by Diem, J. C.
“Wrong again,” I said to the creature that had been instrumental in my existence. “I have no intention of taking over hell.”
“Then I will stand at your side as you rule Earth,” he said in desperation. “You will need advice and guidance to keep the humans obedient.”
“I wasn’t made to rule,” I told him and he flinched from the wrath that poured out of me. “I was made to destroy your kind.”
He turned to run, but I teleported in front of him to block his escape. He called on his dagger, but my axe sheared through the blade like it was made of paper. He slashed at me with his talons, but they glanced off my armor without leaving a mark.
“I am your father,” he said, appealing to my humanity. “You cannot kill me.”
I looked at him and felt nothing. “Sure I can,” I replied and my axe sliced across his throat. Black blood gushed down his robe. The wound was so deep that it almost severed his head. He tried to heal himself, but I used my innate magic as a unique Nephilim to block his ability. Falling to his knees, he stared up at me in anguish. He had never been the mighty leader of hell that he’d pretended to be. He was just a weak, power hungry lesser demon who wasn’t worthy of his position as the Head Scribe. His scarlet eyes glazed over then he fell face down on the grass and went still.
Sounds of fear came from the demons when the slain scribe didn’t shimmer and disappear. He wasn’t going to be sent back to the first realm of hell. Now that my magic had been restored to me, I could kill them in any dimension.
“I am Hellscourge,” I roared. “And I am your doom! Flee back to hell, or suffer my wrath!”
Vepar and Bob backed away slowly, trying not to draw my attention as their kin fled from Central Park. Their fear of me was stronger than their loyalty to Satan, but they didn’t leave the city. They decided it would be best to leave the vicinity and let their ruler deal with me.
My golden gaze came to rest on the two beings who had caused me so much pain and misery. “We have a deal,” Lord Vepar reminded me nervously. “You cannot harm me.” It was true and I couldn’t behead her like I wanted to. Bob was also safe from that particular brand of justice, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He teleported away before I could use my magic to block his escape.
Nathan appeared behind Vepar to block her retreat. She turned and sneered when she saw him holding his sword threateningly. “Your friends and allies are also bound by our deal,” she said to me. “Your minion is not allowed to harm me.”
“That is true,” Nathan agreed. “But there is a flaw in your reasoning. I am not Violet’s minion. I am her guardian and I deem you to be a threat to her safety.” He’d never been my lackey and he never would be. We were equals, which shocked Vepar to her core.
Realizing she was in danger, she called on her sword. She was fast and vicious, but she was no match for God’s greatest warrior. I watched in pleasure as my guardian skillfully defeated our enemy. Stabbed through the heart, Vepar glared at me in fury. “This is not over!” she hissed.
“It is for you,” I replied snarkily. “Have fun being a lowly servant again.” Her eyes flashed dangerously, but she shimmered and disappeared before she could respond.
Hearing silence rather than fighting, I realized Central Park was deserted. “Did you defeat Satan?” I asked as my friends and allies gathered around. A sinking feeling told me the answer.
“No,” Morax reported. “He fled like a miserable cur when you defeated Dantanian.”
“Perhaps he returned to hell,” Sophia suggested hopefully.
I shook my head. “He’s not going to give up that easily. He’s determined to take over Earth and he has hundreds of thousands of demons at his beck and call.”
I felt a tingle at the back of my head as strong magic was performed. Hearing a belligerent roar coming from somewhere in the distance, I realized he had more than just demons to call on. He’d somehow brought a monster to this dimension and it was now rampaging through the streets of Manhattan.
“Is that what I think it is?” Leo asked in dread as he appeared next to me. He slid his hand into mine. I couldn’t help but think of him as a child even though he now looked like an older and much more grown up version of himself. I was twice his height in this form, so he still looked like a kid to me.
“Yep,” I replied. “It’s a leviathan.”
