The War in Heaven (20 page)

Not far away, Joan fought to pull herself along with her arms. Her legs had literally been telescoped into her hips. Ghastly. Somehow Bedillia had to stay with her. Amazingly, her right leg had survived the fall unbroken, though her left leg was twisted around 90 degrees. She struggled to move, though it was pure agony. She tried to cry out to Joan, but the attempt to open her mouth was accompanied with intense pain—her jaw was broken. Other bodies were falling around her. She had to move. Like all of the others, she was a broken mass of flesh, but she was moving enough to avoid the whips of her taskmasters. The road ahead would be more difficult than she’d ever imagined.

“Bedillia’s shackles survived the fall undamaged,” announced Kepler, to those assembled in the ring room. “I wish that the same could be said about her. She is in very grave condition, but she is moving.”

“Very well,” said Abaddon, turning to Kurt, “you and your men have about forty minutes before you go through. Your main objective is to get Bedillia. If you can get others as well, you have a go. I am sending the first wave of my children through once Bedillia gets on her feet. Their mission will be to protect her, if necessary, until she reaches the extraction point. I’ll send a second group through just ahead of you to establish the bridgehead—then you will follow. Lenar and his warriors will stand by in case they are needed.” Abaddon paused. “Until then, it’s up to Bedillia. She is in the hands of the Father.”

Bedillia was on her knees now, crawling as best she could. She saw that her left leg was nearly straight, but the pain was unbearable. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she kept moving on. She was getting closer to Joan who had risen to her feet, only to fall again to her knees. Bedillia’s radius bone was now covered by skin, though it was still broken. It had been nearly ten minutes since the fall. During half of those minutes she had been unable to take a breath, and yet in that time she had covered nearly 50 yards.

But the demons around her were becoming impatient. They were using their whips to encourage their prisoners to rise to their feet. Soon Bedillia would have to make the attempt. Again Joan rose to her feet. She stumbled repeatedly, but managed to stay there. Bedillia attempted to do the same; she succeeded.

The line of lost souls was forming again, though it was moving far slower than before. Bedillia managed to get in line behind Joan. Amazingly, the dark-skinned man she had met before the plunge, entered the line behind her, though the woman who had been behind him was nowhere to be seen.

From a distance, the demon Drelleth watched Bedillia suspiciously. Something was wrong here, though he knew not what. Right now, he was searching for Task Master Sargoth. He would know more about this mysterious woman. To Drelleth’s knowledge, they had not acquired a new human here for nearly a year. They were at capacity. The new souls were being directed to Krull and other newer facilities. So who was this Bedillia? He would find out.

Behind a pile of boulders, in the narrowest portion of the canyon, a glowing blue fog began to form. A moment later, more than 100 tiny creatures flew out of the shimmering mists. They scattered, most taking up positions on the canyon walls. Still others flew down the canyon in search of Bedillia. They would circle high above her until needed.

The procession around Bedillia was picking up the pace, driven on by the whips of their taskmasters. She limped along as best she could, even as her arm slowly straightened itself. She was moving into the entrance to the side canyon. Amid the pain, a terrible depression was setting in. Would there be anyone waiting for her up ahead, or was she doomed to make this trip again and again throughout eternity? Right now, she wasn’t sure.

In the midst of her depression, she heard a low fluttering sound; then she felt something land on her right shoulder. She turned her head to look into a tiny face smiling back at her. Her heart soared. “Hello little friend,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m
so
happy to see you.”

It settled into the nape of her neck, hiding beneath her long hair, and stroking its soft fur against her skin. She had never felt such a wonderful sensation. She had not been abandoned. How could she ever have thought otherwise? She felt at peace now. The cavalry had arrived.

It was several minutes before the man behind her looked up to see Bedillia’s tiny friend. The small creature turned about to face him. At first the man was alarmed.

“Oh my…what is that thing?” he gasped quietly.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Bedillia, “he’s a friend, a very good friend. He is going to help get us out of here.”

“Then it’s all true,” he said. “You’re still taking me with you, aren’t you?”

Bedillia didn’t immediately respond, yet the small creature smiled at him as well, made a soft purring noise, and Bedillia knew. “I can tell that he likes you,” she said. “He senses your repentant heart. Yes, you’re coming with us.”

“Thank you, sweet Lord Jesus,” said the man, as tears wet his face. “Thank you for having mercy on me, a sinner.”

Bedillia had been gone from the bottom of the cliff about 20 minutes when Drelleth at last located Task Master Sargoth, only to learn that Bedillia had been deceptive.

“There are 4,211 souls here in this place, Drelleth, 4,211,” said Sargoth, turning to see a pair of souls make the plunge from the cliff together. “We are at capacity. No humans have been brought here in a long time.”

“So who was she…this Bedillia Smith?” asked Drelleth.

“There is no woman by the name of Bedillia Smith here,” confirmed Sargoth. “Perhaps for reasons of her own, she was lying to you.”

“But her blood flowed so freely when I struck her,” objected Drelleth. “No human here could still have so much blood flowing through their veins, not after so much time in the procession.”

“Wait,” said Sargoth. “I overheard others talking about a bleeder not twenty minutes ago, a woman.”

A dark-haired woman?” asked Drelleth.

