Scorn of Angels (9 page)

In fury, Arcana threw more power at the door, and she screamed in the tongues of the Angels, “Open the Gates! Open the Gates! I must speak to God! OPEN THE GATES!
OPEN THEM!
OPEN THEM!”

“For Tribunal would destroy the world the GOD had created, and would rebuild it in his own image. And he would rebuild this world for Nyx and those who followed her, to be Paradise for all
eternity.”

And when the last of the energy was drained from her body, the Gates of Heaven were still closed and Arcana fell back through the atmosphere to earth, a flaming meteor that crashed into the darkness of the ocean.

Salim Tarek Junaid Karin sat up in his bed. Beside him, his wife slept peacefully. He started to roll over and go back to sleep when he sensed someone in his house.

There was no fear in the realization, no sense of worry of theft or murder. There was only the knowledge of someone in his house and that he should rise and speak to them.

He dressed quietly in the dark and made his way from the bedroom to the living space where he received guests. In the darkness, he could make out a shape, not a human one, but a large, lumpy one, as if someone had tossed a blanket over a pile of something.

Still, Salim felt no fear. He lit an oil lamp, then looked again and realized that he wasn’t looking at blankets. He was looking at wings. Long feathers of the purest white shone in the light of the lamp. Each wing was easily ten feet long. Both were folded over, creating a shelter for whatever lay in the middle of it.

“H…” his breath caught in his throat. He swallowed and tried again. “Hello?”

There was no response for a moment. Then the wings rustled, and slowly unfolded themselves from their shelter and spread until they touched the walls. Beneath them, a being sat, its arms around its knees, its head bowed low and its face hidden. Like the wings, its garments were pure white. What Salim could see looked like armor, and it had a long, straight sword that stuck out from its body.

Other than the wings, it did not move.

An Angel? Here? What would an Angel want here? And why does it not move?
Salim was unsure what to say. To address an Angel of God was surely not permitted, unless the Angel spoke first. Yet it was sitting in his home, and it was not sitting like one with a message, or with a mind toward divine retribution or reward. It was sitting like… Salim frowned and gently asked, “Are you all right?”

“I despair,” said the Angel.

Salim’s mouth dropped open. He worked his jaws silently for a time before he managed, “Arcana? Is that… are you…Arcana?”

Arcana brought her head up. Tears were rolling down her face. “Oh, Salim, my friend, I fear the world is to be destroyed, and I cannot reach God to warn him.”

Salim felt his legs start to shiver and the strength flow out of his body. He sat down cross-legged on the floor.

Arcana folded her wings and crossed her legs as he had. She sat up straight and wiped at her eyes with her forearm until the tears were gone. When they were, she said, “I know you love stories, my friend, and I desperately need to tell you mine. Will you listen?”

Salim saw all the pain and pride and despair in Arcana’s face. For a moment he wondered if he would be able to hear an Angel’s tale and remain sane. He wondered if he was permitted to say “no” to an Angel of God.

Then he looked closer and saw the face of his dear friend who loved stories so much that she had visited him twice a year and heard the stories he had to tell, both those he had found and those of his own life.

“Oh, Arcana,” he said, “my friend. Of course I will listen to your story. Would you like some tea?”

“Very much,” said Arcana. “And while we make it, I will tell you the story of Nyx, of who she was before she became a goddess on Earth.”

A.D. 1120

Arcana sat on the Dome of the Rock, watching the sunrise and waiting.

Nyx must have seduced Tribunal,
Arcana thought.
She must have convinced him of how hateful and disgusting the humans are, and have turned him away from humanity. That is why Tribunal wanted to destroy them all when he came back
.
And when God refused, Nyx must have convinced him that it could be done without
God.

I will kill her, when she comes. If I cannot reach Heaven and tell God of Nyx’s plan, I will kill her the moment she comes back to Earth. Then maybe Tribunal will come to his
senses.

I hope
so.

And as the sun rose higher, Arcana closed her eyes and began praying.

Chapter 5

L
uc
ifer was slowly
tearing a soul in two, taking pleasure in its screams of agony and the horror of the other souls watching. Lucifer’s victim had been a nobleman, given to excessive torture and brutality, with a habit of executing his victims by hanging them upside down and sawing them in half. Once the man split apart, Lucifer planned to have him sawn in two, slowly, for all eternity. Given the speed at which souls healed, Lucifer could arrange it so that, as one saw reached his skull to cut it in two, the second saw would be ready to rip open the man’s healed nether regions. That, as well as keeping the man’s head in a trough of Hellfire, would serve nicely.

He was three-quarters done when Stheno ran into the throne room and went down on one knee before him. “Dread Master, King Lucifer!” Stheno called.

