“Careless? You don’t understand. I no longer need to exist in the physical world, just as I no longer need your assistance.”
“You can not revive God without Zeke.”
Metatron laughed. “You are mistaken. I seem to have stumbled across a part of his soul. I can now initiate the resurrection myself. There is no more need for your pathetic mouse.” He brushed past Micah and made for the door.
“It won’t work. I’ve seen to that.”
The angel stopped. “Don’t worry. I won’t destroy you. Not yet,” he said, although he knew the man was not pleading for his life. “I’m glad that you have summoned me. It gives me a chance to tie up some old business.”
“Business?” Micah sneered. “That’s not the reason. You won’t destroy me because you’re afraid. You’re afraid you can’t pull it off. And God knows that too, so he won’t allow a slave like you to harm me.”
“Comfort yourself however you see fit. I will come for you soon.” Metatron vanished, presumably to take care of his business. Micah decided not to worry about him just yet. He also had business to attend to.
Elijah sat in his infirmary, tinkering with a gun. It was unusual, trying to engineer a stronger weapon in a place of healing, but Zeke was still asleep, and the sage insisted on watching over him.
It was also a good way to conserve heat, since the Mediterranean had become quiet cold over the past few days. No one stayed too long by themselves. It was easier to heat only a few rooms at a time. The infirmary was high on the priority list. Everyone in his complex seemed to find excuses to drop in, so Elijah thought nothing strange when the door opened.
“Oh, you’re still here,” came the soft voice of Ariel.
He turned. “Yes. I thought I’d bring my work in here and look over him.” He nodded to the gun, which appeared to be taking the shape of a rifle.
“Your work? What are you doing?” she asked, sitting next to him.
“It’s for Daniel. He is very good with his chosen weapons, but his handicap will always be the number of bullets he can carry. I’ve been tinkering with this rifle, and I’ve asked some of my assistants to melt down pieces of the Staff of Son Wukong. If I’m lucky, I may be able to make a gun that doesn’t have a limit.”
“So that magic weapon stuff . . . it really works, doesn’t it?”
“The power of Razael’s Book does seem infinite, as does the weapons it has spawned.”
“And the malice that it spread,” Ariel added. There was a long pause. “How about Zeke?” she asked. “Is he doing any better?”
“No change. He’s only sleeping, but can’t be woken up.”
“But it’s been days! You mean you still don’t even know what’s wrong?”
“Unfortunately, his affliction is not of this world. I can’t treat him. I don’t think we can do anything but wait.”
Ariel stood and walked to the window. There wasn’t much to see. A small sheet of frost covered the view of the endless night. “Maybe it’s better this way, with the world freezing to death. Perhaps it’s best that he doesn’t know what’s happening.”
Elijah followed her to the window. She thought she detected a hit of worry on the sage’s face. But it passed quickly, and she pushed it from her mind.
“Now, dear, don’t get yourself down,” he said. “There is still hope. He hasn’t been injured. Providing he wakes up, he’ll be as good as ever.”
She tried to smile.
“And don’t forget Daniel,” continued the sage. “He’s still out there, working for a way to save us.” He took her arm and led her to the door. “Why don’t you go get some rest? You’ll feel better if you sleep a bit.”
“But what about . . .”
“I’ll let you know as soon as he wakes up.” He spoke faster than usual.
“All right then,” she replied, suspicious of the sage’s sudden change in behavior.
He gave her an unusually strong push into the hallway and slammed the door behind her, locking it. They had not been alone in the room, but only the sage could feel the presence of the spy.
“It’s been a long time, Enoch,” he said. White light flashes.
Ariel didn’t want to sleep.
If she slept, she couldn’t do anything else. It was the ultimate state of helplessness. She had been invalid for the better part of ten years. Even then she could ask for help. But in sleep . . .
She found Jack outside. He was standing still, gazing up at the sky. He didn’t look cold, but his breath billowed out before his face, turned to a cloud of fog, then rained to the ground. “Damn this is creepy,” he said.
Without the sun, the earth froze quickly. At first it rained. The rain soon turned to snow. Then it all stopped. There was no wind, no clouds, no waves on the sea. It was as if the earth simply stopped moving altogether.
The sea in front of them, stretching out toward Rome, was solid ice. Smooth, like glass. On the other side of the island, hundreds of kilometers out to sea, the water was probably still freezing. Somewhere, it may still be liquid.
But here it was ice.
“No sun. No weather. Nothing,” Ariel said. A pathetic attempt to make conversation.
“No worries,” Jack replied, a glimmer of his old self coming through. “We’ve got Giggles McHappy up there to take care of us.” He nodded up at the giant dragon suspended in the sky, glowing malevolently where the sun should have been. It was the only sign that it was day time.
A man walks across the ice. His feet hang down, reflected on the surface in the dim light of the Destroyer.
The image passed through Ariel’s mind like a vision. A premonition. It was an odd feeling, but she understood what was happening. She stood up straight and stared across the water, dazed.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked.
“He’s here.”
“Who’s here?” He looked around, but didn’t see anyone.
“Micah.”
It took a moment to sink in. “Wait, you mean the Karellan? The Karellan is coming here?”
