Decadence

by Matthew Ashworth

  - “I should’ve realised about this.” Azrael admitted here, “Years ago Lucifer used to send his demons to the External World. Now they barely even need to go out there. They can project their influence out there directly from the Underworld. I, however, did not realise they could send mortals that much power.”

  - “But Azrael, Garridan is not a mortal.” Ethel pointed out correctly.

  - “There are more of these temples in the entire Pandemonium.” Malakai said here, before Azrael could reply to Ethel’s comment.

  Suddenly they all heard stomping noises behind them, and soon after, loud roars. All three of them turned back round to face the entrance of the room, and through the doorway they saw reinforcements entering the antechamber. The demons that came in were bigger than the ones they just fought and well-armed. They wore heavy armor and wielded big clubs and halberds.

  - “Looks like we’re out of time.” Azrael realised, “Let’s destroy the statue now.”

  He took the initiative and approached the statue hastily. Then, with a single swing of his double-bladed axe, he smashed it to pieces. A strange light flashed as soon as the statue shattered, but disappeared immediately. Azrael then turned back to his team, but Malakai was already by the door, waiting to head out.

  - “Come on. We have to make haste before more reinforcements arrive.” He waved to both Ethel and Azrael and finally exited the room.

  Then, with plenty of courage, he came out into the antechamber, daring the demon soldiers to attack him. Three of those did exactly that and headed in Malakai’s direction, hoping to grind him into dust. Azrael joined him right before any of the demons even got close, grabbing some of the attention onto himself. Ethel remained inside the room and waited till the demons got closer. The instant the demons came up to Malakai and Azrael and took their swings, Ethel cast an energy shield around her allies, protecting them from enemy attacks. The weapons of the demons rebounded immediately. Ethel quickly let go off the shields, causing them to dissolve, and that’s when Malakai and Azrael reacted. They each struck the two outermost demons in the formation on the head, and then at the same time directed their attacks at the one in the centre. The three demonic soldiers fell, but about a dozen others were just behind those, and they were not going to fall for the same trick the others did.

  - “We better make a run for it.” Azrael advised.

  - “Exactly what I’ve had in mind.” Malakai agreed with him.

  Ethel joined both of them in the antechamber at that stage and responded to their plan:

  - “Let’s do it then. I’ll shield us all.”

  She quickly concentrated and produced several shield fragments around all three of them. That was when they ran for the main entrance. The demonic warriors were trying to do their best to stop them by force, but every time any of them made a swing or a stab, Ethel moved one of the fragments onto the weapon’s path, therefore foiling any attempts to hurt her or her allies. One of the demons eventually jumped up and attempted to land inside of the shield. However, Azrael reacted quickly to that and struck the monster with his weapon just as it landed, hitting it upwards and back out of the shield’s vicinity.

  Once at the doorway, Malakai asked Ethel to release the shield and began collecting energy in both of his hands. Ethel did as he asked. The demonic soldiers instantly seized the opportunity and attacked all at once. However, Malakai unleashed a powerful blast of fire from his hands, knocking each foe substantially backwards.

  - “Now let’s disappear.” Malakai suggested, and the three of them exited the temple, immediately flying off into the air.

  There were many flying demons circling the cliffs high up, so they had to make a return through the same cave they arrived by. Whilst using that route, they managed to escape before any more of Pandemonium forces arrived at the scene.

  Chapter 14

  Reminiscence

  Adelais was patrolling around the same area mindlessly. Infernal Pit wasn’t as familiar to him as his home sector, and hence it didn’t flare up much emotion. He did, however, see a lot of similarities in the same old routine most beings partook in. The sector guards were in many areas, either standing ground or patrolling. Some specialised creatures were constructing new structures. Finally, whilst exploring the area, he heard a voice calling him from behind:

  - “You are Adelais, right?”

  Adelais turned around and saw Aurora walking towards him. She looked rather lost and somewhat cautious. Her eyes glared at his with certain admiration, and for a split second he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He waited until she came right up to him and then responded:

  - “Yes. Is something wrong?”

  - “Nothing at all.” She answered and stopped by his side.

  Adelais didn’t say anything there and just turned back to where he was looking initially. The two of them gazed at the distance for a few moments in silence, and then Aurora spoke again and levitated off the ground.

  - “Hey, come with me. I’ve got to show you something.”

  - “Where are we going?” Adelais was taken by surprise.

  - “Just follow me.”

  Adelais lifted himself into the air too and followed Aurora as she soared higher. He wasn’t sure what she was up to, but he decided to find out. She eventually reached a tall tower and swiftly landed on its roof. Adelais did exactly the same, but couldn’t understand why she brought him there.

  - “What’s here?” he wondered whilst looking around with confusion.

  - “The view.” Aurora said in such a manner as if she was surprised he hadn’t noticed it.

