Caelum sought desperately for anyone to stop him, anyone to shout for him not to do it, anyone willing to stab him and get him off this cage. Then, he gazed at the scene unfolding before him, and a stab of guilt was sent to his heart at the sight of Mikaela and Ariel under Lilith’s claws. Caelum gritted his teeth in remorse and grabbed Azazel’s hand.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” Azazel smiled as he shook Caelum’s hand.
From Caelum’s pained face, a smile slowly floated. He released Azazel’s hand and grabbed the thorny cage with his own. The thorns withdrew and the black bars melted into his skin. Like flowing ink, the entire cage seeped into his grip, moaning in a strange gurgle as it did.
Azazel slowly vanished, turning himself invisible, leaving only a trace of his triumphant smile.
Chapter Sixteen: Grand Architecture
Her mind was still bleary and she was weak, but Ariel slowly regained consciousness, waking to burning pain in her entire body. The spikes that impaled her had kept her in place, sending sharp stings with every move she made. Her head was heavy as she recalled what had happened to her. Dread filled her upon the sight of the blonde demon standing in front of her, admiring Mikaela’s crucified body.
“M- Mik—” Ariel tried to call the witch’s name, but the simple task required too much effort.
Something from the corner of her eye moved, and suddenly, a glimmer of both hope and fear filled the angel. A mass of shadows gathered around, forming a circle on the ground and from within it, a man emerged. He had softly tousled brown hair, a devious smile, and a trademark dark suit. His poise was as confident as she had always seen in him, but his eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
“Caelum?” The name came out as a croak from her throat. There was something odd about the man who approached them now. There was a sense of power in him, much more than she had seen when he was a demon. Her eyes widened in horror as her thoughts aligned. Her angelic eyes saw his dark soul and knew what had become of the man she cherished.
Caelum had become a demon again, and he was far more powerful than ever before.
The demon paid no attention to Ariel, however. His eyes were all for Lilith who was shocked by the power he exuded, yet ecstatic at the same time. “Well, look at you!” Lilith cheered. “Such a strapping demon you make. Suits you better than that mortal body.”
Caelum didn’t utter a word. His expression changed to disgust. Lilith revolted at the reaction and then suddenly turned towards Ariel, startling her. “Let’s set the sacrifice, shall we?”
The drill-like spike from before burst from the ground, whirling loudly as it raced towards Ariel’s torso. Caelum was in front of Ariel faster than any eye could see, holding the black drill with his bare hands. The drill whirled weakly against his grasp and slowly dissolved into smoke, then he gathered it in his palms.
“So,” Lilith fumed. “Like father, like daughter, huh?”
“Caelum…” Ariel stared at him in shock and grief. “What have you done to yourself?”
Once more, her pleas fell on deaf ears. Without so much as a glance for her, Caelum turned to touch one of the spikes that protruded from her body. Almost instantly, the spikes retracted, as if fearing his presence. Ariel gritted her teeth as the sharp spikes pulled themselves out of her body. She clumsily fell to the ground with a thump. Though her wounds immediately began to heal, her body was still too weak to stand.
Caelum hopped into the dark shadows beneath his feet and sank inside. Lilith whipped around to find Caelum appearing before Mikaela. The demon absorbed the witch’s state as though he was admiring the work, and as he had for the angel, he made the spikes retreat.
Lilith stood in disbelief. How could he command them so easily? She didn’t act so as to observe Caelum. He was different. He had always been a peculiar one before compared to the mindless demons that filled the land. But now… he’s radiating power almost like an archdemon!
Caelum dove into the darkness again, and suddenly, he appeared behind her before she could react. Caelum locked his arms around Lilith’s neck, tightening his grip on her. Lilith choked at the strength and felt her body being dragged backwards. Caelum pulled Lilith, forcing her against the boulder where she had trapped Ariel. His arm pressed on her throat, locking her in place while she dug her nails into his skin, trying to free herself. Her defense only provoked Caelum into digging his arm further against her throat, and Lilith’s neck was almost breaking.
