Rise of the Fallen

by Chuck Black

  Validus shook his head for underestimating Niturni’s brilliant mind. “It’s been rumored for decades that Tinsalik Barob was somewhere in South America. If they saw me come here, Niturni has figured out that I am looking for answers too. The Fallen are coming to stop me from getting those answers, either by killing me, or Barob, or both.”

  Sorak shook his head. “I can’t begin to imagine what information Barob would have that would cause eight legions to mobilize.” He looked at Validus. “Whatever you plan to do, you’d better do it quickly. It will probably take a day for the Fallen to organize and attack. How many men do you need?”

  Validus shook his head. “Now that the Fallen are coming, it changes everything. You can bet Barob knows they’re coming too, and he’ll be on alert. He would see us coming miles away and vanish, if he’s not already gone.” He studied the map in detail. “Fewer is better. Give me one man to get me into the favela; then I’ll go it alone.”

  “I’ll send Captain Bern with you. He knows the area as well as any.” Sorak looked at Validus. “Just because Barob’s fallen out of favor with Apollyon doesn’t mean he’s any less wretched. In fact, from what I’ve heard over the centuries, I’m surprised he’s not devolved into a droxan already. If you find him and you’re still alive to speak, what do you have to offer him? There are only a handful of angels that have ever actually talked with him, and half of those dissolved trying. You’d better have something good.”

  Validus leaned a little closer to the map, taking in the last few details. “I’m not sure. I’ll think of something.”

  Sorak huffed. “I hope you know what you’re doing, and I hope it’s worth it. Once you enter the favela, there’s not much I can do to help you.”

  Validus straightened. “You’ve helped me already. Thank you.”

  Sorak nodded and sent for Captain Bern.

  Validus and Bern left the cathedral and flew to within a few miles of the Rocinha favela. They landed, demorphed their wings, and went the rest of the way on foot. Rocinha was positioned on a steep hillside overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. They reconned the area to discover just how intense the Fallen’s activities were.

  They watched in silence from the cover of the thick trees to the north of the favela for hours. From their vantage point they saw dozens of demons working the gangs of the favela. Validus figured there were probably just as many Fallen who possessed the souls of people. This was definitely Fallen territory. He reconsidered what he was planning to do, but time was running out.

  If Barob was in this favela, he had probably possessed a man. It would be his best chance at hiding and surviving. The only way Validus could find him without being detected was to translate to physical form, but it also meant that he wouldn’t be able to see the threats of the demons around him. The sun was setting, and the shadows of the favela grew longer with each passing minute.

  I could sure use your help right now, Persimus, Validus thought as he considered the translation skills of his friend.

  Validus carefully considered all his options and chose the body of a twelve-year-old boy. In that form, he would be less likely a victim and not much of a threat to gangs. Such boys were often runners and lookouts, so he would be less conspicuous as well. He studied one such lad and made some adjustments.

  He removed his sword and handed it to Bern.

  Bern took the sword, but lines of dread etched his face. “It’s rough in there,” he said quietly. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Validus kept his eyes on the favela, already plotting a route through the shacks once he translated. “I don’t have a choice.” He looked at Bern. “If I make it out, just have my sword waiting for me.”

  Bern nodded. “I’ll stay here as long as I can.”

  Validus took a deep breath, then translated through the blue flame and into the world of humans.

  It took Validus some time to adjust to his body and stature. He was fully a thin, brown-skinned boy; all that was different was his mind and his spirit. He entered the alleys of the favela wearing black shorts and a dirty white T-shirt that hung loosely from his neck. He was just a few hundred yards from where Captain Bern had said the warrior went down, but navigating through the maze of buildings and narrow alleyways was a challenge all in itself.

  The smell was overpowering for Validus, but the sounds seemed dull and distant. He walked down the side of an alleyway that was littered with trash and smelled of urine. When he was nearly to the building Captain Bern had identified, a group of four boys approached.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?” They quickly surrounded him.

  Validus did his best to look scared and timid. He stayed silent and tried to pass by them.

  The tallest of the boys pushed him back. “You don’t leave. We don’t know you. This is our turf. What are you doing here?”

  “I … I am not from this part of the favela. I am looking for my uncle.” He dropped his head.

  “Why? Who’s your uncle?” another asked.

  “I don’t know,” Validus said.

  The boys laughed. “He doesn’t know, but he is looking for him,” they mocked.

  “I don’t have parents now,” Validus said, adding a quaver to his voice.

  The laughter subsided. The tallest boy looked at his friends. “What’s your name?”

  “Diego.” He looked up at the boy and saw him soften. “Can you help me find him? I will pay somehow … I promise. I’m a hard worker.”

  The boy put on a crooked grin. “I’m José, this is Paulo, he’s Luiz, and that’s Matheus. He doesn’t have parents either.”

  Matheus grinned with sympathetic eyes.

  Validus flashed a subtle smile toward the boy.

  “Do you know where your uncle lives? We know everyone here,” Matheus said.

  Validus shook his head. “I just know that many say he is kind of crazy … and kind of scary.” He swallowed hard.

