Invocation: Rashiel
They passed near the precipice and went in the Whispering Forest; Tyrael grimaced: he would have preferred to continue the way in the Plains of Moen. He had absolutely no clue where they were going and he wondered if they were simply... going home. The gelding seemed tired and would probably be happy to rest. He had no idea of its age and Delilah had never spoken of any other horse except the gelding and Cinnabar. He winced: he didn't even know if Lilith had left her enough money to buy a horse. He sighed. Delilah hadn't said a word since they had left Vortigern's temple and her back was tense.
"Where is the closest entrance to the demon realm?" he asked.
"The precipice was one, but it's not very easy to use. The other one is south, in the Mounts of Moen, very near of where I live."
Tyrael uttered a sound of surprise.
"I told you I like Sisanfri, winged boy. Then why do you think I live near Rishaki? Not just because I like Irlenuit, believe me!"
They were on the Eastern Trail and, through the trees, Tyrael could see the part of the trail going to Chyraz's temple. Delilah left the trail a bit before reaching the side trail and went deep in the forest until she reached a very small glade with an old oak stump in the middle. Tyrael wondered how she could have known the glade to be here, for she was obviously looking for it.
She looked around her, seemed to find everything to her taste and dismounted.
"Here will be perfect."
"For what?"
"For what you think you want to know. One last invocation and we will both know what we have to know. I don't like it and I don't think you will either but what has to be done will be done... May Heaven have mercy on us both! Be prepared to receive the disturbing answers to all the questions you have - and even to those you wouldn't have dared to have..."
Tyrael was both stunned and puzzled. He watched her kneel on the ground and she began to draw a pentacle with charcoal just in front of the stump. The pattern was complex and, though he knew it, he couldn't tell where he had already seen something similar.
"It's not the type of pentacles I taught Lilith to draw," he said hesitantly and it was half a question.
"True, it's not. Because she never did what I'm going to do."
Tyrael felt a cold hand close on his heart as he remembered something she had told him the day she had called him:
"I know only two invocations: invocation of the Archangel and invocation to the Demon. Despite her reputation, my mother didn't know the latter."
He noticed her hand wasn't trembling nor hesitating and yet the pattern was so intricate that one would normally have used a book or something as a guideline.
"I know it because I'm a student in demonology."
He feared he had guessed right and stammered:
"But I won't be able to help you if something goes wrong!"
"Nothing will go wrong, believe me; especially if you do as I say."
He felt a bit reassured. She couldn't feel so confident if she was going to do what he thought she might. She completed her pentacle and stood up.
"Watch for intruders while I change," she said. "And don't look back!"
She disappeared among the trees for a brief instant.
"You and your stupid rituals!" she complained when she was finished. "Couldn't you just care for the words?"
"May I look back now or will I be blinded?" inquired Tyrael, half-jokingly.
"You may look", she said sullen.
So he turned to look at her. She was breathtaking: her black outfit was following closely the shape of her slim body, except for the sleeves that were going wide from the elbow. The dress fell till her ankles but was slit up one side almost up to the hip. A large necklace of onyx was circling her neck, with a pendant descending low, underlining - and quite drawing the gaze to - the low cut of her neckline. Her arms were raised up, working on her hair to tie it up in a strange way, and the speed of her fingers was enough to show she had done this more than once - probably as often as drawing the pentacle.
Tyrael's worries came back at once. She wasn't going to invoke an Angel, that was for certain, but...
"Who are you going to invoke, Delilah?" he asked nervously.
"His name is Rashiel," she replied, kneeling in the pentacle face to the stump - turning her back to him.
"That's an Angel's name... but there isn't any of that name!"
"There isn't anymore," rectified calmly Delilah.
"A... fallen Angel?"
"As fallen as an Angel may be... He's the one Nyrka called 'he who forsook light'. Rashiel doesn't care for redemption and doesn't regret anything that made him fall. He's very dedicated to his new master... and to me also, in a certain way. Go away, Tyrael. Or no, better, stay, but don't let anybody see you. I won't be able to intervene if Rashiel feels your presence, for he would be only too happy to catch me outside a pentacle! Or to catch you for that matter; you would make a very fine catch for him, believe me."
