Angel Warriors

by Stephani Hecht

  “Never better. Your female is a great healer.” Appolion pulled out his own weapon. Abdiel scowled when he saw its wavy blade. It was a kris and a demon one at that.

  “Where did you get that?” He pointed to the offending weapon.

  “I lifted it off a demon I dusted.” Appolion shrugged. “It’s not like I can go and order a custom built weapon like you can. I have to make do with what I can get. Demons don’t carry around fancy swords like you archangels.”

  “Oh great, I don’t even want to know what other demon weapons you have tucked away, do I?”

  Appolion gave him a wicked grin before he stared to pull out various weapons from every pocket. There were several different types of daggers, throwing stars and a set of brass knuckles. Every single one of them was fashioned by demons.

  “I’ve seen you fight, little brother. You are far too good of a warrior to be using weapons like that. Demons have never done quality work.”

  “I’m not a warrior.” Appolion scowled slightly. “I would just as soon hop into my little rabbit hole and wait for all the fireworks to be over.”

  “I could tell,” Abdiel said sarcastically. “Everybody walks around with an arsenal that would make Steven Segal proud.”

  “Funny,” Appolion mused. “I was trying to impress The Rock. Do you smell singed dog hair? I think Rachael zapped herself a demon.”

  “She’s going to be impossible to live with now,” Abdiel groaned.

  “Don’t worry,” a voice spat out. “You three won’t be seeing that much of each other in Hell and that’s where you’re going back to. I think we’ll take your little empath king too. Mammon misses him so much.”

  Appolion gripped his kris so tight that his knuckles turned white. “Hey, Forcas. Hey, Douma,” he spat out their names like they were foul curse words. “Why don’t you go take a flying fuck. Tell Mammon to take one too while you’re at it.”

  “Such language Appolion. You’re going to shock your new angel friends with a mouth like that.” Douma tsked. “Of course you’ve got to wonder what they would say if they knew what you did to that female angel back in Hell. You remember, I’m sure. It was right before you left us. Now what was that angel whore’s name?”

  “Ambriel, her name was Ambriel,” Appolion’s voice shook. “You know damn well what her name was, and she was not a whore.”

  “Enough of this talky talky crap,” Abdiel interrupted, more to put an end to the mental torture that was being inflicted on Appolion than anything else. “Are we going to fight or what?”

  “Isn’t this just epic?” Forcas laughed. “Brother against brother, those human filmmakers would just love it.”

  Appolion started calling them every foul name in the book. When he used up all the human ones he switched to an ancient demon language and used those ones too. When he was finally quiet, Abdiel gave him an amused look.

  “Done?” he asked.

  Appolion nodded his head.

  Forcas let out a primal roar before he ran to attack Appolion. The angel met the demon halfway. Their swords met with an ear-shattering clang. Soon the two exchanged blows and parries at a rate so fast that is was almost impossible to follow. Abdiel took this all in from the corner of his eye. He kept his main focus on Douma. His demon brother stretched out his arm and crooked his fingers forward beckoning Abdiel. The archangel shot the demon a look of disgust.

  “I can’t believe that you just did the ‘come hither’ thing with your hand,” Abdiel said incredulously. “How lame can you be?”

  Douma tried to shoot off a ball of energy, but Abdiel easily deflected it. When the demon saw that his dark magic was not going to work, he resorted to hand-to-hand combat. That was a big mistake, fist and blades were what Abdiel was best at.

  When Douma raised his sword in order to strike, Abdiel easily dodged to the side while bringing his own blade across, cutting the demon’s belly. Spinning around, the archangel stuck the demon’s arm next with his sword. Douma shrieked as he pulled back the stump. The demon’s curved blade was on the ground, the steel glinting in the moonlight. A disembodied, bloody claw still clenched the hilt. The demon tried to flash away, but Abdiel held up a hand and put up a shield. When Douma realized he was trapped, he let out yell of terror.