In desperation, Lilith extended her arm and commanded her own mass of shadows to attack Caelum. From the ground behind Caelum, spikes burst like harpoons, zooming towards him. In the split second before they reached their target, a smile spread across Caelum’s lips. A shadow covered his entire form. The black harpoons shot up and stabbed the first flesh it reached, burning the blood in its heat.
Lilith gasped as her own weapon speared through her stomach, cracking the boulder behind her. A feeling so foreign to her filled her body; a feeling that she had happily bestowed upon nearly anyone she met. Pain. Burning sharp pain. The harpoons meant for Caelum had buried themselves inside her instead. Caelum had disappeared. The spears she’d summoned fixed her in place, and for some odd reason, her commands no longer reached them so they would not retract.
Caelum! Lilith screamed the name like a curse as the man materialized a good distance from her, his calm smile taunting. Lilith forced her strength to gather and summoned more dark spikes to erupt towards Caelum. But with a wave of his hand, shadows formed in the air, catching the spikes before they could reach him. More shadows appeared in front of Lilith and from them, her own weapons shot up, piercing her in different parts of her body. Her screams echoed in the air. The image of her mangled body was a terror to any who laid their eyes upon it.
Ariel was frozen by the horror she felt while witnessing Caelum’s murderous behavior. The scene was far too overwhelming for the angel, and it haunted her to see Caelum orchestrating it. She watched him trace his fingers in mid-air, causing a black shadow trail as if he were slicing the very fabric of space. The shadow came to life and slithered like a serpent that wrapped around Caelum’s arm.
The demon raised his hand and whipped it down. The long black whip followed and lashed Lilith, leaving an ugly red gash on her arm. Lilith let out a gurgled moan. Caelum raised his arm once more and sent the whip to mark her face. All Lilith could mutter was a distorted groan, but Ariel swore she could see tears gathering in Lilith’s eyes.
Caelum remained stoic, if not for the plastered smile on his face. Lash after lash landed on Lilith’s body, tearing the skin through her clothes. Her arms were stained with blood as she tried to block the whip from hitting her face. Caelum looked around, his eyes finding a small ember of hellfire nearby. He skillfully whipped the dark whip to lash at the ember, making it catch fire.
The blazing whip spun above as the demon swung it around. With a downward motion, he sent the fiery whip to hit Lilith’s thighs, leaving cauterized wounds. Each slice immediately sealed itself, keeping the blood from spilling. Ariel watched each slash that was made on Lilith’s skin and realized that each attack was meant to inflict pain, not death. The fire that burned the wound prevented her from bleeding out. With another swing, the whip ripped into Lilith’s torso, trailing a line of charred flesh across her stomach. Her muted screams followed. The tears flowed from her eyes now, mixing with the blood that marked her face. She looked as if she was crying blood.
“Caelum!” Ariel screamed, finally unable to bear the sight. “Stop it! This… this is not you!”
Caelum completed one more blow and slowly turned his head to gaze at the angel.
Ariel felt alienated by the strange smile on Caelum’s face. Though there was something strange in the way his eyes gazed blankly at her and his smile twitched at the corner. Suspicion formed at the back of Ariel’s mind at the image painted on Caelum’s face. Is he… struggling? Ariel wondered.
A ripple in the space shifted to Azazel’s form, mirroring the s
ame smile on Caelum’s face, although giddier. The demon’s gliding steps led him towards the bloody, writhing woman that was the Queen of Hell. Azazel snickered, unable to hold back his delight at the scene.
“Greetings, your highness,” Azazel grinned, bowing mockingly at her. “Bloody awful isn’t it? I mean, literally. I wonder if you’re also entertained by the sound of your own screams.”
Azazel then turned from Lilith to Ariel, who struggled to get on her feet.
“What have you done to him?” she demanded. Azazel strode towards Caelum and rested his arm on the taller man’s shoulder. Her eyes flickered from Caelum to Azazel, and the similarity of their expressions was plain as the day.