"An Archangel is more powerful than a fallen Angel!" protested Tyrael. "They are stripped of their powers when falling!"
"Not when the fallen Angel received powers from the dark side... Tyrael, please? I really must do this invocation."
"Why?"
"Because now is the time of revelations," she said softly, looking at him with troubled eyes. "I only pray... Never mind. Go, Tyrael, please."
It took time for him to obey for he was definitely not willing to let her alone to deal with a fallen Angel, especially one who had fallen so low as to ally with Demons! It was only too scary!
She took her usual favourite position and suddenly Tyrael wondered if the entwined fingers weren't for hiding the fact they were trembling. She was obviously ready yet no word was passing her lips; she was fearing something and Tyrael wanted to go to her help, but something held him back. Then her voice rose:
"I call upon thee, Rashiel, on my own free will; recognise my voice, I am the Demon's child; I call upon thee, Rashiel and thou canst feed upon my light, but, pray, let my integrity intact. Rashiel, hear my call to thee and grant me thy presence!"
Air twinkled dark at the end of the invocation and as soon as she pronounced the last word, someone looking like a dark Angel appeared in front of her, outside the pentacle.
"I greet thee, delightful Delilah!" he said with grand flourish before changing his tone. "Why did you call for me? I am not your protective Demon."
He sat on the stump, looking at Delilah with an enraging smile. She sighed.
"Rashiel, please! We are not going through this again. You know perfectly why I don't call him and yet you do as if you didn't each very time I call you!"
"Ah, Delilah, it's that he craves so much for your presence!" he replied, not caring at all for her protestation.
"Naturally. Since when does a Demon know the signification of 'craving'? They want something? They take it. They want someone and can't have him or her alive? Never mind, let's have him or her dead!"
"That's not nice, Delilah," Rashiel scolded her without losing his infuriating smile. "You know he really cares for you."
"Consider I believe it, that will save me time. Should I tempt him by calling him while I'm in a pentacle?"
"But he yearns only for you," insisted the dark Angel.
"Rashiel!" snapped Delilah with an angry tone. "That's enough! Let's say I don't want to tease him in vain."
"Ah... Is it the answer I shall bring him?" he inquired, raising an interested eyebrow.
"If you want," shrugged Delilah. "Are you done yet? Are you going to be serious a moment?"
Rashiel wrinkled his nose.
"You smell like an Angel," he said with disgust, obviously not decided to cooperate.
"Of course, I am one," she replied infuriated.
"Oh... Where are your wings?"
"I cut them, I needed some discretion. And I thought you were an Angel before."
"Do I smell that disgusting?" asked Rashiel, sounding offended.
"Actually, no. You are worse," she said wryly.
Rashiel tried to look shocked but he was laughing so hard it was hardly believable.
"Did I ever smell that disgusting, I mean?"
"Dunno. Wasn't born yet."
"And your fellow Guardians never told you of the friendly Rashiel?"
"You mean the falsely tempting fallen Rashiel? I knew you knew I am a Guardian and that I didn't need to remind you of it."
"Which Angel is it?"
Delilah sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Rashiel, I already told you we wouldn't mix the subjects. My life as a Guardian is of no concern to you, except for the part where I interact with Demons - and fallen Angels."
"The priests made a Guardian of you. Even the Angels didn't want to, don't you remember? As for us, Guardian or not, you will end up ours anyway, for you are born for something else, something greater!"
"Rashiel, the Angels did what they did out of pity and the priests did it because they hadn't any choice. I am a Guardian and I won't deny it, no matter what, so stop arguing. We're having the discussion each time I summon you!"
"Maybe because I can't detect a single fibre in you that calls for a Guardian... except that disgusting smell of an Angel... How is it that it doesn't torture you? I find it hardly bearable!"
"You're a lot darker than I am," Delilah pointed out. "Actually I like it," she added, lying, knowing Rashiel wouldn't like it.
