Zauvek loosened his grip and released his staff. In the instant his staff was falling, a rapid change overtook him. The sclerae of his eyes turned black, and his irises began to glow and change colors in rapid succession. His darkening gaze remained on the battlefield.
In the ancient language of Heaven, Zauvek spoke a single syllable that meant devour.
The staff collided with the ground and, in unison, the world under the demons shook. The battlefield collapsed and fell away. It crumbled and collapsed into the bowels of Verdunmull. Hundreds of demons lost their footing and scrambled to find stable ground, but to no avail. The world had opened and swallowed the stone battlefield and all standing on it. All that was left was a vast chasm, spanning the outer and inner gateways of Lesley.
Laughter no longer sounded from Zauvek’s lips. He picked up his staff, and with his back straight, shoulders back, and head high, he slammed his staff into the stone below the massive inner archway.
Zauvek commanded the staff in the ancient Heavenly language: Entrance sought will not be found.
A bright barrier of light erupted outward from the staff and extended to the archway stones. The light bathed the entire gateway in impenetrable light. If any demon should attempt to pass through the light, they would burn and turn to ash.
Zauvek then walked in the direction of the intense sensation of power, the feeling of kin.
◆◆◆
Waremasu lowered his dual-colored wings. The resilient angel was beginning to lose not just the battle, but the war in his soul as well; this fight was wrenching at the darkness within him. A red filter had slipped over his eyes. His unforgiving gaze watched the battlefield in distaste. He had killed many demons, but their numbers did not diminish. Their numbers grew, and all he could do was keep fighting for as long as he was able.
The boy watched Waremasu disappear once again. A line of foot soldiers collapsed. One, two, and then four flying demons haphazardly tumbled onto the harsh ground. A second line of charging demons fell, lifeless. Finally, Waremasu reappeared, and the forsaken angel dropped to his knees as his chest burned.
While his mind fell into darkness, his cares fell away as well. His movements had become careless as all he sought was the obliteration of the evil opposing him. Waremasu looked down at his chest and felt a dissociation from what he saw. He had never felt physical injury before and was perplexed by the sensation.
A set of claws had been successful at leaving their mark across his torso. It was his third wound, and he was in pain, but he did not understand the new sensation. Angel Waremasu Tamashii, who had fallen from grace, was no longer bathed in the light and the love of the Divine One. The impenetrable defense he once had existed no longer. The dire realization of his separation from the Divine One was complete. A tear rolled down his flawless cheek.
Waremasu’s faint cries met the boy’s ears. The boy was saddened by the image, and tears welled up in the boy’s eyes as he felt for him.
Suddenly, a hideous roar as loud as thunder sounded from outside the outer wall. The cacophonous bellow caused the child to plug his ears again. The boy whimpered in pain as the discordant sound scratched at his eardrums, though the boy did not look away from the sad angel.
Across the battlefield there was an explosion of stone and rubble. An entire section of the outer wall erupted as a massive form charged through the chaos. The boy’s precious blue eyes looked on in utter horror.
The boy’s tears flowed freely. “No . . . no. Why now? . . . No, no.”
The boy stood up through the heavy atmosphere, using every fiber of his strength, and shouted as loudly as he could at his protector. “Run! Leave us; save yourself!”
The boy was not entirely sure why he screamed those words. He was worried for his own safety, but he did not want the angel to die either.
“Do not die; please do not die. I will forgive you!” The only real angel the boy had ever seen or heard about knelt before him now. It would break the little boy’s heart if the angel died.
The surprising words touched Waremasu’s soul. He questioned the ability of a child to be so selfless while the boy could see the sea of evil monstrosities, and Waremasu wondered, Why do you care for my life over yours?
The question echoed within Waremasu’s mind, and, at that moment, he believed the child’s soul was pure and could not leave the children defenseless. He would not forsake them. He raised himself back on his feet and regained his resolve.
