Legends (To Absolve the Fallen Book 3)

by Aaron Babbitt

  “Oh, you aren’t going anywhere,” Alex said as he approached Patheus. “I know Metatron taught you how to teleport. He taught me too, in a manner of speaking. You see, among many other things, I have the power to take away demons’ abilities, as I am now doing to you. Can you feel it? Ah, there’s the fear I was expecting.”

  A wave of telekinetic energy sent Alex flying backward. The force knocked the wind out of him, but he quickly recovered as he saw Patheus approaching him. The anger on Patheus’s demonic visage was evident, but, as Alex still had a link to the fiend’s mind, the mounting fear inside of him was just as evident.

  “That’s close enough,” the prophet grunted.

  With another mental command, Alex took control of the Patheus’s muscles and forced him to take a defensive stance, so as to not alert the other demons that their general was no longer in control of his own body. He also paralyzed Patheus’s mouth and throat to keep him quiet.

  Alex stood and dusted himself off. Looking around, he took a moment to observe the actions of the demons surrounding him. Though they looked like they wanted to do something, their own fear held them at bay. Satisfied, Alex returned his attention to his prisoner.

  The prophet walked directly in front of Patheus and stared into his black eyes. The frozen demon continued to look at where Alex had been previously. Patheus was not allowed to speak because Alex didn’t want him calling out any instructions to the fiends around them. But there was another, more critical reason that the demon not be allowed to make any noise.

  Alex’s voice became quieter as he said, “You’ve killed so many people, and in such terribly painful ways, that a quick death for you seems hardly fitting.”

  After a contemplative moment, he shrugged his shoulders and stuck the shard in Patheus’s chest. There was no resistance; the knife cut cleanly through skin, muscle, and bone, into what Alex hoped was the monster’s heart. A black, viscous liquid poured out of the wound.

  Patheus didn’t make a sound as the skin around the knife began to bubble, but Alex could feel him thrashing against the mental control. The prophet’s hand fell away from the knife before any of the blood on it touched him, and he concentrated all of his energy into expelling the murderer’s soul. For a couple of seconds, Patheus’s desperate flailing threatened to break the stasis, but Alex redoubled his efforts. Worming his way deeper, he found the source of Patheus’s resistance, the demon’s last reserve of strength. Everything else had either been devoured by the enchantment on the shard or expended trying to ward off Alex’s assault.

  The last shred of rebellion in Patheus broke, and Alex felt the demon’s soul leave his body, which shortly thereafter crumbled into dust. Instantly, a darkness crossed his mind, and he knew he was not alone. A very strong, malevolent force was nearby, one Alex was becoming very familiar with.

  He quickly turned to see how the surrounding demons reacted. They hadn’t made a move. In fact, it looked like recent events had put all of them in a trance. Even if they were confused about what just happened, they should have registered some kind of emotion.

  Looking across the battlefield, he realized all of the demons had moved to safe positions, far away from Nathan’s disbelief bubble. And they all seemed to be intently watching him, or so he thought. That belief was corrected when a copy of him stepped out from behind one of the demons and smiled wickedly.

  “What did I say?” Lucifer asked rhetorically. “I said that if Metatron came here to kill you all, God would intervene.” Motioning toward Nathan, he added, “I’d say bringing that crazy bastard here and amplifying his abilities constitutes as intervention. Without the possibility for melee combat, most of those demons are going to be rendered useless against the prophets’ more versatile abilities, not to mention you. My brothers and sisters no longer have a commander, and most of them were originally mine anyway, so I think I should have some say as to whether or not they die tonight. We’ll leave, and you have our most sincere apologies.”

  “Really?” Alex laughed ironically, looking at the mounds of bodies and body parts strewn across the field. “I know you summoned Lahash for your own amusement, to contribute to the suffering here today. And you will pay for that.”

  “We don’t have to be enemies,” Lucifer reminded him. “I can make you a god among men, and I would be happy to. I have no desire to lead humans into a better destiny, myself, but I would be glad to help you guide them in any way I can.”

