Camael's Battle
Angelic Hosts Series, Book II, Episode 4, Part 2
From his perch in the celestial heavens, Cassiel focused in on Camael. With stars blazing around him, comets sailing by, and the solar flares exploding behind him, he still felt the immense sorrow weighing in the archangel’s heart. It was like a powerful distress signal. He sighed. He already knew the cause. Looking off to the other side of the planet, he focused in on the cavern where Hannah lay tied down, mercifully asleep for the moment. Dagon and his henchmen were preparing their ritual one stage at a time. He noted they still didn’t have all the artifacts necessary to open the pit of a thousand years. Onyx, the dark-skinned fallen, was sent to collect a rare bloom known as Rafflesia Arnoldii from the Indonesian rainforest. Also called the corpse flower, it emitted the stench of rotting flesh when in bloom. The flower symbolized both death and birth. It was one of six artifacts needed. Cassiel allowed his eyes to cast about the cavern. They seemed to have four of the six items. Once Onyx returned with the corpse flower, they would lack only the Blade of the Morning Star. He wondered if they already had it somewhere, and if so, how did they retrieve it from its place of hiding? Only two beings knew the hiding place of the blade; the Almighty himself, and the Keeper of Knowledge, Zaphkiel.
Hannah moaned, and then opened her eyes. It was clear by her expression that she had hoped to awaken and find herself back home, that it had all been a nightmare. The horror slowly dawning on her lovely face as her predicament sunk in all over again tugged at his own heart. It was times like this, when he was well aware of his orders to only observe, that he struggled within himself. The pain she suffered now, and the pain Camael would suffer through as a result tore him to shreds inside. He did the only thing he could do, could get away with, and sent a calming thought from his mind to her own. It wouldn’t be much but panic never helped anything. It would be better for the child as well if she remained calm.
***
Hannah regained consciousness right back into the nightmare she’d left earlier. Strangely, despite her fear, discomfort, and even hunger, she felt calm. She turned her head and saw the winged man who had abducted her talking with the other two winged men. They spoke in hushed tones, and none of them noticed she was awake. She used their inattention to look around her and to test the bonds that tied her down. If she shifted just a little onto her left side, the ropes didn’t feel quite as tight. It was a small relief, but the pressure on her bladder was robbing her of the ability to focus on an escape. All she could think about was that she really needed to relieve herself. She wondered if she dared risk asking to go to the bathroom. Would they allow her a moment a privacy, and where would she accomplish that? She cast her eyes around the cavern again and didn’t see anywhere she might utilize as a toilet. Still, the need was becoming urgent.
“Hey! Hello?” She called out to the bird men. She refused to think of them as angels.
Dagon turned his head and looked at her raising a wicked eyebrow. “What is it?”
Swallowing her embarrassment and fear, she spoke. “I need to use the restroom.”
Dagon blinked, and then walked to her side in long, sure strides putting the sunglasses over his eyes as he moved closer. He stopped and looked down at her, amusement on his face. “Did you say you needed to use the restroom? Do you see one around the cavern?” He glanced left, then right, as if trying to locate a bathroom.
“Listen, I realize we’re in some kind of cave, but that is neither here nor there. I’m a pregnant woman, and pregnant women have to pee…a lot. So, unless you want a mess up here, I suggest you help me find a better place to take care of this.”
Dagon sighed. He had no patience for humans and their human needs, but the altar was to remain pure until the ceremony. That meant no body fluids of any kind must spill from her until the appointed time. He pulled a lethal-looking blade out from a sheath at his side and held it up. Hannah cringed.
“There’s no need for that! I’ll wait.” She crossed her knees as best she could beneath the rope. “See?”
Dagon could smell her fear. It smelled much better than her usual scent. He laughed low. “I’m not going to kill you.” He inserted the blade beneath the rope at her ankles and with one swift movement, sliced right through it.
There was an immediate loosening. His hands quickly unraveled the ties all the way up her legs to her hands, and finally the last binding over her chest. Hannah tried to sit up, but her belly got in the way. She rolled onto her side and began slowly pushing herself into a sitting position. Dagon extended a hand to help her down from the stone altar. She refused to take it, so he reached under her arms and lifted her with all the ease of picking up a pillow and set her down on the floor.
“Don’t be stubborn.” He looked down at her, noting the anger mixed in with her fear. It was no wonder Camael was attracted to her. She did have some spunk.
