MILLENNIUM (Descendants Saga) Read online

  Water ebbed and flowed through its streets. Only the cascades of purple lightning revealed the damage now. The sun was no longer present. In its place, there was a swirling vortex of dark clouds and fiery wind.

  Above the calm quiet, Black heard the thrumming chants of the three cherubim. They were not visible here, but he would be able to find them. Despite being dissimilar in nature to him and his angelic brothers, they were still heavenly creatures. The waves of power they exuded in steady pulses would guide him all the way.

  Black took to air, flying without wings, but flying nonetheless. He passed through a shattered dimensional barrier—shadowy wisps of it still remained like smoke to testify of its existence. Immediately, he was conveyed over another territory.

  This one had been a vast jungle. Galidel now had the appearance of a huge potted plant that had been dashed across the floor. Its millions of tall trees were now half buried in earth freshly tilled by numerous earthquakes. They jutted at irregular angles from one another—a hodge-podge of twisted plants mingled with thousands of animal corpses of every size and variety.

  The sprites had called Galidel their home. Black surveyed the scene below for bodies, but he couldn’t find a single sprite. Apparently, their natural ability to fly had managed to save them from the overall collapse of their jungle realm.

  Miles more Black flew, homing in on the droning call of the cherubim. Another shattered dimensional barrier allowed him to pass directly from Galidel into Grim Hope. This forested land appeared to have seen less devastation than the others. Fires burned in places, while snow covered the ground in others.

  Where there was fire, Black noticed movement. Fire Horses grazed throughout the forest, charring timber and then consuming the ash. They were odd creatures—abominations that had been confined to the Underworld. He had wondered if these beasts might escape into what was left of the spiritual realm. Clearly, the answer was yes.

  Curious, he gave a more probing look at the snowy areas in the forest of Grim Hope. Black found what he had expected. More Chaos Elementals had emerged out of the Underworld. Snow Bunnies—much more dangerous than their name implied—bounded throughout the forest, following the horses, dousing fires and looking for any green vegetation they could find.

  The Chaos Elementals were all animals, yet they had been given spiritual power and characteristics. The cherubim had taken them from among the Almighty’s creations and had made fundamental changes. This had been one of the reasons why He had consigned the cherubim to the Underworld in the first place.

  Miles of forest passed below. Eventually, Black found the location of the troll’s village here. It was inside one of the numerous snow covered regions at the moment. The Fire Horses and Snow Bunnies appeared to be swapping territory as each corrupted the other’s range in a non-stop bid for elbow room.

  The village of Grim Hope had a great many inhabitants left to it. The strange thing was that none of them were trolls. Apparently, a band of goblins had come to the village just in time to face the Chaos Elementals. The goblins were the clear losers. Hundreds of them stood like statues in the village, frozen completely solid in sheets of ice.

  “How wickedly funny,” he whispered.

  Black continued his journey, passing through several other dimensional barriers. All of them had been wrecked by the cherubim. Xandrea, that once beautiful city of tranquility, had fallen. Its sweeping spires appeared to have melted under intense heat, like ice cream in the sun. The other lands he passed through were no better.

  He came finally to Greystone. Despite being separated by barriers established to keep others out, this place of ice and snow, vampires and giants, had been split wide open. A terrible rent had carved its frozen landmass into a dozen smaller islands that were now separated by dozens of meters distance. These chasms looked to be hundreds of meters deep, if not more.

  Black smiled, passing over the underground city that had long served as the home of most of the world’s vampires. Much of it was visible. In fact, the largest portion of the city had been swallowed at the epicenter of this quake where the land had cracked in spider web fashion like a piece of plate glass.

  He continued on.

  A vortex of considerable power swirled in the distance like a whirlwind illuminated from within by fire. This was the place from which the cherubim exerted their considerable influence over the spiritual realm now. From what Black had seen—Chaos Elementals on the loose—all of the abominations from the Underworld had been set free to roam the spiritual lands at will.

  There would be no restraints on them. Even though Black had not seen the Minotaur roaming about, or the locusts, he was sure they would be somewhere. Even the mer-people might have been cast into the waters of these shattered realms, possibly to be discovered by future generations of Descendants who would certainly come back to the spiritual lands to see what had happened here.

  That was a pleasant thought. Still, he wasn’t here about Descendants of any kind. Black had come to the spiritual plane to seek out the cherubim for a much greater cause. Himself.

  He still possessed a mortal body, and with that came certain limitations. Of course, there were benefits, but they paled in comparison with the fact that his mortal host could be killed. And when that happened, he would be hurled back into the void of Tartarus.

  As he approached the vortex, lightning split the sky. Purple and blue bolts raced past one another on their way to no place in particular. A shield of energy barred his way. He hit it like a bird against a clear window and was repelled entirely. The force of his impact made it abundantly clear that he didn’t have the power to circumvent it by any means he now possessed.

  The voices of the three cherubim spoke in perfect unity. “What is it you seek, mithrial being?”