  Adelais approached the edge Aurora was standing next to, then looked out and was stunned. Aurora was right – the view was fantastic. He could see a very large portion of the sector this way. He was always fond of locations such as this one, and he knew of many spots in his home sector where the view was mind-blowing. Whilst he was looking out, Aurora came up and stopped to the left of him, glaring at the spectacular landscape as well.

  - “By the way, I know why the four of you came here.” She suddenly spoke.

  - “What do you mean?” Adelais wasn’t sure what she was getting at and looked at her with slight suspicion.

  - “I know of what Malakai is up to. I know of his disloyalty.” She clarified and turned to catch his gaze.

  - “We aren’t going to take any action against him unless we have proof.” Adelais realised there was no point in hiding it from her as she was aware of it already, “And even then, I don’t know if I can do anything that would cause him harm. He is my friend after all.”

  - “Yes, but can we trust him? I personally don’t know if I can. If he is no longer part of this sector, where does that leave me?” Aurora admitted whilst looking down shyly, “If not him, who else can I trust? He is my commander, and I am new here. I hardly know anyone.”

  - “Hey, it’s fine. You can trust me.” Adelais comforted her, what brought her gaze back up.

  Adelais could slightly sense Aurora’s feelings at that stage. Since beings of the Internal World were a lot more attuned to the energy that comprised them, they could sense feelings and emotions of others better than anyone in the External World. Because of that, Adelais could sense the confusion Aurora was going through and the worry it was causing her. Angels didn’t have tears, but Adelais could tell that if they did, Aurora would’ve been shedding some at that moment. It’s only then that he noticed that Aurora’s eyes weren’t completely blank like his or Malakai’s. He could faintly see beautiful pale brown irises looking back at him. She eventually gave a feeble smile and then said:

  - “Thanks Adelais. Hey, why don’t you tell me how you and Malakai have become friends? He often talks about you.”

  - “All right.” Adelais agreed.

  It was Adelais’ fifth interim in the Underworld. A lot was still new and unknown to him, but he was determined to become one of the best dark angels ever. It was a dream come true to have become one of the angels and to be a so
ldier of the Creator. Azrael was briefing him, as well as Ethel and Lazarus, on their next mission.

  - “One of the dark angels of the Purgatory sector has fallen from grace, and he is wrecking havoc all over the Underworld. His name is Sion. We must find him and stop him by any means necessary.” Azrael informed them.

  - “Why has he fallen?” Ethel was curious.

  - “Something must’ve corrupted him during one of the battles. He hadn’t joined the Pandemonium forces. He’s just gone rogue.” Azrael told her all he knew.

  - “Do you know where we’re starting our search?” Lazarus asked the next question.

  - “He was last seen on the Eastern side of Gehenna. I fear he might’ve gone into the wastelands beyond the five rivers.”

  Ethel and Lazarus understood everything there. Adelais didn’t ask any questions and just decided to follow the others for the time being. Azrael took them to the Southern dock, where they took a boat and headed to the Eastern-most side of the Underworld, past the Gehenna sector. This was the first real mission Adelais was partaking in, and so he was extremely curious.

  Upon reaching the Eastern coast of Gehenna, they carried on to the far bank of the river, the one that came out into the wastelands. There were three other boats there, what meant that troops from some of the other sectors were already at the scene. Once docked, Azrael jumped off the boat, and the others followed him. Adelais was slightly anxious whilst they walked through the barren land to a large mountain. He didn’t know what to expect. When they got there, they saw two dark angels standing at the foot of the ascent. One was dark angel Tarasios, who was one of the dark angel commanders in Infernal Pit, and the other was his new recruit, Malakai.

  - “What’s happening?” Azrael asked, “Has Sion been found?”

  - “The dark angels from Purgatory and Helheim flew up there to find him, but I still haven’t heard back from them. I remained behind in case someone else arrived and needed to know of our progress. Looks like it was good I did that.” Tarasios explained.

  - “Would that be fine if we went up there too?” Azrael then suggested.

  - “Do as you please.” Tarasios didn’t mind at all.

  - “All right then.” Azrael turned to his team, “Adelais, it might be too dangerous, so I’d like you to stay here with Tarasios and…”

  He realised he didn’t know the name of Tarasios’ new recruit.

  - “Malakai.” Tarasios let him know.

  - “Right. Greetings.” Azrael greeted Malakai, then turned to Adelais and continued, “Stay here with Tarasios and Malakai. The three of us will go up there and see how others are doing.”

  Adelais nodded without arguing, and on that note Azrael and the others flew up into the mountain. Tarasios didn’t speak much. Malakai, however, walked up to Adelais a few minutes later and started a conversation.

  - “Hey. You’re new as well?” he asked.

  - “Yeah. Pretty happy to join the dark angels.” Adelais responded.

  - “Me too. I really hope to achieve a lot whilst doing this. It’s what I always wanted - to fight for the good.”

  - “You read my mind exactly.”

  - “I didn’t quite catch your name. What was it again?”

  - “Adelais.”

