Rumors of War

by Cynus 

War of Hell

Chapter 13

          It wasn’t long before we had exited the ship and found ourselves on the steep slope of a frigid mountain. We were just above the timber line, and the forest loomed ominously before us as we stepped out among the dark pines.

Though I was still feeling slighted by Marc, I could sense the trepidation in his step and I couldn’t help but feel some empathy for him. I was already having some doubts about how I had treated him, and now I was feeling awful for seeing what he was facing now. I had never seen him as nervous and emotionally distraught as he was trudging through the snow.

Lucifel had produced extremely warm cold-weather gear for us. I was surprised by how warm it actually was, because the cloth was hardly thicker than the normal type the angels wore, but I hardly noticed the cool air except when it touched the tip of my nose. Marc, Alan, Keith and I were accompanied by Lucifel, Shatan, Belial, and Verina, as well as four other angels. The only one of the angels I recognized was Mephistel, who gave me a nod when my eyes met his in recognition.

We had only travelled for around ten minutes before we heard the flapping of large, leathery wings pierce the silent night. Each of the four angels drew weapons from their belt. It was the first time I had seen an angel with a weapon in hand since the night they had tried to kill me in the restaurant. Then it had been metallic blades, which Marc had explained to me was due to the fact that they didn’t want to use technology that would be unexplainable in the autopsy. These weapons were very different. They were some type of gun that looked nothing like anything I had seen before, and they hummed with energy. Four guns were soon pointed at winged forms that landed in the pines above us.

Lucifel opened her mouth to speak, but Marc spoke first, “I am Prince Dae’Marca, son of King Ikarus. Accompanying me is the Lady Lucifel of Hell, Grandmaster Shatan, and High Druid Keith Morgan. They are my guests, and are expected by the King.”

“We hear you, prince,” said a voice that came from the tree nearest the front of our troupe, “We will escort you. The king sent us out as the advance party, and he and his entourage will meet you halfway, that is, if you’re willing to put away your weapons.”

At a nod from Belial, the four angels once again holstered their guns in their belts, and we were on the move again. This time there was wariness over the group. I didn’t feel it as much as everyone else seemed to; well, everyone but Keith. We had both reached out with our telepathy and knew exactly where our demon escort was, and they were not in any threatening position. Lucifel, Shatan, and Belial were all as unreadable telepathically as they normally were, but the occasional glance up into the trees gave their anxiety away. None of them were comfortable here.

Within a half an hour we saw lights heading toward us through the trees, and the roar of engines. A moment later we were bathed in the glow of headlights, as monstrous trucks came into view. There were a half dozen of the things, weaving between the trees, and they came to stop in a semi circle in front of us. Out of the center one the uniformed driver stepped out and opened the passenger door. As another man stepped out, dressed head to toe in thick furred garb, the four demons in our escort settled to the ground around him protectively.

The man began walking steadily toward us, the demons now acting as his escort, until he stopped fifteen feet in front of the two angels at the front of our group. He spoke, his voice deep and commanding, “I am King Ikarus. When I heard that you had arrived, I made sure to greet you personally. It is rare that we have such esteemed guests here, and I would hate to make you feel unwelcome. Please, get in the trucks so that we can be on our way to warmer settings.”

This time it was Lucifel that responded to the greeting, “Thank you, King Icarus. I am glad to see that unlike the human realm, the demons have not forgotten respect and civility. We will accompany you. Am I to assume that Shatan and I will ride with you?”

“Most certainly, Lady Lucifel. Right this way, please. I will get the door for you,” the king replied smoothly. It all felt rehearsed, and then I realized that it probably was. Situations like this always had a bit of ceremony to them. After the king had Lucifel and Shatan situated in their vehicle, the other angels followed suit, except Belial and Verina. The king approached us next.

“High Druid Morgan, I am pleased to see you again. It has been several years since we last met, but you are welcome in my halls. I hope that this temporary alliance with Hell will not damage our good relations,” the king said, with a quick glance at the two remaining angels standing with us. Belial’s gaze was unreadable. Verina… was staring at Keith, and quite nervously.

I was about to read her thoughts to see why when Keith responded, and I was brought back to the situation at hand. “Certainly not, King Ikarus. I have found my time spent among the devils to actually be surprisingly comfortable. They treated us fairly, and though there is certainly little love between us, I think that this alliance is a good idea.”