  José let out a short laugh. “That’s just about every man here. That’s not much to go on.”

  “But his eyes are wild … like a dog.”

  “Ah,” José said. He turned to the other boys. “He is looking for Miguel.”

  The other boys’ eyes grew wide. Luiz shook his head. “Even the gangs are afraid of him. He tells them things, and they leave him alone.”

  Paulo leaned toward Validus and cupped his hand around his mouth. “They say he is possessed by a demon!”

  Validus could hardly contain himself. This was too easy. He swallowed hard and opened his eyes wide. “I … I think he must be the one. Where does he live?”

  “You don’t want to live with him, Diego. He’s a bad man,” José said.

  “That’s right,” Paulo added. “He will cut your heart out and eat it.”

  José shot Paulo a hard look, then put his hand on Validus’s shoulder. “You can live with Matheus in the tin shack we found near the trees. You can work with us, and we’ll share what we have. We are brothers.”

  Validus stared at the boys, amazed at their spirit of courage and of mercy. There were heroes even here in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. “I will be your brother.” He smiled, then let the smile fade. “But I still must see Miguel. I am supposed to give him a message. Can you show me?” He stood straight and squared his shoulders. “I am not afraid of him. Show me, and I will go alone.”

  José looked at the faces of the other three, then put an arm around Validus. “Come, we will show you.”

  The boys led Validus through a few more winding turns, and they ended up in the bowels of the favela, where few dared tread. He saw two men with guns on tops of buildings nearby. He could tell the boys were scared. They all hunkered down near the corner of a building, peering around it. The buildings were so close together here that one had to go through the front compartments to get to the ones behind.

  José spoke in a hushed voice as if the walls had ears. “He’s through that shack, then to the left, through two more, then one more to the right.” J
osé looked right into Validus’s eyes and hesitated. “You shouldn’t go in there, Diego, especially now that it’s getting dark.”

  Validus swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “You are good brothers.”

  He looked up and down the street and at the two gunmen he had spotted earlier, then stood up and walked to the door of the first shack. He looked in, then entered; it was empty. At the back was a doorway to the next. There he found one man slumped in the corner in a euphoric state.

  “What you doin’ here?” the man mumbled.

  Validus ignored him and pressed on until he stood at the last doorway leading to Tinsalik Barob. A blue tarp hung as the only barrier to the room. Validus pushed aside half the tarp and peered into the dark and murky room, but no one was there.

  Validus stepped through the entrance. Shivers skittered up and down his spine, something he was not accustomed to. This shell of flesh had sensations that always surprised him, and he was glad he didn’t have to translate often—for multiple reasons.

  To his right was a crusty bed near one corner and a couple of pots in the other. A small table with a lamp and a ripped and tattered lounge chair were to his left. The seat and back cushions were indented in the form of a man. Validus touched the cushions—cold. He searched for clues, but there was virtually nothing in the room from which to draw any reasonable conclusions.

  After satisfying himself that he had learned all he could, he returned to the street. His four new friends were still waiting by the corner a couple of buildings down the road. Validus ran to them with fear dripping from his eyes.

  “I can’t believe you’re still alive, Diego. What did your crazy uncle say to you?”

  Validus shook his head. He tried to appear both afraid and relieved. Strangely, it was not hard to do. “I … I didn’t see him. Where does he go? When will he be back?” he asked, searching the faces of the four boys.

  “Nobody knows,” Paulo said with eyes open wide. “Some say that at night he prowls the shadows of the streets looking for new souls to eat.”

  José stepped forward. “That’s nonsense, Paulo. Matheus has slept in the street and has never seen him, have you, Matheus?”

  Matheus shook his head. “You can stay with me, Diego. If you want to see your uncle, your best chance is in the morning.”

  Validus considered the delay and didn’t like it, but he didn’t have much of a choice. These boys were his best lead. How ironic that the potential fate of the world might lie in the hands of four unsuspecting boys living in the slums of Brazil.

  “Maybe you’re right. How far away is your shack?”

  José turned. “Matheus and I will take you; then we will all meet you in the morning to help you find your uncle.” He looked at the other three boys. Matheus and Luiz nodded right away, and then Paulo added his approval.

  “I am grateful,” Validus said, smiling wide. “I’ve never had brothers like you before.”

  Validus followed José and Matheus through the winding alleys of the favela until they reached the edge of the surrounding tree line. After some careful and nearly parkour-type maneuvering, the three boys arrived at a dilapidated tin shack that threatened to fall at any moment.

  Matheus beamed as he invited Validus to join him in the single ten-by-ten-foot shelter. Validus’s heart broke, trying hard to return the smile.

  José looked sad too. “My father refuses to work for the drug lords, so we don’t have anything to spare, but I will try to bring some extra food tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you, José,” Validus said.

  The boy nodded and left.

  Matheus offered Validus one of two tattered blankets as they prepared for the long, dark night.

  “José is a good brother,” Matheus said.

  “Yes. And so are you, Matheus,” Validus replied.

