A Mystery of Light

by Brian Fuller

  “We’ve got to separate him from King,” Helo said. “That’s what gives him all these new powers he’s been killing us with. I just don’t know how yet. A sanctified weapon did it when King took over Cain. But I think Avadan took over King. If we can’t beat him, we have to at least capture him, keep him contained, until we figure it out.”

  The Ghostpackers wading away from the arena peered at them through the gloom but kept moving, probably anxious to get out of the storm. But the closer they got to the building, Avadan’s position shifted away from it. The Sheid taint went in the opposite direction, away from Avadan. Odd.

  Helo led Sparks around the side toward a parking lot half full of partially submerged cars. The feeling of Avadan intensified the closer they came to the parking lot, the Sheid’s presence still moving in the opposite direction, its taint almost undetectable now.

  “He’s hiding in a car somewhere,” Helo said, and Sparks nodded. Was Avadan unaware of the powerful feeling he created by his very presence? Maybe the Loremaster thought he had retreated far enough away, thought he could weather the search and escape. And where had the Sheid gone? Clearly the Sheid was meant to pull them away from Avadan’s hiding place or at least split them up.

  Helo conjured a sword of light, trying to home in on Avadan.

  “You can do that now, even without her?” Sparks asked.

  Helo nodded.

  “Brilliant. You get all the fun toys. And all this is a part of you and Melody and the mystery meditation bit?”

  “Yeah,” Helo said.

  “Gotta find me a lady,” Sparks said.

  Avadan was close—somewhere in the cluster of cars ahead of them at the far end of the parking lot near a street. Helo took a step, but his feet didn’t feel right, his hands either. Sparks healed him again. “I think you’re going to boil the water or melt if you keep the hallow up.”

  Helo nodded, trimming the hallow down to a circle about a hundred yards in diameter, glad to see the desecration cleansed wherever they went. They walked slowly now, Helo trying to pinpoint where the feeling was strongest.

  Sparks leaned in and whispered, “We’ve got a fish.” He pointed off to the side of one of the cars at the edge, and there, underwater, outlined by the hallow, was a shadowy form, almost invisible. They took several tentative steps forward. Then Avadan popped up.

  “Shahbaz!” he yelled. And in that instant, his Sheid appeared on top of the car next to him, tentacle already stretching toward Sparks. Helo formed a big shield and stepped in front of it, deflecting the tentacle. Lightning blasted them a second later, ripping through their bodies, scorching their flesh. Sparks stumbled, but Helo caught him. They had holes in their hearts again. The Sheid kept flailing its tentacles at the shield.

  Sparks stood shoulder to shoulder with Helo and healed him. Helo would have to drop the hallow to return the favor and the Sheid would come for them.

  “You’ve got to get Avadan,” Sparks said.

  Helo couldn’t see Avadan anymore. “Sheid first. Let’s get closer. I have to be able to hit it.”

  They inched forward, the Sheid beating on the shield over and over. Every time they closed in, it would hop to a different car top to stay out of the hallowed ground. It was buying Avadan time to escape. And it was working. If they turned away to chase the Loremaster, the Sheid would blast them.

  “Let’s see if we can distract it with Angel Fire,” Helo said.

  He dropped the hallow, and the two of them blasted the Sheid as one. Helo pulled energy from within, and what came out of him, white hot and blinding, burned into the darkness, warping the very air. It struck the Sheid in concert with Sparks’s, whose fire seemed barely a flicker in comparison. In a matter of moments their combined fire ate the Sheid away to nothing, like a flamethrower charring a scarecrow.

  “That is awesome,” Sparks said. “I’m definitely finding a lady friend now. My Virtus tank is close to empty, though.”

  Helo tried not to think about his. “Come on.”

  Sheid destroyed, the storm that had plagued them for what seemed like hours dissipated almost immediately, stars winking into the sky again. Helo offered a silent prayer of thanks, healed Sparks again, and kept going.

