The story of the FALLEN

15. A cop, a priest, an angel

I wish this was a joke, Zack thinks in the morning. Nakir took up a new hobby. This thing can’t possibly end well. The angel of death trains a priest and a cop in evasive techniques? Should he smile and leave them alone, or cancel all his plans to stand guard? One of them is bound to piss Nakir off, sooner or later. He’s not really known for his patience. Now he’s answering questions? Where is the world going? Is this some sort of a test, or an elaborate plan to drive Zack crazy?

“Who’s the new guy?” Tammy asks him. They are both leaning on the kitchen counter, observing the trio in deep conversation. Their breakfast sitting there all forgotten and cold.

“That is Detective Holland. He got attacked by a Manticus demon yesterday and survived without a scratch.” Zack answers.

“That’s quite an accomplishment for a human.” Tammy says. “Why is Niki teaching them military strategies?”

“This demon is a tough one. Shape shifter, hard to kill, impossible to track.” Zack tells her. “I think Niki likes the detective. I don’t know what he sees in him, but it’s more than just amusement.”

“I see. It’s not his style to be so talkative.” She drawls. “I take it the detective knows about us?”

“Yes. He saw Nakir in all his dark glory last night. We had a thousand dead birds in the park. Kind of hard to explain, so Nakir made them vanish.” Zack explains. “Now we’re babysitting him until we can deal with the demon. That man has a target on his back.”

“You think the demon will go after him again? Why him? What is so special about that guy?” Tammy asks.

“I don’t know. It has something to do with Father Angus. It just turned into a real mess. Someone must be controlling this demon.” He sighs.

“Witches?” Tammy looks at him sharply. He thought about it too, but there is no telling if there is a witch involved in this or not. They have no clues.

“It could be. Do we have a coven in London and they somehow manage to hide? But why target a priest and a cop? What could they possibly have in common?” Zack wonders.

“It doesn’t make sense. The ley lines are silent. There is nothing going on.” Tammy shrugs. “We could go check on the lines up close, but I felt no activity in the last month. Just minor demons popping up. Not even anywhere close to the convergence of ley lines. Random park activity. The map just has dots, they don’t mean anything.”

“Nothing makes sense lately. There is something weird going on. I have a bad feeling about everything.” Zack nods. “And Garry over there is determined to solve the murder case.”

“Ah. Free will is a bitch.” Tammy smirks. She glances at her watch: “I have classes. Good luck with them.”

“Thank you. I think I need it.” Zack chuckles. “Or I could just go down to the office and let fate decide.”

“You can do what you want, Zack. I switched classes with Tammy.” Nakir chuckles. The guy was listening to his conversation with Tammy while explaining why digging in is not a good strategy with demons.

“Simon has fencing classes.” Zack tells Nakir. “Will you take that over?”

“Yes. So will Garry. He needs something more reliable than a gun.” Nakir nods to him. “I promise I won’t kill anyone.”

“Did Tammy make the same promise? I know she’s not happy about the self-defence classes. She might hurt those boys of yours.” Zack inquires.

“No. Maybe you should check on her?” Nakir shrugs. “But we didn’t hear any screaming, so I think everyone is still alive and well.”

“So, what does digging in have to do with demons?” Simon wonders.

“Nothing, actually. It’s useless, bordering on certain death.” Nakir shrugs. “I admit we got off topic.”

“Do I want to know?” Zack sighs. He wasn’t paying attention to them before, he just got snippets.

“Probably not.” Garry answers. “Unless you have some insight? Were you there? At the battle for Constantinople?”

“Which one? I think we saw three epic battles in the time the city was named Constantinople.” Zack asks.

“Nika riots, 532 AD.” Nakir grins. “We got rid of the demons, but the people rebelled against Justinian. Digging in was a bad idea. ”

“Oh, yeah. The famous chariot races that ended in his own citizens burning half of Constantinople. Hagia Sophia burned down for the first time.” Zack sighs. “One of our many grievances. We could have saved it.”

“We’ll never know.” Nakir laughs. “Justinian had it rebuilt, it’s not lost.”

“I don’t see the connection?” Simon looks between them.

“There isn’t one. The demons were a separate thing the day before.” Zack explains. “When the riots started, we turned to the safest thing to do. Digg in, stay out of sight and wait for it to pass. We never meddle in human affairs or wars.”

“Our house was up on the hill. A fair distance away from the hippodrome and the palace.” Nakir chuckles. “We had the prime view of the fires. Sometimes I feel bad for Hagia Sophia, but it did burn pretty.”

“What Nakir failed to tell you, digging in doesn’t mean digging a trench and holding a line.” Zack shakes his head. “It’s a magical barrier that separates us from everyone else. We can see everything, but we are invisible to others. It also prevents us from going out.”

