Caelum could sense the flurry of energy all around them, but he couldn’t quite tell if it came from the spirits of the residents or from the creatures that visited them.
“Such sadness…” Ariel whispered, her eyes scanning the area. “The spirits here are unable to remove themselves from this world. They are eternally lost.”
Caelum turned to her. “They chose this,” he explained.
“Foolish choices lead to irreparable consequences,” Ariel said, “until God arrives. He will save them all.”
Caelum frowned. Perhaps it was his default as a demon, but he didn’t believe God was a savior. He believed there would be an end, but he wasn’t hopeful that it will be in songs and light and paradise. He trudged forward and said brusquely, “Let’s go.”
“You do not believe, do you?” Ariel asked him, walking beside him.
He chuckled. “I am a demon, remember? I think that’s a given.”
“Even a damned soul can still have faith,” Ariel said. “You have faith that you will regain your memories as a human when you force yourself to dream, do you not?”
“That is different,” Caelum said. “I believe I will reach my goal, but not that someone will take me there hand in hand.”
Ariel watched him thoughtfully. “Tell me more about your dreams.”
Caelum stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a smirk. “But you’re so stingy with your story.”
Ariel sighed. “I will tell you something about myself if you’ll tell me more.”
“That’s not really fair when I’ve already told you so much while you’ve told me nothing,” Caelum pointed out. “But fine.” He turned his back to her and continued to walk towards the old church that stood in the middle of the cemetery. “I’ve only been successful thrice in forcing my body to dream using the substance. My previous attempts hadn’t been enjoyable. In those dreams, I see myself in what looked like older times. The 1700s, I believe. Exaggerated hats, space-consuming ball gowns and the works. The first dream didn’t tell me much, just that I was walking in this village and people greeted me with a smile. The second was on top of a hill. Very beautiful view, by the way. Fluffy clouds and the sun shining on my face. And then, there was the third that I told you about. The wooden house and the figure with black silky hair.”
“You cannot tell if they really are your memories?” Ariel asked.
“Sadly, no,” Caelum said. “They could be some fantasies my mind conjured up to give me a break. But I like to think of them as my mortal memories.”
Ariel felt a twinge of envy in the demon’s words. While he felt a sense of hope in the dreams he had, she felt dread in hers. It’s different, she told herself. The memories that were threatening to return to her were memories she’d chosen to have removed. She knew she didn’t want to remember them. The angel denied the memories of her sin.
“Your turn,” Caelum said, turning around to meet her expectantly.
Ariel stopped walking just in front of the demon, her eyes cast down. She’d given her word to the demon, and she would rather not back down. “I-I have been away from the mortal land for centuries now,” she confessed with much hesitation. “I did something a long time ago. Something I was punished for. It was rumored that they planned to eliminate me or take away my wings for what I had done. But the archangel, Michael, insisted that I was to be imprisoned instead. And his word was law for he is the angel God left to lead us. They took away my memories of what I had done as part of my punishment and to ensure that I would not be tempted to commit the same mistake. I was in that cage in Heaven for centuries, and this is my opportunity to redeem myself from my sins.”
She looked up at the demon to check his expression and was taken aback. Caelum studied her thoughtfully, his face stern but concerned. When he removed his eyes from her, he sighed. “So that’s why,” he said. And without further comments, he continued their journey to the church. Ariel followed, wondering why he didn’t attempt to pry like she’d expected him to.
The graying church loomed before them, quiet, dark, and empty. Ariel concentrated on the area and looked for any signs of the enemy. But the energy of the lost souls made it difficult for her to decipher who the energies around them belonged to or where they came from.
“Probably chose this place to camouflage themselves under the spirits’ energies. Shall we just go on ahead?” Caelum asked.
Ariel pursed her lips. “Carefully.” The demon nodded.
Slowly, he approached the grand oak door and planted his back on the wall beside it. He peered inside through the small cracks in the door and motioned her to come forward.
Quietly, Ariel walked up to him. Caelum stretched out his arm and pushed the door, opening it slightly. “Ladies first?” he said, and Ariel ducked inside.
