The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (24 page)

The
cook was dressed like the rest of them, except that he was wearing a
leather jacket with many pockets and what looked like military boots.
And finger-less gloves for some odd reason. Chris' eyes kept coming
back to them as he tried to puzzle out their purpose.

He
noticed a stranger in the middle of the group; an older man, with
short, gun-metal gray hair. He was tall and broad-shouldered and
looked as tough as George, but he had piercing blue eyes and deep
laugh lines. Like the others, he was dressed in rugged clothing and
looked quite competent. Chris actually liked him on sight.

“
Allow
me to introduce Alexander,” the judge said from where he was
sitting. “He's been with the organization for a long time and
has my complete confidence. I've briefed him on what we are up to and
he has agreed to join the party. I think that he will be very useful
as a member of this expedition.”

Alexander
nodded at them all with a warm smile and the group greeted him in
turn.

Judge
Hawkes got up from behind his desk and scooped up a pile of plastic
cards. He walked over to the group and handed one to each of them.
Chris took one and looked at it curiously.

It
was a bank card. He looked at the judge as he finished passing them
out and went back and leaned against his desk.

“
I
don't anticipate your absence from the castle for any length of time,
but just in case, you can use these cards to withdraw funds from any
ATM. The password is 'valiant'. Don't forget it. You won't be able to
buy a car with them,” general laughter greeted his dry remark,
“but there is more than enough cash available for almost any
other purchase. Now...”

He
looked directly at Chris. “It is in your hands, Christopher.
Yours and Sariel's. Whenever you're ready.”

“
Yes
sir,” Chris said nervously, uncomfortably aware that he was now
the center of attention.

Sariel?
They're waiting.

So
I see. It will be necessary for me to assume control at this point,
Chris. It's a small risk compared to the ripples that opening the
Road will cause. May I?

Chris
felt a bit of relief. This thing was totally out of his experience
and he was happy to let Sariel take the reins. His mind pictured him
wearing a bridle for a moment and he almost giggled at the absurd
image.

Go
ahead.

Chris
felt a quick flash of dislocation and dizziness and then sat back in
his mind to watch as events unfolded.

“
Good
morning all,” Sariel said and Chris saw everyone react to that
ringing voice, so much like his own but with an unearthly resonance
mixed in.

“
Sariel,”
the judge said with a nod. “We are ready when you are.”

“
Yes.”
The archangel looked from face to face and Chris wondered if he was
measuring each of the other members of the party somehow. If he was,
then he was satisfied, because he finally nodded.

“
Very
well,” Sariel said and turned to face the door of the office.
“I shall open the portal to the Road there. Follow me in as I
enter.” He looked back at the group. “Do not stop. And do
not hesitate.” His tone was grave. “The opening will only
last for a few seconds. I cannot risk allowing something from the
other side an opportunity to enter the castle.”

There
were a few raised eyebrows at that statement but no one said
anything. Natalie looked both determined and excited and Chef looked
positively eager.

Sariel
turned away again, reached into Chris' pocket and brought out the
hilt. Chris watched with surprise. He hadn't known that the angel
would need to use the artifact.

I
don't really,
came Sariel's silent voice in his mind.
But
it helps to augment my power on Earth, so why not use it?

Good
point,
Chris replied in agreement.

Sariel
held up the hilt and it gleamed with more than its usual metallic
glow. Chris could feel the power flowing from the sword-piece through
his arm and into his body. It was like a surge of adrenalin and he
felt his body quiver with reaction.

“
I
am opening the Angel's Road...now!”

A
flash of light, silver and gold combined, lit the office like a
strobe light, turning everything monochromatic for a single instant.
And then, superimposed over the doorway was an arch, searingly bright
and outlined in a halo of silver.

“
Follow
me!” Sariel called over his shoulder and he leaped into the
filmy, flickering entrance.

There
was a moment of absolute darkness and Chris gasped in his mind. Had
something gone wrong?

But
it lasted only a few breaths and then he was standing, alone, on the
Angel's Road.

Chris turned his head from
side to side, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Sariel had
withdrawn for the moment and he was in control of his body again.

He was standing on a
ribbon of light. At least that's what it looked like to him. Glowing
silver, it was perhaps ten feet wide and led off to his left and
right.

The road wasn't straight.
It dipped and weaved, twisted and turned as he followed it with his
eyes until it was lost in the distance. He stomped down heavily on
the surface but it felt like any other road; hard and firm.

On either side of the path
was nothing, only darkness, and Chris felt a little twinge of fear as
his eyes found nothing to focus on but a void. Watch that first step,
he thought with grim amusement. And then he looked up.

Above him, the sky was
black and he drew in a sharp gasp of breath as he looked up into the
depths of eternity. Stars. Stars and galaxies. Constellations
spinning in stately array. The endless expanse of creation itself. He
felt like he was standing in space, in the darkness between the
heavens and the Earth.

Maybe I am, he thought.
Sariel was silent.

It was warm but not hot
and the air was sweet, rich like cream. There was no wind.

Chris looked around, and
realized that he was still alone.

“
Sariel? Where
are..?”

That was all he had time
to say and then the others were simply...there. In the time it took
to blink, Natalie, Chef and the three staff members, along with
Alexander, were standing near him, looking a bit disoriented but
apparently well and whole. Chris sighed quietly with relief.

