Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) (38 page)

Mara glared at
him through narrowed eyes. “Enough, mortal, you waste my time,” Maya said
dismissively. She snapped her fingers and said, “Be gone.”

The old human
remained motionless. Moreover, he
remained
. Maya stared at him
incredulously, but the mortal stared back with guileless innocence.

“You should be
gone,” Maya whispered in spite of herself.

“Why would I
want to do that?” the old man asked, his head tilted quizzically.

“Who are you,
mortal?” Maya demanded. “No more evasions.”

“My name is
Trames,” the old man said, extending a hand, “pleased to meet you. Or I guess
I’d be pleased if you weren’t really you, but since you really can’t help that,
I’ll have to make do. Hmmm, that’s sort of catchy,” he said, trailing off as he
hummed softly to himself. His proffered hand fell back to his side, forgotten.

After a moment,
he shook his head and stared at Maya as though realizing she was still there.

“Now that I’ve answered
your question, will you answer one of mine, madam?” Trames asked brightly.

Perplexed by his
odd behavior, Maya could only nod.

“What is the
opposite of love?”

Unbidden,
various answers and rationales cycled through Maya’s head.

“Why do you
ask?” she replied, not willing to give in and justify him with an answer.

Why am I
holding this ridiculous conversation?
Maya wondered silently, then she
answered herself.
Because he is immune to my power, and I must understand
why. Is he a demon from Hell even more powerful than Kaelus? What or who else
could resist me so?

Trames shrugged.

“It’s one of
those things I’ve just always wondered what God had to say about it. I have a
list somewhere, I think. Anyway, I figured that asking the Voice of God would
be the surest way to know something,” he said. “Perhaps I was wrong.”

Maya glared at
him.

While she was
thinking, Trames had wandered closer to where several of the mortals and
immortals were frozen. He leaned closer to the gray-cloaked paladin and
whispered in his ear.

“What are you
doing?” Maya demanded. “Get away from him.”

Instead of
complying, Trames turned and gave her an impish smile as he held up one finger
as though instructing her to be patient. He whispered something else, then
turned away and walked toward a blue-cloaked man who bore a family resemblance
to the older paladin.

“I’ve read many
history books,” Trames said aloud as he crossed the hall, “and some even that
dealt with the history handed down from immortals regarding the Great Schism.
It’s an impressive tale, the triumph of Heaven over Hell, good versus evil.”

“I was there,
mortal,” Maya reminded him. In spite of herself, she was curious what the old
man would do and say next. She
had
to understand how he resisted her
power! Just as a test, Maya once again exerted her will in an effort to
obliterate the mortal, but he continued prattling on without any sign that he’d
noticed a surge of will that should have permanently wiped him from the face of
Heaven.

“Of course, of
course,” Trames said, nodding and smiling. “One thing I came across mentioned
how the forces of Hell moved as a coordinated force, as though one mind guided
them all.”

“The will of
Mephistopheles,” Maya spat in disgust. “The King of Hell guided the actions of
every twisted demon who swore allegiance to his evil ways until he eventually
ruled them all. He dominated their minds and controlled them all as one.”

“Not all of
them,” Trames reminded her with a significant glance at Kaelus, who still hung
suspended in the air. “Abdiel and Kaelus. What made them different?”

Trames stood
next to the young, blue-cloaked paladin and whispered in his ear. He glanced at
Maya and actually
winked
at her, then whispered a few more words before
he turned to face the Throne where Maya still stood.

“They didn’t
submit to his will,” Maya answered him grudgingly. “They maintained their sense
of self, despite Mephistopheles’s tremendous power and influence. They were too
powerful for him.”

Trames nodded.
“No doubt.”

Why, then, did Maya
get the distinct feeling Trames didn’t believe that explanation?

“Meanwhile,” he
continued, “the angels of Heaven fought like a well-coordinated force, but each
was an individual. Every angel enjoyed that sense of self, and it proved
tremendously effective and considerably more powerful. The result?” Trames
gestured grandly. “Heaven triumphed and Hell was expelled. One King learned his
lesson, and since that day demons have enjoyed individuality on a level they’d
never before experienced.”

