Well Tamar had an answer for that. She gave the order. ‘Smash them all,’ she told the golems.
From deep in the earth they all heard the groan. It rose to a roar that made the ground shake. Tamar grinned at Denny who returned the look. It was Askphrit.
* * *
It looked like Tokyo after a visit from Godzilla. No mere earthquake could have caused this amount of devastation. Even Tamar did not think she could fix this mess.
‘Never mind,’ said Denny. ‘We won, that’s the main thing.’
‘This round anyway,’ said Tamar. But she was smiling.
The golems, without being asked, had started to clean up the rubble in the streets.
‘Handy aren’t they?’ said Stiles.
‘You are a genius,’ said Hecaté appearing behind them. ‘I never would have thought of this.’
Tamar inclined her head modestly. ‘Sometimes they just come to me,’ she said. ‘I knew there was an answer, I just … well, the truth is, I was culpably slow in reaching it. I should have thought of it a lot sooner.’
‘Well, the point is, that it worked,’ said Stiles. ‘Bloody amazing.’ He stopped and looked around him, frowning ‘Where’s Jamie gone?’ he asked.
They had no time to ponder this question, and, in fact, it was generally assumed that it had all been too much for him, and he had run away. No one blamed him; even by their standards, it had been a full night. Some people never have a night like it in their whole lives. Most people actually – but surprisingly, not no people. You would be surprised what some people can get up to. Well, not people as such, not human people anyway. Stiles, on the other hand, did not think that Jamie had run away out of fear, at least not the fear of the hordes of the damned anyway. For one thing, he had been the only person to observe Jamie’s strange behaviour during the night and for another thing, suspicion was by way of being the ground state of Stiles’s personality. But he did not say so – for one thing, he did not have time.
To the absolute horror of them all, there was a loud rumbling noise as the ground shook violently, knocking them all off their feet. Then a huge fissure opened up in the ground causing everyone to back away hastily, on their hands and knees. Tamar felt the indignity of her position, and stood up shakily. The ground was still shuddering under their feet. From within the fissure a billowing black cloud was rising slowly and deliberately. A venomous, viscous, swirling murkiness that could not have come from anywhere but Hell, the spiritual home of pollution. Despite seeming to move slowly it soon filled the sky, seeming to curdle the very air as it made contact with it and turned it an almost impenetrable black. Within minutes, you literally could not see your hand in front of your face. From the fissure itself, there was now visible a dull red light, and a hot blast of sulphurous gas was emitted every now and again.
‘What the hell is it?’ came Stiles’s voice from somewhere in the now almost solid darkness. It sounded muffled, as if he had a sock stuffed in his mouth.
‘It must be Askphrit,’ said Denny from somewhere, in the same deadened tone. ‘Tamar?’
‘He’s come back quicker than I expected,’ she confirmed. ‘Look in the pit,’ she pointed, but of course, they could not see her.
They all looked anyway. By the light of a dim red glow, they could see thousands of dark shapes climbing up the sides of the fissure, which was getting wider.
‘Goddammit,’ blasphemed Tamar from somewhere within the oily living darkness. ‘Blast, blast, blast!’ This utterance was met with a questioning silence. To which she answered. ‘I didn’t expect him to get his act together this quickly. I don’t know what to do. I mean you can’t fight what you can’t see.’
‘Can’t we at least relight some of the fires?’ Tamar judged this to be Stiles’ voice.
‘In this murk?’ said – Denny? ‘I don’t think we’d be able to see them. This isn’t ordinary darkness.’
This was true, it seemed not to be a shadow cast by light, which even the dark of night ultimately is, but to be a living thing that swallowed light.
‘I think … urrrgh.’ His voice was cut off abruptly by a choking gurgle.
‘Denny?’ From the depths of the darkness came the muffled sounds of a struggle.
‘Denny!’ Tamar sounded frantic. There was a long ominous silence and then. ‘Everyone okay?’ It was Denny’s voice – unmistakably.
There were all round sighs of relief and confirmations of presence and correctness.
Then all Hell was let loose – again.
