Artificial Light (Evolution of Angels Book 3)

by Wall, Nathan

  “When the choice isn’t one you’d like to make, but you are forced, I always choose the lesser of two evils.” Sobek pushed away and knelt, bowing his head. “Vishnu experienced no losses in the Last Great War because he offered Zeus on a silver platter to Michael. I cannot prove it, but there could be no other explanation.” Sobek looked up and stood. “And if you believe that not to be the case, then you’re the biggest fool I know.”

  Sobek left Isis’ private chambers as Khali was escorted in. He stopped for a moment, looking back pensively. Khali’s armor was manifested. The mandarin glow of her aurascales and the charred silver exo-armor that grew from them must have triggered Sobek’s alarms. A sword materialized in his right hand, but Isis squinted and shook him off. He left reluctantly without Khali noticing he’d drawn a weapon.

  “Queen Isis.” Her tone said she was all business. Khali knelt and remained on a knee until Isis tapped her shoulder. Vishnu had his followers trained well. “Lord-god Vishnu extends his warmest thanks for accepting my visit with no advanced notice, along with his deepest heartfelt sorrows for the loss of his beloved Archangel brother Osiris.”

  “A tad late on that last one, no?” Isis asked, offering her hand for Khali to kiss; which she did without hesitation. “Please, tell him both his thanks and condolences were well received and accepted.”

  “Please pardon the abrupt nature of the change in subject, but I would like to discuss why I am here.”

  “Me too.” Isis sat and motioned for Khali to sit alongside her. The offer was refused with a casual shake of the head.

  “My emperor wishes for those under the green banner of the Southern Corner to pledge their allegiance should an attack fall upon the borders of the Eastern walls.” Khali was able to speak with a straight face, though her eyes relayed to Isis that she didn’t have complete faith in the message.

  “Why would battle come at this time?” Isis asked. She waited in silence for an answer. Khali didn’t give one. “Are you trying to imply this is simply a good faith agreement? Like the one Zeus reached with Osiris before aligning with Vishnu in the Last Great War?” Khali remained stoic. Isis didn’t care if her words were going to illicit a response from the Guardian; she wanted the cathartic release of saying them. “If Vishnu honors our alliance and fights as hard as he did for Zeus, I have no doubt in the fate of my people.”

  “Yes, you will be well protected.” Khali nodded.

  “Oh no, I didn’t say that.” Isis smiled, standing from her chair and moving over to the door. “I just said I had no doubt in the fate of my people.” Khali’s lips pursed and her fists curled up tight. Isis opened the door and spoke to Khepri, who was stationed outside, though she’d expected to find Sobek waiting. “Khepri, have Sobek assemble the small council.”

  “Yes, my queen.” He bowed and scampered off.

  “Your insinuation is wrong.”

  “I am more than capable of deciding the validity of my own insinuations, thank you.” Isis snapped her fingers twice at Khali, hoping to illicit an emotional response. There was none. That was far more unsettling. “I don’t suppose it would be too much to assume your conscience would get the better of you and you’d divulge the truth to me, woman-to-woman.” Isis walked circles around Khali and analyzed her body language. “At least I know you have a conscience. I can see it in the way you steady your breath, though what you fear far outweighs any guilt you have in delivering your message or its repercussions should you act upon it.”

  Khali remained stoic. This was an exercise in futility. However, with a quick flicker of her eyes, Khali betrayed her intentions unknowingly. Her gaze swiped across the fractured artifact hanging around Isis’ neck. Maybe it wasn’t unintentional. Maybe it was Khali’s inner sense of right and wrong calling out. Either way, Isis had more than enough information to make a decision.

  “Tell your Lord-god, emperor, and majestic-supreme king that I politely refuse his offer. Seeing as Michael, in all these millennia, hasn’t attempted to track us down, and pretty much lets us do as we wish even though he must know we’re here, I think we are safe.”

