The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (32 page)

The door opened at once
and Chris was surprised to see Natalie standing there. She looked
pale and red-eyed and Chris thought that she'd been crying.

“
Chris!” she
gasped as she stood aside, letting them enter. “Thank God
you're here.”

What the hell, Chris
thought, is going on?

As he entered the room,
Chris was even more surprised to see Chef there. He was sitting on a
chair between two hospital beds. With a feeling of dread, Chris
looked at their occupants, expecting to see their two missing staff
members. Instead, he gaped at the two figures lying there, dressed in
hospital gowns, pale-faced and apparently sleeping.

It was Jacob and Tyler.

“
Holy crap! Jake!
Tyler!” Chris stared at his friends and then at Judge Hawkes.
“You found them!”

The judge shook his head.

“
No, we did not find
them. They were left for us. A warning from our enemies. A symbol
meant to shake our resolve.”

Chris walked slowly
forward. He caught Chef's eye and the big man stared back at him
sadly. He didn't speak, but sat there with one hand resting on
Jacob's bed and the other on Tyler's.

“
But why would they
do that? I mean, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that they're
back, but I thought they'd be, you know,” he swallowed,
“killed.”

“
They have been
killed, young man,” the judge said evenly. Chris whirled around
and looked at him in disbelief. Then he looked back at the two
figures lying there, so still and quiet.

“
But, but...”
Chris couldn't quite wrap his head around the judge's answer. “But
they look fine. I mean, okay, they're a bit pale. But I don't see any
marks on them.” He looked at the judge again. “Is this
some sort of sick joke?”

The judge frowned
ominously. “Do you not know me well enough by now to know that
I would never do that?” he said with a touch of anger in his
voice. Chris realized that the man was holding his emotions firmly in
check and instantly regretted his words.

“
I'm sorry, judge.
Really.” The angry look faded from the man's face and he simply
nodded.

“
Gloriel is the
reason that the boys look whole and untouched, Christopher,” he
said with a look at Natalie. Chris looked at her too.

“
Gloriel healed
them?”

Natalie shrugged. She
seemed exhausted.

“
For all the good it
did. Chris, they were, oh God. They were torn to ribbons when our
people picked them up. Scythe sent us directions to the bodies and
when they were brought in...” She shook her head and shuddered.
“The suffering they must have endured. It's unimaginable.”

A frozen lump of ice
seemed to settle in Chris' belly. Tortured. She was saying they were
tortured.

Tears filled his eyes. He
couldn't seem to stop them and his vision was blurred as they poured
down his face silently.

And then his sorrow was
replaced by rage. An anger that he hadn't felt since, he didn't know
when, filled his mind. Before he could say or do anything, a hand
settled gently on his arm. It was Natalie.

“
Save your anger,”
she said quietly. “It won't do any good right now. Later
though...” and her expression became grim.

He understood and pushed
back the hatred. Later. Yes. One day soon there would be a reckoning,
he promised himself. But now...

Chris looked at his
friends again and let the sadness take over. He wiped his eyes
repeatedly. They deserved to be mourned, he thought. Anger wouldn't
bring them back.

Chris took a deep breath
and tried to smile at Natalie.

“
It's under
control,” he said to her. He looked at Judge Hawkes, who had
been standing nearby quietly, waiting.

“
But sir, why are
they here, in the Infirmary? Shouldn't they be...” He was at a
loss. What did the Angelic Dominion do with casualties? Was there a
wake? A funeral? With their enemies circling them like sharks, a
public ceremony was out of the question, wasn't it?

“
Christopher,”
the judge began, almost hesitantly. “Jacob and Tyler's bodies
have been healed. Except for the lack of that spark, that essence of
life, they are whole and unharmed. But we did not do this solely to
honor them, although that is part of it. We did it because there are
so few Angelics left to us. If the other safe-houses have fallen,
which I now believe they have, we are in a very precarious position
indeed.” He reached out and put his hand on Chris' shoulder.
“We are desperate, my boy. And so we turn to you. And to
Sariel. We need you to bring them back.”

Chris' mind went blank.
“Bring them back?” he repeated stupidly. “You
mean...wait. You mean back from the dead?”

Judge Hawkes simply
nodded.

“
But I can't do
that! Only God can raise the dead. Who was that guy in the Bible?
Lazarus? He was brought back by the Son of God. That's a little out
of my league, judge.”

“
Out of your league,
perhaps, but not out of Sariel's. Remember the puppy,” he added
solemnly.

The puppy. Cripes, Chris
thought, his mind reaching back to that moment. I haven't thought of
the puppy in months.

When Chris was twelve and
still living on the streets, he passed by an old homeless man weeping
and cradling a dead puppy in his arms. In a gesture of kindness,
Chris had reached out to pat the little dog's head. And it had come
back to life, yapping and wagging a little stump of a tail. Yeah, the
puppy.

“
But that was a dog,
sir. I don't even know why Sariel chose to bring him back, or if I
somehow tapped into his powers and did it myself. A puppy is one
thing but this...” He looked at the two bodies lying so quietly
and still in their beds and felt goosebumps crawl up his back and
raise the hair on the back of his neck. “This is different.”

“
Is it, Chris?”
Chef spoke up for the first time, his voice breaking. Chris knew that
he'd been very fond of the two boys. Now he realized that the big man
might have actually loved them. “Is it really? Life is life. A
soul is a soul. And these two have the souls of angels. We need them,
probably even more than we know. Our chances against the darkness are
small even having them with us. But without them?”

