“The attackers on the platforms will do the rest and if all goes according to plan, we’ll end this war forever. Any questions?”
They shook their heads simultaneously.
“Good, stay in position until the fight.”
Gabriel led Taylor back onto the path, just out of sight of the battlefield. They waited.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Sam and Chris had enjoyed the picnic lunch he had prepared and were now sunning themselves on the ledge, high above the valley. Chris had brought two pairs of binoculars, so that they would be able to see the action better when the battle commenced. The binoculars were hanging around their necks, useless for the moment, as the valley was completely free of activity.
The technicians arrived and began setting up their equipment. They tested the equipment on Sam and could make out the location of her body by picking up the heat coming from her skin. Satisfied that everything was working properly, they locked the infrared scanner into position and set it to continuously scan the base of the mountain in the distance.
In only a few minutes they received a positive heat reading. Frederick, one of the technicians declared, “We’ve got something!”
Sam and Chris came around to look at the screen. Sure enough, there was a clear red blob on the screen, moving ever so slightly. It was off to the side and away from the angel gates, a good distance from where the angel army would typically emerge.
“It might just be an animal,” Chris suggested.
“Maybe…,” Frederick said. “Wait, look!”
Another red form appeared, then another, then another.
Frederick started counting, “Four, Five, Six….Fifteen, Sixteen.” Sixteen red circles were now clustered in the same area. They were moving around, but it was hard to make out any pattern, like lottery balls in a canister, waiting for the winning numbers to be announced.
Then a clear pattern emerged. “Are they…in a circle?” Sam suggested.
Frederick replied, “Yes, twelve of them are, but the other four appear to be outside of the circle and might even be at a higher elevation, like they are flying or something.” The equipment was pretty sensitive and could accurately detect differences in altitude and distance to within a few feet.
Frederick continued: “We can keep an eye on it, but it might just be a distraction to divert our attention away from where she will really be. The infrared forms appear to all be about the same size, which indicates they are all angels. We expect her to show up as a heat source that is at least twice as large as the angels.”
Chris suddenly seemed to remember that he had high-powered binoculars around his neck. He pulled them up to his eyes, and Sam, noticing what he was doing, did the same. They panned across the mountain, past the massive doors, until they reached the spot from where the infrared scanners had detected the heat images. They could see the bright outlines of angels.
“I see them,” Chris said. “They’re standing in a circle, just like we thought, and there are four that are out in front of the rest, situated about ten feet in the air, on platforms.”
“Oh my gosh!” Sam suddenly exclaimed. “There’s Taylor! She’s there!”
Sam watched as Taylor and Gabriel emerged from the mountain; they appeared to have walked directly through the rock face. There must be a small path, Sam thought.
“I see her too,” Chris said.
“We can now see a heat form on the infrared that is significantly larger than the others,” Frederick confirmed.
Sam and Chris watched intently, as Taylor and Gabriel approached the angels, stood there for a few minutes and then walked right back into the rock wall, out of sight.
“They’ve dropped off of our scan again,” the second technician noted.
“They moved behind some rocks, but I think they’re still there, waiting for the battle to begin,” Chris guessed.
“We generally can’t get a reading behind large rocks, but if this is the point of attack, which it appears to be, it will at least give us a small advantage when it all goes down. Radio it in, Howie!”
The previously nameless technician grabbed his mobile radio and spoke into it urgently: “This is Tech 49 calling all team leaders. We have an infrared and visually confirmed location for the package. Please communicate the following coordinates to all resources immediately: seventeen, ninety-nine, two. I repeat: one-seven, niner-niner, oh-two. Over!”
Chris grinned. “Looks like we have a job to do, Sam. We will wait until the battle begins and all hell breaks loose, and then I will attempt to teleport us behind one of the large rocks near where we spotted Taylor.
“It looks like they are going to try to encircle her to protect her, but when our forces get close, they’ll be forced to break formation to fight. I’ll throw a small stone at her to get her attention and then I will rely on you to motion her to come over to us so we can all teleport out together. If she ignores us or is unable to get to us, then I will try to get to her. You will NOT move towards her regardless of what happens, is that agreed?”
Sam nodded, impressed by the firm, in-control tone in her boyfriend’s voice.
“Okay, now we wait,” Chris said, bringing his binoculars back up to his eyes.
Chapter Fifty-Five
The waiting was unbearable. Taylor felt like a child playing hide-and-go-seek, waiting anxiously to see if someone would find her. Except the someone was trying to kill her. It made her have to pee. She tried to hold it. She couldn’t see the battlefield, which made it even worse. All she could do was listen to the sounds and Gabriel’s commentary on what he thought was happening.
She heard a loud groan, as the giant doors must have been opening. Then came the sound of many marching feet, thumping in rhythm.
