Nyx ignored him. “Read my mind!” she sent out to the Descended. “This is all that has happened to me! This is what Tribunal will do to you all! And this is where Lucifer is leading you!”
It hurt, having millions of Descended Angels dig into her mind at once. It was nothing compared to having her body crushed in a box and Hellfire seeping into her brainpan, but it still wasn’t pleasant. Hundreds of thousands of minds ripped into hers, taking her memories for themselves. Anger, disbelief, jealousy, fear, hatred in ten thousands of different forms flew into her mind. It was all Nyx could do to stay in the sky. She had to close her eyes and plug her ears, blocking out the sights and sounds of Hell just to keep a grip on her sanity.
They took the memories of her lovemaking with Tribunal. Of her belief in him, her toil on his behalf. Of Epiphenia’s birth. Of his betrayal and her torment. They shuffled through the memories like bored children, leaving their greasy fingerprints on her mind.
“Nyx!” Persephone’s sending broke through the others. “Lucifer is coming. Fast!”
Nyx opened her eyes. Through the darkness of Hell’s sky, she could see Lucifer charging, with a hundred legions behind him. Flying demons were attacking them as they flew. Though the legions numbered five hundred thousand, the demons numbered more, and were occasionally pulling Descended out of the sky by sheer weight of numbers.
“Listen to me!” Nyx’s voice filled Hell. “Lucifer has lied to you all! Tribunal has lied to you all! He will destroy Earth, Heaven and Hell, and all of us. We will cease to exist! There will be nothing left of us, nothing left of God! Creation will be unmade!”
“You lie, bitch!” screamed Lucifer. “Creation will be ours!”
“God will never allow Creation to be ours!” Nyx’s words rang louder than Lucifer’s. “He would turn us to ashes before he would let us rule Creation!”
“Tribunal will destroy God!” Lucifer was only five miles away now. Nyx could see the fury in his face, could feel the rage emanating from him. “And I will destroy you!”
“And when you destroy God, what happens to Creation?” Nyx demanded. “God didn’t just make Creation. He’s part of Creation! Everything in the world is part of him, and he is part of everything, including us! What do you think happens when he goes away?”
She looked away from Lucifer, to the Descended who surrounded them. They were coming from all directions, now, millions strong, pursued by tens of millions of demons. They were flying in grim desperation toward her.
“Tribunal is an aspect of God,” called Nyx. “He is more powerful than any of us. He is more powerful than all of us, and he will render us all into nothingness when he is done.”
Lucifer came on; the Angels at his back came on. From all directions, the Angels came on, charging forward. The black and red armor filled the sky like ashes fresh-blown from a volcano. Swords and whips were in every single hand. A few Angels had left after reading Nyx’s mind. That was all.
“Fuck,” said Persephone, looking at them all coming.
“You’ve seen into my mind!” shouted Nyx. “You know what I say is true!”
“I think we’re fucked,” said Persephone. “They’re too vicious to care.”
“Awww…” Nyx pulled her own sword and whip out. “I think you’re right. Back to back. And I want Lucifer.”
“You can have him,” said Persephone. “I’ll take on everyone else, then?”
“You do that,” said Nyx. “And Persephone?”
The skies of Hell, already black, glowed with hellfire and Descended steel and seas of red eyes racing toward each other.
“Yeah?”
“Sorry it didn’t work.”
Persephone nodded. “Me, too.”
The seas of Descended closed in on them from all directions. Then Lucifer and Nyx were blade to blade, Persephone was fighting a pair of Descended, and all round them the skies of Hell rained silver blood as a million Angels fought one another once more to see who would reign in Hell.
The first hail spears slammed into the Descended Angels who roiled and fought against the buffeting winds high above Firozkoh. The spears were just ice; they should not have been able to penetrate the armor of the Descended. This ice, though, was imbued with Epiphenia’s power. It cut through the Descended the way nails driven by a mighty hammer would cut through human flesh. Descended fell out of the sky to be grabbed and crushed by the stone tentacles. Others simply burst into silver dust that instantly scattered to the winds when the spears of ice pierced their hearts.
