Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) (28 page)

As they stopped, Lily realized that absolute
silence now reigned; the sounds of battle were absent. Beelzebub
had hauled her far away from Samael and his fight. Looking up, Lily
saw a shadow soaring above. Somebody was coming close. Again Lily
heard several words in Latin. Beelzebub jerked around. Lily felt
her hands and legs trembling, her throat was dry and fear flooded
her whole body.

“Come close to me,” Beelzebub ordered his
men.

The pack straightened tightly, slowly
everyone was holding their swords in front. Lily wondered who it
might be in the dust that frightened Beelzebub. In search of an
answer, she spotted motion in front of her. Before she managed to
call out, a creature rushed out of the dust, his long spear
knocking several heads off of men within the pack. Beelzebub
released her arm, holding his sword tight with his two hands.

“Come on,” he cried out bravely, but his
voice trembled.

Lily stepped back slowly and noiselessly.
Nobody paid attention to her now. She heard another swish and
jerked to the left. There stood Raphael, his head tilted as his
blonde hair was scattered across his eyes. Blood was flowing down
his spear. What was the monk now – a savior or a murderer? If the
archangel Gabriel had come to assassinate her, then Raphael had
probably received the same order from Heaven. Before Lily could
reach the answer, Raphael darted toward Beelzebub. His wings lifted
him from the ground. He sped forward. The first person standing
between the angel and Beelzebub was beheaded instantly. Beelzebub
tried to attack first, but Raphael’s reaction was much faster. Now
it was Beelzebub who had to deflect the archangel’s attacks. Lily
watched them fighting and was sure that Beelzebub would have to
give up soon. He was weakening, and there was nobody to save him
from series of Raphael’s mighty strikes.

Lily’s heart lifted, but not for long. From
out of nowhere Gaap leaped into her view and rushed toward Raphael.
With a last strike the archangel tossed Beelzebub aside, then
hurried to prepare his spear against Gaap. Compared to Beelzebub,
Gaap had been taught to fight more effectively. He was huge, and
his blows were far more powerful.

The first stroke pierced through the air
with a sharp sound. Lily blocked her ears with her hands and knelt
down. She hadn’t any idea what to do, where to run, and whether she
should run at all. Due to the dusty clouds surrounding her, she
couldn’t find Samael, and didn’t know if he was still alive.

“Dear God, please, help me, give me a sign
to show me what to do,” she prayed under her breath, closed her
eyes and tried to imagine herself somewhere else. But Raphael’s and
Gaap’s snarls cracked her mind from within, she couldn’t push them
out.

“Lily!” she heard her name and her eyes flew
open. There was a creature flying toward her. The wings were gray.
She jumped to her feet, her soul filled with happiness at the sight
of Samael alive. He landed just next to her and embraced her, but
still held his sword out. Somebody was after him, and they would
come out of the dust at any second.

“You’re alive, thank you, God,” Lily let out
with difficulty. Her throat was dry, her eyes tearful.

The man pursuing Samael turned out to be
Gabriel. Who else could it be? He flew out of the dust and landed,
looking around. His eyes flew from Samael to Raphael fighting
against Gaap. Seeing his brother, Raphael seemed to regain his lost
strength, and his next powerful stroke tossed Lucifer’s servant
backward. Two archangels now remained against Samael.

“Hold on to me tightly,” Samael whispered
over his shoulder.

Lily circled his arm with her two hands. Her
fearful eyes looked from one archangel to the other. Gabriel took a
step forward slowly.

“You see,” he pointed out to Raphael. “He
took Lucifer’s side again, Raphael. I told you, all of you, that he
wouldn’t change. Father shouldn’t have given him Eden, he won’t
protect it,” Gabriel jabbed his gleaming sword toward Samael.
“He’ll bring us to a loss.”

“I protected the garden for about two
thousand years,” Samael reminded him irritated. “But all I need now
is her.”

“Oh, it’s clear now,” Gabriel chortled with
a gloating air. “Your little brother has fallen in love,” he said
to Raphael. “Can you believe it?”

“Why shouldn’t he?” Lily broke into the
conversation. Gabriel’s smile froze on his face.

