“Remember,” Aaron said. “We get the locations of the Fear Engines, and then that’s it. Break the connection as quickly as you’re able. No need to put yourself at any more risk than absolutely necessary.”
Dusty nodded. Part of him wanted to scream that simply being near the sword was a huge risk, but there wasn’t any point in making Aaron feel worse than he probably already did.
Dusty turned his focus to the blade before him. “Ready when you are,” he said to Lorelei, who dropped the last of her special ingredients into the bowl.
The contents of the bowl began to smoke, and Lorelei picked up the small rolled scroll and started to quietly read from it.
Dusty opened his mind to the Instrument—and almost immediately wished that he hadn’t. He felt as though he were drowning, drowning in sheer terror. Images bombarded him, barely giving him the opportunity to process one before another replaced it. It took everything he had not to scream, everything he had not to search out the nearest jagged rock and cut his own throat.
Anything to make the visions stop.
Dusty could hear Lorelei, far off in the nightmarish distance, telling him to focus on her voice. She was persistent, demanding that he hear her and follow her commands. Amidst scenes of a world of horror, bloodshed, and unnatural death, Dusty zeroed in on her voice. He concentrated, finally feeling the onslaught begin to subside.
He felt like he was in a whirlpool now. A numbing coolness was all around him. The images were still with him, still clamoring for his attention, but suddenly he had the strength to sort them.
To assess them one at a time.
Lorelei instructed him to observe the nightmarish scenes unfolding before him and to visualize the fear they caused, then follow that fear. The imagery was devastating, and painted a picture of a world Dusty wanted nothing to do with.
Humanity was in danger. The darkness stretched to claim more and more of the earth. Dusty watched as tendrils of fear began to snake up into the ether. That was what he needed to track. Those threads of emotion would lead him to the engines.
Dusty followed those paths, and the trails ended in the strangest of places. But there they were, the engines throbbing with collected fears.
“I’ve found them,” he exclaimed, nearly losing his concentration. Focus, he told himself.
Before he could gain his composure, the Archon magick was inside him. It flowed through Lorelei and into him. The magick was like liquid lightning, singing in his veins and boiling his blood. Dusty screamed as the magick punched through his fingertips, engulfing the old globe. The tin globe exploded, sending jagged pieces of metal whizzing through the air.
The magick was wild. Tendrils of energy pulsed from his hands, striking the earth, worming down into the soil. The ground churned as a huge section of dirt, rock and grass rose up into the air. The soil took on a spherical shape, a representation of the planet, spinning slowly as it hung in the crisp New England air.
“There!” Dusty yelled as a column of light erupted from the magickal globe, followed by another, and another after that.
Three beacons of light, marking the locations of the Fear Engines.
* * *
Lorelei was impressed.
Dusty was handling the Archon magick like a pro. It had left her body when it had been summoned, and had flowed into the waiting receptacle that was Dusty.
She still held the leash, but was shocked and delighted to see how the ancient magick was taking to the young man. She could not help but think about the day when the magick would no longer listen to her commands, but would turn on her like an angry dog, beaten one too many times by its master. Then the magick would utterly consume her.
And then it would be up to Dusty to help the Nephilim with their mission. Watching as he located the Fear Engines with pillars of light, she saw someone who was certainly up for the task. With a little more training, he would be just as good as she was.
Maybe even better.
Lorelei could sense Dusty’s enormous potential. He had the ability to hold and control vast amounts of powerful magick. It made her inevitable death that much easier to accept.
It also made her more willing to take a chance. As she watched him wield the power of her spell, Lorelei was tempted. If Dusty was able to locate the Fear Engines that had been hidden by powerful magicks, could he also help her find the wayward Lucifer?
It was certainly something to consider. His disappearance gnawed at her, making her all the more determined to find the missing Morningstar.
With Dusty’s help, she hoped to solve the mystery, to the benefit of them all.
* * *
Aaron approached the spinning ball of earth, his eyes focused upon what could best be described as the hot spots. There didn’t appear to be any particular rhyme or reason to their placement, but then again, he had never been part of a secret gathering of angelic beings that wanted to see humanity go extinct.
“Does this look right to you?” Aaron asked as Mallus came to stand beside him.
The others had stepped up for a closer look as well.
“As right as anything the Architects might have their wings in,” the fallen angel said.
“Why these places?” Aaron asked as the globe slowly spun, revealing the three locations. “Why in these particular spots?”
“You’re asking me to think like them,” Mallus said. “I haven’t a clue. Perhaps they have some special meaning to the Architects, or maybe they mean absolutely nothing at all.”
“In the long run it doesn’t really matter,” Vilma said, watching the beams of light. “We just need to get to these places and take care of the engines.”
“Right,” Aaron said, trying to make up his mind as to how they should proceed. “Since we really haven’t a clue as to what we’ll be up against, I want us to go in teams.” He stopped to study the earthen globe for a moment. “Vilma and Cameron, you’ll go west. Verchiel and Melissa, I want you to go east.” He paused again, collecting his thoughts. “Since I have to go with Mallus, one team will have to do double duty—”
“I’ll do it,” Gabriel barked, interrupting him. “I’ll go.”
