29. The fabric between worlds.
29
The fabric between worlds.
“Abaddon, the Destroyer, Bringer of Doom. Ruler of the Abyss and Prince of the Bottomless Pit. The Bible and other medieval texts mention him a few times, claiming he possessed several kings in Egypt and Sodom. Abaddon is also referred to as the jinn who will command the monstrous horde from the Abyss. Concretely, he is a powerful demon (class one or two) who other creatures from Hell have been mentioning often in recent years.
He was last seen in a host during the incident in the catacombs of Paris in December 24th, 2042 (see case study #151). If you think you might face Abaddon in the field, call reinforcements immediately.”
-Extract from the State Exorcist’s Manual , edition of 2043.
THE DEVIL’S TOWER, WYOMING, 2052
The Angels’ Tears burn their way through my throat and lungs before entering my bloodstream. My cells quiver, and Lucifer’s power answers. Pain explodes along my back as my feathered wings sprout from my shoulder blades. Abaddon lets me go before my growing horns can pierce through his snout.
I land on my feet, but the weight of the wings pulls me backward. I dare a look over my shoulder, and behold their majesty. They’re not stilted like the first time I changed, but whole and beautiful. Mine entirely.
Lucifer’s power, too, is mine. I can feel it rising from my core like a nuclear explosion. It doesn’t burn like it used to, threatening to turn me into ashes. White flames lick my skin, bathing me with an ethereal glow.
Abaddon roars, “Light Bearer!”
“Yes,” I whisper.
The demon king throws his lance at me, but I swing out my hand to grab it from the air with ease. My flames engulf the weapon. The metal melts onto the floor, and the flames reduce the staff to cinders.
Azeroth’s energy reaches me, familiar and warm among the chaos, and I can’t help but search for him. He has fought his way off the ground, covered in blood. His beautiful golden eyes are on me, shining with so much love. I don’t know if Lucifer, I, or both of us are the object of this love, and I don’t care. As long as it keeps breathing life into me, I’ll welcome it eagerly.
The demons have pierced the membranes of his wings with their weapons. I throw my hands up, and the creatures surrounding him catch fire. They scream in agony, devoured by my white flames rolling across the stone ground in waves.
Azeroth’s wing bleeds profusely, but is still attached to his back, mercifully. It might be saved yet.
From the other side of the cavern, Robb is trying to fight his way to me with claws and fangs. His cheeks are wet with tears. Lilith is crying for the lover she lost because of me—for Lucifer, surviving inside me. I can feel him, like a blanket around my soul. He has never left me and protects me still. His love knows no bounds, and neither does mine. We are one.
I raise my fist and the creatures surrounding Robb catch fire, too. He tears into them, my flames bringing him no harm.
Lilith, my demon queen, ever showed her love through rage. How I admired her for it.
Azeroth calls my name— Jon! —in warning, and I turn just in time to see Abaddon coming at me with a sword and shield. He knocks me off my feet and I land on my hands and knees.
The King of the Chasm never knew his own limits. Like most demons, he always bites off more than he can chew.
With one beat of my great wings, I dodge his next attack.
“You’ll meet your end today, Light Bearer!” he roars.
With the strength given by the Morning Star, I grab his horns and tear them off his skull. Abaddon screams and falls back, his snout drenched in blood.
“You’re lucky you don’t have wings,” I say, vengeful. “I would have tore them off your back, too.”
Abaddon’s burning fury is no match for mine.
He has abandoned his shield and is now coming at me with only his sword and rage. The ground cracks under his hooves. He swings, and the tip of his blade cuts a strand of my hair as I jump out of reach. He roars again, his frustration and hatred palpable, and a few drops of his thick blood land at my feet.
The next time he comes at me, I set his sword on fire. He drops it to the floor, smoke rising from the fur along his hand.
With another beat of my wings I launch forward to grab him by the throat, just as he had me moments ago. My hand looks small compared to the size of him. He tries to claw at my face and arms, but my flames burn him. I throw him to the stone ground and grab his abandoned sword. The blade is incandescent.
Abaddon rolls in the dust, trying to put out my fire.
“May your soul rot in the afterlife,” I say before burying the sword in his heart.
He struggles against death for a moment, his large hands reaching for me.
“I can’t… I’m… You human filth…!” he says in the language of Hell, saliva and blood bubbling over his lips.
Life goes out from his slit pupils and his hooves slide on the stone floor, stilling.
Abaddon, King of the Chasm, dies in the human world. His death, just like his life, is crude. I set fire to his corpse. His ashes will feed the soil of the place he wanted to conquer. May he never be called Lucifer or Satan again.
