The Angels' Pride Page 3

  Lucifer had once been an Arch Angel, which wasn’t really surprising. He had tested the faith of Humanity along with Samael, her own father. Why had no one told her that he was the Serpent from the Garden of Eden? The Serpent Crest was originally her father’s, Lucifer had adopted it from him. Both of them had been ambassadors to the Gods from their faction, the faction calling loudest for peace with the Gods. He had written of his hope for a new future alongside the Gods. His vision for a brighter future of greater understanding where magic would once again flow freely across the world and her realms had made her eyes water.

  Alas Gabriel had been his loudest opposition, calling for the war effort.

  His last entries had been about his increasing worry and anxiety about his sister. His very last entry had mentioned being summoned before her. There were no more entries afterwards.

  Curious she picked up the duster and headed back towards the desk. As she was approaching, she detoured hearing voices. Michael was interrogating Patrick in the middle of the main aisle. She wondered if Michael could see the desk from where he stood, that might explain why Patrick looked so agitated.

  Patrick’s eyes fell on her, and relief swept through him.

  “Sariel why are you in the library, you were assigned to Mary for cleaning duties,” Michael asked without even looking at her.

  “But I am on cleaning duties, I’m cleaning the shelves. I’ve been dusting all day.” Michael glanced at her taking in her bedraggled appearance. Reading through the journals had covered her in dust. It coated her from head to foot. Patrick was relieved that she not only looked like she had been cleaning but looked the worse for wear for it.

  Michael turned back to Patrick “Make sure she doesn’t stop while she is here. She is here to clean not dawdle.”

  Bowing he said “Of course Arch Angel” To Sariel’s surprise he cast a glare after Michael as he left.

  They both remained silent until they heard the scrape of the doors signalling that Michael had left. “Are the journals true?” she asked rounding on him.

  “More truthful than anything you will have read or been told. This is why the archives are limited to only the Elder Angels and a few select Ascended.”

  “Which select few?”

  “The Ascended that have been unwavering in their support of Gabriel and Michael throughout their rise to Arch Angel. Or those that do not baulk at the tasks set them. Myself and Mary were assigned to our positions by the Old Council and the new one sees no reason to remove us.”

  “What really happened? How did Lucifer Fall from Heaven?”

  “Gabriel. She cast him out of Heaven. He had nearly completed negotiations of peace between the Gods and Angels. He had single-handedly offered a way to end the war and stop the centuries of conflict. But Gabriel charged him with High Treason and cast him from Heaven. He was ensorcelled to prevent him ever rising up against Heaven.

  He has never been heard of since. For well over a thousand years no one has seen any trace of him. The Angels made the final push, and the last of the Gods were driven into Hell and in some cases Tartarus. Since then there has been hardly any trace of them. There has always been the occasional Pagan group worshipping one of the Gods from time to time, but the Gods have not been felt on the Earth in a long, long time.”

  “Until recently. Once again Heaven is talking of another cleansing. But if the Pagan groups have been around for so long then why now?”

  “Humans, and other mortals. Their beliefs give both the Gods and Angels strength and power. The power base Heaven needs to have supremacy relies nearly entirely on Human belief with a small amount of Jinn. It is why the lands of God have always felt the need to spread the message into other lands. But now Humans are turning away from the Angelic religions in droves, seduced as the Council would say by science. But science is not the only culprit, though it is one of the main reasons in the Western World. People are converting to the ever growing abundance of New Age Religions and beliefs which are a resurrection of forgotten Gods and Rites.

  The Human world is changing beyond Heaven’s ability to control it. Thus, Heaven’s power is undermined, and the Elders powers weakened. That is why you as an Elder are so important to their plans.”

  “And just what are their plans?”

  “To bring about the Apocalypse again and bring the Human world to heel. When the planet is scarred once more, then the Humans will fear Heaven for a long time.”

  She shook her head in horror. The Apocalypse that couldn’t be. Even she knew that the Old Council had declared for it to never be used again. Its effects were uncontrollable, and the Angels were not immune to its wrath. It had killed off a great deal of the Old Council, prompting their banning of it. It had killed off her parents, how could Michael even consider using it?

  She backed away from Patrick very afraid of what he might have to say. Turning on her heels, she ran out of the archives.

  Patrick watched her go, she would be back. She had to, but the seeds had been sown, she would hunger for the journals of other Angels. She would no longer trust Michael and Gabriel, and in her desperation, she would turn to either Mary, John or himself. And once she did then the truth would no longer be hidden.

  In the early morning, as the purple was being lined with streaks of pink and orange, Sariel made her way back to her rooms to find both Gabriel and Michael waiting for her. She was barely in the door before they both began yelling at her “Where have you been?”

  “I was in the tower.”

  That stopped them momentarily. It was clear they had feared she had left the palace, the fact she had not seemed to placate them a lot. A new voice in her head started asking what the real reason they didn’t want her leaving the palace might be.

  “We were worried sick about you, you didn’t turn up to your morning lesson.” Her brother said as he wrapped his arm around her. It had been a long time since her brother had shown any sign of affection to her.

