The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set)

by J. D. Stonebridge

  Michael slammed the blunt end of the spear into the ground as if in a gesture of joy and approached Scott. The man dusted his shoulders, patted his coat, and straightened his clothes. He ran his tongue over his bare hand and smoothed his hair. Almost mockingly, he said, “Oh boy. He’s gonna get me.”

  Golden chains materialized from a small sigil that glowed around Scott and wrapped around his arms and legs. The chains pulled, spreading his limbs wide. Michael, with no hesitation in his eyes, pulled the spear back, and with a grunt, sent the spear in a perfect thrust towards Scott’s heart.

  The spear struck and blood splattered behind Scott. To Michael’s surprise, Scott did not flinch, scream, or convulse. Instead, Scott remained indifferent. Michael twisted the spear, making sure his heart was destroyed. Despite the spill of blood, Scott flashed a smile before death took him. Michael felt a hint of doubt about the kill, but the next feeling astounded him.

  When Scott’s soul left, the energy it stored somehow seeped into the spear, a function Michael had not known of. The energy surged into his body and surprised him. His soul...How can a soul like his hold such...potency? It mattered little to him, as it was power he needed for the very next thing he was about to do.

  Lucifer nodded with satisfaction and approached Michael. “Brother…” he murmured gently, “for our last task, we shall—”

  Lucifer quickly jumped back; Michael’s spear had barely missed him as he swung it around. Michael balled his fist and gripped his spear tight. As he turned, he expected to see Lucifer’s distraught face, but all he saw was him sighing and slowly shaking his head.

  “I see...” he murmured.

  Michael aimed his spear at Lucifer, his anger flowing up to his face. “You shall manipulate me no more!” Michael shouted. “From the moment you approached me, just before your descent, your motive was clear to me.”

  “All too clear?” Lucifer mocked. “I trusted you would play along until the end.” Lucifer summoned Umbra to his side, the orb defensively rotating around him. “It is a shame really. I would have pardoned you till the very end. I will still be glad to.”

  Umbra suddenly whizzed towards Michael but met a quick end as the spear stabbed it. With a puff of dark smoke, it vanished. “Fool!” Michael exclaimed. “I have more power, as I hold the body of Heaven itself!” With a spin, he sent his spear whistling as he slashed towards Lucifer, but Lucifer’s body erupted in black smoke, akin to Umbra.

  Smoke blocked Michael’s vision. To his surprise, a large and familiar figure appeared behind him and delivered a powerful punch to his spine. The strength of the blow sent a shockwave around them, clearing the mist. He countered and stabbed the spear in its direction, but it suddenly brightened and disappeared. The distinct bolt of lightning it transformed into confirmed what it was.

  “Uriel’s puppet!” Michael cursed, seeing Lucifer still standing along with the huge bronze figure. His eyes widened at the appearance of a smaller figure beside the titan. A copy of Raphael hovered, its arms already transformed into snakes and a lion head.

  “Brother…” Lucifer sighed, sounding merciful. “We are very close to our goal. I am still willing to forgive you for your offense. I should do so, as when we are one, we shall be a truly merciful God.”

  “No,” Michael disagreed, “your mercy for these humans will ruin you! It is because of these humans that you swayed!”

  The Raphael copy aimed the lion head towards Michael, and a huge swathe of fire burst from it. Michael soared up as the flames flooded half the Garden, but while in mid-air, he saw the lightning bolt that was Uriel speeding towards him. Uriel manifested, his bulging arms already poised above and slammed hard into him. With his new strength, Michael blocked the bludgeon and stabbed. As he expected, Uriel turned into lightning, but as soon as he did, Michael spun the spear in his hand and threw it upward. The spear spiraled upward like an arrow, and as Uriel appeared behind him, the spear somehow dropped from above in a beam of light, stabbing his head. The puppet exploded into a cloud of black smoke, and Michael soared away.

  His effort to flee was halted when countless snakes slammed into him. The number was so great that all the snakes almost formed one long tentacle that grabbed Michael and slammed him to the ground. The fangs of the countless snakes could not pierce his skin no matter the effort, making Michael laugh. “I am now the vessel of Heaven! I cannot be harmed!”

