by S. J. West
“I’m going to lift my foot on the count of three!” he calls up to me. “One . . . two . . . three!”
The staircase begins to tremble beneath my feet. From below us, I hear a scraping noise like two pieces of stone are being slid against one another. As I listen to the sound, it suddenly dawns on me what might be happening.
I run down the stairs to reach Caleb before it’s too late, but instead, I get there just in time to watch the step he’s standing on be pulled into the rockface, causing him to plummet through the air. His scream echoing against the walls of the chamber.
“Caleb!” I dive after him. With my right arm stretched out as far as it can reach, I’m able to grab hold of the back of his collared shirt, abruptly stopping his descent. The grating noise of stairs disappearing into the mountain wall can still be heard above us.
From the light of the lantern Caleb still holds, I’m able to see the bottom of the hole fifty feet below us. Easy enough to reach for someone with wings, but a death sentence to anyone else who unknowingly set off the trap.
“I guess we need to watch where we step,” Caleb jokes with a tense laugh. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I was saving the lantern.”
Caleb turns his head to look at me in surprise, causing me to lose the straight face I was trying to hold and laugh instead. He laughs too and the sound continues as I fly us safely to the ground.
Once there, we look around and only see one direction to go. A tunnel leads off farther into the mountain at a steep incline.
Caleb lifts the lantern toward the passage. “I guess we go this way.”
“Let’s both be more careful this time,” I say as we make our way toward the tunnel.
“No more running ahead for me,” Caleb promises. “It only takes one near death experience to teach me right from wrong.”
I snicker at his statement. “Only one, uh? I guess you’re a fast learner.”
Caleb laughs and considers me for a moment before saying what’s on his mind. “You’re different.”
I take my gaze off the floor of the tunnel long enough to look him in the eyes.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You’re less . . . intense,” he notes. “You’ve made two jokes in the last minute. That has to be a record for you. Is it the new soul or being in love that’s changed you?”
“Both,” I say without even having to think about it. “I do feel different, but it’s hard for me to put into words what the difference is. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s the way I feel.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone, least of all me.”
We walk down the steep tunnel in silence for a couple of minutes, each of us lost in our own thoughts. All I want to do is go back home and find Silas. Whenever I’m with him, I feel whole and happy. For me, it’s a strange feeling. I’ve always been independent of others, but I know if I ever lost Silas, the hole his absence would make in my life would be even larger than the one Lux’s departure left. She was everything to me and not having her by my side anymore is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome.
“Look,” Caleb says excitedly as the inclined portion of the tunnel ends and a flatter section begins. “We must be getting close.”
I look ahead to see what he’s pointing at. About thirty feet ahead of us, I see the end of the tunnel. Carved into the stone is the angelic script that symbolizes Azrael’s name. When I was inside Warden 99’s memory, he had a hood over his head making it impossible to see part of his journey to Azrael’s lair. However, I do remember hearing the grinding of stone and clanging of metal at one point.
“From what I heard and saw in Warden 99’s memory, I think that’s just a door that leads to another part of the tunnel,” I say. “His eyes were covered at the time, so I didn’t see how to open it. We’ll need to figure that part out ourselves before we can go any farther.”
As we get closer, the solution to how to open the door looks pretty simple. A wooden handle juts out from the rockface to the right of the door. Above and below the handle are two triangles: one pointing up and one pointing down. Since the handle is set to its lowest position, it can only be drawn up. Once we reach it, Caleb places his hand on the handle and looks over to me before moving it.
“Do you agree that we should pull it up?” he asks, not wanting to make another mistake by rushing into something.
I look around us for any type of clue that we need to do something else before pulling the handle. It seems too easy, but I also don’t see anything else for us to do.
“Pull it up,” I say with a nod. “If it’s a mistake, it’s on both of us this time.”
Caleb pulls the handle up easily and I hear the same grinding of stone and clanging of metal that I did in Warden 99’s dream. The only problem is that the door in front of us doesn’t open and a slab of stone drops ten feet farther up the tunnel to trap us where we are. The stone beneath our feet begins to tremble and rock dust from the ceiling covers us in a thin layer, causing us to both cough in response.
“What did we do wrong?” Caleb’s panic is infectious.
“I don’t know,” I say, covering my eyes with a hand before looking up to see where the grit is coming from. I lose my breath when I notice the ceiling is slowly lowering. If we don’t figure out what we did wrong within the next minute or so, we’ll be crushed to death by its weight.
“Oh my God,” Caleb says, seeing the same thing I am as he looks up.
“We had to have missed something,” I say desperately. “Look around for anything out of the ordinary.”
Frantically, we both start searching for the answer, but there’s absolutely nothing here except for the handle.
“You’re going to have to phase us out of here, Caleb,” I say between coughing fits. The dust is making it harder and harder for me to breathe.
Without even arguing, Caleb reaches out and grabs hold of my arm. I expect us to phase right away, but nothing happens.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask as the rock above us is almost to the top of my wings.
“I’m trying but nothing is happening!”