  “But the failed invasion…”

  “Was just that. Failed. That was another Corner and another problem. A Corner we would’ve been a part of had Vishnu not tugged away Zeus’ affections.” Isis smiled. Sobek entered the room with a few guards behind him. “I suppose, given the alliance the East had with the West, that would put you guys in the line of fire, right? Maya was brash, but she wasn’t well-supplied enough to carry out an attack of that magnitude. And since the North is dead, and we didn’t do it, that leaves one supplier—the Corner who fled with their tails tucked between their legs during the Last Great War. Good luck with that.”

  “As you wish.” Khali knelt again and bowed her head. She waited for Isis to release her with a touch once more, but none came.

  “Brother, get her out of my sight.” Isis turned and clapped her hands.

  “With pleasure.” Sobek marched forward and grabbed Khali by the arm. He tugged her up but she kicked her legs behind his feet and drove her forearm over his chest, throwing him to his back. Sobek’s soldiers drew their weapons.

  “Do not touch me,” Khali sneered.

  “So she has emotion after all.” Isis smirked. “Be gone.”

  “I came here in kindness,” Khali said with an eerie calm as she stood up. “The disrespect was uncalled for.”

  “Disrespect was waiting an eternity to send flowers to a funeral for a supposed brother.” Isis motioned toward the door with her head. “Thank you, though.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Anubis I

  Anubis and his cousin returned from their journey to Moscow and Cairo. On their travels they rescued a little girl. By the looks of her, she was about seven years old. Anubis felt sorry for her. She’d just lost her entire family. He didn’t know why Horus insisted they stay back and let them be slaughtered, but he had to trust his cousin because he knew better. Had his advice been heeded before meeting with Svarog, perhaps the young Russian girl and her mother wouldn’t have died in that frozen alleyway. At least he felt as if he’d made amends by saving this child. Now they just needed to know why his Aunt Isis insisted they bring her back. Again—he slapped himself in the forehead—that’s not something he should be concerned with.

  The young child’s head dangled over Horus’ arm as he carried her through their fortress. They tried to remain undetected by the others. A thin white blanket had been placed over her body and face, allowing her to rest without too much intrusion from the light. He noticed her eyes blink through the loosely sewn fabric.

  His facial armor retracted, leaving his grayish complexion and shaved head exposed. His eyes were almost as dark as his armor. He smiled at her and she quickly closed her eyes. It must’ve been a game. Anubis liked to play it as a child; to pretend to be asleep and fool the grownups. He wanted to play with her.

  However, a ringing noise entered his mind not long after they rescued the girl. Horus heard it too. It was poking at the back of Anubis’ head. He yearned to cut it out.

  “Can you hear it?” he howled at his cousin. “Make it stop.”

  “Calm yourself, Anubis,” Horus ordered as he gently placed the girl down on a soft bed. “You’ll wake her.”

  The child’s half closed eyes turned up to Horus. She didn’t shy away from him like she did Anubis. His beautifully feathered mask probably appealed to her. It slowly shifted back and revealed his chiseled cheekbones and squared jaw with a cleft in the chin. His hair was thick and wavy, and his skin a honey-amber. The girls always swooned over Horus. Anubis was used to it.

  She sniffled and then went rigid. Horus was aware she’d woken up. He knelt beside the bed and slowly pulled the blanket away from her face. He gently ran his fingers over her head, whistling a tune to ease her nerves. It was soothing to Anubis too.

  “You’ve returned,” Hathor, Amun’s daughter, said, entering the room. Her father was the highest-ranking Guardia
n left in their Corner: an Alpha. She was a bit fairer in complexion than Horus. Anubis found her utterly beautiful, though others around their fortress regarded her as plain. His gangly looks kept him from ever getting the courage to really speak with her. That and other things he once did as a child stifled any interaction before it ever started. She was dressed in silk linens the color of turquoise and lavender. She looked down at the girl and her brown eyes widened. “Oh, you brought one...”

  “How’s my mother?” Horus cut her off, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. He felt the little one tense up as he began to move away, so he returned his knee to the floor and stayed close to her. “How’s she handling the call of Gabriel?” That was the ringing noise in their heads.

  “She’s fine, but the others are getting anxious. What’s going on?” Lines formed around Hathor’s eyes. She moved behind Horus, peeking over his shoulder at the young girl. Most of the other Angel-born had never seen a human up close before. Travel to Earth was forbidden to those not authorized. “Your Uncle Sobek is on edge. He believes Gabriel’s beacon is a sign of forgiveness, in light of the recent assault by the Corner of Olympus.”