  Lucifer chuckled. “You are right, Brother, you cannot be slain, which makes this all the more painful.”

  “What?” Michael’s face showed his fear.

  From the hundreds of snakes that covered Michael, all of them began to secrete a green slime. It did not take long for Michael to feel the sting of the strange green liquid as it spilled all over him. The sting was tolerable, making Michael laugh. “This? This is not pain!”

  “Of course not,” Lucifer said, clicking his tongue. “Please allow me to finish.”

  Uriel’s puppet suddenly manifested beside Michael, and as he was completely covered with the green slime, Raphael released the snakes. Without wasting time, Michael grunted and tried to rise. But he could not move. His entire body would not obey his command. “What have you done to me?!”

  “It’s amazing…” Lucifer explained, “how creative the humans can be with their poisons. See, when I was banished to Hell, I learned a few things from the demons. One of them is something that hinders the energy of any soul-filled vessel. It took me a millennia to produce it, but here it is.” Lucifer stepped forward, his eyes looking down at the pathetic display of the archangel. “Do you know what else I learned? It’s apparently Hell’s specialty.”

  Raphael and Uriel positioned themselves beside Michael. Without warning, Raphael spilled flames on Michael while Uriel slammed his palms on the ground, sending electricity towards him. Michael screamed. He felt a sensation he had never experienced before. He felt a torrent of heat on his skin, a burning like the sun touching his skin, and his very insides felt the jolting, agonizing flow of electric current.

  “Like I said…” Lucifer whispered. “Since your body is unchanging, unbreakable, and immortal, this torture will last forever. And we can take forever, if needed.”

  “NO!” Michael screeched. “NO! PLEASE STOP!”

  Lucifer moved his gaze away from him, pretending not to have heard. “What is that? Did you apologize?”

  “YES! FORGIVE ME! PLEASE BROTHER! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!”

  Lucifer turned. “Of course. I am a merciful being, and I shall grant mercy to those who seek it.”

  The copies of the Archangels ceased their torture and disappeared into a puff of smoke. Lucifer walked towards him and reached for his slime-covered hand. “Come now, Brother. We shall go to the true realm of God and open the Gates of Purgatory.”

  Chapter Sixteen: Gathering for a Finale

  A sudden jolt ran up Enoch’s spine, causing him to jump out of his seat, startling those who researched with him in the library. It surged down his arms, running through his fingertips and making his skin crawl. “What?” he stammered.

  His knees buckled and made him land back on his seat with a jolt. It was as if his body felt something significant but his mind did not recognize it yet. Enoch looked at his trembling hands, trying his best to figure out the situation. I sense both delight and remorse. Have we won the battle, or have we lost? Being stuck in the confines of the library while the war outside raged on, Enoch shook the feeling out of his hands. Or perhaps this is cabin fever? The urge to do something instead of being stuck here. His gaze wandered to David.

  Thinking of the latter, Enoch stood up and stepped out of the stuffy library. Outside, where the puzzles were, the Tenney family were scattered about. Jenny was talking to her mother whilst David sat on a raised patch of ground, surrounded by flowers, with a heavy book on his lap. How long has he been sitting there?

  Jenny turned her head to look at Enoch. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes,” Enoch answered. “Did you sense someth
ing just now?”

  “Nope,” Jenny chirped. “Did you?”

  “Yeah, I—”

  David yelped as he rolled down the pedestal he was sitting on. What caused him to yelp was a sudden burst of vines in front of him. The vines created a small spire, and flowers quickly bloomed from it. Slowly, the vines took shape similar to a human body, and a face formed.

  “Seraphiel!” Enoch called the figure.

  “Everyone…” Seraphiel’s voice said, echoing from the spire. “I bring both grim and joyful news.”

  The statement made Enoch scratch his head. “I'm guessing that’s why I felt both happy and sad earlier. What happened?”

  “The mortal named Scott has been slain. Lucifer and Michael have descended to the human world to open the Gates of Purgatory,” Seraphiel announced.

  The shock was shared by everyone who heard it. “No!” David shouted. “How could he have been killed? Where are Ariel and Caelum?”