  “I won’t be needing your help.”

  The Alex clone nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I noticed that your guardian angel is absent. Jeremiah died; Raphael abandoned you. This is a crucial time in your life, and you have no one to guide you.”

  Alex locked eyes with Lucifer and the façade melted away, leaving the horrific demonic form he’d acquired from Asmodeus. “I no longer need Raphael. And I’ve noticed something too. Every demon I’ve ever known has had some kind of human flaw. Some are basic and mostly harmless, like Jeremiah’s smoking, but some are much more complex. Metatron, for example, still believed—somewhere in his black heart—that he was a prophet at times, and lord of the demons at others, almost like having multiple personalities. Neither turned out to be true. You, on the other hand, don’t have a clue who you are. I bet if I kept digging, I would eventually find a cold, little ball of hate and undeserved arrogance.”

  With a wave of his hand, he added, “Go away before I see if I can rid myself of a recurring annoyance right now.”

  Lucifer’s new face contorted into a cruel smile, surprisingly similar to the one he’d just seen on his double. “Do you think you can?”

  “I think we both have our doubts,” Alex answered honestly, “or we would have crossed that bridge by now.”

  “A bold admission.”

  “I remember being told once that Jesus could have called down a legion of angels to pull him off the cross if he’d wanted to end his suffering, but he didn’t because the sacrifice was too important. Every time I’m told that, I wonder if I would be as strong, and the answer is always the same: no. You’ve been pleased to point out that I’m not like Jesus, and I suppose there’s a lot of truth to that. If I had the ability to call down a legion of angels to deliver me from a painful death, I am pretty sure I’d take that option. That said, I’m not afraid of you.”

  Lucifer stared fiercely at the boy for several tense seconds before his visage softened. “It will be a pleasure seeing where our destinies take us and how often they overlap.” And before Alex could respond, the demon vanished. The others took to the air or ran away from Alex and the bubble of disbelief as fast as they could.

  ***

  Yuri lay broken and beaten on the ground. He could feel his life draining away with the blood that was pooling around his head and torso. But Yuri didn’t fall into a world of his past and regrets as he died. There were no fond memories of loved ones or youthful adventures, no thoughts of things he should have done…only acceptance.

  His Master demanded the utmost faith and reliance, and Yuri knew in his heart that things would work out as he had been told. They always had before. No matter what the cost, Yuri intended to prove his loyalty and zeal. He was not afraid of death, even one at the hands of the only being he trusted.

  Strong arms lifted him from the numbing snow, and a male voice yelled, “This one’s still alive! Send for Salmar Bargotha immediately, or he won’t stay that way.”

  Despite the pain that threatened to overwhelm his senses, what little strength Yuri had formed a smile on his bloodied face. His faith in his master’s plan had been rewarded. The gamble had paid off. He fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, dreaming of infiltration and treachery.

  Chapter 10

  Strategically, the worst mistake we ever made was destroying Metatron. Garrett warned us that the old enemy had returned, but we only saw the one that was before us. Had Jeremiah taken Metatron’s offer to fight Lucifer together, perhaps even the Elder Prophet Council would have helped. For y
ears of tense peace, we gave Lucifer everything that had once belonged to Metatron. And so, though the very notion haunts me, at the cost of many lives, Alex and Lucifer ascended to power together.

  --Abigail Martin, Through the Eyes of a Martyr

  “Are we ready?” Rita asked the cameraman.

  The prophets had insisted that, as much as possible, Prometheus Broadcasting should lead the media in its coverage of all that would be said, which was why she now sat in one of their studios with one of their crews. The prophets wanted the world to know that this outlet was their tool to communicate to the outside and that it should be trusted. Further, because John had trusted her to do a personal interview, this Elder Prophet Council decided that Rita Conway was trustworthy enough to offer a very large sum of money to, in exchange for telling their story to anyone who would listen.

