Between Heaven and Hell Read online

  “You are to proceed alone,” Beliel told her. “Lord Michael has promised safe passage to a single ambassador.”

  “I don’t trust Michael.”

  “Very wise. In this case, though, our supporters in the city have spread word of your visit. To allow anyone to harm you would make him a liar. It would destroy his credibility. You will have no problem.”

  Adryel had bathed that morning and donned a new robe, one so white it almost glowed. Golden threads were wound through her hair. She rode an unblemished white stallion, one any soldier would envy. Today she did not appear as a simple professor, but as the emissary of Lord Lucifer, an archangel who also commanded a powerful army. She held her head high. She was not coming to grovel before Michael. She was coming to negotiate as his equal.

  As she entered the city, she found soldiers lining the street on each side, shields up, swords drawn. None spoke and none moved. Their eyes, though, followed her as she rode past.

  At first, the reins trembled in her hands and her horse seemed to notice, rearing and whinnying. She almost slipped from her saddle, but she patted the horse’s neck, spoke quietly to him, and rode on, ignoring the soldiers, her eyes focused on the road ahead.

  A hundred meters away, Dariel waited with a squad of mounted soldiers, all in full armor. A smile played around his lips as if he were laughing at her. She continued to hold her head high, and glared at him. He turned his eyes. He did not greet her, but as she approached, he wheeled his mount about. The other soldiers surrounded her, whether to protect her or control her, she did not know. The group set off for Palace Square at a trot, but Adryel would not be rushed. Dariel scowled as he pulled on his reins to slow his horse, and he waited until Adryel caught up with him.

  They passed no one on the streets, and Palace Square was empty. She had never seen it so deserted, nor had she ever known it to be so quiet. Usually it was crowded with angels who were visiting the Chancery or the palace, or simply passing through as they went from one side of town to the other. Their voices would mingle with the sounds of carts rolling across the stone pavement, the joyful exuberance of children playing, and the calls of the crier who announced the passing hours.

  Dariel dismounted at the foot of the Grand Stairway and motioned for her to do the same. She waited until one of the soldiers arrived to hold her mount and help her down.

  “We had expected Lord Lucifer,” he snapped. “He couldn’t trouble himself to appear in person?”

  Adryel stiffened. “He thought it might. . .He sent me to represent him.”

  “Follow me.”

  Dariel turned and led her up the steps. She attempted to talk with him as they climbed, but he strode ahead of her. Adryel refused to run after him—she was no trained goat being led to slaughter—and he reached the top and looked back, finding her only halfway up. He waited, standing at rest, but shifting his weight back and forth, from one foot to the other, reminding Adryel of child who was anxious to be finished with a boring assignment.

  They entered the palace through the small door beside the Great Gates, and followed a long hallway that took them into the south end of the palace, where Adonai lived, a section she had never before entered.

  “Where are we going, Dariel?” Adryel’s voice shook with worry. “Michael’s office is not—”

  “Lord Michael’s office? Your audience is not with Lord Michael. Your Lord Lucifer has challenged Adonai. You will plead your case to him.”

  Adryel stopped abruptly, as if she had run into a wall.

  “I can’t. . .me. . .Adonai?”

  Dariel stared at her, his eyes angry. “You will take up arms to depose him, but you will not parlay with him?”

  Adryel began to reply, but no words came to her. Michael spoke with Adonai, certainly. Uriel, the other archangels, she supposed. But an ordinary power? Her knees began to buckle and she reached out to touch the wall, hoping to steady herself.

  “You insult him by your rebellion. You would further insult him by refusing to meet with him?” He paused, seeming to be waiting for her reply.

  “I. . .I. . .”

  “I will relay your message.”

  He turned and strode toward a door at the far end of the hall, his boots slapping against the marble floor.

  “No. Wait, Dariel. . .I mean no insult. I. . .was not expecting. . .I thought I would be speaking to Michael.” She breathed deeply to calm herself.

  As he reached the door, Dariel turned.

