The Crystal Lake

by L. J. LaBarthe

  “Thanks.” Raziel marched over to the door, pulled it open, and stepped through, Uriel right behind him.

  Beyond the door was another one-room hovel, and inside it was a pallet piled high with blankets. A fire burned low in a pit in the middle of the room, and several amphorae were stacked beyond. A young woman was tending to a man who lay on the pallet, an old man who Raziel recognized at once.

  He moved to the pallet and dropped down beside the elderly man, waving the young woman away. “Joseph,” Raziel said gently, “are you awake?”

  “Yes, Holy Raziel,” Joseph said. “I am. Not for much longer, I fear. Holy Samael is close. I can hear his footfalls upon the street.”

  Raziel shot Uriel a long look. If that was true, they were going to have to be very quick. He turned back to Joseph and reached out to take the old man’s frail hand. “We will be swift, Joseph. We only require one thing. Where is the Holy Grail?”

  Joseph’s eyes widened. “Why do you seek it?”

  “It’s too long a tale to tell. Let’s just say that I don’t need to know for this present, but I do need to know for my future.”

  Joseph nodded slowly. “Then the dream was true.”

  “Dream?” Uriel asked.

  “I had a dream that two of God’s most holy servants would come to me in my last days and ask about the Grail. They would not be visiting me from my present, but from theirs, which was many years into the future. I was counseled in the dream to give them all possible aid. And here you are.”

  “Indeed,” Raziel said. “Please, Joseph, we don’t have much time.”

  “No,” Joseph agreed. “None of us do. There are demons coming here, holy one. They come for my people. No—” He shook his head as Raziel opened his mouth to speak. “—you cannot interfere. This must happen. My people know this. What must be, will be.”

  Raziel looked up at Uriel again, unhappy with this entire situation. “When are they to arrive, do you know?”

  “The dream foretold that it would be two days after your departure.”

  “All right. Well, we can’t do anything now, I guess. Can you tell us of the Grail?” Raziel asked.

  “A moment. Maria,” Joseph called out querulously to the young woman, “go into the other room, please. I must speak privately with the Archangels.”

  She left, and Uriel closed the door behind her. Joseph sighed heavily. “My sons had two sets of copies made,” he began. “One son took one set to the Holy Lands and to a monastery there.”

  “St. Catherine’s,” Raziel said to Uriel.

  “My second son took the second set to Glastonbury, to be buried there to continue the legacy of things that are yet to come.”

  “Avalon,” Raziel murmured.

  “And my youngest son took the true set, the rightful Holy Grail, far from here. He took them to a place known only as the Crystal Lake. It is to the northwest of here, and lies between great hills, within a marshy valley. There is a cave not far from it that we were told was akin to the great houses the leaders of the church would preach from in future times.”

  “Great houses?” Uriel asked.

  “Who told you all this?” Raziel asked at the same time.

  “My dear old friend, Jesus,” Joseph said. “He instructed me in these things before he went into Gethsemane.”

  “Can’t really argue with that.” Raziel thought for a minute. “Uri,” he said, “great houses for preaching, wouldn’t that be like a cathedral?”

  Uriel’s eyes narrowed. “There’s a cave system and old mines not far away called the Cathedral Caves.”

  Raziel snapped his fingers. “Little Langdale Tarn!”

  “I do not know if that is how you call it in your time,” Joseph said, “but there is an ancient fort there, built many years ago by the original inhabitants of this beautiful land. It is there that my son has taken the Grail.”

  Raziel placed his free hand on Joseph’s forehead. “Thank you, Joseph,” he said gently. “We will do the rest. You sleep now.”

  Joseph nodded. “Go with God.”

  “Be with God,” Raziel replied. He let go of Joseph’s hand and stood up. “We need to go,” he said to Uriel.

  “Are we going to make a grand farewell?” Uriel asked.

  “No. If Sammy’s near, we need to get our butts out before he shows up to guide Joseph’s soul.”

  “Right,” Uriel said. He bowed to Joseph. “Rest in peace,” he said, and then he vanished.

  Raziel paused for a moment. “Thank you again, Joseph,” he said.