  “When did I have to report day and night what I am doing? I needed to be alone and think?”

  “You don’t even have the common decency to turn up to our lessons when we go out of our way to train you” Gabriel yelled before Michael shushed her. She didn’t know who was more surprised, her or Gabriel. He never told Gabriel to be quiet.

  “What did you need to think about Sariel” he asked kindly. She hadn’t seen this side of him in a very long time. She gave in and leaned into his embrace.

  “I was thinking about the War, the Fall and how important my place is here in Heaven and the responsibilities that I have.”

  That stunned them both, even Gabriel smiled at her.

  “That is surprisingly mature of you Sariel, it is pleasing to see you embracing your responsibilities. Perhaps this means we can get past all this fighting and return to our normal relationships. I hate having to baby you Sariel, I’d rather have my sister with that sharp mind she used to have.”

  “In the future Sariel, please let us know where you are. We were worried.” Sariel nearly collapsed from shock when Gabriel said it and was even more shocked when she gave her shoulder a squeeze.

  She smiled at them both as they rose and left the room hand in hand. But as soon as they had left she ran over to her door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, she could hear their whispering.

  “This is a good thing Gabriel, she is finally seeing what we have wanted her to see for centuries. She is starting to accept her roles. If she continues she can be handled better, she can be distracted with visiting the Citadel or something else as a token of our trust.”

  “She cannot stray too far from the palace or the spell will weaken. We cannot risk that.” She hissed.

  “We have to do something. Otherwise she will revolt or run away. Then we would have a whole new set of problems.”

  Their whispers trailed away as they walked down the corridor. She closed the door again. Spell? What spell? And what would happen if it weakened? What did the spell do? She wondered, but she had no
idea, though her imagination ran wild with Heaven falling out of the sky.

  Intrigued she decided to head back to the archives. Michael and Gabriel had far too many secrets, and while they may not be the same as what Lucifer or Patrick alluded to there was still something they were hiding. And she was going to find out what it was.

  Chapter 4

  Sariel read and read and read. She lost days and weeks reading while she was apparently cleaning. Gabriel and Michael had decided the archives would be her last punishment.

  She spent her days buried in journals across the ages. She had read and re-read Lucifer’s journals so many times. She also devoured any journal Patrick gave her as well as the ones she chose to read. She saw the War and Fall from different sides. She had even stumbled across some of Michael’s early journals, his later ones were presumably in his own library.

  She also raided the library afterwards but was highly selective of what she read and borrowed. Cassiel was under strict orders from Gabriel to note everything she read. Being one of Gabriel friends she was very thorough in her cataloguing of everything Sariel read in the main library. She was one of the reasons Sariel never removed any of the journals from the Archives. She did not want Gabriel or Michael to know what she had been reading.

  It was in the archives that she learned the most, away from the prying eyes of Cassiel. Patrick was proving insightful beyond belief. One day she came in to find a stack of journals ready for her on the desk. One was her fathers, marked with his crest, a six-winged serpent wrapped around a scythe. The other her mother’s, a golden sun intersecting a silver moon. These were from their later life, and she read their joy of her and Michael’s births. She learned a lot about the dynamics of the Old Council, the endless factions and politics as the War progressed. Her father’s continual call for peace, and his pain over her mother leaving.

  That was perhaps the most surprising. Lilith had left Heaven before the War finished, no one knew why. Which made her question if she had really been killed in the War or if that was just another lie.

  One day she worked up the courage to ask Patrick about the selections she had been given. “All the journals you have given me are from the War onwards, but you haven’t given me anything from before the War. What has been hidden from me that even you hesitate to show me?”

  He studied her, hesitating. He had been increasingly impressed with her intelligence. He had questioned it initially, but it had merely been suppressed by her family. Allowed to develop on its own accord it was thriving. He too had been keeping an eye on what she read, following both the journals and texts she read. Her selections were wide and careful. She had read her parents journals, Lucifer’s, Michael and Gabriel’s, various Arch Angels and a wide selection of Ascended and Lesser. She was keeping an objective view on it all.

  He wondered at the risk he was taking “what have you been told about the Angels? How did the Elder originate?”

  “The Elder Angels are the most powerful of all the Angels. Only they can form the Governing Council and it is the Council which is most affected by Human belief. Belief empowers us, but also binds us. Those who die and are accepted into Heaven become the Lesser Angels. They are weak but plentiful. The Ascended are Lesser, who have been empowered by either being venerated as saints or prophets.”

  “Can anyone be an Angel? Can an Elder be born from non-Elder?”

  “No,” she said carefully “Only those accepted into Heaven can become Angels, and only the Elder can give rise to more Elder.”

  “What if I told you, you were wrong? That people can be made into Angels against their will. That, not all Angels wish to remain that way and would do anything to remove all Angelic trace from themselves. That the Elder are the offspring of Gods and Demigods and even Demons.”

  “Where is your proof? The writings of deranged Angels?”

