by Brian Rella
No, in Frank’s mind, these beings, creatures, monsters—whatever you wanted to call them—had no morals. They weren’t spawned by some omnipotent, omniscient, good being. They just were. And all these bible stories are just that—stories that humans created to make sense of it all.
Brennan continued. “Angels don’t have the ability to move within His kingdom. They can’t move back and forth. They can’t get closer to God. They are stuck in their position, and compelled to worship Him and obey His commands. If they don’t obey Him, they fall from His grace and—”
“Hence we have our problem with the Fallen. Thanks for the history lesson, professor. So who’s this guy Kuriel and what does he have to do with Razmus, and how is any of this relevant to the kid upstairs or the psycho bitch setting the Fallen free?”
Brennan shook his head. “You know, sometimes you’re a real—”
“Careful, padre. The Big Guy is listening,” Frank said mockingly.
Brennan just stared at him blankly and continued. “Jack may be a direct descendant of Razmus, and Jessie may be the woman Razmus spoke of in his vision of the Fallen’s return, which means only Jack can stop her from killing us all.”
“Okay, now you lost me.” Frank sighed. “Fine. Slow down and fill in the gaps—cliff-notes version, please.”
“Long story short, Kuriel became jealous of mankind’s special abilities. He fell to Earth and began eating the souls of mankind, and in the process, he created an army of soulless people that traveled with him and fed on human flesh. The people of his time called him Dalkhu, which is Sumerian for evil spirit or demon. The details are sketchy, but basically when God found out, He sent Uriel, His angel of glory, and third in the hierarchy of arch angels behind Michael and Gabriel. He gave him His Word and His sword of fire and commanded him to destroy Dalkhu.
“Uriel and Dalkhu battled, but Uriel couldn’t kill him, so through the Word of God, Uriel cursed Dalkhu and buried him beneath the Earth.
“Humans had gone into hiding. You have to remember, this battle lasted forty years, and the whole time Uriel and Dalkhu were fighting, the army of the soulless were wandering the world, eating people. While Uriel and Dalkhu fought, Razmus got fed up with hiding and prayed to God to give him the power to fight. God heard him, and gave him some of his light to help fight against the army of soulless that were under Dalkhu’s command. In the end, Uriel and Razmus defeated Dalkhu and his army.
“The Book of Razmus is Razmus’ account of the battle with Dalkhu and some other battles humans fought alongside the angel Uriel against the Fallen. Kuriel was not the first angel to fall, nor was he the last. Uriel told Razmus of all the battles he had and Razmus recorded them during his lifetime. It’s from his writings as well as those of the Book of Enoch and other prophetic books that we know where we Watchers come from. He tells about the other angels that fell, and had children with human women, giving birth to the first Watchers in the world.”
“Okay, I remember now. But that’s your religious interpretation. If I recall correctly, there is some debate about the origin within the council. Some of us, me included, aren’t sold on the idea that this is God’s plan. It’d be pretty fucked up if it were.”
Brennan sighed. “To each his own, Frank, but this holy book fits too well to deny its applicability, and you will not shake my faith. God works in mysterious—”
Frank waved his hand to stop the priest—he hated when Brennan started to proselytize. “I’m not trying to convert you, Brennan. Go on.”
“When Razmus got old and was unable to fight anymore, Uriel revealed things to him in visions. The book is quite long and talks of many things, spanning three hundred years, but the most pertinent to our situation is Razmus and Uriel’s discussion of an attempt of the Fallen to return.”
Frank nodded.
“In one vision, Uriel took Razmus to the valley of the souls and spoke to him. Razmus wanted to know if the Fallen would rise again. He wanted to know if his ancestors would be saved by his efforts or if they would be called to help battle the Fallen again. He wanted to build an army of the living to help combat any of the Fallen, should they return.
“Uriel related the prophecy:
“And a great awakening of the Fallen shall come when darkness has once again flooded the world and the ways of God are forgotten.
“Man will worship his creations above all and abandon his beliefs in the Father and the Universe;
“And the peoples of the world will be separated by greed and envy.
“And the King of the Fallen from the line of Nasriel, a false prophet of the apocalypse shall rise, and reveal himself to a chosen woman.
“And he will tempt her with knowledge and power and she will believe;
“And she will free his army and usher in darkness and chaos and evil across all the world;
“And the people shall tremble before her in fear.
“But the descendants of Razmus, marked with the Word of the Creator, shall rise.
“And the descendants of Razmus shall raise an army of the living and with the Watchers, a great battle shall be had, and all the fate of the world shall be held in a few hands.”
“Who’s the King of the Fallen?”
“An Angel named Nasriel or from the line of Nasriel. I haven’t gotten that far yet. I have more research to do.”
“So what are you saying? The end is near? Or is Jessie bringing a false apocalypse?”
“No, not the end. At least we don’t think so. The texts are very vague and no one really knows when the end is coming. It’s all spread out over many different books. It’s a giant puzzle wrapped in an enigma that we have yet to unravel. What we do know is that this girl, Jessie, has released two very powerful Fallen, and she has to be stopped.”