  Joseph smiled at him. “I hope this information helps you in your present.”

  “It does.” Raziel bowed and then he too vanished, teleporting to join Uriel in the shadows near the festival.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ADRAMELEK FROWNED as he entered the Castle of Black Ice. Lucifer was waiting for him, standing in the grand entry hall with his hands clasped behind his back and a foreboding expression on his face.

  “My lord?” Adramelek bowed.

  Lucifer hissed. “Walk with me,” he ordered.

  “As you command, my lord,” Adramelek said and fell into step beside Lucifer.

  They walked in silence until they had reached the path that followed the edge of the Sea of Frozen Souls. Adramelek wondered what his oldest friend was thinking. He dismissed asking outright—he was familiar with Lucifer’s various and often mercurial moods, and when Lucifer was like this, it was best to let him speak when he was ready.

  “Adramelek,” Lucifer said, pulling Adramelek out of his reverie, “I am receiving alarming reports from Lilith.”

  Adramelek blinked. He hadn’t expected that. “What sort of reports?”

  “She tells me that while planet Earth is beginning to heal itself and compensate for the depredations made by the theft of the Grail, there are rumblings from Purgatory. As none of us can venture in there to see what is going on, all we have are the vague statements of a mystic.” His lip curled. “I love her dearly, Adramelek, but Lilith is not one of our kind.”

  “Fallen angelkind, you mean?”

  “Quite.” Lucifer stopped walking and faced Adramelek, the wind blowing off the Sea of Frozen Souls tousling his hair. “Something is getting in. And out.”

  Adramelek blinked, once again stunned. “Do you know what?”

  “Of course I don’t,” Lucifer snapped. “If I did, we would not be having this conversation. I am very annoyed right now, and Lilith falling into trances and playing up the role of immortal mystic, discarded by Adam, is infuriating me. I have tried several times to enter Purgatory. I have sent Fallen Ones, Archdemons, grunt demons, demon soldiers, Hellhounds, imps, afreets, sprites, and Grigori. None have succeeded. Most have died. And still Lilith sits in her chaise longe and intones about great perils and evil deeds. Evil deeds, Adramelek. In Hell. Imagine!” He threw up his hands.

  Adramelek chuckled at that. “I know. Demons preserve us, evil deeds done in Hell, what will they think of next?” Then he grew serious. “Lucifer, I don’t think we’re going to get into Purgatory until Naamah is good and ready.”

  “You think she is there, then?” Lucifer demanded.

  “Who else would it be?” Adramelek asked. “The Archangels have brought information too, about antiquities bought on the black market and some, surprise, surprise, bought through more honest means. All of them are related to Christ or the Grail, and so far, the provenances haven’t been found, but I will remain unsurprised if we learn that Naamah has them.”

  “That fool,” Lucifer growled. “She would unmake everything and turn existence into chaos!”

  “Maybe that’s exactly what she wants.” Adramelek shrugged. “Last any of us knew, she was in the oceans, living with the sea creatures and loving it. And now here she is, committing sororicide, stealing relics of the past, and no one can get into Purgatory. No one that we know of,” he amended. “So, I think she’s there and she’s using the antiquities to somehow weaken or alter the Grail. We know she’
s corrupted one part of it. There are two parts left.”

  “And the cup itself will be the last part she corrupts,” Lucifer said. “I imagine the bowl is what she filled with the blood of Eisheth, may her soul rest in peace among the stars.”

  “Agrat told Lilith about that, I take it?”

  “Yes.” Lucifer sighed and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the precipice that held the Sea of Frozen Souls in check. Adramelek sat down beside him. “Adry, I don’t like this crisis. I fear that if we can’t stop her from completely corrupting the Grail, then we’re all dead. Worse than dead. Half of us will cease to exist. The other half….” He shook his head.

  “I’d really rather continue to exist,” Adramelek said. He slipped an arm around Lucifer’s shoulders. “Come, old friend, it will be all right.”

  “How can you be sure?” Lucifer huffed. Then he scrubbed his face with both hands. “Forgive me. I am maudlin of late.”

