“I’ve come here to talk,” he said calmly, all of his eyes lowering into half-slits. I fought against the ache in my spirit and the weakness in my knees, boldly stepping forward to call down the hall.
“What did you do to Raphael?”
“Nothing. Why, is he hurt?” he asked with false concern. Even as he glided toward us, inch by inch, I knew we were no match for him. Maybe Vergil could manage a good strike or two, but I was seeing the end before me, and it was coming with such finesse.
“This won’t take long,” Lucifer said coolly. “We will discuss it like equals.”
“Maybe we should talk to him,” Vergil suggested.
“And what? Join him? Wait to get beaten like Raphael?”
“Lysander, we have to do something.”
Lucifer reached behind him, unsheathing a sword hidden beneath his wings. A specially tailored, jagged sword made of diamond and sapphire. Vergil planted his feet into the floor, ready for the first move, when I saw four angels appear in the entrance behind Lucifer. Lucifer saw the look of surprise on my face and started to spin around, but Marcus quickly grabbed one of his eerie wings.
Yanking on it with all his might, Marcus swung Lucifer in a circle for a few seconds and then let go, hurtling him toward the entrance. Alessa, Cadence and Farah moved forward and all got a quick hit in as Lucifer soared past. A second before Lucifer sailed outside the building, Alessa pointed a finger at the left wall. A block of raw krillic material fired out and slammed into Lucifer’s face, sending him backward to us – his body crumpling to the ground. Cadence picked up Lucifer’s sword without hesitation and held it tight. Together again, we would do our best to end the insurgence once and for all.
“How did you know we’d be here?” I asked Cadence, whose gaze never left Lucifer.
“An angel named John told us at the Fellowship Hall. I knew something was wrong when I arrived at the ‘Earth construction site’ and there was nothing but space. On the return home, we encountered a Faithful who had received the same orders. Apparently someone wanted us separated, so we searched for the rest of you and found Marcus and Farah tied up with about thirty other angels by the archive building. Something about ‘faith training’.”
“Hey!” Farah piped up. “We were told that we had to use our faith to break out of the ropes! How were we supposed to know that it was a trick?”
“What are you doing getting faith training anyways?” I giggled as she fluttered up and gave me a little kick in the ribs.
“I was there for Marcus,” she huffed. Marcus placed a big hand on the top of her head.
“More like…make fun of Marcus,” he said and we all laughed because she couldn’t deny it was true. It felt good to be reunited, and I was suddenly revived with new vigor and strength. No matter what lay ahead, we would face it head-on and without fear. Even Vergil was shaking hands with everyone and receiving pats on the back.
“What an interesting circus troupe,” Lucifer chuckled in a haunting, echoing voice, climbing to his feet. “Very entertaining and capable of such unparalleled teamwork. It’s too bad that at the end of the day, all they are, is how they portray themselves – a joke. Laughable. Hilarious. Comical. Not to be taken seriously…Clowns.”
“Then how did these clowns defeat Rufus?” Alessa asked him. Lucifer’s eyes smiled and his body began glowing intermittently.
“Easy. You were part of the plan. See, I needed heroes. Heroes designed to be crushed whenever I saw fit - to lower morale in God’s army. I couldn’t use any of my followers because it would take too long for them to build trust among Heaven’s host. I couldn’t use one of God’s followers either – their reputations had already been established. No, I needed someone young and naïve to pass my test. Someone new and unknown, to get the easily distracted minds of our fellow angels focused on the latest trend. And you came right when I needed you.”
“You’re underestimating us just like Rufus did,” I said. “He failed because of his pride.”
“Rufus,” Lucifer chuckled. “I used him because no one had passed the test in a long time. Usually it’s proctored by some of my strongest lieutenants but curiously enough, the exam was given by a worthless Glory this time. Why is that? It’s because I needed you to win, to be popular and held in regard when I began my war - a pillar that I would crush at the beginning - to eliminate any hope of a champion coming to save the day. Now clowns, I can laugh, because it seems the joke was on you all along.”
