what is going on here or who is responsible for this. Just follow my lead, is that clear? I’m going to bluff our way in.”
He backwinged suddenly and landed in front of an entrance flanked by two buildings. As he walked towards them, two angels, Hashmallim by the look of them, hurried out to stop them.
“You can’t come in here.”
“Can’t?” There was a menacing level of surprise in Michael’s voice. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, and it doesn’t matter. Nobody is allowed in here without permission from Belial or The One Above All.” The hashmallim smirked at the thought that he was giving the Mighty General Michael-Lan the run-around.
Michael just stared at him and his hand moved to grasp the angel. The hashmallim was suddenly pinned against the stone wall and was choking. “I find your lack of respect… disturbing.” Michael’s voice was still calm and dead level. I’ve been wanting to say that for years.
He held the grip until the Hashmallim collapsed to the ground. Then, he turned to the other angel. “Any questions?”
The Seraphim gulped and shook his head. “Good, then open that damned gate! We are looking for the Lady Maion. Where is she?”
The Seraphim shuddered at the venom behind the question. “She is a new arrival. She will be in Section Six. The guards will be breaking her in there.”
Michael simply glared at the hapless Seraphim. “I will remember you.” Then he stalked through the opening gate, Lemuel following close behind.
The sight inside was far worse than anything they could have gathered from the air. The stinking mud that coated the inside of the compound rose high around their feet and stung even this peerless skin. In front of them, the prisoners were moaning with anguish as they tried to move in the all-encompassing filth. Lemuel only needed one glance to understand why none had attempted to fly out of the camp, at some point, they had had their wings methodically and comprehensively broken. From the look of some, the broken bones had started to heal and had then been broken again. After repeated breaks, the wings were healing deformed and he doubted if they would allow the angels to fly again. That was assuming they got out of this place.
“Has Yahweh gone completely mad?” Lemuel’s voice was numb with shock. “How could he allow this?”
“You heard him. ‘All the pains of Hell’, he said. We all thought he was being his usual bombastic self. We never guessed he meant it. And did you hear who is in charge here? Belial, a refugee from Hell itself I guess. Yahweh wanted to recreate Hell, and he brought in a surviving daemon lord to do it for him. We’d better find Maion fast.”
Michael set off at a determined pace, looking for Section Six. Around them, the crippled angels were trying to beg for help and food. To his mounting anguish, Lemuel realized that they weren’t just crippled, they were far more than half-starved as well. Fortunately, on a number of levels. Section Six was quickly located. It was barely distinguishable from the others only, to Lemuel’s eyes, the prisoners hadn’t been starved yet and they were in marginally better condition. Beside him, Michael was quickly scanning through the figures that surrounded them. Finally, he saw the one he was looking for.
“Maion. She’s over there. Hurry up old friend, we haven’t got much time.” He strode off, ignoring the mud and filth that was splashing over him.
“Don’t hurt me any more. Please…” Maion’s voice was a pathetic whimper. To Lemuel’s horrified gaze, she was bloodstained and battered, her wings savagely broken and trailing in the filth that surrounded her.
“Maion, it’s us. We’ve come to get you out of here.” Michael’s voice was comforting and consoling as he knelt beside her.
“Michael? You came? I was praying for… “
“Maion, did I not tell you that you are one of my people now. That if you got into trouble I would come and get you? You are one of us, Maion-Lan-Lemuel-Lan-Michael, one of my people and that means if they you help, it is for me to succor you. Leaders serve their followers Maion, just as much as followers serve their leaders. And Lemuel wouldn’t leave me alone until we found you and came to your aid.”
The words spoken by Michael cut through Lemuel’s stunned consciousness. He had heard them before, from Charmeine-Lan. “Michael, you. You are the leader of the Montmartre Club.”
“I am, Lemuel, and I have been trying to protect people who were at risk from Yah-Yah’s growing insanity. I have been trying to save as many humans as I could from the Hellpit and give them some sort of life in Heaven. Now, I see I have failed.” Michael theatrically sagged and started to weep.
