Lilith stared wide-eyed at the animals. “Seeing the animals flee in such haste has filled me with foreboding. We must get further away from this angry mountain.”
The sky glowed red now, like the skies she had seen so often on the smoldering side of Thanda-Garam. Ash shot miles upward, darkening the skies and turning day into night as it fell and blotted the sun. Gadreel lifted her head a little and peered at the darkness. She quickly lowered it again, trembling.
“What is that smell?” Lilith twisted her face in disgust. A pungent, sickly sweet odor filled the air. She wrinkled her nose and covered it with her arm.
There was a loud whistle, and the volcano ejected large globs of liquid fire through the air for miles in all directions. The lava bombs set ablaze everything they landed on: animals, trees, and even rocks.
“Behold the raining destruction!” Lilith yelled.
Gadreel lay face down, too afraid to lift her eyes again.
“Behold, Gadreel, you must.” Lilith clutched a handful of her curls and lifted her head, forcing her to watch the erupting volcano.
Lava flooded the grasslands, fires broke out everywhere, and the intense heat was like an unwelcomed embrace. Gadreel wept nonstop.
Lilith pressed her lips together. “Enough! I grow weary of your constant lamenting. How did you lead our soldiers through the West Forest? Or did they lead you?”
Gadreel wept aloud with convulsive gasping. “I alone led those soldiers successfully through the treacherous forest. The war and the forest took all my physical and mental strength. I am now depleted. I cannot bear anymore, for I am weakened by this planet.”
“You have done no more than I. Thus, you better find strength once again, since this is only the beginning.” Lilith scrutinized her with freezing contempt. “I cannot endure any more of your whining. Cease your sniveling at once, or I shall toss you into the lake of fire and happily watch you dissolve.”
Gadreel withered under her cold stare and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I have always wondered why God chose to make one of your eyes icy-blue and the other warm-brown—now I think I understand.” Her lips quivered. “You possess a warm side, which I have enjoyed, but you also possess a callous side, which frightens me.”
A large glob of lava struck inches from them, spurting molten magma on two of Gadreel’s wings on one side of her body. Her wings burst into flames.
She squealed in pain. “I am burning!” She shook and floundered about, struggling to extinguish the fire. “Please, help me!”
Lilith puckered her brow and stared at Gadreel’s wings. “You have never fought for anything. In Floraison I had to labor vigorously to earn God’s good favor, but you always shone before him with your gift of song. I gathered the rebel forces––enduring the constant stress and fear of being caught––while you, were always so blithe, without care. Even now, on Earth, God punishes you by merely tainting your wings with a little darkness while he transforms me into a monster––you shall learn what it is to struggle.”
Lilith watched her friend writhe and wail in pain while her lips curved in a satisfied smile.
The acrid, revolting stench of burning feathers wafted into her nostrils. She fanned the air in front of her nose and gagged.
“Lay still!” Lilith pinned Gadreel’s burning wings to the ground with her tail and flung dirt on the flames.
Gadreel groaned and bit down on her lip. The flesh and feathers of her injured wings were almost completely consumed, exposing the charred bony frame, which would no longer be of any use to her.
She stifled a scream when her eyes met Lilith’s and suffered in silence. “I now know what it is like to burn.” She slammed her eyes shut. “I wish to never experience that kind of pain again.” She pushed herself off the ground with her arms and clambered to her feet.
Lilith pulled her lips together in disdain.
“I am ready to go wherever you say we must, but I now have two fewer wings.” Gadreel avoided Lilith’s eyes.
Lilith smirked. “Let us leave this dreadful place.”
The angels heard a loud rumbling noise and then an explosion. An instant later, there was another volcanic eruption. The ground beneath Lilith’s feet shifted making her sway. She stretched out her arms to steady herself. The ground underneath her collapsed, and she tumbled into a sinkhole. Detached rocks bounced and rolled off the hill and into the cavity nearly burying her alive as heavy rocks and soil concealed three quarters of her body. The bones in her tail were crushed under the immense weight, and she screamed and squirmed in pain.
