Alan Price and the Statue of Zeus (The Nephilim Chronicles Book 3) (10 page)

The aftermath of the battle was catastrophic. Angels lay dead by the hundreds with even more wounded. Alan found Danielle in the middle of it all, attending to Esther in one of the few tents that escaped damage. The leader of the angelic army was in worse shape than Raphael. A long cut raced down her left leg and her right shoulder had been dislocated; it rested in a white sling.

“If you would just let me heal you, you wouldn’t have to be in any pain,” Danielle said raising an eyebrow.

Esther waived her away, “Go help others who need your abilities to survive. I will live. I’ve been in pain before.”

Danielle nodded and turned to leave the tent. She passed Alan, as she did she gave him a questioning look as she stared at his wounds. He smiled at her and shook his head, “I’m probably already healed. My skin is still as tough as a rock and the cuts on my face will be gone in a few hours due to my accelerated healing.”

Danielle sighed, “I know, you’re right. I’m just glad you’re still in one piece.”

Alan held her gaze a moment longer before she walked out of the tent. “I wish all of us still held the same ability to withstand a blow or blade,” Esther said limping to a wooden table and pouring herself a mug of water from a clear pitcher. “It seems when put to the test, Gabriel’s spell worked. I haven’t seen so many wounded or dead angels since the Usurper’s grasp at power.”

Alan wasn’t sure what to say. Until recently being injured or dying were just normal parts of his life. He couldn’t imagine what it must feel like for immortal beings to have to face their own mortality.

Esther didn’t wait for him to talk. “Before, only the Celestial Weapons could kill us: now it seems any weapon or ability will do.” Esther shuddered at the thought before recuperating. “But what is done, is done. We failed to protect Kassidy and we must find her as soon as possible.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Alan said, relieved the captain shared his own thoughts. “I want to go after her now.”

Esther looked him up and down. Alan was still filthy from the fight; his armor was dented and bloodstained. The majority of the blood on his armor belonged to his enemies, however Alan had not come out of the battle unscathed. “As do I, Alan,” Esther said, “but we need information before we strike blind. I know everything inside you will yell at you to disregard what I’m saying, just please give me a chance. Let me send my scouts to discover where they are taking Kassidy. Then we can strategize.”

Esther was right; Alan didn’t want to wait. Kassidy was relying on him, on all of them, to help her make this transition. She was still wrapping her mind around what she was; and now she had been kidnapped. “How long will you need?” Alan forced himself to ask.

“A day,” Esther said. “And don’t worry, Sodom doesn’t want her dead. He wants to use her as an instrument of power. He’ll try to manipulate her so he needs her alive.”

“One day,” Alan said. “Then I’m going after her with or without you.”

“Fair enough.”

A question tickled at Alan’s mind. “Where did Sodom even come from?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Are there just roving armies of demons now?”

Esther drained her cup and placed it on the table. “The world as we know it is changing. Gabriel’s move for power has sent the demon race into a frenzy. They think the end is coming and everyone is jumping to choose sides. Before Gabriel used the spell, Sodom was a large but still manageable leader of a demon sect. Now demons are flocking to banners as they prepare for a war. The second Horseman has already been chosen. It won’t take long until there is a third, then a fourth and then the final battle that will decide if the Apocalypse comes.”

Alan nodded, taking a moment to soak in all the details and the ramifications of what this all implied. “So Sodom was acting on his own? Gabriel hasn’t made another move since the spells were enacted?”

Esther shrugged, “I wish I knew. Sodom didn’t mention Gabriel. My assumption is Gabriel is too weak to make a move. The amount of power it would take to change so much of our world is unimaginable.” Esther limped to the entrance of her tent. “I need to check on my wounded and send out our scouts. I recommend you find some sleep of your own. Like you said, ‘one way or another’, you’re going after Kassidy tomorrow.”

---

Alan wrestled off his breastplate and greaves. To say he was tired would be a disservice to how he truly felt. The only other two feelings stronger than his fatigue were hunger and his desire for a bath. Alan couldn’t even stand to smell himself. He walked down to the edge of the ocean near Raphael’s home removing his clothes as he went.

Stripped to his undergarments, Alan entered the cold embrace of the ocean. Washing off the stench of gore and grime was well worth fording the cold water. Alan dunked his head under the waves scrubbing at his hair and wondering if things as simple as shampoo existed in the supernatural world. An answer to his question would have to wait as he walked from the beach towards Raphael’s home.

The smell of something cooking fought back the reek of war that permeated the sandy shore around him. Alan’s mouth was salivating as he reached Raphael’s hut and stepped inside. A fire was lit and lying nearby was a clean set of clothes, a towel and a steaming bowl of food. Raphael was kneeling, fitting together what looked like short pieces of metal or wood. “Food is for you,” Raphael said without looking up. “So are the clothes. We need you ready as soon as possible.”

