The Angels' Pride

by Steven Lindsay

  The Demon continued to slaughter the poor souls crowded around the pond, even the Avaricious trying to take their handfuls back to the river. His laughed reached her, it sounded devoid of reason. She lost interest knowing the souls would rise again to resume their task. The Avaricious would fight to keep the water to themselves, even trying to dam it. The Prodigal would strive to spread the water as far as they could, to widen the river, to build as many channels as they could and flood as many hollows.

  She carefully slid down to the bottom of the sand dune and walked along the troughs being careful to avoid being seen by the river. This was perhaps the first time she really had the option of sneaking by, and she had every intention of doing so. She also wanted to avoid the Demon, she presumed he might be the Guardian of this Level and if not he was still one of the many Guardians.

  Her hopes were short lived though, she walked around one of the dunes to discover that he sat waiting for her on an ornate golden throne decorated with every conceivable precious material. He smiled baring his golden teeth, then she realised they weren’t golden, they were diamonds reflecting his golden light. As were his fingernails that had grown into claws.

  “What foolish mortal tries to sneak through the Greed Level while carrying precious metals and jewels?” He eyed up her weapons, belt and jewellery “Did you seriously think you could pass without paying a tithe to me?” he sounded incredulous more than anything.

  She stood there a little stunned. She was used to Demons attacking her, but she had forgotten that most had been Angels. It appeared their arrogance transcended into Hell. “I am no mortal, and I may go wherever I please. You might be a Demon but I am Divine, and I can easily end your existence.”

  “I was once Divine, and that means that I can kill you. Which brings us to an impasse. A change of tact is needed.” He smiled, “I am Mammon the Fallen Angel of Greed, and you would be?”

  “Sariel the Angel of Death and Chaos” that sounded impressive, it also made her sound like a Fallen Angel. But both were her birthright, though Chaos was by far the more impressive. She wasn’t quite ready to drop death from her title solely for Chaos. It was still so new to her.

  “Hmm impressive, though I guess you are referring to Primordial Chaos as opposed to the disorder we Demons are so meant to thrive on.”

  “Yes, that Chaos.”

  “Interesting” he really drew out the word “I have never heard of an Angel being able to utilise the power of Chaos. Indeed, there have been exceptionally few Gods who have been able to. It is a trait usually confined to the oldest of the Primordial Gods, and you definitely are not one of those.”

  “No, I am not a Primordial Goddess.”

  “But you are no longer just an Elder Angel, perhaps an Arch Angel or Goddess. Which begs the question why are you in Hell?

  “That is my own concern just as the Avaricious and Prodigal are your own concern.”

  He clapped mockingly “Well done Sariel you understand this Level so well and yet my true concern is wealth. I can’t very well let you leave without adding to it, that is a very nice necklace, and then there is the belt, circlet, bracelets, and swords as well. Do you really think I’m going to allow you to leave with them all?”

  “Yes, but you might need some convincing.” She grabbed her sword handles and assumed the guard stance. His mocking smile widened at the sound of her swords unsheathing. He felt a faint unease when his eyes fell on the platinum blade.

  “That is a beautiful sword, one I will gladly fight to own.”

  She shifted her stance so that the Nyxite blade was in front. If it was possible the gleam in his eyes got brighter.

  “Nyxite, very impressive. Now that is a sword to kill for, pity I’ll never be able to wield it. Still what I do with your blades is hardly your concern.”

  “You’ll have to take them off of me first.”

  “Deal” he yelled as he charged at her, his own swords burning once again. Sariel easily blocked his attack and dodged away. She then stabbed forward before he could recover, drawing black blood from deep punctures on his chest. He stopped and looked down in utter surprise. “You injured me. In one attack.”

  He looked back up her stunned “Which Angel taught you to fight so well? Michael or Raphael? You are far too young to have been taught by any of the other Angels. It is most surprising, I would have thought they would have gotten lax in their victory. Perhaps it was Ariel, she always had a thirst for violence.”

  “It was Nemesis.”

  He staggered backwards as if struck by a blow “Nemesis is a Goddess.”

  “I am well aware of that fact.”

  “Nemesis is one of the best fighters the world has ever seen. She is only matched by Sekhmet, Durga, Athena or Odin. They sparred for days on end, their fights sending Gods and mortals running away. In Heaven their fights caused storms and on the land, they tore it asunder. And that was without the use of magic, such was their incredible ability. And you say she taught you.”

  This had to be the strangest Demon she had ever encountered. So much for fighting, it had been laughable. He seemed far more interested in the sound of his voice. Perhaps he was greedy for attention. “Yes, she taught me all I know. She said I was one of her best students.”

  “High praise indeed, there is no way I can win against you. You may pass then.” He disappeared in a burst of flame, but not before emitting a high pitched whistle. Once he was gone, she could hear him laughing. He had sprung a trap of that she was sure, but what it was she couldn’t say.

  Cautious she raised new shields and allowed her powers to drift around her in case they sensed anything. She walked for some time with her swords out, before finally sheathing them. Perhaps he was merely playing mind games with her, she wouldn’t put it past him. She hoped he was, annoying as it was.

