Thornfalcon (The ARC Legacy Book 1)

by Matthew W. Harrill

  “How do you know?” Samantha replied without turning. Both men had begun to gyrate in a series of spasmodic steps, each taking them closer and closer to the cliff edge.

  “I can feel it. There's more to their prayer than just words. They call to the spirits for intervention and they dance to ward themselves from being taken.”

  Samantha turned. Io's gaze was fixed on the cliff edge. Behind him Adreana's eyes were bright as she watched him. Not the event before them, but Io himself.

  Ahead, the dancers' prayer reached a crescendo and simultaneously, both men stopped, dropping to their knees, arms stretched in front and foreheads touching the ground.

  “They have called the spirits and link them to the earth, if they come,” said Turatup. “We shall see.”

  Above them, the flock of crows became more active, first cawing in excitement at the fruit being strewn about the grass and then, as if an invisible net had been removed, launching into the sky to swirl above Samantha's head. The noise grew to a deafening level as the excited murder of crows continued to swirl, descending toward the circle and her head. Samantha ducked on instinct, raising her hands to protect herself. As she did so, the crows split in two, landing on the grass to peck at the fruit.

  Her heart thudding in her chest, Samantha drew in several gasping breaths, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. She looked up at Io. “What. The?”

  “Dramatic,” Io observed.

  “There is a sign,” Turatup announced. Turning to his people he shouted in Honihin and the gathered tribe cheered.

  “Those women encouraged the crows down with food,” Samantha countered, the doubt growing in her.

  “No.” The shaman's voice was sharp the cheering tribe immediately stopped. “The fruit women cannot see. They were born blind. You want to know the reading, yes?”

  “I do,” Samantha hoped her scepticism wouldn't cost her.

  His face twitching in irritation, Turatup consulted the book she had given him, turned it around and handed it to her without a word.

  “Return home. Seek the answer from someone close,” she read aloud.

  “Sounds like a fortune cookie,” quipped Adreana.

  His face now serious, the shaman took possession of the book once again. “These omens are not to be ignored. Your gift of the book is beyond treasure, but even spirits say it's time for you to leave.”

  Samantha stepped out of the circle, nodding her thanks at the old man.

  Io turned to follow her as she moved off but Turatup placed a hand on his shoulder. “You stand.”

  “I shouldn't,” Io replied with a grateful smile, intending to walk away.

  Samantha's heart missed a beat as she remembered his warning. Karael, the name a distant memory in this sweaty jungle, had found them after the crows had formed the Thornfalcon, the Hebrew glyph for his very name.

  Turatup's hand did not move, keeping Io in place. “You stand,” he insisted, his voice commanding.

  If Samantha had learned anything about Io the man, it was that he had a gentle nature. He didn't want to fight a people who didn't know better.

  “Be ready,” he warned her. “I don't know what my actions will precipitate.” To Turatup he said, “I will stand in your circle. I apologise.”

  Samantha could see his meaning. Io didn't apologise for his refusal to stand in the circle, but for what might happen if he did. They had information now. They needed to get it to where it would be of use.

  Io turned from them, stepping over the wooden frame into the circle. Once there, he stood head bowed, repeating a phrase under his breath. “Please don't.”

  The crows ceased their feeding and raised their heads, watching him. For a moment nothing happened. Then one by one the crows cawed, hopping and flapping as they were compelled to move.

  Samantha winced as each bird fell into place, the puzzle complete in moments. The Honihin gasped as one.

  “Agela has been given guidance,” Turatup muttered, then raised his voice and shouted the same phrase in Honihin. The tribe moved from awe to celebration, whooping and cheering around the glade.

  Io turned to Samantha. “I'm sorry, Sammy. I couldn't fight them. They know not what they do.”

  From above there was an ear-splitting boom as an object hurtled out of the sky, at a speed faster than sound. There was no time to move as it plummeted to the ground, impacting with such force the rock deep beneath cracked and split. Dirt flew up into the air causing the entire tribe to duck. Samantha fought to stay standing as the very earth recoiled from this alien intrusion. As the displaced dirt fell to the ground, a pair of eyes looked up at her from within the impact crater.

