Even Angels Fall (Book 3)

Isis

Elders are the worst kind of scavenger. Like Vultures they linger, waiting, circling with salivating jaws for their prey to finally perform its last stumble and crumble to the floor, wheezing with a climatic attempt at life. They impatiently push and shove at each other, daring one another to take the first bite. Anxiety and exhilaration makes them impulsive until one unable to withhold its gluttonous appetite surges forth and nips as the carcass’s skin.

Surprise.

I’m not dead and have a mouthful of venom waiting.

I’ve listened to the nettling of their voices bickering for the last half hour. Their plans are in-depth and detailed. It seems I never truly had control of the New York Council. They only allowed me to perceive I was. It is humorous because I was pretending to let them think they had me right where they wanted me. We’ve been using each other.

Matthias is at the forefront of this insurrection.

Where Fallen tribes tend to run as monarchies, Angel clans operate as an adjusted democracy. I am a president with a senate of annoying squabbling brats all clawing for my chair. If I manage to upset them, as I have recently done, they may approach the Ruling, reveal my unlawful activities and thus I am impeached.

Voting will hence occur on who the next ruler of the New York Council will be, while I rot and wither.

If it were a monarchy, I could order my soldiers to turn their readied rifles on my unaccommodating subjects and rid the world of their naysaying. I would be a mighty queen and surely, no one would stand against me.

As it is, Matthias ruffles their flamboyant feathers, stirring waters that needn’t be meddled if only to gain their attention. He is normally so compliant but his fear of war makes him rash. He betrays me openly. At this point, his betrayal will look justified. I’ve done too much damage to make myself a victim. I have no friends on the council.

That being said, I have plenty elsewhere and Matthias will feel the brunt of that soon enough.

I hold vanilla folders taut in my hand. They are a gift from the Great Houses, assisting me in my endeavor to destroy Kio and gain my clan back. Though I’m several days late, I hope I can make up for my disappearance with the sleek and clever design I’ve constructed to tear down Kio.

I journey far, walking the white blank portal. My heels click and echo in the vastness. I’m surprised Metatron hasn’t sent me a letter of concern about my disbandment from the Angel Army in Fort Dix. I’ve screwed up enough of that charade. With Ariel’s return, my replacement is inevitable. I wonder if she’ll attempt to take the NYC. My very existence on this planet will become obsolete.

I must move fast.

I step in a bright-lit tunnel and wait patiently.

Fear is too strong a word to use in a moment like this. It is perhaps trepidation that twitches in my nerves. I’ve entered the bowels of the dreaded Ruling many times in my life, if only to conquer the appalling gut-twisting foulness it brings.

The Ruling has its priorities. To understand it, is to grasp its beginnings.

Five thousand years ago, when God first allowed Angels and Fallen to journey upon the Earth’s surface, fear made us stupid and rash. Our faith dangled on thin strands. We believed the Fallen could change us or infect us with their soiled Souls.

As many others, I journeyed to Earth because I wanted to see these begotten Fallen with my own eyes. I wanted to see Dion and his twisted, deviled Soul and know that my hate and my bitterness toward his abandonment was justified.

In charge of our group was a man named Kaiser. Kaiser was a talented musician. He could play over ten instruments and compose his own music. What made him capable of leading this group, I hadn’t the faintest idea but I didn’t speak out. I was of no importance. I was a four thousand year old Angel, of little rank, common like a footsoldier. I didn’t want anyone to notice me. I took on a false name, wore a cloak to hide my face in a borrowed shell and never accessed the Source in case someone learned how to identify my Soul.

For several days and nights, we occupied a village. The humans took us in without a care, humble little creatures that were nice and joyful. They allowed us to sit at their table and eat their food. It was a pleasant meeting, my first interaction with the human populace since I died thousands of years earlier.

Cries in the night woke us. Flames shot into the sky and tore through the fields. People ran in horror, snatching their children and running for safety but there was nowhere safe. From the darkness of the night, winged beasts shot down from the sky and snatched bodies with their clawed toes.

Phyllis was the first Angel to die.

