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Lauren found herself lying down, gazing up at an industrial light fixture above her. “Henry?” She demanded weakly, sitting up, finding the child sitting cross-legged beside her. “What have you done?”
He looked mortally wounded. “I ... I ... I saved you,” he said. She realized he had the wooden chest containing the pages of the Codex inside. “I saved the pages from the Devil’s Book from falling into Enlil’s hands.”
“But ...” Lauren sputtered. “How ... why ... where are we?”
“This is the place where the rest of the book is kept. The Lady ... the Queen of Heaven ... she told you it would be safe here, right?”
“How did you know about The Lady?” Lauren took the case from his hands.
“She talked to me, too,” he said. “She came to me in a dream. She said I had to help. She said I had to. She told me everything I had to do. I did everything just the way she said ... just the way Uncle Michael taught me. I didn’t mess anything up. I did what I was told.”
“Uncle Michael?” In her confusion, Lauren struggled to admonish him, but the words wouldn’t come. Finally, she managed, “Where are you supposed to be right now?”
“Taking a nap at Aunt Tima’s.”
“You have to go back,” Lauren said. “I have to go back to Slovenia. It’s more than just seeing the pages safe. I have to stop Enlil.”
“But ... Enlil will be hard to beat,” Henry said, almost in tears. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Momma, please. Momma we need you. That Devil will hurt you if he can.”
“Hurt me? No, sweetheart. I’m the only one who can defeat him. Remember when we were with Uncle Michael? They told me I had a mission, that ... that my sacrifice would be great, but my children would be protected. You don’t have to worry. You and your brother are safe, but you have to do your part. You have to stay where you belong and keep an eye out for your brother.”
Henry threw his arms around her neck and held onto her for a long moment, burying his face in her hair.
When he let her go, Lauren balled up her courage and got to her feet. “So, where are we?”
“This is the big Library at Stockholm,” Henry said snaking his hand into hers. “The rest of the Codex’s pages are in there ... in that vault.” Henry pointed to a thick door. “This is a safe place to leave the pages. The sacred ground you put in the box will keep Enlil from getting it.”
“But ... the page that was stolen in Prague ...” Lauren said, trying to wrap her brain around everything.
“The man the police officer shot had it,” Henry said. “I couldn’t get it from him.”
“I’ll get it.” Lauren dropped down in front of him. “You have to send me back.”
“I don’t want to.” Henry pouted. “Momma, you don’t know what he can do.”
“I know what he’ll do if he’s not stopped.” She reached for her son and pulled him into her arms. “You need to go home. Stay with your brother. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
Henry clung to her. “I’m scared for you.”
“Sweet boy, I have armies of my own,” Lauren said. “Well ... not exactly my army, but Uncle Michael’s army fights at my side. Send me back, Henry. I have to do this. I’m afraid Enlil may try to use you to defeat me. If you and John Carter aren’t safe, I can’t do what I have to.”
Henry considered her for a moment. The child looked so like his father when he was being serious. Reluctantly, he did as she commanded.
* * *
When the euphoria of being displaced began to abate, she found herself whisked back into the fray. The battle had continued in the scant moments she had been gone, and when she became aware of her surroundings, the dark forces appeared to be winning.
“Lauren!” Tomáš was at her side before she could act. “The pages of the Codex?”
“Safe,” she said, inspecting him. A horrific wound spread across his forehead, as if he’d been clawed by a hellhound. A creature she couldn’t identify lay smoldering at his feet, it erupted into flame and was quickly consumed. Tomáš’ own blood mingled with her dried blood on his shirt. Lauren forgot the battle and pressed her hand to his forehead, closing her eyes. A heat seemed to pass from her hand to his flesh and the blood faded as the wound disappeared.
He swayed but steadied himself. They leaned on each other a moment. Michael swooped down and landed behind her. “Is Henry okay?”
“Yes.” Lauren turned and threw her arms around her brother, hugging him fiercely.
“We invoke the Queen of Angels that she grants her guardians to keep your children,” Michael said. “But now it’s time. You have work to do.”
Lauren nodded. She looked for her sword, finding it as it had been when she’d been swept away. She struggled to free it.
“You won’t need that,” Michael said. “Leave it there to bear witness, a sacred cross ... a holy weapon. I am your Champion.”