"Hmm... I can't place it," he said as if he hadn't heard. "The smell is strong for a mere Angel... An Archangel, maybe. They wouldn't dare to send a Cherub or a Seraph, not with you, that is, and anyway, the old stones up there don't like to move too much. So, an Archangel, most definitely... Strong smell, but not the strongest it could have been. They didn't even send one of the great Archangels, huh? Either they underestimate you, dear Delilah, or else they overestimate you and sent you a pawn to be sacrificed... A small Archangel against you! Pitiful old stones! I would laugh if it wasn't so pathetic. Obviously, if I'm to judge by that smell, he didn't touch you very often. Does he fear you, Delilah?"
"Is the Inquisition over?"
"Not really. So he didn't touch you too much, huh? Ah! But I assumed it was a 'he', maybe it's a 'she'... No, no, the smell is definitely masculine. Anyway the ritual usually draws more my dear masculine ex-friends. Is it still performed with the 'I present myself to you in the original state'?"
Delilah slightly blushed without answering. Rashiel had a low laugh.
"I take this as a 'yes'... Amazing. He saw you like this and yet, nothing! He who craves for you would have lost his mind... Anyway, he will get his revenge of this Archangel who put his eyes on you. But I'm impressed to see there's thus an Archangel in their cursed realm that can resist your charms. Or is it because you keep him away? If it is so, he who yearns for you will be pleased."
"Rashiel, is it over now? If you want to babble like a fool, go look at yourself in a mirror and nod at the critical moment, the effect will be the same except that I won't lose my time."
"That's not really nice, Delilah. You know we can't face mirrors."
"Then ask Jov'Ne, she'd be happy to give you a hand," Delilah suggested wryly.
"That tongue of yours is getting sharper and sharper, dear Delilah," said Rashiel blushing ever so slightly.
"That's why he likes me more and more. Listen, Rashiel, I really have other things to do. So if you could spare me the moral speech, I would appreciate it."
"I'm just pointing to you your dual personality."
"As if I wasn't the one living it day after day," she muttered under her breath. "Rashiel, for the last time, everybody in your realm is aware of this and even he is agreeing to it. So no more comments, please. Can we begin my questions now?"
"Very well, little mistress, I await your orders," replied Rashiel with a submissive tone though the mischievous light in his eyes was belying it.
"How is it going down there?"
"This is an highly irregular question, Delilah. I'm not supposed to answer it," he said with his usual light - and infinitely irritating - tone.
"He told you to answer any of my questions," she reminded him tensely.
"Alright then," shrugged Rashiel as if he didn't truly care. "We're making progress. He yearns for gentle light on him... and for his sweet loving bride-to-be, of course."
"Nothing's done yet."
"Why do you fight? It's your destiny, it's written in your blood and your lineage."
"Say it only once more and I bleed myself dry," she warned him. "And I let you in charge to explain to him how it happened, when he'll find my bloodless body in the pentacle he taught me to draw for calling you."
"Little mistress..."
"Is there anything I should know besides what I already knew and that you gently - and uselessly - confirmed?" said Delilah scathingly.
"To defeat us more easily? I don't think so," he replied with a teasing smile.
He was obviously trying to infuriate her, so her control would snap and she would be an easy prey to him. As long as she kept the higher hand on the struggle, he could do nothing against her, but if she lost her grip on him, then she would be his...
"Rashiel, be a bit more cooperative. It's not because you know me that you can play with me like this. I'm not Jov'Ne. I am your invoker and I didn't let you depart yet. You surely don't want me to become a mean invoker, do you? Or yet worse, do you want me to report your impudent behaviour to the appropriate person?" she threatened between clenched teeth.
"Don't be harsh to me, little mistress. You know I live only to serve you," he said, suddenly sad.
"Then answer my questions!" she commanded impatiently.
"The armies are almost ready," said Rashiel reluctantly. "He's currently looking for one missing person who doesn't answer our calls. He wants him at his right when attacking."
"Why doesn't he answer the calls?"
"Maybe he doesn't hear them or else he turns a deaf ear," replied the dark Angel and obviously, the missing Demon better had to belong to the first category for his own sake.
"The Demon's name?"
"I can't understand why he's willing to let you know all this," muttered Rashiel.
"Because he's so very confident that I'll realise that my demon blood is stronger than my stupid guardian education before it's too late, that I'll regret my mistakes, give in to my 'nature' and come running to him, naturally," she replied fiercely. "So, this name?"
