metal canister against my hip. I sat down cross-legged and put away my knife, sliding it home in the sheath along my thigh.
“I didn’t know that,” I said when the silence stretched too long. Even as completely wrecked as he was, Cahethel was lovely to look at. A sort of gothic, sorrowful beauty, in line with the movie The Crow , or Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven .
“About the necklace?” he asked.
I nodded. “Hadad.” Cahethel flinched at the name, and I grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t like him either. He scared the shit out of me. Anyways, he put it on me, and sent us on our way. I’ve been kind of left to figure it out as I’ve gone along. So far all I know is it lights up and makes a sound like thunder anytime I get near anything Fallen or Demonic. The closer I get the brighter it gets, and I think, the more powerful the presence, the louder the thunder.”
He nodded, his head bobbing up and down like a bobblehead doll on his stick-thin shoulders. “It recognizes things from home, and your observations about how it identifies them are correct. The glow denotes how close or far, the sound denotes the power of what comes… Still, you have not told me the reason you yourself, a living being wish to go into the pit.”
“I told you: to stop the apocalypse from happening sooner rather than later.”
“Explain.”
So I did, about the keys, about Tab and how I needed to get him out, and about Death and the deal: that I needed to get the permission from all of the horsemen. That it had to be unanimous that the time was not nigh, that humans still had more time left.
Cahethel looked thoughtful and finally nodded slowly. “I agree with Azrael,” he said finally and I was forced to squeeze my eyes shut against the brilliant crimson flash of pain that dazzled my sight and left me struggling to keep my dinner down. I mentally did my level best to slap the shit out of Iaoel and shove her back into the corner of my mind where I kept her contained. I reached up and wiped a bit of blood off my upper lip as my sight swam in streamers and color bursts. I guess this is what they meant by ‘seeing stars’; lovely.
“She’s right to be afraid, you know… Why do you want so badly to help the fate of mankind? What has mankind done for you lately?” he asked.
“They aren’t all bad, and I guess I agree with Tab; everyone has the right to choose their own destiny and to forge their own path. I guess this one is as good as any when it comes to me.” I huffed a small derisive laugh.
“What was that for?”
“Oh, naw, I was just thinking… My mother pretty much said I was her biggest disappointment and that I would never amount to anything.” I laughed again, and it was pretty sad and bitter, “If she could only see me now.”
“Indeed,” he said. “You know that this will likely kill you, don’t you? That failure is the likely outcome, and that we will most likely ride…” He leaned back and closed his eyes as if pained.
“Maybe, maybe not. Best I can do is try, and if Tab’s taught me one thing, I can pretty much do just about anything I put my mind to. Failure isn’t an option, but more than that, giving up is really not an option. I mean, I’m going to die anyways. It’s part of being human.” It’s part of having a psychotic, jealous, and self-centered Angel bitch living inside a head meant for one. Fuck Gabriel and being nice after that shit you just pulled. I didn’t say that part out loud, but I had the distinct vision of a dog or wolf snarling at me from inside its den. Didn’t need to do much extrapolating to figure that one out.
“Yeah, fuck you too, sugar,” I muttered, and Cahethel raised an almost invisible eyebrow, so close in color were his hair and pale skin.
“Not you,” I clarified.
“I didn’t think so. You know, you and she are a lot alike. Iaoel thought she could conquer anything blocking her path as well.”
“I don’t think I can. I just hope I can.”
“Ah,
“I didn’t know that,” I said when the silence stretched too long. Even as completely wrecked as he was, Cahethel was lovely to look at. A sort of gothic, sorrowful beauty, in line with the movie The Crow , or Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven .
“About the necklace?” he asked.
I nodded. “Hadad.” Cahethel flinched at the name, and I grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t like him either. He scared the shit out of me. Anyways, he put it on me, and sent us on our way. I’ve been kind of left to figure it out as I’ve gone along. So far all I know is it lights up and makes a sound like thunder anytime I get near anything Fallen or Demonic. The closer I get the brighter it gets, and I think, the more powerful the presence, the louder the thunder.”
He nodded, his head bobbing up and down like a bobblehead doll on his stick-thin shoulders. “It recognizes things from home, and your observations about how it identifies them are correct. The glow denotes how close or far, the sound denotes the power of what comes… Still, you have not told me the reason you yourself, a living being wish to go into the pit.”
“I told you: to stop the apocalypse from happening sooner rather than later.”
“Explain.”
So I did, about the keys, about Tab and how I needed to get him out, and about Death and the deal: that I needed to get the permission from all of the horsemen. That it had to be unanimous that the time was not nigh, that humans still had more time left.
Cahethel looked thoughtful and finally nodded slowly. “I agree with Azrael,” he said finally and I was forced to squeeze my eyes shut against the brilliant crimson flash of pain that dazzled my sight and left me struggling to keep my dinner down. I mentally did my level best to slap the shit out of Iaoel and shove her back into the corner of my mind where I kept her contained. I reached up and wiped a bit of blood off my upper lip as my sight swam in streamers and color bursts. I guess this is what they meant by ‘seeing stars’; lovely.
“She’s right to be afraid, you know… Why do you want so badly to help the fate of mankind? What has mankind done for you lately?” he asked.
“They aren’t all bad, and I guess I agree with Tab; everyone has the right to choose their own destiny and to forge their own path. I guess this one is as good as any when it comes to me.” I huffed a small derisive laugh.
“What was that for?”
“Oh, naw, I was just thinking… My mother pretty much said I was her biggest disappointment and that I would never amount to anything.” I laughed again, and it was pretty sad and bitter, “If she could only see me now.”
“Indeed,” he said. “You know that this will likely kill you, don’t you? That failure is the likely outcome, and that we will most likely ride…” He leaned back and closed his eyes as if pained.
“Maybe, maybe not. Best I can do is try, and if Tab’s taught me one thing, I can pretty much do just about anything I put my mind to. Failure isn’t an option, but more than that, giving up is really not an option. I mean, I’m going to die anyways. It’s part of being human.” It’s part of having a psychotic, jealous, and self-centered Angel bitch living inside a head meant for one. Fuck Gabriel and being nice after that shit you just pulled. I didn’t say that part out loud, but I had the distinct vision of a dog or wolf snarling at me from inside its den. Didn’t need to do much extrapolating to figure that one out.
“Yeah, fuck you too, sugar,” I muttered, and Cahethel raised an almost invisible eyebrow, so close in color were his hair and pale skin.
“Not you,” I clarified.
“I didn’t think so. You know, you and she are a lot alike. Iaoel thought she could conquer anything blocking her path as well.”
“I don’t think I can. I just hope I can.”
“Ah,
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