The Wrath Of The Forgotten, page 4
part #4 of The Fallen Angels Series
“Yes, of course, she is the only one that can manipulate it in any strength. I’ll see what I can do.”
She is not here.
Lilith looked up at the eyes that were larger than herself. She had felt so sure that Sariel might have sought refuge here. Tiamat’s cavern was a safe place filled with the wonder of Dragons. Sariel loved this place, she had thought that she might have sought Bahamut’s counsel in Tiamat’s absence.
“Do you have any idea where she might be?”
Bahamut raised his black and red head and closed those Chaos flecked grey eyes, Sariel’s touch still showed strongly on him. He shifted his phenomenal mass to find comfort and pushed away several Primordial Dragons who had taken the opportunity to climb up on him. All around him the other Dragons had fallen silent as they felt the Dragon Father using his magic.
Lilith watched in fascination as the crystal columns danced with undefined magic, and the lava pools flushed cyan then green.
She is within the embrace of Chaos.
“Is she lost to us?”
No, she is shrouded in her own powers, she is wherever she is of her own volition. As to the specifics I cannot say.
Lilith thanked him for his help but left feeling like she had achieved nothing. Somewhere Sariel was alone, and no one knew why. All they knew was that something had happened for her to unleash a Chaos Storm on Lucifer. What had the bastard done to her?
Chapter 5
Gabriel looked over the assembled war host and felt confidence flow through her. Surely they could not lose with an army such as this?
Famous last words she thought to herself. One only had to look at the collapse of America and the ongoing war between the Heradmantium Empire and the United Christian States of America to remember just how powerful the armies on both sides were. Still this army was bigger than any within the Middle East, except perhaps what lay hidden behind Great Babylon’s borders. But that was a battle for another day.
Azad Ali stood pride of place upon the Buraq, which itself stood on a huge platform surrounded by tanks. A variety of missiles stood arranged around them, a foreboding reminder of Human technology that was overshadowed by the menace of the Angels.
Before the platform was rank after rank of soldiers; Human, Jinn and Lesser Angels in the armour of their kind. Humans in desert camo with their rifles, Jinn in their smoky armour and Angels bathed in light that was most concentrated in their swords and spears.
Above them flew legions of Griffins, their metallic feathers flashing brightly in the intense desert sun. Shrieks and hisses filled the air as the Monsters expressed their impatience for bloodshed. She smiled to herself as the soldiers steadfastly kept looking forward and ignored their fear. That showed great strength, Basilisks, Cockatrice, and Hydra were terrifying creatures.
If they knew what they were going to be fighting their courage would falter. They knew very little of what lurked within Egypt and its territories. They knew that they were entering a Holy War, to help stave off Judgement Day. They knew about the false Gods that had claimed Egypt as their own, driving it into a civil war which had pushed it to the edge of collapse. What they didn’t know of were the Daemons that had flocked from much of Northern Africa to lend their support. Nor did they know of the Demons that had descended on Egypt.
The Daemons had thrown their lot in with either Egypt or the British Empire as they fled Abaddon and his Demonic Horde as it consumed Central Africa and continued north. Was he really fleeing from the British and Samael or just seeking new killing grounds? She honestly couldn’t say, Abaddon didn’t think like everyone else, but then she doubted there was much lucid in his mind anymore. Some Daemons will have stayed by his side, but most would have fled him and his creatures.
Despite what the Angels might claim there was a huge different between Daemons and Hell’s Demons. The latter were usually more powerful but with less of a grip on reality. Which she had used to her advantage. Egypt had found itself recently inundated with raging and skulking Demons, an extremely dangerous third faction in their destructive civil war. The Demons didn’t care who they killed or what they did for the most part, though some were far more tactical.
Entire towns had been destroyed by raging Demons, hundreds and thousands disappeared in the night, entire suburbs of the larger cities had fallen to their flames and claws. It was only Cairo and Alexandria that had held back most of the hordes, but only because Divine power was concentrated there. It would make their task more difficult and easier at the same time. Resistance in Egypt was crumbling, when they swept in, the natives would not be able to turn them away, they would become part of the Caliphate, and the Gods would die. The clean-up would be more difficult with the Demons, but they too would be brought to heel. Her experiments had revealed just how useful controlled Demons could be.
She glanced at the other Arch Angels, only Michael was absent, they nodded at her. They were all ready.
They each created their own portal to different parts of Egypt. They would strike hard and fast in the outer regions before making a spear line for Alexandria.
She marched through her portal followed by Azad Ali and the most powerful generals of the Caliphate. They wanted to keep an eye on Azad Ali and stop him from getting all the glory. As long as they accomplished what she wanted, she didn’t give a damn about how they did it.
She looked around at the dark skies filled with smoke that smothered Cairo. She gave the Humans their orders and let them do as they needed. They were to secure important government buildings and anything else they deemed important. Their presence was the only thing that would stem the bloodshed and flames that would very soon bathe Cairo.