When the earth stopped shaking and the rocks stopped rolling, Gadreel, who had been pressed against the hillside, tiptoed to the edge of the hole and peered in.
“Lilith? Do you still draw breath?”
“Help me,” Lilith said in a barely audible, deep grating voice.
“I am powerless to help you, for I am broken.”
“All you have to do is make an attempt.” Lilith groaned and squeezed her eyelids together in pain.
There was another booming eruption. More rocks and dirt tumbled on Lilith. She squealed in agony. Gadreel ran screaming to take cover. She clung to the hillside, covering her eyes and ears. When she uncovered her eyes, she gasped, for she caught sight of a terrifying phenomenon. She scrambled to the sinkhole once more. “Lilith, you must come out of there at once!”
Lilith frowned. “There is a reason I have been asking for your help.” Frustration crinkled her eyes. “I am trapped!” She gnashed her teeth and moaned attempting to pull and squeeze her lower body out from under the pile of rocks.
Gadreel stared ahead. “There is an enormous cloud of fire, blazing stones, and ash, racing from the angry mountain’s mouth at great speed. The black cloud glows red inside, lightning crisscrosses within it, and it destroys everything in its path.” Gadreel panted. “It is headed this way!”
Lilith gripped the ground and yanked at her lower body trying to free herself from the rubble. She shrieked and wheezed, and twisted her body while thrashing her wings. “I am unable to free myself from the rocks.”
The pyroclastic cloud was fast approaching with its noxious gasses, heating the air to such temperatures that birds fell from the sky, dead long before the black cloud touched them.
Gadreel gawked at the cloud. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and inched forward. Then she leaped into the pit, ignoring her own pain and pulled away rocks from the pile that ensnared her ally. Soon, Lilith was able to wriggle free, flapping her wings intensely. She snatched Gadreel by the arm and soared to the sky like a great, predatory bird with the other angel in her clutches.
The menacing current of hot gas and volcanic matter approached fast. The intense heat scorched their skin.
Lilith heard loud thunderclaps and glanced behind her to see bolts of lightning and volcanic fires amid the looming cloud of burning ash. The acrid odor emanating from it blew into their nostrils; toxic gasses seeped into their lungs, and drained them of energy. Lilith’s tail hung limply as she raced across the skies. She flew over areas similar to the region she had found Gadreel in, and zoomed past land covered in short grass and woody plants, but barren of trees.
She looked over her shoulder again. This time the cloud was farther away and had begun to slow and dissipate. She searched the ground for refuge and saw sagebrush shrubs and then ergs, barren stone plateaus, and salt flats white as snow. The black cloud continued to expand and reduce speed, so Lilith was finally able to escape into the desert.
Chapter 5
Cloudburst
The cloud was no longer a threat, so Lilith scanned the surface for a place to land. She beheld large, shifting red dunes for miles. Her crushed tail and the blisters on her skin left by the desert sun debilitated her. She made a sweeping descent and released Gadreel on the desert floor from ten feet in the air.
Gadreel plopped on the crest of a dune and rolled to the bottom, landing on her stomach with her face in the sand. She turned over, eyes shut and mo
uth full of sand. She wheezed and coughed wiping the sand from her face.
When she opened her eyes, a large, hairy bug crawled in her direction. She jolted upright and gawped at the creature. Its eight legs propelled it across the desert surface, and it crawled up her leg while she remained immobile. She stiffened as the spider scurried toward her torso. Its body was decorated with radiating black bands, similar to the ones on her wings. There were claws at the end of each little leg, and the spider flashed its fangs.
Gadreel trembled, too terrified to move. The spider scuttled across her chest with its prickly feet and bit her on the breast. She shrieked and gathered enough strength to swat the spider away with a trembling hand. She writhed and moaned, grasping her breast, which was becoming red and twice the size.
