Artificial Light (Evolution of Angels Book 3) Read online

  Artificial Light

  By: Nathan Wall

  Copyright © 2015 by Nathan Wall

  All right reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  The characters, events and world created in this Novel are the sole property of the author. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and author.

  ISBN: 978-1-941714-04-1

  Dedication

  To my wife and children

  For all you mean to me

  My inspiration and purpose

  Without you I am nothing

  Epigraph

  “I simply believe that some part of the human self or soul is not subject to the laws of space and time.”

  - Carl Jung

  Artificial Light is the 3rd book in the Evolution of Angels series.

  It is the culmination of coinciding events in book 1 “Evolution of Angels” and book 2 “The Descendants.”

  Table of Contents

  Dedication: i

  Epigraph: ii

  Prologue: 1

  Chapter 1—Jarrod I: 6

  Chapter 2—Austin I: 12

  Chapter 3—Lian I: 15

  Chapter 4—Austin II: 17

  Chapter 5—Set I: 22

  Chapter 6—Horus I: 28

  Chapter 7—Madame Patricia I: 37

  Chapter 8—Lian II: 44

  Chapter 9—Jarrod II: 50

  Chapter 10—Isis I: 56

  Chapter 11—Isis II: 61

  Chapter 12—Anubis I: 66

  Chapter 13—Horus II: 69

  Chapter 14—The Observer: 76

  Chapter 15—Horus III: 87

  Chapter 16—Set II: 98

  Chapter 17—The Observer: 107

  Chapter 18—Lian III: 114

  Chapter 19—Austin III: 119

  Chapter 20—Jarrod III: 125

  Chapter 21—Jarrod IV: 129

  Chapter 22—Lian IV: 135

  Chapter 23—Anubis II: 140

  Chapter 24—The Observer: 143

  Chapter 25—Horus IV: 151

  Chapter 26—Set III: 159

  Chapter 27—Austin IV: 165

  Chapter 28—Lian V: 170

  Chapter 29—Jarrod V: 174

  Chapter 30—Jarrod VI: 181

  Chapter 31—Lian VI: 188

  Chapter 32—Set IV: 193

  Chapter 33—Isis III: 198

  Chapter 34—Anubis III: 203

  Chapter 35—Madame Patricia II: 208

  Chapter 36—Anubis IV: 216

  Chapter 37—Madame Patricia III: 223

  Chapter 38—Austin V: 229

  Chapter 39—Lian VII: 232

  Chapter 40—The Observer: 236

  Chapter 41—Jarrod VII: 248

  Chapter 42—Set V: 253

  Chapter 43—Austin VI: 256

  Chapter 44—Horus V: 260

  Chapter 45—Lian VIII: 273

  Chapter 46—Set VI: 268

  Chapter 47—Jarrod VIII: 273

  Chapter 48—The Observer: 280

  Epilogue: 283

  Thank You: a

  About the Author: b

  After Credits: d

  Prologue

  The Birth of a Prince

  Osiris barreled towards the large slate-grey sliding door, fleeing the scene of scattered debris and flames. His fortress of angelic alloy rattled as the methodical boom-boom of the ground quaking beneath his feet sent cracks slithering up the walls and dust falling from the ceiling. His left hand pressed firmly onto the side of his stomach, trying to stem the flow of blood oozing out of a knuckle-wide puncture. His vision was hazy, and he was barely able to see his beautiful pregnant wife standing in front of the flaming torches waiting for him. A pink light shimmered behind him.

  “Turn around!” Isis screamed, hunching over. She removed her hand from a control pad and the blast door stopped lowering.

  Osiris swiveled to face his hunter, manifesting a sword in his right hand. The blade deflected Raphael’s attack. Their steel sparked in the shadow-enveloped corridor. The slicing of their colliding blades was enough to send a shiver down one’s spine.