Those words alone told Lucifer that something was wrong. It was his preferred title, of course, but most of the time the Angels called him “King Lucifer” or “Dread Master.”
Lazy shits.
They almost never called him both at one time unless it was bad news.

“Persephone has escaped, Dread Master,” said Stheno, panic in his voice. Lucifer stopped what he was doing, the soul dropping to the floor. He rose off his chair, fury on his face. Stheno cowered on the floor, begging, “Please, Master! We are scouring Hell for her, but none of us can find her. There is no sign of her anywhere.”

“Idiots!” roared Lucifer, kicking the Angel across the room. He turned his mind outward, feeling and identifying every Angel in Hell. Persephone was nowhere to be found. A suspicion immediately wormed its way into his head, and he turned his mind to Nyx.

He couldn’t find Nyx either.

Lucifer screamed in frustration and stomped the soul on the floor, sending brains and guts everywhere. He kicked Stheno again and flew up and out the windows of the throne room. Higher and higher he went until he could see all of Hell spread out before him.

Where are those
bitches?

“666th! Assemble!” Lucifer shouted, his voice echoing through the entire length and breadth of Hell. “Nyx has escaped! Persephone has escaped! Block all the Gates to Earth and stand watch over them until further notice!” He glared around Hell again. He could not see them anywhere, which only meant they were hiding in one of the crevices or plains that dotted Hell.

But why can’t I feel them?
That was what worried him. It took a great deal of power for any Angel to disguise her presence in Hell, and no one could do it well enough to truly hide, not for any length of time.

“Gore!” Lucifer roared in his mind.

Out on the plains of Hell, one of the larger demons raised his snake-like head from the soul it was devouring. Gore was a monstrous thing, as if a bear had mated with a cobra and produced the ugliest offspring possible. He stood easily twenty-five feet high and was as close to a leader as the demons of Hell could be said to have.

“Summon your brethren!” Lucifer’s voice echoed in Gore’s skull, threatening to split it. “Search Hell for Nyx and Persephone! Find them and fight them until I can send the legion after them!”

Lucifer surveyed Hell one more time, then screamed, “I’ll find you, you bitches! I’ll find you, and torture you in ways you can’t even imagine!”

He turned and flew toward his castle. If Nyx had freed Persephone, she would be coming after Ishtar next.

Best make sure she’s properly prepared for
them.

In their cave in the mountains, Nyx and Persephone winced as Lucifer’s roared announcement filled the air of Hell.

“Well,” said Persephone. “He sounds just a teensy bit miffed, doesn’t he?”

“As well he should,” said Nyx. “Since we’re going to dethrone him, chop him into bite-sized pieces, and imprison him at the bottom of the Lake for a million years or so.”

Persephone grinned. “Sounds good to me. When?”

“After we get Epiphenia back to earth and deal with Tribunal,” said Nyx.

“Ah,” said Persephone. “So not a time to hold my breath, then.”

Nyx shrugged. “We have to stop Tribunal.”

“Not to be a jerk,” said Persephone. “But why? He’s building a Paradise for us, isn’t he?”

Nyx shook her head. “That was a lie. I’m sure of it. Epiphenia was sure of it. He’s up to something far, far worse. He’s going to destroy the world at least. Maybe more.” She grinned, then. “Also, that sanctimonious asshole betrayed me, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to get even with him for it.”

“Good luck with that,” said Persephone. “He is the Son of God.”

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy. You in or out?”

Persephone raised an eyebrow. “Is that an offer?” Nyx glared at her, and Persephone smiled back. “I’m in, of course, my queen. So what next?”

“Next,” said Nyx, “is we get to Lucifer’s castle and get Ishtar. Then we can get out of here.”

“And if we can’t get Ishtar?”

“We have to try,” said Nyx. “She’s been through too much of this with us to leave behind.”

“All right,” said Persephone. “What’s the plan?”

“He’s called out the 666th. That means that whoever is guarding Ishtar isn’t going to be as good as you.”

“No one in the 666th is as good as me,” smirked Persephone. “It still doesn’t help if there’re five thousand of them. And unlike your palace, you can only fly into Lucifer’s castle through the front door.”

“I know,” said Nyx. “That doesn’t mean we can’t crawl in through a window.”

Persephone looked skeptical. “Will you be able to keep us disguised then, in another form?”

“Don’t know,” said Nyx. “Don’t have any other ideas, either. You?”

Persephone sat back, or at least as far back as she could without letting go of Nyx’s hand. “Nothing that comes right to mind, no.”

“Then let’s go.”

