Scenting Hallowed Blood (56 page)

In the aftermath of the wave and the
surge of the serpent power, people were drawn out to the cliff top
all along the Lizard. The water had caused surprisingly little
damage. Gardens were drowned and sheds washed away, but the village
and its surrounding area was mainly intact. It seemed the greatest
concentration of the wave had centred on two areas alone; Mermaid’s
Cove and the beach below the house of Meggie and Betsy
Penhaligon.

Daniel and Emma led the
bedraggled Pelleth down from the hill fort. The dazed inhabitants
of High Crag ventured out into the morning. Some were drawn to a
single point; the shattered rock where once the great lion had
stared out to sea. Daniel and Emma were there first, soon followed
by Lily and Aninka, and the Parzupheim.

Daniel did not know why he’d
felt compelled to come to this place. He was overwhelmed by grief.
Shem had become one with the serpent and Daniel felt sure he would
never see him physically again. But for what? Had it worked? A
black sun had risen, and the power had surged throughout the
arteries of the land that had been waiting to be filled, but what
had energised the serpent; hatred or love? The destiny of the land
was sealed, but as yet there was no way of knowing what direction
that would take.

Sofia awoke in her bed of
serpent flesh, her mouth filled with a sour taste, her nostrils
with the stench of rotting meat. Around her, Pharos lay in silence.
Candles guttered on the floor and from the window no light came.
This was the dawn of darkness.

Stretching languorously, Sofia
rose up, and cast off the rags that covered her body. Naked, she
padded out into the dim corridor, beyond her room of enchantment,
and from there down through the house. Beyond the windows, she saw
the wan light of the true dawn break above the horizon. She had
experienced the force of the wave in her mind, and had sensed the
Shamir’s explosion from the cliff-face. She felt drunk, ecstatic.
Her power had fed the prince of light, and she had taught him her
darkest secrets. He had faced the Shamir filled with the knowledge
of the lightless spheres. There could be no flimsy New Age now, but
a raw millennium of change and cleansing. Soon, the world would
belong to the Grigori once more, and with this power they could
gain access to the sealed chambers hidden among desert sands, where
the vestiges of their ancestors’ knowledge lay hidden. The stargate
would be opened once again, and the route to the source be made
available to them. Azazel would be their king, she their queen.
This was the destiny of the world, and these islands were but a
small part of it.

Sofia took a shower in one of
Salamiel’s guest-rooms, and dressed herself in the black dress she
had left there the previous night. Of Salamiel himself there was no
sign. Sofia was not concerned about it. He could be recalled when
the moment was right. For now, she had to concentrate on bringing
Azazel back to the house, to give him rest and succour. When he was
strong enough, the half-breed girl, Lily, would be made his dark
concubine and produce for him new giant sons. Salamiel would submit
to the king’s lust to seal their contract. But all this was in the
future.

Sofia drove down the coast road
in good spirits. She left her car on a lay-by and strolled jauntily
down to the cliff path. Below, the beach was a litter of shattered
rock and marine debris. Strange rotting carcasses, that looked like
seals but were not, lolled brokenly from rock-pools. Swatches of
red and green weed that might have been the shorn hair of giant
mermaids shawled the sands. Sea birds wheeled and screamed
hysterically, disturbed by the recent occult phenomena. Sofia
surveyed all this with a serene eye. She picked her way carefully
down the cliff path to the beach, and from there to the gaping hole
in the rock that was all that remained of Azumi. Fetid gases curled
out from the cave at ground level, but otherwise there was no sign
of activity. Sofia positioned herself before the cave mouth and
called out, ‘Azazel, come forth!’ There was no response, no sound
of movement from within. Had Azazel been killed by all he’d
experienced? She realised, ultimately, that it did not matter. He
had fulfilled one function at least, had acted as the required
catalyst for all that would come, and if he was not to be part of
the Grigoris’ future, there would be other Watchers left in the
world she might find and use for her purposes.

‘Azazel, I command you!’

Sofia heard the tumble of
stones from within the cave, and presently saw a pale shape moving
in the shadows. Her heartbeat increased. She realised she would be
disappointed if the angel king had died.

‘Azazel!’