“Let’s just say,” Azazel leered, “that it’s a relationship with strings attached. Not literally, because you don’t see the strings attached to my fingers.” Azazel wriggled his fingers playfully at the angel.
“T-traitor!” said the weak voice behind him.
Azazel craned his neck to look at Lilith. “I know you are, but what am I?” he jeered with a silly smile. He then patted Caelum’s back and neared Lilith, hovering over her battered face. “See, this is the benefit of clever planning. I’ve got my pup over here to chase down the intruder that trespassed on my property. And once he’s done chewing on you, I’ll have him groomed for the dog show upstairs.”
Lilith managed to spit a dollop of blood at Azazel’s face. His smile remained intact. A sudden cry of pain made him turn his head to find Caelum lashing at Ariel who had attempted to near him. The red mark on Ariel’s arm suggested he wasn’t too pleased with her attempt.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Azazel chirped. “This relationship of yours is…really not meant to be.” He then tapped Caelum’s back. “Well then. As you were.” And with that, Azazel waved a farewell and disappeared.
Caelum cracked the whip on the ground. Hellfire flickered in wisps as he faced Lilith. The broken woman gritted her teeth, still unable to escape. The torrent of demonic souls wouldn’t respond to her anymore, and her only other weapon kept being redirected back at her. With a grin brimming with insanity, Caelum raised the whip and a flash of agony struck Lilith’s body.
The image of the demon’s bloodied form twisted David’s stomach. He and Jenny peered into the small puddle of water Enoch had conjured up so they could see the scene of the battle. The horrors struck deep in their hearts, and there was little they could do about it.
“Enoch…” Jenny said, unable to bear the scene anymore. “Wh-why won’t you help them?”
The man stared blankly at the same question repeated in his head a while ago. When he sent Caelum to the scene, he’d wanted to fight with him. But there was something that stopped Enoch. The sensation he felt was all too familiar. He looked at Jenny, trying to compose his thoughts, and said, “Do you know the feeling that things are supposed to happen as they happen?”
The question didn’t seem to connect to what Jenny was thinking. “Um, you mean, like… you shouldn’t act on it, because you know that it is important or something?”
“Yes! Yes!” Enoch nodded almost childishly. “I can’t put it into words, but... this- this is something that should happen.”
David couldn’t decide which was more disgusting, Caelum torturing Lilith to death or Enoch, an archangel, choosing to allow Mikaela and Ariel to be tortured and Caelum to make the worst decision of his life. His fist balled up, trembling with anger for the archangel next to him, and the urge to punch him answered his question.
“I don’t get it,” David muttered. Then, his voice grew louder with anger. “Why don’t you help them? Better yet, what the hell is that stupid feeling that’s making you think it’s okay for this to happen?”
David’s outburst only made Enoch purse his lips and shake his head. “No. I can’t. It’s this feeling, you know?”
“What feeling?!” David screamed at the top of his lungs. “If I was an archangel, I’d be kicking ass right now!”
Enoch gloomed, having heard something similar not too long ago. He then replied, “Have you ever done something your parents forbade you to do?”
Jenny interjected. “You’re kinda asking the wrong guy.” In a hushed voice, she explained, “He left the family because he didn’t want to do what we do.”
“I see, so you will find it hard to understand,” Enoch muttered.
This remark made David’s eyebrows knot in fury. “Exactly what won’t I understand!?”
Enoch lowered his face. “The feeling that someone, somewhere, wants you to be safe. The feeling that you must hold back your urges so the others won’t worry.”
David’s fury extinguished when guilt washed over him. Oh yeah… he thought to himself, staring at his sister. He remembered when he’d tracked down his parents. Well, I have occasionally checked your locations. Just so I can avoid you guys, he’d claimed, yet he remembered how relieved he’d felt when he saw the tracker of his parents on the move after he’d located them. Yeah… I don’t understand. He chuckled to himself. He peered into the puddle and found the unconscious witch, sleeping soundly. I want you to be safe too. But I can’t fight...
