Several glowing angels gathered around her. “We shall ensure the safe passage of the times as our Father has woven.”
Gabriel sent the angels to fight. We shall never die in this realm. This is a war of resource, and as we fight, more shall join our cause!
Lucifer appeared not to be bothered by the turn of events as he walked onto the battlefield at a leisurely pace. Behind him, a strange floating ball of light hovered close. “Ignis,” he called it. “Shall we play?”
The ball of light jolted and began to warp. The light took the shape of a sword, similar to those wielded by the lesser angels. Lucifer hummed as he caught the blade in his hands. “So shall it be.”
Like a speck of white on the silver floor, Lucifer walked with open arms as Gabriel’s followers marched to stand against him. When the first angel approached Lucifer, a scream tore through the air, and the angel dissolved into light. The other angels scattered at the sight, cowering in the presence of the archangel.
Michael watched the battle from above, keeping his position on the pedestal. He watched as angels fell at the hands of his brother, and Michael’s eyes narrowed at the sight. Brother, must you wilt our numbers?
Lucifer appeared nonchalantly before Michael, smiling at his brother with confidence. “A few.”
“For the sake of many,” Michael finished, returning his gaze to the battle below them where another image of his brother stood against the rest. His eyes found Gabriel and his frown deepened.
Word reached Gabriel who had made her way out of the area. A small cherub neared her ear and reported to the archangel.
“Impossible!” Gabriel thundered, making the child-like cherub quiver. The sight of the little one’s fright made Gabriel reel in her anger. “Oh, dear me, forgive me for scaring you. You have done well.” Gabriel patted the cherub’s rosy hair and tapped her back. “Go. Spread my will, for our fight has just begun.” The small cherub nodded and scuttled away, leaving Gabriel to her own thoughts. Forgive me, my brothers and sisters. You perish for the war I have started...
Within moments, angels who’d shouted in valor now howled in fear. The lone archangel they pursued kept a calm visage as each angel that approached him, no matter the manner or strength of their attacks, were deflected without much effort. None of their skills matched even the simplest movement of Lucifer, and they all perished under his palm. In an almost jesting manner, Lucifer picked up a Zound from one of the fallen. With a blade in each hand, he announced, “Now then, shall two among you come and convince me?”
Michael gazed at the image of Lucifer beside him. “Brother, do you insult me? A show of might like that is a sin to any warrior.”
Lucifer looked at the expense with soft eyes. “To fight with honor, to stand as they stand, and fight as they fight, is that not a better display of honoring your opponent?” He returned his attention to the battle below, smiling at the smooth victory he was about to claim.
“My plan has failed,” Gabriel murmured, looking at the fight from her scepter. “More fear him now. The valiant are now weary.” She looked behind her where the Gates of Heaven stood. In its ivory glory, the gates stood as a massive solid sigil. The white disc was supported by two great pillars. With the gates sealed, it shall not be long before Lucifer eradicates us all. The thought sent fear and remorse in Gabriel’s heart.
Inside her prison, Azrael mourned. Though she wanted to protect her brothers and sisters, the Angel of Death was unable to do so. Imprisoned, she could not lift a finger to avoid the massacre under Lucifer’s hand. She lowered her head in guilt, sensing all the pain Lucifer caused the others. Forgive me, for my time is not yet—
Her thoughts came to a halt when a surge of energy burst inside her. Azrael released herself from the position and looked over her shoulder. Her wings had grown again, with a new sprout emerging from her back. The Angel of Death, blessed by their Father to govern the cycle of life, was now complete. Her crimson eyes lowered solemnly.
I understand. I have received your will, and I shall grant you your final wish.
Mikaela.
Azrael took a deep breath. Then, she released the wings on her back, spreading hundreds of them to fill up her prison. With her power brimming, Azrael held her head high with her eyes closed as she gathered enough energy to make her escape. When her eyes opened, she called upon her power and the entire structure that concealed her was destroyed.
