The Centaur (41 page)

Strangely enough the only pain he felt was the strain that he was inflicting on his arms, shoulders and back muscles. When he finally stopped struggling and listened for signs of predators closing in from the wilds, he heard a soft voice singing. At first, he thought it was a dream. He swiveled his head about as far as he could in all directions, but saw nothing other than blank desert pavement. There was nothing to break the monotony. Oddly enough, the only boulder within his sight, which was of any considerable size, was the one resting on his feet. Whoever or whatever was singing nearby was no doubt the cause of his present dilemma. There could be no other explanation and the voice indicated that, whether or not he could see anything, he was not alone.

He tried to still his pounding heart in order to hear the song more plainly. It was a beautiful, haunting melody, which struck at the very depths of his mind, pulling at some lost memory, causing him to forget, at least momentarily, his piteous plight. And then his eyes flew wide and his resolve to allow whatever came for him to finish him quickly vanished.

Dragon song!

He recognized the form and fashion of the lyrical rhymes he’d not heard in thousands of years. A desert dragon had come to devour him, and his instinct for survival would not allow him to simply sit still and allow it to happen. He looked about again in the starlight, but saw nothing. Abaddon was well aware of the fact that a dragon might be within arm’s length and not be seen. He gathered handfuls of the silt piled in ripples all around him and threw it out around him in all directions, hoping to detect an anomaly in the landscape, but nothing was forthcoming, nor could he see the beast. It was out of reach.

The Scorpion Lord concentrated his thoughts on his minions and immediately, a scourge of black scorpions poured from a crack in the earth, covering him completely in a deadly shroud. No predator would find him appetizing now. His pets could not move the rock pinning his feet, but they could provide a bit of protection until he could think things through completely. The scorpions settled into place, forming a living coat of armor, interlocking their legs and pinchers, raising their poisonous tails, ready to strike anything approaching their master.

The song continued, soothing like a lullaby, beautiful as a love ballad and stirring like the sound of a thousand angelic voices praising the glory of God. He shook his head again and determined not to be lulled into a false sense of security. These were the wiles of the dragon. This was the preferred method for luring victims to their grisly deaths. He knew this first hand as he had personally witnessed the crime many times in his life. He had to concentrate on getting his feet out of the magickal trap.

Time wore on and he ran out of ideas. Only one remained; another thing he had witnessed
first hand on several occasions. Desperation was a powerful force capable of overcoming many fears, the engine behind incredible feats of courage and sacrifice, an energy powered by the will to live. The Dark Angel leaned forward as far as possible and felt of his legs. He would have to cut through the extremely tough sinews and tendons near his ankles. The bones would be the most difficult part, but even this pain would not come close to the pain inflicted by the arrow. He knew now who had removed the shaft from his neck. The dragon could not handle angelic poison. It had removed the arrow, used its magickal powers to heal the wound and was now waiting patiently for him to recover in order to avoid being poisoned by the meal.

He tested his wings and found them in good working order once more. He would have to fly faster than the dragon, once the deed was done. When he had assured himself the better part of him was in good working order, he leaned forward again and commanded the scorpions on his legs to sting him just where the rock met his skin. The scorpion poison would numb the pain of the amputation somewhat, but the pain of the multiple stings still made him howl in agony. Before his last screams had died, he used his powerful to quickly accomplish the unthinkable. After a brief
bout of nausea and dizziness, he took to the air, streaming a trail of black scorpions and dark blood behind him. The singing stopped at once, and he heard the roar of the dragon and below him. It was coming up faster than he expected.

Abaddon beat his wings against the night air faster than ever he had done before and the flat terrain skimmed by only a few dozen feet below him at an astonishing rate. Surely the dragon could not fly nearly so swiftly. He dared not look back for fear of the drag caused by the movement which would impede his flight. If he could make it back to safety, he would beg Adar to find him another body wherein he could be whole again. The terrain below him changed from smoothly rippled sand to a prickly bone yard of debris, crushed beyond recognition by the force of the water which had washed across the peninsula.

When the ground below him changed again and began to rise in elevation, he slowed just a bit. He was growing fatigued very rapidly. The terrible wounds he had inflicted upon himself had taken a toll on his strength, and he could now feel it ebbing away as his dark blood streamed out behind him. He would have to stop soon and rest, but he was sure the dragon had tired by now and gone in search of easier prey.

He was wrong.

The moment he slowed and just as he prepared to chance one short glance behind, he was struck from above and knocked to the ground like a mosquito. He hit the rocky hillside on his face and had not even begun to turn over and face his enemy before a tremendous weight descended on his back, and he knew his end had come. He had suffered for nothing.

His last thought before darkness overcame him was of Inanna and how lonely he had been without her.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

“
Behold anew the Symbol and the Name of a Sovereign and Conquering God, through which all the Universe fears, trembles, and shudders, and through the most mysterious words of the Secret Mysteries and by their Virtue, Strength, and Power
.”

Meredith turned on the surprised angelic chieftain and held up the pentacle so that he could read the powerful names of God inscribed upon it. She smiled slightly at him and he looked down in growing panic. He had stepped directly into the center of another pentagram drawn on the floor of her tent with white powder. Lucifer tried to speak, but nothing would come from his throat other than a dry croak. He reached for his neck and stared at her in disbelief.