“How can a creature so large fit through a portal?” Brie asked. Now that they no longer possessed the bodies of twins, I could see that they weren’t as identical as they’d seemed. They still had blond hair and blue eyes, but their features were slightly different. Like all angels, they were beautiful.
“It didn’t come through a portal,” I replied as I sensed dark magic being used again. “He’s drawing them straight from the nowhere lands.”
Satan had created the empty space that lay between dimensions. He’d also spawned the hellbeasts that roamed the wastelands. His power was so strong that he was using the nowhere lands as a portal between dimensions. His servants were responding to his call. I could feel them appearing all over the city.
“We can’t defeat the demons that are flooding through the portals,” Reynolds said. “How the hell are we going to fight monsters on top of that?”
I looked around, hoping someone had an answer. Sophia offered a solution. “Violet will have to unlock the gates to heaven so that the angels can come to our aid.”
“There’s only one problem with that,” I said before they could become too excited with the idea. “They might not want to help. It was angels who helped set all this up.”
“What do you mean?” Nathan asked.
“The key was created by God, not demons. One of them turned traitor. They made a deal with Dantanian and handed the key over to him. Even if I unlock the gates, we can’t be sure the angels will come to our assistance. From what I’ve seen of Hag’s minions, most of them want mankind to be wiped out.”
“That is correct,” a haughty voice said from behind and above me. We turned to see Hag and Orifice hovering in the air with their host of over a hundred angels behind them. “Humans are vermin and deserve to be destroyed.” Her icy blue eyes swept over my allies and came to rest on Brie, Dom and Jed. “I suspected you three were traitors. Now that I have proof, you will be punished harshly.”
“Who are you to pass judgement on anyone?” Elijah demanded. Again, a sense of power came from him. The host of angels blinked and some of them backed away. “God is the only one who has that right.” His eyes swept over them and his back straightened. “He entrusted the survival of humanity to you and you have defied him.” His razor-sharp gaze came to rest on Hagith. “You were the one who gave the key to the demons.”
Her guilty flinch was proof enough, but she opened her mouth to dig herself into a deeper hole. “Humans have ruined this planet,” she said icily. “They do not deserve to have free run of what had once been a majestic world. Dantanian promised that he would find a way to wipe them all out. He agreed to hand the key back to me once mankind had been destroyed.”
“What do you think would happen then?” I asked her. “Did you think you could somehow use it to lock the demons back in hell?”
“The key was meant to be used by angels,” she said. “Why would it not have worked for me?”
“You have no idea of its true power,” I said in wonder at her shortsightedness. “God linked the key to hell itself. The eight Demon Princes were bound to it. When I killed them, I took over that link. Satan commanded me to bring the key to him, but I defied him and assembled it myself. As soon as I pieced it back together, I became the key.” Putting my hand out, I made the armor on my arm disappear so they could see the markings that had been carved into my skin.
Hag’s face turned pale when she realized the implications. “What are you saying?” she asked in a horrified whisper.
“I’m the only one who can wield the key now,” I replied. “It’s bound to me until my death.”
Elijah took this in whi
le I willed my armor back into being. He turned on Hagith and she flinched back from the condemnation in his eyes. “You are the one who instigated this uprising. You shall be judged harshly for your crimes against the beings that the creator commanded you to protect.”
Uneasy murmurs swept through the celestial host. Hag had brainwashed them into believing that humans needed to be eradicated, but now they were having doubts. Being reminded of their sacred duty was breaking them from her spell.
“You dare speak to a holy being in such a manner, sniveling little man?” Hagith declared and stared down at him with a sneer. “You shall be the first to feel my wrath!” She lifted her hands and holy fire arced towards the priest.
₪₪₪
Chapter Forty-Seven
Elijah calmly withstood the blast that should have killed him. Awed gasps rang out when the barrage of light seemed to bounce off his flesh. He waited for Hagith to realize the futility of her actions and call off her holy fire before he spoke.