"Rshkiel," murmured Rashiel as if he didn't want anybody to hear it, not even the wind.
Delilah went deadly pale and closed her eyes for a brief moment. She staggered a little but pulled herself together quickly: an invoker could not let emotions take the better of him or her, especially with such a dangerous invocation.
"Alright. So all of you are looking for this... Demon?" she asked, her voice sounding firmer than she was feeling.
"No. Some of us are. The rest keeps training."
"And I guess you are among those looking for him?"
"Yes."
"How many of you are looking for him?"
Rashiel hesitated and while he hadn't seen her hesitation before - or didn't want to acknowledge it - she did notice his.
"Don't' even think of lying to me, Rashiel," she warned him wryly, "you would regret it dearly."
He sighed and briefly glared at her.
"Only five of us," he said reluctantly.
Five Demons, and she was alone. With the Angels' help she would have succeeded, but alone, she would never find Rshkiel before the Demons. She saw her chances crumble in front of her.
"Are you their leader or are you all looking your own way?" she asked, not letting show any of her thoughts.
"Each of us has his own way, but if you're thinking of finding he who doesn't answer our calls before us, the adversary you have to look for is me. Most Demons think a fallen Angel is good for nothing, even after numerous years of faithful services; I'll show them who's good for nothing!"
"And pride was thy fall," murmured Delilah. "Is he confident in his victory?" she asked then.
Rashiel looked more at ease now that he had begun the confidences.
"Well, there are two unknown factors currently: the first is he who's missing. Will we find him in time - before you if you are in the competition - and will we convince him to join us?"
Rashiel's tone let little to guess about how to 'convince' Rshkiel if he had the bad idea to resist.
"The second one, little mistress, is you. Though he claims you'll finally come with us, where you belong - and everybody better be convinced of it - sometimes, in chosen company, he doubts it. And we all know that with you by his side, he will win but, without you, ah... we might lose."
Delilah sneered.
"One single person cannot change fate; I cannot win the war for him, the same way I can't win it for them," she added, her chin having a slight move toward the sky.
"You are a good strategist, little mistress. And knowing you are by his side will make him stronger. But he will be despaired to see you with the Angels."
"Don't try to provoke my pity, Rashiel! He's nothing but a Demon! And it's humankind fate at sake! Humans, my kin!"
"No. Your kin is us," said Rashiel flatly. "Our blood is always stronger."
Delilah waved her hand as to refute the argument and Rashiel didn't insist, maybe in fear she would put to execution the threat she had mentioned earlier - she was capable of it!
"Anything else I should know?"
"Well, actually, there's a third unknown factor: will the angelic armies attack at all? All our spies tell us that Michael is resting quietly, at the - unnerving - sound of the harp and the flute. Would you have failed in warning them? It's quite hard to believe when knowing you, so dedicated! You could at least answer this question, in exchange for all the answers I provided," he said hopefully.
Delilah raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Since when does the invoker have to answer questions to the invoked? Anything else you crave to tell me?"
"Not really, you already know the rest. Except maybe that there is that little Angel who really hates you, you know."
"I know. Would you happen to know any reason why?"
"Alas, no, but her clamours are loud enough to be heard. She's giving you all sorts of names and one coming often is 'traitor'."
"Oh, this one! It's because of my name. Fate sealed on me and other silly things like that."
"What's a pity is that I didn't manage to catch her name. She would be amusing to make fall. Oh well... May I ask you a question?"
"I'm listening."
"Which Archangel is with you?"
"No, Rashiel. I won't let you bring this information to him," said Delilah, shaking the head.
"As you wish, little mistress. Tell me, whom would you win the war for if you could?"
"Me. Just me, so that my mother's name, Lilith, could be cleared at last. That's the only thing I care for."
"Ah... Good daughter, I see..."
"Very well. Thank you for your answers, Rashiel. You may depart."
He rose from his stump and eyed her with a light smile.
"Soon the day will be when you will join us, Delilah. Each step you make brings you closer to that moment. Next step: Him!" he said, his voice finishing in a whisper.
"Rashiel!" shouted Delilah.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving... Did I already mention I really like that outfit? He would like it too, though he would probably prefer the one used for the invocation of the Archangel. You should do him this pleasure once, that would be amusing!"
