Mission Log, Day 25, Monday, September 27th, 1999
"Blinding wild snow
blows, whirls and drifts about me
in this world alone."
--Chora
I don't remember where I saw this haiku, but today it comes to me unbidden, like whispered words of warning long after anything can be done about them, drowning out Rook's monotonous voice beyond the door. ...In this world alone...in this world alone...in this world alone...
I begin yesterday, back at the Tether of Destiny where I informed Giles of the disappearance of our resident elohite and lilim. With Arashiel off to do whatever she does, I enlisted Giles' aid in pursuing my new mission, the punishment of Daspit, demon of Fate. He ran a trace on the TIC-TOC car which was registered to Rocky Flats, a government installation a few miles south of Boulder. In fact, Giles said this Rocky Flats place was a Tether to Fate, ostensibly to discourage me from going to investigate. Silly Giles.
But as I cleaned my feathers for departure, three angels came down the tether. I fluffed unhappily; the Triad immediately began to bombard me with questions. What were we doing in the Marches? How did we get across the border into the Far Marches? Who did we encounter? Where is the Tapestry? Who unravelled the Tapestry? Who authorized unravelling it? Had I seen Gabriel recently? I remained guarded; any fool could see Heaven's--or Dominic's--wrath crashing down upon us should we give it reason enough, and I refrained from singling out any one of us for blame; after all, I never touched it. but I was more for unravelling it than anyone else. Nevertheless, I answered as honestly as I could--certain that I was not the last of us this Triad would interrogate--and without guilt. Except....
"Do you know who vessel-killed two Malakim of the Sword in Yellowstone?"
It wasn't hard to look shocked. We knew there had been a scrap, but killed--? "I hadn't heard about that."
"Malakim at the scene say they were attacked by a demonic dragon. Are you sure you wouldn't know anything about that?"
"I don't know who did it. And even if I suspected someone, I wouldn't be at liberty to say." Irad was Arashiel's project, and Jael's concern. One of them would have to decide how to handle that question.
"You aren't being very cooperative."
"I've been overly cooperative," I snapped. "I don't know who killed them."
"Are you in the habit of protecting those who kill angel's vessels?"
I snorted. The image that came to mind was not one of a rampaging dragon demon, but of a cold-blooded elohite of Judgment standing over his demonic cohort's body with a smoking gun. They wouldn't appreciate the irony of that question.
In fact, they asked if I knew where the others were, including Dinhabbah. I shook my head. "No, but when you find him I'd like to have a word with him, too."
They left to find new prey to harass, although I noticed the cherub of the crew went back Upstairs (does that make them a Diad?). I was relieved to get that over with. Let whatever-may-come come, but at least let me finish my business for Gabriel before I am Force-scattered or whatever else they decide to do.
My first cursory look at Rocky Flats revealed little; a dry unpopulated plain surrounding a cluster of buildings, two roads in and out, neither heavily trafficked, and no sign of the TIC-TOC car. The day wasted, I headed back to the tether at dusk.
Giles bore news. Matt returned from Heaven (was he crazy?) saying he'd overheard a seraph and a cherub in the Great Library talking about us unravelling the Tapestry, saying "He" must be informed and "the Lost One" must be found. Hmm. "He" could be Dominic, but "the Lost One" could be anyone...Irad, Dinhabbah, one of the angels released from the Tapestry, or even Uriel, ex-Archangel of Purity and Lord of the Tsayadim. Anyway, Judgment was up to something.
Rook called to say that he was on his way to the tether with a Soldier of Hell for interrogation, and before we could say more, we were joined by Arashiel, Matt, and Irad (with Giles permission), who had also heard the news. Irad politely stayed out of the conversation, but Arashiel told me his situation was worse than we thought. He'd shattered his heart, which meant he was renegade, without the word of Dragons to draw from, and sought after by Hell's secret police. Yes, he had indeed "removed" two of Laurence's malakim from Yellowstone. Oh boy. Arashiel suggested the Marches as a place for him to hide, which was a great idea...except it was right across from his ex-Superior's Dark Tower and the first place she would think to look for him. And Matt felt he shouldn't hide but Redeem....
"I'm not interested in redeeming," Irad interjected with a growl.
I looked him over from a distance. Heaven abandoned him during the Purity Crusades, and hunted him and the Tapestry. He believed nothing, belonged nowhere; no amount of cajoling and counseling could change that. An good angel can be pushed to Fall, but you can't make a bad demon Redeem. "Leave him alone," I said coldly. "No one can help him."
