Beyond Perdition, page 36
‘I am Mr Andes and this, this is Logan, Mason and Daniel, the Trinity.’
‘Oh, introductions aren’t necessary,’ Kaleen said as she too stepped forward. ‘Our Father has told us why you’re here and how we are to take you to the prison compound. It won’t be an easy journey. The enemy has already invaded and I fear we’ll face them in the forest. Although it is said that the Trinity of the Flesh cannot be harmed by demonic forces, we must keep out of sight lest any of the Devil’s emissaries return to him with news of your presence. As it stands, we have the element of surprise, but who knows how long that will last.’
‘We have Shroud of Turin, which works like an invisibility cloak,’ Logan explained.
‘No good against demons, they work on a different plane, they will sense your thoughts way before they physically see you. Me and Raphael will fight them off as best we can if it comes to it. The main thing is that none of the enemies is informed of your arrival on the island before the time is right.’
Raphael drew his sword, as did Kaleen.
‘Let’s first find a way up the cliff, I’m hoping there’s a path or steps or something left over from when this area was used to transport prisoners.’
Dusk was drawing in as the group finally located what must have once been a zigzagging flight of stairs hewn from the chalk. The steps were barely distinguishable through the amassing layers of vegetative growth, making each step hazardous. They moved in single file, Raphael leading the way. Already the air had grown cold, the sun beating a hasty retreat. Mason clung to the face of the cliff, gripping the natural ledges and protrusions as they collectively moved higher and higher.
At the top, Kaleen and Raphael ignited their blades with Celestial Fire and bore them in front like torches. Even though the glowing light was welcome, the group were still wary that it made them an easy target for whatever dwelt within the forest.
The pine forest was dense, each tree thick and imposing, resulting in almost total darkness. It was another world beneath the canopy. A world of malign shadows and distorted sounds where every rustle, crack or creak could end their mission before it even started.
Any path had long been hidden by briar, bramble and hawthorn forcing the leading Angels to chop at the undergrowth with their flaming swords. A great arc of fire followed each swipe like a comet’s tail. The view ahead was strobed as the blades flashed through the air tearing through tree branch and fern bush alike. Small critters darted into the shadowed underbrush whilst above the dark canopy the calls of an owl punctuated the air.
‘You seem injured, both of you, have the enemy already reached the island?’ Mr Andes inquired half jogging to keep up with Raphael and Kaleen’s determined strides.
‘It was only a matter of time until Satan discovered the whereabouts of the ladder. He sent his forces, the hell-bound, the un-dead ahead of him. They attacked our troops,’ Raphael explained cutting through a large overarching branch and dispersing a flurry of pine needles.
‘Watch it through here. I can’t be sure but it’s likely some of the Devil’s army has reached the prison. It will be up to the Archangels to defend the ladder then. I just hope we get there in time’
‘How long you reckon it will take?’ Logan asked brushing an encroaching fern leaf from his path.
Kaleen spoke up, obviously out of breath. ‘The forest is large, we had horses originally but on foot, I estimate at least a day’s journey or night, she quickly corrected.
‘That far hey? and do you know the way?’ The question sounded flippant but Logan’s legs already hurt and despite the meal on the ferry he was feeling hunger pangs.
‘All paths lead to the prison, we keep in the same direction and we’ll get there.’
That seemed like loose logic but Logan kept his mouth shut saving his dwindling energy for the walk ahead.
For a moment the trees grew more sparsely with long grass occupying the areas between the pillared trunks. Faint beams of moonlight trickled down making the pine needles glisten. The ground itself sloped upwards before plummeting towards a gulley. Beyond that, the pine trees gave way to oak and elm, the pine needles to mud sodden leaves and thick bushes of holly and hawthorn.
‘I remember the forest surrounding the prison was made of oaks, I think this is a good sign’ Kaleen said. Raphael agreed with a simple nod as he struck at a series of unearthed roots.