Ishtar tried every trick she could think of to find Epiphenia. She looked for the source of the power, but it was everywhere. She looked for places without power and couldn’t find any. She reached out with her mind to every corner of the Earth to find an intelligence that wasn’t human or Descended. Nothing worked. Somewhere, she was sure, the bitch Epiphenia was hiding and enjoying herself immensely, but there was no way for Ishtar to figure out where she was.
At least the hail has stopped.
Lighting flashed out, brighter and more powerful than any Ishtar had seen in a thousand years of living on Earth. A dozen descended vanished in billows of smoke and silver ash.
“Oh, fuck this,” said Ishtar. “Everyone but my squad! Get back to Hell! Tell Lucifer we’ve got problems. We need more bodies up here!”
She watched as the remaining Descended dove straight down to the Earth, whips snapping and tearing holes in the fabric of reality. The four hundred remaining Angels from Hell’s most powerful legion dodged and wove their way through the massive stone tentacles that had destroyed their brethren and began the long, slow fall into Hell.
Ishtar led her squad up, up, up to a place where there was neither air nor gravity. There, in the darkness of space, she floated and looked down on the Earth. Epiphenia wasn’t around long enough to have made her own hiding place, Ishtar thought. She has to be in one of Nyx’s places. So where?
Ishtar went through her mind, sifting through all the recollections she had from the times she and Nyx had shared memories. There had to be something there, some place that Nyx had made that she’d never actually told Ishtar about. And once I figure it out, that bitch is mine.
Deep beneath the Earth, Epiphenia smiled to herself. Step one finished. Now all I have to do is wait. She looked around the dark room that Nyx had created, frowned, and waved a hand. A line of quartz appeared above her, bringing in sunlight from the surface. Another wave brought a breeze carrying pollen, seeds, and a few surprised beans. A third, and the room bloomed with plants and flowers.
“Much better,” said Epiphenia, and she smiled to herself. Now let’s hope Mother and Persephone can do their parts.
Nyx flew into the chamber of the Mother of All. “Hope you had fun,” she said, “because things are about to change.”
“WE ARE DONE,” said the Mother of All. “I HAVE DONE AS YOU HAVE ASKED AND NOW WE ARE FINISHED.”
Nyx smiled. “I don’t think so.”
She sent out a thought, and Descended began flying into the room from every other entrance. At first there were ten, then fifty, then two hundred.
“Given that I destroyed you by myself,” said Nyx, “what do you think is going to happen to you now?”
“I CAN SUMMON MY BRETHREN,” warned the Mother of Demons. “YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY OF US THERE TRULY ARE. WE CAN DESTROY YOU ALL IF WE WISH!”
“No, you can’t,” said Nyx. “Otherwise you’d have done it by now. Now would you prefer to listen, or would you prefer to be cut slowly to pieces and have your successor listen?”
The quivering, vile-smelling mass shuddered in rage but said, “I LISTEN.”
“Report,” said Lucifer, glaring at Morrigan, who knelt in front of him. He had never gotten around to putting her in the Lake of Fire, which was fortunate because she was an apt strategist and a capable fighter, and right now, he needed as many of those as he could get.
The fight with Nyx had gone completely to shit in seconds. No sooner had they crosse
d blades than every Angel in Hell had smashed into them, it felt like. The first battle for control of Hell had been chaos. There was no order of battle, no standards and no challenges, just masses of Descended smashing into one another, hacking one another’s flesh, and cutting each other out of the sky. Nyx and Lucifer had been separated almost immediately. Which was too bad because I could have cut the bitch down, and we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Nyx had finally called her troops together and retreated from the field of battle. She had not given up or surrendered. Instead, she had divided her forces and sent half of them out into Hell to take over the cities and build strongholds against Lucifer’s power.
Now, Lucifer stood on the top of the tower in the city of Samina, looking out at the incredible mess that was Hell. The cities were crumbling under the brutal onslaught of both sides. The plains were in ruins, with the souls on them impaled on broken torture devices, or scooped up and taken away to be turned into Hellstone weapons for either side.