Vaul kept a heavy arm over my shoulders as we watched from the bedroom. He ordered me to stay and ran through the house, emerging with a blade in his hand. I observed as he met a beast and bravely fought it back and killed it. I recall still the black tar splattered on his muscle.

Vaul exposed his Light, a powerful shockwave driving them back. It ended the sudden barrage and for the moment, the world was calm.

As Vaul approached, the Angels backed away in disgust. Violence did not exist in Heaven. We, ourselves, above all did not partake in it and here Vaul stood with fresh demon blood on his hands. This was not God’s way. With shame on his back, he was forced from our pack. But less than a fortnight later, we were attacked again and it was Keiser this time that drove a spear into the belly of a beast. He didn’t allow us to chase him away. He took that spear and pointed it at us, the black blood dripping, “Did you see your brethren? That is the Fallen!” He claimed. “That is what becomes of their Soul!”

Horror shook them and they so readily believed such a claim. Fear became anger. Kaiser continued. “They will continue to come after us. We must stand against them. It is our duty for God to destroy them.”

I stood back. I was not convinced. I knew Dion was out there. He was not lost to me. My heart could feel the clench of the magnetic pull. He was alive and he was somewhere on the Earth simply waiting for me to find him.

Kaiser’s faction increased slowly within the first year that he fashioned a name to its charade: the Blades of Light. They hunted Fallen, and at first its purpose was pure. They fought for God. They believed in their good deeds. Within such little time, their lust for death, for victory, for blood, dissolved their pure intentions.

Every move the Blades of Light made, I made. As long as Dion could sense me, he would avoid the Blades of Light and death. It could be said I was protecting him. But my reasoning was far more insidious. I didn’t want Dion to die. He deserved to suffer in life and to do that, he had to be alive.

The day Ariel descended from Heaven, she brought with her a massive army. She ended the Blades of Light murdering spree, arresting the lot and brought peace between the Angels and Fallen. I had snuck away into the shadows. No one would ever knew I was a part of that horrid nightmare, except Vaul. I could forget the vivid memories of the dozens of Souls they killed. I could pretend that their blood did not drip from my fingers.

I returned to Heaven, acted as if I had been there from the start. In conjunction with these renegade Angels, the Merci formed. There had to be a way to punish them for the terrible atrocities they committed and the scars that drooled upon their Souls. I was in the audience watching the same group I gallivanted with on Earth be condemned. Kaiser and a dozen others upon their knees, begging for mercy; How close I had been to that same state?

The Merci, fresh and undeveloped, realized that it would need jurisdiction upon the Earth. From interrogations from Kaiser and his faction, it learned secrets and gathered intelligence. From that, it formed the Ruling. A few hundred years later, members of the former Blades of Light were deemed rejuvenated and were released.

Surprise, surprise when they found a job within the slowly assembling Ruling.

The Ruling wants me. Partly for a personal vendetta because some of them have found out I was a part of the Blades of Light. Another part is simply because I have massive amounts of knowledge held in my mind. But I cannot be taken easily. They want to know what I know. They will not bleed me dry. Not yet. I must use that until I can get what I want.

Young Angels fasten to my side and bow quickly. They lead me down the long aisle. There are three different sections to the Ruling.

The Science wing dedicated to the Nephilim and its complete dismantling.

Most of the former Blade members ended up here. They know how to extract Light and feed it to the cages of the buried Souls of Atlantis, a.k.a. the Nephilim. As long as the Nephilim get the proper substance, the Earth remains a steady place to live. When the divine deadbolts grow brittle, it’s when the Earth shakes and falters, and large catastrophic events occur.

The second branch settled at its heart, dubbed Law. It is here where the black suits spring forth, find the violators, and bring in the trash. Beneath its compound are levels of cells full of Angels and Fallen that have been judged for their malicious crimes. They serve sentences in high security prisons where not God or Nature can reach them. I head slowly toward this main hall.

The third branch is just as malevolent despite its disarming pretense. Filled of scholars and professors of ancient times, the branch is exactly used for its name: History. They gather the most important Angels and Fallen and write books upon books of detailed events through their eyes and through the eyes of others. They believe history is important and holds the key to our future. As I’ve said, its façade is quite defusing.

