by Darcy Town
Andy shook with anger. “Dahlia! Take that back!”
“No!”
Andy gripped her shoulders. “This is a mistake!”
Dahlia looked past him. “You kill humans only if they attack, you subdue if they threaten. That’s an order, to all of you.”
Andy seethed. “Do not make orders you do not know the consequences of!”
Dahlia looked grim. “I cannot live with you killing innocents.”
“None of them are innocent!”
“Our definitions of innocent are obviously different, Andy!”
Andy paced. “So now what? We just say ‘Hey how are you, what’s your intent?’”
Dahlia shrugged. “Can’t you hypnotize them?”
“And then what?”
“Tell them to walk back the other way or something!” Dahlia made a face. “I don’t know!”
Helion nudged Andy. “They come.”
The air shimmered and glamour fell on the group. Helion’s wings disappeared and appeared to be like a jacket. They looked as if they all wore backpacks and carried camping gear.
A hiking group of five came through the clearing. The humans waved and smiled. A man in the front called out, “We thought we might be running into someone! We’re lost!”
Andy sniffed the air. He put himself between Dahlia and the humans. “We have maps if you need them.”
“Yes please! Ours was lost, our possessions taken by animals a few nights back.”
Nukka tensed. She slipped the passkey off her neck and placed it in Sinaaq’s hands. Nukka did not meet his eyes. She sniffed the breeze as Andrealphus did. Both Fallen and Lilliam smelled the tang of iron in the air.
A woman came up behind the man and held up a compass. “Our compass is broken too!” She held the item in the light towards Helion. Andy’s eyes widened; he recognized the metal and symbols. He shoved Dahlia at Sinaaq and lunged at the woman. “Run!”
Helion threw himself at Andy. He caught him by the wrist and hauled him into the air. Helion pumped his wings and gasped. “Andy! Andy! I can’t control my body!”
Andy struggled against Helion’s grip. “It’s not your fault, buddy.”
Helion trembled as they flew higher. “What should I do?”
Andy watched the fight on the ground. “Just keep me informed of your orders.”
“But what’s going on!”
“You’re a fallen angel now. Gabriel created a lamin for you and gave it to a human; it means they can control your actions.” The pair flew through wispy clouds. “He made one for each of us millennia ago.”
Helion was in tears. “I’m supposed to kill you! Andy, I don’t want to kill you!”
“You can’t kill me that easily. I’m immortal, Helion.” Andy squinted to see the battle below. “Just let me know how you’re going to try it, I’d appreciate that.”
Helion nodded as he gained altitude. “I’m supposed to drop you. No, they want me to smash you into the rocks.”
Andy nodded. “Okay, good to know. By my head?”
“Yes!”
Andy grimaced. “Great.”
“Can’t you knock me out?”
Andy struggled. “You’re stronger than you look, but I’ll try and break your wings. Don’t be pissed off.”
Helion nodded. “I forgive you, Andy.”
Andy pulled himself up Helion’s arms as they flew higher. He kicked at Helion’s wings.
Helion swerved. “They’re making me fight your attack.”
Andy sighed. He bit Helion’s arm and gnawed.
Helion punched him in the face. “Sorry, Andy!”
Andy shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I’ve been in your shoes.” He sank his teeth in Helion’s forearm. Helion wrapped his legs around Andy’s waist and squeezed. Andy gasped. “Damn it you’re strong.”
Andy struggled, but couldn’t move. He caught Helion’s eye. “Look, if they succeed and you knock me out, do not tell them anything. They have to order you to tell them the truth. If they do, you must, but you can be tricky about it. Think like Belial or Paimon, be them when you answer. Do not tell them anything about Dahlia or the City. Do you understand? You have to be smarter than they are!”
“Yes, Andy. I can do that, Andy.”
Andy nodded. “Good, I know you can.”
Helion punched Andy in the face and burst into tears. “Andy, I’m sorry!”
“Stop apologizing, Helion!”
Below, the five humans rushed the Lilliam. Nukka and Tonrar placed themselves between Whitney and Dahlia. Sinaaq raced away with Dahlia in his arms.
