Scorn of Angels (36 page)

In the end, it was Ishtar who found Persephone over the mountains of what would be called South America.

They had sensed each other for hours, but Persephone was too busy dodging other Descended to deal with Ishtar immediately. Lucifer’s army was still strong and active, and his Descended were slowly hunting down all the survivors of Nyx’s army. Persephone had killed over a hundred, turning them to silver dust floating on the wind. Ishtar, who had been busy doing her own killing, spotted Persephone and dove down on her, screaming as she attacked.

Persephone met her in the air, smashing Ishtar’s sword aside and feeling the force of Ishtar’s body slamming into her. Sword and whips gave way to teeth and claws as the two grappled and fought one another through the sky. Other Descended saw them, but the sheer hatred radiating from each of them was enough to make them give the two a wide berth and search for other prey.

Ishtar was the better grappler of the two and fought viciously dirty, drawing blood, and ripping into flesh and muscle a hundred times as they twisted through the air. But if Ishtar was the better fighter, Persephone was the better tactician. Persephone didn’t bother trying to free herself. She knew Ishtar’s style of fighting backward and forward, and knew that any escape attempt, now that Ishtar was on her, would be fruitless.

She also knew that Ishtar tended to forget about everything except the person she was fighting.

Which was how, a moment before they were about to crash into the top of a cliff, Persephone managed to reverse them in the air and slam Ishtar headfirst into the mountainside while Persephone rolled over the top. The move cost Persephone the chunk of her shoulder that had been in Ishtar’s teeth, but from the enormous spray of silver blood that flew up when they hit, it had cost Ishtar a fair amount more than that.

Persephone rolled to her feet, sword and whip once more in her hand, flew up in the air and straight down, following Ishtar’s tumbling body. Ishtar had control of her flight in less than a second, and was able to parry the thrust from Persephone’s blade that had been aimed at her eye.

Which left her open for Persephone’s whip, which was already coming around to slice the feathers off one of Ishtar’s wings before the other could bring her own whip up to block. Ishtar screamed in frustration and rage and grabbed Persephone, dragging her downward to the Earth with her.

Persephone let Ishtar pull her in, let the other Angel claw her way up her leg and sink fangs into her belly, ripping open the flesh and tearing into Persephone’s entrails, seeking the heart. Persephone changed her sword into a dagger and plunged it again and again into Ishtar’s head, shoulders and back, seeking the spinal column. On her tenth stab, she hit it and watched as Ishtar’s body convulsed and she lost momentary control of her limbs.

It was only for the shortest of moments, but it was enough.

Persephone switched their positions in the air again, slamming Ishtar against the wall and dragging her down the cliff face, ripping the flesh of her back open and tearing feathers from her wings. Ishtar howled in rage until her spine repaired itself enough to let her use her body again. She dug her feet into the wall and pushed off it, but Persephone was already prepared, spinning her and slamming her back against the cliff. Ishtar caught hold of Persephone and brought her in close, teeth snapping for Persephone’s neck.

Both their legs broke when they hit the ground. Ishtar used the momentum to bounce into the air and smash down on top of Persephone, teeth and claws slashing.

The pain of Persephone’s blade entering her heart was exquisite.

The two lay on the ground, face-to-face in an embrace of blood and death. They stared into each other’s eyes, hatred and love clear in each other’s expressions.

“Well,” said Ishtar. “Fuck.”

“You shouldn’t have betrayed us,” said Persephone, her lips nearly touching Ishtar’s with every word. “You shouldn’t have left us alone in Hell. You should have fought with us!”

“Yeah, well, should have…” Ishtar looked down. “You going to twist that?”

“Yes,” said Persephone. “Goodbye, Ishtar.”

“Fuck you, bitch,” said Ishtar, lunging forward and sinking her teeth into Persephone’s face.

Persephone twisted the dagger and Ishtar burst into an explosion of silver dust.

“Fuck you, too,” said Persephone.

She knew she should get up, should get back to the fight before Lucifer’s Descended came back to face her. Instead, she lay where she was, letting her body heal as she looked up at the stars above her through the glittering cloud of dust that had once been her best friend.

Nyx,
she thought.
I hope you’re okay. I hope you get God’s ear and he stops Tribunal and forgives you for entering Heaven. I hope this was all worth
it.

Epiphenia plowed backward through the liquid surface of Jupiter. Her armor was mostly torn from her body, her exposed skin cracked and burned and slick with the bright green that was her blood. She tried raising her defenses again, but Tribunal smashed through them without effort, ripping her body and mind open with each strike.

