Rise of the Fallen (30 page)

“Go with Commander Guilden. He is leading the Seventh Legion in defense of the family as they flee. Herod knows that the child is in Bethlehem, but that is all. They may have enough time to escape his search if there is no delay.”

“Yes sir,” Validus said, turning to go, but Danick would not let go of his arm.

“This is the lineage we have been fighting for and protecting for thousands of years, Validus. This is the very night for which we were called.”

Validus took in his general’s gaze. “I understand, sir. I will give my all.”

Danick’s eyes reddened. “I know you will, and if I could be there in your stead, I would be.”

Validus knew that to be as true as the rising of the sun.

By the time Validus and Commander Guilden reached the home of Joseph and Mary, the warriors were already under attack. The night filled with sounds of a desperate battle. All around the city, thousands of the Fallen began to descend and, along with them, Herod’s soldiers. To the west and to the east, Validus could see Brandt’s legions engaging Apollyon’s army.

Guilden’s exec, Captain Jarot, came to report.

“How close are Herod’s soldiers in their search for the child?” Guilden asked.

“It’s not a search, sir,” Captain Jarot said, his eyes pained with some horrid reality. “It’s a massacre. Herod is killing all of the young children here and in all surrounding regions. Unless we can get them out of the city now, the child won’t survive.”

Cries of great sorrow rose up from the streets to the north.

Guilden turned to Validus. “Brandt’s legions are providing flanking cover and attempting to cut off the support for the Fallen to the north. Most of my legion is giving direct protection to the family. Validus, take five hundred men to delay the Fallen that are protecting Herod’s soldiers while we cover the child’s escape.”

Jarot quickly dispatched the men with Validus to the north. Validus had never field commanded more than a century of angels, but he didn’t have time to protest.

When Validus and his warriors reached the line of the massacre, they faced thousands of demons advancing just ahead of the soldiers, giving cover to their pawns of evil. It was an ominous sight that would cause the mightiest of warriors to hesitate.

Through the dark line of Fallen, Validus saw one soldier strip a baby from the clutches of her mother and without a moment’s hesitation pierce his sword through the wailing child. The father attacked with a sickle, but an accompanying soldier struck him down too. The guardian of the child refused to abandon his charge, fighting like Validus had never seen any angel fight before. Surrounded by fifty relentless Fallen, his sword flew in a blur of unending cuts and slices, vanquishing dozens of demons to the Abyss.

The abject horror and despair of the massacre crushed Validus like a mountain of stone—but it also enraged him. The night filled with the despairing
wails of mothers, the battle cries of angels and demons, and the clash of thousands of blades. As the lives of children were taken, their guardians disengaged from the fight to shelter the spirits of the children and take them to Paradise. And for the guardians who had fallen in battle and were sent to Mount Simcha, carriers took their children to Abraham’s bosom, the place of comfort.

“To battle!” Validus screamed above the noise of the fray.

Five hundred warriors rushed into the wall of razored, black-steel blades. There was no risk to weigh, no caution to consider.

The fight raged for hours, and though the guardians and the warriors fought in the valiancy of their call, they could not prevail against the Fallen. The soldiers of death kept coming, and so did the demons who protected them. Twice the angel forces were reinforced by warriors from flanking legions, but the Fallen were relentless, abandoning all reason in their pursuit of the Christ-child. Validus’s forces were pushed inch by inch by the Fallen to the southern borders of the city, all the while witnessing and hearing the murder of innocents—unable to save a single child.

Validus stood shoulder to shoulder with a thin line of a few dozen warriors at the road leading south out of the city. They had lost too many to hold the line, and the demons were on the verge of breaking through.

Validus looked behind him. In the distance he saw the young couple with the young Ben Elohim fleeing Bethlehem in the gray of the night. The demons surged and his men rallied, but he wondered how long they could last. Their line now too thin to hold the waves of Fallen coming at them, Validus reached down into the bosom of his soul and found the strength for one last stand.

The warrior to his left fell and dissolved. The warrior to his right cried out in pain at the slice of a Fallen’s grisly blade across his chest. Validus tried to cover him, but four demons attacked at once, seeing his vulnerability. He deflected one blade, countered, and cut one demon down with his sword and another with his short blade. Two more filled their places. One powerful Fallen blasted his sword into Validus’s, causing him to stumble backward. He knew that if he lost his feet it would be over in an instant.

He glanced up and down the line and saw it collapsing.

“No!”
he cried out. “God, save Your Son!”

The child was still within reach of the bloodthirsty soldiers and their demonic fury.

“Validas!”

The air filled with the warrior cry of a friend. From the southwest, the voices of 350 warriors filled the air. Persimus broke from the surrounding battles and joined with Validus and his men to hold the line.

“Here we will stand or die. We will not yield!” Validus cried out to rally the men.

Validus and his warriors made their final stand. The burden of command was heavy as he watched his men fight and fall. Many times at serious peril to himself he interceded and saved one of his warriors, but the Fallen kept coming.

Herod’s soldiers reached the road, swords and uniforms bloodstained, raptured by the evil of the night, but they could not move forward. The demons screamed at them to continue their slaughter to the south, but the line of angel warriors stood strong, and neither demon nor soldier went farther than Validus’s line.

By the break of dawn, it was over. Twelve legions of angel warriors had engaged Apollyon’s forces in the lands surrounding Bethlehem, and thousands had dissolved, both warriors and guardians alike. Validus and 48 warriors were all that remained in the city of Bethlehem after protecting the escape of Joseph, Mary, and the Christ-child.

