by Billy Wong
"You say you have knowledge of church deceit?" Michael asked after shutting the heavy door, only one silent bald man—presumably his most trusted bodyguard—sharing the room with them.
The first thing Henry did was pull back Lucius' hood. "Know him, Your Highness?"
"Who is this handless man?" His eyes widened with recognition. "This is the Angel of Light! Is he your prisoner? Then the rest of you are..."
Blackbird nodded. "I'm the 'demon' Blackbird, and these are my friends Henry, Andrew, and Kara. And this is our evidence." She pulled out Lucius' severed hand and unwrapped it.
"What, is that-"
"Yep, it's his hand. Right, Lucius, it's yours?" Henry wasn't sure if he'd fess up, but he dipped his head once in acknowledgment.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I'll show you." Blackbird cut open the hand as Michael watched with a disgusted look and pulled out the silvery disk. The bodyguard didn't blink. "He doesn't have his powers anymore because he didn't get them from God. He got them from this thing, one of the artifacts the church claims to destroy but instead keep to put inside themselves!" Well, for the most part aside from Andrew's arm and Clayton's spear.
"This does seem pretty damning. I had entertained thoughts their angels might not authentic, but not known how that might be... How did you come to learn this? I would like to hear your story." They explained everything except what might put Pete's family in danger, and the prince sighed. "I'm more convinced than ever the church must be stopped. However, I don't feel I'm in a position to pit myself against them yet." Henry's hopes had risen, then fell again in those two sentences. But he understood. While the prince had taken over many of the duties of leadership, his father the king still lived and needed to approve major decisions. "But I can aid you, perhaps. Are you willing to continue battling these faux angels?"
Blackbird looked to the others, and they nodded. "We'll fight the church as long as it takes until justice is served," Henry said. "How do you intend to help?"
"My people can keep tabs on angel activity and direct you to them when they might be vulnerable. The more you bring down, especially if you spread knowledge of the source of their power, the more people will doubt the church and its hold will weaken. I can help you get the word out about their reliance on artifacts too. But you'll have to do the killing."
"That's fine. It is what we do best."
"Don't you mean what Blackbird does best?" Andrew whispered in his ear.
"Not now. What of our captive, Your Highness?"
Michael regarded Lucius, who shrank beneath his heavy gaze. "I'll make sure he disappears."
After the prince and bodyguard stepped out with him in tow, Andrew asked, "Is it really okay for us to have a prisoner killed like that? I mean, he's already crippled and helpless..."
Kara stared at him. "Are you serious? You don't think they'd do the same to us? They killed Pete, Fatim and the twins—this is war, and we have to do whatever it takes to win. Don't be so soft. You probably just sympathize with him because he lost his hands."
"That's not why. I'm angry about our friends too, but he isn't the one who specifically killed them. Disposing of him now is basically cold blooded murder, isn't it?"
"It's not murder, it's an execution. The church should be punished accordingly for their crimes."
Blackbird looked out the window over a courtyard rich with flowers and exhaled. "He has a point. You can't really say that death is an 'appropriate' penalty if you don't know a person's individual deeds. But it isn't us who's killing him, it's Prince Michael. He probably doesn't want to keep him captive because there would be a greater chance of the church finding out, and then he'd have to be openly against them to a degree he's not ready for. So it's his choice not ours, and while we don't have to agree with it, just because we're allies doesn't mean we should be held responsible."
Henry wasn't entirely sure he felt comfortable with that kind of loose morality, yet in times like these had to accept compromises were necessary. "You're right. We need his help, and if that means tolerating unpleasant things sometimes, so be it."
#
They spent the next couple months hunting down angels with help from Michael's informants, making sure to retrieve the artifacts from their targets' corpses if they weren't destroyed. Blackbird of course did most of the work. Many of the angels left were less skilled than their predecessors, so that she could sometimes kill three or more at once. Yet even these proved too formidable for the others, who might at best occasionally distract one so she could kill them easier. Despite her amazing strength Blackbird took her share of wounds, and while they didn't slow her down much it made Henry guilty.