“And I am your hired gun,” Tomáš reminded her.
She turned to Bertram, drinking in the scene. The demons, wraiths, and other twisted creatures were held back by an unseen force that rose around the churchyard, yet they still flung themselves towards the sacred ground. Like the one that had attacked Tomáš, occasionally one broke through the barrier, only to burn up like a vampire in broad daylight.
Michael’s army passed through the shield unfettered, meeting the demons in the air and on the ground. Enlil now stood in the middle of the car park, their vehicles tossed aside and crushed like toy cars. He seemed to be fading, struggling to stand his ground as he faced off with the Vatican police. Bertram shouted prayers. Lucca had run out of holy water and lit incense in a thurible. The perfume of frankincense and myrrh blended with the stench of rot and brimstone that rose from the corrupted ground. Lauren could no longer smell the forest fire, even as the smoke rose above the distant trees.
“Bind him! Now! Lauren!” Bertram instructed, his cross glowing red as Enlil focused his attack on the holy symbol. The Gendarmerie and the Watchers had held him at bay in her absence, but they lacked her strength ... and her gifts.
She moved over to Bertram and to the Demonic being poised to strike. “All-Father in Heaven, by your command, I serve as your Hand. I bind these minions of Darkness, these demons and wraiths who battle for authority over the heavens and the earth. I bind all the foes who stand against me and our allies!” She threw out her hand and a wicked white light sent a shockwave towards the heavens. It rolled across the fields around them, and into the woods, quenching the fires. Demons and tortured souls screamed a blood-chilling cry at her words. “I bind all the wicked spirits of the New World Order. I bind you demons of Enlil’s kingdom! I bind you, the Dark One himself; Lucifer, Deceiver, Fallen Angel. I bind you, Enlil!” Her throat burned with the force of her words. “I loose legions upon legions of the All-Father’s forces to minister to the needs of believers; to cast out the evil that overtakes men’s hearts.”
The ground beneath her feet trembled and the trees bowed and waved with the force of the battle. She placed her hand on the pommel of the sword in the ground as she prayed. The hilt grew hot against her flesh, but she continued as Enlil roared with fury, now appearing in his true form. It was the horrible being found in the Codex.
The sketch in the Codex Gigas had been stunningly accurate, as the winged beast snarled and threatened to charge, his crown of horns appearing as lethal as his sharp teeth and wicked claws. His wings flayed out behind him, with sharp spurs.
Undaunted, Lauren continued. Her knees ache and the muscles in her back and calves cramped. Her head throbbed. She forced back the pain of her body as she pressed on. “I unleash the spirit of understanding and wisdom, the spirit of counsel; the might and the power of Truth. I call on my beloved Archangel Michael, Chosen of the Most-High,” she called. Her voice thundered in her own ears.
“Chosen?” The Demon roared, whipping towards Michael. “You are the Chosen ...” It seemed surprised; stunned in fact. “No!”
Michael stood beside his sister now with his hand on her shoulder. “My sister is the Hand of the All-Father. I am his Chosen Emissary.”
Enlil took a step back, stumbled over a rock, but regained his footing.
Lauren continued, finding Michael’s voice joining hers. “May the Most-High god’s will be done on earth as in the heavens! Satan, Lucifer, Devil, Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, The Dark One, The Dragon ... Father of Lies ... Beelzebub ... Enlil, and by whatever other names you are known as, we cast you back into the depths of the fiery pit from whence you came! In the name of the Queen of Heaven and the All-Father, Anu; by the authority appointed me by the ancient gods, I cast you out, Satan.”
Michael charged forward, wielding his mighty blade, he struck, but the weapon fractured with a metallic chord as it contacted the monster’s scaly flesh. A menacing laugh erupted from the Dark One. “You have no power over me!” Enlil roared.
“No, but I do,” Lauren snagged her sword from sacred ground. It yielded and she rushed past her brother who fell aside. The Dark One matched the swing of her sword with his mace. Her blade cut through the gopherwood staff. The diadem — a precious ruby — fell onto holy ground. It shattered with an unholy scream and burst into smoke before disintegrating into nothingness.