  “Sobek is always on edge,” Anubis said, trying to stand where Hathor would notice him.

  “What do you think Horus? You were out there.” Hathor rubbed the prince’s shoulder, visibly disregarding Anubis’ opinion as she rolled her eyes.

  “I was there too,” Anubis said bashfully, still trying to lean forward into Hathor’s sight. She continued to ignore him, so he slunk back and away.

  “Khali was here.” Hathor focused her attention on Horus as she massaged him. Anubis stared longingly at her fingers as they dug into his cousin’s muscular back. Horus stood, shrugging her off. She looked towards the ground, quickly pulling her hands behind her back. Anubis smiled on the inside.

  Horus snapped his head around. “What did she want?” His steely gaze was unnerving. It was unusual for other Corners to send such high delegates to relay information. Khali was a warrior and often where she traveled so, too, did her husband Shiva, a man with a formidable reputation of his own.

  “She spoke with your mom in private. Sobek believes Vishnu’s Corner intends to move against Michael. Some of us are fearful your mother may align with them, you know, because...”

  “Because why?” Horus stood closer to her.

  “Because of what Raphael did to your father and uncle.” Hathor turned her head up, closing her eyes as she leaned towards Horus, slightly biting her lower lip. Anubis wanted to pull her away, but she was betrothed to Horus—if he’d ever have her. “They think you’ll bring us to war and doom us.”

  “What do you think?” he asked, semi-oblivious to her body language.

  “I... trust you,” she replied.

  “We must address them, now.” Anubis stood between the two. The girl threw the covers over her head when he got close. He looked down at her and his face fell. The child’s reaction was one he was all too familiar with. It was the way he viewed himself. “We should probably help mother.”

  “You mean my mother?” Horus looked at Anubis strangely.

  “Yes, that’s what I said.”

  “Can you watch her?” Horus asked Hathor as he touched the back of her arm. A smile grew on her face as her shoulders rose back up. She nodded. He whispered. “We can’t let anyone else know she’s here.”

  “Why did you bring her?” Hathor asked.

  “Mother asked me to.” He looked back at the girl and smiled at her, nodding, then briefly glanced at Hathor and turned to walk out of the room. “Anubis, come.”

  “Of course,” Anubis replied. He stepped out of the room and stood around the corner, out of sight. He snuck a glance at the two girls in the room.

  “Hello, child. What is your name?” Hathor leaned forward slightly, placing her hand on the girl’s knee. She smiled and spoke again while leaning forward. “It’s OK. I promise I won’t bite.”

  “I’m Rashini,” she replied, her eyes red. A large frown hung on her face and her hands shook.

  “You’re safe now. No one can hurt you here.” Hathor wiped a tear from the young girl’s cheek.

  “That’s what papa said,” Rashini pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “But they came and got us. We tried to hide, but the bad people... They brought us to the burned man.”

  “The burned man?” Hathor asked.

  Anubis had heard stories as a child—an angel who predated time itself with stars for eyes and lava-chiseled skin. The very ground he walked on sizzled and smoked beneath his feet. But he was a myth; just a tall tale to scare young Angel-born into listening to their elders, and to tarnish the lure of traveling beyond the borders of their fortress. Rashini couldn’t possibly be speaking of the same person.

  Hathor cradled the child. She rubbed Rashini’s head and rocked back and forth.

  Anubis turned and pressed his back against the wall. He listened to Hathor hum the child a song, but noticed Horus was well out of sight. He stole one last look at Hathor before hurrying to join Horus and the others in the grand hall, where he knew Isis and the elders would be waiting for answers. He only hoped they wouldn’t be too angry with him for being late. The thought made him sick to the stomach.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Horus II

  Horus walked into the Great Hall followed by Anubis. Before them stood the higher ranking officials of their Corner, all of them Angels just like his mother. He regarded them as much wiser beings than himself. The group split in half as he walked between them towards his mother at the far end of the room.