Whitney ran after Dahlia and Sinaaq. An arrow pierced her leg. She screamed and hit the ground. In the air, Helion turned white, but was unable to break the compulsion of the lamin.
Dahlia reached back towards her friend. “Whitney! Sinaaq, we have to get her!”
Sinaaq shook his head. Gunshots and screams filled the space behind them.
Dahlia gripped Sinaaq’s shoulders. “I order you to stop!”
Sinaaq stopped. Dahlia twisted out of his grip. She pressed Furcas and Paimon’s lamins into his hands. “Get these away from here! Go to the City, tell everyone what happened, and get help! Get Lucifer! Do not look back. Go now!”
Sinaaq changed into a raven, the passkey and lamin in his claws. He flew away, leaving Dahlia alone. She ran back to Whitney. Whitney crawled on the ground; her leg bled profusely.
“Whitney!” Dahlia tore at her shirt and wrapped Whitney’s leg wound. “Have you been shot anywhere else?”
“No.” Whitney was pale.
Dahlia slipped her arm around her waist and pulled her into the woods. “Come on, we can’t be too far away from that road.”
Tonrar dropped out of the sky beside them. He bled out of several iron-tainted wounds. His blades dripped blood. A woman threw herself into him, knife aimed at Whitney. Tonrar chopped her arm off, then her head. He looked at the girls. “They have many reinforcements.”
Dahlia nodded. “Sinaaq is going to the City for help.”
Tonrar nodded. “Not soon enough for us, but perhaps it will help you.” A man came at them with guns raised. Tonrar threw his sword, piercing the man through the head. He used the other blade to deflect a bolt aimed at Dahlia.
Nukka leapt through the woods and plowed into the man that threatened her mate. “Mother, keep moving!”
Helion and Andy fell towards them, bloody from the hand-to-hand battle they engaged in. Both looked down and shouted, “Incoming!”
“Duck!”
“I’m sorry!”
Andy and Helion slammed into Tonrar, killing him instantly. The pair hit the rocks headfirst. Dahlia and Whitney stared at the mangled bodies in horror.
Solomon Soldiers rushed out of the undergrowth. They shot Nukka in the stomach and pointed their guns at Dahlia and Whitney.
Dahlia held her hands up. “We aren’t armed and she is injured. Please, we—”
The closest man pistol-whipped Dahlia. She fell to the ground unconscious. Whitney passed out from blood loss.
The Solomon Soldiers wrapped the bodies of Fallen and Lilliam in iron chains. Helicopters were called in; the bodies were loaded and moved. The human corpses were left on the ground.
***
Phoenix, Arizona—urban sprawl at its worst. The city was dry, hot, and flat. Smoke rose over the city, making the sweltering place look like a hazy bad dream. Belial hated it. She slumped over the steering wheel. “I hate this city. Everything looks the same!”
Celeste sat in the front seat and poured over a map. “What part of the city is the house in?”
“I don’t know!” Belial rubbed her eyes. “Everything’s confusing. The lanes always led me there and now they’re gone!” She stopped the car. “That’s familiar!” She pointed to a house that looked like the other bland houses around it.
Celeste frowned. “It looks like everything else we’ve been driving by.”
“No, that doll in the window, that’s fa
miliar!”
Jacob and Tracy leaned over to look. “Couldn’t anyone have a doll like that?”
Belial frowned. “Well yeah, but?” She looked around glumly. “Has Tokala woken up again?”
“No.”
“Fuck.” Belial kept driving.
Celeste drummed her fingers along the dashboard. “Okay, so who’re we looking for?”
Belial sighed. “A healer.”
“And what kind of Lilliam is he or she?”
“She’s Spider.”
Celeste made a face. “What?”
Belial stretched. “She’s Tokala’s great aunt, one of the second generation kids. She’s not a kid though, I mean...” she shook her head. “I hate this heat! I hate this place! I swear she lives here to irritate me. Why do you care what she is anyways?”
“Well, that might help!” Celeste chewed on her lip. “Are we looking for her home or a shop or something?”