“It’s a pity we don’t have more time,
” Tribunal sent.
“I could spend eons tormenting
you.”

Epiphenia curled into a ball, making the shield around her body as small as possible as she gathered her strength one more time. Tribunal’s power smashed into her again and again, driving her deep beneath the surface of Jupiter.

“But since I don’t have time for that,”
sent Tribunal,
“I’m just going to kill you. Now.”

“Yes,”
sent Epiphenia back.
“But not
here.”

A massive burst of power slammed down where Epiphenia lay, igniting the gray and brown clouds around them into a deep, red mass that grew and grew as the power of the strike dissipated.

In Heaven, Arcana leaned on Raphael’s hand and rose unsteadily to her feet. She could feel her body getting stronger with every second, but still wasn’t strong enough to stand by herself. Her voice rasped when she spoke for the first time. “Don’t just stand there! Help her!”

“We can’t,” said Raphael. “We’re not allowed out of the Gate.”

“Then get God to help!”

“Tribunal won’t allow us to do that, either,” said Raphael quietly. He looked through the Gate where Nyx and Michael stood, toe-to-toe, locked in combat. “We can’t do anything except watch.”

Persephone was just coming to her feet when Epiphenia fell out of the sky like a rock and blew a crater into the valley where Persephone stood. Persephone ducked and covered her head as debris rained down on her. When there was nothing more than dust in the air, she rose and walked forward to the edge of the pit. Epiphenia was lying in the center of the crater, her broken body slowly healing itself—far slower than it had ever healed before.

Persephone slid down the side of the pit and took Epiphenia in her arms. The Angel of Earth cried out with the pain of it, but clung onto Persephone. Persephone felt something she barely remembered. Friendship, loyalty—those she was used to. But this? This was…love. This was different.
Why now?
she thought.
We’re going to
die.

“You have to get out of here,” Epiphenia said, her voice nearly too faint to hear. “He’s coming.”

“If he’s coming,” said Persephone, “there’s nowhere to go to anyway.” She looked up and spotted a streak of light coming through the sky. “Too bad, though, I was hoping to have a chance to take on Lucifer.”

Epiphenia clung harder to her. “I’m sure you would have beaten him.”

“Doubt it,” said Persephone, “but it would have been fun to try.”

Epiphenia managed to raise her head and turn it a bit. “Is there any sign of Mother?”

Persephone shook her head. “Haven’t seen anything, haven’t heard anything, and when God’s involved, you tend to hear things.”

“I suppose,” said Epiphenia. “I never met him.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re going to either,” said Persephone, watching the streak of light growing larger and closer. “Tribunal’s nearly here.”

Above them, the streak turned into a fireball, bigger than Persephone had seen since the creation of the Earth. She tightened her grip around Epiphenia.

“I’m sorry,” said Epiphenia. “I didn’t stop him long enough.”

“I’m sorry, too,” said Persephone, and closed her eyes to the coming light.

This is stupid!
Nyx thought. Michael was fighting against Tribunal’s control. Nyx could see the strain on his face, could see every muscle and sinew resisting every cut, parry and thrust. And even so, he was still faster, stronger, and better than Nyx. Fleetingly, Nyx wished for a tenth of the strength that she’d had before, when Tribunal had filled her with the power of Creation.

She launched another string of attacks, hoping to break through Michael’s guard. Nothing worked. She screamed at him, defiance and rage and helplessness going into the wordless howl as she attacked harder and harder.

Then Arcana charged Michael from behind.

For the first time in eons, Nyx saw Michael move at full speed. The Warrior of God spun and parried her cut to his legs, then tipped his sword point up and rammed it into Arcana’s chest so fast that Nyx could barely see it move. Arcana’s mouth went wide, and in the microsecond before Michael started moving again, she drove herself onto the blade up to the hilt and grabbed his arms with both hands.

Nyx dodged around him and dashed for the Gates of Heaven.

Michael threw Arcana off himself, letting his blade stay in her chest as he lunged after Nyx. Nyx jumped and spun in the air, hoping the whirling of her body would be enough to stop Michael from grabbing her. It wasn’t.

Michael’s hand snagged around her ankle.

Nyx’s armor vanished from her body at the same moment that she twisted and swung her sword behind her, its edge keener than any scalpel’s blade. Michael twisted to try to throw her aim off, but it wasn’t him she was aiming at. Instead, her blade sliced neatly through her own knee, leaving Michael holding the bloody remains of her lower leg. He threw it aside almost as soon as she’d cut it off and lunged for her again.