Micah stirred the fire as he glanced up, noticing the first hints of a lightening sky.
“Wait a minute,” said Shannon, “If Raphael is going to rip a hole in time and take you both six hundred years into the future, why doesn’t he just do it ten years from now and just go five hundred and ninety years. Why do you have to go now?”
Micah looked at her, “You know, that is a really good question, maybe we can-”
“No, we must leave tonight. Before dawn in fact.”
Both Shannon and Micah jumped and turned toward the voice.
“Raphael! How many times have I asked you not to do that?”
The Angel looked at Micah considering, “Many. In fact, many times many.”
“And yet…”
The Angel shrugged and the act seemed awkward, “It is in my nature to travel thusly. I am sorry.”
“Well, that answer just isn’t good enough,” said Shannon, standing to face the Angel, “You drop all this information on me and also tell Micah that he has the closest thing to a daughter he will get, but has to leave her the same night he finds out. Fine, but then you say the reason he has to leave is because he can’t be late for something that won’t occur for six hundred years.”
The young woman put her hands on her hips and glared at the Angel. “Start making sense, or he’s not going anywhere.”
Raphael cocked his head slightly. “I do not see how you could stop us.”
“How about if I swear on my mother’s soul to never give your precious new Sentinel the time of day? How about if I swear on her soul to simply ignore any request he ever makes even if it means his life?”
“I don’t see you making or keeping such an oath, child.”
“Oh, yes I would.”
“But, why would you do that?”
“Because I can be spiteful - really spiteful.”
Micah was nodding. “I’ve seen it, Raphael. And if she makes such an oath, you can trust it will be kept.”
The Angel sighed. “Very well, but you will not understand my explanation.”
Shannon narrowed her eyes further and Raphael hurried on.
“Some points in time are fixed while others are related to each other. Those that are relative can be moved around and manipulated. Those that are fixed cannot. The time for Micah to release his power to another is one of those fixed points in time because its only other relation is to the fixed point of creation itself. I have worked backwards to this moment from the point at which the new Sentinel will, or will not, accept the mantel of power. The only way this occurs at the appointed time is if we leave - now.”
Shannon looked down at Micah.
“I told you that you would not understand it,” said Raphael.
She snapped her gaze back to him. “Try not being so arrogant around people who you are asking to help save the world, especially those whose souls-”
“-Are committed to helping this new Sentinel achieve his goals,” interrupted Micah as he stood and gave Shannon a curt shake of the head.
Raphael looked perplexed. “I am sorry. I did not intend to insult you. Micah does not understand this any better than you.”
Shannon ground her teeth as Micah put his hand on Raphael’s shoulder. “I know you didn’t mean to insult her. Shannon just hasn’t had as much time to get to know you as I have. You gave a fine explanation. Even I understood it.”
Micah gave Shannon a little wink and she found herself smiling despite herself.
“Excellent,” said the Angel as his eyes sparked to life and energy gathered about him, then let us be off Micah.
“Wait!” shouted Shannon and she felt the gathered energy dissipate. “You have to give us time to-” her voice faltered, “- say goodbye.”
She turned to Micah and took him in trying to sear the entirety of him into her memory. The thick, wavy salt and peppered hair and beard. The lines of his face and about his eyes. His tall, lean form, and finally the eyes. Those eyes she looked into ever since she was a child, deep and gray, and full of love. She felt the tears come, filling her own, as she quickly covered the few paces that separated the two of them. She wrapped her arms about Micah and buried her head into his chest, squeezing him, holding him tight. After long minutes, she felt his finger under her chin lifting her face towards his.
“I have to go, little fire wolf.”
“I don’t want you to. I don’t want you to,” she cried all bravado gone, “You’ve been like a second father and I don’t want you to leave.”
Micah stared down at her through his own tear filled eyes. “Oh, child, that was the best gift you could ever have given me. I have always loved you like the daughter I never thought I had, but that you truly are. Remember,” he said tapping her softly above the heart, “part of me lives in you, now and forever. Trust me that someday we will see each other again. Not in this life, but someday.”
