“B-but…” the young man began, looking at the two other soldiers for support, only to find them edging out of the way nervously, one of them tugging on her belt to adjust it, and their reaction finally caused his brave front to crumble. “V-very well. But I need to make clear I do this under protest.”
“Of course you do,” Anna said, shoving his weapon aside with her cloudpiercer as she impatiently stepped past the guard and opened the door.
The sound of rapid footsteps echoed through the tower halls, and Kitania quickly followed, glancing around nervously at the sight of an angelic redoubt. It had been a long time since she’d been in one, and at least there weren’t the sounds of battle this time.
Behind Kitania the others quickly followed as well, and Kitania had to admire Rose’s resolve. Despite having barely woken up after nearly being killed, Rose was in her armor and fully composed, as though she’d never been gone at all, and the woman obviously was attracting attention from others as well. Isalla was in her own armor, while Vinara had taken the form of a green-haired angel in robes to infiltrate the tower more easily. Eziel could almost be missed in her relatively drab leathers, but the angel was in her own form at last, which almost looked alien to Kitania at this point. She rather looked forward to all of this being over and being able to keep their own forms at last, though.
“Isalla? Lead the way, please. I don’t know where the Heavenly Wing’s office is,” Anna said, ignoring the several angels that slowed at the sight of their group. One of them, likely an officer, started toward them as she spoke.
“Of course, Lady Anathiel,” Isalla said, bowing slightly, and the officer abruptly stopped, the blood draining from her face, then she beat a hasty retreat.
Kitania resisted the urge to laugh, and instead glanced at Vinara as she murmured, “Useful to be with her, hm?”
“As if we could get in here easily any other way,” Vinara replied, her monocle placed over one eye as she looked around. “This is pretty heavily warded.”
They followed Anna and Isalla down the hall and up the stairs as they spoke, with many angels quickly making way for Anna. That helped, considering the building practically looked like it was in chaos. Part of Kitania desperately wanted to know why the angels were so panicked, since it didn’t seem like they should be worried about a few dozen houses and buildings being damaged or destroyed.
Soon they found themselves in front of a door, and Isalla motioned to it. “We’re here, Lady Anathiel.”
“Excellent,” Anna said, and didn’t even knock as she opened the door, her gaze frosty as she stepped inside.
“Who—!” a woman began, only to stop suddenly, and Kitania waited for Isalla and Rose to step inside before she peeked in, only to be surprised by the sight of Janel Ironheart. She hadn’t expected the woman to be quite as short as she was, though the woman looked dangerous in her armor.
“It’s good to see you’re well, Janel. Even if it sounds like you’ve also been unfairly accusing Isalla of ruining my career. I did that myself, thank you,” Rose said, her voice cool. “I thought you had better judgment than that.”
“Roselynn? What in all the heaven’s happened to you?” Janel asked, just as Eziel closed the door, and the woman’s voice grew a sharper edge as she continued. “For that matter, who are all of you, and what are you doing in my office?”
“I am Anathiel. Archangel of war,” Anna interrupted, her voice surprisingly mild, even as her aura rippled outward, prompting the angelic commander to stiffen. “As to who everyone is, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that yesterday I was approached by the conspiracy that Isalla told you she was investigating, and they told me that today there would be a demonstration of their power. I’ve already learned that they’ve destroyed a portal to the hells in Dolia, with catastrophic consequences below and likely in this world as well. However, that is not enough to get this sort of reaction. What else have they done?”
“Why should I tell you?” Janel retorted, the woman’s back stiffening as Kitania’s eyes widened. If nothing else, the woman certainly had a backbone, even if it was rather foolishly misplaced. Especially as she continued. “You have been hiding for millennia, while the rest of us have been actually working to defend the heavens, and I don’t see—”
The butt of Anna’s cloudpiercer came down on the floor hard enough that one of the fine stones shattered instantly, and the dark expression on her face sent a thread of fear through Kitania, one which she suspected Janel shared, based on how the woman fell back a step.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed. How many friends I lost, all on the damned, foolish quest to destroy the hells the Holy Council of the time had set me on. Rest? Hah! That was something for common soldiers, not for archangels. I was thrown into battle again and again, like an unthinking, unfeeling weapon. Don’t even start, child,” Anna said, her voice uncharacteristically cold as she stared Janel down. “I’ve also lost patience. You will tell me what you know, or I will find out by the simple expedient of finding Rathien myself and getting it out of him, no matter what it takes. No matter who gets in the way.”