  Their Great Hall was boxy, made of the same angelic metal as their starstones. Small holographic lights hovered in place, illuminating the cold looking room, powered partially by the star of Isis. His father, Osiris, and uncle, Set, had constructed the fortress and navigation systems before they were murdered. They had intended to rendezvous with Zeus on a planet cultivated by the Archangel on the far side of the galaxy. However, Horus was told, the events on the day of his birth had changed all that.

  Instead of heading to that virtual oasis, Isis had transported Horus and his cousin to this desolate planet using the limited power remaining in Osiris’ star. Later, the remnants of Osiris’ legion, under the command of the Alpha Guardian Amun, arrived to make this planet a home for all their kind. At least, that was the story as Horus had been told by his mother, and he never questioned it.

  Built into the walls were large floor-to-ceiling windows, originally intended for their Corner to gaze upon the wonders of Zeus’ new haven. Instead, the Great Hall overlooked the desolate cold of space, with large chunks of rock half the size of the human moon floating in the sky. Their planet had no atmosphere, and no way for them to build new life of their own. Those who’d fled the day of Horus’ birth were the same individuals who acted as the elders of their Corner today. They faced extinction at every turn, and Horus silently vowed to himself that he would change that. He would deliver on the promise his father made.

  “My son.” Isis beamed from ear to ear as she stood and raised a hand. Horus walked up the steps and knelt before her, taking her hand and kissing it. “I trust you were successful in scouting.”

  “I was,” Horus replied, turning to look at the group.

  “So you’ve seen the destruction brought forth by the spoiled brat Maya?” Khnum called out, stepping to the front. His full beard was turning gray, an unusual sight. “You’ve naturally heard the call of Gabriel, and know of the impending judgment they’re waiting to bring upon the remnants of the four Corners?”

  “It’s not judgment, you fool!” Sobek shouted, charging towards Khnum. “We hear the messenger’s call because Father intends to welcome us back. Michael has had ages to snuff us out. This is clearly a sign of forgiveness if we repent and fight against the wicked ones. Why else would Father allow Azrael to return to vanquish Maya and send her heretical forces back to wherever they came from?” He looked
up at his sister and nephews with a pleading glance. His long, weary face was riddled with age. “Think of it, sister. Why else would we still be alive unless Father had instructed Michael to leave us be?”

  Horus began feeling a bit light headed. Their arguing faded in and out of his mind, and his concentration slowly began to wane. Anubis shook his arm.

  “Are you OK?” Anubis asked. Horus’ head shot back up and he shook the funk from his eyes. A faint light grew in the far end of the room. He looked at Anubis and nodded, turning his focus back towards the argument.

  “You know not if it is Azrael,” Khnum said through his tight jaw. He leaned close to Sobek’s face, growling. “Vishnu and his Corner have offered their hand. He’s the only remaining Archangel in any of the four Corners. Zeus, Thor, and our commander have all perished. I would think Vishnu knows best.”

  “For all we know, Vishnu is the reason Zeus never came to our aid.” Sobek grabbed Khnum by the robe. “Don’t act like you never heard the rumblings.”

  Anubis looked towards Horus, who nodded. He walked down the steps of the throne and wrapped his large hands around the arguing angels’ arms. After pulling the squabbling Beta Guardians apart he stood between them. He crossed his arms and stood with his feet shoulder-width apart.

  “Don’t stand there silently.” Khnum looked up at Horus. “If we’re not allowed to hash out our differences, then speak up. Tell us what you saw.”

  “Amun would never treat us as such,” Sobek grumbled. Isis swiveled her glare toward her brother. Sobek smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, glaring into Anubis’ face. “I expected more from you, nephew.”

  Anubis raised his hand, ready to strike Sobek, but Horus grabbed his cousin’s arm and steadied him.

  “It’s true that the remaining Corner of Olympus invaded the realm of man,” Horus said. A slowly-building, eerie tone filled his gut: an orchestra playing a jumbled melody. The light that only he could see flared. He tried to ignore it. “They were thwarted by one appearing to be Azrael. However, Anubis and I were unable to confirm if indeed the Angel of Death has returned from his banishment.”