  After the first day she was with them, she knew she had just stumbled on the biggest story ever. Whether or not Alex was who he said he was, incredible things were going on in Kingstone that she had no other explanation for than the one he gave. And she was going to report on it. She was allowed to go anywhere she wanted, film anything she thought to be important, and—most importantly—get straight answers to all of her questions.

  She recorded it all and planned to release it after she had produced it into something like a documentary. But the real story, the one she’d show everyone first, she’d saved for last: a live interview with Alex. It would be fed to Prometheus’s cable channel and the internet for all to have immediate access to it. And the word spread like wildfire. Elizabeth had already tracked forty million hits on the website she’d created. The world waited.

  The cameraman gave her a thumbs-up, and she turned to Alex who was sitting next to her, completely composed, and even smiling pleasantly. “Are you ready, Alex?”

  “When you are, Ms. Conway.”

  “Rita, please,” she insisted as the producer called for everyone to go to his or her place.

  “In three—two—one—…” And he pointed to Rita.

  “Good evening. My name is Rita Conway. I have spent days in the company of people who risk their lives to keep us safe from what many of us would have, until the last couple of weeks, considered only fantasy. Over the next two weeks, I will show you what I’ve seen, and you may judge it how you will. Many of you will think it’s a hoax. It may be too painful and terrifying to accept at times. In the end, though, we all feel you have a need to know. We’ll broadcast for as long as we can, but there are already some who have tried to thwart this transmission, and I’m told that they’re still trying.

  “I will begin, as most of you are already aware, with the interview of Alex Tanner, the leader of a group introduced to us as prophets. They claim to be precisely that: individuals chosen by God to help and guide humanity.

  “I’ll be the first to admit that I thought I was going to get to do an expose on a cult and their practices, as I’m sure a lot of you must be thinking right now. And I realize that you have not gotten to see with your own eyes what I have. But tonight, just listen. It’ll all make much more sense very soon.”

  The camera pulled back to get Alex too, and Rita gave him her full attention.

  “Good evening, Alex.”

  He nodded patiently at her. “Rita.”

  “Why don’t you begin by telling everyone what the prophets do.”

  “You’ve already covered it admirably,” Alex answered. “We’re here to help. Prophets have always been here; we didn’t just sprout up. I’m still very young, but many prophets are hundreds of years old.”

  “For the record, how old are you?”

  “Seventeen,” he said without hesitation.

  “That seems a little young to have this kind of responsibility. Are you worried that your age will affect your credibility in the eyes of the public?”

  “Yes. I’m sure that my credibility will be called into question. I’m young, and, aside from this, I don’t really have any leadership experience. But none of that really matters. The public doesn’t have to accept me. I don’t desire leadership. My only goal was to unite the world’s prophets under a common banner, and I think that was achieved. Who they choose to follow now is up to them.”

  Rita smiled. “Of the hundreds of people I interviewed here, not one of them made any indication that there was any other choice. Some of them have even claimed you are the reincarnation of Christ. Do you have a comment?”

  Abbie cautioned him that this topic would arise. A truthful answer would earn him countless enemies all over the world. A lie or an ambiguous response would make him seem weak or untrustworthy later.

  “I am,” Alex replied simply.

  “Of course you are aware that many have claimed the same.”

  Alex nodded. “Yes, I am aware. I doubt that any of them have had the video-recorded evidence and eye-witness testimony to support their claims that I have, but I also realize that there will be those who believe the video was edited and the testimonies are fakes.”

  “You aren’t kidding there. I’ve talked to many people in Kingstone, including Mayor Harper, who say you and the other prophets are heroes, and, without you, their town would’ve been overrun by what they’re calling demons. Some of them reference a moment I personally saw and reported on. But street magicians can be pretty persuasive too.”

  Alex chuckled. “I never thought about how many magicians could actually be prophets; I’ll have to look into that. In any event, I can promise you that whatever magic may be here defeated an enemy that mankind isn’t ready for.”

