by James Somers
“If I had known, I would have killed him long ago.”
“You would have failed then,” Lucifer said.
Adolf paused, glaring at the angel.
“Like it or not, it is the truth, Adolf. It will be difficult even now that you are grown. However, this apparent lapse in the man’s sanity has created a situation that could undo everything. I will no longer restrain you from doing what should have been done long ago.”
Adolf stared at the wall, considering. “Why didn’t you kill him? You have the power, yes?”
Lucifer scowled at him. “Power and opportunity are entirely different things,” he said. “I am restrained by the Almighty in ways that you mortals are not. You would not understand, so I won’t waste time with explanations. Suffice to say, you have a choice before you, now that the truth has been revealed. Tell me, what will you do?”
“I don’t know,” Adolf said. “I’m still not sure I believe any of this.”
Lucifer turned away from him toward the stone wall. “You may doubt me,” he said, “but you only need ask West if he killed your father. I’m very sure that he will not deny it.”
Lucifer walked forward, his form melting into the shadows. Adolf watched him go, saying nothing more. He was alone again, wondering what he should believe. It was just like Lucifer to drop a bombshell like this and then disappear. Could it be true? Had Brody West actually killed his father?
And what if he had? At the moment, he was in no position to go after the man. Bound up in this prison cell by the Breed, he had no idea if and when the opportunity for escape might present itself. Still, Lucifer seemed confident that he would escape, or be released.
All he could do now was wait and see. And, when he was able, he would confront Brody and do what the angel had suggested. He would ask him if it was true. And, if he was his father’s murderer, Adolf would kill him.
Anna Parks had passed through the shimmering gateway leading from the bedchamber in the city of the vampires to this place her rescuer had called Rockunder. This was a city of Leprechauns, if the young man was to be believed, but she realized almost immediately that the stories of their miniature size were only stories. These people looked entirely normal to her, even beautiful.
Her gaze swept around the cavern where she found the city extending in every direction. It defied any expectation, even gravity. Moreover, this city of the Leprechauns was fantastic to behold, like a magnificent piece of jewelry overlaid with gold and encrusted with diamonds. The mere sight dazzled her.
Oddly, at least to Anna, no one seemed to notice her entry into the city. Perhaps her method of arrival was the norm in this world. There was so much she still did not understand. Her experience with the vampires had shaken her beliefs to the core about the world around her. Every corner she rounded seemed to reveal more previously impossible creatures and places.
However, something was not right here. People had congregated into groups. They were angry. Some of the women wept. Many of the men were shouting. Every direction saw a mob gathering. And, apparently, the name of the hour on their lips was Brody West. The very man whom her rescuer had sent her to find was a wanted man.
Row after row of cages kept a multitude of humans and various Descendants imprisoned beneath a coliseum in the vampire city. Human prisoners had not been so shocking as the realization that the vampires had also captured elves, pixies, sprites, and even Leprechauns.
However, the most abundant Descendant captives were the Lycans. It stood to reason that the Breed would take werewolves for their sport, seeing that there had been a longstanding hatred between these two clans. Not to mention that the Lycans would make fierce fighters for vampire sport.
Brody and his angel escort floated through the dim torch lit corridors. Hardly any of the four foot by four foot cells stood empty. Combatants sat hunched in the hay strewn floor awaiting their turn at the carnage that would take place in the arena above.
Beyond these, another section of larger cages housed beasts of different varieties. Lions and tigers and bears mingled with minotaur, giant reptiles and insects, and even a dragon. Most likely all of these creatures had been starved in order to put them in a ravenous state when it came time for the show.
“Some of these Descendants are spell casters,” Brody said. “How is it that they don’t escape?” The answer came to him almost as soon as the question was out of his mouth. “Ah, but the cherubim were able to trap us in Ireland. We couldn’t escape while their protective barrier was in place.”
The angel simply nodded.
Soon they were sweeping up out of the holding pens, rising through the thickly constructed arena floor with its many layered beams. Above, human slaves had been set to work raking the sand over the blood and gore of previous battles to keep things looking nice.
Racing across the city, the angel brought Brody to another building. Here they passed through the walls again unfazed. More cells here also, but only a dozen or so. Peering through the walls with sight given unto him by the angel’s presence, Brody saw Adolf leaning against the wall inside.
He appeared to have been beaten recently. Blood stained the front of his shirt and trousers. Brody called out his name, but the young man could not hear or see him.
“But if Adolf is here,” Brody began. He looked up at the angel. “Are Cole and my daughter here also?”
The angel nodded as the line of cells passed in front of them. They stopped another ten down the row. Here, Brody saw through the cell wall to his daughter lying upon the floor. She was not moving.
Brody’s anger burned within him, but it was quickly restrained by the angel’s presence. Calm overtook him again. “Is she alive?”
“Unconscious for the time being,” the angel confirmed.
“And Cole?”
“Kept in the palace of this city. The vampire leading the others here hopes to coerce him into serving as their king by using the safety of his friends against him.”
