Hellgate London - Exodus Part 14

Simon stopped, put a hand against her armor, and shoved. He knew that wasn't what he'd intended, but it was what he did. None of what she was saying was making any sense. Beginning with his father's death. He was angry, and the emotion was almost beyond his control.

"Then tell me how it was!" Simon demanded.

Two Templar started forward. Even though he'd been identified as one of them, he wasn't in armor. Everyone outside the armor was potentially an enemy. Simon had been trained to think that way as well.

Giselle threw a hand up. The Templar stopped.

"Don't you dishonor those Templar," Giselle stated coldly, staring full into Simon's eyes. "They weren't stupid, or foolish, or full of themselves. What they did was the bravest thing they could do. They sacrificed themselves."

"Sacrificedthemselves?" Simon couldn't believe it. "No. That's not how we were brought up, Giselle. We were told that we weren't supposed to die for our country. We were supposed to make the other guys die for theirs."

"The American general said that. George Patton."

Simon was breathing hard. He fought to keep a lid on the anger and pain and disbelief that crashed through him. It was almost impossible. "Myfather told me that. Over and over again. As I fought. As I learned strategy. That was the main lesson he taught me. For him to do something like what you're suggesting, it's...it's..."Words failed him.

"They knew they couldn't win," Giselle said in a softer tone. "They had to accept that. The demons came with too many in their ranks. They'd already taken out the British military." She opened her helmet.

Simon saw the pain etched into her features. It humbled him and hurt him in ways he didn't expect. He suddenly felt like he'd swallowed gla.s.s, and he didn't trust his voice.

"The demons knew the Templar were here," Giselle went on. "The Templar weren't the only ones who'd prepared. The demons came hunting us. Staged, concentrated efforts. They were digging us out of some of the older Underground complexes."

"How did the demons know they were there?"

Giselle shook her head. "No one knows. Yet. They're smart and incredibly inventive. However they did it, they came into our world, and they began hunting us down." None of that had been in the news.

"The demons got into some of the Underground complexes, Simon. They found families there. And they killed them. Worse than that, the demons brought the dead back as undead." Tears ran down Giselle's cheeks. "We-I-had to go down there and help destroy a complex that had gotten slain to a man, then drawn back to serve the demons as zombies. We had no choice. We had to burn them out." She took a breath. "When I go to sleep at night, I still see them screeching and trying to get out of the flames. But we didn't let them."

Seeing Giselle's pain before him, Simon found that his own dimmed. He took shallow breaths and focused on her words.

"In the end, Lord Sumerisle and the others felt they had to fool the demons," Giselle said. "Convince them somehow that all the Templar had been killed. At least enough of us so the concentrated hunting would stop and give us time to regroup and make new plans."

"The Templar attacked the demons at St. Paul's Cathedral," Simon said.

Giselle nodded. "All of those who went there died that day. Every Templar wanted to go, but they drew lots. Some had to stay behind. Your father, some of the other warriors, said that those who stayed behind were left with the hardest task. We have to find a way to live, and to find the demons'

weaknesses."

"That was easy for Lord Sumerisle to decide."

She frowned. "Lord Sumerisle died there. His brother Maxim now serves in his place."

Simon thought about that. Everything seemed impossible. "If most of the Templar are dead, how can you hope to succeed?"

"Because that's what we have to do, Simon. We don't have a choice anymore." "But if they hadn't attacked-"

"The demons would have kept hunting," Giselle said. "They would have killed our future, too. At least this way we can try to figure out what to do next."

Simon wanted to challenge that line of thinking. He couldn't help himself. He started to speak.

"No." Giselle closed her helmet and started walking again. Through the armor's audio pickup, her voice sounded cold and metallic. "This is what we have to do, Simon. There's no other way." She left him standing there.

Simon watched her go. The other Templar walked past him. No one said anything. He felt hollow and empty inside.

Leah approached him, her arms filled with weapons they'd taken from the demons. "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." Simon redistributed the load he was carrying and started walking again.

Fifteen.

DOWNTOWN LONDON, ENGLAND.

We call ourselves Cabalists these days, but that wasn't a name the founders considered for themselves," Jonas told Warren as they observed the gathering of people in the larger room. "We were called that by the Templar, but only in the truest sense of the word."

"In the beginning we had no name," Edith interjected. "The founders of our organization simply knew each other, preferring no name so that they could remain more hidden. They shared an interest in the demons. Their studies brought them together."

"A cabal is a secret organization," Jonas went on.

I knew that,Warren thought. He didn't like the fact that Jonas wasn't willing to admit that someone might know as much as he did, but he chose not to interrupt.

