by Swart, Karen
I landed just outside the crowd and looked up, my heart stopping. Raphael was fighting a horde of demons alone. "Raphael!" I grabbed the female and ran towards him. With the device in his ear, he could not hear me. As he turned around to swipe at a demon, his eyes landed on us. "NO! Raphael!" I shifted on instinct. Behind him, a demon’s sword was traveling towards him. As I landed, I watched his face freeze in shock. I dropped the female and destroyed one demon at a time, fear and anger fueling me. When the last one fell, I turned around just in time to see my old friend's last smile.
"The balance must be kept. Find her and restore it," were his last words as his body finally slumped to the ground, his head falling a few feet from him. "Raphael!" I stormed forward and kneeled beside his body. It started to shimmer and then burst into gold dust, the final stage of an angel's existence. "What have I done?" Shocked, I looked at the flecks of gold flying in the air around me until finally they disappeared forever. Someone pulled me and I stood, still dazed that I failed. A female's face came into view, distraught and scared. She was yelling at me, shaking me around. I lifted my hand to the ear bud and pulled it free.
"We must leave now, Chax!" Zurita’s voice bombarded me.
Caim appeared next to her. "We must move!" he reinforced. I nodded and turned around, searching for the female. Max already had her in his arms.
On instinct, my body started to move until we were running at a fast pace. All the while I relived Raphael's last moments. "The balance must be kept. Find her and restore it." His final words echoed with me. My heart broke each time. Kasadya, I have failed you already. Even if I did find her, I had doomed us forever. The weight of it all crashed into me and I faltered, bringing myself to a stop. The others stopped in front of me and turned to look at me, tears evident on some faces. They waited patiently for me to guide them. But how do I guide them when I am lost myself?
Chapter 4
"Chax?" Caim finally said and moved towards me.
I looked up at him and he saw the unspoken words I could not say.
"We'll find a way," he tried to reassure me.
But he knew the answer. Balance must be kept. With one archangel gone, another must take its place.
"Yes," was my only reply.
I gathered what strength I had left and returned my focus back on Kasadya. She will not carry the burden. Of that I will make sure.
I scouted the area and closed my eyes. My hand traveled to my arm as I willed the charm to locate her. Thud, thud. Her heart was beating steady again. I released the breath I was holding. "This way."
We traveled fast, our feet hitting into the dead soil beneath us.
"Chax, we are being followed," Zurita said next to me.
I stopped and turned around. "Where?"
She pointed towards a boulder. "It has been following us for a while, but hasn’t made any attempt to attack."
I scouted the area around us. No sign of any other demons.
"Wait here," I instructed them and made my way on toward the boulder. Nearing it, I decided for an aerial approach and climbed it. At the top, I looked down and saw the demon watching us. Descending upon him, I drew my swords and grabbed him.
"Wait, wait!" He held his hands up to stop me. "I mean no harm!" he continued.
"Why are you following us?" I sneered at him, keeping the blade at his throat.
"Please, I mean no harm. I... I was trying to find a way to speak to you without ending up dead," he begged again.
"Then speak." My patience was running short.
"There is something you must see, something you must stop."
The others must have heard his plea for mercy as they crowed around us, itching to kill him.
"And why would this be my concern?" I growled at him.
"He... He will release them upon earth, and they will destroy everything," he continued.
"Release what?" I shook him. This was wasting precious time.
"Please, let me show you. Then you will understand," The demon begged again.
I released him and moved away, my eyes travelling over the dead land. We didn’t have time for this, and yet I knew that a threat should not be ignored. I knew all too well what happened when something so small was overlooked.
"Please, I will show you," the demon uttered again.
I turned around and looked at him. "I hope, for your sake, that this is not a trap. Your death would not be quick," I warned him.
He swallowed hard and nodded. As he struggled to get up on his feet again, Max assisted him with a pull accompanied by a growl. The demon struggled away from him, fear evident on his face.
"I suggest you to be fast about this. We have another path to follow," I said impatiently.
The demon nodded. "Yes, this way. It is not far.”
"We should keep to Kas," Max growled next to me.
"And what if he is right and we face a new problem when we get out of here?" I countered.
"Alright then," Max agreed and walked to Nanini's side.
She had been awfully quite since Raphael's death. All of them were. To know that not even an archangel was immune to death made mortality a reality. We all face death; it's only a matter of time.
The demon let us to a crater and stopped, crouching down to the earth. "We are here," he said, looking more afraid than when I grabbed him.
I nodded and made my way to the edge. The demon grabbed my hand, and I almost broke his. "Please, you must not be seen. The threat…they will eat you," he stuttered through the pain.