“Can I save them?” Brody asked. “Tell me. What must I do to see them set free?”
“Destruction is coming upon this place,” the angel said. “As the Almighty overthrew the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, so shall this place of evil be thrown down with violence.”
“Will I not be allowed to save them first?” Brody pleaded. “Surely the Lord will spare these righteous persons and not destroy them with the wicked.”
“Trust in the Lord,” the angel said. “For now, you must return to your place. Many things will come to pass, only trust in the Lord.”
Faithful
Faster than Brody could blink, he and the angel were standing back in Whitehall in the exact spot where they had departed from. He could not tell that any time had passed here in the human world, though it seemed hours had passed during their journey. He had learned many things today that he might not otherwise have known had God not sent his messenger to him.
“I thank the Lord for sending you to me,” Brody said. He looked up into the face of the angel and found tears falling upon his face.
Brody could not help but ask the question. “Why do you weep, sir?”
The angel smiled down at him in a kindly manner, laying his hand upon Brody’s shoulder. “You are dearly beloved. I weep for what has happened already and for what you must endure.”
“I don’t understand,” Brody said. “What has happened and what must I endure?”
The kind smile again. “Only trust the Lord, Brody.”
This was his farewell. A fraction of a second later, Brody stood on the street in Whitehall alone among the pedestrians walking all around on their busy ways. The angel had gone. Vanished as though he had never been there at all.
I waited somewhat impatiently in this palace bedchamber for whatever might come next. The guards had not returned for the girl. Perhaps they would forget all about her, but that was too much to hope for. She had been gone into Rockunder for nearly an hour. I could only guess as to whether or not she had found Brody, or one o
f the others in order to inform them of our dire straits here.
The girl might not even look for them. This Anna Parks may have gone about to find her way back to the surface in Ireland—not a difficult task—and then to resume her life. Honestly, I couldn’t blame her too much. She had been traumatized by all that had happened with the Breed. Still, if she did keep her word, no one had materialized yet to rescue us.
I sat down on the floor. All of this pacing around wasn’t getting me anywhere. I knew that only the Lord could get me out of this situation. Whether he was willing to get me out of it was another matter. I closed my eyes, ready to pray about the matter, only to be interrupted.
“So, you really are here.”
Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see Ishbe leaning against the wall. I leaped to my feet, ready for a fight. It was Black, of course, still occupying the human form I had long known as my training master in Greystone.
“What are you doing here?” I growled. I hadn’t drawn a weapon, yet. The vampires did not realize that I had weapons in store within my dimensional pocket, nor did they realize I possessed such a power. At any rate, a sword would do little good against an angel like Black.
“No hug for your old chum?” the angel mused. “And I felt sure you would be missing me after all these years. Surely, your life has been quite dull without me around.”
“We just assumed you were busy cooking up some new way to make our lives miserable,” I spat.
“If only,” he said. “Alas, I’m here instead.”
I straightened. “But you didn’t know I was here?”
He had said as much, but said nothing more.
“The cherubim betrayed you, didn’t they?” I asked. “They took their power away during the battle, leaving you exposed. It wasn’t hard to figure that much out. I just can’t understand why they left you alive.”
He watched me, listening still, but saying nothing, perhaps waiting for me to hit upon something.
“Are you here to kill me?”
His face hardened before relaxing again. “You were a faithful servant to me, Cole,” he said. “Why would I want to kill you?”
“I served your purposes ignorantly,” I said. “A foolish child led astray by someone masquerading as my friend.”
I knew that I might be playing into his hands. My misery and disappointment at his betrayal years ago likely only fed his ego. But I didn’t care right now. I felt what I felt, and I couldn’t stop myself saying it.
“Do you feel nothing?” I asked. “Is there no notion of friendship to you, no camaraderie, no love? I trusted you, respected you.”
“Exactly according to my design,” Black spat back at me. “Do I feel? Of course, and more than you realize. I knew love in the presence of my brethren in the beginning. I knew joy in the presence of the Almighty when the Sons of God sang in unison. But we were betrayed.”
“You were not betrayed by God,” I said confidently. “You rebelled. You bit the hand that made you. He gave you everything.”
“A world was denied us!” he shouted back. “We were gods, deserving of the Earth, but instead he gave it to pathetic creatures born of the dust.”
Instead of feeling the sting of his insult, I laughed. “You dwelt in the presence of Almighty God and you became more concerned with having the world? What spoiled children you were, neglecting the very best for something less only because it was denied you.”
Black growled at me. I could see that he wanted to attack, to kill me right then and there. Something, or someone was preventing him.
“You should have kept your first estate,” I added. “Now you have nothing. Even though you have men fighting wars and causing all manner of chaos, in the end it will do you no good. Judgment will still come for you all.”
Black was seething with rage now. A crimson light burned in his eyes. I was expecting to be slaughtered at any moment, struck dead by nothing more than the malevolence in his expression. I could feel his power welling in the room. Yet, despite his clear desire, he did not come for me.
