Scorn of Angels (29 page)

“About that,” said Nyx. “Give or take the 1,358 that changed their mind before the battle began and went back to the side of God.”

“Well, as long as we don’t have them to worry about we’ll be fine,” said Persephone. She sighed. “I hope he does something different to me this time. That statue thing was boring.”

“You should try being crushed, stuffed in a box, and tossed to the bottom of the lake,” said Nyx.

“If you don’t have an idea soon,” said Persephone, “I’m pretty sure I’ll get my chance.”

“I already have an idea,” said Nyx. “I’ve had it since we left Earth.”

“Care to share?”

“Exactly,” said Nyx. She opened her mind again, and this time she opened it fully, so that any of the Descended could read it.
“All of you!” Nyx sent. “Listen to me. Tribunal isn’t going to give you Paradise. He’s going to destroy Creation! And we’re the only ones who can stop
him!”

Chapter 14

“H
ow the
fuck
do I find this bitch?” snarled Ishtar, as she and her squad flew high above the Earth. Well below her she could see the remaining Angels of the 666th flying over the city, dropping their dart-shaped swords onto the humans gathered below. It didn’t matter if they were seeking shelter, or if they had retreated far below the Earth. The darts found them anyway.
At least the bitch won’t stop us killing them all,
Ishtar thought.

As if in response, the wind roared from all directions at once, throwing the Descended below her against one another. Dark wings flapped desperately as they sought to counter the winds, but there was no single wind to counter. If they braced one way, they were hit from another direction. No matter what, they could not hold their places. Any swords dropped on the city below were caught in the winds like ships caught in a maelstrom of waves and whirlpools.

“Fucking bitch!” screamed Ishtar. “Come face me, you whore!”

Far away, far below the Earth, Epiphenia sat in the magic circle in Nyx’s cave. It took a small amount of power for her to use the magic of the circle to block her from Descended senses. They were so much less powerful than God or Tribunal. And because Epiphenia was neither of Heaven or Hell, she could easily send her power out of the magic circle.

All of Creation was hers to command, and she was going to use it.

High above the 666th Legion, hail began to form in spikes.

“Nyx!” Lucifer’s voice was angrier than Nyx had ever heard it, and she had made Lucifer furious over the eons. “I’m coming for you, bitch! Legions! Form up!”

Nyx ignored him.
“Read my mind!”
she sent out to the Descended.
“This is all that has happened to me! This is what Tribunal will do to you all! And this is where Lucifer is leading
you!”

It hurt, having millions of Descended Angels dig into her mind at once. It was nothing compared to having her body crushed in a box and Hellfire seeping into her brainpan, but it still wasn’t pleasant. Hundreds of thousands of minds ripped into hers, taking her memories for themselves. Anger, disbelief, jealousy, fear, hatred in ten thousands of different forms flew into her mind. It was all Nyx could do to stay in the sky. She had to close her eyes and plug her ears, blocking out the sights and sounds of Hell just to keep a grip on her sanity.

They took the memories of her lovemaking with Tribunal. Of her belief in him, her toil on his behalf. Of Epiphenia’s birth. Of his betrayal and her torment. They shuffled through the memories like bored children, leaving their greasy fingerprints on her mind.

“Nyx!”
Persephone’s sending broke through the others.
“Lucifer is coming. Fast!”

Nyx opened her eyes. Through the darkness of Hell’s sky, she could see Lucifer charging, with a hundred legions behind him. Flying demons were attacking them as they flew. Though the legions numbered five hundred thousand, the demons numbered more, and were occasionally pulling Descended out of the sky by sheer weight of numbers.

“Listen to me!” Nyx’s voice filled Hell. “Lucifer has lied to you all! Tribunal has lied to you all! He will destroy Earth, Heaven and Hell, and all of us. We will cease to exist! There will be nothing left of us, nothing left of God! Creation will be unmade!”

“You lie, bitch!” screamed Lucifer. “Creation will be ours!”

“God will never allow Creation to be ours!” Nyx’s words rang louder than Lucifer’s. “He would turn us to ashes before he would let us rule Creation!”

“Tribunal will destroy God!” Lucifer was only five miles away now. Nyx could see the fury in his face, could feel the rage emanating from him. “And I will destroy you!”

“And when you destroy God, what happens to Creation?” Nyx demanded. “God didn’t just make Creation. He’s part of Creation! Everything in the world is part of him, and he is part of everything, including us! What do you think happens when he goes away?”

She looked away from Lucifer, to the Descended who surrounded them. They were coming from all directions, now, millions strong, pursued by tens of millions of demons. They were flying in grim desperation toward her.