  “I do not know...” Seraphiel replied. “However, all is not lost. For the will of our Father grows strong. The time is nigh, Scribe!”

  Enoch had conflicting feelings, but what dominated was the exalting joy that he might finally see God. “So, I assume,” Enoch wondered, “that Heaven has ceased all its movement, and Hell has done the same?”

  “Yes.”

  Enoch remembered the prophecy of God’s coming. “Seraphiel, will you help me answer a question?”

  “I will do what I can.”

  “If Lucifer succeeds and becomes God, what will happen to our Father?”

  The question perplexed David, Jenny, and Ann Marie. The spire that was Seraphiel was silent for a few moments, its answer more of a guess. At least, that’s what Enoch wanted to believe.

  “He shall consume our Father and use the energy to spark the new dawn of creation.”

  Enoch pursed his lips in disbelief. “Seraphiel, please tell me that’s not true.”

  “It is. For I heard Lucifer state it to Michael some time ago.” Before any of them could speak, Seraphiel added, “I came here to ask something of you as well, Enoch.”

  The man-angel shrugged. “Of course.”

  “I shall open the Gates of Heaven from here. Please make your way to the throne.”

  “We’re going to Heaven?!” Jenny exclaimed, beaming like a little girl.

  David remained indifferent but managed to spit a remark. “We’re not going to Disneyland, you know.”

  Jenny puffed her cheeks into a pout. “I know! Geez. Won’t anyone be excited about going to Heaven?”

  “Not unless that means you’re dying,” Ann chuckled, but then turned serious. “So, you need all of us to go to Heaven?”

  Without turning to the woman, Seraphiel answered, “Yes. Please give me a moment to summon the gate.”

  The door behind Enoch, the one that led to the library, slowly closed. As the doors shuddered at the contact, the symbols in the stone gate began to sink and disappear, and countless small etches shaped like angels positioned as if they were rising up, replaced the disappearing symbols. Enoch motioned for everyone to gather in front of it.

  “Wow.” Jenny sighed.

  Ann giggled. “It’s amazing how you’re still whimsy even after all of this.”

  Jenny smiled and pointed at David. “Blame Dave for taking all the grown-up stuff for himself.”

  With a soft glow, the door shuddered again. As the two stone slabs parted, white mist began to spill from the space. Behind the door was nothing but a wall of white mist. “Please,” Seraphiel ushered, “Enoch, lead them to the throne.”

  Enoch motioned for everyone to follow him. “You are all going to love the Garden. It is where humanity began in the forms of Adam and Eve.”

  The four stepped into the mist. Jenny had a smile on her face, excited to be stepping out of Enoch’s tower. She now had the rare opportunity to see Heaven and the Garden. The Garden… I wonder what kind of flowers and trees I will see there? She fancied images in her mind of what the Garden would look like. A small guilty curiosity tugged at her to partake in the legendary fruit that Eve consumed from the great Tree.

  But all her thoughts melted into a void as the Garden came into view. Instead of lush green grass, she saw a barren landscape. The trees that should have filled the garden with colors were nothing but ashen spikes, and instead of the fragrance of countless flowers, the smell reminded her of mold.

  “What happened?” Enoch breathed, his eyes welling with tears, seeing what was left of the Garden. “What have they done?” Nobody could answer him. Enoch bent down to gather a patch of dry grass in his hand and watched it crumble in the breeze.

  “So...” David asked. “What are we supposed to do?”

  The question reminded Enoch of Seraphiel’s request. He straightened, determined to be strong in the face of such despair. “Right, we’re off to the Throne of God.”

  They walked across the landscape, Enoch in the lead. David remained indifferent to the scene. “Do you mean the empty throne where God should be?”

  Enoch shook his head, wanting to disagree but could not. “Yes. It is not known when our Father left us. Apparently the throne functioned as a replacement for Him, something that could keep Heaven functioning.” Enoch stared ahead. His thoughts wandered to the moments when God had escorted him to Heaven.

