Wings of Destruction (6 page)

"I forgive you as well." Anael’s voice was strong behind him. The tower started to crumble. Light shone in from above Sarah as the ceiling melted away. The black rain poured in and Sarah welcomed the acid on her skin, holding her arms outward as it burned her face away. Martin turned to Anael and buried his face in his chest, unable to watch as Sarah melted before their eyes. Anael grasped Martin’s arm and tugged him towards a broken window.

"What are you doing? Anael, if we go out there, we’ll die!"

"Don’t worry, Martin. I will protect you." Anael tugged on Martin’s arm and jumped out of the window. His wings unfolded and he pulled Martin up into his arms. The tower offered them some protection from the Black Rain as Anael landed roughly on the parched earth below.

The tower started to disintegrate, the black rain melting it like so much frosting. Their shield gone, the rain nicked Anael’s cheek, drawing blood. Before Martin could reach up and wipe the droplet of blood away, Anael spread his wings and wrapped them around Martin, enclosing him in a protective cocoon.

"Anael, what are you doing?”

"Martin, I’ve broken God’s law, If not by sleeping with those men, then by falling in love with you. I won’t let you go to Hell with me. Once this world is gone, God will return and create anew. Build a life for yourself, Martin. Find a way to repent your sins and go to Paradise. Forget about me."

"I could never do that! Anael, let me go! I love you! I want to die with you!" Martin beat against Anael’s wings, pulling at his feathers in an effort to remove his prison walls. Martin smelled the scent of burst feathers and seared flesh as Anael cried out in pain, the Black Rain eating away at his body. Martin sobbed, beating his hands against a chest that spewed forth blood in return. He screamed as Anael’s body fell away from him, his wings tearing away from dead flesh. Martin fell to the ground, protected by the remainder of Anael’s holy cocoon. He curled up into the fetal position, his mind emptied by shock and reverting to instinct.

 The Black Rain continued for several minutes, and then stopped. The acid seemed to dry almost at once. Martin reached out a hand and felt no pain from touching the ground. He pushed Anael’s wings from him, throwing them away with a sense of disgust and stood on shaking legs, taking in the scene before him.

The world was gone, melted like a wax candle. Colors swam together in the twilight, a mixture of body parts, blood, buildings, and trees reduced to a sea of death.

Anael had sacrificed his own body—his immortal soul—in order to save Martin. The realization hit him like a blow to the gut. He fell to his knees as he looked down at his own filthy body. Anael’s blood stained every inch of him. He let his despair overwhelm him like a tidal wave and sobbed uncontrollably. He crawled across the ground on his hands and knees, savoring the residual burn of the scorched earth on his knees as he strived to reach the only piece of Anael he had left. He reached the cocoon and tore the wings apart from one another, breaking the protective embrace that had cost Anael his life.

He clutched Anael’s precious wings to his chest and screamed at the sky.

*~*~*

Hours and days passed in a blur. The sun still rose in the morning, shining down on an empty world where only Martin remained to greet it. There was little to see on the horizon and nothing underfoot but the gooey residue of death. There was no water and no food, no trees and no birds. Martin found he couldn’t care less. His feet were burned by a few residual puddles of acid rain, but the pain became his only friend and companion, mirroring his broken mind.

Martin walked across the empty landscape. It was all he could do, pushed to the point of madness by the loss of the only person he had ever truly loved. When he stopped, he thought about Anael and broke down into fits of sobbing and screaming, beating the ground and railing against God. So he walked, pushing the thoughts from his mind with the steady rhythm of placing one foot in front of the other.

Anael had promised that God would return and create a new world, but of Him, there had been no sign. For all Martin knew, God had forsaken the Earth and decided not to try again. Martin found he couldn’t blame Him, all things considered.

Martin tried not to think of what fiery torment Anael might be suffering, but the fears crept into his nightmares and he woke alone, screaming into the infinite darkness. The days were no kinder. The sun seared his skin with no shade to offer him relief and no water to quench his thirst.

Martin knew he was going to die regardless. Anael had tried to protect him, had offered up his own life and sacred wings to make it so, only for Martin to suffer the torment of a slow death from dehydration. Martin’s suffering grew so acute that he would have drank from an acid-tainted pool, if only they hadn’t all dried up.