  Her hope was short lived. It had been a long while, but the dunes in front of her started to shake. She stopped and unsheathed her swords once again, preparing for the attack. At least fighting would be easier in this Level, she could see more, and there were not raging winds or vast amounts of water. Besides if this was Mammon again he would be easy to beat. She was thankful yet again for her tutelage, before Nemesis, he would have easily beaten her.

  The sand dune suddenly jerked up. As the sand drained away, it revealed a skeleton, three times her own height. It had two pairs of wings akin to dragonfly’s, long but triangular rather than rounded. In patches its bones were covered in what reminded her of insect chitin, it was black and shiny. It was most prominent in the joints and on the spine. His skull was completely encased in it, even the two long horns. Horns seemed to be a prominent feature of Hell’s citizens. His mouth was wide open, but the chitin completely covered it, he looked like he was in a perpetual scream, made creepier by the empty eye sockets.

  He was ghastly in appearance, but she was thankful that he wasn’t covered in rotting flesh. In his hands, he held a sword to match his size which was made from rusty iron. While it was probably sharp, she had no reason to fear iron could not harm her unless it had been imbued with Divinity. She felt a lot less worried about the fight.

  It charged towards her and just like Mammon she easily avoided his clumsy attempts. She realised just how amazing a fighter Nemesis was and that she was in a different league from most others. She could manage to beat Nemesis a quarter of the time. She had never really thought about Nemesis’ abilities, she had just done as she had been instructed. But according to Mammon, she was one of the most gifted fighters ever, and the others were probably dead. Did the fact she could beat Nemesis make her one of the best fighters or was she being far too arrogant?

  Were all the Demons this slow, or had she just got so used to Nemesis’ speed that all else seemed slower in comparison? Admittedly the Monsters that had been the Greater Demons had possessed great speed. Would she find victory easy to obtain against other Gods, Angels or Demons? What would fighting a mortal be like? She jumped out of the way of his sword once again be
fore bringing down her own platinum blade on his wrist. It sliced through bone and chitin with contemptuous ease. He jumped back looking at his wrist. She assumed the guard position waiting for his next move.

  He picked up his hand and reattached it with a snap. He then flicked his arms wide hurtling fire at her. She deflected it easily before it even reached her shields. He made some sort of strangled moan, whether in frustration, or annoyance, she couldn’t tell. He then charged her moaning, his whole body erupted into flames as his hands grew into long black claws. She jumped up over him, twirling as he charged, ripping off his skull and blasting her powers through him.

  Within an instant she was inside him, flicking through his memories as though he had no defences. He was Abaddon, a Fallen Angel, who had once been the Angel of Destruction. It was he who had swept through Egypt killing the first born children before disappearing into the east, confusing the Egyptian Gods. He had fallen out of favour before the Fall, his behaviour had grown increasingly erratic. Destroyers needed guidance, or they went mad. The only one that really understood that were the Gods of Destruction and their servants. He had voted for peace, though, which had sealed his fate.

  He had been cast into Hell and Cursed, transformed into this skeletal form. She realised that some of the Greater Demons had been summoned up out of Hell and unleashed on the Surface to bring Humanity back to heel. His mind was a mess, mostly of his own creation. A surge of magic sent him crumpling to the ground asleep. He would trouble her no further, but she didn’t have the time or inclination to assist him. She just wanted out of Hell.

  She squared her shoulders and started walking again. It wasn’t long until she found herself at the edge of the Greed Level, Mammon stood at the edge watching her approach. She had somewhat expected his appearance. He gave her a mocking salute “Well I certainly didn’t see that coming. Abaddon has been the bane of Humanity for years.”

  “I’m not as delicate as I look.”

  “If you were you would break in the first puff of wind.”

  “What do you want Mammon?”

  “Your sword, but alas that is not going to happen. No, I have come to warn you, Hell so far has been simple and weak. The changes in society have weakened them. Lust isn’t considered a sin these days by the masses, it is widespread and accepted, just as greed runs riot and gluttony claims more and more. They have become accepted facts but from here on Hell becomes far more ferocious and once within the city of Dis there will actually be Demons. These Levels are sparsely populated by the Fallen Angels, only some of the strongest forming Guardians. But within the city, there will be many.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” her suspicions were running wild.

  “Can’t I act altruistically?”

  “You’re the Hell Guardian of Greed.”

  “Oh you flatter me” he blew a kiss at her as he disappeared “Remember you have been warned. Heaven knows how you snuck past Ziz and Behemoth, but you will never sneak past Leviathan” Damn he was irritating. No wonder he had been cast out of Heaven.

  The drop to the next Level was hardly anything at all. The rivers all poured out in wide waterfalls. And just like the Gluttony Level the rivers branched out into swamps. Great more walking about in the mud. But there were noticeable differences, fires raged across the surface of the water, and there were no distinct islands only small mounds. There were also other shapes lurking in the shadows.

  She cast a final look back at the Greed Level remembering Mammon’s warning. So far it had been easy apart from the Guardians and Greater Demons. What would she face from here on in?

  She spread her wings wide as she glided across the swamps, her black wings blended into the smoke-filled air making her look as though she were part of the cloud. Within the water and fire, many eyes watched her pass.