Inside, the abandoned church was an array of overturned pews. Dust covered everything, and pieces of concrete and wood littered the floor. The altar still stood at the end of the aisle. Behind it was a grand stained-glass window portraying the descent of Jesus Christ to Earth.
“Well?” Caelum asked from behind her.
“I am still not certain,” Ariel answered. There were far too many energies in the air for her to pick out the enemy.
“Tread carefully, then,” Caelum said. He walked to the left where a row of tinted windows depicting the archangels shone against the sunlight. Ariel dared to move forward along the center aisle. Her eyes focused on the image of Jesus Christ before her as she took quiet steps. She felt as though she was a human begging for forgiveness in the church of God.
I do seek forgiveness, she thought. But not from an image created by man to look like our Lord. I shall seek forgiveness when He arrives.
Caelum took slows steps so he could admire the artwork that were the windows of the church. He had found it quite unfair how the default image in the humans’ minds of what angels looked like were actually similar to them, yet demons such as he were always portrayed as much more monstrous than in reality. He snorted.
He continued forward, switching his attention to the actual angel he had accompanied. His imagination had run wild upon hearing her story. He’d expected himself to smile at the thoughts in his mind. Fate has brought us together! He should have been excited about it. But now, he worried for her more. And worried for the fate that crossed their paths.
He reached the altar and walked over in front of the image of Jesus Christ, Ariel standing just behind him. “Isn’t this poetic?” he asked her, looking back with a smile. “A demon standing in front of the image of Jesus inside a church while an angel watches him from behind.”
“Let’s keep looking,” Ariel said. She turned towards the door on the left side of the church. Caelum moved to follow her, but his feet wouldn’t move.
He looked down at his shoes, concerned. He tried to lift his feet again but they felt as though they were nailed to the carpeted floor. His eyes grew wide at the realization. Caelum looked up to see the angel nearing the door. “Ariel!”
An explosion of shattered glass came from all around the church. The windows with the pictures of angels were destroyed as beings of different shapes and sizes invaded the abandoned church. Ariel jumped out of the way as a wendigo came running in her direction, its elongated arms extended and its claws out. The angel landed in front of Caelum, brandishing her silver sword.
“I can’t move,” Caelum told her. “Devil’s trap!” Ariel looked over to him then to the carpet. She turned around and lifted her weapon over her head to stab the floor and break the seal, but a movement caught Caelum’s eyes. “Behind you!”
Ariel wheeled around to slice the head off a vampire that leapt at her. The vampire’s headless body fell, revealing the half-female, half-snake body of a gorgon behind it, slithering towards her with its fanged mouth open to bite. Ariel jumped out of its way, and Caelum ducked to avoid receiving the blow. He shot up his palm, hitting it against the jaw, and pulled its other arm to twist its body. He heard the crack of its neck, an
d it fell limp on the floor.
He crouched down beside the lifeless monster and opened its mouth. A foul stench escaped the mouth into his face, and he gagged. “Damn reptile hybrids…” he muttered under his breath. Caelum reached for the gorgon’s teeth, hoping to damage the seal with it, when a goblin hopped over his head and stabbed the gorgon’s neck with a wooden stake, severing the head. Caelum reared back, his feet still glued to the floor, bending his ankle awkwardly. The miniscule creature with pale green skin grinned maliciously at him, picked up the severed gorgon’s head, and carried it away. The demon cursed under his breath.
Beasts reached and jumped for the angel who’d maneuvered her way around the church. Splinters of wood exploded over her head as a pew was thrown against the wall. Ariel covered herself and slashed at the werewolf behind her who wailed when she connected with its face. There are too many of them.
She spread her wings and took flight. But the wendigo from earlier stretched out its long arm and grabbed her ankle. It pulled her down, and she slammed against the floor, knocking the air out of her lungs. She opened her eyes and felt the monster’s breath on her face as it leaned over her. Ariel gripped her weapon, but the wendigo slammed its hand against her arm, pinning it down.