The tarantula flew across the sand and landed upturned, but it flipped over quickly and scurried in her direction once again. It did not get far. Lilith crawled, arms dragging her limp tail like a crocodile, and slammed her fist on the spider.
“Revolting creature!” She rubbed her hand on the sand to remove the spider’s parts, her face twisted in disgust. When she was done she glanced at Gadreel, who sat with her knees hugged against her chest. Her wild curls lay flattened by sand and ash.
Lilith extended her hand. “Rise. We must continue before more calamity befalls us.”
Gadreel took her hand and pulled herself up, grasping her swollen breast with the other hand.
“We must be strong. We were exiled to this planet to suffer and be destroyed by it.” Lilith was breathing hard. “The only way we shall survive is through resilience and by holding on to our desire for justice. My yearning to see harm befall God and those who pitched us out of Floraison motivates me.”
Gadreel gazed at Lilith with an agonized expression. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her breast. “I do not know what hurts more, the deep, burning pain of my bitten breast, my damaged wings or my broken heart,” she said in a breath, as if speaking rather to her own soul than to Lilith. Her friend was going down a path she could not follow.
Lilith turned away and slithered ahead, using her arms and hands to advance. Gadreel noticed how her tail lagged behind, deformed, with areas that were uneven and lumpy and others that were smashed flat.
“You must be in much pain.” Gadreel had a wary expression.
“Pain? Pain does not concern me. Look around you––there are a million ways to die here. This planet shall kill us if we let it.”
“You are injured.” Gadreel searched her face to find a hint of vulnerability. “Why not admit you are hurting and accept my help?”
“You wish to help me?” Lilith scoffed as she belly-crawled ahead. “You cannot even help yourself. We do not have a moment to whine, we must move on.”
“Where shall we go?” Gadreel hastened onward. “We no longer have the shrill sound in our heads to guide us. We shall wander aimlessly in this desert until we wither away.”
Lilith rolled her eyes upward. “The sound has returned. Initially it was faint with the noises around us, but now it is clear in my mind once more.”
Gadreel stopped. She tilted and inclined her head. “I too hear the shrill sound!” She beamed with hope and resumed following Lilith.
Before long, she began to drag her feet in the sand. The throbbing pain in her breast gave her cold sweats, and she shivered. Her wings also ached terribly. She did not think she could go much further. As she lacked the courage to ask if they could stop and rest, she toiled away. Lilith was hurt and in great pain, but she had yet to complain and kept dragging herself onward.
Gadreel saw a cloud pass above her in the sky. She puckered her brow and stared as more clouds loomed above them. They grew darker, gathering in ominous grey mounds.
“Why are there so many large, dark clouds?” Gadreel braced herself for one of Lilith’s outbursts but instead she gave her a half shrug and stared at the odd cloud formations too.
Lightning split the air, followed by a thunderclap. Lilith flinched. Gadreel cringed and covered her ears. Twin lightning bolts struck the ground a short distance away. They jolted and screamed as deafening growls, grumbles, and booms accompanied the lightning bolts.
As Lilith stared wide-eyed at the skies, a drop of water landed on her nose. She touched the spot and stared at her wet fingers. “Water falls from the sky, but why?” Another cool drop landed on her head, and one more on her shoulder.
Gadreel closed her eyes and tilted her head back letting the drops fall on her face. She noticed a sweet, pungent zing in her nostrils. A thousand questions floated around in her head, but judging from her friend’s bewildered expression, she knew she would get no answers.
The drops increased, and refreshing rain soon splashed on their scorched skin. Gadreel opened her mouth, allowing rainwater to lubricate her parched throat. She watched Lilith close her eyes and smile, looking like she was enjoying the cooling sensation of the raindrops. The smells around them intensified as the falling water disturbed surface particles and carried them into the air.
“At last!” Lilith took a deep breath. “Nature is finally aiding us.”
Gadreel stood on her toes, stretched her arms out wide and spun in circles, letting the heavy downpour wash the gritty sand off her bare body.
