Rise of the Fallen (24 page)

Persimus joined him from his left. “What’s going on, Validus?”

Validus shook his head. “Apparently I will be helping General Danick track the lineage of the Plan.”

Persimus smiled. “You’ve done well, Validus.”

“I’m not ready for this, Persimus. What do I know about … about anything?”

“Someone once told me that it is through the least that God often works the most.”

Validus thought how profoundly true that was. “Who told you that?”

Persimus’s smile faded. “Niturni.”

21
 

Present Day

The lookout for the Fallen was disconcerting. Something was happening, and it made Validus anxious. It could be a drug deal or a bomb or anything in between.

Normally Validus wouldn’t be concerned with one demon on a lookout, but it seemed a little too coincidental that it was happening within the same general area as Carter. He wondered where Tren was, quite certain that he was out of sight but within range of Carter.

Validus materialized through the floor of the lab, landing in a physics classroom on the first floor. He moved through two walls inside the building, away from the street the Fallen was watching so that when he materialized through the outer wall of the physics building, he was out of sight.

He darted across Centennial Drive and entered the student union. Based on the last location of the lookout, Validus eased through the wall, figuring he would materialize just behind the demon. He had calculated perfectly but was not prepared for what happened next.

The lookout had joined with another Fallen who was escorting a student into the same building that Carter and Carlyle had entered a few moments earlier. Their swords were drawn, and the student was taken by a vexer-possessor. As soon as the glass doors of the building closed behind them, the air filled with the concussion of MP5 rounds being shot.

Validus launched into action, but was he too late to save Carter? He became angry with himself for being complacent.

Validus drew his sword as he flew across the street toward the attacking demons. One of the Fallen saw him and stepped back outside to engage.

Come on, Tren. Where are you?
he wondered, knowing that any delay caused by this demon could cost Carter his life.

Validus came at the demon aggressively, intending to put him down and enter the building, but the demon was not just some minion without skill. He caught Validus’s first cut and countered so quickly that Validus narrowly escaped the tip of his blade as it swooshed by his face. He recovered and reengaged, but with a more vigilant awareness. This demon had authority. Validus didn’t recognize him, but he recognized his moves. This was the work of Durgank, the regional commander for this sector.

More gunfire echoed through the halls and spilled into the street. The gunman was moving up the stairs. Students were running and screaming all around him. Validus could not quell the feeling that with every second lost in this fight, not only would more students die, but Carter’s life would be over, and so would his mission.

Validus pressed harder, but the demon held. Then Validus saw an opening. The demon hesitated in his recovery of a thrust, so Validus moved to take advantage and sliced across his overextended sword arm.

But at the last moment he realized that the demon’s hesitation was the result of a distraction from behind Validus. He cut short his attack, sidestepped, and swung 180 degrees clockwise to engage a third Fallen. Fortunately he had spun the right direction and caught the edge of the demon’s sword at the last second.

Now Validus was bracketed by two of the Fallen while the gunman continued to wreak death and pain just a hundred feet away inside the campus building. The man was now on the second floor, sweeping the classrooms where students would be hiding. Validus could only hope that Carter had enough wits about him to avoid the gunman, but then he realized that Carter would probably do whatever was necessary to protect Sydney Carlyle. This would test the mettle of his charge.

Validus continued his sidestep so as to be able to see and engage both demons. Without intervention, Carter and Carlyle would not survive. He had to break free now.

Dread filled his heart, but then help came from above as Tren jumped from the second floor of the student union and engaged the weaker of the two
demons. Validus made three quick successive moves and hit his mark, piercing his blade clear through the chest of the defending demon.

He didn’t hesitate. He heard a burst of shots, calculated which classroom the man was in, and leaped through one of the windows on the second story. Inside, he had fractions of a second to evaluate and respond.

Carter was in the room, apparently trying to help the professor bar the door to the room and protect the students.

Validus rushed the demon who was manipulating the door, but not before the brute drew a Glock handgun and squeezed off two rounds with different trajectories at Validus. Validus set his blade to deflect the first bullet, but there was not enough time to deflect the second, so he simultaneously twisted his body as he lunged toward the demon. The bullet passed across his chest, just missing him.

The two warriors collided and scrambled for position, too close to bring their swords to bear. Validus used an aikido move to dislodge the gun from the Fallen’s hand, but the demon was quick to respond and landed a powerful blow to Validus’s chest. The momentary separation allowed space to maneuver and recover the use of their swords.

Within seconds the situation got worse. During their duel, the gunman had gained access to the room and was now aiming his MP5 toward Carter.

Validus glanced at Carter and tried to maneuver over to him, but he could not reach him in time. Validus saw Carter’s gaze momentarily linger in his direction, strangely, almost as if he were looking for help. Validus risked momentary exposure and was able to pass his blade through the gunman’s weapon, jamming the firing pin.

The gun clicked harmlessly, and Carter was still alive, but the demon took advantage of Validus’s lapse in defense and nearly landed a slice across his chest. It put him on the defensive and into retreat, drawing him away from Carter. Every second that passed seemed as though he would lose Carter, and if he lost Carter, then he’d lose every student in the classroom, including Sydney. Deep down he wondered if perhaps this was all about her and not Carter.

Validus gave himself wholly to the fight at hand, hoping Carter would respond enough to stay alive. Validus’s sword flew in a blur of cuts and slices in an effort to bring an end to the fight in short order, but the demon was a worthy
opponent. Validus parried, countered, parried, and thrust, his blade at last piercing through the demon.