The dust and debris settled around the newly emerged gargantuan. Its skin was the darkest shade of black. The demon had two arms and two legs, all ending in giant claws. Two spiraling horns topped its castle-size head and twisted high above its hideous form. Its eye color blended with its skin, an almost indiscernible difference. It leaned on its two massive fists and opened its monstrous jaw, releasing another thunderous roar.
The boy plugged his ears and whimpered in pain. The child dropped to his knees and cried, “Do not die. Please do not die.”
Waremasu looked back over his shoulder at the young boy. He could almost feel the anguish rolling off the youngling. His blood boiled at the sight, and the vengeful angel spun around and roared in response. His many voices echoed in chaos and clawed at the minds of those who heard.
Every being within earshot of his many voices stumbled and hesitated as they fought the pain of the aural chaos.
Waremasu flashed away and back in less than a millisecond. Two rows of evil foot soldiers fell, three flyers spun out of control, and the massive gargantuan received several cuts along its arms, though the gargantuan remained unfazed. The massive beast roared in rage once more at Waremasu and advanced.
The boy collapsed behind the boxes. The selfless child scratched his ears at the unbearable sounds. “Please save him . . . please . . . Divine One, can you hear me? . . . Do you care?”
The boy sobbed, as he wished to believe the Divine One and his angels were real.
The gargantuan advanced toward Waremasu, charging on the knuckles of its fists and the balls of its feet. The sea of foot soldiers parted for the massive beast as it quickly traversed the battlefield with its long strides.
A flash of movement signaled Waremasu’s attack. The fallen angel’s feet nearly floated on air as they barely touched stone with each step. Every demon fell in a direct line between Waremasu’s defense point and the massive demon, then wound after wound appeared on the gargantuan’s dark hide.
The giant beast roared in rage and wildly flung its limbs. Stone and bodies erupted from the strikes of the massive fists. Dust and debris clouds billowed around the wailing beast. Its speed was unusually fast for a creature so massive and challenged Waremasu’s movements. The gargantuan’s towering right arm became weak and collapsed from an accumulation of wounds.
Waremasu appeared at his defense point and stumbled to the side, dropping onto one knee. His color-changing eyes shifted toward his right wing. Bright red blood streamed down his right wing’s feathers and stained the cold stone beneath.
His piercing eyes shifted back in the gargantuan’s direction and watched the demon lift itself back on its weakened right arm. The gargantuan struggled, but it succeeded and then charged forward again. The beast moved at full stride, full speed and without reserve. The ground shook with each heavy step. The lumbering creature roared hideously as it neared the lone defender’s kneeling form.
Waremasu looked up at the powerful beast with a detached expression. The injury to his right wing greatly pained him, more so than the other wounds he had received.
The gargantuan recoiled its right arm high overhead. The beast was eager and yearned to strike down the angel, then the gargantuan’s fist reversed its momentum and raced down toward Waremasu.
Oddly, the gargantuan’s face contorted in a rather peculiar and humorous way. The gargantuan’s body shifted to its right, and its stance faltered. The next thing Waremasu saw was the gargantuan lifting off the ground and being pushed to the west in confusion.
The massive beast flew and slammed into a nearby redwood’s trunk. The tree cracked and splintered. The bark exploded in all directions, and the tree wavered, then gravity took hold of the gargantuan and pulled it down. Its body impacted the ground and lay motionless next to the creaking trunk. The old tree snapped and ominously tilted toward the battlefield.
The redwood’s descent hastened as it fell, but unexpectedly and with unnatural movement, the redwood stopped falling. Instead of falling to the ground, the redwood flew toward the countless demon waves. Its direction and momentum had changed completely in the blink of an eye.
The age-old tree sped toward the foot soldiers and flyers and slammed into hundreds of demons. The redwood crushed them as it rolled onward across the entire battlefield. The tree finally slammed into the outer wall and exploded into a thousand pieces of deadly shrapnel from the sheer velocity.
The scene’s anomalous events were confusing. Waremasu glanced around and spotted a cloaked figure standing a hundred paces to the east.
“Zauvek?” Waremasu’s seven voices whispered.
Zauvek walked toward Waremasu, shifting uneasily without his sturdy crutch.
