A Gluttony Of Faith

by Steven Lindsay

  Nuriel looked about in fascination as he led her along the streets. Raphael might be very familiar with Jerusalem, but her duties rarely took her here. She remembered what it had been like millennia ago but since the War had begun she had battled in the Cherubim and by the time it had finished she had started doing investigations for the Arch Angels. Such duties had taken her far from Angel held territory, by the time she had claimed the top job she almost never had any reason to visit the Angels’ powerbase.

  Raphael, on the other hand, as an Arch Angel regularly visited all the Angel strongholds on the Surface, and there was none higher than Jerusalem. It had been their first Human city, and they would hold onto it until all their power was destroyed. Since then they had built more holy cities, but Jerusalem was their prize.

  It was a beautiful city, ancient in Human terms. It was so strange to think that nearly every city in the world was younger than herself, buildings far younger than her had crumbled into ruin. To Humans Jerusalem was one of their oldest still surviving cities, to her, she remembered the Jews first settling it. She had never really paid much attention to the fact that mortal and immortal lives were just so very different. Rocks didn’t last as long as she had been alive.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  She looked at him, he was watching her with those warm amber eyes of his, there was clear interest in them. “How Human civilisation is barely older than I am. I remember this city being founded.”

  “As do I, though I was only a child at the time.”

  “I was young maiden at the time, my father had taken all my siblings to visit the strange people who had escaped the Egyptian Gods to worship their then unknown God. Little was I to know that it was the Angels. Strange how things change.”

  “I know, to think I stand as one of the Arch Angels when I remember my childhood under the Gods.”

  “But is it for the better?” shit she hadn’t meant to blurt that out. Raphael despite his cuteness was an Arch Angel, the most powerful Angels in the world.

  “Sometimes I wonder. Life under the Gods was a simpler time, the world worked.”

  “I didn’t think an Arch Angel would have such views.”

  “My position was given to me by Michael to compound his and Gabriel’s power after the Old Council was devastated by the Apocalypse and War. Michael knows that in most things I will support him, Gabriel knows I am a competent general and able to think for myself but will not stray far beyond their control.”

  “That’s a terrible thing to say about yourself!”

  “It is what everyone else says about me. People forgot to curb their tongues around a young girl who in her ignorance came to ask me what they meant. Since then I have sometimes ghosted the hallways listening to the chatter. People might fear the Arch Angels, but they have no qualms complaining or gossiping about us.”

  “Sariel asked you that?”

  He smiled, “Indeed, she did, she couldn’t understand why people would say mean things about me because I was so nice.”

  She laughed “Ah she always did have a way of making you feel good about yourself. She once told me that Gabriel might be scary but winning her approval showed a wonderful merit in my abilities. She then gave me a hug and a smile.”

  “She was a sweet girl, pity about her strange disability.”

  “Strange disability? Sariel had power, it was she who unleashed Hell.”

  Raphael took a moment before he responded. “Sariel unleashed Hell? How in the name of the Gods did she manage that?”

  “Sariel was not disabled, her powers were bound. I found traces of the broken spell in Brigid’s prison. It was Sariel who released Brigid and Hera. She wasn’t kidnapped.”

  He stared at her appalled “Sariel did all this?”

  “Can you blame her? She was stripped of her powers, I don’t know about you but upon discovering I had been stripped of my powers, I would have used everything I could have. Though I honestly do not think she intended for all this to happen.”

  “Well, that would certainly explain why her picture no longer hangs in Michael and Gabriel’s room.”

  “Yes, I had noticed that her pictures had been removed, and yet Michael has still held onto them. He still cares deeply for his sister.”

  “Well, he was her guardian her whole life.”

  “And yet he allowed her to be stripped of her power.”

  “I cannot fathom that.”

  “Nor I, but I do not walk the roads that Michael and Gabriel do.”

  “Few do, it is why they lead us.”

  He led her into the restaurant, it sparkled with mood lighting in chandeliers and cosy booths to make it feel intimate. They drew eyes from the moment they entered, even without their wings they had that sense of otherness that always drew mortals in. No amount of glamour could hide that sense.

  Nuriel glanced around the restaurant as they were seated. Many eyes were looking at them, something that continued well into the evening. Most learned to be discreet in their glances, but they saw all of them. Even with their focus on each other intensifying they were always aware of their surroundings. They had been warriors too long, and while Jerusalem was a safe place, it was still war.

  She found herself laughing more than she thought she would, Raphael had a wonderful sense of humour, witty in his words and observations that she had never been aware of. She couldn’t believe her luck, as the night wore on they continued to chat about everything and anything. The conversation did not run dry or stop but flowed in many directions. The food they ate was fantastic, there was a vitality in Human food that wasn’t present in Heaven. They rarely updated their culinary expertise while the mortal world was updating it all the time.

  When they had sated their appetites thoroughly, to the amazement of the waiters they paid and left. This time, he took her hand in his as they wandered through the streets of Jerusalem. Their conversation turned more to the sights of Jerusalem, for he had many insights about the city that she was very ignorant of. Buildings that had been ordered built by the Angels. Buildings that belonged to different religions. The Wailing Wall that had once been part of Solomon’s Temple, with its wailing Jewish worshippers. There were Christians in their wide variety of colourful garbs walking to and from their holy sites.

