Lucifer's Legacy: Book 1 of the Heaven's Insurrection Saga

by Joel Stewart

  Jesse frowned. “If I never buy a gun, the chances of me being in a situation where I need to use one are pretty small; besides, I really need to get working on these data miners if I am going to figure out what kind of information they were programed to look for.”

  “Suit yourself.” Davis responded. “I’m going to head back to the job site. The Chief is really bogged down with some changes and I want to take some of the pressure off him.”

  “Yeah, I heard about that.” Cliff looked over at the door thinking of what to do next. “I’ll go with you. I know it’s my day off, but I think I need some mindless work to process everything.”

  “I’ll go see if Alden can help us out.” Alex added. “I can ask my father as a last resort, but he has so much on his plate already, hopefully I will have something to report by tomorrow night!” She took out some cash and left it on the table. “Since Cliff is heading out with you I’ll just head out now. Later!” She waved goodbye to the group and headed out the door.

  “Is it just me or did Alex seem a little too excited to track down this Alden guy.” Cliff said with a frown after the door finished closing behind Alex. “Ugh.” He groaned despairingly

  “Why don’t you just tell her and be done with it man?” Davis asked in his low rumbling voice. “Before a guy like Alden has a chance to make a move.”

  Cliff looked like a puddle sitting in his chair. His shoulders, eyes, posture, even his ears seemed to be drooping. “I tried to tell her on two different occasions today. Every time I get close I either freeze up or something happens that interrupts me.”

  “You’re building it up to be more than it is.” Davis counseled. “You just got to pull the trigger before . . .”

  “Before I end up in the friend zone?” Cliff barked back. “A little late for that don’t you think? Like maybe fifteen years too late? And how can I build up laying my feelings bare before my best—and oldest—friend, and possibly ruin or change our relationship?” Cliff buried his face in his hands and then slowly pulled them down like he was going to pull his face off. “Ugh. I just feel like something has to change for her to see me as more than this.” He waved his hands back and forth over his body. “I mean . . . I mean . . . maybe this is my chance, this thing with Lena. If it ever turns into something I mean. But even here, Alex is gathering intel, Jesse is using his super brain powers, you’re infiltrating a mysterious cave system, and I’m . . . going to get a restful night’s sleep?” He slowly dropped his head down to the table and banged it three times. “Uuuhhhhh.” He moaned.

  “You know I could use a wheel-man tonight.” Davis suggested. “I wouldn’t dare take you with me, you have no stealth training and it could be dangerous, but just in case things get hot I could use a person sitting in the truck ready to bolt.”

  “I think I might take you up on that.” Cliff responded. He looked over at Jesse who seemed engrossed in studying one of the tracking boxes. “If those have GPS trackers shouldn’t we keep them separated and . . . I don’t know . . . not inside eating establishments? They are supposed to be on three separate cars.”

  “Oh . . . boy.” Jesse muttered realizing Cliff was right. “You guys take care of the bill and I’ll take care of these!” He said running out the door. Cliff could see him through the window sticking them back on his car spaced as far apart as possible.

  “Let’s go do some mindless labor.” Davis said with a smile as he got up from the table and headed over to the counter to pay the bill.

  “Yes. Let’s.” Cliff responded.

  Chapter 6

  “It’s midnight Davis, you ready to go?” Cliff yelled through the house from the couch. He liked hanging out at Davis’s house. He had a TV, which Cliff did not, and it was a big one! He had been watching late night comedy for the last hour or so while Davis was doing something on the other end of the house. He kept imagining Jesse having a comedy job like these clowns on TV, He would probably be better at it than these guys, Cliff thought.

  He turned the television off and headed down the hallway to find Davis. The house was very functional, a bachelor’s pad at its finest. All of the things that make a house a home for most were left with his ex-wife when they separated, so he had ugly but comfortable sofas, a computer that was integrated with his wide screen TV, a half clean kitchen, and no pictures on any wall. Cliff asked him about that once, “Pictures are for memories . . . the past.” Davis had responded. “I would rather think about the present.”