On a last laugh the dark Angel disappeared, just before Delilah collapsed in the pentacle.
Tyrael appeared almost immediately and his face wasn't friendly at all.
"So you really are the fiend they said you are. And I refused to believe them, fool that I am!"
Delilah slowly looked up and shook the head.
"It's not like that... Please, Tyrael, listen to me before accusing me."
"The hellish steed, the rovelsh, the demon blade and I suspected nothing!" he said bitterly. "You even told me the blade was yours and I just accepted the fact! Did you bewitch me?"
"I'm not a witch," she said lowly.
"No, you're worse! An Archangel possessed by the offspring of a Demon!"
"I didn't possess you. You could have unmasked me anytime. You had everything for, I even gave them to you!"
"Will you still pretend there's no shield protecting you?"
"Yes. I am protected by your own blindness. But does truth really change anything, Tyrael? Am I not Delilah anymore? Am I less Lilith's daughter because I'm also the offspring of a Demon?"
"I knew it! I knew you would betray us sooner or later!" exclaimed Shela, suddenly appearing next to Tyrael as to defend him. "You avowed it yourself: you are a Demon!"
"I have demon blood in my veins, that's different. Please, Tyrael, let me explain?"
But Shela was still shouting at her and if Tyrael answered, Delilah never heard him. She stood up and came out of the pentacle.
"Can you make her be quiet?" she asked.
"Why?"
"Because I really want to talk to you and I can't as long as she's shrieking in my ears."
Tyrael shrugged and didn't answer nor made Shela be quiet. Delilah wondered vaguely if he wasn't using that time to recollect his thoughts, but she was so out of herself that she couldn't think very clearly herself.
"Very well then... Angel or not, I guess she won't like this..."
She took a deep breath and her tight fist punched Shela right on the temple. The Angel collapsed less-than-gracefully on the ground, quiet at last.
"Thank Heaven for silence," murmured Delilah. "Don't look at me like that, Tyrael, I didn't kill her, I just knocked her out."
"You could have killed her."
"Of course I could have!" Delilah exclaimed, half-losing her temper. "I could kill you on the spot as well, but that's not the point! Would you please sit down so we may talk?"
Reluctantly, Tyrael agreed. She looked at him lengthily and sighed.
"Alright, so now you know my dark side. Yes, I do have demon blood. Actually, here's the story: a long long time ago was a demon knight called Ell˙s and her protective Demon was Baaladamon. He was not just any Demon, he was the son of the demon prince. With Ell˙s's help, he deposed his father - meaning he banished him - and took his place; well, actually, it would rather be, with Baaladamon's help, Ell˙s banished the demon prince and gave his place to her Demon. All that to avenge the demon knight whose squire she had been and other things, including the fact she was the demon knights' champion, the demon champion, as they called her, which is quite an ambiguous title, but well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, during their wanderings, Ell˙s and Baaladamon had fallen in love, breaking every rule of both demon and human worlds, and their forbidden love was revealed when Ell˙s gave birth to a little boy... a halfling."
"Disgusting," sneered Tyrael.
"As disgusting for you as a human-Angel halfling would be for Shela, I guess. Anyway, Ell˙s wasn't immortal, so she died when her time was over, peacefully, still a demon knight and still honoured wherever she was going. Both Baaladamon and their son were devastated by her death, but Baaladamon wanted to be strong for his people, so he 'married' - marriage is rare for Demons - again. His son was horrified by his heartless act and he left swearing revenge. From Baaladamon's second marriage came another son... I think you'll guess his name pretty fast."
Tyrael's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.
"So the halfling wanted revenge and became a demon knight for this. Because of Ell˙s's fame, the demon order now accepted women a bit more easily, so the halfling found a wife who bore his a son. The son became a demon knight also and banished Baaladamon to avenge his own father. Generations came and went but still the halfling descendant found a wife - for they were only boys, one for each generation - mostly among the demon knights, for they were knights from father to son. With time, the demon features disappeared except for something in the blood that was still burning the mind. People lost track of them and even forgot their existence until that day when the last one, still a demon knight, met a beautiful girl named Lilith and married her before he knew she was a Guardian."
