‘Swear to protect them to the best of your ability or something,’ Teah hissed worriedly.
‘My people . . .’ Ilgrin trailed off distractedly, a droplet of oil having fallen from his hair to splash on his arm. ‘Angels and demons alike . . .’ Again he trailed off, finding the spot where the oil had landed to be unbearably itchy. He scratched at the spot, only to realise that it didn’t feel oily at all. His head snapped back and he stared up into the sky in time to see a flash of purple lightning snake its way through the clouds. ‘A storm is coming.’
He turned to Teah, a second droplet of whisp rain hitting his cheek and draining his face of warmth.
‘Oh torrid.’ Teah bit her lip. ‘It couldn’t be worse timing.’
‘Well, how do you normally deal with it?’ Ilgrin said in frustration, his eyes remaining locked on the threatening clouds above.
‘We need angels.’ Jakob burst onto the balcony, causing a myriad of silts to call out in consternation.
‘A Sa’Tanist this far up the tree?’ The old silt’s jaw worked up and down. ‘This is most unorthodox.’
‘He’s right,’ Teah nodded at Jakob. ‘It’s the only way to prevent the storm from destroying the entire legion.’
‘We’ve got you, Teah,’ Ilgrin clapped his hands together.
‘She won’t be enough.’ Jakob swallowed nervously. ‘A globe requires the presence of a hundred angels at least, placed strategically throughout the legion.’
‘She’s all we’ve got,’ Ilgrin replied through gritted teeth as the sky rumbled and purple lightning began weaving about in the distant trees. ‘She’ll have to do.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Teah replied. ‘Angels are very good at hiding. We’ve had to be in order to survive.’ She cast a dirty look at the robed old silt. ‘They’ve never quite been able to crush us.’
‘So there are others?’
‘They call themselves the occult,’ Jakob interceded. ‘An underground network of angels that look out for each other.’ He hesitated. ‘I’ve long suspected that Teah might know how to reach them.’
‘How very insightful, Jakob,’ Teah said as she moved along the balcony.
‘Then it’s true?’ Ilgrin said, the relief evident in his voice.
‘The occult exists.’ Teah frowned. ‘But we are very few and the others are not likely to help you. They’re scared for their lives.’
‘Please, Teah.’ Ilgrin took the woman’s hands. ‘I’ve felt what whisp rain can do and Far-a-mael has stolen all of Hel’s angels.’
‘I’ve felt what demons can do,’ Teah murmured. ‘I like you, Enoch. I really do, but . . . do I trust you? I don’t know if I can do that.’
‘I’ll do anything,’ Ilgrin pleaded as a third droplet touched his flesh and oozed down his arm, sending a cold shiver through his body. ‘Please.’ His mood darkened and he felt unwarrantedly aggressive.
‘The creation of a sieift requires sacrifice,’ Teah said slowly. ‘Are you willing to pay the price, my Devil?’
‘Yes.’ Ilgrin exhaled slowly when he realised what Teah was asking.
‘Then follow me,’ Teah turned and leapt from the balcony with Ilgrin at her heels. He pursued her determinedly to the top of the tree followed by gasps of disbelief from the crowd and shouts of reprimand from the coronation conductor.
‘They’re watching us now,’ Teah said, landing on a wide branch. ‘When they see your willingness to sacrifice, they will help us.’
‘Then do it now!’ Ilgrin cried as drips became drizzle and thunder growled like a fighting dog restrained.
‘I suggest you take a deep breath.’ Teah raised her arms and Ilgrin took a step back.
Clenching his teeth, Ilgrin waited for a painful explosion. But angelic power was crueller than that and manifested incrementally. His skin tingled slightly before it began to burn. Ilgrin felt somewhat nauseous and his heartbeat increased. His joints felt like they were being pulled apart and his muscles began to twitch and spasm. By the time the pain had become true agony, Ilgrin was barely conscious enough to hear himself scream.
Despite wanting to vanish into a tiny hole and die, Ilgrin forced open his eyes to find himself squirming in a mass of mist. The white cloud spewed away from him and drifted into the sky where Teah focused on it so that it flattened and spread out forming a barrier between the tree and the clouds. Throughout the legion’s woods more puffs of white mist moved into the sky, where they too flattened out to form a single continuous barrier that spread out over all of Hel.
