Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) (33 page)

An orange-scaled
dakkan skidded to a halt next to Moreen and crouched low to the ground. Without
pausing, she used a practiced leap and swung herself into position, leaving
enough room for James himself to mount later. From her perch, she started
shouting orders of her own and helping people to mount the massive winged
creature. She looked frantically for Garet’s twins, but couldn’t see them among
the standing or fallen. Moreen took that as a good sign, hoping that they were
already with Nuse or one of the other paladins.

Two smaller
demons outflanked James and the few remaining combatants and rushed toward
Moreen, but the orange dakkan attacked with blinding speed and snapped both
creatures up in one bite. The dakkan chewed them in half and quickly spat them
back out, where they lay writhing on the ground. Mere physical injury wouldn’t
kill the demons, but it could take them out of the fight for a while.

An inhuman
screech overpowered the din of the battle and Moreen looked over her left
shoulder to see the pale-green dakkan that had been wounded in the first
moments of the fight finally succumb to the swarm of demonic shapes clamoring
over it. The riderless beast crashed to the ground and thrashed in agony, still
trying feebly to fight as its blood seeped out onto the ground around it from a
half-dozen gaping wounds.

Finally, Moreen
realized no more could fit on the orange dakkan if it was expected to fly away.
She directed the few people waiting to mount toward another of the flying
mounts, but watched in horror as they were intercepted by three demons and torn
apart halfway to their promised salvation.

“James!” Moreen
cried in desperation, looking for the paladin.

Then the Yellow paladin
was there, slumped against the flank of his mount. He stumbled forward and left
a crimson smear along the dakkan’s dull orange scales.

“Help me up,”
James croaked, holding up a bloody hand toward Moreen. She took hold and nearly
dropped him as his blood-soaked fingers slipped through her grasp. Moreen
clasped the metal bracer around his wrist and pulled with all her might and
finally managed to haul the Yellow paladin across the neck of his paladin.

“Arrete,
airborne!” James said wearily, and immediately his mount leapt forward, wings
pumping. The dakkan kicked into the air with a crowd of demons howling behind
it, then veered sharply to avoid colliding with Nuse’s fully-loaded dakkan.
Moreen nearly wept in relief when she saw Alicia seated near the back of the
Blue paladin’s flying mount.

She was less
relieved to see neither of Garet’s children there. Moreen quickly looked over
both shoulders, trying to catch sight of the other dakkans so she could look
for the twins. Demons were sprouting wings and lifting off the ground behind
them, but they were slow to rise and quickly left behind.

“They won’t
catch us,” James said, misinterpreting her concern. He was still sprawled
across her lap, feet and hands dangling on opposite sides of the dakkan’s neck.
“Even fully loaded, we can outrun demons in the air.”

Moreen continued
to search until she’d gotten a good look at all five dakkans that had survived
the encounter. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she knew for a certainty
that Garet’s twins had been left behind somewhere on the ground, and God help
them if they were still alive.

Without knowledge of both good
and
evil, one cannot develop a sense of moral
value.

- Jacob Piersol,

“Errors of the Prism” (107
AM)

- 1 -

“What? Uncle
Birch, what is it?”

Birch turned
wide eyes on his nephew, and Danner flinched away as he locked eyes with his
uncle’s burning gaze. He reached forward and switched off the engine to his
buggy.

“Demons,” Birch
said angrily, “on the other side of the Binding. Let’s go.”

He wheeled Selti
about sharply and charged back.

Nothing
happened.

Birch looked
back over his shoulder and saw the narrow curtain of light through which he had
just ridden, but he remained in the immortal plane.

“Mikal,” he
shouted, then turned and charged back through the curtain, again with no
effect.

Once again,
Birch turned Selti back toward the Binding, but a strong hand gripped his leg,
holding him back. Birch looked down and saw Mikal staring at him sadly.

“It’s no use, my
friend,” the Seraph said. “Maya has restricted the Binding, I can feel it. We
cannot get back through.”

“What do you
mean, restricted?” Danner asked angrily climbing out of his buggy. Mikal
shifted away from Danner slightly and did not look directly at him when he
answered.

