Champion (War Angel Academy Book 3)

by S. J. West

  The sound of a leviathan’s wail draws my attention as its pail, oblong body cruises by the Spire. Its gaping maw is open, showing metallic teeth and its translucent belly already has quite a few corpses swimming around in its acidic fluid. Even though it’s as large as a ship, the creature has exceptional maneuverability.

  Maybe Lora was taken to the castle to protect the royal family. She is one of their best fighters.

  Caleb’s theory could be correct. I phase us to the top of one of the castle’s towers. Looking out the window, the scene below is practically a duplicate of what we just left. Not only are there hellhounds and leviathans here, but also stinky, malformed hellspawn who look like mismatched pieces of human beings stitched back together to form a nightmarish creature.

  As I look out at the scene, one person stands out among the rest: Ethan. With his flaming blue sword, I watch in awe as he paves a path of death and destruction through anything that gets in his way. He’s like a war machine bent on destroying everything that tries to prevent him from reaching his goal. I follow the line of his path and see it leads straight to Levi.

  “There you are you bastard.”

  Levi floats in the air over the chaos and flicks a bolt of lightning here and there for his own amusement. He obviously doesn’t want to get his hands dirty and has decided to watch the fray from a safe distance.

  A glint of gold catches my eye off to the right in the sky. There I finally find Lora in midbattle with one of her sisters.

  Looks like Olivia.

  “Now that’s someone I wouldn’t mind tearing the soul out of.”

  She was the one who trapped me in my memory. I assume other guardians took turns making sure the memory continued on a loop, but I blame her for my imprisonment.

  Are we close enough to help her?

  Caleb’s anxiousness to help his friend is contagious, and I wouldn’t mind teaching Olivia a lesson but alas, Lora is on her own in this fight. Olivia is a soulless creature. My powers are useless against her and her kind.

  “Lora can hold her own against her sister. Don’t worry about her.”

  I look back at Levi and remember Aneela’s request. She practically begged me to find a way to keep Levi from coming back to the Void. If he won Heaven, he certainly wouldn’t have any reason to go back, but then again, I doubt that’s what Aneela meant.

  While everyone is busily fighting Levi’s army, I see a boy around the age of eighteen fly over to Levi and exchange a few words with him.

  Do you think that’s Rose’s son?

  “If it’s not, then Cal has a twin he didn’t know about because that boy looks just like him. Considering his age and appearance, I would say you are correct in your assumption. That is most definitely your nephew.”

  Suddenly, the boy phases and I can clearly see where his phase trail leads, Heaven.

  “I think the second part of this war is about to start. Shall we go see what’s happening?”

  I don’t wait for a response. I try to phase into Heaven, but it doesn’t work.

  “I thought my Father said we could go there because of your soul.”

  He did, but maybe He meant I could go there. Maybe, you have to give me control of the body.

  “Ha! That’s not happening. I suppose we’ll simply have to sit here and watch what transpires next.”

  We don’t have to wait long.

  A jagged line appears in the sky like a hole ripping through time and space. On the other side I can clearly see Heaven and all the wonders it offers. Did Cal’s son make a doorway to Heaven? Is that what Levi needed him for?

  It makes sense. Levi doesn’t have the ability to phase into Heaven on his own. He needed the boy to make a opening for him to enter through, but how was the boy powerful enough to do something like that.

  He’s Cal’s son. He must have inherited the ability to control all of the power inside the Void. Even as powerful as he is, Levi was never able to do that. Look at all the portals to the Void still open in the sky. Both Levi and Cal’s son must be pulling on the energy within the Void. Cal did it to heal Lora once. It makes sense.

  “Then these people are doomed.” I watch as the troops below us continue to fight off the horde Levi has brought with him from the Void.

  “Enough!” Levi shouts as he continues to float in the air. His voice was so loud the glass in the window we’re looking out of shattered inward, making me have to turn away to protect my face. When I look back, I see that Levi’s minions have stopped fighting. “The time has come for us to finish what your brothers and sisters have already started. To Heaven!”

