Children of the Apocalypse Complete Trilogy, page 37
part #1 of Children of the Apocalypse Series
“She wants us to follow her there, the problem is that you guys were kicked out.”
I grinned and pulled the chain off my neck. “I still have my ID card though.”
“You’re not going back to the city, she’s luring you into a trap.” Death shook his head. “We have to play this smart. If we don’t go, they send someone.”
“Or they think we’re chicken and destroy more of the human population.” Kaleb crossed his arms.
I closed my eyes. The number was still high, but it’d come down a little bit, not gone up. “Death toll has actually gone down. I think we should wait it out.”
The others grumbled and I stretched. “So what do we do now to pass the time?”
“We spar and we work on our techniques. We’ll need to learn how to keep away from Sloth’s daggers or we’ll all end up dead.” Aeron jumped down. “Like any good warriors.”
“What happened to conserving our energy?” I raised a brow. “Fighting each other isn’t going to do that.”
His bow disappeared and he held his hand out. Five shiny throwing knives appeared. “It’s either that or we find a way to play checkers.”
“If we need, we can go back to my realm for a rest. Which we will at nightfall. There is no point in you staying out in the open when you sleep anymore.” Death nodded towards Aeron. “He’s right, it’s time to brush up on your dodging skills.”
I wrinkled my nose. I’d been hit enough times by the people who were my allies. The idea that Aeron would be purposely and mindfully trying to hit us with throwing knives felt like a rock in my stomach. Kaleb summoned his sickles. “I’ll go first.” And with those words our rotation started.
I knocked another knife out of the air with my scythe and flipped to avoid another one. I landed on a chunk of bricks, with my arms out to balance my landing. I glared at Aeron. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to seriously wound me.”
Another one came flying towards me and I jumped to avoid it. The bricks slid out from under my feet, taking me down with them. I rolled into a crouch on the ground, just in time for a dagger to whiz by my ear. “Damn it, that was close.”
“You’ve gotten better though.” Aeron held a hand out to me to help me up. “I’m impressed.”
I dusted myself off and looked at the sinking sun. Long shadows started to cover the ground as the light faded from the sky. “All day and no other visit from a demon.”
“They’ll come. Tomorrow we’ll return and if they don’t show up, then the following day we’ll try the abandoned city right outside the walled one. Or Zachariah’s city.” Dad said.
The angel probably wouldn’t want us in his territory, but that didn’t seem to cross my father’s mind. “What if we found something to sacrifice and we go into Hell first?”
“No, I don’t want to risk running into Sloth while we’re in Hell.” Dad shook his head. “Too risky and you should have sealed him away instead of Wrath or Lust. Zachariah wouldn’t have been able to handle Sloth and Greed at the same time.”
A ping of guilt hit me. “I thought we did pretty well for working with what we had.”
“You did, but next time you know. Before we go into Hell we seal away what Sins we can. It’ll be safer and more likely for everyone to make it out alive.” Death put a hand on my shoulder and I grabbed Ruthie. We made a chain of people before he took us back to Death’s realm. I let go of Ruthie’s hand. “I’m going to go to the stable for a little bit before turning in.”
“I’m cooking dinner, you’ll need to eat.” My dad called over his shoulder as he headed towards the house. I don’t know why, but I wanted the peace that seeing the horse at the stable could give me. Even if she was still skittish, I wanted to watch her play.
My feet carried me to the stables and I found a bale of hay and a pitchfork leaning against the fence. It appeared that my Father wasn’t the only one this world catered to. It cared about the horse that lived here too. I used the pitchfork to break apart the bale of hay and I threw a square over the fence and into the middle of the corral. I heard the horse whinny from further away and I smiled. Her hooves pounded the ground as she trotted into view. She slowed when she saw me and I threw another square of hay and then put the pitchfork down.
“Dinner time for you.”
She moved her head up and down and then bowed to eat the hay. I leaned with my arms crossed on the gate and admired the grace with which this beast of an animal managed to eat.
I heard my dad calling and I pushed away from the gate. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I told her, patting the fence and walking away. She’d warm up to me. I’d already gotten to pet her and now I had managed to feed her. Gaining her trust was the first step in a relationship with her.
I walked back to the house and found a bigger table in place of the little round one that had been there originally. Plates of food were sat out and my mouth started to water. My stomach growled at the idea of eating something that wasn’t dehydrated and actually cooked. I sat down with everyone else and started picking at the food. The night before we’d only eaten sandwiches, but this was divine.
“What were you doing at the stables?” Pete took a bite of his steak.
I finished my mouthful of food. “I was feeding the horse. We’re learning to be friends.”
“Any luck?” My dad folded his hands on the table.
“She let me pet her yesterday, but we just enjoyed some silent time today.” I shrugged one shoulder. “We’re a work in progress, but I think we’ll be friends soon enough.”
Aeron laughed. “I tried to ride my dad’s horse once. Dang thing bucked me off and about broke my ribs.”
“I did too.” Pete leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t break anything, but the horse was not happy.”
I glanced at Kaleb. He looked up from his plate. “What? I’m not stupid enough to try and ride my dad’s horse. The thing can go to each realm and I didn’t want to end up stranded in Hell.”
