The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (45 page)

He
sat down at the desk and flicked on the computer. As it flickered to
life, he kept speaking.

“
We
have only each other to rely on now. Each other and one ally who
remains outside.”

He
looked up and locked eyes with Chris for a second.

“
Ghost
remains outside of the walls. He cannot and will not engage any of
the Fallen directly. However, if they have any of their lackeys with
them, and I am sure that they do, he will deal with them.”

“
M'lord?
I don't know much about this Ghost fellow,” Francis spoke up in
his calm, careful manner. “But if he attacks their minions,
won't the Fallen attack him in turn?”

The
judge had gone back to typing on the computer and didn't look up as
he answered.

“
Perhaps,
but Ghost has the means to avoid detection by our enemies.”
Before Francis could ask, the judge cut him off. “And no, I
will not divulge what they are. But that still leaves an unknown
number of the Fallen to deal with. Their strengths are unknown.
However, we do know some of their weaknesses. And I am about to
exploit one of them.”

He
frowned as he typed and then looked at Chef.

“
They've
changed the passwords on the defensive systems,” he said.

Chris
felt fear grab hold of him again and was surprised at Chef's grin.

“
Your
enemy's stupidity is the gift that keeps on giving, Ethan,” he
said, chortling to himself.

“
It
is indeed, my friend,” Judge Hawkes replied absently, his
fingers flying over the keyboard.

Chris
looked at Chef, who met his glance, and seemed to read the question
behind it.

“
His
honor has always kept master passwords for all electronic systems at
all safe-houses, Chris. No one but he knows what they are, and only
myself and Ghost even know that they exist. Well, until now of
course.”

At
that moment, the air was filled with the sound of metal slamming into
metal. A couple of the teens screamed in surprise.

“
We're
under attack!” Alysa shouted and then yelped in pain as
Anabelle's elbow dug into her ribs. When Alysa turned on her,
Anabelle simply nodded toward the judge, who was smiling in
satisfaction.

He
pushed back the chair and stood up to look around at all of them.

“
All
of the doors and windows into Valiant are now sealed. Each has been
covered with iron sheets, metal that is anathema to demons. And all
of this metal has been sprinkled with holy water and blessed by
several high-level clerics from a half-dozen religions. They will not
be able to get in.”

There
were murmurs of relief from some of the teens but others, including
Chris, weren't quite as reassured.

“
But
doesn't that mean that we are trapped in here, judge?” Natalie
asked bluntly, echoing Chris' thoughts.

The
man looked at her and slowly smiled.

“
Always
to the point, Natalie. I appreciate that. The answer to that is yes.
We are trapped. Or rather we are safe, but only temporarily.”

Natalie
looked perplexed.

“
Temporarily?
I don't understand.”

“
Blessings
are not permanent. They wear down, whether over time, or from
repeated attacks. The Fallen will attack our wards with everything
they have.”

“
But
why would they, m'lord?” Anabelle asked.

Chris
noticed that it was the teens he considered the most mature and
level-headed that were asking all of the questions. The others seemed
content to follow their lead.

“
Because
in,” he glanced at his watch, “approximately one hour the
sun will rise. And each of you knows the effect that sunlight has on
those accursed demons. They will be weakened and vulnerable and
unable to stand against your angelic selves.”

“
Then
what, sir?” Chris asked. “We just wait them out? Will the
seals hold for an hour?”

“
Probably,
Christopher. Yes, they probably will. But we have reacted long
enough. Now it is time to act. We have to show the Fallen that they
no longer have the upper hand. We must, in fact, put the fear of God
into them. Something that they seem to have lost recently. Remember,
we have twenty more Angelics traveling to Valiant, right now. If we
lose this chance to take the fight to the enemy, I fear that our
friends will never reach the safety of this castle.”

“
So
we attack?” Patrick asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“
No,
lad. That would be foolish. There is something outside, right now,
prowling around our walls. Something more powerful than any of you.”

Judge
Hawkes looked at Jacob and then at Tyler, both of whom had gone as
pale as new milk.

“
This
being was strong enough to trap the souls of our two friends here. If
we can destroy it, or at least banish it back to Hell where it
belongs, it will be a blow that the Fallen will not easily recover
from.”

Chris
realized that his fists were clenched so tightly that they ached. He
released them slowly and tried to take a deep, steadying breath. The
voices around him faded as he looked within.

Sariel?

Yes, Chris. I'm here.

Is he right? Is that,
whatever it is, out there?

Yes. It is.

Oh
God, he thought.

What can we do?

I have an idea, my
friend. I believe that the judge is thinking along the same lines.

Yeah? So what's your
idea?

We need to stall our
enemies. We need to keep them focused on Valiant and on us, until the
dawn. Then our brethren will be able to take up the attack and
destroy all of the Fallen who lurk out in the shadows.

All of them? Just how
many are out there?

Too many, right now.
Not enough, come sunrise.

Chris
swallowed convulsively.

Can we do it? I mean,
can we do it and survive?

I don't know. But we
can try. The choice is yours.

Chris
looked down at the bundle of canvas that he had tucked under his arm.
He'd almost forgotten that he still had the sword with him.

What
a choice, he thought. Attack this thing and try to hold it until the
sun came up, in an hour or so. Or stay safe and let it escape,
knowing that it would probably go after the unsuspecting teens that
were making their way to the supposed safety of Valiant.

