Decadence

by Matthew Ashworth

  - “No. There is no need for that. We have good enough security already. Whoever was responsible for the breach could obviously bypass our guards with ease, meaning the number of the guards would hardly make a difference.” Beelzebub replied to Malakai’s suggestion.

  - “What shall we do then? Is there anything I can do?”

  - “I personally think that one of the leaders from other sectors is trying to start a war, and they’re trying to blame it on us.” Beelzebub speculated tentatively.

  - “Could it be Lucifer?”

  - “It could be, but I wouldn’t assume that just yet. We still lack the information.”

  Malakai didn’t say anything there and let his master continue. He could see Beelzebub was contemplating on what could be done and that he didn’t want to make any hasty moves, because whoever created the situation, most likely was counting on Beelzebub to make obvious mistakes.

  - “All right, I think for now we might have to cooperate with the Erebus sector. To overcome the perpetrator, we’ll need to make some temporary alliances.” Beelzebub finally said.

  - “Shall I grant them the audience with you then?”

  - “No. Just lay low for now. If they request the audience, then give it to them, but otherwise stay quiet.”

  On that note they ended the talk, and Malakai left his master’s chamber. Once he was out of the chamber, he returned back up the tunnel in order to get back to the surface and to virtually take no further action concerning the recent events.

  Shortly after leaving the caves, Aurora began wandering through the sector. There were many guards around her, either patrolling through the separate areas or just guarding the entrances to various structures. Aurora entered one of the towers and began ascending the spiral stairs to the very top. She could fly up there, but she wasn’t in a rush and preferred to take a long, monotonous staircase whilst thinking. She was pondering on the issue with the creature attacks and what could that mean. Why did the angels from Erebus visit? Was it really serious? She then started thinking of Adelais. His gaze that she caught earlier had an impact on her. She was curious to get to know him better. Something about him was captivating and she couldn’t help but to feel drawn to him.

  Upon reaching the very top, Aurora glanced over the edge, out on the scenery in front of her. She could see a vast area from the top of that tower, and it was beautiful. She once again wondered if she made the right choice by joining the dark angels, as opposed to simply getting her purification after death and spending the remainder of the eternity in Utopia. She was a determined person in life. She had strong moral values and often stood up for what she believed in. By joining the army of dark angels, she thought she’d be able to once again stand up for her beliefs. However, everything was a lot more complex than she initially thought. Fighting in the Underworld wasn’t easy. Being a guardian of peace was a very stressful task. Those dark angels who were inherent were less prone to worrying, but those who used to be humans still had a large portion of their emotional human side with them. Eventually, after reflecting on her choices, Aurora decided that she would fight to the end. She had faith in herself, and she knew that any choices she made were for a good reason, and she wouldn’t have preferred things to have happened otherwise.

  - “My life has a purpose.” She quietly and calmly said to herself, “This is my life’s purpose. It wouldn’t be easy, but it’s what I want.”

  Chapter 4

  Allied Support

  The second wave of demonic creatures was now outside of the walls of Helheim, ready to get inside. Helheim had very solid, high walls and tall guard towers. It looked like the Erebus sector in many ways. Ethel and Lazarus, who were part of Azrael’s squad, were sent here by Hades earlier to help and defend this sector. They already helped out in one battle earlier in the interim. Now they had just reached the battlefield again and were standing on defensive positions among many of the Helheim troops, waiting for the enemy to get over the wall. Ethel was small in stature, but she was rather fast and agile. She had straight, long, sepia brown hair and very piercing blue eyes. Lazarus was averagely-built. His hair was very short and amber in colour, whilst his eyes were lime-green. The two of them were inherent dark angels and served in Azrael’s troop for slightly longer than Adelais.

  - “I’ve just heard that there’s been a second attack on our home sector too.” Lazarus said to Ethel just as they got to the battlefield.

  - “Have our troops managed to repel it?” Ethel felt highly concerned.

  - “Yes, there was no problem there.”

  - “Good. We should probably head back after this battle.” Ethel suggested and momentarily turned back to face the direction all the troops were looking in.

  The situation was compelling her to want to discuss all this with Hades, and also with Azrael and Adelais. She was concerned for her home sector and feared that more attacks could happen.

  - “There they come!” someone from the Helheim army yelled and pointed towards the approaching monstrosities. Those were the same kind of creatures that attacked Erebus, both the crawlers and the fliers.

  Helheim troops mostly consisted of valkyries, landvaettir, and the dark elves, also known as svartalfar. Valkyries very strongly resembled human female warriors and were armed with lots of different weapons, ranging from short swords to hefty axes and even flails. Some of the most experienced valkyries could fly and hence to take the battle into the air. Landvaettir were troll-like guardians, which outside of battle were usually assigned to guard gateways and entrances into various areas of the sector. Since they were big in size and stature, they mostly wielded larger weapons, such as hammers. The dark elves, just like valkyries, looked somewhat humanoid too, except they were slimmer and significantly taller. Their skin was darkened, even more so than skin of dark angels, and they had wider eyes, allowing them to see a wider scope of the area ahead. They were master archers and also good at several other projectile weapons. There were some dark angels in the army of Helheim too, but those were few and far in between.