Mr Andes had tried to calculate the distance covered but could only ascertain they had been walking at least half the night, likely at a pace of three or four miles an hour. His own feet hurt and he could see the rest of the group struggle.
‘Should we stop and rest, at least for a bit’ he suggested.
No sooner had he proffered the idea, the oaks gave way to a glade with low lying ground and felled trunks forming a crude perimeter fence.
‘Here’s a good a place as any,’ Raphael said, swinging his sword around as he surveyed the surrounding forest.
Kaleen pressed her blade into the grass and almost instantly a small fire ignited.
‘Gather round and try and stave off this cold, Raphael keep guard, this light might attract unwanted attention.’
Mr Andes and the Trinity sat around the glowing circumference savouring the warm glow of the Celestial Fire. Other than Raphael, Kaleen was the last to sit, her sword still drawn. She seemed uneasy, her eyes flitting nervously left and right.
‘Perhaps you can tell us more about the ladder. I mean I’ve read things on it but it would be interesting to get a take from a real Angel,’ Mr Andes said trying to calm her nerves.
‘The ladder, yes the ladder. Well even though it’s named Jacob’s ladder it is not the same as that which Jacob first saw but is the only remaining conduit between this Earth and Heaven.’
‘You mean there were more?’
‘37 in total but the Lord felt that it was unwise to have so many physical means of transferring planes. He left only the Tal’argen prison ladder standing and revealed its location to only a few. It seems that Satan knows of its existence now and with it, he could win this battle.’
‘Why doesn’t God just close this one?’
‘If he did, then I, you and all the others could never get into Heaven, right now in the times of tribulation where people beg to die but death never comes, it is the only way to ascend to Elysium. We know that, but now, so do the Demons and they have waited an eternity to return to their home. The fallen ones have spent aeons dreaming of a way to escape Hell and enter Heaven. Satan has widened the gap between Hell and Earth, between the planes of the living and the dead and has allowed more and more of his hell-bound to come to the surface. Where only the Demon elect could put a foot on earth, now all those who inhabit Sheol can come up and out of the pits. I and Raphael fought the hell-bound, but I believe they were only the first line of attack. The Devil will soon release much more powerful creatures before he shall rise in the form of the...’
‘Great Dragon’ Mr Andes said, his voice laced with barely concealed pride. It was obvious to anyone listening that this was a subject which truly fascinated him, even if it were a morbid fascination like people’s interest in murderous psychopaths or spree killers.
‘Guys get up, extinguish the fire, I sense we’re not alone.’ Raphael’s voice came faint but stern.
The fire was extinguished, leaving no burned grass or trailing smoke. The only lights came from the Angel’s blades as both were held out in nervous anticipation. Raphael moved to join the group before signalling to his left.
‘Stay behind us,’ Kaleen said, her armour gleaming in the refracted light of her blade.
CHAPTER 30
THE FOREST RISES
1
Phoenix was growing tired by the inaction. It somehow felt anticlimactic after the battle plans and Archangel Michael’s numerous orations in the bunkers. Was this the calm before the storm? Bion certainly appeared ill at ease, his head bowed contemplatively over the unfurled maps. He was muttering to himself, questioning and answering, as if coordinating an internal dialogue.
Phoenix returned his gaze to the forest, watching as the moonlight dispersed over the dense canopy in shattered porcelain-like shards. Something was moving below the foliage. Something akin to a strong wind gusting between the boughs and yet the air above the forest was still. What few clouds there were hung static against the black velvet sky.
‘Father, come look at this’
Bion rose to his feet as if waking from a deep sleep. His eyes looked puffy, his face haggard. The thoughts he had been wrestling with had left their marks in the deep-set wrinkles of his brow and the depression of his mouth. He stumbled over to the window and followed his son’s gaze out over the woodland.
At first, he failed to see anything but then he too noticed the trees bending and snapping, a force strong enough to snap the trunks in two.
‘Signal the armies’ Bion called as the source of the disturbance rose above the treeline.
