A carriage pulled by a bunch of white geese waited for us downstairs. It bore the coat of arms of the Light Stag’s clan, which marked it as the official transportation of the ruler of Heaven. This wasn’t some practical joke, then.
They pushed me inside and forced me to sit on the cushioned bench while four angels took place in front and on either side of me. Soon, there was a jolt and we took off in a flurry of white feathers. I had another go at reasoning with my captors. “You can’t bring me to Heaven without protection.”
The angel to my right said, “It shouldn’t take too long, provided you cooperate.”
I don’t know what prevented them from at least bringing me my own protective suit. “Does the Snow Raven know about this?”
“Please, stay quiet.”
As I thought, the Snow Raven couldn’t possibly be aware of what was going on. She wouldn’t have allowed it. This was a power move the Light Stag was pulling.
Even though the curtains were drawn across the windows of the carriage, I knew we were getting closer and closer to Heaven because my body was starting to react to the change in the atmosphere. The levels of purity were too high for a demon’s soul. I had been using my favourite human form while I slept, but I was no longer able to maintain it and my short, light hair became dark and grew longer and longer until black strands fell past my shoulders. My nails turned into claws. My blood felt like it was about to boil; my skin was too pale to look normal and it cracked in places.
We touched down at the Diamond Peak Tower. The angels extracted me from the carriage despite my struggling and no amount of protest convinced them to bring me back to the Underworld.
Not many demons had the chance to ever visit the Suspended Hall at the top of the Tower. A golden throne stood at the far end of the vast room, underneath a crystal dome through which the stars were visible at all time of the day. It was like standing suspended in the sky, hence the name. However, I was in too much pain to fully appreciate the experience and I would have gladly given this opportunity to someone else.
The angels dragged me across the purple carpet and forced me to kneel at the bottom of the steps that led up to the throne. My hands were still shackled behind my back and I could barely keep myself from falling flat on my face.
A mellifluous voice filled the entire hall. “Soul Collector, how are you?”
The ruler of Heaven had such a twisted sense of humour. I lifted my head to watch him sitting on his throne. In appearance, he was the Snow Raven’s complete opposite: his hair was white, almost shimmery, his skin was pale and his eyes were a piercing kind of steel blue. I knew they were also opposite in personality. Whereas the Snow Raven was always collected and silently scheming, the Light Stag was given to outbursts of anger.
“You, asshole…” I growled, “I’m a demon! Why did you bring me here?”
“Don’t pretend to be ignorant.”
Whatever went on in the mind of that paranoid old fart, it didn’t bode well for me. The angels who had brought me here stood in two rows along the carpet, keeping me in the middle. A servant entered the hall and announced, “The Snow Raven is calling.”
“Excellent.”
The servant carried a small box from which a beam of light emanated. He set it on the floor, at the bottom of the steps, and a see-through hologram of the Snow Raven appeared. She greeted the Light Stag unceremoniously. “I was told there was an emergency.”
“Indeed. Thank you for responding to my request.”
The Snow Raven scanned the room. She observed me a moment with a frown before recognising me. I bet I didn’t look like my usual self. “What is the Soul Collector doing here?”
“This matter concerns him directly.”
To my relief, the Snow Raven expressed a measured amount of indignation. “Release him immediately.”
“Before making a judgement, don’t you want to hear what happened?”
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She kept her eyes on me. I’m sure she was assessing how long I would still hold on, and whether it would be faster to entertain him. I hoped she knew what she was doing, because it was getting hard to breathe on my end. “What is this emergency?”
Even though he addressed the Snow Raven, the Light Stag looked at me as he said, “You remember we’ve talked about finding a replacement for the Soul Collector?”
“What?” I immediately regretted my reaction when a sharp pain shot through my skull. Beads of sweat slid down my forehead. As expected, the Light Stag had been scheming to get rid of me.
“I remember we discussed the idea," the Snow Raven said, "but we didn’t reach a consensus. Anyway, there is no one suitable at the moment to replace the Soul Collector.”
“Exactly. Since that incompetent Seer couldn’t find one, I decided that we should make one. I asked Azrael for her help and she’s been working on what she called a ‘golem,’ a creature that will be able to fill the Soul Collector’s position.”