Lucifer howled in laughter, closing his eyes and clutching his sides as the six of us glared at him in fury. It couldn’t be true. He had to be lying. How could our incredible fight with Rufus have been a hoax? It was like all of our accomplishments had been shortchanged. Was any of our teamwork real? Our unity? Were we as worthless as Lucifer claimed? A joke?
“Don’t listen to him,” Cadence growled through grit teeth, holding back his own doubt. “He’s lying. He’s trying to make us lose faith in each other and God. We will face him solidified. All six of us as one.”
“Really?” Lucifer chuckled. “Do you think I would waste my time fighting a group of young ones if you weren’t a part of my master plan? Honestly, you give yourselves too much credit. What did Raphael teach you about pride?”
“Silence!” I yelled at him, and he smiled at my attempt to be authoritative.
“I have a war to run, and my army is awaiting orders, so I must make this quick. You understand.”
With his final words in the air, Lucifer’s body began shuttering, going so fast side to side that it looked like there were four Lucifers instead of one. Four confident faces, with each of them smiling wide and creepy. Team six was unprepared.
We had no time to plan. And there wasn’t a thirty minute strategy-planning session either. Lucifer was on the warpath. As we began to get into formation, offense and defense in the front, tactical in the back – Lucifer flew forward at a blinding speed and knocked Marcus out with an unbelievable uppercut to his jaw. We didn’t need to inspect him to know that he was instantly down for the count. With his afterimages gone now, we were able to see him, but we didn’t have time to counter. Lucifer turned his attention to Alessa immediately and grabbed her by the throat, punching her midsection ferociously so that she was unable to muster up any prayers. Cadence flew to my side as both him and Vergil raised their respective swords in fear. Farah went to Alessa’s defense and managed to dodge a swat of Lucifer’s hand, but there was no telling how long she would last that close to him.
“What’s the plan, Lysander? Quick!” Cadence said, exhausted already. I could feel Vergil trembling beside me. I tried not to panic, to come up with a brilliant countermeasure to Lucifer’s attacks, but Cadence could see it all over my face. We were doomed.
“What’s the plan? Hurry! Anything!” Cadence raised his voice as Farah succeeded in wrestling Alessa from Lucifer’s grip, while dodging another life-altering blow. I instantly saw the reason why Lucifer had given up Alessa - she was obviously out cold.
“Okay, it’s all I got,” I said. “But it’s a horrible plan.”
“Don’t care. What is it?”
“Vergil’s the only one that can probably hurt him at this point, so Cadence, you go over and grab Lucifer while you take his hits. Then Vergil will go over and stab his sword through you…into Lucifer.”
“That’s a horrible plan!”
“I told you that!”
“There has to be something else we can do.”
“I can try to distract, but-”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. While we were talking, Lucifer had grabbed a hold of Farah and knocked her unconscious by taking his bare hands and clutching the sides of her head, squeezing until she was drained of all her energy. None of us saw him coming toward us.
He hit me first in the chest, and it was like nothing I had ever felt. It was like I was being picked up and swung by my arms in every direction. The vertigo was nauseating and I couldn’t make sense of my surroundings. The next tim
e I could make out who was who, I was on my stomach. My body shivered as my angelic pressure tried to recover from the shock of taking major damage. I wasn’t going to be of much use.
But I found some satisfaction in seeing Vergil and Cadence implementing my plan. Cadence rushed forward and tried to joust Lucifer but he sidestepped it easily, slapping Cadence with his left wing, which made Cadence stop and wince. Lucifer wrenched the sword from Cadence’s hand, darted behind him, and thrust it into his back, twisting the blade liberally for extra measure. Cadence cried out and fell immediately. Vergil swung at Lucifer’s head and barely missed, quickly recovering to engage Lucifer in a blinding sparring match. The two Archangels clashed their swords together with ever increasing speed, testing the limits of their power.
