War of Wings (24 page)

Gabriel dodged an icicle that landed right by him
.
It was impossible for someone so beautiful to transform into something so large and vile, he was sure. It had to be impossible for any angel for that matter. But where could the creature have come from? Gabriel knew God didn’t make the leviathan. It occurred to him that pride was the antivirtue of humility, and humility was Arrayah’s virtue in Heaven. How prideful did Arrayah become? It had to be a coincidence—they were opposites.

He bent over and tried to catch his breath, which came harsh and pained with the extreme cold. His head was light and his neck was heavy. “Please don’t let it be her. Please God,” he whispered.

“I think you and Arrayah knew each other a long time ago, Gabriel. Do you remember her?” asked Satan. He knew Gabriel remembered her. He knew exactly how Gabriel felt about her. Gabriel didn’t answer him.

As the demons continued to cheer, Gabriel caught his breath, rose up, and slowly walked toward the leviathan’s wicked tail. It swayed back and forth.

“There is one thing we will destroy, Gabriel, to defeat your God. The Liar calls it love. Love is weakness!” screamed Satan. “Love is the sickness that made us blind all those years! We followed the Liar in Heaven because we thought we loved Him. We will take that away from Him now. We will do it one by one if we have to.”

Gabriel kept walking, and as he did, demons moved out of his way. He had to have hope she could be saved no matter what she had become. He had to have faith. Without it, what did he have left?

Satan kept talking. “Since God doesn’t seem to think we are of any worry to Him, we’ll have to prove Him wrong. I mean, what does He think we’ve been doing down here?” Satan spread his wings again with a loud snap. Gabriel glanced up and saw infected scabs running the length of those wings that had never healed from the burns. “If God wants to create a new being in His image, so be it. I’ve waited so long for these children of His to come. We will control them. They will never love Him the way we did. It is my time.” Satan gestured toward the crowd. “It is our time. We must take our powers to the next level. Those of you who have been assigned to the seven antivirtues, it is time to delve deeper. Below me is the leviathan, proof of what can happen when you do your job! The leviathan has taken pride and created something incredible by running away from humility. The rest of you must learn from leaders like this one. Abbadon, Belial, Pegasus, and Asmodai are ready. It is our time!”

The ice cave reverberated with the horrific, screeching cheers of the demons. Shutting them out, Gabriel walked right up to the tail. It was covered with iron-like plates so close together that not even air could sneak through them. It looked impenetrable. Gabriel’s heart thumped powerfully in his chest. He could no longer take it.

“Arrayah! Is that you in there?”

The uproar of the demons’ cheers silenced.

Gabriel again addressed the beast that breathed heavy smoke from its cave in the wall. Its breaths seemed to be getting shorter and faster. “Arrayah, it’s me, Gabriel. Is that you?”

A thick, wide plume of heavy smoke poured from the black cave.

“I’ve finally found you after all these years, and I want you to know I will never give up on you. I don’t care who or what you have become! I know who you really are.”

There was no verbal response from the creature, but it began to stir and swing its tail rapidly.

“I know you can hear me. I will never give up on you! I know God will one day give another chance to all of those who want it!”

An epic roar sounded from the cave, shaking the entire area. Out of the hole emerged the ferocious leviathan, and the demons scampered away, leaving Gabriel alone to face the monster. It was a giant, serpent-like creature with two segmented wings and four thick legs. Its black body was covered with scales, its charcoal underbelly thick with armored plates, and its hot-black eyes stared straight through Gabriel. It was like nothing he could have imagined. The leviathan blasted gray smoke right at him, and he was engulfed in its cloud.

Satan laughed from high above. “You are still a pitiful archangel, Gabriel. Your time is up. After all these years, she still wants nothing to do with you! Greet your love! Look at her now! Look at your ray of hope before she consumes you!” His laughter continued to echo through the cavern.

Gabriel stared through the cloud to see the leviathan stand up on its hind legs. It was massive. Its wings stretched so wide they slammed into a group of demons over a hundred feet away, knocking them down. The leviathan came down on its forelegs, pummeling the ice below and sending a crack rippling through the surface of the frozen pond. It landed with its neck lowered and its head close to Gabriel. Its pitch-black eyes met Gabriel’s once again.