  The dark elves began firing as soon as the crawlers got within their range, and some of the valkyries took into the air to battle the big insects. Ethel and Lazarus, as well as the rest of the Helheim troops, waited a little longer for the land creatures to get closer.

  - “Thy will be done.” Ethel murmured quietly as she placed her weapon-wielding hand on her chest.

  Within the next second she heard Lazarus say the same, and then they charged forward to begin the battle. That phrase was a common saying among the soldiers of the Creator, defenders of Utopia. Often when a big fight was about to begin, especially whilst defending against hoards of savage creatures, the dark angels said it as a sign that they were ready to fight to the very end.

  Each of the first three creatures Ethel encountered, she put down with a single slice of her short curved blade. The next two, however, attacked at the same time, and so she was forced to defend. Ethel was a shieldmaster, meaning she specialised in ability to create energy shields that could stop both physical and energy attacks. The moment the two creatures pounced on her, she created a small, round energy buckler in her off hand, which she momentarily placed in front of herself to stop the two attackers. Lazarus in a meantime was fighting directly beside her. His weapon of choice was a long pike with three sharp spikes on the end. Lazarus could use it as both - an offensive weapon and a defensive tool.

  There were a lot of flying attackers in this fight. Since only a few of the valkyries fought in the air, many of the fliers were getting a chance to attack the fighters on land. Nevertheless, the ground force was strong, and only few units succumbed since the battle began. The landvaettir stood their ground and stopped any crawlers from getting past them, whilst the valkyries aggressively attacked those and finished them off. The dark elves were providing a covering fire from a distance, especially against the fliers.

  The formation of the Helheim defenders was very strategic, and hence the battle was quickly
shifting in favour of the Helheim troops. Just as with the attack on Erebus, the attacking army contained only very basic and primitive creatures. It did not contain any powerful monsters, and neither was it led by any demonic generals.

  Once the battle ended, Ethel, without losing any time, approached Lazarus. He was still finishing off one of the last remaining creatures.

  - “Looks like we’re done here. Let’s go and report to Lady Hel. We should tell her we’re ready to head back to talk about these attacks with Lord Hades.” She said whilst he was still looking at the last creature he destroyed.

  Lazarus turned to face her and nodded in agreement. At that instant both of them flew up into the air and navigated towards Hel’s palace. Helheim didn’t differ from Erebus much. A lot of the structures were similar and the layout of the sector as well. Helheim, however, did have a lot of snow on the ground, very similar to snow in the External World, as it was relatively chilly in there. That chill didn’t seem to trouble any of the Helheim’s inhabitants and guardians though.

  They got to the palace rather fast and landed right by the entrance. Hel’s palace was partially built inside of a mountain and partially outside. The outside part was solid and polished for the most part, but still managed to gradually merge with the coarse, bland mountain. Once they approached the main doors, those swung open by themselves and allowed them to gain entrance. On the inside, Hel’s palace looked a lot like Hades’ palace – one long corridor on the ground floor, which led directly to Hel’s private chamber, as well as plain walls, littered with a big collection of decorations. There were several landvaettir in the corridor, guarding the place, but they did not stop the dark angels, as they knew who they were. Once Ethel and Lazarus reached the doors to the private chamber, those opened automatically. However, just as the two dark angels stepped into the room, a big ferocious hound crossed their path. It was Hel’s pet hound, Garm. With a simple call, Hel stopped Garm from attacking the angels and ordered it to back away.

  Hel herself had a very unusual appearance. Half of her face and body looked exquisite and very human-like, whilst the other half necrotic and demonic. Her appearance represented her balanced and impartial nature. She wore a long, dark blue dress, which was shredded in places on the demonic half of her body, and she sat on a throne chair at the very end of the room. The room itself was gloomy and depressing, but Hel tried everything to bring life to it. Though there weren’t many decorations on the walls, there were a lot of valkyries guarding the room, and there were also several other creatures too. It appeared Hel really loved her monsters.

  When Ethel and Lazarus got near to her, she instantly diverted her attention to them and was the first one to speak.

  - “How was the battle?” she asked in her eccentric voice.

  - “We’ve put a stop to the attack.” Lazarus declared.

  - “Well done. I am very pleased, even though it is such a waste that so many good creatures had to die so needlessly.”

  Ethel and Lazarus didn’t know how to respond to that. For a few moments there was an awkward pause. Hel, however, continued without them needing to say anything:

  - “Whoever sent those poor creatures to attack us like this is a fool. He sent them only to get slaughtered and I hate that. Nevertheless, what’s done is done. I take it you’re ready to get back to Erebus.”

  - “Yes, we are. Is there anything else that needs to be done?” Ethel replied politely.

  - “Not at all. Thank you for the aid and give Lord Hades my regards.” Hel mentioned and cackled slightly.

  After being dismissed, Ethel and Lazarus turned around and headed back out of the palace. Once they found themselves outside again, Ethel proposed they fly back instead of taking a boat, as Erebus was directly next to Helheim. Lazarus agreed to that, and they took off into the air immediately. On the way back, they started to discuss the situation between themselves.