Knowledge can be very desirable. When refused information, the Ruling will call upon an underground subdivision entitled the Messiah, at which point their target will be tracked down and lost to the world. They will wake up strapped to a gurney with machines and medics surrounding them and pain will become their new best friend as their mind is opened up and their memories poured out onto a computer for complete detail and analysis. Death is imminent.

The entrance to the main hall is as grand as most tend to be. When one has seen the castles of all the great kings of the world and has stepped foot into God’s own Sector, everything else seems tawdry but I suppose it is a massive complex in its own right and perhaps imitating lesser beings.

I meet the eyes of the presiding judge Osamu. He is the leading affiliate of the Law branch. The Ruling has no one specific president; otherwise, they would have simply too much power.

Osamu bows his egg-shaped head, touching his fingertips to his forehead. I crouch lightly being polite. He is a good man and has done well in his position. It isn’t his fault he rules with soiled partners. He smiles warmly, his thin cheeks hidden by the dark beard spreading over his jawline. “Erelim Madam Isis, you bless us. Come sit down.”

I softly reply, “I wish for a meeting, Osamu-sama, if you will oblige me?”

“A meeting?” He flickers his eyes across my face for a moment, “I’ve already spoken with your counselor. You are in no further trouble about the base. Are you upset about the fine, Madam? It is only for show, you must know that?”

My silence is only a conviction and he slowly nods his head, slightly troubled. He snaps his fingers toward the Angels standing nearby and orders them to gather the others. He offers a chair while we wait. Obviously flustered, it’s easy to see he fears the rest of his companions. He knows what sort of creatures they all are. He is slowly losing control of this band of law-abiders. Osamu doesn’t comprehend that the world is changing. He is old and follows God blindly. He knows right from wrong. But the time has come where right and wrong now intermix and breed. If he doesn’t adapt, he and people like him will not last.

Soon enough, Osamu leads me further down toward a room I’ve visited twice before. It’s their ‘judgment’ panel. It is as any other court except instead of one presiding judge there are seven. They sit high above on a raised platform looking down over the plaintiff as if they are scum or dirt, unworthy of their gaze. There are pews and such, but rarely do they allow an audience. Seldom is anyone here that is worthy of witnesses. They do not arrest people of importance. They fine them.

The last time I was here, it was for Anna Martholow. The woman had murdered a Fallen in daylight, with witnesses. It was a packed courtroom then with many filing out into the hallway listening from speakers. She had few friends on her side and fewer on the bench judging her but Osamu was holding the gavel and he knew her Soul Mate was the glorious Dane Monte. It was because of him the trail went on for days and days. It even ended up being sent to the Merci where Sariel judged her. If she had been subjected to Earth’s prison she would have suffered it’s lonely cell far from light and love but instead she was pampered and allowed to spend her measly fifty years sorting books in the archives where she received daily visits from her Soul Mate.

What kind of prison was that? She learned nothing and now look where she is, she’s killed again and runs from God.

I stand before them with a bright smile. Osamu is uneasy enough for the both of us. My eyes meet all of them but they rest upon the last person to the right. Kaiser makes no inference that he knows who I am but despite the shell he hides in, I’ve known for the past millennia that he resides here. He uses a different name but if we were to meet in open space with no Shroud or rune to block our Souls, his would bare the eighteen scars that I remember so well. I’m sure he’s gained more by now.

Osamu shifts restlessly, “Erelim Elder Isis, why have you asked all here?”

“A few reasons, lords and ladies, if I may take up your time. I grow weary of your consistency to devour my Soul.” I gain their attention abruptly. “The Science department hankers my Light for the Nephilim. The History department craves my mind. The Law wishes nothing more than to quell my Soul from disrupting its treasurable peace. I understand your qualms. I can satisfy two of your desires today if you’ll do me a courtesy in return.”

Osamu quickly, “Madam--”

The woman to his right, Christina is part of the History department and is a scholar, which makes her very engrossed in my statement. “What desires are these?

I latch onto one of the files. My hesitation will be noted and perhaps even a sign of weakness will be documented. It is a show, one I gladly display. I pass it to a servant and they hand it to Osamu.

