Armageddon (Angelbound)

by Christina Bauer

  Lincoln shifts the weight of his own pack on his shoulders. “See? And I kept my pack, too.” The thrill of battle is brightening him as well. “That’s why you need me desperately.”

  “I’d say that you’re right, but then, I don’t want you getting a bigger ego than you already have.”

  “Oh, say it anyway.” Lincoln rolls his eyes. “You know my ego can’t get any bigger.”

  “Fine. I need you…to step back so Kiya can open our way into Hell.”

  “Yeah.” Lincoln stares at the towering wall, and all the adrenaline seems to disappear from both our systems. “We need to do that, don’t we?”

  “We’ve already lost time in this desert.” I flip over my wrist and check out the Looking Glass. Maxon is now white eyed and sitting calmly. Hopefully he’ll stay that way until we reach him. I prod Kiya with my pointer finger. “We’re ready for you.”

  Kiya scales the wall of vines and pauses about seven feet above the ground. Around him, the snaking cords transform from blackened ropes into bright green vines with wide leaves and tiny white flowers. Kiya lets out a happy screech. In response, the vines below him turn the same emerald shade, all the way to the desert floor. Kiya pats at the now-vibrant wall of green. The vines part like a veil, revealing an all-black interior beyond.

  My breath catches. We’re here. The back entrance to Hell.

  My heart hammers in my throat. Somewhere inside that darkness waits Maxon, my sweet baby. And he’s imprisoned by Armageddon. What if we can’t save him? What if he ends up tortured?

  I look to Lincoln, feeling my eyes sting with hidden tears. I’m sure I’d be bawling my eyes out if I had any extra hydration in me.

  Lincoln takes my hand in his. “We can do this,” he says in a low voice.

  The cool resolve in his mismatched eyes thrums through me. My spine straightens; my heart rate slows. My wrath demon unfurls inside my soul, heating my blood with rage.

  Fuck Armageddon. We’re getting our kid back.

  We step inside, still holding hands. Kiya scrambles onto my shoulder, his little hands gently pawing my cheek as his chatter turns low and soft. Behind us, the wall-hole silently closes. My heart leaps into my throat.

  Suddenly, the vines burst forward, pulling us against the wall, and then, inside it. Vines band around my chest, making it hard to breathe. My pulse skyrockets. Complete darkness surrounds me. I sense my body tumbling through space—moving downwards so quickly, I could be jet propelled—with the vines dragging me the entire way. I focus my energy on keeping my palm locked with Lincoln’s.

  If we can stay together, we’ll be all right.

  My body hits the ground with a shock of motion that I feel in every joint and vertebrae. The vines push Lincoln and I forward, through the wall and into a small chamber made of the same dark cords. Somehow, Kiya has managed to stay perched on my shoulder.

  Nice work, Kiya.

  I step around, inspecting the shifting walls. “Looks like we landed in a reception chamber.”

  Lincoln kneels to the ground, touching the shifting vines under our feet. He pulls out a tuft of hair and rises to stand. “This is Anubis’s space, no question.”

  On my shoulder, Kiya shrieks and points to a stretch of wall across the room.

  The opposite vine-wall opens, and a familiar figure steps through. It’s Anubis.

  His ebony face breaks into a white-toothed smile. “You made it. I was starting to worry.”

  “The hike across the Plains of Fire kicked our asses,” I explain. “This place is hard to find.”

  “That’s by design, I’m afraid.” Anubis’s bright smile disappears. “Are the two of you ready for Nefer’s prison block?”

  “What guards her?” asks Lincoln.

  “Insectus demons. They aren’t smart, but what they lack in brains, they more than make up for in number.”

  “I remember,” says Lincoln. “I’ve fought them before.”

  “I wish I could go fight with you,” says Anubis.

  “Really?” I ask. “You seemed pretty convinced that this was the worst idea in the history of ever.”

  “I still believe that, but if Nefer’s fighting, I belong at her side. Only, my powers end with gateways.” He inhales a ragged breath. “Well, you know the story.”

  My heart goes out to the guy. I’d go crazy if Lincoln were going into serious danger and I couldn’t be there. “Hey, you’re helping her a lot right now.”

