Atonement (Guardians of the Void Book 2), page 12
“I don’t know,” he says with a worried frown. “But we’re about to find out.”
Baal is able to zoom through the sky at nearly twice the speed Desmond and I can fly. We do our best to keep up, but our wings can only beat against the air so fast. Before we reach the valley where the leviathans live, I hear the trumpet blare three times more with each one sounding increasingly distant. There’s only one reason I can think of that would explain the growing gap: the person blowing the trumpet may be using it to force one or more of the leviathans to follow his or her lead. If I were a betting man, I would say that person is more than likely either Levi or Mammon. But what would either of them want with a leviathan? Mammon already has the hellhounds and hellspawn to keep his people in line. It seems rather pointless for him to add a leviathan to the mix. If Levi is the one attempting to steal a leviathan, what possible use could it be to him? It looked like he destroyed New Eden after he learned of our escape, and now he doesn’t have anyone left to terrorize with such a hellish creature.
Baal stops up ahead of us. It gives us an opportunity to catch up, but I’m not sure why he ceased his chase until he suddenly raises his arms and causes the earth below him to tremble.
“What is he doing?” Desmond yells to me as we continue our swift flight in Baal’s direction.
I simply shake my head and keep my eyes on Baal. I suppose I should have questioned him earlier about his powers here in the Void, but after learning how he healed Kodi of his wounds, I assumed healing was his power. Both Levi and Hale have exhibited powers that allow them to control natural elements. Plus, Lilith warned me about Abaddon’s ability to manipulate water. I have no idea what Mammon is capable of yet, but it appears Desmond and I will be getting a firsthand demonstration of Baal’s true power.
Directly in front of Baal, the ground beneath him groans like it’s being awoken by his magic. The earth erupts as if it’s being ripped open along an imaginary seam. The air vibrates with a guttural moan as a wall of jagged rock emerges from the depths of the earth like the spine of an ancient animal. In an instant, a new thousand-foot mountain range is born. Baal descends out of the sky and lands on top of the mountain he just created. He keeps his attention centered on something below him as we finally make it to his location. Desmond and I land on either side of him and peer down into the newly formed valley to see what he’s staring at.
Baal has created a circular mountain range to momentarily trap the leviathan and its rider. The distressed cries of the leviathan echo up to us as it tries to cope with its new surroundings. The man riding on top of it keeps blowing the brass horn in his hands but to no avail. The leviathan is too upset by the sudden change to follow the command of its rider.
“Impressive mountain range you just created out of thin air,” I jest, but I truly am awed by what he was able to do.
Baal looks over at me and shrugs. “I never found quite the right time to tell you about my powers. Besides, it packs more of a punch if you can see it in action rather than me trying to explain what I can do.”
“What kind of fool would even think to ride a leviathan like a horse?” Desmond asks, his brogue accentuating each word with incredulity.
“Does the horn prevent the leviathans from attacking whoever possesses it?” I ask Baal.
“I honestly don’t know,” he states. “I’m the only one who has ever used it, but the leviathans wouldn’t have attacked me anyway since I’m … well, was … a prince of Hell.”
“Then I suggest we go find out who is down there.” I dive into a free fall down the side of the mountain and then stretch my wings out to glide above the confused leviathan. The creature is so distraught it doesn’t even notice us as we all hover over it, but the person riding on its back does. When he looks straight up at us all, I have to say I’m a bit stunned to see who it is.
“It’s been a long time, Asmodeus!” Baal calls out as he hovers over his one-time ally and former prince of Hell.
Asmodeus looks the same as I remember him: intense blue eyes, light brown hair, medium build, and oblong face. The last time I saw this particular prince of Hell was when Anna had to kill him. She didn’t want to take his life, but at the time, she had no choice. She sacrificed him to save millions of others. His death was a justified one, but it still ended up haunting her. Since he was a prince of Hell, his soul would have been sent to the original Void after his death since being sent to Hell wouldn’t have been a punishment for someone like him.
