Tracy craned her neck to look back at her glowing appendages. She leaned against a side of the stone bridge for support. “This is a lot.”
“What is?”
“All of this,” Tracy said, taking in the scenery with an outstretched arm. “A supernatural plane, angels and demons, the fact that I’m Disease, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And why did I have to get Disease, anyway? Who was in charge of that? That’s so gross. What are the other ones? Is there a Horseman of fashion or charisma?”
Ardat shook her head. “The four titles—Death, Disease, War, and Famine—are placed randomly on those deemed worthy of the calling. You could have just as likely been Death or War.”
“Great, that makes me feel better. One minute, I’m scheduling vacations in Bali and getting a mani-pedi, the next I’m training for a battle to fend off the Apocalypse for the next thousand years.”
“You were chosen because you could handle the task,” Ardat said firmly. “Don’t start doubting yourself again. You have the strength, even if you don’t know it yet. Now, if you want food and rest to be a part of your near future, you’re going to have to learn how to fly.”
---
Night turned to day in the pit Alan and Kyle called their prison. With no special powers, escape was impossible. Even if Alan could somehow talk Kyle out of his resolve to die, the crater that served as their prison was too deep to escape.
Along with the pain from the beating at Sodom’s hands, came stabs of hunger. Alan was forced to remember it had been a full day since he had food or water.
Sometime during midday, a group of Fallen, led by Rolf, reached the edge of the pit. “You two,” Rolf said, motioning his men to lower a rope ladder into their earth prison, “your time has come. Sodom has prepared something special for you as you depart this world.”
Alan considered not playing their game. He wasn’t going to make it any easier for them than he had to. It seemed Rolf was well aware and prepared for this behavior. “If you do not come,” Rolf said with a sneer, “then I’ll kill you where you stand. Your life means nothing to me. Archers.” Rolf motioned with his hand again.
Alan winced at the pain in his body as he turned in a 360-degree revolution. At the edge of the pit in all directions, soldiers had appeared with strung bows. Evil-looking grins on their faces accompanied a dozen black, barbed arrows pointed at Alan and Kyle.
If hope for escape still existed, it wasn’t in the pit. Alan limped to the rope and painfully pulled himself up hand over hand. As he reached the top, he was yanked the last remaining feet by two large demons wearing black armor. In seconds, his hands were tied behind his back with a thick rope that cut off circulation to his fingers.
“And you?” Rolf asked Kyle, who still sat with his back to one of the sides of the pit. “What will it be? Death where you sit?”
“You’re going to kill me either way,” Kyle said, looking up through a bruised right eye. “Does it really matter if you kill me here or up there?”
Rolf cocked his head to one side, thinking on Kyle’s words. “No, to me it doesn’t matter. But Sodom wants to see you die in a contest rather than a hole in the ground.”
Rolf looked at one of the archers and nodded.
Alan was so confused as to what would happen next, he opened his mouth to shout a warning to Kyle. A fist from the guard on his left doubled him over and another split his lip wide open.
Alan could only watch as the archer Rolf nodded to lowered his weapon and, instead, extended his arms. As if he was made of rubber, the demon’s arms and hands stretched far past their normal limit and wrapped around Kyle’s body. Held in a firm grasp, Kyle was lifted from the pit and placed beside Alan.
If Kyle was surprised, he didn’t show it. His face remained as blank as ever as he was bound and forced to stand next to Alan.
Without a word, Rolf turned his back and walked deeper into the demon encampment. Alan and Kyle were half-pushed, half-carried along. There was no chance to try to talk to Kyle.
What Alan did have an opportunity to do was study the interior of the enemy camp. Everywhere, black tents sprouted from the ground. Scores of Fallen angels stood outside, staring and jeering as the two powerless Horsemen were escorted from the pit.
“Not so tough now!”
“Let’s see those blue wings of yours, Horseman!”