* * *
This time it was rather different. For one thing, it was deadly cold and as black as pitch, and all of them were now exhausted, even Tamar.
The golems, of course, were not tired. But much of their advantage was gone in the darkness. It is difficult to inspire terror in an enemy that cannot see you. And this time, it seemed as if they were outnumbered. Askphrit had really let loose this time. And worse, this time, there was no hope of a reprieve at dawn. There would be no dawn. Askphrit would simply carry on emptying Hell until the golem army was destroyed. It was this sense of hopelessness, as well as the exhaustion, that seeped through the defenders. In a few swift moments, it seemed that their victory had been turned into certain defeat. But then, they never had had much hope really, and they certainly had not expected to survive even this long, and it was not in their nature – even Cindy’s – to give up.
‘Death before dishonour,’ she muttered and, behind her, she heard a cackle. ‘That can be arranged’.
She swung round and stabbed at the empty air (called so by courtesy) there was nothing there.
Then she heard Stiles’ voice. ‘Gotcha.’
She smiled to herself in the darkness. At least they would take some of the enemy with them. It was all the satisfaction they could hope for.
Hecaté was trying desperately to disperse the darkness using various spells to no effect. Tamar was nearly sobbing with frustration. Suddenly, though she became calm. She closed her eyes where she stood and clenched her fists. ‘Dear God,’ she whispered. ‘If you ever loved us at all, help us now.’ This was ridiculous. It was not that she did not believe in God. On the contrary, Tamar knew perfectly well that “God” was a computer program in mainframe. She had even talked to it. And then again, God in the abstract, resided in the hearts and minds of humanity and …
This train of thought was derailed by a sudden cry of triumph from Hecaté as a shaft of light suddenly penetrated the darkness. A shaft of the purest light ever seen, straight from the heavens, Accompanied by a loud musical chord, such as a computer makes when an email is received, but far louder and longer and on a purer note. It was not sunlight; it was far brighter and the colour of pure gold. The defenders had to shield their eyes, but the effect on the dammed was far more dramatic. Those standing in the pool of light fell on their faces wailing. Tamar looked at Hecaté who shook her head. ‘It is not I who is doing it,’ she said. Then another shaft of light broke through a few yards away, and another and another. The darkness was spectacularly dispersed, and the sky shimmered. The music increased in volume, and it was music by this time. The sound of many voices singing, in fact.
‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ said Tamar.
The shimmering light shook and parted and revealed that the sky was, in fact, swarming with angels.
‘I don’t believe it,’ said Tamar to no one in particular.
The angels descended regally to the earth, still singing, and literally mopped up the remains of the army of the damned, who had dissolved into craven puddles of acquiescence.
Tamar just stared in stupefaction.
She was finally, after 5000 years of seeing, as she thought, everything, flabbergasted into utter speechlessness.
Then the angels descended into Hell and dragged Askphrit out into the light and threw him on his face before Tamar.
There was an expectant silence Tamar was evidently expected to say something, but she could not, for the life of her, think of a single thing to
say. There was a rustling of wings, and a tall, blonde, muscular angel pushed his way forward to face Tamar. He looked her in the eyes, with a faintly amused look on his face. Tamar took in his face for a moment then stepped backwards in shock.
‘Tamar Black,’ said the angel. ‘Do you know me?’
Tamar nodded. ‘You’re … you … but you can’t be …’ she blinked and finally made up her mind to go for broke. ‘Eugene?’
There was a cry from Cindy, who made as if to dart forward. Denny stopped her, but the angel merely smiled at Cindy.
‘That was my name,’ he confirmed. ‘On Earth, the name that you gave to me. It is uncannily similar to my real name actually. But how could you have known?’ He smiled again. ‘One of the many things you gave to me, thank you.’
‘What is your real name?’ asked Cindy in a choked voice.
‘Erasmus.’
‘That’s not similar to Eugene,’ muttered Stiles. ‘Not really.’ He could not have stopped himself for all the cheap whisky in Mexico. ‘Same initial, I suppose, but that’s all.’ Hecaté smiled indulgently at him.