One day in camp while she was off playing with a squirrel, Henry said, "I wish we knew how to use the artifacts. If we did we could at least help her more."
"I feel bad watching her get hurt while we do next to nothing too," Andrew agreed, and Kara nodded. "You figured out how to use the curing ring back then, didn't you? Do you remember anything about how you did it that could be useful for other artifacts?"
"I don't think so... Using it came easily to me somehow, unlike so many after it." He frowned. "One day I just fell asleep holding it, and when I woke up I realized I could command it with my will."
Andrew's brow furrowed in contemplation. "Wait. Sleep, waking up...
"What is it?"
"Both I and Lucius were made to sleep, and when we woke, we had our powers. I must have had my arm attached then, and he probably had the disks put inside him—but maybe physical contact while asleep is the way to unlock usage of artifacts!"
Henry looked down and exhaled. "That might make sense, except some artifacts can be used without doing anything like this."
"Wait," Kara said, "don't dismiss the idea so quickly. All the artifacts we've been able to activate are of minor power, so maybe it's the stronger ones which require a wielder to be attuned to them."
"That is a possibility... good thinking Andrew, but it's too bad all the artifacts we have with us were found inside angels. I'm not ready to risk having one of them go into me, are you?" Andrew and Kara both shook their heads.
Andrew suggested, "What if we try it with the artifacts we left with Ronald and Nicole? Some of those, like the spear, are way too big to go into anybody. Besides, it would be good to check up on them."
"You're right on that last part. Let's ask Blackbird."
When she came back, Henry said, "We want to visit Nicole and the others to see how they're doing, and over there we might be able to find a way to help you more when you fight too. It's only a few days away. Is that okay with you?"
"Kind of weird timing when we're doing so good." She smiled. "But I've been wanting a break too and since you think you could help me better after going there, let's go!"
When they arrived at the little town of Methidge three days later and visited Cathy's house, the seamstress and longtime friend of Pete told them Nicole and Georgie weren't there. A man had apparently come to warn her that the church might look for them at her place, so she'd sent them away to stay with her trapper cousin Walsh twenty miles north. Henry wondered who might have helped them. They found the log cabin in the wooded hills and knocked. A barrel-chested man greeted them. "Who are you?"
"We're friends of Cathy," Henry said. "Is Nicole here? Tell her it's Henry, Andrew, Kara, and Georgie's hero."
Shortly after, Nicole came to the door and smiled widely. "You're all alright! I'm so happy to see that... though I'd heard rumors already you were taking the church to task."
"How are you and your son, are you well? I'm sorry about this, I know it must be hard..."
She was quiet for a long moment. "Georgie misses his dad, and sometimes calls out for him at night. But other than that and being a little lonely, we're holding up."
"By the way, is Ronald not with you? Cathy didn't mention him now that I think about it."
"He left a while ago saying he was going to fight the church, but I
'm not sure how he's doing that. I'd hoped he would join up with you."
Henry wondered at his whereabouts. "We haven't seen him. What about the artifacts, did he take them with him?"
"No, they're still here. So I suppose you didn't just come because you missed us."
Blackbird grinned. "I missed your son. Maybe this time, I can teach him some stuff."
"I don't think that's a good idea yet..."
"Anyway," Andrew said, "we've got an idea on how we can use the artifacts. Can we come in?"
"Is it all right, Walsh?" Nicole asked.
The burly man grunted. "Kinda big crowd for my little place, so I'd prefer you take what you need and git."
Henry nodded. "That's fine, though we might need to come back. Well, guys, time to pick some artifacts."
They squeezed into the small back room Walsh had stuffed the artifacts into and looked through them to find ones that might suit each of them. As all the angels they'd seen only had a single artifact, they wouldn't try attuning to more than one either. Henry worried a bit due to having used the healing ring before, but decided to take the risk. It seemed quite probable the connection to it had worn off after all this time and distance, or the church had attuned it to somebody else, or one connection would simply be replaced by a new one he made. Because no one wanted to chance putting something inside their body with their present lack of knowledge, they stuck to considering mostly weapons. The options proved quite limited.