  He hesitated before gesturing for her to follow. Confused she followed him in silence as he headed to the fountain. With a wave of his hand, the middle stream parted to reveal a shadowy corridor behind. Once they were in the cave, the only sound was of the water returning to its usual route.

  She glanced around her surroundings as they crossed several corridors, heading ever downwards. Heaven was a place of eternal light; decorated in bright whites, cheerful pastels and shiny metallic. The hall was grey granite heavily veined with white, but it lacked any decoration. It had been smoothed and mounted with light globes.

  She had never been here before and was curious as heavy gold doors started to appear. They passed dozens of them, turning into different corridors until finally they stopped before one. Its’ simple bronze name plaque said Brigid.

  “Behind these doors is all the proof you need. However once you have your proof, you will not be able to unsee what you have seen. Beyond lies, more questions than answers and you cannot turn back once you have seen beyond.” He whispered, making her wings shiver.

  She swallowed but was determined. She had to know the truth, so much of what she had been told was lies. This affected her and everything she had ever known. There were answers to her questions behind these doors. And besides it was an Arch Angels duty to always uncover the truth. She was meant to do this. “Show me.”

  He opened the doors, pushed her in then slammed them shut behind himself. He was scared, either of what he was showing her or because she was here. Curious she glanced around the room. It was a perfectly circular room, intricate patterns of blue and pink magic danced across the floor, all encircling an Angel who sat chained to the floor.

  She was beautiful in the way of the Divine, that ethereal sense that permeated every pore of their skin. Her skin was pale compared to other Angels, with only the slightest of tanning, but it was slightly darker than her own skin. Six brown wings hung limp behind her. Her long brown hair covered most of her face, but two eyes glowing like emeralds shone through. She looked young but had the feel of someone old for some reason, an air of power as well as the wisdom and suffering in her eyes.

  Her eyes were stunning, beautiful and haunted. They had seen so much, suffered so much. Hate blazed through them, but overall resignation and defeat were the dominant emotions.

  Who was she? And why was she chained? Was she one of the Fallen, captured in Heaven? A traitor against Gabriel, a supporter of Lucifer?

  “This is the Goddess Brigid of the Celts. She was captured early in the War, but despite her absence, her people adored her so much they would not revoke her when the church moved in. Despite all the persecution they endured they would not give her up. Facing defeat the Angels whispered in the Cardinals’ ears, Brigid was no Goddess, but an Angel and her love benefitted the people. As their beliefs changed so, in turn, did she. She developed wings, her magic changed, all while she was chained up in here. She was one of the first casualties of the War before the Gods even knew there was a war. She was imprisoned as a Goddess but was twisted into an Angel.”

  Sariel stared in horror at the Angel/Goddess before her. She had not realised the Gods were so vulnerable to Human belief. Were the Council as vulnerable to Human belief? She realised they were, it was why they were so desperate to remain in control of Humanity. If Brigid had once been a Goddess and was now an Elder Angel, where did the original Angels come from? Were they really the offspring of Gods and Demigods? Or possibly even Demons?

  “How is this even possible?”

  Brigid turned those remarkable emerald eyes to face Sariel, pinning her with that stare. “Because the Order has been changed. The Servants rose up against their Masters and took their place feeding on the prayers and beliefs of mortality. In turn, they developed towards what they had overthrown but sought to distance themselves from our decadence. Instead, they created a lie in a vain attempt to protect themselves. They did not understand the powers they were messing with, nor do they yet comprehend the full complexity of the Gods’ position.

  As the world united under this lie and then continued to evolve beyond their control, they became chained
to Humanity even more than we were because they deny their true nature and have corrupted mortal perception.

  They sealed away my brethren and persecuted our lineages, locking away magic from Humans. To make them more controllable, how foolish. Without magic, they have forgotten what should have been remembered and feared. They have learned to stand on their own.”

  Sariel sagged to the floor. This was huge, this was unimaginable. Her brain felt like it had just been fried. Everything she had ever known was a lie. Everything about their history, their way of life, their justification for the way they lived. Clearly the Council was aware, or at least the Arch Angels were.

  “But how? How did this happen? How is this possible?”

  Brigid spoke again with great certainty and age “The world exists in its own right, born from the darkness of Chaos. All worlds are born from Chaos. Each planet has its own spirit or life essence. This is what allows life to flourish and for the planet itself to live. But not all planets have this essence.

  The other children of Chaos are the Primordial Gods, Gods of incredible power beyond either your or my understanding. They are born from and return to Chaos or the Lifestream, we were never quite sure which. Or if they are different perspectives of the same entity.

  These Primordial Gods allowed life to develop to a point that sentient beings evolved. They had many offspring, many of the Gods that formed the first of their pantheons. Many of which had survived until the War. The mortal’s beliefs strengthened the younger Gods while many of the Primordial Gods returned to Chaos. The younger Gods flourished and multiplied as they became altered by mortal belief. They grew strong, they grew weak, ages turned, and new Gods rose as old ones fell. Mother Goddesses returned to the Lifestream and were reborn stronger. This happened time and time again as mortals started to build their empires and as their empires flourished. Right up until the War.