It was a creature formed of the forest itself, its limbs hewn from oak and elm, its torso a natural composition of ivy and bramble, Its head formed from mud and sticks, shaped crudely into a large human skull. A mouth of splintered teeth hung agape, and from within, flew a murder of crows screeching into the night. No sooner had this behemoth emerged, a second much larger than the first rose above the canopy. Its knobbly wooden fingers sharpened into talons rivalling the claws of any known predator. It stumbled forward like a prehistoric prowler unearthing the oaks as it made its way determinately to the walls of the prison, its limbs flaying wildly
Phoenix grabbed the rope hanging from the signal bell and tugged at it with all his might. The dull clang rang out over the prison yard, down into the subterranean bunkers.
The reverberating clangour reached the ear of Michael who instinctively looked towards the assembled choir. Guyox could read the fear in the Archangel’s face and stifled a smile of his own. This was what he had been waiting for. The other Angels secured their breastplates and gauntlets, raised their shields and swords, and awaited instruction.
2
Mason, Daniel and Logan all took refuge behind Mr Andes’s frame like children huddling behind the body of their mother. Raphael was stepping backwards, eyes trained towards the shuffling in the bush. Kaleen remained in a defensive stance, sword raised level with her face, the blade gleaming brightly. ‘There’ she cried as from out of the woods, leapt a beast of gigantic proportions. A canine. Its limbs were an exposed interlacing of twigs and branches, its fur, a pelt of long dried grass. A slavering mouth revealed row upon row of pine needle incisors dripping with tree bark sap. A long tail of ivy lashed behind like a Slave-driver’s whip. Empty craters replaced the eyes in the orbits of the skull, the darkness adding a menacing dimension to the eyeless glare…
It turned its head wildly as if it relied more on sound and smell than sight. Raphael stopped in his tracks as the hound stalked forward, sniffing the air. The beast stood mere inches from his face, its piney breath suffusing outwards in shawls of warm, fetid air. A deep, sonorous growl escaped its throat as it continued to search for its prey. Raphael knelt forward, the resin saliva running in dark tendrils over his hair and face. It was like melted candle wax as it seeped over his cheeks and chin, settling on his shoulders and upper chest. As the beast’s head rose, it revealed its pulsing gullet, a further entanglement of twigs and branches.
Kaleen had crept forward, her blade poised and ready. She stood three feet to the creature’s right when she hurled her blade through the air like a flaming javelin. The blade stuck fast into the hound’s latticework ribcage and began to ignite the interconnecting twigs as if it were a Viking’s funeral pyre. The creature howled in distress, the flames quickly consuming the dried grass pelt and the wicker-like bones. Raphael took this moment to also strike at the throat releasing a geyser of fluid. Its four legs buckled, the twig joints snapping like brittle bone, the fire engulfing its frame as quick as kindling. Kaleen wasted no time retrieving her blade from the flames, the fire doing her little harm. She moved over to Raphael’s side.
‘You okay?’ she panted, her chest heaving
‘Yes, yes I think so. I’m just concerned. This hell hound means only one thing. The Devil has upped his game. He’s not just relying on the un-dead or the hell-bound. He’s using the dark arts to shape and manipulate the forest itself, to galvanise the trees to do his whim. I don’t know what other creatures he would have created but I fear we’ll soon find out.’
None of the group felt much like staying in the glade after that. Instead, they set their sights on a narrow pathway slicing between a natural arrangement of felled oaks. Kaleen set about wiping the resin from her blade. ‘I just hope we can reach the prison in time, who knows what they’re facing.’
3
Guyox led the first choir across the upper gantry of the perimeter fence. Swordsmen and archers filed out between the watchtowers as Phoenix continued to ring the warning bell. Bion scrambled over the prison defence plans. ‘We’re not ready, we’re just not ready’ he fretted. I was sure the trebuchets would be set now, I thought we’d have more time.’
As he spoke, the choir spread out, aiming their bows up and over the concertina barb. More soldiers had gathered in the forecourt, swords and spears at the ready. Many Cherubim moved between the ranks lighting each of the weapons individually until all were ignited with Celestial Fire.