I got some dirty looks for that. I didn't care; I said it for Irad's benefit. I think he wants someone to push him, so he can dig his heels in and be surly and justify why he doesn't belong in Heaven; pushing him toward redemption will almost certainly drive him away. No, he will have to want it, to choose it. He will have to swallow his issues--his pride, and shame, and anger, and fear--and rediscover his faith before he can Redeem. So I wanted to make that clear to him, get him thinking about what he wants, and to Hell with what everyone else wants.
Rook swept through the room then, one big roll of carpet slung over his shoulder, saying nothing as he disappeared into the back. If he saw Irad, he showed not sign of it. Jael followed, looking distinctly unhappy.
"Is everything okay?"
She scowled. "I'm not happy with premeditated murder." She let her words hang in the air, particularly for the benefit of Flowers and Destiny. "Arabis, he may want your help. He's not very good at this sort of thing."
Not that she could have kept me away. Curiosity killing me, I followed Arashiel and Matt into the back room to meet this infernal Soldier.
Victoria Strassen! What a catch! Could we have been any more fortunate? Rook and Jael caught her messing with one of Arashiel's friends; they must have dealt her a nasty blow to the head because it took both Matt and Giles to heal her. Once conscious, however, she remained silent to Rook's questions, and I couldn't get a Song of Truth off to force her to talk.
Rook ordered her bound on a bed, brought food and water, and proceeded to talk. Incessantly. About everything. About nothing. About demons. About Heaven. All in a drone that would put one to sleep or drive one insane. Arashiel and Matt left long ago, not wanting to have anything to do with interrogation. I alone stayed to watch, leaning against the wall in human form (she might recognize me as a raven) and saying nothing.
The night passed, Strassen saying nothing, Rook droning on. Dawn approached; I finally left, returning to Rocky Flats for any sign of Daspit, or retailation.
The morning passed in boredom as I sat innocuously by the roadside and searched driver's faces for Daspit, or signs of cruelty or anything. Nothing. That haiku came to mind then, innocently; I passed to time by trying my hand at a little raven haiku.
What traffic there was waned by late morning. I took off for another sweep of the area before heading home, almost missed it...an old blue car, white top, driving north from Rocky Flats. Adrienne's car, with Adrienne at the wheel.
I followed at a distance, curious that she seemed to be taking a twisting route, as if trying to shake someone following her. I didn't see anyone else pursuing her; we played cat and mouse for almost two hours, and was I happy to land and rest my wings when she pulled into a gas station to fill up.
Something lay in her back seat, some lump under a blanket. When she stepped inside to pay, I flew in her window to see what she could be hauling...and found Dinhabah. I couldn't see much under there, but he reeked of blood and mess, hardly breathed. Reason said I should leave, continue following from above, but she could kill him at any moment. I stayed, hid under the blanket while she got underway.
What to do, what to do? I wanted information. Who was she working for? That was the big one, and she might not answer an angel the same way she'd answer a fellow demon. And she'd never seen my other vessel...I shifted, and in that moment when she might hear that slight disturbance in the symphony behind her seat I wrapped a hand around her throat and said, "Keep driving."
The car swerved a bit, steadied. Careful not to look at her in the mirror I asked, "Where are you headed?"
"Who are you?"
"Uh-uh. Where are you headed?"
"Well, then. You don't answer, I don't answer."
Contrary bitch. I tightened my grip. "Who do you work for?"
"What are you going to do, kill me? You'll kill us all, including him." She jerked her chin at Dinhabbah.
"I don't care about him," I lied. "I care about who is interested in him."
"If you get him killed with those bracelets on him...you should reconsider."
I did consider. I considered the fact that if she'd planned to kill him, he'd be dead already. We drove in silence for a while, each waiting for the other to crack.
She startled under my hand; I squeezed reflexively until she croaked, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"That disturbance in the Symphony."
I listened--felt--for it, and found it, echoes of noise rolling off of Boulder like aftershocks from an earthquake. But what sort of noise, I couldn't tell. Something bad. I jumped when my forgotten cellphone rang. "Yeah?"
Giles on the other end. "Jael is dead."
I blinked. Then I remembered where I was, covered my hesitation fast. "Yeah, I found her. 'Bout freakin'time."
Giles' turn to do a doubletake. "Umm, okay..." Not that I expected him to get it, just that I didn't want to blow my cover. He continued. "Arashiel called, said there was an explosion. She wants everyone to come."
No, no, that wouldn't do at all. I scrambled for the right half-truth. "We've been driving around BFE all morning, but she won't tell me where we're headed. And there's some poor schmoe here, beat to hell by somebody."