When the pain went away, it left Ilgrin feeling numb and empty. ‘Why’d you stop?’ Ilgrin asked without the slightest complaint in his voice.
‘The angels got the message,’ Teah replied. ‘And we need our Devil to be strong.’ She looked at the sky. ‘Hopefully the storm is short and we won’t need to worry about patching that up when it starts to leak.
Through blurred vision, Ilgrin leaned back and stared into the sky where the giant sieift flexed and rippled against the black downpour. Purple lightning struck at the sieift but failed to penetrate much deeper than a stride before being snuffed out of existence.
‘Who were the others?’ Ilgrin asked, the sieift globe’s enormity taking him by surprise.
‘The sufferers,’ Teah replied. ‘Willing demons.’
‘Who would be willing to go through that?’ Ilgrin gaped in astonishment.
‘Not all silts are as fortunate as you, Enoch,’ Teah said sadly. ‘People will do horrible things to feed their young.’
‘You pay them?’ Ilgrin gasped. ‘You pay the poor to let you torture them?’
‘It was not we who first recruited the sufferers,’ Teah spoke scarcely above a whisper. ‘The Holy Tome speaks of sufferers being utilised as early as the second Devil’s reign. It was Sa’Tan’s son who created the concept. It was the only way. Maker instructed us in the beginning not to allow demon movement north of Hades. But we were also put here as their guardians. Employing sufferers is the only way we could do both.’
Ilgrin got to his feet unsteadily. ‘That’s disgusting.’
‘It could’ve been worse,’ Teah said with a nonchalant shrug. ‘History tells us that some Devils encouraged the kidnapping of humans for the purpose of sieift creation. At least this way the legion is protected and the sufferer’s family are well fed for a year.’
‘That’s disgusting,’ Ilgrin repeated his sentiments from earlier.
‘Well, what alternative is there?’
‘I don’t know,’ Ilgrin threw out his arms. ‘Maybe stop making whisps so that we can finally see the sun!’
‘Go ahead. You try telling a demon mother that she can’t resurrect her dead child,’ Teah scoffed.
‘Then resurrection should be supervised by angels,’ Ilgrin said desperately. ‘If someone wishes to perform a resurrection they must first suffer the sieift in preparation to cancel out the whisp as it forms.’
‘That sounds good in theory.’ Teah shrugged. ‘But once more: those before you have tried time and again to enforce such laws and it has proven fruitless. There are far too many demons and far too few angels. By the time we could get around to everyone the bodies would’ve long since become too dead.’
‘So we’re damned to live this way forever?’ Ilgrin threw up his hands in defeat. ‘Must we fear the clouds above until they’ve one day become too strong for us to defend ourselves?’
‘There is much I have to tell you,’ Teah replied. ‘But first you must address your people.’
Ilgrin flew back down to the balcony where nervous faces waited, many peering up at the newly formed dome above them. ‘People of Hades,’ Ilgrin started with an elevated voice. ‘I hereby swear to fight for the good of all silts. It is time to bring equality to both Hades and New World. We will make the humans accept us!’
Ilgrin was aware only after he’d finished speaking that the speech probably sounded very odd to the silts below. They probably didn’t much care about feeling equal to humans. He frowned.
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‘I will bring glory to the lineage of Sa’Tan!’ He finished. The crowd roared. That was what they’d wanted to hear. He turned away awkwardly and headed inside to find Teah waiting there.
‘Come with me.’ The angel took Ilgrin’s hand and guided him farther into the tree. From there they weaved through numerous passageways until Ilgrin found himself standing in what could only be described as a library. The walls were lined with shelves grown out from the tree surface to be filled with countless books. Teah removed one of the larger ones and flicked through the pages.
‘What’s that?’
‘The Holy Tome,’ Teah murmured as she sought out a specific entry, sliding her finger down the page as she went.
‘Sorry.’ Ilgrin raised his hands in protest. ‘I’m not religious. Abnatians don’t believe in Maker.’
