Horns and Halos, page 31
Inside it was warm, and the little chill that was brought on by my drenched clothes was slowly lifting from me. Still, some of the water that had collected on our skin and hair dripped from us and landed with a soft pitter-patter on the red carpet that stretched from the doorway all the way to the altar.
Rushing from the other end of the massive room, the Grand Master came darting in our direction with Ivy and a few of the tutors in tow. The fast-paced tick, tick, tick, and the accompanying chiming of bells on his staff as it tapped against the floors filled the empty space around us. Arland’s quickened steps had him before us in seconds.
“What is the meaning of this? Sia, why are you not attending the Hours of Whispered Prayers? Why is Elijah with you? Has something happened at the wall?” the Grand Master asked with worry creasing his brow.
I shook my head and tried to think of how to start, but it all came out like a frantic child telling a parent about a horrible nightmare that they’d just woken up from. “I saw a man die. He just died right in front of me!” I shook my head as I tried to gain my thoughts. Behind the Grand Master, I could see Ivy and James. Their concern was evident as they listened to my panic-stricken voice explain everything that had transpired. “The guards were talking about dumping him over the wall for the demons to feast on ... like he didn’t even matter. They pulled their swords on us. I-I-I didn’t know where else to go, so I came here. I knew it would be safe here and I could get some answers. I’m so confused, Grand Master.”
He went from looking like he was ready to ring the cathedral bells and sound the alarms to sighing with a sad expression. “I see. I can understand how traumatic this all must be for you. After all, this is new to you.”
“New?”
“Yes.”
“Death is nothing new to me, Grand Master. I’ve seen it more often than you have, I’m sure. What I just saw now was not death, but a lack of compassion for the dead, and I doubt that those on the brink of death get treated any better.”
“My dear, the resources we’d have to use to save them or bury them is too great. We live in troubling times.”
“Troubling times is when we should show more compassion, not less.”
Arland hummed with a knowing expression. “Did you drink the wine?”
How could he be asking me a question like that? He knew the answer. If he wanted me to lie, it wasn’t going to happen, and if he wanted me to convict myself, I’d tell the truth and then leave the city before they could ask me to ... or worse.
“No, I didn’t.”
“If you would have but followed our laws and rules here, this wouldn’t be an issue right now, my child. The wine wasn’t to deceive you. It was to ease you into a state of peace that would be pleasing for the Hours of Whispered Prayers. None of these things would be concerns for you because you would be focused on your faith and not these Earthly matters.”
“We’re all Earthlings,” Elijah whispered in a lazy slur. I wasn’t sure how invested he was in our conversation, but I chose to focus on replying to Arland.
“How can you be so cold?”
“My dear, you mistake my understanding of how everything is in our world as having a hardened heart.”
“No. I’m not mistaking you as someone with a hardened heart. I’m seeing you for what you really are. You are manipulating these people by using their faith, our faith, to fuel the safety of this city and yet you care nothing for those that sacrifice themselves.”
He shook his head with a deep sigh. “You speak of those that didn’t make it through their prayer session or didn’t leave when their time was up. I feel for them, but the fact remains that they failed in their duty.”
“Failed? You drugged them! You have no idea of what the lifetime effects of those drugs are, or if mixing them with the wine might have a different effect on different people. How can you act like any of this is their fault when you are the one holding the poisoned vial?”
“Careful, Sia. You are treading on thin ice.”
“No, you are just upset that I’m calling you out on your BS.”
“If their faith and willpower were stronger, they wouldn’t have perished so easily.”
“Their faith was stronger than yours! While they are down there, putting themselves at risk on the frontlines, you sit up here in comfort as you call the shots.”
“It is written in the sacred book what we should do.”
“You are cherry-picking to benefit yourself.”
“We are to pray without ceasing!” He bellowed to me.
My face twisted in anger, and I mentally asked for guidance. After taking in a deep breath, I snapped back, “Stay sober and be vigilant!”
He laughed at me and straightened to his full height as he looked down at me like I was a stain in the middle of the cathedral. With a heated glare, he yelled back, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God!”
My skin prickled with goosebumps, I felt something stir within my chest, and I took in a slow, calming breath. I didn’t yell or scream. I met his gaze and let every bit of anger in me die. Sweetly, almost too sweetly for what I was telling the Grand Master, I said, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
He took a single step back as if my words had caused him to lose his balance. Pointing the staff at me, he roared, “You’re a witch! You come in here sputtering lies and shaking the foundations of our city and tempting those around you with a seducing tongue to crumble our great walls from the inside out! You are the one stirring up conflict!”
“Grand Master,” Ivy whispered, trying to calm him down. She laid a gentle hand upon his upper arm, but he ripped away from her with a cross look.
“Are you defending her? Have you been bewitched by her words?”
“N-n-no. I just feel as though we can handle this situation better if we all calm down,” she suggested.
“He can’t calm down. I’ve shown him that he is no better than Satan himself, and I am showing everyone listening in to our conversation right now that he has no intention of changing or repenting.”
