by Pottle, Bill
Alizel swallowed, but did his best to stand straighter. “Yes, sir!” He did not have to guess why they were being summoned. It was time for war.
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CHAPTER EIGHT:
A BATTLE JOINED
The foot of Mt. Zion was swarming with troops, most forming up in companies of one hundred twenty eight, the best number to form a sphere. Some spheres were made from as little as eight angels, but most were of the larger variety. A smaller sphere had the advantage of being faster and more mobile, but a larger sphere offered more protection. Still, the larger the sphere, the more chance the enemy had of breaking through.
A group of eight angels was called a patrol, while four patrols worked together to make a squadron. Four squadrons made a larger sphere, which was called a company. Ten companies went together to form a battalion, and included the battalion commanders and the messengers needed for communication between the battalion’s various companies. The battalion’s commanders were connected to the main strategic leaders of the army through messenger angels that were darting back and forth, organized under Gabriel himself.
As Mupiel had suspected, the entire host had been reorganized after the mass loss of angels to the Containment and Lucifer’s side. Everyone still had their rank from before, and members of the higher orders were peppered throughout the army in various positions of command. The Seraphim were generally at the top, while other angels headed up various divisions and companies.
Uriel was the head of Alizel’s company of one hundred twenty-eight angels. From the looks of it, they were the last two to make it back.
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What a time to have left the protection of the group! Alizel hadn’t been gone that long, but after staying in groups due to constant fear of attack, he had wanted just a few moments of solitude to focus his thoughts and dwell on the past. It was difficult sometimes for him to keep a clear head amidst all the tension and anxiety of the past few months.
“We’ve detected that Lucifer has sent out a small force,” Uriel was filling everyone in. “We’re not sure what the purpose of the advance guard is, but our battalion has been chosen to fly out and meet them.”
“Sir,” Hyveriel asked, “why must we fly out to meet them? Can we not draw them into the caverns?”
“Those are not our orders,” Uriel responded, a grim look on his face. Alizel hated seeing the toll the responsibility of military command had already taken on his dear friend. “We must meet them in open battle first to see their tactics. We will fall back to Mt. Zion only when absolutely necessary.”
There was a general mumbling in the group, and Alizel could tell the others didn’t like this idea any more than he did. None were looking forward to facing Lucifer’s hate fueled minions on the battlefield.
“The High Command has assured me,” Uriel continued, carefully choosing his words, “that everything we do will be of immense strategic value, and that the Lord would never sacrifice any of you needlessly.”
Alizel suddenly appreciated the difficulty of Uriel’s position. He wanted to do everything he could to reassure them, but couldn’t risk giving out too much information that he had received from above. That is, if those above him had even told him enough to be able to reassure his troops. Alizel was sure that they were keeping their plans very close indeed.
“Everyone is ordered to check and recheck your equipment, and then that of your neighbor. Make sure your swords are at the ready, your armor fastened, and formation positions double-checked.”
Uriel’s instructions were largely unnecessary, as they had already set about their preparations. Alizel had taken to wearing his forearm
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protectors and breastplate nearly all the time. They were currently strapped tight. He refastened his breastplate anyway and looked around at everyone else. They were ready as well. They were fortunate that everyone in their group had swords. Though Azazel’s efforts at sword-making had successfully armed nearly every angel in the army, they had still run out of time; some angels in other groups would have to wait on the interior of their spheres until they could procure swords from their companions who had fallen or captured weapons from their enemies. Alizel wondered how many swords Lucifer’s side would have, and how those without them would attempt to fight.
It was only a few minutes before the order to form up came. Alizel was stationed on the bottom edge of the full sphere, which was, relatively speaking, a good place to be. His entire squad formed the bottom part while on the ground. When airborne, Alizel and his squadron would still be closest to the ground while the rest of the sphere hovered above his squadron. Once aloft, the entire sphere could move in any direction, so if they dropped down on an enemy, Alizel’s squadron would be leading the charge.
“Listen up, company.” Uriel’s admonition was unnecessary as they were all now looking at him with rapt attention. He pointed to Alizel’s squadron first. “You will form the bottom of the sphere. We will start the battle in Defensive Formation Alpha, meaning you will start on the ground in a half-sphere, ready to reinforce the other three companies above as gaps form in the sphere above or on your flanks. You will listen for my order, upon which we will change to Offensive Formation Gamma, where you will provide reverse cover to sphere as it moves.” He gave similar instructions to the company’s other squadrons.