I couldn’t keep my vision straight. My body violently shuddered one more time, and without even realizing it, I blacked out. My eyes were still open, but my essence was no longer there…
I was awake. I was alive. Testing my internal senses, I could feel no aches or pains, no shuddering or twitching. It was like I had simply awoken from a long slumber. I was whole, with a hundred percent of my angelic pressure intact.
I stood up from the position I had blacked out in and assessed the situation. Lucifer was nowhere to be found. Yet all six of us were still in Raphael’s building, and all of us were conscious. The only one who needed assistance was Cadence, who was struggling to get to his feet after taking the most damage out of all of us. Being a Guard, I hoped he would be in full health soon.
“I don’t think we won that, guys,” Alessa said, rubbing her head as we picked ourselves up.
“Why aren’t we unconscious?” I asked.
“We were.”
“No, I mean, why are we awake right now? I thought Lucifer would have knocked us out for a longer period of time.”
“Let’s wait until we get outside and see if anything’s changed before we start counting our blessings,” Cadence said.
“It’s because of me,” Vergil lamented. He was sitting on the floor, slumped over, with his hands at his sides and his legs flopped to each side.
“What do you mean?” Alessa groaned. “Trust us, we all got beat.”
“I was the only one that didn’t go unconscious,” he said. “After you all blacked out, Lucifer and I clashed and he said that he only came here to explain himself. He didn’t mean what he said about us being clowns. He was just getting angry because we wouldn’t listen to reason. He understands why though – thinking that he had knocked out Raphael and all.”
“Wow,” Marcus said as he walked away from Vergil. I could understand why Marcus was furious. Having a warrior spirit, he couldn’t fathom the idea of talking it out with the enemy after watching his teammates fall, but we couldn’t lose Vergil now. We had to hear the rest.
“Then what happened?” I asked him, letting him continue.
“He told me that we could still be in his group, even if our side of the war loses. Isn’t that good news?”
“Vergil,” Cadence said calmly, stooping down and placing a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry, but you were fooled. Lucifer tricked you into letting him go because you’re also an Archangel. It may sound unlikely, but you probably had a chance of defeating him – here and now. As for us ‘thinking’ Lucifer knocked out Raphael, it doesn’t matter. Lucifer is turning against God - that’s enough to engage him in combat.”
“What do you mean we’re still in his group if our side loses?” Alessa said in disgust. “That’s what I want to hear more about.”
“He said that we are young,” Vergil recited carefully, “and that we don’t always see the right path. We are easily confused and stick to what we’re familiar with rather than use our logic. He said that if our side lost, we could still join him without consequence.”
“It sounds like he said a lot,” Alessa said, “and you listened. What makes you think we want to be on his side, period? Why would we plan for a future in which we lose?”
“I saved you,” he said sheepishly. That did nothing to alleviate Alessa’s anger.
“You saved me? No, you mean you saved us, right? Or are you so powerful, you would’ve been fine no matter the outcome?”
“Alessa, that’s enough,” Cadence ordered. “This is what Lucifer wants, for us to be divided.”
“Because being united did us a lot of good,” she sulked, and walked off to fume alone near the far wall.
“We’re furious, I get it,” Cadence said in his best deep voice, “but this doesn’t solve anything. There are angels out there that need our help right now. We need to get out there and work together, if not for ourselves, then for them.”
“Let’s go,” I said, walking toward the entrance, ready for a distraction. I couldn’t face the fact that I had accomplished nothing in the battle against Lucifer.
“How are we going to fight against Lucifer when Vergil over here might make a deal with him again?” Alessa demanded.
“We trust him,” Cadence said. I heard the trembling in his voice. It said - what other choice do we have? But I still trusted Vergil. The others hadn’t been there when he had saved my life from Boris in the Fellowship Hall. In my opinion, Vergil might need more guidance in the “whom to trust department,” but he was still part of the team.