Hell
of a choice, he thought with grim amusement. Yeah man. It was a hell
of a choice.

Judge
Hawkes was answering another question, this time from George
concerning weapons or something, when Chris interrupted him.

“
Sorry,
George. But I have to say something.”

George,
caught in mid-sentence, stared at Chris for a second and then nodded
brusquely.

Chris
turned and looked at the judge, who watched him silently.

“
We'll
do it, sir. Sariel and me. We'll hold them until sunrise.”

Before
the judge could answer, Chris was engulfed by a chorus of protests,
Patrick's being the loudest.

“
Are
you mad?” he shouted almost in Chris' ear. He winced.

“
You
can't go out there alone and face that...thing, whatever the hell it
is.”

“
Patrick's
right, Chris,” Natalie spoke up. “Sariel will be no match
for that kind of power. At least not until his sword is whole again.”

“
You
can't know that, Nat,” he replied gently. “None of us can
know that, not even Sariel.”

“
So
what? This is about being some kind of hero, is that it?”
Patrick again.

Chris
tried to feel some anger but he couldn't. He finally realized why his
friend was so upset. Why they all were.

“
Pat.
Listen.” The other boy tried to turn away but Chris held his
arm and wouldn't let him. “This is why I'm here. This is why
we're all here, isn't it? To stop Satan? To beat the Devil at his own
game? And now we have a chance to deal him a real blow.” He
shook Patrick's arm. “Come on. You know that you'd volunteer in
a second if you had any chance of stopping this thing.”

The
voices of the others died away and they waited for Patrick to answer.

He
stared at Chris and tears started in his eyes.

“
I
don't want you to die, Chris,” he said in a broken voice.

Chris
smiled.

“
'
And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' You know those
words as well as I do, my friend. No matter what happens, we will
meet again.”

Patrick nodded silently and Chris shook
him again.

“Besides, I'm not dying today.
Today we're going to kick some Fallen ass.”

Patrick stared at him in surprise and
then grinned.

“Well said, mate. Damned well
said.”

“So you,” Chris turned and
looked at all of them, “and the rest of you. Be ready. When
sunrise arrives, I want you out there with me, ready to send those
bastards back to Hell!”

A moment of silence and then all of the
teens began to cheer. Even Alysa was whooping and laughing with the
rest.

Chris turned to the judge again. The
man looked at him compassionately.

“Are you sure about this,
Christopher?” he asked.

“I'm sure about my choice, sir.
About what's going to happen? Not so much.”

“Very well.” Judge Hawkes
walked around the desk and stood next to Chris. “If this is
your choice, then we'd better get moving. If we wait too long, they
will scatter before sunrise and we'll have missed the opportunity.”

“Yes sir.”

The judge headed toward the front door,
followed closely by Chris. The other Angelics were at his heels, and
the five staff members and Chef brought up the rear.

When they reached the exit, Chris saw
that a thick slab of metal, iron he supposed, had dropped down to
cover the large double-doors. It shone dully with the reflected light
of the ceiling fixtures. Chris stepped up to it without thinking and
laid his palm on the metal.

Somehow he could feel the power inside
the slab. The power of prayer and faith, the co-mingling of religious
beliefs, all centered around the one main belief, in the power of
God.

He could also feel something else.
Something from outside, from the other side of the metal. A force,
powerful, brutal, enraged.

It was gnawing at the barrier, chewing
through the wards like a hungry jackal chewing on a corpse. It was
terrifying and Chris wondered for a fleeting instant if he was doing
the right thing.

It is your choice
,
Sariel said inside his head.

Yeah, thanks for that. No pressure
or anything.

He heard the
archangel laugh lightly.

He took a
deep breath and was about to unwrap the sword, when he felt a tap on
his shoulder. It was Natalie.

“
You
be careful out there, Chris,” she said, her eyes rimmed with
red.

“
Yeah,
you know I will. I mean, who are you going to boss around if I don't
come back, eh?”

She laughed
brokenly and hugged him fiercely.

When she let
him go, Patrick walked up to him and grabbed him in a bear-hug.

“
You
call us the moment it's time,” he whispered into Chris' neck.
“Valagriel is burning to jump into battle. So am I. So don't
you hesitate.”

He stood
back and Chris grinned at him.

“
Don't
worry, I won't.”

He looked
past his friend to the rest of the Angelics.

“
Be
ready, all of you. I'll hold them no matter what. So you be ready.”

They all
answered in the affirmative. Alysa was crying openly and Anabelle had
her arm around her. Chris turned away before he started himself.

He unwrapped
the sword and held it in front of himself.

Let's do this, Sariel.

Very well, my friend. No more
hiding. No more disguises. Let us be who we were meant to be.

And Chris
felt Sariel surge to the fore and take control. He stepped back in
his head and watched in awe.

And they
began to grow. Eight feet. Ten feet. A little more. Chris felt the
wings emerge from between his shoulders and flow back to touch the
floor.

Sariel
looked down as if to reassure himself that he was whole once again.
Or maybe it was to reassure Chris.

He was
wearing his armor, gray iron, that glowed with an blazing heat. His
arms were wrapped in corded muscle. And the sword had grown as well,
it's jagged end flashing with a ghostly blade that throbbed with
force.

“
Open
the door, judge.” Sariel said and his voice rang with power and
echoed down the corridor. “Let us see what my accursed brother
has brought against us.”