  Abdiel turned to help Appolion but soon realized the angel didn’t need it. Forcas was a mass of cuts and gashes. The demon tried feebly to fight back but Appolion was too quick. Although the angel’s skills were rough and undisciplined, they were a force to be reckoned with. It was easy to see how his young brother had survived all these years on his own.

  When Forcas tried to retreat back to Hell Abdiel stopped him too. Appolion looked up at the archangel in awe.

  “I didn’t know you could do that.” Appolion smiled at the sight of his two demon brothers quivering in fear as they lay there helpless, side by side on the ground.

  “Neither did I,” Abdiel admitted. He turned around at the sound of Cam and Rachael’s running footsteps. The two of them stood there panting as they took in the scene.

  “Hey Cam,” Appolion called out with a wicked grin, “Douma needs a hand. Ya wanna give it to him?”

  Cam gasped in laughter before he added. “He always wanted to be Satan’s left hand man.”

  “You guys are killing me,” Rachael groaned.

  “What are you going to do with them, Abdiel?” Gabi asked quietly.

  “I’m going to end this right here right now,” Abdiel gritted out between clenched teeth. “I’m sick of us always having to live in fear and always having to look over our shoulders. These two have done enough damage. Cam, Rachael, I want you guys to destroy them.”

  “Are you sure?” Gabi put her hand on his shoulder. “We could call in Michael. He would do it for you.”

  “We’re your brothers,” Douma yelled. “You may talk a big game but we all know in the end that your soft heart won’t be able to destroy your own family.”

  “After what you did to Cam and Appolion, you are no longer my family.” Abdiel snarled.

  Abdiel looked at Appolion for his consent. The angel nodded his head before he whispered, “Please, do it. I’m begging you.”

  “How about you, Rachael?” Abdiel murmured. “I’ll understand if you can’t.”

  Rachael was already raising her hand. “For Cam and Appolion, I can do anything. After all the pain these two maggots have caused, it would be my honor to rid the world of their existence.”

  He turned to ask Cam if he could do it, but saw that the question was not necessary. Cam’s eyes were glazed over in fury and hate. He obviously had not forgotten that it was Douma and Forcas that had turned him into what he was. The only reason that he had not already released his flame was out of respect for Abdiel.

  Abdiel looked over at Gabi. She gave him a nod before she said, “I love you.”

  “Do it,” Abdiel ordered Cam and Rachael.

  The two of them turned their upturned hands at the demons. Rachael took Douma while Cam took Forcas. It was no surprise to see the cold, deadly gaze on Cam’s face, however the fact that Rachael wore the same expression showed how deep she was hiding whatever abuse she suffered too. Gone was the usual caring and compassionate female only to be replaced by a warrior seeking vengeance.

  When the energy hit the demons, it slammed them into the wall of a building. The monsters withered and screamed in agony as the energy started to rip them apart from the inside out. The two demon’s bodies started to pulsate and shift into gruesome shapes as their cries became more pitiful. Finally, just as it seemed it would never end, Douma and Forcas blew up. Abdiel pulled Gabi to his chest and shielded her as body parts, blood, and gore rained down on all of them.

  When Abdiel looked up at where his two brothers had once been, there was nothing left but blackened, smoldering ashes. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized that they were finally free from Douma and Forcas and their evil.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gone, they were gone for
good. Not sent back to Hell only to return again another day, but destroyed forever. His brothers would never be able to hurt him or anyone that he loved ever again. So why didn’t he feel relieved? He should be happy, and instead he felt cold and dead inside.

  “It’s all right. It’s all over,” Gabi cooed in his ear. As always, she knew exactly what he was thinking and how he was feeling.

  Abdiel held her tight and looked over to Rachael and Appolion. The twins were holding onto each other for dear life while she sobbed. Appolion stroked Rachael’s hair and murmured to her, trying to calm her down. Meanwhile, Cam stared at the piles of ash with a sardonic smile on his face. Abdiel could see that he was running his tongue over one of his fangs.