Kara found a large two-handed axe. "I'd prefer a light one or two, but I guess this is the closest thing..." Though she was strong enough to swing it, not being used to the weight made them often end up wide, clumsy swings.
Henry picked Clayton's spear for now. While not as good with a spear as sword and shield, he had trained in using one. "Darn it," Andrew said, "that would be my choice if I had both arms!"
"You can still have it if you really want."
He made a thrusting motion with his single hand. "That probably wouldn't be a good idea."
Andrew mulled over an artifact he was curious but also wary about. "This looks to be a tube weapon like the ones my second arm turned into. I'd like to try it, but if it has to attach to my arm..."
"Blackbird might wind up having to cut it off again," Kara finished for him.
"Yeah, real funny. But I am worried I might want to remove it at some point, and not be able."
Henry didn't want to pressure his friend, but they could use the extra offense. He put a hand on Andrew's shoulder. "At least Grendel probably doesn't have a way to activate self-destruct for this one. So if you do have a problem getting it off, we should have plenty of time to figure it out."
"Fine, I'll give it a chance."
"Looks like you're last," Henry said to Blackbird.
She frowned. "I'm not quite... comfortable with this attuning thing yet, even if you've done it before and come out fine. Besides, none of these weapons look like they suit me as well as my trusty sword. Maybe you guys can do it first and if goes well, I'll choose something."
They made camp outside and went to sleep while Blackbird watched over them, Henry and Kara holding onto their spear and axe, Andrew with his tube touching his arm. When they woke up, Henry just somehow felt he could make the spear do what he wanted. He willed it to manifest its power, and it crackled with electricity. He decided to take it a step further and imagined the energy shooting from it. A lightning bolt leapt from the tip to fell a sapling tree. After more experimentation, he determined that the spear needed some time to recharge and could not summon forth electricity at all for about twenty seconds after a lightning discharge.
Kara had similar success figuring out how to use her new weapon. The axe could change weight upon mental command, so that it could become lighter for more speed when swung and then heavier to do more damage on impact.
Andrew was less lucky. "It didn't even attach to my stump," he moaned. "Why won't it work?"
After helping him examine it, Kara pointed out, "It does have a trigger on the bottom. Maybe instead of just thinking about it, this one's a little different and you have to pull it?"
"I didn't notice that... My arm did require me to verbally order it to transform, though it fired at will. Okay, I'll try it." He aimed the tube, which apparently would need to be hand-held instead of replacing his arm, at a big tree and fired. The projectile left a spiraling trail as it plowed through the trunk and another behind it... and they couldn't tell when it stopped if it ever did.
"Whoa," Kara said. "That is powerful."
He pulled the trigger again to no effect. "Yeah, but I wonder what the recharge time on this thing is?" As it turned out, it took five minutes. "I guess I get one shot a fight... but it should let me penetrate my victims nicely, so I'll keep it." At Hemry and Kara's looks, he asked, "What?"
"So it seems like our weapons work," Henry said with a smile to Blackbird. "Want to pick one now?"
They went back to the room and she studied the artifacts again. To her friends' surprise, she chose a buckler. "What, a buckler?!" Andrew asked. "That's not even a weapon, and it's tiny for you!"
She giggled. "Like I said, my old weapon serves well enough, and I get hurt a lot. So a shield might reduce that. As for it being small, I don't see any other shields available and at least it shouldn't hinder my arm too much." They let her sleep to attune herself to the artifact; she said it worked, but decided to keep its power a secret. Because she was probably just having fun with them, the others didn't press the issue. "By the way," she reminded everyone, "some of the lesser artifacts that don't require attuning could be handy in non-combat situations too. We should take a few in case they prove useful."