  Cliff had pieced together some of the events that ended his military career. It had to do with a counterterrorism mission in which he ended up having to consciously shoot through a small boy to kill a terrorist. The boy apparently looked almost identical to his son. His mission was successful, but when the dust settled he had lost his entire squad, sustained at least seven gunshot wounds, and the ensuing PTSD tore his family apart. Cliff had noticed that every time he saw his son he always looked ragged for at least a week after. “Nightmares.” Davis had told him once.

  Davis opened his bedroom door and stepped into the hallway with a big smile on his face. “Now I’m ready.”

  Cliff looked stunned. Davis had black camouflage paint on his face and hands, camouflage fatigues, a military belt around his waist with a scary looking knife, a few grenades of differing types, and a pistol. Cliff saw him in a whole new light. He had always known Davis was ex-special forces but the reality of how deadly he was never struck home until this moment. Cliff didn’t think he would be able to spot the man if he decided to simply step into a shadow. “You going to kill someone tonight?”

  “If I have to, it will be with the knife.” Davis said with a smirk. “My grenades are flash, stun, and smoke, and my pistol is carrying tranquilizer rounds.”

  “I’m impressed.” Cliff said nodding his head.

  The pair drove toward Lena’s hill and Davis parked the truck well away from their intended destination. “From here, I go alone.” He said in a commanding voice, slapping a circular disc in Cliff’s hand. “If this starts making noise you know to come pick me up. If I don’t signal you in two hours, just drive away. I will have made my exit via some other means.”

  Cliff looked over Davis one more time. He was all business. “Understood. Good luck my friend.”

  “I’ve learned to make my own luck.” Davis responded and jumped out of the truck. This side of Lena’s hill had empty office buildings around it with very little light. Davis nearly disappeared as soon as he stepped out of the truck.

  The minutes seemed like hours to Cliff, as he waited. The empty street went from feeling empty, to ominous, to empty, and back to ominous. The buzzer in his hand seemed like it was poised to make a noise any moment. Every once in a while Cliff would hear something and imagine it might have been the buzzer, but it wasn’t. Scenarios started going through Cliff’s mind of what Davis might be going through. At first he found an empty cave with nothing in it, then he was imagining a secret cell of Chengarian spies and Davis was taking them out one by one with his knife. Thinking about the awakening, he imagined an evil cult in caves beneath the mysterious shack making sacrifices to summon an ungodly terror to destroy Denoria and wreak havoc on the world.

  He soon heard loud noises coming from the direction of the hill and saw several flashes. Stun and flash grenades, Cliff thought. Moments later, the buzzer started wailing like a police siren. He slammed the button on top of the buzzer to quell the noise, turned the truck on, and slammed the gas. Then, he paralleled the wall that surrounded Lena’s hill and kept his eyes peeled for any sign of where Davis might be. A light flickered in some bushes and Cliff slowed down the truck. Before he could positively spot Davis he heard a thump in the back. Davis slammed on the back window and yelled “Drive!” before lying flat behind the cover of the truck bed walls. Cliff floored the gas pedal. As he peeled away he expected to see guards swarm into the road ahead of him or behind, perhaps bullets ricocheting off the metal doors or a sunburst blossom in the windshield where a bullet wo
uld, no doubt, barely miss his head. To his relief and disappointment, nothing happened.

  Cliff pulled the truck over when they were several blocks away with no apparent sign of pursuit. Davis jumped out of the truck bed and climbed into the passenger seat. “That was . . . interesting.” He muttered. There was a cut on his cheek and hand, but the bleeding had already stopped. “I’m good, no real wounds, just a few scratches.”

  “What did you run into? I did not think Lena had anyone staying on her property.” Cliff queried. His face wrinkled with concern.