“I take it you’ve run into him before now,” I say to Baal in a voice low enough for Asmodeus not to hear.
“Once when we first got here. For some reason, he still has all of his memories intact. They weren’t wiped like everyone else’s.”
“Maybe that’s part of his punishment,” Desmond suggests. “Since he was a prince of Hell, he has a lot more to atone for, if he ever reaches a point where he seeks forgiveness that is.”
“Where have you been hiding all these months?” Baal calls down to Asmodeus in a louder voice.
“I haven’t been hiding!” Asmodeus calls back. He gives Baal an evil grin. “I’ve been biding my time, hoping one of you would make a mistake. Since one of you finally has, I plan on taking advantage of it.”
“Who are you talking about?” I ask, curious to find out what Asmodeus has planned with the leviathan he tried to steal.
“That pompous blowhard—Levi!” Asmodeus says. “He destroyed his city, and now he’s weak because he couldn’t control his temper. I may not be able to kill him, but this leviathan might be able to do the job for me.”
“You believe he’s that weak?” Baal doesn’t sound as certain about Asmodeus’s assumption.
Asmodeus shrugs his shoulders. “I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I’m willing to wager my life that he is.”
“Why does he believe Levi is weak right now?” I ask Baal. I doubt Asmodeus can hear us at our current elevation since he doesn’t pipe up with an answer of his own.
“Our power here in the Void is magnified by how loyal the people in our respective realms are to us,” he explains. “Since Levi killed all of his people, his power will be greatly diminished until he claims another city.”
“But will Asmodeus’s plan work?” Desmond asks. “You just told us that the leviathan doesn’t attack you because you’re a prince of Hell. Levi is one too. Won’t it leave him alone for the exact same reason?”
“It’s possible it will attack him if Asmodeus directs it to with the trumpet,” Baal explains. “I honestly never thought about using the leviathans as weapons against the others, but theoretically, I suppose it could work.”
“Then I say we let Asmodeus take it and get rid of Levi for us,” Desmond says with conviction.
“If it works,” Baal says, “Levi’s soul will be trapped inside the leviathan forever.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” I say, feeling zero guilt over Levi’s eternal prison. “He’s done nothing but cause trouble wherever he goes. The universe will be a much better place without him in it.”
“Agreed,” both Desmond and Baal say.
Baal directs his attention back to Asmodeus. “I’ll let you take the leviathan, Asmodeus, on one condition!”
Asmodeus tilts his head as he considers Baal. “And what condition would that be?”
“Bring me back the leviathan and the trumpet!”
Asmodeus doesn’t readily agree to Baal’s demand. If his scheme for Levi ends up working, he probably plans to use it on Mammon and the others. Possibly even Baal himself. If I were Asmodeus, I would take the win I was just given. There’s no way he would be able to kill Baal, even with the help of a leviathan. Considering that I just saw Baal bring rock out of the mantle of the earth to create a mountain range, Asmodeus would be a fool to think he could win against his fellow prince of Hell. I’m sure he’s jealous of the claws his brothers have, and I have no doubt he would have one too if he had been alive during Helena’s reign.
“Fine!” Asmodeus agrees with a small pout. “As long as I get to kill Levi, I don’t care.”
Baal raises his claw and makes a swiping motion toward the wall of rock straight ahead of us. A loud crack resounds as the mountain breaks away from the rest of the range and slowly sinks back down into the earth.
“Don’t try to double-cross me, Asmodeus!” Baal warns. “You don’t want me as an enemy here.”
Asmodeus gives Baal a dirty look, but he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Asmodeus lifts the trumpet to his lips and blows, causing the leviathan to move forward and out of the valley in the direction of Mammon’s territory.
“Do you think your threat will be enough to keep him in line?” I ask Baal.
“It’s hard to say. I definitely don’t trust him, but Asmodeus has always been more concerned about his self-preservation than anything else. If he does try to betray me, I can assure you he won’t like the consequences.”
“Is there any chance he’ll decide to team up with Levi to take you down?” Desmond asks.