After all he’d been through, he was surprised that he was still in one piece. From werewolves to demonic souls. And archangels. Does it really help them, keeping myself safe so they don’t have to worry about me? David shook the inferiority aside. If there was one thing his family had always been good at, it was getting and analyzing information. Even he who’d turned his back on them still carried that trait.
“Enoch!” David exclaimed, his courage having revived. “The things we found in your library. We need to discuss that.”
Enoch looked perplexed. “You can read Enochian?”
David and Jenny grinned and pulled their shirt sleeves up to their shoulders. A strange mark which looked like pentacles bearing a twelve-pronged star in the middle was on both their skins. “It burned like heck!” Jenny laughed. “But Ariel managed to impart her knowledge of the Angel’s Will to us.”
“Of course,” Enoch sighed. “Virtues are very good at expressing and manifesting their will.”
The two cocked their heads in the same direction. Jenny asked, “Virtues?”
“Anyways,” David interrupted, trying to get back on track, “the blades angels wield. Zound, I think?”
Enoch waved his hand in disagreement. “No, a simple tool like that can’t kill archangels. Regular angels, yes. But archangels are composed of very different materials.”
“Yes, I know! Let me finish!” David yammered. “What I was trying to say is that it’s supposedly a tool that deconstructs energy, allowing it to break apart anything with an energy structure such as souls.”
Enoch nodded. “Correct. It was not a weapon to begin with. It was given to the angels to help mend any instability in the intellectual design.”
“What’s the intellectual design?” Jenny asked.
David was quick to answer. “The universe. These things were made so that angels could help God fix bugs in the program we call reality. That is, until they fashioned the tool based on Michael’s spear and it became a weapon.”
Enoch swayed his head. “I know this, mainly because I'm a record keeper, but I don’t know where you are going with this. I will admit, I am not a thinker.”
David found a reason to gloat, but this was not the time. “Well, considering that all life forms have souls, I’m placing my bet that even archangels have souls, correct?” Enoch nodded to his claims. David continued, “Knowing that, if there was a way for a Zound to pass through the vessel of an archangel - more specifically the two big bosses up in Heaven, Michael and Lucifer - it could deconstruct their souls, thus, technically, killing them.”
“But that’s the difficult part, isn’t it?” Jenny added. “Even an ordinary angel’s vessel is nearly impossible to break. How much more difficult is an archangel’s?”
“Now, that’s the question, indeed,” Enoch agreed, his eyes staring blankly into the puddle, los
t in thought.
“Well,” David began. “I’m not really sure about this one, but I may have something in mind. I think I got a peek of your Heaven family tree where the angels are ranked in order. But what I found out was that the angels aren’t merely ranked in order. Their positions aren’t determined based only on power or authority, but instead by the order that they were created.”
“Well, yes,” Enoch agreed, still not following David’s point. “The first that were created are Michael and Lucifer, that’s why they are the highest of the angels. Then, came the other archangels, and from them, the rest of the angels were made.”
“So, is it safe to say that the very starting point of their creation is where the most of their power is?” David asked. “Like when you pass a bucket of water down a line of people. The first one to take the bucket will get a full one. But as he passes it to the others, more of the water is spilled until it reaches the end of the line. The bucket will then only have half the water it had in the beginning.”
Enoch eyed him curiously. “What are you saying?”
David groaned. “Okay, metaphors aside. Lucifer is the first angel, right? That makes him the most powerful angel. Next came Michael, and he’s nearly as powerful as Lucifer, but still a little weaker. The archangels were created and have less power than Michael, and then the angels created next are weaker than the archangels. Do you follow me?”
“Ah, yes, yes. That is the case,” Enoch agreed.
“Okay, good. So with this construct, I’m getting the idea that whatever came first can defeat what came after,” David said.
Enoch followed, but still didn’t get the point. “What you mean is that we need something created before Michael and even Lucifer? Even I know of nothing created before him.”
“Oh, I think I’m getting the picture here,” Jenny stated. “There is one thing that already existed before Lucifer. But this is the part where we need your help the most, because as far as we know, you’re the only one who knows where we can find Him.”
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 59
