"Thomas E. Sniegoski - Reckoning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sniegoski Thomas E)

intensifying. She rememberedhow easy it had seemed for Belphegor to presideover these meetings. All
the ancient fallen angelhad to do was stand up from his chair and clearhis throat, and immediately they
would all fallsilent, awaiting his words with rapt attention.And that was just one of the things she missed
about their leader.

Belphegor had been mortally injured duringthe Powers' attack upon Aerie, in a violent duelwith their
commander, Verchiel. They had foundhim close to death, but Aaron Corbet had sethim free from his
shell of flesh and blood, forgiving him and all the others that had fallen in thedevastating battle, allowing
them to return toHeaven. Lorelei had been happy for them; it waswhat every one of the fallen inhabiting
this placedreamed of, but Belphegor's absence was felt each and every day.

"There's been enough talk," said a fallen angelnamed Atliel. He was standing up beside his metal folding
chair, his single eye and badly burned facecommanding the attention of those around him.The angel had
been scarred in the battle with thePowers, but at least he had survived when somany others of the
citizenry had not.

Lorelei looked about the room and was reminded of how many had been lost trying todefend Aerie from
Verchiel's soldiers. Not all ofthem died; Aaron had freed many fallen angels who had managed to hang
on to a thread of life.Even still, their numbers had been cut easily by half, and that didn't count those
Nephilim whohad been seriously injured. They were still trying to heal, the question of their survival
nowhere near certain.

"We must act at once or suffer the fate of ourbrothers," Atliel proclaimed, looking about theroom, his
scarred visage quieting the congregation far more effectively than had Lorelei'sraised voice.

"And what do you propose?" the Nephilimasked, rising from her chair as she'd seen Belphegor do in the
past, hoping she couldregain some control of the meeting. She knewmany of the citizens were not happy
that she, aNephilim, a half-breed, had assumed control of the angelic settlement with their founder's pass
ing, but it had been Belphegor's wish. His confidence in her ability to lead had alwayssurpassed her own.
Even though the fallenangels and the Nephilim lived together in relative harmony, there was still a certain
amount ofprejudiceтАФespecially when it came to the decisions that would govern the future of Aerie.

Atliel turned to fix her in the gaze of hisgood eye. It was obvious that he didn't appreciate her
interruption. "We must do what we havein the past when we've been threatened," heanswered, a hint of
petulance in his voice."Aerie must be relocated. We cannot chance another Powers attack."

Lorelei watched the reactions of those beforeher. They were a mixture of shock, quiet acceptance, and
complete despair. Aerie had been inmany places throughout the millennia it hadexisted, moving from one
secret location to thenext as the Powers grew closer to finding them. Tomany of the sanctuary's newer
residents, the abandoned neighborhood of the Ravenschild Estateswas the only true home they had ever
known, andthat she knew from personal experience.

"Don't you think we've come too far forthat?" she asked, stoking the fires of Atliel's ire."Do you think
that Belphegor and all the othercitizens who fell during the battle did so only that we could run and hide
again? I seriouslydoubt it."

Atliel gripped the edge of the chair in frontof him, knuckles white with the force of his frustration.
"Verchiel and his followers know where we are. They can return at any moment to finishwhat they
started. Aerie must survive if we areever to find forgiveness from our Father inHeaven. Nothing else
matters."