Demons are still coming through the gate in number, but they steer well away from me. I don’t know how many made it through the mine and to the surface. We’ll deal with them later.
Azeroth limps to me. The smell of his blood is almost enough to send me into a murderous frenzy.
“They hurt you,” I whisper as he reaches me.
But he grabs my face in his warm hands, thumbs caressing my cheeks.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “Jon…”
“We’re okay,” I say. Because I want him to know that Lucifer is here, too. That we are one.
My white flames lick at his hands and arms, but they don’t seem to burn him. “But you…”
“I’ll heal.” His energy wraps around me like a tender embrace. “You’re… beautiful,” he says, eyes on my wings.
I sigh, leaning my face in his hands. “Part human, demon, angel… A beautiful mess is what I am.”
“The best of both worlds.”
“Your precious Light Bearer,” I say with a mirthless laugh.
“Yes. And also much more. Lucifer gave his soul to save yours, and I understand why. Oh, I understand it completely, Jon.” His eyes are unwavering as he watches me. “Yours is a soul worth saving, and I’m glad he did.”
My eyes widen, and I have to fight the tears threatening to fall. I wonder if what I feel for Azeroth comes entirely from me, or also from Lucifer. Not that it matters anymore. I accept all these feelings wholeheartedly. Let them fill me to the brim with joy, need, desires, envy, love, affection, possessiveness… Let all my sins be turned to simple truths.
Robb runs to us, bloody and crazed. His clawed hand reaches for me, hesitating. Then he seems to shake himself out of a trance.
“Lilith?” I ask.
My old friend nods. “She’s… restless. She wants me to tear the wings off your back.”
“I’m sorry,” I say to the demon queen. “I’m sorry I have taken him from you. But he’s safe with me. And one day, you’ll be together again, where all souls join as one.”
Robb sighs deeply, closing his eyes. When he opens them once again, he seems to have taken back control. “They’re still coming from the gate,” he says.
He’s right. The demons are running away from me, but the way out is still clear. The king of the Chasm might be dead, but it doesn’t stop their thirst for conquest. Earth is ripe for the taking.
“I’ll deal with it,” I say.
I walk to the gate, setting fire to the soldiers of Hell that I meet on the way. The wound in the fabric between worlds is now wide open, and we can see the other side at our feet with the stone ceiling visible at the bottom.
My next words are stuck in my throat, and I have to claw them out.
“The way is clear,” I say to Azeroth. “You can go back to Hell with this new body.”
His golden eyes land on me, thoughtful. “Are you kicking me out of your world, ashy one?”
“No… I…”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, grabbing my chin to make me look at him. “I’ll stay by your side for as long as you’ll have me, exorcist.”
I sigh, relieved. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His energy rises and my body flushes. Now is not the time to get ideas, but I can’t help it. I shake my head to clear the dirty thoughts.
“Can you keep a hold of me from this side?” I ask him.
A muscle ticks along his jaw, but he nods. “Be careful.”
“I’m the Light Bearer,” I say with a wink.
He snorts. “Yes, you are.”
“Be ready.”
I lower my body through the gate. The demons standing on the other side run away from my white flames as my head and shoulders emerge from the ground. The air is warm and the difference in its gas composition stings my lungs.
It looks like we’re below the surface of Hell and Abaddon had to dig tunnels on this side, too. Good, it’ll make my job easier.
Azeroth’s hands are around my waist, anchoring me to Earth.
Lucifer’s power waits in my core, ready to be unleashed. It has been dormant for too long. I close my eyes and let it flood every part of my being until it has nowhere else to go but out. Light explodes outward like a nuclear bomb, collapsing the tunnels in Hell and crushing the demons underground. Azeroth pulls me back to the other side before I can be crushed, too. We land on the stone floor as dust and debris fly out of the gate.
“That’s a way to do it,” says Robb, coughing.
I’m drained and Azeroth helps me back to my feet.
“I doubt I’ll be able to do it on this side too,” I say, swaying. “I need time to recharge.”
Robb nods. “I like the idea of not being buried alive. Thank you.”
My eyes widen. “Are you… making a joke?”
“Oh, shut up.”
His scales are dripping blood.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine.” There’s the shadow of a smile on his lips.
My old friend, back from the dead and joyfully alive. All of this would have been worth it, only to have him saved.
We make our way out of the massive cavern. The demons have cleared out fast. They’ll be roaming our world, cut off from Hell, but it’s a problem for tomorrow.
I’m deeply tired, and Azeroth’s hand never leaves my waist. I’m also unused to the extra weight of my wings and horns.
As we reach the surface, I’m thankful for the rain placating my heated face. Lucifer’s soul reacts to it, marveling at the cold drops on my skin and wings. Our connection has intensified.
