Divine Uprising

by Rachel Van Dyken

  I shifted on my feet, my gaze never leaving Atlas’s face. He was trying to be brave, but he was also shaking with fear.

  “El may say he is a God of love, but my dear, the punishment for doing what these angels did, is exactly what they deserve. If they do not fight for me, I will kill them. They stand no chance against my army. If they fight for you, they have no guarantee they will leave this place. And if they stay here, immobile, then nothing changes, but at least they will not be tortured until judgment day. But Atlas, dear, sweet Atlas, he will meet his end soon, unless you make the choice for him.”

  “If I choose for him, if I choose life,” I swallowed the lump in my throat, “then his brothers will follow.”

  Azazeel clapped loudly “Ah, well done, my dear! They will of course follow, because there is one thing you need to understand about the angels. They are loyal to a fault. They will follow Azazeel into the depths of Hell. They choose him over service to El, is that not what got them in this predicament in the first place?”

  “El sees all!” I screamed. “He sees what you are doing! He will stop it!’

  “He has stopped nothing, my dear, and He will continue to do nothing. Why do you think you work so hard? He has angels for such things and Seekers, as well as other races of super beings. Why on earth would He stop me?”

  “Because He can,” Adonis said next to me. “Your bitterness blinds you. Your pride makes you weak.”

  Azazeel growled at Adonis and slapped Atlas across the face. I moved again to reach him but couldn’t.

  Either way we were doomed. Why had they sent me here? Had they sent me here to die?

  Chapter Eighteen

  I knew I was wise enough to figure this situation out, but it felt like I had no option. Either way the Titans would fight for Azazeel. If Atlas died, they would want to avenge his death any way possible, and they would feel trapped to fight for evil. I would be a representation of the Light, and I would be responsible for snuffing his out. Because in the end, even though it was Azazeel’s fault, he would use his manipulation to make the Titans believe that the same fate would befall them if they didn’t fight for him. He’d threaten them, and in threatening them, he’d offer them salvation.

  If I let him live, they would follow him into battle because he was a part of them.

  The Titans did nothing alone. Everything was together.

  “I’m waiting for your answer,” Azazeel said irritatingly.

  I glanced at Seth. His lips were parted, and then his eyes flashed. White filled the room. I hunched down to hide my face. It was too bright to contain.

  “What is the meaning of this!” Azazeel shouted above the thunderous moaning of the mountain.

  Seth slammed him against the wall, thrusting his foot into Azazeel’s chest. Thanatus lunged for him but was quickly stabbed by Adonis then kicked in the head. With a yell, Seth pulled out a sword every bit as long as Michael’s, only it was still stained black. He plunged it into Azazeel’s leg, pinning him against the wall, then in a flash ran to the Circle.

  The Titans quickly formed a shield around him.

  Only angelic power could break the Circle, for it was made by a Fallen. The Titans had relinquished their power and had none to speak of in the Abyss. I knew it was hopeless.

  So I prayed.

  I grabbed Adonis’s hand and prayed. I asked El for help. Even though I was sure He could not hear us so far into the depths of Hell.

  A crack sounded as Seth pushed against the shield, trying to reach Atlas. Blood trickled out of his eyes from the strain of pushing. Adonis tried to help him, but every time he touched it he was shocked. It was nearly impossible. I could see that Seth was running out of time. Azazeel had almost pulled the sword from his leg.

  Another shattering crack was heard. Seth moaned. “One more time, El, just one more time.”

  Light poured out of Seth’s mouth as his body convulsed and then transformed into pure white.

  Large white wings broke out of his shirt; he grew another two sizes, nearly matching the Titans.

  “Uriel!” Cronus shouted behind us. I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands. It could not be. If Seth was truly Uriel, truly had fallen with the rest of them, that meant he was king over Tartarus, over the Abyss. He was, in a word, a ruler of the Underworld — Hades himself.

  Uriel shouted and flung his sword against the shield, shattering it into a million pieces. He reached Atlas and flung him over his shoulder pulling him behind the shroud of Titans just as Azazeel reached the inner circle.

  Adonis ran to Atlas, joining Seth.

  I watched as Azazeel stepped over Thanatus and laughed. “You think that is all you must do to defeat me?”

  Uriel stood. He still looked like Seth, only prettier if you can imagine that. His entire body shone with white, his hair went down his back, and large muscles protruded from every angle of his body as he took very purposeful steps toward Azazeel.

  “Do you forget, Little One?”

  Oh crap. He did not just call Azazeel Little One.

  “I am the ruler of Tartarus, ruler of the Abyss, and ruler of Olympus. You have no power when I am in residence.”

  “You are Fallen,” Azazeel spat.

  Uriel smiled. “At the moment, I am restored. So try me, Little One. Try to defeat me, and we will see who has the power in the Darkness. For evil cannot even get close.”

  Azazeel ran at Uriel, but with a flick of Uriel’s wrist, Azazeel was thrown against the wall.

  “This is not over!”

  Uriel nodded. “No, it has just begun.”