The angels around Alizel nodded. Although their entire battalion was in the most danger of any of them, Alizel’s squadron was the safest in the company. Still, without knowing Lucifer’s plan and if they could counter it, none of them were really safe. No one would be, until they destroyed the menace once and for all.
Alizel was grateful that Raphael was the commander of his battalion, and all eyes were on him as he stood in conversation with a messenger angel. He nodded once, then took a deep breath, staring
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at the horizon. He raised his arm, strong and straight to point in the direction of the enemy. His soft brown wings now flared and his platinum sash with its crimson S bunched up on his shoulder as he did so. His message was clear.
With one voice, the angels sent up a mighty cry, and flew to meet their foe.
The angelic host paused once they had sighted them, a teeming black mass just visible on the horizon. They were coming straight toward them, and each company quickly set up their half-spheres on the ground. Angels stood or hovered, depending on their position. They had only to wait.
If the other side wanted a fight, they would attack the reinforced half-spheres, and it would be easy for the angels to defend. However, if the demons attempted to fly above the line of defense on the ground, the loyalists would have to rise up and use the full spheres. A half-sphere on the ground was better for defense because they had to defend less than half of the surface area of a full sphere. It would be interesting to see what kind of formation Lucifer or his generals used.
The two armies were near the middle of a vast plain that stretched for many thousands of meters. The lush grasses had not yet dried up, and the cool blades calmed Alizel as they poked between his sandaled feet. The companies set up their half-spheres in two rows of five, with enough space for a demon to fly in between each. If anyone did, they could be attacked from both sides.
Although the formation was great for defense, the enemy could easily fly around on the sides and flank or pass by them if they preferred not to engage. In that case, some half-spheres would have to break off and pursue with attacking patterns instead. Alizel dreaded this outcome. It would mean a loss of even more angels to the Containment, and give the other side a much higher chance of winning the battle.
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Soon they came into view, and Alizel cringed at the sight of them. Although he had seen many hate-fueled angels before, th
ey were often hidden behind trees or in small groups. Now, there were five or six hundred of them all together, crying out in hideous voices. It seemed that they had morphed into new forms as well, although most still resembled the angels they had once been. Their wings had lost all feathers and were thick and leathery. Alizel noticed with relief that many of them seemed not to be able to fly. Their useless wings were folded and atrophied on their backs.
His relief quickly faded, though, to see that most of them indeed had swords. Many had other weapons as well, items that Alizel could only guess the purpose of clutched tightly in their muscular fists. Some had long poles, crossed with other staves at various angles— pitchforks, sickles, and other weapons.
As the enemy stared them down, Alizel didn’t see in them any of the fear or anxiety that he felt in his own heart. They were stomping their feet and pounding the butts of their weapons on the ground, all with a ceaseless bellowing and screeching. It was the most horrifying sound he had ever heard, even worse than the screams of dying angels.
One who still had the ability of flight hovered above the rest and paused for a brief moment, glaring at the lines of loyalists in front of his horde. Suddenly without warning, he thrust his weapon up in the air and screamed out with a screech that somehow rose above the din of his followers.
His message could not have been clearer. As one, the enemy rushed forward, heedless of tactics or strategy.
“Form up and hold!” Uriel shouted out his order. “They’re coming!”
Alizel was surprised to see them charge forward almost as if they had no leader. In a matter of seconds, they had closed the gap and were upon Alizel’s company.
His position on the inside of the half-sphere gave him an excellent vantage point on the battle around him. He would not have to engage until any of the angels in his battalion were destroyed and left a gap in the sphere. Then he would have to rush up and fill it before any demons went through.
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As Verchiel had predicted, Lucifer’s minions were not patient fighters. They did not wait and try to draw out an attack. They just slammed themselves against the half-spheres, which shuddered but held. The strategy of waiting for a counter-attack worked well, as the demons tended to focus in on a single target only. While fighting against one angel, they were open to attacks from the side and rear. Alizel smiled as he thought of his training. Their training and formations were really making all the difference in the battle.
After a few minutes, Alizel could see that it was indeed possible they could win the day, with what he hoped would be only a small loss of life. Although the horror was all around him, he felt oddly detached since he had not yet swung his sword.
Unfortunately, he knew that the other side could see much of the same. They did have leaders of a sort, apparently, for one of them ordered a group of demons who were still able to fly to pass around the side of Alizel’s company
Uriel saw the threat and reacted immediately. “Offensive Formation Gamma! Go!”
