Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light)

by Suren Hakobyan

  “You do remember Gaap, don’t you?” Lucifer asked with a teasing smile, pointing to his warrior.

  Gaap came and stood next to Lucifer. His cold and emotionless eyes pierced into Samael. Then two other silhouettes swayed in the storm. Samael’s eyes twitched, looking from Lucifer to the newcomers. As soon as they were out of the dust, Samael recognized Lilith and Saraqael approaching. Lucifer welcomed them warmly with a smile stretching from ear to ear.

  “You’re surrounded, Samael,” he cried out happily. “No chance to run, not even for such a wise and powerful creature as yourself. Put your weapon down. Don’t make me do something I don’t want to.”

  Samael had no intention of surrendering his smoking sword. He stood statue-like, and only his eyes were anxiously moving from one enemy to the other. Lucifer raised his eyebrows, realizing that Samael wouldn’t submit so easily. He wasn’t going to bow his head. Such a proud person as Samael wasn’t the kind to obey.

  Then let them fight. Lucifer lifted his hand in an order to attack, and Gaap moved toward Samael. The gray-winged man stood motionless, his eyes concentrated on the four enemies. Gaap lifted his huge sword, and in the same instant, Samael’s wings opened wide. Gaap smiled wickedly, his flaming eyes locked on Samael, then he darted ahead. He was as fast as a lightning bolt, but Samael was still faster. His wings lifted him high into the air as Gaap thrust his sword forward, forcing Gaap to miss the angel of death. When Samael was on the ground again, he thrust his sword at Gaap. The latter blocked the blow. The power Samael had put into his strike forced him backward.

  Samael was standing face to face with Lucifer, again his sword high in the air. Lucifer didn’t seem impressed. Saraqael stood two steps behind Lucifer, watching like a spectator. His hands were empty. Despite him, Lilith got herself ready for the fight, taking out two long knives.

  Everybody was ready. Only a few seconds separated the oncoming battle when a woman’s piercing voice broke through the circle. It called out Lucifer’s name.

  Lucifer widened his furious eyes.

  “She’s here. You’ve brought her with you,” he realized, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

  Samael straightened immediately. “Lucifer!” he shouted angrily, “I won’t let you have her. You’ve got to fight me first.”

  “If she’s here, then she can’t be alone.” A preoccupied Lucifer wasn’t listening to Samael at all. He was talking to himself, or, more likely, he was describing the situation to Lilith. “Where is Raphael?” he asked suddenly, his voice loud. His irritated eyes found Samael. “Where is he?”

  “It’s already too late to do anything,” Samael smiled gloatingly.

  Lucifer peered back rapidly. A heavenly bright light had appeared, forcing the storm around them down. The view of the platform in front cleared up. There atop it stood the archangel, illuminated by a brilliant light. His hands were laced together, his wings were outstretched wide, creating the appearance of a cross. Raphael was praying loudly, his harsh voice seized the huge stadium itself, quaking the ground and the ceiling.

  “Raphael!” Lucifer cried out in full measure, letting out all his anger through his throat. He balled his left hand into a fist so tight that his nails dug deep into his palms and started to bleed.

  The light illuminating Raphael began to expand. The people around him withdrew, some set off at a run, yelling and shrieking in their panic. The light bore enough power to destroy every sinful soul on the stadium.

  Lucifer flinched. He looked from Lilith to Raphael, then back again, deciding his next step. Samael didn’t hesitate. The next moment, when Lucifer turned around to find him, Samael was already in the air, beating his wings.

  “You should be glad, Lucifer,” Samael said floating above him, “I’ve given you the war you wanted. It’s already begun.”

  His lips tightened into a scornful smile. Then, he winked and disappeared from Lucifer’s view with the quickness of light. Instantly, Samael found himself close to Raphael, who was still praying. After a brief search, Samael found Lily where she was lying on the floor, her eyes staring up at the dirty ceiling. He dashed to her, and the floor cracked under his weight.

  Samael knelt down and lifted her head. Her eyes had a glazed look as though she were dead, the light in her blue eyes had faded.

  “Lily!” Samael shouted frantically. “Do you hear me? Lily!”