Damn! Ariel gritted her teeth. She looked over her shoulder and saw Caelum fending off a handful of goblins. His feet were still locked to the floor, making it more difficult for him to fight.
Caelum swatted off a goblin that had jumped on him but got hit on the head by another. Where is Lili when you need her? Being Earth-bound spirits, Caelum could do little damage to the small creatures that bounded against the floor and attacked him. He didn’t have power like Lili’s that manipulated the souls of monsters. Think! he ordered himself.
A goblin leaped up at him again, and he grabbed it by the face and smashed its head on the floor. Another jumped and he swung his free arm against it. He focused his energy on the one he’d pinned on the ground and forced an illusion into its mind. The goblin began to screech and struggle against his hands. Caelum freed it and it ran off, screaming in its high-pitched voice.
The demon lifted himself and scanned the area. The church had become a circus of monsters. Large, hairy werewolves, pale-skinned vampires, hybrids of man and snake, stone-like bodies of two golems, and many others. He caught sight of Ariel’s dark hair as she took flight, the large wendigo reaching up to her and barely grazing the heel of her shoe.
“Ariel!” he screamed her name.
She looked over to him with wide eyes. “Caelum!” she called him.
Ariel flew in his direction. A golem bounded up and grabbed her in the air with its stone hands. Ariel pulled her arm free and stabbed the monster on the neck with her sword, just between the rocks that connected its neck to its head. But it held on, its weight pulling Ariel down. She screamed and Caelum watched her go down. Dust exploded, covering the scene like thick smoke.
“Ariel!” Caelum called to her again, pulling on his legs, struggling against the seal that locked his feet in place. Fire sparked from under the carpet causing a black stain on one part. A roar snapped his head up; Caelum watched as the golem was thrown against a pillar. Its body exploded, rocks flying in all directions. Ariel came out from the dust-filled smoke and ran towards him with a kitsune, a female monster with yellow claws, and a pale-skinned vampire behind her.
“Stop!” Caelum yelled to her. “Go, Ariel! They’re after you, not me!”
Ariel wheeled around and sliced at the kitsune. She crouched down and plunged her sword into the vampire’s stomach. She turned around and sprinted towards him again. “Escape from there, and we can go!” she yelled back to him, speeding towards him and bringing the monsters in her wake.
“Stupid righteous angel,” Caelum muttered. He kept his eyes on the monsters behind her, seeing a handful still in pursuit of her. “To your left!” he warned her and she drove the blade to her left, stabbing a doppelganger in the eye. It cried out, clutching at its eye and backing away.
She continued to run. Just as she was about to reach him, the round window above the image of Jesus Christ exploded. Caelum crouched down as sharp glass rained down on him. He heard Ariel grunt. He looked up and saw her looking up at a tall, broad-shouldered man holding a white blade to her shoulder. The man pulled the Zound off Ariel and kicked her in the stomach. The monsters parted to give way as she was sent flying across the room, hitting the oak door at the end. Ariel struggled to get back on her feet, but the scaly tail of a gorgon wrapped around the angel and slammed her to the ground.
Ariel yelped, her body hitting the floor painfully. The silver blade skittered out of her hands, out of reach. The gorgon placed its weight on her, securing her in place.
“Ariel!” Caelum called for her through gritted teeth. He pulled again on his legs, straining his muscles. “Damn!” he yelled. Fire burned him from the ground beneath him, but Caelum kept forcing his feet off the seal. He screamed and like a cord being cut, his feet stumbled forward from the seal. Caelum recovered his balance before hitting his head on the wall.
He whirled around and saw a gorgon hiss at him. Caelum sneered and charged towards the gorgon that held the angel captive. The wendigo swung its claw at him, and Caelum jumped high to evade it. He kicked the goblins that tried to jump on him. His only goal was to reach Ariel.
“Look out!” Ariel warned him, but it was too late. A figure appeared in front of Caelum; he saw the face of a man smirking at him before a powerful force threw him back. He crashed against the altar, breaking it. Before he could recover, something pulled on Caelum’s shirt and lifted him up, his feet hovering above the floor. He opened his eyes and was met with a familiar white blade aimed at his throat.