A figure came out into the
daylight, but Sofia saw at once it was not Azazel. ‘Salamiel,’ she
said. ‘What have you seen?’

Salamiel stumbled out onto the
shore. He looked stricken, bewildered. ‘Nothing,’ he answered, ‘but
for a thousand bones.’

Impatiently, Sofia marched past
him under the shadow of the rock. For a few moments, she stood with
her hands on her hips, gazing into the darkness. She felt reluctant
to search the cave system herself, perhaps because the guardian,
Ainzu, might still be around, although it seemed most likely he
would have perished once the reason for his existence had been
curtailed. Sofia was not afraid of Ainzu, but was wisely wary of
him. He was almost unthinkably ancient, and she was unsure of the
extent of his power. She did not want to be bothered with involving
herself in any minor skirmishes. All she cared about was Azazel.
Yet, if he still lived, surely he would have emerged by now? Sofia
turned back to Salamiel. ‘How far did you search for him in this
place? Did you venture into every chamber?’

Salamiel nodded. ‘As far as I
was able. Did you kill him, Sofia?’

‘Shut up,’ Sofia answered
dully, then returned her attention to the darkness ahead. ‘Well,
there seems little point in remaining here...’

She began to pick her way back
over the rock, while Salamiel remained staring into the cave. She
would leave him here to mourn for a while. Eventually, he would
return to Pharos and then she could decide what his next purpose
would be.

Sofia stumbled into a rock
pool, and put out one hand to steady herself against a shattered
boulder. At that moment, a white shape reared up before her from
behind the rock and hissed malevolently in her face. She recoiled
in surprise. Emim! Salamiel had brought his creatures with him. She
did not fear them, but was offended that the Emim did not appear to
fear her. She turned round to address Salamiel sharply.

The beach behind her was filled
with the crouching shapes of naked Emim. Salamiel stood behind
them, his back pressed against the serpentine rocks. Sofia laughed.
Did he think to threaten her with these creatures? The Emim watched
her with unblinking eyes. She could wither them if she chose. Was
Salamiel mad?

Then her eyes were drawn to the
cave mouth. Another figure stood there, taller than Salamiel, paler
than the watchful Emim. Sofia nearly fell to her knees, but
mustered her senses, and ran forward, pushing the Emim from her
path. ‘Azazel! My lord!’

He stood there, dusty and
bloody, his hair in disarray over the grey rags that covered his
chest. Sofia knew he appeared at that moment as he had at the time
his father, Anu, had sacrificed him as the scapegoat. But here was
no bewildered victim. His face was serene, his eyes staring at her
in complete tranquillity. Did the dark fire burn within him now?
She had bestowed the greatest of gifts, turned the path of his
destiny. He was a god, the incarnation of divine power and
beauty.

When she was a few feet away
from him, Sofia halted. ‘My lord, have you come to claim your
kingdom?’

He smiled. ‘Of course. It is
you who helped me understand it.’

‘I merely guided your feet to
the required path.’ Sofia felt slightly unnerved by the directness
of his stare. She should expect that he’d possess far greater power
now, but hoped it was not beyond her control. ‘Look, here is your
brother, Salamiel, waiting for you. Let us return to his house
together.’

Shemyaza turned his gaze to
Salamiel, and beckoned him to approach. Sofia watched in
satisfaction as they embraced, Salamiel dwarfed in the arms of his
king. This was as it should be.

‘Did you hear me in the
underworld?’ Salamiel asked.

The angel king took his
brother’s head between his hands. ‘I heard you.’ He released
Salamiel and took a few steps towards Sofia. ‘Would you like to see
what I’ve become?’

She felt wary. ‘I can see that
already.’

The angel king shook his head
slowly. ‘Oh, I don’t think so. You took me from the crystal, the
first gate to the source, and dragged me into the abyss. You sought
to eclipse all knowledge of light from my soul, so that I would
become your dark god. But Sofia...’ And here he paused with a
smile. ‘Don’t you understand that by showing me the dark of the
Tree, you made me into the perfect avatar of the Shamir? The true
king must have knowledge of both light and dark. You gave me
this.’

Sofia narrowed her eyes at him.
‘Of course I sought only to aid you.’

