The Rephaim: Burn Part 30

The Rephaim have pushed up to join the Fallen now. Two hundred warrior angels, wings folded at their backs. A hundred and fifty Rephaim, give or take. Rafa's down there, shouting orders, and everyone is following his lead, filling the s.p.a.ces between the Fallen, creating an impenetrable phalanx. They drive the demon army onto the back foot. Stepping over the dead as they go, Immundi and Gatekeeper alike.

A pack of Gatekeepers materialise behind the Fallen/ Rephaim force, but Rafa's been waiting for that last, desperate move. He turns and Rephaim turn with him: Micah, Malachi and Taya. And then four of the Fallen join them. One with dirty blond hair hanging in dreadlocks down his broad back shoulders his way to Rafa's side. Glances at him before swinging his ancient sword at the nearest Gatekeeper.

I reach for Jude. 'We should-'

I don't finish because Zarael materialises. Right next to us.

He doesn't gloat or goad, he swings for Nathaniel's neck without a word, straight and true.

Jude reacts quickest, blocks the first strike. The second is already arcing down-Zarael is wielding two swords now-and I lunge to stop it. The impact jars, hard. It rattles my bones.

I kick to take out his legs, but he's already s.h.i.+fted and he's on my left, swinging at Nathaniel again. Jude and I move on instinct, block him. I feel the heat of Zarael's breath, feel a blast of his rage, and then he's gone again. Daniel is up now, covering Nathaniel. The angel is slumped against the fence, unable to stay upright under his own strength. We have to spread out to protect him to avoid stomping on his broken wings.

'The Garrison will come.'

I can barely hear Nathaniel over the blood pounding in my ears. I try to steady my breathing. My eyes flick between skirmishes on the beach, searching for Rafa, for the others, and I have to force my attention back to the immediate s.p.a.ce around me. Zarael's not done up here. He might have the Fallen and their b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to subdue, but his hatred for Nathaniel is too strong. He's coming back for him.

My stomach wrenches, but it's not Zarael who materialises and blocks my view of the battle. It's Semyaza. His eyes fall on Nathaniel. Harden. He disappears, and all three of us are too slow, caught off guard because this wasn't the opponent we were expecting.

I spin around and find the leader of the Fallen-a former member of the Garrison, my father-standing over the angel who raised me, his wings hidden and his blade pressed against Nathaniel's jugular. There's so much blood caked on Nathaniel's throat I can't tell if Semyaza has broken the skin or not. Nathaniel lifts a hand to stop us interfering and we all falter, even Daniel.

'Brother,' Semyaza says. His voice is raw as if he's been shouting. The unexpected familiarity of it tugs at me. 'You have been busy.'

Nathaniel looks at him out of the corner of his eye. 'I saved them from annihilation,' he says, trying to move his jaw as little as possible. 'I protected your twins.'

I blink. He knew. All this time, Nathaniel knew we belonged to Semyaza.

'You turned them against me. You slew their mother. You created a generation of orphans.'

The injured angel bears the accusation. 'If your women had survived the testing, I would have taken them with me to raise their children.'

'It was not your place to judge them.'

A shaky breath. 'It was my commission. My glory was returned to me so I could accomplish it.'

Semyaza lets out a gravelly laugh. 'There was no commission.'

Nathaniel turns his face so he can see Semyaza with both eyes, ignoring the insistent blade at his neck. 'The Garrison led me to each of them. They-'

'It was not the Garrison. It had nothing to do with them, you fool.'

Nathaniel glares at him, bruised and b.l.o.o.d.y but defiant in the presence of the warrior he's hunted for a hundred and forty years. 'How could you know, Semyaza, you were not even in this realm when I received the calling.'

The leader of the Fallen leans in, but I still hear his words.

'I know it was not the Garrison, brother, because it was we who led you to each of those women.'

NO TIME TO LOSE YOUR HEAD.

Everything else drops away. The ringing steel, the shouting, the breaking ocean. Even the imminent threat of Zarael. Semyaza's words are the only reality.

And they can't possibly be true.

Nathaniel presses his hand into the sand and tries to sit up higher, winces. 'It is not possible.'

'It is and it was.'

'The stars and moon aligned.'

'It took the remnant gifts of each of us to guide you from beyond the veil.'

'But how-'

'We were bonded to those women, Nathaniel. Have you truly forgotten what that means?'

Nathaniel swallows. And then all that's left of his strength drains away. All the certainty. Whatever lies beneath that question, it's taken something from Nathaniel, diminished him in ways I barely understand.

He's not defiant anymore.