  “Karael.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Samantha reeled, falling over her feet as she stepped back, only to be caught by Io. How had it been so quick? How could they ever escape?

  Karael stood, the rock beneath the weight of his presence groaning in pain as the folds of his long black leather jacket draped around him. He wore the body of Lucas well, giving him intensity, a purpose that, while alive, had seldom been expressed. Eyes, wise beyond imagination, hard without mercy, assessed the situation. “Brother,” he said, addressing Io, who had remained in the wooden circle. “Why are you doing this to yourself? Calling my attention down upon you in the ruined city was unfortunate on your part. Yet you escape just to run halfway around the planet and call me down once again? One might suggest you're a glutton for punishment.”

  The crows that hadn't been wiped out of existence by Karael's thunderous entrance began to caw at him, clearly rattled by what had happened. He nodded at the birds and in an instant they flew back to the trees and were silent.

  “How did you?” Samantha realised even as she asked the question. “The Thornfalcon?”

  “My sigil,” Karael corrected her. “If it calls to me, I come.”

  “But they had you bound.”

  “Only until I was called on again. Your bonds mean nothing in comparison to the power of Heaven's chosen. My sole purpose, you know, is Eradication of Heaven's rabid fallen.” Karael stepped up out of the impact crater. The rock shuddered beneath his feet, as if recoiling from him.

  Samantha touched Io's shoulder to steady herself. His muscles were rock hard with tension. “What is it, Io?”

  “I feel this is a bad idea but I do not understand why. Again, I recognise him, Samantha. Not this mortal form but the presence contained within. I feel a kinship, but nothing more.”

  The lack of recognition enraged Karael. He threw his head back and roared in anguish. “Where are you, Ioviel? Why do you persist in masking your presence with this mortal affliction, this amnesia? We were brothers, you and I. Forces among the Powers, the Order of Angels and Heavens' protection, guardians of the very gates, you were foremost among us, the greatest of our kind. Does leaving the sanctity of our domain for your own selfish purposes mean nothing to you? Ours is a life of servitude, Ioviel. Ever since He formed us out of nothingness, pulling us from the void, we have served. Your wishes do not come above obedience, and for that, you must be destroyed.”

  Karael took another menacing step toward them, only for Turatup to step in the way, flanked on either side by Suara and Yakiba. The shaman raised his hands, speaking in Honihin,

  'Agela' was the only word Samantha recognised.

  Together, the three men walked toward the angel, their faces reverent, eyes wide.

  Karael was clearly aware of their approach but his eyes remained on Io. “Is your choice to remain behind mortal men, brother? Would you cower so? A mighty captain such as yourself reduced to a whimpering cur?”

  Karael stepped forward and Turatup reached out to touch him. With a sneer, Karael balled his hand and rammed it through the shaman's chest and out between the ribs of his back. The hand remained closed, blood dripping to the grass below with a series of loud spatters.

  “Turatup!” Samantha screamed, her voice joining those of the tribe around the glade.

 
The limp body of the shaman continued to hang off of Karael's arm, the lifeless head tipping forward onto his shoulder.

  The weight of the man was inconsequential for the angel. “These, Ioviel, these men—they're a means to an end—power. Surround yourself with man and I'll remove them no matter how pure their souls.”

  “Karael, please don't.” Io remained in the circle.

  Karael took another step forward. The two warriors were unsure how to react, holding their spears low.

  “Suara, Yakiba, get back,” called Samantha.

  “Hearken to the words of the spawn of Satan,” Karael mocked her, addressing the tribesmen. “She would save you despite her impotence.”

  They didn't move.

  “Don't then,” Karael continued. In a flash, he withdrew his hand from Turatups body and grabbed each by the throat. “I'll take them from you one by one.” With a jerk of his hands, he tore their throats out, leaving them both on their knees, gasping for air as blood choked them from within.

  “No!” roared Io, running forward.