At least the fucking demons are gone.
“Iswednokkurn is under their control,” said Morrigan. “Dis is half and half. No one is controlling the plains, and the souls are going unpunished. Pandaemonium is under our control, but they’re still fighting in the streets. The demons have stopped attacking and have all vanished into the ground. No idea why.”
“Nyx,” said Lucifer. “You can bet it’s that bitch who did it.” He paced back and forth across the tower. “The question is why? What’s she get from calling the demons off?”
“They were attacking her troops as well,” said Morrigan. “It probably allows them to fight without distraction.”
Lucifer swore and wished he had something to fuck. He considered grabbing Morrigan, but he needed her doing other things. There were no souls nearby, nor were there any incubi or succubi available to satiate his lust. When I finally take Nyx, I’ll fuck every hole she has until she’s split in half.
“Right, bring all the troops here. No more of this divide and conquer shit. We all come together; we all move together. First we take on the troops at Dis, then Pandaemonium.” He reached out with his mind. Nyx was underground, and while with some work he could pinpoint exactly where she was, it meant she would be able to do the same thing to him, and he didn’t want that just yet. He let his mind spread all over Hell. Nyx’s forces were fighting everywhere, save the force she had with her. They’re not really organized. Once we’re back together… “Move it. I want this war ended. Fast.”
Got it! Ishtar folded her wings and dove down toward the Earth’s atmosphere. The squad of Descended followed her. She sent to them an image of where they were going, and ordered them all to shield their minds and bodies from sight. She didn’t know how Epiphenia managed to know where they were, but anything they could do to hide themselves, they would do.
Years before, she and Nyx had gone through each other’s minds. Nyx had given her a glimpse of a place Ishtar had never been, a cavern deep in the Earth, where no light penetrated. It was a place where Nyx could seal herself away and, with the magic there, hide herself from any presence, human or divine.
That has to be it, Ishtar thought, and her wings and body began to heat up with the speed of re-entry into the atmosphere. Because if it isn’t, we’re screwed.
Nyx sat on a ledge in the Mother of Demons’ chamber, eyes shut, following all the actions of her troops in Hell. Lucifer, as expected, had called his troops together. He was readying to attack, Nyx knew. There was no real way to hide the movements of the Descended in Hell. One could sense where anyone and everyone was with a little work.
Which was why Nyx wasn’t planning on using Descended for her next move.
The chamber of the Mother of Demons was filling up fast. Hundreds of thousands of demons were now in the chamber, along with Nyx’s thousand Descended. Millions more were in the tunnels around it.
Nyx opened her eyes and looked at the Mother of Demons. “How go the preparations?”
“IT IS NEARLY DONE.”
“Good,” said Nyx. “Then get your children moving. I want no delays once it begins.”
“MANY OF MY CHILDREN WILL DIE.”
“And since you never cared about that before,” said Nyx, “you won’t mind now.” She reached out with her mind to find Persephone, then grinned. Persephone was in the midst of being fiercely and thoroughly serviced by Belphegor. He was not the handsomest of the Descended, nor was he the most popular. He was, however, known for being the best hung. And judging from the noises Persephone was making, it was exactly what she needed. “Tell him to finish up soon,” sent Nyx. “Things are about to happen.”
Ishtar led her squad of Descended into the caverns. Far below them was Nyx’s secret chamber, and Ishtar knew that they had to reach it. The tunnels and chimneys that led deep into the Earth were barely wide enough for the Descended to pass though. In a few places, they had to hide their wings and let themselves fall or jump from rock to rock like mountain goats. Ishtar held back, looking and listening for the trap she was sure was there.
They were nearly there when Ishtar heard the voice in her head.
“Hello, Ishtar,” said Epiphenia. “I think you should turn around now.”
The walls around the Descended erupted in stone spikes, impaling all the other members of her squad. Five turned to dust at once. Three others had time to scream before they died. The last two were impaled through the head, and couldn’t make a sound as they flailed and squirmed to escape the agony. New spikes flew out of the stone and they, too, disappeared into dust.