  *

  He shook her to bring her back to her senses. Her eyes only rolled at him. Seeing the gray-winged creature, her heart started beating again, hot blood rushed through her veins warming her cold body. She sucked the air in deeply and coughed.

  “Lily, can you hear me?”

  “Samael,” Lily managed weakly.

  “You’re going to be alright,” he said confidently, cradling her in his arms as he stood.

  The stadium was full of calamity. Screaming and the sound of explosions were everywhere. The ceiling began to fall in big pieces. From the corner of his eye, Samael spotted Azazel standing in the arena, his arms wide open.

  “That’s it, that’s it!” He was shouting cheerfully to himself, not paying attention to the chaos going on around him. “I have been waiting for this for so long!”

  Lucifer, Lilith, and Saraqael couldn’t be seen. They might have left already. Samael glanced back at Raphael in his trance, still praying in Latin.

  “Samael, what’s going on?” Lily asked, getting his attention.

  “Nothing to worry about,” he replied affectionately, “We’re getting out of here.” He smiled and wrapped his wings around her.

  Lily was aware of what was going to happen next. Before she could close her eyes, she felt herself become one with the air, soaring somewhere afield. Instantly she saw them rushing through the debris of the maze’s walls. Time stopped as Samael flew, the sandy stones hung in mid-air as if they were suspended from the ceiling with invisible wire. It took them mere seconds to pass through the maze from which they had entered the prison, then Samael rushed up through a drilled tunnel and finally brought her out onto the Earth’s surface.

  Lily’s eyes slid open lazily, she felt a little sick from that angelic trip. With a grunt, Lily gave a weak attempt to push herself up from the ground. A gust of wind carrying the sandy dust hit her in the face. Lily coughed.

  As she was crawling, she looked around in search of Samael. He was supposed to help her up. In the twilight, the endless desert reached as far as the horizon. Lily hadn’t seen a picture so breathtaking in all her life. She stared at it for a long time.

  Samael was standing a few steps away from her, gazing excitedly in the opposite direction. Lily wondered what his angelic eyes observed in such an abandoned place. Was there an enemy nearby?

  She struggled to her feet noiselessly, her face and hands were covered in sand. Her hair, dry and disheveled, was encrusted with dirt.

  “What is out there, Samael?” the wind carried Lily’s fearful voice to his ear. Samael turned back looking at her kindly and full of love.

  “It’s the dawn,” Samael replied.

  “Is it bad?”

  He came up to her, his eyebrows arched, still lost in his thoughts. “Whatever happens now, stay close to me. Understand?”

  Lily met his caring eyes. “Yes. What’s up there?”

  “Stay behind me,” Samael ordered and turned his back to her, shielding her with his whole body.

  Lily looked at the horizon over his shoulder. She felt her heart thrumming like a wire, felt the blood rushing in her ears. Before she could wonder what was going to happen next, the first ray of light broke through the black line in the distance and reached the top of the sandy hill behind her. Although the sky was cloudless, Lily could swear that she heard a thunderous noise. Her eyes jerked up at the sky instinctively. Approaching was a ball of fading fire, moving towards the ground at very high speed. Samael remained firm, none of his muscles twitched except his eyes, still following the flames.

  Lily’s heart sank, fear flooding her. Whatever was
approaching was coming from the sky, most probably from Heaven. Lily recalled Michael’s cold eyes. Was the head archangel on his way to Earth?

  The ground quaked nearby as the fire crashed into it, the sand splashed up around it. Then another fire ball hit the ground. She shrieked in fear, grasping Samael’s arm tightly, and looked up. The balls fell around the couple enclosing them in tight circle.

  “What are they, Samael?” Lily asked startled. Her eyes jerked to and fro following every nearby ball, trying to make something out in the dust, but it was too dense to see anything.

  “Stay close,” Samael reminded dryly.

  She would’ve nodded if she could. Her fingers shook. And suddenly every sound vanished, the fireball attacks were over, and all of the stirred up sand distorted the sky. Then the dust began pelting the ground as though a supernatural force like a huge hand was pressing it down.

