by Terry Reid
“But she’s only human...”
“And just now she is one of us and with that you are whole again and when you are whole you have a terrible rage, Alexander, and no-one is able to stop you when you lose it. You remember how many you killed at the Battle of Knox?” They both did. “That was you, all you, single handed. The Lord made you too strong, Alexander, when you were forged, and that’s the real reason why he cut a piece out of you.”
“Then why did he not just destroy it? Why did he create Hayley if he never intended for me to get it back?”
Mark shrugged again. “I do not know but either way a lot of us feel he made a terrible error of judgment.”
Alex could not believe what he was hearing. He shook his head in disgust. “Do you know what you’re saying? It’s treason!”
“No it’s not. You killed your two brothers and you were never punished. What makes you think we will be if we kill you?” Mark said, advancing on them.
“Don’t do this, Mark…” Alex pleaded, edging away. “I do not want to have to kill you all.” Hayley raised her blade but her guardian stayed her hand with a gentle touch to the wrist.
Amusement danced across Mark’s dark eyes. “What? Could you really kill your last surviving brother?” He smirked. “Christopher hates you for what you did to Jacob and Gabriel.”
Christopher’s sword disagreed. Tearing it from its sheath he stabbed one of Mark’s trio through the back. The point of the silver blade gleamed bright red as it pierced the front of his chest. His comrade reached for his blade but was not fast enough. In less than two seconds the blond-haired angel had wrenched his own sword free from his previous target’s ribcage and taken the other angel’s head clean off in one swift, circling swing. A trail of blood whipped off its edge as it carried through the motion.
“Adam!” Mark shouted, looking desperately to his brother before his eyes glazed. He looked down to find the point of a sword poking from his chest. With a slick, wet sound it disappeared and Mark exploded in a cloud of white ash, like his fallen comrades. Hayley stepped back, lowering her blood-soaked sword.
Alex’s wide eyes found his brother, relief evident on his face. “You had me worried there,” he whispered, almost in tears.
Christopher sheathed his blade. Grasping his brother by the shoulders, they embraced. With a solid slap across Alex’s back he stepped away. “There were four of them and one of me. Of course I was going to tell them that I was on their side.”
Hayley wiped the blood from the tip of her blade on a ragged end of the bed covers. “What about him?” she asked, nodding at Adam. “Why didn’t you kill him?”
“He hasn’t got a sword or any gifts. He’s not a threat to anyone,” Christopher said, looking at the trembling wreck.
Alex’s eyes narrowed on the fallen angel. “No, but he knew what they were going to do.”
“Please…no, I didn’t…” he pleaded desperately as the angel rounded on him. He tried to bolt for the door but it slammed shut. It locked and so did his fate. “Please!” he screamed, struggling with the handle. But it wouldn’t budge.
“Brother!” Christopher shouted, grabbing his arm. But Alex shrugged it off. He stalked toward the whimpering, shrunken wreck that had slumped against the foot of the door, blade in hand. Hayley came to his side, sword still drawn. Alex looked at her and saw the anger in her eyes, mirroring his own.
“Alexander, I don’t think he knew,” Christopher said. “Even if he did, what was he supposed to do? They would have killed him.”
“After all he’s done?” Alex asked, turning on his brother. “Trust me, he would have deserved it.”
“I didn’t know Marli was following me! I’m sorry! I was lucky Mark didn’t notice I was gone! I couldn’t tell you about him or he would have known, he would have read my mind! Please!” Adam babbled, peering at him through wide, pleading eyes.
Alexander stared at the wreck that had retreated before him. Adam seemed so much smaller now, a shadow of the great, white-winged warrior he once was. Alex knew he had committed many wrongs, wrongs that angered him when he thought on them. But he could not bring himself to take the man’s head.
Sensing his hesitation, Hayley sheathed her blade into the sword belt that she had taken from Gabriel’s sword - he wasn’t going to be using it anytime soon. “Let Christopher decide his fate if you are not sure,” she said gently, placing a hand on his arm. Alex looked at her. “We must find Marli.”