  “I’m not sure who they were. I found the cave on the backside of the hill—it was hidden really well. If I was not looking for it with thermal imaging I would not have found it. There was a guard standing near the entrance that gave it a marginally warmer profile when I was scanning. I took out that guard with some knockout gas and found a cave that was perfectly round bored into the side of the mountain, it wasn’t natural. I didn’t get 10 feet in before dozens of guards came charging down the hallway. That other guy must have had an open microphone running when I took him down. I dropped flash and stun grenades in the cave and then dropped a smoke at the cave exit. I think I got over the exterior wall before they managed to get clear of the smoke to look for me.” Davis slapped Cliff on the leg, “Good driving wheelman, you really came through for me tonight!”

  “Do you know where the guards were from? Were they from Chengar?” Cliff probed.

  “I don’t know, I have never seen a uniform like that. It was all white, that is all I really made out in the darkness.” Davis responded.

  “All white . . .” Cliff pondered. “You think the Sanctum might have their own private army?”

  “I—” Davis did not get to finish his statement. A massive weight slammed down on the front of his truck and he felt himself go weightless. Sound seemed to dampen as he struggled to keep a grasp on what was happening. He saw a building window pass by his, the truck was flipping back over front! Davis braced one hand against the ceiling and with one fluid motion used the other to draw his sidearm and cover his eyes. Glass from front, side, and back would soon be bursting through the truck’s cabin. When the truck landed on its back, the roof did not collapse as much as he expected it to, but he had bigger things on his mind than the quality workmanship of his now wrecked vehicle.

  After the windshield sent its flying daggers through the cabin, Davis looked over at Cliff. He seemed too dazed to notice anything. He looked at his sidearm with a frown. Only tranqs, he thought. Where are real bullets when you need them? He heard footsteps walking toward the front of the truck. He strained to find a shot that he might get through any of the broken windows, but he did not see anything. Another sudden jerk whirled the truck sideways and back over onto its wheels. Cliff jerked back and forth, Davis wasn’t sure if he was conscious. Turning his attention back toward the now smashed-out front windshield, Davis saw her.

  A woman with silver hair and white clothes with a silver streak down the arms and sides of the legs. There were red stains on the cuff of her right sleeve. Her face was . . . remarkably beautiful. Without hesitation Davis unloaded his whole clip of traq darts before the truck even finished bouncing on its tires. Every shot was right on the mark, but she ducked under them with impossible speed and kicked the front of the truck, sending it careening through the wall of the building behind him.

  Davis looked up at the woman again and met her eyes, they were beautiful eyes, and they were . . . widening with surprise? The woman looked over at Cliff and back at Davis. Sirens from police vehicles could be heard in the distance. Without a word, the woman jumped . . . but didn’t come down! Davis rubbed his eyes. Where did she go? He quickly pulled out his knife and cut his trapped seat belt off of him. He kicked his destroyed door as it flew open and then off its hinges. His huge body moved with surprising grace as he hurdled himself out of the damaged vehicle and onto his feet. He looked around for the woman but there was no sign of her. Racing over to Cliff’s door he tore it off with the same speed and ferocity he had applied to his own door.

  Cliff was unconscious. Davis checked his pulse . . . strong. He pulled a few of the larger glass shards off of Cliff’s skin and clothing before cutting off his seatbelt and giving him another medical once over. He seemed OK. A police car came roaring up the street. It screeched to a halt in front of Davis’s truck, the officers jumping out behind their doors with guns drawn. They were looking at a mountain of a man in full military gear and war paint standing next to a ruined vehicle and an unconscious person.

  “Put your hands up!” The police officers yelled in near unison. Davis turned to face them with a resigned look on his face. This was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 7

  Alex and Jesse were waiting at the gate to Castle Dengrin when Davis and Cliff pulled up in an ATV. They looked disheveled and both had small bandages littering their faces and arms. Alex ran through the gate and down to Cliff. She looked over his injuries like she was a doctor. “And what exactly happened to you two?”

  “I am not sure you will believe me if I tell you.” Davis laughed as he watched Alex fawn over Cliff without giving his injuries a second thought. You may have just had your moment my friend, he thought. “If I didn’t serve with the police commissioner in my military days I would still be in a jail cell right now thinking about the wreckage that used to be my truck.”

