Lemuel was both doubtful and relieved. “Then why was Onniel there to condemn her? No, Michael-Lan, there is more to this than you think. Have you ever been to this detention camp?”
“No, there is no reason why I should. It is He Who Must Be Obeyed’s own project. Since Hell is no longer available as a destination for those who conspire against him, He had to find another solution. But, I know roughly where it is. We should not take too long to get there. Come, old friend, we are nearly at the end of the quest.”
Belial’s Concentration Camp, Heaven.
“What horror is this?” Lemuel was aghast at the sights below him. There was a giant rectangular encampment, surrounded by what appeared to be gray stone walls on which angelic guards were patrolling. Inside were angels, obviously the prisoners of this truly Hellish creation, dragging themselves around. The inside of the camp had been churned into thick mud that had spread to smear and stain everything in its path. Worse than the sights was the dreadful stench that rose into the air, it was obvious that there were no sanitary facilities within the compound and the angelic waste had blended into the mud to form a dreadful ooze. Even that failed in sheer awfulness to overcome the sounds of despairing wails and moans from the prisoners within.
“I do not know.” Even Michael-Lan was genuinely shocked by the camp below. He hadn’t realized how thoroughly Belial would create a fair imitation of the Hellpit here. Still, all for the best. This is the one critical part of the scheme and the worse this place is, the better. “I had no idea that Yah-Yah would create something like this.” He stole a sideways glance at Lemuel but the deliberate blasphemy had been ignored, overwhelmed by disgust at the sight beneath.
“Why do the prisoners not just fly over the wall?” Lemuel was having difficulty speaking so great was his shock at the sights below.
“I do not know that either.” Michael looked down and picked out the main entrance. “Lemuel, I do not know what is going on here or who is responsible for this. Just follow my lead, is that clear? I’m going to bluff our way in.”
He backwinged suddenly and landed in front of an entrance flanked by two buildings. As he walked towards them, two angels, Hashmallim by the look of them, hurried out to stop them.
“You can’t come in here.”
“Can’t?” There was a menacing level of surprise in Michael’s voice. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, and it doesn’t matter. Nobody is allowed in here without permission from Belial or The One Above All.” The hashmallim smirked at the thought that he was giving the Mighty General Michael-Lan the run-around.
Michael just stared at him and his hand moved to grasp the angel. The hashmallim was suddenly pinned against the stone wall and was choking. “I find your lack of respect… disturbing.” Michael’s voice was still calm and dead level. I’ve been wanting to say that for years.
He held the grip until the Hashmallim collapsed to the ground. Then, he turned to the other angel. “Any questions?”
The Seraphim gulped and shook his head. “Good, then open that damned gate! We are looking for the Lady Maion. Where is she?”
The Seraphim shuddered at the venom behind the question. “She is a new arrival. She will be in Section Six. The guards will be breaking her in there.”
Michael simply glared at the hapless Seraphim. “I will remember you.” Then he stalked through the opening gate, Lemuel following close behind.
The sight inside was far worse than anything they could have gathered from the air. The stinking mud that coated the inside of the compound rose high around their feet and stung even this peerless skin. In front of them, the prisoners were moaning with anguish as they tried to move in the all-encompassing filth. Lemuel only needed one glance to understand why none had attempted to fly out of the camp, at some point, they had had their wings methodically and comprehensively broken. From the look of some, the broken bones had started to heal and had then been broken again. After repeated breaks, the wings were healing deformed and he doubted if they would allow the angels to fly again. That was assuming they got out of this place.
“Has Yahweh gone completely mad?” Lemuel’s voice was numb with shock. “How could he allow this?”
“You heard him. ‘All the pains of Hell’, he said. We all thought he was being his usual bombastic self. We never guessed he meant it. And did you hear who is in charge here? Belial, a refugee from Hell itself I guess. Yahweh wanted to recreate Hell, and he brought in a surviving daemon lord to do it for him. We’d better find Maion fast.”
Michael set off at a determined pace, looking for Section Six. Around them, the crippled angels were trying to beg for help and food. To his mounting anguish, Lemuel realized that they weren’t just crippled, they were far more than half-starved as well. Fortunately, on a number of levels. Section Six was quickly located. It was barely distinguishable from the others only, to Lemuel’s eyes, the prisoners hadn’t been starved yet and they were in marginally better condition. Beside him, Michael was quickly scanning through the figures that surrounded them. Finally, he saw the one he was looking for.
“Maion. She’s over there. Hurry up old friend, we haven’t got much time.” He strode off, ignoring the mud and filth that was splashing over him.
“Don’t hurt me any more. Please…” Maion’s voice was a pathetic whimper. To Lemuel’s horrified gaze, she was bloodstained and battered, her wings savagely broken and trailing in the filth that surrounded her.
“Maion, it’s us. We’ve come to get you out of here.” Michael’s voice was comforting and consoling as he knelt beside her.
“Michael? You came? I was praying for… “
“Maion, did I not tell you that you are one of my people now. That if you got into trouble I would come and get you? You are one of us, Maion-Lan-Lemuel-Lan-Michael, one of my people and that means if they you help, it is for me to succor you. Leaders serve their followers Maion, just as much as followers serve their leaders. And Lemuel wouldn’t leave me alone until we found you and came to your aid.”
The words spoken by Michael cut through Lemuel’s stunned consciousness. He had heard them before, from Charmeine-Lan. “Michael, you. You are the leader of the Montmartre Club.”
“I am, Lemuel, and I have been trying to protect people who were at risk from Yah-Yah’s growing insanity. I have been trying to save as many humans as I could from the Hellpit and give them some sort of life in Heaven. Now, I see I have failed.” Michael theatrically sagged and started to weep.
Beside him, Lemuel put his arms around Maion and tried to comfort her. Instead, she screamed in renewed agony as his movements caused the jagged ends of bone in her broken wings to grate against each other. The sound clouded his mind with sheer fury. “Michael, what do we do?”
Michael gave every appearance of recovering from his breakdown and he drew himself up. “We must first get Maion out of here. That was and is our first priority. She’s been very seriously hurt, her wings look so badly broken that I doubt if she will fly again unless she gets some very special care.”
Maion was struggling to speak but the pain form her injuries kept breaking through. “Michael-Lan, you came just in time. One of the guards here said that Onniel had ordered my legs be broken as well. Please, help me.”
“What do we do?” Lemuel was weeping uncontrollably.
“We can do nothing here. There are only one group of people who can treat injuries this severe and still allow the victim to make a full recovery.”
“Humans?”
“That is right, humans. Lemuel, you must get Maion to the humans. They can cure her wounds and restore her body. We can create a portal to earth from here and you can take Maion through it.” Michael turned his attention to Maion and his voice softened. “Maion, you are going to Earth for treatment. It will hurt as you go through the portal but you’ll be out of here at least. Just be brave for a few minutes longer.”
“What are you going to do Michael?” Lemuel had thought the situation through and saw that Michael-Lan was right. Maion’s only chance lay on Earth.