Alan ignored them as he searched for a way to escape, anything at all that might give him an opportunity to run. There was nothing except tents and enemies as far as Alan could see.
Soon, Alan heard a different kind of noise past the mocking and laughter. It sounded like a low rumble. As the sound grew in intensity, Alan knew what he was hearing was a large gathering. Hundreds, maybe thousands of voices were calling out as one, chanting and roaring.
Alan’s heart sank even lower as the outline of a coliseum crested the tops of the tents. “Not as large as we would have liked,” Rolf said, slowing his pace and walking next to Alan, “but it’ll have to do. You should be honored that games were set in motion to mark your death.”
“I’m overjoyed,” Alan said without taking his eyes off the structure.
Time passed much too fast as Alan approached the coliseum and got a clearer view of the building that was meant to mark his death. The coliseum was shabby and ill constructed. A variety of different colored wood planks and rocks were thrown together in such a way that Alan was surprised it was standing. The outside walls stood three stories tall. An arch was set inside one of the walls with a ramp that led downward.
“Well, this is where we part,” Rolf said. “I’ll be waiting to see you die in the coliseum. Try to last more than a few minutes. It took the men the entire night to construct this for you.”
“I’ll be looking for you,” Alan said with sarcasm.
Rolf grinned and walked away.
As Alan and Kyle were escorted below ground, the noise coming from above thundered in his ears. The newly carved earthen walls shook with the clamor, sending tiny pools of earth falling from the ceiling like a small hourglass without a case.
Torches lit either side of the tunnel. Alan and Kyle were shown to a large room, where two groups of prisoners waited. The metal gate was unlatched and Kyle and Alan were shoved inside. Some of the others within the cell Alan recognized as angels, others he did not.
A murmur came from their ranks as someone pushed forward and helped Alan to his feet. It was Seraphim.
She was smiling at him as she brushed blood off his face and began to remove his bonds. “It’s me. You didn’t think I was going to leave you, did you?”
---
For the next few minutes, Alan sat stunned. The joy he felt at seeing the woman he had grown to love turned to sorrow much too swiftly. If Seraphim was there, it meant she was in as much danger as he was.
“How?” Alan managed once Seraphim had freed him.
“I surrendered. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. Every fiber in my being told me to rip their throats out, but the enemy camp is too large to try to fight through. I knew surrendering would be the fastest way to find you.”
“But Sera, you’re here now. They’re going to kill us.”
“Well, then if we die, Alan Price, we die together.”
Alan managed a weak smile.
“If you love birds are done, we should probably come up with some kind of plan … because right now, it looks like the plan is to die. And we should think of something besides dying.”
Alan looked up into the dark eyes of a stranger. He was tall with long black hair pulled into a ponytail. “Who are you?”
“A prisoner, just like you.”
“A demon,” Seraphim said, standing to face the man. “We are nothing like you.”
The stranger gave Seraphim a hard stare. “Take it easy there, ginger. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”
“Wrong.”
Others in the room picked up on the heated conversation and soon, the prisoners formed ranks s
taring at one another with menace. On one side, what made up the larger part of the prison population were Alan, Seraphim, Kyle, and other angels Alan recognized. On the other side was a handful of scrappy strangers Alan could only guess were some kind of deserters or enemies of the demon cause.
One thing Alan knew is that friends, just like hope, were in short supply. If there was a chance these Fallen angels would side with them, swelling their numbers inside the coliseum, then Alan was willing to take the risk. “Wait,” Alan said, walking between the two factions with his arms raised. “Who are you?”
“They’re scum,” Seraphim spit. “Demon mercenaries.”
“If your girlfriend would let me talk, I’d introduce myself. My name’s Bobby. Honestly, she’s not too far from the truth. We are mercenaries. I am a demon or Fallen angel, whichever you like.”
“How did you get here?” Alan asked.
