Crystalline Chaos

by Gabriela Voelske

  “I was thinking of severing the neck clean off if nothing else, it should give Kaiser some respite.” Having watched the angel’s attack on the serpentine Nightmare, it appeared to suffer as much from taking another massive hit as having half of its body severed. He wondered if simply causing a massive disturbance of the beast’s mana was enough to fatally injure one; it was an easy enough theory to test out either way. Arariel was happy with the idea, or he made no effort to suggest anything otherwise.

  The demon paused for a moment, allowing his vision to discern where the body of the creature stopped and Kaiser's arm started; it was going to be difficult to hit one without clipping the other. Even with the larger demon's thickened skin, he didn't want to risk injuring him with the high-powered attack. Solomon would have to hope that it would be possible for him to move Kaiser's arm slightly out of the way, without causing the Nightmare to bite deeper into his shoulder.

  He took a breath, extending out his wings and flapping them a few times. The sharp movement of air stung his skin but there were few choices on how he could reach the creature without flying, walking would probably no less painful either way. Forcefully, he launched himself into the air and ascended, gliding swiftly towards his target.

  "Hey Kaiser, drop your arm a bit," Solomon called out, levelling ready to attack. Watching him fighting something so imposing emphasised the demon's gigantic height; Solomon only stood just over a third of his height in comparison. Kaiser shot a glance out sideways, before changing the angle of his besieged arm. It created a sizeable enough gap by shoving the Nightmare's neck into an arc, to which it hissed in displeasure but made no effort to let go. He seized the opportunity, forming a tangible scythe out of necrotic energy and charging forward.

  Promptly, he hooked the blade under the creature's throat. He channelled more energy into the construct until it broke through the husk, rapidly expanding as it went. The creature panicked at the sudden damage, desperately trying to move away, only to find itself unable to shift. Kaiser's grip was too strong and on seeing Solomon's plan, he had grasped the Nightmare's head to wrench it free from the body. After a final push, it separated cleanly from the body, which went crashing to the ground below. Silence followed for a moment before the remnants crumpled in the demons hands. Solomon breathed a sigh of relief, noticing Kaiser's continued gaze towards him.

  "You haven't done anything dubious have you?" Kaiser enquired; his voice was tinged with worry. It was hard to blame him, considering just what his father dabbled in. No one wanted Solomon to turn out like he did, least of all those closest to him.

  "Ethically questionable maybe, but trust me when I say Arariel's coming to no harm," Solomon smiled, although he was unsure if the angel was going to be entirely unfazed after that burn that had been endured. "He agreed to do this voluntarily as well," he added as the other demon began to look calmer, the words were reassuring evidently.

  "Does Sebastian have any idea about this?" he paused, examining the wounds he had gained from the battle. "Though if I wasn't aware of it, I assume the answer to that question is no."

  "You’re correct on that, but I would prefer to keep it quiet until I can found a way to approach him about it.” He was well aware that he would react badly to the news. While Sebastian had eventually come to trust Solomon, he was far from keen about his abilities, to the extent of being incredibly wary. Even the slightest incident made the King uncomfortable, so on Dumon's advice he kept quiet about the things he practised, not that he did ever dabble in anything truly dangerous. He hoped that Sebastian was aware and just decided to ignore it now as nothing bad had ever occurred, as opposed to burying the issue in blissful ignorance.

  Kaiser paused for a moment and glanced back towards the young demon; his request was fair, hearing news like that from a secondary source would only incriminate Solomon unfairly. The King had been too cautious of a mage's abilities ever since he found out just what Amnur committed in his time as Court Mage. “Alright, I’ll hold you to that,” he responded, running a hand across his head. “Not sure it’d be so advised to let Arariel tell Uriel about it, however.”

  Solomon heard Arariel sigh. He hadn’t let on how exactly he was going to deal with Uriel yet, if at all. “Weren’t you with them, though? What happened?”

  Observing the tower indicated no obvious signs of a heated battle, but the opaqueness of the crystalline structure stopped him from being able to see inside.