"Eat?" Caim asked, intrigued, and stepped to the edge, looking down. "This does not look good."
I released the demon and made my way next to Caim. Below us, demons were herding other demons into the crater. By the look of them, the demons being herded were the weakest ones, unable to fight back. Some were still injured and limping. Others had arms or legs missing. I watched as the stronger demons shoved them all into the crater. When the crater was full to their satisfaction, they turned around and locked them in with huge iron gates.
"What is this?" Zurita asked next to me.
"We'll soon see," I replied and watched as the stronger demons hid behind rocks and boulders. A demon standing above the crater on the other side sounded a horn, and then jumped down to hide with the others. The weaker demons started to scream. Some held on to each other, while some screamed and begged at the walls of the crater.
"Please!"
"Don’t do this to us!"
"They are coming!"
Chaos erupted among the weaker demons as they tried to escape from the crater and whatever was coming for them. The ground shook beneath us, and an ear-piercing scream escaped into the crater. The demons went silent and looked at the crater below us.
"Oh, that does not sound good," Nanini interjected.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Lotan joined in.
I turned around to tell them to be quiet and found the demon that led us here curled into a ball and crying.
Unholy growls escaped into the crater suddenly, and all the demons began to scream. I turned around and leaned over to see what made the sound. Making their way towards the frantic demons were creatures I had never seen before. Huge creatures, towering above all, covered in dark scales, they made their way toward the demons. Lava dripping from their mouths, they growled at the demons, making them scatter backwards and away. I counted about twenty as the beasts revealed themselves. And then the most horrid part started as they attacked the weaker demons and started to eat them.
"What the hell?" Max asked, watching the horror playing off in front of us.
Blood, guts and everything were thrown around the crater, and demon after a demon was eaten by the creatures. I whirled around and grabbed the demon, lifting him into the air.
"What are they?" I sneered at him.
"We... we do not know. They arrived a few thousand years ago but slept until he raised again. Since then, they have been fed like this. But it is more than just feeding. Watch what happens after they have fe
d," the demon stuttered.
Just then, Alexia decided to wake up and look around. With a scream, she was up and trying to run away. Lada grabbed her, followed by Lotan.
"No, let me go!" she screamed, trying to kick herself free.
"Shut up!" Lada growled at her and held on.
"You must see!" the demon yelled behind me.
I whirled around to watch the creatures. One by one they fell to the ground and screamed in agony. They grew in size and more lava spilled from their mouths. Red lines started to cover their skin as their screams grew more frantic. And then they burst into ashes.
"Oh, it just got weirder," Nanini pitched in as one after the other burst into ashes.
"So, why did we need to see this, if the things just die on their own?" Raven asked, looking between us.
"For a phoenix to rise, it must first die" My words to Kasadya slammed into me.
"Step back now," I instructed them and pulled Abby and Zurita away from the edge.
"Why?" Max asked, confused.
The ash started to glow with red fire and explode into the air as twenty fireballs exploded with a deafening sound. The temperature around us climbed instantly. I moved fast and pulled Max and Nanini from the edge as a wave of fire and rock burst around the crater outwards. That is how the crater was formed, with this event.
"Holy crap!" Nanini screamed as ash covered us all.
Struggling to see beyond them, I moved towards the edge again. With the dust and smoke around us, it was difficult to see what had been reborn.
"Please let me go!" Alexia howled behind me. I ignored her and tried to see the creatures.
A huge wing appeared just before us and swiped through the air, creating a gust of air to hit us.
"Oh crap!" Lotan said as the creature’s eyes became visible.
"Will this be the part where we run like hell?" Nanini asked, looking at the creature, whose vision just locked on to us.
"Move!" I yelled at them and turned to run.
"We always get the freaking bad deals!" Nanini continued as we started to run for our lives.
That unholy growl echoed behind us.
"Move faster!" I yelled at them, feeling the air gusting towards us as the creature started to flap its wings.
"What the hell are those things?!" Lada yelled as we jumped over a few boulders.
"The Undead!" Alexia yelled as she cleared the boulders.
"More info! We need more info!" Raven yelled next to me.
My eyes darted around, searching for a place to hide. Boulders were everywhere, but where were the caves? My eyes caught the edge of the mountain towards our left. "Towards the mountain!" I yelled at them and steered them towards it.
The ground shook behind us and I turned my head to look behind me. Dust and earth jumped into the air as the creature crashed into the ground. It must not be able to control its wings yet. Behind it, more creatures were rising into the air. They looked like dragons, yet were much different. Huge heads covered in spikes were sitting atop long necks, followed by the bodies and then the tails. They were even blacker than before the rebirth. The one that crashed lifted its head and shook the dirt from its face. As it spotted us, it screamed and drew in a breath. I knew what was coming next.
