Daystar Read online

  Daystar

  Book 3 of the Morningstar Trilogy

  By Darcy Town

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  Thank you to all of my readers! I love hearing from you!

  Please let me know what you thought over at my blog or Facebook page:

  http://navigatorsanddemons.wordpress.com/

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  Note: In this book, I tool around with physics, chemistry, material, universal, sciency stuffs…so right, wrong, or stupid…doesn’t matter. They’re angels.

  And to perv up the mix – unless otherwise stated, the angels are totally nude.

  Enjoy!

  Before Common Era

  Night had fallen and clouds covered the sky. Cold and murky water rushed across farmlands and forests. Cities disappeared without warning. Animals drowned. Human bodies floated to the surface of the forming sea. Clouds broke into a tempest of thunder and lightning. Rain battered the land that was yet untouched by the raging flood.

  The waters rose.

  The fallen angels Andrealphus and Belial flew over the growing sea, their flight aided by Lilliam sylphs. They met with Berith. He hung over the turbulent water; his massive body strained the sylphs that held him up. They watched the ocean together and observed what rode the waves.

  Paimon leaned over the side of a tiny boat and adjusted the small sail. He skimmed over the waves, bouncing with the rise and fall of the sea. He grinned, drunk. His bright red hair was the only streak of color on the dark water.

  A bolt of green lightning illuminated the sky. The black water reflected the trio of Fallen. Paimon looked up. He shot them a wild-eyed smile and waved. “Greetings! Why are you here?”

  Andrealphus folded his arms across his lanky frame. “What is the point of this?”

  “It’s obvious!” Furcas dropped from the clouds. He was wreathed in electricity and wind. He twisted in the air, lithe and flexible. He flashed a boyish grin at the three, flipped, and landed in Paimon’s boat. “It was this or another of our cities.”

  Paimon whooped and pointed. “There he is!”

  A glowing form burned beneath the surface of the water. Paimon raced to the front of the boat as he tracked the swimmer. “This will keep him occupied for awhile. A long while at the rate the water is rising, so many things to search!”

  Belial bared her razor-sharp teeth. “It is your turn to watch him and you decide to allow him to flood a continent!”

  Paimon and Furcas looked at each other like children who had been caught doing something naughty. Furcas shot wind into their sail and the craft raced away from the others.

  Paimon lit a pipe and blew smoke back at the trio. His voice carried over the wind, “You’re no fun!”

  Berith’s low voice rumbled like thunder, “The Lilliam were warned at least. None were caught in this. It only hurts the humans.”

  Andrealphus gazed into the water. “Who is going down there to get him?”

  “Why do you have to get him?” Furcas flew over and rolled as electricity spread out from his body. “He enjoys doing what he’s doing.”

  Belial pointed a bladed finger at Lucifer as he swam through flooded towns. “He is insane! She is not in the water; she is not in the air. She is not the ground. She is not in the deserts, or the cities, or the sacrificial idols! She is not here, not on this planet!” The force of her voice parted the waves.

  Lucifer fell to the soggy ground. He was brilliantly bright and covered in blue flames. He looked from side to side, confused. Fish flopped all around him. He shook out his dark brown hair and blinked water out of his eyes. He spoke to himself, “Ladriam loves the water. She will be here. She always loved to swim.”

  Belial went white and shrieked, “Ladriam is still imprisoned, you fool!”

  The Fallen bent against the sound.

  Lucifer’s mouth twitched. He closed his eyes. “No, Ladriam loves the water. She will be here! She is just hiding, playing a game. That is all.” He nodded and called to the sea, “Ladriam!” He dove into the wall of water and swam deeper.

  Belial pulled at her blonde hair as the water reformed over his head. “I am sick of his insanity. He needs to focus on his restoration not this useless search!”

  Berith sighed. “He will return to himself in time. He always does.”

  Andrealphus turned to follow Lucifer’s progress. “And then he will try and kill himself again.”

  Paimon rowed over. “So what? He cannot succeed.”

