Rumors of War

by Cynus 

War of Hell

Chapter 2

Everyone was too stunned to speak, or even react beyond staring open-mouthed at Lucifel; everyone except Verina that is. Verina simply cleared her throat to bring us out of our dumbfounded state, and all at once the room exploded. Marc moved into a defensive position between me and the devil. Keith reacted by gripping several loose objects in the room with his telekinesis, and I could feel that he was summoning all the power he had available. I didn’t know what to expect, but I pushed myself as far back as the hospital bed and my limited strength would allow me, giving me as much distance between myself and the fallen angel as I could. Alan had a similar reaction to me; he was eying the door to see if he could somehow get past her and make an escape. The biggest reaction though came from my dad.

At first the sudden laughter seemed incredibly out of place, but then the laughter turned bitter, and it became as music to our scene. I turned to look at him, despite the fear I felt at being in the presence of so powerful a being, and I saw him rise to his feet in anger, and suddenly he was coming toward Lucifel with his eyes blazing.

“What kind of a joke is this? You’ve got some sick sense of humor to barge in on our privacy and claim that you’re the devil who’s come to take my sick son away. Do you even realize that he just woke up from a coma that he’s been in for four months? ‘cause if you did know that’s even worse!”

She narrowed her eyes at him, which seemed to only make him angrier. Then she laughed, which again caused my father to seethe even more. He was about to reach out and slap her when a large man materialized out of thin air behind the angel. He was around seven feet tall, and looked to weigh around six hundred pounds, all in thick muscle. His scalp and face were clean-shaven, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He wore a black suit and a black tie over a white dress shirt. With one massive forearm he reached out and stopped my father’s slap mid-swing. My father took an involuntary step back which was quickly followed by several voluntary ones until his back hit the wall.

 “The Lady would prefer to not be slapped, human. Would you mind taking a seat so that we can discuss this as rational beings?” The large man said in the deepest voice I had ever heard. Noticing that neither Marc nor Keith had changed at all in their reaction to the unfolding events, the identity of this new individual was easy to surmise. Shatan, the dragon, had tagged along with his partner.

 “Now, as I was saying before that man rudely interrupted me, we need to go, son of Merlin. It is no longer safe here. Michael has learned of your recovery and is sending agents to kill you. I cannot allow that. I have much riding on Merlin’s promise being true, and I would prefer to keep you alive. So, we need to get you out of this hospital.” Lucifel spoke with a certainty that things were going to happen her way or not at all. Surprisingly to me, it didn’t feel arrogant of her, just certain.

 “Hang on a minute, devil,” Marc responded in a mocking tone,” You think you can just show up out of nowhere and take away my charge? You’re going to have to go through both the High Druid and I if you want him, and that’s a promise.”

 Lucifel stared at him like he had lost his mind. “You seem to think I was asking, prince. I am more than a match for your High Druid. As for you, you do realize that the person who invented the martial art you are so skilled at is standing behind me, don’t you? I am very confident in Shatan’s ability to take on you and everyone else in the room, and still have the ability to carry Damien with us when he’s done.”

 “There is always a student who surpasses the master, are you sure I’m not the one to do so?” Marc replied with equal seriousness. I was impressed that neither he nor Keith had wavered outwardly, especially once I got a hold of my wits well enough to activate my telepathy. Reading both Keith and Marc’s thoughts told me that they were nearly scared to death, but that their discipline was keeping them able to function. My father and Alan, on the other hand, were just scared. Verina was nervous, and to my surprise and horror, I could get no read on either Lucifel or Shatan. It was as if their thoughts did not exist

 “Now you are a brave one aren’t you? Well, if you insist, we could make this a battle, or you could just come with us. I didn’t say that only Damien had to come now did I? I do not care if anyone comes with us, except that annoying one who tried to slap me. He can stay here.”

 My father had apparently recovered enough to respond to her remark, apparently fueled by his hysteria. His anger was back, but there was a wild look in his eyes as he said, “There is no way I am letting you take my son! If I have to die trying to keep you from him, then so be it.”

 He launched himself toward Lucifel, but suddenly found himself stopped in mid-air. I looked to Keith who nodded at me, acknowledging that he was the source of my father’s sudden halt. I watched my father get dragged back to his spot by the wall and twitch against Keith’s telekinesis in rage.

 “Whatever kind of demon you are, I’ll make sure you pay for this!” He shouted. Everyone else in the room winced except Alan at his reference to demons. Lucifel leered toward him with a smirk and said, “Although demon is preferable to other things you could call me, I am offended by you yet again. Don’t make me kill you for your insults. As of yet I have not voiced any intention to harm your son, only to take him with me. Is that really all that terrible? What if I promise to bring him back after he has served his purpose? Will that sate your puny human brain?”

 “Go to hell!” My dad shouted back.

 “That has been my intent all along. Haven’t you been listening? I tire of this one. Shatan, make him shut up.” Lucifel ordered, and Shatan moved to comply.

He was a foot away from my father when I shouted, “No!”

Everyone looked at me except Shatan. He turned back to Lucifel with a questioning look. I kept speaking, hoping to at least delay my father’s fate. “I’ll go with you. But Marc comes with me, as well as Keith if he is willing. You must also allow us to communicate this plan to the Demonic royal family. I am not going to walk off with any angel without covering my ass. No offense meant to you milady.”

I was doing my best to be polite, and the intent was not lost on her. She regarded me thoughtfully. After an awkward moment she replied to my request, “Yes, I can see how that would be reasonable. Very well, Dae’Marca, Keith Morgan, would you like to accompany us to Hell? I will guarantee your safety while you are among us, the same guarantee I extend to Damien. And, I will allow you to contact King Ikarus. You are very polite for a human. It must be your mother’s side.”

