by David Estes
In the event that Taylor refused to run to them, Chris would do everything in his power to get to her. If he was just able to touch her, he could teleport her to where Sam was waiting and then get them all out safely.
A condition of the entire plan was that Taylor could not be harmed in the process. The attacking demons would be given the strictest instructions to not lay a hand on her and to merely act as a diversion for Chris and Sam.
The meeting adjourned and Chris grabbed Sam’s hand. “You were great in there, I think Clifford really likes you. From now on, if I tell you to let me do the talking, just ignore me. You handled yourself far better than I ever could have.”
Sam smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, I was a bit nervous when I walked in and all those old people were looking at me, but for some reason I always feel the most comfortable when my mouth starts moving.”
“I haven’t noticed,” Chris joked.
“Very funny. Now how ‘bout you give a girl a tour of this crazy place?”
“I would love to, but aren’t you tired yet? It’s nearly midnight.”
“Midnight? Geez, I guess I lost track of time being underground. What time do we need to get up tomorrow?” Sam asked, hoping for a chance to sleep in.
“The good news is that the battles are generally scheduled at around two o’clock in the afternoon, but the bad news is that those participating have to start prepping at nine o’clock in the morning, so if you want time to shower and eat breakfast we’ll need to get up pretty early.”
“Ugh. I guess I can sacrifice some of my beauty sleep to help save Taylor. Wake me up at seven because I definitely want enough time to get ready. A girl’s got to look good if she’s going to be out there saving the world!”
Chris laughed and said, “Sam, you would look good if you rolled from bed and walked straight out the door.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Lyon, you are such a gentleman. Would you mind escorting me to my room?”
“Sure, but once we get there I hope you’ll allow me to stay for a few minutes, just to make sure you’re okay,” he said mischievously.
“I was hoping you would say that,” Sam replied with a sly grin.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Gabriel had been busy. He left Taylor in her room after warning her not to do anything stupid, because there would be guards stationed outside her door for “protection”. Then he left and went back to the War Room. Everyone was gone except for Dionysus and Commander Lewis. They were deep in conversation when he entered unannounced. Dionysus motioned for him to join them.
“Ahh, Gabriel. We’ve been worried about the girl, she seemed quite upset when you left.”
Gabriel knew better than to lie too much to the Head of the Council, so he ensured his response had at least some truth to it. “To be honest, my lord, she didn’t appreciate the fact that her safety was being given second priority in the plan. She feels like she’s being used by the Council. I was able to calm her down and she has still agreed to help us, but we need to be a bit careful how we speak about her when she’s around.”
“I guess I see her point although it doesn’t change the fact that our primary objective will be to use her power to destroy the demons. Anything regretful that happens as a consequence of us trying to achieve that goal will just have to be considered necessary collateral damage.
“However, I think we can easily calm her fears by apologizing and simply lying to her when she is around—perhaps tell her that our primary goal has changed to keeping her safe. How does that sound?”
“I think that could work,” Gabriel said, although he wasn’t sure it would. He didn’t really care either way as he was going to formulate a different plan. “Why don’t you come back with me when I bring her dinner and you can apologize on behalf of the Council.”
Dionysus smiled wickedly. “Excellent. Commander, are we done here?”
“Yessir, we can finish the briefing in the morning.”
“Very good, let’s go pay the girl a visit.”
On the way out, Dionysus pulled Gabriel aside to explain the strategy that had been approved by the Council. Gabriel seemed satisfied with it, although Dionysus left out some of the key points. He didn’t need to know.
After collecting some food from the kitchen, Dionysus and Gabriel knocked gently on Taylor’s door. When there was no answer, Gabriel pushed the door open and said, “Taylor—Dionysus and I are coming in.”
Dionysus glanced around the room. Everything appeared to be in order. As they approached the bed, he could see a slight bump about the size of her body. The sound of heavy breathing came from the bump.
Gabriel got to his knees and touched her shoulder. “Taylor, we’ve brought some food.”
Taylor rolled over and took the food. She began eating greedily, ignoring them completely.
When she finally looked up, she frowned at Dionysus, her eyes narrow and piercing. “How is it?” Dionysus asked.
“Delicious,” she mumbled, her mouth still full.
“Good, we have a fine chef indeed. Taylor, I am here because Gabriel told me you were somewhat distressed earlier.” Taylor’s face was like stone. “He also told me why you were upset and I’ve had a long think about it. I’ve realized how terrible we must have sounded and it really pains me that it has caused you any emotional distress. I want to apologize on behalf of the Council. We were out of line and we have since changed our objectives for the mission, with your safety being our number one priority. Will you please forgive us?” He made his voice as gentle as he could muster, saturated with kindness and caring.
Taylor looked at him thoughtfully and then asked, “That depends, are you only saying all of this because you are afraid that I won’t cooperate?”
Dionysus’s face went white. How dare this human girl accuse him of lying? He counted to ten, allowing his blood pressure to return to normal before responding. “My dear, we have been trying to save humankind from the demons for decades and now that we are so close we are just afraid that something will go wrong. However, my apology is sincere, because if we don’t protect you, then everything we are working for will be for naught.”