He sat back and shook his
head hopelessly.

“
All we want is for
you to ask Sariel,” Natalie said in a reasonable tone. “If
he says no or that it can't be done, well then that's it. But don't
you think we should at least ask?”

He walked the few steps to
the space between the hospital beds. He looked at Jacob. Small, like
Chris. Short brown hair and a little on the chubby side. But his fine
features and contemplative nature were the perfect foil for his best
friend, Tyler.

Tyler, Chris thought as he
turned to look at the other boy, face pale against the crisp white
sheets. Tall, skinny, long blond hair. Endlessly laughing and joking.

They were an odd pair,
Chris realized as he looked at them, his mind strangely emotionless.
But they complimented each other. They had selflessly defended the
Hawkes Nest against the Fallen. And had paid the price.

Something clicked in his
mind and his feelings rushed back in to fill him with both sadness
and resolve. Could they be brought back? He didn't know. Should they
be? Yes. Damn it, yes they should.

Chris stood up straight
and looked past Chef to the blank, white wall behind him.

Sariel? I need to speak
with you.

There was a long moment of
silence. Chris knew that the others were watching him closely but he
paid them no attention. His mind was listening internally, waiting
for a response.

Finally, a faint voice,
speaking from some immeasurable distance, echoed quietly inside his
head.

Chris? What do you
want? I'm a little busy at the moment and...

Sorry, but this can't
wait. It's too important. Can you come or not?
Chris asked a bit harshly, too anxious to worry about being polite.

Again there was silence.
And then Sariel's presence filled him, strengthened him, and Chris
breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm here, my friend.
Now what is so urgent that you had to tear me away from my
investigations?

Chris didn't try to
explain, he just pointed at his two friends.

Look,
he said silently.

Ah. I see.
That was all that Sariel said.

Chris waited but there was
nothing more and he knew that the archangel was waiting for him to
speak.

Look, I know this is a
big request. In fact, I think it may be a bit crazy but...

I know what you are
going to ask, my other self,
Sariel said
softly.
How
could I not? You want me to bring their souls back to the mortal
realm.

Chris felt himself relax a
little. He hadn't had to ask. Sariel already knew. Of course.

We need them for the
war to come. You must know that. Especially since the judge seems to
think that the Angelics here at Valiant may be the only ones left.

Does he? The only ones?
Sariel's tone became one of despair.
Then we
are beaten before we've begun, it seems. And it was such a grand idea
too. Oh my brother,
he said with a grudging
respect.
The ages haven't dimmed your wits, I
see.

Forget your damned
brother!
Chris said angrily.
Do
I have to remind you that he tried to kill your Father? And was cast
into the Pit because of it? You haven't come to the Earth to admire
him. You've come to stop him.

Chris stopped speaking,
suddenly afraid that in his anger he had gone too far. Who was he to
lecture a being as old and as powerful as Sariel?

But when the archangel
spoke again, he didn't sound angry. He simply sounded sad.

You are correct, again.
But we are of the same essence, Chris. I hate him, and love him
still. But I must put that aside for now. Now we must deal with this
tragedy. May I speak through you?

Of course,
Chris said and he took the now familiar step back in his mind and
allowed Sariel to take control of his body.

The archangel looked
around from face to face. First Chef, whose eyes widened as Sariel
caught them in his gaze.

Then he turned and looked
at Judge Hawkes. The man nodded respectfully, obviously aware of who
he was looking at. And then finally Sariel looked at Natalie.

She smiled tentatively.
“Hello Sariel,” she said.

“
Greetings again,
young one. May I speak with Gloriel please?”

“
Certainly,”
Natalie replied. She seemed unsurprised by the request and when she
spoke again, it was with the angel's ringing voice.

“
Brother, I am
here.”

“
Yes.” Sariel
stepped forward and took Gloriel's hands in his own. The only change
to Natalie's face was her eyes. They were now gleaming and faceted
like chunks of obsidian.

“
You have healed the
boys bodies?” he asked. Gloriel nodded. “Then you knew
that these friends of ours would request their resurrection?”

“
No, I did not
know,” she said, then added reluctantly. “But I surmised
that they might.”

“
Yes,” Sariel
said again. “But did you not tell them of the repercussions of
such an act?”

Gloriel pulled her hands
from Sariel's grip and stepped back. She actually looked confused,
but it was Judge Hawkes who asked the obvious question.

“
What repercussions
are you speaking of, Sariel?”

The archangel turned away
from them and looked once again at the two bodies lying on the beds.
Chris felt his heart break again as he saw what Sariel saw; two young
men cut down in their prime. They were so still, so lifeless. Chris
felt a sudden insane urge to grab one of them and shake him, slap
him, do anything to wake him up from his death-like sleep. But it
wasn't sleep, was it? It was simply death, and that was all.

“
Bringing a simple
soul back from the abyss, like a dog, is a small thing,” Sariel
said, his voice thoughtful. “There are few ripples in the realm
of the spirit. To recall the souls of humans is another matter. That
would cause a disturbance that our enemies might notice.”

He turned again to look at
Judge Hawkes. Chris was relieved. He didn't want to be forced to
stare at his lost friends anymore. He didn't think he could stand it.

“
But these are not
even human souls. They are the souls, the essences, of angels.
Summoning them back could literally shake the very firmament,
catching the Fallen's attention as if I had announced my presence to
them directly.”