Beside him, Lemuel put his arms around Maion and tried to comfort her. Instead, she screamed in renewed agony as his movements caused the jagged ends of bone in her broken wings to grate against each other. The sound clouded his mind with sheer fury. “Michael, what do we do?”
Michael gave every appearance of recovering from his breakdown and he drew himself up. “We must first get Maion out of here. That was and is our first priority. She’s been very seriously hurt, her wings look so badly broken that I doubt if she will fly again unless she gets some very special care.”
Maion was struggling to speak but the pain form her injuries kept breaking through. “Michael-Lan, you came just in time. One of the guards here said that Onniel had ordered my legs be broken as well. Please, help me.”
“What do we do?” Lemuel was weeping uncontrollably.
“We can do nothing here. There are only one group of people who can treat injuries this severe and still allow the victim to make a full recovery.”
“Humans?”
“That is right, humans. Lemuel, you must get Maion to the humans. They can cure her wounds and restore her body. We can create a portal to earth from here and you can take Maion through it.” Michael turned his attention to Maion and his voice softened. “Maion, you are going to Earth for treatment. It will hurt as you go through the portal but you’ll be out of here at least. Just be brave for a few minutes longer.”
“What are you going to do Michael?” Lemuel had thought the situation through and saw that Michael-Lan was right. Maion’s only chance lay on Earth.
“I will go to the Eternal City and confront Yah-yah. I cannot believe that he knows what goes on here. He has been mislead by bad advisors and tricked by Belial. Once he knows what is happening here, he will make things right. You, on your part, tell the humans of this. Beg for their aid in treating these wounded. Humans are very strange, they will kill without mercy yet present them with a scene like this and they will go to unimaginable lengths to aid the sick and wounded. Bring the humans here and try to save these people.”
“Michael-Lan, it won’t work. The All-Seeing must know what goes on here.” Suddenly all the pieces that Michael-Lan had so painstakingly crafted fitted together in Lemuel’s head. “Michael-Lan, he doesn’t just know, he planned this. He knew there were those who opposed him so he used us to catch them. He used Azreal to cerate the terrorist movement so he would have an excuse for this. Michael, remember I asked if Azrael’s treason went so high? Well, it didn’t, it started so high there is nowhere higher. Yahweh was behind the bombings, I am sure of it and he did it all to justify creating this place to punish those who were questioned him.”
“I greatly fear you might be right.” Michael-Lan put exactly the right amount of doubt and anguish into his voice. Well done Lemuel, you put it all together. Now, lets see if you can make the obvious final jump. His face settled into an expression that combined grandeur, nobility and offended honor. Michael was quite proud of the expression, it was one he practiced in front of a mirror often. “What should I do?”
Lemuel summoned up his strength and, as he looked down at Maion moaning in the mud, his mind was made up. “Michael-Lan, Yahweh knew all of this and knew it well. He is no longer fit to reign in Heaven. You, you Michael, must depose him and take over the throne. Then, you must make peace with the humans somehow. I do not know how you can do this or when you will achieve it but it is your duty to the whole of the Angelic Host to make sure that what we see around us now will never happen again.”
“Lemuel, my old friend, I ought to strike you down for the words you have just said. But while my head tells me to do that, my heart says that you are right. Bring the humans, bring their armies for without them we cannot depose Yahweh. I will do what I can Lemuel, I will oppose Yahweh, I will try and prevent this atrocity from happening again. Yes, my old friend, I will attempt to remove him from power. Your words convince me of the need for this and for that I thank you.” The poets were right, the power of love will achieve wonders. When used and steered properly of course. Michael gazed at Maion on the ground. “But first, we must see to your beloved. Be brave Maion, soon you will be on Earth and your wounds will be cured.”
Michael and Lemuel reached down and lifted Maion, trying to disturb her shattered wings as little as possible.