“Don’t try her, Janel,” Rose said softly, shaking her head. “Please?”
For a long moment the room was quiet, then Janel let out a breath and spoke, her tone ever so slightly less combative, though she was looking at Anna warily now. “Fine. It isn’t as though it won’t be all over soon enough, but not only did a portion of the continent south of Skyhaven rip away earlier, about the time everyone felt that horrific pulse through the world, but the Holy Council was killed in a massive blast that brought the roof down on them. There were no survivors, so needless to say there’s a good deal of chaos in the heavens! We’ve been warned to be on guard, as it could be a prelude to an invasion or the like, but we have no idea what’s going on.”
“Oh, hellfire,” Kitania muttered, closing her eyes. No one spoke for a long moment, which was fortunate.
“I think it’s time to pay Rathien a visit,” Anna said, her voice taut with anger. “I want answers.”
“What are you talking about? Why would he have answers? How could he even be involved in this… this plot you claim exists?” Janel demanded, glowering at Anna as she almost laughed, adding, “In fact, he’s never even come close to the Holy Council!”
“He wouldn’t need to. Rathien was one of the leaders I took orders from before he sent me to Sorm, and he was formerly captain of the Holy Council guard.” Eziel spoke calmly, her voice drawing Janel’s attention as well as everyone else’s. The angel’s gaze was haunted as she continued softly. “If anyone could convince a member of their guards to assist them, it would be him.”
“Hellfire and brimstone,” Kitania muttered unhappily, the pieces falling into place at last. She’d been told that Sorm had headed the Holy Council’s guards, but it had been long enough before that she hadn’t made the connection immediately.
“Regardless, he’ll have answers if anyone will, and I think I know how to convince him to implicate himself,” Isalla said, smiling as she looked at Vinara, asking, “Vin? Would you mind making my armor look like I was in the Order of the Phoenix again?”
“Now see here, I won’t have you masquerading as—” Janel began snarling, only to be cut off by Rose.
“Isalla was betrayed and thrown behind enemy lines while investigating the Society of Golden Dawn, and this is just a continuation of her duties. Regardless of what the order may have decided since she vanished, until she receives official notice from the grandmaster of the order that she’s no longer a member, she’s entitled to the armor and position,” Rose said, her tone almost bored as she looked at Janel. “As she’s in a different branch of the order, you have no authority over her, Janel, nor do I, and the investigation of those believed guilty of high treason takes precedence over all other crimes and directives.”
The room was silent for a moment, while Janel’s mouth hung open, then Vinara snickered softly, turning to Isalla as she replied. “Certa
inly, Isalla, especially after that lovely bit of legal weasel-wording. One moment and I’ll have you as the very image of a member of the Order of the Phoenix again… though admittedly with nicer armor than most of the others I’ve seen.”
Kitania couldn’t resist a smile, especially with how put out Janel looked, and she smiled wryly at Rose, who smirked as she told her, “All that time dealing with stodgy rules growing up had to count for something, didn’t it?”
“I suppose so. Eziel? Do you know where Rathien’s office is?” Kitania asked, looking at the angel expectantly. At about the same time Vinara finished her spell, and Isalla’s armor shifted colors to match those of the Order of the Phoenix.
“Of course,” Eziel said, pausing to look at Anna as she asked, “Is it alright if we do this, Lady Anathiel? You were taking the lead before this.”
“No, go right ahead. My approach would be to simply kick down his door and confront him about this, which wouldn’t necessarily be the best approach at the moment,” Anna said, looking slightly more relaxed as she watched them curiously. “My other method would take far too much time, so if you can get the information out of him more easily, go right ahead.”