"Your father... was..."
"My father descended from Ell˙s and Baaladamon, yes. When the young couple learnt the true identity of the other, it was already too late: there was already a baby. Burnt by his demon blood because of Lilith's proximity with Angels, my father finally died in an accident - or not."
"What do you mean?"
"Nobody knows if he made a mistake when fighting the Demon or if he let the Demon take him. Only he knows it. Anyway, my mother gave birth to me a few months later... and couldn't bring herself to kill me as she should have. There's something in each halfling that saves them from death and forces them to marry... For who would want to pass such a curse to a child? But I won't... I won't pass this curse, rather dying thousand painful deaths!" she exclaimed, her eyes blazing.
She clenched her fists then, slowly, she took a deep breath and opened her hands again.
"Sorry. My mother wanted me to be safe from my demon blood, so she decided I would be a Guardian, like her mother and herself. She went to the priests and presented me to them. They felt my dual nature and named me Delilah Demon's child, the same way they had named my mother Lilith because they had foreseen her in close relationship with Demons."
"So Shela was right..."
"Partially, yes. Guardianship was good and well, but my demon blood didn't like it the least, so it burnt and tortured me endlessly. Afraid it would torture me so much that I would give up Guardianship, my mother wanted me to be trained as a demon knight, like my father, so I could learn even more efficiently how to protect myself from Demons. Naturally that's what my demon blood wanted; it always ends up having what it wants... So I trained as a demon knight and I was - am - good at this; probably not as good as Ell˙s - for she was the demon champion - but not too bad either."
"Which explains all the Demons in Vortigern's temple..."
"I got a bit carried away," admitted Delilah. "For becoming a demon knight, for being accepted in the order, one has to have a protective Demon who has to come to the future knight. But which Demon would be stupid enough to come near a Guardian and her apprentice? My mother knew none would come, but she still wanted me to belong to the order. Since the Demons wouldn't come to me, she would come to them. So we went to them... and my mother stood fearlessly in front of all the Demons and asked which one would accept to be the protective Demon of her daughter. This one, she said, would have nothing to fear from her. One of them finally stood up and said he would be this one. Lilith looked at him and shivered. She had gone so far already and she knew she couldn't - wouldn't - step back. So she agreed and looked at her fifteen-years-old daughter with pride, telling her that love could never be destroyed nor even tarnished by Demons. I wish she was right!"
She remained silent a moment and Tyrael gasped as the horrible truth began to appear to him.
"So we were bound and at the end of the ceremony, my protective Demon turned to me and said he had been waiting for me for a very long time... Lilith understood she had been manipulated and yet she pledged her word to him he would be safe from her. She understood also that, thinking of protecting me, she had doomed me, but it was too late: the bound could not be broken. She was feeling guilty and so was I, for my demon blood had sung in joy when seeing my protective Demon and I knew who he was, but I couldn't say it."
"So your protective Demon is... Him?"
Delilah nodded.
"How could Lilith have accepted such a thing?"
"She knew she was already condemned... One week after the ceremony, she said farewell to me and walked fearlessly in the trap that she knew was awaiting for her, that cursed place where you Angels trapped her for her to die because she had been a mother. And this is my guilt and shame that I will carry till my last day. She told me again that fateful day that Demons could not destroy acts of love and she believed it. I did too for a moment. I don't anymore, because He destroyed it."
"So you are a demon knight."
Delilah pulled on the heavy chain around her neck and let fall back on her chest the recognisable medallion from the demon order.
"I am a demon knight and I am a Guardian."
"And to say I believed you when you said you were a student in demonology!" he said bitterly.
"I didn't lie to you. This is the truth."
"But it doesn't explain all, does it? For example, the reason why you were always tortured after my healing..."
"Is due to my demon blood, yes."
"And the reason why Cinnabar always could give you strength..."
"Is because he's a hellish steed. Why do you think He offered him to me?"
If Tyrael was surprised by this revelation he didn't show it.
"And you told me it was because you were not used to angelic touch!"
"Which is also true. It's one of the reasons I avoided Angels. Your presence, so near to me, tortured me each step of our trip and even right now."
