Day 3, 9:37 am
Sunday, 31 March 2233
Denman Glacier, East Antarctica
Abaddon and Azazel’s crunching boots came to a halt over Lydia’s body, blood oozing from the switchblade Azazel had driven into her thigh. Azazel laughed sardonically. “I see you’re running out of legs to stand on.”
Lydia hissed at him. “Just kill me and spare me from having to listen to any more of your absurd witticisms.”
“I agree,” Azazel replied. “It’s time to detach your head from your body so that that smart mouth of yours can be silenced. I’ll be kind and allow you to choose your demise. Disembowelment, a slit throat or being left naked to freeze on the ice?” He reached for his knife and started slashing at her clothing.
Abaddon stilled Azazel’s hand and leered over her. “Wait, don’t be hasty. Let’s have some amusement and entertainment from this young woman. Tie her up.” Turning to Lydia, he said, “My dear Lydia, Onesiphorus is dead, Simeon is dead, Captain Cornelius wants you dead or alive. You’ve really left a trail of destruction behind you and played right into our hands. Do you know why we are the real good guys? Because we are so good at being bad.” His evil laugh echoed across the valley.
Azazel grabbed a cable tie and flipped Lydia roughly onto her stomach, forcing her face into a mound of ice. He tied her hands behind her back, pausing to cruelly pinch her bottom and licking the blood from her injured thigh in delirious glee.
Abaddon slapped him. “She’s mine. Don’t waste time.”
Azazel laughed at Lydia. “The boss wants to have a little fun with you first.” Seeing the panic rise in Lydia’s eyes, he continued, taunting her, “Do you understand? He wants to know you in the biblical sense. You get it, you dimwit Christ follower? Like how Cain knew his wife and she conceived. Luckily for you, I am in Sapphira’s body.” Giggling, he bent over, hoisted Lydia onto his shoulders and carried her into the Flying M, Abaddon following.
Inside, the two demons immediately noticed the 3D printer still reeling out the kilometres-long rope for the descent into the deep ice shaft. Abaddon nodded in admiration. “Seems the rope will be ready in ten minutes. Ah, my dear Lydia, you really laid out the red carpet for us. And all this for love? To save your boyfriend? Azazel, put her on that table and prepare her for some adult entertainment. Perhaps she’ll realise that I’m a more reliable boyfriend. I, for instance, cannot die. After some fun with her, we’ll extinguish her brief life like a candle in the wind.”
Lydia looked at the two devils with their glowing red eyes and prayed silently, desperately: “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me once more, and let me, with one blow, take revenge on these demons for my lost friends.”
Azazel dropped Lydia onto the table and slapped her hard when she began to struggle. He was momentarily distracted when he noticed the satellite phone. “Boss, let’s check in on Nimrod?”
“Be quick!”
Azazel called Nimrod’s burner phone number and waited for three rings. Nimrod was panting as if he were running. “Hello?”
“Nimrod, did you succeed with Onesiphorus?”
“Yes, I just managed to get away in time. The idiot had a self-detonator and blew himself up along with the house. He’s dead.”
“But did you obtain the information that you were tasked toretrieve?”
“Of course. I had to torture him for it. He was one stubborn old man, but I literally extracted the truth from him. I eventually secured his Fallen Angel file. It has all the information we need, including details about heaven’s Chamber of Laws.”
“Is there anything we should be aware of at this moment?”
“According to Onesiphorus’s research, the Fallen Angel has a scroll with him that may prove useful for accessing the Chamber.”
“Good. We’ll retrieve it. Did anyone see you?”
“No, I left no trail. I’m not stupid. Any man or animal that saw me is dead or eaten.”
“We all know about your ravenous appetite. And how is our locust project proceeding?”
“The swarm is 800 kilometres from the Antarctic now. They should arrive in two or three hours. They stopped for ‘snacks’ in Cape Town and Madagascar.”
Azazel was pleased. “They’ll be in time for the next phase of our plan. Once we have secured the Fallen Angel, we’ll be ready to storm heaven.”
Nimrod replied, “There’s nothing left for me to do here in Israel.”
“Spawn one of the locust men and fly down here as fast as you can. You don’t want to miss the fun.”
“On my way.”
Azazel disconnected.
Abaddon, who had been listening intently, smiled in approval. “Nimrod, you beautiful mutant!”
Lydia had not heard the entire exchange. She was drifting in and out of consciousness as a result of the trauma and blood loss. In her delirium, she remembered a day she spent with Onesiphorus. It had been seven years ago when she had first visited him in Israel. Her counsellor had introduced her to him, believing the trip to Israel would aid her recovery from post-traumatic disorders. Lydia and Onesiphorus had been following a path along the Sea of Galilee. As always, Onesiphorus spoke cryptically and with few words, forcing her to answer her own questions. They stopped and gazed out over the expanse of the azure sea. “How do I handle all this?” Lydia asked him. “I have failed at so many things.” He replied, “And you have succeeded at so many things.” She was annoyed with his response. “You don’t understand, Onesiphorus. I am on a path that leads nowhere.” As a flock of white doves passed overhead, he looked up with interest and said, “There is always a destination – you might just not know it yet.” She looked at him intently. “What do you think my path is?” Onesiphorus pointed to the ground, “Where are you walking?” She replied, “Right next to you.” He answered with a slight smile, “That’s not the full answer. You are looking at it through only one reality. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Lydia woke with a start, eyes sparkling with new hope. She closed her eyes and knew; I have the weapon. I hold the power to destroy strongholds.
Abaddon and Azazel were huddled over the satellite phone, wrapping up their conversation with Nimrod. Silently, Lydia curled herself into a tight ball, hugging her knees to her chest. She manoeuvred her left leg between her hands secured with cable-tied hands, then repeated the action with her right leg. This enabled her to bring her hands to the front of her body instead of the back. Straining again, she leaned forward and, using her mouth, secured the switchblade that Azazel had driven into her thigh. She pulled out the blade with a mighty tug, ignoring the searing pain. But her muffled grunts did not escape Abaddon and Azazel, and, in unison, they leapt forward to subdue her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Azazel yelled.
With the knife in her mouth and hands still tied, she lunged forward and slashed Abaddon’s cheek. He howled in pain. Using the same momentum, she rolled to the floor, curling tightly to bring her hands to her mouth and slashing the cable tie securing her wrists. Azazel tried to lunge at her, but she quickly sidestepped, delivering a forceful backward kick that smashed into his chest. By now, Abaddon had regained his composure and thundered forward in a furious range. Lydia, however, had the advantage of knowing every nook and cranny of the Flying M. In one swift move, she pressed the emergency button that released the oxygen masks from the overhead panel, trapping Abaddon in a tangle of elastic tubes. It wouldn’t hold him very long, but it would have to do for now.
Lydia raced to the pilot’s door and yanked it open. She hesitated momentarily at the sight of the two-metre drop onto the ice. Behind her, Abaddon and Azazel were rapidly closing in on her. They were just two steps away and there was no time to think. Lydia took a deep breath and leapt out into the frigid surroundings, using her training to minimize the impact of her fall on the ice-covered terrain. She leaned back, enabling her body to slide smoothly across the sleek, sloping frozen surface.
Glancing back and upward, Lydia observed that Abaddon and Azazel were in the process of lowering the aircraft steps. They wouldn’t risk jumping down as she had. And she knew she was lucky to get away without injury. Lydia got up on her feet and sprinted away as fast as she could – her mind clear, her focus sharp.