"Hmm," buzzed the faceless voice. "You wouldn't be speaking of our green friend, would you?"
"Yeah, I will," I answered.
"Well, come back when you can."
"Okay." I closed the phone, said casually, "Someone managed to knock off one of those pesky angels."
She swallowed, remained silent for a moment. "Demons don't go toe to toe with angels."
Demons were made for quantity, not quality; both sides knew that. Angels might be stronger, smarter, better, but they were outnumbered by their less gifted opponents. I shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm toe to toe with you, and you're no angel."
"Yes, but I'm not your average demon." Lilim being about as for from your average celestial as you can get.
"True, but I still have the advantage."
"For now," she amended. Her voice was hard to read; unconcerned or threatening? Either way, we both knew I couldn't keep the upper hand forever. I let go of her throat, just to see what she'd do.
She continued to drive, didn't turn around. Good. "Who do you work for and where are you going?"
"What do you offer in exchange?"
I knew it would come to this, had to come to this. You could no more ask a scorpion not to sting as ask a lilim not to trade favors. I wrestled with myself. What could I offer, not only that I would be willing to give, but also would support my role as a demon? I deliberated, thankful that she couldn't look me in the eye and read my real needs. "How about two dead humans?" I grimaced, immediately unsure if I could ever repay that, especially if the humans weren't cruel. "Or a get-out-of-jail free card; locks are my specialty." I knew a thing or two about lockpicking. Maybe she'd think I worked for the Demon Prince of Theft, what's-his-name. Valefor. "But only for a week!" I added. Didn't need to give myself any more rope to hang with.
Thunk! The geas settled on my soul like a lead weight as she said, "I'm repaying a Geas by taking him to the tether in Boulder."
"What? Are you crazy? Which side are you playing on?"
"I play on both sides," she chirped pleasantly.
Ugh. All that work and a Geas to boot, just to find out she was bringing him right to us. Although I wasn't aware that she owed any of us Geasa. Perhaps one of the demons wanted her to deliver him to us. As a threat perhaps. Or a spy.
Whatever happened, one of the angels would blow my cover when they saw me. "I assume you'll be dropping me off before you get there."
"And why would I do that?"
I scowled. "Because if you turn me over to the angels, you'll never collect on your new geas."
I could hear the smile on her face. "I'll let you out when we get there."
She stopped the car, and I slipped out of the back and ran away before she could see my face.
I reached the windowsill a few moments later, all raven and business. "What happened?"
Giles hardly batted an eye at my sudden appearance. "She was working when the kiln blew and killed her. They left a message. 'First warning.'"
Which reminded me. "Adrienne! She's here." I hid myself outside the window, listened when Adrienne brought Dinhabah in. By Giles extreme protests ("Oh my!") I could tell he was hurt pretty bad. Matt and Arashiel came down the tether (stop going up there, you damned fools!) and immediately jumped in to help, although Arashiel grilled Adrienne pretty thoroughly about what happened. She basically said he got into an argument; she didn't like it, so she helped him escape. And of course she wouldn't say where she'd been, although I suspected it had something to do with the Rocky Flats Tether of Fate.
This smelled of treason. What was Dinhabah doing there? What was Adrienne doing there? How convenient that she should happen to return him in such a state; it would certainly put both of them above suspicion, one ostensibly kidnapped and tortured by the enemy and the other endangering herself to rescue him. It all seemed too pat.
I planned to wait and follow Adrienne when she left, but when Rook loaded his carpet-rolled prisoner into the back of the van and left I couldn't resist following.
We ended up in Colorado Springs, at Colonel Thenaire's tether to War. He didn't seem all that surprised to see me; maybe he thought I came for the interrogation. I didn't bother mentioning I was here to keep an eye on him. He had no definite plan on how to crack Strassen. I suggested continuing my ruse as a demon and breaking her out to get her to lead us to Daspit. He liked the idea, but it was dangerous and unsure at best, so we continued on with the droning monotony in hopes we wouldn't need to resort to more drastic measures.
I waited in the hallway, practicing my demon act in my head when Arashiel arrived some time later. "How's it hanging?" I blurted.
She stared at me a moment. "It hasn't been the best day."
Jael. "I'm sorry," I offered, suddenly brought back to the present. "She will be okay."
She didn't reply. I don't remember ever seeing her so serious, so distant, so pained. I kicked myself mentally for my insensitivity. But Jael would be okay. She would be. She had to be.
...In this world alone...in this world alone...in this world alone...
Previous . . Home . . Vox Tertia . . Next