Alex hesitated and for a moment Adam was certain he would strike, but at the last, the guardian sheathed his weapon and turned away. It was all Adam could do but cry into his hands, overcome with relief.
Alex turned to his brother. “Watch him and Hayley’s body. We’ll be back soon.”
Christopher grabbed him by the arm. “Hayley’s body is dying. She must return now.”
The nameless angel rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “We don’t have time for this. I’m going and that’s the end of it.”
Christopher regarded the newborn. He could see her desperation to kill Marli. It was in her creased brow and in the sapphire flames that burned within the orbits of her eyes. He knew she would not be swayed, so he did not even bother trying. Nodding in acceptance, he said, “Good luck.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
A young couple huddled around the TV in their Cowcaddens flat with five of their neighbours: all victims of the fire sky that had destroyed their homes. They muttered amongst themselves as they watched the news and ate their meagre meal of baked beans on toast. The scenes flickering before their eyes were heart-wrenching. Everywhere there was rubble and destruction but no answer as to why this had happened in the first place.
The ceiling exploded; a shower of plaster and dust was thrown onto the screaming occupants as something crashed through it. Hayley pinned Marli to the floor. The fallen angel struggled against her but the newborn held her tightly by the wrists, using her body weight to hold her down. One flitting glance at the fat-backed TV from Marli was enough to persuade it to fly at Hayley’s head. She saw it coming but there was not enough time to react; with a bone-breaking smash it knocked her to the side. Marli scrabbled to her feet. Casting a sweeping cold glance around the frightened faces that ringed her, she vanished.
The broken remains of the TV shifted and Hayley sat up, throwing it off her. Twisting her head from side to side, there was an audible crack as something popped back into place. “Aw…” she moaned, rubbing at her neck.
Alex appeared before her, his hand extended. Taking it, he pulled her up. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” she growled, rage burning in her eyes.
“I told you not to run ahead.”
“Keep up then.” Fanning her wings, she vanished. Alex smirked darkly then teleported in pursuit. The occupants of the destroyed house stared on in bewilderment, even after they had departed.
I feel her.
Hayley, come back! She won’t get away, I need you with me.
I am with you.
A hot wave of anger washed through his body and he felt the heat in Hayley’s soul race through him; it felt like there was a roaring fire in his chest. Patience. Come back to me, he said gently, as he alighted on a rooftop.
But she’s getting away!
Hayley.
An instant later his soul mate appeared alongside him, having teleported rather than flown. She was not at all happy. Alex turned to her, his gaze stern. “You need to calm down. You are getting ahead of yourself.”
“We don’t have time for this!”
He squared up to her, his wings arcing high behind him. His feathers looked jet black under the gloom of the moonless sky. “We have all the time in the world, Hayley. You do not understand because not all your gifts and knowledge have caught up with you yet. It takes time.”
“I have your strength and your memories and my sword. What else could I possibly need?” she demanded impatiently.
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And what would our creator
say if he saw you behaving this way? Would you dare say that to him?” He saw her resolve falter. Drawing a deep breath, he relaxed. He could feel her regret. “You may have my memories and my power,” he said softly, “But that does not mean that you know it all. You have much to learn.”
She gave a slow nod. “I’m sorry.” A smile touched his features, she could see, despite half his face being masked in shadow.
“It is ok.” She went to him then, running a hand up his chest before coming to rest it above his heart. Alex trembled from her touch and the love he felt pouring through their bond. His wings twitched as he put his strong hands on Hayley’s arms. He leant in to kiss her. They both froze. Alex spun round, his gaze racing to the horizon. “The bridge!”
The cables supporting the striding metal half-circle that was the Clyde Arc began to sheer one by one as if cut by some invisible blade. The heavy duty cables split like oversized threads and then whipped away as they snapped. At the exact same time, a furious fissure line raced across the centre of the bridge, splitting concrete and metal in its path. Cars continued to pour on and off the opposing ends, oblivious to the silent danger that was unfolding around them. Then it happened. With a long, deep groan the steel arc began to lurch to one side before hundreds of thousands of tonnes of steel fell into freefall. The road beneath suddenly split in two, leaving a gaping chasm and vehicles dangling above the dark waters of the Clyde below.