“You know why,” his eyes found Lily.
“Because a person who lives without emotion won’t be ever able to
feel real love. You think he loves you, that he’ll protect you?
No,” Gabriel said scornfully. “He definitely has his reason to look
as if he cares about you. Stupid girl.”

“What are you advising me to do?” Lily cut
him off. “Take your side and get killed for my trouble?”

Gabriel didn’t answer, he had nothing to say
to her.

“I think we should give Samael another
chance,” Raphael broke the heavy silence.

Gabriel couldn’t believe his ears. He looked
at his brother with a bewildered expression. “What are you talking
about?”

“Gabriel, I won’t let the girl die either.
Father wouldn’t want us to end up like this. The archangels aren’t
cowardly enough to stop Lucifer by killing the problem. We have to
solve it instead. We have to be reasonable about it.”

“What do you suppose then, brother? We’d
better close Heaven’s gates and prepare to lose Earth.”

“You’re already losing it,” Samael
sniggered.

“Shut up,” Gabriel roared. “You have nothing
to do with this.”

“Don’t tease me, Gabriel,” Samael’s voice
became rough. “The fate of Heaven was always in my hands. If the
gates of Eden fell, Heaven would follow them.”

“Therefore your betrayal was all according
to plan, Samael?” Gabriel raised his sword. Raphael made a step,
but Gabriel stopped the monk with a gesture. “Don’t do that,
Raphael. This is not your fight. It’s between me and him.” He
glared at Samael rigidly. “Come on.”

Lily heard the sound of an approaching pack
and looked to see the dogs of heaven preparing to join the fray. It
wasn’t fair, Gabriel was cheating. If Samael somehow won, the dogs
would tear him into pieces afterwards.

Samael waved and his sword evaporated into
gray smoke vanishing in the air. Lily gawked at him with a jolt of
surprise. Had he given up?

“Not today, Gabriel.” To Lily’s surprise, a
wide smile curled over Samael’s lips. He turned to her and hugged
her tight, then glanced at Gabriel and winked.

“Your act won’t solve the problem, Samael,”
Raphael sounded calm, but his eyes were worried.

Samael replied with nothing. His hand slid
down behind her back. Lily only caught a glimmer of Gabriel’s
wrathful expression, then everything leaped away from her as she
was in the air, flying up into the open sky. The desert beneath
disappeared. She didn’t know how fast Samael could fly, but three
seconds were enough to leave Earth behind. Lily closed her eyes in
fear.

“Samael,” she whispered with a quavering
voice.

And then her feet hit something hard –
ground. She slid her eyes open slowly. The first thing she saw was
Samael’s eyes looking down at her lovingly. He nodded and released
her from his embrace, his wings unwrapped her quickly. Lily had a
chance to look around. There was a glade like a paradise, fresh
green grass ruffling in the chilly morning breeze. The sunlight on
the dew made the glade twinkle, the wood itself stretching forward
and blending into the endless blue line of the horizon. Her eyes
stared and she forgot to breathe as she saw the golden gates beyond
– the same gates she had seen in her dreams. But instead of Samael
there, she had crossed them with Lucifer. Now she knew the meaning
of her dreams. She had been destined to come here at the side of
someone else.

“Come,” Samael said, and took her hand
gently.

“I’ve seen this place in my dreams,” Lily
said.

“Naturally.”

In her dreams the golden gates hadn’t seemed
so colossal. There was a circle in the center illustrating a man
and a woman sitting on a stone. In the etching, a man had a woman
in his arms. There was a waterfall in the background, and the sky
above them was cloudy, but God’s light rippled through the clouds
to rest on the humans’ heads. They should be Adam and Eve, Lily
thought.

The gates swung open lazily, inviting them
in. Samael hurried in, hauling Lily with him. She spotted two tall
creatures wearing long gray cassocks. Their faces were hidden by
the hoods, and their motions were unnatural. They seemed to be
gliding instead of walking.

“Close the gates,” Samael ordered, his
piercing voice echoing over their surroundings. “No heavenly or
hellish creatures should pass these gates.”

The gates obeyed his will. Lily watched them
close, and the endless glade before remained behind her. Peering
back, Lily realized where the white leaves in her dreams had come
from. The trees here were high and light, bearing white leaves.
Birds’ song with the rumbling of river adorned the beautiful
forest. For a second Lily forgot about Samael and where she was,
she wanted to run, jump and lay on the grass.

