The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (28 page)

Sariel, how much longer
before we're there? This is the most depressing hike I've ever been
on.

Only a few minutes now.
You're right, though. The group does seem subdued, don't they?

Chris snorted quietly.
Subdued? It's like we're going to a frigging
funeral. I don't get it.

There was a long pause.

There's something in
the atmosphere,
Sariel said, sounding
puzzled.
Something strange. The Road is a
blank slate. It neither uplifts the spirit nor does it depress it.
Your friends are responding to an oppression that is out of place
here.

I don't understand,
Chris replied to his inner self.
Is there
something else on the Road with us? Or...

He staggered suddenly,
slipping sideways as the Road almost seemed to twist and dip a few
feet. At the same time, a vibration, a sound that he felt in his
bones more than heard with his ears, shook the shining surface around
him.

Chris turned abruptly and
stared at the group.

Everyone had stopped, the
looks of apathy quickly replaced by expressions of alarm.

“
What the hell was
that?” Alexander asked as he looked back along the Road at the
direction they had come.

“
I don't know.”
Chef stood there frowning, also looking back. “It's a bit
like...”

The sound came again, this
time louder and even more ominous. The Road actually rippled, as if
made of rubber instead of some solid material.

“
Like the sound from
the coffee shop,” Natalie said, finishing Chef's sentence. “Oh
my God. Whatever it was has followed us. It's on the Angel's Road!”

“
It does sound like
footsteps,” Chef said. He had paled but still sounded calm.
Chris held on to that as panic threatened to overwhelm him.

“
Chris, how much
further?”

He listened to Sariel.

“
Just a few more
minutes, he says,” he told Chef.

“
Then go, lad. Go!”

Chris turned and began to
run. The next blast of that awful sound almost knocked him off his
feet, but he kept running. He spoke to Sariel as he ran.

Should we stop? Face
whatever it is and give them a chance to escape?
he asked, sounding more brave than he felt.

I can feel its power,
whatever it is. Without the rest of the sword, here on the Road
beneath the senseless stars, without the Lord's light above us? We'd
have no chance. If it comes to that, and we must take a stand, we
will. But until then, just keep running.

He ran. The gigantic
footfalls became louder, the Road more unstable. He heard someone
stumble and fall behind him, but Chef shouted to keep going and,
sparing a glance to see the big man help Beatrice to her feet, Chris
kept running.

Almost there, Chris,
Sariel said.
Almost there.

The sounds were so loud
and so frequent now that Chris felt like they were surrounded by a
giant bass drum that was continuously banging out the sound of doom.

Boom. Boom. He put his
hands to his ears but it made no difference. Chris was deafened by
the noise and was on the verge of screaming from the pain in his
head. If Sariel had not been speaking directly to his mind, he
wouldn't have even heard him.

Here. Chris, stop.
We're here.

He slid to a stop and then
jumped to the side to avoid being bowled over by the rest of the
group.

Go, Sariel, go! Get
that door open!

Chris pulled the hilt from
his pocket and looked at its unearthly glow. It shone beneath the
stars as Sariel used its power to augment his own.

A shining arch of light
began to form across the Road, flickering and ghostly, sparks flying
from its edges. The booming footsteps came to a sudden stop and in
the ensuing silence, all of them looked at each other in confusion.

“
Damn it, don't just
stand there,” Chris said frantically. “You only have a
few seconds. Get through the portal!”

They stared at him in
confusion, obviously still shaken up. But Chef didn't hesitate. He
pushed Beatrice toward the archway.

“
Get in there, all
of you,” he ordered and reflexively, the staff members obeyed.

Chris felt an immense
sense of relief as he watched each one disappear in turn. Finally, it
was just himself, Chef and Natalie.

She took a step toward the
glowing portal and then a scream, as loud and deafening as the
footsteps had been, knocked the three of them off their feet.

“
No! I will not
be denied!
”
it shouted, enraged. “
You cannot
escape me! You cannot!
”

“
Go,
you guys,” Chris shouted over that horrendous voice, his own
sounding weak and child-like in comparison.

Chef
met his eyes, nodded and staggered to his feet. He grabbed Natalie
and leaped through the arch, dragging her along with him. And then
Chris was alone.

Go,
Chris. I can only hold it open for a few more seconds.

“
Stop! I command
you to stop.
”

“
Oh
yeah?” Chris looked back down the Road. In the distance, a
shadowy figure, massive and misshapen, was barreling toward him at
tremendous speed, the sudden pounding of its footsteps threatening to
shake apart the surface around him.

“
Well,
screw you, buddy!” he screamed and then dove like a swimmer
through the portal, just as it collapsed around him.

Chris
landed ungracefully in a heap and rolled several times. Someone
grabbed his shoulders and he tried to shake them off, his mind still
back on the Road and that terrible voice of doom.

“
It's
all right, Chris. It's me.”

It
was Natalie's voice and he immediately stopped struggling and sagged
with relief. He took a few deep breaths and then pushed himself over
on to his back and looked around.

He
was lying on thick, manicured grass and the first sight that met his
eyes was the silhouette of Valiant, blazing brightly against the
setting sun. He stared at it in disbelief for an instant and then
felt tears welling up in his eyes.

We're
back, he thought. We're safe. He lay back for a moment and closed his
eyes, weak with relief. The feeling of the cool grass against his
skin and its rich scent seemed like a gift.