  The multi-tone of their voices in such layered fashion was enough to make human flesh crawl. The individual intonations were in dissonance with one another. The combination was chilling even to Black’s human host body. Still, he loved the dramatic effect.

  “You know me?”

  A brief pause.

  “We remember all things,” they said. “You are he who was cursed to be forgotten.”

  A pause on Black’s part.

  “Yes,” he said indignantly. “I am also responsible for your release from the Underworld.”

  “No angel may enter the Underworld,” they said, refuting his declaration.

  “It was I who called down the keystone and tricked the mortals into freeing you from your imprisonment,” he explained.

  The vortex continued to swirl. All things remained as they were. Black remained on the outside of their barrier.

  “What is it you seek?”

  “Your aid in return,” he said quickly. “I am extended from Tartarus, inhabiting this frail mortal form. I wish to remain anchored to this world and free from my imprisonment should something happen to this body.”

  “We have no reason to do this,” they said.

  But Black wasn’t going to give up so easily. “You would benefit from this also,” he said.

  “How so?” the cherubim asked.

  “Bind with my spirit as you have been bound to one another,” he said. “I know that your link is so strong that you are virtually inseparable now.”

  “This much is true,” they confirmed.

  “Then bind with my spirit, so that I will not be returned to Tartarus. As I am free to take on another body in the human world, you may also live through that form. You may expand your influence into the human world beyond this plane.”

  Silence.

  Then, after a moment, they spoke again. “We have no desire to live in the human world.”

  “But you do desire destruction, do you not?” Black asked. “You wish to destroy what the Almighty has created?”

  “Correct,” they said. “We desire this most of all.”

  “Then that will be our goal,” Black said. “With your power added to my own, and my plans put into action, you can ex
perience your desires fulfilled. I know the human world and how to cause the greatest damage. We will not only destroy the physical. We will break the will of mankind whom the Almighty values so highly. We will cause Him suffering through their suffering.”

  The barrier dissipated before him.

  “We will join with you,” they said finally. “Come to us.”

  Black drew nearer to them, exerting his own power in order to protect Ishbe’s mortal body from the forces at work this close to the mighty cherubim. Though devoid of personality, they encompassed a great deal of power. While in Heaven, these had been part of the seven cherubim who remained with the throne of God. They had cried out continual praises to the Almighty.

  Now, there remained only four of these living creatures before the throne of God. These four cherubim possessed the faces of a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle. Each face of the cherubim had its representation in the character and nature of the Almighty.

  However, these three, who had rebelled and been imprisoned within the Underworld, had no faces any longer. They still possessed a multitude of eyes all over their forms, but their faces had been taken. No longer were they allowed to represent the One God. No longer did they have a place around his throne.

  Coming closer and closer, Black observed the three conjoined entities hovering at the epicenter of the vortex. They were back to back to back. Three never separated. One in mind and purpose.

  Though luminescent, they had no radiance left to them. A darkness shrouded them and exuded from them—a pure malevolence that knew no pity or remorse. No wonder they had been so quick to act. Once freed from their imprisonment within the form of the dragon, they had commenced immediately with the destruction of their creation on the spiritual plane.

  Their multitude of eyes focused on him alone now. An exchange began. Electricity discharged between the three and Ishbe’s mortal body. There were no sparks, no loss of radical charges. Only a communication of power and purpose through a plasma medium. The cherubim were binding their spirits to Black. If something happened to Ishbe, they would provide a tether to keep him from returning to Tartarus.

  As Black connected with them, he was shown their mind in the process. This was like experiencing a single thought. There was no variation. Only one pathway without possibilities to be considered. No division of minds. No division of purpose. Only clarity.

  To this Black added his personality. The possibility of many approaches to the same goal. Calculations as to varying degrees of pain and suffering for his enemies and a multitude of avenues by which this might be achieved.

  He had changing purposes for each situation. One thousands ways that he might kill, depending on whether he had the time to enjoy the suffering, or had other plot points to get to. In contrast to the cherubim, his mind was a complex web of wicked devices.

  To Black, their minds were numbingly singular. But they held such power as he had never experienced. Immediately, he began to formulate future possibilities.

  For the cherubim, Black’s mind was amazingly varied. Emotions they had never known were now theirs to experience. Hatred, malice, even joy—though joy came at the performance of his wicked machinations. The one for which they had no desire was also the one that was not present in Black’s mind. Love remained absent.

  Four minds melded into one entity by choice. Though the cherubim were still separate in their spiritual forms, as Black remained inside his mortal host, they were nevertheless joined to one another in power and in thought. They could now exert their influence through Black and his host, and he could remain free from Tartarus.

  “So many possibilities,” the cherubim intoned when the deed was done. “We had not realized our limitation.”

  Black laughed out loud. “You were limited by the scope of your minds. I was limited by the scope of my power. But we will no longer be limited. We will strike fear into the mortals. We will see our mutual desires come to pass in the world of men.”

  “What shall be our first act?” the cherubim said into Black’s mind.

  Black grinned. “We will confront our adversary.”