“How do you know
this, mortal?” Maya asked shrewdly.

“Not all the
immortals who left histories behind were angelic in nature,” Trames explained.
“The
Myein
[20]
in particular once guarded libraries of texts sacred to them. Much can be
gained by studying the tomes left by demons, if one is careful.”

“Heresy!” Maya
hissed. “Blasphemy!”

“Probably not,”
Trames shook his head, then he shrugged, “but then you’d probably be much
happier if we didn’t go into that just now. Especially when there’s even more
interesting things to discuss.”

“Such as?”

“The answer to
your second question, or maybe it was your first,” Trames said, frowning. “I
forget. That part of our little chat was very confusing.”

Maya clenched
her fist in frustration. This mortal was trying her patience. Immune to her
power or not, he was still a mortal, and a solid blow would put him down like
the lowest of beasts.

“Get on with it,
human,” Maya said darkly. “You were talking about why you seem to be immune
from my power.”

“Was I?” Trames
looked surprised. “I suppose I was. Funny, that.” He looked at her and noted
the stormy expression on Maya’s face, and he quickly moved on. “Yes, well, as
to that, it comes down to a question of choice and belief. My friends here,
from the Seraphim to the humans and elves, even that demonic fellow over there,
all believe in the superior strength of immortal power. Immortal power stems
from God, or even Satan if you will, and nothing is more powerful than the
divine, yes?”

Maya nodded. She
glowered at the comparison of the Dark One to the Almighty, but remained silent
so as not to interrupt the old man, in the hopes he would soon get to the
point.

“And yet here I
stand, untouched by your attempts to freeze and vanish me,” Trames said,
snapping his fingers, “suggesting there may be something to trump even that
power. Yes?”

“Greater than
the divine power?” Maya laughed. “Now you
do
tread on heretical grounds,
mortal.”

“Heresy or no,
here I stand,” Trames pointed out again, and Maya’s laughter immediately died
off.

“Then what is
this greater power, mortal?” Maya demanded, then added in her own thoughts,
And
how can I obtain it?

“That which
neither divine power possesses, but I think both crave in their own way,”
Trames said. “It is that which I think both angels and demons possess, but
their very act of having it prevents most from knowing it. And it is that
greatest power that sets mortals apart, because we not only have it, but we
know
we have it, and that makes it that much more powerful, should we so
choose
.”

“Enough prattle,
mortal,” Maya snapped.

Trames shook his
head sadly. “It’s free will, Maya,” Trames said. “I choose to believe you
cannot and will never have power over me, and so you never shall.”

- 2 -

Listen to my
words, you know you can. I am free to move, just as you will be in a moment.
You’ll understand when you can move, and when you realize you’re free, you’ll
know what to do.

The whispered
words burned into Birch’s mind, and suddenly he found he could hear and see
again. Rather, he realized that had never
stopped
seeing his
surroundings or hearing the words being said, his mind had just been encouraged
to reject these sensations. A subtle trick on his mind, but an effective one.

Birch listened
in amazement as Trames continued talking to Maya. The Gray paladin was still
incapable of motion, so his eyes were locked on the glowing Throne and the
unclad angel standing before it.

“I’ve read many
history books,” Birch heard Trames say. The old man was out of Birch’s field of
vision, but the Gray paladin listened intently as Trames went on to explain his
reading and interpretation. Based on what Birch knew from his experience with
Kaelus, the old man was correct in his evaluation of the war and its aftermath.

Moreover, Birch
read the implied connection Trames was drawing between the Hell of old and the
state of modern-day Heaven. Maya was very close to imposing the same dominance
of will that Mephistopheles had once used ages ago.

“One King
learned his lesson,” Trames said.

But you have
not,
Birch mentally filled in the unsaid words.
An interesting insight.
Just who is Trames?
Birch wondered.

