A Famine of Crows

by A. A. Chamberlynn

  “Please, have a seat anywhere you like,” Beziel said, gesturing to the many chairs and love seats.

  Felicity was thankful, as she sat down on an embroidered sea-foam blue silk chair, that she had finally been able to bathe the day before. She had grown up with nice things, but this… this was something else entirely.

  Silence fell and four sets of eyes landed on the Fallen.

  “An explanation is in order,” he said. Then, after clearing his throat, “Several, in fact.”

  They were joined by a couple more of the Fallen, who Felicity could only guess had followed them through the book.

  “I imagine you’re wondering why we’re in Paris,” Beziel said. “So, we can begin there. You see, each time an angel Falls, it creates a splinter in time and space. A copy of a place, at a particular time, which ends up in the realm of the Fallen.”

  “So, this is Paris in 1689,” Felicity said, her words coming out in a rush of breath. Excitement flushed her at the thought of it. A whole realm containing fragments of history, frozen pieces of time.

  “Ah, you saw the title of the book,” Beziel said. “Very observant. The temple was created by one of the Fallen long ago to link the fractured pieces of our realm together. There are other ways to travel between them, but they are… difficult.”

  “So, an angel was cast out of Heaven in 1689, and Fell to… Paris?” Penelope asked.

  Beziel nodded. “Indeed. Creating a time loop. Some last for only a minute, others almost a whole day. We’re not actually sure why they differ.” He pointed out the glass doors. “If you watch closely at the activity in the city, you can see what I mean. The angel Fell at 3:33 PM. This loop lasts only fourteen minutes. You’ll see the same person go by on a bicycle below the balcony every time the loop starts again. The same person pulling loaves of bread from the oven. The florist arranging the same bouquet over and over.”

  “But the Fallen can walk around and interact with everyone? As if it’s a normal city?” Dynah asked.

  “Well, we could, though we rarely do.” Beziel shrugged. “It gets a bit boring, you see, when you’re midway through a conversation with someone and then they forget why you’re there and it starts all over again.”

  “And why have you brought us here? Is this where you Fell?” Willow asked.

  “No, I just like this city in this year.” Beziel sighed and folded his hands in his lap. “We have a couple of other copies of Paris, but this one is my favorite. The theatre scene just can’t be beat… But enough about me. I mentioned that we would help you.”

  He gestured to his fellow Fallen, who were standing silently. Felicity glanced back at them. The man had light hair like cornsilk and wore a bored expression, while the woman had short, dark hair. She carried a golden spear and the look on her face said she knew how to use it.

  “Within the realm of the Fallen, you can stay hidden from these new Riders that Heaven created. Until we find the seventh seal. Which we are very close to finding.”

  Felicity had to admit there was a certain appeal to that, though she felt a roil of emotion in her stomach. How could they just sit here and do nothing? And where did that leave them with learning to transmute their powers? She glanced at the others. “It seems… I don’t know, it doesn’t sit well with me to hide here while the Apocalypse continues in the outside world. An Apocalypse we started.”

  “What happens when you find the seventh seal?” Dynah asked.

  “Once we figure out which god or goddess has it, you’ll need to track it to the exact location, since you can sense its presence when you are nearby,” Beziel said. “Similar to how you located the fifth and sixth seals.”

  “But they’ll be expecting us,” Penelope said. “And after we stole the sixth seal, they’re bound to have even more of an army in place to stop us.”

  “And we can’t forget one very important thing,” Willow said. “While we’re searching for the seventh seal, they’ll be searching for where we hid the sixth.”

  “And the new Riders will be able to sense it,” Felicity said, a sense of dread rising in her chest. “If they get close enough.” She hadn’t realized it until this moment, and suddenly the odds seemed stacked so high against them that it was all quite impossible. Who were they to compete against Heaven and all the other deities of the world?

