- “Should we go to the Infernal Pit and request answers?” Azrael asked, not knowing what else would serve as a good idea.
- “Yes, I was about to suggest that. Take Adelais with you, and take some machai as well, in case you run into trouble. I will send a messenger so that Lord Beelzebub would be notified of your visit and would be willing to speak with you when you arrive.”
- “We will be on it right away.”
Hades dismissed the two of them after that and they went back out of the palace the same way they came in. On the way back through the main corridor Adelais got curious about where two of his teammates were.
- “Are Ethel and Lazarus not joining us?”
- “They are still in Helheim.” Azrael gave a short response.
Ethel and Lazarus were part of Azrael’s squad too. They left earlier in the current interim to provide some support for Helheim, one of the sectors allied with Erebus.
- “They’ve been there awfully long.” Adelais noted.
- “Helheim must’ve gotten two attacks as well.” Azrael theorised, “I am sure they’ll be back soon.”
Adelais didn’t question him any more after that. As soon as both of them stepped out of the palace, they took off into the air to prepare to head out to the Infernal Pit. Azrael decided not to bring too many machai with them, as he wanted as many guardians as possible to remain in Erebus and to defend, in case of another attack during their absence.
Chapter 2
Friends Forever
Once Azrael picked half a dozen machai soldiers, he and Adelais headed for the Southern docks. Since the Underworld was very huge, consisting of twelve sectors, flight wasn’t the best option for travel over large distances, as it tired the angels out. In addition to that, angels weren’t the only travellers in the Underworld. There were many other creatures and guardians that could not fly, yet needed means of getting from one sector to another. That’s why the main transporting method was by boat. The five rivers of the Underworld were all joined together and reached out to every sector. Boats were of various sizes, some small, for just a few individuals, while some others were large, for ferrying around big sections of armies. Each boat was steered by one or more boatmen, depending on the size of the boat. Since each river flowed one way only, the boatman was required to steer the boat in the right direction and to take the correct turns.
Once Azrael, Adelais, and six machai got onto a boat, the boatman released the boat from where it was held and began steering it away from the dock. The current in the rivers was fairly good, meaning the boatman did not need to apply a lot of effort to get the boat going. His main job was to take the appropriate turns. They began their journey at the river Styx, which soon flowed into the river Phlegethon. Phlegethon’s waters were of a very peculiar dark red colour. A few centuries ago Belphegor, the leader of the Netherworld sector, joined Lucifer’s cause against the Creator. Usually when any sector went against the Creator, the other sectors took the cleansing souls away from it. However, Belphegor really refused to give them away, attempting his best to corrupt them. This was a cause of a massive battle, and although majority of the souls were rescued, the amount of profane energy discharged in that fight caused the Phlegethon’s waters to go dark red forever. Azrael was in that battle when it occurred, and he remembered it very well every time he traversed through Phlegethon. It was a rather painful memory, one that was difficult to get used to. Adelais, although wasn’t alive back when that fight took place, knew about it as well, and so both dark angels tried not to look at the waters so much. They just kept looking ahead as the boat took another turn.
Soon enough their boat entered the river Lethe. That river took them all the way to one of the docks of Infernal Pit. The dock was filled with small boats, so it took a while to properly manoeuvre the boat into a good spot. Azrael wasn’t in a hurry and so remained calm as their boatman tried to find place where to stop the boat. Adelais, however, was getting impatient. Azrael could see it clearly.
- “I haven’t seen Malakai in a while. I wonder how he’s been lately.” Adelais suddenly spoke about a dark angel in the Infernal Pit he was good friends with.
- “I think it would be him to take us to Lord Beelzebub.” Azrael responded, “You probably haven’t heard, but he was turned into one of dark angel troop commanders in this sector.”
- “He was?”
- “Yes. The previous leader, his commander, dark angel Tarasios, was defeated in the last term. As a result, Malakai was put on his place.” Azrael explained; the word ‘term’ was extensively used in the Internal World to describe a period of time equivalent to a month in the External World.
- “I’ve heard of dark angel Tarasios mysteriously being defeated by someone from Pandemonium. I didn’t know Malakai actually took his place.” Adelais commented with surprise.
- “Malakai might be too young for this job, but I assume Lord Beelzebub didn’t have anyone else. Besides, I always could tell that Malakai had strong leadership qualities.” Azrael expressed his opinion.
At that stage their boat successfully docked, allowing them both to get off it along with their machai assistants. Once they cleared the docks and ascended onto the main plateau, they were greeted by several guardians. Those were somewhat humanoid in appearance, with the exception that they had dark, scaly skin and their fangs were showing. Azrael told them that Lord Beelzebub would expect them. The guards seemed to have remembered being told so and hence allowed the dark angels to proceed. Azrael and Adelais left their machai troops at the docks and then flew off into the air.