“I can vouch for him,” I said. “He saved my life earlier when he didn’t have to. And another thing – it doesn’t matter if he let Lucifer go. If Vergil hadn’t been here, we would have been left entirely at Lucifer’s mercy.”
My words seemed to register with the group and even Alessa quieted down.
“So where to now?” Cadence asked.
“The Throne Room,” I said. “If Lucifer’s won the war already, he’ll be there. Either way, we should stop by to check it out, and if he’s not there yet, we follow the noise.”
Cadence nodded and waved a “move out” gesture into the air as the group took flight, leaving Vergil behind to sulk on the floor. I stayed back to help him to his feet.
“Vergil, don’t dwell on your decision too much. It’s done.”
“But I could have ended the war right then and there. Wouldn’t that have been better?”
“If we only concentrate on the past we will never live in the present.”
Vergil grabbed my hand and I lifted him up. Together we caught up with the others and headed to Heaven’s core. The trip was quiet, but at least no one had any harsh words to say to Vergil.
I was debating whether we should change course. War was being waged in the distance – the sound of swords clashing rang between the buildings and flashes of light twinkled amongst the stars, showing where pockets of angels met and fought for dominance. We stayed low to the ground, went past the angels’ homes and the city where no battles were being waged and moved as fast as we could until the Throne Room was in sight.
The place was deserted. Not even Arthur was there to sing us a ballad of the day’s events, though I’m sure it would have been pro-Lucifer. Still, it was strange to desert God’s throne altogether, not leaving even one angel to hold down the fort for either side.
“Let’s try opening it,” Farah suggested. “Maybe God’s in there.”
“If He were inside, He would have come out,” Cadence replied, putting both hands on the doors, feeling how sturdy and heavy they were.
“Have a little faith.”
“Do you want to open it?”
“I think I will.”
“You’re wasting your time,” a Guard offered from a couple feet away. He had been sitting on the front stairs, so stoic that we had written him off as a statue. Now he sprang to life, lurching forward with an imposing emanation. I thanked God he had no sword in hand.
“We mean no trouble,” Cadence said, but the Guard maintained his course.
“Peace is in short order today, friend,” the Guard said, relaxed, drawing out his words. “My name is Iron. A fit name for a classification such as mine.”
“It is a pity I
can’t say the same,” Cadence said, amused. “Anyways, we were just leaving. Could one hope for a friendly pass to the battlefield, or will we have to fight you before you let us go?”
“I’m afraid that would be a negligence of my duty if I turned a blind eye. Lucifer’s given me specific orders to apprehend all those who come to the Throne Room, whether their stay is permanent or temporary.”
“You must be strong, for you to be the only one here.”
“I’m not that strong, but my defense is second to none. I’ll have you know that Lucifer and I spar for hours every day. Well, except for today of course.”
“We’re going to leave. It will be difficult to stop us without a weapon.”
“I promise you, friend, that I need none. Now, there’s no reason to be dramatic,” he said, walking back to sit on the steps. “Why don’t we sit down and have a nice long chat here on these steps, wait out the war and see how it all ends.”
“We can’t do that,” Cadence said firmly. Iron stopped himself before he sat down. He sighed and placed both hands on his hips.
“…or we can choose the hard option. It’s up to you.”
“It’s sad that you’re such friends with Lucifer. I actually like you,” Cadence laughed. “You have my kind of style.” Iron slightly bowed as Cadence lunged forward without warning, hitting Iron square in the nose. Iron smirked behind the knuckle and chuckled from deep within his belly.
“You know, Cadence. I know you and your friends quite well,” he said as Cadence lowered his arms. “I heard of you before you even stepped out of Raphael’s hall from Lucifer himself. Wonder why?”
Cadence stepped back as Marcus cracked his knuckles. He was getting ready for his turn to bat.
“I was supposed to be your proctor that day,” Iron replied.
We suddenly understood why only one of Lucifer’s angels guarded the Throne Room.
The Works of Julius St. Clair - 2017 Edition (Includes 3 full novels and more) Page 75