“Were you really going to let that monstrosity kill you?” Zauvek shouted.
Waremasu stood up with some effort and ignored the question.
“The inner gateway?” Waremasu’s voices echoed.
“Protected for now.” Zauvek’s knees were temporarily weakened by Waremasu’s voices. He looked over the battlefield that had begun to fill up with demons once again.
“Why did you reveal yourself? Your wings and your spirit call to the demons now. They are drawn to you. They will destroy you at all costs,” Zauvek said.
“I must protect the little ones.” Waremasu pointed to the boxes behind them.
Zauvek’s weak knees wobbled as he walked over and glanced behind the boxes. He looked at the crying boy and his frightened sister. The boy looked up at the new stranger with a stunned expression.
Zauvek looked back at Waremasu in frustration.
“Why did you not just pick them up and run!” Zauvek yelled.
Waremasu looked out across the battlefield, his gaze full of predictions. “There is no escape from the darkness. Eventually, the darkness will find them, unless I stop them here.”
“Nothing will stop them!” Zauvek shouted.
Waremasu’s resolve remained absolute.
“I must . . . or it will not matter if the boy and the girl survive this day,” Waremasu said.
Zauvek’s muscles tensed in frustration. “You are a fool, Waremasu! What are you doing? The power you once held is no more. You are no longer an angel of grace. You are no longer a Holy Angel from Heaven, but a forgotten child. His strength no longer flows through you. Your wings even look different now.”
Waremasu remained calm. “Zauvek . . . if darkness continues to flood this world, then what hope does this world have to survive? We must destroy their numbers here. Their worst have not even stepped foot in this world. Not yet, but if their numbers remain as vast as you see before us now . . . then on that day, on that day when the worst feel the dirt of this world, even I shall retreat until I can retreat no longer. If that day comes, then pray the armies of Heaven rain down all their fury.”
Zauvek heard the righteousness in Waremasu’s words but also sensed the darkness plaguing his soul. “Friend . . . we do not have the power. We are no longer bathed in His grace.”
Zauvek had already encountered Waremasu’s rage back on Lesley’s main road, when he sat on the stoop. He dared not stand against Waremasu now as his soul faltered.
“I beg an old friend, leave here before it is too late,” Zauvek pleaded.
For the first time, Waremasu heard the sadness in Zauvek’s voice. Waremasu glanced at his bloodstained wing in contemplation. “You are wrong, Zauvek, for I have found understanding. I am an angel of Heaven. A warrior, stronger than any mortal could dream. I have a purpose here. Though He does not long for me anymore, I will still stand and fight for his dying creations. I believe it is what He would want, my life for my treachery. It would be fitting for my end.”
Waremasu glanced at Zauvek’s wrinkled old face.
“Take the children. Protect them well,” Waremasu said as he looked toward the renewed demon onslaught. “This is where I stand.”
The unrelenting guardian stood with absolute resolve.
Zauvek was pained by the thought of losing his friend. He looked back at the protective boxes in uncertainty. The weary old eyes dropped to the ground as his mind fought to decide what road to travel. What would he do, run with the two children and leave his friend to die alone? Or stay and die together? His mind roiled at the unkind thoughts. Zauvek yelled at himself.
“So may it be,” Zauvek said.
He stepped beside Waremasu. His bones ached, and his heart burned.
“This is where I shall stand as well,” Zauvek said.
Two great black wings tore the air and ripped into existence on Zauvek’s back. His wings were not whole like Waremasu’s. Where there were feathers, the feathers appeared black. Where there were no feathers, there were holes of rotting flesh. The bones in Zauvek’s wings could be seen bare in a couple of the rotten openings. Several of Zauvek’s bones cracked as his great wings stretched high overhead.
Lines of demon foot soldiers sprinted toward the two fallen angels. Flyers sped through the air in chaotic patterns. The ground began to shake, and soon after, another gargantuan stepped through the broken outer wall. The gargantuan moved toward the two guardians. A second and then a third gargantuan entered the battlefield through the broken wall. The first gargantuan roared in distaste as it looked at the two angels.
