Uriel stood. He still looked like Seth, only prettier if you can imagine that. His entire body shone with white, his hair went down his back, and large muscles protruded from every angle of his body as he took very purposeful steps toward Azazeel.
“Do you forget, Little One?”
Oh crap. He did not just call Azazeel Little One.
“I am the ruler of Tartarus, ruler of the Abyss, and ruler of Olympus. You have no power when I am in residence.”
“You are Fallen,” Azazeel spat.
Uriel smiled. “At the moment, I am restored. So try me, Little One. Try to defeat me, and we will see who has the power in the Darkness. For evil cannot even get close.”
Azazeel ran at Uriel, but with a flick of Uriel’s wrist, Azazeel was thrown against the wall.
“This is not over!”
Uriel nodded. “No, it has just begun.”
“Who is coming with me? Who will fight against this injustice!” Azazeel yelled, his face contorting with rage. “Who will choose me?”
The Titans were silent.
The room for once was silent.
Finally Cronus spoke. “You cannot free us, therefore we see no reason to fight.”
“I lifted the blackness that El put here! If not for me and Thanatus, you would still be immobile in utter darkness!”
“Then a thanks is in order.” Cronus smirked. “Thank you, for being so… kind.”
Azazeel cursed, then covered Thanatus with his robe and disappeared.
I looked around, still in partial shock over what had just happened. Cronus came to my aid and offered the robe he was wearing. The minute he took it off, I wished he would have kept it on.
The robes kept us from seeing their true forms.
They were almost too bright to look at. Their skin glowed to such an extreme I had to shake my head. They were stars after all. It only made sense they would light up a room as well as an entire universe.
I took the robe and knelt beside Atlas. He was bleeding but alive.
“Are you well?” I asked, touching his cheek with my hand.
“I am now. Where is Uriel?”
I looked behind him where Uriel stood. The light was quickly fading from his body, his hair slowly going back to normal. It seemed El had not restored him for an eternity, but for a moment in time, a moment in which he was needed.
Chapter Nineteen
Getting the Titans to agree to wait until we heard from Raphael at the park was relatively easy. It seemed they were in just as much shock as we were over the whole ordeal.
Though part of me wondered if Michael knew more than what he’d said earlier.
It was just Adonis, Atlas, Seth, and I as we made our way out of the mountain. Atlas, it seemed, was the only Titan that had truly been released because he wasn’t thrown into the Abyss but chained outside of it as punishment. He’d basically carried part of the mountain for thousands of years. Azazeel’s power was enough to set him free and use him as bait.
Lucky Atlas.
The snow was piling onto the ground at an alarming speed. I wasn’t cold, just irritated that we had such a long journey ahead of us. I wasn’t really in the mood to trounce miles and miles to the nearest airport or road in order to hitch a ride with some smelly human who would most likely offer me crap coffee.
“My, my, she’s moody,” Atlas muttered next to Adonis.
“Heard that,” I grumbled.
They laughed in unison and kept climbing until we were all completely free of the mountain’s entrance.
“So now what?” I put my hands on hips. Maybe now was the time to pray for assistance. I really didn’t want to walk.
“We wait,” Adonis said.
“For?”
He chuckled and pulled me to his side, kissing my hair. “For my army.”
This is the part where I say “what army?”, but really, I already know about his army. I just don’t know how that’s going to help us in this situation.
Within minutes, thousands of ministering angels appeared. They looked like normal humans, just really perfect ones who didn’t seem to have normal skin and hair. Their hair seemed too thick to be real, and their skin was translucent. They almost looked like spirits, but I knew better. It was just the reflection of the snow on the white of their armor.
A girl stopped in front of me. “Athena, I bring you good news.”
I needed good news.
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Her laugh was contagious. “What news?”
She nudged me with her elbow. “Today, you fly.”
“No walking?” I gasped and fought the urge to jump up and down.
“No.” She grinned. “No walking, if you’ll just hang onto me, we’ll be off.”
“Uh…” I grabbed her hand. “I can’t ride you like a horse.”
“I hope you like horses.”
I scratched my head just as three white horses appeared in front of us, fire blazing in their eyes. I had heard of the heavenly horses but never actually seen one up close. It was said the prophets of old were brought into heaven on chariots of fire. The horses matched the chariots.
Apparently the stories were all true.
I jumped on my horse and grinned like a little kid as I grasped the silky hair between my fingers.
Adonis’s horse trotted next to mine. “Athena?”
“Yes?” I jerked up, grinning like a fool.