  - “It’s very nice to meet y…” Malakai didn’t get to finish saying that, because he was interrupted by shouting coming from above.

  Both of them looked up and saw an entity plunging down from above, eventually slamming into the hard ground not far from them. Without saying anything, the two of them took a few steps towards the point of impact and saw a battered dark angel, or more precisely, a battered fallen angel. They had no doubt it was Sion, the one they were after. He stared up at them from the ground and growled with rage; his face looked like it received at least a dozen of punches. Within the next second he rose up and was prepared to attack them, but Tarasios got on his way and began fighting with him. Sion was extremely mad and kept aggressively attacking with his mace with no regard for pain or any of his injuries. Tarasios had to defend continuously with his great blade, but then Sion shot a powerful bolt of lightning out of one of his hands, which struck Tarasios and knocked him down.

  Sion looked back at Adelais and Malakai and without hesitation charged at them whilst waving his mace very dangerously in front of himself. Adelais and Malakai had their weapons ready, but not only were they still inexperienced fighters, but also an aggressive individual charging at them like that was an intimidating sight. As a result they began backing away.

  - “Watch out!” Adelais yelled to Malakai and pulled him back just as Sion got too close with his deadly swings.

  As soon as Sion was about to follow that swing up, someone landed right on top of him, pressing him right down against the ground. It was Azrael. Sion was not stopped by this, however. He recovered immediately and began trying to get up frantically. Azrael was trying to keep him down, but Sion’s berserk state was overpowering him. Eventually one of the dark angel commanders from Helheim, Balder, landed right beside them and pounced on Sion as well, helping Azrael in restraining the fallen angel. They were doing fine, but Sion continued resisting. Finally Sion’s dark angel commander from Purgatory, Amadeus, landed as well and without hesitation thrust his long sword into Sion’s torso as the other two kept him constrained. Within seconds all of the other dark angels that participated in the battle landed from above as well. There were at least half a dozen participants in that battle.

  - “That was something. You all right?” Malakai finally vocalised and turned to Adelais.

  - “Yes, not too bad. I think it’s over.” Adelais said in response.

  At that stage their teams approached them and they had to separate and leave the area.

  Adelais finished explaining the flashback and saw an astonished expression on Aurora’s face. She was awed by the story.

  - “If my first real mission was at least half as intense as that one, I think I will be pretty happy.” She finally said.

  - “Well I thought so too back then, but then you realise that nearly all the missions are just like that.” Adelais responded to her comment, “Ever since then, Malakai and I were good friends. Anytime we were on a certain mission together, we were delighted.”

  Adelais could see that Aurora was cheered up after hearing that story. She stepped a little closer to him so that their hands were almost touching.

  - “I wish I could make some friends here. Back in my human life I was very lonely.” She admitted.

  - “Are you serious? You strike me as someone who would have a lot of friends.” Adelais realised he didn’t quite see Aurora in the correct light.

  - “I have strong opinions and irrational ideals – not something many people like. You know, two interims ago my family held my funeral. I saw it, and…” Aurora was feeling sorrowful again.

  - “What is it? You can tell me.” Adelais was trying to comfort her.

  - “Hardly anyone came to it. It’s then that I finally realised how unwanted I was in the world.” She said the rest of it.

  She looked down and began weeping, but no tears came. Adelais quickly put his arms around her and embraced her tightly. He really could sense her sorrow. Not only was she confused and lost in this new place, but also the world she just left didn’t seem to care about her so much. He understood that she probably felt like she didn’t belong anywhere, and hence he wanted to make her feel as welcome and as comfortable as possible.

  - “I was quite lonely too.” He finally said after a few moments of silence, “I had a few friends, but they were distant, my parents died early, and I only ever had one short-lived relationship early on in life. That’s it. Because I had virtually no-one in life, I ended up adopting a daughter, because I really wanted to take care of someone.”

  Aurora looked up at that moment, coming out of Adelais’ grasp and feeling rather surprised. Adelais noticed that it wasn’t something she heard being mentioned often.

  - “That i
s so wonderful, Adelais. What’s her name?” Aurora got very interested.

  - “Her name is Caira.”

  - “What a beautiful name. I bet it was extremely difficult for her when you passed away.”

  Adelais remembered how sad Caira was when he visited her after dying. That memory was making him uncomfortable. He only wanted to hope that she was happy and had a good life.

  - “Yes, but one of my distant cousins took Caira into her family when I died. She is fine. I visited her three times ever since.” Adelais said after a pause, trying not to release the emotions he had stored deep inside.

  - “I bet she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw you as you are now.”

  - “She was quite surprised, yes, but I reassured her that I was doing fine. I wish I could visit her more, but right now I am needed here. Maybe once my duty is complete, I will get to see her more.”

  - “I am so glad for both of you.” Aurora commented with sincerity, “I really wish I met you back in my human life.”

  - “I know. I wish so too.” Adelais said; he could very clearly feel Aurora’s emotions at that minute.