“Do you know all the secrets of Eden?” Samael asked, ignoring Azazel’s jabs.
“Which one do you want to know?” Azazel taunted.
“Tell me the last conversation Lucifer and Michael had,” Samael demanded.
Azazel laughed heartily. “Why do you need it? It’s bizarre. Just several words for goodbye.”
“Tell me. Do you remember what they talked about?”
Azazel’s smile faded away, and his eyes became as thoughtful as Raphael’s. The only one who didn’t follow Azazel’s reasoning was Lily. To her, the angel’s words didn’t make sense.
“Any creature that is able to think can’t be perfect,” Azazel announced after a while. “Lucifer was sure that the only creature who discovered love was him, but he was wrong. Michael recognized love against Father as blindly as Lucifer against Eve. Those were their last words of peace,” Azazel finished, remembering. His glass was already empty. He heeded the bottle that Samael was still holding and lifted it. Samael didn’t mind filling Azazel’s glass.
“After that, the garden became less populated with every single day,” Azazel took a sip and resumed. “When I saw Eden for the last time, it was just a reminder of life on Earth, where everything is immortal, but nothing has purpose. Nonetheless, I was happy knowing that the new keeper was you, as you’re as emotionless and cold as the garden is. You live, but you’re as dead as the fellows you had sent to the Island of the Dead.” A cool smile curled over Azazel’s lips. “There are a lot of rumors about the island, but nobody has seen it but you.” Samael’s eyes rolled up at Azazel instinctively. “Did you touch the waves of the black water surrounding the island, Samael? Did you feel the torture pressing in the air on the island? The torture that our brothers and sisters feel there forever?”
Samael stepped close to Azazel and bent forward. “I feel them every second. I feel every fallen creature in the war of heaven and every one of them damns you, Lucifer, and me. Being locked in this prison you still haven’t realized the truth, Azazel. The world isn’t made of love, it’s made of power. This is not a struggle for love–”
“What do you struggle for, my friend?” Azazel interrupted, grinning. “The rumors run faster than even angels move. You saved Eve’s heir, didn’t you? You stole her from Beelzebub.”
“He knows about Samael and me,” Lily thought aloud. “He knows that Samael is in love.”
At that moment the chamber door opened, and Lily jerked around, her heart hammering. There in the shadow were three people walking. Lily peered at them closely.
16. The Traitor
The one in the middle was a tall man. His dark hair shadowed his face, and light itself seemed to be avoiding him. On one side of him was Lilith, the beautiful woman immortal who ruled the underground, the one whom thousands of men had slaughtered each other over. On the other was a thin man with a sharp face and narrow eyes. His long brown hair was drawn back into a thick rope, his cheeks thin, and his lips pale.
Raphael took Lily’s hand and pulled her close to the wall, not taking his eyes from the newcomers. He was definitely shocked, and Lily herself was busy trying to see the middle man’s face, so she didn’t protest against the monk. In spite of Raphael, Samael behaved suspiciously calm, holding out the bottle to Azazel.
Finally the dim light illuminated the man in the middle, and Lily’s heart stopped. It was him, the man from her dreams, the handsome prince dressed all in white who had invited her somewhere heavenly. She felt a weakness in her legs, and she thought she was going to tumble to the floor, but an invisible force held her up.
“This is a dream, Lily,” she muttered under her breath, but even she didn’t believe it.
“Samael, what a surprise!” that man exclaimed, opening his arms wide to embrace Samael.
“Who is he?” Lily released a fearful whisper, but the monk didn’t reply.
“You’re not surprised, don’t act foolish,” Samael gave a dismissive wave. “You’ve come here for me.” He glanced at Lilith, then back at the man. “She sent word to you, didn’t she?”
“Aren’t you happy to see your brother?” The man lowered his arms to his sides resentfully. “I’ve been waiting for this meeting for a long time, and now you treat me like a stranger on a dark and empty street, Samael. What has happened to you?” He cast his eyes down to the floor and sighed dismissively.