"Do Azrael, Raphael and Gabriel know this?"
"Yes. The gods, the Angels, the Demons and the priests pretty much all know it. That's why I'm called Demon's child: because my father was the offspring of a Demon and those who don't know think it's because of what my mother did. I really am a Demon's child, yes, Vortigern's true daughter, which is why Rashiel said the demon realm is where I belong. Demon blood stronger than anything else and silly things like that."
"Is it true?" asked Tyrael coldly.
"Most probably," she said, shrugging. "Why do you think I told you I was doomed to Hell since my first breath? My demon blood shouts for me to call the Demons so they could wander free on earth! I spend time with evil creatures - a hellish steed, rovelshes and others you didn't see - because that's the only way I can calm the torture for a while. I have no angelic weapon but I have a demon blade! For fighting Demons the contrary would be more useful. My blood is darker than sin and last but not least you could give me life again! No wonder, I do have three lives like Demons! But... but in spite of all this, I still fully intend to stand against them and if I'm to believe my bracelet, I didn't give any advantage to the demon side but, as would say Nyras's priest, it doesn't read the soul. But I will see my cursed demon blood fail in its plans!"
"Is there anything else of this kind I should know?"
"Oh... Remember when I told you I was able to win the Archangels and Demons games while being on my own? I usually played Demons. I won my first game at ten."
"I see."
"Tyrael, please, don't be so cold to me. I'm not your enemy. I didn't betray you to Rashiel!"
"Why are you so sure he's still not here, listening to us?"
"Because, contrary to you, Rashiel does leave when I tell him so," she snapped.
"How do you know?"
"I'm outside the pentacle! Rashiel has only been waiting for one single time when I would be outside a pentacle so he could take me and bring me to Him. Thus his habit of trying to infuriate me."
"Alright, alright, I believe you!"
"I didn't give your name to Rashiel," she pleaded.
"What would a Demon - or a fallen Angel - have done with an Angel's name?"
"The power of the name is very important."
"I know this!"
Tyrael remained open-mouthed an instant as realisation struck him.
"Yet... yet I heard his," he said slowly.
A faint gleam of hope appeared in Delilah's eyes.
"I told you to stay near, but unseen because I didn't want Rashiel to see you," she said softly.
"So you let me hear the whole conversation, knowing I would more than probably distrust you after?"
"Yes I did," she confirmed ruefully. "Didn't I tell you that the time of revelations had come and that none of us would like it?"
"Why do you do that?"
"Because I trust you and your judgement. Don't condemn me like that. Lately you've been with me all the time. Do I behave like a Demon? Did I betray you to Rashiel like Shela thought I would do?"
"Rashiel said you were His bride-to-be."
"And this is how He destroyed everything..." she said very low. "I could have dealt with His dark desire but... He's fallen in love with me. My mother went too far already but I'm going even further!"
Tyrael remained silent a moment, stunned by her reaction, and then reacted:
"No! Delilah, listen! All this is pure nonsense! I don't care if He loves you or not, if you are fighting Him, then you don't love Him! You can't love Him, you possibly can't. Come with me, I can still save you!"
She had a very gentle smile.
"You can't love Him, can you?" he asked again, softly, his eyes begging her to tell him he was right.
"So you still trust me?" she murmured. "Thank you, Tyrael, it means a great deal to me. It means now I can resume the fight with my soul at peace."
"What are you saying? We already had this discussion countless times! We are fighting side by side!"
"No, Tyrael, this last invocation was the end of our partnership. I have to find he who's missing before Rashiel and he won't listen to me if I'm with an Angel, for he fears them. Furthermore I'll probably go in places where you'll feel ill at ease. I can't force you into that. I would already have avoided you this 'encounter' with Rashiel if I could have, but I thought you had the right to know what they were planning and I thought too that knowing the truth about me would lead you to leave me more willingly than if you hadn't known. Anyway that's probably what Furtifer's priests thought when they commanded me to tell you everything. So now, you've heard my confession."
"Everything I told you when you called me... you already knew!"
"Pretty much, yes. I didn't know you took the books. Actually the priests took the hint but now you understand why they couldn't let me go. I was already too dangerous and they had no desire to see me become an angel knight instead of a demon knight."