  Adryel raised her head, pushed her shoulders back. I am the ambassador of a great archangel, she reminded herself. She cleared her throat. “I was simply surprised.”

  “Come, then.”

  He opened the door and motioned for her to enter. “Adonai knows you have come.”

  Adryel drew a deep breath and crept through the door. Her heart was pounding but she refused to cower.

  “Knock when you are ready to leave.” Dariel left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

  Adryel gazed around the chamber. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, all were the same, covered in polished, brown wood. She could see her reflection wherever she turned. No windows, no candles, no lamps, or torches provided light, but the room was bathed in a soft golden glow.

  The chamber was much longer than it was wide, stretching away deep into the palace. She was reminded of a box that might be used to hold some long, thin piece of equipment, a spear or a lance perhaps. She could not determine its length because a mist cloaked the far end of the room, making it impossible to see where it ended. She had no guess as to what she might find should she reach the far wall.

  She crept farther into the mist and, glancing over her shoulder, she found she could no longer see the door though which she had entered. After a few steps, she spied a massive archway. It rose almost to the ceiling and looked to be a meter or more deep. The floor beneath the arch was inlaid with colored stones, and Adryel gasped as she recognized the stones to be rubies and emeralds, pure white pearls, and even clear, sparkling diamonds. The band of color marked her progression from one room to another, much as a thin strip of marble separated the entrance hall in the house she had shared with Ramael from the private areas of their home.

  As she stepped through the arch, the glint of burnished gold assailed her eyes, causing her to squint. She found no wood surfaces in this room, but every surface glowed, mirroring her image. Turning to her right she could see not only her reflection but the echo of her reflection from the opposite wall. When she looked up, she saw herself from both above and below. When she cast her eyes toward the floor, she found her image again. It seemed as if there were an infinite number of Adryels, all moving in concert.

  The mist swirled about her.

  Adryel hesitated.

  What was she doing? What was she thinking? How could she possibly approach Adonai and presume to negotiate with him?

  It took several moments, and several deep inhalations, but, finally, she resumed her trek. Just as she began to make out the rear wall, Adryel glanced at the floor, and her eyes fell on a square of dazzling sapphires. She jerked to a stop. The square was easily eight meters across, and reflected from its surface was light of the deepest shade of blue she had ever seen. The sapphires were set in sparkling gold and were surrounded by a border of luminous crystal, brighter and clearer than any she’d ever seen, clearer than the very air, if that were possible. Nothing was visible through the crystal and it seemed as if the square floated in empty space.

  Almost blinded by the brilliance, she raised her eyes and she started, surprised, as she recognized Michael standing behind the square, on the right side, his golden armor and his flashing sword now visible through the mist. She turned and found Gadriel, who had been one of Ramael’s lieutenants, dressed as Michael’s twin, standing to the left, his sword drawn, ready for combat.

  She stepped toward Michael, but as her foot crossed the crystal border, his voice rang out.

  “Stop,” he commanded her. “Come no farther. The
throne of Adonai is his alone, and no one else shall rest upon it.”

  As he was speaking, in the center of the wall behind him, a door swung open and white light began to filter into the room, a stark contrast to the soft yellow glow. Adryel held up a hand to shield her eyes as the brilliant, sparkling white light enveloped the entire space in which she stood. The glare stung, and she dropped her head, covering her face with both of her hands.

  A deep silence settled in the room. She lifted her head, and peered through half-open eyes.

  A dazzling cloud, whiter than any cloud she had known, whiter than any angel’s robe, a white brighter than any bleach could produce, rested upon the square. Inside the cloud, a light pulsated, expanding and contracting with a slow, even beat. Had its glory not been veiled, Adryel felt certain she would have been blinded when she first glimpsed it—this was Adonai himself.

  The cloud rotated slowly and thousands of tiny lights, like strings of diamonds, orbited, it, without beginning and without end. Cherubim stood behind the throne, their long feather-like fans swaying gently. Six-winged seraphim hovered around it, two wings covering each one’s eyes, two covering their feet, and two moving gently back and forth. Adryel’s ears detected their chant, so soft she could not make out the words.