He listened as
the conversation went on. Trames suggested a power greater even than God’s, and
Birch was torn between a built-in revulsion and eager anticipation. Every
moment of his past, every bit of training and indoctrination he’d received in
the Prism rebelled against the idea of a power that could thwart the divine. No
mere mortal could overpower an immortal through sheer will.

And yet every
fiber in his being screamed,
Here! Here is the answer! Here is what you have
been searching for your entire life! This is what is missing!

“It’s free will,
Maya,” Trames said sadly, and suddenly the universe around Birch warped and
altered as hidden knowledge was unlocked in his mind. Time slowed and stretched
as he existed in the instant between one heartbeat and the next, and he
knew!

I am. I am. I
am. I am.

The words pulsed
through Birch with the presence of an existence more powerful, more immediate,
and infinitely more…
existent
, was the only word he could grasp to
describe the feeling. Whatever he touched had a form of existence so far beyond
anything his mind could comprehend, he was the tiniest grain of sand drifting
through the infinite ocean of its presence, trying to understand the concept of
being wet. It was everywhere at once, and yet it was nowhere. It was the
heartbeat of eternity, and so much more.

I am. I am. I
am. I am.

Was this God
Himself that Birch was experiencing? Had he somehow touched a small part of the
divine?

Just as suddenly
as it had come upon him, the presence vanished in an instant and Birch was left
feeling insignificant and alone. He reached for that feeling again and found a
warm blanket of total love and benevolence that wrapped around him so
completely he was tempted to let is soothe his pains and banish the nightmares
in his mind. And yet, as complete and eternal as that love felt, it was a pale
shadow to the overpowering presence he’d just felt.

What was that
feeling?

Birch!

His heart beat
once. The sound thudded in his ears like a kettle drum, and suddenly Birch was
in motion again, his timeless thoughts shoved to the side in the immediacy of
Now.
His muscles completed the last command given by his mind, and his sword leapt
out of its sheath like a thing possessed as his legs lunged forward toward
Maya. At his side, Birch was aware of his nephew likewise in motion.

Before them,
Maya stared at them in fear and shock. She recovered quickly and waved her
hand, and a surge of sheer willpower washed first over Birch then Danner. The
attack did little more than warm his chest, however, and Birch’s charge
continued unhindered.

“How is this
possible?” Maya screamed as she leapt up to stand on the Throne. Her legs were
spread with one foot on each golden armrest, and she pressed back against the
shining backrest as she stared at the two approaching paladins with naked fear.
Birch was unable to discern any further details about the Throne, but then his
attention was fixed entirely on the frightened Seraph standing atop it.

“Because we
choose it to be, Maya,” Birch rumbled as he and Danner simultaneously slowed to
a deliberate walk. He set his foot on the first step leading to the Throne.

“Everything I
have done has been for a better world,” Maya protested. “Why should you resist
me? I have done only the will of God. The mere fact that I can and have done
these things is a sure sign of His approval.”

“Then perhaps
this should be a sign that He wills this to be, also,” Birch suggested with a
grim smile. The two paladins stepped up to the second step.

“You ordered the
slaughter of innocents.” Danner’s blue cloak rippled as he spoke, despite the
lack of wind.

“They were
needed,” Maya yelled as they pressed on to the third step. “Which is more
important, the continued existence of Heaven, or a few paltry mortal lives?”

Birch stared at
her a moment, absorbing her rationale.

Beside him,
Danner murmured, “A country that’s saved at the expense of every basic
principle of liberty isn’t worth living in.”

“What’s that?”
Maya demanded.

“Just a lesson I
learned during my training,” Danner replied. “A lesson in justice. Perhaps you
should consider taking the class, you might learn a thing or two about the virtues
you profess to uphold.”

Birch and Danner
took another step toward the Throne, then another. Danner’s cloak gleamed a
rich, brilliant blue as the light of the Throne touched his shoulders.

“Your power is
fading, Maya,” Birch said. “We resist, and you diminish.”