  “It was a trap; that mage didn’t want me or Arariel inside there to face him,” Solomon admitted, gesturing down to a distance pile of shards. “He had a massive serpent-like Nightmare lay against the inside of the tower and either it cloaked itself, or he managed to do so. When it revealed itself, the bottom floor was shattered leaving Sebastian and the others above while we fled the tower to get the room needed to fight it in.”

  The massive demon scowled. If there was such a creature hidden within the tower then he dreaded to think just what else might be inside, or just what was occurring. “We need to help them,” Kaiser growled, Solomon agreed to his words and altered his direction to face back towards the tower. They headed off in silence; the sounds of battle were still present around them, but it was slowly becoming quieter as the remaining Nightmares were being eradicated. Solomon flew behind Kaiser’s strong pace, noticing an issue. He knew his body could easily surpass the speed he was travelling, yet for whatever reason, it wouldn’t respond to the request.

  “Hey Arariel, is everything alright? This body is starting to feel notably restricted,” he queried to the angel’s subconscious. Now that the adrenaline from the first battle had waned, the raw pain from the burns had become so much more prominent. He was just having to overcome it, however. Solomon had noticed that Arariel had reacted to the pain he experienced, was it simultaneously straining his body? If it were the case, why hadn’t he commented on anything?

  “Just continue towards the tower, I’m fine,” Arariel replied, his voice wavered slightly as he spoke. “It’ll be over soon, we can rest then.”

  “No, we’ll stop here,” Solomon spoke up after a moment’s pause, stopping dead in the air and then flying down to land. While it was true the battle was nearly over, there was no point in forcing themselves to the brink of death; they were nowhere near full strength for a second battle. “Kaiser, continue on. I need to take my leave here,” he shouted to the marching demon, who slowed for a moment before picking up the pace once more.

  “What are you doing? They need our help!”

  “We’re more use to them alive then dead.” He kneeled down on the ground below and focused his mind. With a few hasty movements of his arms, he scratched symbols into the ground and then placed one palm firmly on top. Then with the other arm, Solomon carefully placed it against his chest, gripping the edge of his skin with the tips of his fingers. A few moments passed, Arariel was staying silent as he watched what the demon was doing. It was obvious, it was time for their bodies to be split, however he intended to do that.

  Darkness surrounded them as the demon began chanting. Arariel soon found himself feeling an extraordinarily strong sensation of being pulled, almost as if he was being ripped from Solomon’s body. Despite the overwhelming discomfort, it was painless, much to his surprise.

  The feeling became more and more intense until everything went blank and silent, seconds passed before he felt the cool sting of the wind on his face and gasped for breath. He opened his eyes and cringed; the light was overly bright to him, painfully so. It appeared to be a side-effect to the transformation, but hopefully a short-lived one. Shifting himself from the hunched over position he had adopted on the ground, he examined his body. His white robes were singed and tattered, but the skin underneath was uninjured and in perfect condition in contrast.

  With a sudden urge of panic, he turned around to see Solomon collapsed on the floor. The demon’s skin bore all the burns that had been endured earlier. On ending the spell he absorbed all the damage to stop Arariel coming out in
jured.

  “Hey, don’t die on me you,” Arariel cried out, crawling over and pressing his fingers against the demon’s neck to feel for a pulse. For a moment he felt nothing, so he dug in harder and eventually found it, but it was weak. He stared at his damaged friend, unsure where even to start attempting to mend the multitude of wounds.

  Solomon groaned and blearily gazed towards him with a strained smile, watching as Arariel breathed a sigh of relief. He softly stroked the lengths of hair that had fallen over the demon’s face away and slipping them over by his horns.

  “I’m not going to die, don’t worry. I have tricks up my sleeve to stop that,” he replied weakly, enjoying the coolness of the ground against his skin. “I am a Necromancer, after all, remember.”

  “Not sure if I want to know the exact details, but with you, I trust that it’s not morally wrong.” To what he knew of the art creating a body double needed a live host, otherwise the spell dissipated. Due to the lack of amiable Necromancers in the past, it was possible that the information that the angel had read was wrong. Not all mages are so willing to give up their secrets to written literature, available to all the prying eyes that may wish to harm them.