  “I suppose,” says Anubis with a sigh. “Remember, after you free Nefer, I’ll transport you to the secret passageway to the throne room. Pass through the Veil of Fire, and you’ll reach your personal hells.”

  Hard to forget that part.

  “What about Nefer?” asks Lincoln. “Will she go through a personal hell too?”

  “Yes, it’s the price of crossing the Veil of Fire.”

  More of the adrenaline-buzz from our successful demon battle starts to wear off. I feel my Mommy-self returns, and she wants to freak the fuck out and cry for her lost child. Not helping. “Anything else, Anubis? Because I’m ready to go.”

  “No, we’re done.” Anubis sets his warm palms on both of our foreheads. “Go and free her.”

  Vines burst forward from behind us. Within a heartbeat, they’ve wrapped around our bodies, pulling us back inside the wall. Everything returns to darkness as we’re dragged off to Nefer’s prison block.

  As I careen through the black space, I keep whispering one phrase, over and over: “We’re coming for you, baby.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Growing up in Purgatory, I often heard mice scurrying about in the ceilings of our ranch house back on Dante Row. Every so often, I’d even catch sight of a tail hanging out of a particularly cracked ceiling tile, reminding me of the tiny crawl space that existed between the so-called ceiling and the floor above.

  Right now, that memory stands out crystal-clear for one simple reason: the vines have just deposited Kiya, Lincoln and me onto a network of white plastic tubes that act as the ceiling for the large cement room below us.

  In other words, we’re the mice.

  I shift my weight, trying for a better view of the room below by peering through the gaps between the plastic pipes. The place is laid out in classic prison style; it’s two stories tall with an open central space and a wrap-around walkway along the second floor. The walls are lined with metal prison doors that have small barred windows. One long wall-panel extends from floor to ceiling, its surface covered in levers of all shapes and sizes. About a dozen Insectus demons rush around, their humanoid forms encased in shiny brown exoskeletons that look like plated body armor.

  My heart starts pumping so hard, my pulse throbs in my neck. We’re here. Nefer’s Prison Block. Club Dead. One step closer to Maxon.

  We need to break Nefer out of here. It’s crazy enough to take on Hell with just the three of us. Nefer trained for this over two hundred years.

  Below, an Insectus guard steps to the far wall, pausing before the panel of floor-to-ceiling levers. The largest of these large metal switches sits at chest-height and is painted bright red.

  “Prisoners in Sector Q prepare for cleansing!” The Insectus pulls down one of the levers and a section of prison doors swing wide open. Once the inmates stumble out of their cells, the Insectus guards shuffle them onto the main floor of the space. I see humans, angels, and even a few high-ranking demons. Kiya bounces happily on my shoulder, gesturing wildly at Nefer, who strolls out with the rest of the group.

  While I’m happy to see Nefer, she’s not who really has my attention. A tall woman inmate with blue-green hair and matching eyes is scanning the prison block, her nostrils flaring as she catches a scent on the air. Through her ragged sheath-dress, I can clearly see her armscales, the sign that this prisoner is a full-blooded Furor or damned close. That means she can take dragon form if she’s strong enough. Her tail’s also identical to mine, only the scales are colored bluish-green instead of black. All of this adds up to one
possible disaster.

  She’s Furor, and Furor have an extraordinary sense of smell.

  The woman stares right to our hiding spot in the ceiling. Her face reminds me of an eel: oval-shaped with a long nose and small button eyes.

  Lincoln taps my shoulder. “What’s her tribe?”

  “Enchelýs tribe. Eel dragons. They draw their power from water.”

  “Friendly?”

  “Water dragons are the oldest types around. Not necessarily friendly or not. They keep to their own.”

  The woman’s tail arches over her shoulder and waves in my direction. I slap my hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp of shock.

  Unholy Hell. She’s going to blow our cover.

  Before I can stop it, my tail darts down a gap in the tubing so the arrowhead end peeps through the pipes. It waves enthusiastically to her before I can yank it away.

