Dark Light

“This is our target,” Balthiour said, jabbing a finger over the Thames on the map of London. “An office block currently under construction. Budget issues and management disputes have rendered the building inactive for months now. We have detected an unknown concentration of demonic energy around the building and believe the demons have nested inside. Our reconnaissance has not shown much activity in the building, although there have been a few demons sighted nearby. Today will be our day to strike, while the sun is enhancing us all, and destroy every last demon we find in there.”

Balthiour began pacing as he spoke. “We will meet with Kalaziel, Briatha, and Rathanael near the location. Three teams will come at the building from different sides, with me leading the main force. Nothing goes outside of my command.” He paused, looking them over. His eyes lingered on Cam before he returned to the map. “We had a report back from a battle on the outskirts of Watford. One of our brethren discovered they had been infected.”

Several gasps were heard in the room. A chill ran through Cam.

“Who was it?” he asked.

"Uriel," Balthiour said solemnly. “The Darkness took her within hours. And she had to be put down.”

Cam looked away, grimacing. Uriel was a good fighter, and had one of the strongest hearts of them all. He thought about the Darkness of the demons infecting her, corrupting her. All it took was a scratch from the demons and an angel would be poisoned, the Light within them becoming consumed by Darkness.

“They could not help her?” Cam asked, feeling numb.

Balthiour shook his head. “She did not know of the injury until the infection had spread too far. Once they became aware… it was too late to save her.”

Cam shuddered. He registered the look in Balthiour’s eyes. It had been almost thirty years now since Balthiour’s lover, Miniel, had become infected and had her life taken. Balthiour had never forgiven the angel’s decision to put Miniel down, even though there was no way of removing the infecting Darkness from her. Normally if an angel became infected they could be healed by a Mystic Angel or someone strong in the healing arts. But if they were not treated before the Darkness spread… then they would become a corrupted angel.

“I don’t have to remind you all to report any injuries as soon as they occur,” Balthiour said. “If you are scratched or compromised in any way, you retreat. You’ll be out of the fight. Return back here and Bath Kol and Lahabiel will heal you.” He paused, his features hardening. “Don’t let those devils inside you,” he said in a low voice.

Cam felt the disgust emanating from Balthiour, and the venom in his voice. Balthiour had always let his hatred of demons be known, and Cam could feel the weight of his hatred in his stern expression, and the yearning for his lost love. The thought made Cam think of Alyssa, and his stomach tightened.

Zophiel looked over at the corner where Bath Kol sat. “What exactly did you detect at this suspected demon stronghold, Bath?”

Bath had been playing with her long braided ponytail, the hair currently coloured blue. She threw the braid back over her shoulder as she regarded Zophiel. “I only identified a strong demonic power surrounding the building. That may mean an influx of demon activity, or perhaps some resonance of an older power. I would not like to say what it is, one way or another.”

“It is enough to warrant an attack on this building,” Balthiour said. “There are demons there, likely hiding and unaware of our knowledge of them. It will be a slaughter, but a necessary one. And a decisive one.”

Something didn’t feel right to Cam. They may have surveyed the building previously, but it still felt like they would be running in blindly. Bal certainly seemed confident they would uncover a nest of unsuspecting demons—and his instincts usually served them well—but it felt like too much of a sure thing for Cam’s liking.

“That’s five minutes,” Balthiour said to the room. “Ready what you need, and then we move out.”

He moved from the table and stood in front of the map of London, folding his arms and becoming still as a statue.

Cam turned as Sablo approached him.

“So out with it,” Sablo said, keeping his voice low. Despite his giant proportions, he did his best to make himself small and inconspicuous as he spoke. “What happened to you this morning? That woman and the demon.”

Cam sighed. He shook his head, not knowing where to start. “There was a second demon. I don’t know why, but they wanted the woman specifically. I fought them off, and was on route to bring her here, for Bath to look into her and find out why she was so important to them. But we got intercepted by more demons, and… and I lost her.” His breath caught, and he found it hard to speak. “I was too late, and she was killed.”

Sablo’s eyes widened, before they narrowed and his brows twisted with grief.

“I’m sorry, Cam,” he said. “We all know that we can’t save everyone. Death is as natural as life. I know you did what you could.”

Cam looked away, unable to hold Sablo’s gaze. He could tell his friend anything, but he decided to spare the details about being with Alyssa. That was irrelevant information.

“I just…” Cam began, finding his voice hoarse, “I thought she was something special.”

Sablo laid a meaty hand on Cam’s shoulder, squeezing gently. He gave Cam a concerned look, his brows furrowing even further.

“There will be time for grief later, friend. For now there can be only one concern on our minds.”

Cam nodded, giving a weak smile. “I know. Thanks, Sablo.”

Sablo also nodded, turning his squeeze into pats on the shoulder as he stepped away.

Cam moved closer to Bath Kol and Lahabiel. Both women were looking over the book on the side-table between them, but glanced up at Cam’s approach.

Bath stood and met Cam before he reached them, smoothing her ruffled dress as she moved.

“What troubles you?” Bath asked. Cam felt a sense of urgency in her low voice. “You’ve had a shadow over you since you walked in.”

“It’s nothing,” Cam said. He wasn’t surprised that Bath would sense his emotions. He probably lit up like a firework for someone who could sense the flow of the world. “I failed to save someone I was protecting this morning. It’s been on my mind.”

Bath’s eyes narrowed, her frown stretching the thin lines on her face. “A human?”

Cam nodded. “A woman.” He pulled out Alyssa’s necklace, opening his hand to reveal the ruby-centred jewellery. “Her name was Alyssa Moreno. This belonged to her. I wanted to ask you to… to read it. See what you can find. Demons were after her. I’d like to know why.”

Bath pocketed the necklace, keeping her actions small and casual so as not to draw attention to them both. Cam’s heart jumped the moment the necklace left him, as if he wanted to snatch it back. To hold on to the only physical reminder of Alyssa’s existence.

“I understand,” Bath said. “Leave it with me. Lahabiel and I will determine who the woman was while you are inspecting the stronghold. I will have a report waiting for you on your return.”

“No one else,” Cam said. “Besides Lahabiel. For now. Until we know more.” He heard the curtness to his voice, and then softened his tone when he said, “Thank you, Bath.”

Placing a hand on his chest, Bath leaned in and gave Cam a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Return to us safe, Camael,” she said.

Cam nodded, and watched her as she returned to the chair next to Lahabiel.

He looked over the room, regarding each of his brethren as they readied themselves for the next battle.

They had all come such a long way since they had been bound to the mortal plane. Their previous life as heavenly bodies had become faded, vivid images that were distorted with the passage of time. They felt more like emotions and intense feelings rather than memories. Despite having a vastly greater capacity for memory and knowledge, a millennia’s worth of experiences had slowly begun to fade—another consequence of being partly human, and subject to their decaying nature.

He smiled when he looked at Sablo. His friend was once known as the Angel of Graciousness and Protection, a title that his modern day self still lived up to. Balthiour was known for possessing the power to thwart distress. From the dark expression he currently wore, it looked to Cam like he could do with using his power on himself.

Cam often thought about his own past, and title. His name meant ‘he who sees God’, and he was known as the Chief Angel of Powers. What those powers were, and how he was the chief of them, were matters of the old world, and no longer relevant for their modern selves. He would tell himself that they were all, in essence, still the same otherworldly beings of Light and Righteousness, regardless of how much human influence they’ve been subjected to.

Balthiour stepped into the centre of the room and looked around them with serious eyes.

“It’s time to go.”