The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 43

XXXXIII

URIEL

Day Seven. Six Days Remain.

Eli's Room, Morningstar Keep

"Uriel!" called Artemis' gruff voice from behind Uriel's bedroom door. "Come on, get up. We've got baddies to bop," she said, rapping sharply on the door. "And after that day's worth of rest while we're spinning towards the apocalypse, those fireballs of yours better be able to sing and dance now."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Uriel shouted, quickly shoving his feet into his shoes and throwing on his Brigade overcoat. He had expected Solomon's experiment last night to leave him drained, but instead he felt oddly energized. Eager. He rushed over and threw open his bedroom to reveal Artemis, Kat and Isaac standing anxiously outside.

The three stared at Uriel for a moment, then turned to each other. They tried to suppress their snickering, but Artemis soon burst out laughing. "Oh, Muriel," she said with a smile as he looked the Shephered up and down, "You really are your father's son. You never disappoint."

Uriel frowned. "Someone want to let me in on the joke?" he asked, looking over at Kat and Isaac.

Kat started to say something, but Isaac quickly threw his hand over her mouth. "It's nothing, Uriel. You just make us smile," he replied happily, his tone dripping with false sincerity.

"Please never do that again, your hands are gross. And unnaturally sticky," she said, ripping Isaac's palm off of her face. "Anyways, we don't have time to mess around. Vigilant's got a new assignment for us. We've got to move."

With that, the Black Cats set off down the corridors of the Keep. Veteran staff maintaining the Keep hurried by with permanently concerned looks glued to their faces while young assistants dashed through the halls without giving a thought to their speed or direction. Uriel's eyes tightened as the neared the office, its mighty silverwood doors reaching to the ceiling above.

"Lady Vigilant, we're here," Artemis announced as they entered the room. "Let us at 'em."

Vigilant glanced up from a massive stack of folders that seemed to cover the entire desk. She silently studied each member of the Black Cats with her searching gaze, the flames along her skin flickering soothingly as burning eyes moved from person to person. When Vigilant at last turned to Uriel, she seemed to almost be fighting off a laugh before motioning the team to sit down. "Uriel, I'm glad to see that you seem to have made a full recovery," she beamed. "Even if you did manage to break two rules in a single day by brining a companion into the Deep with you and participating in Solomon's chicanery," she scolded.

Artemis' eyebrow arched with suspicion as she cast a hairy look over at her daughter and the chastened Uriel. "Companion, you say?"

Uriel turned a deep red and figeted with the corner of his coat. "Lady Vigilant, I can explain," he stuttered, unsure whether Vigilant was more pleased or disappointed overall.

"At ease, Shepherd," Vigilant said in a matter-of-fact tone, waving down Uriel's concern. "We've bigger concerns than procedure at this stage. I'm simply satisfied that your abilities seem to have returned to their normal state." She motioned towards his hands. "Keep in mind that an overuse of your abilities can risk them turning a bit more... volatile."

"Now that's something that I'd like to see," Isaac mused, his eyes brimming with a dangerous excitement.

"Thanks to your efforts in defeating Eglon," Vigilant boomed, moving onto business with a executive iron in her voice, "Solomon has gained a power source capable of sustaining a portal to Earth. Though our forces are taking losses as they fight off Faust's forces, we've taken a solid stride towards reaching Eli and ending this onslaught." Her pride quickly fell into a frown. "Unfortunately, even that progress means relatively little without the ability to precisely target our arrival point."