Once again I caught Verina’s expression out of the corner of my eye, but this time I did manage to skim her thoughts for a second. Even as her face clouded a little her mind was even more clouded with anger and hurt. I only managed to hear one thought, before I was again pulled away. It was a question that stood prominently in her mind. There’s no love between us? My eyes widened in surprise even as I was pulled back to the conversation again, this time by a question from the king directed at Belial.

“You are Belial I presume?” The angel nodded in reply, and the king continued, “Then I assume from your posturing that you have been charged by your mother to protect the son of Merlin. He has no enemies here. You may take your angelic companion and find your place in one of the trucks. Dae’Marca has been protecting the boy for his whole life, I am certain he can continue that duty here. Consider it a reprieve.”

“Father, I don’t think…” Marc began, but I cut him off.

“I think that is an excellent plan, your majesty. Marc and I will be fine, and Belial could use a break. He has been staying up nonstop to protect us, using some sort of supplement in place of sleep. I am sure he could use the rest, especially if we are preparing for battle.” I surprised myself with how smoothly I was able to respond. I had never met a king before, but something about the way he carried himself said that I was better off showing that I could take care of myself.

“Excellent, then it’s settled. I tell you this, son of Merlin; I did not think that you actually existed. I’m still not certain what role you’re actually supposed to play in all of this, but I am glad that my son chose to see fit to prove me wrong. It’s given Michael the push he needed to come out of hiding. I hope you will enjoy your stay among my halls.” The king finished with a smile, and then turned back to his vehicle, after a nod and a smile to Marc.

“You did good son!” He called over his shoulder, right before he climbed into the passenger seat. I couldn’t help the smug feeling that came over me as I thought that Marc was finally getting everything he wanted, but I lost my arrogance as soon as I looked at my former lover and saw the look of torment on his face. He wasn’t happy at all, and I knew then that I had done it to him. I had caused him the pain that was so clearly etched into his face.

Belial walked off toward one of the trucks with an angry Verina in tow, and Keith gave me a long, understanding look before pulling Alan off toward another of the vehicles, which left Marc and I standing in the snow. He carefully turned his eyes to meet mine, and seemed as if he was searching my soul for something. I didn’t know if he found it or not, but he slowly walked toward me and whispered helplessly, “Why?”

I didn’t have to ask him what he was referring to. I knew how he thought, even without having to read his mind. He wanted to know why I was letting him near me. “Because I realize that things may not have been as serious as they were. Because I realize that your intentions may not have been what I initially thought they were. Because I’m willing to consider forgiving you, even though I haven’t gotten there yet. You abandoned me, Marc, but I know now that it wasn’t your intention. It doesn’t change the action though. Come on, let’s get to the truck.”

“Damien,” he began, and then hesitated. I think he didn’t expect me to turn around, but I did, with a questioning look on my face. He found his words again and continued, “I really don’t understand exactly what happened. All I want you to know is that I would do anything to make it up to you. You seem to think that I’m some kind of monster, who’s been using you all this time. I really do love you, and I really do want to spend the rest of my life with you. I just hope you’ll let me do something, anything, to make things right.”

I sighed, and tried to smile back at him, but I knew that it only came out halfway. “I think I just need some time on this, okay? How about we talk this over more in depth when this battle is over? Do you want to know what I think part of the problem is? I didn’t get to know the real you before we got into this relationship. I knew who you actually were for less than a day before I was in bed with you. How about we treat today as a fresh start and you can show me around your home, so I can find out who Prince Dae’Marca is, rather than his human alter ego?”

Marc smiled back, and I knew that what I had said was exactly what he needed to hear. His hope was restored. He had found what he had been searching for; a way out of the trap.  He walked up to me and extended his hand as he said, “Hello, my name is Dae’Marca, that’s with a ‘C’ not a ‘K’. And before you ask, no, it’s not short for anything.”

This time the smile had no problem coming in full, and I took his offered hand as I replied, “No problem, with a ‘C’, got it. I will make sure to put it that way in my phone.” We both laughed quietly as we remembered the day we met. I wasn’t ready to take him back as a boyfriend, but I was certainly glad that we were friends again.

We climbed into the truck and sped off into the night, heading to the home that Marc had grown up in. My doubts were beginning to fade, and for the first time in awhile, I felt that I was finally heading in the right direction.

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         A big thanks goes to Paul for his wonderful and generous editing. I couldn’t have done this without him.

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