As the ceiling continues to lower, I have to crouch slightly to avoid feeling it’s push against my wings. The light in the lantern begins to flicker, and I wonder if this is the moment my existence finally comes to an end. A vision of Silas mourning my death takes root inside my mind, urging me to find a way to prevent him from feeling the excruciating pain of my loss. I will never purposely hurt Silas with my actions if I can help it.
“Give me the lantern!” I order Caleb, so he doesn’t waste time by asking me why I want it.
Without question, he hands it over. I run to the wooden handle, searching for some clue to help get us out of this nightmare.
The handle is completely smooth. There are no markings. There isn’t even a nick in the wood. I look at the triangles again. The top one points up and the bottom one points down. Their symbolic instructions seem simple enough, but it’s obvious we missed something important. I hold the lantern up higher so its glow illuminates the area, making it brighter. The light flickering from the glass bottom makes a triangular shape against the wall. Could it be that simple? Am I literally holding the key to our salvation? There’s only one way to find out.
As Caleb falls to his knees behind me in a coughing fit, I hold the lantern on its side and press the bottom of it in the top triangle in the wall. I press it forward and feel it slide into the hole perfectly. The ceiling stops moving as I hear a louder metallic grinding noise right before the stone starts to make its ascent and the circular door rolls to the left inside the mountain. I decide to leave the lantern where it is while I help Caleb to his feet and past this section of the tunnel.
The only sound in the passageway is that of our labored breathing. Once we both catch our breaths, Caleb stands and lends me a hand to pull me up.
“How in the world did you think to use the lantern as a key?” he asks
in amazement.
“It just seemed right,” I say, using my fingers to brush it clean of the rock dust. “When I found the lantern, I thought it was a strange shape. Now I know why.”
“Thank God I brought you along or I would be flat as a pancake right now.”
I completely agree with him but I decide not to brag. The sooner we get out of here the better I’ll feel.
“Come on,” I say before I begin to walk forward. “We’re getting close. The door to Azrael’s cave is at the end of this tunnel.”
Caleb follows alongside me. It only takes us a couple of minutes to reach our destination.
Just as I remember from Warden 99’s memory, we come to a metal door with Azrael’s symbol embossed on its surface. A thick chain hangs next to the door. It’s the same one I remember Maggie, one of the Warden’s who brought 99 down here, pulling to open the door. I walk over and twist the chain around my hand.
“Are you sure yanking that chain isn’t going to set off another trap?” Caleb asks. His hesitancy is understandable considering the two traps we’ve already set off.
“I think the Wardens figured if you made it this far, you have to be one of them,” I say. “In 99’s memory, the woman he was with used it to open this door. I think we’ll be okay.”
Caleb nods but he still looks dubious about our safety even with my reassurance. Before he has a chance to ask another question and make me second guess my decision, I pull on the chain. Just like in 99’s memory, the door lifts and vanishes into the rock face.
Azrael’s cave looks exactly as I remember. The walls have been scorched black from the strange flames that flicker over it in varying waves of intensity. As we step into the space, the chilly air seeps through my skin and muscles to invade my bones, making me wish I had never agreed to help Caleb come here.
Set in the middle of the cavern, like a perfect prison, is a large dome shaped cage made of bars of polished silver. Azrael sits within the structure with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and hands resting palms up on his knees. His white beard looks longer now than it did in the memory, reaching well past his waist. Light from the flames flickering along the wall behind him reflects off his bald head, giving it a halo effect.
“I wondered how long it would take you to find me, Lora,” Azrael says. The corners of his mouth tug his lips into a wicked, almost triumphant, smile. “I have to say I didn’t expect it to be this soon. Who is that with you? A new friend for me to play with?”
“How do you know who I am?” I ask him tersely. At the end of 99’s memory walk, Azrael spoke directly to me, calling me by name. How did he do that? We’ve never met, and people within someone else’s memories have never spoken directly to me because they’re simply ghosts from the past.
“I have my ways.” His smile turns into a gloating one, but he still keeps his eyes closed. I’m thankful for that. Warden 99 was forced to have a vision of his own death when Azrael looked him in the eyes. Although, 99 did ask Azrael to show him his death so he could become a full fledge Warden. Even so, I have no way of knowing if he can show someone a vision of their death without asking him to, but I would rather not take the risk.
“Why is he keeping his eyes closed?” Caleb whispers to me. Of course, a whisper in this room is pointless, every sound, no matter how small, echoes in the chamber.
“I’m waiting,” Azrael answers.
“Waiting for what?” I ask, needing to know if he has the power to harm us from inside his cage.
“I’m waiting to see if one of you wants to discover how you will eventually die.” Azrael sounds bored, like my question was a waste of breath for him to answer.
“I don’t want to know,” Caleb readily says.
“Neither do I,” I say. “Does that mean you can open your eyes now?”
Azrael’s eyelids lift and he looks straight at me. His eyes are a striking shade of amber that seem to be mocking me.
“What brings you to my humble abode, Lora?” he asks, tilting his head as he peers at me. “I assume the two of you didn’t come here to just chit chat with your Uncle Azrael.”