Marc nodded immediately, and Keith nodded after only a moment’s hesitation. Lucifel seemed satisfied and waved Shatan back to stand by her side. “Well that settles things then. You say your goodbyes to this father of yours and we will meet you outside. Or do you need Shatan to carry you?”

“No, Lady Lucifel, I’ll be fine. I have Marc and Keith to help me out. We will meet you in fifteen minutes. Is that acceptable?” I replied, as calmly as I could. I latched on to the idea of having at least a brief moment to explain things to my father, and at that moment I wanted more than anything to convince her to give me that time.

“Very well, but do not dally for long. My patience has been tried enough already today. I have already arranged for you to leave the hospital today, despite those doctors that don’t know what they’re talking about. Money has a way of changing minds, after all.” Lucifel said nonchalantly. She turned on her heel and walked out the door, Shatan following closely behind.

Verina hesitated for a moment as if she was about to say something, but Keith raised his hand to stop her and said with venom, “You’ve done enough today, bitch. Go follow your whore patron. You’ll see us soon enough, and then you can waste words trying to explain yourself. Leave.”

She quivered with anger, but she apparently thought better of challenging Keith, and walked out of the room without saying another word. That did little to quiet the room though, for my father spoke up almost as soon as she disappeared. “Will someone please tell me what is going on?”

        “Dad,” I answered weakly, “That really was the devil, and we really are leaving. I’m sorry, I wish that we had the ability to stay here and explain every detail, but you’ll have to settle for the summary.” I proceeded to give him the run-down on everything that had happened since we had moved. Everything I could remember anyway. Marc and Keith supplied small details every now and then, but they let me have the main job of explaining everything. My father listened as calmly as he could, but I could tell he was having a hard time swallowing the tale.

        When I was done, he voiced his primary concern, “So the sum of all this is that a fallen Angel wants your help to stop the Angelic forces, and end a shadow war that has been plaguing the world for thousands of years? And you want me to be okay with letting you walk off alone with her? Son, I just found out less than thirty minutes ago that Angels and Demons existed. I don’t care if you’ve got psychic powers; this is not going to happen.”

        “The problem is, dad, that neither you nor I can stop this,” I explained as calmly as I could, though my heart was still pounding in my chest, “If I don’t go now, Lucifel will do everything in her power to see to it that I do come, even if that means harming the people that I love, such as yourself. I don’t really know what her plan is for me, but she did guarantee my safety.  Plus, I’m not going alone. I’ll have a very powerful bodyguard and the most powerful living psychic by my side.”

        “I’ll be going with you too!” Alan piped up from the side. In all the excitement, we had once again forgotten that he was there. Now, everyone else turned incredulous looks in his direction, but he didn’t shrink under any of them.

        “What makes you think that, Alan?” Marc asked with little enthusiasm, “No offense meant, but you are not physically powerful or a psychic. Besides, what about your family and school? They’ll be missing you.”

        “If this is your fight, it’s my fight,” he replied with determination. His face told me he was serious, and I reached out with my telepathy to find out how much of it was an act. To my surprise, I found only the same determination reflected in his thoughts. I looked to Keith who had a similar expression of surprise, and I knew that he had probably read him as well.

        “You still didn’t answer the other half of my question, Alan,” Marc continued, and he seemed to be growing impatient. I understood his impatience, though I didn’t share it. The clock was ticking, and our fifteen minutes were almost up.

        “You’ve had other things on your mind for the last four months, but maybe you should consider why I spend all of my time here with you,” Alan continued, his determination only strengthening, “I don’t have any friends, and I’m a foster kid. My parents died when I was really young, and there were no living relatives, so I got thrown into the system. No one is going to miss me if I go with you, they’ll just think I ran away. Also, don’t you think I could learn to fight? This war involves all of us doesn’t it?”

        Marc was speechless, an unusual trait for him. I took the opportunity to speak instead. “You really want to come?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. He nodded his reply and after a moment I nodded back. “Alright then, you can come, but you’ve got to listen to everything we say, got it? If you get yourself in trouble, we’re going to feel responsible. You have to follow our lead.”

        My boyfriend was about to protest, but Alan overrode him. “Done. I will follow your lead, Damien.” Marc just shook his head helplessly when I turned my determined stare toward him. He was not pleased with my decision, but he let it stand.

        “Very well then. I’m sorry, dad, but we have to go,” I said as I sat up in the bed. I was still weak, but I was able to move enough to start undoing my IVs. Marc, Keith, and then Alan moved to start helping me. I whispered to Alan to go see if there was a wheelchair we could use. As he rushed out, my father came up to my bed and stopped all the commotion.

        “I suppose I have to accept this then, and that this is really happening. I don’t understand it, and I only believe what I believe because of what I’ve seen. I love you, son, be careful. If that bitch lets you call me, please call me every day. I want to make sure that you’re safe, and if you aren’t I’m going to move heaven and earth to find her and kill her.” He said with fury in his eyes. I knew that he was as serious as he had ever been about anything.

        “Don’t worry dad, I’ll be fine,” I replied with as much conviction as I could muster. It wasn’t much, but I hoped it would be enough. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and then gave me the longest hug I had ever received from him, even longer than when he had told me that my mother was dead.  When we broke the embrace, he patted me on the shoulder and stepped away.

        We managed to get me into the wheelchair and within a minute I was being wheeled off down the hallway, my heart breaking with the image of my father sitting with his head in his hands, weeping. I could only hope that he would be alright.