‘Similar in meaning, I meant,’ said Erasmus. He turned his attention back to Tamar. ‘You trust me then?’ he asked.
‘I – I suppose.’
‘Wait a minute,’ interrupted Cindy. ‘What about me? How come you never told me you were an angel?’
Erasmus had the grace to look slightly awkward. He exchanged an embarrassed glance with Tamar that Cindy did not fail to notice.
She rounded on Tamar. ‘You,’ she said, infuriated. ‘You knew about this?’
Tamar shrugged. ‘Not exactly. I mean I did know. Then I forgot about it somehow.’ She shot a questioning look at Erasmus who nodded.
‘That’s right, I too forgot who I really was, while on earth, until they took me back.’
He looked at Cindy remorsefully. ‘I am sorry,’ he said. ‘The worst of it is, that when this is over, you will all forget again. I can do nothing about that. I have been received back into Heaven because I have atoned for my sin,’ he glanced at Tamar. ‘You know how,’ he said.
She nodded. She remembered his sacrifice in Hell
‘When the world changed, it was deemed that the time was ripe for me to re-enter Heaven.’
‘Then this is what Clive was talking about,’ said Denny suddenly. ‘He knew about this.’
Erasmus frowned. ‘Clive?’
‘Yes, you remember Clive. The clerk – from mainframe.’
‘I remember,’ said Erasmus. ‘But no mere clerk could have access to this information. I should say that this Clive is more than he is telling you. I should be wary of him if I were you. People who conceal their true nature are also likely to be concealing their true motives.’
Denny narrowed his eyes at this news; but said nothing.
A tall, swarthy angel came forward impatiently at this point. ‘Can we get on with it?’ he said, indicating Askphrit.
‘Get on with what?’ asked Tamar.
‘It is for you to pass judgment on him,’ Erasmus told her. ‘He is your enemy, is he not?’
At this point, Askphrit let out a howl of indignation, which was largely ignored.
Tamar closed her eyes. This was awful. Finally, the moment had come to destroy him forever, and she just could not do it. Not in cold blood. Her eyes went imploringly to Denny, who smiled understandingly.
He nodded to her. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Just do what you think is right.’
Tamar looked at Erasmus. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘What are my options here? Can we just banish him or imprison him or something like that?’
The angels went into a kind of huddle and discussed this with much frantic gesturing and a certain panicked urgency in their voices. It was clear that they had not expected this. It was not how things were done in heaven.
‘You can send him back to Hell in chains,’ said Erasmus eventually.
‘And …?’ said Stiles.
‘Er.’
‘He means,’ said Denny. ‘What guarantee do we have that he won’t try to pull this same stunt again?’
‘Oh, er yes. He won’t be able to. Hell will be sealed up forthwith. We will see to that. We were going to do so anyway as part of the Apocalypse you know.’
‘The Apocalypse?’ said Tamar in a stunned tone. She had forgotten all about that. They all had. They all stood and stared at Erasmus, feeling like so many fools.
‘Yes, this world is ending now,’ Erasmus said in a gentle tone, sensing their shock.
Tamar gave him an inscrutable look. ‘We’ll see,’ she told him.
~ Chapter Twenty Four ~
‘It doesn’t really matter what he wants it for,’ Tamar was saying, ‘even supposing he is up to something, which I just bet he is. As long as we find it first, we don’t have to give it to him if we don’t want to.’
This was inarguable. They were, of course talking about Clive and his request that they find Pandora’s Box before it was too late. They had returned to Clive’s house to, as Tamar put it, “make use of the facilities”. Nearly everyone had the idea that, at some point, they would probably have to either go into mainframe or use the house’s teleportation facility.
‘The thing is,’ said Denny, who seemed to have been infected lately with Stiles’s perpetual mistrust. ‘How do we even know that the box is as important as Clive says it is? Or even that it exists at all for that matter. How do we know that he’s not just distracting us from something else?’
