Rise of the Fallen (38 page)

Tren reached out and stopped his hand, then pointed up with his FN. In the gray of the night sky, Validus caught the flash of silver wings … many silver wings. Chills flowed down his spine.

Two seconds later twenty-two warrior angels landed with swords drawn and battle on their faces.

Commander Malak landed next to Validus.

“Your timing is impeccable. I didn’t think you were coming,” Validus said.

Malak drew his short sword. “I gave you my word, and I’m here to make it good.”

Validus nodded. “Twenty-four warriors below and another dozen out front. I’m going for Durgank. Eliminate as many as fast as you can and be ready for reinforcements. Once the hostages are safe, we focus on Carter. If we can get him out, we exit and we exit fast. Tren, you, Teriel, and Kassen cover the hostages.”

Malak nodded and motioned to his men. “Say the word.”

“One … two … three … materialize!”

They left the cool, clear night air and descended into Durgank’s lair of evil. The scene erupted in an explosion of guns and swords. The twenty-three Fallen dodged bullets and came at the warriors from every direction. Unbreakable, brilliant silver blades met the blackened steel of Apollyon’s worst.

Validus landed near what must have been the leader of the Dragon gang, for the vexer-possessor inside him was screaming for his gang members to kill Carter. He was surrounded by three brutes with knives and brass knuckles. Validus immediately struck down two nearby Fallen with the fury of a raging storm.

He glanced at Carlyle and the children and beheld a marvelous sight as Tren and Teriel sprinted to cover them. The empowering flames of Ruach Elohim were flowing through and around Sydney Carlyle. The Fallen warriors nearby shrank back from the power of His holy presence, and the blue fire reached out for Tren and Teriel as two Fallen attempted to engage them. Their swords flew with frightening speed and power to put the dark warriors down.

Validus needed to get to Carter and protect him. The thought of Carter losing his life here was unthinkable. Validus would find it difficult to carry on knowing the eternal state of the man he had bled for, the man he had come to admire.

He spotted Carter in the center of the dome. The three brutes who had attacked him were defeated and bleeding, but the worst of the danger was yet to come. Carter dived and rolled toward the FN Five-Sevens lying just five feet away from him. The concrete nearby shattered in spraying pieces of cement and white dust. Bullets ricocheted upward, zinging off in multiple directions. As Carter rolled, both hands found and curled around the grips of the waiting FNs. He came up on one knee, armed and ready.

Validus sensed the apprehension in the members of the gang, but it did little to hinder the realm of angels and demons.

Just as Carter began acquiring and eliminating his targets, Validus turned to see Durgank coming at him. He braced himself, then launched into the fight with this demon of power.

He shot four rounds from his FN, then jumped and flipped over the top of Durgank’s first attack, bringing his sword down on the demon from above. Durgank deflected and dodged the bullets, simultaneously reacting to meet Validus’s blade with his own. Durgank pushed off a table, instantly reversing his momentum, and launched himself back at Validus. Validus landed, deflected, and countered. He let his FN dissolve away, preferring to focus exclusively on the single most effective weapon an angel could bear.

Validus and Durgank flew across the warehouse and off the walls, each
trying to gain the positional advantage needed for a microsecond breach in the other’s defense. Durgank was as fierce a warrior as Validus had ever faced. He was, after all, of the first One Hundred.

Their swords flew in a blur of black and silver steel, clashing time and time again. No matter how hard or how quickly Validus moved his blade, Durgank was always there to meet and counter. He tapped into the sword techniques of every culture he had studied, masters of the past, but Durgank adapted and retaliated. Other duels rage around them, but Validus could not give one moment to any of them, for any breach in concentration would mean his end.

Then he heard the deep growl of a droxan just as Carter’s voice reached his ears.

“Behind you!”

Validus diverted a thrust from Durgank just in time to see the droxan lunging at him from behind. He was out of position to effect any damaging cut to the beast, let alone recover in time to keep Durgank’s blade at bay.

There was nothing Validus could do. He had not anticipated the droxan. The end was inevitable.

The air filled with the rapid fire of two FN Five-Sevens, and Validus found one small glimmer of hope. Carter had seen the droxan and in a move of desperation for the sake of Validus had fired his earthly bullets at the beast.

Validus parried Durgank’s blade outward and upward, then passed the steel of his own sword into the path of Carter’s stream of bullets, instantly translating each one into the solid reality of the Upper Realm. Thirty-five highvelocity bullets burrowed into the thick hide of the pouncing beast. Death enveloped the monster in a green vapor that spilled forward around Durgank and Validus’s ferocious duel.

Durgank turned his head away to protect his eyes, and Validus used that split-second distraction to his advantage, arcing his sword around with all the speed and power within him. His blade found its mark, cutting through Durgank’s chest and abdomen. The demon of ancient days turned back, eyes bulging in anger and disbelief

“That’s for Ral!” Validus said as Durgank dissolved into green nothingness that fell into the earth.

Validus scanned the room, preparing for his next duel, but it was not necessary. Carter had eliminated the threat of the gang, and the sirens outside sent
the remaining gang members scurrying. Durgank’s defeat sent the rest of the Fallen warriors into retreat. The battle was over.

Tren came to Validus.

“Are they safe?”

Tren nodded. “Teriel is outside with them. The FBI and the police are coming.” He nodded toward Carter, who stood twenty feet away, watching them. “What of him?”

“There’s not much we can do now. He’ll be taken into custody by the FBI, but I’m going to talk to him before that happens.”

Tren frowned. “That’s not wise. You know the rules.”

“The fact that he can see us already breaks the rules. I want to find out what he knows.”