  There was a white angel standing in front of them. The sun was rising behind him, blinding Lily. She couldn’t see his face. A sharp wind came up to ruffle his blonde, frizzy hair, but his face still remained still unseen. The angel wore a warrior’s armor like that of the legion of old Rome, his white metallic uniform shone in the sun and gave him the appearance of a star. The angel was so brilliant that Lily didn’t even notice his minions surrounding them on all sides. They were warriors without wings, with emotionless eyes and cold faces, but they had a human look about them. Then several huge, ugly dogs with white wings came out of the dust.

  “Who’s he?” Lily whispered into Samael’s ear.

  “That is Gabriel,” he replied mildly, hiding her from the angel with his shoulder. “What do you want?” he cried to the angel. “What has disturbed you?”

  “The girl,” Gabriel uttered.

  “You know that you have no right to kill her,” Samael said bravely. “You’ll be exiled from Heaven like I was, Gabriel. There is nothing for you here. You’d better take your army and get back to Heaven.”

  “That’s not really relevant. I came here to take control of the chaos that you and Raphael have caused, to rebuild the ruins you made, and to take care of her,” he jabbed his forefinger toward Lily. “It’s an order-”

  “Whose order?” Samael cut him off. “Did God give you such an order?” Gabriel delayed for a second. “No order was announced, was there? Don’t even try to fool me, brother.”

  “Don’t call me brother,” Gabriel roared. “You stopped being my brother the day you betrayed Father and left Heaven.”

  He definitely hadn’t forgiven Samael. Lily still couldn’t see his face, the brightness of the sun rising behind him left his face in shadow. The dawn. Lily remembered that Michael had mentioned something about this to Raphael, when she had been lurking behind the door in the church.

  “With the day’s first early light touching the sand of the desert, help will fall down from the slumbering sky.”

  Here was the help he had spoken of. Michael had sent Gabriel to capture her. But why? Samael might be right, that the archangels wouldn’t let God lose, even to the point of sacrificing themselves for his victory. And that meant killing her.

  “Yes, of course,” Samael muttered.

  Lily noticed gray smoke gathering around his right hand. Samael was preparing to fight, his sword was gaining strength. Lily glanced at the white angel fearfully.

  “Get him!” Gabriel ordered shortly, and his pets, the huge winged dogs, charged toward Samael.

  They encircled Lily and Samael and started to box them in, but Samael’s sword wasn’t ready yet. His left hand was holding Lily behind his shoulder with a tight grasp, and his eyes scanned back and forth, assessing the situation. Lily knew that Samael was a mighty creature, but fighting so many enemies and a powerful archangel at the same time might be pushing his abilities to their limit.

  The ground began to quake. Uttering a low shriek, Lily grasped Samael’s hand. Gabriel’s army stopped and looked around. If there was anything approaching them, it should be coming up from under the ground. Lily’s eyes looked down at the sand instinctively. The sand began flowing like a huge yellow ocean, and then swirling. A lot of whirls materialized on the ground.

  “What’s going on, Samael?” Lily managed with difficulty.

  The answer was in front of her eyes. Within a second there were a lot of explosions on the surface, sand erupting into the air. Lily spotted human creatures growing out of the ground like plants.

  Gabriel’s dogs withdrew and gathered quickly around their commander. Lily and Samael remained between Gabriel’s army and the growing creatures. This was definitely the worst morning Lily had ever had.

  The quaking stopped, the dust lowering back onto the ground, Samael remained still. From the sand, a dozen warriors had grown, led by a huge black-haired man – Gaap. His flaming yellow eyes regarded Samael and Gabriel.

  Another man came up to Gaap walking lazily. Lily couldn’t have forgotten his face; black spooky eyes, curly hair, and a round face. It was Beelzebub. As he stood beside Gaap, he put his left hand on his shoulder, turned around and winked at Lily.

  “I see the party has just started. I do hope we aren’t late,” he teased indignantly.

  “You have no business here, Beelzebub,” Gabriel replied.

  “We’ve got as much business here as you do, Gabriel,” he protested. “We all know that the girl is the reason for this nice meeting.” He raised his right hand and opened it wide. “The only difference between us is that you’ve come to kill her, and we’ve come to rescue her.”