“Maya’s
influence extends throughout Heaven,” Mikal replied, “and it seems she does not
want anyone returning to the mortal world.” He looked up at Birch. “Kaelus,
even within that mortal shell, can you not feel it?”

Birch nodded.

“I can feel it now,”
he said, and Danner wasn’t sure whether it was his uncle replying or the demon
housed within him.

“Well, can we
force it back open? Those are our friends back there, our girlfriends, our
wives and children,” Danner said angrily. “We’ve got to be able to do
something.”

“We can’t,”
Mikal said flatly, “not from here. We need to get to Medina and confront Maya,
convince her to reopen the Binding.”

Birch glared at
the shimmering curtain that stood between him and Moreen.

“That’s the only
way?” he asked without taking his eyes off the Binding.

“It is, I’m
sorry,” Mikal replied.

Birch turned.

“Then let’s get
moving,” he said.

Garnet was
standing nearby. The Shadow Company commander had witnessed the whole scene
with a grim expression. Trames and Kala stood nearby, watching anxiously, their
unauthorized presence forgotten for the moment.

“Garnet,” Birch
said.

“We’re ready to
move, Birch,” the big man said. “Mikal, lead the way.”

- 2 -

Bradley fought
to control his breathing as panic threatened to overtake him. The demons were
getting closer! He could hear their footsteps getting closer and closer. They
hadn’t found the hiding place yet, but it was only a matter of time before they
discovered him and his sister. Closer. A muttered, guttural voice. Closer
still!

His heart
thundered in his chest and his breath caught.

Claws scrabbled
on stone so loudly it felt like they were standing next to his ear. Then
gradually the sounds grew quieter until he could no longer hear the footsteps.
His burning chest subsided as he carefully released his captive breath.

“Anolla,” he
whispered, his voice barely audible even to his own ears. Quietly, she shifted
her body closer so he could speak directly into her ear.

“We’ve got to
make a run for the Binding,” he said softly.

She moved away,
so he tilted his head so she could speak into his ear in turn.

“Are you mad?”
she hissed. “If we move, they’ll see us and tear us to shreds. You saw what
they did to those bodies. They’ll do the same to us.”

“Sooner or
later, they’re going to find us,” Brad replied, “and then they’ll do it anyway.
It will be weeks before anyone comes back, maybe months. It’s our only hope.”

“Can’t we get to
the buggy Moreen left behind?” Anolla asked. “It should be able to outrun…”

Brad shook his
head. “I saw someone try to drive it away and they got caught. It’s trashed.
It’s the Binding or nothing.”

Anolla closed
her eyes, fighting down her fear, then she nodded reluctantly.

“How far is it?”
she asked. “I can’t see past you.”

“Maybe fifty
yards. If we’re careful, we’ll have cover for the first ten or so, but after
that it’s all open ‘til we reach the cleft,” he said. “It looks like they’re
staying away from it, though, so we stand a good chance of pulling it off, but
we have to go
now
, before something changes.”

“Let’s do it,
then,” she whispered.

The twins were
trapped in a narrow crack in the stone of a cliff side, and only a small pile
of boulders blocked them from view to the clearing beyond. The boulders had
fallen in such a way that at a casual glance, they were flush against the cliff
and it seemed nothing could possibly be behind them. It was a miracle of pure
luck that Brad had discovered the narrow passage that led back to the little
cave where they’d been hiding since the awful night began.

They knew many of
the humans and denarae who had been with them had made a run for the Binding
during the battle, but a group of demons was waiting for just such an escape
attempt and had slaughtered all of them. Since then, the twins had endured the
tortured screams of the men and women who’d survived the battle only to become
the victims of an orgy of blood and torture as the demons delighted in tearing
them apart piece by piece. Both of them had been sick repeatedly, and their
tiny sanctuary reeked of bile and vomit.

Four terrifying
hours after the last of the screams were over, the twins made their move on the
Binding. They crept out cautiously, and Brad eased his head forward to peer
through a crack in the pile of boulders. Their path out from behind the rocky
shield gave them a clear view of the cleft with the Binding, but he needed to
see where the demons were.