Shannon was crying harder now and turned angrily toward Raphael, “Is that true, Angel? Angel’s cannot lie. Is it true?”
Raphael looked at down at her, “Yes, it is true.”
“Then say it. Say it plain and say it to me now.”
“I say to you now, Shannon McLeod, I, Raphael, Archangel and guardian of humanity promise in sight of God and creation, you will meet Micah again unless the stars fall from the sky and creation ceases.”
Micah felt her slump in his grasp and she stepped back, wiping away the tears. She kept her gaze locked on Micah but felt the power gather and crackle as Raphael did something beside her. The Angel shouted a word she did not recognize and behind Micah, the air rippled and tore open revealing a glowing oval through which she could see what looked like a narrow road with bricked walls to either side and, in the distance, strange houses of enormous size that rose against a midday sky.
She watched as Micah faced the portal and stepped through. She could see him look around and turn back to her and to Raphael. As the Angel followed Micah through, Shannon yelled after him, “His name - do you know the name of this man I will be waiting to meet?”
Now they were both standing on the other side of the portal facing her. Raphael’s voice was distorted as it passed through the portal and the centuries it bridged. For his part, Micah simply raised fingers to lips, kissed them, and pointed to her.
“Kellan Thorne,” the Angel answered.
The portal closed and they were gone.
Chapter 4
A POWER RENEWED
“Seriously?” Juliet asked as she stood in the alley, hands on hips. “‘Would I lie to you?’ is the best you could come up with? You lie all the time. Remember the moon incident?”
Kellan cringed a little.
“Oh yeah, let’s revisit that little 6th grade gem for a moment. I maintained against all logic and proof that my “Uncle” Kellan had, indeed, been on the moon because he wouldn’t lie to me. Middle school is a nightmare under the best of circumstances and, trust me, being the idiot girl whose bigger idiot pseudo-uncle wasn’t EVER on the moon does not make for the best of circumstances. Now, it’s not cool leaving me in the store by myself; there’s a customer looking for a first edition Heinlein, and Hamish is being more annoying than usual.”
Kellan looked up and down the alley for what must have been the hundredth time since Michael left him. “Look, Juliet, it’s been years since I’ve been able to pull anything like that on you. I’m not kidding you. I’m not messing around. Go inside, now. It’s not safe to be near me.”
She stared at him appraisingly, taking everything in. Something was definitely wrong here. Kellan’s normally unflappable demeanor was all akilter, with some gelatinous slime covering his face and clothes. He was bleeding from several small cuts to his hands and arms and his jeans were torn at both knees. His eyes held a wildness she had never seen before and reminded her of the frantic look on George Bailey’s face when he realized Uncle Billy had lost all the bank’s money.
“Monsters? What did you call them? Slimewalkers?”
Kellan shook his head violently. “Skin-walkers! Go inside, Juliet. Now!”
Juliet looked down where something had carved a thin circle into the cement and then looked directly into Kellan’s eyes. “Make me.”
Outside the alley someone slammed a car door and Kellan jumped turning quickly toward the sound and then whipped around looking to the other end of the alley.
Juliet took a hesitant step backwards towards the still open door to the shop. “Kellan, you look really really freaked out and that’s scaring me. If you are messing with me again, now would be a very good time to stop.”
“I am not messing with you and I cannot make you go inside. The guy said don’t leave the circle and after what just happened, I’m not leaving the circle.” Kellan paused a moment before continuing. “Unless you don’t go in. If you don’t go inside right now, so help me, I will make you, but I’m pretty sure if I step outside this circle those nightmares will show up in short order and shred me.”
They locked eyes again and Juliet stood with one foot on the stoop, unmoving.
“Fine!” yelled Kellan. Juliet saw him tense about to move forward.