All around, the explosion caused the angels to cease their actions. Even Lucifer stopped at the sound of the crumbling structure and the release of those they had imprisoned. Not far from him, Gabriel stared in the distance. Her face lightened with awe at the sight she beheld.
A huge black comet raced out of the demolished structure. It trailed black feathers and burned everything in its path. Angels scattered, clearing the field until only two were left. The comet rushed towards Lucifer at a high speed. The archangel stood still, eyeing the comet bravely and welcoming it with open arms. The image of the archangel instantly dissolved upon contact with the dark thing. The comet then changed directions and arched up, missing Gabriel by only a few inches. Her mighty stance was broken, blown away as the comet hit the gates, shattering them and leaving a gaping hole of darkness.
Gabriel stood to see the wreckage. The gates had been destroyed and the dark comet had vanished. Below them was the mortal land, and she could sense powerful energies gathering. She turned back to her army. Half had already fallen. Remorse filled the archangel for her fallen brothers and sisters, but a time of mourning would be later.
“Hear me!” Her voice echoed across the land. Gabriel raised her scepter above her head. The orb enclosed by the intertwined wood unleashed a blue flame that lit the entire expanse. “We have been given an opportunity! Flee and follow! The realm of God’s beloved awaits us!”
Michael frowned at the unfolding events. A small black ball materialized in front of him, dripping with black ink that stained the floor beside his feet. Lucifer came around, fetching the ball away from Michael. “Ah, Umbra,” Lucifer called it. “I see that it has wounded you.”
Michael chose to ignore his brother and his pet. He surveyed the damage the comet had caused. The gates had been destroyed, and angels pooled near the gaping hole. “It matters little,” Michael said stoically. “They will all be collected soon,” he said as the angels that defied them cowardly abandoned their home.
Fear overcame Daniel at the thought that the last image he would see was Uriel’s enraged face. Raphael’s often soft face had twisted into that of anger, staring at his former subordinate. Uriel tightened his grip on Daniel’s neck and the brace around his wrist began to glow.
Raphael stated, “Brother, you have committed a sin against Heaven and against our fellow brothers. You stood against us, and you have harmed our brother, Uriel.”
Daniel gritted his teeth. “And you, Uriel and Raphael, by following Michael’s orders, you have committed the greatest sin! To be unfaithful to our Father!”
Uriel’s eyes began to glow, and the sigil amplified his voice. “For you, falling is mercy.”
“Fall, you shall not,” Raphael concluded. “Farewell, brother—”
Before they could utter another word, the sky shook and sent a shattering shockwave across it. A black comet blazed across the night sky, leaving a trail of white flames before disappearing into the horizon.
David’s eyes followed the trail of the black thing in the sky. “What is that? A meteor?” He pointed to it. Enoch and Jenny turned to look, and the angel let out a gasp.
“Azrael?” He craned his neck to see where the comet came from, and he saw a spot in the night sky spilling bright light. Enoch’s eyes brightened at the sight of it; an almost childish smile spread across his face. “I see… I understand!” he announced. He turned to the siblings who stared at him, perplexed. “I was wrong! I was wrong!”
“Okay...” David said. “You don’t see a man celebrate being wrong that often.”
Jenny pouted. “Unl
ess you mean a dude who misread his girlfriend’s pregnancy test.”
David snapped at her. “You have a boyfriend?” But his surprise came more from latter part of the statement. “You took a pregnancy test?!”
Jenny looked at her brother, unamused, and pointed to herself. “Home-schooled in a family dealing with secret supernatural stuff. Do you really think I have enough of a social life to get a boyfriend?” With a huff, she added, “At least I’m not the one who has a crush on a witch.”
“I—” David started to protest, but stopped. He looked at the puddle and saw nothing but black smoke. The last he’d seen of Mikaela was when she made the smokescreen to distract both Lilith and Caelum. Since then, nothing had been visible.