“Silence your filthy lies! I see you for what you really are now. You had me fooled when you first came here, but now I see. Oh, yes ... I see so clearly now. You come to seek and destroy. You’re a child of the devil himself!”
Just then the soldiers flooded through the main entrance, and one by one pointed their weapons at Elijah and me.
The half-out-of-it young man whistled and mumbled to me, “Uh-oh.”
My sentiments exactly. Nothing good was going to come of this. It was clear in the heated glower from the Grand Master and his flushed cheeks. It was solidified further by his followers all looking at me like I was a demon myself ... or worse. Only Ivy and James had expressions that came across as though they wanted all of this to stop. They wanted to help us, but their hands were tied. I didn’t want them to risk everything they had here just to help Elijah and myself.
I made sure to not look at them to ensure that Arland wouldn’t find fault with them somehow. Ivy had been my tutor, and I didn’t want any blame for my outburst to become her problem. Instead, I made sure that he pointed every bit of that seething rage at me.
“Oh, I see your backup has arrived. Plan on silencing me?” I asked low enough for him to hear and not the cautious knights circling us.
“We are sending you far away from here. You and that young man are to be banished out into the Wastes.”
That wasn’t so bad. Not like I hadn’t been there before. My lack of concern for his decree must have been written all over my face because he added with a hiss, “Tonight.”
His final addition to my already terrifying sentence was only concerning because after we left the wall, we hadn’t seen Draki. Not a whisper in my mind, not a tormenting cackle, and not even the faintest scent of spice and smoke. It was like he wasn’t even there anymore.
Arland turned to the soldiers. “Have the buckets of entrails and blood the butchers have collected over the past few days poured over the sides of the walls by the front gates,” he ordered.
“Yes, Grand Master,” one of the men barked before he bowed, turned on heel, and dashed out of the cathedral.
“You’re going to call every demon within miles.”
“Yes,” he said with a dark smile. “I won’t let you live in this city or out there. You’re too dangerous.”
“Anyone that knows the truth is dangerous to you. Eventually, you’ll run out of people to kill and your city will be empty. Who will pray for your protection then?”
He sneered at me and waved a hand dismissively in my direction. “Bind them and take them to the front gates. We need to make preparations before we offer these two up to the darkness that lurks within the Wastes.”
“You’ll need those prayers to keep you safe!” I snapped. “Because He knows everything you’ve done. You cannot hide any of your misdeeds from His eyes. You might feel untouchable now, but your demise is on the horizon! Stop all of this now, it isn’t too late!”
“Take them away!” he commanded with an air of righteousness.
I opened my mouth to protest, but the only sound that escaped me was a short cry of pain as the pommel of a sword cracked down below my jaw and the world was doused in inky black.
The ropes were old, fraying, and scratched aggressively against my skin. My nonstop attempts to wriggle out of the bindings had rubbed my wrists raw, and I was sure that there were minor cuts surfacing as I continued—without avail—to free myself. Despite their age, the ropes weren’t brittle and easily broken. A quick glance around the dimly lit storage house proved to me that we hadn’t yet been tossed out as a sacrifice. We were still very much within the city. Though, from the sound of approaching people and the chatter that I could make out, that wouldn’t be true for too much longer.
They were smart enough to set Elijah and me far apart so that we couldn’t help one another. It didn’t matter much, though. He was passed out and slumped over by one of the poles we had been tied to.
There was a single window on the far side of the room, but around it were stacks of crates, barrels, and boxes that blocked some of the view. From what I could tell, we were at the city entrance and that it was still night and the rain had slowed down. There weren’t any hints of dawn approaching from what I could see of the sky.
I didn’t have a lot of hope that I would be successful, but I wanted to attempt to wake up Elijah. At the very least, I would have someone to talk to. Maybe we could come up with a half-baked plan. Yet, in truth, I knew that it was all ways to avoid a choice that I didn’t want to make.
“Elijah!” I hoarsely yelled to him and looked around, listening to the sounds outside to see if anyone was coming. “Elijah!” I called again.
“Mmmm,” he groaned.
“Wake up!”
He torpidly shook his head with his brow knitted in annoyance. “Five more minutes,” he slurred with a yawn.
With that, his head dropped back down, and I could hear faint snoring. Sighing, I leaned back against the pole and rested my head against the wood. Looking up to the roof, I figured this quiet moment was as good as any to have a conversation with my maker.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I’m not going to blame you for this. My choices led me here. I know that everything, both good and bad, are to shape me into the person you want me to be ...” My eyes burned as I admitted a truth that haunted me. “But I’ve been so lost for so long, Lord. I still don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know what my purpose is, and I don’t know where to start. Maybe this is the end of my road, and I accept that too, but—if it is your will—Lord, deliver Elijah and me from this place. Put me on the path that you have designed for me.”
Thwack!