Bobby shrugged. “I’m not a fan of the straight and narrow, but neither do I want to see Sodom in control of the world. If he does bring about the Apocalypse, he’s bound to be placed as the Usurper’s right hand. Sodom is a psychopathic lunatic. A world where he’s in charge is a scary place. When we said we wouldn’t fight for him, he had us thrown in here, branded as traitors.”
“And just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse,” a girl behind Bobby said through slanted eyes, “Sodom lumped us in with the captured angels.”
The way the two factions stared at one another through hate-filled eyes, Alan knew he had to do something soon or they wouldn’t even make it to the arena. As much as he hated siding with any kind of Fallen angel, it seemed as though this was his only choice.
“I understand that years at war has made you hate one another,” Alan said, looking to Bobby and the girl behind him, then to Seraphim and the angels next to her. “I’m not asking you to forgive or even forget. All I’m saying is that to survive, we may have to hold off killing each other here. Like it or not, we have a common enemy.”
The tension in the room was almost tangible. For a brief moment, Alan thought Seraphim was going to lunge at Bobby, disregarding everything Alan had just said. To his surprise, her reaction was the exact opposite. “If not killing them for now means a chance at escape and Sodom’s downfall, then I can wait.”
Alan tried to hide his shock as he looked to Bobby and those beside him for an answer.
“I agree with the ginger. This is the smartest play,” Bobby said with a smile.
Alan let a deep breath escape his lungs. Before anyone could say another word, Sodom’s soldiers appeared at the entrance to their prison. “Get ready, you filthy lot of corpses; the games are about to begin.”
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Seeing the wonder in someone’s eyes as they flew for the first time was something Ardat had forgotten. As expected, Tracy was a natural. Once she got over her initial fear, she was able to maneuver through the sky like she had been performing the act for years.
Ardat hovered in a position over the lighthouse as Tracy wove through the air, doing figure eights and dives. Tracy’s wings were flapping behind her as if they were enjoying the act as much as she was.
“This is amazing,” Tracy said as she came to an awkward standstill beside Ardat. Her wings trembled and her body bobbed up and down as she fought to find the right tempo for her wings to flap that would allow her to hover in the air.
“You’re learning faster than I would have thought,” Ardat said.
Tracy beamed.
“Defense and flying are a good start, but you’ll need to learn how to attack if you’re going to survive the …”
Ardat’s voice trailed off as she caught motion below. A group of dark-clad warriors were making their way across the beach. They had nearly reached the stone bridge connecting the mainland to the island where the lighthouse stood when Ardat saw them.
“Who are they?” Tracy asked as she too noticed the group.
“They aren’t angels,” Ardat said. “Say nothing. Let me handle this.”
Tracy nodded as the two women descended to the bridge below.
“Ahhhh … see! Green wings; I told you it was her,” the lead soldier said, motioning to the dozen men behind him to follow.
Ardat took a step forward, her eyebrow arched. “What is it you want?”
The soldier, a tall demon with red eyes looked Ardat up and down. “It’s not what we want; it’s what Sodom wants and the reward he’s posted. Anyone bringing him the Horseman of Disease is promised a huge purse and a place of high standing when the Apocalypse comes.”
The soldiers were standing only a few feet from Ardat in a single line. Twelve large-shouldered demons all carried weapons ranging from daggers to spears.
“There is nothing for you here but death,” Ardat said. “Turn around.”
A loud laugh came from every single one of Sodom’s soldiers. “Oh, come now,” the same speaker said once he recovered from his fit of mirth. “You’re not going to stand against all of us. Who are you, anyway? Some kind of angel?”
“I’m a Fallen angel, just like you.”
“What’s you name? You don’t look familiar.”
“Ardat.”
The demon’s face went pale. “The—the same Ardat that served as Usurper during the war in heaven?”
Ardat’s tone went cold as she looked each one of them in the eyes. “The same. The same Ardat that crafted celestial weapons from the Colossus of Rhodes and the same Ardat that will be your executioner if you insist on taking the girl.”