“Tribunal is an aspect of God,” called Nyx. “He is more powerful than any of us. He is more powerful than
all
of us, and he will render us all into nothingness when he is done.”

Lucifer came on; the Angels at his back came on. From all directions, the Angels came on, charging forward. The black and red armor filled the sky like ashes fresh-blown from a volcano. Swords and whips were in every single hand. A few Angels had left after reading Nyx’s mind. That was all.

“Fuck,” said Persephone, looking at them all coming.

“You’ve seen into my mind!” shouted Nyx. “You know what I say is true!”

“I think we’re fucked,” said Persephone. “They’re too vicious to care.”

“Awww…” Nyx pulled her own sword and whip out. “I think you’re right. Back to back. And I want Lucifer.”

“You can have him,” said Persephone. “I’ll take on everyone else, then?”

“You do that,” said Nyx. “And Persephone?”

The skies of Hell, already black, glowed with hellfire and Descended steel and seas of red eyes racing toward each other.

“Yeah?”

“Sorry it didn’t work.”

Persephone nodded. “Me, too.”

The seas of Descended closed in on them from all directions. Then Lucifer and Nyx were blade to blade, Persephone was fighting a pair of Descended, and all round them the skies of Hell rained silver blood as a million Angels fought one another once more to see who would reign in Hell.

The first hail spears slammed into the Descended Angels who roiled and fought against the buffeting winds high above Firozkoh. The spears were just ice; they should not have been able to penetrate the armor of the Descended. This ice, though, was imbued with Epiphenia’s power. It cut through the Descended the way nails driven by a mighty hammer would cut through human flesh. Descended fell out of the sky to be grabbed and crushed by the stone tentacles. Others simply burst into silver dust that instantly scattered to the winds when the spears of ice pierced their hearts.

Ishtar tried every trick she could think of to find Epiphenia. She looked for the source of the power, but it was everywhere. She looked for places without power and couldn’t find any. She reached out with her mind to every corner of the Earth to find an intelligence that wasn’t human or Descended. Nothing worked. Somewhere, she was sure, the bitch Epiphenia was hiding and enjoying herself immensely, but there was no way for Ishtar to figure out where she was.

At least the hail has
stopped.

Lighting flashed out, brighter and more powerful than any Ishtar had seen in a thousand years of living on Earth. A dozen descended vanished in billows of smoke and silver ash.

“Oh, fuck this,” said Ishtar. “Everyone but my squad! Get back to Hell! Tell Lucifer we’ve got problems. We need more bodies up here!”

She watched as the remaining Descended dove straight down to the Earth, whips snapping and tearing holes in the fabric of reality. The four hundred remaining Angels from Hell’s most powerful legion dodged and wove their way through the massive stone tentacles that had destroyed their brethren and began the long, slow fall into Hell.

Ishtar led her squad up, up, up to a place where there was neither air nor gravity. There, in the darkness of space, she floated and looked down on the Earth.
Epiphenia wasn’t around long enough to have made her own hiding place,
Ishtar thought.
She has to be in one of Nyx’s places. So
where?

Ishtar went through her mind, sifting through all the recollections she had from the times she and Nyx had shared memories. There had to be something there, some place that Nyx had made that she’d never actually told Ishtar about.
And once I figure it out, that bitch is
mine.

Deep beneath the Earth, Epiphenia smiled to herself.
Step one finished. Now all I have to do is wait.
She looked around the dark room that Nyx had created, frowned, and waved a hand. A line of quartz appeared above her, bringing in sunlight from the surface. Another wave brought a breeze carrying pollen, seeds, and a few surprised beans. A third, and the room bloomed with plants and flowers.

“Much better,” said Epiphenia, and she smiled to herself.
Now let’s hope Mother and Persephone can do their
parts.

Nyx flew into the chamber of the Mother of All. “Hope you had fun,” she said, “because things are about to change.”

“WE ARE DONE,” said the Mother of All. “I HAVE DONE AS YOU HAVE ASKED AND NOW WE ARE FINISHED.”

Nyx smiled. “I don’t think so.”

She sent out a thought, and Descended began flying into the room from every other entrance. At first there were ten, then fifty, then two hundred.

“Given that I destroyed you by myself,” said Nyx, “what do you think is going to happen to you now?”

“I CAN SUMMON MY BRETHREN,” warned the Mother of Demons. “YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY OF US THERE TRULY ARE. WE CAN DESTROY YOU ALL IF WE WISH!”

“No, you can’t,” said Nyx. “Otherwise you’d have done it by now. Now would you prefer to listen, or would you prefer to be cut slowly to pieces and have your successor listen?”

The quivering, vile-smelling mass shuddered in rage but said, “I LISTEN.”