The door was slammed open and there were two knights standing on the other side. Both of them stared right at me. One of their gazes was full of disdain and came from a male with black hair and bright, brown eyes. The other looked conflicted and she tried to mask it, but Francis didn’t come across as the type that could wipe all emotion out of her expression.
“Time to go,” she said with a frown.
“Don’t talk to them, they aren’t worthy of being spoken to,” the male snarled.
“Don’t tell me what to do, Chris. I am taking no delight in any of this.”
Chris snorted with a smug look and then directed his glare at me. “Oh, but I do,” he growled lowly.
She pushed past him to untie me from the pole while Chris went to untie Elijah. As she worked, she whispered faintly to me. “I didn’t trust him to come in here alone. I’ll escort you to the gates with him. This is all that I can do for you.”
Turning to face her, I winced as I felt a dull, aching, throb assault my jaw. I waited for her eyes to lock with mine before I smiled and said, “Thank you.” And I let every bit of my gratitude flow into those two words.
She stared at the swollen spot on my face where I had been hit by the pommel. Again, Francis looked conflicted, and she quickly averted my gaze. “You’re welcome,” she mumbled.
Still smiling, I faced back toward the front and was instantly met with Chris’s attention directed at me. He made no attempt to hide his hatred as his face twisted in disgust. “What are you smiling about?” he snipped.
“Just counting my blessings,” I said.
He spat at the ground near me with a sneer. “Must be a short list,” he said with a dark cackle.
“Oh, no ... it’s quite long when you know how to look at your life and the world around you. Perspective is everything.”
His laughter died. Glaring eyes scanned me like he was making a list of my imperfections that he would happily make me aware of. Staring down his nose at me, he let his voice go frigid as he said, “I’ll be watching demons tear you limb from limb while you cry for help that will never come. Guess you’re right. Perspective is everything.”
I had expected that kind of reply. He came across as someone that reveled in the pain of others. The curl of my lips didn’t waver. “If found innocent, He will send an angel to close the mouth of the demons just like he shut the mouths of the lions for Daniel.”
“You bi—”
“Enough, Chris! We are to escort them, not taunt them.”
“Pfft. Whatever,” he grumbled and jerked Elijah to his feet. “Let’s get this the hell over with.”
They led us out of the storage shelter and toward the front gates. The gas lamps were lit and there were a few fires burning in great, big, iron bowls near the massive doors. An enormous crowd was gathered near the city exit. It seemed that the soon-to-be spectacle had driven some of the city’s inhabitants from their beds. All of their faces were shaded and shadowed in ways that made them appear as if they were manifesting into something completely inhuman. They all had turned from a mass of accepting and loving people to these beings that were twisted with judgment and hate.
We were shoved toward the closed doors until we were practically kissing the wood. I spun on heel to look each individual over with a hard frown. Any words I would have spoken failed me. I was beyond disappointed in them, in the city. From further in, the sea of people parted to let the Grand Master and a few of his followers come through.
“Let us cast out this evil before they bring us harm and destruction.”
“You are your own destruction. Turn away from your wicked ways,” I spat back.
“Still with your lies? Even when you face death you don’t give up the act.” Arland shook his head. “You poor girl. You had the chance to be saved.”
“I already have been.”
His upper lip twitched like a snarling dog, and he shook it off with a forced smile. “Open the gates.”
Heavy creaking sounded through the night, but it was followed by the many whoops and hollers from nearby grunts and the screeching calls of other demons. It sounded dangerously close. The throng of creatures was as close to the protected walls of the faith city as they dared to be. The buckets of blood and animal remains the knights had earlier poured over the walls had really done their job. As the vast spread of the Wastes was made visible, we saw it aglow with countless eyes and darting figures moving within the darkness.
“May God have mercy on your souls,” The Grand Master announced loudly, and all of those that were watching repeated the phrase. It brought a chill to my bones.
Chris shoved me in the back, and Elijah was thrown next to me. We both grunted in pain as we hit the ground just outside the city. I could see the fog starting to lift from Elijah’s eyes, but he was still sluggish and confused.
“Sia?” He said my name like he needed me to confirm that I was real.
“Yes?”
The hissing laughter of demons was closer than before.
“This ... this is pretty bad, huh?”
I nodded and started to sit up and helped him to his feet. I didn’t lie. I told him the truth. “Yes.”
He slowly looked from me to the encroaching army of demons. Things hidden by the shade of night were slithering through the abyss. Evil eyes burned through the infinite black. Songs of terror trembled through the stillness. Chattering and cackles taunted us from the throng of creatures waiting for us to venture further away from the protection of the city. Elijah’s eyes traced over the nightmares awaiting us and looked down, shaking his head. Again, he gazed upon the demons. Slowly, he glanced back to the city entrance where many were watching us. Taking my hand in his, he turned his back to the faith city and headed further into the Wastes. “Wherever you go, Sia, I’ll be with you.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I held his hand a little tighter. Mentally, I wanted to beg them to take us back because I didn’t want to die, but something in me let go of all my fear and accepted my fate. “Protect us, Go—”