"You would have been safe from Him."
"No. You see, He never lost track of His long-lost halfling family and He began looking for me as soon as He learnt who was my mother."
"Why didn't I ever feel your demon blood?"
"There isn't much left, for many generations passed. And you never really saw me; you saw Lilith's daughter; for you I exist only through my mother. You never protected yourself in front of me, because you implicitly trusted me the way you trusted Lilith. Remember Furtifer's temple when you didn't feel my pain at first? You were expecting my mother's touch, not mine."
Tyrael refused to hear such accusations and changed subject, protesting:
"But I can protect you! Leaving me behind is pure madness!"
"Letting you come with me is worse, believe me."
"Who is Rshkiel?" asked Tyrael, wondering if her reluctance wasn't coming from this particular Demon, since he had seen her paling when hearing his name.
"Hush! Do not pronounce his name, Rashiel is listening for it!"
"Who is he?" insisted Tyrael.
"Ah... I was wondering if you would ask... He's a fallen Angel also... In fact, he may be the one Nyrka called 'he who seeks freedom', but I'm not sure. His name should have been familiar to you, but they hid it from you... He's the previous Angel of Guardians."
Tyrael's surprise was boundless.
"Why would He look for the previous Angel of Guardians? Even fallen, R... he who's missing won't ally with Demons, will he?"
"I'm sure he won't... unless I tell him to. Don't be surprised, Tyrael, I know only one reason why He may be looking from he who's missing: He knows what couldn't be known... He who's missing and I are blood brothers. I'm sure He wants to use it to His advantage, but I don't know which of us is most important to His eyes and which of us is only a way to force the other. I don't know it and it worries me because he would do anything for me to be safe and so would I. I know he seeks redemption but he would forsake it for my sake. He would rather be doomed for all eternity than to see me harmed in any way."
"Thus Shuqra's warning, I guess."
"Yes... maybe. But I don't think I can resist if his life is in danger. That's why I have to find him before Rashiel and find a safe place for him to hide."
"I don't think he would like to see you condemn humankind for his safety."
"Maybe. But the life of my caring brother against those of people who have only spite for me?"
"I understand," he said softly.
Delilah looked down a brief instant and when she looked up again, her face was decided again, the face of a Guardian knowing what she had to do.
"Promise me something, Tyrael, and you Angels cannot break your word."
"What is it?" he asked nervously.
"Do not come to me unless I call you. Do not come to me of your own free will, like you did with my mother."
"No! If I can help or save you, will I remain indifferent and let you die?"
"Yes, even in those cases. Please. I need this certitude for being able to go on."
He sighed. He knew she wouldn't change her mind and that his only choice was no choice at all: he had to surrender.
"Alright, I promise," he said gloomily.
"Thank you, Tyrael. Now you can bring back Shela to Heaven. Chryraz's temple is near. I'm sincerely sorry for what I did to her, but I had no choice."
Tyrael lifted Shela's body in his arms.
"Delilah... you won't ever call me back, will you? That's why you made me promise?"
"Yes, that's why. But be ready, we never know. Except that I can't guarantee you a proper call, if I want the angelic armies to come fight by my side. Will you promise me that too? Will your armies answer my call if I manage to lure the Demons outside?"
"I promise this too... even if I have to take Michael's place."
She had a ghostly smile.
"One last thing... If we happen to meet again and you see that the silver of my bracelet is black or even only tarnished, go away and never come near me, for you'll be in danger."
"I know. Delilah, why won't you call me back?" he asked desperately.
"Tyrael, I will never forget that you tried to get me out of all this before it even happened. I will always remember this."
She looked down, hastily erased her pentacle and, not even bothering to change, sat sidesaddle on Cinnabar's back before looking one last time at Tyrael.
"I told you I went further than my mother did and that's true. But for something, I did the contrary of what she did and, true to myself, I even did it worse... Unknowingly she fell for someone from the demon side and knowingly I..."
She never finished her sentence. Cinnabar understood and left; she didn't add another word. Tyrael was looking at her, speechless, still holding Shela in his arms, and he mechanically noticed she was taking the gelding along. As he watched her disappear between the trees there was something like despair in his blue eyes.
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