Fearless (29 page)

35

Nathaneal

Isaac is carrying Ebony because I trust him. In the years we journeyed from land to land searching for her, he protected me when I needed it, and he led the way when I was too young or inexperienced and couldn't. As my mentor and friend, he's never failed me. I trust Isaac with my life, a
nd to
day I trust him with the one who is dearer to me than life itself.

I knew I wouldn't get Ebony out of Skade without a fight. Oh, I had hoped not to spill blood, but that was naive of me. It will be hard on her should even one life be lost as a result, but once I have her home again we will find a way to heal each other as we always did during our time together in the spirit world.

Anticipating I am about to become especially busy, I glance at Ebony in Isaac's arms one more time. She's anxious – understandably – but she's safe, and for now that will do.

So leaving her in Isaac's care, I turn my attention to the gates in the northern sky. So close, yet … those horns playing their tune tell me the battle is imminent. The enemy is gathering, forming ground units first as they prepare to come after us and after us and after us. Luca will not stop
until he has Ebony back and has extinguished my life. He tried sealing the gates, but I broke through them. He has run out of tricks. There will be no next time. Today it is either him or me. By the end of this battle only one of us will still be breathing. Only one will still have their soul.

Dawn is filling the clouds above with crimson light. I'm counting on there being enough warmth in this Skadean sun to carry out my final battle plan, my own last trick. With help from my two most powerful members, Michael and Uriel, I will create a catastrophic event that will end the war between angels of light and of darkness here on this day, and hopefully forever.

Having ordered Gabe and Uri to retreat once Team One was in the air, I search for signs of them and their team members now. They're on the way, but catching too much fire and taking too many hits.
Everyone, maintain formation and close in tight.
Jerome and Sami, your powers are needed down near the eastern wall. Go give Uri and Gabe a hand, and do some damage.

They take off, leaving behind only a wisp of displaced air from their invisible wingbeats.

This is where we will make our stand, high in the northern sky where, should things not … go as planned, we can still intercept Luca's army and stall them long enough to give Isaac and Tash enough time to escape into the Crossing with their precious cargo.

It's not long before Gabe and Uri and their team members begin to arrive. They join our pyramid formation, taking their pre-assigned positions along our northern and southern lines, keeping Isaac and Tash protected in the virtual centre.

When Luca realises we escaped his palace by another means than the lane, and that he's just missed the chance to cut my numbers down by two-thirds, he growls a lion's roar, making the air between us shudder. But, consummate fighter that he is, he regains his composure and continues preparing for the battle of his life, a battle I promise he will have.

Michael catches my eye.
We could make a dash for it now that we're all together.

True, but it would be a temporary solution. The wall my brother needs to build could take months or longer, and in that time harm will befall angels of both light and dark as battles rage over and over again. Some souls should never return to Earth. Nor can the demons and monsters Luca has created in his laboratories find a home there. We can't let them through our defences. If we should fail to stop Luca here, in his world, he will take this battle to the skies of Earth. And then everything will change. Human beings would live in constant fear and danger. Our High King has foreseen this. So, no, Michael, this battle must be conclusive, and we must fight it here. Now.

It's what I should have done when I had the chance, and maybe my Theze …

Hearing the pain in Michael's voice, I give Ebony another final glance. Michael lost his wife, Thereziel, in a battle with the Dark Prince, but I'm not going to lose Ebony. I can't let Luca get his hands on her again. I can't let him create an invincible army from their offspring.
Michael, Uriel, you know what I need you to do. Begin now.

Both immediately start drawing up their powers.

Isaac and Tash, whatever transpires, hold your positions and do
not involve yourselves except to defend your cargo. If, however, the enemy breaks our lines, leave immediately and do whatever you must to deliver your cargo home safely. Understood?

Affirmative
, they confirm simultaneously.

Nathaneal
, Ebony calls out, her thoughts weighing heavy with guilt,
I can help. Don't hide me away.

It seems Ebony has begun to comprehend her
exceptional
powers, but without wings the element of
unpredictability
could prove too dangerous for the one holding her.

I forge a private link between us.
Ebbie, for us to have a future together – and for the sake of all mortals on Earth – I need to know you will remain safe. Will you do this for me?

She links back,
Yes. OK. But will
you
stay safe for me?

Michael hears her and flicks me a worried glance. The stakes have never been higher. But I can't lie. I wouldn't. And I won't make a promise I'm not sure I can keep.
Ebony, I will do whatever it takes to ensure the future is safe for us both.

Though she's shadowed by Isaac's glow, I still see her blink hard and hold it long, and when she opens her eyes again they're as resplendent as the elusive purple diamond.

It's not exactly what she wants to hear, and it takes an effort for me to look away without pulling her from Isaac's arms into mine. I want to kiss her tears away so much it hurts. I want to plant kisses all over her face, then take my time with her mouth.

They're gaining speed
,
brother. Where are you?
Gabe demands as he takes his front-row position between Uri and Sol.
Whatever you're going to do, you had better hurry.

Are your soldiers in position?

Yes, yes. Hurry, Thane, can't you see them?

Our enemy rockets towards us in units of a hundred by a hundred, with Prince Luca and General Ithran at the head.

All teams, arms ready and await my command.

Without a moment to spare, I reach into my core and summon my powers. They throb to life, pulsing through my veins, pushing against muscles and bones and skin.
Not yet.
I hold back while I build and build.

Pushing my arms out, palms forward, I release my power as a pulsing beam of green light. Michael and Uriel direct their power into mine, and combined we create a torrent of flashing fusion energy, a tunnel at the beam's centre shooting out rivulets similar to solar flares. More powerful than lightning, the beam resembles the sea-green colour of a fluorescent ocean, a barrel a surfer might dream about, but it's not water the three of us are creating, it's raw binding energy, enough to power a small star.