  Berith glared. “The collateral damage he wreaks upon his children is enough of a reason to stay his hand.” He sighed and looked to Belial and Andrealphus. “But they are right; a part of him enjoys the search. Let him swim, it is the only hope he expresses and some hope is better than no hope.”

  The five of them stared into the dark waters; the land beneath the waves illuminated only by the ever-burning body of Lucifer Morningstar as he searched for his love among the dead and drowned.

  ***

  Monday

  Silence reigned on a frozen plain in the midst of Greenland. The snow on the ground was solid and packed down. There was barely a breeze on the air. The stars and moon bathed the surface in white light. It would have been beautiful if not for the surface destruction.

  An impact crater was evidence of the first wave of angelic attacks on the planet; thick maroon liquid filled the pit and it would not freeze or harden. The second blot on the ice was a rent in the earth, a hole that originated from the depths of the City. An army poured out of the tunnel and onto the plain. Lucifer and Dahlia stood at the head of the Lilliam soldiers. They stared into the sky. Legions of angels pierced the shield around the planet. They descended as a spiral of white light and heavenly voices.

  Lucifer took Dahlia’s hand. He pulled her in for a kiss, pouring his feelings of love and protection through their empathic link. The air around them crackled with energy. The ice at their feet melted and turned to moss.

  Dahlia gazed into his eyes. “We will be fine.”

  Lucifer smiled grimly. He stepped aside and took a practice swing with his baseball bat.

  Dahlia rested her dual-bladed scythe against the packed ice. She stretched, letting her honey-colored braid fall to the side. She wore light armor to cover her small frame from immediate harm. She looked at the Fallen and Lilliam City Guard that waited behind them. “There are so many angels, so few of us.”

  Lucifer nodded. “But we are here to buy time only, not to win a war.”

  Belial smirked. “Way to think big, Lucifer.”

  Berith laughed and unsheathed two of his swords. “Thinking big got us lost the last time.”

  Andrealphus squinted and pointed upwards. “The machine is beyond the veil.”

  Dahlia looked up, her red eyes flashed in the moonlight. “As we thought, they will not bring it within our reach.”

  “So they think.” Paimon pulled his goggles over his green eyes and fired up his jet pack. “Ready, preggo?”

  Furcas grimaced and double-checked his mechanical left arm. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Little too late for second thoughts, dear.” Paimon squeezed his controls, blasting him a few feet from the ground.

  Furcas swung his twin kusarigama, whipping the chains past Paimon’s face. “I’m not, and our bet is still on.”

  Paimon ducked, rolled his eyes, and shot up into the air. “But of course! Race
you!”

  Furcas grinned. He jumped into the air after him and flew without aid.

  Wails made the ground force look away from the angels. They wheeled and faced a new threat on the ice. Blank-faced humans shuffled towards the Lilliam army. The humans twitched and stumbled, nothing more now than mindless drones under angelic control. They carried makeshift weapons and eyed the City Guard with a hunger for blood.

  Belial sighed. “Looks like the angels got themselves some human pawns.”

  Princess Appleadris raised her battle horn to rally her troops. Berith shook his head at his fiancée and pointed.

  Wraiths and vampires reached the surface, the last of the Lilliam volunteer army. They made up the end of the undead contingent that trailed Persephone, Aita, and Thanatos. The vampires smelled humans on the night air. They pulled back graying lips and gums to expose jagged bones that passed for fangs. The wraiths purred, life-force close within reach. The group drifted towards the humans. The undead were hungry.

  Apple turned to Lucifer. “The humans will not be a threat.”

  Lucifer nodded. “Good. We do not need a fight on multiple fronts.”

  The sky roared.

  The angels reached them.

  ***

  Seven Archangels ruled under God in Heaven above. Six descended to the earth.

  Angels blanketed the layers of air and space. Barachiel flew in the thermosphere, his mace drawn and ready. He surrounded himself with guardian angels, blank-faced boyish creatures that he linked to him through thought and feeling. Their eyes focused downwards, waiting for the fight to come to them.