Samael took a step toward that man and, standing in front of him, regarded him unblinkingly from head to toe. He stared maliciously at the man’s face.
“It’s what happened to you, not to me,” Samael hissed like a snake. “Your game has gone too far, so far that you won’t be able to control it anymore. It’s already out of your hands, isn’t it?”
“It wouldn’t be this way if you hadn’t turned your forces back just in front of Heaven’s gates.” The new man’s voice was colored with malice, his right hand balled into a fist. “You emotionless son of a bitch, you brought everything down. And what do you have now?”
The man looked as though he would fling himself against Samael within moments, but he kept his anger locked in his fist and turned to Azazel instead. As he made his way toward the prisoner, two glorious white wings formed on his back out of thin air. They filled the chamber with heavenly light and blinded Lily.
“Who is he?” she asked Raphael again.
The monk kept silent as though he didn’t even hear her.
“You’ve ruined all my dreams. Why did you do it, Samael?” the man asked, his back still turned to the gray-winged archangel.
“It was your fight,” Samael shouted angrily. “Don’t try to blame me for your failings. You couldn’t defeat Michael using your power fueled by love. Didn’t you see that that power wasn’t enough to destroy Heaven? Did your other fellows see it? I told you that the power of emotions would only bring us to loss.”
“You were created by the power of love, you fool,” the man stared back at Samael. “Father created everything using love, he put all his feelings into the creation of life. But it’s my belief that he put nothing into your creation. You’ve been this cold since your were born, Samael. Unlike the other creations – unlike even the humans – you’ve got no heart. Your blood itself is frozen. The only thing you know how to do is gamble, and you gambled that my power was weaker than Michael’s. Besides, you knew that by conquering Heaven, everything would be over. But you couldn’t let it be, of course, you needed more time to fully realize how many things have remained outside of your understanding.” The man spun around. He approached the gray-winged one smugly. “You are a player, and this is just a match of chess to you. You need the game to be more interesting.”
Lilith came up to them slowly, her high-heeled footsteps adorned the taciturn walls. She put her hands on Samael’s shoulder from behind, then traced her finger over his cheek affectionately and blew on his ear.
“Lucifer,” she crooned dispiritedly. “Cease your shouting at such a handsome creature. After all, he’s your baby brother. The youngest ones are always naughty.”
That was it. Finally, Lily met Lucifer, the first and eldest archangel who moved to leave Heaven, the one who had rebelled against God. Now the handsome man from her dreams was entirely realized by her, or almost entirely. Fate had been showing her destiny all her life, but she had denied it and turned her face away from it. Lucifer was meant for her, not Samael. Lily put her hand on her heart holding her breath. Now the world froze for her too, as it had for Raphael.
Samael turned his head to peer at Lilith’s playful eyes and thin lips.
“I believe he has come to give you the girl, Lucifer,” Lilith mouthed, allowing herself a prudish smile. “You know, I want to meet her too, Samael. Where is she?”
Samael chortled, ignoring her. He looked suspiciously at the other man who had been keeping silent all the while.
“Saraqael,” Samael grinned wickedly and shook his head in puzzlement. “It was you who opened the door for Lucifer. You let him into Dudael.”
&
nbsp; “Are you surprised?” Saraqael’s lips stretched into a wide smile, his narrow eyes filled with smugness.
“Oh no, of course not,” Samael said back, laughing soundlessly. “I warned Michael about you, but he demanded proof.”
“Ah, yes,” Saraqael glanced at Lucifer standing with Azazel. “Don’t you have a cell phone? Take a picture of me,” he laughed.
“Nothing to worry about. I’m taking it,” Samael winked.
“Enough,” Lucifer cut them off. “All these years and you didn’t let me into the garden, Samael, but now I’ll give you one more chance. Give me the girl, give her over to her destiny and go with my peace. Don’t let me do what I don’t want to.”
“Don’t make him send you to the Island of the Dead forever,” Azazel finished instead of Lucifer.
“Ha!” Samael chortled and freed himself from Lilith’s arms. Ignoring her stunned look, Samael glanced at Azazel. “Whose side are you on now, angel of the garden?”