All those that follow Heaven should head to their nearest Mosque or Church. Those that do not run the risk of death. Her voice rolled through the city and within all Human’s heads. She glanced back at the Angels, they were already fanning out and tracking down any Divine. She missed her Seraphim, but they were serving her better in Constantinople. The Constantinian Empire was starting to take shape.
She watched the Heavenly Legions start to slaughter the Divine they found. Her Griffins had followed them, sweeping down to finish the kill and consume the meat. She dropped her arm, and great shrieks filled the air. The Hydra, Basilisks, and Cockatrice had been freed from their constraints. She watched without emotion as they poured into the city and started destroying everything they could find.
Gabriel turned her attention on the magic sweeping through Cairo. She could feel the dramatic shift as the Angels’ powers flowed through the city, compounding what had been started months ago. She felt Uriel hand over control of the city to her, he was assuming control over Omdurman while Jophiel was assuming control over Khartoum. They would sweep up from Egypt controlled Sudan and join her in Cairo to sweep up to Alexandria. She had plenty to keep her occupied, Greater Cairo was a massive city, though how much would remain once she was done with it?
Azrael was currently taking Monsters over to Ariel, which was just as well. Michael’s uncle unnerved her and that she did not like. He was such an odd person. No political agenda, not claiming more power. Always going about his routine tasks with his Reapers. It was most odd. Still he never got in her way nor opposed her.
She turned her attention back to the conversion of Cairo, the eruption of explosions through the city showed that the rebels were not as absent as they had thought.
Typhon felt the shift of power from Heaven down to the Surface. He was older than any of the Angels and from his mother he had inherited powers they couldn’t even dream of. He could read the rhythms of the world like few others, and he could always feel shifts in power. Especially if he was looking for it.
Heaven was very undefended, no matter what Zeus’ progeny might think. He could feel far less interference between him and his old foe.
He turned to Echidna, she watched him with resignation. He loved her dearly, but he had to kill Zeus, he could never rest until he was slain. He could not spend the rest of his days looking over his shoulder. For Zeus would come looking for him. Hera might think him out of the way, but he was still very strong. He wondered how shocked Hera would be to find out just how powerful Zeus still was. And she had thought him slain. The idea was laughable, the whole world would breathe a sigh of relief at his demise. Feminine power had suffered under his rise, the ancient patriarchal religions had been created by him and his cronies. He had debased Hera of her own power, had she not been raped and damaged so, she would have risen to be such a power that none of the patriarchal religions could have dreamed of controlling her lands.
He had grown powerful by killing and debasing women, both Divine and mortal. He had infuriated fathers, lovers and sons but they were nothing to his power, those who tried to stop him had quickly died. He had even raped and dominated young males still growing into their power. His power had been secure, so secure that none of the most powerful Goddesses had dared reign him in. So his power and influence had spread wide across the world, so much so that Gaia had tired of the world and fallen into sleep to dream of better times.
Now those times were approaching. He might not kill Zeus, but he could feel the rising feminine power around the world. For whatever reason there were very few Gods on the Surface, but there was a noticeable number of Goddesses. He knew Hera, the others he did not, but he could feel their rising strength. Hera was not the only one to have eclipsed Zeus’ power. A powerful feminine wave was coming to rock the world, and civilisation would never be the same. Nor would Heaven.
Perhaps then his mother would rise from her slumbers. Perhaps not.
He had to do this not just for revenge but to ensure the safety of females, both mortal and Divine, but especially for his beloved Echidna. He would lay down his life if he had to in order to ensure that she was safe.
She understood his concerns, and she could agree. She had tried to change his view, to her he was more valuable alive than throwing it away. She had accepted his decision simply because she could not change it.
“It is time?” she asked.
“It is. Heaven is very undefended.”
“What if you fail?”
“Find safety with one of the powerful Goddesses. There is Hera, but there are others. One lies in Avalon, one in Mesopotamia and another in the Orient.” She would be fine, he had made her his Heir. A choice he had made long ago, and one he had never had cause to change. She had always been by his side, even when he was imprisoned she had stuck steadfastly by his side. She cherished him in a way that was so alien for the Divine.
She wrapped her arms around him, “please don’t go.”
“You know I have to.”
She buried her face into his shoulder “please come back to me.”
He held her tight then pushed her back to look at her. Her eyes had turned to a grey-blue, it reminded him of the ocean or storms. Metallic tears looked ready to spill. “I will try my best.”
He kissed her slow and deep, for how long neither could say. What was time to them when they had lived so long and were confined to the dark?
She held up her hand to cup his face, her final goodbye. “Make him pay.”
She slithered backwards as he started to grow back to his titanic form, it had been so long since he had been his true size. The Gods might have contained him to a smaller proportion, but they had never managed to compress him down to their size. He had only ever done that for Echidna because she could not grow to match his.
The volcano rumbled violently as he continued to grow. The eruptions that had been shaking Etna for the last few weeks were nothing compared to now.
