The shorn-off back toppled to the ground amidst the silence of the room. As an angel, Maya would always be drawn back to Heaven, but the Anathematization would forever bar her from reentry. For the rest her days, Maya would feel an undeniable and unquenchable thirst for her natural plane of existence, which would ever remain beyond her reach, and her new residence would forever reject her presence and torment her very existence there.
Finally, Mikal said, “It is done.”
Kaelus added softly, “And may God forgive us, for I think we have just given Shaitan what He most wanted.”
Chapter 43
There are some duties that run so deep they become a part of a man, and he cannot ignore them. In the end, my final duty lay only in living as I have always done. For God. For Man. For Life.
- Birch de’Valderat,
“Memoirs” (1013 AM)
- 1 -
It was a grim procession that wound slowly down the road to the small farmstead. Garnet led the solemn train toward his family home with a lead weight in his stomach. He grieved for news he would be bringing his mother.
It was an acknowledged fact that one day, Garet jo’Meerkit would fall in the service of the Prism. His family – especially his diminutive wife – had long ago accepted that as inevitable. Every time Garet returned home alive had been counted as a blessing from God, and every time he left again his wife and children had waited apprehensively for the day he returned – either riding his dakkan in triumph or riding under his shield in death.
Garnet looked back at the wagon and stared without expression at his father’s corpse. The body was stretched out on the back of the largest wagon they’d been able to find on the road home from the Binding, and Garet’s shield was laid atop his chest, his arms crossed over the top edges. His sword was clasped by both hands in the center of his chest, and the blade ran down the length of the massive shield. He still wore his armor, but his helmet had been removed. The red cloak that signified him as a paladin was then draped over his body, leaving only his head exposed.
He looked peaceful.
On a smaller cart behind him was Perklet Perkal, laid out similarly to Garet. The white cloak of beauty, charred and soiled by the flames that had taken his life, in no way spoiled the subtle sense of peace and tranquility radiating from the calm smile on the dead man’s face. Garnet had heard from Birch the story of the quiet paladin’s martyrdom – only a few seconds before Halo Company and Shadow Company had arrived to rescue them. He still didn’t fully understand the implications of his brother paladin’s fate, but he knew enough to respect the extreme sacrifice and devotion Perklet’s death had entailed.
Since the former Green paladin had moved on somehow, they’d had to decide what to do with his body. The paladins who’d traveled with him before, James and Nuse, knew nothing of their friend’s wishes and had suggested he be returned to the chapterhouse with their other unclaimed brother paladins, but Garet had insisted that Perklet’s body would be laid to rest at the family farm with his own.
“Perky saved your mother and gave me you twins,” Garet had told his children. “We can give him a home for his eternal rest. He’s family.”
Family.
“I’m sorry you never had grandchildren to enjoy, dad,” Garnet whispered. “I know I promised, but…” he choked off, unable to finish the thought. He briefly thought of the toy sword resting carefully in his pack.
Garnet looked toward his brother and nodded once toward the homestead.
“Brad, go get mom and Bronk,” he told his brother gently.
Brad nodded soberly and jogged ahead, but he slowed and stopped as their mother came out of the house without being summoned. She had one arm around her youngest son, and even from a distance, Garnet could see they both knew what had happened.
Garnet stopped the horse-drawn cart just outside the house and walked slowly toward his mother. He towered over the tiny woman, who didn’t even reach his shoulders, but he felt about six inches tall as he stood before her, head bowed, and tried to say the words.
“Mo…” he choked. “Dad is…”
“Hush. I know, Garnet,” she said softly. “I know, dear one.”
He looked down at her in confusion. Of all the reactions he’d expected, calm acceptance was not one of them. His mother smiled gently up at him. Anolla rushed forward and fiercely hugged their mother, who softly shushed her daughter and patted her back comfortingly.