The clouds veiled the sun, and the temperature dropped. Before long, the fallen ones began to regain some of their strength and energy. Lilith lay propped on her elbows on the ground, wings widely spread, head reclined, eyes closed.
The heavy rain slammed the desert hard as it became a torrential downpour. Within minutes, small streams appeared around them. Water rose in every direction. Lilith skimmed the desert’s surface, and her expression changed from blissful to an exasperated grimace.
Gadreel stopped spinning. She, too, noticed the overflowing. Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, she looked to Lilith.
Lilith’s face contorted. She screamed, pounding the ground with her fists, the bulging blood vessels in her neck and forehead throbbing.
The rain from the sudden thunderstorm rushed down the hillsides and mountains, flooding the area. Lilith growled at the heavens, her angry tears mixing with the raindrops that splashed on her dour face.
Gadreel recoiled from her in fright, accidentally stumbling into the path of oncoming floodwaters, which hauled her away.
With renewed strength, Lilith took flight and hovered above Gadreel, who was seized anew by the undercurrent. She outstretched her arm. “Help me! Take my arm and lift me away.”
“Use your wings and escape.” Lilith watched her bob in the sandy water.
“You know I am unable to fly. My damaged wings are dragging me under.”
Lilith gritted her teeth. “I grow weary of your pathetic frailty. Use your good pair of wings to save yourself.”
Gadreel’s wide eyes followed Lilith as she flew away to higher ground, abandoning her to drown in the desert. She clutched at the ground and attempted to stand but tumbled back again and again into the raging waters. Murky water gushed into her mouth, making her gag and cough. Her arms and legs floundered as she surged in the powerful flood. She opened her mouth to break words, slammed it closed, and gulped. Her voice was raspy, barely audible.
“Do not forsake me. We need each other to survive. I shall drown without your help.” Gadreel lost consciousness.
Chapter 6
Great Bird
Samael had been flying for many days and nights when he noticed two figures moving across a large expanse of desert. They were distinct from the other creatures; they looked somewhat like angels for they possessed wings. One dragged her feet, and he wondered if she might be a fallen comrade, but her companion slithered unnaturally across the golden sands. He decided it was safest to watch them from a distance for a while.
Flying became difficult for Samael. His wings were terribly singed, as though flames had engulfed them. Rain began to fall from the skies, initially offering some relief, but within minutes it turned into a tor
rential downpour, which pounded his wings and made them grow heavy. Lightning bolts streaked through the sky all around him. In the desert below, streams of rainwater became rivers.
Samael scanned the desert surface for a safe place to land. He watched, amazed, as the reptilian creature flew away, abandoning the other winged creature to be swept up by the floodwaters. He dove to rescue the drowning creature.
*
Through bleary, half-opened eyes, Gadreel saw a cloudy image of a great bird swoop down. It grasped her by the arm and hoisted her from the powerful current. She felt its hot breath as the creature leaned close to sniffed her, and she was certain the great bird would devour her. She coughed, retched, and lost consciousness once more.
Samael carried the angel to a cliff and set her down. He examined her body for injuries. Although she lay lifeless, he saw the gentle rise and fall of her breast, and knew she was alive. One of her breasts looked twice the size of the other and was red and shiny. Two of the creature’s four wings were burned and disfigured. He stared at the injured being with a pitying expression.
Samael lowered his head and sniffed her. “I recognize this creature’s scent; dulcet as the falling leaves of the Katsura tree in autumn or the fruit of the vanilla orchid in Floraison.” He grinned and nodded. A clump of matted hair masked the being’s face. When he parted it his smile grew wider.
“Gadreel!”
At the sound of the familiar voice, she slowly opened her eyes. Instead of a monstrous bird, she saw a handsome face close to hers.
“Samael?”
His rough hand caressed her cheek, leaving a spot of warmth wherever he touched. She inhaled a deep breath. “Thank God it is you, Samael. Now I am in safe hands.” She exhaled and drifted into a deep sleep.
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