All men who are born to lead realize that with this destiny is a price. Gabriel shouldered the weight of all those under him; he knew what true leadership was meant to be and he honored such things. He did not speak of his fears or his doubts, he did not allow weakness to be shown. Inferni needed their leader to be an untouchable thing, something that could give them guidance, something that would keep them from being savages. Even after all the things he had seen, Gabriel did not believe that the coyotes he protected and led were anything like the wolves or their terrible natures. Scintilla had proven that. Haku had proven that.
She spoke something aloud and Gabriel heard but the words rolled across his back like rain. His daughter, this little girl who was now a woman, she believed that they were like the monsters he fought. A madman’s grin and fire-blue eyes burned in his mind. Gabriel knew the truth of his Shadow, knew that Haku and he were more brothers than those who shared his blood, knew that there were great evils in the world and great wicked had been done for the sake of pleasure and nothing more. The Devil, as he always had, did not need to guide these hands. He simply supplied ideas, ideas which those who were too weak to comprehend believed to be their own, believed they had become more then men, and it was these ideas that turned into action and caused such suffering.
Another voice spoke to Gabriel. It was not just a voice, but The Voice, His Voice, and the Aquila knew that whatever else he did it was because of that he was chosen. He was the sword, and he did as commanded. She would not understand. So few of them did. “God is cruel,” he said, repeating what he had told the wolf with the scar on her face. “We suffer because that is our test. If we believe in Him, no darkness can touch our souls.” It was too late for the others; Gabriel knew better than to try and save what had been lost.
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