Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) (26 page)

“Raphael, do something, stop it,” she cried
out.

“I can’t,” he answered mildly, as if nothing
serious was going on below.

“Please, why?” she begged.

“You must understand, Lily, we aren’t
here
. I can’t break the rule and save Samael. That’s against
the law in the Torah.”

“Hasn’t Lucifer broken the law by coming
here? Did he have permission to come to Dudael?” Lily shouted
angrily.

“No, he didn’t.”

“Then he was the first one to break your
law. Stop him and toss him back into his Hell,” Lily wheezed. Tears
flooded her blue eyes. “I know that you can stop this. Please,
don’t let Samael die.”

Raphael looked at her gingerly, took her
face into his hands, and forced a smile onto his preoccupied face.
Nevertheless his expression remained cold.

A tear rolled over her cheek and fell onto
his hand.

“He can take care of himself, Lily. This
isn’t his full power. Samael can’t fight in full measure until
you’re here. Therefore we’d better leave this place,” he said
soothingly. “Believe me, it’ll be better.”

Lily took a step back instinctively. Leave
Dudael and let Samael die? Never. She jabbed her finger against
Raphael's chest, her eyes narrowed in irritation and fear.

“I won’t go without Samael. I’d rather give
myself to Lucifer than go with you, knowing you could help Samael
but you don’t dare to.”

“Lily, please, don’t–”

“You can leave alone,” she said confidently,
and turned and ran toward the railing.

Shoving her way through, as the arena was
already crowded, she reached the railing and looked down. Stunned
people glanced around, trying to understand who was pushing them
aside. Lily was still invisible. The sounds coming from the arena
made her believe that Samael was still alive and fighting. She
sucked the air in and yelled as high she could:

“
Lucifer!
”

Her voice trailed off when her lungs became
empty, but Lily’s mouth remained open. Her face grew red, the blood
rushed to her head and her legs trembled weakly. Losing balance,
Lily tumbled to the floor. Her eyes stared at the ceiling. For the
first time since Lily had stepped into the Dudael prison, the
people surrounding her could see her. Her shield was gone.

Death. Where it was going to take her? where
was her last stop?

What if she was supposed to be sent to the
Island of the Dead, like Eve? That was a good chance to see Samael
one last time.

A blinding white light shone from the
ceiling. She thought that was it, that death was drawing near, but
then the deafness that had occupied her ears withdrew slowly.
Raphael’s harsh voice pierced her head, announcing something in a
language she didn't understand. The stadium was overwhelmed by his
roaring voice. Finally, she realized that the monk was praying.

The battlefield below was a storm of blood
and dust. In the middle of it all stood two ex-archangels. A fierce
wind surrounded them, disconnecting the arena from the rest of the
world. The voices of a thousand immortal humans and unearthly
creatures remained locked outside the barrier.

The beating of Lucifer’s wings created
mighty waves, though he remained rooted to the earth. Samael took a
fighting position, lifting his sword in front of him. It glimmered,
gray matter blazing off of it like smoke before evaporating into
the air. His black shirt was torn, baring his muscular chest
revealing two deep gashes, the ones made by his elder brother’s
spear.

Lucifer paced to and fro without taking his
eyes off his opponent. Samael was standing about five yards in
front of him, his gray wings half open. Lucifer didn’t move to
attack, and his wings closed on his back but remained visible.

“Oh, Samael, Samael. How low have you
fallen, brother?” He sniffed angrily. “What do you want to prove to
me? Why are you doing this?” He stopped, locking his gaze on
Samael, demanding an answer. The gray-winged man remained silent.
Lucifer tilted his head in disappointment. “You’ve got no chance
against me, you know.”

Through the dusty storm, Samael spotted the
shape of a man, walking to join them in the circle. The newcomer
had black frizzy hair, yellow flaming eyes, and a sharp face, like
a fox. The man was as tall as Lucifer, a true warrior, calmly
approaching the epicenter of the archangels’ battle while hauling
his long and heavy sword along with him.

“You do remember Gaap, don’t you?” Lucifer
asked with a teasing smile, pointing to his warrior.

Gaap came and stood next to Lucifer. His
cold and emotionless eyes pierced into Samael. Then two other
silhouettes swayed in the storm. Samael’s eyes twitched, looking
from Lucifer to the newcomers. As soon as they were out of the
dust, Samael recognized Lilith and Saraqael approaching. Lucifer
welcomed them warmly with a smile stretching from ear to ear.