"That we even have a name for something that is supposed to remain hidden is ludicrous. But there you have it," Edith said.

"By necessity," Jonas said, "the early members of our organization were secretive. What we're trying to do isn't understood by many. The few that knew about the demons didn't want anyone prying into their *unholy' natures, as most claimed-which is a defense the ignorant always mount against things they don't understand. Most historians over the years have linked us to the JewishKabbalah, but that's simply not right. The Templar knew that when they called us Cabalists. I think they wanted to gift us with as much negativity as they could. The very name inspires mistrust and suspicion."

"The Templar named this organization?" Warren repeated. "The Knights of the Crusades?" Every step he took seemed to introduce impossibility. His mind balked at the notion of the Templar knowing the Cabalists.

"The Templar," Edith said at his side, her horns sparking green fire, "weren't just warriors who took it upon themselves to regain the Holy Lands. There is still a large group of them who train to fight the demons."

"Not as large after All Hallows' Eve," Jonas said.

"Not everyone continued to believe in the demons after the years pa.s.sed and the Crusades ended," Edith said. "The Templar were eventually ostracized by King Philip IV for promoting their cause and soliciting help against the demons. But no one wanted to believe in the bits of bone and armor they found that they insisted were of demonic origins. Their heirs have kept their beliefs together, and they trained for the day when the demons would try to take our world."

Warren remembered the stories of the armored men who had died at St. Paul's Cathedral on All Hallows' Eve. If they'd trained to fight the demons, he didn't think they'd done a very good job of it. Instead, he said, "I thought they were all dead. I've heard reports of what happened at the cathedral."

Jonas shook his head. "Not all of the Templar were killed. A great many of them died that night and the following morning. I saw their corpses in the aftermath of that battle. Enough of them died that the demons no longer regard them as a threat. I think that's a mistake, but those that remain serve to test the demons so that we can learn more."

"Our group tried to contact the demons during the Crusades," Edith said. "It was thought that if we learned enough about them, we could bring them under our control."

"Why would you think you can do that?" Warren asked.

"Because we are men." Pride echoed in Jonas's voice. "It's our destiny to become masters of everything. We conquered the land, from the coastal towns to the great deserts. We conquered the sea and even most of what lies beneath it. No predator exists in the wild that we need to fear. We've put a man on the moon." Jonas paused. "The demons are just another facet of the world we have open to us.

It will be a matter of time, but we'll conquer them as well." "Why not destroy them?"

"Because we can learn so much from them," Edith said. "They're a new resource we haven't before encountered. They have knowledge-and powers-that we've only dreamed of. They can help us reach a higher Awakening."

The way she saidAwakening told Warren the word was in capital letters. "But they're evil," Warren said.

"Is a kitten evil?" Jonas asked.

Warren didn't answer, knowing there was no way he could reply that wouldn't lend itself to Jonas's argument.

"A child would think a kitten was a loving pet," Jonas said. "Until that kitten took down a beautiful songbird in the backyard. Despite its domesticity, that kitten will never stray from its true nature. In its heart, it's still a predator, a killing machine. Demons have their own mandates they must follow."

"The demons are worse than kittens," Warren said.

"True, but we believe they can be brought into line. Even if they can't, we can cage them and use them to learn about the magic that has entered our world." Jonas smiled. "That's all the Cabalists have ever wanted: the same power the demons wield."

"The Templar get in the way of our ability to do that," Edith said. "We don't like dealing with them when we can help it."

"Although there were some Cabalists who aided the Templar in their attack on St. Paul's Cathedral," Jonas added. "It was important that the demons be slowed somewhat so we can observe them for a period of time. But come with me."

"Stories about the demons have been with us since the Crusades," Jonas said. "Tracking down all the books over the centuries since then has been demanding. The fact that there were so many imitators has made that task even more difficult."

Drawn by the printed matter, Warren gazed at the spines of the books. "H. P. Lovecraft."

"He was on the right trail," Jonas said. "He and Robert E. Howard had conferred on the nature of the demons. There were others, including Clark Ashton Smith and Aleister Crowley. All of these were men who chased the Darkness, wanting to embrace it and learn its secrets."

"But these are just stories," Warren said as he surveyed the books. He'd read all of the authors while he was growing up. Many of the same books were on the shelves in his loft.

"They are," Jonas said, "but their inspiration is based in stories that were handed down from the Crusades. Belief in devils and demons. Belief in supernatural powers. Popular literature is rife with it. It's never gone away."

Searching the shelves, Warren found books he could remember seeing his mother read.