Aaron smiled at the good-hearted nature of his dog’s offer. “That’s all right, buddy,” he told the animal. “We can—”
“I can do it,” Gabriel insisted, his stance stiff, his gaze intently upon Aaron.
“Gabriel, I know you want to help, but—”
“I’ve changed, Aaron,” Gabriel spoke. “More than you realize.”
And before Aaron could question him further, Gabriel decided to show them all.
At once the Labrador’s body began to glow, sparks of divine fire leaping from his golden fur, which looked as if it shifted and moved. Strangely enough, it reminded Aaron of a wheat field caressed by the wind.
The dog seemed larger and fiercer, and suddenly Aaron was afraid. Where was the sweet animal that he loved with all his heart and soul? Where was the dog that meant so much to him that he’d brought him back from the dead?
And then it hit him. “I did this.”
The dog looked up at Aaron with eyes flecked with golden fire.
“Yes,” he said. “I knew that you had changed me, that I had become smarter than other dogs, but this was totally unexpected.”
Aaron didn’t know what to say. He knelt in front of Gabriel.
“I had no idea that—”
“Neither did I,” Gabriel said. “It just kind of happened when I was attacked outside the school’s barriers.”
Aaron reached out to pet the animal, but hesitated.
“Please don’t be afraid of me, Aaron,” the dog said sadly.
Aaron threw his arms around the animal’s large neck in a hug. He had a sudden, painful sensation, but it quickly dissipated as Aaron felt his body assuming his more angelic guise, somehow triggered by his contact with Gabriel.
“I could never be afraid of you,” he said.
“I do so hate to break up this charming em
otional display,” Verchiel chided, “but the earth, if I’m not mistaken, is still in danger.”
Aaron released his dog and stood. Gabriel’s gaze followed him, waiting for Aaron’s decision.
“Gabriel will take the last of the engines,” Aaron said.
The dog nodded, divine fire sparking around his head. “I won’t let you down.”
Aaron retained his fearsome angelic form and stared at his friends, his fellow Nephilim, his soldiers. His gaze lingered upon Vilma longer than the others, a message passing between them as their eyes momentarily locked.
He loved her, plain and simple, and she loved him back. But in order for that love to survive, and to become even greater than it already was, a world needed to be ordered.
That was their mission.
Their purpose.
“Be careful,” he told them all. Suddenly he realized that this could be the last time he saw some of them alive. He wanted to say more, but there wasn’t time.
One by one the Nephilim took on their angelic guises, spreading powerful wings, wrapping themselves within their feathered embrace, and then they were gone.
Gabriel was the last to go.
“I love you, Aaron,” the dog told him in his kind doggy grumble. “Thought I’d like to tell you that, just in case.”
It took everything that Aaron had not to beg him to stay. “I love you too, Gabe,” he managed before his voice cracked with emotion.
Gabriel’s stance then stiffened, and he shook his canine body as if shucking off water. Golden fire swarmed around the dog’s form like eager fireflies, until he disappeared, until there was only the light of the divine.
Then that too winked out; the dog, and the fire, were gone.
“Are you ready?” Mallus asked Aaron.
Aaron managed to tear his eyes away from where Gabriel had been.
“Yeah,” he told the fallen angel. “As ready as I’m going to be. Where are we going?”
Mallus stepped closer to him and grabbed his wrist in a powerful grip.
“Do you see?” the angel asked.
For a brief moment Aaron didn’t understand. Then an image, as clear as day, appeared in his mind.
“Yes, I see,” Aaron replied.
“Then let us be gone.”
Mallus stepped closer as Aaron stretched out his wings of black, and enclosed them both.
* * *
The globe spun as Dusty stood, shivering, in its shadow.
“Are you all right?” Lorelei asked, still managing the Archon spell that held the young man in check.
“Yeah,” he said, though there was strain in his voice, “but I think I’m ready to be rid of this connection.”
“Wait,” she said, limping forward, leaning upon her cane.
Surprised, Dusty turned his milky eyes in her direction.
“Can you hold on for just a little bit longer?” she asked as she approached him.
“I’m not sure that I can—”
“I need to ask you a favor,” Lorelei interrupted.
His eyes blinked. “Okay,” he said cautiously.
“I need you to let me in,” she said. “I need you to let me see what the Instrument is showing you.”
Dusty slowly nodded.
“I have to find him,” Lorelei said.
“Lucifer,” Dusty stated.
“If things continue as they are…” She paused, considering the future. “We need him,” she finished with finality.
“Are you sure you’re strong enough to handle this?” Dusty asked her.
She stood on the periphery of his connection to the sword, wielding the Archon magick and feeling the intensity of the power that radiated from the sword. In all actuality she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough, but she knew for certain that soon she wouldn’t be.
But now…
“As sure as I’ll ever be,” she told him.