They flew at a relatively low altitude and the journey didn’t take too long. They knew where to be going, soon finding themselves within the battered walls of the core section of the Infernal Pit, and eventually at the entrance of a huge cave complex, which winded deep underground. Adelais and Azrael landed by the entrance and were met by a few more guardians. Once those let them through, they headed inside and made their way down. The cave tunnel was wide but also featureless and boring. The complex itself contained a lot of large chambers and there were many tunnels with lots of turns and forks. Adelais and Azrael could’ve gotten lost there, but some of the guards were assisting them and led them in the correct direction. It wasn’t long before they got to the room where they spotted Malakai at the opposite end. He was standing right before another tunnel, and by his side were three other dark angels, two male and one female.
Adelais recognized his old friend instantly. Malakai barely changed. He had shoulder-length black hair, some short facial hair on his chin, and, similarly to Adelais, hollow white eyes, as he too was a human before joining the ranks of dark angels. His face was stern at first, but when Adelais caught his glance, he noticed Malakai producing a faint grin. He knew Malakai was happy to see him too. They hadn’t seen each other for at least two terms.
- “I’ve received Lord Hades’ message.” Malakai said to Azrael and Adelais as soon as they approached him.
- “We need to discuss the current situation.” Azrael responded.
- “Yes of course.” Malakai agreed, and then turned to Adelais, “Greetings Adelais. Been a long time.”
Adelais returned the greeting. Malakai then proceeded to introduce the three dark angels standing by him, as they were his new troop, and it would’ve been rude not to. The two male dark angels were Dugan and Ragnar, and they were both inherent. Ragnar was slightly taller and broader than Dugan and wielded an axe, whilst Dugan wielded a sword. The female dark angel was Aurora. It was clear to Adelais that she was an adopted dark angel by the way her eyes looked. She seemed to have a strong vibe of innocence and benevolence to her. Malakai also introduced Adelais and Azrael to his new troop. Once the introductions were done, they proceeded back to the main topic at hand.
- “You must be aware then that a large number of creatures from this sector attacked both our sector and Helheim.” Azrael started.
- “I wasn’t aware of that at all until the messenger told m
e about it. It’s not in my Lord’s best interests to start a war now, and neither does he have any intentions to do so.” Malakai stated defensively but calmly.
- “I thought so too.” Azrael acknowledged his response, “It didn’t appear to be an invasion at all in fact. The monsters were all infantry and we dispatched them fairly quickly. Perhaps there’s been a breach in your defences and someone commanded those beings to attack us.”
- “I will have to discuss that with Lord Beelzebub.” Malakai admitted.
- “Would it be adequate for us to see him?”
- “I’m afraid not. Ever since he heard of what happened, he got busy with sorting it out and told me he was unavailable.”
Whilst Malakai and Azrael were conversing about the issue, Adelais began looking around. His eyes eventually stopped on Aurora, who was looking back at him too. She was wearing an elegant headband, which was keeping her long dark brown hair off her face. The expression on her face, when she caught Adelais’ glance, changed slightly, and she diverted her gaze away immediately, starting to nervously look about the place. Adelais found her to be somewhat alluring and mysterious. He remembered himself being shy and confused like that too when he first joined the ranks of dark angels. This told him that Aurora was a very recent recruit. The other two, who were inherent dark angels, looked more confident and ready.
- “In that case I’ll have to investigate the matter.” Malakai concluded when Adelais tuned back into the main conversation.
- “If you ever need our help, we’ll be glad to lend a hand or spare some troops.” Azrael commented in response.
- “I hope those attacks will not happen again. I will be ever watchful for any suspicious activity in the sector and will let you know if I find anything out.” Malakai gave his word.
- “I will take your word.” Azrael gave him an acknowledging nod, then, satisfied with Malakai’s promise, he turned to Adelais, “You can catch up for a few moments. I will be waiting outside the cave entrance.”
Azrael then left with some of the guardians who initially led them through the cave and began making his way back out, whilst Adelais and four others remained. Malakai distanced himself slightly from his troop, walked closer to Adelais, and the two of them began conversing.
- “How has it been in Erebus?” Malakai began, “It’s been nearly two terms we hadn’t seen each other.”
- “More or less the same. What about here?” Adelais answered.
- “Apparently it’s not quite what I thought. I will need to look into those attacks as it seems. I sense a grim war is coming, Adelais, and in order for us to survive it, we have to stick together.” Malakai expressed rather melancholically.
- “I agree, but this war began long before we were even created and will continue after we die the second time.” Adelais commented in response, “I don’t think much has changed since.”
- “True, but with every war there are dormant times and there are extreme times. I am sure the time of extremes is coming again.”
- “You might be right, but we will be ready for it.” Adelais said and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder to reassure him.
After that, Adelais and remaining guardians headed back out through the cave tunnel, whilst Malakai got back to his troop. Adelais noticed that Malakai seemed to be bothered by something. Those unusual statements from him about a war were fairly suspicious. He wasn’t sure if his suspicions were real or whether they were just in his imagination. The former seemed to be closer to the truth, but it was difficult to be certain about it. Once he exited the cave, he reunited with Azrael, and they proceeded back to the docks through the air.