  They found Avadan trying to get over a wrought-iron fence without arms, which had to be testing his mental powers. He finally managed by jumping until he’d draped his body half over it and then teetering awkwardly into the water. Helo sped up his wading, which was starting to get really old. It was like a dream where you couldn’t get where you wanted to go. Avadan disappeared around the corner of a tan brick building.

  Helo and Sparks had an easier time with the fence and discovered that Avadan hadn’t gone far. The building next to the parking lot was a bar, the front door’s glass broken out, and Helo could feel Avadan inside. Sword lighting the way, they crossed into the dark interior. Helo Hallowed the ground, extending it outward to keep Avadan from bringing any Possessed in to complicate matters.

  The wrack inside was a testament to the power Avadan had wielded over the Possessed. At least six bodies floated facedown in the water, along with bottles and barstools. Avadan had wormed his way onto the bar itself, his sharp face pale in the light of the divinely burning sword. His dark eyes regarded them both with resignation.

  “I would pour you a drink,” he said, “but you cut my arms off.”

  Helo kept his sword out, approaching cautiously. Without the runes on his arms, Helo hoped the Loremaster didn’t have access to the black torching power he’d crippled them with earlier.

  “So, what does the illustrious Helo have in store?” Avadan said. “You know you can’t kill me. You’ve tried and tried, but it doesn’t work. Do what you want to this form, but tomorrow at sundown I will return just as powerful as before. You see, I may have cheated King, but he’s stuck with me.”

  Helo remembered the foreign heart Avadan had taken from the boy, the awful scene where Jumelia had assisted him in using that heart as his own. It was part of some dark mystery, something Avadan had used to create the abomination he was. But it was King hanging from him who gave him his ability to control every creature of evil, who gave him the ability to gift evil spirits the possession of bodies they had no right to.

  “How’d you cheat King?” Helo asked.

  Avadan shrugged. “You tell me more about your mysteries, and I’ll tell you more about mine. But why don’t we all get out of all this water? Seems like an Ash Angel would be dying to get out of a flood zone. Just take me where you’re going to take me, and let’s be done with it. Or you could let me go. I’ll escape sooner or later anyway. You can’t beat what you can’t kill.”

  Was he right? Was their only option to try to lock him up and then find some way to fend off waves and waves of the Possessed he would summon to free him?

  “Let’s cut his head off,” Sparks said. “I’m tired of hearing him talk.”

  “That’s not nice,” Avadan said. “I always have interesting things to say, don’t I? Shall we wait here? If you drop your hallow, I can have some Possessed come and serve our every need. What do you say? A royal procession back to Ash Angels headquarters? Oh, right. I destroyed it. Holing up at the Foundry these days? Well, my Possessed will carry us there like a trio of kings!”

  Kings. The word reminded Helo of what Satan liked to call himself, and it was accurate. He controlled the creatures of darkness, had subjected them to his will. Through trickery, Avadan had stolen King’s power, had tricked him and robbed him of his victory. And that was the key. Of all the creatures of good and evil on the earth, there was one who was probably more angry at Avadan than anyone: King himself. His union with Avadan was forced an unequal, King taking the unfamiliar role of subservience.

  So for perhaps the first time in the history of the world, Ash Angels and King shared a mission: to rob Avadan of his powers by robbing him of the evil spirit bound to him. And to do it, Helo knew what he had to do: talk to King himself.

  Chapter 47


  No Deal

  Steeling himself, Helo regarded the smirking Avadan. King had visited Helo’s mind before in the hold of the Tempest. He was a master liar, a master perverter, a master at taking truths that should set one free and making them seem like chains of despair. It was hard to believe the gray, ghostly form attached to Avadan—one that looked like every other evil spirit—could actually be the master deceiver, the being of legend and scripture.

  Helo turned to Sparks. “I’ve got to drop the hallow to do this, so—”

  “To do what?”

  “Just trust me,” Helo said. “Avadan may be able to summon Possessed to come to his aid. Keep them out of here. I’ll try to hurry.”

  Sparks nodded. Helo turned back to Avadan and walked toward him.