  “So, what now?” Solomon wasn’t exactly in a state to go anywhere but he couldn’t leave him out here by himself, the demon was entirely defenceless.

  “Up to you, I just had to end that spell as it was draining your life force,” Solomon replied, throwing a weary glance back towards the spire. “Although it might be worth moving up to just outside there, just in case any of them inside need healing afterwards.”

  Arariel let out a sigh, fidgeting his fingers for a moment while he considered a plan. “This might be uncomfortable,” he spoke as he slipped one arm underneath the demon’s side and the other under his legs, slowly lifting his body towards his chest. Taking a deep breath he stood up, hoisting Solomon up level with him. “Your wings make this awkward, without the weight as well.” The height difference also aquatinted to a weight difference and considering the angel wasn’t overly strong, it was notable. Still, he had to continue, the distance wasn’t too far…

  * * *

  The cool edge of the crystal surface made for a painful collision target as Maelor effortlessly repelled Gabriel and Sebastian’s attacks, laughing at their pitiful attempt. “You’re going to need to do better than that,” he mocked, casually manipulating a ball of pink magic between his hands. Uriel huffed and made a small gesture towards Sebastian, before turning his attention towards the mage.

  “You know you had other options than seeking your revenge this way, right Maelor?” the angel spoke up; the mention of the mage’s name caused him to freeze stiff, stuttering to come up with a response.

  “How do you-“

  “Know your name? I enjoy doing my research as to the current pawns in play,” Uriel teased, cutting off Maelor’s attempt at a reply. “Is that not strength, to know your opponents?” he grinned, enjoying the sudden discomfort that had overwhelmed the human. Prying the Magi Council further had paid off, once he had found someone more amiable to deal with. They had been reluctant of course; admitting blame for this incident was not something they were keen on, nor were they willing to give useful information. Sebastian nodded at the angel's efforts and silently readied himself from a distance, taking a deep breath. Carefully he placed one foot in front of the other, edging closer with blades drawn.

  "What do you intend to gain from this foolish endeavour, vengeance?" Uriel pressed on, keeping him distracted for the demon creeping in behind.

  Before the mage had time to spit out a reply, the Demon King lunged forward and dug one blade deep into his side with the other coming wildly towards his neck. The sudden excruciating pain shocked him, but his swiftly turning gaze caught the intention of the second blade. With a blinding flash, Sebastian found himself launched off his feet, his swords blown wide as his body smacked against the ground.

  "Damn it all!" Gabriel cussed, changing his stance to single handily wielding his blade to free up his left hand. He focused an electric current into his palm, causing the air to crackle. With a hasty gasp for breath, he leapt forward, grasping at Maelor. The mage glanced around and sighed, shaking his head.

  "You didn't think that would work, did you?" he remarked, catching Gabriel in mid-air with pulsing tendrils, bounding the angel's hands tightly. Slowly the energy drained out of his arm, ceasing the charged crackling that surrounded his palm.

  Uriel huffed; this was proving harder than expected. Taking hold of his blade, he launched himself into the air before changing his course to a dive. Injured or not, the angel's speed was impressive and deadly. Maelor raised an eyebrow, turning his head between the approaching Uriel and Gabriel.

  He threw his arm wide, tossing Gabriel towards Uriel at such a high speed that neither of them could move out the way, causing them to collide in mid-air. The mage watched them for a moment, content that neither was able to get up immediately.

  Now his attention turned back to Sebastian, who was still collapsed on the floor. Blood was evident around his body; the previous magic attack had hit him hard and pierced his armour. "Is that all, King of Demons?" Maelor teased, nudging the demon's back with his foot. Sebastian growled, glaring at the man. He pushed against the floor with one arm, feeling sharp pain radiate out from his right side. "Your blades aren't anywhere near you, you know," the mage added with some amusement, seeing him struggle.