  “Why was this small, Kansas City suburb the site of a supernatural conflict of good against evil?”

  “There are two reasons,” he answered. “The first is that I refused to let the demons hold the people I care about hostage, as I know they intended to do. The other reason is that the land we are sitting on is holy, and we’re much stronger here.”

  “My sources inform me that, only hours ago, President Rose renounced an order placed by Attorney General O’Riley to take you into custody. The White House is refusing to comment, other than to say that they are ‘reviewing the facts.’ Why do you think they’ve called off their dogs?”

  “We won,” Alex replied. “For now, the good guys have saved the day. After our victory in the Battle of Kingstone, I took a few demon hunters and rescued the families of the President and Vice President, who were located by a very talented prophet. I suspect the Administration will respond more favorably to us in the future.”

  ***

  Metatron was dead, as was Patheus. Eva didn’t know where to go. So, fearing the call of Lucifer, she fled to the only place she thought might still be safe: Vienna. There was no indication of any other demonic activities for miles around the castle. Feeling alone and actually frightened for the first time in centuries, Eva found a hotel nearby where she could gather her thoughts and choose her next course of action.

  Hours passed, and it was starting to get dark, when she caught a brief sensation of another demon’s presence close to her. Perhaps this other demon was doing what she was: looking for a potential ally. Eva decided that whatever was happening warranted investigation and tracked the feeling all the way back to Metatron’s castle.

  Parking next to a car she didn’t recognize in front of the main entrance, she looked around to try to find the owner. Seeing no one, she slowly opened the door and got out, a pistol in hand. In her peripheral vision, something moved so quickly that it was gone by the time she pointed her gun in the direction.

  “Why are you hiding?” she called out. “I’m not the enemy.”

  “Oh, but you are,” a familiar voice corrected, as a slap to her wrist knocked her gun to the ground. “In fact, you’re the last of my enemies who still tread upon this plane of existence.”

  “Saleos,” she recognized. “And they say I have a silver tongue.”

  “Then, perhaps I’ll cut it out of your head and keep it as a souvenir.”

  “You
did always have lofty goals. So why are we enemies, Saleos? The last time I checked, we were both Fallen. Metatron is dead, and the horde will need leadership. You and I could be that leadership. Together, we could pull them back from disarray.”

  The notion was pleasing to Saleos. In his mind’s eye, he could see himself and Eva ruling the demons, perhaps changing their tactics to make more use of the forces than Metatron ever did. Suddenly, he was aware that he had feelings for Eva that had not existed before. He absentmindedly looked down at a cell phone in his hand he had recently placed a call with and briefly regretted his decision to do so.

  But the feelings were short lived. A flash behind her, followed by a katana protruding from her chest, ended the spell she had over Saleos. He could feel her essence slip into the current that would drag it to Hell.

  Shaking the fog from his head, he noted, “Excellent timing, Gregor.”

  The hunter removed his sword and kicked Eva’s lifeless body into the dirt. Closing his eyes, he whispered, “Rest in peace, Matt.”

  “I appreciate your help. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Saleos admitted.

  “About fifty years ago, for the first time, I met a demon I liked,” Gregor answered. “Jeremiah proved to be a solid investment to both the hunters and the prophets. He trusted you, so I do too. However, as I told him, if you ever give me a reason to distrust you, I’ll hunt you down and end your time here myself.”

  The demon nodded. “I believe you.”

  Gregor chuckled. “Good. Then, we should have a productive relationship.”

  ***

  “So, Alex, what happened in Kingstone?”

  He laughed. “That’s a simple question that has a very complicated answer.”

  “A war between good and evil?” Rita asked skeptically.

  “No, only a battle,” Alex corrected. “The fallen angel, Metatron, sent his demonic forces to Kingstone in hopes of eliminating a large portion of the world’s prophet population. We destroyed or drove away all the demons we could find, and—I might add—we’re in the process of hunting down those that weren’t destroyed.”