The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (42 page)

Chris
waited nervously for the archangel to answer, unsure of whether he
really wanted to know what it was or not.

No, I cannot say.
Before this event, I would have said that only God, or we three
original archangels, were capable of such a thing. But I know that my
cursed brother still smolders in the Pit, so I am at a loss as to
what ally of his has this magnitude of power.

Should I be as worried
as I am?

Oh yes, my friend. We
both should be. Tell the judge that I agree with your conclusions.
And tell him that I'm sorry that he wasted his efforts at a
diversion, when I brought back Jacob and Tyler. I should have simply
done so at the beginning.

Sariel's
tone became bleak.

We were tricked, Chris.
We were played for fools and soon we may pay the price for that.
Remind the judge that finding the last piece of our sword is now even
more urgent. If this mysterious foe is as powerful as I fear, then we
may need every weapon in our arsenal to stop it.

Chris
blinked several times and stretched. The judge looked at him and
stopped writing.

“
Have
you spoken with Sariel?” he asked, seeming to see the answer on
Chris' face.

“
Yes
sir, I did.” Chris rubbed the back of his neck, which was
aching a bit. He wasn't sure why.

The
judge waited.

“
He
agrees with me, sir. Whatever this new enemy is, he thinks it may be
as powerful as an archangel.'

“
I
see. Doe he believe that the Lord of Flies is involved?”

Chris
took a moment to think about that title. Lord of Flies? Oh right. He
remembered his father using that term a few times when they had
studied the Bible. Satan. Right.

“
No
sir. He knows that his brother is still chained up down below. He
doesn't actually have any idea what this thing is. But sir, he wanted
me to tell you that we need that last sword piece.”

“
Yes.
I'm aware of that.”

Judge
Hawkes sat quietly for a moment, rolling his pen absently on the desk
while Chris waited.

“
Unfortunately,
while Valiant is in lock-down, there is no way to leave and try to
find that piece. But even if we could, the question that we must
answer first is, where is it?”

Chris
slumped a bit, feeling deflated. “There's no chance that it
might be in the vault of one of the other safe-houses?”

The
judge chuckled humorlessly. “I doubt that our luck, even if it
was augmented by God's will, is that good. It could be anywhere on
this rather large planet. From the depths of the deepest sea to the
heights of the tallest mountain. Until we get some sort of sign, we
have to presume that it is lost to us for now.”

“
Yeah.
Yeah, I thought so.”

“
Cheer
up, Christopher,” the judge said in a suddenly jovial tone.
Chris looked at him, startled and the man smiled with real humor this
time.

“
Think
about where we are compared to where we were. Our friends are back.
Angelics from around the world are traveling right now to join us
here. You have two-thirds of Sariel's sword in your possession. And
we now know that the enemy has a new ally, one of immense power. So
we are at least aware of the forces arrayed against us. And we can
take steps to defend against them.”

“
It
still sounds overwhelming, sir,” Chris said, shaking his head.

“
Yes,
perhaps. But there is one other bit of positive news too.”

“
There
is?”

“
Yes.
Sariel no longer has to hide. When the time comes, he can use his
powers without trying to mask his presence.”

“
Hey,
I hadn't thought of that!” Chris said with some enthusiasm. “No
more sneaking around. I like that.”

As do I
,
came the voice from within.

The residents of Valiant
were buzzing with excitement over the next few days. Word that a host
of Angelics were on their way, not to mention a bunch of new staff
members, ran through the castle like wildfire and everyone was
cheerful and busy as they got ready for the onslaught.

Suites that had been
closed and unused for months or years had to be opened and aired out.
Cleaning crews descended on these rooms and washed floors, vacuumed
rugs and changed bedding.

Chris smelled the scent of
lemon furniture polish and pine oil wood cleaner everywhere he went
as he walked through Valiant. He found himself getting excited with
the rest and the resident Angelics spoke about nothing else every
time two or more of them came together.

He was glued to a
television playing video games with Patrick in one of the small
sitting rooms two days after his meeting with the judge, when Alysa
barged in and began asking them both about their impending guests.

She wanted to know their
ages, what they were like and, most importantly, how many were boys.
Apparently, she'd had no luck with Chase who was, she said sulkily,
stuck to Sebastien like glue and wouldn't give her the time of day.

Chris and Patrick told her
that they knew nothing about the newcomers but that they were sure
that about half of them had to be males. All the while they avoided
looking at each other for fear that they'd burst out laughing and
hurt Alysa's feelings.

She finally left looking
very unsatisfied and the two friends returned to their game,
chortling to themselves at the girl's single-mindedness.

* * *

Natalie and Chris were
strolling through the gardens the next day. The sun was shining but
only in quick flashes, as clouds, heavy with rain, sailed
majestically across the sky like herds of stately elephants migrating
toward the far horizon.

Chris glanced up
occasionally.

“
Think it's going to
rain?” he asked lazily. The past few days had been the most
restful and enjoyable he'd had for months and even the thought of a
summer shower couldn't upset him very much.

Natalie followed his
glance and shrugged indifferently.

“
Maybe. It is
England, after all. I'm surprised that the weather's been so good for
so long, frankly.”

She looked at the trees
and shrubs that they were slowly passing.

“
The plants are
starting to look a bit wilted. A good soaking might be just what they
need.”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

Chris reached down and
grabbed a handful of grass as they wandered along the stone path. He
brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply. Then he smiled.