  “Are you shielding yourself, your thoughts?” Adramelek asked.

  Lucifer turned his head to look at him, one eyebrow raised in silent query.

  “It occurred to me,” Adramelek said, “that the Archangels are having their pet witches make all these amulets to protect their shifters and little humans from Naamah and her people, and they’re probably shielding themselves as well. Whatever Naamah has done, is doing, will do, she’s got a lot more power now than she did. That single act of sororicide and poisoning one third of the Grail gave her incredible power. We all felt it in the moment she committed the act, we just never spoke of it. We were all too angry.

  “I have thought about this for a while, and I think I’m right,” Adramelek went on. “I think that because the sins she committed were pre-Biblical in origin and committed with holy objects, touched by you and by God and by Christ, she now has access to more power. I think she’s able to reach out and cloud our minds, our judgment. I think she can send nightmares and who knows what else to those who are born of human parents. And so I think it only the course of wisdom that we shield ourselves to protect ourselves from her.”

  Lucifer snarled. “That… one moment.” He closed his eyes, and Adramelek felt the brush of Lucifer’s power as his lord created a shield, a strong one that covered not just the palace, but all of Hell and those within it. Then Lucifer narrowed his touch and focus, and Adramelek felt Lucifer shield himself as well.

  Lucifer’s eyes opened and he smiled a little ruefully. “I confess that I feel a little better. Thank you, Adry.”

  Adramelek inclined his head. “You’re my oldest and best friend, Lightbringer. I’m not going to let you get hurt because of some power-hungry fiend.”

  “Aw, you’re worried about me.” Lucifer laughed and then he kissed Adramelek’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Now let us never get so emotional again,” Adramelek said.

  Lucifer laughed once more. “All right. So what do we do now?”

  “We wait. Ondrass and the others are hunting down the demons who have signed on with Naamah. Then we’ll interrogate them. And then we’ll all wait until Raziel and company get back from the past.”

  “I dislike waiting,” Lucifer mused.

  “So do I,” Adramelek said. “We don’t have much choice, though.”

  “Which I like even less,” Lucifer said. “And yet, it’s all we can do.”

  “And then,” Adramelek said with a low growl, “we will deal with Naamah.”

  Lucifer flexed his fingers. “Oh yes. That is long overdue.”

  ADRAMELEK WRINKLED his nose as he joined Ondrass, Markus, and Melcherisa in a rundown warehouse near the docks in Detroit. In recent years, toward the end of the war, Detroit had fallen more than any other American city. It was comprised of ramshackle buildings, most of them collapsing and in various stages of disrepair. The docks stank of fuel and dead fish, and this rickety warehouse was no exception.

  “Couldn’t you have chosen a less fragrant location?” Adramelek asked Ondrass. “And where’s Lix Tetrax?”

  “No and she’s still in Yerevan.” Ondrass scowled. “There’s been an outbreak of the Black Plague.”

  Adramelek sighed. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”

  “Can you please refrain from using that name?” Ondrass asked, looking pained.

  “Hm? Oh. Sorry,” Adramelek said. “I was surprised. Are you shielding yourself, by the way? With a protection shield of some kind?”

  Ondrass looked at him in bemusement. “Funny you ask, actually. Haniel suggested I do so when he was rushing around the hotel collecting things to take to Penemuel. I considered his suggestion, saw merit in it, and started to do so. We all did.”

  “Well, that’s good. That’s one less way Naamah can get to us.” Adramelek grinned. “We might not be able to reach her directly, but every pinprick and cut affects her, and I’m all for that.”

  “Quite.” Ondrass grinned back.

  “So what do we have here?” Adramelek gestured at the group of demons that were bound in shackles of rusting iron and huddled together within a demon trap inked on the floor in blood.

  “Naamah’s little friends,” Ondrass said. He buffed his nails on his suit jacket. “They were most distressed to be caught. Now they’ve stopped their tearful pleas for mercy and forgiveness.” He started to walk toward them, taking long, measured steps, the stride of a man on an afternoon stroll.

  Adramelek followed him. “I thought they were unusually quiet.”