“An angel visited us a few days ago and told us the news,” Bronk said, fighting back tears. “He didn’t tell us how, just that… well…”
“Dad died a true paladin,” Garnet told his youngest sibling, but his eyes were still on his mother. “He sacrificed himself to save a Seraph, and he destroyed a powerful demon lord in the process. He… His soul was there still, in Heaven, afterward, and he asked me to give you this note.”
He handed his mother a folded piece of paper sealed with their family crest – a mountain with a sword crossed diagonally over it. Garnet now wore the ring his father had used to make that seal, an inheritance he’d always been afraid to receive.
Garnet’s mother tucked the note away without reading it. He knew she would only open it when she was alone and could grieve further in private.
“He also said to tell Bronk to eat his vegetables and obey his mother,” Garnet said with a weak smile. Then he handed a second note to his youngest brother.
Bronk and Bradley wheeled their father’s and Perklet’s bodies off to a barn to be prepared for burial. While they were gone, Kala came to Garnet’s side and laid a hand on his arm. He drew her close and breathed deeply, as though drawing strength and comfort from her proximity. Garnet’s mother looked at them with a knowing gleam in her eye, and she smiled at them with genuine happiness.
Somewhere inside the house, an iron skillet crashed to the ground and they heard Trames yelp in fright. When he emerged, blushing, he had a small pot of honey in one hand and a spoon in the other. He, too, looked at Garnet and Kala standing together and smiled benignly at them. The old man winked once at his ganashir, then wandered off happily spooning honey into his mouth.
“Should we…” Garnet began, but Kala stopped him.
“He’ll be fine,” she said. She put one hand to his face, tilted his head down, and kissed him gently. “I think we all will be.”
Garnet looked around at the farmstead where he’d grown up and tried to imagine it without his father being there. Then he glanced down at Kala and considered the future they had talked about while returning from the Binding. Garnet and his siblings would not be the last generation raised on the farm, of that he was certain. He knew a few hundred denarae who wouldn’t mind helping him build his own house when the time was right, and he even knew just where it would go: a nice spot a bit closer to the pond.
“Yeah, I guess we’ll be all right at that.”
- 2 -
Moreen was already out of bed and halfway dressed before she actually woke up and became aware of what she was doing. A chirping bird on her windowsill brought her back to herself, and she actually thanked the creature as she continued getting ready. She dressed in loose-fitting, comfortable trousers and a sturdy tunic and vest, then tugged on her hardiest boots. Moving quietly through the Iron Axe Inn, she avoided the kitchen staff – who were no doubt aware she was awake anyway, given their denarae abilities – and made her way outside.
The gnome Faldergash was visiting, checking in on Alicia and her pregnancy in Danner’s absence. Heaven above only knew how the gnome had found out about her condition, but still he was here, and more importantly, he’d brought a buggy with him. When Moreen reached the vehicle, however, she realized she wasn’t the only one awake at such an awful hour.
The pre-dawn light filtered down from the sky and provided just enough illumination for her to recognize Alicia already squeezed into the driver’s seat of the gnome’s buggy. The gnome’s latest model had only two seats, but had a covered storage compartment in the back r
ather than the open-air seating seen in other vehicles.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Moreen asked. Alicia jumped guiltily as she fumbled for the switch that would start the engine.
“I… I just had this feeling…”
“I know,” Moreen told her. “Me, too. Let’s go.” She looked pointedly at Alicia’s swollen belly, which was interfering with her ability to fit comfortably behind the steering wheel. “Maybe I should drive,” she told the younger woman.
Alicia smiled at her gratefully and awkwardly shifted to the passenger seat. Fortunately, Moreen had enough experience driving dwarven buggies that Faldergash’s customized model wasn’t too difficult for her to figure out or handle. The two women eased away from the Iron Axe and drove quickly through the dark streets of Nocka, going west.
They passed few people as they drove, mostly bakers and other shopkeepers going about their morning routines of preparing for the day ahead. Moreen waved to a few merchants she traded with for supplies for the inn, but didn’t slow as she hurried toward the Barrier.