I couldn’t believe it! People casually called Azrael a “witch,” but she was more a mix between an engineer, an alchemist and a doctor. She was one of the oldest demons to have ever existed and despite living in the Underworld, she sometimes took commissions from Heaven. I had never heard of a “golem” before, I had no idea what kind of power it possessed, and I didn’t like thinking that one could replace me.
The Snow Raven seemed to share my feelings. They boiled under the surface for a fleeting moment and she got the better of them. “What happened?”
“Azrael just alerted the authorities. Apparently, the golem disappeared. This is obviously a serious threat to our security. I wanted to waste no time in arresting the suspects.”
That lunatic bastard, he thought I was the one who had stolen his stupid golem! I let him know what I thought of his deductive reasoning skills even though it brought tears of pain to my eyes. “You, old freak! I had no idea about your filthy plan, how can I be responsible for the disappearance of something I didn’t even know existed?”
“Soul Collector, take it easy,” the Snow Raven admonished. “The sooner this is over, the better” She then addressed the Light Stag again, “Do you have any idea of how this happened?”
“Not yet, but the Soul Collector is the main suspect and I want my agents to keep a close watch on him in the meantime.”
“You realise that I didn’t know about the golem myself. How do you suppose he would have figured out about it?”
“I’m sure he has his ways. I heard he is barely ever seen in the Underworld, who knows how he spends his time? I can’t think of anyone else who would have an interest in messing up with my plan.”
The Snow Raven lost patience, which I was happy about because I was at the end of my rope here. “Your actions are unworthy of your position as the ruler of Heaven!”
The Light Stag exploded. “This wretch was suspicious from the day you allowed him to become the Soul Collector!”
His words resonated in the hall a moment and left us all stunned. As the echo died down, muffled footsteps strode on the purple carpet. Someone had entered the hall and everyone in the room turned toward the newcomer. Everyone except me, because I was too busy being bent over in pain.
“I’m in the middle of an important meeting,” The Light Stag said with an annoyed sigh.
“I’m sorry to intrude, I just returned from Azrael’s laboratory with information that I thought might be of interest. Good evening, Snow Raven.”
Dammit, it was that idiot Messenger! What was he doing here at such a time? I saw his shoes stop beside me from the corner of my eyes. At least, he had the presence of mind to ignore me.
“What is it?” the Light Stag asked half-heartedly. He clearly would have preferred to keep going with his baseless accusations.
The Messenger climbed up the few steps to the throne. I heard a ruffling sound, as though someone was taking out sheets of paper from an envelope and leafing through them. I glanced up and caught the eye of the Messenger for one split-second.
He summarized the situation, “These pictures were taken at the crime scene. As you know, Azrael works in a maximum-security laboratory, situated in the middle of seven layers of locked gates. If any of the gates had been forced just before the golem’s disappearance, it would have set off an alarm and immediately locked the intruder on the spot.
“However, there was no sign of trespassing. The only alert was noted by Azrael, when she realised that the sensors had stopped recording vital signs from the golem.”
“Must I understand that the person who stole the golem had access to the laboratory? But no one beside Azrael can enter this place,” the Light Stag muttered. “Someone must have figured out how to unlock the gates.”
The Messenger cleared his throat. “That is indeed one possibility. Azrael mentioned that if anyone was able to figure out how to enter the laboratory without her help, they must have had both tremendous powers and a very keen intelligence.”
“I see.” The disappointment behind those last two words sounded like an insult intended for me.
“Azrael did mention that the golem may have learned how she got in and out of the laboratory by observing her. It could have wandered out without any malicious intention.”
The Snow Raven jumped in, “It seems you have no reason to suspect the Soul Collector anymore. How about we continue this meeting in private and release him?”
At last, I thought. Every second stretched into an eternity until the Light Stag reluctantly uttered his next order, “Take him back to the Underworld.
“Please, allow me,” the Messenger said. “No need to bother your agents. I can accompany the Soul Collector myself.”
He came down the steps and helped me get to my feet. I don’t like admitting it, but I was so disoriented, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the hall on my own, even though the exit was in a straight line behind me. An angel removed my handcuffs and they escorted us back to the goose carriage, where I was finally left alone with the Messenger.