From Heaven To Earth (The Faith of the Fallen) by Sherrod Wall Page A

glowed red hot, and he laughed.
    “I cannot wait.”
    “Has Riell contacted you?”
    “She is meeting with me tonight.”
    Satan closed his eyes.
    “She will be there soon. If she accepts send her as a scout to dive head
first in your stead. You are not ready for the angel yet, but you will be.”
    Shrazz raged inside.
    “I will follow your wisdom. Riell will make first contact. But what makes
you think she...”
    “If you think me wise, trust me. She will aid you in ways you cannot
foresee.”
    Shrazz regained his composure.
    “Of course. Riell and I will have him here soon.”
    Satan nodded and smiled, but Shrazz swore he could see pity in his eyes.
    “I will watch from afar. If you maintain your patience a representative
will seek you out and increase your power to a level more suitable for this
confrontation.”
    Shrazz sighed and bowed.
    “When we meet again, you will be the cornerstone of our new order. Until
then.”
    Satan’s body disintegrated into ash and smoke.
    Darkness stretched across the sky, blotted out the sun and left Shrazz
blind and cold. A gust of warm wind propelled him upward at such a high
velocity that he thought he would vomit. The darkness lifted, and he stood in
his apartment.
    He sat down at the table and relaxed.
    Minutes later, he heard a series of knocks, an offbeat tempo like someone
falling down a flight of stairs: an official entry request from a member of The
Falling Curtain.
         “Yeah, I’m
here,” he said to the knocker.
    A door of light appeared and the curvy silhouette of a skia could be seen
against it before the door vanished. Shrazz could see her clearly in the
darkness. His black eyes smoldered like dying coals as he looked upon her.
    “Riell.” Shrazz nodded his head at her. “Does it feel good to be back in
your element? Armor always looked good on you.”
    He marveled at Satan’s impeccable planning.
    Riell let her long black hair down from its bun. She saw Shrazz’s mouth
quirk and knew he had caressed her with his eyes.
    “I just came to tell you that I determined the angel’s entry point and
have made contact,” Riell said, through tightened lips. “I’ll be taking care of
it.”
    Shrazz could tell by her voice that she had not appreciated his roaming
eyes. She wore well-polished emerald colored armor, trimmed in gold and a black
leather skirt. Despite Riell’s obvious irritation, Shrazz tried to envision the
full figured athletic body beneath it. On her left side a sheath that matched
her armor contained a short sword of corrupted celestinite.
    Riell’s translucent wings were folded across her body. They looked like a
black veil over her armor. If Shrazz were a normal human they would have been
imperceptible.
    “An impressive deduction. How did you discern that without being
briefed?”
    “It’s me, Shrazz.”
    “True. True. Your advance will be credited to your TFC account in 24
hours. Need back-up?”
    “Going out there with a throng of unruly half-breeds would draw a little
attention don’t you think?” Riell asked.
       “Unruly?”
    “You more than anyone should know that our federation’s local branch
isn’t training their students as well as they used to.”  
    “I was referring to the galactic branch,” Shrazz said.
       “Galactic? You have
that kind of authority?”
       “The title of Exous
Elite was recently given to me by the Duo themselves.”
       Riell muttered under
her breath and bit her bottom lip.
       “What was that?”
Shrazz asked. 
    “Congratulations.” She walked closer to the table. Light shone through
her wings, and their colors filled the dark momentarily. “How did you pull it
off?”
       “After I bested Verill
in combat, they stripped his rank and gave it to me. You remember that freak
don’t you? They had to teleport him directly to the infirmary. I wonder if he’s
still alive. No one’s heard anything from him.”
    “Yeah I remember him,” she said. “Speaking of the animal,