  She couldn’t say what had brought her back to Eden, nostalgia? But she had a sense that her magical unease was in some way related to Eden. It was here she had perfected her various Chimeras, and her services had become highly sought after by Gods, all vying to have her enter their service. Others had paid her handsomely for work behind their brethren’s back. Few of the Gods really knew how much of her work had covered the world.

  She had spent a great deal of time in the Orient, creating such unusual creatures to protect the Jade Palace. When she had returned to the Near East, she had quickly populated it with all manner of creatures. But it was the Greek Gods who had paid for her services with all manner of favours. She had created the Chimera for them, the Nemean Lion, the Stymphalian Birds, she had imported her Griffins, Sphinxes, and Manticores with adjustments. What many didn’t know was that she had performed experiments on the Divine as well. It was she who had fused Sea Nymph with avian to create the Sirens, and then the Harpies. She had created the Centaurs though uncredited for it. Indeed, many of her creations were uncredited because so many of the Gods had Monstrous offspring. The fact she added to the mix raised no one’s eyebrows.

  It was she who had taught her people how to craft Golems. They had proved very useful to their protection until the Gods were overthrown. Then she had been so busy she had had no time to experiment.

  In the Middle Ages, she had once again continued to experiment, creating such Monsters as the Basilisk, Cockatrice, Hippogriffs, Ogres, Cynocephalus and Tengu just to name a few. She had stopped once she realised Michael and his Guard were hunting them down and destroying them. It was their major disagreement. She believed that the presence of Monsters kept faith strong, he believed that all magic was a threat to them. She felt highly smug that she had been right.

  The Demon Races had persisted, some unaware that she had created them even as her husband continued to hunt them down. So her laboratories in Eden had become abandoned. There was no point in creating if it was only going to be hunted down.

  Perhaps the last of one of her races had been killed. That would certainly explain her feeling.

  She walked through the dusty laboratory using her magic to clean while she walked through absently touching a cage here and there. She had always been very proud of her creations. No one had matched her abilities, the only Monsters to rival had been born from Gods. She had created Divine beings. But that was a fact very few would have appreciated. Divine creatures were dangerous, they could kill other Divine.

  She was a little surprised that many of the blood stains were still very prominent, she would have thought they would have decayed after all this time. Then again the laboratory was filled with an abundance of magic, so that had probably kept it fresh.

  She used her magic to unlock one of the walls, its image rippling as blue and pink symbols raced across it. Then it vaporised to reveal her precious holdings behind. This was where her greatest assets were stored, which no one, absolutely no one knew about.

  Along one wall sat thirty Desiccated Divine. Gods, Angels, Nymphs, Fairies, Naga there were even a Valkyrie and a Dragon. Some she had forced the Desiccation upon others she had found them over a period of centuries, most before the War and some after. They were trapped forever in this form unless someone ended them or returned them to their former state. She would do neither, their power was far too valuable. No one knew she had access to these extra powers. They were part of the natural defence of Eden, everyone thought it was her powers alone.

  True she was naturally the most powerful Angel to have ever existed, a definite throwback to her powerful bloodlines, but it never hurt to supplement one’s powers. She was always ready for a fight because she had access to nearly her full amount of powers.

  She had the sudden urge to create something, given the current situation she could blame it on one of the Goddesses. Michael wouldn’t know. But experiments took time and time was currently a luxury. She sighed in disappointment, duty was a heavy burden. And now was definitely not the time to shirk duty.

  She lightly touched each of the Vestiges, feeling the power flare beneath, and their resentment. They hated her, it amused her. There was nothing an
y of them could ever do.

  She then turned her attention to her work tables and their priceless collections. Gems, minerals, stardust and a variety of other non-living matter essential in empowering life. Various plants, herbs, rare specimens with unusual properties. She even had golden apples from the Hesperides’ Garden, a most magical plant that had been Gaia’s wedding gift to Hera. The apples held Chaos properties in trace amounts. She had tried growing them in Eden but while they held Divine properties they lost the Chaos.

  The third work desk contained all the animalistic materials she had gathered. Bones, heartstrings, horns, teeth, hairs and blood of various creatures and beings. She had Unicorn horns, Dragon bones, Gods’ blood, Nymph blood, Fairy blood, Banshee tears, Gorgon and Naga venom. She had an amazing collection, but her prize glory was Tiamat’s blood, Chaos Blood as it was also called. Many had collected it from her dead body. She had managed to track down many of the collections and obtain a considerable quantity. It was essential in balancing Chimeric organisms.

  But to her dismay all her bottles lay shattered, their contents having apparently burned up if the strange scorch marks were a testament to how the blood had destroyed itself. What on earth would cause such an occurrence? Tiamat had died a long time before she had been born, it was remarkable that the blood had held her powers. Perhaps whatever had anchored her strength to the blood had given out, or been destroyed.

  With Tiamat’s blood gone and powerless what did this mean for her creations? Would they survive, would they burn up or would they slowly die as the Chaos faded from their bodies and their opposing natures destroyed each other? The species she believed would be fine, this far down the generations they had to have stabilised themselves without Chaos.