Silence passed as the group of soldiers looked at one another for direction. Hushed whispers passed between them as they conferred amongst one another.
Even before they knew they would decide to try to take Tracy, Ardat was readying herself for the attack. They were a group of trained soldiers and, more than that, they were all men. Their superior numbers, egos, and greed for the reward would outweigh their sense.
“Ardat!” Tracy whispered with a fearful voice. “What—what’s happening?”
Ardat’s eyes never moved from the group in front of her. “There is about to be a fight. “Stay behind me and if any one of them gets close, put the shield around you. You’ll be safe.”
“I—I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You can and you will, Tracy.”
There was no more time for banter between the women, as the lead soldier cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we are going to have to insist,” he said in an unsure tone. “The girl comes with us.”
Ardat drew herself up to her full height and rolled up the long sleeves of her cloak. “Well then, what are you waiting for? Come and take her.”
Patience had never been one of Ardat’s strongest traits. Even as her attackers began to fan out and flank her, she struck. Her power over gravity gave her the ability to assault her enemies at a distance. Sending her hands forward to manipulate the air between her and her enemies, she ran to meet them.
Ardat sent short but powerful jabs of force against her enemies’ throats and knees. Screams split the air from those who could still manage shouts of pain. All around her, her enemies fell. Some grabbing their throats, others crumpling under the lack of strength in their shattered knee caps.
The first six were easy to dispatch. Ardat’s speed and surprise attack gave her the upper hand. As she moved closer, her advantage began to decrease. One of the demons to her right swung in a wide arc with a long sword. Ardat ducked the blow and sent a strike to his stomach then two more to his jaw in quick succession. The demon fell to the ground, dazed.
Her next obstacle came at her in a pair, one slashing out with a razor-sharp tongue and the other transforming his right arm into a pointed spike. Rather than take her time dealing with them, Ardat sent a shock forward with both hands. Each of the men was lifted a hundred feet into the air and thrown so far they were lost against the horizon.
The three soldiers left looked at her then to each other. Before they could act, Ardat sla
mmed two of them straight down into the stone floor. It would feel as though they were trapped under hundreds of pounds, but in fact, only the gravity above them, controlled by Ardat, was keeping them there.
The last soldier dropped his lance and fell to his knees. “Please, mercy, have mercy on your fellow demon. I beg of you, mercy.”
“Gather your wounded and go,” Ardat said through clenched teeth. “Tell Sodom the Horsewoman of Disease does not belong to him. And if he sends another force, tell him to send hundreds and do not insult me with another band of children.”
The demon trembled and nodded vigorously. Ardat released the weight on the other two demons. They wasted no time or words as they gathered up the wounded and fled before Ardat.
“That—that was amazing,” Tracy gasped. “You’re, you’re like a superhero.”
Satisfied her enemies were gone and they were safe for the time being, Ardat wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. “Not exactly like a superhero, but I get your point.”
“Will I be able to do that one day?” Tracy asked, mimicking Ardat’s moves as she chopped and swatted the air in front of her, fighting a horde of invisible enemies.
“One day soon, you will be able to do much more than that, Tracy,” Ardat said. “Your power as a Horsewoman is almost without measure. You are the only one holding yourself back.”
---
“And she just left?” Raphael asked, astonished. “She’s gone?”
“That’s what Esther said,” Danielle reaffirmed. “She blew past the guards at the Temple entrance and ran straight for the enemy camp. I think it was her attempt at saving Alan but …” Danielle shook her head, lost for words.
“She’s a fool.” Raphael practically shook with anger. “I should have seen this coming.”
Danielle readjusted her glasses as she placed a hand on Raphael’s shoulder.
“I’m fine now,” he said, gently taking her hand off his arm. “Thanks to you and your healing powers, I’ve recovered in a fraction of the time it would have taken me otherwise.”
The Complete Archangel Wars Series: A Shared Universe Series (The Archangel Wars) Page 61