“I haven’t been called that for a long time,” Azazel tilted his head.
“And you haven’t been that angel for a long time, either,” Lucifer reminded him. His black eyes stared at Samael. “Now, Samael…”
“I have nothing to give to you or to Michael,” Samael said mildly. “I stepped aside from the war a long time ago, don’t ask me for anything.”
“Nobody is beyond the war,” Lucifer cried out in rage. “Give me the girl, Samael.”
“Why do you need her, Lucifer?” Samael asked. “You don’t love her, she’s not Eve. Eve is dead, you’d better understand that.”
“She’s not,” Lucifer waved his wings and a strong wind grew up tossing things in the chamber against the walls, but the unearthly creatures stood their ground like trees with long and deep rooted into in the floor. “She was sent to the Island of the Dead. Why for? Because she was in love with me? No. Because Father wanted to torture me. Because I had a gift, because I discovered the secret of creation. He became afraid that he wasn’t the only person who could make life. As soon as there were others like him, he would cease to be as powerful as he was. You and our other brothers are just the fools that blindly believed in him. He’s not different from us, he’s struggling for his power too.”
“Now,” Lucifer laced his fingers together to calm himself down, “I need the girl to show the truth to the world.”
Silence fell. Lucifer was waiting for an answer, but Samael lingered. Lily wondered what he was thinking about. Was he going to tell Lucifer of her whereabouts? If he looked back at her, Lucifer would possess her before she could even blink.
“Listen, Samael,” Lucifer calmed. “You can’t change everything alone. It’s beyond your power. You know that nothing is able to stop me, that no matter how far away you keep Eve’s heir from me, I’ll find her everywhere you hide her. I’ll tear the very garden down if you kill her to save her from me.” He jabbed his finger toward Samael, threatening him. “Just her existence is enough for me to get out of my world. Look! I’m already out. It’s only a matter of time before I occupy your Eden and take my army into Heaven.” Lucifer passed his hand through his hair taking a little pause. “Look at the situation Samael, you know who’s going to win. I’ll gladly give you your life back if you facilitate my goal.”
He trailed off and peered at Samael with his sneering eyes. The gray-winged man was reasoning.
“Lily, I can’t keep us invisible forever,” Raphael whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”
But Lily stood rooted, her eyes stopped on Samael. She was waiting for the answer too, to see if Samael might be ready to relinquish her in exchange for his own salvation. If he did, then life would be over for her. Could his words of love have been lies all along?
“If she loves you, she will come to you on her own. Don’t worry, brother,” Samael teased, then wheeled around and made his way out of the chamber. Out of the corner of his eye, he surreptitiously looked in the direction where Lily and Raphael stood. Lily saw his green eyes glitter playfully, and she wondered what was on his mind now.
Lucifer looked after him, taken aback. “Don’t turn your back on me.” He raised his hand into the air and a long spear appeared in his hand. Its sharp end shined in Lucifer’s light as he started off after Samael.
“Raphael!” Lily cried in full measure. “He’s going to kill Samael!”
But the monk did nothing to help Samael. Lucifer threw himself at the gray-winged man and both of them disappeared from Lily’s view behind the black door. Azazel, Saraqael and Lilith rushed into the corridor. Lily couldn’t stand to wait. Holding her breath, she darted after them.
The corridor was already empty, neither Lilith nor Saraqael nor Azazel were seen at the end. Crossing the corridor, Lily was thrown into a dusty atmosphere. She was standing in front of the platform railing, but the arena was covered with a dusty cloud and remained unseen by her. Lucifer’s and Samael’s roars echoed in the air. They were fighting below – in the arena. And Lily was the prize.
She peered around in search of help. She was confused, not knowing what to do, or where to go. She realized that her heart was still beating for Samael. If he didn’t come out from the dusty mist hovering above the arena, then her life was surely over. But Lucifer wasn’t a fool like Kali, Kali who’d been serving Beelzebub and who’d been sliced into pieces with one blow of Samael’s sword. This enemy was Satan himself, the eldest archangel who had revolted against God.