Taylor stared at Dionysus emotionlessly for so long that even the Head of the Council began to feel uncomfortable. Then she suddenly broke eye contact and said, “Okay, I forgive you, please don’t let it happen again. I’ll do whatever you think is necessary to win this war.” She put down the empty plate and said, “I’m pretty tired now so I may just have Gabriel explain the strategy to me in the morning if that’s okay?”
Dionysus replied, “Of course, my dear…and thank you. Sweet dreams.” He turned on his heel and walked out the door, an evil smile forming on his beautiful face.
When Dionysus was gone, Gabriel looked at her curiously and asked, “Am I forgiven, too?”
“I’m not there yet, Gabriel. How can you expect this to work when we only met because you were on a mission to recruit me to your cause?”
“Because I love you,” Gabriel replied simply.
“That might not be enough. We can talk about that after this is all over. Now tell me the plan.”
Wondering how she had figured out that he was making plans of his own, he stammered, “The…the plan? But how? What do you mean?”
Taylor looked at him like he was mad and said, “What is wrong with you tonight, you sound crazy? You know, the big plan, how we are going to defeat the demons?”
Gabriel was relieved that she hadn’t guessed his thoughts and the blood rushed back into his face. “Oh yeah, the plan. But you told Dionysus that you wanted to sleep.”
“That was just to get rid of him,” she said, motioning to the door that Dionysus had just recently passed through.
Now Gabriel was truly amazed. She had just out-lied one of the world’s best liars. He wondered what else she might have lied about. “Okay, no problem.”
Over the next hour Gabriel took her through the detailed strategy. She wouldn’t have to do much at all, ex
cept to act as the conduit for her aura to be used by four specially chosen angel attackers. These attackers were the most powerful in the army and were also considered to be the best marksmen, able to destroy targets from great distances. The four angels would be elevated on platforms so that they would always have a clear line of sight to draw on Taylor’s aura.
The remaining angel forces would be spread out on the field to avoid drawing attention to Taylor’s location. However, as Dionysus promised, Taylor’s safety would be a major concern and the twelve largest angels would be responsible for creating a wall around her. On Gabriel’s recommendation, he was charged with standing next to Taylor as the last line of defense, just in case the main protectors were killed.
When Gabriel had finished, Taylor gave no indication as to whether she approved of the plan. Instead, she just thanked him and wished him a goodnight. Gabriel considered asking her whether she would like him to sleep on the couch, but he already knew the answer, so he just left, promising to wake her for breakfast in the morning.
He went to bed, drifting into a restless sleep filled with dreams about what might happen the next day, the day that would prove to be one of the most important in his life.
Chapter Fifty
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Taylor mumbled to herself. The ill feeling had morphed into anger, then into sadness, and now she was back to anger again. She was seething. How could she have been so stupid? She felt like one of those idiot, big-boobed air-heads from high school—the ones who were so easily sweet-talked by the horny, hormone-driven guys. They believed that the guys loved them, just like Taylor had believed that Gabriel loved her. Now she knew it was all a brilliant act, by a brilliant actor. She had been used. For something she didn’t even know she had until a few months ago: her aura.
But she was tired of feeling sorry for herself. Her mother had taught her to be strong, to be a fighter. She stood up and looked at the back of her shoulder in the mirror. That’s why she had gotten the tattoo. As a sort of screw you to those that tried to make her unhappy—like the snake.
She would make it through the next twenty-four hours, maybe help the angels defeat the demons, but then she would end things with Gabriel, and go back to being herself, rather than some guy-obsessed, love-craving, needy, uncomfortable-in-her-own-skin twit that jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend because of some insecurity handed down from generation to generation. Her mom had taught her better than that, had shown her a better way to be, had shown her how to love herself, to be herself. She was Taylor again, not Gabriel’s girlfriend, or Taylor-and-Gabriel. Just Taylor. And that was good enough.
Chapter Fifty-One
The next day Gabriel arose from bed early, having slept off and on for six hours. He got ready quickly, clothing himself in a comfortable white shirt and loose-fitting white pants. His outfit looked similar to hospital garbs, but it was what he always wore on the day of a battle. The soft clothing was comfortable underneath the armor he would typically wear out on the battlefield. Some angels chose not to wear armor, but Gabriel was taught from a young age that just because your skin was tougher and healed faster than humans, didn’t mean you shouldn’t protect it from harm. Gabriel always wore armor, but today would be an exception.
Ready in minutes, he left his room and went directly to Taylor’s room, expecting her to still be sleeping off the long day of travel and stress. He knocked and no one answered so he pushed the door open like he had the previous night. He walked in, softly calling her name, but didn’t receive an answer. The bed was made so he peeked into the bathroom. It was empty. Walking through the room once more, he noticed a small note on the pillow that he had missed when he first glanced at the bed. It read:
Hope you don’t mind, got up early and was hungry so I had one of the guards show me the
way to the kitchen. See you there. Taylor
Assuming the note was the truth, Gabriel was relieved she hadn’t tried anything stupid, like attempting to escape, but his fears were not completely allayed until he saw her sitting with Sampson and David at a table in the dining area. Her plate had apparently been full of eggs, bacon, and toast, but was now half empty.