  When he’d first stepped into the place, he was quickly overwhelmed. From the gates, there was a huge grassland and a dome of white that looked like cloud-filled skies from above. God escorted him to the throne, and on their way, he saw what he would describe as an auditorium, where a pedestal was raised. Surrounding it were pews seemingly made of ivory. Once they left the grasslands, they walked on a road that gleamed like gold lined with a gallery of different spires and towers stretching as far as he could see, all of which were immaculately white and adorned with either gold or bronze-plated rings or spirals.

  To his surprise, there were many forms of angels. The one he was familiar with were the beautiful angels that looked like men and women. Hovering in the skies were floating sigils of yellow light and large spheres of white. In time, he came to know that those were also angels.

  When they reached the throne room, the man he followed had stopped. He looked at the six large towers and the pillar of light in the middle. The man urged him to follow as he stepped into the clear water that surrounded the pillar of light. Enoch’s feet didn’t seem to touch the water as he stepped in it. Instead, his feet hovered barely an inch above the clear liquid. He approached the pillar of light and was brought into the dwelling of God.

  He didn’t remember much after that, as if it had been removed from his memory. Enoch, now leaving the Garden with his descendants, headed to the golden road that led to their destination. Once the Gates of Purgatory is opened, all will be lost. I pray that Azrael and Caelum succeed with their plan.

  Azrael appeared in the barren land which was the mortal world. After leaving Purgatory, the first thing she did was attempt to locate any surviving angels.

  “Hail, Guide!” said a loud voice from afar.

  Azrael turned to see the Horseman, War. She bowed as the Horseman approached. “Praise to thee, o right hand of the Lord.”

  “You are filled with conflict!” War noticed. “Tell me, Guide! What troubles thy mind?”

  “True. I need to find Archangel Gabriel or any of my acquaintances. This land shows no sign of them,” Azrael commented, scanning the area around them.

  War’s horse grunted and snorted. “I sense an oncoming battle! To me Guide! I shall bring you to them!”

  “You have my gratitude for your hospitality,” Azrael calmly replied, and as she did, both of them disappeared. In Azrael’s thoughts, she wondered what had become of Ariel, Daniel, and Gabriel.

  Ariel remained on her knees, silently weeping at the fate of the world and the failure of their efforts. Gabriel decided to sit down nearby to gather her strength. Daniel idly stood, awaiting what fate would befall them. The weeping ange
l caught the sound of heavy thuds on the ground. Her sapphire eyes lifted to see a figure in the distance and immediately recognized the oncoming presence.

  "Azrael?" Ariel’s confusion was apparent in her voice. She stood up as a powerful force neared their direction. She recognized the presence of the Angel of Death, but something was overshadowing Azrael’s power, something so primal and mighty that Ariel felt the need to move away.

  From the distance, a crimson horse with a rider in red armor appeared and galloped in their direction. Daniel and Ariel readied themselves, anticipating battle. But Gabriel told them, "At ease. The second Horseman approaches us."

  "War?" Daniel asked as he watched the Horseman near. War stopped, facing the three angels. Ariel eyed the Horseman's surprisingly intimidating form looking down upon them in his crimson armor, his stallion neighing in greeting. Before she could utter a word, another being stepped in, coming from behind the Horseman.

  “Azrael!” Ariel exclaimed, approaching the Angel of Death. Questions filled her mind, but none escaped her lips. Azrael’s eyes looked upon Ariel, wondering about her reaction.

  Gabriel bowed at War in respect. When she straightened, she held her chin high to meet his gaze and asked, "What brings you here, primal one?"

  War’s boisterous voice echoed across the desolated land. "A great battle, of course! I expect no less from you, Gabriel! Regale me with your fighting form once more!" The Horseman pulled on the reigns of his stallion and the four angels backed away. With victorious laughter, War marched his horse down the road. "I shall be watching!" he announced to them before disappearing into the distance.

  Ariel turned to Azrael again, bewildered by the other angel’s presence. “What happened? I- I thought—”

  Ariel’s words were halted by a faint golden light that shone from above. All their heads turned to see the glowing figure that gracefully descended from the heavens. The figure spread out its wings like a phoenix, creating a strong wind that disrupted the dust and debris that littered the ground near them. The four angels stood back, shielding themselves from the light and wind of the figure until the glow dimmed, allowing them sight of the archangel.