  "I don't need anything more than my hands to snap your pathetic little neck," Sebastian snapped back, now balancing on one knee. Maelor did lurch back at that remark, the sudden aggression in the King's voice spoke of his conviction. "Besides, that wound I gave you earlier is likely fatal." He grinned. The mage's attire was notably red with blood, even if he was ignoring the seriousness of the injury.

  "The difference between you and me is I can heal myself," Maelor huffed, placing one hand on his side. "But for now, I need to deal with you. Then I can take all the time I need.” He stood in front of Sebastian and stretched out his spare arm. The air around the demon's body started to swirl with an eerie purple light; when he tried to continue moving he found himself bound to the spot. Spiking pain shot up his body as violet tendrils of flame wrapped around his limbs, winding itself around his whole body. "I would say goodbye, but I feel no sorrow in watching you die."

  The spell constricted around Sebastian. He could feel the excruciating pain rack his lungs, heart and other organs. His body just wanted to throw up and collapse, but everything was impossible; the spell was even keeping him conscious during the ordeal. Maelor's smug expression stuck in his vision as he struggled for breath, Sebastian wished for nothing more than to wipe it from his face.

  His vision started to fail yet he defiantly kept his eyes open, refusing to give up, despite the impossible situation. A sudden yelp got his attention, followed by the release from the binding spell. Sebastian collapsed back to the floor, allowing the cool air to flood into his lungs. Staring upward, the sight he was greeted with was a shock. He had been expecting to see the golden tinged blade of one of the angels, but instead there were two protruding plain steel blades, dug straight through his heart and his side.

  "What's with all the damned commotion?" Sakura growled, awkwardly balancing on Maelor's back, hands gripping the impaled blades tightly. Her weight was having an effect on the man; he started to collapse forward while she continued to hold on. With an elongated sigh, she leapt off, kicking him forward. Maelor's anger boiled over at the incident. He redirected the energy he had been using against Sebastian backwards, erupting out massive solid spikes. They sliced deep into the female's side and face, causing her body to go limp. A shadow descended behind her, trying to move her body away from the lethal spines.

  "No, no, no, no!" Amnur shouted, placing his hands on the extensive wound. The wetness of blood covered his fingers, further deepening his despair. "You bastard!" he bellowed, lifting one hand up and clenching it tightly. The platform burst into f
lames in response, engulfing Maelor and only just narrowly missing the others.

  "Amnur?" Sebastian gasped, dragging his body away from the flames. The demon simply ignored him. His mind was too preoccupied to bother.

  Maelor spat a thick ream of blood as it emerged from his mouth, unable to utter a reply. It fell into the flames below, creating a column of steam amidst the smoke. He watched the steam rise before attempting to stumble forwards, managing only one step before collapsing; his lifeless body engulfed by the raging flames. Seeing him drop to the floor, Amnur clutched his daughter's body and stood up, rushing for the outside as quickly as possible.

  The Demon King sat there for a moment, just watching the fire burn. That certainly wasn't one individual he ever expected to see again. All this time he had thought him dead, which was for the better. He shook his body, trying to drag his mind back to the current situation. Searing pain and a notable wetness reminded him of his own wounds. A sideward gaze towards the other side of the platform revealed the angels piled on top of one another. He heaved himself up, wobbling for a moment. He strolled towards them, stopping to grab one of his blades that lay discarded along the way.

  "You look like you need a hand," Sebastian teased. Uriel stared up and grunted, stretching out an arm. The demon grabbed it and tugged, lifting him free from his tangle with Gabriel. Once Uriel was up, Sebastian crouched down and put his arms under Gabriel's shoulders, heaving the angel up. Once on his feet, the angel groaned, before wordlessly thanking him.

  "Needless to say, we should be getting out of here ourselves," Uriel spoke up, gesturing towards the fire. As he extended his arm, he noticed the blood on his hand. Black blood, from Sebastian. That was going to be hard to wash out later; demon blood was notorious for staining.

  Sebastian agreed, pausing for a second as he considered the lack of stairs. "Are you going to be alright to fly down?"