“
I conjure ye anew
,” she continued. “
I constrain and command ye with the utmost vehemence and power, by that most potent and powerful Name of God, EL, strong and wonderful, by Him Who spake and it was done; and by the Name Iah, which Moses heard, and spoke with God; and by the Name Agla, which Joseph invoked, and was delivered out of the hands of his brethren; and by the Name Vau, which Abraham heard, and knew God the Almighty One; and by the Name of Four Letters, Tetragrammaton, which Joshua named and invoked, and he was rendered worthy and found deserving to lead the Army of Israel into the Promised Land; and by the Name Anabona, by which God formed Man and the whole Universe; and by the Name Arpheton, and in the Name Arpheton by which the Angels who are destined to that end will summon the Universe, in visible body and form. Lucifer, Light-bringer, summon forth the Universe in visible body and form! I command ye! I constrain thee! I abjure thee! I detest thee! I despise thee! Thou who art the pinnacle of arrogance.”
She stepped closer to him, but by now he was completely paralyzed
.

“
O most Holy Archangel, thou wouldst toy with me? How would you toy with me, O Lucifer? Summon the Universe! Call out if thou canst. See what thy vile words hath wrought.  Thou wouldst revel in the glory of having men believe that it was thy cunning that overcame the weak-minded woman? Tell me the truth O Angel of Light, silver-tongued devil of the ages, tell me who deceived whom? Speak! I command it!”

Meredith stepped back and waited. Lucifer gasped, coughed and sputtered before falling to his knees in the middle of the circle.

“I cannot say, my Lord,” he spoke in a low voice and kept his head bowed.

“I command it!” She would not relent.

“It was I who was caught in the garden, my Lord,” his voice was barely audible.

“Confess thou thy sin, Lucifer. Confess it!”

“I was… only curious, my Lord!” The angel’s voice was louder, but now the tone had changed. He was pleading. “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”

“What is the nature of your sin, my son?” Meredith’s voice softened and she placed her hand on his head.

“I have led many astray from the path to paradise.”

“Why?”

“Because I was jealous.”

“Why?”

“Because I cannot go into paradise.”

“Why?”

“Because I am fallen from Grace.”

“Why?”

“Because I am impure and unfaithful. I am a sinner.”

“To whom were you unfaithful, my son?”

“My Lord, my Father.”

“How so?”

“I traded the mysteries for the flesh.”

“And are you truly penitent?”

“I am, my Lord.” The angel looked up at her and she removed her hand from his head. He was crying.

“Rise and take my hand, my son.”  She held out her hand to him and he got up.

He stared at her hand for several long moments before clasping it in his own strong grip. A tremendous flash of light filled the tent and then they were gone.

Haniel
, Azael, Yodiel and the others fell back from the tent flap as it came away with little effort. The warriors rushed inside, looking for their chief, but there was no one inside the tent.

A single white feather drifted in the air.
Tafel snatched it from the air and looked at in puzzlement.

“Come, brothers,”
Haniel called them to follow him as he exited the tent into the cool night air.

“Lord Lucifer will find his own way,”
Azael added sadly.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

Luke’s horse snorted and stopped short, refusing to make the next bend in the winding trail. The starlight was bright and the way clear ahead, but the animal would not budge. The entire train had finally made it down the slippery slopes of the rocky mountain on which the ark had set down. He slid out of the saddle and handed the reigns to Christopher Stewart, who rode close behind him. They had taken the point only a few minutes earlier, relieving Konrad, who was leading them by dead reckoning. The Knight of the Apocalypse and the Knight of the Wisdom of Solomon had put their heads together and come up with a fair calculation of where they had landed. They had apparently been washed out into the Red Sea and then back up the Gulf of Aqaba into the Negev region of Israel south of the Dead Sea. The way home would be long and arduous. So far they had seen nothing that would pass for a reasonable food source except fish.  There were many lakes and pools, but all were filled with salt water, unfit to drink. Some of the shallow ones teemed with fish trapped when the water regressed into its proper places. They would have fish for a while, but adequate calories would be a problem for the soldiers. They were not used to surviving on protein alone. Edgard had assured them all he would find water when they needed it and none doubted his word.

“What is the problem?” Louis Champlain shoved past Christopher and Lavon on the narrow trail and watched as Luke tried to calm his nervous steed.

“I don’t know,” Luke shook his head and frowned up at the higher elevations. A shiver ran up his spine. “The horse knows something we don’t.”

Lavon slid from his horse and kept going, striking the ground, rolling limply, slipping toward the lip of the ledge on which they waited. Christopher was quick to come to his Brother’s rescue, pulling him back from the brink by both arms. Luke and Louis left the nervous horse and knelt beside their fallen comrade.

“What happened?” Konrad edged in beside them and they could hear several others shouting questions from further back.

“He just fell from the horse,” Christopher said as he patted Lavon’s cheek and Louis held his canteen of water to his lips. The golden Knight’s eyes fluttered and then opened.

“What’s wrong, Lavon?” Christopher bent over him.

“I saw… I saw…” he started and then stopped and started again.

“What did you see, Brother?” Luke Matthew pushed Christopher aside.

“Someone used the power,” Lavon turned his eyes on Luke.

“What power? Who?” Edgard asked urgently. The Master had made his way through the small knot on the ledge. The horses skittered and whinnied. “Get those horses back!” He ordered over his shoulder and someone came forward to take the horses in control, making more room for them. “Send word for the men to take a break. Tell them to send Simon up here ASAP!” 

The word was passed quickly up the winding trail.

Lavon gripped the Master’s shoulder and smiled at him in wonder.

“It was beautiful, Your Grace,” his voice was dreamy.

“What was?” Edgard leaned closer and Luke exchanged worried glances with Louis.