“You’re surrounded, Samael,” he cried out
happily. “No chance to run, not even for such a wise and powerful
creature as yourself. Put your weapon down. Don’t make me do
something I don’t want to.”

Samael had no intention of surrendering his
smoking sword. He stood statue-like, and only his eyes were
anxiously moving from one enemy to the other. Lucifer raised his
eyebrows, realizing that Samael wouldn’t submit so easily. He
wasn’t going to bow his head. Such a proud person as Samael wasn’t
the kind to obey.

Then let them fight. Lucifer lifted his hand
in an order to attack, and Gaap moved toward Samael. The
gray-winged man stood motionless, his eyes concentrated on the four
enemies. Gaap lifted his huge sword, and in the same instant,
Samael’s wings opened wide. Gaap smiled wickedly, his flaming eyes
locked on Samael, then he darted ahead. He was as fast as a
lightning bolt, but Samael was still faster. His wings lifted him
high into the air as Gaap thrust his sword forward, forcing Gaap to
miss the angel of death. When Samael was on the ground again, he
thrust his sword at Gaap. The latter blocked the blow. The power
Samael had put into his strike forced him backward.

Samael was standing face to face with
Lucifer, again his sword high in the air. Lucifer didn’t seem
impressed. Saraqael stood two steps behind Lucifer, watching like a
spectator. His hands were empty. Despite him, Lilith got herself
ready for the fight, taking out two long knives.

Everybody was ready. Only a few seconds
separated the oncoming battle when a woman’s piercing voice broke
through the circle. It called out Lucifer’s name.

Lucifer widened his furious eyes.

“She’s here. You’ve brought her with you,”
he realized, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Samael straightened immediately. “Lucifer!”
he shouted angrily, “I won’t let you have her. You’ve got to fight
me first.”

“If she’s here, then she can’t be alone.” A
preoccupied Lucifer wasn’t listening to Samael at all. He was
talking to himself, or, more likely, he was describing the
situation to Lilith. “Where is Raphael?” he asked suddenly, his
voice loud. His irritated eyes found Samael. “Where is he?”

“It’s already too late to do anything,”
Samael smiled gloatingly.

Lucifer peered back rapidly. A heavenly
bright light had appeared, forcing the storm around them down. The
view of the platform in front cleared up. There atop it stood the
archangel, illuminated by a brilliant light. His hands were laced
together, his wings were outstretched wide, creating the appearance
of a cross. Raphael was praying loudly, his harsh voice seized the
huge stadium itself, quaking the ground and the ceiling.

“Raphael!” Lucifer cried out in full
measure, letting out all his anger through his throat. He balled
his left hand into a fist so tight that his nails dug deep into his
palms and started to bleed.

The light illuminating Raphael began to
expand. The people around him withdrew, some set off at a run,
yelling and shrieking in their panic. The light bore enough power
to destroy every sinful soul on the stadium.

Lucifer flinched. He looked from Lilith to
Raphael, then back again, deciding his next step. Samael didn’t
hesitate. The next moment, when Lucifer turned around to find him,
Samael was already in the air, beating his wings.

“You should be glad, Lucifer,” Samael said
floating above him, “I’ve given you the war you wanted. It’s
already begun.”

His lips tightened into a scornful smile.
Then, he winked and disappeared from Lucifer’s view with the
quickness of light. Instantly, Samael found himself close to
Raphael, who was still praying. After a brief search, Samael found
Lily where she was lying on the floor, her eyes staring up at the
dirty ceiling. He dashed to her, and the floor cracked under his
weight.

Samael knelt down and lifted her head. Her
eyes had a glazed look as though she were dead, the light in her
blue eyes had faded.

“Lily!” Samael shouted frantically. “Do you
hear me? Lily!”

* * *

He shook her to bring her back to her
senses. Her eyes only rolled at him. Seeing the gray-winged
creature, her heart started beating again, hot blood rushed through
her veins warming her cold body. She sucked the air in deeply and
coughed.

“Lily, can you hear me?”

“Samael,” Lily managed weakly.

“You’re going to be alright,” he said
confidently, cradling her in his arms as he stood.