  Suddenly Raphael pushed her behind him, his shields rising up around them both.

  “Raphael?” she was no fool, she stayed where she was, connecting her power with his. An Angel Weave of two wouldn’t be particularly powerful, but it would be more powerful than them separately.

  “There is something here. Something powerful. It reeks of Hell.”

  There was a condescending clapping from the darkness, out of which walked a man with olive skin and black hair. He was dressed in a drab brown habit, in his hands, he held a wooden cross. “Nothing slips past the Arch Angel Raphael. Must be why they made you one.”

  “Well, Azazel, it has been a long time.”

  “Eternity is far too soon to see you Raphael, and yet you are without your Ophanim, your fellow Arch Angels or the Legions of Heaven. All you have is one Elder Angel, it is as though the Gods are smiling upon me. Oh but wait they can’t be, your people killed them.”

  “You killed many of them yourself. And what you did not kill your offspring did.”

  He smirked “those were the times. I certainly did have many of them didn’t I? But Heaven cut them down, then they threw me into Hell. Are you proud to have been the one to vanquish me?”

  “You knew it was coming Azazel, your actions demanded our interference. Your Nephilim offspring were destroying our lands, your Demonic children were killing our people and attacking us.”

  “Ah, the four sisters gave me such strong children. Pity that they fell into Hell, I wonder whatever happened to them.”

  “The same fate as you.”

  “Michael threw his own mother in Hell? Gods save us, how did those two ever end up ruling Heaven. Why in the name of the Gods would you support
them? Irrelevant, you support them, you will pay for your choices Raphael.”

  Fire bloomed all across his shoulders as his glamour burned away. Six blackened wings doused in fire erupted from his back as his habit burned off to reveal blackened armour. Three burning metal claws grew from his knuckles on both hands even as they grasped around a longsword and flail. The final touch were the two long, slightly curved black horns that grew from his head.

  He embodied everything that the Angels had portrayed the Devil to be, which made sense, he was one of the three to receive power from that faith construction.

  Raphael tore through his glamour, his white and gold wings burst into creation, lighting up the night streets of Jerusalem with a pure light. Golden armour grew across his body, a single bladed axe and a short sword grew in his hands. He was ready to battle his old enemy.

  Nuriel skitted backwards as her own glamour was dropped, and armour grew across her. Her armour was not the stunning gold of Raphael’s or the fiery black of Azazel’s, but her platinum armour had been made by her father and served her well for many centuries, as had the nunchuck and sickle sword both of which had been infused with his own blood and light. They burned whiter than the sun in the darkness. Both of the men spared a second’s glance at the brilliance of her weapons before squaring off at each other.

  As they started blasting each other with magic and exchanging weapon blows her blood ran cold. From all around she could hear the creepy laughter of Demons. Her senses told her that they were surrounded, two Elder Angels in a sea of Hell Demons.

  She sent out a link to the other Arch Angels, she felt Gabriel and Ariel’s irritation and the other’s surprise. *The Arch Angel Raphael is under attack from Azazel and his Demons.* Their annoyance and surprise was quickly replaced by shock and determination.

  Their varied replies filtered through and she told them all they were in Jerusalem. She had to cut communication off as a whip lashed out towards her. She darted back raising her sword to defend herself. The Demon wielding the whip squinted its eyes at the intensity of her sword. She had an advantage, she planned to use it. She swung the nunchuck, its glittering brightness arcing through the air, her blade carted through to slash at the Demon while it was edging away from the nunchuck. It screamed as her blade cut through two of its four wings, caustic black blood spurted out across the street. A slight fizzle filled the air along with the smell of acid.

  Monster blood was very dangerous, it was one of the few things that naturally damaged the Divine.

  “You fucking whore!” the thing screamed at her as it backed away from her. Raphael and Azazel didn’t so much as glance in their direction as they battled. In the brief respite for her, she glanced at them, it was dancing light and shadows across the street, walls, and rooftops. All around Humans had stopped to stare or run away in horror.

  They were the least of her concerns, the approaching Demons were her greatest, but the ricochets of Raphael and Azazel’s battle was also of considerable concern. Several buildings had already been blasted apart or were up in flames. Lightning rent the sky in whites and oranges that struck at them both. Winds blew around, whipping up Azazel’s flames as they roared around him and against Raphael’s shields. Beams of sunlight speared out from Raphael, cutting through all they came across.

  She darted out of the way of an errant sunbeam before raising her sword to defend against another Demon’s slash. This one was far more skilled than the last, she was darting around Nuriel with proficiency and speed, working with another Demon, who was trying to flank her. But she had been a highly skilled Cherubim before becoming an Investigator, and she had not let her skills slip. She darted backwards, her nunchuck swinging around to smack against the other Demon’s face. He collapsed onto the ground, but the female Demon was far more intelligent.

  Nuriel studied her opponent as they clashed against each other’s magical shields. She had also once been an Elder Angel but had embraced her new identity. Her six wings were dark grey and membranous, two short curved horns rose from long flowing black locks. Her armour burned with the corruption of Hell, as did her two swords.

