“Well look who it is. The king of the nephilim. Looks like there’s going to be a feast in Heaven tonight in my honor.”
Leech grinned.
“I doubt it. The last time I was surrounded by an army, I made it out more powerful than you can even imagine. I’ve improved on my life stealing techniques since then. Want to see?”
Leech’s eyes started to glow a bright green and the rest of his body followed. He glowed brighter and brighter until he finally exploded. Raphael looked at where Leech had been standing and laughed. His laughter faded when the angels heard a buzzing noise. The group of angels looked around and saw nothing until finally one of them looked up and pointed with a shaking hand. They looked up. Thousands of tiny green insects were hovering over the spot where Leech had been. Without warning, they attacked the angel army. Several angels immediately fell to the ground and started clawing at their bodies. Raphael radiated light in a field around himself and kept the insects away.
“Mosquitoes. Very nice, Leech. For a demon with one trick, you sure know a lot of ways to perform it.”
When the green mosquitoes were done draining Raphael’s army of their life force, the bugs swarmed together and Leech reappeared. He looked the same but his eyes were still glowing bright green. A few of the angels had escaped, but Leech had consumed enough to hold his own against an Archangel.
“Thanks for bringing me a snack. Feel like fighting while I’m still hyped up on steroids?”
“For a demon who’s fought a lot of Archangels, you still haven’t learned the lesson that we never die. Not even Shadow killed one of the Seven.”
Raphael drew his sword.
“But I’m happy to teach you that lesson over and over again. Nephilim are an abomination and can be very powerful, but the Archangels have more power still. Your arrogance will be your downfall.”
Leech drew the axe from his back. Before Raphael could block, Leech had already struck him three times with his axe. All three blows bounced off the Archangel’s armor. Leech backed up a few steps.
“All I need is an opening. The second your armor gives in, I’ll drain your life force just like I drained your army.”
Raphael struck with his sword and Leech blocked it with his axe. Raphael spun and caught Leech in his leg before Leech could adjust and block it. His eyes dulled for a moment and then the scratch disappeared. Leech started to hear voices echoing from within his mind and then heard the clear voice of Sol.
“Leech, we have a problem. Cast a force field around yourself using the angel energy and get in here.”
“But that’s a waste of…”
“You may lose control of yourself if you don’t. It’s urgent.”
Leech cast a force field of green energy around himself and sat on the ground. Raphael hit the force field with his sword and it bounced off.
“You’re just going to waste your extra energy stalling? So be it. It won’t buy you much time. I had hoped you would use it to attack me, but you’re entitled to draw out your death if that’s what you want.”
Leech ignored Raphael and entered his mind. He saw a few nephilim standing around the large boulder that blocked the pit where Azazel had been cast. Sol and the rest of the nephilim had them surrounded. Sol looked relieved to see Leech.
“A couple of things. First, we can’t get inside Bumalin’s memory. Don’t fight me on it. It can’t be done. We’ll just have to wait until it opens on its own. Second, a small faction of nephilim want to free Azazel and let him take over in fighting Raphael. I haven’t made a move yet, but we should…”
“Maybe we should listen to them. Azazel has been around longer than any of us and he may know how to defeat Archangels.”
“That’s a really bad idea, Leech. Let’s just kill them and get back to the fight.”
Leech shook his head.
“This may turn out to be an insane decision, but we need to try something crazy if we’re going to defeat Raphael. Lift the boulder and get him up here. I want to speak with Azazel.”
CHAPTER 53
“Here’s something I know you never mastered. Let’s see how you deal with it.”
A wolf’s head emerged from Reaper’s chest. The rest of its body appeared as it leapt to the ground. It started moving slowly towards Backlash, growling.
“A spell from one of the Shadow stories Leech used to tell. Let’s see how you deal with all the animals I can conjure.”
Reaper started to cast the spell again and a tiger head emerged from his chest. The wolf lunged, but Backlash was ready with a counter. A large hand emerged from the ground and grabbed the wolf. It squeezed until the wolf howled and then disappeared. Backlash grinned.