  “Who is coming with me? Who will fight against this injustice!” Azazeel yelled, his face contorting with rage. “Who will choose me?”

  The Titans were silent.

  The room for once was silent.

  Finally Cronus spoke. “You cannot free us, therefore we see no reason to fight.”

  “I lifted the blackness that El put here! If not for me and Thanatus, you would still be immobile in utter darkness!”

  “Then a thanks is in order.” Cronus smirked. “Thank you, for being so… kind.”

  Azazeel cursed, then covered Thanatus with his robe and disappeared.

  I looked around, still in partial shock over what had just happened. Cronus came to my aid and offered the robe he was wearing. The minute he took it off, I wished he would have kept it on.

  The robes kept us from seeing their true forms.

  They were almost too bright to look at. Their skin glowed to such an extreme I had to shake my head. They were stars after all. It only made sense they would light up a room as well as an entire universe.

  I took the robe and knelt beside Atlas. He was bleeding but alive.

  “Are you well?” I asked, touching his cheek with my hand.

  “I am now. Where is Uriel?”

  I looked behind him where Uriel stood. The light was quickly fading from his body, his hair slowly going back to normal. It seemed El had not restored him for an eternity, but for a moment in time, a moment in which he was needed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Getting the Titans to agree to wait until we heard from Raphael at the park was relatively easy. It seemed they were in just as much shock as we were over the whole ordeal.

  Though part of me wondered if Michael knew more than what he’d said earlier.

  It was just Adonis, Atlas, Seth, and I as we made our way out of the mountain. Atlas, it seemed, was the only Titan that had truly been released because he wasn’t thrown into the Abyss but chained outside of it as punishment. He’d basically carried part of the mountain for thousands of years. Azazeel’s power was enough to set him free and use him as bait.

  Lucky Atlas.

  The snow was piling onto the ground at an alarming speed. I wasn’t cold, just irritated that we had such a long journey ahead of us. I wasn’t really in the mood to trounce miles and miles to the nearest airport or road in order to hitch a ride with some smelly human who would most likely offer me
crap coffee.

  “My, my, she’s moody,” Atlas muttered next to Adonis.

  “Heard that,” I grumbled.

  They laughed in unison and kept climbing until we were all completely free of the mountain’s entrance.

  “So now what?” I put my hands on hips. Maybe now was the time to pray for assistance. I really didn’t want to walk.

  “We wait,” Adonis said.

  “For?”

  He chuckled and pulled me to his side, kissing my hair. “For my army.”

  This is the part where I say “what army?”, but really, I already know about his army. I just don’t know how that’s going to help us in this situation.

  Within minutes, thousands of ministering angels appeared. They looked like normal humans, just really perfect ones who didn’t seem to have normal skin and hair. Their hair seemed too thick to be real, and their skin was translucent. They almost looked like spirits, but I knew better. It was just the reflection of the snow on the white of their armor.

  A girl stopped in front of me. “Athena, I bring you good news.”

  I needed good news.

  I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Her laugh was contagious. “What news?”

  She nudged me with her elbow. “Today, you fly.”

  “No walking?” I gasped and fought the urge to jump up and down.

  “No.” She grinned. “No walking, if you’ll just hang onto me, we’ll be off.”

  “Uh…” I grabbed her hand. “I can’t ride you like a horse.”

  “I hope you like horses.”

  I scratched my head just as three white horses appeared in front of us, fire blazing in their eyes. I had heard of the heavenly horses but never actually seen one up close. It was said the prophets of old were brought into heaven on chariots of fire. The horses matched the chariots.

  Apparently the stories were all true.

  I jumped on my horse and grinned like a little kid as I grasped the silky hair between my fingers.

  Adonis’s horse trotted next to mine. “Athena?”

  “Yes?” I jerked up, grinning like a fool.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks.” I felt sort of let down after all those times when he wanted to talk to me, when he made me think I was more than just his partner and friend.

  “And, Athena?” He leaned across his horse and braced his hands on either side of my hips. “I love you.” His lips crushed against mine, his hands threaded through my hair, and then he pulled back.

  My eyes blazed purple. I could feel them changing from the power we’d just exchanged and the absolute desire I felt for him.

  “Could you have at least waited until we were at our destination?” Atlas joked behind us.

  I rolled my eyes, unable to wipe the smile from my face and looked ahead.

  “Let’s go.” Adonis gripped his horse’s mane, and we all took off, following the angels into the night sky.

  Chapter Twenty

  What would have taken us hours on a plane or days in a car seemed like minutes when we were flying through the crisp night air.

  Luckily, Seattle was filled with as many freaky people as Portland and other large cities, so when we landed under the bridge with our horses, the only thing the bums did was toss back more alcohol.

  With a nod and a wave, the angels left along with the horses.

  My body felt a little sore from the rough winds or whatever it was, considering it was impossible to feel turbulence on a horse. I stretched my neck a bit and walked toward the first bum, quickly knocking him out with my hand and moving on to the next one.

  “Watching her work frightens me,” Seth said behind us.

  I rolled my eyes, even though they couldn’t see me and repeated the same gesture until all five bums were officially snoring in la-la land.