  “I don’t know how we can possibly swipe another seal out from under Heaven’s nose,” Dynah said, echoing Felicity’s feelings. “Not unless we learn to use our powers better. Which brings us back to our original task. Where we were going before you brought us here.”

  “Apologies,” Beziel said, “But as I mentioned, you were being hunted at that very moment. I don’t think you would have arrived wherever it is you were going. Might I ask where that was?”

  Felicity and the others exchanged glances. “I’m still not sure we trust you enough to disclose our plans.”

  Beziel nodded. “I understand. You’ve all lived challenging lives, and trust doesn’t come easily. I think the time has come for me to show you something.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “The history of the Fallen.”

  Chapter Six

  Penelope

  Beziel stood and walked over to a sphere resting in a polished wooden stand with brass trim. Penelope had not noticed it before amidst the other décor in the room, and she realized after a moment that it was a globe. A globe made of glass.

  The glass was clear in parts and silvery-white in others. Beziel touched it delicately with his fingers and it began to glow and rotate on its base. As it moved, images began to spin around them. They looked almost like ghosts to Penelope, or at least, how she imagined a ghost would look.

  “Lucifer, the Morningstar, the Lightbringer, was the first of us,” Beziel began. “History makes Lucifer out to be a war monger, trying to take over Heaven, to be the ruler of all.”

  The images projected by the globe showed a tall figure with long, pale hair and luminous eyes. Wings of pure white, a shining spear. Even without full color or depth, Penelope could sense the majesty of this being, and her heart went still with awe.

  “But it was not so. Lucifer did rebel, but it was not for so petty a reason. The reason for Lucifer’s banishment from Heaven was simple: the first Apocalypse. We tried to stop it.” Beziel swept his gaze over them all. “Lucifer was thrown from Heaven, not to the earth, like the rest of us, but to rule over Hell.”

  The images swirled, showing a great battle amongst the angels. Penelope’s eyes widened as the story spun out in the air around her, a moving tapestry. Angel fought angel, and in the end, the Lightbringer was cast from above, down to the depths of another realm entirely. A realm of flame and darkness.

  “People often think that the Fallen are demons, but it is not so. The demons come from Hell itself. As head of the rebellion, Lucifer received the greatest punishment, and must reside in Hell for all eternity. And it is the sentence of the rest of us that we must be separated from our leader. To live with the guilt of our failure, knowing that the Morningstar suffers alone in a place we cannot travel.”

  Beziel’s voice sung with pain and loss, and Penelope turned to look at him for a moment before dropping her gaze. His golden eyes were fixated on the image of Lucifer, standing alone in Hell.

  “For me that pain is even deeper. The guilt even greater,” Beziel said. He sucked in a breath, and it shook as it escaped his lips. “Because the reason we lost the battle in Heaven, and the Apocalypse proceeded…well, it was because of me.”

  Penelope’s head whipped toward Beziel, as did Willow’s and Dynah’s. Felicity was the only one who kept a modicum of composure.

  “Would you believe it was friendship that caused my downfall?” Beziel smiled, a brittle, grim twist of the lips. “I’m sure you can guess to whom I refer.”

  “Alinar,” Felicity said softly.

  Beziel nodded. “Yes. We grew up together, Alinar and I. Inseparable. For eons we were the closest of companions. I really was a fool not to see
it.” He shook his head, drew in another breath. “When Lucifer first approached me about the rebellion, I of course told Alinar right away. He seemed just as adamant as I was that we save humanity, that a great cleansing of the earth was not the right path. When I look back at it—and, oh, have I looked back on it, tumbled these events over and over in my mind the last few centuries—I think it came down to the simplest of emotions: jealousy.”

  “Alinar was jealous of your relationship with Lucifer?” Dynah asked.

  Beziel nodded. “I didn’t see it until it was far too late. It makes perfect sense, in hindsight. Alinar and I had always been each other’s everything, and so when Lucifer brought me in among the inner circle of rebels, it must have hurt Alinar. Hurt him so deeply that he felt justified in his actions.”