David remembered the last time she’d spoken to him. Just before Mikaela and Ariel left for the battle, David had approached her, awkwardly wishing for her safety. Mikaela often acted indifferent around everyone, but she’d smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t get melodramatic on me now,” had been her only reply.
With no idea what was happening out there, David wished he had been able to fight. He disliked feeling like a kid sent to the nanny while the adults went to work. The image of Mikaela standing in front of him in the tower lingered in his thoughts, as well as the sensation of her lips against his. It was in that moment that he finally remembered what had happened years ago.
He had been much younger then, around eleven years old. When his father took him to learn about the politics of vampire clans, and David had foolishly wandered off. He’d been attacked by two vampires. A young girl, taller than him with bronze curls and green eyes, had stood between him and the vampires. He’d watched in awe as she drove the monsters away using witchcraft.
I wish I was the one protecting you now, David thought. He had never thanked the witch he now knew to be Mikaela, and he hoped he'd finally have the chance to be alone with her to tell her that he remembered. At least I can help you in another way. He looked back to Enoch who still gazed at the sky like a child watching the celestial lights.
Like falling stars, golden light spilled from the hole in the night sky from which the comet had burst. Raphael stared in disbelief as hundreds of angels filled the empty indigo expanse, shining brightly against the darkness. One star shone brighter than the rest, and he glared at the falling one that was their sister Gabriel.
Gabriel was the last to escape after ensuring that all angels who stood by her side had fled. Before her fall, she made eye contact with the two archangels who stood idly by as she and her comrades retreated. Hatred filled her at the sight of Lucifer’s condescending smile and Michael’s stoic expression, but she knew it wasn’t the right moment to challenge them.
And now, as she fell from her home, her eyes quickly spotted the large sigil below them. Brother Uriel? Gabriel was alarmed as she studied the scene before them, her eyes finding the angel who had recently escaped in the hands of Uriel’s puppet. Daniel’s throat was held by the puppet as it was readying to execute the angel. The puppet was readying to execute him.
Gabriel brandished her spear and called to the angels that fell with her. “Hear me! A brother who fights for our cause needs us!”
Raphael reeled back, studying the army that Gabriel led towards them. “Brother Uriel!”
The puppet’s arms curled and swung, throwing Daniel aside. In the blink of an eye, it vanished, only to appear at the center of the sigil that began to glow.
“I shall deal with the lesser!” Raphael shouted as he slammed his hands on the sigil. Smaller sigils appeared around his hands, and the larger ones around the edge of Uriel’s began to rotate.
An explosive sound halted Gabriel’s flight. She watched in horror as a few of the angels around her lit up in flames, screaming in agony. From below, Uriel started sending bolts of lightning in their direction
“Scatter!” Gabriel commanded. The bolts sizzled across the sky, and each angel maneuvered to evade the strikes.
“Gabriel!” shouted one angel.
Gabriel followed the voice to see one angel heading in her direction. “Daniel!”
The angel brandished his blade. “Later we shall talk! For now, command them as I say!”
To command someone of a higher order in Heaven was a crime. But in their situation, Gabriel chose to ignore such minor things and raised her scepter. “Hear and follow!” she shouted. “Do as our brother Daniel does!”
Several more angels perished as colossal lightning bolts showered on them. Daniel kept his eye on his target, diving down while expertly dodging the strikes. Behind him, several angels followed, including Gabriel. A lightning bolt rushed towards them, but Daniel threw his sword. The bolt struck it and arched around the angels. Gabriel caught a glimpse of translucent blades covering the group as the lightning danced around it.
The angels landed on the sigil. Light flashed and an angel was blown away. Uriel’s mighty puppet shone brightly, blinding them before another flash sent a shockwave that pushed them off. The puppet raised its fist again to bring about another blow, but as it brought its fist, an arm blocked it.
Gabriel appeared before the puppet. She pivoted her body and struck it with her scepter. Before Uriel could act, Gabriel spun around, tossing the scepter to Daniel before delivering a roundhouse kick against it. “Command them as you please!” Gabriel told Daniel.