"The legends of the demons never totally left our world," Jonas said. "Not in legend, and not in flesh. I personally believe they've been here, orphaned somehow from their own world, since mankind has gathered in caves and talked about what lies in the darkness beyond the light of the campfire."

"They originated here?" Warren asked.

Jonas shook his head. "They're from somewhere else. Some other world. Or some other plane of existence."

"Then how did they get here?"

"I think mankind has always been able to sense them. The fabric between the worlds was probably very thin to begin with."

"Till people here learned to fear them," Edith said.

"They're predators," Warren said. "Fear would be natural."

"Would it?" Jonas raised his eyebrows. "The dog was not always man's best friend. It was domesticated. But I'm sure that the beginning of that process wasn't certain."

"Demons are as smart as humans."

"Which means that we have more to learn from them. Don't you see?" Warren thought about it, and knew that he did.

"We believe that the demons brought magic into the world," Edith said. "As mankind's belief in demons was muted, so was its ability to tap into the arcane energies the demons set loose in the world."

"But now they're back," Jonas said. "And our potential has swelled anew." He looked at Warren. "Of course, there have always been those few that have had more natural ability than most. You were one of those."

"It wasn't because I believed in demons," Warren said. "Until I saw one a few days ago, I hadn't believed in them."

"Your mother did. Perhaps that was enough."

"My mother," Warren said, distancing himself from the pain and confusion from all those years ago, "wanted to believe in magic. She wanted to believe in something that would enable her to have power over her own life."

"Some just have a natural affinity for magic," Jonas said. "We believe you're one of those adepts. When Edith told me how you'd managed to turn the demon away a few days ago, I knew I had to meet you. I'm glad you came."

Warren studied the man's smile. Jonas was happy for himself, for the opportunity he saw before him. Warren knew he could have seen that without whatever ability he had that allowed him to know the truth when people spoke to him.

"What do you want me to do?" Warren asked.

Seated in the circle in the large room, Warren watched the others in the group. Many of them welcomed him to their efforts, but some of them radiated jealousy and suspicion.

They knew who he was. At least that Jonas and Edith suspected he might be a progeny, even if they didn't know his name.

"We've learned a few things about the opening of the h.e.l.lgates and the invasion since it happened."

Jonas sat to Warren's left, flanked by Edith. "We believe demons called Harbingers were sent to make the way for the other demons. We think they ended up over here and were trapped, left to die. When they did, the Templar found their bones-at least, the men who founded the Templar-and began ferreting out the demons' secrets. We think the Harbingers arrived before the invasion this time. Prior to the invasion last month, several reports of missing persons were filed. Children and old people...disappeared."

Warren remembered that. There were also several brutal attacks by unknown a.s.sailants. The occurrences had unleashed a hysteria growing throughout the city. The Metropolitan Police had released several statements that they were doing everything they could.

"A police constable was murdered in Covent Garden," Warren said. "The reports indicated that it was the work of a wild animal."Only no one ever reported what wild animal that was, did they? He'd read the story, then promptly forgotten it. None of it had anything to do with his life. At least that was what he'd thought at the time.

Jonas nodded. "The police tried to follow up on that, but by then it was already too late. The Harbingers had successfully used blood sacrifices to open *tears' in the fabric between our world and that of the demons. More demons poured through. Only a short time after that, the h.e.l.lgates opened. According to a text I have gotten a copy of, there may be a way to open a *window' into the demons' world."

"Won't the demons be able to look back into our world?" Warren was immediately reminded of Friedrich Nietzsche's quote about the abyss.When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. The possibility of looking into the demons' world made Warren nervous, but that was outweighed by the excitement that thrummed through him.

"Even if it does," Jonas said, "it can't come through unless we permit it." He waited a moment. "Are you ready?"

Warren licked his lips. Part of him couldn't believe he was where he was, sitting in the dark but able to see through the gloom, preparing to knock on a demon's door.

"Yes," he answered. Because, ready or not, he had to see if it was possible.

Sixteen.

Jonas nodded to one of the members he had identified as a Seeker. According to Jonas, Seekers acquired and studied artifacts to further the Cabal's knowledge of the demons. Jonas was a Voice, one of the lieutenants that served the First Seer. They were equals in rank within the Cabal, but were sometimes paired in large groups.

The Seeker walked to the center of the quiet Cabalist circle and placed a mirrored diamond-shaped polyhedron on the floor. The object was roughly the size of a softball.

As the Seeker once more took his spot in the ring, Jonas extended a hand toward the polyhedron. "This is the Eye of Raatalukkyn. It's said that Saladin wrested it from a demon and kept it at Qalaat Al-Gindi, his mountaintop fortress deep in the Sinai Desert."