Then just as quick as it had started it stopped, the ripping road and the falling arc both. Alex stood on the very edge of the Finnieston Street on the north bank, his arms thrown out before him. Every inch of his body trembled as beads of sweat ran down his face and back. The angel grimaced from the strain. Hayley appeared alongside him, a second behind. Alex had not waited for her - such was the urgency of what he had sensed.
Hayley’s eyes darted this way and that, taking in the scene of the crippled bridge and the car teetering over the precipice of the divided road. Drivers had abandoned their cars and vans and were running in droves for the nearest shore under a chorus of panic. Hayley’s eyes returned to the hanging car.
“Don’t! I’ll get them! Get Marli!” Alex shouted, reading her thoughts.
“You can’t hold the bridge and help them by yourself!”
“Yes I can!” He grunted through gritted teeth. His burning eyes flicked to his lover. I’m with you. Finish this.
She gave him one last long look. Then spreading her new wings, she took off into the night, not caring if anyone saw her. Now was not the time for stealth. She found Marli on the far shore, laying waste to Govan Road.
With a hysterical scream of laughter the fallen angel threw her hand forward, sending a tarmac-tearing tremor before her. The cars coming towards her somersaulted and landed on their roofs in a crunch of metal and shattered glass. Screams went up and sirens blared as people ran, ran from the black-winged monster destroying their city. Catching a glimpse of a whimpering woman who was stuck inside her upturned car, a sick smile danced across Marli’s face. Drawing her blade, she stalked towards the wreckage. The woman screamed when she saw the advancing maniac with the huge dark wings and started battering at the crushed driver side door of her vehicle. It did not budge. Marli drew closer still, the length of her sword glinting under the street light. The woman screamed louder, terrified, battering skinned and bloodied fists off the smashed door. Marli was almost upon her now. She raised her blade. A bolt of blue lightning took her in the back. The woman in the car screamed again. Yet when her sight returned the black-winged monster was gone. Then another woman came running into her limited peripheral with white wings and brown hair trailing behind her back. She screamed again, lashing out against the crushed interior that held her captive. The door was wrenched open and she screamed even louder.
“Oh, God! Oh, God!” A light touch to the shoulder silenced her. Hayley guided her gently from the car with a hand around the woman’s injured wrist. When she came to her feet she stared at Hayley in silence, her eyes as wide as a cow’s as if she was in some sort of trance. Hayley smiled at her warmly and then, just like that, she was gone.
Further up the road Marli staggered to her feet, her head reeling from the devastating blow Hayley had dealt her. A sticky patch of blood in her hair and a deep, hairline-wide cut running from the top of one cheek to the bottom of the other were the only testament to her injuries. When she saw Hayley striding towards her she growled and raised her blade again.
Hayley stopped and looked upon the fallen angel before her. “Throw your sword down, Marli. You know you can’t defeat us.”
“We could have been happy, Alexander and I. I loved him. I’ve spent years crossing countless worlds looking for him!” she shouted, tears welling in her eyes.
Hayley slowly shook her head. “You have to let him go.”
“No!” she shouted, lunging for the newborn angel. In the blink of an eye she had closed the fifty yards that separated them, blade flashing in hand.
Hayley caught the blow on the flat of the cross guard as the blades collided, sending white sparks flying and the swords singing. Marli reeled backwards. Growling through gritted teeth, her dark almond eyes flashed with a feral madness as she began to circle Hayley.
She’s mad, Hayley said to Alex, as she turned with the fallen angel, her sword held high in preparation for another strike. It came.
That’s why you must end this before she kills anyone else, Alex shouted inside her mind as the metal of the blades crashed together again. Marli stamped her boot against the asphalt in the moment they were locked, sending a mini tremor beneath Hayley’s feet. She stumbled backwards, half-falling, half-running in a desperate bid to keep her balance.