"Get down!" I yelled at them and dived for Abby and Raven, bringing them down towards the ground.
Grunts and thuds sounded around me followed by the sounds of fire travelling towards us. Looking up, I saw the ball of flames coming straight for us. This wasn’t just a ball of fire, like dragon fire. This was a lava boulder. The air cracked with the heat the ball was throwing off. It passed over us and slammed into the mountain. I looked back at the creature and watched as it struggled to get back into the air. The others were coming closer towards us.
We were not going to make it up the mountain. I looked around until I spotted the two demons. Jumping up, I ran towards them and grabbed hold of them. I shifted us all to the top of the mountain.
"Quickly! We need to find cover!" I started running ahead, looking for any sign of a cave or anything we could use as shelter. The air cracked again. Turning my head back, I saw the second ball coming towards us, its owner rising over the edge of the mountain.
"Incoming!" I yelled at the others and dropped down. They followed suit.
The ball past over us again and slammed into a rock wall. I jumped up and started to run again, the others on my heels.
"This way!" Alexia yelled, running out in front of us and taking the lead. We turned a corner and barely missed another ball that came out of nowhere. The creatures’ screams echoed all around us.
"It's just up ahead!" Alexia yelled again. True to her words, she led us into a cave.
We rushed inside as deep as we could, all turning in union.
Breathing hard, we watched the entrance to see if we made an escape or just signed our own death warrants. A creature’s scream tunneled down the entrance and slammed into our faces. More followed. The cave rocked with the impact the huge creatures was creating while touching down on the ground, or more likely crashing into it. Small rocks tumbled down the walls of the cave.
"Okay, someone needs to explain what the hell those things are," Raven huffed next to me as the sounds of them moved further away from us. I turned and looked at the two demons.
Alexia and the male were still watching the entrance with fear. The male was actually clutching her arm, but she paid no attention to him. Her eyes were focused on the entrance, filled with fear.
"Alexia, tell us," I ordered her.
Breathing hard, she finally broke her frightened stare and turned to look at me. "I thought he left them sleeping. How did he even get them free of the amber?" Her eyes were huge with fear.
"You need to start from the beginning and explain, because by the looks of things, hell just became a little more unbearable for all." I needed as much information as possible. We were up against something very powerful, something that can grow into even more power.
She nodded and pulled herself from the still frightened male. She sat down, still in partial shock, on a nearby rock.
"You remember the great earthquakes?" she asked me, looking at the ground.
It was a terrible time for humans. Thousands of earthquakes almost destroyed everything on earth. Thousands of cities and civilizations lost forever.
"Yes, I do."
"During that time, a huge crack opened up in here. At first, we just ignored it. You know, just another great feature for hell. But then Ira came to us and said that there were creatures at the bottom of this crack. This was before he went into slumber. Intrigued by new creatures, we followed him to the bottom and found these creatures encased in amber. They were basically frozen. He was fascinated by them, and when he touched one, even said that they were pure evil, even more than any of us. He could feel their evil. He wanted them freed and in his service. So, we started to try and free them. We tried to cut away the amber, but it was just too hard to break. After everything we tried, we could only cut them free of the rock foundation, but not free to move. He ordered us to carry them to a tomb, where we laid them to rest. Soon afterward, we started seeing less of him, and then finally we found out he went to slumber. I didn’t even know that he found a way to release them. Less so that they were alive and ... feeding."
"They started feeding them just after the great failure," the male demon pitched in.
We all looked at him, waiting for an explanation. "He means just after the failed attempts to destroy all of you," Alexia filled in the gap.
"So, you know nothing of these creatures’ origins. Where they came from? Or how they evolved?" Anger started to raise its head inside me.
How can they just free creatures without even considering the consequences of their actions?
"No. All he said when he touched them was that they were ancient, even before our time. He said they were unkillable, the undead."
"Oh, just great! You guys let out the Freddy Kruger of all monsters,
and you know nothing about them. Hell, you guys are idiots!" Nanini blurted out, fuming with anger.
"Have to agree with her. Have you never heard the phrase ‘don’t play with fire’?” Abby casually asked.
"Like we have a choice down here. You all think that we roam free and do as we want. We only had that opportunity when he was asleep. But when he is awake, I can tell you that there is a huge difference in rank down in hell. You do not deny him anything. You follow his orders or you die, or even worse, suffer for an eternity," Alexia hissed at them.
"Well, we are all in huge freaking trouble," Nanini enlightened us.