  - “Who do you think sent those monsters to attack us?” Ethel wanted to hear Lazarus’ opinion.

  - “I don’t know who would be so senseless to do that. I think even Lucifer is not foolish enough.” Lazarus stated.

  - “I want to talk it over with the others in our sector. I think Lord Hades must’ve already begun analysing it.” Ethel theorized, “Most likely he sent someone to the Infernal Pit, since those looked like the creatures of Lord Beelzebub.”

  - “I think you are right about that.” Lazarus confirmed, “Our master is always on top of all the issues.”

  They approached the edge of Helheim at that moment and continued to fly as they went over one of the streams of river Acheron that separated Helheim from Erebus. Once in the Erebus territory, they slowed down slightly and made their way towards Hades’ palace.

  As they were quietly approaching the palace, Lazarus spotted Adelais and Azrael on the ground, not far from the palace itself. Ethel saw them a couple of seconds after, just before Lazarus was about to draw her attention. In an instant, the two of them dived down and landed onto the solid ground next to their friends.

  - “Ethel, Lazarus, you are back. Excellent!” Azrael was pleased, “How did the battle go?”

  - “The battle ended quickly. More importantly, how did everyone manage back here?” Ethel was curious.

  - “The creatures didn’t give us any trouble either.” Adelais answered her question.

  - “In fact, we’ve just returned from the Infernal Pit.” Azrael enlightened his teammates.

  - “Lord Hades sent the two of you then? So what did you find out?”

  - “Malakai claims to know nothing about it.” Azrael delivered an answer she wasn’t hoping to hear, “Adelais and I think he is hiding something from us.”

  Ethel understood what Azrael was saying. She knew she would’ve been suspicious as well. Lazarus continued at that moment:

  - “And what did Lord Beelzebub say?”

  - “We couldn’t get an audience with him,” Azrael responded, “what made us even more suspicious.”

  - “He is probably plotting something then.” Lazarus anticipated.

  - “Well, we don’t know. Let’s not be hasty and let them explain themselves.” Ethel tried to give Malakai and Beelzebub the benefit of a doubt.

  - “Yes, it’s not in our nature to accuse without proof.” Azrael acknowledged, “We should consult Lord Hades about it.”

  Azrael decided it was best if he discussed it with Hades by himself first, and then the others, as they would likely be joined by all other dark angels of the sector too. Since the problem was escalating, it meant more dark angels were going to get involved in it. The issue was full of mystery, which needed to be solved. Since they were noble beings, they did not want to start any wars without being sure of the attacker’s identity. Lacking information, however, meant that they were highly limited in investigating the problem further.

  Chapter 5

  Flaming Revenge

  The darkness was everywhere. It was cold and pitch black. Garridan couldn’t move, but he found himself to be alive. He did not understand what was going on. He couldn’t think at all. It all felt like a dream. There was a distorted voice ringing in his head, but he couldn’t make out what it was saying. It sounded like repeated chanting of some kind. Suddenly he felt his limbs getting hotter, and then his face too. Then, within a fraction of a second, his body was thrown out of his coffin, supported by a small fiery explosion. He flew right out of his grave and landed onto wet soil of the graveyard. His memories started flooding back to him. He recalled who he was and how he died. Memories of his death instantly filled him with rage. He remembered his sire’s betrayal, and felt that it was uncalled for. Garridan knew that he was always loyal to his sire, Walden, serving him and fighting for him, yet Walden decided he no longer needed him and had him executed by burning him alive.

  Despite his vision being very blurry, he could see that it was a night time. Now that Garridan had some energy and felt less rigid, he pulled himself up and slowly got onto his still trembling fe
et. Barely sustaining his own weight, he stood up. It appeared that he was buried in his navy-coloured body armor. His signature sword, however, wasn’t on him.

  - “Garridan!” he heard a hoarse voice screaming into his head suddenly.

  Garridan didn’t respond to it. He thought this was still all a dream. However, with every passing moment it felt more and more like reality. He lifted his hands up to touch his face and realised it was severely burnt. His eyes he could not feel, even though he could see more or less.

  - “This cannot be a dream.” He said to himself quietly.

  - “You’re not dreaming, Garridan.” The hoarse voice continued, “You’ve been given another chance at life. You’ve been given a chance to have your revenge. If you want justice, go and kill your former sire.”

  It was unbelievable. Garridan couldn’t understand how he was brought back to life. Could it be some supernatural being that gave life back to him? He always considered the possibility of existence of supernatural forces, but he never experienced them first-hand in order to be sure. If this wasn’t a dream, then his perceptions of supernatural for sure were going to change forever.

  Garridan decided to try and walk now. He nervously lifted his right foot and stepped forward. The instant he rested his body weight on it, he collapsed onto the ground, his face meeting the cold, wet mud. Shaking away the disappointment, Garridan lifted himself back up slowly and rose back on his feet. He then made another attempt at walking, and this time managed to keep his balance. Once the first step succeeded, he made another, and then another. It was still difficult to walk, as his legs felt very sore and weak, and could scarcely support his weight. As he walked through the graveyard, he kept finding himself drifting from side to side, nearly tipping over each time.