Is he proud of me for having found the gate of Hell at last? For protecting the world we both love so deeply? If the warmth I feel spreading in my chest is any sign, he is.
We haven’t closed the gate, but we’ve rendered it inaccessible on the other side for a while. With enough time, it might heal itself, and I’ll be watching.
The demons are nowhere to be found. They’ve scattered in the forest and pastures surrounding Hulett and hide from the light of day. At nightfall, the nightmares will crawl out of their hiding holes.
The car is gone, certainly stolen by the cultists.
“Can you fly?” Azeroth asks me.
I gape. “I don’t know.”
“They look good. I think you can.”
I step away from him and test my wings. They’re incredibly heavy, but my body has mutated to give me extra muscles to carry them. Instinctively, I know what to do. Lucifer has centuries of experience in the burning skies of Hell. With two great beats, I leave the ground. I catch the wind and go up with delight. Azeroth follows me; the base of his wing seem to have already healed.
Robb watches us from below, small and angry.
I could get used to it, I think. But I know this is temporary. I can’t keep the wings forever, and I’ll have to cut them off my back once again. The horns, too.
Seconds later, we land again and, after arguing with Robb to get him to let us carry him back to the plane, we depart. My old friend looks extremely uncomfortable in my arms as we fly over the fields surrounding Hulett.
“Lilith hates flying,” he tells me. “And I think I share the sentiment.”
In Lucifer’s memories, I glimpsed their time together. She always hated leaving the ground.
The plane still waits at the abandoned airport. Azeroth glamors our wings and horns not to terrify the crew.
I fall asleep, my head over Azeroth’s lap and his fingers in my hair somewhere above Utah.
Leo waited for us at the airport. He’s ecstatic to see us alive.
After pestering Robb about his torn and blood-covered clothes, he says, “They’re talking about the gate all over the news and the internet! The government has locked the perimeter around the Devil’s Tower and demons have attacked neighboring towns. The military is involved.”
So, the State Exorcists finally took Robb’s warning seriously.
“Good, they can take it from here,” I say, walking to the van. “I think we deserve a long holiday.” I’ll have to sit at the back with Azeroth if I want my wings to fit. “Do you think the diner’s still open? I’m ravenous.”
“Oh yes, she usually stays open until two am,” says Leo.
“Then let’s go before I faint.”
Tina closed the diner as soon as she saw the state we were in, kicking out her last regulars of the day.
“Were you in Wyoming?” she asks me, checking for wounds. All she can see is my blood-covered clothes.
I nod. “We might have slowed down a demon invasion and killed the King of the Chasm.”
She gasps.
“You know, a regular Monday for Jon,” says Leo, snorting.
“Is it Monday?” I say. “I’m losing track of time.”
Tina swats me on the arm. “You reckless, wonderful man!” Then she studies Azeroth and Robb. “I’m guessing these two are the ones who emptied my stocks recently.”
She doesn’t seem fazed one bit by the fact they’re both very… demonic. Even with Azeroth’s power disguising our mutations, there’s no hiding their supernatural air.
Azeroth winks seductively and says, “Your food is always delicious, ma’am.”
Robb, too, offers her a rare smile.
Tina claps her hands. “I’m guessing you guys are hungry. Come now, Roberto will make you something and I’ll pour some coffee. Then you can tell me what’s up in the world.” She gives me a pointed look.
But all that my brain registers is the word coffee . “You’re a lifesaver.”
Two hours later, Tina caresses my feathered wings in awe.
“He truly was an angel,” she says, talking about Lucifer.
I smile. “Yes. He was Earth’s guardian angel.”
We gave her the short version of the events that transpired at the Devil’s Tower, and everything that led to it. Once we were certain she wouldn’t freak out, we dropped the glamor. It felt good to come clean once again; I spent my life hiding my true self.
Real demons are now on the run in North America, and Tina deserves to know the entire story.
Roberto, her cook, left half an hour ago after making food for us in batches. Leo promised to help clean the shop and dishes, and he was happy to go back home early. The diner’s shutters are down, hiding us from the rest of the world.
“What now?” Tina asks, touching my cheek affectionately.
I sigh. “We haven’t closed the gate. It might take years for it to heal. So, I guess the fight continues.”
She smiles reassuringly. “Yes. But we couldn’t have wished for better fighters. Thank you.” And that simple ‘ thank you’ means the world to me. “Lucifer would have been proud,” she adds, and my heart swells.
We sit back around the table with the others to finish the food.
Exhaustion shows on our faces by the time the four of us trudge to the apartment. We fall asleep in the living room, spread over the couch and old carpet in our dirty clothes.
When morning comes, the world seems a little less lonely.