Hand in hand they flew out of the cave. The power that Epiphenia’s presence gave Nyx was still strong enough to hide them from any mind in Hell, and to convince anyone looking their way to not notice them, but Nyx had no idea how long the shield would last.

I should have cut Lucifer down when I had the chance
, Nyx thought.
Stupid of
me.

In her heart, Nyx knew that just cutting down Lucifer would not be enough. It hadn’t been the last time. When she and he had fought for control of Hell, they had gutted, beheaded, and disemboweled each other a number of times. Their followers had always returned the favor, and helped them long enough for each to regroup and counterattack.

And this time I have no followers, save Persephone. If we can get to
Earth…

Lucifer was unlikely to bring the full force of his armies to Earth. The Gates to Heaven and Hell were open now. God could see and hear, and God would notice. Lucifer and his armies would be cast down again, or maybe even destroyed.

Which would suit me just fine. And if we could bring Epiphenia
back…

Then
what?

Nyx had no idea. All she knew was that she had to try to bring back her Angel, and they had to stop Tribunal before he could finish his plan. Epiphenia was an Earth Angel and could live no place else. Even now, Nyx could feel her need for the soil and sky of her home. Once Epiphenia had entered Nyx’s body, escape had become imperative, mitigated only by her need to bring her friends with her.

We get Ishtar, we get out, we get Epiphenia back, and we get rid of Tribunal. Then I am coming back and teaching Lucifer the true meaning of
pain.

They reached Lucifer’s castle minutes later.

For Nyx, being able to travel unmolested was a luxury almost beyond imagining. The time she had spent as a soul had given her only the slightest glimpse of the unending torments that each faced in Hell. Nyx looked down at the plains below her, where thousands of Angels and millions of demons attended the souls of the damned. The screams and wailing were full of fresh agony every minute. There was no relief, no time off, no final rest. And there was no part of Hell that was ever silent, save for the great pit through which Nyx and Persephone had re-entered when they’d come to rescue Epiphenia.

I wonder how many souls are still sane,
Nyx thought as they winged over
. And if they’re not, does the punishment mean anything anymore? Can it mean anything if they don’t remember who they
are?

They were not thoughts she’d ever had as Queen of Hell, but disguising herself as a soul had changed her perspective somewhat. She wondered if God ever thought about the souls he’d damned. The souls he’d created to live on the imperfect earth, given miserable lives to, and then damned.

“There,” said Persephone. “That window.”

Nyx turned her attention from the plains to the huge mountain where Lucifer’s castle stood. It was a monument to his arrogance, built while he was still at war with Nyx, to show that he was King of Hell. Nyx had made him live in it, as a reminder of how much he’d lost. It figured that he’d still keep it as his residence.

Too bad it won’t
last.

It was tall, with a dozen towers, and crenelated walls edged with Hellfire and decorated with the impaled flesh of souls. Other souls and a few demons hung on the walls of the castle, usually wherever there was a stream of Hellfire falling down the sides, just to ensure they remembered why they were there. There were few windows because Hell had no light to speak of, and there was little worth looking at. The window Nyx and Persephone were aiming at was near the top of one tower. It was high and narrow and framed a perfect view of the Lake of Fire.

The castle was buzzing with activity. A hundred Angels patrolled the skies around it. A dozen stood outside the front door, and Nyx had no doubt that a thousand more were inside.

“It’s going to be a huge fight getting Ishtar out of there,” said Persephone, her tone making it clear she was relishing the prospect, not dreading it.

“Yes, it is,” said Nyx, though her tone was grimmer. It wasn’t that she didn’t look forward to the fight. It was that every passing moment was time they were giving to Tribunal to perfect his plans. They needed to get in fast, get out fast, and vanish into the mountains of Hell until they could escape.

No problem. Really.

Nyx angled them toward the window. The Angels they flew past didn’t notice them, which still surprised Nyx, though it shouldn’t have.
Just how powerful is Epiphenia?
she wondered as they passed within ten meters of one of the Angels. He looked away at just the right time to not notice them at all.

Nyx shook her head and kept flying.

“Just about there,” said Persephone.

“Stand by,” said Nyx. “And don’t break contact, no matter what.”

Lizard-demons were common in Hell. They were long and thin, with hooked scales that ripped open any flesh they touched. They had teeth and talons that were even more wickedly sharp, and which caused an immediate burning infection that remained for a long time after the wounds they caused healed. Mostly they ran on the ground, their long legs scuttling quickly over the rough surfaces of Hell. One particularly noxious breed had skin that stretched out between its front and back legs, forming crude wings that allowed it to glide down from heights, usually onto the back of another, unsuspecting, demon, which it would then try to rip to shreds.