A second strike of her blade contacted Enlil’s flesh and pierced his black heart. All the wickedness contained within his evil soul escaped with a force. The wooden box containing the last missing page of the Codex fell to the ground from the void left by the disintegrating soul.
The shockwave of the Dark One’s destruction knocked Lauren from her feet. She fell into Tomáš, who landed hard beneath her with a grunt. A stillness followed, as she lay stunned, the last of her energy drained. Her breath came in panting gasps as she gazed into a gray and empty sky. No angels, nor demons remained. The fog had faded, and a dulcet moon appeared briefly, before blossoming cumulonimbus clouds built quickly. A drop of rain fell on her forehead as it began to sprinkle.
Bertram dropped beside her, his hand going to her shoulder, as he gazed down into her eyes. He ministered to her soul, praying over her as he made a cross on her forehead with the raindrop.
“Michael! Tomáš!” She couldn’t even form the words fast enough before the form of Simon, looking more like a zombie than Gendarmerie, staggered back into the churchyard. He stood holding the missing wooden box. He ran his hand over the case with a lustful look in his icy blue eyes.
“Drop it.” Tomáš stood with his pistol drawn. It had been worthless against the wraiths and demons. “Your master has been destroyed.”
Simon’s brow lifted and a laugh escaped from his chest, blood sputtered at his lips as he stumbled, and then righted himself. The front of his shirt was damp with his wanning lifeforce. A pistol hung in his hand. “You have no authority over me or my master.” The man coughed. “I am ... an Agent of Enlil himself. Your father thought he could turn me ... save me ...”
“My father was a good man,” Tomáš stated flatly.
“He offered me a chance to repent, to return the page ... but my master would have none of it. I did as I was commanded. I could not be stopped.”
“You have been stopped,” Tomáš said, anger at the man’s betrayal was evident.
“But, Detective ... your weapon ... is empty.” Simon laughed, blood gurgling from his mouth as he coughed. “When my master’s book is remade, I shall see him restored to his rightful place among the stars, and no one can stop him; not even you.” Simon stumbled a step, redirecting his pistol towards Lauren’s head. “Foolish mortal ...” he sneered, staring her down. Lauren froze, prepared to meet her end. But a stunned expression appeared on his face, and his icy white eyes widened in shock. He looked down at the fragment of the blade that pierced his chest, catching the bloody end of it, as if to steady himself.
“Foolish demon spawn,” Michael said. His broken blade protruded from the man’s chest. The man sputtered and hissed, writhing as an unholy scream pierced the sky as his form was twisted into a demonic creature that was hideous to behold. The tang of brimstone and sulfur filled the air as he collapsed. Smoke rose around the corpse as it erupted into flame. A stench of fetid rot joined the putrid odor. Lauren wanted to turn away, but her eye remained fixed as the Dark One’s minion began to seize then immolate into ash. The unscathed wooden box was all that remained in the scorched mark on the fouled ground.
Michael took the wooden box and pressed it into his sister’s arms. He gazed down at her and ran a hand over her cheek. “I cannot stay. I am no longer needed here. Balance has been restored.”
“But ... why ...” Lauren started, but stopped, trying to think about how to ask what she needed to know. “Why did Enlil seemed surprised that you were the Chosen One?”
“Because of the prophesy ... in the Christian story, the son of God is sent to become a teacher of men ...” he said. “But in the Akkadian legends, the child of The Chosen One will be the savior of men ...”
Realization hit her like a punch to the stomach. “Your child?” She muttered. “Not ... not mine?”
Michael smiled beatifically. “My child ...” He nodded. “Call Kitty when you can. She has news.”
Lauren felt her spirit lighten when she realized what this meant. “Michael, wait,” she said, but before she could continue, he shimmered into nothingness.
“Lauren?” Tomáš was pinned beneath her. His gaze lifted as the victorious cries of the other wolves, now restored to their canine forms, found their way to them. She could feel Tomáš’ arm wrap around her, as he pushed himself up to his elbow. “Lauren?” He gasped, sitting up. Lauren’s gaze remained fixed on the sky above. She could feel her body sprawled out like a starfish. Her bones felt leaden, but her heart light. “Lauren?” Tomáš caught her hand. Bertram patted her leg. Her name repeated in echoes around her.
“It is finished.”