Phoenix noted the view from the watchtower window. The Angels looked impressive, stood in square formation, their battle armour gleaming under the light of their weaponry. He calculated at least three hundred, with a further ten Cherubim and Archangel Gabriel coordinating the gathered troops. There were maybe fifty on the perimeter fence plus four Signalmen and five Nursing Angels who remained airborne over the prison compound ready to tend to the injured and the fallen.
By this point, the forest had literally come alive. Very few trees were not bolstering up the advancing giants, forming their legs and arms.
‘Ready your arrows,’ Came Gabriel’s command.
With bows aimed skywards and arrows tipped with Celestial Flames, the archers stood ready. The nearest of the Forest Titans was around fifty feet from the fence. A crude trajectory had been collectively calculated as they waited with bated breath for the command to ‘loose’
Gabriel’s commanding voice ordered ‘Loose’ and a flurry of fiery arrows shot through the sky, their luminescence exaggerated by the velvety black heavens. Many missed their mark but the arrows that hit deep and stuck. The Celestial Fire caught the wood and cracked bark, the brush and creeping plants and engulfed the Titans in mere seconds. But each time a foe went down, another rose in its place. A few had reached the outer perimeter and were scaling the chain-link fence. Some of the archers adjusted their aim to pick off those climbing the outer battlements and ramparts whilst the others remained firing into the air on Gabriel’s command.
The ground troops mobilized, charging as one through the now opened security gates. Soon flaming sword and spear met the thrashing cavalcade. Sparks rained from the Damascus steel setting the tree limbs on fire and temporarily halting the adversarial advance. The Titans resurged each time, undeterred. Some of the larger enemies tore at the chain-link whilst others still climbed the fencing with unbridled ferocity.
Isaac led the ground attack, his own broad sword thrust out in front. In the moment, he saw neither the fray of his charging comrades nor the shadows cast by the oncoming enemy. It was as if the scene played in slow motion and he was viewing it from some detached position, somewhere above the battle.
It was only when he was forced to roll quickly to one side as the pad of one of the Titan’s feet came hurtling down, that reality struck, and struck hard. Suddenly the screech and clang of weaponry were all too apparent. Rising rapidly to his feet, with no time to gather himself, he struck at the Titan’s shin, splintering the wood bones and twig-cartilage. Sap poured from the wound spraying in plumes over the forecourt.
4
Kaleen led the way with Raphael bringing up the rear. The undergrowth had once again turned dense with trees and shrubbery obscuring any definable path. No one dared to speak. Instead, they listened collectively to the sounds of the forest. The memory of the savage canine was all too fresh, their hearts raced as they quickened their strides. Kaleen could feel her sword hand trembling, her breath coming in short sharp rasps. Keep it together she urged herself, just keep it together, you have a mission to complete.
The ground sloped upwards before levelling out once again and giving sight to something no one had quite expected yet. The prison fence loomed ahead, the flanking watchtowers stood in stark relief against the pastel light of the moon.
‘Keep down’ Kaleen whispered, ‘it looks like the walls have already been breached.’
The rest of the group peered out and gasped as they clocked the humongous Titans climbing and tearing at the chain-link fence. A fierce battle was unfolding. Fiery arrows rained down from the upper gantries whilst forces on the ground pushed forward with sword and spear.
‘Titans’ Raphael exclaimed, ‘Satan has unleashed the Titans.’
Logan couldn’t help marvel at the giant figures, their skin like ghillie suits, their ropey muscles twitching as they strode forward.
‘We have to find a way of getting the Trinity to Michael’ Kaleen said, trying desperately to calculate a route through the fray.
‘We could fly them over, I mean one at a time’
‘No, there are too many arrows and we need to remain unseen.’
Logan was about to suggest the shroud until he remembered its futility against the demonic forces.
‘There must be another route, perhaps another way we can approach the prison,’ Mr Andes suggested, ‘We can use the forest as cover and see if we can’t find an alternate way in.’