“Prepare for war,” Samael’s wicked voice
brought Lily back from her daydream. She shook her head and looked
at the commander and the keeper of Eden. “I want every single
creature to be gathered at the wall. The enemy is near.”

His eyes fell on Lily who appeared confused.
Behind him much activity began, the hooded creatures hurried out
from the forest toward the gates. The bright weather seemed to be
changing along with the messy situation. Loud noises were heard,
and Lily raised her eyes up at the sky. There was a high rock far
in the distance where the first clouds were gathering rapidly.
Angry lightning struck the rock, and a sharp wind came toward Lily,
tossing her blonde hair back.

Within seconds a bright angel appeared, his
white wings bright against the dark shadow of the hovering clouds.
Even though he was far away, Lily felt the weight of Michael’s eyes
on her.

“I’ll be right back,” Samael said, wheeling
around and opening his wings. This time Lily saw him fly, he was
like the lightning itself. In a second he left the ground and
appeared on the rock.

* * *

The two winged creatures stood and glared at
each other. The high wind ruffled Samael’s hair and his ripped
black shirt. His wings were closed on his back. Michael looked
especially discontented, although his cold eyes always seemed to be
displeased.

“You brought her here,” Michael spoke first.
Despite his malicious expression, he behaved calmly and politely.
“You know that no human can cross the garden gates since Adam and
Eve were banished.”

“I didn’t have any other chance. I told you
to buy as much time as you can. Your brother likes to solve
problems without any kind of reasoning.”

“Heaven’s army can’t protect you at the
garden gates, Samael,” Michael exhaled mournfully. “What were you
thinking when you brought her up here? Lucifer’s army will tear up
Eden and you as well, they’ll take the girl and march into
Heaven.”

“You’re scared because Lucifer knows the
direct way into Heaven,” Samael said confidently. Michael stared at
him in surprise. “I always suspected there must be a connection
between Heaven and Eden. You and Lucifer are the first archangels,
of course you should know about it. Now I understand why he needs
Eden.”

“Azazel,” Michael shook his head. “You took
it away from him, didn’t you?” He approached Samael and put his
hand on his shoulder. “Everything started here, Samael, and in
order to change the end of something you should go back to the
beginning. That’s what Lucifer thinks, anyway.” Then Michael tore
his eyes away from him and gazed down at the glade beneath. The
green grass stretching toward the endless horizon looked too
perfect to be real. The glade was separated from the forest by a
thin river. “He was sitting right here,” Michael went on
unconcerned, pointing to the solid rock some steps afar, “waiting
for the first dawn. I mean on the first day Eden was created. He
was more interested in Father’s creations than the rest of us.
Something flinched inside him when the first rays of sun hit the
glade. I watched him examine the first creations. I was nearby when
Lucifer seduced Eve.” He paused, sighed, and turned to face Samael.
“You remember the last time Lucifer reached Heaven’s gates. Azazel
opened Eden’s gates for him, and if you had doubted for a second
and chosen not to notify me, the war would have been lost. I
appreciate that you let Uriel know about the Island of the Dead’s
gates, and that some prisoners had escaped.”

“I hate this undercover life, Michael,”
Samael’s cold expression broke, he exhaled plaintively. “This time,
I will fight for myself and I’ll be summoning my brothers to stand
side by side next to me. Then we’ll see who is ready to fight for
me.”

“Samael.” Michael took him by the shoulders.
“Compose yourself. Do you think she is worth the risk of being
locked away in the Island of the Dead? Father will never let you
out, nobody can get out of there.”

“I’m not just anybody. I’m different,”
Samael announced solemnly. “Look back at what I’ve done, brother.
Without me Eden, Heaven, and the Island of the Dead would’ve been
under Lucifer’s reign by now. I gave God another chance.”

“No, Samael, you gave yourself a second
chance,” Michael interrupted with a thin smile on his face. Samael
opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly. “You see, we
are parted from Father, we were created from his flesh. He gave
every one of us one of his characteristics. I’m his wrath and
commander, Lucifer was his desire to make changes, Raphael is his
kindness and his healing. You,” he jabbed his finger towards his
brother, “are his cleverness. But there is something that no one of
us has thought of.”