“You are at a turning point,” he said and the angels quieted to listen. “This is your chance to redeem yourselves. Give up your petty hatred for beings you consider to be beneath you. Choose to follow God’s wishes and you may yet be saved from damnation.”
“God abandoned his precious humans,” Hag spat, but Orifice and the other angels were backing away from her. “ I am in charge now.” Her eyes went to me and I saw hatred in their depths. “I will never allow an abomination like you to enter heaven to unlock the gates.”
“Look around you, Hagith,” Nathan said. “Your followers have seen reason. They will no longer follow your poisonous beliefs.”
Hag looked behind her and saw that her sidekick had herded the host away. Orifiel gave her a sad look before they disappeared. Madness came over her and she bared her teeth at me in a wild grin. “This is all your fault,” she said with deceptive calm. “You are a monster and you should not even exist.”
“Violet is not a monster,” my guardian said. “She is kind, intelligent, beautiful and has enough room in her heart for beings the rest of creation spurns.”
My heart melted to hear the man I loved defending me. “Give it up, Hag,” I said. “I know you planned to use me to wield the key, but that obviously isn’t going to work. We both know you don’t have the strength or the skill to kill me. Besides, Satan has the key. You’d have to fight him for it even if you did somehow manage to kill me.”
Her rage increased as she saw her plans falling apart. “I would find a way to wrest the key from him.” In heaven, she would become just a lackey again. She’d grown used to having power and she was desperate to hold onto it however she could.
“You’ve lost,” I told her bluntly. “Your supporters are gone. You’re all alone with no one to back you up. You’ll never get your hands on the key again and you know it.”
Her heated gaze swept over my friends and allies. “Why should I listen to the words of an evil Nephilim? God himself despises you.”
“Normal Nephilim might be abominations,” I told her, “but I’m not like them. I’m half angel as well as half demon. If I can travel to hell, I’m betting I can also visit heaven. I’m going to unlock the gates and release the angels whether you like it or not.”
“Over my dead body,” she snarled and suddenly teleported in front of me. Her blazing blue sword bounced harmlessly off the bronze skull buckles of my breastplate.
I was sorely tempted to cleave her in two with my axe, but my friends came to my aid. Leo and Brie appeared on either side of the insane angel who had tried to kill me. In tandem, they called on their swords and stabbed her in the sides. Their blades pierced her ribs and the tips met with a clang deep inside her. Her fury turned to despair as she shimmered and disappeared.
If I’d attacked her, she would have died. A small part of me was disappointed that she’d been sent back to heaven rather than being exterminated like she deserved.
“Do you really think you can open the gates to heaven?” Nathan asked.
“I think so, but I’ll have to physically touch them and I don’t know how to get there.”
“I will take you,” he offered.
“I thought you were banned from returning there.”
“I cannot enter, but I can still approach the gates,” he replied. Taking me into his arms, he teleported us both to a new location.
White light surrounded me and for a moment, I was blinded. Blinking away the dazzling brightness, I saw the angelic grace that had been evicted from me milling around us. Angels who had been defeated in battle had also been reduced to their spirit forms. They were weak and would need to regain their strength, but they couldn’t while they were locked out of their home. Sam’s and Heather’s souls had passed through the gates into heaven. Human souls were apparently still allowed passage inside.
My gaze was drawn to a pair of gigantic, iridescent white gates. Far larger than the hellgates, they seemed to be standing without assistance. The walls that surrounded heaven were invisible, but I couldn’t make out what was beyond them. All I could see was an opalescent mist.
Nathan stared at the gates longingly then resolutely turned to me. “My kin are gathered on the other side. I can feel their eagerness to do battle with our enemies.”
Part of me could sense the angels, but it was faint. Drawn to the gates, I reached out then hesitated. For all we knew, the angels considered us to be their enemies. By letting them out, I could be sealing our own doom. Once again, I had to trust in Fate. She had led me this far and she was counting on me to save the world. I couldn’t do it alone. The angels were the only allies who had the power to fight the evil that was spilling through the portals from hell.