  They fought viciously with each other, doing their best to avoid the errant blasts from the male’s battle. The streets became thick with magic and its erratic reactions, light and fire bloomed into mushroom clouds and tornados that burned through buildings and the Lesser Demons. Humans ran screaming in every direction while electrified hail rained down on them. Explosions rocked the city as magic met magic in violent confrontations.

  The war zone was thick with tension, the two battles raged without interruption, the fighters were well matched, but Raphael and Nuriel were at a disadvantage. Dozens and dozens of Demons were appearing around them, some were foolish enough to enter the fray, most hung back and added their power to their Demonic Weave. Nuriel and Raphael could feel the pressure pushing down on them, the Weave seeking to strip them of their abilities. What worried them was the speed with which the Weave was gaining power.

  Trumpets blared and Nuriel let hope bloom, one of the Guards or Legions was here. They were no longer alone. She could not tell any more, to take her eyes away from the Demon would mean death.

  Raphael’s Ophanim plummet down from the sky, the portal to Heaven blazing white in the night sky. The lights broke up to reveal the bodies of Angels as they struck down the Demons like hawks. Magic flared violently all around as Angels paired up against Demons. Azazel had many Demons under his command, there were fewer Ophanim than Demons, but Elder and Ascended could easily hold their own against Lesser even if they were Demons.

  Jerusalem shook even more violently as walls of light flooded through its streets. Fire roared up into the sky, magical images of Demons battered against the walls of light. Lightning flooded the battlefield, linking Angels to Angels and Demons to Demons as they wound themselves into the Weave. Through it all, Raphael and Azazel continued to batter each other with their weapons and magics. Every violent spell either could think of was thrown out. The streets had been reduced to craters, buildings shredded, even the air itself was filled with ice shards and metal blades.

  They were evenly matched now that one did not have the magical upper hand and the frustration was clear on both their faces. Only one could win, the loser would die tonight.

  There were more trumpets and the very sky itself shook as pink sigils flared across it. Sunlight ripped through the night darkness as the Heavenly Legions and the Arch Angels Personal Guards dropped to the ground in perfect control.

  Azazel took one look at the advancing army then threw out his most devastating spell. As Hellfire and brimstone shattered across Raphael’s shield and exploded against Raphael’s assault, he disappeared, his Demons right behind him.

  They glanced around, throwing their magical senses wide but there was no trace of Azazel or his followers. The Greater Demon had escaped. Seconds later the six Arch Angels alighted next to Raphael, their Guards flooding the city with their power. Tonight no one with the slightest drop of magic was safe. Jerusalem had fallen directly under Heaven’s control, and the Arch Angels were not happy.

  Hera walked along the abandoned street curious as to what her instincts were leading her to. All around her was ruin and decay, she wasn’t sure if it was just abject poverty or if fighting had swept through here. There was plenty of signs of gunfire and bullet spray but nothing to indicate that her army had been through here. No shattered walls, no half eaten bodies, no magical marks.

  The only sounds were of her footsteps on the concrete pathway and the sound of bubbling water from broken pipes spilling across the road and trickling down into the sewers. The smell of decay was thick in the air, if she had been mortal, she would have been gagging as she walked through the clouds of flies.

  Her senses told her that corpses filled the homes around her or lay rotting in their gardens, all killed by sprays of bullets or more brutal attempts. Some bodies had been hacked up or set on fire. All this had been done by Humans, she jus
t didn’t know why.

  She stepped off the broken sidewalk up a shattered garden path, most of it had been uprooted, there were tyre tracks that led to a truck crashed into the side of the groaning house. A gentle wind blew raising a symphony of groaning and creaking. What had happened here? It looked like gangs or a riot.

  Her senses alerted her to the little girl before she heard the humming. It was no song she recognised, a tuneless hum with the occasional word thrown in. She walked off the path and among the trees, crouched next to ant mounds and several corpses was a little girl of five perhaps. Hera studied her, there was something wrong with her.

  When she turned around, she saw what. Half of her face had been melted by acid, angry wounds covered half her body were the acid had burned her little body. Parts of her hair was plastered to the festering skin. Her clothes were dirty and ragged, and much of her showed signs of infection. One of her eyes was swollen and septic. She was not long for this world.

  Yet here she was happily humming and singing to ants amid the corpses of her family.

  “What happened here?”

  The little girl turned around to look at her with a haunted expression made all the worse by her half-melted face. “Bad things. Very bad things. The drug gangs tried to take over, everyone fought, everyone died. All that are left are the ants and me.”

  Hera’s senses told her that there were stray dogs, looters, and all manner of natural scavengers around but she didn’t mention it. There was something about this girl and the ants. She knew she was rusty on Human social norms, but she had picked up on the fact most little girls played with dolls, not with the ants eating their dead relatives. But here she was humming and signing even as death whispered all around her. Strangely enough in these trees, there were not many flies or other bugs. The ants ruled this area, killing and eating all. The little girl had even appeared to have dragged pet corpses into the area as well.

  “You’ve been looking after the ants” she wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.