Tren clearly disagreed, but Validus didn’t care. This was too important to let slide, and after all, Carter had just saved his life and deserved at least this.

“I’ll meet you in the alley,” Validus said.

Tren turned and left.

Validus could hear the movements of the FBI getting ready to storm the warehouse. He wouldn’t have long. He stepped toward Carter and translated into the world of humans. He sheathed his sword and set his hands on his hips.

“I am Validus.”

Carter gawked back at him. “Where do you come from?”

That single question told Validus a lot. Not only was Carter not saved, but he was also ignorant of the reality of the Upper Realm, of angels and demons, and of Elohim Himself. Validus’s heart sank. Carter was further from the truth than Validus had realized.

“You had better figure that out quickly, for you are in grave danger. They know who you are, and they are coming for you. They are
all
coming for you.”

“Why … why me?”

Validus hesitated. “There are things of which I cannot speak, but the answers you seek are near. Beware, Drew Carter.”

That was enough. The FBI was here. Validus turned and took two steps, translating back just as the front warehouse door blasted open.

“Drop your weapons!”

Validus walked to the back wall and hesitated. He watched as the FBI handcuffed and whisked Carter out of the warehouse. Medical personnel
would be in to care for the wounded, but for a moment the place was silent and still. The warehouse gave an illusion of serenity, but Validus could still feel and smell the stench of evil from one of the Fallen’s primary operational posts for the city.

He shook his head as he thought of the foolishness of Drew Carter. He was completely ignorant of his peril and yet as courageous as one of Validus’s warriors. If Carter only knew what was at stake …

The ebb of humanity was moving toward its final destination, accelerating toward that end with each passing day. Being near Carter had awakened old feelings in Validus, and he didn’t know why.

He stood in the abandoned warehouse, allowing the rush of his battle with Durgank to dissipate from his body. Flashing red and blue lights from police and ambulance vehicles danced across the ghoulish interior of the gang’s lair.

Validus stood alone, lost in thoughts that spanned six millennia. Through the ages he had witnessed the destruction of entire cities, the propagation of evil, and a thousand wars between the races of men, but what he had experienced with Carter in the last twelve months was a complete anomaly in both realms. It was beyond peculiar.

Why Drew Carter and why himself? Was there some connection between this young unbelieving man in the twenty-first century and Validus’s own journey through time? He thought of Carter. So much life compressed into so few years. The lives of men and women were truly but a vapor and yet so full.

Validus considered the situation and came to a few conclusions. Tren would need to continue his watch over Carter. Even an FBI holding cell was not safe when the Fallen were on the hunt.

This event in Chicago would not go unnoticed by Niturni, the Prince of North America. Durgank was a regional commander for the Fallen in the US, and Chicago was a primary staging platform for their advances into the Midwest. Niturni would take note and respond, especially when his wounded subordinates reported that Validus was behind the attack.

Validus walked through the back wall of the warehouse, feeling the slight resistance of its matter against his body.

Tren was waiting for him. The guardian had done well once again. Tren glared at Validus as he approached, and Validus had to guard his response. After all, his official orders were to assist Tren, not the other way around.
However, the momentum of the mission and the command experience of Validus necessitated the shift of command to his shoulders, and Tren seemed okay with that for the most part. They were an odd duo, warrior and guardian. Both were challenged with fulfilling a mission that was unprecedented in angelic history.

“Never before has an angel spoken as you have to an unbeliever,” Tren said.

Validus looked at Tren and considered the warning. “You’re right, but never before have the forces of the Fallen rallied so fiercely to destroy one unbelieving man.”

Tren gave a slow nod. “What’s happening, Validus? Why this man? I’ve watched him since childhood. I don’t understand.”

Validus looked up and into the distant stars of the heavens. “I commanded a continent, and now I guard one man.” He looked back at Tren. “I don’t understand either, but Drew Carter’s life must be a pivotal force in both realms, and if we don’t figure it out soon, the Fallen may turn the war once again.”

Validus filled his lungs with a cleansing, deep breath, the pain in his chest reminding him of just how close he had come to dissolution. The battle to keep Carter alive had been intense. He nearly smiled as he remembered how the man had taken action to save him from the droxan.

Validus directed his gaze back to Tren. “You know what to do.”

Tren nodded.

“Very well … then make it so.”

“To Elohim’s glory,” Tren proclaimed.

“To His glory,” Validus returned.

Tren flew through the warehouse, and Validus turned south, down the alleyway.

There was perhaps one who could make sense of the actions of the Fallen, but there were risks … risks that might cause even the former commander of the North American continent to hesitate.

He had to be careful. Every angel who fell in battle meant the forces of the Fallen would continue to rise, and the peril of humanity could come spiraling to a resetting demise as had happened too many times before.

Somehow, someway, Drew Carter was in the epicenter of that spiraling vortex.

And Validus needed to know why.

36
 

AD 1948

“General Brandt, the people of Israel are where my heart is.”

“That may be, Validus, but America is where I need you. The Lineage Legion is no more.”

Validus stiffened. Since the Great Purge, he had followed and believed in the tactics of General Danick. He had witnessed the respectful contention between these two great warriors.

Now with General Danick gone and most of his legion dissolved, Validus was forced to face the possibility that Brandt was right—all the lineages they had been tracking and protecting were gone. In fact, Validus could see that Brandt’s global warrior strategy had brought defeat to the Axis of evil led by Adolf Hitler.

“What of the Jews, sir? The prophecies regarding them are not yet fulfilled, and I am the most qualified—”

“Validus,” Brandt interrupted, “I know the skills and abilities of my warriors, and I know the prophecies of Israel.”