Between Heaven and Hell

by David Burnett

  Adryel didn’t reply.

  “Just stumbled past and decided to visit?” Her eyes never left Adryel’s face. “You’re looking for it too,” Ami exclaimed. “The portal. You want to find it so. . .Why would you want to find the portal? Unless. . .” Her eyes lit up. “You miss home? You miss Ra-ma-el?”

  Ami began to laugh. “Pity. Pity. Pity. You can’t go back. You’ll never, ever see Ra-ma-el again,” she sang.

  Adryel glared at her.

  “You’ve spent almost four hundred days hiding from Dariel. You are not planning to throw yourself at Lord Michael’s feet and beg for mercy, are you?” She paused, watching Adryel’s face. “You are! How funny.”

  A smile spread across Ami’s face, and Adryel wanted to slap it off, but she held her arm.

  “He won’t, you know. Give you mercy. Do you remember Pariel?”

  Adryel shook her head. “Not really.”

  “The soldiers tell me he tried to get back to the city. Found the portal, climbed through it. Found himself about ten miles from the north gate. Guess what happened.” Ami vibrated with excitement.

  Adryel shook her head.

  “Oh, guess. Go ahead.”

  “The. . .wild dogs ate him.”

  “A real danger, to be sure, and I’ll guess he wished they had.” Ami laughed. “No. He waited until a caravan arrived and slipped through the gate with them. But,” she raised a finger, “the guards had been watching him since he appeared on the plain. They cornered him as he entered the city, dragged him directly to Lord Michael.” She shook her head, looking sad. “He tossed Pariel into a dungeon. Did you even know there was a dungeon in the palace? Left him in it for four days. No food. No water. . .Just terrible.” She sighed.

  “That night, they carried him into the square. Five thousand angels stood watching as Michael cut his head off. . .Actually, he hacked it off. Took him half an hour.”

  “You’re such a liar.”

  Ami smiled. “Maybe. Maybe not. You’ll never find out though.”

  Adryel sighed now. She was tired of listening. “Why not?”

  “You’ll never get to the city.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sure. You see, once you step through the portal, well, it’s the line you cannot cross, you know. I’ll report back. . .Have you ever seen Lord Lucifer really angry?”

  “Once.”

  It had been her first night in Hell. Lord Lucifer had taken her to his room, and in the middle of the night a drunken angel, one of the students, had wandered in, flopping on the bed beside her. Lucifer’s screams had awakened the entire company. He then tossed the poor boy all the way to the lake.

  “I’ll stand across the cavern when I tell him.” Ami walked around the opening to stand in front of Adryel. “He’ll send Beliel after you. He’ll pick up your scent and run you to ground before sun up tomorrow. He’s wanted the chance to be alone with you for so long. He’ll finally have it. . .Then he’ll carry you back to Hell.

  “You were on Earth, I think, when Yariel tried to run.” Ami shook her head. “Lord Lucifer assembled the entire company, and we all watched as he dropped poor Yariel into a pot of boiling oil. One horrific scream and it was done.” She threw her hands open in a gesture of completion.

  “You missed the lesson. . .Now, Yariel was of no account. I doubt Lord Lucifer knew his name even.” She leaned close to Adryel. “But you. . .your desertion will hurt. Losing the Mistress of Hell. . .that will hurt. As a result, you’ll have to hurt. Badly.”

  “But you won’t make the report.”

  “Why would I not?” Ami raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  “Reporting me does nothing for you, and it may hurt you. Badly.” Adryel paused.

  “Go on.”

  “You may have some pleasure from seeing me suffer, true. But what if Lord Lucifer decides to kill the messenger?”

  “No, he. . .”

  “What if he blames you? Why didn’t you force me to go back with you, he’ll ask. Did you know about my plans? Or he may simply begin to think of me whenever he sees you. You’ll find yourself exiled to the edge of the lake.” Adryel stared into her eyes. “Though, Mia might be pleased,” she whispered.

