Read Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Online
Authors: Jonathan Yanez
“Good,” he heard Jacob say. “Don’t
fight it, remember it. Feel it once again.”
“All those years you thought you
were alone,” Jacob’s voice filled the silence, “All the pain, loneliness,
depression, bullying they are part of you but you can choose here and now to
not let them define you today. Use it, Alan. Use that energy and aggression but
now know you are not alone. There is hope, there is redemption.”
“You’ve endured only as much as you
were meant. All those years of hardship have made you stronger, Alan. They have
made you into something few people are. Left without hope and purpose, those
feelings would consume you. But you are not alone, Alan. You have hope now and
more importantly, you have purpose. Now hit me!”
“Enough,” Jacob’s ragged gasp made
Alan shudder.
“No,” Jacob warded off Alan with an
outstretched hand. The older man stood up straight with a wince. “No, I’m fine.
You did well. Next time I’ll have to use my own powers.”
Chapter 31
“My brothers and sisters of the
Fallen race. Thank you for your willingness to hear what I have to say and for
joining me on such short notice.” The room was silent, as she knew it would be.
The eleven other seats placed around the large circular table were taken by the
most powerful members of her species. These members would not see it necessary
to affirm her thanks with a response.
Both male and female members were
in attendance. Some lounged quietly in the shadows, others smoked cigarettes or
exchanged curious glances with their neighbors. “I am sure you are all
wondering what I asked you here for—“
Ardat turned her dark eyes on the
speaker. His conceited tone already revealing his identity, nevertheless she
wanted to skewer Belmore with a menacing look.
She hated the smug look on his
baggy face. The way his thinning hair fell off his spotted balding head. She
wanted nothing more than to walk over to his seat, tear his stupid arms from
his stupid body and beat him to death with them. Yet, she had come too far now
to let her legendary temper get the best of her. “Of course. My guests, you all
know our predicament here on earth. For much longer than I care to remember we
have been sentenced to this cell waiting our day of judgment.”
“What if I were to tell you that
our waiting is over? What if I were to say that I have found a way to tip the
scales in our favor?”
Ardat let the silence hold for a second
longer. She allowed her self to revel in the moment for only a brief second before
she continued. “We are here with no chance of escape. The bloody Angels and
their Nephilim make sure of that. The Angels are much too powerful for us to
compete with, but what if I were to tell you that I have found a book. A book
that would enable us to craft weapons that would not only even the odds but
allow us to finally kill the guards that so unjustly keep us caged on this
earth.”
Belmore scoffed, “Please, Triana,
you have never before been interested in an uprising. In fact, I was surprised
to see you here at all. For all our sakes, do not indulge Ardat further. She is
obviously on a journey to find self-worth and praise among her betters.”
The room sat silent, stunned. Ardat
knew they wanted to believe her. They had all heard a legend of such a book but
until now it was only a legend spoken in wistful thoughts or passing disbelief.
Ardat made a mental note of
Triana’s interest. In a room full of demonic beings, there were always multiple
strategies at play. “I’ve been searching for over a hundred years. Finally, I
was able to narrow in on the exact location by tracing the family tree of the
humans who were entrusted with the knowledge. When the war in Heaven was over
and our sentence carried out. All the weapons capable of killing an Angel or
demon were destroyed. However, the knowledge of how to make these weapons was
not. The book was entrusted to humans to protect. Why? I do not know. All I
know is that I have found it.”
Ardat kept a firm smile in place as
she traveled the last few steps to stand next to Belmore. The fool had no idea
what she was about to do. Instead of running in fear, he stood there, spittle
running from his sloshing lips as he continued to rant. “The Angels cannot be
killed. They are twice—three times more powerful than anyone of us.
They—“
With a flesh-tearing rip, Ardat
firmly grabbed and twisted Belmore’s left arm separating it from his body.
Black blood spewed across the table like water from a broken sprinkler. The
look on Belmore’s face was priceless. Shock more than pain glazed over his
bulging eyes. Unable to kill him without the aid of a celestial weapon, Ardat
knew overtime his arm would be mended back to his body and Belmore would live.
However, this knowledge did not stop her from finding delight in her actions as
she used his arm as a club to knock him unconscious.
Ardat let a small smile play across
her mouth as eager eyes and words of affirmation met her ears.
Chapter 32
Alan and Jacob followed Danielle
inside to her own special section of the warehouse. A room filled with computer
monitors and high-tech equipment whose functions were well-past Alan’s
knowledge of technology. Arther and Angelica were already inside. Arther was
sitting comfortably in a dark chair rocking himself backward and forward without
any clear physical sign of movement. Angelica was examining one of the many
flickering monitors that stood in the room.
“Wait a minute,” Alan said, “you’ve
tapped into their phones? How many?”
“Isn’t that against the law?” Alan
asked.
“It’s imperative that we stay one
step ahead of the Fallen,” Jacob said. “The cost of them attaining the upper
hand would mean death and destruction on a horrific level.”
“Anyway, a program I have running flagged
a conversation and I thought you guys should hear it.” Danielle pressed one
last key and a nasally voice conversing with another rough, gravelly tone spoke
over the room’s sound system.
“Yeah, she said she finally found
it,” the nasal voice said.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her
so sure. Drencher and maybe some of the others are going to retrieve it
tonight.”
“Well,” the nasal voice said lowering
his voice to a near whisper, “If she really has found the missing Chronicle, I
would imagine she’d want us to start forging weapons right away.”
“Sniffing paint?” Angelica said,
“Do people still do that?”
All eyes turned to their leader who
stood with arms crossed over his chest and a dark look on his face. “I think we
have bigger issues now than huffing paint. You all know the story of the Chronicle:
if they have found it, then we are in very serious trouble.”
“But if there is any truth to what
we heard…” Angelica’s voice trailed off.
Danielle turned back to her
keyboard. Her fingers flew across the keys like a master pianist giving the
performance of a lifetime. “Got it. The call was made from the Sunny
Mead—and you’re right. It was Infinity on the line. I’m not sure who he
was talking to though.”
Jacob nodded, “I hope you’re ready,
Alan. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Chapter 33
“It just looks like a normal bar,”
Alan said as he exited the sleek sedan into the cool night air. Jacob had taken
the car from a warehouse next to their own, where to Alan’s surprise, an army
of automobiles and aircrafts were stored for their use. Jacob, Angelica and Arther
piled out of the car behind him. From the look on everyone’s face and the
general mood on the ride to the location, Alan would have guessed they were
walking into Hell itself.