The spikes vanished, and Ishtar had a clear path out the way she had come.
“Tell Tribunal,” sent Epiphenia in a voice like the aftermath of a great storm at sea. “Creation is mine. He cannot have it.”
Ishtar fled.
The remains of the 666th landed in Samina just before everything went bad.
Lucifer beheaded the first six of them without waiting to get their report. The seventh he was tearing slowly in half while she screamed out what had happened on Earth. Lucifer finished what he was doing but didn’t kill any more of them.
It can’t be Epiphenia, Lucifer thought as he paced the top of his tower. I saw her die. Tribunal ate her fucking heart.
For the first time, a small spur of doubt crept into Lucifer’s heart
It doesn’t matter right now, Lucifer decided. First I subdue Nyx. Then I tell Tribunal he fucked up. Should be worth it to see his face.
“Get your asses down to Morrigan,” Lucifer growled at the remaining members of the 666th, who were kneeling on the tower before him. “You tell her you’re now the shock troops. You lead every attack against Nyx’s forces. If we win this thing, I will consider not cutting you all into fucking pieces and feeding you to the demons!”
The ground began rumbling.
What the fuck?
The entire city fell.
Every building, every street collapsed at once, falling hundreds of feet into the earth. Descended shouted in surprise and screamed in pain. Many managed to take to the air and stared in horror as ten thousand of the giant tunneling demons rose out of the remains of the city and began feasting on the buildings and the Descended inside them. From out of each tunnel where one of the giant worm-demons had emerged, thousands more demons charged out. Half took to the air. The others raced across the ground, biting and clawing into Angelic flesh wherever they could reach it.
“Lucifer!” Morrigan didn’t bother using his titles, and Lucifer was too stunned to notice. “Nyx’s army is on the move! They’re coming from three directions at once!”
“Four,” said Nyx. “We’re also coming out underneath you, and I will cut your fucking head off myself.”
Lucifer’s eyes swiveled back and forth in his sockets until he spotted the first of Nyx’s Descended charging out of the tunnels. The demons paid no mind to Nyx’s army, settling for feasting on Lucifer’s troops. Lucifer screamed in rage and charged forward. Then the swarm of flying demons was
upon him, and there was no time for anything save to fight and kill. The sheer weight of the demon’s numbers drove him back. They bit into him again and again, occasionally breaking flesh, but mostly nothing more than an annoyance. It was the fact that he could not get at Nyx that was most frustrating.
Lucifer threw flame after flame into the mass of demons. Dozens fried; hundreds took their place.
“Lucifer!” Morrigan’s voice rang out in his brain. “We are going to be destroyed if this keeps up!”
We cannot beat them. Not here. Not if they’ve got the demons on their side.
Of course, we don’t have to fight them here.
Lucifer changed direction and flew into the sky, his wings sending him aloft faster than any demon could fly. He swung his whip and then sent it farther skyward, tearing a hole larger than any between Earth and Hell since the Descended had first been cast from Heaven.
“Follow me!” Lucifer screamed, and his voice reached every ear in Hell. “Those who want to live in Paradise forever, follow me to Earth! We will destroy humanity, and Tribunal will bring us to Paradise!”
He flew upward, high and hard, into the hole in the sky, and tens of thousands of Descended followed him.
Far below, flying out of the tunnels, Nyx looked up as the remains of Lucifer’s army flew away.
“Was this part of the plan?” asked Persephone.
“No,” said Nyx.
“Think Epiphenia can deal with all of them?”
“I don’t know,” said Nyx tiredly. “She probably can, but I don’t know if she can do it without wiping out all of humanity.”
“So we’re going after?”
“Oh, yes.”
In the place in Sheol where Tribunal kept a small part of his presence, a small, red shrike flew faster than any had ever flown before. Tribunal saw it coming and could feel the desperation in it even before it reached him. He froze it in the air with a thought. “What do you want, Lucifer?”