Scorn of Angels (22 page)

“Or Tribunal,”
sent Epiphenia,
“who is an aspect of God. He gave the power to Nyx to create an
Angel.”

Michael pondered that. “
Why?
”

“Because in order for Tribunal to destroy God, he must make the impossible happen. He must kill an Angel in a place where Angels cannot be killed. He must make God’s holiest city turn its back on God, and he must make God himself turn his eyes away from Earth, Heaven, and
Hell.”

Michael frowned. “
Why are you telling me
this?”

“Because he is nearly done,”
sent Epiphenia. “
He has commanded the Hosts of Hell to stand ready to invade the Earth and destroy all the
humans.”

Michael flew in silence for a long time. At last he asked, “
Why should I believe
you?”

“You don’t have to,”
sent Epiphenia. “
Arcana is here on Earth. If we could bring her to Heaven, she could tell you all the truth of the matter. But Tribunal has blocked the way. No Angel may enter
Heaven.”

“Arcana?”
Michael frowned. “
What about Orion and
Caelum?”

“They’re
dead.”

“What?”

“Nyx killed them a thousand years
ago.”

“Impossible!”
Michael thought furiously. “
We would have known. Whenever an Angel perishes, all other Angels can feel
it!”

“Have you felt anything from Earth in the last thousand years?”
asked Epiphenia.

“No,”
admitted Michael
. “We’ve felt nothing at
all.”

“We need to get Arcana through the Gate,”
said Epiphenia. “
When she arrives, she can tell you all what has happened and alert God to Tribunal’s
actions.”

“If she can reach God,”
sent Michael. “
We’re trying to do that
here.”

There was silence for a time. Then Epiphenia sent, “
Let me know when Tribunal comes to stop you. It may be what we need to get
through.”

“I will do so,”
said Michael. He smiled in spite of himself. “
Tell Arcana I said
hello.”

“I will,”
said Epiphenia.
“Right now, in
fact.”

Arcana flipped over in the air, her wings drawing in tight to help her corkscrew through the three Descended attacking her. Her blade flashed out, taking one’s arm and another’s wing. The third moved out of the way in time and lashed her whip toward Arcana’s face. Arcana caught it in one armored hand and pulled. The Descended jerked closer, and Arcana’s blade went through its eye. It screamed and fell away.

“Arcana!”
Epiphenia’s voice echoed in her head. “
The Gate is going to open soon! You must
come!”

Arcana drove her blade through the heart of the Descended with no arm, and he burst into silver dust. The other two—the only two left of the squad over Gnyozdovo, flew away fast, heading west to where the other Descended were converging upon Nyx.

“I hear,”
sent Arcana. “
Nyx, Persephone! I must
go!”

“Sure
,” Persephone sent
. “Leave now when it’s getting
fun!”

“Go!”
sent Nyx. “
Tell God! And
hurry!”

Arcana went, rising fast and high until she broke through the top of the clouds and rose above the sky to where Epiphenia waited, outside the Gates of Heaven.

Tribunal sat in a place that didn’t exist.

It was not in Heaven, though it was close by. It was not in Hell. It was not Sheol—the place of the unbelievers—or any place in the mortal world. It was a place that did not exist in any of God’s realms, but stood outside of them, attached to all of them. From it, Tribunal could go wherever he chose. More important, from there he could see every part of Heaven, Earth, and Hell.

And he could access the mind of God, which was like seeing the entirety of creation from the inside and outside simultaneously, while feeling the motion of every single molecule within it. He could see past and present, and all the alternate futures that still lay before the universe, save the one that Tribute was planning.

But then, God was not planning for it all to end.

Tribunal’s disgust at God reared up, filling his very being with bile. He was a being apart. Not a mortal, not an Angel. God and not God; God’s Son and God’s Self; God’s creation and God’s being. There was nothing in the universe like him. And God had sent him down to Earth to preach to the disgusting, self-serving humans. He’d made Tribunal live among them and cure them of their illnesses and insanity and wounds. Tribunal had taught them peace and love and had been tortured and crucified for it.