  Avadan’s forehead crinkled. “So what are you going to—”

  Helo grabbed Avadan’s throat in a viselike grip, squelching his question. Helo closed his eyes and let Exorcism flow. And nothing. It felt like he was in Legion’s mind but without the voices or the weight. Then he remembered: King wasn’t controlling Avadan. The Loremaster had somehow blocked that aspect of being possessed while retaining the power that came from the unholy union. King had to be there somewhere, even if silenced. But how to find him?

  Then Cassandra was there, shining in the darkness.

  “Hey, Jarhead,” she said. “This is by far the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, and that’s saying something. You sure you want to go through with this?”

  “Hey, Fleuramere. I think I have to do this. I can’t see any other way. And how are you here?”

  She smiled. “I’m not. It’s got more to do with your head than Avadan’s. But I want to hear it again. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Her tone took him aback. Was he doing something so colossally dumb that an angel was trying to stop him? Or was she encouraging him? He took in her severe face. That mocking half smile was gone. This was serious. He wished there was another way, but what else could be done?

  “Yes,” he said.

  She nodded, smile sad. “You’re still that crazy Helo I knew, for better or worse. Well, if you insist on doing one more stupid thing, then who am I to stop you?”

  A light appeared behind him, and he turned to see Aclima’s flawless face. “I will be your rearguard.”

  Rachel appeared to his left with a smile as big as the world. “I will be on your left hand.”

  Dolorem appeared to his right. “And I will be on your right.”

  “And I’ll be out front because I called it,” Cassandra said. “Prepare yourself, Helo.”

  To be surrounded by all these people he had loved, admired, and respected filled him with a confidence he doubted the devil himself could break. He kept turning and looking at them. All he got was smiles and a wink from Aclima, but to be with them was like being with family.

  At some unseen command, they moved forward. It wasn’t really walking, but there was the sense that they were headed somewhere in the gloom. Then they passed through something.

  Helo gasped. It was like someone had dropped him in a day-care center full of the loudest, sickest, screaming bunch of selfish brats he could think of. Legion’s weight was a feather, King’s mind a cement truck. Now he knew why his angel friends were there: without them, his mind would have been flattened. Even their brilliance was dimmed, like he was seeing them through dark sunglasses.

  It took time to get his bearings, to accustom his mind to this place. All the chaos came not from a single mind but from many, many unhappy ones. Like Legion, they were all connected by a single will, an army under an absolute commander who could control them all. This was like Legion but so much worse. The anger, bitterness, and envy was like an acid eating away at his soul, and he didn’t doubt that if he stayed here long enough he would go insane. But his experience with Legion had given him the knowledge he needed. He had to search out the one who bound this miserable mob together.

  No sooner had he bent his will to the task than King appeared, making no attempt to hide. He was just like he was back in the Tempest—pale, arrogant, and radiating malice. This was King, and his very bearing conveyed his desire for a throne and to have others worship him.

  “Helo,” he said, tone like a duke addressing a dirty peasant. “Decided to visit me in my house? With company this time, I see. What do you seek? Do you wish to know others who betrayed you? Those whom you have betrayed? Have you seen clearly yet?”

  “I want to separate you from Avadan,” he said. “I know he tricked you, robbed you of a body and took your power.”

  It was only a flicker, but King couldn’t quite hide the twitch of annoyance that crossed his face. “He still does my work,” he said flippantly, like he might be happy to enjoy a little vacation.

  Helo’s mind raced. What was it Avadan had said? That he and King agreed on one thing, that control was the best. If King was a control freak, then that was where to stick the barb.

  “Oh,” Helo said. “And I thought the Lord of Darkness might be a little pissed about being a prisoner in his own mind, stuck riding piggyback for as long as Avadan wants to run the show.”

  King’s dark eyes stared through him like he was reading Helo’s bones, his glare a strange mixture of the ice of malice and the fire of anger. “And I doubt you’re here to help me.”

  Helo shrugged. “You tell me. What’s worse? Being a free-roaming evil spirit again, or letting Avadan use your power and call the shots while you spin circles in your own mind? I mean, if there’s no deal, there’s no deal. We’ll just take Avadan and throw him in a hole somewhere.”