Placing my hands on the gates, I felt them shudder and heard a click as the lock gave way. God himself had locked the gates, but he’d left the means to open them behind. He and Fate must have worked together to ensure I would gain the power I needed to reach this point.
Nathan and I stepped back as the gates began to swing open. The grace that had been milling around zipped eagerly through the opening and disappeared into the mist. Figures appeared and strode forward to confront us. A tall blond angel who was just as handsome as Nathan stepped to the fore. “Nathanael,” he said and inclined his head in greeting. “It has been a long time since you have been home. Have you come to lead us to battle?”
Holy warriors lined up and all held blue swords. They looked at my golden form curiously, but no one made a move to attack me.
“I have, Gabriel,” Nathan said. “If you will accept me as your battle leader.”
“You defeated Thor,” Gabriel replied with a grin. “There is no one better suited to guide us to victory.”
“Then come,” Nathan said. “It is time to send the demons back to the underworld.”
Shouts of joy rang out and angels by the tens of thousands ran through the gates. Nathan was swept away with them as they headed back to Earth. I noted some angels remained behind. They faded back into the mist, refusing to assist the humans that they despised.
I was about to turn away when five figures appeared. My heart caught in my throat when I recognized their faces. One stepped forward and I stared at her in wonder. She’d been locked inside me for a short while after I’d rescued her grace from hell, but she was free and had resumed the form I knew and loved. “Mom?” I whispered. Being back in heaven had allowed her to resume her angelic form again, but she faded in and out of view as if she was horribly weak.
Asteraoth held out her hands and I gripped them gently so I didn’t crush her bones. “I am so proud of you,” she said. “Even when you were just a baby, I knew you were destined for greatness.”
“Violet is too stubborn to give up,” Lilly said from behind the mystical divide that kept her in heaven. She was the vessel Asteraoth had taken possession of and was my biological mother. “She inherited that from me,” she said proudly.
“ You inherited that trait from me, ” Hannah said wryly. She was my di
stant ancestor and she was the one who had been chosen to speak the prophecy about me. It didn’t surprise me that we could all understand each other. Heaven was a magical place.
Heather stood between Lilly and Hannah. I was amazed at how similar they all looked. Even Asteraoth resembled my distant ancestor. Standing next to them, Sam made a stark contrast with his dark hair and eyes. He grinned shyly and shook his head at my transformation. “I love your new look,” he joked. “Gold really suits you.”
“I’ve always been partial to the color,” I replied and had to force back the tears that were trying to form. More girls with blond hair and green eyes were standing nearby. There were eighteen of them and all were descendants of Hannah. Any one of them could have ended up as Hellscourge if Asteraoth had chosen their mothers to be her vessel. Lilly had drawn the short straw and her life had been ended far too soon. She’d only been eighteen when she’d fallen pregnant with me. If Dantanian hadn’t impregnated her, the boyfriend she’d planned to spend the night with when she’d been possessed by Asteraoth would have fathered me instead.
“Don’t feel bad for us,” Lilly scolded me. “We all served the purpose we were meant for. Now it’s up to you to make our sacrifices count.”
“You need to return to Earth and kick Satan’s butt,” Heather said fiercely. Hannah gave her a proud smile and put her arm around the younger girl’s shoulder. It comforted me to know my friends wouldn’t be alone. They would be able to lean on each other if they needed to.
I gave each of the women a hug, being careful not to crush them. Finally, only Sam was left. Kneeling so we were the same height, I took his hands in mine. He’d earned his redemption and this was where he belonged. “I’m going to miss you,” I said forlornly. He was my best friend and losing him would leave a permanent void in my heart.
“We will see each other again,” he said confidently. “Perhaps sooner than you realize.” He smiled impishly and leaned forward to hug me.