‘The Tome speaks of redemption.’ Teah ignored Ilgrin’s objection. ‘Here.’ She pointed at the tiny black writing. ‘This is one of the most prominent signs that we are living in the last days. It says that the darkness will begin to spread north.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Ilgrin backed away. ‘I really don’t believe in--’
‘Just try to keep an open mind,’ Teah snapped in exasperation. ‘It is said that Maker’s Holy Spirit will come down upon the earth and that She will descend in the clouds and every eye shall see. A key will be given unto Her and with it She will reopen the gates of Hae’Evun.’
‘Wait.’ Ilgrin shook his head in confusion. ‘The Holy Spirit is a woman?’
‘Many humans believe the use of “She” to be symbolic.’ Teah frowned. ‘I’ve never really understood the problem myself. People always seem so determined to believe men must be assigned all of the important jobs.’
‘I suppose.’ Ilgrin nodded. ‘So who is she?’
‘No one knows,’ Teah replied. ‘Not even the Spirit Herself. The Tome says that nobody but Maker knows the day nor the hour. We just have to watch for the signs.’
‘You said this spirit will have a key,’ Ilgrin stated. ‘What makes you think that demons will want to return to Hae’Evun? We must’ve left for a reason.’
‘I think that you might be surprised by how many of us are tired of living this way--foreigners imprisoned in somebody else’s world.’ Teah sighed. ‘But, like you, too few believe in the Holy Scriptures anymore. Perhaps even I had lost my faith until . . .’ She trailed off and leant forward, allowing her long hair to tumble over her shoulders.
‘Until what?’
‘Well . . . the sky is moving,’ Teah said almost apologetically.
‘Look, it’d be really nice if your story book was true,’ Ilgrin stated apathetically, ‘but I’m the Devil now and I can’t just wait around hoping on your mythical Holy Spirit. I have to do what’s best for my people right now.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘We’ve destroyed our world and there’s nothing to be done about that,’ Ilgrin said regretfully. ‘So . . . we’ll just have to take theirs.’
‘You would invade New World?’ Teah raised her eyebrows.
‘I don’t want to hurt them,’ Ilgrin said softly, his thoughts straying to El-i-miir. ‘We must find a way to co-exist. They will learn to tolerate our presence, given enough time.’
‘They will fight to the death.’ Teah shook her head at Ilgrin’s naïveté. ‘They hate us and rightfully so.’
‘You would believe that.’ Ilgrin shrugged. ‘But I’ve seen another side to them. If we can just be good to them, we’ll win them over in the end.’
‘In the end, perhaps,’ Teah said without conviction. ‘But not in the beginning. Many lives will be lost before they’ll listen to you.’
‘I know that,’ Ilgrin said solemnly. ‘The armies must be defeated and the Elglair will have to be watched carefully.’
‘The Elglair will have to be destroyed completely,’ Teah said fatalistically.
‘Completely?’ Ilgrin balked.
‘You know it’s true,’ Teah said firmly. ‘They’re too dangerous and too sneaky.’
‘Yes,’ Ilgrin said. ‘I suppose they are.’
‘Ilgrin.’ Teah touched his arm. ‘We didn’t start this, but we do have to finish it.’
‘Didn’t we?’ Ilgrin said shakily, somewhat surprised by her having used his preferred name. ‘They only hate us because of the lives our whisps have destroyed.’
‘Perhaps you’re right,’ Teah replied. ‘But this is about survival. They will continue to attack. We either defend ourselves or we lay down and die.’
‘I know.’ Ilgrin sighed in resignation. He turned and left the library with a heavy heart. He walked the length of a dark tunnel curving through the tree with downcast eyes. He flew through the internal cavern on unsteady wings and exited the tree. The sieift above was waning, but the storm had come to an end, so it’d served its purpose.
Someone screamed in flight. It was a sound that sent chills running down Ilgrin’s spine. He looked into the sky and there he saw something that filled him with fear. An angel flew straight toward the tree carrying a large capsule with an ignited fuse burning close to its end. The silt thrust his legs forward and released the bomb. It hit the tree with shuddering force, spraying fire in every direction.