  Isis fell to her knees. Her husband was losing his grip on the fight. Raphael was too fast – Osiris couldn’t maneuver to deflect every blow.

  An ache in her stomach caused her to hunch as the life inside kicked furiously on her ribcage. The cramp squeezed her chest, back, and abdomen. It was as if a horse-drawn sled was being dragged over her.

  Raphael grabbed Osiris by the neck and slammed his head into the wall. His long sword shifted into a misericorde and he thrust it towards his enemy’s heart. Osiris, leader of the Southern Corner, slid to the right. The blade missed, penetrating rock. Raphael elbowed Osiris’ throat and backhanded his face. He pulled the blade from the wall, aiming it for the head. Isis intervened, blinding him with a flash of energy from her aurascales.

  Osiris kneed Raphael in the gut. The sword in his hands morphed into a mallet. The weapon glanced off the side of Raphael’s armored face, sending him to the ground. Osiris prepared to deliver a deathblow but his wife called out once more.

  “The baby,” she cried, snaring his attention. He turned to look at her, noticing her thighs and hands were wet. “He’s coming now. We must escape to the other realm.”

  He looked down at Raphael. The angel’s curly brown hair fell across his chocolate skin hiding his radiant green eyes, which glared in Osiris’ direction. Osiris tempered his erratic breathing and nodded. The fight was over. Raphael lay still, bleeding subtly from his mouth. Osiris ran as best he could to be by Isis’ side. The wall closed, sealing off the outside, keeping Michael’s second-in-command at bay.

  “W-where’s Th-Thoth?” she stuttered, grinding her teeth together.

  “Beheaded by Raphael,” he replied, holding her hands firmly as he moved his free palm along her neck. His piece of the Forge hung from a golden necklace between her breasts. Her sun-kissed skin was clammy. She shuddered once more. “You must tell me how to do this.”

  “Nephthys,” she whispered, short of breath.

  She pointed towards another room where a young boy about three or four years of age stood looking in from the doorway. He was a pudgy child with an almost gray complexion and black hair. The boy smiled and his fat cheeks scrunched up over his dark eyes. Large dimples absorbed almost half of his face.

  “Anubis,” Osiris said, looking at the boy. “Please find your mother.”

  Anubis giggled and turned, running off to find his mom. The large white cloth around his waist and crotch slid from side-to-side. Isis moved her fingertips to Osiris’ abdomen, touching his wound. He grimaced, and she gently stroked his tanned, rigid cheekbones with the back of her hand before curling her fingers around the jet-black hair that sprouted from his square chin.

  She groaned again, scrunching forward. Beads of sweat ran down the side of her face as she dug her fingernails into his other hand. He continued to massage her with gentle circular motions along the small of her back. She wailed as she leaned down.

  “You must go,” she said, pleading with her eyes. “We can’t open the rift and leave this plane without the power of your starstone.”

  “I’m not leaving your side,” he said.

  “
If you don’t go, they’ll break through the barriers and kill our child. To them, he’s an abomination. His life should not be.”

  “Yet here he is.” Osiris shook his head, balling up his fist. He mumbled to himself. “Why must we be different?”

  “How long has she been like this?” Nephthys asked, rushing to the side of the two lovers. Anubis meandered behind her and poked his head around his mother’s legs to steal a glimpse of his aunt.

  “A few minutes,” Osiris replied, slowly standing. He looked at his wife, as if promising his return, and she nodded. “All will be taken care of.”

  A white light emanated from his palm and a starstone appeared in his hand. The little metal cubes shifted from the stone to his skin, changing in color. The fluid lime aurascales formed over him and silver armored plates jutted out over his shoulders, chest, neck and back. The armored plating ran across the bridge of his nose, over his forehead and along the back of his skull, elongating down his jaw line. The aurascales covered his face and cheeks with two slits in the helmet that allowed his amber eyes to glow through. Green aurascales sprouted from his back and formed wings.

