Kobal
Stepping into the room with the carousel again, I gazed around at the large number of demons and skelleins gathered within. The skelleins were passing around canteens I knew were filled with either their beer or mjéod.
Holding River’s hand, I led her across the glass of the carousel and down a set of steps toward where Corson, Bale, Verin, Shax, Morax, Magnus, and Hawk waited for us. They stopped speaking as we approached. Slowly, all of them and the troops standing behind them, went down to one knee.
River gave a strange stutter step as she surveyed the crowd kneeling before us. Hawk remained standing, his head bouncing around the others before his gaze came back to us. His eyes fell on me before he went to one knee also. River stepped forward, her hand extended as if to stop him, but I pulled her back and secured her against my side.
“We are their king and queen,” I murmured in her ear.
“We’re not even married,” she whispered back.
“You wear my marks. That is all that is required in our world.”
“But Hawk—”
“Is now a demon.”
I nuzzled her temple before turning and gesturing for everyone to rise. They did so in one fluid motion. I stood and surveyed the troops gathered before me. Many of them may not survive this, but they were willing to lay down their lives to destroy Lucifer.
I’d never thought I would think it in my lifetime, but I was tired of fighting. I’d spent my whole life relishing the thrill of the battle, the blood drenching me, and the screams of the dying as they echoed in my ears. Now, I wanted to spend the rest of River’s life with her and our children, living in as much peace as we would be able to find if we succeeded in destroying Lucifer.
Magnus held out his hand to stop me when I started to walk past him. “There is something I would like to discuss with you.”
“Then do so,” I told him.
His gaze slid to River before coming back to me. “Privately.”
River stiffened against my side. “We will discuss it in front of her. There are no secrets between us.”
River gawked at me for a minute before a small smile curved her mouth. She rested her hand on my chest before turning to focus on Magnus. “Away from them then,” Magnus said quietly and waved a hand at the troops gathered behind him.
I glanced over the hundred plus demons and skelleins gathered a few yards away. They were all more focused on talking amongst themselves and examining some of the human weapons than they were us. The skelleins were busy drinking with increasing enthusiasm. If I didn’t know they fought just as well drunk as they did sober, I would have called a halt to it.
I gestured for Hawk, Corson, Verin, Morax, Shax, and Bale to follow us away from the group and toward the back corner of the room.
Magnus turned and waited for everyone to join us before pinning his gaze on River. “There is more going on with you than meets the eye.”
“Excuse me?” she blurted.
I released her hand and wrapped my arm around her waist, drawing her closer against my side as my eyes narrowed on Magnus. The others all exchanged a startled look.
“When I retreated here, I also spent a lot of time researching and reading through some of the many scrolls demons have kept to document our history,” Magnus stated. “When I learned Kobal was searching for Lucifer’s child, I decided to dip into the history of the humans who we know are descendants of the fallen angels.”
“How did you learn I was looking for her?” I demanded.
“Word travels swiftly between your followers, even those of us who remained within,” he replied with a flippant wave of his hand that set my teeth on edge. I reached out to break the fingers of that hand, but River seized my wrist and pulled it back. Magnus caught my intent and dropped his hand, folding both of them behind his back.
“And what did you discover?” River prodded.
Magnus cast me a wary glance before continuing. “Some of them were extremely powerful, as you know. Others were different but managed to keep those differences hidden for the most part and slipped through unnoticed. Still, others were some twisted pricks who inflicted a lot of damage before they were taken out,” Magnus continued.
“I know this,” River said.
“We don’t know which ones were direct descendants of Lucifer’s line, and which ones were from the other angels, but we do know many of those who were created by the angels. Jesus walked on water and turned water into wine. I am assuming these were illusions. The angel’s ability to cast illusions is not as intricate as mine, but some do possess it. Abraham spoke with God. Moses parted the Red Sea—”
“Azote had telekinesis,” River said with a note of dawning understanding in her voice. “Which is probably what Moses used for the water.”
“Yes. I also believe Moses possessed fire and telecommunication. Rasputin was extremely difficult to kill. Samuel spoke with God. Samson was undeniably strong. Daniel and Elijah were prophets. Noah was also a prophet and lived to be a very old age, far longer than any mortal should. Jephthah also spoke with God and offered up his daughter so he could be king.”
“Kobal believes my ability to draw on life is also what some of them had and why they were able to live for so long,” River said.
“Which makes sense,” Magnus said. “Even though you are part human, perhaps you could live to be nearly a thousand years old like Noah, maybe more, but that is not what makes you different from the others of your line.”
“What does then?” Corson inquired as he rested his hand against the rock wall and leaned on it.
“Over the course of six thousand years, there have been descendants who could cast illusions, speak with God or communicate telepathically as some demons and angels can do, see the future, cause things to catch on fire, wield telekinesis, and survive things no normal human ever could have.”
“And?” I prodded when Magnus hesitated.
“And not one of them was able to absorb the power of life like she does.”
“I don’t understand. You just agreed that some of those descendants were most likely drawing on the pulse of life around them in order to live to be so old,” River said.
“Yes, I believe that is true, but not one of them could turn it into a ball of energy and wield it as a weapon like you do. The angels can, of course, but none of the offspring of the fallen angels has ever possessed the ability. Yes, Lucifer is the strongest of the angels, both in Hell and Heaven, but he had other offspring, and none of them could wield life such as you do. One of the documents I read theorized the ability to do so was the one thing that had not survived whatever transition it was that the fallen angels went through. You are proof that theory is wrong.”
River rocked back on her heels before glancing up at me. My hand tightened on her waist as I contemplated Magnus’s words. What did it mean that River could do it when no other had been able to before, or at least they’d never been able to do it as powerfully as she could?
“Did the opening of the gateway to Hell cause the ability to manifest in her?” Bale inquired.
“No, I’d experienced the sparks before the gateway opened. Nowhere near as strongly as I do now, but it did happen,” River said.
Her fingers went to where her necklace had always hung; they tapped against her bare skin before her hand fell away.
“Maybe my ancestors also experienced those sparks, but never fully developed the ability,” River suggested.
“I don’t think that’s likely. The power in them may have only been slight compared to you, but there would still be some record of it somewhere over six thousand years.” Magnus’s silver eyes burned into mine as he spoke. “I didn’t realize how much some of our ancestors watched over and observed the humans and the offspring the angels left behind, until I started digging deeper into the scrolls, but I learned a lot while I was going through them. There is more to her.”
River’s fingers curled into my chest. “What though?”
“I believe some of your vast power with life is because you have found each other and claimed the other as your Chosen. The discovery of a Chosen makes a demon stronger, even a mortal demon such as yourself,” Magnus replied.
“What do you believe the rest of it is?” I demanded.
Magnus shook his head. “I don’t know. What I do know is that she is unlike any who have walked before her, and I believe she will be the end of Lucifer.”
“No pressure,” River murmured, and I squeezed her closer. “Why are you bringing this up?”
“Because I felt Kobal should know exactly what he is dealing with here.”
“And what is that?” Hawk demanded.
“The first true World Walker,” Magnus said with a reverence I’d never heard from the often glib demon.