Seeing an opening, Marli leapt over the breach at her - blade swinging down towards Hayley’s exposed chest.
Hayley tucked her wings in and landed on her back. She flipped herself into a backward roll just as the edge of death cut into the smashed tar where she had been.
Marli looked up in that instant to find Hayley standing before her, back on her feet. Screaming, she jumped up - only for Hayley to grab her by the collar and deliver a Glaswegie kiss squarely between her eyes. Blinded, the fallen angel reeled backward screaming, clutching her broken, bloodied nose. Dropping her sword, she threw a blue blast at lightning before her. A crater the size of a car exploded from the road, sending dust and tar flying twenty feet into the air. Pedestrians who had stopped to watch the unfolding spectacle ran screaming. Marli opened her eyes, but the world turned red when she did. Cursing, she wiped at them again before flicking crimson from her fingers. Snatching her fallen blade from the ground she spun round, searching for her missing target. Besides seeing screaming humans running in every direction, the newborn angel was nowhere to be found.
A wolf whistle cut through the din and drew her attention to a nearby seven storey rooftop. Hayley waved at her from on high.
What are you doing? Kill her! Alex screamed.
Not until I get her away from everyone.
I can’t lend you my strength and keep holding this bridge!
Then don’t, she said, severing her mental link with him. She felt Alex trying to reconnect but she rebuffed him twice before he finally gave up. Despite no longer being able to hear his mind, she still sensed his presence and the strain of the thousands of tons of metal he supported. She felt the weight of it in her limbs as if she held it herself.
Marli soared high above the rooftop on dark wings. Against the backdrop of the black, starless Glasgow sky they appeared almost invisible. She hovered there, eyes shining with malice.
Hayley knew Marli was calculating her next move, just as she was hers.
The fallen angel folded in her feathers, gliding silently down to alight upon the rooftop opposite her goodly counterpart. “I knew we shouldn’t have sent The Seer to kill you. I knew she would have balked at the last second,” Marli said, her voice dripping with venom as she began to circle Hayley again, sword drawn high.
H
ayley raised her own blade, not daring to take her eyes from her opponent. “Why didn’t she?”
A wicked smile played across Marli’s dark lips. “For the very reason I said she wouldn’t. So you would kill me instead.” She barked a laugh. “She never liked me. But we paid her enough so that wouldn’t matter, so that she would kill you anyway.”
“The Seer always knew how she was going to die. If she hadn’t taken her own life, we would have killed her.”
Marli’s smile widened. “Is that what you believe?”she asked, continuing to circle. Hayley turned with her. “And why do you love Alexander so much? Did he ever tell you what he did during the war?”
“He blew up a sun, wiping out both sides. You only survived because you, Adam and Daniel fled the planet after you deserted. You left Alex because you knew he would have still done it, whether you were on that rock or not,” Hayley said, unflinching.
Marli stopped and looked the newborn angel up and down, taking in her measure. She wiped some more blood from the ruin of her nose and flicked it away. “You really are made for him, aren’t you? You’re both just as cold and heartless as the other.”
“Then why do you want him back?” Hayley asked, confused.
Marli blinked. “Back?” She smiled and her face broke into a hideous, dark laugh. “Whoever said I wanted him back? I wanted to kill him, but when I learned he finally had a soul mate, I thought it would be more fun to come after you instead.” Her eyes flashed pure malice. “That way he would know the horror and loss I felt that day.” Her smile widened still and it sent a shiver down Hayley’s spine. “That was before I learnt what you would do. That’s when I knew my actions would be justified.” She vanished, a gust of wind blowing in her wake.
As wind and whispers danced in her ears, Hayley spun around, desperately looking for the fallen angel. The whole building exploded and Hayley fell, swallowed by the gaping maw of churning brick and rubble. Glass showered the streets, a million amber tears glistening in the street light as they fell to earth. Large boulders rained after them, smashing cars and people like they were ants.