Why did you do it to me, my father? Why did you make them worship me? Why did you make me preach to them when I should have been destroying them
all?

Tribunal was the Son of God. He
was
God. And the humans were unworthy of him. And since God would not allow Tribunal to destroy the humans, Tribunal would destroy God.

It had taken a thousand years. But then, Tribunal had known that it would.

From the first moment he arrived in Heaven, Tribunal had let his essence mesh with his father’s. In doing so, he learned the WORD and how the universe was made. And he learned how he could unmake it.

The universe was a creation of God, and in it God had poured his essence. God was not only the Creator of the universe but part of the universe. When the universe ceased to exist, it would be possible to unmake God.

But the universe could not cease to exist until God ceased to think of it.

The problem was that God’s mind was all encompassing. He saw all, heard all, and thought about all. The universe was always in his mind, and his mind was always in the universe.

That said, there was a strong difference between knowing something is happening and paying attention to it, and it had been that difference that Tribunal had used to his advantage.

He had started small, making an illusion of himself and projecting it. Then he spread his power out, slowly enclosing God’s mind with an illusion of Heaven, then the Universe, then Hell. It had taken a thousand years, as he had known it would. And to test it, he’d had Nyx invade and destroy Jerusalem. And it had worked. Jerusalem was God’s city, and he had not even noticed when it fell. God’s mind was being turned in on itself, surrounded by Tribunal. God’s mind was on its way to non-being.

Next, Tribunal had broken God’s laws. These were not the simple laws that humans preached to one another. These were the Laws of Creation: immutable, unchanging, and irrevocable. And if Tribunal was capable of breaking them, then it meant that God’s mind was truly no longer in the Universe. So he had given Nyx the power to create an Angel. And when she had done so, he had taken that Angel to Hell and killed it, ending its existence and bringing Tribunal one step closer to destroying God’s Creation.

And when God is gone, and the Creation has been destroyed, then I will recreate it in MY image instead of his.

Tribunal sank back into his own mind. He was nearly finished. The illusionary worlds of Earth and Hell had already been created and he was nearly finished projecting. All that remained was to finish the last bits of Heaven. Once that was done, God would be isolated in a cocoon of Tribunal’s making, unable to see Creation, and unable to stop Tribunal from destroying it all.

Tribunal was just copying God’s mountain when he realized half a million Angels were charging toward it.

Tribunal swore and took himself out of the space between the worlds to the place in Heaven that his illusion occupied. It was by God’s right hand, beside his throne, and moving there was extremely tricky. Even more tricky was moving away from there and leaving his illusion behind so that God did not notice him go. Tribunal managed it, as he knew he would. God was nearly totally distracted.

But having a half-million Angels charge him just might wake him
up.

He moved faster than any Angel could to the top of the stairs in front of God’s throne. The skies of Heaven were crowded with Angels. They dove down or flew up toward God’s mountain from every direction at once. At their forefront, Tribunal saw Michael, his sword sheathed, but his face showing no doubt that this, too, was battle and one that God’s Warrior was not intending to lose.

I cannot kill them. Not yet.
God may be distracted, but the Angels were parts of his immortal self, and the deaths of half a million of them would certainly bring God’s attention. And if that happened…

No. It will have to be distraction,
Tribunal decided.

He closed his eyes and brought together the power he would need.

At the Gates of Heaven, Epiphenia and Arcana floated, waiting. Epiphenia’s mind was attuned to Heaven and the power that kept the Gate closed. Arcana was silent and still, as only a warrior of God awaiting orders could be.

There!
Epiphenia sent.
It
weakens!

Arcana pushed against the block on the Gate and felt it give slightly.
Not enough
, she sent.

Not enough for you,
sent Epiphenia back.

In Iceland, a volcanic eruption that would have destroyed the island lost all strength and the pushing, bubbling magma sank into the Earth’s mantle.

And high above the world, all the power of that volcano blasted out of Epiphenia and into the Gates of Heaven.

Michael saw Tribunal take his place on the stairs around God’s throne. He saw the sphere of power that grew around Tribunal’s form, expanding ever faster in a black ring of malevolence, like the leading edge of an explosion.