“I know the Shadow stories, too. Jess was always better with spells than that idiot Andras. Go ahead. Keep sending demon animals at me.”
The tiger lunged and Backlash cast the same spell that had finished off the wolf. A hand emerged from the ground and crushed the tiger. Reaper didn’t repeat the spell a third time.
“Why can’t you let this go? I killed the fuckers who killed Fade. He was my brother, too. I…”
“There’s nothing left to talk about, Reaper.”
“Fine then. You want to use spells Jess used to use? Here’s a good one…”
Reaper said some words Backlash had never heard before. Blood started dripping from his ears and then came slowly flowing down his nose. Backlash started to cast his own spell when Fade appeared in front of him. He held up his hand at Backlash and shook his head.
“I know what you’re trying to do for me, Backlash. It wasn’t Reaper’s fault. He may have been an asshole, but I got myself killed. I got my team killed. You need to forgive him for being an asshole because he wasn’t my murderer.”
Backlash pointed his staff at Reaper.
“What the fuck did you do?”
Reaper was also bleeding from his eyes now. He looked up.
“Necro… mancy. I… didn’t know… if it… would work.”
Backlash looked at Fade again.
“You lived a terrible life, Fade. That’s his fault. I’m going to end him for what he did to you.”
Fade grinned.
“I didn’t live a terrible life. I had a lot of fun. I learned spells. I was a mage. I even commanded a team of nephilim before we were ambushed. You’re smart, Backlash, but you got this one wrong. I enjoyed my life. You had a large part in that.”
Backlash closed his eyes and a tear rolled down from each.
“Why are you telling me this, Fade? You don’t need to sugar coat it. I’m strong enough now. I can kill him.”
Reaper passed out on the ground. Fade started to disappear.
“I love you, Backlash. Don’t kill him. Let him live with what he did to us. Forgiveness isn’t going to end his pain.”
Backlash tried to hug Fade, but he was gone before Backlash could reach him. He turned back to his now unconscious older brother. He summoned fire and prepared to strike the final blow when he heard the engine of a motorcycle approaching. He pointed his staff in the direction of the sound, hoping to quickly figure out what was going on and then kill Reaper. He saw Lucia driving the motorcycle towards them with Nissa slumped over the seat. She appeared to be unconscious.
“You better pray she’s still alive, Lucia. I have no problem killing you once I finish off my brother.”
Lucia stopped the motorcycle and placed Nissa on the ground.
“She’s fine. Please don’t kill him Backlash.”
Backlash could see Nissa breathing. He turned back to Reaper and prepared to deliver the final blow.
“I’m pregnant!”
Backlash froze.
“What?”
“I’m pregnant. Reaper is the father. Please don’t murder my unborn child’s father.”
The words of Fade started to echo in Backlash’s mind. Fade didn’t want this. He wanted Backlash to forgive him. Backlash paused to consider, for the first time, whether Reaper deserved another chance. Luc
ia’s revelation that Reaper was going to be a father bothered him as well. He didn’t want to give Reaper a chance to hurt his kid, but he also didn’t want the chance to deprive his future nephew or niece of his father. Reaper was starting to wake up and struggling to get to his feet. Backlash helped him up.
“I’m giving you one last chance. You don’t deserve it, but I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for Fade. I’m doing it for your kid. I’ll be watching you, Reaper. If I ever find out that you’re hurting your child, I will find you and I will kill you. That’s a fucking guarantee. Do you understand me?”
Reaper nodded.
“I was focused too hard on keeping the spell going. What did Fade say? Is he at peace?”
Backlash nodded. Reaper looked at the ground.
“I’m sorry, Backlash. I know all older brothers pick on their younger brothers, but I took it too far. I’m sorry.”
Reaper wiped his eyes with his arm and Backlash held out his hand. Reaper shook it.
