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“Ash, good to see you again.”
Ash gave a quick nod, slipping his phone into the pocket, and turning to open one of the car doors. He took our backpacks and stashed them in the boot as Lily and I slipped into the back, and Alastor got into the front passenger seat. As he gave Ash directions, I settled back against the black leather seats, enjoying the coolness of the air conditioning sweeping over me. I was a soldier, and I had no objections to difficult terrain, or the heat, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy the respite from it.
Ash started the car smoothly, and we pulled away from the base of the tell, leaving the sunbaked landscape behind as we ventured southward. The rhythmic hum of the engine and the gentle sway of the vehicle lulled me into a sense of calm, as I watched the passing scenery through the tinted windows. The landscape around the tell was mainly farmland until you reached the nearby town which had grown up around the tell. I found myself wondering at that. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had been completely destroyed, and the surrounding landscape had been so poisoned it was said that nothing would grow there for centuries. I looked around at the rolling fields and the houses in the distance, and for a moment, I marvelled at the sheer audacity of humanity. This place had been obliterated, the very earth poisoned so no one could live here, and yet as time passed and life returned to the earth, humans had returned, building their settlements over and over again, relentless anddetermined. Nor even the fury of the Almighty had kept them away from this place forever.
It occurred to me that as a serving angel, I probably shouldn’t be admiring humanity for this. They should know their place in the world, and act appropriately submissive and fearful. Free will gave them the choice that angels never received. We were never allowed to question or choose to act in any other way than how our Lord Commanders decreed. Unlike humans who could ask for forgiveness, angels that Fell were seriously punished, and lost the chance to ever return to Heaven’s light.
As far as I knew, it had only happened twice since the War of Heaven. Lord Commander Euriel was the first, five years ago. That had sent shockwaves through Heaven and Gabriel had been stunned by the betrayal of someone he’d regarded as close to him. I’d seen firsthand the grief it had caused.
The second time had been just over a year ago, when four angelic soldiers had deserted their host and disappeared into hiding somewhere in the United States. This time, Gabriel had not reacted with grief, but with rage at their betrayal. He’d ordered small commands to search the country until they’d been found, but they’d been well hidden, it seemed, and were never recovered. I respected and admired Gabriel, but his fury at their desertion had left me reeling and had sent a ripple of fear through the hosts. I shivered at the memory, and Alastor glanced back at me, somehow sensing it.
“Cold? I’ll turn the air up.” He reached down and adjusted the temperature in the car by a couple of degrees, and I gave him a small smile in thanks. He looked at me for a moment, then nodded and turned back to studying this tablet.
I looked back out of the window at the land rolling past. As we left the farmland behind us, the landscape transformed into a vast desert expanse stretching out to meet the clear blue horizon. Through the dusty haze of the windshield, the horizon unfoldedlike an ancient tapestry frayed at its edges, a blend of scorched earth and sky. To the west, the Judean hills rose like slumbering giants, their backs weathered by time, cloaked in a mantle of parched browns and dusty greens where resilient shrubs defied the aridity. To the east, the Moabite mountains of Jordan stood, vast cliffs rising to the sky, interrupted only by the wadi canyons they broke through, channels for rushing rivers during the rainy season, but now dry. Layer upon layer of geological time was etched into their faces, and in the golden light of the dying sun, they blushed with hues of terracotta and burnt umber.
Here and there, the cracked arid earth yawned open, revealing chasms and sinkholes, yet amidst the desolation, life asserted itself in the most unexpected places; in hidden springs and sudden bursts of greenery that clung to life at the water's edge, like desert jewels. We moved at a steady speed through miles of emptiness, punctuated only by the odd village, as Alastor followed the direction of one of the tunnels he’d found. I’d have expected it to lead into the eastern mountains, an entrance concealed in some cave carved out by water and time, but instead the car eventually came over a rise and there before us lay the Dead Sea itself — a vast, still mirror reflecting the heavens. Its waters were a spectral blue, fringed with the crystalline white of salt deposits that glimmered like diamonds.
“Wow,” breathed Lily next to me. “Look at that…”
Wow indeed. Ash pulled the car off the road and parked it maybe a hundred yards from the water’s edge. Alastor got out, taking a few steps towards the water before pausing to do something on the tablet.
I got out, feeling the heat hit me hard after the cool air conditioning, but I ignored it, moving towards where Alastor was standing at the water’s edge, my boots crunching on the coarse gravel and salt. I gazed out over the sea, feeling the same awe Lily had voiced in the car. The sun was beginning its descenttoward the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over everything it touched. Reflective salt crystals sparkled like scattered jewels along the shore, enhancing the otherworldly quality of the scene. Taking in a deep breath, I let the peaceful atmosphere wash over me.
Alastor glanced over at me.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I murmured.
“Completely captivating,” he replied. I turned to look at him. He was looking at me, his eyes dark and fathomless. I could sense a tension in the air, a shift in the atmosphere as Alastor's gaze locked with mine. A shiver ran down my spine despite the heat of the desert surrounding us. He moved closer, so close we were almost touching, but not quite, but I could feel the heat of his body. It drew me in, and I looked up at him, unable to tear myself away. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and I watched as if hypnotised as he began to lean down.
“Sariel…” he murmured.
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think about anything except the fact his lips were almost on mine…
“So, boss, have you found anything?”
I blinked, the spell shattering, and I stepped back and looked over to where Lily was heading down from the car. Alastor’s gaze was still fixed on me for a few moments longer, but then he sighed, and looked up at Lily.
“Here,” he said, holding out the tablet. She took it from him and the two of us bent over the screen, shading it from the harsh sunlight. Alastor traced his finger just above the screen.
“This is the dig site at Tell-al-Hammam… this is the road we’ve just taken to get here and this is the route of the tunnel… we’re here right now…”
I looked up and around us, then back down at the screen. “The tunnel doesn’t end here,” I said.
Alastor shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. It ends about thirty yards over there.” He pointed and Lily looked up.
“So, the entrance to this tunnel complex is… in the Dead Sea?”
Alastor nodded. “It looks very much like it,” he said. He ran his hand over his head in frustration, and I found myself wondering what it would feel like to do the same and if his skin was as smooth as it looked. For goodness’ sake, I cursed myself. Get a grip.
“What do we do now?” asked Lily. “If the entrance is underwater…”
Alastor straightened up and looked over to where Ash stood by the car, the blue sky reflecting off his dark glasses.
“We head back to camp and let the others know what we’ve found. We eat, sleep and in the morning, we come back with diving gear and figure out what’s going on down there.”
Chapter Ten
ALASTOR
