AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Malachi eyed me up and down. “We have ways of changing our appearance…” He said, trailing off. “If I’m asked to, I will show you how.”
“Good, yes,” said Missolis. “If we can get her looking less angelic, that will attract far less attention to us. As soon as we're done here, teach her.”
“As you wish,” said Malachi, bowing slightly.
“Now, the plan,” continued Missolis, pulling the largest map toward her. “Here we have a map of the Citadel. It is an old map, mostly drawn from memory, and there may have been some changes that we are not aware of, but the location of the passage will not have changed.” She pointed to a large room in the center of the map, “The passage is right here—in Abaddon’s throne room.”
“Brilliant,” I said. “That won’t be difficult to get to at all.”
“Abaddon’s throne room is rarely used these days; he’s been personally overseeing much of the training and goings on, making sure everything is up to scratch for Lucifer, no doubt.”
“You said the passage would be heavily guarded, though.”
“Yes. There will be soldiers present; at least four of Abaddon’s best at all times. If we can make it into the throne room without them knowing, we should be able to overpower them before they sound the alarm.”
“And how are we supposed to all get into the throne room? Abaddon will know by now that there is an angel with Light in Hell, they will all be on the lookout for me.”
“That’s the easy part. We’re going to infiltrate the city as pilgrims.”
“Pilgrims?”
“Every single day groups of pilgrims arrive at the Citadel. Some stay, others don’t, but they all come to worship at Lucifer’s temple. That’s hundreds of innocuous demons flooding into the city. We’ll be able to blend in with them to get in, and once inside, we’ll make our way to the temple—here.”
Missolis pointed at a large, circular room adjacent to Abaddon’s throne room. It was huge, easily four times the size and likely capable of holding many hundreds of demons within it, if the scale was to be believed. If we could make it all the way there, we would be within striking distance of the throne room, and the passage to Earth.
“This… seems too easy,” I said. “Doesn’t it seem too easy?”
Missolis frowned. “Easy?”
“Well… if I had a passage to Earth in my throne room, I would make sure it isn’t that easy to get to. You’re telling me Abaddon lets in hundreds of demons into this room right here—only a short distance away from one of his most valuable assets.”
“Valuable only if you know it exists and have the Light to open it. Most demons don’t know about it, and those who do can’t use it. It’s worthless to them.”
“But surely, a hundred and twenty-six demons—plus one angel—running from the temple into the throne room and overpowering the guards will be noticed by someone?!”
“The five of us will take on the demons, and we’ll do it quietly. When they’re down, we’ll bring in the rest of the rebels, you’ll open the portal, and we get out of Hell once and for all.”
The confidence in her tone, the brightness of her eyes. She really believed this plan could work; that it would work. But there were a few variables that I wasn’t so sure of, the largest of which was Abaddon.
“What if he’s there?” I asked.
“If Abaddon is there,” Missolis replied, “we’ll just have to distract him.”
“Distract him? Abaddon? We’re talking about Lucifer’s first lieutenant. How are we supposed to distract someone like him?”
“Leave that to me. Your objective is getting all of our people through that passage—by any means necessary.”
I realized in that moment that I wasn’t good at taking orders without question. I was used to giving them. Still, I had to remember where I was and who I was dealing with. If Missolis thought it was a good plan, then I had to trust that she knew the realm and its inhabitants well enough to think that.
I nodded. “Alright,” I said, “Now, let’s deal with my face.”
CHAPTER NINE
The demons under the mountain were evacuating. All around me the city was abuzz with activity, demons rushing around, quickly gathering what few belongings they had and making their way toward the top of the cavern. Missolis had barely given the order, but the evacuation was already all but complete.
I stood with Malachi at the end of one of the bridges connecting the central spire to the rest of the mountain, watching the demons move like… well, demons.
“This isn’t the first time they’ve had to do this, is it?” I asked.