“Well then let me get after her. I’ve been telling you that—”
“It’s more complicated than that, Frank. The boy, Jack, if he is a descendant of Razmus, then the prophecy is coming true, and we need him. We need him to help defeat the uprising of the Fallen. We need you to train him.”
Frank grunted. He had already decided to train the boy, but had wanted to hear what Brennan had to say on the matter.
“I’ve spoken to the council and this is what we have agreed. They’ve tasked me to determine if the prophecy is true and to train the boy. And I need your help.”
Frank shifted in his chair. “I’m no good with kids. I’m good at tracking and killing. I don’t want to do this shit—I want that clear—but I already decided I would train the kid for my own reasons.”
Brennan looked surprised for a moment and Frank went on.
“Look, I hear you, Brennan, I get it, and I will train the kid, but then I’m going after the girl. She killed Tarek. She needs to be stopped. She got lucky last time, and that won’t happen again.”
“I think that’s exactly what the Order’s wishes—”
“The Order’s wishes? Well, I’m glad they’re on board with me risking my neck again. Jessie needs to die before she hurts more people and I’m the best you’ve got to kill her.”
“The book says we cannot defeat the Fallen without the boy. We need you to train him, Frank, so this is all good news. Now, there’s other complications you should know about.”
“What complications?”
“The U.S. government has asked us to back off. What happened in Chicago—there’s video of Arraziel and Jessie, and it’s gone viral on the internet. Have you watched the news? People have been talking about the end of the world. Parts of Chicago are in flames, and there have been small riots. People think government genetic experiments have created monsters, and they are in revolt. The government blames us for not doing our job. We need to work with them. We’re on the same team, but we need to let them lead. We’ve been asked to stay out of the hunt for Jessie for now.”
“That’s crazy. What does that mean? What can they possibly do? They’re going to get killed.”
“They have help.”
&
nbsp; “Who?”
“A Watcher. His name is Titus. He used to be part of the Order.”
Frank sat back in his chair and sighed. He knew there was another story coming.
“You remember when I left New York for a while and went out west to start the West Coast Order of Watchers?”
Frank nodded.
“There was a husband-and-wife Watcher team out there that was under me. We had some…complications…on a mission, and…” Brennan sighed. “Titus and his wife, Domino… She died on a mission.”
“Died how?”
“She was killed by one of the Fallen. Lal'lyth.”
Frank thought back to his schooling again. Lal'lyth was a lunatic. He remembered reading about her. She wanted to turn the entire world green, like some kind of sick, twisted fairy tale. She made plants come alive and wanted to make the world a living, killing forest. Her followers worshiped her with human sacrifices to her killer plants.
He also remembered Brennan had killed her. Or so he thought.
“I thought you took care of her.”
“Not exactly. I was there, but it was Titus that killed her. After she killed his wife.
“When his wife died on that mission, Titus blamed the Order and went rogue. I lost track of him for a while, but then he surfaced a few years ago. He had started working with the government. He was consulting, really, making the bean counters in Washington aware of what we were and what we were capable of. He never really did any hunting, because we had that covered. But after what happened in Chicago, the government has put him on a task force. He’s taking up the investigation into Jessie and trying to capture her.”
“That’s great. This guy who got his wife killed is going to get himself and a lot of other people killed this time.”
“You don’t know that, Frank. Titus is powerful. I fought by his side many times. I’m not so worried.”
Frank thought about this. He didn’t like it. None of it. He wanted to go after the girl. It was his responsibility. He had let her get away and let her kill Tarek. He had to kill her. He had to.
“Frank, please. I know you can do what you want. I know you can walk out of here and go after her, but I’m asking you to please let this play out a little bit. Let the government try and bring her down, and in the meantime, work with the boy. You said it yourself in the hospital. You’ve been on the road for a long time. You need a break. Take it and train the boy.”
Frank had already decided. He knew what he needed to do.
“I’ll train the boy, and then I’m going after her. Sooner if things go south with the government—”
“Frank, if things go south, we’re all in trouble. I need to look for the mark on the boy. It’s an Enochian symbol, like this.” Brennan turned the book in front of him to face Frank and showed him the symbol.
“If this mark is on the boy, then he is the descendant of Razmus.”
Frank nodded.
“Get him trained, Frank. You and he are our best hope to stop them.”
Frank got up. “We’ll be heading up to Garrison in the morning. I’ll need your car.”
29
TITUS
October 28, 2015
Humphreys Peak, Arizona
The jets’ roars echoed over the false summit. Titus lay still, underground, camouflaged by two feet of rock and soil. He waited, listening intently for the sound of Arraziel’s or Pasmet’s paws to beat at the dirt and rock in pursuit of him. The sound never came, and he waited some more, not wanting to face the two of them alone again, still reeling from the battle earlier.
His mind returned to images of Domino, and he squinted back the tears that wanted to come. Failed. I failed again. Over and over he battered himself with those words and they stung like a whip over his heart, scarring him in all the right places that would leave permanent marks.
He could hear her voice. It wasn’t you, babe. It was them.