Matt-hew 24
23. Then if any man shall say unto you, ‘Lo, here is the Spirit,’ or ‘there,’ believe it not.
24. For there shall arise false spirits and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25. Behold, I have told you before.
26. Therefore, if they shall say unto you, ‘Behold, She is in the desert!’ go not forth, or ‘Behold, She is in the secret chambers!’ believe it not.
27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Holy Spirit be.
28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29-30. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the demons shall fall from the sky and the powers of Hae’Evun shall be shaken, and then shall appear the body of the Spirit in the sky. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn bathed in blood, and they shall see the Holy Spirit coming in the clouds with power and with great glory.
Scriptures of the Holy Tome
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BLACK POWDER BOMBS
Jakob hurried down the seemingly endless stairwell that served as the only Sa’Tanist route through the great tree. There were many duties he had to take care of in his service to the new Devil. Sa’Enoch was a good man and had remembered him as he’d hoped. He was allowed free access to the tree and was set up to receive an admirable income. Jakob smiled at the thought. He’d done well for himself.
His foot fell toward the next step, but it was gone. A deafening explosion filled his ears, the blast thrusting him back against the wall of the stairwell. He gaped in horror as the side of the tree disappeared and he stared out over the trees of the legion below. He was blasted by hot, fiery air as the tree shuddered and moaned. He watched in disbelief as the great army of New World slowly carved its way through the outer portions of Hel.
Countless angels swooped this way and that, carrying capsules containing what he could only assume was black powder. The affiliated angels dropped the capsules wherever they thought they could cause the most destruction. A second black powder bomb struck the tree higher up. Jakob braced himself as the structure shuddered and he watched in shock as one gigantic branch sailed passed him on its way toward the ground. Demons fell after it, having been knocked out or killed in the explosion.
Without wasting another second, Jakob scrambled back up the stairwell until he found an entrance point into the tree. He raced through a tunnel in which half the lanterns had been blown out. One of them hit the ground and its oil spilt across its length to burn furiously. Jako
b took a minute to stomp out the flames before pulling open a door on the ground and peering down into darkness. He could make out the floor below and didn’t think the drop was very far. Sliding through the doorway, he allowed his legs to dangle as far as possible before releasing his hold. The fall was brief but he hit the ground hard and moaned at a sharp pain in his leg.
The tree shuddered again, but this time it was accompanied by a long and low tearing sound. Jakob gaped as cracks splintered their way along the walls and the ceiling started to warp. He ignored the pain in his leg and ran for his life shouting at every silt he passed to do the same. When he reached the central cavity, Jakob was forced to an abrupt halt.
‘Hey,’ he called, having spotted a silt descending from above. ‘Help me down.’ She merely looked at him disparagingly and continued on her way. ‘Torrid,’ Jakob gritted his teeth, knowing the tree well enough to be certain that without the Sa’Tanist stairwell he’d never make it down without assistance.
‘Jakob,’ Teah called as she raced out of a library he’d passed a moment earlier. ‘What’s going on?’
‘The tree is under attack,’ Jakob replied, unable to believe the words as he spoke them.
‘Maker,’ Teah said disbelievingly. ‘Come on,’ she called, racing toward the inner tree. Another large explosion made the tree moan deafeningly. The walls splintered and the ceiling tilted away from them. Teah threw her arms around Jakob and leapt over the edge, flaring her wings as she went.
Twisting around in the angel’s arms, Jakob caught a glimpse of the upper half of the tree as it tilted, having been blasted right through. The tree was filled with gusty wind. The whisp-filled sky was revealed above. Jakob’s heart thundered in his chest as Teah expertly wove through the criss-crossing branches as they plummeted.
‘They will pay,’ he heard her whisper through clenched teeth. ‘We will make them pay.’
*
Ilgrin watched a second and then a third bomb strike the exterior of the tree and explode. Silts rained down from the sky, along with branches thousands of strides in length that crushed countless others when they landed. Perhaps it was shock or disbelief that held him in place. Ilgrin stared, transfixed, until he realised the tree had been struck one too many times. There was a deafening rumbling sound as it buckled halfway up its length.