This was a difficult one, and Tamar solved it by ignoring it. The truth was that she had misgivings of her own in this area. The seeds of doubt and suspicion had been sown by Erasmus’s words, which she still remembered quite clearly despite what he had told them. They all did. Denny had surmised that they had not lost the memory because it was not over yet. This was not an entirely encouraging thought.
‘Well,’ she said now. ‘It’s all we’ve got at the moment. So, any ideas anyone?’ She was looking in particular at Stiles as she said this, as the one who had the most natural talent in this area.
Stiles shrugged. ‘Homicide,’ he said laconically, referring to his former career. ‘Not lost property.’
‘Private investigator,’ countered Tamar, referring to his present career, since Scotland Yard had “let him go”. ‘Besides, we have to assume that the damn thing has been stolen and as for homicide. I think that opening that box constitutes mass homicide in the largest sense of the words. The Holocaust was nothing compared to what …’
Stiles held his hands up in resignation. ‘Okay, okay, you’ve made your point,’ he said. ‘So, who, apart from us, has a reason to want the box?’
‘And Clive,’ pointed out Denny. ‘He wants it too.’
‘I think we can eliminate him from our investigations,’ said Tamar. (Stiles’s police jargon was catching. Tamar had already hypothesised that the disappearance of the box could have been an “inside job”.).
‘I don’t see why,’ said Denny, just because he asked us to find it for him. Maybe that was just to distract us from finding out that he’s already got it.’
‘But we wouldn’t even be looking for it in the first place, if it wasn’t for him,’ supplied Stiles. ‘I really think we can forget that idea – for now anyway.’
Denny shrugged, as if he was not really convinced.
‘What about a finding spell?’ asked Cindy.
‘Clive said that they’d already tried that,’ Tamar told her. ‘Although I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.’
‘As long as we back it up with a proper investigation,’ said Stiles.
Tamar smiled.
‘What a pity none of us is clairvoyant,’ mused Cindy. ‘We’d find it then all right I expect.’
Nobody bothered to answer this.
‘Those Fates,’ she continued. ‘I bet they could have found it. They probably already knew where it was actually. It’s a shame we couldn’t have asked them.’
At the conclusion of this obse
rvation, Stiles leapt to his feet as if galvanised. ‘Say that again,’ he ordered Cindy.
Cindy obligingly repeated what she had said.
‘Hmmm.’ Stiles was thoughtful. The others maintained a respectful silence as he paced the room. Evidently some train of thought had been started by Cindy’s remarks that they did not wish to interrupt.
Eventually he stopped. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘So, who else has a reason for wanting that box?’ he did not wait for an answer to this question but answered it himself. ‘Askphrit, that’s who. No wait, think about it,’ he held up his hands against their protestations. ‘He also would want to keep it out of the hands of those who would open it. After all, if there’s no world, then there’s no world to conquer. We already know that he was in contact with the Fates, and they would know about the Apocalypse, naturally. And, like Cindy said, they would also know the fate of the box. All he would have to do is ask. He has it. I’ll bet my life on it.’
‘Oh My God,’ said Tamar. ‘I think you’re right.’
‘Denny looked worried. ‘How soon can we get down there?’
‘There’s no hurry surely?’ said Cindy, ‘if he’s not going to open it either.’
‘I think there is,’ said Denny. ‘I think that the moment he gets a chance, Askphrit will open that box, now that he’s been defeated. He’s the sort of bastard who wouldn’t mind losing quite so much, if he thought there was a chance of taking everyone else down with him.’
Without saying a word, Tamar picked up an axe and headed for the library. This being their easiest access into mainframe, and from there, Hell.
‘Of course, now that the angels have sealed Hell up,’ observed Denny. ‘We may not be able to get out again like we did before.’
Tamar stopped. ‘Hmm, maybe we shouldn’t all go. Just in case we’re wrong about this.’
Denny shrugged. He knew what was coming.
‘You’re the most powerful after me,’ she said. ‘You should stay behind with the others.’
Stiles picked up an axe, ‘I’m going too,’ he announced. ‘Anyway, I’m not wrong about this.’
The Day Before Tomorrow Page 13