Sargoth just shook his head. “I hadn’t given it much thought until now.”

“She is on the trail back to the top,” said Drelleth, “I saw her not long ago. I will find her and discover what has happened here.”

Drelleth was on the trail, and Sargoth was close behind. They were going to get to the bottom of this. She couldn’t have gotten very far.

Farther up within the canyon, Abaddon’s children had drawn the attention of the humans. It had been a long time since any of them had seen a flying creature. Some watched in awe, others in fear, but there was a sense that something was about to happen, something unusual. As the minutes passed, the creatures grew more numerous.

The aerial display had caught the attention of the demons as well. Several had already transformed themselves into their more natural form—a bat-winged
angel better able to take to the skies and investigate this strange phenomenon.

“Something is happening up ahead,” said Sargoth as a winged demon, then another took to the skies. He and Drelleth quickened their pace.

A minute later they witnessed three small creatures streak over their heads flying out into the valley. A bat-winged demon was in hot pursuit.

“By the lights of Sheol, what is happening?” asked Sargoth. He stopped to observe the mad pursuit as Drelleth forged on ahead.

They were almost to the middle of the valley when the three children of Abaddon split up in different directions. The demon followed the center one. He was gaining on him, but slowly. The others swung back around and were now closing on their demon pursuer. A few seconds later, the first turned on him. The demon tried to defend himself but the tiny creature was too fast. It hit him straight in the face, clawing and biting. The other two joined him a few seconds later. The demon drew his sword, swinging it about wildly, yet its blade met empty air.

Seeing his plight, another demon bolted into the air and made for the middle of the valley, not realizing that he too had been pursued by several creatures. All the while, Sargoth watched in amazement.

Drelleth continued past the endless parade of humans, looking for one specific woman. Then in the distance, he saw her. He quickened his pace.

Another of Abaddon’s children landed on Bedillia’s other shoulder then another. Bedillia laughed as best she could amid her still lingering pain. “Easy guys, there is only so much of me to go around.”

A minute later, a dozen were circling about her. Something was wrong. She turned to see Drelleth rapidly encroaching upon her. He was going to reach her long before she reached the boulders and the nearest extraction point. Something had happened, her secret was out. She reached down and
popped open her shackles. They both opened easily. Then she picked them up. They were heavy; perhaps she could use them as a weapon.

Drelleth had drawn to within a dozen feet of her when two things happened almost simultaneously. The children of Abaddon attacked him, and so did Leland. Leland drove into Drelleth as hard as he could, with all of the strength remaining in his being. He did the unimaginable; he drove the mighty demon to the ground.

Leland scanned the ground and picked up a rock the size of a small melon. “No more!” he screamed, driving the rock into Drelleth’s skull. “I’ll never follow that road again, never again. I’ll never allow you to hurt my friends again. It ends here!”

An air of growing confusion was falling all around. Abaddon’s children were everywhere and more were joining the battle.

By the time Bedillia stayed Leland’s hand, the demon’s head had been pulverized. “Leland, that’s enough, we’ve got to go.”

Leland relented, rising to his feet. He was out of breath, almost out of strength, and his anger had ebbed. “God forgive me, but that sure felt good,” he said, throwing the bloody rock aside and walking with Bedillia.

Bedillia turned to Joan who appeared nearly frozen. “Come on, Joan, time to go.”

Bedillia looked up the canyon. As best she could figure, they still had 200 yards to go to the most likely extraction point. The procession of slaves was becoming more disorganized as the people began to realize what was happening. Behind her, Drelleth convulsed and shuttered, as Abaddon’s children lit into him savagely.

Bedillia, Joan, and Leland picked up their pace, and others began to follow.

Suddenly Bedillia began to sing loudly. She didn’t know why she was singing or why this particular song, but she sang, “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus, going on before…”

Amazingly, others began singing. The chorus was swelling, echoing from the rocky canyon. Never had such a sound been heard in Hell beyond the precious cavern walls of Refuge.

Demons were rushing in from all quarters, only to be intercepted and attacked by Abaddon’s many children. It had started—war in Hell.

Bedillia and the others pushed on, yet her friends’ shackles were hindering them, slowing their pace. This wasn’t working; but Bedillia had an idea. There were still three of the children perched upon her shoulders. It was time to put them to work. She stopped, pointed to the shackles around Joan and Leland’s ankles—that was all it took. In an instant the children had attached themselves to the heavy metal restraints. In seconds, four others swept in to assist.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Bedillia, “they won’t hurt you, but they will free you.”

It required half a minute before the first shackle fell from Leland’s ankle. Within a minute, both Leland and Joan were free. It had been over 70 years since Leland had seen his ankles without shackles, since he had been free.

“OK, folks, we gotta go, go, go,” urged Bedillia.

They took off. Not running, not yet, but moving much faster than had been possible before.

Others cried out for mercy, for deliverance, as Bedillia passed. If only she could free them all. Perhaps she could, but not right now.

Bedillia looked around. Still more demons were coming, sweeping in from all directions. They were being met by Abaddon’s children, but the children were being quickly overwhelmed. There just weren’t enough of them. Some were even falling to the claws and swords of the demons they
had attacked so fearlessly. Yet they fought on, regardless of the odds. Despite encouraging beginnings, this rescue was starting to fall apart.