They each took their fill, one of Blackbird's being a device which could recreate her voice when she sang into it and seemed quite useless. Afterwards, they said goodbye to Nicole and Georgie. Blackbird threw the boy up higher than the roof to his delight and the fright of his mom, thankfully catching him on the way down. "So now we really are the four horsemen!" she said as they headed away, waving around her buckler. "Now let's go finish off those church frauds!"
"Yeah, we sure are the four horsemen," Andrew said under his breath, "without any horses."
Chapter 10
When they returned to Septapolis thinking to meet up with Prince Michael's agents again, however, they got a surprise. "Travelers," a guard tried to warn them while citizens fled out the gate, "it is not safe inside! The royal palace is under attack!"
At first, they suspected church antics due to having found out Michael helped them or just finally deciding to get rid of a longtime thorn in their side. "We'll help out," Henry said, and they pushed past the escapees to enter the city. But upon coming within view of the castle, they second guessed themselves.
"That doesn't look like an angel," Andrew said softly as he spotted the creature clinging to a rounded tower ripping it apart with bare hands. It resembled a fifteen foot humanoid made of shadowy flesh, with an eerie bent-limbed posture like it could walk as easily on four limbs as two and eyes so red fire seemed to leak from them. Dead soldiers and broken ballistae lay strewn around the castle, indicating a strong effort had been made and failed to stop it.
Through the hole it'd torn in the tower, Prince Michael could be seen covering his ears. "Groooar, raaar, ooroaug!" the monster bellowed deafeningly at him, in between grabbing up servants and biting them apart in showers of gore.
"What are you doing, Your Highness," Kara asked, "maybe you should run down lower into your castle instead of standing there staring at it?"
"I cannot, the stairs are blocked with rubble!"
Blackbird looked down. "I was planning to save this for later. But I guess it's needed now." Her buckler glowed yellow, and in one leap she landed inside the tower next to the prince.
"She's that strong?!" Andrew demanded in disbelief.
Kara patted his head. "Pretty sure it's the magic of the artifact allowing her to do that."
"B-but still!"
"So what are you going to do," Michael asked Blackbird, "jump back down with me? I d-don't know about that, I'm pretty heavy and-"
"Nope!" She charged the creature. "I just have to separate you from it..." An instant later, it had its grip knocked loose from the tower and went plummeting down, loudly crashing onto the castle roof below. She flipped backwards off it and landed on her feet. "Not the most graceful solution, but it'll do." When it rose, a gaping gash was visible in the monster's chest which hadn't been there before.
"I hate her..." Andrew growled.
Kara slapped his back. "You don't hate her. You're just jealous."
"I'm. Not. Jealous!" He aimed his tube weapon at the beast. "Rail mode!"
"No verbal commands needed. No other modes," she said as he pulled the trigger and the powerful projectile blasted the creature from its feet.
It got up. Henry could see the wound Blackbird had given it was almost gone, and the one from Andrew rapidly shrank too. "It heals fast," Henry muttered. So that was why the ballistae hadn't worked... "We need to get up there to help her!"
They rushed inside while Blackbird threw herself fearlessly at the beast. Finding the stairs, they headed up. By the time they ran out onto the roof, Blackbird's clothes were torn and blood covered her face. At this range the roars proved so loud they made Henry's ears bleed, and he wondered how much worse it was for her. Yet when her friends made to join the fight, she warned, "No, don't, you're not used to your weapons yet! It's too dan-" The monster punched her, sent her flying towards the side of a tower. Before she even hit it, her adversary dashed after her and struck again, smashing her through the stone.
"That big thing is as fast as Blackbird?" Kara asked in wonder.
Henry swallowed. "It might be faster."
"What is it anyway?"
As if to answer, it went, "Groooar, grrrr..."
Blackbird sliced the underside of its forearm, making it draw back. She jumped out of the wall and cut it across the stomach. It backhanded her into the tower again, making the hole bigger. Already its wounds started to close. "Maybe even she can't win," Andrew whispered.