  Osiris flew through the corridors of his Armada cruiser. He arrived at a cylindrical chamber, soared to the top of the silo, and stepped onto a landing that looked out upon the numerous galaxies. His brother, Set, stood at the helm, waiting.

  “I see you took the scenic route,” Set joked, still typing away on a control panel made of pure white energy. In front of them, orbs and streaks of light manifested out of the dense black nothingness. An outline of the infinite cosmos took shape in holographic form. “Where should we establish our new realm?”

  “There,” Osiris replied, pointing through the infinite lights to a quickly spinning blue orb in the distance; one that barely glimmered at all when compared to the others. He swiped his hands to the side, wiping away all of the shining spheres of energy until only the one that he had selected was visible. His fingers spread and the orb enlarged. “We can live here. Far away from the troubles of this galaxy, and the shield of Michael which protects it, and the prodding sword of Lucifer which poisons it.”

  “Hardly a paradise.” Set shook his head, not bothering to hide his distaste for the location. “Father isn’t bound to keep his promise beyond the shores of this world. We should fight to the death.”

  “Those who stand in Father’s way will perish, or worse.” Osiris put a hand to his brother’s shoulder, rubbing it. He laid his other hand out, palm up, and reformed the starstone in the center of his grasp. His aurascales peeled off into his starstone. “Let us flee and make a new life for ourselves elsewhere, as the other Corners will do–perhaps one day Father will accept us.”

  “What about our portion of the Forge?” Set asked. “Can we get the other pieces?”

  “It still hangs around my wife’s neck,” Osiris replied. “When we align with Zeus, our pieces of the key will unite.”

  “I still can’t believe you mean to mingle our kind with Zeus’,” Set snickered, slowly taking Osiris’ powerful Archangel starstone into his own grasp. “That pompous ass has always looked down his nose at us. What about Vishnu and his portion of the key?”

  “Zeus has found a way to make his own people, who may prove useful in the years to come.” Osiris hunched over the control panel, his wound aching. “The followers under his watch and those under ours have always had a strong bond. The marriage of his daughter to my son will ensure our legion’s place among the rulers is safe. What Vishnu does is his own business.”

  “Your son.” Set nodded, smirking. He went to place his brother’s starstone into the center of the light in order to open a rift in space-time, but stopped. He pulled it back. “Anubis was the first. A new light just as much as your son. I see no reason why he shouldn’t take Athena’s hand.”

  “What?” Osiris shook his head, seeing triple. He struggled for breath, falling to his knees. The battle and the wound on his side were taking their toll. “I am the Archangel of our Corner. Set, you will do as instructed.”

  “I’m beginning to see in you what Cain saw in Abel.” Set’s facial armor formed over his face. Shimmering wings sprouted from his back. Three razor-sharp blades sprang forward from his wrist and around his hand. He drove the heel of his boot into Osiris’ chest, casting his brother across the floor. “I don’t want your planet, and I don’t want to live under your son or the offspring of that rat, Zeus.”

  “Then where will you go?” Osiris gasped, trying to push himself up.

  “I’ve got my own options.” Set jumped onto Osiris’ back, pinning him to the floor. The three blades stuck into Osiris’ shoulder blade and twisted. “There’s always Vishnu. He was quite perturbed by you and Zeus plotting all this without him.”

  “He’d never make an alliance with a lesser angel such as you,” Osiris said, biting back the pain. He screamed as the blades were pulled out of his back. Set dropped him to the floor. Osiris choked on air. “He’s just using you.”

  “I thought of that too, so I don’t really like that option either. You Archangels always thought you were better than the rest of us. Maybe you are – that’s why I arranged to become one.”

  “You can’t...”

  “But I can.” Set smirked with satisfaction. “I cut a deal. A nice little plea bargain, if I do say so myself.”

  He typed a code into the control panel to his right. The top of the fortress opened and the infinite black of space gave way to the radiant light from Heaven. Osiris turned his gaze up, watching as Raphael and two others slowly descended upon them.