Alan decided his questions could wait. He attacked the food as if it were one last surviving enemy from the battle. It could have been anything and Alan would have eaten it anyway; luckily, Raphael had prepared a feast of fish, crab and rice. Alan was so busy in alternating between fork-loads of food and drying and dressing himself, he failed to notice Raphael finally stand, the object he had been tinkering with complete in hand.

A trident as long as Raphael was tall stood beside him. Silver casing over a solid wooden frame made the weapon as lethal as any spear or sword. Intricate carvings of sea creatures both ones Alan recognized and others he did not played across the weapon and wove around its edges. The three prongs that served as the head of the weapon looked as sharp as they might have been the day they were originally forged. “I promised myself, I would never hold this weapon again,” Raphael said to himself. The Archangel was still a bloody mess; his face having served as a punching bag for Rolf only hours before. But in that moment, the last thing Raphael was concerned with was his appearance. The Archangel was a picture of distraught, his hair disheveled, his eyes wandering. Alan could see an internal struggle tear at Raphael’s mind; promises he made himself would have to be broken, things he swore never to do would have to be done again.

“You’re doing the right thing,” Alan said. More than anything, Alan wanted Raphael to decide to return to the war on his own; on the other hand, everyone needs affirmation at one point or another. “Kassidy needs you. I understand your dilemma but with your help the world will be a better place.”

“Will it?” Raphael asked.

Alan stood back stunned, “Of course. How could you even ask that? You stand for the Light. We are going to rescue an innocent girl from being captured and stop a madman from taking control of earth.”

Raphael nodded slowly still examining his weapon. He lifted the trident in both hands and tested it for balance and weight. Seeing the Archangel and the weapon reunited again was like seeing two old friends meeting for the first time in years. “If we go down this path, I’ll need my powers back. All I have now is my speed, my wings and my immortality—I guess I don’t even have that anymore. I should have been able to deal with Rolf as his equal not as a weakling.”

Alan didn’t want to seem too excited. These were the words he was hoping Raphael would utter since he found the Archangel at the Statue of Zeus. “How then?” Alan asked trying to contain his excitement. “How do we get your powers back from Gabriel?”

Raphael’s eyes finally shifted from his weapon to Alan. “I do not know.”

Alan had to make sure to keep his lower jaw tight. This was nothing close to what he had expected to hear. Kassidy was relying on them to save her, and now Raphael finally wanted his powers back, but he didn’t know how to get them. “Can’t we just do the same thing that you did when you relinquished your powers to get them back?”

“No,” Raphael said, “if it were that easy, we’d be at the Statue right now.” Raphael examined Alan’s dismay with a twinkle in his eyes. “Do not fret, Horseman. I said
I
did not know how to regain my abilities; I do have an idea of who might be able to help us.”

Alan raked his mind for the person Raphael could be thinking of, he came up blank. “Who?”

“Gideon.”

When Michael heard the stone above him move, he thought he was daydreaming. The Archangel was siting below the entrance to the tunnel mulling over the many reasons he was a fool. Not only did his love blind him to Ardat’s true character, it opened him up to be wounded again. If this wasn’t enough, all those who depended on him to succeed would also be let down. First and foremost, Kyle—who had directly put himself in harm’s way so they might track Gabriel to his lair.

When the rock moved from the entrance to the tunnel, Michael was jolted from his thoughts. He stared up into the now bright sun looming overhead. Though he couldn’t see her face, he knew without a doubt it was Ardat as soon as he he heard her voice drift to him from above, “Let me explain, Michael.”

Anger Michael reserved for his enemies possessed him as he rose to the surface. Landing next to Ardat, he shook with anger, “No, you don’t get to say another word. They were right about you. They all were. You’ve only ever been in this for yourself.”

Ardat looked at him through eyes wrought with pain and sorrow. She was so good at faking her emotions, it made Michael sick. “I should restrain you and take you to the Temple of Artemis to rot in a cell.”

Ardat lifted both her hands and offered her surrender. “If that is what you want then I am your prisoner. Just know that I am sorry—”

“Save your excuses, Ardat,” Michael said. Anger, at her yet more at himself for allowing himself to trust her again, shook Michael with fury. “I don’t care what you do anymore. Take your lies and feed them to someone else. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

Ardat stood back stunned as if Michael had slapped her across the face. She opened her mouth again to speak but Michael was done listening. The Archangel turned to go; as to where, he was unsure. He only knew he had no desire to be in Ardat’s presence a second longer.

“I know where Kyle is.”