Chef was the first to
collect himself. He checked to make sure that everyone was present
and then scanned the area. A look of awe passed across his face and
it was mirrored by each of the others as they examined their
surroundings.

“
Wow,” was the
universal comment. Even Natalie, with an angel inside her soul, was
dumbfounded.

“
I don't believe
it,” she whispered. “Where in the world are we?”

“
I doubt that we're
anywhere 'in the world', my dear,” Chef answered with a catch
in his voice. He was looking straight up. Everyone was. A flash of
brilliance caught the group's eye and they watched as a bright point
of light raced across the sky and was lost in the vast field of
stars. There was a chorus of gasps, as if they were all watching a
fireworks display.

Chef managed to tear his
eyes away from the extraordinary view. He looked at Chris and
indicated the road.

“
Where to, Chris?”
he asked.

“
Hang on a sec,”
Chris replied. “I'll ask.”

Sariel? Which way are
we going?

I'm not sure yet. May
I..?

Go ahead. You're
driving,
Chris said with a trace of
amusement. The archangel chuckled in appreciation and Chris sat back
in his mind and watched.

“
My friends, I am
pleased to see that you all crossed over intact. Welcome to the
Angel's Road,” Sariel said, his voice ringing musically through
the strange air. Chris thought how strange they all looked,
illuminated by the glowing silver of the road's surface.

Sariel walked away from
the group and stood in the exact middle of the road, looking first in
one direction and then the other.

“
Please do not be
alarmed,” he said to the group. “I must use my power
now.”

Sariel, what?

Don't worry, Chris. On
the Road, my presence cannot be detected by the Fallen any more than
theirs can be felt by me. Its power is simply too immense. It masks
all others by its very existence.

And then Chris felt his
body begin to Change.

The others stared as
Sariel grew taller. Chris watched as he began to loom over them;
eight feet, ten. His body shuddered as it filled out, muscles
wrapping themselves around his bones, layer upon layer. All of them
except for Chef and Alexander had seen Sariel in his true form
before, in the lost temple, but strangely only the cook looked calm
at the sight of the transformation.

Finally, with a long,
regretful sigh, Sariel flexed his shoulders and Chris felt the weight
of the great wings pull at his body as they emerged from between his
shoulder-blades, the useless left wing drooping to drag on the ground
behind him.

Sariel looked down at
himself. Chris suspected that perhaps it was for his own benefit. He
saw the breastplate of glowing, battered gray armor and the corded
muscles on his arms and was, yet again, awed to be a part of such a
creature.

The archangel stretched
and extended his good wing up and out and then gave his body a great
shake.

“
Ah, it is good to
be myself in the physical realm once again,” he said to the
others, his deep voice sending a shiver across the road's surface.

“
Sariel? Is it wise
to reveal yourself like this?” Chef asked with quiet curiosity.

The staff members were
staring at the archangel with wide eyes. Natalie looked impressed but
also slightly relieved. She at least wasn't afraid of him, Chris
thought. He felt some comfort in that.

“
As I just told
Chris, on the Angel's Road there is more than enough power to mask my
own. And to find my way to our destination, I must be in my own form.
Only as myself can I focus enough energy to find the path.”

Chef nodded thoughtfully.
“Very well then. The closest safe-house to Valiant is in
Luxembourg. Which way?”

Sariel looked from side to
side, sparing one quick glance at the heavens above them. Then he
turned to the left and pointed.

“
That way.”

He reached beneath his
armor and pulled out the sword hilt. As he held it up, a ghostly
blade, like a faint crystalline copy of the real thing, emerged from
the hilt. Sariel glanced at it and then held it down by his side. He
turned and looked at Natalie.

“
Would you allow
Gloriel to accompany us in her true form?” he asked her. “I
would like her to take up the rearguard position as we travel. On the
Road, you are never truly safe from danger.”

Natalie looked startled
but she nodded.

“
Sure, I'll ask
her.” she said.

Her eyes became unfocused
and then Chris saw her body waver as if he was seeing her through
deep water. And then in a flash of golden light, Gloriel stood in her
place.

Chris had seen the angel
in the lost temple and in the plane, but in his own body. Now, as
Sariel, he was taken aback by Gloriel's beauty.

Her silver armor glowed
with the reflected light around her and her copper-colored wings,
which looked like rows of metallic feathers woven together, rang like
a chorus of tinkling bells. But it was her face, surrounded by its
mass of waist-long black hair, that was the most striking sight to
him. She had Natalie's features, but they were refined and sharpened
to an almost painful perfection, while the onyx-like eyes shone like
jewels as she looked up at him slightly.

“
Sister, welcome,”
Sariel said with real warmth. “It is so good to see you once
again.”

“
You as well, my
elder brother,” Gloriel replied, her voice like music. Her head
dipped respectfully. She looked around. “I have never walked
the Angel's Road before, though I knew of its existence. You fear
some trouble from the enemy?”

Sariel shook his head
once. “Fear it? No. Nor do I expect it. But our enemies have
gathered more power than I had imagined. With the Four let loose upon
the world, and Lilith's defeat fresh in their minds, I think that the
Fallen are becoming bolder. Or more reckless. Either way, we cannot
take foolish chances. If we meet them, or any of the other races from
among the stars that have learned to use the Road, we must be ready.”

“
As you say,”
Gloriel replied. She made a gesture and a mace, red and silver with a
heavy round head seemingly carved from a single massive diamond,
appeared in her hand. “Lead on,” she added.