Page 18 of Metatron
Instead, I got my ass ready. I jogged to my quarters while clutching the walkie-talkies we used in the underground base, barking instructions for Joey, Kyra, and Monroe to meet me by the exit fully geared. I ignored their questions by shutting off my walkie. I made it to my room only slightly huffing and entered to see the mess created by my stash of worldly possessions. All my weapons, some clothes, and the ragged doll my mom gave me that had gone with me everywhere. I gave Reggie a kiss on her almost bald head. Might be time to get the wool for her hair rethatched.
Despite Tron’s urgency, we couldn’t beam directly from the base, not without possibly pinpointing our location. We’d had issues elsewhere with ambushes by Astaroth and his minions. I’d mentioned only once to Metatron that it felt like we had a traitor in our midst—and by midst, I meant his angels since only they knew where and when we were beaming. Tron shut down that line of accusation, saying, “The choir would never betray.” I had my doubts about that. Everyone had a price.
My team and I exited the base and then hiked a half mile to the hidden hangar with cars. We drove the non-descript sedan for more than an hour before we met up with Tron waiting for us outside a power transfer station. I wondered if he’d chosen it because it jumbled signals.
The moment we disembarked with our gear a bright light encased us and we were transported. A good thing we’d had a chance to discuss our plan on the drive over. I’d briefed those coming with me on the nest and the fact this was our chance to show Metatron we could handle ourselves. We’d come prepared, our duffels loaded with rifles bearing scopes, binocular goggles, even a few grenades and smoke bombs. This wasn’t our first imp rodeo.
Zilla dropped us in the spot I requested. Big tall trees, thick enough to climb and use as a sniper’s roost. Easy enough for us humans to maneuver, not so for the big man with bulky wings. He scowled at the base of my tree, and Zilla spoke in my head.
“The principality doesn’t seem pleased.”
“He’s just peeved he can’t see from his spot,” I muttered as I adjusted my perch, clearing small branches so I could properly straddle a limb, popping down a tripod to steady my rifle before I sighted through my scope. Zilla had put us in a great location. The sightline to the cave’s entrance perfect.
“The principality is leaving the area,” Zilla announced. A glance down to the ground showed the feathery end of him as he walked in the direction of the cave.
I couldn’t exactly shout, not this close. Small noise might be unnoticed, but a yodel in the middle of nowhere? Let him get closer if he wanted. I’d cover his butt.
Twilight took forever to arrive, and as the sky went from purple to night, I positioned myself, eye to the scope, knowing the imps would come crawling out once the sun left the sky. While they weren’t allergic to daylight per se, they preferred the cover of darkness.
My jaw dropped when I suddenly saw an angel rising in front of the rocky cliff until he hovered in front of the cave. What was that idiot doing?
Metatron landed on the slim ledge and strode inside the dark aperture, which led to much consternation from my team. My earpiece had Simon huffing, “Do we go in after him?”
“Hold your position.” I wasn’t about to jeopardize the mission because Tron couldn’t sit back and let us handle this.
An imp emerged, scuttling out, its wings fluttering. As it leapt—ping—a shot took it in the chest, and it dropped. We fired on all the emerging gnarly bodies, our expressions grim, keeping silent but for the crack of the guns as we fired.
By the time the wave of monsters ceased, I’d counted more than the dozen I’d seen on film. Tron had yet to exit.
My lips pursed as my earpiece buzzed with Joey’s voice. “Want me to go in and see if it’s clear?”
“We’ll all go, except for Monroe. You keep watch in case something goes in after us.” I slung my rifle onto my back before I tossed down my bag and climbed down the tree. On foot, we headed for the base of the mountain, moving swiftly, conscious that Tron had yet to reply. I contacted Zilla by thinking hard.
“Zilla, can you get a bead on Tron?”
“Sorry, Francesca, my attempts to penetrate are failing past the entrance.”
A reminder that for all her awesome abilities, Zilla did have some limitations. Even she couldn’t see through rock. She required a line of sight. Maybe the cave went deeper than expected.
The mountainside had enough incline and grips for us to billy-goat our way up. The silence from the cave we approached proved daunting because I could sense it wasn’t natural. As if something muffled sound. We reached the ledge and could only stand on it one at a time as we entered the cave, our headlamps turning on with the press of a button. Would it highlight us? Yes, but at the same time, we couldn’t fight in the dark, and the bright UV aspect of it tended to annoy imps.
The nest I’d seen on video had no monsters left, just a scrap pile of fabric and bones from their meals. A glance overhead showed no imps hanging from the ceiling. Also no sign of Tron.
“Where’d the angel go?” Kyra whispered. She might as well have shouted the way the acoustics of the cave grabbed the syllables and bounced them, the muffling effect from outdoors not present inside.
“I don’t know.” I treaded deeper into the cavern, my light shining upon what at first seemed like the back of the cave, only as I neared the rocky surface, I noticed overlapping stone columns forming a passageway that went farther into the mountain.
I raised my hand and brought my crew to flank my back as I went in first, rifle at the ready. The jagged tunnel proved large, large enough for a big angel, but not without cost. A few feathers lay on the ground.
Tron had definitely come this way. Given the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention, I kept my rifle slung over my back and gripped my revolver. At my hips I had knives ready to go should I lose my gun. I’d come armed to fight.
The muzzle of my weapon remained aimed in front as I navigated the tunnel, knowing the bobbing light on my head announced my arrival but not willing to sacrifice my visibility, especially for monsters that hated bright lights. Besides, chances were anything in the cave already knew of our presence.
Still, we did remain quiet as we followed the twists and turns to emerge into a vast cavern. At least three stories, maybe more, I gauged from my spot at the top of an incline with a narrow path that sloped down to the sandy shore of a lake. A lake well past the purview of the light emitted by my headlamp, and yet I had no problem seeing it in its entirety.
A strange bioluminescence, hueing pale blue, emanated from the walls and even the hanging stalactites, only the water appeared dull. A glance up and down didn’t show Metatron or any imps for that matter.
A peek at my feet had me saying, “I don’t see any droppings.” No need to add that seemed unusual.