Her words caught him midstride as Michael extended his wings to rise to the sky. All the reasons he should leave now were weighing on him. All the reasons he shouldn’t trust her knotting themselves in a thick coil inside his stomach. But if it was true, if there was the slightest chance she could be telling the truth.

Ardat took his hesitancy as a sign to continue. “Whether you will admit to it or not, you would have died in a fight with Gabriel. Even now, despite his weakened state, he would be more than a match for us. I saw him, Michael. I know his location, his plans. I’ve seen Kyle. I’ll tell you everything.”

Above all else, Michael wanted to go. He wanted to leave this twisted woman he hated himself for loving. She had struck him in the head, betrayed his trust and now she was spewing words she knew would make him stay. Whether they were true or not, only she knew.

Michael finally consented to the voice inside telling him to hear what Ardat had to say. If he left now, he would have nothing. He would be forced to return to the Temple of Artemis without Kyle or Gabriel. “Speak, demon.”

A sorrow that would have melted his own heart in any other occasion came over Ardat. Her lower lip trembled yet only for a moment. Gathering her thoughts, Ardat straightened her back and held her head high. “I do not regret my action. Only that you are too stubborn to admit I am right. You would be dead now had I not acted as such and allowed you to throw yourself at Gabriel. I will apologize no further for saving your life and gathering the information you needed.”

“Save your argument for the tribunal you’ll face with when we return,” Michael said as an emotionless mask spread across his face. “You said you knew were Gabriel is and what happened to Kyle.”

“Yes, Kyle has been discovered as a spy and Gabriel has him as a prisoner. Gabriel has refortified the Usurper’s stronghold, Golgotha, and I assume he is gathering his own army. He is weak from using the spell though still more powerful than either of us. He acted as if he was weakened to the point of incapacitation even so, I know better. Greater still, Gabriel has no desire to unite the Horsemen under the banner of darkness and have them bring about the Apocalypse. He wants to rule himself; not prepare the world for the Usurper’s return.”

The information tracked through Michael’s mind as he examined Ardat’s story. Her information could be false for all he knew, perhaps even a trap. Whatever the case, if he was going to follow the only lead he had and travel to Golgotha, he would not be able to do so with a prisoner in tow. “It seems that my return to the Temple is required now. You’ll be given a cell there until the tribunal can be gathered to decide your fate.”

Ardat was silent.

“Will you resist or can I trust—no, trust is not the right word. Will you fly beside me?”

Ardat’s face fell to the floor as a veil of her long hair hid her expression, “I will.”

---

The flight to the Temple was short and uneventful. Michael poured his anger and pent up aggression into flying as his mind worked overtime to weigh all the possibilities. No matter how much he wanted to reach out and touch Ardat, to comfort her during her distress, he knew he couldn’t. He would just be retracing the same steps that led him into this situation in the first place.

Another thing bothering him was the fact Ardat was right. Left to his own devices, he would have convinced the Shaman to send him to Gabriel and a fight would have ensued. What may or may not have been the outcome, it was his decision to make, not hers.

Michael was soon saved from these thoughts as they reached Artemis’ Temple. Seeing the ancient structure remade and returned to its previous glory gave Michael the briefest respite from his anger. The Temple was inspiring with large white marble pillars rising to the heavens. Michael landed at the entrance to the Temple, Ardat quietly behind him.

The spirit of Artemis awoken for this one thousand-year cycle walked out to them. She was a small girl with wild brown hair and eyes to match. Artemis made her way down the flight of steps leading from the Temple to the ground careful to remain on the last marble step before reaching the ground. As the prophet Artemis, she was not allowed to leave the Temple until the Horsemen’s choosing and the one thousand-year cycle was complete. “Michael, Ardat,” the young girl said with a huge smile, “please come in. The Temple has been so lonely without you.”

Michael nodded and followed the girl up the flight of stone stairs. “Thank you, Artemis, I’m afraid we come with dark news. Ardat has betrayed us again and—”

Artemis stopped on the steps and turned to Michael with a shake of her head. “No, she didn’t.”

Confusion spread across Michael’s features as he looked first to Artemis, then Ardat and back again. “Artemis, yes, she did. I’m afraid you don’t understand—”

Artemis interrupted him again, “Don’t forget who you are addressing, Michael,” Artemis said holding his gaze with a stern glare, “I’ve seen what has happened. Ardat saved you. You would be dead if not for her and along with you, our best chance at stopping Gabriel.”

Michael couldn’t believe his ears, even Ardat stood beside him with wonder written over her face. “And I’m not putting her in a cell,” Artemis continued, “If you don’t want her to travel with you, fine. Should she be punished for anything, it would be for striking you.”

Artemis leaned to the side to look around Michael and catch Ardat with a raised eyebrow. “Really? You couldn’t think of any other way than to knock him out?”