“Stop! Stop! Stop! I’m going,” she said scrambling up the stairs and into the shop. There, she turned around, closed the door halfway, and looked back at Kellan. “I’m just going to stay right here. If you see any monsters let me know and I’ll close the door immediately. How about I call 911?”
Kellan laughed. It sounded as wild as his eyes looked. “Yeah, sure, call 911 and tell them a dozen homicidal Skin-walkers, whatever they are, just slimed up an alley in Roswell and were sliced and diced by Michael the Archangel.” He laughed again. “I’m sure they’ll race right over. Juliet, I am completely aware of how bloody crazy this sounds, but apparently that’s where I live at the moment - Crazytown.”
Juliet felt a chill run down her. Kellan was absolutely one for mercilessly pranking someone, but he always went for the quick laugh. This was something different entirely.
“I’m closing the shop and getting your gun.”
“What? No! Just go inside and…”
She slammed the door and was gone leaving Kellan to impotently shift his weight within the circle while softly cursing himself for ever hiring the girl.
Kellan’s peripheral vision caught movement to his left at the end of the alley. Rather than whip his attention towards it, he stood transfixed, musing internally about how he must look like every victim in a slasher movie.
With what felt like an extreme effort of will, Kellan finally turned to fully face the closed end of the alley.
He swallowed hard and blinked several times.
Two men stood with their backs to him. Beyond them glowed an open portal - a twin to the one used by Michael earlier. Both men appeared tall, with the one to the left being a head taller than the man to his right. The taller one wore what appeared to be robes of some kind while the other wore armor similar to that of Michael. The armored man raised his right hand as if in greeting to someone but who was obscured by the two men. Around them and through the portal, Kellan could make out a night sky full of stars which glowed down upon a wooded scene.
Kellan thought he heard something coming from the portal, but couldn’t be sure, then the taller man responded crisply, “Kellan Thorne,” and the portal winked out.
“Oh shit,” Kellan said. The two men turned toward the sound of his voice.
Micah and Raphael closed the space between Kellan and themselves, stopping a few feet from him.
Micah regarded several of the puddles surrounding Kellan and raised an eyebrow to Raphael.
“Apparently,” began the Angel, “Someone knew of my previous visit to see Kellan Thorne.”
“So it appears,” responded Micah who then turned his attention to Kellan.
“Impressive. Really quite impressive. I am Micah Ben Judah and I am very pleased to meet you,” said Micah offering his hand.
Kellan backed away slightly and paled as Micah’s hand passed over and through the circle’s barrier, disrupting the energy and collapsing its protection.
Micah lowered his hand turning to Raphael. “What is going on? This man has no idea who I am and clearly didn’t destroy these skin-walkers or erect a defensive circle.”
The Angel looked perplexed. “Of course not; he has never met me and how could he possibly have defeated half a dozen skin walkers?”
Micah sighed, “Of course he hasn’t. Well then who created the circle and dispatched the walkers.”
“Michael.” Kellan answered causing both Micah and Raphael to turn to him. “Your brother, Michael, gives his regards. Raphael is it?”
Raphael nodded. “Michael was here?”
“Oh yes, he was here. Blazing sword and all. And guess what? He doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m dangerous and seemed pretty cool with the idea of those skin walker monsters having their way with me. He sliced them up into tiny Jell-O pieces against his own better judgement and did so only because he evidently loves you a lot. So, you have that going for you, Raphael, which I’m sure is quite nice. Of course that leaves me, nearly killed, covered in monster slime, and having talked to three Angels who I didn’t believe existed an hour ago.”
Raphael gestured to Micah. “He is not an Angel.”
Micah shook his head. “That’s what you took away from his statement? Kellan, I sincerely apologize for the way you have been treated.” He offered his hand.
This time Kellan slowly extended his own, accepting the older man’s grasp.