The puppet looked to Daniel, but before it could charge at him, Gabriel came from behind, driving an elbow against its neck and bringing him down on the ground. “I am your foe!” Gabriel challenged, raising her fists.
When Daniel caught the wooden scepter, a surge of strength filled him. He raised it and an azure flame blazed from the orb at the tip. “Position yourselves into the points of Capricorn and Sagittarius! Spread around and avoid the point of Aquarius!” For a moment, Daniel heard a few inner retorts of the angels from the scepter. It is only a tool to send messages, I see.
Raphael witnessed Gabriel battling Uriel’s puppet, slamming his large body against the sigil. It faced Gabriel and swung its large arm to grab her. Gabriel didn’t move and instead caught the arm with two hands. She then turned, raised the arm up to her shoulder, and dragged it down.
Uriel’s puppet found its face slamming on the sigil and felt a skull-splitting heel slam on the back of his head as Gabriel delivered an axe kick. The large form stood up, and with a bright flash, turned into a lightning bolt. But just as it materialized in front of Gabriel, a spinning elbow slammed into its chest and pushed it back.
“Uriel!” Gabriel shouted as she placed one leg forward and raised her arms up near her head. “You dishonor me with your form!”
“So be it!” Raphael shouted. “Uriel! Let us show them as we did in Sodom!”
The sigil boomed as if agreeing. Raphael conjured several sigils around him and focused his energy on them. At the center of the Sigil, the small triangle began to rotate. In the middle of it, a circle formed, and another inside it, almost looking like an eye. The eye in the rotating triangle began to shine a blinding white light and produced a loud humming.
“No!” Gabriel shouted, “Do not let Uriel succeed!”
Daniel nodded. “Everyone! Begin!” Each angel from around the points of each rotating square held Daniel’s blade and stabbed down hard. Suddenly, the sigil expanded. It ascended as it grew to a point where it almost bathed the entire land in light.
“Ashes to ashes,” Uriel’s puppet boomed.
“Dust to dust,” Raphael whispered. He slammed his hands together and the sigils around him began to expand.
“No!” Gabriel cried. Suddenly, the light at the center of the sigil flashed, bathing everything in light.
“What!?” Uriel boomed.
Daniel smiled. “Brothers! Hold your positions!” From the blades, large rings of light expanded and overlapped each other’s light.
“Enoch’s seal!” Raphael shouted in utter disbelief. From the center circle of the sigil, six angels position
ed themselves in circles. Twelve angels around the first array, then thirty-six at the last.
Daniel launched himself above and summoned his blade. With a roar, Daniel zoomed towards the center where the light was gathering. His sword pierced the ball of light. Gabriel jumped back as the puppet’s head began to crack.
For a moment, everything fell silent. Then, Daniel heard Uriel’s bass-filled voice.
“Watch over my brother, Raphael.”
Chapter Nineteen: A Deal is a Deal
Only a few moments had passed since the lightning struck Mikaela’s body. The witch stood motionless before her father, as if frozen in time with the last words still hanging on her lips. Caelum stared at her face in disbelief, unable to move from his position until time began to tick again. When time resumed, the witch slowly fell into the demon’s arms.
The weight that fell upon him was light, yet his knees gave way as he watched her fiery crimson hair gracefully flow down before him. “Mikaela...” The name escaped his lips like a breath.
Images flashed into his head. From seeing his lovely daughter’s dirt-covered face to the horrid display before him now of the lightning consuming her body. He felt his daughter’s hands tighten around his wrists, her eyes wide in surprise.
Mikaela rested in Caelum’s embrace, her face calm as though she slumbered. But there was no warmth in her body; he couldn’t hear her slow calm breaths.
The last time he’d held his daughter like this was when she was young. The memory tugged him back to the times of forgotten peace.
“Hold me higher! Higher!” His lovely child laughed as he held her small torso and playfully whipped her around. The father felt the tug of gravity, but didn’t feel the effect of the spin until the child’s eyes start to swing right and left.
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 62