  “No.” Osiris lunged for Set. He slammed Set’s head into the floor and reconnected with his starstone before leaping off the platform. His aurascales didn’t respond, deeming him too frail for bonding. He crashed at the bottom of the silo, shattering his legs and a few ribs. His starstone bounced to Anubis’ feet. He looked at his young nephew, barely able to mutter a word. “Go.”

  Anubis smiled innocently, picked up the stone and waved. He ran back towards his mother and aunt, towards the screams of his baby cousin. Nephthys removed the baby boy from between Isis’ legs and placed the crying child in his mother’s arms. She looked over to Anubis, curious as to what was in his hand.

  “Anubis, what do you have?” she asked, reaching to take the stone from him, but briefly halted upon realizing what it was. “Oh my...”

  “What is it, sister?” Isis smiled, rubbing her baby’s chin. She gazed at Nephthys and the look of joy bled from her face. She motioned for the starstone, taking it from her sister. Her fingers rubbed the metal squares. “Osiris...”

  “Is dead for his treason,” Raphael interjected. Nephthys turned to face him, but she did not move quickly enough – his sword slashed through her neck and her body and head collapsed to the floor, separately. He crept towards Isis and the two young boys. “There is only one punishment for creating an Angel-born.”

  “I know.” She took Anubis into her arms and squeezed the stone tightly. A bubble of light surrounded them. She merged Osiris’ star with her own, forming an energy shield of lime green and aurora pink that Raphael couldn’t penetrate. “But I don’t accept it.”

  Like the quick flicker of a shooting star reflecting off Raphael’s breast plate, light erupted from the fused starstones and opened an escape to the unknown. The pink glare pulsated once and vanished, taking Isis and the cousins with it.

  Chapter One

  Jarrod I

  Jarrod clung to the sides of the toilet, heaving once again. Loud blasts, reminiscent of a child banging his arm across all the keys of a synthesizer, ran roughshod across his temples. Was insanity finally sinking in? After all, he was the only one who could hear the noise.

  The sound hit him upside the head with all the subtlety of a baseball bat. His fingers curled and raked across the floor. A mirage of floating figures, cast about in blinding white light, entangled themselves with the physical world around him. Visions and sounds of the hazy silhouettes were g
one as suddenly as they’d appeared, sucked back into the void. The color in his face returned, bleeding from an off shade of pearl into something a little more human-looking, but the whites of his eyes remained crimson.

  He took hold of the washbasin, aching as he pulled himself to a standing position, and looked in the mirror. His black facial hair had grown long, to the point where it could no longer be considered scruff. His belly grumbled, yet food no longer appealed to his palate or agreed with his stomach. Oddly enough, his frame had never looked healthier.

  Again, he retched into the toilet, finding it hard to believe that there was anything left in his stomach. The strained, raw taste at the back of his tongue taunted his insides and prodded at his throat.

  It’ll go away. He rubbed his eyes as the numbing sensation that plagued his intestines began to cease. Nothing can last forever.

  He flushed the toilet and then splashed some hot water on his face. Leaning over the sink, he took deep breaths of the rising steam and dried himself with his sleeve before wiping the fog from the mirror. With one stroke, it was as if he’d pulled open the curtain to another dimension. His face stared back at him, snarling with a devilish grin. It wasn’t him, though. At least, he didn’t think so. He placed his fingers on his cheeks. It didn’t feel like he was making the expression he saw in the mirror.

  “I’m agitated,” stated his reflection. The voice was clear as day, definitely his own although he hadn’t said anything. The reflection spoke again, rolling its eyes and laughing. “You’re pathetic. Just look at you. You’re going to get them killed.”

  Jarrod knew who the reflection was talking about, but didn’t want to acknowledge it. Somehow just thinking their names seemed to lend credence to the reflection’s taunts.

  “Are you listening to me?”