“No chance at all. Asmodeus hates Levi. He would never join forces with him or Mammon.”
“What if Mammon and Levi team up against Asmodeus and his leviathan?” I ask. “Levi has killed a leviathan with his lightning once already. What’s to stop him from doing it to the one Asmodeus took?”
“Asmodeus was right about one thing,” Baal says. “Levi isn’t as strong as he once was. I don’t believe he has the power to kill the leviathan. If I know Asmodeus at all, he’ll lay a trap for Levi and pick a time when he’s far from Mammon before attacking. As long as he does that, he has a fighting chance to defeat Levi.”
With Baal’s reassurance that Asmodeus can handle Levi, I decide to tell them what I’ve learned from Lilith. I hope to see the light of recognition on Baal’s face when I mention the river Lilith saw but end up disappointed when his expression stays the same.
“I take it you haven’t visited a realm with that type of water feature,” I say to Baal, unable to keep my deep disappointment out of my voice.
He shakes his head, confirming my assumption. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t traveled around that much. Once I found this place, I pretty much just stayed here to help my people rebuild their lives.”
“To make yourself more powerful?” I ask. Baal already told us that his power and the powers of the others is directly proportional to how much the people in their realm revere them.
“I’ll admit that was part of the reason in the beginning,” Baal answers, “but unlike my brother angels, I sincerely have the best interests of my people in mind more than I do power for myself. As long as I stay strong, the others will leave me and those I care about alone because they know what I can do. I guess you could say we have an understanding of mutually assured destruction. If they leave my realm alone, I’ll leave theirs alone.”
“Considering this ‘understanding’ ” I say as realization dawns, “does that mean you won’t be helping us get Lilith back from Hale?”
“I would like to help you, Jered. I truly would, but protecting the people who live in my territory is my number one priority. I hope you can understand that.”
Unfortunately, I can’t fault Baal for his code of honor. He’s built a life here for himself, and I can’t ask him to sacrifice that or his people for my own gain. We’re uninvited guests that he never planned on seeing again. I refuse to ask him to blow up his life for any of us.
“I do understand,” I say without any rancor but certainly disappointment. If we did have Baal on our side, it would help, but I can’t in good conscience ask him to sacrifice the safety of thousands for two lives. “Thank you for doing what you have to help us so far. If you could though, I do have one more favor to ask of you.”
“Anything. What do you need?”
“Since we’ll need to scatter in order to find where Lilith and Cal are, it would be helpful if we had a base of operations. Once we find them, we can continue our journey to the Black Castle.”
“You can use my home for as long as you need to,” Baal graciously offers. “I only ask for one thing in return.”
“Which is?”
“These people—the guardians of the Void—I would like to know who they are and what their purpose is here in the Void. I suppose what I really want to know is if they’re a threat to me.”
“As soon as I know that myself, I’ll be sure to pass along the information to you,” I promise. “Lora is the only one we’ve met so far, but I assume we’ll end up meeting the sisters she mentioned once we reach the Black Castle. We should be able to finally discover who is giving Lora her orders also.”
“Hopefully, they’re more friend than foe,” Desmond says.
I nod in agreement. “So far, I would have to say they’ve been more of a friend, at least to Lilith, but I’m not sure how far that friendship will stretch once we meet him—”
“Or it …” Desmond interjects, reminding me that we don’t know what kind of being we’re dealing with yet.
“Or it,” I agree. “We’ll have to wait and see, I guess. Right now, we need to go speak with everyone else so I can tell them what Lilith has told me. The sooner we start searching for Hale’s realm, the faster we’ll have her and Cal back with us.”
Without another word, we make our way to Baal’s home. While we fly back, I go through the various scenarios that will make finding Lilith and Cal faster. Inwardly, I groan when I think about telling Kane that he’ll have to stay behind while we scout out the other realms. I can’t endanger his, Esser’s, or Kodi’s lives. I’ll also need to leave Silas behind, which isn’t my preference. I’ve waited so long to be the father he always deserved that delaying that privilege feels like torture, but I can’t place his life in danger either. If anything happened to my son because of something I did, it would break me to the point of no return. I would become a shell of the man I am now, and I’m not sure even Lilith would be able to help me find my way back.