  “What exactly do you want?” King said.

  “To kill Avadan and end whatever bond there is between you.”

  King seemed to consider for a moment. “I make a counterproposal,” he said, voice silky and deep. “I will tell you how to let me take control of Avadan’s body, as was the original covenant he broke. I promise I will be far more discreet in my use of power than Avadan. I don’t wish for destruction and mayhem as he does. I am the subtle snake, not the preening peacock.”

  Helo shook his head. “No deal. You just said that Avadan was doing your work.”

  The grin that slid across King’s lips chilled Helo’s heart. “I must say, you seem a bit wiser than the last time we met. I really would like to get back into that mind of yours and see what else I can dig up. Did my revelations help you?”

  Helo bit back a reply. King was trying to distract him. “Do you accept my terms or not? We’re not going to let you take a body. Tell us how to kill Avadan and you can at least go back to . . . whatever it is you do.”

  Helo knew the reason King wanted a body so badly was so he could exert direct control over the mortal world and experience the pleasures and pains of the flesh that had long been denied him. But that brought up a question. If other evil spirits could occupy bodies under certain conditions, why couldn’t King? There could only be one answer.

  “Why should I give you what you want?” King said. “I barely get anything from this deal.”

  “You get to be you again, the king,” Helo said. “You were cursed, right, so you couldn’t take a body like your followers. So you’re not really losing anything. Cain and Avadan failed you, failed to break that curse. You must accept that. If Avadan is killed, at least you get your kingdom back. Isn’t that worth it?”

  Again the penetrating stare. “No.”

  Helo’s irritation rose, and he tried to force it back down. Of course King would be stubborn. Of course he would play games. But what was there to bargain with? Helo knew he could end it here and do what he had threatened King with earlier—throw Avadan in a hole. But the consequences of that would be terrible. They would have to Hallow the space all the time to keep him from ordering the evil spirits to massacre innocents or charge at the Ash Angels in droves in an attempt to free himself. King’s answer had to be a bluff. Helo was going to call it and salt the wound a little.

  “You sur
e, your majesty?” Helo said. “You going to ride piggyback for years and years like a helpless little kid? Behold the mighty King, now reduced to little more than a glorified extension cord plugged into the socket of evil so Avadan can power his toys and order your warped little subjects around.”

  King smirked. “Extension cord plugged into the socket of evil? Good one, Helo. You make that up all by yourself?” He took a step closer, face regal. “I am not so powerless as it seems, Ash Angel. If it weren’t for your angelic entourage, you would be a gibbering pile of snot in a flooded bar right now. Why don’t you be a big boy and step outside of their protection? Then you’ll see why I don’t need your help. I’ll get Avadan’s body sooner or later. You can help me get it right now—with my promise that I will bring order where Avadan has brought chaos—or you can leave. It might take me a year or ten or a hundred, but I promise you that Avadan will make those years far more miserable than I ever would. So do we have a deal, Helo? You want to save lives, or do you want to let Avadan keep senselessly destroying them?”

  This wasn’t going to work. Maybe King was lying about being able to break Avadan’s control over him, but it didn’t sound like a lie. But then again, the father of lies was probably really good at it. There was literally no way to know if he was telling the truth. He could let King have his way and hope he kept his word, but it was no good. King might bring order as he said, or he might make Avadan’s attempts at mayhem look amateurish in comparison. No. King couldn’t have what he wanted under any circumstances. King would just have to ride around on Avadan’s back in an Ash Angel prison until they could figure out how to destroy him on their own.

  As he was about to let himself fall out of King’s mind, a memory prodded him, a memory of when he’d first seen Avadan with an evil spirit attached. It hadn’t really sunk into him then that the evil spirit on Avadan’s back was King himself because King really didn’t look different from any other evil spirit. An idea bloomed in Helo’s mind. It was desperate. It was crazy. But it had one virtue that every other idea hadn’t had: it would end the entire mess once and for all.