He laughed softly. ‘Did you
now? Look upon me. I am the serpent.’

A blaze of golden light burst
out of his eyes. Sofia saw him stretch his arms up above his head,
saw his neck grow longer, his body transform into rings of shining
coils. He became a radiant serpent from the chest down, while his
upper body returned to an earlier Grigori form, with a long face
and neck and slanting eyes. His hair was alive around him, seething
upon the air. The light of him burned her skin. She saw Salamiel
cringe away, fall to his knees before this vision of ophidian
power.

The angel king uttered an angry
hiss. ‘You deceived me, enchantress, demon mother. You delivered me
into the hands of deceivers, the witch and her boy. You used the
face of my love to twist my destiny.’ Rays of light spun upon his
brow like a dazzling crown. Sofia fought the urge to duck away from
them.

‘I did what was necessary,’ she
snapped. ‘My only purpose was to aid you. Didn’t I find and keep
your brother for you? He is yours. As well as your pretty twin
playthings and the boy you deign to call your vizier. I am
the
Sofia, Azazel. Your mate, your confederate.’

‘Never,’ he said. ‘You will
never be that.’

Sofia grinned and shook her
head. ‘Times change, people change. Wake up, Azazel. I can give you
everything you want or need. It was my strength that sustained you
in the underworld, my power that helped you wake the Shamir.’

The angel king opened his eyes
wider, and bolts of golden light flashed from them. ‘Too late,’ he
hissed. He leaned towards her on his shining coils, his arms
reaching out with clawed hands.

‘Azazel,’ Sofia said in
desperation. ‘You must come with me. Return to your mortal shape
and we shall talk. I will explain our purpose, our destiny.’

The angel king shook his head.
‘I am not Azazel, demoness. You were waiting for someone else. Now
I will crush the darkness from you.’

Sofia’s lips peeled back from
her long teeth. As the angel king’s arms snaked out to embrace her
she leapt backwards with a raw squawk. Did he truly think he could
beat her? Sofia tossed her head wildly, shook her body until it
seemed she moved so fast she was made only of black vapour. The
angel king before her clearly sensed she was transforming and
lunged forward. Too late. Sofia screamed out her fury and her form
burst up into the sky. She became Leviathan, the primal sea-dragon,
a hideous creature of black spines and tattered wings. The angel
king reared up to envelop her, and she reached for him with her
clawed feet. Together, in a screaming embrace, they rose,
spiralling up towards the sun. She clawed and bit at his substance,
he seared her with light. Below, Salamiel’s Emim clustered together
about their master, whimpering in fear. Salamiel covered his head
with his hands and the scent of hallowed blood rained down upon
him.

On the cliff top, Daniel and
his companions stood in complete silence and stillness, as if in
mourning. A single sea bird uttered a sad cry overhead.

Shem, we should have been
together,
Daniel thought.
Now I have lost you forever.
A
brief image of himself and Lily and Owen flashed through his mind.
They would live out the rest of their lives now; shattered and
damaged. As an old woman, perhaps hundreds of years in the future,
Lily would still be feeding Owen, cleaning him, and Daniel would be
an empty husk of a man, given extended life, only to suffer it in
loneliness. He could not bear to contemplate this bleak prospect.
He wanted to turn to Emma or Lily for comfort, but was unable to
move, knowing that comfort could not be found, because any arms
that held him now could never be the ones he craved.

The sky should still be
black,
Daniel thought bitterly,
because the King is dead. A
week ago, the women were lamenting. Why are they silent
now?

Then the silence of the morning
was broken by a roaring scream, a cry so loud that everyone covered
their ears in pain. The ground beneath them shook. People fell to
their knees, their faces. Daniel sank down to crouch upon the edge
of the cliff. He saw the monstrous shapes rise up into the sky, saw
the gouts of black blood, of golden light, spray out of them.

Lily crawled to Daniel’s side.
‘Dan, what’s happening? What’s that noise?’ She was looking around
herself in panic, and Daniel realised she could not see the
creatures grappling in the sky. He put his arms around her.

‘I don’t know.’ He closed his
eyes, tried to concentrate on picking up information. Behind him,
the Parzupheim had begun to chant, presumably because they
understood what was happening.