He wondered if perhaps he had died and descended into Hell after all. Martin had read depictions of Hell from scattered pages of biblical texts his grandfather kept, which spoke of unending thirst as one of many torments for those descending to Gehenna.

Fantasy and reality seemed to converge as Martin grew thirstier. He held onto one of Anael’s wings as he sat down on the cracked earth. His feet were blistered and bleeding, his eyes too dry to shed tears.

"Just take me away from here," Martin pleaded, delirious from pain and thirst.

As if hearing his plea, a pillar of light descended from the sky. Martin laughed dryly as it came down, his spirit angry and broken. He wondered why on Earth Gabriel hadn’t arrived before. The angel seemed a lot less magnificent now, standing before Martin without so much as a cup of water.

"Are you ready to repent, sinner? There is a place in Heaven with as much water as you can drink if you will renounce your sins.” Gabriel stood on the broken ground with his wings outstretched, looking fearsome and powerful.

"Did you forgive Anael and welcome him back to Heaven with open arms?” Martin asked.

"Anael has committed a mortal sin and Fallen. He has descended to Tartarus with the other fallen angels."

"Then I have nothing to repent for. I regret nothing—not the men I killed, nor the ones I slept with in order to secure my next meal. Nor for loving Anael. That is something I shall never take back."

"Are you trying to goad me into sending you to Hell, mortal?” Gabriel asked.

"I know that’s probably my final destination.” Martin shrugged, too exhausted to be threatened.

"You can avoid all that by simply repenting and accepting me into your heart as your Lord and Savior."

"Does that mean I have to accept your judgment as well?"

"It does."

"Then I have nothing to repent. Let me go to Hell. I’ll be one step closer to Anael." Martin pulled his knees up to his face. His body rebelled against turning down water for something as lofty as principles, but Martin refused to ascend to Heaven without Anael at his side.

"You would do all this for Anael’s sake? I have been watching. I know you regret the men you have lain with. I know you regret the blood on your hands. You would condemn yourself to eternity in Gehenna for the love for one fallen angel?” Gabriel looked at Martin aghast.

"Allow Anael to return to Heaven and I’ll do anything you want. Even if that means I spend an eternity in torment." Martin shook his head. "I don’t care about my soul, but Anael has done no harm. He only wanted to protect the children the Scrapers imprisoned. Why can’t you see that?"

Gabriel actually laughed, the soft laugh of a genius looking down upon a fool with pity and derision. He shook his head.

"I sent Anael down to Earth on purpose, mortal. I sent him there to clean up the world for me and take all the blame for it. Now God’s favorite angel, the angel of love, is out of my way.” Gabriel raised his hand and a dozen pillars of light appeared. An angel stepped out from each one. "And so it is that the meek shall inherit the Earth. Us angels, who have toiled for millennia doing God’s bidding, shall break free of His reign and build a world for ourselves. This world was soon up for rent anyway. I just did what God would have done and cleaned out the rats. Anael did as he was told and took the mortal sin of this world’s destruction on his soul, leaving us free to take over."

"Where is God? Why doesn’t He stop you?" Martin stood up, rage in his eyes as he stumbled towards Gabriel.

Gabriel laughed in time with the other angels, a creepy sound that echoed in the empty desert.

"God is quite a deadbeat father, I’m afraid. He likes to create worlds and leave us in charge of laying down His rules. He’s not quite as omnipotent as you’d think, really. Creation takes all his strength. On the seventh day, He rests. Only he doesn’t mean one Earth day. When God sleeps, he sleeps for millennia at a time. When He went to slumber, He left me in charge, making it possible for me to enact my plan. The Great Economic Collapse was my idea as well. How I enjoyed watching the humans destroy their entire world through greed." Gabriel raised his hand and a sword of light materialized. "You are standing in our way, mortal. I will give you your wish. Be with Anael in Tartarus!”

Gabriel lifted his sword and Martin closed his eyes, awaiting the pain that would spell the end of his mortal life, but it never came. Instead, he heard the clashing of metal on metal and opened his eyes to see a magnificent angel with a sword of light in her own hand, held up against Gabriel’s. Sparks flew as the two holy swords clashed.

