One of the bands had arrived, and they were unlike anything I could have ever imagined. They weren't as imposing as Haniel, but they definitely projected an aura of greatness. They portrayed the very definition of unity as they stood together. To place their age would have been difficult. They had the builds of our youth, but the maturity of a wiser and older generation. They stood together as one. My friends, on the other hand, were scattered around the living room, looking disjointed. >"Then why the Hell didn’t you stop him?" Mark asked, horrified at what his father was doing. I laid a restraining hand on his arm trying to calm him, but he shook it off, stepping closer to Haniel. "Why didn't you stop him?" His anger-laced voice sounded nothing like my Mark.
"We tried. We set a trap, hoping to lure him out. That is where my responsibilities lay last week, preparing the band of Guides and Protectors for battle. We foresaw him plotting his attack and planned accordingly. The Dark One, however, fed him the knowledge he needed to attack when we were least expecting it. He wiped out the entire band in one swoop. All eight are dead," Haniel said, hanging his head.
"Why is he searching for Guides and Protectors to kill when he has two at his disposal? Or did he already murderer them too?" I asked, suddenly horrified for the two that belonged in our band, but had been snatched from us.
"He will not kill those two. He has a greater purpose for them both," Haniel said.
"Like what?" Lynn asked.
"I cannot say," Haniel said vaguely.
"How did he ambush them?" Sam asked quietly.
"He killed them in their sleep while they dreamed of each other. He used their connection against them."
Tears sprang to my eyes and silently rolled down my cheeks as the implications hit me. Innocent celestial beings were murdered while they were lost in each other's arms in their dreams, and now the man who haunted my own nightmares was more powerful than before.
"Why does the murder of celestial beings make someone stronger?" Shawn asked, standing behind Sam with his hands on her shoulders giving her comfort through his touch. I yearned for Mark to hold me the same way, but his body language made it clear he didn't want to be touched.
"Normally they do not. In this case, Victor is being rewarded by The Dark One for the deaths of those that stand against him. He is using him as a catalyst to win the battle for Earth's souls."
"Why doesn't God just strike him down?" Sam asked, voicing my own question.
"To strike him down would start the war that ends the world. He has the protection of The Dark One on his side. If The Light were to strike him down himself, the celestial realm would open, allowing The Dark One to release his vengeance on humanity."
"That is why The Light created you," he said, indicating us. "You can stop him and delay a battle between Heaven and Hell before humanity is ready for it. Some day that battle will be inevitable, but until that day, we rely on our Guides and Protectors to protect humanity."
"Where is he now?" Mark asked in a controlled voice.
"We do not know. The Dark One has him cloaked well."
"So, he could be murdering others as we speak, getting even stronger as we stand here?" Mark asked, once again furious.
My stomach clenched not only at his words, but at his tone. I felt sick seeing him so conflicted between anger and despair. I gathered my emotions together and sent them toward him, hoping for a break in his anger.
"I have met with the other bands and ordered them here. They are safe and will be here soon. You will prepare together and you will destroy the Dark Angel before he can harm another one of mine," Haniel said possessively.
His words gave my emotions the opening they needed as Mark's anger once again shifted to despair. Pushing all that I had toward him, looking for cracks in his armor, I blanketed Mark's every emotion with my own. Watching him closely, I waited until his anger ebbed away and his body language relaxed before I approached him. Wrapping my arms around him from behind, I gave him the comfort he needed. He rested his hands on mine and leaned more fully into me.
"How many are joining us?" Robert asked intrigued.
"Two of the last three active bands," Haniel said gravely. "The last active band will stay in a secure location to protect the Guides and Protectors that are no longer on duty and the Guides and Protectors that are too young to fight. One of the bands is still intact, but the other recently lost a Guide and Protector in an unrelated assignment. They are still digesting their loss and trying to recover."
"How will we find Victor when the time comes?" Sam asked.
Haniel studied us gravely. "You will not have to seek him out, he will come on his own. You must prepare yourselves, because make no mistake, he will not be alone. Evil will be at his beck and call, Daemons will be at his disposal, making him a force to be reckoned with."
"Why try to kill us all at once instead of hunting our bands separately like he did the others?" I asked.
"We believe he used the murders of The Light's Chosen Ones to set an example. He does not wish to destroy all of you, as you learned before. His desire is for you to join him."
"Why would he believe any one of us would choose to join him?" Sam asked confused.
"Because we all have free will," I answered before Haniel could. Haniel had told me the night we talked by the pool that God left the choice to us. The idea seemed ludicrous to me that someone would choose evil over what we were destined for.
I saw my friends shift uncomfortably at my words.
"You mean one of us could turn against our family here?" Shawn asked, indicating all of us as a whole with a sweeping motion of his arms. "No way man, I just don't see it."