  “At last!” Karael rejoiced, dropping fistfuls of skin and cartilage to the glade. He moved forward to meet Io's charge, knocking him from his feet with a sidestep and a straight arm to the chest. “This will be a day long remembered. The day one of our mightiest ends his desecration. Get up, Ioviel. Give me the satisfaction of a clean kill.”

  Karael stepped back, allowing Io to regain his footing. “You don't have to do this,” Io gasped as he attempted to draw deep breaths.

  Karael grabbed Io by the front of his shirt and twisted, pulling him close. “You've fallen less than two mortal days and already you think to tell me what I can and cannot do? This soul sack you cower in, it's affecting your judgement. There is no do, or don't do. There is obedience. When you disobey, you're punished. When you disobey, you fall. When you involve mortals in our affairs, they pay the price.”

  Karael shifted his foot, readying a hard punch, and in that moment Io ducked, tackling his opponent and sending him sprawling across the broken ground. Attempting to press his advantage, Io launched himself after Karael, aiming to land atop him. Karael pulled his feet in, lashing out as Io descended and flipping him over and into one of the huts. The delicate building burst apart in a shower of sticks and straw, sending several of the Honihin screaming into the forest.

  “Sammy, you gotta do something, mate.” Adreana urged her.

  “Like what? I don't exactly have a good angel up my sleeve.”

  “Think of something. Io's fighting half-cocked. He needs to remember who he is and he'll be okay.”

  One of the warriors attempted to halt Karael in his pursuit of Io. Without pausing, the avenging angel thrust a hand in through his ribcage and began to use the body as a club, swinging it at Io. Blood spattered everywhere. Getting to his feet, Io shielded his face from the blood until Karael landed a blow, sending him flying back into the glade.

  This was more than enough for the majority of the tribe, who melted into the jungle. Samantha felt for them. She'd brought this fate upon the innocent Honihin. She fingered the gun in her bag, realizing a firearm would be an ineffectual tool. “Adreana, I need a distraction.”

  Her face pale with fright, Adreana replied, “You want me to go over there and talk to him?”

  There was only one distraction within her power enough for an angel. “Just watch them. I need a moment.”

  From the other end of the glade she heard Io cry out in pain. “Brother, stop,”

  Karael hissed. “You have no power over me, Ioviel. You're no longer my captain, only my target, unworthy of a place in our ranks.”

  Io continued to appeal to Karael even as they fought. Samantha stepped down into the depression caused by the angel's dramatic entrance, the only clear area of dirt. Beneath her feet she felt the dirt shift. The cliff didn't have long. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she began to draw glyphs.

  The practice was so familiar to her. It had only been a matter of days since she summoned her father's image yet so much had changed. She glanced up once. Karael had pummelled Io to near insensibility. The fact that the angel Karael wore Lucas' body was not lost on her.

  “This is what it means to defy His word, brother. Your fall will be a tale told forever.” He threw Io to the ground, standing above him. Holding his bloody hand out to one side, he smiled as it now filled with a glowing sword. Holy. Righteous. A weapon of divine execution “You didn't think I only had one?”

  Scratching at the earth in desperation, Samantha completed the circle of glyphs. “It's gonna have to do. Dad I hope you've got your ears on.”

  Clenching her fist, she sliced at the skin of her forearm with the jagged edge of a rock. The pain, so familiar and so instant surged through her, and blood began to seep from the wound. Holding her arm away from the glyphs until she judged there was enough blood, Samantha proceeded to let her life fill the patterns with power.

  Karael stopped, sword raised aloft, turning toward her. “What are you doing?”

  “Bringing my own angel to the fight.” Samantha turned back to the pattern at her feet. “Come on.”

  At first the blood did nothing, spattering on the dirt. Then, as the liquid sank into the glyphs, a red glow appeared along the lines she had drawn. The glow increased, the glyphs coming alive and dancing within the confines of the enclosing circle.

  “That is forbidden!” Karael bellowed, his attention now on her. Behind him Io stirred in the grass.

  “Not from me,” she shot back. “Adreana, step back.”