“
You know, you've
been almost a different person this last little while,” Natalie
said as she watched his actions. “You smile a lot more than
when we first met. In fact, you're downright serene at times.”

“
Serene? Me?”
Chris looked at her and gave her a crooked grin. “Sorry. I'll
try to be crankier in the future.”

She punched him lightly on
the shoulder.

“
Wise guy. No, but
seriously. What's happened? Not that I mind,” she added
quickly. “But there's still a lot of bad guys out there,
including God knows how many Fallen. And now they know about Sariel.”

The judge had called all
of the teens together after he and Chris had talked and told them
about what had happened to Jacob and Tyler. And about the fact that
their most potent weapon, the archangel, was no longer a secret.
Chris had actually encouraged the man to share the news. It seemed
only fair to everyone, he'd said.

“
I know that. But
now that Sariel's presence is no longer hidden, I don't know, it just
feels right somehow. What's the word, liberating? And the judge has
recalled Ghost to patrol outside the walls, so we won't be surprised
in case the Fallen actually move on us.”

He flung the grass into
the air and watched the breeze scatter the blades.

“
And I'm personally
excited about the new Angelics that are on the way. Twenty more of
us, Nat. Twenty! I think that even the Fallen would hesitate to
attack us after they get here.”

They were passing a stone
bench, its backrest carved into intricate whorls and waves. Natalie
stopped and sat down. Chris joined her and they both sat quietly
looking up at the busy clouds. He wished that this blissful day could
just go on forever.

“
I'm happy about
them joining us too,” Natalie said after a few quiet moments
had passed. “But first they have to get here. I don't want to
sound like a downer, but that many Angelics guarded by even more
staff members is going to draw some attention from our enemies. I
know Judge Hawkes said that the Moscow attack would keep them
distracted, but for how long?”

She closed her eyes and
took a long, deep breath. Then she smiled to herself, opened her eyes
and looked at Chris.

“
But you know me.
I'm always a bit of a worrywart. The odds are that everyone will
arrive safely, and then we can really start to make plans on how to
proceed. I have to tell you that Gloriel is pretty eager to take the
fight to the Fallen for a change.”

Chris chuckled as he
thought about how war-like Nat's inner angel was.

“
Yeah, I'm not
surprised. I think Sariel is too, especially after what they did to
Jake and Ty.”

“
Any idea on when
the first of our visitors will begin to arrive?”

“
I haven't seen the
judge in a few days,” Chris replied as he watched a cloud chug
by over their heads. “But Chef told me this morning that we
might see the first bunch as early as tonight, or maybe tomorrow
morning.”

“
Excellent.”
Natalie sat up abruptly. “Speaking of Chef, what time is it? I
forgot my cell in my room, again.”

Chris pulled out his phone
and looked at it. “Almost eleven. Why?”

Natalie stood up and
stretched. “Because I have another lesson in the kitchen,”
she said, sounding a bit regretful. “I hate to go inside on
such an amazing day, but I promised Chef and you know what he's like
when it comes to food.”

Chris laughed at her
comment.

“
Oh yeah. He takes
food very seriously. Have fun,” he added and waved as she
hurried off. Then he sat back again and leaned his head against the
back of the bench, watching the regiments of clouds continue to roll
by.

Yeah, he thought. It
certainly is an amazing day.

Chris wandered into the
dining room for a quick lunch, ended up eating four huge turkey
sandwiches and drinking two cups of coffee, followed by a slice of
banana cream pie and then headed back outside, followed by Patrick
who had joined him while he was eating.

He was becoming very fond
of the other boy and Chris was a bit surprised by that. Patrick was
everything that Chris wasn't. Outgoing, humorous and usually
optimistic about life. It balanced what Chris considered to be his
more gloomy, cynical outlook on things. And he found that he liked
Patrick because of it.

Opposites attract he
thought whimsically as the two of them reached the gardens.

Patrick was talking
excitedly about the same subject that most of Valiant was focused on;
their impending visitors.

“
Wonder what they'll
be like?” Patrick said as they found a spot under a scarred,
old apple tree and sat down in the rich grass. The clouds were
thicker now but sunlight still managed to burst through the
occasional hole in the banks of cotton-candy that tried to stifle it.

“
The new guys? Who
knows.” Chris lay back on his elbows and idly followed the
pattern of the leaves over his head. “But with over thirty of
us living here, I'm going to feel a lot more secure from Scythe and
the rest.”

Laying with his hands
laced together under his head. Patrick nodded once.

“
True enough. But I
wonder how they're going to keep us from going bonkers after a
while.”

He glanced at Chris and
lowered his voice. “I heard a rumor that his lordship is going
to bring in tutors to start giving us classes.” His voice took
on a worried tone.

“
Not fond of
school?” Chris asked with grin.

“
Eh. School. It's
all right, I suppose. And I'd like to get through enough courses to
go to college someday. But right now,” he pointed upward
vaguely, “in the middle of summer? No way. I hope that they at
least wait until autumn before they start making us grind through
that.”

“
Oh, they probably
will.” Chris stretched contentedly. The air was thick with a
multitude of sweet smells including the light scent of the apple tree
itself and he found himself drifting off to sleep. Patrick murmured
something but it faded away as Chris slipped into a doze.

“
Hey Chris! Wake up,
mate.”