“Excellent. Thank you for your information, Heavenly Wing,” Isalla said, far more politely than Kitania would have been to the caustic woman. “Now, Eziel? Would you care to lead us to his office? I’d also like people to be prepared for him to react poorly.”
“Sure,” Kitania said, calmly pulling out the hairpin which would turn into her cloudpiercer as she followed Isalla. She thought she heard Rose say something to Janel, but the clatter from outside the room distracted her.
The hall circled much of the tower, and Eziel led them to a door, stepping aside as she said calmly, “Here we are.”
“Thank you,” Isalla said, looking back as she took a breath and smiled. “Here we go.”
Kitania moved forward, just to the side of the door as she waited as calmly as she could manage, the hairpin in one hand, and Isalla knocked. Vinara was just behind her, but Kitania’s ears perked as she heard a soft curse from inside the room.
“One moment, I’m rather busy!” a man snarled, footsteps approaching the door, which opened abruptly as he demanded, “What is it now?”
Rathien was a handsome angel with black hair and a close-trimmed beard which was marred by a scar that ran down his chin at an angle. His blue eyes were intense, and he wore the silver and blue armor of the Order of the Dragon. Behind him Kitania could see a room that was decorated more than Janel’s had been, though she could only really see one wall. On the other hand, Isalla spoke immediately.
“Rathien the Blue, you are under arrest for your involvement in the Society of the Golden Dawn and its involvement in the assassination of the Holy—” Isalla began, but midway through her speech Rathien cursed and reached for his sword as he stepped back.
Kitania smoothly took a step past Isalla and through the door in that moment, willing her cloudpiercer to extend to its full length as she instantly began spinning it. The weapon snapped out to its full length in mid-spin, and the backside of the butt caught Rathien’s right leg and pulled it out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. Kitania quickly stepped forward, one foot on his chest while the other planted on the hand near his sword, putting the blade of her cloudpiercer against his throat. The man froze, his eyes huge as he stared up at her, and Kitania smiled at him, revealing her fangs in the process.
“Very nicely done, Isalla. I think that shows he’s not on the side of good,” Kitania said, not looking away from him as she spoke softly. “I suggest you not move, lest I carve you a second smile.”
Rathien stayed perfectly still, and Isalla stepped into the room, patting Kitania on the shoulder as she said, “Thank you, Kitty. I thought it’d do the job, and… there’re some letters on the desk. That might help give us information.”
“Whatever you think you’re doing, you’re not going to get away with this! Assaulting an officer of the Order of the Dragon is—” Rathien began blustering, though he kept still and was starting to sweat, but Anna stepped in at that point and interrupted.
“That’s minor, compared to conspiring with a private group of angels to start a war without the authorization of the Holy Council. According to the strictures of all three heavenly orders, doing something like that is grounds for life imprisonment in mild cases, while severe cases are punishable by death,” Anna said, looking down at him coldly. “I think you’d best explain yourself, unless you’d prefer the latter.”
“I’m not telling you anything. I won’t succumb to your threats!” Rathien retorted, then shut up as Kitania pressed the blade against his throat gently.
“Not that he needs to. He just got a letter, and it doesn’t look like he even had time to read it yet. A rather hasty one, in fact,” Isalla said, smiling as she added, “It isn’t even in code, of all things! Let me read it off.”
The angel cleared her throat, then spoke, loud enough that even some of the soldiers outside could hear, Kitania suspected. That was good, since she suspected they’d just been working up the courage to try to interfere.
“Rathien, things have gone awry. Immediately distract the other orders and see that they don’t return to the heavens, as the destruction was more severe than we expected. Dissidents have taken artifacts to the Eagle Citadel, so we must immediately deal with them in the heavens. Our brethren in the Adamant Pinnacle are coming to our aid, so you must keep our opponents from being reinforced. Destroy this letter immediately. The dawn shall come for all.” Isalla stopped, looking up from the letter with a harsh smile, adding, “Rather telling, isn’t it?”
