The Complete Archangel Wars Series: A Shared Universe Series (The Archangel Wars)

by Jonathan Yanez

  Alan raked his mind for a solution. Short of chopping them into bite-size pieces, he was coming up with a blank. Then the last person he would have thought to find a solution swooped down beside him.

  Kyle landed with a less than graceful thud. “Hey, I think I know of a way we can defeat them.”

  Upon hearing his proclamation, the phoenix he sat on shook furiously, making Kyle grab onto its crimson feathers to stay seated.

  “Okay, okay,” Kyle said, pointing to his phoenix. “By ‘I’ I mean him.”

  “You can hear your phoenix talk?” Alan asked, sidestepping another attack and blasting away his enemy with a forceful blow from his wings.

  “Yeah,” Kyle said, jumping down from his steed’s back with a grimace. “His voice is in my head though. Wow, hearing myself say that out loud kind of makes me sound crazy.

  Alan thought for a moment what it would be like hearing all three of his own dogs of war speak. As he saw them ripping apart the zombie soldiers with glee, he was glad he didn’t have to find out. That many voices in his head would be overwhelming.

  “Well, enlighten us,” Kassidy said as she absorbed a blow, thanks to the protective shell of tiny yellow comets that shielded her from any attack.

  “We need to gather them all together. I mean, we need them in one spot. The phoenix said he can do the rest,” Kyle said.

  Alan caught Tracy’s eye to make sure she had heard the plan. The Horsewoman of Disease was still atop her unicorn, stabbing with her spear. She gave Alan a quick nod.

  Likewise, Cratos lifted his head and shouted a deep rumbling bellow. All the minotaurs left in the fight swung their massive horned heads to receive direction. Without words, Cratos lifted a hand, pointed to an enemy, then closed his fist and slammed it into his opposite palm.

  If we survive this, we need hand signals, Alan thought as he and the other Horsemen joined the minotaurs in gathering Sodom’s enchanted warriors and herding them into a mass of wriggling bodies. The task was not easy. Every time Alan threw one of the ebony-clad warriors into the area where they were all being amassed, it would stand back up and charge once again.

  Alan was sweating under the strain of catching, then pushing back the never-ending force of enchanted soldiers. Kyle was right beside him, his phoenix nowhere in sight.

  “How exactly is this supposed to work?” Alan asked, trying to sound optimistic.

  “You’ll see,” Kyle said as he wiped perspiration from his own brow. His eyes lifted to the ominous sky above. “Here he comes now.”

  Alan looked up but instead of a phoenix, all he saw was a comet. A ball of fire raced toward the withering mass of soldiers the Horsemen and minotaurs had caught and gathered together.

  Alan did a double take when he realized that wasn’t a meteor; it was Kyle’s phoenix racing to the ground. “Can he survive that?” Alan asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kyle said with a shrug. “I told him it was a bad idea but he insisted.”

  Alan’s jaw dropped as the plummeting phoenix made contact with Sodom’s zombie soldiers with enough force to shake the ground itself. An inferno of flames erupted, consuming the horde of enemies. Alan and Kyle were thrown to the side with all the power a bomb would have, blasting them back in the aftermath of its detonation.

  Smoke filled Alan’s lungs, making him cough violently. His head was buzzing and his eyes were streaming as he fought his way back to his feet.

  “Are you okay?” Alan heard Kassidy’s voice as she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

  Alan coughed again, forcing an answer out through dry lungs. “I think so.”

  To his right, Tracy was helping Kyle. Alan turned his head back to the spot of the phoenix’s impact, where a crater now marked the spot. Around them, dark ash fell from the sky like confetti. All of Sodom’s zombie soldiers had been destroyed in the inferno.

  Mintoaurs were struggling to their feet, roaring their approval. The war with Sodom himself and his normal demon force was still waging, but it was a small victory for the Light, nevertheless.

  “He says he’s all right,” Kyle said, trying to clean his face from ash but only smearing it in worse. “Why did I have to get the suicidal one?”