“We’re clear,”
he whispered. Anolla reached forward and clasped one of his hands. Their
fingers tightened about each other.

“Ready,” he
whispered. “Now.”

Cautiously, the
two crept out, taking care to stay low to the ground to take the best advantage
of the scattered rubble that littered the ground. They’d barely gone five yards
when a strange, hooting cry split the night. The cry was taken up by others,
and Brad fought the urge to cover his ears.

Without
bothering to check if the cry had anything to do with them, Brad hauled his
sister to her feet and shoved her in front of him.

“Run!” he
shouted and took off after her.

If the demons
hadn’t seen them before, they were certainly aware of them now. Snarls and
cries of fury and glee rang out through the night, and some demons started
hurling rocks at them even as others sprang after them in chase.

“Don’t stop!”
Brad shouted needlessly as a stone grazed his right calf. Another struck him in
the back of the head, knocking him off balance. He stumbled, recovered, and
kept running only a few feet behind his sister.

They dashed into
the cleft with the demons close on their heels. A claw snapped closed right
behind Brad’s head as he saw Anolla abruptly vanish, and he threw himself
forward as a white light enveloped him.

When he opened
his eyes, Brad saw fluffy white clouds all around him, and at first he couldn’t
decide which way was up. Finally he realized he was laying on his side, and he
shifted himself to a sitting position and looked around.

The landscape
was breathtaking.

Rolling
hillsides of white clouds, mountains of crystal, it was all so beautiful. The
sky was filled with puffy white clouds, and in the distance it was impossible
to tell where the white ground and the sky separated. A bemused corner of his
mind absently noted that Anolla’s and his shadows were being cast in different
directions.

Only seconds
before, the twins had been running for their lives, but such concerns were
suddenly beyond them as they stared in wonder.

“What’s that?”
Anolla asked, pointing at the sky.

A six-winged man
clad in shining armor soared out of the sky and landed a few feet away. He was
perfectly beautiful in the same way Mikal had been, and his wings were a
brilliant, beautiful violet. Even from the little they knew, there was no doubt
they were looking at another Seraph.

“Mortals,” the
angel said in wonder. “Mikal brought mortals, and alive at that.”

“Mikal?” Bradley
asked. “You know Mikal?”

The angel
blinked, as though surprised they were addressing him.

“Yes, I know
Mikal,” the angel replied. “He and I were friends once, and perhaps still are,
if I can find him in time. How do you know him?”

“He’s traveling
with our father and brother,” Anolla said eagerly. “They crossed through the
Binding just a few hours ago.”

“A few hours?”
the angel said, shaking his head. “They crossed nearly half a day past. I felt
the crossing myself and flew here to find them. It seems they’ve already moved
on, however. He’ll have to take them through the Iridescent Gates,” the angel
went on, speaking more to himself. “I’ll overtake them there.”

“Wait!” Anolla
cried as the angel made ready to fly off. Again, the angel looked surprised
that they were talking to him.

“We were
ambushed by a group of demons and separated,” Brad said. “We came through the
Binding to find our father. Take us with you, please.”

“Of course,” the
angel said. He hesitated. “My name is Uriel.”

“Bradley and
Anolla,” they said in unison.

“Tell me,
Bradley and Anolla,” Uriel said, “do you know the name Maya?”

“Isn’t that an
angel here?” Brad asked.

“She’s the King
of Heaven in
Dividha
,” Anolla said.

Uriel stared at
them speculatively.

“Gotta be the queen,”
Brad corrected her, “unless she’s a cross-dresser.”

He gulped and
looked guiltily at Uriel. “Uh, no offense, I mean, to your queen.”

“King,” Anolla
growled at him under her breath. Brad glared at her.

“Please,
enough,” Uriel said with a strangely pleased smile. “You’ve satisfied my
question. Now, if you’ll take my hands, please, we’ll get moving.”

“You said they
came here almost a half-day ago, but how is that possible?” Anolla said, taking
the angel’s hand. “We saw them cross several hours ago, but nowhere near a
day.”