  She continued before Ami could reply. “If you say nothing, you’ll return to his bed.” She laughed at Ami’s expression. “Of course I know you sub for me when I’m away, but every morning for the past year when you’ve awakened, you’ve wondered, ‘Will she be back today? Will I be with Beliel tonight?’ But if I go through the portal, return to the city, then no matter what happens to me, you’ll know I’m never coming back.”

  Through the Portal

  Early the next morning, before the soldiers had awakened, Adryel opened the tent’s flaps just enough to peer out and confirm she was surrounded. To reach the hill where she believed the portal to be located, to retreat to her cave, to go anywhere, she would need to pass numerous campfires and dozens of soldiers. All of them would question the presence of a female, and some of them might well recognize her. Her best hope was that they would leave during the day, either be recalled to the city or sent off to search for her in some other location.

  By noon, the sun beat down on the tent. Even though the night had been cool and she had wrapped a blanket around her body when she lay down to sleep, Adryel now felt as if she had camped next to the lake of fire. With the flaps closed, not a whiff of air moved inside the tent, and she found it difficult to breathe. Perspiration flowed down her body and soaked her robe.

  She started at every sound, no matter how small or far away. After avoiding Dariel and his soldiers for over a year, the thought of being surrounded by them made her stomach churn. A soldier could enter the tent at any time, without a reason. She berated herself for not searching for the portal the night she had arrived, rather than inspecting the humans’ camp, but she had been so surprised at finding the soldiers that she had not been able to formulate a plan.

  Ami sat in a corner, staring vacantly at a pile of animal skins in the rear of the tent. Adryel had feared she would go out and talk with the soldiers, perhaps bring one back to the tent. She didn’t even approach the opening, though, indicating to Adryel that Ami, too, feared the soldiers and felt trapped in the tent. Quite likely she had exaggerated, or lied, when she had reported flirting with them.

  She shared her water with Ami and offered her a piece of fruit.

  “It’s not poison,” she said when Ami hesitated to swallow the water. “I just drank some of it.”

  They heard the soldiers moving around the campsite, and a group of them sat just outside the tent, eating their midday meal and grousing about their assignment.

  “Can you believe the humans actually lived in these fleapits?” One of the soldiers slapped the side of the tent. “I stepped into one of them and almost passed out from the stench.” He coughed. “And the heat. It was sweltering. How do they survive in this heat? It’s as hot as. . .well, as hot as it was in Hell.”

  “I hear it will be quite cold in a few weeks,” a second soldier said.

  “And I’ll wager we’ll still be here then, even when Hell itself freezes over and their lake of fire turns to ice.”

  A spoon clicked against a plate and the second soldier gagged. “How can they call this slop food?”

  The others laughed, but the first soldier continued, ignoring his friend’s concern with the food. “A fool’s errand, that’s what this is. We’ve been searching for the orb for more than an entire year and what have we found?” He paused. “Nothing, that’s what. Not a campsite, not a wisp of smoke, not a footprint, not even a pile of dung. Nothing. Not the slightest hint of her. It’s as if she never existed. How can one orb, and a female orb at that, cause all of this trouble?” He spat on the ground. “I know what I’d do with her if I were to find her.”

  Adryel wrinkled her nose. Filthy angel. Let him try.

  “But you won’t,” the second soldier said as he and the others laughed.

&nbs
p; “I know.” The first one sighed. “But I’d want to.”

  “I interrogated some of those demon-angels in Hell,” a third voice chimed in. “All gave the same story. Haven’t seen her in over a year. Humans say the same thing. . .She’s long dead and gone, if you ask me.”

  “Not that Dariel will ever believe it,” another soldier exclaimed. “He’s obsessed with finding her. We’ll have to produce her body if we’re to stop him.”

  “What if she drowned or something? What if she was eaten by one of the creatures? There may be no body.”

  “Wouldn’t someone know if an angel had died? The soul would have to be somewhere, wouldn’t it?”

  “She followed Lord Lucifer,” the first soldier replied. “Her soul may already be dead.” He paused. “We may be here forever.”

  Adryel and Ami looked at each other.

  Were their souls dead?

  Adryel shivered.