Gabriel commentated: “First, the light infantry will march out—that’s what you’re hearing now. Next will be the gargoyles and gargoyle masters, and last will be the heavy artillery. The battle will begin the old fashioned way: we will sound a horn and then the demons will answer with another horn and then the fighting begins. As soon as we hear the second horn, then we go.”
Taylor’s heart battered around in her chest with each second that passed.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Unlike Taylor, Sam and Chris had perfect seats for the battle. While not close to the action, with their binoculars they could see everything. The angel army emerged from the mountain first, with brilliant white flags flapping in the breeze. They looked beautiful, in perfect formation, each step synchronized like a dancer with his partner.
Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers marched through the door and with each line, Sam expected it to be the last, but they just kept on coming. Finally she saw a large gap in the advancing legions. What came out next would be burned in her memory forever. She saw huge creatures, breathing bursts of curling light and roaring so loudly that Sam could hear them, despite being almost two miles away. The gargoyles were ready for action.
Their masters either walked a distance behind them or rode them, depending on how tame the beasts were. They were a magnificent—and also frightening—sight to see. Sam counted them and noted there were thirteen. She tried not to think about what it might mean for their luck.
When the last gargoyle had appeared, she heard another sound from much closer. She peered over the edge of the cliff and saw that an opening had appeared in the demon mountain and that their soldiers were now moving into position. It was a very different sight to the angels’ tight formations, but equally beautiful. With no particular structure to their ranks, hundreds of dark demons passed under them, looking fierce and threatening. Soon after they emerged, there was a loud clap of thunder and dark clouds rolled in.
Sam looked at Chris expectantly. He explained: “My people can control the weather and we much prefer the dark, so that we can easily see the angels and they have more difficulty seeing us. Fighting in the rain is no fun so we simulate a thunderstorm, except without the rain.”
Sam gazed upon the
battlefield, wondering if she would suddenly awake to find out that it had all been a dream. A loud roar from below drew her attention, as the demon gargoyles stomped out into the rain-free storm. After the gargoyles came the heavy artillery on both sides. Huge angels and demons wheeled large, powerful-looking weapons out behind the soldiers and animals.
Abruptly, all activity ceased and the only noise was the intermittent sound of thunder.
“Time to go,” Chris said, grabbing Sam’s hand.
She closed her eyes as a horn sounded. Another horn sounded in response and she felt the feeling of being transported, as if by magic, through time and space.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
When Taylor heard the second horn she didn’t even have time to think, as Gabriel was already carrying her towards the circle. Once inside, he set her back on her feet and she tried to see through the cracks between the burly protectors that surrounded her. She looked up and saw the four attackers raised above the field; they each had one eye on her and one eye on the battle.
Then, as Chris had predicted unbeknownst to Taylor, all hell broke loose.
The initially distant sounds of the battle were suddenly much closer and she saw orbs of light flying overhead and lightning crashing all around them, and heard cries of pain from injured soldiers.
A cry of, “They know we’re here, fire the weapon!” came from one of her defenders. She looked up and made eye contact with one of the attackers as he stretched an arm towards her, opening his hand as if to invite her up with him. She knew he was preparing to absorb her aura.
Unbeknownst to Taylor, Gabriel was watching things carefully from her side, waiting for the right moment to launch his own plan. When he saw the attacker point to her, he started to grab her, his wings already extending in anticipation of a flying escape from the melee.
Unexpectedly, someone grabbed him from behind, whispering in his ear. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Gabriel spun around and saw that Dionysus had snuck up behind him, anticipating his plan.
“Let go of me, Dionysus,” Gabriel demanded.
“You know I can’t do that,” Dionysus replied, gritting his teeth as Gabriel struggled to wrench himself free.
Calling upon all of his strength, Gabriel twisted his body and swung his arms to try to dislodge Dionysus’s hold. Dionysus’s grip held strong and so, instead of separating them, Gabriel’s maneuver caused them to both tumble hard to the ground, rolling several feet and smashing into the back of one of the protector’s legs. The circle of defense was partially broken.
Taylor was completely unaware of what was happening behind her, because her body was instantly struck by the connection between the first angel attacker’s inner light and her own aura. This time there was no tingling. Pain shot through her body and she cried out in agony as she fell to one knee.
She was confused by the pain. When Gabriel had harnessed her power, it had felt good, had made her happy, but this felt like torture. She looked up at the attacker and could see him laughing, as he enjoyed the god-like power that now coursed through his veins. His body began to glow brighter and brighter in preparation for his attack. With each second that passed, Taylor’s pain grew exponentially.
As quickly as it had started, the pain ended. Taylor collapsed in a heap, her body exhausted from the ordeal. She lifted her head to see what had happened and saw that the angel was no longer on his pedestal. A demon must’ve hit him, she thought.
Her relief was short lived as the second angel attacker locked onto her and began to draw energy from her aura. Immediately the pain returned and crept up her legs, into her spine, and finally into her skull. Her head felt like it would split in two if he didn’t stop soon.