When we land in the backyard of Baal’s home, we find Silas sparring with a returned Ethan. Before I left to meet Lilith in my dreamworld, Ethan was still out in the woods blowing off some steam. I don’t have to imagine the self-hatred and frustration Ethan felt after he heard about Hale’s torture of Cal. I know how he felt all too well because I lived with those same feelings after Silas’s death.
“We have a new clue,” I say directly to Ethan, hoping my words give him some relief.
Ethan sheaths his sword while he and Silas walk over to us. Silas hands me the sword I left for him to practice with: Anna’s sword. I accept it, even though I don’t have my belted sheath to place it in.
“Will it help us find them?” Ethan’s hair is mussed from the sparring and worry lines crease his otherwise handsome face.
“It should.” I keep my response simple because I don’t want to get Ethan’s hopes up too high. “We have three landmarks we can look for now: the mountain with the hole at the top where Hale is keeping Cal; a cliff with a house built on it made of wood and glass; and a river that looks like the Caño Cristales in Colombia on Earth. That’s the one that will stand out the most when we search from the air. Once any of us find that, we should come back here and get reinforcements.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Silas asks.
I chance a glance at the house over Silas’s shoulder and see Kane and Esser staring back at me.
“If you can keep Lilith’s friends from worrying too much, that would be a great help,” I say to him. “They won’t like the fact that I intend to leave them behind.”
“I understand why you need to,” Silas says. “I’ll do my best to make sure they do too.”
I place a hand on Silas’s shoulder. “Thank you. I feel a lot better knowing I have you here to take care of them.”
“You can count on me,” Silas promises with an earnest expression. His response reminds me that this isn’t the Silas I raised, but he must be who he could have been if I hadn’t twisted his moral compass while he was growing up.
“While you’re giving the details of what’s happened to the others,” Ethan says, “Gideon and I will start scouting out the surrounding realms. We’ll go to that water realm connected to Mammon’s territory and then head in different directions. I’ll head north.”
“And I’ll head east,” Gideon says.
“You’ll need to keep a mental map of the realms you enter and what direction you fly so you can backtrack your way here,” I remind them. “If you find the right realm, head straight back here so we can all go there together. Whether we find anything or not, let’s reconvene here in two hours.” I look pointedly at Ethan. “I know you want to get Cal out of there as quickly as possible, but we need to do it the smart way. Hale is too powerful here to go up against alone. You won’t be any good to Cal if you end up getting yourself killed.”
“I can promise you I’ll use my best judgment,” Ethan says, “but if I see an opportunity to get Cal out of there, I’m going to take it, Jered. Lilith isn’t in the same danger as he is. I think we can both agree on that point.”
I’m frustrated with Ethan’s attitude, but I can’t blame him. If the tables were turned, I would probably have given the same response.
“Don’t do anything rash, Ethan. I don’t want to have to explain to Anna why I didn’t bring the two of you home with me.”
“I’ll do what needs to be done.” Ethan unfurls his wings and flies into the air without another word. Gideon follows his lead. I take a moment to watch them fly off before looking back toward the house where Kane is still staring at me with a hard expression.
“I guess we should go tell everyone else what we know.” Silas and I walk over to the house. I mentally prepare myself for the argument that I know is about to ensue.
As I suspected, what I say to the others doesn’t go over well at all. Especially not with Kane.
“Are you serious?” he demands. His face turns beet red with anger. “You’re just going to leave us here to twiddle our thumbs?”
“We can fly much faster if we’re not carrying someone else,” I explain. “There’s no argument you can make that will change my mind on this matter, Kane. Finding Lilith as quickly as possible is the most important thing we can do right now, and standing here arguing about it isn’t helping her at all.”