  “That also might have something to do with the fact we warded this place so they couldn’t call for help.” Ondrass stopped walking and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Have you spoken with Lord Lucifer?”

  “I have,” Adramelek said.

  “And what did his majesty say?”

  “He said that we could do as we please with these traitors,” Adramelek said.

  One of the bound demons whimpered.

  “Excellent,” Ondrass said. He smiled, all teeth, looking ferocious. “Now, let’s see what they can tell us, shall we?”

  Adramelek snapped his fingers, and a knife was in his hand. It was one of his favorites, the blade twelve inches long and ending in a hook. One edge was serrated, the other razor sharp. The demons in the trap began to gibber in terror as Adramelek moved closer.

  “Do you know who I am?” he demanded.

  “Y-yes,” stuttered one demon. “Please, Lord of Chaos, Duke Adramelek of Hell, please, have mercy!”

  “You didn’t tell me they were funny, Ondrass,” Adramelek said.

  “I confess they were not so comical before your arrival,” Ondrass said.

  “What a shame.” Adramelek turned back to the demons. “I’m pleased you know who I am. You then must know exactly what I can do to you. By the time my colleagues and I are finished, you will have told us everything we wish to know. And then we will send you back to Naamah.”

  “But she’ll kill us!” gasped another demon.

  “Mm, most likely so, yes.” Adramelek pretended to look sad about that. “Oh well. Que sera sera, as they say.” With that, he stepped into the circle and grabbed one of the nearest demons.

  The screaming did not stop for the next ten hours.

  “That was interesting,” Adramelek said. He nodded his thanks as Markus brought him, Ondrass, and Melcherisa a pile of cream fluffy towels to wipe their hands on.

  “It was,” Melcherisa said. “Now we have something good to report to Lord Lucifer.”

  “I don’t think we necessarily need to inform the Archangels of all that we learned here, though,” Adramelek said. “You’ve some blood on your left cheek, Ondrass.”

  “Thank you.” Ondrass dabbed at his face with the towel. “What do you suggest we tell them, then?”

  “We tell them that Naamah’s ultimate goal is chaos. That she doesn’t particularly care about lordship and dominion, she just cares about chaos.” Adramelek paused in the act of wiping his arms clean. “I wonder if they’ll believe us when we tell them why that’s wha
t she wants.”

  “What, that she got all pissed off at humans destroying the oceans and stuff?” Melcherisa snorted. “I wouldn’t believe it if they told us.”

  “True.” Adramelek scowled a little. “It’s what we know, however.”

  “Markus and I will deal with the Archangels,” Ondrass said. “Whatever her reasons are, they’re important to her even if they make no sense to the rest of us.”

  “Raziel might believe it,” Adramelek mused. “Since he’s a scientist. He would see what she wanted. Agrat, too.”

  “Aren’t there angels who watch over the sea?” Melcherisa asked. “They should get confirmation from them.”

  “I’ll tell them as much,” Ondrass promised. “I tell you right now that I fully expect a chorus of ‘Is that it?’” He rolled his eyes.

  “They’re used to dealing with megalomania,” Adramelek said with a shrug. “I’m not entirely certain that Lightbringer will believe me, either.”

  “He can’t imagine you’d lie to him, surely,” Ondrass scoffed.

  “No, but he might think Naamah’s lied to her people. So while they thought they were telling us the truth, they were telling us her lies as she planned them to.”

  Markus shook his head. “It’s possible, I suppose, my lords, but consider. The planet is healing and compensating for the damage done to it. As far as we know, there’s been nothing serious since that first murder, when she killed Eisheth. Who has she directed her rage at instead? Humans, shifters, us, and angels.”

  “I’m still not convinced.” Adramelek shook his head. “Still, it’s all we have to work with for now.”

  “Quite so. Are you going to see Lucifer now?” Ondrass asked.

  “I’ll return to Yerevan when I’ve briefed him,” Adramelek said.

  “Hopefully, by the time you get back, Raziel will have returned,” Ondrass said. “And we can deal with this ridiculous situation once and for all.”

  “What about that shifter?” Melcherisa asked. “The one called Arkady? And the Order of Midnight?”