“Where should I go?” She looked around him. The other two angels, the blond and the swarthy looking one stared back at her. The blond’s lips curled in a smirk at her obvious, very human, distress.
Dagon thought about it. “Outside would be best.” He took her by the arm and walked her to the opening of the cavern.
Hannah’s brain began going ninety miles a minute. If she could break away while outside, she might have a chance. As they drew closer, the daylight spilled in. Her eyes had to adjust to bright light. Fresh air filled her nose and hope bloomed in her heart. When they reached the edge of the cave, her hope died.
The opening led out to a small ledge. The ledge jutted out over the side of a cliff that dropped off at her best guess, almost a thousand feet. She looked left, right, and up. There was nowhere for her to go. She couldn’t even fathom how he got her in here. Reality started to sink in that these bird men really did fly. And if that was the truth, and she saw no reason at this point to think otherwise, she was in far more danger than she imagined.
Dagon watched her face reading every thought that crossed it, second by second. He waited for the panic to set in, for the human woman to start screaming. That moment never came. Instead, she turned to him.
“Well? Where out here am I to do this?” She looked at the narrow ledge, and then at him.
He pointed out into the open air. “Out there.”
Hannah blinked. “What do you mean?” The look of confusion on her face grew as Dagon licked his finger and held it up to the wind, testing its direction.
He took her arm and led her near the edge. “This side. You’re downwind here.”
Again, Hannah gave him a look that implied he was crazy. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m a female human, not a male human. I can’t do this standing and aiming in the wind.”
He cocked his head, and the eyebrow came up from behind the sunglasses. “I know. All you need to do is take my hand and step off the ledge.”
“What?” Her eyes grew large, and she struggled with panic. “I’m not stepping off any ledge. Are you crazy? I don’t have wings. I can’t fly!” The brisk wind chilled her, and now she really needed to go. Her fear was not helping.
Dagon gripped her arms and lifted her off the ground as if she were feather light. Hannah noticed that she didn’t feel his hands digging into her like one would expect being picked up that way. In fact, she didn’t notice any feeling of being weighed down by gravity at all.
“As you can see, when I have hold of you, you won’t fall. I don’t even need to use both hands.” He let go of her right arm and Hannah jerked, expecting to drop. She didn’t move even one inch. “Now, I’ll hold you over the ledge. You do what needs doing. When you’re finished. I’ll bring you back inside.”
Wonder and awe lit her face, and then embarrassment set in. He expected her to pee right in front of him. Hannah swallowed, thinking fast. She really needed to go, and she didn’t seem to have any other choice.
“I could just pick a corner inside.” She offered the option.
He shook his head in the negative. “Your scent is already overpowering. If you urinate inside, it will be too much.”
“Too much for who? It won’t bother me at all.” She could handle a little stench.
“Too much for me and my brothers.”
“But –,” she began.
“I could drop you now.” The threat was real, and she knew it.
Finally, she relented. “All right. But you have to turn your face away.”
Dagon laughed out loud. “Modesty?” He looked away as he thrust her over the ledge. “Humans.” He shook his head.
Hannah could feel his hand wrapped around her upper arm, but she felt weightless. She told herself not to look down and busied herself trying to shimmy her pants down. She drew up her knees into a sitting position, and saying a quick prayer, let loose. Her relief was immediate. It was the strangest feeling in the world to be hovering around a thousand feet in the air and peeing. When she was finished, she waited a moment longer, trying to air-dry in the breeze. After all, there was no such thing as tissue paper up here. No privacy, either. Only insanity and impending doom. She righted herself again and indicated she was ready to come back to the ledge.
Dagon put her back down on her own two feet. “Better?”
Hannah nodded. “Yes, thanks.” The weirdness of the situation struck her. “I don’t understand you.”
“I’m not wholly uncivilized. You’re a means to an end. Or a beginning, as it is. That doesn’t mean I should behave as a monster.” He swept his arm in a mocking courtly manner. “Your cave awaits.”
Hannah felt tears sting her eyes. She knew now that there was no way out of here for her. Unless some superhero flew in and saved the day, she was going to die at the hands of four winged lunatics. She rubbed her belly as she walked back inside the cave that would be her tomb.
Cam, where are you? If you’re really an angel, please help me. Help us!” Her mind screamed her plea hoping that everything she’d ever been taught about God was true, that he heard all prayers, and knew everyone’s heart.
Miss last week’s episode? Catch it here.
Get caught up on the Angelic Hosts with book I, Camael’s Gift