Gabriel didn’t flinch as hot, noxious smoke erupted from its nostrils all over his face. Instead he reached inside the chest plate of his armor and pulled out a dried-up red rose. “I know who you are, and I didn’t forget our plan. I have planted roses all over Heaven. I know you better than you know yourself. You don’t belong here, Arrayah. Do what you want to me, for I forgave you a long time ago. I rose up once, and now it’s your turn to do the same.” Gabriel placed the rose carefully on the ground next to its feet. He stood there waiting. A few seconds passed, and the leviathan puffed up and inhaled deeply.

“Gabriel, wait!”

He still knew the voice after all this time. It was Arrayah. But her voice didn’t come from the leviathan in front of him. He turned around to see a swarm of demons racing after a charred female. They were stumbling and staggering like they were wounded.

“I haven’t forgotten either, Gabriel!” she yelled.

She broke free and ran toward him. It was undoubtedly Arrayah. Her beautiful eyes were gone, and her long, flowing hair had become ash, but the sound of her voice sent a tingling wave through his body. All his memories of her came rushing back so powerfully that he felt a surge of energy all over. He jumped up and with a mighty thrust of his wings headed for her. Calmness and joy overtook him and his surroundings became irrelevant. She was all right. She still had hope, and that was all he needed to keep pushing.

“Saraquel, no! Gabriel, watch out!” Arrayah shouted, pointing behind him.

Gabriel turned around as the monstrous beast let out a deafening screech and raised its head up toward the roof of the cave. The leviathan spewed white-hot flame from its mouth. Gabriel jumped behind a tall block of ice and the fireball turned it instantly into a pool of water.

He was shocked to hear the archangel’s name, but the giant plates on the demon reminded Gabriel of Saraquel’s scaly skin as he watched the beast move forward. Its jagged features confirmed that it was a hideous transformation of the archangel from long ago. He couldn’t help remember beating him senselessly on the battlefield. All those years ago, Saraquel’s armor had said
Ab uno disce omnes
—from one learn all. It wasn’t a reference to God after all. How could Satan be so powerful, and what caused Saraquel to become this monster? What could be learned from an aberration like this?
He had so many things in his head he couldn’t keep them straight, but only one thing mattered now. He turned toward Arrayah. They had to get out of there.

Arrayah didn’t get more than a few hundred feet before a demon from the crowd clutched at one of her deformed wings and yanked her backward. He restrained her and covered her mouth as the group chasing her caught up. Gabriel jumped back into the air as the leviathan drew another breath, and Satan dove off the platform above and bolted to meet him with a black sword drawn. Demons were closing in on him from every direction, and even if he reached Arrayah, they were surrounded on all sides. It was over. There was no escape. He flew forward, knowing he would be incinerated in a blast of flame or cut down by Satan’s sword.
God, you said you would protect me. Now would be a good time.

At that moment, a brilliant white angel came hurtling through the cave, weaving between jagged spires of ice with wings fully outstretched. Gabriel felt a rush of heat behind him as the fireball burst forth, and he saw Satan’s upraised sword swinging down toward his wings as he passed. Then Michael crashed into him at top speed. The flame passed so close that it singed his armor, and he felt the razor edge of Satan’s sword pass between the trailing tips of his feathers. He and Michael plummeted toward the base of the closest wall, smashed through spikes and columns of ice, and plowed through a crowd of demons in their path. They struck the wall and crashed to a stop. Gabriel barely regained his senses before he saw another burst of flame headed straight for them. He shoved Michael backward just hard enough for the flaming ball to sizzle past between them and into the wall of the cave, causing more spears of ice to plunge from the ceiling. The screech of demons filled the cavern as dagger-like ice pierced through six of them on the ground.

“Let’s go, Gabriel!” shouted Michael.

“No! She is here, I’m getting her first!”

“We’ll have to come back for her! Come on!”

Gabriel turned back toward Arrayah, but Michael grabbed hold of his wings as hundreds of demons swarmed at them. They jumped up and flew backward, kicking at the demons’ wiry hands as they gained enough free space to separate them by a couple of feet. Satan was hovering over the crowd, skeletal wings beating, pointing at the archangels and shouting orders to the demons. They covered the floor and filled the air so thickly that Gabriel could no longer see Arrayah. There was no way to get to her. Gabriel screamed in frustration, kicking back one demon after another that clawed at them, and he still would have tried if Michael had not taken hold of his arm and physically dragged him toward the exit. He resisted a moment longer, trying to make her out in the sea of black, but she was gone once again. He turned away.