"Nfes' adna'tu,” Titus said. His camouflage of rock and soil was shed, as he rose out of the ground like some kind of vampire, and lay prone on the ground. He drew in a deep breath, and the cool air of the peak hit him like a wave of relief. His energy was depleted, and he was injured and weak from the battle with Jessie. He coughed, went to his knees, and dry-heaved on the ground. When his stomach settled, he waited for some strength to return before trying to stand.
Damn it! That wasn’t the plan. Why’d they start firing? They should’ve waited for my signal. Why?
Bracing himself on a rock, he pulled himself to his feet. He moved to the ledge of the second summit, which overlooked the deep forest of evergreens. Smoldering fires dotted the forest below and the smoke whirled in the autumn breeze in eerie, dark, wispy clouds flowing out into the desert’s horizon. Smells of death and cordite assaulted his nose. Moans of anguish flew on the wind to him, the sounds of the injured struggling to stay alive. The only sign of Jessie or the Fallen was the mass of destruction they had left behind. Titus sensed humans letting go of life below, their wounds too great to be healed. He sighed and sat on the ledge, dangling his feet over the drop-off, waiting for his energy to replenish.
He coughed, reaching into his leather jacket and pulling out a Cuban cigar. Somehow it remained intact and Titus gave thanks for small favors. He ran the pungent stick of tobacco under his nose, the spicy sweetness of it reminding his taste buds of the flavors that were coming any second. A small flame appeared at his fingertips, and the front of the cigar came to life. He pulled deeply and blew the smoke in a steady plume into the air.
Coughing again, he rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. “Shit,” he said and took another pull from the cigar, enjoying the smoke, his tongue tingling.
He gazed off into the horizon, the questions fading to the back of his mind. The sun would be coming up soon. There would be plenty of time to discuss the failed plan with the General when he got back to the base. He could feel his injuries healing, and he would get after the girl when his energy returned, but he took the moment for himself. It was a time of uncanny beauty. And it’s mine.
The deep blue sky faded to shades of purple and powder blue as the sun peeked over the horizon. He could see the Hopi Mesas to the north, and the White Mountains to the east. They were silhouettes against the pastel rainbow sky. Lavender shadows crept over the tawny landscape beyond the lava-rock field and the forest at the base of the volcano. The smoldering fires thousands of feet below sent wafts of black smoke into the air, adding to the eeriness of the whole scene. It reminded him of the Second Death, and a thought floated through his mind: Destroying them will be the last thing I do.
He rolled the Cohiba from left to right with his teeth and lips, biting it lightly, tasting and savoring the tobacco. He let his mind wander over things as he sat there watching the day erase the night. His mind drifted back to Domino, as it usually did in moments of quiet.
He froze in place, his attention no longer on what he could see or hear or feel. He stared into the air, his jaw slack, as scenes played through his mind like a highlight reel of film.
Florida. She was young, dirty, and living on the streets. The tormented, wild look in her eyes when he first found her. There was a pleading for help behind her hungry, terrified eyes. There had been a light in her that no one had seen. No one but him…
The first words she spoke to him…the sweetest voice he had ever heard. Every syllable like a note in a song…
Their first kiss. The passion had almost overtaken him. The world faded away when his lips pressed against hers. She had him forever after that moment…
The forest of Washington. Their last mission together. Her last…
He frowned and a bitter tear threatened to spill from his eye. He sniffed and bit hard on the cigar, shaken from his reverie. He stood and squinted into the horizon, his focus returning to the present. There was no time for that now.
Why had the men attacked so soon? Could the General have betrayed me? After all these years? If he has, then he’s no better tha
n the Order. Reckless. Untrustworthy. I should have seen this coming. She’s too powerful. I know better. I…
The guilt and the depression of betrayal started in his stomach, and spread, infecting every cell in his body. He sighed, stood, and started back.
He bowed his head and stared at his footprints as he walked back to find a trail down.
I will not fail you again. He lifted his head into the dawn. I will not, Domino. I will avenge you.
He shrugged off the self-pity for the second time and glanced at his watch. It was after 5:00 AM. Time to call in. He wanted to talk to Rand. They had lost a hundred or so men and women today by his count. He needed to know what happened.
One last thought of self-pity crept into his mind. It masked itself in her voice, the sweetest voice he’d ever know.
Why do you do this, Titus? Why do you fight them?
The reply came quickly, resolutely, in his own voice.
Because this is what I am. This is what I was born to do. On my own…
He pulled on his cigar, hopped over the lip of a short drop, and slid down the steep slope of the extinct volcano to the valley below. At the bottom, he pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and called Rand.
“What happened to you?” the General asked.
“Did you get her?” he replied, ignoring the General’s question.
“We lost her over the Grand Canyon. She may have landed in the canyon itself. Damn satellites weren’t in position to catch her to know exactly where.”
“Grand Canyon,” Titus said, rubbing his chin. What’s there?
There was a long pause, and then, “You with me, Titus?” the General asked, his tone rising.
The real question is, are you with me? “I’m here,” Titus replied. “Just…thinking. Your men—someone fucked up. I need to know who, General. I’m coming in and we need to talk.”
“I saw it. Someone didn’t follow orders, and I’ll get to the bottom of it, rest assured.”
