Chapter Seventeen
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RAMIEL WAS UP AT DAWN as usual. He’d spent the night in one of the many abandoned homes that were scattered along the freeway. Passing through a hilly area, he had to leave the road when a landslide blocked his passage.
A group of humans was camped nearby as he picked his way around the rubble. They were chatting about the oracle the knight had heard people talking about back at the town he’d left far behind.
“I’m glad the Mad Prophet is back on the air,” a man said. “I wonder why he went quiet for a couple of weeks.”
“We’ll probably never know,” a female replied. “He confirmed that another good alien has arrived. He must have appeared in that gold comet we saw a few nights ago.”
Shock coursed through Ramiel and he didn’t see the trap he stepped into. Something tugged on his ankle when he took his next step, then he was suddenly yanked into the air. Bells on the rope he’d stepped into jingled loudly as he flailed around.
“We’ve caught something!” a younger male exclaimed, then the group stampeded towards him.
Swinging backwards and forwards, Ramiel called on his sword and sliced through the rope. His weapon vanished a moment before he slammed to the ground, landing hard on his back. The humans’ souls were gray and he didn’t want to kill them unless he had to.
Five men and three women moved to surround him with various types of weapons drawn. “I mean you no harm,” he said, holding his hands up.
“He’s big,” a female muttered.
“And clean,” another said in surprise.
“Why are you sneaking around our camp?” one of the men demanded, pointing a gun at the intruder’s face.
“A landslide is blocking the freeway,” Ramiel said. “I was just skirting around it. I didn’t even know you were camping here.”
Another male bent over to peer into his bags. “He’s not a psycho,” he said in amusement. “He’s just a big book nerd.”
The group seemed friendly enough, so Ramiel figured they wouldn’t murder him in cold blood. “I saw some deer a mile back,” he said as one of the humans offered him his hand. Grunting with effort, the male hauled him to his feet.
“Can you show us where?” their leader asked eagerly. “We’re city folk who fled from New York,” he admitted. “We’re still figuring out how to live off the land.” They were so green at it that they didn’t ask him how he’d cut himself free without a weapon.
Ramiel wasn’t happy about being delayed, but they might have information he needed.
“I have a lot of experience hunting,” he said and gestured at the bow and arrow one of the females was holding.
“It’s best to hunt deer with bows rather than loud guns.
They’ll be less inclined to flee to a different area if you don’t scare them away with too much noise. ”
“Head back to camp,” their leader said. “I’ll go with him.” They nodded and he took the bow and quiver full of arrows from the female, giving her the gun in return.
“I’m Ramiel,” the knight said as he led the way back to where he’d spotted the herd.
“I’m Terry,” the human said. “Where did you come from?”
“Up north,” Ramiel said vaguely. “I’m searching for some friends.”
“I hope they’re not in Manhattan,” Terry said, shaking his head. “We all worked there at the same accountancy firm before the Rapture,” he explained. “I heard the Mad Prophet talking on my ham radio and convinced my friends to leave the city with me.”
“I heard some people talking about the Mad Prophet,” Ramiel said. “I’d like to hear more about him after I help you bag a deer.”
“It’s a deal,” Terry said, holding his hand out to shake on it. Much shorter than his companion, the male was in his forties. Ordinary and balding, he was forgettable in appearance, but he was brave enough to try to eke out a living in unfamiliar territory.
Ramiel heard the deer long before they came into view. He slowed down and motioned for Terry to follow him. “Do you know how to use that bow?” he whispered.
Terry glanced at it, then handed it over ruefully. “Not really,” he confessed, trusting his companion not to use the weapon on him.
The knight showed Terry how to draw the arrow back smoothly and whispered instructions about the best spots to aim for. He let the arrow loose and it hit his target directly in the eye. The buck went down and the rest of the herd scattered.
“What a shot!” Terry exclaimed quietly in amazement, unaware that his companion had never actually used a bow before.
“Now we have to carry it back to your camp,” Ramiel said. He could have easily carried the animal himself, but he had to hide his true strength.