“He’s calling for me.” She ignored Jack and stared out at the ice.
“What? What are you talking about? I don’t hear anything?”
“Stay here. I have to go.” She started down the trail towards the beach.
He ran a few steps in her direction, but stopped. “Where are you going?” She didn’t answer. “Okay, then,” he said to himself. “If anyone asks, I’ll just say you went off on a date with the guy who tried to kill Zeke. Right. That makes sense.” He laughed darkly to himself as he went up toward the complex.
Unlike the dying earth, the sky was very much alive. With no clouds in the sky, the night was full of stars. These were winter stars. Stars that should not have been seen in July. But the sea was frozen. The weather was far colder than the average Italian winter.
She’s coming, Micah thought. He could feel it. Sense it. She was close now. After ten years of living above her, when not even his spies knew who she was or why she was there, after ten years of believing she was dead, here she was. Heading straight for him.
He smiled.
He walked quickly, but was careful not to lose his balance. The ice was smooth. Thick. It reflected the stars as brightly as they shone above him. He would have suspected he were walking through the sky, had it not been for his own image hanging down beneath him.
He saw a shape in the distance. Ariel. Almost without thinking, he began chanting an old fairy tale by one of his favorite storytellers. It came to him easily; Mee, a fairy princess danced on the surface of a lake in the moonlight. His voice carried far across the barren sea.
In the distance, she heard his song, the description of an elf clothed and jewelled in the night air and stars. It reminded her of ages ago, when he would read to her in the wilderness. When they would escape from the encampment and run off into the woods for a few hours of privacy. The song was familiar to her, and she called back to him in verse.
Her voice made its way across the ic
e. He could see her now, make out her form. She was strong, without even a trace of a limp. It had taken ten years, but she had made a full recovery. He answered her song, the elven princess looking down at the surface of the water, seeing Princess Shee dancing in the pool, mimicking Princess Mee's movements. Mimicking Micah and Ariel's movements, walking with their own reflected counterparts on the crystalline sea.
They drew close, reaching out to each other. Micah watched her hair glow in the starlight, and she could see his soft, loving eyes.
The eyes that only she ever saw.
“Micah Frostbane.” Ariel smiled and took his hands. “It’s been ten years and you’re still spouting fairy tales. A work of Tolkien, if I remember your lessons correctly.”
He laughed shyly. “A thousand years ago they told tales of Beowulf and Arthur. Five hundred years ago it was Grimm and Anderson. Today we tell the stories of Tolkien. Perhaps, in five hundred years, someone will tell our story.”
They smiled at each other. “It seems like a lifetime,” he said.
“Ten years.”
“I thought you were dead.” Micah fought back a tear.
“I recovered. It took me a long time, but Zeke took good care of me.” Her thoughts wandered to him for a moment. Lying unconscious with an ethereal wound.
All because of Micah.
“We were afraid you were dead,” she said.
“I’ve missed so much of your life.” Unconscious, wounded, or otherwise, he suddenly felt jealous of Zeke. “I . . . I should have been there to help you.”
“I won’t pretend I didn’t miss you every day over the last decade, but please, don’t worry about that now. It’s in the past. It can’t be changed.”
“And now we’re in the present.” His voice sounded very hopeful. He was probably the only person in the world still thinking positively.
“That’s not much of a statement with the planet freezing to death. In July.”
Micah gazed up at the stars. “The Ancient Norse believed that the coming of Ragnarok—the final battle that signified the end of the world—would be hailed by three winters together, with no summer between them.” It felt right to say so. It reminded him of his lessons, ages before.
Ariel, however, broke free of nostalgia for a moment. She was shocked. He had no respect for their situation. “Micah, the world is dying! We’re part of that!”
For a brief moment, he stared at her, not speaking. She was afraid he hadn’t heard her, but then he spoke. “We don’t have to be.”
“What?”
“We can escape. You and me. The legend also says that during Ragnarok, a man and a woman would hide together in the tree of life and survive. Come with me!”
She broke free of his embrace. “This isn’t a fairy tale!” For ten years she had loved this man and prayed to see his face one more time. And now she could feel nothing but anger towards him. She took a step back, trying to balance her emotions. “Micah . . . I love you, but . . . but you killed all those people. You’ve done terrible things. You’ve created monsters.”
“I know it will be difficult to understand,” he explained sadly, “but it was all for the greater good. If I succeed, everyone—living and dead—can live in paradise.”
“What do you mean? If you succeed? You mean there’s a chance you won’t? Then what? You just killed everyone for no reason?”
“That’s why I need Zeke,” he pleaded. “Soon Metatron will go to the ethereal plane, and there he will try to revive God. With your help—with Zeke’s help—we can stop him. Together, we can create the god we want.”
“The god you want!” she yelled. Her voice died into the night. Micah didn’t speak. He took a step back, unsure of what to say. Ariel, fighting tears, forced herself calm. “I’m sorry . . . I just can’t do it. I can’t help you.”
After ten years, a lot had changed. The last thing he expected from Ariel was a rejection. “Very well,” he said calmly. “I will try to stop him alone. Should you change your mind, though, I’m leaving you the Adramelech. You’ll find it in Rome.”