With a host of demons clutching at them in the air and more pounding after them below, they tore across the cave. They flew near the opening, and Gabriel saw it would be too narrow for them both to pass through, but there was no time to slow down. He retracted his wings for an instant, letting the momentum carry him forward, and rammed his shoulder into the ice as he and Michael passed through. A boulder of ice broke away, crushing several demons below them. He heard their bones crushing like kindling. He shot his wings back out and kept flying as thousands more swarmed out of the cave after them.

Directly behind the swarm was the giant leviathan, crashing through the opening and driving its way through the small demons. It was shooting enormous bursts of fire and lighting hundreds of them up in flames. Gabriel and Michael dodged the fire that streaked through the sky after them, flying at speeds the demons could not match. All of them, including the leviathan, pulled up as they reached the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, and as Gabriel arrowed through it and into space, he knew that they, at least, were safe. He heard Lucifer’s voice scream, “Have your God send his Son down here if He dares.” He kept flying, with only sheer force of will preventing him from turning back around.

After putting hundreds of miles behind them, Michael apparently decided it was safe and slowed down. He turned to his brother.

“What were you thinking, Gabriel?” Michael yelled.

“I saw her, Michael! She’s down there! She wants to be forgiven!”

“What were you going to do, Gabriel? Did you really think you could get her out of there all by yourself? Did you think any of this through? God only sent you to deliver a message!”

“I want to help her! We can help all of them!”

“God won’t allow her back in Heaven even if you did save her! None of them can come back. Do you want to stay down there forever?”

“Yes, if I have to!”

Michael looked at him with disappointment. “Don’t become one of them, brother. God has a plan for us. Please keep your head and heart straight. His plan is bigger and better than ours will ever be.”

Gabriel turned away, wordless. They soared for thousands of miles up through the cosmos without uttering another word. It was a time for Gabriel to calm himself and gather his thoughts. He needed it. So much had happened so fast. Finally Gabriel turned to face Michael with an unwavering, confident stare that Michael knew all too well.

“I will save her, Michael.”

“You have to let her go.”

“Never.”

“She can’t be forgiven. They don’t even want to be forgiven, or they would have asked God to before they were cast down.”

“She does.”

“You don’t know that, and it doesn’t matter either way,” Michael said.

“If God is a forgiving God, then who is to say He won’t forgive the fallen?”

“They made their own choice, Gabriel. There is no hope for them. You must accept that.”

“That is the difference between you and me. I believe God’s forgiveness is limitless. I have hope for her. I have hope for all of them.” He looked back to the beautiful blue world receding into the distance behind them. So much promise there. When he spoke again, it was with hard-earned wisdom. He could feel the truth of it. “Some see a hopeless end while others see an endless hope.”

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

This manuscript has grown over the span of four years. During that time, I have accumulated many debts, made many friends I will cherish for a lifetime, and grown not only as a writer but also as a human being thanks to some very special people.

• Travis McElroy
  has been my brother, hero, and best friend for thirty-two years. Although he is harder to get ahold of than the president, I am forever grateful to have had such a perfect leader to make mistakes I could learn from. I want to thank him for all of his financial, emotional, and organizational support as a partner but, most of all, for always believing in his younger brother and never giving up on me. I thank him for giving me the idea to write a story about the fall of the angels and teaching me what being a man means. I simply could not have done much in life without him. I love him from the bottom of my soul.
  
• Leah McElroy
  has been my emotional and spiritual rock in life. She has loved me unconditionally, even though I have put her through more trouble than most mothers should ever experience. My entire base of religion that drove this book is thanks to her and her kindness, forgiveness, support, and love, unparalleled by any other.
  
• Thomas McElroy
  made me the fan I am today of epic stories and forced me to see the importance of hard work, dedication, determination, family values, and honesty—all by his example. He is a devoted husband, a kind father, and a humble master. Although he has experienced many struggles in life, they haven’t gone unnoticed by his children, and I am forever grateful to have learned from him.
  