  As if they are one organism, practically all of Levi’s troops phase yet his hellish creatures remain behind, but not for long.

  With one clap of his hands, Levi transports not only himself but every creature he brought with him to Heaven.

  Lora!

  I quickly look over to where we saw Lora and Olivia fighting. Neither of them is anywhere to be found.

  If Olivia was touching Lora when Levi transported all of his creatures, that might mean Lora was taken to Heaven too. We have to help her, Az. Please, give me control!

  “I don’t have to do that.” I point to the tear in the sky. “I can just go through that thing.”

  Right after I say those words, the connection between the living world and Heaven disappears.

  You were saying? Caleb’s agitation with me is potent. Haven’t I earned your trust after all these years together? You know me! When I make a promise, I keep it, and I promise to give control of our body back to you.

  “Ha! You say that, but you don’t say when you’ll give control back to me. Are you planning to keep me buried inside our mind for a year? A hundred years? A thousand years? Forever?”

  In one hour. I promise to give you back control in one hour, Az. Sixty minutes to help the people I care about most isn’t asking too much, is it? Besides, I know you want to help Lora as much as I do. I can feel it. Push your selfishness aside for one hour to help her.

  Caleb knows I’ll do anything to protect Lora.

  Yes, I do.

  “Oh, shut up! I need a moment with my own thoughts without you interrupting.”

  Okay.

  As I was thinking, he knows I want to help Lora, and he’s right. He has earned my trust during our time in the Void. If he says he’ll give me back control in an hour, I believe him.

  “Fine. Let’s do it. I honestly don’t even know if it will work, but I suppose we have to try for Lora’s sake.”

  How do we do it?

  “I assume I have to willingly let go of my control. Give me a second.”

  I shake my whole body to loosen it up a bit before taking a couple of deep breaths and slowly releasing it all.

  Yeah. That didn’t work.

  “Hold on, hold on, I got this.” I rub my hands together, close my eyes, and will Caleb’s consciousness to the surface of our mind.

  Nothing is happening.

  “I honestly don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong,” I say at a loss for more ideas. “Any suggestions?”

  Let me try something. Do what you just did, and I’ll envision myself taking complete control.

  “It sounds a little too simple but all right.”

  Again, I close my eyes, take in a couple of deep breaths, and slowly let out the air from my lungs. This time I don’t feel the air leave my lungs. In fact, I feel no bodily sensations at all.

  “It worked!” Caleb shouts in triumph. “I can’t believe it actually worked!”

  Yes, yes, you’re brilliant. Now, get a move on. Lora may be in trouble up there.

  While Caleb phases us to Heaven, I begin to wonder if he’ll be able to keep his word to me. A promise made in good faith isn’t always kept. Now that he’s in control, he may not be able to give it up.

  19

  (Lora’s Point of View)

  Olivia and I find ourselves on the other side of the tear surrounded by puffy pink clouds. The air here smells so s
weet it brings back memories of my first time stepping into Seraphim Sweets in Halo Harbor.

  Olivia tosses me aside and plunges through the air to find the ground. She’s a woman on a mission, and I have a good idea who she’s searching for here.

  On one of Lilith’s trips to Heaven, she learned that Olivia and a Watcher named Slade had fallen in love. Slade was killed by Levi in an altercation in the Void, and that event propelled my sister on the trajectory of self-destruction that she’s still following to this day. I always wondered why she chose to follow Levi.

  Was this the reason? Did he promise her that one day he would take her to Heaven so she could be reunited with her long lost love? It makes sense. Since Olivia’s animus abandoned her without granting her a soul, there was no way she would ever be allowed into these hallowed halls any other way.

  I follow Olivia but keep a safe distance away. Once we clear the layer of clouds, the sight that welcomes me brings me to an abrupt halt. I float in the air in awe of the battlefield below us.