Thanks,
Sariel. That was too close.

Any
time, my friend. If they ask, tell your friends that I do not know
what we met on the Road. However, I'll leave you for now and use my
resources to attempt to find out. Call if you have need of me. Events
seem to be ramping up here. Remind your Judge Hawkes that we need to
find the rest of the sword, especially if the Fallen have become
bolder, as it seems they have.

I'll
do that.

And
Chris felt Sariel's presence fade. He opened his eyes and saw that
Natalie was sitting on the grass next to him, watching him with
concern. He sat up slowly.

“
I'm
okay,” he told her. Everyone else was either sitting or
standing close by. George was speaking quietly with Bea, while
Alexander had walked a few paces away and was smoking a short curved
pipe. The smell that wafted by them was sweet, almost like licorice.

Chef
and Tony were sitting on the grass as well, a few feet away. Neither
spoke. They just seemed to be enjoying the feel of the earth under
their bodies.

“
Quite
the little trip, wasn't it?” Natalie asked in a quiet voice.
She had swiveled around and was staring at the castle.

“
That's
one way to put it,” Chris replied. “I don't know if we
really learned much, but I'm sure glad everyone's still in one
piece.”

“
Physically, maybe.
But I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm still shaking. What in Heaven's
name was that thing?”

Chris slumped back and
rested on his elbows. “No idea. Sariel doesn't know either.
He's gone to try to find out.” He frowned. “How he's
going to do that is something I'd like to know. Maybe he can talk to
someone in Purgatory or something. Anyway, I'm just happy to have
gotten away from it.”

After a few minutes, Chris
managed to struggle to his feet. His legs were trembling and he
realized with some surprise that he was actually still covered with
goosebumps and his hands were shaking. Natalie stood up beside him
and looked at Chef.

“
Time to report to
the judge?” she asked Chef. He nodded abruptly and stood up,
along with Tony.

“
Yes, we can't loll
around here all day. There is the possibility that the entity that
chased us on the Road could appear here. We'd best be inside Valiant
if that happens.”

Faces paled at his words
and the entire group followed along behind him as Chef walked quickly
toward the open gates of the castle.

Ten minutes later, they
were walking into Judge Hawkes' office. The judge stood up as they
entered and looked at each of them keenly. The conference table had
been moved back to the center of the room and he waved them toward
the seats around it.

Chef had called up from
the front desk and told the judge that they were back and Chris
assumed that he had had someone move the heavy table so that they
could all sit and talk.

As they were finding their
seats, there was a knock at the door and two staff members who Chris
didn't know entered. One was pushing a cart with a coffee service on
it while the other's cart was piled high with sandwiches, They parked
these next to the table and left with a nod and a smile.

“
Help yourselves,”
the judge said. “Don't stand on formality. Some of you look a
little done in.”

Everyone served themselves
and then settled into a chair. Judge Hawkes fixed himself a coffee
and then sat down at the head of the table.

“
Now then,” he
said as he sipped. “Mario, tell me what's happened. You've
returned much sooner than I had expected.”

“
Sooner that we'd
expected either, Ethan,” Chef rumbled. He stared reflectively
down into the black coffee in front of him. “We had a spot of
difficulty when we reached Luxembourg.”

As Chef began to tell the
story of their trip, Chris stared at him in disbelief. A spot of
difficulty? Gees.

Chef told the tale
straight out, no speculation, no embellishment. Judge Hawkes didn't
interrupt. He sat quietly and drank his coffee, occasionally looking
around the table from one face to the other.

As Chef was finishing up,
the judge caught Chris' eye and he nodded at the man, confirming
everything that he had heard.

“
Thank you, Mario,”
the judge said when Chef was finished. “Returning to Valiant
was the best thing you could have done.”

He set his empty cup down
and then rubbed his eyes.

“
We have apparently
stirred up a hornet's nest. Our trip to the middle-east and the
defeat of Lilith, not to mention several of the lesser Fallen there,
has caused the enemy to step up their plans against us. At least,
that is my belief. But these powers that we've encountered, that
thing on the plane and whatever chased you on the Angel's Road, are a
major increase in the Fallen's firepower. We have never been
confronted with anything of this magnitude; not since my ancestor
first created the Angelic Dominion over two hundred years ago.”

The judge hesitated, as if
reluctant to continue. Finally, he got up, walked around the table
and poured himself more coffee. He added cream and sugar and returned
to his seat.

“
I hate to admit
this, but I am at a loss as to how we should respond to this threat.”
Judge Hawkes looked around the table. “I'm open to ideas if
anyone has any.”

No one spoke at first.
Chris could see that they were thinking of some response and he
decided that someone had to start the ball rolling.

“
Judge? Sariel
doesn't know what we faced in Luxembourg and on the Road, but he's
gone to investigate, somehow. Maybe he'll have some ideas when he
gets back.”

“
Thank you,
Christopher,” the judge replied with a small smile. “He
does flit about, doesn't he? Well, let us hope that he can shed some
light on this mystery.”

“
Um, he also said
that we need to find the rest of his sword.” Judge Hawkes
raised an eyebrow and Chris hurried on. “You know, since he
can't use his full powers until he has the entire sword to channel
them through.”

“
Yes, I know that.
But for a group to leave Valiant at the moment, to search God knows
where in the world for the final two pieces, would be incredibly
dangerous right now. We cannot be that reckless, not when our
resources are stretched so thin.”