Adriel's Cathedral
The sun was shining on her face as Ava marched at the head of a small army through the small grove of trees just south of Adriel’s Cathedral. The group had assembled in the old athletic track and football field that had belonged to the now defunct Complutense University of Madrid about one quarter of a kilometer to the south. The University, Ava had learned, had been abandoned during Adriel’s rise to power and the construction of his temple.
It had been an interesting few hours in Madrid and Ava found herself wondering just how the mission quickly turned from infiltration and sabotage to a full on assault.
They had met with the Samaritan ‘leadership’ in one of the abandoned UCM student buildings that Camila had led them to when they arrived earlier that day.
“Todd!” Camila yelled excitedly. The young nun had run up to her friend and pulled him into a rib-crushing hug. Yasmine was a step behind and greeted the young man no less enthusiastically. Ava watched the exchange with a smile but noticed that Bea, Dora and Lilith were decidedly not looking at each other. It was a mark of their feelings for the excitable sister warrior that no one even hinted at a teasing look.
“Camila,” he replied, returning the embrace before swiftly hugging Yasmine. “I’m happy to see you all here,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He looked up at the other sister warriors and took a step back from Camila and Yasmine. “We have a problem.”
They followed him through the hallways to one of the student common areas and he talked as they walked. “The FBC walked right into the building the day before yesterday. No resistance, no fighting—they were greeted by Captain Schwarzer at the door.”
“That’s the Swiss Guard captain that was keeping Vincent updated,” Bea said. “He’s been lying to us!”
“That means that Reya has had control of the Arc for two days,” warned Lilith. “We’re going to have our hands full with wraiths.”
“And we’re going to have even more trouble if we have to fight the Swiss Guard on top of that!” added Camila.
“Well,” replied Todd, “about that…” He led them into a crowded room filled with a few Samaritans but more than a handful, Ava was curious to see, of Swiss Guard. Todd gestured to a young clean-shaven man who Ava was convinced couldn’t be much older than herself. “This,” he said, “is Lieutenant Kuhn of the Swiss Guard. We found him and his men early this morning.”
“Lieutenant,” greeted Bea, “this is Camila, Dora, Yasmine and Lilith.” She gestured to each of them in turn and Kuhn did a double-take when he saw the demon warrior. “We’re with the OCS,” Bea continued as if she didn’t notice. “You would probably know me best as Sister Beatrice and this is Ava Silva.” The man’s eyes widened at those names and he looked at Ava and whispered to himself.
“The Warrior Nun!”
“Yes I am,” said Ava stepping forward. She made a sign of blessing towards the man and Bea suppressed a groan. “Can you tell us what happened?”
Lieutenant Kuhn explained how three days prior, Captain Schwarzer, had pulled him into his office and informed him that he had orders to allow the FBC into the cathedral. “I immediately questioned the order,” he told them. “It did not make any sense. I knew that no one in the Vatican would align with the FBC—it is grounds for immediate expulsion.”
Captain Schwarzer, it turned out had been expecting that response and accused Kuhn of treason. “I had to get out of there fast. I spread the word on my way out to some men who I knew would be loyal to me and they got as many as they could to come with them. But we’ve been on the run.” A bitter look passed over his face. “Schwarzer told the Vatican that I joined the FBC and had arrest warrants issued for all of us.”
Bea was pulled to the side by Dora who spoke quietly in her ear. “We don’t have a plan in place for this. For the FBC, sure, but we didn’t expect the Swiss Guard inside the cathedral to turn on us as well. Should we have Vincent contact the Vatican? Maybe they can send more help.”
Bea stayed quiet, trying to think of a solution, when Lilith whispered to them both. “There isn’t time. If the FBC have control of the portal…”
“She’s right, Bea,” agreed Ava. “We can’t just let them keep it.”
Bea took a deep breath. “Lieutenant,” she said in an even tone, “what can you tell me about the defenses at the cathedral?”
A whirlwind planning session later and a quick marshaling of their troops and Ava, feeling slightly overwhelmed, was leading an army up to the front steps of Adriel’s cathedral. Lieutenant Kuhn had confirmed that all of the back ways into the building had been sealed off completely and that the main entrance was the only way in or out. Their only choice was to fight their way in.
“You know,” said Camila lightly, as she walked next to the Warrior Nun, “I seem to remember you being worried that I wished that the OCS was allowed to launch missiles. It would be pretty nice right about now wouldn’t it?”
“You mean as opposed to marching to our deaths leading an army of OCS, Samaritans and Swiss Guard?” asked Ava. “Yeah blowing up the building would be a lot easier.”
“Remember the plan,” said Beatrice from her other side. “You show yourself to draw them out but then let the Samaritans and the Guard handle the fighting. The sisters will push through to get us in and then we’re on our own.”
“Yeah I got it Bea.”
“I’m serious, Ava,” she responded sternly. “You’re going to want to jump in and try to keep everyone safe. Don’t! The six of us have a more important mission.”