  Spread out on a lush green meadow that stretches for as far as the eye can see, are two armies. On Laed-i, Levi’s army seemed unstoppable. His numbers were far greater than ours and victory appeared unattainable. I can see why he thought he would be able to conquer Heaven, but compared to the number of souls here willing to die a true death, his army looks outnumbered a thousand to one.

  God’s army is dressed all in silver chain mail with white tunics trimmed in gold. Emblazoned on the front of the tunics is an outline of a sun. Each person carries a weapon of some sort that glows as bright as the evening star. Compared to God’s army, Levi’s troops look like they were scraped from the bottom of a garbage can. His numbers are small and there’s no way he’ll be able to win this war.

  In the faces on God’s side, I see three who are familiar to me. I head straight for them. When I land in front of Lilith, Anna, and Liana, Lilith immediately walks up and embraces me, sighing in relief.

  “I was so worried about you,” she says. “When Liana came up here a little while ago, she told me what happened to you and all about Caleb.”

  “I didn’t think you would mind,” Liana says as Lilith pulls away to look at my face.

  “Thank you for telling her. It saves me from doing it.”

  Anna smiles and winks at me. “I guess you decided to come where the real action is.”

  “I didn’t have much choice. Olivia and I were fighting when Levi transported his troops here.”

  “We killed them as soon as they appeared,” Lilith says. “Just like we took out the troops Levi sent in his first wave.”

  “I thought you all came up here to stay out of the fray,” I say, looking at the three women in front of me as they smile guiltily. “Did you really come up here to fight and keep your husbands from worrying?”

  “We needed them to keep their heads in the game,” Anna tells me. “If we have remained behind, they would have done everything to protect us and not themselves.”

  I turn to look back at Levi’s bedraggled army. “They certainly look out of place here.”

  “It’s because they are.” The familiar voice catches me off guard.

  I quickly spin around and see Cal with Rose by his side. They’re both dressed in the same armor as everyone else.

  Tears blur my vision and I do something I almost never do. I break down in tears.

  Cal leaves Rose to pull me into his arms.

  “It’s all right, Lora.” He pats me on the back as he hugs me close. “Everything happens for a reason and my death was something that was meant to be. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.”

  “I hate to break up such a lovely reunion,” Levi shouts. “But could we get on with this battle? I would like to be sitting on my Father’s throne within the hour.”

  Cal pulls away from me and we both look over at Levi. He’s floating in the air a few yards away.

  “You’ll never win this war,” Cal tells him. “In fact, you’ve stepped into a trap but you’re too stupid to realize it.”

  “Ha!” Levi scoffs. He grins down at us with malicious intent. “I believe it’s you who stepped into my trap, Cal. Or did coming here cause a lapse in your memory? Leo!”

  Cal and Rose’s son suddenly appears by Levi’s side. Rose gasps behind me. This is the first time she’s seen her son since he was born.

  “Leo, I would like to introduce you to your birth mother, Rose. Your father you already had the displeasure of meeting,” Levi says.

  “I don’t need to know who they are.” Leo looks at his parents with disdain. “As long as they don’t get in our way, I won’t have to kill them.”

  “Son,” Cal takes a few steps forward, “you don’t have to do this. I don’t know how Levi twisted your mind into thinking we’re your enemies, but somewhere deep down inside, you have to know he’s lying.”

  “He’s the only one who has ever cared for me. He loves me!”

  “No, he doesn’t,” I hear Rayna say as she emerges from the crowd of God’s soldiers.

  To say I’m surprised to see her here is an understatement, but I don’t ask any questions.

  “I loved you,” Rayna says to Leo. Her face contorts into a mask of pain. “Do you even remember me? Or did Levi wipe your memory clean of me and my mother?”

  Leo shakes his head. “You’re lying. I don’t know you. Levi is the only one who has ever taken care of me.”

  “He took you from us when you were only six-years-old,” Rayna’s voice becomes choked by sadness as tears pool in her eyes. “We loved you, but we weren’t strong enough to protect you from that monster.” Her gaze pins Levi.

