Chapter LVI
LVI
They came to me in my delirium—the mandrill and the Lion both.
“Where is Avstamet?” demanded the Archangel, his eyes burning like suns as he towered over my mother’s humble table. “The Warfather cannot be permitted to return to the world!”
“He is gone—lost to us both!” shrieked the baboon, standing on my shoulders. As ever, I was a child in my father’s house, chained to the floor and crying with hunger.
The Lion roared and the sound shook the world.
“I surrendered my chance to claim the Warfather’s heart—yes, abandoned it gladly at your request, because I would save at least a few of those lives endangered on this hunt.
And you, despicable creature—not only have you squandered the chance I afforded you; you have returned to slaughter those you left in my safekeeping! ”
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed, “I didn’t know!”
The Archangel looked at me in silence for a long moment. “Lariel, look upon the wretchedness you perpetuate. What joy can there be in this for you? What victory can you claim from this misery?”
“Only the chance to see you thwarted once again, Great Prince, and it has been worth every moment,” sneered the mandrill.
“A blaggard’s empty retort, Lariel. Your failure reveals you for what you are—a gormless pretender playing at greatness. What hope did you have of claiming a Spirit like Avstamet? You are nothing more than another Arcane parasite, living far too long with only its own emptiness to fill.”
“Leave us!” screamed the mandrill, incensed. “You will get nothing more from us, Michael! Return to the side of your silent, sleeping Almighty, and comfort yourself with fables of his return.”
The Archangel lowered his great head and looked directly into my streaming eyes.
“So I will, Lariel. Such is the nature of love, and faith, and service.” Then he slammed one of his paws onto the table with sudden violence, dragging his golden claws across the wood.
Five deep gouges were left in its path. “But know that I will return. This prison cannot protect you forever, and I am ever ready to reconcile you with my Lord and Father. Remember that in the humbling days to come.”
He left me in the dark, with the mandrill panting on my back.