  I turned around. Adonis was grinning like a fool. Typical. Seth was shaking his head, and Atlas seemed just as amused. “What?” I wiped my hands on my shirt. “Do you really want them to know what we’re about to talk about? The park is only a mile away. With our luck they’d follow us and get themselves killed, and then I would have to save them.”

  Atlas nodded. “True.”

  “Shall we?” I started walking toward Gasworks Park. Adonis fell into step beside me, which is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. We were about to meet with the archangels with Atlas and Seth in tow. Two beings who technically weren’t supposed to even gaze upon an angelic face ever again. The last thing I needed was to be distracted by the fact that Adonis had said he loved me. Was the fact that he was a Zar make his love any less forbidden or frowned upon? I wasn’t sure, and I hated that I wanted to know the answer more than anything.

  “So…” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You still mad?”

  “Hmm…” I pretended to be thinking and promptly tripped over my feet. Adonis caught me and chuckled. I jerked away and bit my lip. “Depends.”

  “On?”

  “Do you still love me?”

  “Yes,” he said quickly.

  “Then I wouldn’t say I’m mad.”

  “Irritated?”

  “A little.” I shrugged. “I don’t know, Adonis. Mostly I’m just confused and a bit hurt. I mean, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “You can’t tell me why you can’t tell me?”

  He grimaced. “Sounds horrible when you put it that way.”

  I shook my head. “Now I’m mad.”

  “Great.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and kicked the ground. “Let me talk to Michael, and if he gives me the green light, I’ll tell you. Deal?”

  Chances were next to none that Michael would let Adonis tell me anything, but I nodded my head in agreement.

  We reached the park quickly and waited near the top of the larger of the hills. It was a common meeting place for all religions.

  Seattle was known for having lots of witches and New Age worshippers. Before storms, a lot of them would congregate around the tallest hill and throw spells out into the air. I found it mildly amusing, especially considering the only thing they were actually accomplishing was looking like complete idiots and, of course, worshipping my father.

  If they could see who he really was, they wouldn’t be speaking any sort of worship or spell. They’d be locking their doors as if their lives depended on it and hugging the closest Bible they could find.

  The skies were overcast, but a few stars shone through the clouds. I shivered. I would never look at a star the same. Of course, I knew not all of them were Watchers, but still. It made everything I did seem more important, like I had been given this incredible task, and I was the only one to carry it out.

  After all, despite the fact that I was considered an abomination, I was given a job by El. A job to protect the race He held in such high regard. There must be something special about humans. I still couldn’t figure out what, but there had to be something.

  I hated my human side, so I fought with everything I could to stay in the moment, to use my supernatural senses to take over what I viewed as weakness. But for the first time in my life, as I watched two people hold hands and laugh as they walked by me, I wanted to know, would it be so bad? Was being normal such a bad thing?

  As if he sensed my deep thoughts, Adonis grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I gave him a weak smile.

  It was nearing two in the morning. The Originals would be meeting us soon. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. After all, the mission had been to convince the Titans to fight with us. I had failed. I mean, I had Atlas, and at least they weren’t fighting for Azazeel, but still.

  I was here as a representative of them. They’d asked me to ask Raphael a small favor, and I wasn’t sure it was wise to ask him. After all, he did have a minor anger issue. Well, actually all of them did.

  Taking a deep breath, I waited.

  The horn sounded three times in the distance. We formed a circle, the four of us, and held hands as a shrou
d of light fell from the sky. Everything went black again.

  The people froze around us as if they were in a paralyzed state. We always did this when we had to meet in public. What people didn’t realize was that this was holy ground.

  I know, weird. Seattle, Washington? Really? But it was. Before the Flood took place, the world had been one giant land mass. Eden, or at least Earth’s Eden was located near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, but the new Eden, a part of the world God had created just for humans as a sort of crown of his creation, it was located near what we now call the Pacific Northwest.

  It was a place no human had ever entered until after the Flood. For one, it was thousands of feet bellow the earth’s surface. The Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean are so deep and dark you couldn’t even see remnants of it if you tried. I’ve heard stories about it, passed down through other Seekers, and Michael sometimes had talked about it.

  But it always made him sad.

  I hate making him sad, and he knew it. So once I was too old for the stories, I stopped asking. He said it was his home. It was the home of the spiritual realm when they were here on Earth, but after the Flood, God’s presence left the earth, leaving only sin in its place. Man no longer walked with God. Man no longer talked with God. Man had each other and that was it.

  The price of sin was separation and destruction. I kneeled down and picked up some soil in my hands. If you looked close enough, you could still see the sparkle of the stars in the dirt. It made me smile. One of these days, Eden would be restored. I just hoped I would live to see that day.

  A shock of heat ran through my body as the three angels descended onto the holy ground, the only place they could stand without leaving permanent marks on the earth. Headquarters was made for angelic powers. Because the earth was broken, it was no longer able to handle so much angelic power in one place. I’m sure there would be a few earthquakes tomorrow to prove it. The plates always shifted under the pressure.