“Yes, sir!” They echoed and switched without hesitation. Alizel’s squadron shifted to form the bottom of the sphere, launching upwards away from the main battle in order to pursue the rogue attackers. Alizel’s hand tightened on the hilt of his drawn sword.
They shot right into the middle of the attackers, dividing them from their comrades. This group somehow managed to fly even on their ragged wings, although by the looks on their faces they were exerting great effort to stay aloft. One of them whipped around to face Alizel with a spiked ball attached to a stick. His wings didn’t have the surface area of Alizel’s and looked to be made of a heavier material. He had to flap them several more times for every one time Alizel flapped his.
The demon swung the stick, and Alizel raised his blade to parry. The sword blocked the staff but the ball swung around and smacked him in the arm.
He cried out. Pain was a very unusual sensation. Alizel felt it as if he were in a daze, his heart racing and he fluttered his wings several times to keep aloft. He focused his vision, concentrating until it narrowed around the demon.
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Within a second his body had recovered, and he brought his sword down on the rebel. He blocked it with his staff, but Alizel switched it up in a flash and thrust it right into him. He screeched as he went to the Containment.
It was the first time he had ever sent a demon into the black place of Un-being. It unnerved Alizel, but he had to block it out of his mind and not think about it, the only thing that was going to save him from streaking into the Containment himself. He realized he had to be automatic, without remorse, dispatching judgment on every traitor to God that he saw. They would not hesitate to end Alizel’s existence if they got the chance.
He faced another demon, this one with a sword. He came at Alizel straightaway, telegraphing his strike and not bothering to feint or hide his intent. Alizel brought his sword up to block. As they struggled in a solid lock, the blue-winged angel next to Alizel struck at the exposed attacker. He screamed as his soul was banished, and Hyveriel caught the enemy’s blade as it fell.
“Better we have this than them,” he said smugly, tucking the blade into his belt.
Alizel grinned in thanks and looked around for another attacker, but the few around him were all but gone.
He took a second to survey the battle raging below, hovering above the chaos. One of their half-spheres had been destroyed, but the other eight were still in defensive formation. Theirs was the only company that had switched to an attack sphere. Very few of Lucifer’s attackers were still standing, and those that were now found themselves outnumbered and having to fend for themselves on all sides. It was over. Alizel was surprised at how quickly and completely they had won the battle.
In truth, it seemed far too easy.
However, now was not the time for gentle musings. The companies flew back down to their original formation, and Alizel settled to the ground. In a few minutes the order came to form up to Defensive Formation Beta, which was a ring around the battle site. One company went to the middle of the ring and scavenged all of the enemy weapons. They took everything, including the crude-shaped
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implements that Alizel was sure had almost no military value. It was laughable to think that the fallen angels faced off against a Heaven’s Blade with a metal pitchfork, but those who had attacked had done so in all seriousness. Still, every clue about the enemy was potentially important, as they could help Azazel determine things about the other side’s training and fighting abilities.
When they were finished cleaning up the field, orders came to reform their companies and retreat back to Mt. Zion. They had won a great victory that day, and all breathed an enormous sigh of relief. If the rest of the battles were anything like this one, Alizel figured, the war would be short and easily won indeed.
A great celebration ensued at the foot of Mt. Zion after the battle. Michael ordered that the entire army remain encamped for the duration of the conflict. No one had any illusions that what was won was anything more than a minor skirmish, but it certainly had been the largest battle so far. More than that, they had successfully used their formations and tactics for the first time. It wasn’t so much that they had won, but how easily and swiftly they had done so.
Mupiel and Alizel were seated a little off to the left of the main encampment, and could hear the cymbals crashing as the entire host praised God and thanked Him for the victory.
Alizel reclined in a wicker wood chair that gently sloped backwards. Angelic chairs had wide bases but were thin in the middle so as to support the back without encumbering the wings. Mupiel could barely remain seated for more than a few seconds, as he kept jumping up to replay one confrontation or another.
“And then I blocked it on the inside, just like they taught us.” He was up again, the hapless branch from a tree in his hand in lieu of his sword.
“You should have seen his face, Alizel, I don’t even know if he realized that I had him. Anyway, I switched the blade up, and then sent it straight to his neck.”
Apparently not all of the others felt the guilt that Alizel did at destroying another angel, even one who had rejected God. On the one
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hand, he knew that it was their duty to destroy those who threatened Him. Although He had never given this explicit commandment, Alizel knew it to be the case. Otherwise, why would all of the angels and demons be engaged in the war? And, unless they fought them, the demons would take every chance they could to send the loyal angels into the Containment.