  Negotiation

  I surveyed the city as we came into London onboard the soldier’s wagon that had taken us away by force from our home in Highgate. Though I had considered the option of fighting, I had come to the conclusion that this would do more harm than good. Surely, Gladstone could be reasoned with. I hoped Donatus would be there with us when we spoke to the prime minister.

  Out of curiosity and a bit of boredom, I decided to take stock of my spiritual store. This could easily be done without anyone else seeing. With my thought, an image appeared that only I could see.

  To my immediate amazement, I saw Malak-esh there among the items that I kept in reserve within this dimensional pocket. I had assumed that the sword was simply an unfortunate casualty of our time in the Underworld. But there it was, floating in the air where I could take it and use it at any time.

  The joy on my face must have been apparent. Sophia was staring at me with a puzzled look on her face. She and Sadie were sitting across from Cole and me in the bed of the wagon.

  What? Her eyes begged to know what could have produced such obvious elation in me while we were being removed forcibly from our home. Unfortunately, I had no way of showing her without alerting the soldiers sitting beside us in the wagon. Telepathy wasn’t an option. Sophia did not possess the ability to hear thoughts sent to her like Oliver had. Sadie hadn’t received that gift from me by birth either.

  Cole didn’t appear to be paying any attention to us. I was sure he was more aware than he let on. There were few details that escaped his keen senses. Despite the betrayal Black had committed against us in the person of Ishbe, he had done a tremendous job training Cole. Unfortunately, his purpose had only been to send the boy into the Underworld to release the cherubim.

  Still, the Lord had used Black’s wicked intent to accomplish for Cole something he would need now that his parents had passed away. He had the ability to take care of himself. He was a boy with tremendous capability. I was glad to know that he could handle almost any problem he might be faced with.

  As our carriage lumbered through London, I became aware of a stir among its citizens. A steady stream of pedestrians was moving in the same direction as our wagon. In fact, it became necessary for the soldiers riding with us to get out and usher some of the more belligerent folk out of our way, so that our wagon could progress.

  Some of these made arguments to the soldiers about foreigners being allowed to squat in London. And chants were taken up, here and there, to the point that these foreigners should be ousted immediately by the prime minister. Not a few people were even carrying signs to emphasize their point on the matter.

  How had this all come about overnight? This appeared to be a phenomena developing over days, not hours. Had someone told them we were coming? I couldn’t figure it out. Sophia and I gave one another cautionary glances as this march gained strength the closer we came to our destination.

  At last, Whitehall came into view. Our wagon encountered the greatest resistance here. Soldiers had established a barricade across the entrance to Whitehall—a makeshift collection of sandbags, timber and barbed wire. Sentries had been posted. Some of these were forced to push back the rabble while we were escorted through.

  The more I saw, the more I realized that someone had been expecting these events to transpire. London had been notified, not just its prime minister. The citizens were in an uproar, and Descendants had only just begun to arrive twenty-four hours ago in Hyde Park.

  We had arrived to find London like a powder keg ready to explode. I could only guess who was holding the match. Several of the Fallen came to mind. But they certainly wouldn’t be working alone. In minutes, we would find out just how much William Gladstone had in this conflagration.

  I had heard years ago that the new prime minister’s integrity was highly dubious. Some had even speculated that he was in league with Grayson Stone. Ce
rtainly, the former prime minister’s suicide had been suspiciously coincidental with the events happening at the time.

  The fact that Disraeli’s wife and young daughter had also died only added weight to that speculation. If sinister forces had been at work in those deaths, Luxana had never mentioned it. Still, when I had put the question to her, Luxana had denied forcing Disraeli to shoot himself.

  Our carriage stopped at the prime minister’s temporary offices. A new structure was being built, but its lavish nature was running costs up. Still, that wouldn’t stop Gladstone, a prime minister who apparently intended to live like royalty at the public’s expense.

  The wagon stopped and the lieutenant climbed down ahead of us. Our escorts disembarked and then waited while we did the same. I noticed more than one of the men eyeing my girls, and my temper nearly got the better of me.

  Sophia had noticed what I had and quickly grabbed my hand when I stood in the face of one of the soldiers, staring him down. His rifle came up across his chest, but he looked away first. I stepped away, satisfied.

  The soldiers were on edge, the citizens of London were on edge, and I was doing no better. Still, the more I thought about the implications of what might be going on, the angrier I became. If these protests and armed soldiers pushing Descendants around were happening at Hyde Park, we would be fortunate to avoid a full scale war breaking out in the middle of the city.

  The lieutenant led us inside a structure with a white marble façade. The soldiers went with us all of the way, bearing arms even within building. We were escorted up two flights of stairs and then down a long corridor before coming to the office of William Gladstone, Prime Minister of England.

  When the door opened to us, we found Gladstone seated behind a dark, wide wooden desk that gave him the appearance of a soldier upon a defensive wall more than that of a diplomat. Both Donatus and Laish were seated in the room already. There were no guards in the room, and Gladstone forbade our escort to enter with us. I had to wonder if they knew anything about the nature of their prime minister, or the one before—that neither of them was truly human.