“Ohhkay,” said Kellan as he released Micah’s hand, “I’ve pretty much figured out that you guys aren’t here to kill me. So, how’s about we all three go inside, I fill the biggest glass I can find chocablock full of Scotch, and we sort all this out.”
Micah smiled, “I love Scotch.”
There was a clang and all three turned as the shop’s backdoor opened and slammed against the wall. “Kellan, I closed the shop, and brought your—”
Juliet broke off as her eyes found those of Raphael glowing brightly with alarm at the sound she had made. She raised the Smith and Wesson .45 and pointed it directly at the Angel, “Get the fuck away from him!”
He took a step toward the girl. Kellan saw Juliet’s face darken and tried to call out to her but it was already too late. The alley was split with the barking report of the .45 as Juliet emptied every round of the clip into a very startled Raphael.
“I’m going to need to find a support group, that’s for sure. Hello, I’m Juliet Herrick, and I killed an Angel.”
“He’s not dead,” said Micah for the third time. “He’s just…a little stunned is all. You can’t kill an Archangel with a gun, even a really big gun, like yours.”
“It’s Kellan’s gun. I just borrow it from time to time—to kill Angels.”
Micah realized he was getting nowhere and opened the door of the little office. Juliet moved past him and slammed the door shut again.
“Kellan said stay in the office, so that’s what we are going to do.”
Micah glanced past her at Raphael slumped limply in the overstuffed chair. “Ahh. Look, he’s back.”
Juliet turned to see Raphael’s eyes snap open and he stood up as they blazed to life.
“Stop, Raphael,” said Micah reassuringly. “There was a little accident. You are fine now. Everything is fine.”
Raphael nodded and sat back down, looking over at Juliet. “You cursed at me.”
“I shot you thirteen times and you are critiquing my language?”
“He really hates foul language,” Micah said. “It’s one of his quirks.”
“Well then, Mr. Angel, I hope you don’t plan on spending much time around Kellan, because he can weave a tapestry of profanity that’ll make your ears bleed. Of course he never does it when he thinks I can hear, but I hear things he doesn’t know I hear.”
The office door opened and Kellan walked in.
“Ok, the cops are gone. Holy shit, I almost thought they were goin
g to search the place.”
Raphael flinched.
“See,” said Juliet as Micah smiled, “that’s just an appetizer. Wait for the full course.”
“Huh?” said Kellan.
“Nothing, boss, so what did you tell the cops?”
“Oh, I told them that some kids were setting off firecrackers in the alley and I went out to tell them to stop.”
“And they beat the crap out of you?”
“No, and I tripped on that stupid loose brick, but rather than stay to help me, the kids ran off. I’ll tell you one thing, it’s good you hit Clarence there with every round because those cops were looking for bullets in the alley.”
“Who’s Clarence?” asked Raphael
“You are.” answered Kellan and Juliet at the same time.
“So, it appears that Micah here was correct, bullets don’t kill Angels. How are you feeling, Raphael?”
“Actually, I am in quite a bit of pain. That weapon is surprisingly powerful and it caught me completely unaware. I never imagined the girl would attack me that way.”
“The girl,” began Juliet, “asked you to move away nicely.”
“Ok, whatever,” said Kellan. “The Angel is back from the dead, and you two have a whole bunch of explaining to do. Starting with, how come monsters tried to kill me earlier today.”
“I am perfectly prepared to answer all your questions, Kellan. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to having that very conversation although I admit this is not how I expected it to start,” Micah said with a smile. “Now, you did mention the possibility of Scotch earlier and I saw some very nice chairs elsewhere in your establishment. Might we go there?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” said Kellan, going behind his desk, opening the lower drawer and removing a half full bottle of Scotch. He smiled, “25 year old Macallan. Juliet, would you mind grabbing a few glasses and bringing them to the reading room? Get yourself a Coke while your at it, I have a feeling this explanation is going to leave us pretty parched.”
“You got it,” Juliet said as she turned to open the door and leave.
Sentinels of Creation: A Power Renewed Page 7