Dusty accepted that, and she watched him change his stance, readying himself for what was to come.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“Just hold on for a little longer,” Lorelei said. “And I need you to let me into your mind.”
It felt as though Lorelei were sticking her head into a rushing stream, only there were multiple currents, each traveling at about a hundred miles an hour along different routes. For a moment she hesitated, tempted to draw back, fearing for her safety. But then she considered the safety of her friends and of the world, and then she immersed herself.
At first she thought she was going to be torn apart. Then she felt herself begin to slide into Dusty’s mind.
Oh, the sights she saw. Lorelei wanted to so look away, but there was no stopping now. The more she saw, the better she was able to let herself drift.
“Lorelei,” she heard her name called forcefully.
She chose to ignore it, knowing that whoever was calling her could do little to change the path of the world.
“Lorelei, it’s me,” the voice said again, and she remembered Dusty. “I’m not sure how much longer I’ve got. I’m getting tired and…”
Dusty, she thought, remembering the young man and how his gift—or was it a curse?—was allowing her to see everything that the sword saw, every darkened pocket of the world.
Images that had been hidden from her magick.
And then she remembered why she was there in Dusty’s mind.
“Dusty!” she called out, hoping that she had strength enough to lend him. “Just a bit longer, Dusty.”
She pulled herself together. Her time was limited, so she tried to see as much as she could, scanning and discarding one nightmarish vision after another.
“Where are you, Lucifer?” she called out in frustration. “Where have you gone?”
Lorelei felt a powerful tug upon her psyche. Dusty was weakening. Her time was up, but still she searched, exposing herself to sights that would have driven a lesser being to madness.
Dusty was screaming now, no longer able to contain her presence within his own. She was about to withdraw, when she saw a flash of darkness. A star of black twinkled amid a sea of nightmares.
“I’m sorry,” she told her agonized host, forcing herself toward the mystery.
Lorelei extended her already damaged and fragmented psyche, but she was running out of time. She could feel Dusty failing, the Instrument’s relentless pummeling driving him to destruction. All she needed was a moment more to see what was lurking inside this vision.
Lorelei pushed, and felt the fragile exterior of the darkened star shatter like an eggshell. She was disappointed to see that there was only more darkness within, and was turning to depart, when she saw it.
When she saw him.
Lucifer Morningstar, curled in the fetal position, floated in a sea of total black. She saw his face twitch, and his mouth grimace as if he were locked in a nightmare. Knowing that her time was precarious, Lorelei reached out to take hold of her friend and mentor, desperate to wake him from his slumber.
“Lucifer!” she cried. “Lucifer, we need you!”
And then the magickal tether that had held her to the visions of the Instrument yanked her back.
But not before she saw that Lucifer’s eyes had opened.
* * *
Lucifer’s life had returned to darkness once he’d left the woman he loved, but he did not let it control him as it had before. This love had changed him, and even though despair flowed through him, he did not let it affect him.
Lucifer remembered how it had felt, the torture of no longer having Taylor in his life, but he knew that it was for the best. His enemies were many, and they wanted nothing more than to wound him using that which he loved most.
As he had struck out against God and Heaven.
Lucifer had initially sought peace in the monastery of Crna Reka, in the Serbian mountains. He had hoped that removing himself from the world would be enough to please his enemies, but of course it wasn’t.
The fallout from betraying God had follo
wed him like a rabid beast, dragging him from his hiding place, his place of solace.
What if Verchiel and his Powers hadn’t come for me? Lucifer pondered, immersed in the memory. What if I was allowed to hide, wrapping myself in the darkness like a cloak?
Like a protective cocoon.
Lucifer did not want to remember anymore, and forced himself to fall into a deeper subconscious world. This was where he belonged, where he could do the least damage to those he had grown to care for, those he had dared to love. This was where he would stay, letting the chrysalis of shadow grow thicker and stronger, protecting him from the world.
And protecting the world from him.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep in that darkened embrace, but there came an insistent rapping as if somebody knew he was inside. Lucifer tried to ignore it, to return to the solace of sleep, but the knocking persisted.
And then, the unthinkable occurred.
Whatever—whoever—was outside his place of solitude cracked the exterior shell, exposing him, and he heard a voice that was strangely familiar.
“Lucifer!” it cried, temporarily rousing him from his numbed state, tempting him to open his eyes.
“Lucifer, we need you!”
An image of Lorelei filled his head, beautiful, powerful Lorelei. He’d almost forgotten her, forgotten all of the Nephilim. Visions of those who were trying to safeguard the world suddenly flowed through the cracks in his cocoon.
Then, as quickly as she had arrived, Lorelei was gone. But she had left a trail for him to follow back to the world from which he’d been taken.
It dawned on him then, a blow as crushing as when he’d realized the angels were no longer the Almighty’s favorite.
If he could follow the trail back to the Nephilim, then so could somebody else.
Something else.
Lucifer’s eyes snapped open, and Lorelei’s ghostly image reappeared for an instant before she winked away. He tried to warn her, to tell her to guard her location before it—the evil power that had stolen his body—could follow her.