“They’re one in the same, she works from her home. She’s old.” Belial laughed. “Ancient, she’s a goddess.”
Celeste looked at the map. “Maybe she’s in a retirement community.”
“This entire city is a retirement community!”
Celeste glared at her. “Sorry for trying to help!”
“You should be!” Belial hit the brakes. “Your ideas are worthless!”
“Are yours any better? At least I’m trying!”
Jacob unbuckled his seatbelt and got in-between the two. “Calm down. Celeste, your eyes are red again.”
Celeste rubbed her eyes. “Not my fault.”
Belial bit the steering wheel and spoke with her teeth embedded in the plastic, “I shouldn’t egg her on. She really can’t help it.” Jacob, Celeste, and Tracy gaped. Belial’s eyes slid over. “That was not an apology, stop looking at me like that.”
Belial pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the engine off. She leaned back in her seat. “Spider used to be a major goddess around here. She’s sort of retired now. She heals Lilliam from iron-tainted wounds, specifically, but she also is a weaver and sells rugs and blankets. She could be listed as a shop maybe?”
Jacob frowned. “I thought you said all the Lilliam are fleeing underground.”
“They are.”
“But not her?”
“Spider never flees during a purge.” Belial unscrewed the top of a water bottle and drank. “She’s lived here for nearly forever, she isn’t moving. They could burn this city down and she’d start again right in her same old spot.”
Celeste looked thoughtful. “Same old spot literally?”
“Yeah.”
Celeste looked up from the map. “Then is that like some sacred place or something?”
“Sacred to her because she’s been there for so long.” Belial dumped the rest of her water on her head. “Sacred to local Lilliam and her humans converts.”
Celeste looked out the window. “Would it glow? I mean, is the spot magic? Is that even the right word?”
Belial grinned and punched Celeste in the arm. “You’re not fucking useless!” She got out the car and jumped to the roof. “It should be the glowiest part of the city!”
The city skyline was a haze of smoke and heat. Belial frowned and leaned back in the car. “Someone needs to drive around. I think I’ll be able to see it, but we’re going to have to crisscross the city and hope we get close enough in one of our passes. This smoke is fucking up my view.”
Celeste moved over to the driver’s seat. “Fast?”
Belial shrugged. “As fast as you can go without running us into anything.”
Celeste smirked. “Tracy is still in the car.”
“Oh yeah, then go as fast as you want.” Belial gripped the roof of the car and used one hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “Let’s go!”
***
Furcas was squished in amidst drunken zombies and books. Someone passed him a sports bottle filled with wine. He sucked the wine down, grateful. Zombie teenagers and college students chased one another, pretending to eat the non-zombified patrons. He leaned his head on the scooter’s neck rest, exhausted and feverish.
Furcas looked back at the two corpses he’d rendered invisible. The Solomon Soldiers had grown too vocal and violent when they’d regained consciousness. He’d shocked them to death discreetly and put their bodies under a table. No one missed them. He smiled at the corpses and drank the rest of his wine.
A girl painted up to be a very rotten zombie fell on his legs. “Sorry! Oh hey, awesome eye patch! Do you know the pirate zombie? He has…he has one too!”
This question was not a new one. Furcas grimaced against the pain. “No, I don’t, and I bet you know him right?”
She giggled and stumbled off. “Oh yeah I do!”
He squeezed his eye shut. Sweat dripped down his forehead as his fever came in waves. A headache was growing to make things worse, as if he didn’t have enough pain already. Without Paimon as a distraction, the pain was wearing him down. He couldn’t take much more. Something banged into his legs. Furcas’ teeth sharpened. He opened his eye.
A four-year-old girl gawked at him; her face painted in chocolate ice cream. A chocolate handprint decorated Furcas’ pant leg where she held on to him to stay upright. She grinned. “I’m Charlotte! Are you a zombie?”
Furcas smiled. “Yes, I guess I am. Are you a zombie too?”
She ate more chocolate. “Noooo! Imma dragon!” She jumped up and down; her flailing arm knocked over a stand of books.