  No one had a chance to answer him. A rush of wings and a roar that made Alan’s heart vibrate in his chest filled the next few seconds. Rolf was walking toward the Horsemen through the smoke and ash, a large monster of a dragon following in his wake.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six

  “White is not a fitting color on you, Ardat,” Gabriel said as he rested and gathered his strength.

  Michael and Rafael were both battling Sodom. Michael sent lightning bolts at his enemy like arrows from a bow, while Raphael got in close with his trident and tested for a hole in Sodom’s defenses.

  “Shut up and fight,” Ardat said as she raced once again into the battle. Thus far, the Archangels and Ardat had held their own; however, Ardat had a sick sinking feeling Sodom was only toying with them.

  Something between a sneer and a smile was plastered across his face as he maneuvered around attacks and sometimes allowed their strikes to hit with no apparent damage taken to himself.

  With a motion of his hand, Sodom blasted Raphael back, striking him with a stream of dark energy. Michael’s lightning bolts were on target, but Sodom had erected some kind of shield around him that was absorbing the blows.

  Ardat set her jaw and hammered Sodom with the strongest attack she could muster. It was a skill she had used many times before. Increasing the gravity around Sodom a thousand fold would send him careening straight into the ground below, forced down by an invisible crushing weight. To her horror, her attack did nothing except draw Sodom’s ghostly white eyes toward her.

  “Ardat, Ardat, Ardat,” he repeated in a stern voice as he drifted toward her. “If I thought at all you would consider joining me, I would offer. However, I understand the bonds of love run deep between you and Michael.” A wicked gleam crossed his face. “That gives me an idea. You should have a front row seat to Michael’s death.”

  Sodom extended his right hand in a vice-like grip as if he had Michael by the throat. To her horror, Michael began to choke and gasp under the act. Michael stopped hurling lightning bolts and instead lifted both hands to his throat and fought with the invisible hold.

  Ardat screamed in rage. She looked to the ground below, gathering weapons of every kind; maces, swords, axes, clubs, whatever she could find.

  In the brief moments it took her to marshal her attack, Gabriel appeared by Michael’s side. He extended both hands forward and let out a stream of channeled fire. At the same time, Raphael appeared and sent a similar force of blue energy at Sodom.

  Michael gasped, sucking in long draughts of air. What his brothers were doing was enough to draw Sodom’s attention from his attack on Michael. Now their enemy was forced to concentrate his energy on holding the shield around him.

  “We could use the help, if you’re ready,” Gabriel breathed. “I don’t know how long I can keep this up.”

  Michael nodded as a small yellow ball of electric energy grew in his hands. When it was basketball size, he launched his attack, sending a constant force of lightning at Sodom.

  There were so many colors and so much energy now hammering against Sodom’s shield, he was lost to sight. All Ardat could see was the spot of impact as the immeasurable amount of supernatural power battered against Sodom’s shield.

  Squinting against the growing light that was coming from the point of impact, Ardat screamed as she sent her own attack into the mix. Hundreds of steal and iron weapons raced toward Sodom, striking with as much force as she could muster.

  A flash of bright light blinded everyone on the battlefield as an explosion rocked the area. The Archangels and Ardat were heaving with exertion. Smoke and steam from so much energy in one concentrated location was obscuring their vision of where Sodom had just stood.

  “I think, I think we beat him,” Raphael said, fly
ing to the group.

  Ardat let hope fill her for the briefest moment. Could that have been it? she asked herself. Had they managed to defeat Sodom?

  “Ugh, I knew I should have sided with him,” Gabriel’s voice said, shattering the growing joy Ardat was beginning to feel.

  Ardat followed Gabriel’s line of sight. As the smoke, steam, and snapping energy dissipated, a figure was beginning to form, gliding toward them from the fog of war. It was Sodom. Steam rose off him in waves. The smile that played across his thin lips a moment before was gone. “How dare you think you could ever defeat me,” he screamed, spittle flying with every word. “I will kill you all!”

  Then he was gone. Vanished only to appear among them the next moment. There was no way anyone could be that fast. Sodom was disappearing and reappearing at will. One millisecond he was behind Gabriel, sending a crushing strike to his skull, the next moment he was beside Raphael, tearing at his wing with black matter that streamed from his hands as if they were on fire.