I look to Jude. Is it possible it was the Fallen and not the Garrison who led Nathaniel to us? What would that mean? But the truth of that question already creeps over me like a chill on the wrong side of midnight.

It changes everything.

There would be no greater purpose for us after all.

A dozen questions-more-skitter through my head and careen away before I can grasp them. I feel as if I've been sucker-punched, except I'm still standing. My gaze drifts over the battle. The carnage. Immundi bodies piled up on the beach, scattered between skirmishes. The blood on my sword. For a slow, sickening moment I feel the weight of all the death. All the violence. All of it my heritage...

I feel someone else arrive. I'm sluggish to turn, still lost in questions and confusion.

'GABY!'

At Jude's shout, I duck and bring up my katana, but it's too little too late. Another, heavier sword smashes into it, slams the flat of my blade into my forehead. The impact reverberates through my skull. It's like being kicked by a horse. I stagger back, but not quick enough to avoid the steel-capped boot that crunches my ribs. Pain forks through my ribcage and steals my breath.

And then something cold and hard slams into my temple and the whole world tilts. I land with a m.u.f.fled thud. Blackness stains my vision and the evening drifts out of focus. I don't have to look up to know I'm in serious trouble.

A fierce shout breaks through the fug. Swords clash so close I feel the air vibrate.

There's fighting now, all around me. I have to get up. I have to help. I roll over on my side, think about taking my weight on my knees and elbows. I gag, let a wave of nausea pa.s.s. I try to focus on the world, but everything is sideways. Boots and legs flash around me. s.h.i.+fting or just moving lightning fast? I can't tell. My vision clears and I can make out Jude and Daniel tag-teaming against Leon a few metres away. Rafa trading blows with another Gatekeeper. Micah and Ez fending off three h.e.l.lions. When did everyone else get here?

My view is interrupted by two more sets of boots, moving forward and back in an erratic dance, kicking up sand. I lift my head slowly, see Semyaza driving Zarael away from Nathaniel. Away from me. Ferocious, reckless with a millennium's worth of hatred and rage. Striking with such force I can feel the impact through the dune beneath me. Semyaza's power, his speed, his fury...beside the Fallen, we truly are children.

My head throbs. My ribs scream. I claw at the wet sand for purchase.

And all I see is Zarael's pinched face above me again. Too close. The scars punctuating his cheeks and forehead are angry against his moon-white skin. He's sweating and panting and spraying spittle.

'You are rusty and dull, like your steel, Semyaza, and still without glory.' He brings both blades down at once, but the angel times the block, traps the swords against his own and kicks Zarael away. I'm struggling to draw breath but I can't look away.

'I need not glory to destroy you.'

Strike, block. Spin. Slice.

'You will need it to save your half-breed sp.a.w.n.'

Semyaza launches himself forward-achieves impressive height even with his wings tucked out of sight-and brings down his heavy blade. Zarael blocks, barely centimetres to spare.

'They are more than a match for you,' Semyaza says. 'And they are no longer alone.'

The words wind around me, take vague shape, but the leader of the Fallen and his jailer are already done with sledging. Semyaza drives Zarael backwards, but he's not quick enough to finish him off. They're too evenly matched.

I need to move. If I could s.h.i.+ft, could I help Semyaza?

The answer takes a few seconds to form, but when it does I know what to do. And it's going to hurt like h.e.l.l.

I calculate the distance to Semyaza and Zarael, and push myself into the void. I materialise on my hands and knees, take a breath filled with knives and stifle a groan-if I give away my position I'm dead. I open my eyes as the hem of Zarael's trench coat brushes my scalp.

This is it.

Semyaza doesn't look down, doesn't let on that he's seen me, but he must have because he lunges at Zarael, forcing the demon to scuttle back- And stumble into me.

My ribs splinter. A thousand razor blades. I slump to the sand, wrap my arms around myself protectively, only half-aware of Zarael falling and Semyaza leaping over me to get to him. I gasp, squeeze my eyes shut and hope I've done enough.

Something hits the sand close to me. I open one eye and see Zarael's face. But it's all wrong.

He's not blinking, or moving, or breathing.

And his body is missing.

h.e.l.l FREEZES OVER.

I recoil on instinct, sending a jolt of fire to every nerve ending.

Zarael's mouth is frozen in a snarl, his orange eyes static and opaque. The seconds stretch out-I can't look away from the horror of it-and then Semyaza s.n.a.t.c.hes up the head by a handful of long black hair. The angel's wings snap out from nowhere. He launches himself from the sand with a single beat, pus.h.i.+ng a gust of cool air over me. I grit my teeth, ride another wave of pain and push back at the shadows crowding in. I move my head a few centimetres, find Zarael's body lying truncated where it fell. Gag.