• Tarran McElroy
  is the coolest person I know and has grown to be a strong woman that I am truly proud to call my younger sister. Her interest in my life helped fuel my passion to keep going through the tough times of this process.
  
• Kellie Foster
  has been the most positive influence on my adult life and has helped me grow from an immature boy to a flawed but confident man. She has made me a better person and challenges me daily with sincerity and honest communication. When I look in her eyes, I see a future full of happiness, love, loyalty, respect, and passion.
  
• Stephanie McElroy
  has put up with me for over a decade now, constantly pulling at her husband for help. Her confidence during this process has been key to maintaining a positive relationship, and I thank her for her patience with me.
  
• Tim Boswell
  has been the single most influential person in my growth as a writer, and that is far more than I ever expected from an editor. He is a phenomenal writer in his own right, and with his help, guidance, criticism, and motivation, I can sit here truly proud to send this manuscript out to the world and call myself a writer. Enough cannot be said for what he brought to the guts of this novel.
  
• Brian McCauley, Ryan Strawn, Todd Newsom,
  and
  Curtis Hale
  have provided friendship and support. Brian has been a close friend for years, and I never expected the dedication he has given me, but I will forever be in his debt. Ryan Strawn has been a loyal friend and supporter who never asked for anything in return. I look up to him and thank him for his strength, intelligence, and loyalty. Todd Newsom started as my brother’s best friend but became part of our family, and not only do we share the same birthday but also the same humor. He has always been there for me as a second brother. Curtis Hale has been an integral part in web design, conceptual art, and implementation. As a fellow fan of fictitious worlds, he shares a passion for the greats, so without him this novel wouldn’t have been what it is today.
  
• A childhood friend of mine,
  H. Kirk Childress
  , passed this year after fighting cancer. He was a great writer and an even better friend. He was excited for this book, and he asked about it many times over the last couple years. In 2011, he wrote:
  It is very strange adjusting to this recovery and diagnosis I have had. . . . It is a very lonely feeling to be fully aware with the knowledge that we all pass. Youth itself is somewhat eternal, but people never own it. I want to look at them with that bravado and ego, but I am now more defined by my scars. Very strange.
      
  Little things . . . are joys of existing. I also think little stresses like work and relationship, money, etc., are joys. But I love listening to my friends and thinking about their lives.
      
  I’ll leave you with some things I read every day lately.
  

“Look at the swift approach of complete forgetfulness and the void of infinite time on this side of us and on that, and the empty echo of acclamation…All this visible world changes in a moment and will be no more; and continually bethink thee to the changes of how many things thou has been a witness.”

—Marcus Aurelius

• I have been blessed with lifelong friends that have been with me through thick and thin, and I would like to thank them now for all of their support through this process:
  Chris Knox, James Holacka, Rob Lowe, Taylor Russell, Drew Childress, Ben Waters, Will Walters, Tyler Sorenson, Josh Henderson, Josh Chapman, Mark Schultz, Clayton Carter, Peter Cavazos,
  and
  Kristen “Bear” Foster.
  
• Throughout this journey I have met incredible artists, business leaders, coaches, and colleagues who have inspired my writing, influenced my actions, and served as people I aspire to emulate and think of as personal friends:
  Howard Fine, Mark Hamilton, Janet Harris, Chris Fisher, Bret Roberts, Genevieve Van de Merghel, Natalie Shaw Revell, Randy Wilcox, Jim Fitzgibbons, Gene Sollows, Tony Miros, Reidland Tucker, Bastien Grivet, Nancy Chartier, Carl David Cedar, David Mauer, Alex Robles, Doug Adams, Nancy Campbell, Sharon Howell, Susan Karr, Darren Hayes, Travis Walden, Mike Rainier, Tommy Hernandez,
  and
  Eric Jayk.
  
• I want to send a special thanks to the following for their support of
  War of Wings
  in its early stages:
  Susan J. Anderson, Victoria B. Anderson, Dennis Hale, Joseph Harvey, Joyce Goss, Quintan Cockerell, Matthew D. Ketterman, Nick Mourton, Mike Mourton, Manuel M. Machado Jr., Junior Desinor, Georgia A. McLain, Leslie Kilgore Jones, Jay Randol Jones, Cathey Davis, Katelyn Elisabeth Jones, Jillian Grace Jones,
  and
  John Patton.