  He turned to look at the boy lying next to him. He could just see the profile of his face in the murky night. No longer a child, not yet a man. Validus imagined the frustration of his guardian until the age of reason was reached.

  “Why don’t you go to one of the orphanages?” Validus asked. “At least there you would be fed and have a place to sleep.”

  Matheus turned to look at Validus. “The orphanages are full, and there are others who need more help than me.” Matheus sat up and crossed his legs. He draped the blanket across his shoulders. “Besides, I have brothers here who need my help.”

  Validus marveled at the heart of the boy.

  Matheus looked up, and Validus followed his gaze through a wide split in the tin roof above them. The sky began to sparkle with stars.

  “Have you ever thought about heaven, Diego?” Matheus asked.

  “Yes,” Validus replied. “Have you?”

  He could see Matheus smile. “All the time.”

  A glimmer of hope surfaced in Validus’s heart. Could it be … even in this darkened, poverty-stricken slum?

  “What do you think about?” Validus couldn’t resist asking, even though since the declaration of Gabriel of the coming Messiah two thousand years ago, angels had not been permitted to proclaim the truth of Ben Elohim to man. God had given the mission of evangelism exclusively to humans.

  Matheus turned his gaze back to Validus. “I think about what a wonderful place it is and how excited I am to live there … again.”

  Goose bumps raised on every square inch of Validus. He sat up to see Matheus more clearly, covering himself with his blanket. He wondered if Matheus had swallowed some mystic reincarnation lie of Apollyon.

  “Again?”

  “Sure. To walk the gardens.” Matheus smiled. “Guardians translate well, but warriors don’t. You must be a warrior.”

  Validus hesitated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Matheus. Are you feeling okay?”

  “Why are you here?” the boy asked.

  Validus still wasn’t sure what to think. Was this a trick? Perhaps a possessed boy trying to discover his identity? Even if Matheus was telling the truth, what if there were Fallen nearby listening to them? There was too much at risk. There was only one safe play to make.

  Validus moved to get up and leave, but Matheus grabbed him with the strength of a man. Validus tensed for a fight.

  “I’m here because José is a boy who can make a difference in this land. His heart is good, and Ruach Elohim is drawing him. My mission is to protect him until he is won.”

  Validus relaxed, and Matheus let go of his arm. The Fallen could fake many things, but they couldn’t fake passion for Elohim. Yet there was still the risk of Fallen listening.

  “I’m here to find answers,” Validus said.

  Matheus looked at him and squinted. “From a demon-possessed man?”

  Validus realized just how absurd that sounded, especially coming from the voice of young boy.

  “This one is … unusual. He knows things no one else does,” Validus said, still trying to convince himself about Matheus and trying to be careful should any Fallen be nearby.

  “Barob,” Matheus whispered. “All this time, and I had no idea it was Barob.”

  Clearly the boy was not human. Matheus crawled to the cardboard door and looked out, then returned.

  “There are no Fallen nearby,” he said.

  Validus’s suspicions peaked once more. “You can’t know that.”

  The boy leaned close to Validus. “I’ve learned to temporarily translate my eyes. Trust me, there’s no one here but us.”

  Validus didn’t even know what to do with that. Was it even possible? In six thousand years he had never heard of such a thing. He couldn’t take it anymore. He might as well lay out his whole hand.

  “Who are you? What’s your real name?”

  The boy broke from his contemplation about Barob.

  “My name is Persimus.”

  38

  SECRETS OF THE FALLEN

  Present Day

  Validus froze. Could it really be, or was this still some demonic trick of the Fallen? Much hung on th
e truth or deception of the next few words.

  “Who was your closest friend?” Validus asked.

  The boy looked skyward again. “A warrior of great courage who has given his all for the cause of the King.”

  Validus waited. Only Persimus would know of Cadriel.

  “His name is Validus,” came the soft reply of the boy.

  Validus’s eyes filled. He had not expected that.

  “Persimus … it is I, Validus.”

  Persimus’s eyes grew wide. “Validus?”

  The mighty warriors of Elohim, wrapped in the flesh of two young boys, stared at each other. Validus nodded and offered a hand. Persimus smiled as wide as his tan face could handle. He grabbed Validus’s hand and pulled him in to hug him. Validus was humbled by Persimus’s response.

  “How long have you been here?” Validus asked.

  “Over a year now,” Persimus replied.

  Validus became angry. Was this what Brandt had in store for his closest friend of six millennia?

  “How can you … This is outrageous. I will talk with Brandt immediately! No warrior should be required to stay translated that long and endure the dangers and hardships of such a duty!”

  “It’s okay, Validus. I volunteered for this assignment. I want to be here.”

  Validus was stunned. “Why?”

  Persimus smiled. “Because I’m good at it. It took me thousands of years to figure it out, but I do this well, and these boys need me. I’ve helped many young boys and girls in the past six decades in ways that warriors and guardians can’t.” Joy was evident in his tone. “It’s hard, but it is so rewarding to see a life changed that might have been cast aside, often right under the noses of the Fallen.”