  “He ratted you out,” Willow said with a low whistle.

  “Yes.”

  Beziel closed his eyes for a long moment. After all this time, his face still bore such pain it was as if he’d just learned of his friend’s betrayal. Penelope’s chest felt tight.

  “So.” Beziel made a visible effort to straighten his posture and shove his emotions aside. “The battle went awry because the opposing side had inside information. And we were cast from Heaven. Ever since, I’ve made it my personal mission to stop each attempt at the Apocalypse, just as Alinar has made it his mission to see it to completion.”

  “All for jealousy?” Penelope asked. She couldn’t imagine betraying Willow for anything. Anything at all.

  “Jealousy is a powerful force,” Dynah said.

  Beziel said, “I think it became about replacing me with another. Where he felt that Lucifer had claimed his spot in my heart, he sought to fill his own void with devotion to someone else. Blind devotion. Perhaps there is some poetic balance in each of us putting our all into opposite goals. I suppose I’m not entirely sure.”

  “You’ve never asked him?” Felicity asked.

  “Indeed, I have,” Beziel said. “But I don’t think he was truthful. Maybe he even believes the lie, which is that I am a traitor to God and Heaven and he did what he had to do.” A shrug, followed by a bitter bark of laughter. “Who knows, perhaps I am the one lying to myself, to have put such emotion behind the thing.”

  Silence fell across the apartment, and in the distance the blast of some sort of machinery could be heard.

  “Regardless, what you must know is that he fights for the end of humanity, while I fight to save it, and each of us would die a thousand times to achieve our goal.”

  “And where does Lucifer land amidst all of this?” Penelope asked.

  “Lucifer can only leave Hell for very brief periods of time, in a very weakened state I might add,” Beziel said. “So, not an ally in our fight, I’m afraid.”

  “I never thought I’d hear talk of the devil in this way,” Felicity said with a shiver. “If only my mother knew the truth.”

  Penelope saw Dynah reach out and squeeze Felicity’s hand.

  “So,” Beziel said. “Now you know our story. My story. I hope this helps build trust between us.”

  “It does,” Dynah said. She cast her gaze around. “But we’d like to speak privately about our plan from here.”

  “Of course.” Beziel rose and gestured for the other Fallen to leave the room with him.

  When they were alone, Penelope turned to look at her sister and the others. “What do you think? Do we believe him?” She didn’t think anyone could fake the raw pain Beziel had displayed in recounting his past.

  “I believe him,” Dynah said with a nod.

  “As do I,” Felicity agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that he will side with us, if we disagree on the means to the end.”

  Penelope nodded. “I’m not so sure whether his top priority is saving the world, or getting revenge on Alinar.” She looked over at Willow. “You’re quiet. What do you think?”

  “I think that I’m not about to sit here on my ass in a frozen pocket of time.” Willow crossed her arms over her chest. “Doing that doesn’t solve anything. It doesn’t help us with learning to control our magic. Or saving Atsa.”

  “Agreed,” Dynah said. “I hardly think we’ll have any chance of stealing the seventh seal if we haven’t gained mastery over our powers.”

  “And trying to reverse the damage that’s already been done,” Penelope added. Every day that passed brought more devastation, even without the sixth and seventh seals being broken.

  Willow sighed. “I don’t relish being chased by those copies of us. It’s just that staying here doesn’t do us any good. Even if we somehow managed to get the seventh seal, the angels would still keep hunting us. So, unless we plan on hiding in here forever, there’s nothing to be done for it but stick to the original plan. Enhance our powers so we can fight back.”

  “I’m not sure you’re entirely right about staying here not doing us any good,” Felicity said. Penelope and the other two turned to look at her. “I’ve been thinking…even if we find the half-angel, we still need to find a way to read Sekhmet’s book so we can perform the spell to transform our powers from dark to light. Perhaps down here in one of these slivers of time, there’s an ancient library where we can do just that.”