We reach capacity and separate our power-streams. I direct mine into the rising sun, and because it's travelling the furthest I dig deep into my core to propel it on with staggered bursts of more pure power. It rips through the upper atmosphere, tearing through the protective layers that surround this world, zooming into space at colossal speed until … until …
bang! Bang! BANG!
It hits. The shock wave distorts space, creating a shimmering green aurora far across the Skadean sky. On the ground buildings shake, windows explode, while angels and souls run screaming into the streets.

Michael directs his power-stream into the river, where it
makes a colossal splash, creating a tsunami that rolls into streets, enters low-lying buildings and floods outlying streams.

Uri sends his into the clouds. A bright flash of light spreads across the sky in ripples. Clouds move, gathering together, and as they fill with ice crystals they begin their anticlockwise swirl.

With my power still pulsing into the sun, molecules in the high atmosphere change, warming the same ice crystals Uri captures in his swelling storm clouds.

It comes together rapidly, lightning and thunder the first signs to alert the capital, throwing Odisha's inhabitants into disarray, including Luca and his general. They order their troops to slow down, to coast in position, as they attempt to work out what we're doing and how to counter whatever this is.

But them taking a few seconds to figure out what we're doing is precisely what I'm counting on.

Hurry!
Gabe forges.
When Luca realises what you're doing, he's going to get out of there fast, and he's going to come straight for you, brother, and then the rest of us.

I check on Uri's developing storm and watch as the thick black disc-shaped clouds expand, consuming more and more surrounding clouds as they drink in the moist air Michael is bringing up from the river.

The moment Luca figures out we have created a hurricane, the whole of Skade hears his animal shriek. I keep my eyes on him and notice something strange happening. The air blurs and stretches around him, and as it clears I see his shape has altered – considerably. He's taller, more so than an
Archangel. But what's more startling, is that Luca's upper body is now that of a beast with horns that curve round almost full circle, ending in pointed tips. He shakes his head, now larger and, shockingly, that of a bull with glowing yellow eyes, and the sound that comes from inside him raises goosebumps across my skin.

I draw up more power and thrust it into the main stream, where it pushes the storm to the point where it can now continue to build with a force of its own – a tropical cyclone of cosmic strength that grows and grows and covers the entire city from the western boundary cliffs to the river in the south and into the volcanic regions of wilderness far into the east.

Our job is complete – well, mostly. I lower my arms and sigh. I have not felt this weary before, and yet I will need more strength to finish this.

Gabe grips my shoulder and shakes his head, grinning with elation and gratitude. ‘You did it, brother! You did it!'

Shae reaches down from above me and ruffles my hair. ‘Well done, my prince.'

We grow serious again quickly when cries and shrieks from thousands of enemy soldiers caught in the storm reach us. They're fighting a losing battle with one of nature's most violent cataclysmic events. And as hurricane winds toss our enemy about like toys, something flashes red from inside the hurricane's silent eye.

‘No. No-no-no.'

Shae asks,
What is he doing? What's going on, Thane?

I can't let him escape, Shae, I can't.

It appears that Luca – still in the form of the beast – has
located the hurricane's eye and is utilising this calm air to retaliate. Using his four black wings, he maintains a steady position and stares at me through masses of whirling clouds, his glowing yellow irises revealing the fury of his obsessive insanity.

And even though he is clearly stronger in the beast's form, he ignores the cries of his soldiers and their outstretched arms reaching for him. His focus is on his hands, where he's moulding fire into two golden orbs. They darken as he intensifies their concentration. Fire is in Luca's blood, always has been, though no one knows why. And now he's using it to … what, exactly? Burn his way out?

Apparently not.

Luca hurls his two fireballs at our pyramid formation, his intention no doubt to scatter us like pins. They pass through the hurricane's eye wall first with ease, picking up speed as they continue zooming through the spiralling, wind-driven thunderstorms, rain bands and rotating cyclonic winds. And still the fireballs keep coming at us, straight through a hurricane that covers an entire city.

To the gates!
I order, relieved to see Isaac and Tash are already on their way.

But the fiery orbs don't make it through the outer hurricane walls. The relentless winds are finally slowing them, catching them, and in the swirling mayhem the orbs split open. Fire spills out like wine tumbling from a pair of carafes. Crushed and battered debris catches alight, flames spreading through the entire hurricane from top to bottom.

It is a sight both spectacular and horrific. It has us
stopping to stare. The fires are changing the hurricane's balanced composition. Explosions erupt throughout, some with such force they fling Luca's soldiers screaming into the atmosphere or to the ground. More debris ignites, becoming a maelstrom with soldiers caught up in the blaze, which is fanned by the powerful churning winds.

The fire spares no one except Luca and General Ithran, still in the calm centre. I stare at Michael a moment, the taste of horror bitter in my mouth.
He's going to escape.

Michael's grim frown gives way to a small smile of hope.
I'm not so sure, cousin. Look again.

The tropical storm is collapsing in on itself, with masses of clouds, wind, ice crystals and fire rushing towards its centre – which Luca-the-beast and his general are now hurriedly attempting to vacate. But the pressure of all that internal condensing is keeping them trapped inside a dense whirlpool of blazing matter.

‘What's going to happen to them?' Shae asks.

No one answers. No one knows.

In the end it happens so fast that if any of us watching had blinked, we would have missed it. The storm condenses so thoroughly that the energy produced wrenches apart, limb from limb, the bodies of the last two remaining angels – Prince Luca and General Ithran. Those of us left watching fall silent as extreme forces tear Luca and Ithran's heads from their torsos, then their arms, legs, feet and hands, and even fingers, toes, eyes, hair. Body parts thrash around the shrinking centre, smashing into each other, condensing further and further until there are only molecules and atoms left spinning.