Herod’s soldiers had finished their evil. The infants under the age of two were all dead. Validus’s sword was fastened to his hand, and he could not let go of it. The cries of the weeping parents replaced the morning bird song with a hymn of utter sorrow. Validus fell to his knees and wept.

He felt the hand of Persimus rest gently on his shoulder. Validus looked up at his friend with streaks of tears pouring out of his soul. There were no words to say, no victory cries to shout. Of all angels, Validus knew that Persimus felt it as powerfully as he did. Seeing the fruit of evil from afar was nothing like tasting its wretchedness up close, and there was nothing more wretched than the slaughter of innocent babes. Together these friends of ancient days mourned the loss of precious life.

“Commander,” Validus heard one of his fellow warriors call out. Validus turned his eyes to see which commander was approaching, but the warrior was looking at him. “Commander, the Fallen are gone and the Christ-child is safe.”

Safe. In the sorrow of the city’s grief, they had been victorious. He reminded
himself that this child who escaped would one day save the world. Apollyon would keep trying, but the army of Elohim would never stop.

Validus looked numbly at the warrior. He had never felt so heavy in all his life. “I’m not a commander.”

Four others joined the first. “You commanded us, and we would follow you into battle wherever we go.” One of them reached out an arm.

Validus grasped it and accepted the help to his feet. He looked at the war-torn faces of the men who had stood beside him to the end. They were great warriors.

Persimus nodded. “You fought well. We shall never forget the sacrifice of those warriors and guardians who gave their all for the child … the King of all.”

27
 

Present Day

Validus charged the droxan, diving and twisting his body so that he flew just beneath the attacking monster. The beast struck viciously at him from above with powerful four-inch claws, but Validus’s long blade found its mark first, slicing deep into the creature’s underbelly as he passed below.

The beast screamed as lightning and thunder filled the sky, accentuating the life-and-death battle with the darkness of the Fallen. The tail of the droxan swung downward, pounding into Validus from the side. The impact loosed his grip on his sword, and it skidded out of reach along the pavement. He hit the ground and rolled to a crouching position, his short blade at the ready, while drawing his FN Five-Seven handgun from a side holster. The beast was injured but certainly not down.

Validus charged again, emptying the twenty-round magazine into its head and chest, but its effect seemed minimal. Just as he reached the creature, it lashed out with its grisly talons and struck him across the chest, tearing open his coat and skin with four deep gashes. Validus flew like a rag doll up against the brick wall of the church, then fell to the concrete in a heap.

The pain was unbearable. He fought against the tightening grip of unconsciousness. The FN fell and dissolved away. He took a double-handed grip on his short blade and struggled to rise.

There was no time for recovery—the beast lunged once more, its jaws of razor-sharp teeth wide and eager to devour Validus. With every bit of remaining strength in him, Validus leaped upward, spinning in midair to land on the back of the droxan. He sank his sword deep into its thick black hide. It cried out once more, then fell and dissolved to green nothingness.

Validus tumbled to the ground through the dissolving vapor and landed
on one knee. Once the other two Fallen saw the death of their beast, they retreated, but not before one of them sliced his sword through one of the tires of the van as it drove off. More Fallen joined the two retreating demon warriors to continue their assault on the students.

Validus looked at the uninjured warrior, who was helping his fallen comrade sit against the church wall. “Follow the van, but keep your distance. I have help on the way.”

The warrior saluted and bolted after the van.

Validus’s injury was severe, but he couldn’t stop just yet. He remembered Carter and looked for him.

Carter stood in the middle of the street, staring right at Validus.

Validus stared back, stunned despite his suspicions. This man could actually see into the world of the Upper Realm.

Carter looked at the departing van, then back at Validus. He knew what Carter was thinking, but there would be no way Validus could protect him if he went. He shook his head, but Carter would not have it. Sydney Carlyle was in danger, and he couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

Carter ran after the van, and Validus lowered his head. Where were Tren and the help that Captain Linari had promised?

He tried to rise but couldn’t find the strength. He looked down the street and saw the van turning into the heart of the Dragon gang’s territory.

The sky flashed lightning, threatening rain at any moment. If the Curing began, it would incapacitate Validus, but it would also hinder the work of the Fallen. Unfortunately it would do nothing to stop the gang.

Validus fought to stand and made his way to the other warrior, who was in just as bad of shape as he was. He sank down beside him. “Hang on, warrior. Help is on the way.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head up against the building.

Give us strength, my King. Your servants need help
.

He concentrated on controlling the pain and staying conscious. Moments later, Validus felt a sturdy hand on his shoulder.

“Are we too late?” Tren asked.

Validus opened his eyes to see Tren and two of Linari’s warriors standing ready with swords drawn. Although they were veterans of urban warfare, they would not be enough.

“They’re in a blue van and headed for Dragon territory.” Validus winced in pain. “One warrior in chase … five Fallen attacking.”

Four able warriors against five Fallen, and in the heart of Dragon territory there would be more.

One of the warriors shook his head. “Impossible odds, sir. We know that section of city and we won’t stand a chance.”

Validus reached up for Tren to help him stand. His body screamed in rebellion against the movement. Validus grimaced and stood upright. “Warrior, we don’t have a choice. Let’s move!”

Tren steadied him as he tried to advance. “You can’t fight,” Tren admonished. “You can hardly walk. You’re going to have to sit this out.”

Validus forced himself to stand to his full stature. He walked on his own to his sword, knelt down, and gripped the handle of the magnificent weapon, feeling the power of Elohim pulsing through it. When he stood back up, he looked at the two warriors and the guardian. His face was set like flint.