In that bustle of inhuman shouts and explosions, Lily spotted Raphael. She darted back to him and flung herself against his chest.
“Raphael, do something, stop it,” she cried out.
“I can’t,” he answered mildly, as if nothing serious was going on below.
“Please, why?” she begged.
“You must understand, Lily, we aren’t here. I can’t break the rule and save Samael. That’s against the law in the Torah.”
“Hasn’t Lucifer broken the law by coming here? Did he have permission to come to Dudael?” Lily shouted angrily.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Then he was the first one to break your law. Stop him and toss him back into his Hell,” Lily wheezed. Tears flooded her blue eyes. “I know that you can stop this. Please, don’t let Samael die.”
Raphael looked at her gingerly, took her face into his hands, and forced a smile onto his preoccupied face. Nevertheless his expression remained cold.
A tear rolled over her cheek and fell onto his hand.
“He can take care of himself, Lily. This isn’t his full power. Samael can’t fight in full measure until you’re here. Therefore we’d better leave this place,” he said soothingly. “Believe me, it’ll be better.”
Lily took a step back instinctively. Leave Dudael and let Samael die? Never. She jabbed her finger against Raphael’s chest, her eyes narrowed in irritation and fear.
“I won’t go without Samael. I’d rather give myself to Lucifer than go with you, knowing you could help Samael but you don’t dare to.”
“Lily, please, don’t–”
“You can leave alone,” she said confidently, and turned and ran toward the railing.
Shoving her way through, as the arena was already crowded, she reached the railing and looked down. Stunned people glanced around, trying to understand who was pushing them aside. Lily was still invisible. The sounds coming from the arena made her believe that Samael was still alive and fighting. She sucked the air in and yelled as high she could:
“Lucifer!”
Her voice trailed off when her lungs became empty, but Lily’s mouth remained open. Her face grew red, the blood rushed to her head and her legs trembled weakly. Losing balance, Lily tumbled to the floor. Her eyes stared at the ceiling. For the first time since Lily had stepped into the Dudael prison, the people surrounding her could see her. Her shield was gone.
Death. Where it was going to take her? where was her last stop?
What if she was supposed to be sent to the Island of the Dead, like Eve?
That was a good chance to see Samael one last time.
A blinding white light shone from the ceiling. She thought that was it, that death was drawing near, but then the deafness that had occupied her ears withdrew slowly. Raphael’s harsh voice pierced her head, announcing something in a language she didn’t understand. The stadium was overwhelmed by his roaring voice. Finally, she realized that the monk was praying.
17. First Rays of Sun
The battlefield below was a storm of blood and dust. In the middle of it all stood two ex-archangels. A fierce wind surrounded them, disconnecting the arena from the rest of the world. The voices of a thousand immortal humans and unearthly creatures remained locked outside the barrier.
The beating of Lucifer’s wings created mighty waves, though he remained rooted to the earth. Samael took a fighting position, lifting his sword in front of him. It glimmered, gray matter blazing off of it like smoke before evaporating into the air. His black shirt was torn, baring his muscular chest revealing two deep gashes, the ones made by his elder brother’s spear.
Lucifer paced to and fro without taking his eyes off his opponent. Samael was standing about five yards in front of him, his gray wings half open. Lucifer didn’t move to attack, and his wings closed on his back but remained visible.
“Oh, Samael, Samael. How low have you fallen, brother?” He sniffed angrily. “What do you want to prove to me? Why are you doing this?” He stopped, locking his gaze on Samael, demanding an answer. The gray-winged man remained silent. Lucifer tilted his head in disappointment. “You’ve got no chance against me, you know.”
Through the dusty storm, Samael spotted the shape of a man, walking to join them in the circle. The newcomer had black frizzy hair, yellow flaming eyes, and a sharp face, like a fox. The man was as tall as Lucifer, a true warrior, calmly approaching the epicenter of the archangels’ battle while hauling his long and heavy sword along with him.
Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) Page 19