“Dion.” I announce. “Has made his motives known to me. He means to fight with Lucius.” I watch as the councilors dig through his files, passing out pictures. “As you see, he is seen multiple times with Lilith, a well-known supporter of the Darkness, a seeker of revenge against God. They conspire together to destroy Earth.”

Mikal, another leader of History looks up at me with uncertainty and slight confusion, “You turn in your own Soul Mate, Madam Isis? You must know when we take action and I assure you, with this information, we must, we cannot go lightly. There is no prison for him. We will give him over to the Science division.”

It is subtle way of telling me they will drain him of his Light and feed him to the Nephilim.

“I am aware. It is my duty for God. I cannot forgive his folly. I lost him long ago, my lords. I do not grieve any longer.”

Osuma shoves the material aside. “You sacrifice much, Madam Isis. We are indebted to you. Please tell us what we can do for you.”

“I am losing the NYC. I am aware Matthias approached you earlier. You have a meeting with my Elders about my impeachment.”

“I cannot forestall such a thing.”

“I do not care about the clan. I need only soldiers. Grant me your resources, limitless resources.”

“That is a very broad scope, Madam. I will need to know what for?”“I will save God’s humans. Can you dare question my dedication?”

Uneasiness flutters over them but with a glance upon Dion’s folder they give in and do as I require. I suppress my delight.

Kaiser sounds. “You said two desires. Only one so far has been satisfied.” He gazes at me interested.

I hold tight to the last set of folders. “In these files are three of the top most powerful Undead. It gives detailed accounts to their lives. Their involvements in certain untraditional ethics. Some things you might already know but I assure you there is plenty that you don’t.”

“Huh.” He adjusts his black coat. “I find it a little presumptuous of you. The top three Elders are Fallen, two from Kio: Abida and Jorel. Then the rising star, Jarrah from Tiya. What could you know of the Darkness, Erelim Elder Isis? Certainly, you do not linger in shadows. Your hands are as clean as any pureblooded Patron of Heaven.”

I hear his insinuations. He might as well bare his soiled Soul to me and to this court. “This information I did not gather alone. It comes from the Ten Great Houses.”

They all twitter now, anxious to get their hands on the information I laid before them. It is a grand gift I have brought. They will be surprised however when they find that the top three most powerful creatures are not only Elders and they are not the creatures Kaiser named. It will open their eyes and shove them in the direction the Ten Great Houses desires them to look.

Christina is the one question. “And what now could you possibly want in return?”

“I wish to wage a campaign against Kio, more specifically its present leader, Felix.”

Ruther rests his forearms on the countertop, speaking up for the branch of Law, “Surely you understand there is war approaching. Kio is a valuable asset to Earth’s survival. Lucius means to unleash two hundred thousand Demons upon our Soil. Fallen are the champions of this Earth, you must know that.”

I clench my teeth, “They blatantly attacked my home, my lords. I’ve had to move from my city of six hundred years because the conditions to its shelters are too unstable to harbor my members. Do you have any idea what that feels like!”

“You said you didn’t care for your clan.” Kaiser murmurs.

“I don’t.” I bite. “But his audacity must be punished.”

Osamu attempts to calm me, “My compassion for you is not lost, Madam. But the Merci asked us to suppress this troubling event. The timing is unsuitable. Kio struggles enough in political strife. They must rally before Lucius strikes or we have no hope of surviving.”

Kaiser opens up a folder as if he needs to look at a piece of information, “I was under the impression, Madam, that you hold five of Kio’s members, one an Elder, in your prisons. What of that? This does not quell your rage?”

“Perhaps I’m not being clear. I will remove Felix as King even if I must do it with my bare hands.”

“You risk open war! We cannot approve this, Madam. It is madness.”

“Madness, sir? Do you truly speak to me of madness?”

Osuma attempts to calm me. “Madam, we can find other ways to punish him. There are laws that he has surely broken. Let us get your revenge with the law.”

I slap the folder down. It doesn’t matter if they approve of the campaign. I simply desired their blessing in the case I am arrested, I will not be subjected to a worse fate. But I already have their soldiers. I can do what I want with them.

I will please the Ten Great Houses. Felix must die.