Above me, Semyaza is airborne. In his left hand, he carries Zarael's severed head; in his right, a dark-stained sword. I try to watch him, but I can't sit up. I hear his wings beat as he flies over the beach. The sky glows orange, brightens momentarily with a flash of sheet lightning followed by a low rumble of thunder. The evening is breathless. Even the ocean is finally subdued.

'Zarael is no more,' Semyaza shouts. His voice, rough at the edges, resonates with authority and carries over the ringing steel. 'Return to the abyss or be annihilated.'

The demons, those I can see, falter. Turn their faces skyward.

'Cohort, fall back,' Semyaza orders.

The skirmishes near me end abruptly: Leon and his buddies are nowhere to be seen. What's going on?

But there's not enough air in my lungs to feed that thought and the night-is it night now?-blurs. A gust of air washes over me. I'm vaguely aware of someone striding towards me...Semyaza, back on the ground. His wings disappear as he walks, or at least I think they do. He's all smudged at the edges.

'That's close enough,' Rafa says. He's next to me on the sand. He wasn't there a second ago. His fingers shake as he brushes hair from my forehead. I close my eyes, exhausted from the knives and lack of oxygen.

Semyaza looms over us. 'I will heal her.'

My heart does a weird flip.

'Like h.e.l.l you will.' Rafa's voice is tight.

'Boy, you are injured and useless to her until you are whole.'

'f.u.c.k you, old man.'

I try to roll over. 'Are...you...hurt?'

'A few nicks, that's all.'

'You are bleeding all over her.'

'Rafa-'

Semyaza is suddenly beside me. His fingers clamp around my wrist, and then I'm in the void with him.

I don't fight it, and I don't know why.

I don't even know if I could've stopped him, given he's my- The thought is obliterated by a blast of energy. I'm standing behind a fighter jet on full throttle. Scorching. Skin-flaying. I can't speak, can't open my eyes against the furnace. Panic builds: this fire is going to consume me. It's- It's gone.

Feeling slowly returns and I register each sensation: cool, damp air rus.h.i.+ng over me, dousing my skin. Orange light, flooding under my eyelids. A slow, rhythmic beat, buffeting me. The smell of the ocean.

I'm flying.

I look down, see ocean flas.h.i.+ng past, my legs dangling below me. Feel Semyaza's tight grip around my waist, holding my weight away from him with ma.s.sive strength, so there's s.p.a.ce between our bodies. His wings beat powerfully, propelling us forward as I hang in his arms. I take a quick inventory of my injuries. My head is tender, but I can think clearly again. My ribs, only a dull ache. Semyaza's healed me all right, but b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l...it was far from gentle.

The sky and ocean ripple with shades of amber, so we're still in Pan Beach. Thank G.o.d we didn't come out in a different dimension. I lift my head and see the town in the distance, dark under the glowing sky except for the fires burning on the esplanade.

'Align your body.' Semyaza says it loud enough so I can catch his words before they're whipped away. 'You are causing drag.'

Okay, so my father's first words to me aren't going to be sentimental. I draw back my legs so my body is in a straight line...it's a tough ask of my abs and I know within seconds I'm not in good enough shape for a long flight. I inhale deeply, relis.h.i.+ng the fact that I can breathe again.

We draw closer to the beach. I could s.h.i.+ft ahead, make the point that I don't appreciate being s.n.a.t.c.hed away and don't need Semyaza to carry me home. But we're almost there. And flying's not so bad...

A hundred metres out and the shapes on the beach take form. The Immundi are fleeing-they're well beyond the resort now-even though n.o.body's chasing them. I strain to see long white hair in the retreating horde, but if the Gatekeepers are still here they've gone to ground. So have the h.e.l.lions. The Fallen and Rephaim are facing off in front of the esplanade, neatly divided into two camps. The Rephaim are in a loose formation on the banks of the dunes, the Fallen spread out on the sand below. I can tell which is which even from here because the Fallen have their wings out.

I see the front of the Immundi pack. That can't be right. I blink, try harder to focus, but I'm still seeing the same thing: the Immundi funnelling into a panicked line, four or five abreast-and then disappearing into thin air.

I turn my head, find Semyaza's bearded face startlingly close. 'I thought they couldn't s.h.i.+ft?'

His eyes meet mine, icy and unapologetic. Matted hair trails back over his shoulders, barely bothered by the wind. 'It is a portal.'

Ah.

I knew portals existed-they have to if the Fallen were trapped in another dimension, otherwise how did they get there?-but I've never seen one until now. 'To where?'

'An outer circle of the h.e.l.l where the veil is in tatters.'