Abruptly, in the battlefield’s midst, stone and dirt erupted into the air, and out from the debris cloud ascended two tunnelers. They landed on their gnarled feet and wide-clawed forelimbs. They charged in unison with the other evil beings.
A flash of movement announced Waremasu’s attack. Waremasu’s disappearance signaled Zauvek to begin his assault. Zauvek reached back over his head with one hand and gripped the air. An unusual sound came from the top of the inner wall behind him.
The little boy heard it and looked up as a huge chunk of the massive wall loosened.
Pebble-size fragments of the wall rained down, and the boy shielded his sister from the falling stone. A big chunk of wall was gripped by Zauvek’s powerful soul and broke away from the rest of the wall. He swung his arm forward and opened his clenched fist midthrow.
The huge stone chunk was propelled forward and arced over the battlefield. Its great mass crashed into the ground and crushed several enemies on its initial impact. The breakneck speed at which the stone moved allowed it to skip as if it was a smooth stone on a still pond. It crushed two more groups of demons before stopping.
Zauvek reached back and repeated his movements. He launched another great stone chunk across the battlefield, and before the second section of wall had hit the ground, Zauvek launched a third.
While Zauvek launched wall sections at the enemy, Waremasu raced through the evil legions. Waremasu’s katana easily slid through his victims. Lines of foot soldiers collapsed, and dozens of flyers haphazardly descended from the sky with severed limbs. His footwork was exact, though his mind was weakening due to his wounds.
A single misstep was all it took. Waremasu tumbled a long distance at a remarkable speed. He slammed into the ground, flattening foe and the dead alike. When the angel’s body finally came to rest, Waremasu was dazed and briefly dissociated from his surroundings. He lifted himself up onto his arms and looked around for his sword, but he could not find it. He turned his head at the sound of fast-approaching footsteps and rolled to the side.
He dodged the initial strike. An attacking demon’s claws raked through the dirt, nearly landing a critical blow. Waremasu rolled a second time in a different direction and up onto his feet, dodging a second raking strike. He measured his immediate opponent w
ith calculating eyes, then attacked. The demon’s face caved inward from the attack’s velocity, and the foot soldier collapsed.
The lone angel had enemies fast approaching on all sides. He glanced to the ground once more in search of his sword, but he failed to locate it. A demon swung its claws at Waremasu’s head.
He ducked a split second before the incoming attack and shoved his open right palm into his opponent’s side. The contact caved in the demon’s abdomen and propelled its body backward into the crowd. Waremasu stood tall, and there was a brief lull in the fighting as he calmly waited for more attackers to close the distance.
His wounds were affecting his body and clawed at his consciousness with ever-increasing strength. He was a mortal, and his blood loss was becoming too great to bear. Death for him did not mean Heaven or Hell, only a forgotten oblivion where he would exist no longer.
His muscles instantly reacted as the next attack came. His flat palm met the first attacker’s face, wrapping his fingers around the demon’s skull, and as he stepped forward, he shoved it in a descending arc. Waremasu’s grip was unyielding as he buried the demon’s skull in the ground with unrivaled speed.
The angel stood up and roared in chaotic echoes. “There is but one reason you tread before me!”
Three more demons instantly had their faces crushed into the ground by Waremasu; from the watching boy’s perspective it appeared as if there were three Waremasus simultaneously attacking.
The color in Waremasu’s irises intensified and brightened as he whispered, “My imperfection released you.”
Waremasu’s voices grew loud as his abhorrence for himself grew. “Allow me to falsely believe in my redemption . . . allow me to bring about your annihilation.”
He stood tall as his resolve carried him forward. His mind’s sharpness wavered between complete focus and complete confusion as he fought the desire for eternal sleep.
For a moment, Waremasu gripped the air as his arms hung by his sides, forgetting he had dropped his faithful weapon. His hand grasped for the phantom hilt. When he came to his senses once again, he found himself acknowledging his weakening state.
The First Seal Page 28