“Without a sacrifice?” I looked over at my dad.
He nodded. “But only in extreme circumstances, and I can’t take passengers, as you’ve learned the horses don’t like other people.”
“What would count as an extreme circumstance?” I finished my meal and put a hand on my full belly.
“Lucile trying to claim a soul she shouldn’t have. That’s the only time I’ve managed to take the horse there.” He shook his head. “It’s not something I want to do again.”
I closed my eyes and started to drift to sleep in the chair. I sat up and blinked a few times. “Why do the rules in your world have to be so complicated?”
“To keep balance.” He smiled. “Now it’s time for you all to turn in for the night. Tomorrow we start with the Sins again.”
I pulled myself out of the chair and into the spare room. The world had provided us with beds and all I wanted was sleep. The exhaustion claimed me the moment I closed my eyes and my head sank into the pillow.
Do you think you can get rid of me that easily?” Wrath’s voice echoed in my head. “You know nothing, Little Death, this seal will not hold me forever.”
“But it will hold you long enough.”
The world faded from black abyss to a battlefield. Dead bodies littered the dusty ground. Blood seeped into the ground, making black mud underneath the fallen. Gashes and snapped bones covered the corpses. Each face holding horrified looks and gaping mouths. Arrows stuck out of bodies like pins in a cushion.
Fear and dread claimed my stomach and a rage shook in my body. I clenched my fists and turned to try and locate the source of Wrath’s voice.
“This is what Wrath can do to humans. I can turn them against each other, brother against brother, sons against fathers. All of this conflict. I outclass War in every way.”
I took a deep breath at the rage that tried to climb through me. “When War comes back, you will be balanced out. You will not be able to control anyone from where you are. They will just hear whispers of you.”
“Is that what you believe?” A swirl of black clouds formed above me. “I am one of the most powerful Sins. There is no stopping me.” He appeared in front of me. His massive hand wrapped around my neck and squeezed. I tried to pry his hands off my throat.
I woke up with a jump and put my head in my hands. It was just the stress getting to me. Wrath could not hurt me in my dreams. None of the Sins could, and even if he was whispering to me though my dreams, that’s all he could do. I would not fall victim to his influences. I balled my hands in my hair and took a deep breath, trying to push out my frustration. I hadn’t had a nightmare so vivid since we found the dead bodies in the farmhouse.
I rubbed my eyes and threw the blankets off me. There was no way I’d be able to go to sleep after that. I glanced over and noticed that Ruthie’s bed was empty. I walked out into the kitchen to see Ruthie drinking tea. I sat across from her and she slowly pushed a cup towards me.
“I felt your anxiety.” She sipped her tea and looked at me. “You okay?”
I blew the steam that danced from the cup. “I think so. I think it’s just a bit of fear and worry mixed in together. I know that the Sins can whisper from the other side, but I wasn’t really prepared for them to enter my dreams. Wrath said that he was stronger than War.”
“He can be, but not when sealed away. Wrath and War...they are brothers and both are so powerful.”
“How are they brothers if Wrath is a demon and War a horseman? I thought angels could have only one child, same with horsemen.”
Ruthie smiled over her cup. “Occasionally something strange comes along, like you. A female child of Death. War and Wrath are twins. The Sins, they are a different breed of demon. They are forged by the hatred and sins of mankind which is why they tend to stay around populated cities. They grow stronger with other people’s emotions, but they choose to do horrible things with their power. It was Wrath’s free will that turned him into a demon. War was chosen as a horseman because he just happened to be the one that abilities were passed to.”
I sipped the tea and savored the warm liquid as it slipped down my throat. “A twin, what would have happened if he’d chosen his ability for good?”
“He would have become a Virtue.” She smiled. “It’s just another example of how choices can turn a person.”
I watched the waving liquid in my cup, the fine motions caused by my movement. Ruthie didn’t push any more conversation and she didn’t have to. Just having her there comforted my fears from the dream. I didn’t want to imagine what it’d be like without her by my side. I closed my eyes and tried to block out the strange feelings in me. I needed to focus on our mission, and not on our relationship.
“It’s okay.” Ruthie said. “Remember, I was with you through childhood. I was one of your good friends back then, so I know more about you than you think. You don’t have to be embarrassed about your emotions.”
I raised a brow. “I never said I was embarrassed.?”
“You didn’t have to. You blushed a little.” She grinned at me. “Finish your tea and we’ll get back to bed.”
College was about finding yourself, who you were, and I’d heard stories about people discovering their sexuality. Neither of those were going to happen to me, but looking over that table, if I had to say something now...I shook my head. This was not the time for that. I wasn’t ready to admit anything to myself in the face of a crisis.
We remained silent until we’d drank all the tea. The mixture of tea leaves started to work their magic on our minds and we both yawned and stretched. “Time to sleep for a couple more hours. Aeron wants another round with you and the throwing knives.”
I snorted and crawled into my bed. “I don’t think I want to go through that again. I’m pretty sure he was actually trying to kill me.”
“It’s hard to say, but I wouldn’t let him. I’m kind of fond of you.” She winked and lay down in her bed.