“You still have a long way to go before I call you a brother, Reaper, but thank you for letting me see Fade one last time. Not many sorcerers could have pulled that off.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could. Thank you for not taking advantage of the weakened state it left me in. You’re a better nephilim than I ever gave you credit for.”
Cerberus came running back with an unconscious Nightmare on his back. Shade was running to catch up. When he saw Reaper, he drew his blades.
“Do you need me to help you finish him off, Backlash? It looks like you nearly have him.”
Backlash shook his head.
“No, Shade. Thanks. I decided to let it go. Fade wanted me to let it go.”
Backlash drew a knife from his belt and slashed Reaper across the face.
“Ow!”
“That’ll scar. You’re going to remember this day for the rest of your life… and you’ll remember why you have a scar across your face… and now I can try to let it go.”
CHAPTER 54
“My queen! Demons are approaching! Should we lower the entrance for you?”
Lilith propped Selene up into a sitting position with her back against the wall.
“No. Fire on anything with armor. The demons in cloaks are Bumalin’s. Let them run up against the wall. Gangrene has retreated. We should only have to deal with the small part of his army that chased us.”
The wall commander nodded and gave orders to the archers and snipers. They stopped firing at any demon that came near and started targeting Gangrene’s demons. A demon hobbled closer to Lilith and Selene. Lilith uncoiled her whip, but didn’t strike when she saw that it was Coconut. He had an arrow through his left leg.
“I never got a chance to show them Selene’s shield. An archer picked me off before I even got close. I crawled with the shield on my back until I reached the wall and only started moving again when I saw the two of you. I’ve called up to your nephilim on the walls to try to show them the shield. They weren’t interested in doing anything but firing at me. I’ve been basically wearing Selene’s shield as a hat.”
Lilith broke the arrow and pulled the rest of it from Coconut’s leg. He winced, but removed a flash from his pocket and took a long drink. Lilith quickly bandaged his wound.
“The wall defenders aren’t going to keep all of Gangrene’s demons back. We’re going to have to turn and fight.”
Coconut grinned up at her and started mumbling incoherently before he took another long drink from his flask.
“Coconut, how do you want to play this? These are your demons.”
Coconut closed his eyes and fell asleep. Lilith picked up the flash that rolled of his open hand. She took a small drink.
“Holy shit that’s strong! So you’re clearly not going to help anymore.”
Selene stirred and then took in her surroundings.
“You need to lead the demons, Lilith. I’ll stay here and watch over Coconut. Even with my injuries, none of these demons should be able to take me down. I’ll rest in the meantime. I can tell that I need it.”
“Demons won’t follow me. We need to find Bumalin or…”
Selene shook her head.
“Demons followed you once. They will again. There’s no other option. Take command and run Gangrene’s demons out of here.”
Lilith only had a single remaining whip, as Gangrene had cut her other one. She quickly braided some spikes into the end and started waving Bumalin’s demons towards here.
“Everyone who worked for Bumalin, get over here! We’re going to charge them!”
A few demons ran over to her, confused.
“Who are you?”
“Lilith. I’m on the nephilim council and…”
One of the demons looked at her with awe and he punched one of his buddies in the shoulder.
“That’s her! That’s the succubus who helped Shadow kill Abaddon! One of the daughters of Vixen!”
He turned and called out to Bumalin’s other demons.
“Hey! Everyone! Over here! Lilith is going to lead us into battle!”
The demons started to gather around her and she turned back to the wall.
“Don’t shoot unless you’re sure you have the shot! I don’t want any misfires injuring Bumalin’s demons!”
The wall commander nodded and relayed the instructions to his nephilim. Lilith turned back to Bumalin’s demons.
“Leech and Steam are out there right now saving Bumalin. We’ll keep you safe in Necropolis. Gangrene has already retreated. We just need to push back the few idiots from his army that followed us.”
“There’s more than a few… uh… Queen… uh… Master Whip Striking…”
Lilith rolled her eyes.