He watched her for a moment before approaching. As strained as she seemed to be when he had left her the previous night, she was the complete opposite this morning. She was laughing at something one of them had said, Sampson most likely. Her face seemed relaxed and free of stress. What a difference a good night sleep had made. Or was it all an act? After her brilliant display of lying the previous night, he just wasn’t sure anymore.
As he approached the table, Taylor saw him. The smile remained on her face as she said, “Some warrior you are. We thought you would never get up.”
Delighted that the “old” Taylor had returned, Gabriel decided to keep things light. “I like to sleep in on fight days. It prevents me from falling asleep when I am supposed to be marching, isn’t that right, Sampson?”
Sampson looked at him sharply and rolled his eyes. “It only happened once, man, it could happen to anyone!”
Taylor looked at Gabriel, clearly confused as to what they were talking about.
Gabriel explained: “One time Sampson was supposed to be marching with the 4th Quadrant of ground soldiers, but he was so tired that he fell asleep just outside the battle doors with his head against a rock. Despite the epic battle that occurred that day, he slept through the entire thing. He almost got kicked out of the army because of it.”
Taylor and David were both laughing hard at Sampson’s expense, neither of them having ever heard the story.
“Ha ha, very funny. Let’s all laugh at the screw up,” Sampson said. He acted like he was annoyed, but they could all tell that he was pleased that the story had been so amusing to everyone.
Still chuckling to himself and glad that things appeared to be better with Taylor, Gabriel grabbed a plate of food from the kitchen and rejoined his friends. Taylor had finished eating.
“Hurry up, Gabriel, Sampson is going to show me around the joint,” she said.
Ignoring her taunt, Gabriel woofed down his food in less than two minutes and said, “Alright, let’s go!”
Sampson led Taylor along a path through the complex, pointing out various items of interest along the way.
“Here you have the armory,” “on your left is the central power plant,” and “just beyond that door are the training grounds you saw yesterday,” were some of the tour guide-like things that he told her.
Being himself, Sampson told a lot of jokes, too, so his three followers were constantly cracking up. He was telling one when they passed by a massive door with a “Strictly Authorized Personnel Only” sign on it.
Sampson was saying, “Did I ever tell you about the time when Gabriel got his wings stuck in between the fence posts at the angel elementary school?”
Taylor was about to respond that she would love to hear the story, when she saw the large metal doors. “What’s in there?” she asked.
Sampson said, “Ah, one of my favorite places. These are the gargoyle paddocks. Typically I couldn’t get in, but since we are fortunate enough to have such an important angel with us, we can get in anywhere we want, right, Gabriel?”
Taylor looked at Gabriel. “What does he mean ‘gargoyle paddocks’? I thought only the demons used gargoyles, like the one I saw.”
Before Gabriel could answer, David’s eyes had widened and he exclaimed, “You’ve seen a demon gargoyle, Taylor?”
“Yep, damn near killed me until my hero swooped in and rescued me from its evil clutches.”
Gabriel jumped in quickly, trying to set the record straight. “She was never in any real danger, the demons were just trying to play a trick on her. You know, give her a bit of a scare.”
“Tell that to its claws and razor sharp fangs,” she retorted.
“Wow, Taylor,” David said, looking at her in awe. “Even I’ve only seen pictures of them.”
Sampson answered her original question: “The
gargoyle you saw was bred from two demons whereas, the gargoyles we have are bred from two angels. They are fairly similar in basic appearance except that ours are light and theirs are dark, kind of like the difference between angels and demons.”
“I want to see them,” Taylor demanded.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Gabriel replied.
“C’mon,” Sampson urged, “she’s going to see them during the battle anyway, so you might as well give her a taste of what to expect so she’s not surprised.”
“Fine, but just a quick peek.”
“Awesome!” David exclaimed.
Gabriel touched his finger to the door and there was a loud creak, as intersecting panels of metal moved either up or down to reveal a wide passage beyond them. The passage was unusually dark for the angel complex, giving it the appearance of a dungeon.
Gabriel led the way with David right on his heels. Sampson and Taylor followed closely behind. They passed two, then four alcoves on each side. Each space was closed off by thick, heavy iron bars. The spaces were empty. As they approached the next two sets of bars, Gabriel slowed his stride.
The heavy sound of breathing broke the silence.
“Hey, little buddy, just coming to say hello,” Gabriel said when he reached the cell.
David gasped. “Wow, it’s incredible! I’ve never seen one in person!”
As the interior of the cell came into Taylor’s view, she saw a massive white animal with a body very similar to the one that had attacked her. Sitting on its hind legs, it resembled a dinosaur except for its head, which looked human, in a strange, mutated way.
The main differences between the angel and demon gargoyles were cosmetic in nature: the angel version was a pure white color, with blue eyes and spots of white-blond hair, versus the black eyes and dark hair of the demonesque monster she had encountered in the forest.