“That it is,” a man said, his voice grim as he stepped into the doorway, only to be stopped by Rose, who was blocking it. “May I pass, please? I’m Heavenly Wing Tagan, leader of the Order of the Eagle, here. I want to read the letter myself.”
“Let him in, Rose,” Anna said, and Rose let him by.
“As you wish, archangel,” Rose said, looking at Kitania and smiling. “At least we found some confirmation, finally.”
“Agreed,” Kitania said, tensing a little as the angel passed her, then relaxed as he didn’t do anything, and simply took the letter Isalla handed him.
The blond angel read through the letter quickly, and as he did his expression grew darker and darker, then he cursed under his breath and glowered at Rathien, obviously upset. Even so, he didn’t say anything for a moment, and when he did speak his voice was cold. “Rathien, I always thought of you as a friend, even if you were hot-headed at times. This, though… how could you do this?”
“Tagan, you can’t let them deceive you like this, I—” Rathien quickly protested, swallowing hard as a drop of blood welled up where Kitania’s blade pressed against his throat, but he was interrupted as Tagan slapped the desk hard.
“No, that’s enough. You are going to prison for a proper investigation into your loyalties. My guards will keep an eye on you,” Tagan said, glowering at the letter, then setting it down as he looked at Anna. “Lady Anathiel, my apologies for not greeting you sooner, but I’m afraid this is getting out of hand, and I don’t have time. Will your companions hand Rathien over to us?”
“Certainly. We don’t have the resources to keep him captive at the moment, and it sounds like the heavens need our assistance more than anyone here,” Anna replied, looking at Kitania with a raised eyebrow. “Kitania?”
“Of course. As soon as his guards are present, I’ll let them take this… filth off my hands,” Kitania agreed.
“Excellent. Fortunately, I have something of a shortcut to the heavens on hand. Once we’re done here, we can leave,” Anna said, and she smiled as she added, “I imagine whoever has taken over my old home is in for a shock.”
Chapter 42
The rumble of thunder across the training ground caused Alserah’s eyebrows to rise more and more, and not just because of the scale of what she was seeing. Mass teleportations were rare e
ven in warfare, simply due to the amount of mana they required, so this would have been surprising enough even with just that, but it was who was accompanying Estalia that surprised her more than anything else.
No one would mistake Estalia for any of her companions, for the demon queen was a glorious beacon that drew the eye in her midnight plate armor, luminous in the middle of the training ground, but beyond that she was also the only demon present. Instead of demons, the men and women snapping into existence around her were angels.
Over a hundred angels had appeared so far, all of them in midnight-blue armor that matched Estalia’s, though some were obviously magi, and the sight was shocking, especially since they practically radiated magic from all the equipment they were wearing. Minor enchantments on the equipment of elite soldiers were common, in Alserah’s experience, but she’d never known of a nation that could afford to use powerful ones on a large group. Not that she knew that this wasn’t an elite unit, but Alserah didn’t dare assume that the angels were the most powerful unit in Estalia’s domain. She’d never heard of them before, after all.
“Alserah, I’d say that it’s a delight to meet you in person, but the circumstances couldn’t be much worse,” Estalia said, glancing at the other deities flanking Alserah almost casually, then smiled thinly as she added, “Things have changed still more since I messaged you, in fact.”
“Oh?” Alserah asked, deciding to dispense with pleasantries, since the demon queen had already done so. Even with having seen her through Vinara, Alserah was having a hard time fighting off the urge to stare at Estalia, which was very disturbing.
“Among those who I’ve repatriated to the heavens are those who had chosen to follow me. I often gave them the ability to send me messages in the case of an emergency. One of those people sent me a message indicating that he believed he’d found the headquarters of the Society of Golden Dawn,” Estalia explained briskly, her eyes narrowing slightly. “He gave me the location, and it’s on the same continent as Skyhaven, but I don’t have further information as of yet. Unfortunately, the methods of receiving information I have are… limited. Am I right to believe that the mortal world didn’t come through the incident unscathed? I was also informed that even the heavens were damaged by it.”
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