And they did, Ava knew. She, Bea, Camila, Dora, Yasmine and Lilith all carried explosives for the Arc with them. As long as even one of them made it to the underground amphitheater holding the Arc, she would be able to complete the mission.
A crowd of FBC stood at the top of the stairs looking down at them. Interspersed amongst their loose ranks were countless civilians and heavily armed Swiss Guard. The majority of the Guard had ultimately left to join Lieutenant Kuhn but enough remained to be a threat, and with automatic weapons, that threat was not small. Kuhn’s Guardsmen approached first, with Ava and Lilith in the lead.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Lilith?” Ava asked her. The taller woman nodded.
“Too many wraiths to count.”
“If I blast them with the Halo, could you teleport through and take out the Guard? We have to get rid of those guns.”
“Tell Kuhn to watch where he’s shooting. I’ll wait for your signal.” She teleported away.
Ava took a deep breath and held it for a moment.
“Fuck it!”
The Halo let out a high-pitched ring and glowed brightly on her back before she let out a burst of power at the crowd of people above her.
Chaos erupted as shots were fired from all sides. Bodies dropped everywhere as neither side really had any cover to hide behind. The Swiss Guard stood tall as the bullets flew their way. The men of the Vatican valiantly placed themselves in harm’s way as they fired back into the FBC, taking the brunt of the gunfire from their former friends. Ava saw red and orange flashes appear and reappear through the lines of their enemies and every time, one less weapon was firing at them until it seemed suddenly, that Lilith had silenced them all.
A hush fell over the area. The distant sounds of the city—truck engines, car horns, even chirping birds originally drowned out by the massive noise of the gunfire, did not return. The whole of Madrid held its breath, waiting for the true violence to begin. A gentle breeze, carrying the smell of blood and gunpowder, tickled her face and moved her hair as Ava tempted a side-eyed look to her left, trying to find her sisters in the crowd without looking away. Any movement from either side would spark a wild fire easier than a lit match over a river of gasoline. Ava blinked.
Before she opened her eyes, three things were happening in quick succession. First, a man at the top of the stairs charged forward, a bottle with a flaming rag in his hand. Second, a high-pitched whistle sounded over her army as an arrow struck the man neatly in his throat, killing him instantly and forcing him to fall awkwardly backwards. Third, the Molotov cocktail in his hands shattered on the stairs, lighting the area around his corpse.
The match was struck and the FBC rushed down the stairs, members screaming in rage.
They had reached the top of the stairs, Dora and Lilith immediately leading a counter attack the moment the FBC began their charge. Bea, Camila and Yasmine were right on their heels with the rest of the OCS behind them. Only Ava was absent as she got caught up in the wake of the FBC’s attack.
“We’ll have to hold here!” Bea shouted over the din. “We need to wait for Ava to catch up!”
“Lilith!” yelled Camila. “Can you direct the girls to the wraiths? Maybe we can thin their numbers if we can turn some of the possessed!”
Lilith nodded and began directing the sister warriors towards the possessed blocking the entrance to the building.
The fighting at the top of the stairs was becoming disorganized as the sister warriors were forced apart and into smaller engagements. Dora fought with two FBC members. She kicked one hard in the gut and brought her elbow down on the back of his head, exposing her back to the other. She braced herself for a blow that never came as she heard a hard thump behind her. She turned to see an arrow sticking out of the man’s chest, his eyes round with shock. She turned to give Bea a wave then carried on with the fight.
Yasmine stayed back with Sisters Eileen and Rosemary, forming a protective circle around Beatrice as she sent arrow after arrow into the FBC. She led the two young nuns into a crowd of five that was getting too close. Two swings of her divinium-studded baton stopped two of the attackers dead in their tracks, confused looks on their faces. But Yasmine did not notice the change and, carried away with the fervor of the battle, could not stop herself before she drove a dagger into one of the two assailants. A young woman, not much older than herself, looked back at her with frightened eyes—her mouth having fallen open in shock. Yasmine let go of the knife as if it had burned her. She retreated back towards Beatrice as the world around her became a blur and she could feel her breathing go shallow. She was joined a moment later by Eileen and Rosemary, the pair having finished off the offending group.
Three sisters were overrun by a crowd of possessed and FBC. The collapsed to the ground as the mass of bodies pressed in upon them. Then Lilith was there, wings spread and claws out. She ripped the group apart, tossing attackers away with her claws and slamming people aside with her wings. Her fury was like nothing Bea had ever seen before as she watched from a few meters away, momentarily frozen with awe and not a little fear. When the last of the FBC was—removed, Lilith, with a gentleness that belied the rage Bea had just seen, knelt down to check on the fallen sisters, tears streaming from her eyes. "They're alive!," she yelled at last. "Someone come get them!"
“Where the hell is Ava?” yelled Dora as they continued fighting their way across the upper landing. Surrounded by FBC, the nuns were slowly pushing towards the door as they allowed themselves to be separated from their army. Two bodies went flying through the air as Lilith rejoined them.