“Well, look at you,” the man who held him said in a humorous tone. “Breaking away from a devil’s trap, huh? You must be real special, demon.”
“I get that a lot,” Caelum answered him with a weak smile.
“Ramiel!” Ariel’s voice called out, her voice filled with anger and disbelief.
The man, or rather the fallen angel, Ramiel, turned to look at her over his shoulder and gave her a smile. “Hello, little sister. So nice of you to drop by. Though I do not approve of the company you keep.”
“Why not… get to know me first?” Caelum suggested.
“Sorry, I don’t have the time for that,” Ramiel said, and he pulled back the white blade. “Bye.”
With a careless smile for Caelum, Ramiel raised the blade to strike.
Caelum looked to Ariel who watched the scene from afar. Then his eyes turned to the Zound aimed at him. Ramiel drove the blade towards him and Caelum shut his eyes, hearing Ariel’s scream. “Don’t!”
Chapter Sixteen: What Truth There Is
Pain was what he expected. A piercing pain through his throat, his cold blood pooling out. But nothing like that came. Instead, he heard laughter. Caelum opened his eyes and saw the blade pointed against his throat, scratching his skin slightly. On the other end of the blade, Ramiel’s grinning face mocked him.
“Well,” Ramiel said. “Isn’t this just lovely?” He lowered the blade and met Caelum’s eyes with a beaming smile. “Looks like things really are getting interesting, huh?”
Caelum returned the smile. “That’s what I’ve been saying…” he said weakly.
“Hmm…” Ramiel studied Caelum for a while before saying, “Glad to know someone is on the same page as I am.” Without warning, Ramiel reeled back and threw Caelum to the side. The demon crashed against the wooden door at the side of the altar, forming a long crack.
Caelum grunted as he picked himself up. He stood up, but his feet wouldn’t move again. “Another devil’s trap, really?” he asked, eyeing Ramiel.
Ramiel shrugged. “It’s a church, and demons are not welcome here. Sorry, buddy.”
“Ramiel!” Ariel screamed from the other side of the church. The gorgon that held her lifted her up and began to slide forward, bringing the angel with it. “You—you we
re the one who has been creating this army of monsters?” Disbelief shone in her eyes.
“Yes,” Ramiel admitted proudly.
“Why? Why did you betray Heaven? Why did you betray your brothers and your sisters?”
“Me?” Ramiel scoffed. “I haven’t betrayed anyone, little sister. I just found out where my loyalties really should be.”
“With monsters?” Ariel hissed.
“With mortals,” Ramiel corrected her. “With the world between the worlds. The one you and the others have been planning to destroy.”
“Lies!” Ariel screamed. “There is no plan. This is just revenge for being cast out. You are no different from Lucifer!”
“Please, don’t put me in the same category as that guy,” Ramiel said. “Lucifer poisoned the mortals. I’m fighting for them.”
“This plot you speak of? Heaven and Hell conspiring together against the land of mortals? It is impossible. What evidence do you have to prove it?" Ariel challenged him.
“Evidence?” Ramiel laughed. “You just brought it to me! You and this damned creature from Hell are supposed to be natural enemies, but you just waltzed in here hand-in-hand and made a mess of things.”
“Actually, your pets caused the mess,” Caelum pointed out.
Ramiel looked over to him. “But of course your presence disturbed them.”
“Chaos is in my nature,” Caelum replied with a smirk. “And forgive me for bursting your bubble here, but us being here isn’t really much in the way of evidence. We’re just a pair of innocents, a demon and an angel who are looking for a fallen one. I assume that’s you.”
“Innocent,” Ramiel repeated the word. “There’s a reason why you’re a demon, and that is because you’re not quite innocent.”
“True, but I am innocent of plotting something against this world.” Caelum shrugged. “I’ve lived here long enough to appreciate the little things here and to be out of the hellish loop. So tell me. What is this plot that you speak of?”
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 16