  It was a nightmare. There was no time to react. In seconds, Ardat had suffered multiple strikes to her face and abdomen. Blood was streaming from a mass of wounds that covered her and the Archangels. The most frustrating part was they had no chance to return the strikes.

  Just as soon as it began, it was over. Sodom appeared behind Michael, raising both fists over his head and bringing them down on Michael’s shoulders. The force bent Michael’s armor and sent him plummeting to the ground below, unconscious. Without a second’s hesitation, Ardat raced after him.

  Using her ability over gravity, she caught Michael before he hit the ground and drew him toward her. Her feet hit the earth as his body safely touched down beside her.

  He was breathing. Ardat let out an exhale of air she didn’t know she was holding. Beside her, Raphael slammed into the soil and right beside him Sodom appeared, holding Gabriel’s limp body by his ebony hair.

  The mad demon threw Gabriel’s unmoving form away without a second look as he focused on Ardat. Insanity was clear in his eyes. He stalked toward her. Ardat stood over Michael’s body and for the first time in a very long time, she said a prayer. Help me, don’t let Michael die. I’ll do anything.

  Lightning struck the ground between Ardat and Sodom. Sodom paused as he studied the figure of the old man that appeared out of thin air in front of him. Ardat’s heart caught in her throat.

  “See to Michael,” the Shaman said to Ardat without turning his back on Sodom. “I will handle this.”

  “Handle me? Will you, old man?” Sodom sneered.

  The Shaman raised himself up to his full height, extending the walking cane in front of him. “You have no authority here, demon. Accept your place and move aside. There will be no mercy if you choose otherwise.”

  Sodom, who seemed to find the old man comical at first, now roared with rage at being addressed in such a way. Dark matter formed in Sodom’s right hand. He wasted no time in hurtling it at the Shaman.

  With a wave of his staff, the Shaman blocked the attack as if he were swatting a fly. A loud snap echoed in Ardat’s ears as the Shaman battered away yet another attack.

  Sodom screamed in frustration as he threw more and more assaults at the Shaman. Again and again, they were swatted away with practiced ease.

  Seeing that his current course of violence was getting him nowhere, Sodom disappeared for a moment. Ardat shouted a warning to the Shaman but her words were unneeded.

  As soon as Sodom appeared behind the Shaman and struck, his fist met empty air. The Shaman was gone, disappearing even faster than Sodom.

  “Show yourself!” Sodom roared into the empty air.

  The Shaman reappeared right in front of Sodom, striking him with his cane across the face. Blood dripped from Sodom’s nose. The tyrannical demon brought a hand to his face and then examined the black blood on his fingers with a mix of rage and wonder. “You, who are you?”

  All merriment that normally accompanied the Shaman’s disposition was gone. Ardat had to remind herself that the Shaman was on her side. The look on the old man’s face was one she had never seen on anyone else’s. The closest words she could think to describe his features were, righteous anger.

  “I am the protector of the balance that must be kept between the Light and the Darkness until the final battle will decide the Light has won. And this is not that day. The Apocalypse will be held for at least another one thousand years,” the Shaman said.

  “Even you must see, old man, that the time for the end is upon us,” Sodom screamed. “Now more than ever, the Light has failed. The Angelic Army is in ruins. Even now, they only hold a chance because everyone else has united with them.” Sodom’s eyes took in the centaurs, minotaurs, and the Horsemen who were battling all around them. “These creatures, these human Horsemen are beneath us as angels and demons. Their time is over. They will pass away and only we will remain.”

  “They may pass away,” the Shaman said, circling Sodom to put himself between him and Ardat and the wounded Archangels, “but their actions today will echo in eternity. The bravery of mortals and who you call ‘these creatures’ will hold back the tide of the Apocalypse even against you and your master.”

  “Blasphemy!” Sodom screamed as blackness gathered around him. “They are nothing to me or my master. I am their god!”

  “There is only one God,” the Shaman said as white energy snapped and crackled around him, “and He does not forsake those who follow Him.”

  Sodom screamed something unintelligible and the forces of Light and Dark clashed once again.