Talking their way past the guards proved troublesome, and in the end Moreen was forced to bribe the city guardsmen to let her pass through. She grumbled in exasperation as the gates closed behind them. She eased the buggy forward until the Barrier began to shrink behind them, then she stepped hard on the accelerator. They shot forward with unbelievable speed, and Moreen quickly eased off the pedal lest she lose control of the vehicle.
They drove in silence until they reached the area where the Merging had once stood. Scholars of every race and affiliation had been out to the site in the months since the Barrier War, and everyone agreed that the Merging was no longer present. It had faded slowly away over the past months. Moreen could have told them that anyway, based on what she knew from Birch and his companions.
When they reached the area, however, a faint shimmer in the air told her that something had changed. The Merging was back! She stopped the buggy and stared apprehensively at the curtain of power draped across the landscape. Moreen wondered what had brought them both here, and she began to regret having come with just Alicia. What if demons broke through the Merging again while they were sitting right there?
As if in answer to her fears, a wall of shadowy figures appeared in the distance on the far side of the Merging and came toward her. She backed the buggy slowly away from the apparitions, ready to spin the wheel and race away at a moment’s notice.
The foremost figure began to take shape, and she saw it was humanoid. There was something about the figure’s walk…
“Birch,” she breathed, daring herself to hope. She eased her foot away from the accelerator and stood in the buggy, peering anxiously ahead, praying that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
Finally the shadows disappeared, and Birch stood in front of a mass of men wearing armor and cloaks of every color of the Prism, including some who wore white. She recognized Gerard Morningham and Garet jo’Meerkit standing just behind Birch, then a smaller shape walked up next to him, and she smiled as Alicia struggled to free herself from the buggy.
Danner raced forward to her side and dropped to his knees to catch her as she all but fell out of the buggy. The young couple embraced and clung to each other with a passion and fervor Moreen knew all too well. She stepped from the buggy and walked toward Birch. Gerard and Garet fell behind and stopped just short of crossing the Merging, but Birch came forward alone and silently wrapped his arms around her.
“Birch,” she whispered.
“I love you,” he said softly, and Moreen’s world melted.
How long they clung to each other, Moreen was never sure, but no matter the time their embrace lasted, it was too short by any reasonable estimation. Eternity might have been long enough, but just barely.
Moreen’s chest vibrated as a deep rumbling shook their bodies. She looked up and saw a massive demon politely clearing his throat. Beside him stood an angel with emerald wings – the face looked hauntingly familiar, and it was only after a moment that she recognized Mikal. Gone was the gray garb of death, replaced by a glowing beauty that made Moreen’s heart ache.
Of course, that could have just been the result of having Birch in her arms again.
“I told you this would happen,” Kaelus rumbled to Mikal.
“How would you know?” Mikal replied good-naturedly.
“Spend a few years living in a mortal’s body,” Kaelus told him. “You learn a little bit about how they think and act in ways that you’ll never consider just by observing from the outside.”
Kaelus turned back toward Birch and Moreen.
“I don’t mean to rush your reunion, but time is limited,” the demon said apologetically. “There’s no telling what might happen if someone manages to organize the remnants of that army while the Barrier is still down.”
Moreen and Birch parted reluctantly. She stared at the immortal pair.
“What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“They have to reconstruct the Barrier,” Birch told her, “and they’ve waited this long just so they could bring us here first.”
She heard a strange note in his voice. Regret? Longing? Sorrow? It sent a chill sensation to the pit of Moreen’s stomach.
“The first Barrier was a mistake,” Mikal said to no one in particular, “not in substance, but in implementation. We bound the protection of the mortal world to a few fragile pieces of angelstone and thought that would be enough. But mountains topple, oceans disappear, and stones break.”
Mikal gestured to the distant Barrier.