  Dynah shrugged. “It’s worth asking Beziel, certainly.”

  “That sounds incredibly time consuming,” Willow said with a groan.

  Penelope looked back and forth between all of them. “Well, maybe we can do both.”

  “What do you mean?” Willow asked.

  “You and I can go find Sahkyo, and Felicity and Dynah can stay here and research Sekhmet’s book.” Penelope brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think we’ll be less threatening if we don’t all approach Sahkyo anyway. I share her Navajo blood, and you hate angels just as much as she does.”

  “But what if the Others find you two? You’ll be outnumbered,” Dynah said.

  “Remember these?” Penelope lifted her hand and twisted the silver ring around her finger. “Beziel gave these to us, right after our transformation. They summon him and create a bubble of time. If we get trapped, we can use them.”

  “That sounds awfully dangerous,” Felicity said, squinching up her nose. “It already was, with four of us. But only two?”

  “This is the quickest way to gain control of our powers and reverse the Apocalypse,” Willow said. “Work on both solutions at the same time. Does anyone have a better idea?”

  Silence fell. Penelope knew the others could feel time slipping away, just as she could. And each moment that passed meant something else terrible was happening in the world, their destruction spreading even farther.

  “It sounds like we have a plan, then,” Penelope said. “We’re splitting up.”

  Chapter Seven

  Dynah

  The Riders called Beziel and the other Fallen back into the room.

  “We’re going to take you up on your offer,” Dynah announced. She sat up very straight in her ivory brocade chair, her brown cloak swept to one side, putting every ounce of command she possessed into her voice. “In part.”

  “In part?” Beziel asked.

  “Your plan doesn’t entirely solve our bigger problem, which is figuring out how to use our magic for something other than destruction.” Willow cast her green eyes over the Fallen. “So that we can reverse the damage we’ve done. And so maybe, just maybe, we can have a life after this. Survival pending, of course.”

  “And how exactly are you planning to do that?”

  “We seek a being named Sahkyo,” Penelope said. “She is half-Navajo, like me. And more importantly, a magical hybrid, like the four of us.” She gestured between the Riders.

  Beziel’s eyes widened. “And also half angel. She brought about the last Apocalypse.”

  “We know,” Felicity said. “But we’ve been told her knowledge of our kind of magic is unparalleled.”

  “She’ll likely kill you,” Beziel said in a hushed tone. “You cannot be serious.”

  “We are,
and it’s not negotiable,” Dynah said, meeting the golden gaze of the Fallen with her cool blue one. “We’ve already discussed the risks.”

  Dynah actually wasn’t a hundred percent convinced that Sahkyo was their best option, but she knew that Penelope was fixated on that path since her grandmother had suggested it. And Willow would jump into about anything that involved a promise of danger. Plus, it wasn’t as if saving the world was going to be easy or safe, and they didn’t have an abundance of options.

  “However,” Felicity said in a placating tone, “Dynah and I will be staying here in the realm of the Fallen, if you can help us with something.”

  “Oh?”

  Dynah and Felicity’s eyes met, and Dynah nodded. Felicity reached into her cloak and pulled out Sekhmet’s book. “I need to learn how to perform a spell in this book.”

  The air in the room grew tight, as if Beziel and the other Fallen had taken a collective breath, sucking all the oxygen from the air. “Where did you get that?” Beziel whispered.

  “Sekhmet’s temple,” Felicity said, lips pursed. It seemed to Dynah she held a challenge in her eyes, one she rarely saw on her friend’s face.

  “Sekhmet must know by now that you’ve taken this. She’ll rip the world apart to get it back. I don’t think you understand what this book means,” Beziel said, a tremble in his voice.

  “Enlighten us, then,” Dynah said, lifting her chin. “Do you or don’t you have resources within the realm of the Fallen to help us interpret the book and perform the spells within?”