The stadium was full of calamity. Screaming
and the sound of explosions were everywhere. The ceiling began to
fall in big pieces. From the corner of his eye, Samael spotted
Azazel standing in the arena, his arms wide open.

“That’s it, that’s it!” He was shouting
cheerfully to himself, not paying attention to the chaos going on
around him. “I have been waiting for this for so long!”

Lucifer, Lilith, and Saraqael couldn’t be
seen. They might have left already. Samael glanced back at Raphael
in his trance, still praying in Latin.

“Samael, what’s going on?” Lily asked,
getting his attention.

“Nothing to worry about,” he replied
affectionately, “We’re getting out of here.” He smiled and wrapped
his wings around her.

Lily was aware of what was going to happen
next. Before she could close her eyes, she felt herself become one
with the air, soaring somewhere afield. Instantly she saw them
rushing through the debris of the maze’s walls. Time stopped as
Samael flew, the sandy stones hung in mid-air as if they were
suspended from the ceiling with invisible wire. It took them mere
seconds to pass through the maze from which they had entered the
prison, then Samael rushed up through a drilled tunnel and finally
brought her out onto the Earth’s surface.

Lily’s eyes slid open lazily, she felt a
little sick from that angelic trip. With a grunt, Lily gave a weak
attempt to push herself up from the ground. A gust of wind carrying
the sandy dust hit her in the face. Lily coughed.

As she was crawling, she looked around in
search of Samael. He was supposed to help her up. In the twilight,
the endless desert reached as far as the horizon. Lily hadn’t seen
a picture so breathtaking in all her life. She stared at it for a
long time.

Samael was standing a few steps away from
her, gazing excitedly in the opposite direction. Lily wondered what
his angelic eyes observed in such an abandoned place. Was there an
enemy nearby?

She struggled to her feet noiselessly, her
face and hands were covered in sand. Her hair, dry and disheveled,
was encrusted with dirt.

“What is out there, Samael?” the wind
carried Lily’s fearful voice to his ear. Samael turned back looking
at her kindly and full of love.

“It’s the dawn,” Samael replied.

“Is it bad?”

He came up to her, his eyebrows arched,
still lost in his thoughts. “Whatever happens now, stay close to
me. Understand?”

Lily met his caring eyes. “Yes. What’s up
there?”

“Stay behind me,” Samael ordered and turned
his back to her, shielding her with his whole body.

Lily looked at the horizon over his
shoulder. She felt her heart thrumming like a wire, felt the blood
rushing in her ears. Before she could wonder what was going to
happen next, the first ray of light broke through the black line in
the distance and reached the top of the sandy hill behind her.
Although the sky was cloudless, Lily could swear that she heard a
thunderous noise. Her eyes jerked up at the sky instinctively.
Approaching was a ball of fading fire, moving towards the ground at
very high speed. Samael remained firm, none of his muscles twitched
except his eyes, still following the flames.

Lily’s heart sank, fear flooding her.
Whatever was approaching was coming from the sky, most probably
from Heaven. Lily recalled Michael’s cold eyes. Was the head
archangel on his way to Earth?

The ground quaked nearby as the fire crashed
into it, the sand splashed up around it. Then another fire ball hit
the ground. She shrieked in fear, grasping Samael’s arm tightly,
and looked up. The balls fell around the couple enclosing them in
tight circle.

“What are they, Samael?” Lily asked
startled. Her eyes jerked to and fro following every nearby ball,
trying to make something out in the dust, but it was too dense to
see anything.

“Stay close,” Samael reminded dryly.

She would’ve nodded if she could. Her
fingers shook. And suddenly every sound vanished, the fireball
attacks were over, and all of the stirred up sand distorted the
sky. Then the dust began pelting the ground as though a
supernatural force like a huge hand was pressing it down.

There was a white angel standing in front of
them. The sun was rising behind him, blinding Lily. She couldn’t
see his face. A sharp wind came up to ruffle his blonde, frizzy
hair, but his face still remained still unseen. The angel wore a
warrior's armor like that of the legion of old Rome, his white
metallic uniform shone in the sun and gave him the appearance of a
star. The angel was so brilliant that Lily didn’t even notice his
minions surrounding them on all sides. They were warriors without
wings, with emotionless eyes and cold faces, but they had a human
look about them. Then several huge, ugly dogs with white wings came
out of the dust.