  “You made me into a monster, and it came back to bite you in the ass,” Cam whispered at the smoldering remains. He didn’t seem to realize that he was talking out loud and continued to rant in a low voice. “You should have just left us alone, but no you had to come and try to take me back to him. I’m never going back there, never. Mammon is never going to mind fuck me again. I won’t let him.”

  Abdiel closed his eyes and let all the guilt sink in. If anyone was the monster, it was him. He had destroyed his own brothers tonight. They may have been demons, but they were still family, and he had ruthlessly cut them down. Worse, he had used his own baby sister in order to do it.

  “You are not a monster.” Rachael picked up his thought and pulled away from Appolion in order to look at her older brother. “I wanted to destroy them even more than you. I’ve never told you what they did to me, Abdiel. I was too much of a coward.” “Rachael,” Appolion argued softly. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I do.” She wrapped both of her arms around herself. “It’s time that he knew. When we first got to Hell, the first thing they did was separate Appolion and me. They didn’t put us in cells. They put us in our own bedrooms. But, with the locks on the door the effect was the same.”

  “They didn’t want Rachael and I to have even each other,” Appolion added. “They knew that if they kept us from each other, we would be weaker, and they were right. But they didn’t know that we could talk to each other telepathically. For a while we were able to do at least that.”

  “Douma and Forcas would come into my room,” Rachael spoke so softly it was hard to hear her. “They said it was stupid of them to go looking for a willing female when they already had one waiting for them.”

  “Oh dear God, please no,” Cam whispered as the impact of her words were enough to finally pull him out of his trance. “What did those two bastards do to you?”

  “They would take turns with me,” Rachael continued. “I tried not to cry but it hurt so bad. After they were done, I felt so dirty. I just didn’t want to even exist anymore. They came and did that to me every day for a whole year. When I tried to tell Mother, she didn’t believe me. When I told Dad, he just laughed in my face and told me that if I knew what was good for me, I would keep my mouth shut. So you see, Abdiel, I had more reason than you to want them destroyed.”

  “Is that why you put yourself in that frozen state?” Gabi asked. “So you could get away from them?”

  “I honestly don’t know how I did that.” Rachael shrugged her shoulders.

  “I did it,” Appolion shocked them all by saying. “The entire time they were violating you, I knew it. Like I told Gabi earlier, I was born a healer so I just urged you to go to sleep. I thought that if you were out of it, they would leave you alone. Unfortunately I was only ten at the time and didn’t know what I was doing so I made the urge too strong. I didn’t mean to make it permanent.”

  “Okay, I’m just going to state the obvious here,” Cam said shaking his head. “You were only ten, dude. No freaking healer I’ve ever known could do anything close to that until after they reached adulthood.”

  “That just goes to show you how pathetic I am.” Appolion snorted. “I started out with some pretty nice gifts but they’ve gotten weaker as I’ve gotten older. I guess it sucks to be me.”

  “You’re wrong, Appolion,” Rachael argued. “I saw it in a dream, and you know my dreams are never wrong. You are the Destroyer.”

  “Please, give me a break,” Appolion laughed. “The only thing I can destroy is a large pepperoni pizza. How many times do I have to tell you angels? I am not part of your little club, and I am no hero. I don’t have Wonder Twin Powers, see?”

  Appolion held up his hand and pointed it off to the side to prove that nothing would come out of it. A huge ball of energy shot from his hand and blew up the garbage dumpster. Appolion was so shocked by what he had just done that he fell flat on his butt. Despite the grim situation, Abdiel almost laughed at his brothers dumbfounded expression.

  “What the hell?” he shouted as he looked down at his hand like it had truly offended him.

  “I tried to tell you,” Gabi said meekly. “Remember the first day when we met and I told you an injured angel could not heal other angels? Well, I guess the same thing goes for all your gifts. When I healed you, all of your powers came pouring out.”

  “Well just put them back in.” Appolion growled.

  Gabi gave him an aggravated look. “I can’t do that. As a healer you should already know that.”

