Free Flaming Dove by Daniel Arenson Page B

and warm. Those hands would once touch Laila.
    "No, I won't kill you, Bat El. You know I won't."
    She forced herself to look away from him. Of course he'll take me alive. I'm Gabriel's daughter. What better bargaining piece?
    She lowered her head. I won't let him capture me. Michael would never let himself be taken alive. Bat El tightened her lips, then screamed and slashed her sword at Beelzebub.

Chapter Six

    Clouds of demons surrounded Laila and the angels among the ruins of Caesarea, a maelstrom of scales and claws. Flames left the demons' mouths, and their fangs bit into angels. The angels shot back with spears and blasts of godlight, and the ruins trembled under the smoky skies.
    As the battle raged, Laila stepped away, leaving the angels behind in the sea of demons. When demons flew her way, she knocked them aside with blasts of bullets or thrusts of her claws. She had her own business here, and it wasn't killing shades. She, Laila, had come to fight her own battle, and that battle waited underground.
    Volkfair killing demons around her, Laila soon found a hole in the ground. An iron trapdoor covered it. A bomb shelter, she knew; the humans had built many during their wars before Armageddon. Laila fired at the demons around her, knocking them aside, then pulled the lid off the bomb shelter.
    The demons kept buzzing around her, clawing and snapping their teeth, annoying like mosquitoes. Laila felt her anger rise. I'm wasting ammo on them. With a snarl, she waved her hand, and a ring of fire burst around her, crackling. The demons sizzled and screeched, and the walls of flame rose around Laila, for a moment shielding her and Volkfair from the demons.
    She knelt by Volkfair. "You'll have to wait for me here," she told the wolf. "You can't climb down the ladder or tunnels, and I can't carry you while holding my gun."
    For the first time since she'd known him, Volkfair growled at her. His eyes said, I'm not leaving you.
    "You brought me this far, Volkfair," she said, "and I don't just mean from the fort to these ruins. You brought me far on a long journey that started years ago, but here's one step I must take alone. Stay here aboveground, Volkfair. Stay here and protect Michael; he's going to need it, and I'm going to need him." She kissed the wolf. "Kill lots of demons for me."
    With that, she leapt into the hole, plunging into darkness, wings pressed close to her sides. She heard Volkfair howl mournfully above, and then blackness overcame her, muffling all sounds. Laila fingered her jerrycan of gasoline. I'm going to need this.
    In the dusty bomb shelter, the fire of her eyes and halo illuminated canned goods, a few gas masks, a scorched crib, and several skeletons. A human family lived here, Laila thought. They must have fled here just as Armageddon began twenty-seven years ago. They hadn't lasted long; most of the canned goods had never been opened. This bomb shelter must have served the family well during the human wars, but when demons come to the world, underground is the last place you want to escape to.
    Confirming her thoughts, Laila spotted a hole carved into the floor, roughly hewn by demon claws. She entered the hole, feet first, and began climbing down, digging her claws into the walls for support. The tunnel was narrow, and Laila folded her wings against her. The sultry air smelled like smoke and sulfur, and grumbles and creaks sounded deep below. These tunnels would run miles underground, Laila knew. She had seen too many demon hives in her life.
    The tunnel curved after a hundred yards, and Laila found herself crawling on her belly, her Uzi held before her. Soot covered her. She could hear nothing of the battle aboveground and wondered how long it would last. The dwellers of these tunnels had emerged to fight, but when their battle ended, they would swarm through the hive, and there were more demons than Laila had bullets. I have to hurry.
    All tunnels would lead to Angor, she knew, crawling through the