  The glyphs began to swirl, coalescing into a glowing circle of deepest red. Adreana took a few steps away from the crater, standing near the edge of the cliff. A tremble reverberated beneath. The cliff reacting to Karael's landing? No, this was a different vibration. A deep-seated, otherworldly growl she had heard before.

  The red circle began to spin. As it increased in speed, the deep red glowed brighter, stronger, passing into shades of pink. As the circle reached white, it began to emit a keening noise.

  Samantha grinned at Karael. “He comes!” she proclaimed. Get up, Io. Get up!

  Karael let loose a terrible roar, striding with righteous fury toward the portal, Io forgotten, his sword blazing. Simultaneously, a blurry form rose out of the light, coalescing into the shape of a man. Adreana looked up, letting loose a scream of such horror Samantha suspected she would never regain her sanity. Karael stopped in his tracks, also looking above where Samantha stood.

  She had long known that whoever beheld the Devil saw what they chose to see. For Samantha, Madden Scott stood a little taller than her, brown hair tied back, a twinkle in his eye and a half-smile. Dressed in black, the Lord of Hell's figure was imposing. Just for a moment, Samantha felt safe and in that instant, the mortal beheld Satan and they were father and daughter once more.

  The moment gone, Samantha swivelled, hearing a noise behind her. Karael stood there, sword in one hand and a grin of triumph on his face. He grabbed her with his free hand and tossed her over his shoulder, as she clung to her bag.

  “This day will be rejoiced,” Karael crowed. “The day the most accursed of my brothers was brought before me and slain. Fallen one, prepare to meet oblivion at my hands!”

  Sammy love, fire!

  The words rumbled in her head as Madden spoke through her mind. She soon realised the din was not just her father. The entire cliff was about to give way.

  “Adreana!”

  The tiny Australian still screamed, her eyes fixed above Madden's head.

  Karael pulled his arm back, ready to end Satan. His arm flashed round, sparks striking off displaced rocks as the sword passed harmlessly through the summoned image of her father. Instead, the blade struck a fatal blow to the cliff.

  The image of her father wavered and disappeared with a bang as the glyphs were ruined. The surface dropped a step as the rocks began to crumble.

  Karael turned. “What is this, defiler? Mortal weapons cannot harm me.”


  Samantha held the ARC pistol, arm steady, pointed at the angel. “You said that once before. For a heavenly being, you're awfully dense.” She fired one shot, the bullet taking him in the shoulder and knocking him from his feet. The cliff could stand no more and gave way with a deafening roar, the ground around her subsided as she tried to jump back.

  Adreana was gone, Karael too. It all seemed in slow motion to Samantha as the cliff began to rise above her. She was done for. Reaching for the edge of the cliff seemed futile, but in a desperate last action, she had to try. She closed her eyes. In her mind she heard a voice say Time to show your mother. Show Eva!

  Something grabbed her. Io was there, leaning over the edge of the new cliff at an impossible angle, his hand clasped about her wrist.

  “Gotcha. Hold on.”

  As Karael had done only moments before, Io hurled her up and over the cliff edge to safety where she landed on the springy turf with a bump. He followed a moment later.

  “I'm out of it for a second and you're ending the world! Come on, we need to get out of here before Karael finds a way up this cliff.”

  Samantha glanced down at the rubble beneath them. A big scar had opened up the forest, rubble flattening the jungle on the side of the mountain. Somewhere down slope an angel and a girl who had only tried to help were buried alive in the avalanche. “The Honihin won't remain isolated and undiscovered after this.” Was that movement she spied? Samantha turned back. “Where are they?”

  “Gone,” Io replied. “Like you said, their world ended. I doubt you'll see them here again. Come.”

  The sound of rubble shifting spurred Samantha into action, but not where Io tried to direct her.

  “What are you doing?” He called as she dashed off into Turatup's hut.

  “The books. If they aren't coming back, they won't need them.” The first of the twin volumes was still in the hut. Samantha stowed it in her backpack. Returning to the ruined glade she found Io holding the other book, its cover stained red with blood. Turatup's blood. With regret she placed it next to the first book. “Let's go.”