“We abandoned that in the 16th century.” Nakir tells them. “We can hold our own. If someone is stupid enough to attack us, he dies.”

“So you just disappear?” Simon asks. “What is our version of that? Do we dig for real? Does anyone ever dig?”

“That is a valid question.” Nakir nods. “I don’t think digging actual trenches has been done since World War II. Even castle moats are obsolete. Warfare has changed a lot in the last seventy years or so. Then again, angels never did that. Demons sure as hell don’t do it.”

“Well, I know cops don’t do it.” Garry scoffs. “We set up barriers, road blocks, things like that.”

“So? Build up?” Simon inquires. Zack can tell the priest is confused, but very interested in setting up defences.

“A shield is a good defensive object, too.” Nakir smiles. “Come on. Time to move this party downstairs.”

“Niki, we don’t have training shields.” Zack reminds him. “Someone needs to go get the real ones.”

“Will you go? We have sword fighting on the schedule.” Nakir grins with glee. “I wanna see how they do.”

“Fine. I’ll bring some more swords over, too.” Zack nods. “Simon, Garry? Any wishes?”

“What? I can just wish for anything? How do I know what you can get?” Garry gapes at him.

“I’m good with my Shamshir.” Simon shakes his head. “They have everything. I bet you can’t name a weapon they don’t have.”

“Are priests allowed to bet?” Garry asks, but he turns to Zack: “Twenty quid says you’re wrong. Can I get a katana?”

“Hm.” Zack smirks. “You owe Simon twenty quid. You can get a new-ish katana made by Master Minamoto. The older ones are too valuable.”

“Don’t feel bad about it Garry.” Nakir slaps the guy on his back. “It’s still a hundred and fifty year old blade.”

“How do you set value to a blade?” Simon inquires. “I would think that the Shamshir is more valuable? It’s eight hundred years old.”

“Shamshirs are nice to look at, but they were cheap.” Zack shakes his head. “A katana is a work of art. They say a tiny piece of the master’s soul is inside of each katana. And then there are the more desired Blade masters, so that gives more value to a katana.”

“We are not going to destroy a blade to prove a point, but a katana can withstand a blow from my sword, a shamshir can’t.” Nakir smirks.

“Your personal sword?” Simon looks over at Nakir.

“Yes. Maybe we can have a little demonstration later, but you have to earn it.” Nakir inclines his head. “Warm up!”

“Don’t be too hard on them.” Zack says to Nakir when Simon and Garry begin their stretching. “Simon is getting good, I can’t even guess how much Garry knows about sword fighting.”

“If nothing else, he’s seen a few movies. He asked for a katana.” Nakir shrugs. He checks his nails all casually: “I’m going to get bored. I know it. I should have brought a book.”

“Don’t kill anyone. It’s bad for business.” Zack shakes his head on the way out. Too bad he can’t stay and watch. This should be fun. But there are surveillance cameras. He’ll go over it later.

“All right guys. Pick up your sabres.” Nakir orders. “I’ll be good and use the staff. Let’s see what you’re made of. Attack!”

Zack sighs deeply and takes the car. He can’t be seen with shields and swords on his bike. A cop might get too nosy and spoil the fun. He’s thinking about the shields on the way to the storage unit. What to take? It has to be strong and durable, but light enough for humans. Neither is a bodybuilder, although Simon picked up some muscle mass over the last month. Training with Tammy does him good, he’s not the scrawny historian any more. He even got some confidence in his abilities. It might be a good thing if his constant questions don’t result in premature death.

But, Nakir likes Simon. For now. It doesn’t give him any leeway. Nakir gets bored fast. And a bored Nakir is never good. Things have happened in the past that made Zack’s skin crawl. Yesterday's stunt with the birds gave them maybe half a day of mellow. Means Nakir will have to go get his fix at the Blue Lagoon tonight. Zack can’t spare any more energy, he needs to be at his best. The hunt for this demon will be long and gruesome. If Tammy is right and this is not a witch's doing, they are just grasping at straws and guessing. Who or what is powerful enough to control a demon and stay undetected?

Which brings on another conundrum. Can he leave with Tammy tonight to go check on the ley lines? If Nakir goes out, and he needs to go, Layla is the only one left to babysit the humans. She’s gonna kill him. The alternative would be to let the girls go on the mission and he stays at home. He already owes Tammy for taking Simon on. Can he afford to ask another favour? Can he stay at home and ignore Simon and Garry? Could he afford a teeny tiny discrepancy and knock them out for a few hours of peace? He could get Simon off of his back with a history book, but what about Garry?