“Just call me Lilith.”
“Right. There’s more than a few, Lilith. We don’t fight often. We blackmail and bribe. We’re not ready for this. Some of us don’t even have weapons.”
Lilith pointed to the wall.
“You see all the archers and snipers up there? They are ready for this and they work for me. It’s really a stalling game. Eventually, those nephilim on the wall will kill every demon of Gangrene’s that came here. Just fight until they finish them off. I’ll be right there with you. We’ll fight them back together!”
A few demons seemed to take courage. The one who had recognized Lilith’s name turned to the demons.
“We’re getting a chance to fight by the side of Lilith! The Lilith! The one Bumalin told us about! Let’s make her proud!”
A few more demons nodded and a few even cheered. Lilith saw a few dozen of Gangrene’s demons charging.
“Get behind me and wait for my signal.”
The demons got behind Lilith. She uncoiled her whip and started striking at the charging demons. She took three down before they got anywhere near her forces.
“Alright. This is it. Now! Charge!”
Lilith led the demons into battle. Some stabbed wildly with small knives. Others attacked with their fists. Several fell to the superior weapons of Gangrene’s demons, who were both better trained and better equipped, but Lilith’s tactic of stalling gave her wall nephilim enough time to fire down and pick off Gangrene’s demons. Lilith killed about ten before the few remaining demons from Gangrene’s forces started to back away. One of Bumalin’s demons stepped forward.
“This is Lilith, friend of Shadow. We’re going to follow you and kill you unless you get out of here. Now!”
Gangrene’s demons turned and ran and Bumalin’s demons cheered.
CHAPTER 55
The nephilim in Leech’s mind looked at him like he was crazy. Sol put his hand on Leech’s shoulder.
“Rethink this, Leech. Nothing good can come from setting that ancient asshole free. We don’t need him.”
“We do. I need to kill Raphael. We need the angels to know that the nephilim are a force to be reckoned with. The demons have recently had all six major demons die and be replaced. The angels need to know that we’re not jus
t demon slayers. Archangels can fall just like anything else.”
Sol was about to respond, but Leech cut him off.
“Lift the boulder. I need to speak to Azazel.”
Sol sighed and nodded his assent.
“Fine. Lift the boulder, but be ready to subdue him. I’m sure he’s pissed after being stuck down there all this time.”
Two large nephilim pushed the boulder off of the pit that held Azazel. Azazel was out of the pit and had them both by their throats within seconds. Sol pointed at him.
“Surround him! Weapons ready!”
Azazel shifted his right hand over and twisted one of the large nephilim’s neck. It snapped and the nephilim fell to the ground and then disappeared. Sol threw a fireball at Azazel. He jumped out of the way. The nephilim surrounding him took initiative and grabbed his arms. They had him in full-body shackles within seconds. They brought him in front of Leech and Sol and threw him on his knees.
“We’re fighting Raphael right now. I know you hate me, but I know you’re not an idiot. If I die, you die as well. I’m not turning and running. I need to know how to kill him.”
Azazel had shown no emotion since he left the pit. His eyes were bloodshot and Leech was beginning to wonder if he no longer needed to blink. His eyes remained wide open.
“I hate you enough to let you die.”
Leech waited for him to continue speaking, but that was all Azazel had to say. Sol rolled his eyes.
“Leech, this is a waste of time. I don’t even think he knows how to kill an Archangel. We made too many assumptions based on his age. He’s an old blacksmith. He doesn’t know anything.”
Azazel laughed. When he was done, they waited for him to say something. He just started laughing again. Leech punched him across the face.
“Nothing else to say? You want to go back in the pit?”
“No. I want to watch you die.”
“You don’t want to watch Raphael die?”
“That would also be amusing.”
Leech tried to ask another question, but Azazel started laughing again. He still hadn’t blinked since he left the pit. Sol punched him hard in the stomach to end the laughter.
Minor Nephilim Page 18