  Alex stopped looking over Cliff’s bandages and stared over at Davis. When her eyes came back to Cliff she was furious. “And what exactly did you do to end up with these injuries and a jail cell?” Her voice was cold with a little bit of a motherly ring to it.

  Cliff shrugged, forgetting about his stiff muscles, and then winced. “Don’t yell at me.” Cliff responded playfully. “I ended up in the hospital, not a jail cell.” Alex stared him down twice as hard. She was so beautiful when she was mad. She could yell at him all day as long as she looked this beautiful and wore that dress. The yellow dress was a blend of sassy and modest with a high neckline but a slim fitting waist. It flowed out at the bottom and rippled in the breeze. There were flowers embroidered on the dress that circled from her shoulder down across her chest and waist and all the way down to the bottom, A perfect spiral of flowers to compliment the perfect woman.

  He frowned for a moment as he weighed the complexity of their relationship with the idea that, for some reason, he was taking notice of flowers on a dress. His frown was accompanied by a smile from Alex. She had apparently taken the frown as him responding to her inquisition. The final thought that had really brought on the frown was, I hope she did not wear that dress for Alden.

  “Let’s get your stuff up to the roof of my tower for the campout, you can explain up there . . .” Alex stopped to make sure both men had her attention. “And you will explain.” She stated in a no-nonsense tone.

  “Yes ma’am!” They both chimed in unison. They looked at each other and smiled as they turned toward the rear of the ATV for their stuff. Cliff could not carry very much due to some muscular bruising, but Davis seemed to pick up the extra without missing a beat.

  Saving the serious conversation for later, Jesse decided to at least get the conversation started. “So how was the shooting range?”

  “Oh man . . .” Cliff began excitedly. “I got to use some armor piercing rounds that Davis picked up at a gun show! I had some old stumps and stuff I pulled out this spring and we decided to test them out. It was . . . really awesome.”

  “I remember the last time I went shooting with you guys.” Jesse said sourly. “I stick to the pistols since the rifles always get me banged up. Last time I fired a whole clip and only knocked down one can.”

  “And by hitting that can, you proved that you are getting better!” Cliff offered optimistically. “It’s not like you get out as much as we do . . . wait . . . banged? Nice one Jesse. Maybe you should take another ‘shot’ at using the rifle!”

  “Sounds sweet.” Alex cut in to sever the never-ending pun chain she knew w
as about to start. They stepped into the elevator and Alex began to tell her story. “I found some interesting things about Lena’s deed from Alden. It was apparently given to the Sanctum when it was founded thousands of years ago. The fact that she is living there means she is definitely linked to the Sanctum and, since they have not developed the property, this means there must be something on the property they value more than money. Officially they have not developed the property for their patrons to use, so they must not want the general populace near whatever it is they have going on there.”

  “That is weird in-deed.” Remarked Jesse. He had that smirk on his face again, but nobody noticed the pun.

  “Whatever it is that is valuable is in that hill.” Davis responded, completely ignoring Jesse. The elevator opened next to an exterior door. Beyond that door was a small flight of stairs that led to the top of the medieval tower. There were seven other towers in the castle that were taller than this one, but not by much. For all intents and purposes, they were camping at the top of the world. “I love seeing the stars from the top of this turret,” Davis said as he dropped his gear by the fire pit farthest from the stairs. There were two firepits on the top of this particular tower and the usable area spanned almost 100 feet. The firepit by the stairs already had a tent pitched by it and a small fire burning though the occupants were nowhere to be seen.

  “They seem so much brighter, don’t they?” Alex did not really expect a response to her nearly rhetorical question, but Davis gave it anyway.

  “I have seen the stars at night from almost every island and continent on this planet and nothing beats the view from here. When you include the height of this mountain, and the height of this tower, we are on one of the highest points anywhere. The Shattered Lands might have a mountain or two taller, but I wouldn’t expect anyone to be brave enough to verify it.”