Upon the Surface, Etna erupted into billowing smoke and colossal arcs of lava that sprayed out for kilometres. To the horror of all around, the top of the volcano crumbled away around a monstrous form growing out of the smoke and lava. Glowing red eyes seen for miles around, wings the size of mountains fluttering out of the ever growing plumes of smoke. The ground shook, and the volcano thundered with the power of Typhon rising from his prison. Up he grew until he started to float upwards. His tentacles slithered out slick with lava, reaching about and twisting as though they were in in erratic fits.
Then he disappeared behind the clouds that had flooded the sky.
Michael walked along the Citadel walls doing rounds that were not needed but were part of Heaven’s strict regime. Guard duty was expected of all the Legion, only the personal Guard were exempt. He, as part of his punishment, had been assigned to guard duty to drive home just how far he had fallen. What many of the Angels seemed to have forgotten was that it was temporary.
His Cherubim certainly hadn’t, they only took their orders from him. Gabriel had been granted control of them, but he had been the one to grant her that power. The other Archs got nowhere with them unless he had approved it. Yet many of the other Angels seemed to have forgotten that he was still an Arch Angel, and he would regain his authority. He stored away all that happened, for when he would regain his power, then he would punish them for their sheer stupidity. He honestly couldn’t believe it, and neither could many of the Angels. Any in the Guards treated him with nothing but respect, but then the Guards were a higher ilk than the Legion
The great sandstone walls that encircled the Citadel had been created to house the spells that protected it. Walls were of no use against Gods, but they were valuable for housing protection spells and shields. They were also visibly impressive. That was one thing all those in power agreed with, the might and power that was implied in buildings. Heaven was filled with such buildings but of course, the Palace, Skybridge, and Walls stood out the most.
He glanced at the gathering cloud bank that was surging up around Heaven. It was unusual for storms to affect Heaven but they did occasionally happen, especially in the void of magic left when vast amounts of the Angels left Heaven. Like the Angels’ power, their spells relied heavily upon their numbers.
He watched for a few moments before turning away. He had seen thousands of storms in his life. What was one more? He had his mundane duties to attend to. He nodded to some guards as he walked past. They were among the few who treated him with the respect that was due.
“Storms a brewing,” one of them said.
“Looks angry,” the other said.
“It is to be expected with the Guards and much of the Legion on the Surface.”
They staggered as the whole island shook.
“What the fuck was that?” one of them yelled, but Michael wasn’t listening he was watching the moving shadows within the clouds. He was sure that there was something there but what could it be?
Agrat smiled at the vials she held in her hand. Within it was almost certain death. Smallpox that she had developed to be even more virulent. She had created a plague that would sweep across the unsuspecting world, for no one had the vaccine to smallpox, except the Heradmantium Empire.
She had made sure of that.
She had overseen with Kyle the rapid immunisation of all the Heradmantium’s armed forces and peaceful citizens. Rebellious and uncertain regions had been left unvaccinated. Absolute loyalty to Hera had its rewards, the lack of that loyalty would be paid for with their lives.
The difference with this plague was that it could kill the partially Divine, something no one in the world would be prepared for. Because of her brilliance, millions, if not billions, would die. Even the Gods of Death would be impressed with her. If any of them still lived.
She opened the lid of the vial, and using her magic caused the liquid to disperse into millions of tiny droplets that shot out from around her. Each and every one of those shots found a mouth or nostril to enter, and once there they began their infection.
She smiled up at the Christo Redentor, there was nothing that he could do to save his precious flock from her. She had already infected the lower Mississippi, and now she was doing parts of the Amazon basin. Both regions were already floundering under an onslaught of horrific diseases. Now she had unleashed the worst. She wondered how long it would take for people to start dying.
Chapter 6
Gabriel smiled as the city of Alexandria came into sight. Oh, how the citizens must quell at the sight of the advancing army, with its terrifying Monsters and legions of Angels.
They had already fired a few missiles at the city, but the bright shields surrounding Alexandria had stopped them. The Egyptian Gods were ready and waiting for them, they had had weeks to ready themselves, but they could not be prepared for everything that was arranged against them.
They could not have anticipated the number of her creations. While they would have noticed their absence from the world, they would have known that she would recreate her Monsters. They just wouldn’t have thought her capable of this many.
They could not be equipped to be facing almost the full might of the Heavenly Legions, how could they have prepared for them to be empowered so? Uriel and his Grigori had already started sprinkling Nephilim bastards all throughout the Caliphate, EU and UCSA. Those bastards were already being used as power sources, or in some cases having their growth sped up to create superhuman warriors.
She was starting to see the use of Uriel’s plan. Of course, he had arrived at this plan from the desire to spear as many women as he could. Still, he could do as he pleased if it gave them more Nephilim. They were proving to be even more useful than last time.
She could feel the power emanating out of the shields, there were two powers that she could potentially manipulate to her will. Whether she would be able to manipulate them was another question. Things had to line up in her favour to take advantage of the situation.
She signalled the other Arch Angels, they had brought their armies here. The country was nowhere under their complete control, but the major population centres of Egypt had been brought to heel. The only major one that remained was Alexandria, the nest of Gods and Demons. She wondered just how strong the Gods would be, they had been under such strain from the Demonic presence within the country.