The second attacker learned from his predecessor’s mistake as he didn’t linger at the point of full power. As soon as he was charged, he fired the weapon straight ahead, not caring what was in its path.
The destruction was instantaneous. Many angels lost their lives in the blast, not expecting it to come when it did, but the angel deaths were nothing compared to the legions of demons that were wiped out by the massive beam of light.
At first glance it appeared that at least a third of the demon army had been vaporized, but upon further review, it was somewhat less than that, as many of the demons in the direct path of the attack had seen it coming and were able to teleport out of harm’s way.
Seconds after firing his weapon, the second angel attacker was crippled by another well-aimed demon artillery round. Seeing the fate of their comrades, the remaining two angel attackers scoured the battlefield for signs of attack, before locking onto Taylor’s aura simultaneously. Her head began to ache as knives of pain assaulted her skull.
It was at this point that several large demons were able to teleport close to the circle of defense around Taylor, causing her protectors to spring into action, breaking the wall around her. Bodies thrashed, bodies crashed, and Taylor blacked out.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chris and Sam watched anxiously from their hiding place behind a large rock. Sam wanted to rush out to try to help Taylor when she first screamed in pain, but Chris wisely held her back and told her that they would be able to best help her if they were patient; they would only have one chance to rescue her.
Even when the weapon was fired, Chris held his ground, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
When the wall of angel defenders crumbled and they began fighting the demons, Chris sprang into action, charging out of hiding at full demon speed. Reaching her in seconds, Chris touched her and instantly teleported back to where Sam remained hidden.
He scooped up Taylor’s limp body and reached his hand out for Sam to grab, which she did, and the three disappeared. The rescue had taken all of three seconds and all but two of the angels were oblivious that anything had even happened.
Gabriel had been grappling with Dionysus when they heard the yells from the attacking demons. They were right on top of them. They both saw the circle around Taylor open up to reveal her lifeless body on the ground. They were both about to rush to her side—Gabriel to try to protect her and escape with her, and Dionysus to ensure she was still alive enough to be used against the demons—when Chris appeared out of thin air and was gone even quicker than he had come.
“Noooo!” Gabriel yelled, dropping to his knees.
Dionysus glared at him. “This is your fault, you will be charged with treason. Guards! Arrest Gabriel.”
The demons had fallen back now, rushing back towards their mountain in retreat. They were likely already aware that the girl had been rescued. Many angels and demons had been killed during the battle, but most of the casualties had been from the single death blast. There was no evidence that they had ever even existed, their bodies having been disintegrated.
Two of the angels that had previously been defending Gabriel and Taylor, responded to Dionysus’s command by grabbing Gabriel and lifting him to his feet. He didn’t struggle. There was no point. He had failed the only person that he had ever truly loved and if by some miracle she was still alive, she would never forgive him.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chris had a license to breach the normal teleportation rules within the demon complex, and so he reappeared with both girls in the midst of the medical corridor. “I need medical assistance NOW!” he yelled.
Before Chris had said a word, the staff were already rushing a cart over and preparing a room. They quickly, but carefully slid Taylor’s limp body onto a backboard and then moved her to a rolling cart.
Sam was hysterical, tears rushing down her face. “Oh God, I don’t think she’s breathing, please save her, please…” She passed out in mid-sentence, but Chris was there to catch her before she hit the ground.
He set her gently on another bed and asked a demon nurse to take care of her while he checked on Taylor. He went into Taylor’s room, where the doctors were performing CPR on her. Sam was right, she wasn’t breathing. “Her pulse has stoppe
d,” one noted. “Charge the panels.”
They applied defibrillator panels to her chest and her body convulsed when they shocked her. Nothing happened. “Prepare for a second charge!”
After the second shock, Taylor gasped, her eyes opening wide.
“We’ve got a pulse. It’s quite weak, but she should be just fine.”
Chris breathed a sigh of relief. Taylor’s eyes had closed again and her breathing was slow and steady. “Can she hear me?” he asked the doctor.
“Probably not, she really just needs to rest.”
“Please let me know if anything changes.” Chris left Taylor’s room and rejoined Sam, who was now awake after receiving a heavy dose of smelling salts from the nurse.
“Is she…?” Sam started to ask, her body tensing as if preparing for bad news.
“She’s fine,” Chris said. “The doctor thinks she’ll make a full recovery.”
“Thank God.” Her body relaxed and she hugged Chris warmly, her head relaxing on his shoulder.
Chapter Sixty
Ten days later, Taylor, Samantha, and Christopher were lounging in the recreational room in the Lair. Taylor had made a full recovery in only three days and the girls had enjoyed a week of relaxing, exploring the caves, and talking about what had happened.
However, no one had talked about Gabriel, and Taylor could tell that Sam and Chris were avoiding the subject. She could also tell that they were trying not to look too much like boyfriend-girlfriend, clearly afraid that it would upset Taylor. Eventually, Taylor had enough of avoiding the hard topics.