  I smack the arrowhead end. “Bad boy!” I hiss. My tail slinks to hide behind my ankle, where it will undoubtedly sulk for awhile. Damn that thing and its independent mind.

  The Furor smiles knowingly and returns her attention to the Insectus guards. My heart beats so hard, I’m surprised the entire cell block can’t hear it. Seconds pass and the Furor doesn’t make any move to speak to her jailers.

  “It doesn’t look like she’ll expose us,” whispers Lincoln.

  “Not any more than she already has.” Fortunately, another prisoner has noticed our hiding place. Nefer. Her blue eyes linger on our spot in the ceiling a second too long to be coincidence, and that’s good.

  I press my palms onto my eyes, trying to force a plan out of my skull. My thoughts keep returning to one image: the eel Furor. Get that prisoner some water and she could cause serious damage, creating a diversion that would allow us to take Nefer. On the floor below, the Insectus Commander starts rounding up prisoners. Unlike the other demons, the Commander’s exoskeleton is all-black.

  “Gather in the center, you lot!” he cries.

  The eight prisoners move to stand in the center of the room, which I now notice has grillwork as a floor.

  The Commander points to the Furor. “Not you!”

  A trio of guards drags the Furor toward the wall. She struggles against their grasp. “This is Class 1 Solitary!” She cries. “You’re not allowed to torture me like this.”

  “And you’re not allowed to attempt to escape,” says one of the nearby guards. “The Commander has ordered this punishment for you. Be thankful you weren’t sent to the torture pits.”

  Once the Furor is restrained, another Insectus pulls on a wall-lever. A series of plastic pipes snake down from the ceiling, pointing toward the group of prisoners at different angles. The Insectus flips another lever and water blasts at the inmates.

  The Furor shrieks in pain and want. Her skin is dry and scaly; she clearly craves water. However, giving her any will only recharge her strength. The guards can’t let that happen; no one wants an angry dragon on their hands. Still, making her stand so close to the water she so desperately needs is cruel.

  “Now’s our chance,” I whisper. “You have plenty of water left in your pack, right?”

  Lincoln’s eyes grow large with realization. “On it.” He rushes to the far wall of the prison, right above where the Furor is held. His movements are a blur as he pulls his water jug out from his pack, uncaps the top, and pours the contents through a gap in the pipes. The steam is directed right for the Furor.

  The moment the first drops of water strike the Furor, she changes. Her muscles instantly plump; her skin takes on a glittering hue. The dragon prisoner leans back, her mouth open, and guzzles water in fast gulps.

  The guards quickly notice. “There’s a break in a pipe,” cries one.

  Another yanks the Furor away. “Let’s get her back to her cell.” His antennae-fingers bite into her arms. “Move it, you!”

  But the Insectus are already too late.

  The Furor’s body hisses and crackles as she transforms from a slender woman into a full-grown dragon the size of a pick-up truck. Her long tail whips around her, crushing Insectus demons with every swipe.

  Lincoln ignites his baculum into a long-sword and hacks away at the pipes beneath us. “We have to get down there and grab Nefer.” He quickly creates a gap to the floor below. “You first, Myla.”

  I secure Kiya onto my shoulder and leap down through the fresh hole in the pipeworks, landing on back of an unsuspecting Insectus demon. The creature’s body crumbles beneath me into a pile of exoskeleton and green goo. Lincoln lands beside me.

  An ear-splitting alarm sounds in the air. More Insectus demons pour in through the main doorway to the prison block. I scan the sea of bodies, looking for Nefer.

  Where is she?

  A wall of Insectus guards close in on Lincoln and me. We both ignite our baculum and go to town, cutting them down as fast as they approach. They aren’t necessarily hard to kill, but there are so many of them! Soon, my muscles ache with effort.

  The Furor smashes more of the Insectus as well, but they swarm all over her body, chattering angrily and slashing at her with their sharp antennae claws. Fortunately, those don’t make of a dent in dragon hide.

  I look up at the network of tubes above our heads. “I hope she knows which one of those leads to water.” Beside me, a pair of Insectus slash at Lincoln’s pack, tearing it to ribbons.

  Man, that’s a bummer. We could have used that pack.