  ---

  The sheer size of the monster was enough to make Alan shudder. Even for him, the Horseman of War, fear was a very real force he had to remind himself to ignore. The inky scaled dragon marching behind Rolf was the size of a mountain. Every single combatant, regardless of whose side they fought on, ran in front of the monstrosity.

  Alan witnessed one of the few zombie warriors that had survived the phoenix’s attack be pulverized under one large, clawed paw of the dragon.

  You can do this, Alan heard himself saying internally. One more enemy. Michael and Raphael will succeed. This is your fight. There’s no running. You’ve been running your whole life; it’s time to meet your enemy head on.

  “We should really get a list of mythical animals we’re going to come across during this war,” Tracy said as she reined in her unicorn beside Alan, “at least that way, we can know what we might be coming up against.”

  “Running is probably not an option, is it?” Kyle said, looking to his peers.

  Kassidy gave him a disapproving stare.

  “I know.” Kyle took a deep breath. “I just thought I’d ask.”

  Rolf still stalked toward them from across the battlefield. Alan knew Rolf was enjoying the moment as he allowed fear to gather in their hearts.

  “Little brother,” Cratos said, appearing beside the group of Horsemen, “what can the minotaurs do to help?”

  Alan tore his eyes from his enemy to study the minotaur. Cratos was covered in wounds, as were most of the remaining warriors of his race. They had sacrificed everything in this fight. It was Alan’s turn to do his part. “You’ve done more than enough, my friend,” Alan said, grabbing the minotaur by the shoulder—an act that forced him to raise his hand as high as he could in order to do so. “Help the centaurs and the rest of the Angelic Army rein in the surviving demons. We’ll handle this.”

  Cratos opened his muzzle to protest. Alan was anticipating this. “You are a great warrior, my friend, and no one will ever question your courage. But the minotaurs can save more lives by pushing back the rest of Sodom’s demons. Our abilities as Horsemen will be needed to combat Rolf’s summoned creature. We have to do this, Cratos. This is our fight.”

  A look of understanding crossed Cratos’s face. He reached out with a large hand, grabbing Alan’s shoulder with enough pressure to make him wince. “I understand this, little brother. Channel your aggression, embrace your pain.”
>
  Reluctantly, Cratos released Alan and motioned for his minotaurs to leave.

  “Where are they going?” Tracy asked as Alan rejoined the other Horsemen. “They’re coming back, right? They’re going to get reinforcements?”

  Kassidy studied Alan’s face before answering for him. “Alan sent them away. They’ve sacrificed enough for us. They’d only be killed by the dragon.”

  Alan nodded along with Kassidy’s words. “I still can’t believe you’re that same girl I took to Raphael’s hut by the sea.”

  “I’ve had good teachers,” Kassidy said, smiling.

  “Hey guys, I don’t mean to break up the words of affirmation that are being tossed around, but we have a big problem,” Kyle said, motioning to the approaching dragon.

  As if it weren’t massive enough, the colossal beast had grown even larger as it approached.

  Alan’s dogs snarled as they pawed the dirt, readying themselves. Still hundreds of yards away, Rolf motioned to his summoned creature to stay and walked toward the group by himself. He was smiling as he came, his dreadlocks falling around his face like snakes.

  “I thought we should exchange words before I kill you,” Rolf shouted to them as he approached. “This is the end. Sodom will mark the end of your Archangels, and I will kill you, heralding the beginning of the end.”

  Although his smile was authentic and Alan was sure Rolf meant every word, the demon was doing a poor job hiding his fatigue. Summoning a beast of that size had to be draining on Rolf. Sooner or later, Rolf would have to relinquish the power needed to hold the dragon. If Alan could only keep Rolf talking, perhaps preoccupy the demon with something.

  Alan’s plan was barely conceived before he knew it wouldn’t work. With a snap of Rolf’s fingers, the dragon began to gallop forward, shaking the earth as it came. It seemed Rolf was also aware of his ability to summon and hold a creature of that size.

  Alan looked at Kyle, Kassidy, and Tracy as their eyes narrowed and they fought back their own fear as they stared down the charging monster.