The Warrior

Iron Angel

Sprague dropped us off at the church on the way to the hospital.  Bernie was sweeping the snow off of the front steps.  She was startled to see us, since my clothes were charred and Perseus and Gemini were soaked from jumping into the snow.  The flowers she had placed in front of the Angel earlier that day were gone.

"Orion?" she asked.  "What brings you back so soon?"

"We need to see the Father," I told her.

"I am sorry, but he died.  He had a heart attack a few minutes after you left and some of the other Sisters took him to the hospital.  What happened to you and your friends?"

"We survived a house fire."

She was about to reply when she noticed something in the sky and looked up.  Cepheus was flying into the bell tower.  A look a fear came over her face and she dropped her broom and began to run into the church.  The three of us were sure Cepheus could take care of himself, so we remained outside.

Gemini started to pace around the Iron Angel.  "Today I revisit the sight of my brother's downfall.  This Angel is a creature of greeting for those who have seen darkness and survived."

"She is the new light during the day," Perseus said.  "But what is her purpose?"

"To offer guidance to those in dying times," I answered.

"She gave us no guidance."

"But she has brought us back," Gemini said, interrupting.  "We came here for a reason that only a dying man knows."

"And now the church has no guidance," I said.  Cepheus flew down from the bell tower and landed beside the Angel.  "Cepheus, what are you doing?  Someone is going to see you!"

"Humans do not notice me," he clarified, "for I blend in with the stone steps.  The Sister you were speaking to, she is acting differently."

"What do you mean, brother?" Perseus asked.

Bernie slowly walked back out of the church and over to us.  She appeared seemingly normal at first glance, but her eyes were hollow white spheres.  She stopped on the other side of the Angel and turned her vision towards us.  Her eyes were spheres of glowing golden light.  Something was controlling her, and we had no way of telling if it was good or evil.

"Simple creatures of blood and stone," she said, her voice devoid of life, "the time has come for the night of reckoning to begin.  So far you have killed one of the Devil's forces, but two more still lurk in the darkness of the shadow city.  Blitzen, the force of ice, has fallen victim to the warrior's powers, but Incendie and Seerose will bring their fire and water to the table."

"Who are you and why do you speak through Sister Bernadette?" I asked.

"You stand before my suspended form right now.  I am the Iron Angel and the guardian of the church.  Patrick Cunningham built my stone sculpture so my spirit would rest inside.  I am the barrier between the underworld and heaven.  For the journey you will make tonight, I must break the boundary and reverse the magic.  This may cause the demons of the waterways to escape from their prisons, but it must be done to save the world."

"Cepheus," I said, "what do you know about this?"

"Maybe I encountered her once before," he responded, "but that is it."

"Indeed we have met before," Bernie continued.  "It was the night five of you were in the sanctuary and I appeared in my ethereal form."

"Only I saw her.  You were all trying to hide from the Father and I wandered into the library.  That is where I saw her."

"So be ready for nightfall, when you will return to the church.  That is when the dawn of a new age is upon us.  The lives of the humans and all other beings rest in the hands of you four gargoyles and the Devil attempts to plunge the world into darkness."  She closed her eyes and when she opened them, it was Bernie's eyes again.  "How did I end up out here?"  She turned to Cepheus.  "By the name of St. Chaeremon, it is a demon!"

"A demon I am not.  I am Cepheus, the strongest of the gargoyles that sat atop your bell tower.  I see the heavens usher in the sun."

She fainted.  I supposed some humans did not take to beings like gargoyles as well as Sprague and Shawnee did.  Gemini got down beside her and inspected her carefully.  He was always good with helping people, even if they had a problem helping him back.

"She seems to have passed out," he said.

"And one more human knows what we are," Perseus added.  "This one might tell others of our truth."

"We have to begin our journey now," I told them.  "Cepheus will bring her into the church and make sure we have a group of people here who can be ready if we need help."

"You think the Sisters can help with an age-old battle between good and evil?" Gemini asked.

"Why not?"

"It is all we have," Perseus said.

"Fine," Gemini agreed, walking back over to us.  "It is time to finish what we have already supposedly started.  Cepheus, get her into the church and get the other Sisters to believe you aren't a figment of their imaginations.  We are heading into the waterways to find Draco.  We will need his strength."

"Very well," he said.  He made his way over to Bernie and picked her up in his arms.  "I wish you three luck in the underworld."

"Something tells me we may be going deeper," I said.