Ardat shrugged, “My window of opportunity was closing quickly I needed to act. I do regret my actions.”

“Enough,” Michael said in frustration. “If you want her to walk free in your Temple, that is your decision. I need to speak to Esther and Seraphim. Gabriel has reclaimed Golgotha and if we act now, we may have a chance at stopping him before he regains even more power.”

“I would think your best bet lies with Raphael reclaiming his abilities,” Artemis said pursing her lips deep in thought.

Michael felt like laughing, the idea was so absurd. “Raphael? The same Raphael who turned his back on us more than a millennia ago and renounced his allegiance to the Light?”

Artemis nodded. “Alan has been with him and—”

It was Michael’s turn to cut off Artemis. “We can’t wait to see if and when Raphael will change his mind. Please, Artemis, I need to see Seraphim and Esther.”

Artemis shrugged, “Well, neither one of them are here. Seraphim is recalling her Death Angels from guarding the Celestial Weapons and consolidating the stockpile of arms here at the Temple. Esther’s men have been in a battle with an army of demons led by Sodom. They are encamped around Raphael’s hut on the beach. Esther and her forces held with Alan’s help but the Horseman of Famine has been found and lost. Sodom has her now.”

Artemis said these words as if she were reciting the weather forecast for the next week. Her face was expressionless and when she finished, she even reached for Ardat’s hand and started back up the stairs. In any other circumstance, the idea of Ardat holding a hand with a young girl and being led anywhere would be unthinkable. Even Ardat understood the irony as she looked over her shoulder with a grimace at Michael.

Michael bit back the urge to accompany them both as his mind fought through all the new information related by Artemis. The Horseman of Famine had been discovered and captured. Sodom held her now, which boded well for neither Gabriel or Michael. Sodom was not the kind of man to make a deal or align himself with anyone.

Michael rubbed the sides of his head weary with the mental strain of trying to wrap his mind around all the implications of things to come.
What was more important now? Finding and rescuing the captured Horseman or defeating Gabriel and freeing Kyle?

“You look horrible.”

Michael looked up to see Alan and, to his surprise, Raphael land on the steps beside him. “I meant that in a good kind of way,” Alan said retracing his words, “like you look horrible and we’re here to help.”

Michael flashed a smile at his protégée, but his eyes didn’t stray far from Raphael. There was a time he would have welcomed the man with a hug; however, that time was long ago.

“Michael,” Raphael said tilting his head.

“Raphael,” Michael said. He knew he should be happier to see the former leader of the Archangels; however the stained events of the past dictated a different response. Raphael turned his back on both Michael and the Light. There was just too much history to forget on a whim.

“So,” Alan said clearing his throat, “Raphael has agreed to help us fight Gabriel.”

“I’ve agreed to help rescue Kassidy,” Raphael said still staring at Michael.

“Right,” Alan said with an uneasy smile, “that’s what I said.” Alan looked back and forth at the two Archangels before slowly backpedalling to the Temple entrance. “Okay, well, I’m going to let you two hash this out. I’ll be inside talking with Gideon if either of you two need me.”

Michael nodded, seeing Alan disappear into the Temple entrance out of the corner of his eye. “So, you’re back then?” Michael finally asked looking Raphael up and down. “Just to help rescue the captured Horseman, I take it.”

Raphael nodded crossing his arms over his chest, “That’s right. I made a vow to stay out of the dealings of the Light and Dark and I will continue to do so after I see that Kassidy is safe.”

“And once you do, then what?” Michael asked, “You’ll turn your back on us all again and disappear to your little hut by the sea? You’ll sit in your home powerless against the past while we bleed and die to keep the darkness at bay?”

Raphael’s eyes burned with rage. At first he opened his mouth to speak then thought better of his response and rephrased his words, “I do not need to explain myself to you,” Raphael turned his back on Michael and started up the stairs.

“That’s your problem,” Michael said clenching his fists, “you don’t answer to anyone anymore. The only reason you’re here now is because you think in some way this will atone for your past. But Raphael, what you did—what we all did—was necessary for our future. We can’t make up for our actions because we did what we had to do and there is no dishonor in that. ”

Raphael stopped as his feet crested the top step. He swayed in the breeze before turning to address his counterpart. He fixed Michael with a firm look. It was impossible to tell through his cold grey eyes what he was about to say. When Raphael spoke, his words laced with a thick tone, it was clear he was still living in his guilt. “You say there is no dishonor in killing our own?”

Michael licked his lips and nodded.

“I say you are the one I pity for you do not know what you do. One day they will come back to haunt you, Michael. And their memory will be the penalty for the life you have led.”

Without another word, Raphael turned and walked into the Temple.