He turned and headed back toward land, hurrying before he lost his composure. He would not break down in Ariel’s presence.
She ran after him, trying to catch him. Instead she slipped. Micah, ever skilled and powerful, turned and caught her before she hit the ice.
“So is this it?” she asked in tears. “Is this goodbye again?”
“I’m afraid it has to be.” He helped her stand. “Don’t worry. I’ve created a god, I’ve destroyed the world, and I will rebuild it as paradise. I’ve done that all for you. I promise you that some day we can be together again.”
They kissed. Only once, then they returned to shore. Opposite shores. Each one on a different side of the battlefield.
“You’re looking well, brother.”
The malak and the sage squared off. Elijah kept Zeke behind him, protecting him. “You are no longer human. We can not still be brothers.”
“Is that an attempt to insult me?” laughed the angel. “Trading my human form for this one was the best thing I’ve ever done. The wisdom you’ve gleaned from the centuries is nothing compared to the power I gained on the day we found the book.”
“You have no power. You are nothing more than a slave to God. You don’t even have a will of your own.” He hovered defensively, but Metatron made no move to attack.
“You are mistaken. Thanks to Frostbane’s mouse here, I have the power to incite the resurrection myself. Using the soul I stole from him, I will no longer be a slave. I will be God.”
“Is that why he sleeps? You’ve taken his soul?”
“Only a part of it, but I have enough. And now, if you will step aside and allow me to kill him, I will have no one to stop me.”
“Enoch, you know you can’t have him.”
The malak grinned. “I expected resistance.”
Metatron throws forward his arm, sending a beam of energy at his one-time brother. But the sage is fast. He spreads his arms, casting his own spell. The malak’s beam hits a magical barrier. Sparks fly where the magical energies meet. Neither brother relents. The spells continue to clash.
“You can not have him,” Elijah says calmly.
“We’ll see.”
Metatron throws his other arm forward. A second bolt of energy joins the first. Elijah’s barrier sparks wildly. He struggles. He can’t hold the barrier. The malak’s power is too strong.
But he has another plan.
He claps his hands together in front of him. The barrier gives way, and Metatron’s blast hits Elijah in the chest.
But another blast, one sent by the sage, flies at the malak.
Light explodes in the room.
Even before she reached the shore, Ariel knew something was wrong. Lights were on all over the complex. She could see people running back and forth, shouting. She ran to the beach. From the top of the trail, she could hear two monks talking. But she only made out one word.
“Infirmary.”
Ariel ran.
She darted up the trail and slammed herself into the door of the main building. It flew open. A cloud of heat escaped out into the night. Jack stood in the commons.
“What’s happening?” she asked him.
“I think you should see this,” he answered solemnly. She followed him with a nervous knot in her stomach. He led her, as she had guessed, to the infirmary. When he opened the door, the first thing she saw was Zeke.
Standing in the center of the room.
“Zeke! You’re awake!” She ran to him, but nearly tripped over group of monks, huddled on the floor near him.
“Yeah. I woke up just as it was happening.”
“Just as what was happening?”
He nodded at the monks. She looked closely. They were passing medical supplies back and forth. She could see someone on the floor. Someone they were trying very carefully to lift onto a stretcher.
Elijah.
Ariel let out a small cry.
“It was Metatron,” Zeke explained. “They were fighting. Elijah destroyed him . . . but they don’t expect him to make it.”
The monks lifted the sage then slid him slowly off the board and onto the bed. The sage was tied up with bandages, tubes, and masks. Looking out, he caught Zeke’s eye. “It’s in your hands now. Please . . .” he said weakly, then he passed out.
They left Elijah to the monks and retreated back to the commons. The excitement in the room had died. Most of the monks were now working busily in the infirmary or had returned to their usual tasks.
“I know this is sudden,” Zeke said, “but we have to go. I need to find Metatron as soon as I can.”
“Sure thing,” said Jack, who had learned better than to question a hunt for a monster that had already been killed. Twice. “Beats sitting around this Mediterranean Winter Wonderland.”
“You two go ahead,” Ariel said. They looked at her curiously. “I’d like to stay here.”
“Ariel?”
“Please. I’ll be fine,” she said. “There’s something I need to do. Something I feel responsible for.”
She was stronger know. She no longer needed help. And Zeke had to find Metatron before the resurrection. “All right. If you’re sure you’ll be okay.”
“I will. Now go. And be careful.”
With a quick nod, the two men ran into the night. Ariel watched them go, then turned to the wall of weapons.
I’ve created a god, I’ve destroyed the world, and I will rebuild it as paradise. I’ve done that all for you.
She pulled Gungnir from the wall. “I’m sorry, Micah, but I can’t accept that.” She left the commons and followed the hallway to the training room.
Jack fired up Quetzalcoatl’s engines and the ship lifted off into the dead air.
“So where we headed?” he asked.
“I have to get to the ethereal plane. That’s where Metatron is.”
“Fine with me. Unfortunately, I think you’ll find Quetzalcoatl prefers a more physical flight destination. Anyone else know how to get there?”
He thought for a moment. “Micah, I guess.”
Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods Page 29