  Lincoln decapitates another Insectus with a swipe of his sword. “And if she does find the water pipe?”

  I impale another demon and toss it aside. “Then, things are going to get nasty. In a good way.”

  With a great roar, the Furor dragon leaps up onto her hind legs, her scaly body shimmering with power. Insectus demons tumble off her as the Furor grabs one of the larger ceiling-tubes with her claw-hands. Yanking down the tube with all her strength, she pulls the entire pipe out and tosses it aside.

  A low rumble sounds. The floor begins to shimmy and buck.

  I slice another Insectus in half, and then look up to the hole in the ceiling where the pipe once was.

  Lincoln smiles. “I think she knows which one leads to water.”

  Liquid blasts out of the ceiling. A familiar tang fills the air. Clean water. Leaning back, the Furor dragon sucks in more gulps of water. With each passing second, her muscles grow even stronger, her body larger. Her eyes glimmer with green light, the pupils thinning into reptilian slits.

  She’s in full dragon mode now.

  The Furor lets out a high-pitched howl and slams her tail into the wall where the room’s sole exit door can be found. The cement crumbles in on itself, turning the only escape route into a blocked pile of rubble.

  Lowering her head, the Furor opens her jaws, releasing long bolts of electricity that blast forward, burning out anything in its path. Dozens of Insectus demons fall over, dead.

  I watch the electric arcs in awe. I heard that eel dragons could kill their prey with a charge like their earthly counterparts, but I’d never seen it in action. It’s terrifying and beautiful, all at once.

  The Furor twists her head from side to side, sending long arcs of electricity around the room, killing every demon in her way.

  Once every last Insectus is dead, the Furor retakes her human form. She stands before us, once again a willowy figure with greenish-blue hair, eyes and tail. “Thank you for freeing me.”

  My own tail waves at her frantically. “Same here.”

  The Furor jogs over to the control panel. “Let’s share the love, eh?” She tilts her head back, and scales appear along her neck and face. Opening her mouth, the Furor sends another arc of electricity into the panel of levers, which begins to smoke and crackle. She sets her now claw-like hand on the red lever and pulls it down. With a series of clicks, the other prison doors swing open. A mix of angels, humans, quasis and demons rush around the prison, yelling with elation, fear or both. They frantically search for an exit that no longer exists.

  �
�How do you expect everyone to escape?” I ask.

  “I don’t.” Still in her hybrid dragon-human form, the Furor scales the walls to the network of tubes that hang from the ceiling. “I only expect them to buy me time so I can get out.” She grips one of the larger tubes and shimmies inside, feet-first. “Not you, of course. I expect to see you again, very soon. I’m Ka and you’re?”

  “I’m Myla. He’s Lincoln.”

  “Goodbye, Myla and Lincoln.” With that, she crawls into the tube and disappears.

  A familiar voice sounds behind us. “And now, it’s my turn to say hello.”

  Spinning about, I see a smiling Nefer standing before us. Joy warms my heart. With a happy screech, Kiya scrambles across the prison floor and into Nefer’s arms. She holds him close to her chest. “I missed you too, my friend.” She turns to us and smiles. “Thank you.”

  “You’re most welcome,” says Lincoln. “Especially considering you just increased the size of our fighting force.”

  The grating beneath our feet begins to vibrate and groan. Alarm zooms up my spine.

  Something’s about to happen.

  “That’s Anubis,” explains Nefer. “He’ll send for us in a moment.”

  “I almost forgot,” I say. “He’s taking us to the secret passageway and the Veil of Fire.”

  Nefer nods. “Too bad his vines can’t go straight into the throne room. Still, once we pass the Veil of Fire, he can deposit us there easily.”

  I smile from ear to ear. We’re talking about the throne room. We’re getting closer to Maxon. “Nefer, I can’t thank you en—”

  The entire left wall of the prison implodes. Rocks and debris fly everywhere. A horde of Insectus demons charge through the fresh opening, killing hysterical inmates as they wipe across the prison block.

  Nefer reaches for my baculum. “May I?”

  I stare at her, dumbfounded. “Sure.”