  Selaphiel and Jegudiel plummeted and broke their dive to circle in the mesosphere and stratosphere; their steep swerving courses took them between the two. The brothers stayed together, eldest flying higher in the sky to keep watch on his brother. The wailers circled with them, they were the heavenly choir, their voices altered from hymns to weapons.

  Archangel Raphael had no set height or course, his only purpose in the battle was to heal. He flew between all groups, alone and unmonitored.

  Uriel led his elite armored angels to the surface. His were the shockers and breathers, those that attacked with electricity and fire. Beamers flew above his squad. They gathered light in their wings, ready to shoot it in searing rays at the Lilliam below.

  Michael flew with Uriel. He gripped his white spear and grinned. He had eyes only for Lucifer and Dahlia. He ignored all else, leaving the Fallen Archangels and Lilliam for the others. He leveled his spear and raced for the pair on the ground.

  Only Gabriel, with his weapon, remained beyond the Fallen’s shield. He hovered in space and concentrated on his calculations and numbers. His blasts of red energy tore through the shield, but stopped short of the ground, held back high in the atmosphere by the magical resistance of the Lilliam below.

  ***

  Dahlia broke from the City Guard. She sprinted for the crater Gabriel’s weapon had made on its initial attacks.

  Lucifer let her take the lead and followed behind. He kept his eyes on the sky above. Though he desired to be at her side, fighting along with her, he knew that he could protect her better this way. He stayed back, letting her draw the angels in.

  Belial, Andrealphus, and Berith split and ran from the tunnel, dividing the City Guard among them. Theirs was a dual purpose. They were to draw angels away from Dahlia and Lucifer, and Paimon and Furcas, giving both pairs a chance to see their plans through. They also protected the tunnel into the earth, the place where the Lilliam medics waited to take the wounded and dead into the safety of the underground passages.

  Andy led the undead: the wraiths, hellhounds, vampires, and gorgons. He ran into the fray of humans and vampires. He threw out his hands and the humans aged and grew weak, falling easy prey to Lilliam. His body cast unusual shadows on the snow and ice; the air around him became stagnant. He pulled out his morning star and leapt into a knot of humans. He swung, knocking men and women down, but there were more, many more.

  Berith ran left with Apple and her brother, Prince Grendel. The trio led ogres and trolls, focusing their attack on the low-flying fire breathers that followed Michael’s lead. The Lilliam launched bolts and spears into the sky, interrupting their dives and attacks.

  Berith’s skin turned to metal, hard and frictionless. He reflected the light of the moon. He jumped into the air and used his body as a projectile to slam into angels.

  Apple desired to watch him, but she had other duties to attend to. She tracked the battle and oversaw her Lilliam soldiers. She called out orders and blew on her battle horn to communicate with all three of her battalions.

  Belial stormed over the remaining third of the ice. She raced across the ground, glowing brighter than the snow. She screamed at angels in the sky, calling forth dissonance, despair, and madness. Her voice sent shockers into spasms of pain. The stunned two-winged angels fell towards the earth in droves. Ice elementals and sylphs rushed in to snatch Gabriel’s pendants from their necks. Without those, the angels were vulnerable.

  Belial watched her team attack with cold efficiency. Celeste stayed by her side. The girl’s eyes were red. She was consumed with berserker rage. The pair threw themselves at the angels that fell within their reach.

  ***

  Dahlia reached the edge of the crater and jumped. She slid into the viscous fluid, sending a wave of the material across the surface. The goo coated her arms and legs. She flashed her eyes the heavens and buried her weapon in the muck. She sank to her knees in the fluid and waited.

  Lucifer skidded to a stop at the boundary between the ice and hellish substance. He whirled and swung his bat. He struck an angel that had drawn too close, a breather. The creature tumbled end over end. The angel’s pendant flashed, protecting it from physical harm, but not preventing the force of the blow. Lucifer grinned. He cracked the bat across another, knocking it back. The angels shook off the bone shaking reverberations and wheeled around, relentless.