  “I said I was born a healer. I never said anything about being a healer.” Appolion got up and started to pace. “Sorry, I know you’re supposed to be some great and mighty healer, but I’ve never had a lick of formal training in the art of healing angels. Over the centuries I’ve been to three different medical schools for humans, but I don’t know bupkis on angel anatomy.”

  “You’re just mad because you’ve just realized everything I’ve been telling you is the truth.” Rachael pointed an accusing finger at him. “For the first time in you immortal life you may have to put somebody else’s needs before yours, and you can’t stand that. Do you know how much you hurt me when you cut of all contact with me?”

  “That’s not fair, Ray.” Appolion gave her a hurt look. “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Oh save it, Appolion.” She gave him the hand. “You can say that you were trying to protect me all you want, but we both know that’s bull. How about after you left Hell? You weren’t being abused then, but you still kept me out of your mind. Why?”

  “Do we really need to go through all this now?” he snapped .

  “I was all alone down there!” She ran up and slugged him as hard as she could in the chest. “How could you do that to me?”

  “Because I couldn’t trust that you wouldn’t lead the demons to me,” he admitted.

  Now he was just as angry as her, and his blazing blue eyes bore into hers. “Face it kiddo, we come from some seriously messed up DNA. Mom turned, Dad turned, Forcas turned, Douma turned, and it’s just a matter of time before we do too.”

  “Do you really think that?” Abdiel interjected. “You honestly think that just because of our family history that the three of us are damned?”

  “We are beyond damned, big brother,” Appolion sneered. “We are thoroughly fucked, and the worst thing is now that Rachael and I are full strength we’re going to be difficult to defeat.”

  Abdiel wanted to shake some sense into his brother but stopped himself when he remembered that not too long ago he had felt the same way. Before he met Gabi he shut himself away from the world just like Appolion. He now realized that he had been a first class idiot. His family wasn’t the ones who had beaten him and deserted him. His family was standing in front of him now.

  He looked over at his beautiful wife who would always stand by him no matter what. He then turned to his baby sister. Even though she had suffered just as bad as any of them, she had refused to let the past rule how she lived in the present. Shifting his gaze to Cam whom he loved like a brother, even though the kid had been to Hell and back, literally, Abdiel knew he would always have his back. Finally he focused on Appolion, poor, scared, moronic, Appolion. If his little brother had stopped worrying about turning
long enough to really think everything through, he’d realize that he was wrong. Demons don’t go to medical school, but he knew that the younger angel was not ready to hear that, yet.

  “I’m not going back with you,” Appolion told him.

  “Nobody asked you to,” Abdiel said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

  Appolion acted shocked that his older brother had agreed with him. It seemed to take some of the wind out of his sails. He recovered and shrugged his own shoulders before he continued lamely, “Your high and mighty council would put me in chains the second I even tried to enter Heaven.”

  Abdiel had to concede to himself that his brother was most likely right. There is no way the council would look the other way with Appolion like they had with Rachael. Appolion had been free from Hell for years and never attempted any contact before now. They would view him as a suspect spy or worse, a rogue. Abdiel knew that even though it was going to tear his and Rachael’s hearts apart, they were going to have to let their brother go.

  “If you ever want to come home, I’ll always be here for you,” he told Appolion.

  Appolion gave him a dismissive wave of his hand and turned around to leave. However after a few steps the angel stopped and turned around and looked at them, “I really did miss you guys,” he admitted in a strained voice.

  Rachael threw herself into his arms and the two hugged for several minutes. When they finally pulled away, she fixed him with a stern look. “Promise that you won’t cut our telepathic connection again. I need to be able to talk with you so that I know that you’re all right.”

  “I promise to talk with you whenever you want to.” He smiled sadly down at her.

  Cam walked up and went to hand the guns back to Appolion but the angel refused to take them. “Keep them. I have plenty more,” he said. “Ask that bartender you met the other night where to get replacement bullets. Mangus knows all the connections to the local black market. Just make sure that your council doesn’t find out you have them.”