  “Have you any idea where to find the portal?” Ami whispered as the soldiers finished their meal and wandered away.

  “I do have an idea, but I’ll need to get past the soldiers. Tonight, if they are still here, if you’ll distract them, you can come with me, see the location for yourself. When you take the news to Lord Lucifer, you’ll be his hero.”

  Ami simply nodded. She said nothing else about sending Beliel to retrieve Adryel.

  After nightfall, they left the tent and strolled through the camp as if they belonged. Most of the soldiers were preparing their evening meals and did not even glance at them.

  They have no reason to question me, Adryel insisted to herself. Most of them were powers and looked just like her. Of course, she was a female. . .

  Adryel hunched her shoulders and folded her arms across her chest.

  One of the soldiers stood as they passed and called for them to stop. Ami wheeled about and talked with him, rubbing his arm, and smiling, while Adryel walked on. Ami caught up with her a minute later.

  “They’re so easy.” She laughed. “Smile, bat your eyes. . .”

  Adryel stared at one of the soldiers as they passed, an officer, judging by the blue trim on the robe, a power, judging by the red hair.

  Adryel’s mouth opened in surprise. The soldier was female. When had Lord Michael allowed females to join the army?

  She glanced around. Not that there was a problem with female soldiers. She could take down most of these males. The officer’s eyes seemed to follow them as they ambled through the encampment. Then, as they passed the last fire and were about to step into the shadows, she dashed after them.

  “Stop. Hold there. No one leaves the camp.” She drew her sword. “Over here.” Other soldiers looked up to see what was happening. She motioned for Adryel and Ami to move closer to the fire. Adryel ducked her head as its light fell across her face.

  “I’ve not seen you here before,” the officer said. “In whose company do you serve?”

  Adryel looked around wildly. Her eyes focused on an old classmate of hers who was sitting on the other side of the camp. He had been a soldier for some time, surely he had a higher rank than others.

  “Marciel. I’m in Marciel’s. . .unit.”

  Ami nodded. “Marciel’s unit.”

  The officer shook her head. “No. I recognize you.” Her voice dropped, and she jerked her head to the side, motioning for Adryel and Ami to move away from the soldiers. As they stepped toward the trees, the soldiers turned away, seeming to lose interest.

  “Stop here.” The female officer stood between them and the soldiers, her sword pointing at Adryel. “Yes. I recognize you.” She moved the sword closer, placing the tip against Adryel’s neck, Ami seemingly forgotten. “You’re Adryel. We’ve scoured the earth, hunting you for over a year.” She stared into Adryel’s eyes. “You don’t know me, do you? My name is Angi. Before the rebellion, you were one of my professors, one of my favorites.”

  Adryel resisted dropping her eyes, instead maintaining eye contact. “I remember you, Angi. I always remember the good students.”

  “You. . .changed, Adryel. . .When you tossed that brick across the wall at the soldiers, when Ramael was injured, when everyone believed he was dead, that your brick had been the one that had struck him. . .You wept, but the others danced and sang and called you a hero.”

  A look of disappointment came over Angi’s face and she shook her head. “You were not the same after that. . .It was almost as if Lord Lucifer had cast a spell over you.”

  Her expression turned cold, hostile. “I liked you, Adryel. Very much. But I cannot excuse the evil you have done since that day.”

  Adryel bit her lower lip and wiped her eyes.

  In spite of her stance, Angi seemed torn. “If I arrest you, Dariel will cage you like a wild animal and haul you in triumph through the streets of the city, all of the way to Palace Square.” She paused, staring at Adryel. “I wouldn’t want that. Lord Michael does not want that. He assigned me to the search party because I would be one of the few who remembers you as anything other than a treacherous rebel who has thwarted Adonai at every turn. He thought I might have some sympathy for you.”

  Again, Angi hesitated, her eyes moving from Adryel to the soldiers behind them, then back.

  Perhaps she did have some sympathy. . .Adryel could only hope.

