The path is clear enough for you, Remys voice became hushed.
People are building temples. I can feel it.
Are there temples to you?
They dont know yet themselves. We must occupy these temples before the god we have fought against does. There must be no room for him here, fly and tell them to chase all his servants from the earthly temples before they wander there. Let the people worship only me and my warriors. The God on whom we raised our swords remains far away in the heavens, and the earth belongs only to us from now on.
Remy understood her. A club of black tornado swirled in the place where he hovered. Its speed could only be envied. It would arrive in the country before the armies reached there.
It is civilization! Alais watched the red tornadoes in the desert, from which the dead armies rose. Who had thought of building it on a land on which only animals had roamed before?
Men were but animals, and now, suddenly, they had become intelligent. Did the angels bring intelligence to earth and infect these creatures with it? Without intelligence, they were easier prey, and now you have to make deals with them. Wouldnt it be easier to just squash them all at once?
Alais sprinkled the bloody sand on her palm, and it turned into a huge ruby that was shaped like a tear.
Take it! She called to the king, who still could not believe that his armies were rising from the dead. Even his horse, killed by enemy arrows, rose from the sand and run back to his master surrounded by a sandstorm. Once white, now black as night. The horses eyes shone an ominous red light. The snake he had crushed froze something like a bracelet on its leg just above the horseshoe.
Urey! The king couldnt believe he was seeing his favorite again, but the ruby pleased him even more. The face of one of Alais lost standard-bearers was clearly visible in the stone. It began to resemble something of a womans face. Instead of many pairs of wings it was surrounded by many arms and legs. The former cherub had become like a monster within a stone. Souls change, and so do bodies. This standard-bearers name was once Kali. She recognized the face, no matter how monstrously it had changed. So lost spirits sleep in the sands, and somehow they could be brought back.
Alais placed the ruby in the kings hand.
When I come, it will bleed. Then you will know I am close.
Menes bowed to her. Unlike Remy, he was not taken aback that she was not coming to fight with him. He expected her to come as soon as he established himself on the throne, and their separation would not be long. The sands in the desert are like time. They flow, folding into sandstorms. They breed demons. Alais was engrossed in looking at the swirling bloody grains of sand even before the armies rising from death rushed into the decisive battle.
Times of Sand
Remy flew over the battlefield and brought the news of Meness victory.
Upper and Lower Kingdoms are united, he announced with a bow.
I wish we could have won as easily! Alais smashed the miniature palace she had built of sand with her hand. It would have cost her nothing to enlarge it to a grandiose size and dwell in it. They would be surprised by a palace made of sand in the desert. It would be easy for an angel to fly into such a palace, but the crumbling arches and ceilings would most likely bury the man who walked in.
The sandy palaces were nothing compared to the heavenly palaces. Alais felt homesick. It was always bright in heaven, but evening and night often fell on earth. Before the angels had fallen to earth, it had always been night. The light brought into the deserts of Alais was only enough for part of the day.
The sun has followed me fickle ever since we fell here. Do you think it has given up on me?
Its more likely that its rays cant reach you here, Remy concluded. You were too far away.
Part of the sun has fallen on land that was once in perpetual darkness. Oh, my! Alais laughed, and her wings trembled. A chill ran through her body.
The sun is where I am!
Remy nodded in agreement. Alais body shone in the night in a way that dispelled the gloom.
Gemstones crunched in the sand beneath her feet. You could pick them up with your hands. Some people found out that the desert was full of jewels and came to get them. Thats when they fell into the claws of the monster armies.
Somehow it so happened that the blood and tears of the angels that fell in the sand turned into precious stones. The angels, having fallen to earth, became known as demons.
Were they demons? Alais frowned. The word was unfamiliar. It seemed to be what Mikhail had called them all when they were tortured after their defeat. Not long ago there had been a sea of stakes and red-hot blades, but now there was only sand.
The light of the sun was reaching the ground, overcoming the distance. The suns rays reached out to Alais. They touched her face, slid across her skin, and solidified something like a golden plate.
Its a mask! Remy explained. I heard Michael call our cut-off faces masks. He flew around the stakes on which your armies were crucified and cut off the faces of the defeated angels. He made masks of the cut-off faces for some reason.
I dont remember that, Alais peeled the gold plate from her skin. So youre called a mask!
The mask completely copied her facial features. Looking at it was the same as looking in a mirror. The only difference was the color. The white changed to gold.
Michael wants to talk to you, the mask sang, its lips rounded.
Its the first living mask Ive ever seen, Remy marveled and touched the golden face with the tip of his claw. The masks Michael had taken off all of us and carried to heaven were dead.
The golden mask wriggled and squirmed in Alaiss hands.
Tell him I dont want to see him, and I dont want to talk to him.
I cant tell him anything, the mask hissed, moving its ears like wings. My function is only to relay reports to you. He wants you back. Everyone wants you back.
Alais tosses the mask back into the sand. Let it lie there. The mask tried to crawl after her for a while, but then fell behind.
Soon the discarded masks became numerous. The sunlight that reached the deserts was as if it were trying to create a replica of the lost angel. Its rays froze Alais face and turned into talking masks. One day the suns rays created something like a golden statue that was trying to come alive. The statue copied Alais winged figure and her curly head.
Alais looked at it as if in a mirror. Golden curls snaked down her shoulders and folded into a halo-like shape at the back of her head, her facial features strikingly beautiful. The wings were the largest organ of her body, towering over her head and casting a shadow over her shoulders.
I should fight again! Alais lovingly stroked the hilt of her sword. But it is not yet the time. We are too exhausted.
Shall I gather the masks? Remy asked.
No, let them crawl wherever they want.
But they can take some of your power.
Theyre useless, Alais said, tossing the last of the masks into the dune. The mask moved as if it were a lizard.
The masks could crawl and even fly, moving notches in the form of wing-like ears, spikes, or horns. But Alais didnt care about them. Theyre just masks. They have no personality. Theyre just a mold of her.