After the Fallen’s dissolution, Validus swung around to Carter and was surprised to discover that he had not only disarmed the gunman but also knocked him out cold. The vile curses of the possessor filled the air.

Carter recovered the gun and brought it to bear on the unconscious man.

“Shoot, you putrid man. Shoot and free me!” the possessor screamed from inside the gunman. “I had prepared him for suicide, and you’ve ruined everything.
Shoot!
”

Validus knelt down and looked at the horrid state of both man and demon. “You are done, Fallen. For the next sixty years you will be locked inside this man in a prison or be cast out by the power of Elohim in a saint and be sent to the Abyss for eternity.”

“I will torment many more until my master destroys you and your pathetic king. We will rule—”

Validus punched the demon into unconsciousness—he had heard enough of his contemptible blasphemies.

Validus turned to look up at Carter, searching his eyes and face. He saw fear and wonder. There was something strange about him that caused a stirring in Validus’s bosom. The moment lingered; then Validus remembered Tren.

He materialized through the floor and quickly made his way to the front of the building, hoping the guardian had survived his duel with the Fallen outside. He was relieved to see that Tren was alive and tending only one small cut across his arm.

Validus joined him. “Are you okay?”

“Well enough,” Tren said. He looked over at Validus and then nodded toward the building. “How’s Drew and Sydney?”

Validus shook his head. “Alive, but it was close.”

“Do you think this was an act of random evil, or was there a target?” Tren asked.

Validus watched the SWAT team preparing to storm the hall. “I’m not sure, but it seems too coincidental that an attack of this scale would involve our charge.”

“True,” Tren replied. “But it looked premeditated, and how would the Fallen know that Carter would be here at this time?”

Validus took one last look around and felt content that the attack was indeed over. He sheathed his sword and nodded.

Tren had a point. Durgank could be using a diviner, but they were usually not this specific, especially in regard to one ordinary man. He looked at Tren and knew that the guardian was thinking the same thing.

“One of us must stay with the girl, at least for a while,” Validus said. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, Carter is going to try to leave this place, and quickly. Once we see who the Fallen track, we may find out a little more of what they know.”

“Agreed.” Tren hesitated. “I’ll stay with Sydney Carlyle. You go with Carter. Once I can verify any Fallen tactics regarding her, I’ll join you.”

Validus could hear the SWAT team yelling commands inside the building. He looked that direction and saw a carrier descending into the building at the same time that two draegers came racing across the campus with ghoulish grins in anticipation of the horror they would be inflicting on their unbelieving victims. Validus wanted to stop them and tear them apart, but he couldn’t. The souls of their victims were judged. The carrier lifted a young man upward, then veered toward the Puebloan Stairway. Moments later the screams of a different young man mixed with a young woman’s as the draegers tore into them with their talons while mercilessly dragging them across the campus to the south, toward the Gulf Hades Tunnel.

Validus turned away. Every time he saw it, a part of his soul tore.

“After millions of times, it only gets worse to see,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Tren said. “At least the guardians have the honor of carrying a charge that has died to heaven. There’s healing in that for us. You have no such healing, do you?”

Validus stuffed his emotions away. That was what warriors did, and he realized how much he didn’t like sympathy.

“The girl is going to be more predictable,” he said to recover their former conversation. “It would be easier for me to rendezvous with you since we don’t know where Carter is going.”

Tren pursed his lips together. “Right. Let’s meet here in three weeks, and we’ll determine a plan then.”

They walked toward the police line, where two ambulances and medical
personnel were gathering. Soon there would be chaos as the humans treated the victims and tried to make sense of the tragedy, but there was no sense to evil.

Validus needed to get close to Drew Carter and considered translating to human form to mask himself from any of the Fallen who might investigate their semifoiled attempt at a full massacre. He turned to Tren. “I’m too visible if the Fallen come. I’m going in.”

Tren nodded. “I’ve got your back.”

Validus studied a policeman as he walked by, memorizing every detail. He would have to “rearrange” his clothing when he translated.

Validus prepared himself, then looked at Tren. “Have you noticed anything unusual about Carter the last few weeks?”

Tren looked hesitant to answer. “Have you?”

Validus shook his head. “I’m not sure. What I just saw in that classroom seemed … unusual.”

“In what way?”

Validus thought about Carter’s actions and compared them with other people who had faced life and death situations. The behavior of people under stress was as varied as the people themselves. He shook it off.

“Never mind. I’ll see you in three weeks.”

Tren nodded as Validus stepped behind an ambulance and reappeared as a policeman.

Translating was risky. A translated angel was a fully translated being, unable to see into the realm of angels and demons. But a skilled angel could fool even other angels and demons. Although Validus had not mastered the art to the level Persimus had, he could maintain the ruse for short periods of time with near perfection. In spite of his mastery, he made it a policy never to translate without a watcher from the Upper Realm. Tren was not a warrior, but he would do.

Validus didn’t learn much from the translation, only that Carter was not going to wait around to be questioned. He disappeared within minutes of exiting the school, and Validus found himself trailing his charge from a distance. He found it extremely cumbersome trying to protect Carter without the Fallen seeing him do it.

As he considered the young man, he was continually reminded of the
peculiar reactions of Carter during the shooting at the university. Validus had the strangest notion that Carter knew he was there. At one point during his duel with the Fallen warrior, he thought he saw Carter actually watching their battle, almost as if he could see them.