  ***

  Clouds formed in the clear night sky. Lightning and thunder filled the air. Uriel’s shockers wove the electricity, doubling the power between them. Uriel reveled in the sensation. He focused his four prismatic wings and sucked in energy from the storm. His subordinate angels followed his lead and charged with lightning.

  Uriel called it forth, willing a bolt upon the Lilliam fighting force below. He raised his hand and threw.

  Nothing happened.

  He stared at his hand, then at the clouds around him. Electricity snapped in the air, an unreleased force, but it would not respond to his summons. “What is this?”

  Paimon and Furcas soared by Uriel, heading upwards. Paimon sneered at the Archangel. “Denied!”

  “Storms are mine!” Furcas grinned and shoved Uriel aside with a punishing torrent of wind and water. Clouds rolled in, low and thick, but the pair did not dally to take him on. They ascended. Their goal the machine beyond the shield.

  Uriel screamed in rage, but did not give chase. He had orders to remain close to the ground. His focus was supposed to be on the fight below, his purpose to back up Michael. He snarled at his angels. Denied lightning, they drew their heaven-forged swords.

  Uriel swept his eyes across the battlefield. He spotted Belial, his eyes widened. He forgot his orders and dove for her. “Belial!”

  Belial looked up. She bared her teeth. “I see you are back for more, Uriel!” She raised her arms and screeched. The sound hit the angels between her and Uriel like a wave. They tumbled, vomiting blood.

  Sylphs, invisible as the air itself, took the angels’ daze as an opportunity. They swooped in and snatched at pendants, ripping them from the angels’ bodies. They darted away before they were noticed.

  Jacob blasted between angels and focused on his task. He whistled to the other sylphs, keeping them in formation. The sylphs spoke in chirps and blasts of cold air. Pendants hung from their hands by the dozens, but there were countless angels in the sky.

  The sylphs dove
and dumped the pendants in the crater Dahlia occupied. The muck absorbed the material and the pendants ceased to be. Without the protective amulets, angels fell into the physical realm. They were strong, but mortal and sickened.

  Uriel ignored all of this. He could only see Belial. Her white blonde hair glowed in the moonlight. Her soft skin beckoned him. He wanted to tear her to pieces. He drew his sword and snarled. He closed his wings and dove.

  Belial saw him coming and pulled her katanas from her back, ready for him.

  A growl rose up from his throat. He wanted this, wanted her. He dropped towards her like a missile.

  Berith smashed into his brother in mid-air and carried Uriel to the ground. He punched him in the chin and pressed him into the snow as Belial dashed away to slice at vulnerable angels.

  Uriel watched her go and howled. Berith grinned and picked Uriel up. He threw his brother across the snow and ice.

  Uriel bounced, rolled, and came to his feet unharmed. He called to his angels, “Kill my brother!”

  Uriel’s elite two-winged angels wheeled in the sky and dove for Berith. Berith grinned and ran, drawing them away from Belial and towards the City Guard. The angels sliced at him, but their weapons could not puncture his hardened skin. He allowed angels to pile on him, letting them get tangled in their own mass of wings and armor.

  Sylphs dove into the fight. They tore off pendants and darted away. Ogres and trolls waded into the fray. They wielded stone clubs and war hammers and smashed vulnerable angels into a pulp

  Uriel noticed none of this. He flew after Belial.

  ***

  Michael could not see Lucifer among the moving fighters on the ground, but he could see Dahlia. She had no weapon that he could perceive and she was mired in the crater Gabriel’s weapon had created. He dove for her, his hands outstretched to capture her. He desired to see the look on Lucifer’s face when he had his lover once again.

  Dahlia threw herself backwards into the muck, sinking into the substance of Hell. She had no fear of Michael. There was only revulsion and anger. She made her hands into fists beneath the mess of liquid matter.