“You’re wrong about one thing, Cole,” he said. “I will be benefited, if only in this one thing. I will see you and all those you care for ruined, rejected and destroyed. And though I will find my way to judgment one day, I will have that knowledge to bring me some delight, if only in the smallest measure.”
“I will be in glory with my savior, standing in the place where you and your brethren were cast down from long ago. So which of us will truly have reason for delight?”
Silence fell between us, punctuating the distance between fallen angel and man. I was breathing heavily, waiting. Black seemed to be deciding his next move.
“Why did you come?” I asked finally.
“I wanted to know if you intend to join these fools,” Black admitted. “Rumor has it that Yusupov hopes to have you assume the throne left vacant by your dead mother.”
“I cannot join this,” I said. Surely, Black already knew that.
“Either way will satisfy me,” the angel said, gloating. “If you join Yusupov and the Breed, then you will have joined the cherubim as well, denying your Almighty God in favor of idolatry.”
“Do you really expect that from me?”
“I expect that you might wish to preserve your own life and the lives of your friends,” Black replied. “And joining Yusupov is the only way for you to do that.”
“Friends?”
“The young man and woman who came with you,” he said. “You had to know they are in custody. Otherwise, you would not have remained here in Trinity. Yusupov certainly doesn’t have the power to hold you. So, you’ve remained out of loyalty. Pathetic.”
My grim expression betrayed the truth. But what did it matter? The angel already knew anyway. Not only did I have Sadie to rescue, but Adolf as well.
Black’s grin widened into a smile. “Like I said, either choice you make is a win for me, Cole. You live and deny your God, or you refuse Yusupov’s offer and you die horribly in their coliseum.”
I looked away from him. Were those really my only two choices? Surely there was some way to rescue my friends and get out of this new spiritual realm alive.
“I trained you well as a boy,” Black mused. “I can only imagine how much better you’ve become in hand to hand combat since that time. It will be very entertaining watching you fight and die. So, what will it be?”
I did not answer him. I wished I could ignore him. But, as long as he was present, I would have no peace.
Sitting back down upon the floor, I crossed my legs and bowed my head against my hands. I prayed for help, for guidance and wisdom. I prayed for my friends to be rescued safely and for the discernment necessary to speak with Yusupov. Hopefully, the vampire leader would listen to reason and abandon this course with the cherubim.
Black said nothing. I did not consider whether or not he listening. I had gone before the Lord’s throne of grace for help in my time of need. When I opened my eyes again, Black was gone.
Criminals
Anna had been walking the streets of this mysterious city of the Leprechauns for hours now. Everywhere she turned she found dissension. The citizens were in an uproar over this person, Brody West, whom the young man had sent her from the vampire city to find.
How could she fulfill her promise when only angry grief stricken faces presented themselves to her wandering eyes. She had no idea what to do. Mobs were forming, going to look for the fugitive who had apparently murdered their king. Surely the young vampire had not sent her to find a murderer. Was there no one she could safely approach to ask without starting a riot?
An old man, cloaked with a cane in one hand sat upon a nearby fountain. He was alone, surprisingly. Everyone else seemed to be congregated together discussing and arguing about what had recently happened at the royal palace of their Shade King. All these matters she had heard over and over again by now as she walked through the city.
She watched the old man for a moment, trying to decide. He app
eared to be listening to the circulating rumors. Yet, he kept his identity shrouded beneath his hood, gripping his cane with white knuckled fingers. The old man seemed the best candidate, if there was anyone who might speak with her secretly about this matter.
Anna meandered through pedestrians, bypassing a mule-driven cart. When she got closer, the old man noticed her. One scrutinizing eye peered beyond the side of his hood. He turned his head, hoping to avoid contact. She briefly considered finding another, but it had already been hours. Who else was there? She had to keep her word to the one who had rescued her. This man just seemed the right one.
She sat down beside him on the edge of the fountain, bubbling multicolored waters playing in the stone bowl behind them. He pretended not to notice her. But she was feeling stubborn now.
“Sir,” she said. “I must speak with someone.”
The old man sighed heavily. “Surely, a young woman such as yourself could find a handsome young man to speak with. What good is an old man to a pretty thing like you?”
“It is not a suitor I desire, sir, but a person with knowledge,” she said. “Certainly, they say that an elder man is more wise than a young fool.”
The old man laughed, smiling beneath his hood. He turned to her then. His eyes twinkled for a moment. “Who are you?”
“Only a maiden, sir.”
“But a human among so many who are not.”
Anna paused. “Is it so obvious? I thought I seemed very much like everyone else in this city.”
“In appearance, certainly, but you walk alone. You seem out of place. So, I ask you again. Who are you?”
“I have been sent by a young vampire man who rescued me from a city of vampires where many people—humans and those who are not—are being held as slaves—cattle for their feeding and dying for their sport.”
“Sent to what purpose?” the old man asked.
“To find Brody West, or one of his companions. And yet it would appear that this same man has killed the king of this city.”