  “Don’t listen to her, son,” Levi says. “She’s obviously delusional.”

  Before anyone else can say a word, Az phases into Heaven between the two armies. First, he looks at Levi’s ragtag band of miscreants and cringes. When he sees the rest of us on God’s side, he begins to walk. The closer he gets the more certain I am that Caleb is the one walking up to us not Az.

  He only stops after he’s right in front of me. Within the depths of his beautiful green eyes, I see the soul of my friend.

  “How did you convince him to let you have control?” I ask, stunned that Az is allowing Caleb to have this moment.

  “You,” he says with a tender grin. “He knew you were in trouble and might need our help here. He wasn’t allowed to phase into Heaven, but I could.”

  “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” I throw my arms around Caleb’s shoulders. Without hesitation, he hugs me back. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

  “You’ll never lose me.” He rubs my back for reassurance. “I’ll always be in this body, no matter who is in control.”

  I pull back and see resignation on his face about his fate.

  “I don’t understand. Does this mean you plan to return control to him?”

  Caleb nods. “I promised that I would, and I always keep my promises.”

  “But you don’t have to,” I argue, not seeing why he owes Az any kind of loyalty. “You can stay with us.”

  “I could,” he concedes, “but I won’t. Az and I are stuck with each other, whether we like it or not. Maybe one day we’ll be allowed to live here, but while we’re still alive, the only thing we can do is learn to get along. It’ll be all right, Lora. Don’t spend your time worrying about me.”

  “Caleb?”

  We both turn to see Rose. Her eyes shimmer with tears as Caleb hugs her.

  “I’ve missed you,” he says to her. “I never thought I could miss anyone like I do you.”

  “I’m sorry I left you,” she says. “It wasn’t by choice.”

  “How did you escape your cell?” Levi demands to know, breaking up their tender reunion with his question.

  Caleb lets go of his sister to turn and face Levi. “I had a little help from someone who doesn’t want to see you return to the Void.”

  “And who exactly would do that?” Levi doesn’t look
like he believes Caleb. “Everyone there loves me.”

  Caleb laughs. “Said by a pure narcissist. I hate to break it to you, Levi, but there are people there who truly despise you.”

  “Name them,” Levi challenges.

  “Why? So you can punish them when you go back? If you go back . . .”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Levi looks upset. It’s a nice look on him because it means he understands his own mortality.

  Out of what must be anger, Levi raises his grotesque claw and points it straight at Caleb. I expect to see bolts of lightning emanate from his hand, but nothing happens. He looks as confused as I feel by that outcome.

  “Did you really believe your powers would extend up to here?” a new voice says, but I immediately recognize it.

  Baal walks up to me and Caleb, revealing by his presence what his fate ended up being. If I make it back to Laed-i, I’ll have to tell Cleo and Warlan what happened to their leader.

  “You’re as arrogant and stupid as I always believed you to be.” Baal laughs. “You can’t access the power of the Void up here, you idiot.”

  “I still have my army.” Levi appears on the edge of becoming unhinged. It makes me want to smile.

  All his years of waiting and scheming are falling apart right before his eyes and there’s nothing he can do about it.

  Four people phase in front of Levi and Leo. Out front are God and Lucifer. The other two I know because of Helena. They’re names are Jess and Mason. Jess was the vessel for the archangel Michael a long time ago, and Mason is her husband. During his life, he was the leader of the Watchers.

  “It’s time to end this, Levi,” God says. “But thank you for bringing my children to me.”

  “Your children?” Levi obviously doesn’t understand what God is talking about, but I think I do.

  With a sweeping hand, God gestures to the army behind Levi.

  “These souls were never given a chance to make their own decisions. You ripped away their free will to serve your own purposes. Actions always have consequences, Levi, and I’m afraid yours have led you down a path that is irredeemable.” God looks out at Levi’s army. “Has he told you what will happen to your souls if you die here today?”