“Maybe leading a full assault on the Cathedral wasn’t the best idea,” shouted Camila.
“It was your idea Cam!” yelled Ava as she swung down from above them, the Halo held brightly in her hand. “A little late now.”
“Hey! That bitch possessed me! I wasn’t thinking straight,” Camila replied as she sent a crossbow bolt through the eye of an FBC. “You guys should’ve fucking known better.”
“Language,” said Beatrice calmly as they made it to the door. “We’ve reached a natural choke point. Ava, if you please?”
Ava stepped forward and delivered a Halo blast across the platform, sending FBC members flying.
“Okay,” declared Bea, taking charge of the group. “Lilith, please scout ahead.” The demon warrior disappeared immediately in a cloud of red orange light. “The five of us are continuing on,” said Bea as she addressed the rest of the sisters. “You will hold the line here. Watch your backs for whatever might come out of that door. Once you think it’s safe, try to rejoin with the Samaritans.” The sister warriors, especially Rosemary and Eileen, looked like they wanted to argue when Lilith reappeared.
“The coast is clear for now,” she said. Bea nodded to her and turned back to the group.
“Those are your orders,” she stated. “In this life or the next.”
“In this life or the next,” came the response from the nuns.
The six women walked through the doors and entered the cathedral.
Once they were inside, Camila spoke quietly to the group. “I know we’re all used to this place by now but we’ve never used the front entrance before. According to Kuhn, most of the side-doors have been sealed so we’ll have to follow the main hallway through to the upper amphitheater then pass through that to get to the elevator. The most likely spots for an ambush are the amphitheater and both sides of the elevator, but there are plenty of spots between here and there for small groups to hide.”
“You would think three times in we’d have this place figured out by now,” whispered Ava.
"Yes, well, like I said, we've never actually walked in the front door before."
They began making their way through the hall. Dora and Lilith were in the lead followed by Ava and Bea with Camila and Yasmine in the rear. The sisters moved silently, an impressive feat, Ava thought, considering the empty hallway and flat stone walls. Quick and efficient, the group hurried through the familiar building and for the most part they went unbothered.
Dora raised her hand to call for a halt as they approached one of the few crossing hallways. Ava could hear voices echoing from up ahead. She watched silently as Bea stepped forward and took a knee in front of Lilith, soundlessly drawing an arrow back on her bow. When the three FBC members walked into view, Bea let loose a volley of arrows—her hand moving so rapidly it blurred in Ava’s vision. Two of the men had fallen before the third had enough time to look up and see the arrow flying towards him just before it hit his throat. He hit the ground with an audible thud.
The sisters waited on baited breath for any sound of follow up to the man’s fall. After an interminable amount of time Dora and Lilith crept forward and checked both directions of the crossing hallway. They walked back looking relieved.
“We’re clear,” said Dora quietly and Ava started to breathe again.
“Damn Legolas!” she exclaimed softly, placing her hand on Bea’s shoulder as the older woman stood up.
Bea looked at her with surprised confusion plainly written all over her face. “What?”
Ava was taken aback. “Elven archer? Lord of the Rings? Seriously, what kind of childhood did you have?”
“I know who Legolas is Ava,” replied Bea, still looking confused. “I’m just surprised…” She trailed off, clearly not wanting to complete her sentence.
“Surprised at what?” Ava asked.
“That you’ve read a book,” answered Lilith, having returned to the group.
“They made a book out of those movies?”
They continued moving towards the upper amphitheater, scurrying between pillars and behind doorways, taking as much cover as the building provided. The silence was unnerving. Ava felt the air grow heavy around her the deeper they went into the building. At one point, Camila’s crossbow thrummed behind them and they turned to see a man fall to the ground, gasping for breath as the life leaked out of his neck. The second attacker swung at Yasmine, who very quickly ducked under his fist while cracking his knee with her baton and sweeping his legs out from under him. In one smooth motion she slammed the weapon down onto his face.
“Are you alright, Yas?” Ava asked, noting the tears that were streaming down the gentle woman’s face.
Yasmine sniffed and looked at her. “Of course,” she replied, a little too easily. “I’m fine.”
“It’s okay to not be,” reassured Camila. Yasmine took a shuddering breath.
“I’m alright,” she stated plainly. “We need to move.”
Ava looked to Bea who was watching Yasmine, her face inscrutable. “Let’s keep moving.”
“A right at the next hallway,” whispered Camila, “and then it opens to our left.”
They had run-ins with two more patrols; both sets dispatched quickly and coldly by the sister warriors. Ava’s heart was racing now. The hallway to the elevator was just on the other side of the amphitheater. They were close and there were no signs of FBC or wraiths nearby. In fact, they hadn’t seen anyone for the last five minutes.
That seems kind of strange.
It wasn't strange, and when they turned the corner towards the atrium, she saw why.
Standing spread throughout the large room, like flaming gladiators waiting for their victims in the arena, were six giant Tarasks.
And their blazing eyes were turned towards them.