“Put up any physical wall, and it is only a matter of time before it fails,” the Seraph said, “but bind the Barrier in a sacred Covenant to something much stronger, something well-nigh indestructible, and the world may be protected forever from the scourge of Hell’s demons. From now on, the Barrier will be bound to the Prismatic Order itself. So long as a single paladin survives in faith to carry on the duty and devotion of the teiranon, the Barrier will hold back the demons of Hell and prevent their crossing as it once did.
“This Covenant binds our two worlds, immortal Heaven and mortal Lokka, in mutual protection, combining our strength with your will and devotion,” Mikal said. He looked at Birch and smiled faintly. “Let God alone try to discern which of the two is greater.”
Birch nodded silently.
Kaelus looked at Birch and Moreen and shook his head just barely enough that Moreen caught the motion. Something was wrong.
“It’s time, Birch,” the demon told him. Moreen stared at him. Kaelus sounded sad.
“Birch,” Moreen said, half questioning, half in alarm.
The Gray paladin turned to her and held both of her hands tenderly in his own. He looked deeply into her eyes, and for the first time, Moreen did not flinch away from the Hellish fires burning within. Oddly, the only visions she saw were indistinct imaginings of herself sitting before a fire, wine in hand and waiting. Alone.
“I wasn’t born to be a man, Moreen,” Birch said. “I was born to be a paladin. I was born to be this.” He gestured with one hand to his body, and with the other toward the ranks of paladins waiting silently behind him on the far side of the Merging. “I cannot give what I am not.”
“Just give me what you can,” Moreen told him, real fear in her voice. She began to understand what was happening, even if she didn’t know why.
Birch looked at her and sighed. His fiery eyes softened in longing as he studied every feature of her face.
“I should have given you all I could years ago, my love,” he told her. To Moreen, it sounded like ‘good bye.’
“It’s not too late now, Birch,” she said, pleading against a fate she couldn’t express, not until he told her.
Birch shook his head.
“It’s been too late ever since I first went to Hell,” he said. “Since then, my path was set by divine hands. In theory, I had a choice at every step, but really I didn’t, not if I was to remain true to myself. There is nothing in this worl
d or the next that I want more than to be with you, Moreen, but there doesn’t seem to be time for us this side of Heaven.”
Moreen stared at him.
“You’re going back,” she whispered. “You’re going back into Hell.”
Birch nodded slowly.
“Why?”
“There are untold millions of souls damned to an eternal afterlife of pain and torture,” Birch explained with a grim sadness. “We may have a way to free them from that fate, but Kaelus and I are the only ones who truly understand it enough to even attempt to emancipate them. Moreover, there are still White paladins trapped in the bowels of Hell – still alive, and still suffering at the hands of their demonic captors. Gerard, Garet, and all of the remaining paladins who gave their lives in service to the Prism are going to join me in trying to free our captive brothers.
“There are a few other living people coming with us, but for the most part our ranks are made up of the blessed dead,” he told her. “Paladins will still don the white cloak of beauty, and they will still feel compelled to cross the Merging, I’m sure of it. Only now when they cross, we’ll be waiting to welcome them into the arms of our protection and add their strength to our own.
“All of us feel the call of duty, Moreen,” he said sadly, “and it’s not something any of us can ignore. God Himself calls on our devotion, and I could no more ignore His will than I could ever stop loving you.”
Moreen was strangely calm as she looked at him and absorbed this wonderful, horrible news.
“I understand, Birch,” she said gently. They looked at each other tenderly, and she was certain Birch saw her eyes tighten as her resolve firmed. Enough was enough.
“I understand, and that’s why I’m going with you.”
Behind her, Moreen heard Alicia gasp.
“Mo,” Birch murmured.
“No,” Moreen said heatedly, “there will be no discussion, no arguments, no claims of devotion and duty this time, Thomas de’Valderat. I am going with you.” She very deliberately used that name, knowing the reaction it would bring. She was counting on it, in fact, to distract the conversation long enough.
Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) Page 63