- “I am not entirely sure if Malakai is telling us everything.” Azrael suddenly said to Adelais once they were high up in the air and away from the Infernal Pit’s guards.
- “You think he is responsible for the attack?” Adelais asked; he could tell why Azrael would think that, but he was hoping it wasn’t true.
- “I don’t know, but he knows more than he tells us. The fact Lord Beelzebub did not want to see us also reinforces that point.” Azrael called to attention.
Without getting any of the answers they came for, the two dark angels headed back to the docks to take a boat back to their home sector.
Chapter 3
Suspicion
Malakai waited until his good friend, Adelais, completely disappeared from sight before moving from his place. Once that happened, Malakai turned around and began making his way down the tunnel he was standing by, towards Lord Beelzebub’s private chamber. Aurora, as well as Dugan and Ragnar, followed him.
- “I think I’m going to go on patrol.” Dugan said to Malakai.
- “Me too.” Ragnar decided to do the same.
- “Yes, you do that. I need to discuss this with Lord Beelzebub in private I think.” Malakai told them.
On that note Dugan and Ragnar left him and headed upwards through the cave tunnel in order to exit the caves. Aurora was still with Malakai, however. Malakai ignored her presence and then turned back round to continue, when Aurora addressed him:
- “Malakai.”
- “What is it?” he asked without turning to face her.
- “Do you know what’s going on? Why are our creatures attacking other sectors?” Aurora began asking questions, hoping her commander knew the answers.
- “We are going to find out, but I am fairly sure it is nothing to worry about. You should probably go and get accustomed to the place.” Malakai kindly suggested to her.
Aurora looked down and sighed. Malakai knew how she was feeling. He knew that she didn’t want to show she was anxious, but it couldn’t be helped. She only arrived to the Underworld six interims ago. The place was still vastly unfamiliar and intimidating to her. For that, he didn’t hold it against her.
- “All right.” She finally accepted.
She then left Malakai and went the same way Dugan and Ragnar did, towards the exit of the cave complex. Malakai waited till she began leaving, and only then continued descending via the tunnel, past all the turns to the left and right of him. He had mixed feelings about being one of the dark angel commanders of the sector. Although it was a good authority position, and he had access to command a large portion of the army, it was also a burden. Ever since Malakai was still in early years of his human life, he strived for freedom. He disliked all the responsibility that was forced upon him, but he also disliked the state the world was in, what meant that he put the responsibility to make a great change in it onto himself. He saw the world’s ugly face beneath a seductive mask and he didn’t like the sight of it. After his death, when he got a chance to serve the Creator as a dark angel, he was excited by the idea and felt that his desire to make a change would eventually materialise. However, being a dark angel and fighting in the Underworld seemed no different to his human life. He was greatly disappointed.
Once the tunnel came to an end, Malakai entered a small chamber with a big tough door on the opposite side of it. The door was guarded. The guardian itself wasn’t visible, and hence anyone who wasn’t authorised to be in the area, would be caught out by surprise. Malakai, however, knew of a giant carnivorous worm that was dwelling beneath the floor of the cave, and hence he hovered himself into the air and flew towards the door. The door opened as soon as he got close to it, allowing him to proceed inside the huge elliptical chamber. Numerous oversized insects were flying about the chamber as usual, buzzing chaotically in huge packs and stirring up a lot of noise. Because these insects had a different anatomy and composition to those in the External World, they could grow to a much larger size. His master, Lord Beelzebub, also known as lord of the flies, was at the very centre, sitting on his throne and seemingly enjoying the company of all those creatures. Beelzebub was slightly bigger in size than a human or an angel, but he still looked very humanoid, with the exception of a few bug-like features. For one, he had compound eyes like most insects, and hence could gaze in all directions at once. Secondly, he had
four arms, each with very thin pointy fingers. Lastly, he had big wings, similar to those of insects, which most of the time were folded and concealed inside a black cloak that he wore. Beelzebub had very acute senses of hearing and smell, and so immediately knew when someone, and who exactly, was behind the doors to his private chamber, unless the individual was entirely unfamiliar to him.
- “Malakai, how did the meeting go?” Beelzebub asked the moment Malakai flew inside the chamber and landed onto the solid ground.
- “Just as you requested - I told them you were unavailable.” Malakai responded straight away.
- “Good. We don’t want them meddling in our affairs. We now need to find out how those creatures left our sector and attacked Erebus and Helheim.”
One of the giant flies whizzed past Malakai at that stage. He wasn’t fond of the insect vermin his master was living with, but after three years of serving in the Infernal Pit, he was used to them. The first time he ever entered Lord Beelzebub’s chamber, he was nervously gazing around and making sure that none of the bugs got close to him. Now he was absolutely calm and indifferent to any insect that whizzed by too close.
- “Should I place more guards on patrol?” Malakai suggested after a brief pause.
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