He smiles at his own joke, but I don’t find it the least bit amusing.
“You’re definitely not any relation of mine,” I inform him tartly.
“Perhaps not,” he agrees with a small nod before his gaze turns to Caleb. “But I sense the boy and I share a familial connection. In fact, he’s the first candidate to be brought here who might actually work.”
“Candidate?” I ask, at a complete loss. “Candidate for what?”
Azrael tilts his head, looking confused by my question.
“Didn’t you bring him here so I can finally escape this prison?”
“I can help you get out of it?” Caleb asks, sounding more intrigued than scared by the notion.
“This cage prevents me from phasing.” Azrael glances at his prison in disdain before returning is attention to Caleb. “I can only escape it if I transfer my soul into another host, but humans are too weak to contain my soul. I need one that’s at least partially angelic. You dear boy, fit that criteria to a T.”
“Absolutely not!” I say. “We didn’t come down here so you can kill Caleb.”
“I wouldn’t be killing him,” Azrael says, aghast that I would suggest such a thing. “In fact, the complete opposite is true. He would become immortal because I’m immortal. Unlike most people I come in contact with, he would enjoy everlasting life.”
“A life where you have all the control, I presume? You don’t exactly strike me as the sharing type.”
Azrael simply smiles. It’s all the answer I need.
“Lora . . .” Caleb draws my attention away from Azrael and back to him. The look on his face tells me he’s already made up his mind and accepted the fate Azrael has planned for him. “If this is the only way we can release him from here, we have to do it before Alred finds him.”
“Oh, he’s already been here.” Azrael’s statement brings both of us up short.
“He has?” I ask. “What did he want?”
“The same thing you want from me, I suppose.” He smirks. “From what he said, it sounds like the fate of Heaven itself is about to be determined. I never thought Levi had it in him to challenge our Father, but good for him. As far as I’m concerned, new management in Heaven is long overdue.”
“It sounds like you’ve already decided what side of this war you’re willing to fight on,” I say. “Why would we release you if you’re planning to help Levi?”
“You should never assume things.” Azrael unfolds his legs and stands to his feet. He doesn’t move from the center of the dome, but considering his height, he probably can’t move around much without bumping his head against the bars of the cage. “I may have my opinions, but I’m also rather open minded about the whole affair.”
“What exactly does Alred want you to do for his side?” I ask.
“Reap the souls of everyone who opposes Levi, of course.” He makes this statement so nonchalantly; I have to wonder if he’s making a joke or if he’s telling us the truth. “Isn’t that what you want me to do for you?”
Malcolm’s conversation with Jered makes a lot more sense now. Jered accused Malcolm of what he termed to be genocide. I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, but Azrael has unknowingly cleared that mystery up for me.
“Can you reap the souls of that many people at one time?” I ask.
“Well, I can’t say it’s ever been done before, but I don’t see how it would be a difficulty for me.” Azrael shrugs his shoulders like killing thousands of people is no big deal. In fact, he looks excited about the idea. He was trapped here by Lucifer on God’s orders because he became addicted to killing people, even when it wasn’t their time to die.
“If I agree to this, what will happen to me once you take control of my body?” Caleb asks. My heart sinks at the thought of him agreeing to this deal. He seems to have already made up his mind, but I won’t let him do it. It’s not worth him los
ing himself.
“The answer to that question doesn’t matter because you’re not going to let him do that.”
Caleb smiles wanly. “You know we can’t let Levi have the angel of death in his army. He’s already too powerful. This might be the only way we can win.”
I grab Caleb by the shoulders with both hands and place my face an inch from his so he focuses solely on me.
“You are not doing this,” I tell him fiercely, squeezing his shoulders to emphasize my words. “We will find another way. Alred was smart enough not to let him take over his body. Don’t jump into this without thinking everything through first. Let’s go back to the academy and ask Jered and Malcolm what we should do. They know Azrael better than either of us. There has to be another option. I refuse to believe this is the only one.”
“That’s pretty much what Alred said too,” Azrael says. “That’s why he said he would return soon with a body I could have, if that little bit of information matters to you at all.”
“See?” Caleb says. “We have to do this before it’s too late. Let me make this sacrifice so I can finally prove myself to the others.”
“You have nothing to prove.” It’s like he’s not even hearing me.
“Yes, I do, and you know it.” Caleb pulls my hands off his shoulders and looks past me to Azrael. “Do you have an answer to my question?”
“About what will happen to you?” Azrael asks to verify what Caleb is asking. Caleb nods. “Ahh, well, unlike my fallen brethren, I won’t be pushing your soul out of your body. We’ll simply be sharing it.”
“Will I have any control once you’re inside me?” Caleb asks.
“Only if I permit you to have control,” Azrael says rather bluntly. “For all intents and purposes, you’ll simply be an observer to what happens to us.”
“That’s no way to live your life, Caleb,” I argue, keeping my body between him and Azrael. “How can you even contemplate an existence like that?”