  Finally, the cloud ceased to turn. Adonai hovered before her on his throne, shrouded within the cloud and the blinding light, and she fell to her knees, bowing low, her forehead pressed against the floor.

  “Rise, my child.” It was the voice of Adonai.

  Her legs were trembling and she struggled for air, but she managed to stand.

  “Why are you here?”

  “I come on behalf of Lord Lucifer, the archangel.”

  “Lord Lucifer was afraid to come himself? Who would think that?” She felt as if Adonai laughed as he spoke.

  “Not afraid, my Lord. He did not trust Michael. . .”

  “I gave safe passage. He should trust me, and yet he does not. And he asks me to trust him?” The light pulsed rapidly and the seraphim’s chant paused at the anger in Adonai’s voice.

  “Why would he trust you?” She lifted her chin in defiance, then folded her arms across her chest and firmed her stance. Why should she trust Adonai either, for that matter? Ramael had trusted him, and he abandoned Ramael. Left him to die in the gutter.

  Michael’s head jerked up, his mouth open as if to object. Adryel tipped her head back, looking down her nose at Adonai. “I cannot speak to Lord Lucifer’s feelings. I can only tell you he wants to return to the city. Over a thousand of your host have joined him, and they want—”

  “I know what Lord Lucifer wants, my child. I fear it is you who does not truly understand him.”

  “He just wants to be heard. He wants—”

  “He wants to be me.”

  “No. He. . .he. . .” She shrugged and dropped her arms to her sides. What purpose was there to arguing with Adonai?

  “Creation has proceeded, Adryel. The sun, the moon, the planets, the plants and animals already live. . .They are all good.”

  From the tone of his voice, Adryel felt that Adonai was smiling.

  She made one more attempt to reason with him. “No one objects to these, my Lord.”

  “The human, too, is ready. I have only to breathe life into him, and my creation will be complete. I want you to see him.”

  Adryel had no time to object. A creature suddenly appeared before her. He was her height, muscular, and handsome. He almost looked like an angel. Adryel’s mouth dropped open.

  “A fearsome creature?”

  “No, Lord, not to see him. . .”

  “His name is Adam. I have created nothing nearly so grand as he. He is the pinnacle of my creation. Nothing else rivals him. Do you know why?”

  Adryel shook her head.

  “He alone among all I have made has complete freedom. When he loves me, it will be because he chooses to love me. All of the angels in heaven bow before him and do him honor.”

  There was a moment of silence before Adonai spoke again.

  “If Lucifer returns, he too will honor Adam.”

  “You know he will not do that,” Adryel replied. “He abhors the human.”

  “He does not know the human. He will not return because I will not grant him the power he wants. I will not give my place to Lord Lucifer.”

  “He plans to do war against you if you breathe life into the human, if you do not give him authority over the city, if. . .” Adryel sensed that Adonai already knew what she was going to say, and she stopped. A long silence followed.

  “Adryel, I want you to come home. I want Lord Lucifer to come home. I want all of my children to come home. But I will not give my place to Lord Lucifer. What I will do is to grant him, and you, and the entire host of heaven the power to choose. If he does not return, it will be his choice. If you do not, it will be yours.”

  The cloud began to rotate and it seemed to turn, first toward Michael, then toward Gadriel, and, finally, back to her.

  “I love my children, Adryel. You will find that love never ends. . .I did not abandon Ramael as you believe. . .”

  “Liar,” Adryel shouted, cutting him short. “I’ll hear no more from you.”

  The color drained from Michael’s face as she spoke and he stepped forward, stopping as the sparkling lights dimmed and ceased to move. A deep stillness filled the room.

  Adryel felt a chill come over her as she got the sense that Adonai wore a sad smile, the kind offered by a parent to a rebellious child. Then the cloud drifted across the room, followed by the seraphim and the cherubim, leaving through the door by which they had come. The white light grew dimmer and dimmer, until finally, it disappeared and the door closed.