  “I believe that Samael still has some kind of honor,” Gabriel held his hand out toward Samael. “some loyalty to his Father.”

  Silence fell. Everybody was waiting for Samael’s response. His word would solve the unsettling situation. He looked at Gaap and Beelzebub, then at Gabriel sharply.

  “As I said, I won’t let you kill her. Even if I have to betray you again,” he announced tonelessly. “This is not about you or Lucifer, this is about her.”

  “You!” Gabriel roared, irritated, and made a step toward the couple.“You are the Father’s biggest mistake!”

  “And to think you said that Father never makes mistakes,” Gaap remarked, grinning wickedly. Beelzebub laughed, shaking his head.

  Gabriel’s right hand twitched and a bright sword formed from the rays of sun. Then he opened his wings, throwing sand into the air with a swish. Beelzebub stepped away from Gaap. Fear flooded his black eyes, but he stood his ground. Unlike him, Gaap at least looked brave. Taking out his long sword, he marched ahead to meet the white archangel’s wrath.

  “Let them have me,” escaped from Lily’s mouth. Samael looked at her, taken aback. He forgot about everybody surrounding them. “You shouldn’t have to do this,” she went on absentmindedly, “I mean, you’re not even a part of this. It’s their war, you have nothing to do with it.”

  “I’ve got everything to do with you,” Samael reminded.

  “I love you, Samael, but I’m mortal. After all, you will have to let me go one day. You’d better do it now so nobody will hurt you or, rather, send you to the Island of the Dead. You’ve done too much for me already. I want to return what I owe you.”

  Lily burst into tears and she averted her eyes.

  “Before I met you I was dead, Lily,” Samael said with a low voice. He put his hand under her chin and raised her head to face her blue, mournful eyes. “My life has just begun with you, and you want them to take it from me?” He balled his hand, his eyebrows arched and anger briefly twisted his expression. “There is no unearthly creature – not even God himself – that can take you away from me.”

  As he finished, his gray sword shone in the sunlight, ready to slice some heads. The last expression she saw in his eyes was rough and full of confidence. He wheeled around, raising his sword into the air. The power in the sword created a mighty wave and tossed several of Gabriel’s men backward, but the archangel was powerful and stood his ground. Under the shadow of Samael’s force, Lily saw Gabriel’s
narrowed and irritated eyes. They were green too, but not as wise as Samael’s.

  Now there was no way back. The battle had begun in earnest. No words could be said anymore, only the strength of arms would be able to end the fight once and for all.

  Gaap lifted his sword above his head. It was an order of attack. His men rushed ahead toward Gabriel’s small army. Some of them jumped high into the air, reaching the angel in a second. Gabriel roared like a furious beast and wheeled his sword. In the same instant an insane wind arose, then he struck, tossing three of Gaap’s men backward. They fell to the ground, dead. Their bodies melted immediately and were swallowed up by the sand.

  The battle was on. Samael was covering Lily with his body. She saw four opponents fall from his strikes, then her eyes turned to Gabriel, who was fighting Gaap and Beelzebub. Every time Gabriel’s and Gaap’s swords met, a loud clatter reverberated through the air, mingling with the angel’s angry roars. Everywhere she looked drops of blood clung to the air, as if there was no gravity to pull them down onto the ground. Lily had found herself in an unbelievable world, surrounded by unreal creatures fighting each other brutally. Voices and yells echoed over the desert, crazy winds stirred sand up and mingled with the blood. The endless clanging of strikes sounded everywhere.

  Following the battle, Lily’s eyes witnessed one of Heaven’s dogs gnawing the throat of an accomplice of Gaap’s. The man was already dead, the dog let it go. Its huge, completely black eyes looked around wickedly, and it spotted Lily. Her stomach lurched at the malicious sight. She tightened Samael’s arm protecting her, and leaned against his back. The dog opened its muzzle, and displayed its long, slobbering teeth covered in gore.

  “Samael,” Lily hissed, but her voice was too low and the gray-winged man didn’t hear her.

  The dog bent its head forward, sniffed angrily, and set off in a run toward Lily. She stood petrified, not knowing what to do. Run or fight? But how she was supposed to fight against such an unearthly creature?