"Sarah?" Martin’s mouth fell open as he scrambled backwards on the ground. Sarah stood radiant, wings of white spread out across her back and a purple dress flowing out behind her in the wind as she struggled against Gabriel.

"Do you want to fall to Tartarus as well?" Gabriel laughed. "Do you wish to lose your new body, Sarah? It would be all too easy to strip you of your wings and revert you to the body of a man. I gave you the gifts you desired—holy wings and a woman’s body—for completing the task that Anael would not. Now you would rise against me in rebellion?"

"What you are doing is wrong. You have twisted the natural order of things,” Sarah said.

"I have? You mock me, Sarah. Or should I say, Simon?"

"How dare you!" Sarah pulled her sword back and watched Gabriel stumble forward. She turned to strike him, but he turned quickly and their blades met again. Martin watched helplessly from his vantage point on the ground, frozen in place by fear.

"Tell me what you’ve done to God. Tell me why the world has not been reborn? Why do you think you can stand up against the Almighty and win?" Sarah jumped back and swung again. Her sword tore at Gabriel’s clothing and nicked his skin. It healed immediately, the cut closing as Martin watched. He realized with despair that Sarah had chosen to fight a battle she had no hope of winning.

"That’s simple. While He was sleeping, I ushered Him into a dimension where time has no meaning. The Seventh Day will continue for Eternity and so will His slumber, leaving us angels free to rule Earth and shape it as we see fit." Gabriel kicked Sarah and she flew backwards, hitting a rock, her sword of light flying helplessly from her hands.

Martin stilled his shaking legs and crawled over to the sword, picking it up from the ground and parrying Gabriel’s sword with his as he sought to land the killing blow. Martin staggered backwards from the force of the blow. Sarah was stunned, but pulled herself back to her feet.

"Tartarus. You’ve sealed God in Tartarus with the fallen angels." Sarah shook her head. Pretty blonde curls danced around her face.

Gabriel overwhelmed Martin and knocked him flying. The sword of light fell at Gabriel’s feet and he stooped to pick it up. He paused for a moment, considering his options before coming to a decision. Gabriel raised his hand and a void opened. Two strong angels stepped forward and picked up Martin and Sarah. They were dragged to the void and tossed in one after the other, as Gabriel grinned maniacally.

Martin woke in the darkness. He brushed off the ashes sticking to his skin and stood up. The pain was gone, but thirst still wracked his body. Underfoot was a soft carpet of ash. He started to walk through the darkness, feeling around for a wall to guide him. His hands met a smooth surface which started to glow blue. He recoiled in horror as the body of an angel encased in crystal was lit up before him. Pain and suffering was etched on the angel’s face, speaking of a torture not physical, but psychological, in nature.

Martin followed the wall and another crystal lit up, followed by another. He searched for Anael and Sarah with growing desperation, knowing that if they were here, he would do whatever it took to free them from whatever desperate torture they endured. Despair mocked Martin as he recognized none of the faces that lit up before him.

Eventually Martin saw an orange light that indicated the mouth of the cavern he was in. He ventured towards it. Outside the cave was a much larger cavern, with a ceiling far out of sight. The sun didn’t reach this far below the earth. Pools of lava swirled beside a rocky path that led to another cave. The stone was as red as blood and he felt as though he was inside a living organism. In some ways the scene was magnificent, a wonder of nature that Martin marveled at, but in others it reminded him of the typical vision of Hell that those in the Old World had depicted in paintings and books. It was hot, and sweat dripped from his brow as he explored.

Martin followed the path, seeing nowhere else to go. Dazed and in despair, without the bright light of Anael to keep his darkness at bay, Martin felt despair flow freely through his veins. He wanted to curl up and give in to sleep, but forced himself to keep moving forward.

The path branched into two, and Martin took the left branch. It led him into another cave, where more angels stood behind glowing panels. He lit up each panel with growing dread as none of the angels seemed to be his friends. Were they even in Tartarus at all? What if Gabriel was playing games with him?

It was Sarah he found first, encased in the far wall. Gabriel had turned her wings black and taken her feminine beauty from her. Tears streaked down her face as Martin put his hand on the crystal and Martin wondered what wicked torment Gabriel had fashioned for her.