The girl’s mother stormed over. “Charlotte! Stop making a mess, look at your face! Why can’t you behave?” The woman wrenched on her daughter’s arm.
Furcas’ hand snaked around the woman’s wrist. “Be nice to her.” The woman’s eyes met his and she nodded. He dropped her hand as her eyes took on a glazed over look. The mother picked her daughter up and hugged her, taking her back to their table. The girl waved at Furcas over her mother’s shoulder. Furcas smiled and waved back.
He let his gaze drift to the other patrons. He wondered what was taking Paimon so fucking long; the city was not that big and he’d been gone for hours already. Furcas was bored of waiting, but there was nothing for him to do. He couldn’t exactly hold a book open and turn the pages. He sighed and resisted the urge to pick at his stitches.
He looked up at a blaring TV, more newscasts. Riots plagued America’s major cities with violence. The anchors and officials had nothing much to say, so they spouted the same calls for calm that he’d heard for hours. Their confusion and fear bled through the TV. The pictures changed. The Luc Industries building burned in New York City. Andy was going to be irate.
Furcas looked out the windows, the people outside were calm, happy even. The continent wide riots had not hit Portland yet, but they would.
Furcas did not want to feel fear, but it crept in, invading his thoughts. He rendered himself invisible, unwilling and unable to make any more conversation with humans. He motored out of the café.
Pain raced along his body like fire. His skin went from tan to golden and white. His eye shot open. “Dahlia!” Furcas struggled to move. “Dahlia!” He could feel her terror and pain, her adrenaline. Images flickered in his mind.
His struggling tore out the staples that held his stomach together. Furcas clutched his abdomen and ignored that pain, focusing on hers instead. “Dahlia, show me where you are. Show me, Dahl-Dahl.” He moved the scooter, searching for somewhere relatively quiet. Images repeated themselves in his mind like a disjointed home movie.
Furcas closed his eye and saw trees and rocks, tundra to the horizon. He saw Chulyin fighting, Whitney shot, Chulyin killed. Furcas saw Andy and Helion hit the ground in a mess of feathers and blood. Dahlia was struck with the gun; the sensation knocked Furcas back as if he had taken the blow. He held his head. “Dahl-Dahl, where are you?”
Furcas tried to string the pictures together, but his fever and the pain from his wound clouded his thoughts. Sweat poured down his face. He opened
his eye and drove the scooter to the travel section. He reached for books on Canada. He pulled them into his lap and scraped at the pages, desperate for a marker or location that looked similar to what he’d seen.
Another wave of pain and terror washed through him. His hand spasmed and he dropped the book. He doubled over in pain and pulled out another few staples. Blood soaked the bandages around his waist. He cried out and bit through his lip. He could feel her, but the pain and dread were no longer waking experiences. Dahlia slid into sleep and dreams.
Furcas struggled to keep a connection with her. He focused on their bond and clasped on to her thoughts and feelings. He joined their consciousnesses and entered her mind.
Pure fear surged from his toes to the crown of his head. Pain lit his nerves on fire as Dahlia fell into her nightmare memory. Furcas did not pull back; he did not sever their connection. He could not leave her alone to that torture. He looked into the yawning darkness and put his own fear aside. He would protect her anywhere, even here.
For the first time in eternity, Dahlia no longer suffered her prison alone.
***
Berith stopped the car. It was dark out, past sundown in downtown Seattle, but the buildings around them were dark. Streetlights and stoplights flickered in and out. The waterfront peeked between buildings only a handful of blocks away, but wreckage and refuse obstructed the road ahead.
“Hold on.” Berith hit the gas and slammed into the first car in their way, a plastic Smart Car; it rolled and bounced down the street. He rammed another obstacle, a dumpster. Berith backed up to ram it again.
Lucifer groaned with each jostling movement.
“Sorry.” Berith tossed back. He put the car in gear and ran them into a motorcycle.
Apple mopped Lucifer’s brow. “What has happened here?”
“The riots are everywhere.” The Chulyin looked back from the front seat. “Solomon Soldiers have incited humans to attack Lilliam fleeing for the outposts. They do not fear discovery of their organization, they are rabid and growing.”