  She stood for several moments, staring at the crystal border around the throne. Adonai loved her, he had said. He loved them all.

  But he’d lied to her.

  She scowled. He had not loved Ramael. He had done nothing for Ramael.

  She looked first at Gadriel, then at Michael. Neither moved, neither returned her gaze. They stood like the statues that decorated the garden, and she suddenly realized that Adonai considered her to be his enemy, just as she now thought of him as hers. They had been present to protect him from her.

  Turning on her heel, she strode the length of the room and pounded on the door, summoning Dariel to escort her away.

  ***

  Michael and Gadriel walked silently through the palace to Michael’s office. As they entered, Michael removed his helmet.

  “A liar? She called Adonai a liar?” Gadriel seemed barely able to speak.

  Michael simply nodded.

  “What do we do now, Michael?”

  “We make plans for battle.”

  “What about Adryel?”

  “What about her? She serves Lucifer now.”

  Michael summoned Dariel and Keruel, to join them. He spread a map of the city and the plain that surrounded it across the table, and the four of them stood around it.

  “Where are the rebels now?” Michael asked Dariel.

  “The bulk of Lord Lucifer’s force is progressing along the road from the north. They have been on the move all day. They seem to be marching hard and they ought to reach here,” he placed a stone on the map, “by tonight. From there, it will be but a couple of hours to the city.”

  He paused, as if expecting questions, but no one spoke, so he asked one of his own. “How many?”

  “We believe there are about a thousand of them. We understand that few of them were in the Institute when it was taken. Others have been recruited beyond the mountains.”

  Michael toyed with several small stones as he looked at the map. “In theory, he could attack tomorrow then.”

  “But unlikely,” Keruel said. “They will have been moving rapidly, marching hard all day. If Lord Lucifer knows what he is doing, he will want to send fresh troops into battle.”

  “Does he know what he’s doing?” Gadriel scoffed.

  “
On the whole, no,” Michael replied, “but I agree with Keruel. He’ll wait a day. His troops will need the rest. He will see it as a way to induce panic in the city.”

  “Can he storm the walls?”

  “I doubt it.” Dariel shook his head. “My information is they have no equipment that would allow them to scale the walls, nothing to batter against the gates, just angels with swords and spears. He appears to be planning to lay siege, and likely believes he can force us to surrender.”

  “We won’t let him do that.” Michael shook his head. “We’ll meet him on the plain.” He placed one of his stones between Lucifer’s main force and the city. “Gadriel will command the First Legion with a thousand powers. They will meet Lucifer here. You will take the second and third legions.” He looked at Dariel and Keruel.

  Then, he pointed at the map. “There are low hills on both sides of the plain. They are not high enough to hide a standing soldier, but at this season the grass is about a meter high. Tomorrow after dark, you will take positions here and here.” He placed two more stones on the map, one northeast of the city, the other to the northwest. The stones represented the three legions and formed a triangle around Lucifer’s position. “I believe Lord Lucifer will attack day after tomorrow.”

  Michael looked up at his three commanders. “Lucifer will attack Gadriel, believing his legion to be the entire army. The two of you will close in on him from the sides. He will be surrounded and outnumbered three to one. We will crush his army and obliterate it. Neither Lucifer, nor his soldiers will survive.”

  War in Heaven

  Upon leaving the palace, Adryel and her companions had ridden back to Lord Lucifer to report. The army had moved forward in their absence. Lucifer had seemed disappointed at the mission’s failure, but he had insisted it had been his obligation to sue for peace. Since his overture had not been successful, war seemed to be the sole option.

  Late the next afternoon, shortly before twilight, Adryel and Beliel, along with eight of the angels he had recruited in the west, arrived in the city, masquerading as a caravan from the northern provinces. The group aroused no suspicion, thanks to Lucifer, who, as he’d assembled his soldiers at the foot of the mountains and moved south, had strategically allowed several caravans traveling from the north to pass through his army. So, when Adryel’s caravan arrived, the guards at the gate seemed to think theirs was no different from the others, seeing it as simply the most recent caravan to arrive.