They hurried back to the other humans with Terry grunting at the weight he was carrying. Cheers and claps came from his group and he beamed widely. “Ramiel here bagged the buck for us,” he said, clapping the much larger man on the shoulder. “We’ll eat well tonight!”
“Now we have to gut it and skin it,” one of the females said with a grimace. “Can you show us how to do it without completely butchering the animal?”
Ramiel gave her a regretful headshake. “Hunting is my forte,” he said. “Gutting, skinning and cooking aren’t in my skillset.” He didn’t eat, so he hadn’t needed to hunt animals before.
“Do the best you can,” Terry said to the female and her partner as they dragged the carcass away. “Take a seat and we’ll fill you in about everything the Mad Prophet has said so far,” he invited Ramiel.
Introductions were made, then the warrior took a mug of coffee someone poured him from a filthy saucepan. It had been sitting directly on the fire. He pretended to taste it, grimacing internally at the acrid smell. “Liquid heaven,” he lied.
Terry was eyeing him shrewdly, but kept his thoughts to himself. “I first heard the Mad Prophet right after the Rapture happened nine months ago,” he began.
Ramiel listened in rapt silence as his companions told him everything they’d heard the human oracle say.
He was astounded to hear that so many secret details about his brothers and their enemies were now widely known.
Rahab and his squad had infiltrated a city called Manhattan and had taken it over.
They were gathering an army of militants and intended to use them to fight the Knights of Order.
“Hey, Ramiel,” one of the males said.
The warrior looked up to see a knife zooming straight towards his face. He snatched it out of the air and prepared to throw it back at his target. “I knew it!” the human said in triumph. “You’re the good alien who appeared in that gold comet we saw a few nights ago!”
“Don’t bother to lie,” Terry said with a grin. “We can tell you’re not from our world.”
“What gave me away?” Ramiel asked sheepishly. He tossed the weapon to its owner and the male tucked it back into its sheath.
“Pretty much everything,” one of the two females who was present said with a small grin. “You’re not like anyone else we’ve met since we left New York. We can tell you’re a good guy.”
“I can’t believe aliens really exist,” Terry said. “Have you met your female yet?”
“What female?” Ramiel asked blankly.
“We told you the Mad Prophet has been guiding your friends to find their mates,” Terry reminded him. “There’s got to be a woman out there for you, too. You just have to find her.”
Ramiel had ignored the comments they’d said about his brothers apparently blundering around chasing after females. The Mad Prophet was insane, after all, so it had to be a fantasy he’d made up.
The quiet hiss coming from the ham radio crackled, then a voice spoke. “Guess again, son,” a male said in an intense tone. “I’m never wrong about these things. Fate wants you to find your female and keep her safe until your boss finds you.”
A chill ran down Ramiel’s spine and he shuddered, both awed and freaked out. “I take it that was the Mad Prophet?” he asked.
“Yep,” Terry confirmed with a grin. “Xathan’s the only other person who uses this channel.”
“Xathan?” Ramiel asked sharply. “Rahab’s advisor is in cahoots with the prophet?”
“He’s in Manhattan and he works for Governor Giamano,” Terry said. “We don’t know where the Mad Prophet’s base is. Who is Rahab?” he queried.
Now it was Ramiel’s turn to tell them what he knew. There was no point in keeping it a secret. The cat was well and truly out of the bag by now.
“I’m so glad we left Manhattan while we still could,” Terry said when he was done. “It sounds like the war is going to happen in the city where we used to work.”
“I have a request,” Ramiel said now that he’d ascertained that they could be trusted.
“Sure,” Terry agreed. “What do you need?”
“A bullet is lodged in my back,” the knight said. “Can one of you dig it out for me?”
“I’ll do it,” one of the females offered. “I’ve had some first aid training and we have a fully stocked first aid kit.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Ramiel said. He took his shirt off and turned his back when she went to retrieve her gear.
“I can’t see a bullet hole anywhere,” she said in confusion.
“My brothers and I heal very quickly,” Ramiel told her. “The bullet is lodged somewhere near my right shoulder blade.”
She felt around until he told her she’d located the projectile. “Brace yourself,” she warned him, then cut him open with a scalpel.