I closed my eyes and wondered if my fondness for Ruthie was just a dream. Something that was made up in my mind to keep me from thinking about Wrath. A dark shadow of a thought crossed my mind. Maybe Lust was coming for a visit and whispering across my mind...I tried to fight the sleep dragging me down. I didn’t want to think about him, I didn’t want to dream about him.
26
I swung my scythe around and hit Aeron’s sword, knocking it out of his hand. It disappeared before it hit the ground and reappeared in his hand as he found his footing. I tightened my grip on the scythe.
“I’m pretty much over sparring.”
“You’re getting better. So it’s helping.” He rushed forward, dust rising from under his feet.
I dodged and tripped him. He stumbled and almost fell on his face. I let my scythe disappear. “You aren’t really trying anymore either.”
“That’s because he’s bored.” Pete came to my side. “Let him and Kaleb spar for a little bit.”
A whirlwind of dust rose as air was pushed to the ground. I raised my arm to my mouth, trying to keep from inhaling the dry particles.
Mary, Zachariah’s angel, descended upon us, landing in the middle of our sparring ring. Death stood up and summoned his scythe. I held a hand up. “No, she’s friendly.” I hoped that she was coming to us as an ally and not as an enemy. “Hello Mary.”
“Zachariah is missing, have you seen him?” She met my gaze. “He wasn’t right after he came back from hell.”
“Grief changes people.” I shook my head. “We haven’t seen him. Is there somewhere that he might have gone without telling you? Somewhere that he could grieve in silence?”
She didn’t answer and her gaze searched all of our faces. I wondered what she was looking for. Whatever it was, she didn’t find it. Her shoulders slouched in defeat and her gaze dropped to the ground. “No. He wasn’t in the realm of the angels, no one has seen him. Not even Michael knows where he is. I’m worried that he did something stupid.”
“Like what?” Death stepped up. “Zachariah didn’t strike me as one to rush off without a plan.”
She looked up at him. “Like go after Greed, the Sin that slaughtered most of our chorus.”
“He was eager to get out of there. He knew that we couldn’t face Greed alone. Not even with Death on our side.” I crossed my arms. “I don’t know what you expect us to do about this. He was pretty clear that he didn’t want us around anymore.”
She stepped up and put her nose to mine. Her lip lifted in a snarl. “I expect you to help me find him. You are the reason that we lost all our angels, you are the reason that he went into Hell and is now grieving. You will help me find him and talk him off his ledge.”
“Assuming he’s standing on one.” Ruthie put a hand on Mary’s shoulder, urging her to step away from me. “You have to consider that he doesn’t want to be found. That’s a possibility. Archangels tend to not deal with their emotions well, grieving is a private matter.”
Mary shrugged away from Ruthie. “Not when they were our angels. They weren’t just a band of angels that he led, we were all family, I lost them too. How dare he think that he can leave me alone to grieve.” She clenched her fists.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Mary, we will keep an eye out for him, but I don’t know how to locate him any easier than you do.”
Her snarl crumpled into a weeping face. She covered her face and shook her head. “You have to know where he is. We can’t afford to lose another.”
I wrapped my arm around her. “Do you have any idea where we could start?”
“Hell. If he wanted revenge he’d go right after Greed.”
I pressed my lips together and looked at Death. He shook his head. “We can’t go there right now without a sacrifice. We aren’t ready to unlock another horseman yet, and with five Sins still out, it would be a suicide run.”
Mary whipped her head around to look at Death. “He lost all of his angels going in after you. On a suicide mission.” She poked him in the chest and my eyes grew wide. I’d never seen anyone touch him like that before. I expected him to break her finger.
“I understand that and I am grateful for his sacrifice and theirs, but I cannot risk my daughter or the other children because he went on a grief stricken rampage.” Death took her hand and wrapped his fingers with hers in a gentle motion. “You must understand that the life of one does not justify the lives of many. More humans will die if we stray from our mission. If we run across him, we will do what we can for him.”
She ripped her hand away from him. “And if he’s fallen by then? What will you do?”
“Fallen or not, he’s still an angel and he can make the right choices.” Death put a hand on my shoulder. “It happened to an angel I know and when she died, she still found peace.”
The words comforted my heart.
“And what was her sin? What did she do that was so unforgivable that her wings turned black and she was cast out of heaven?” She crossed her arms. “Was it madness driven by grief?”
“She took a life that was not meant to end so soon. She did it to keep her chosen from making a bad choice and in the end it resulted in two deaths. Each soul was a premature death that I hadn’t planned on reaping for many years.”
My muscles tensed and my shoulders slumped a little bit in shame of my mother’s actions.
“Now, if that can be forgiven and her soul find peace because her intentions for the rest of her life were good and pure, then Zachariah can find peace as well.”
She turned her back on us. “You are pathetic.” She jumped into the air and took to the skies, her wings cutting through the air gracefully.
“She’s going to go after him.” I closed my eyes. “And there is going to be at least one death that results from it.”
Aeron looked up. “We can’t help her. It’s not our fault.”
But guilt settled in my stomach like a rock. It was our fault because we asked for his help and he offered it. He’d offered it before Michael had asked for volunteers.