  “My orders are to report to Lord Michael any sign of you—a footprint, a rumor among the humans, a sighting, anything—so that he might intervene. But what I have is actually you, not just a sighting of you. So, I must detain you, report you to. . .to my commander.” She glanced over her shoulder.

  As Angi was speaking to Adryel, Ami had been moving away from the two of them, a half-step at a time, and when Angi turned her head, Ami bolted, pushing past her, tripping, and almost falling into one of the fires as she fled. Another soldier gave chase but the others laughed, making no effort to assist.

  As Angi’s attention followed Ami, Adryel sidled past her, then dashed the other way, toward the hill.

  Angi grabbed for her sleeve, but her hand became entangled in the bag that held Adryel’s food and water. Adryel released the bag and melted into the shadows.

  “It’s her,” Angi screamed. “Adryel. She’s in the camp.”

  When Angi turned back to the soldiers, calling for help, Adryel scurried around the hill, found the crevice, slipped inside, and began to frantically search for the portal. At the sound of Adryel’s name, it seemed as if dozens of soldiers instantly converged on the hill. She saw the flicker of their torches, she felt the earth vibrate as their feet pounded across the ground, she heard them shout in excitement as they pursued their prey. One soldier pushed his head into the crevice and she flattened herself against the wall, holding her breath. “Not here.” His shout echoed through the cavern, and he turned away.

  Had that soldier been carrying a torch she would surely have been captured. Still, she was not safe. When they did not find her outside, other soldiers would soon check the cavern. She had no light with which to see, so she frantically felt for the portal, sliding her hands across the smooth walls, pushing against them, throwing her body into any opening she could locate.

  “Please, please, please. Let me find it. It has to be here. Please.”

  Her hand slipped through an opening and she felt the familiar jolt of passing from one dimension to another. As she began to move through the portal, she froze as she heard Angi speaking to a soldier. Her voice seemed to come from a great way off, although Adryel thought she must be no more than a meter away, just outside. She stood listening, motionless for fear of losing contact between the two realms. She needed to hear what Angi was saying about her.

  “Go to Lord Michael. Tell him I cornered Adryel and a female angel in our camp this evening. Tell him I was momentarily distracted when the angel ran. . .and that Adryel escaped. Assure him we are searching for her, but that so far she has eluded us. Tell him. . .” Angi sighed loudly. “Tell him there’s a chance she may find the portal and enter the city.”

&nb
sp; The soldier spoke, but Adryel could not make out his words. He must have been standing farther away from the portal.

  There was a short pause, then Angi continued in a commanding voice. “This is urgent. Go immediately and give this message directly to Lord Michael.”

  Adryel held her breath, anticipating Angi, or someone else, to enter the portal. But no one did. At least not yet. Still, there was no sense waiting to find out if, or when, they would. Time was not on her side, so Adryel took a firm step, completing her passage to the other side.

  ***

  She found herself at the bottom of a long stairway in an enormous room filled with all sorts of items—furniture and tools, eating utensils, weapons, and baskets of scrolls. She even spotted a pile of worn-out robes stuffed under the steps.

  Adryel had been told of the basement that stretched beneath the palace. It had been used for storage since near the beginning of time, and it was said that if you looked long enough, there was nothing you could not find there. She supposed that’s where she was.

  She paused to collect her thoughts. She had believed Ami, and had expected to find herself outside of the city, on the plain. Her strategy had been to find cover, then to sneak aboard a caravan. Once past the gate, she’d planned go to her house in search of Ramael.

  That would have been a challenge, but now. . .escaping the palace would be much trickier, more difficult than sneaking through the north gate. She could hardly stroll out through the Great Gates and head for home. In the halls of the palace she would encounter those who had once known her. Crossing the square she might be spotted by soldiers who had been warned to be alert for her. Even on the streets of the city, if she made it that far, she would be recognized.

  Her encounter with Angi was an additional complication. Angi had ordered a soldier to warn Michael that she might be in the city. The city guard would be on high alert, with soldiers patrolling the streets, perhaps even the halls of the palace.

  Anyone who identified her would seize her, bind her arms, and cart her to Lord Michael. And he would issue judgment without hesitation.