,” Gerard agreed, sparing a brief look of approval for his one-time student. “The rivers are really only a strong deterrent. If we were to actually stop this army at any one point, if sufficiently frustrated they could very well bypass the rivers and strike that site from behind.”
Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) Page 29
