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saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Angels and the Queen
Diamond Gate, Heaven. November 17, 2277 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
It was almost time to head out.
Archangel Hau’rah paced in the gate’s command tower, wings folded tightly behind his back and arms crossed. He was alone, as he often was before battles, mentally preparing himself for the struggle ahead.
For this time, he would be fighting directly. Hell had a new ruler, and they would undoubtedly send the Archdemons into combat. The Archangels couldn’t afford to continue staying back, out of the conflict. They couldn’t afford to throw hundreds of angels to their deaths against more powerful demons, demons that had not seen combat since they took the position of Archdemon, as far as Hau’rah was aware. Hopefully, this would mean that they would fall against the Archangels, who were never allowed to fall out of practice with constant training and sparring.
The door opened and he turned, spreading his wings slightly in preparation to tell the intruder to leave, but paused when he saw that it was Rei’shar Recthan, one of the rank five Guardians. His golden eye was troubled, silver wings folded against silver armor and holding his helmet in his hands. It was unlike him to be troubled before battle- normally, he was excited, always one of the first Guardians through and defending those who sheltered behind him with his life.
“What’s wrong, Rei’shar? It’s not like you to look so worried before a battle.”
“No, I know.” Rei’shar hesitated. “A rank one Guardian came to me yesterday and asked me a question, and it has been bothering me ever since.”
“What is this question?”
“Why do we fight the demons? It is always Heaven declaring war, not Hell. I cannot find a single record of them ever provoking us intentionally or launching the first attack. A demon has never made it far past the Pit, and no official invasion has ever made it into Heaven.” Rei’shar shifted slightly. “I don’t mean to question, but it plagues me, my friend. Are the demons truly as evil as we make them out to be?”
Hau’rah hesitated, wings frozen halfway through a movement and arms most of the way uncrossed. Doubt suddenly seeped into his bones, filling their hollow innards with weight.
Why did they fight the demons?
“I…” Hau’rah looked at Rei’shar helplessly, the brilliant white of his eyes hidden under troubled eyebrows and shaded by shaking silver wings.
“The humans have sided with them,” Rei’shar continued, “and while I know many angels are no fans of humans, they’re certainly not evil. So why have they sided with the demons?” He stepped forward and put a hand on Hau’rah’s shoulder, grounding him and giving him a way to focus. “Why have their cyborgs, so efficient and brilliant, chosen to fight with the demons unless we are mistaken? It worries me that we are fighting for honor and justice, but in all the wrong ways. A demon- the black-winged angel I have heard described- saved this young Guardian’s life, sparing him and advising him to stay out of the battle before leaving. Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know,” Hau’rah finally said. His voice shifted, letting go of the soft edge it had momentarily taken. It hardened again, its edges like a blade and his focus unwavering. “But it doesn’t matter. Demons don’t need a reason to do things. Our predecessors thought them worth exterminating, and they have set the rules that our kind have lived by for as long as we have existed. They can’t have been wrong in that regard.”
“Things could have changed.”
“Unlikely.” I didn’t defeat Zi by allowing people, even well-meaning people, to distract me from my goals. “Prepare yourself for battle, Rei’shar. The demons won’t cut us any slack.”
He pushed past him and out of the tower, leaving Rei’shar to sigh, shake his head, and put his helmet back on.
His Archangel was blind, and that was coming from a man who was missing an eye.
~~~
Geek was almost relieved when she got word of angels pouring through the Diamond Gate.
She’d been tense, pacing, anxious, worried for days of the angels’ return. She didn’t know when, and she didn’t know where, but she knew how to be prepared.
Two minutes after the call went out, over a thousand demons were through the portals, ready to meet the angelic wave. Geek hovered behind most of them, although she was first through the gate, watching the two forces meet in fire, light, and blood. The Crown of Hell burned merrily on her head, its quiet hum blocked out by the wingbeats of herself and her guards. Six demons, each loyal to a different Archdemon, hovered around her, armed and armored to the teeth and ready to destroy anyone who dared to get too close to their Queen.
Geek narrowed her eyes, focusing on a streak of flame arcing out towards the battle. It was familiar, and her suspicions were confirmed when it solidified into Vel’kex and slammed into a group of angels, roaring and pouring flames from every inch of magma covering his body. Aur’thia wasn’t far behind, shooting lances of energy into stray angels and healing whatever wounds Vel’kex managed to accumulate.
Brighter wings caught Geek’s attention and drew her eyes upwards, gaze locking directly on an angel with wings seemingly made from pure silver light. He held a sword in one hand and a Guardian shield on the other, hovering above the battle and surveying it much as Geek herself was.
“Hau’rah,” she mumbled, remembering Terok’s description. So this was the angel who had driven Cataclysm’s brother to such extreme lengths in an attempt to beat him, only to fall into corruption and madness. This was the angel who did most of their battle planning. This was the angel infamous for his ruthlessness when dealing with his own who had done wrong.
Geek couldn’t say she was impressed. She opened the Nethernomicon and turned its pages to an old favorite, running a claw gently across familiar inked runes and mumbling the words aloud. The Crown hummed, her core pulsed, and energy surged through her limbs. She cupped her hands together, focusing the brilliant green energy and creating an unfortunately noticeable glow around herself. She counted the seconds, building it for as long as she dared, before taking aim and releasing the energy in a racing beam almost as fast as light itself.
It struck, but not where she’d intended. Hau’rah screamed in pain and dropped from the sky, the massive hole in his side disrupting his flight pattern. He beat his wings furiously, trying to regain balance, but flames licked at his feathers courtesy of a kirinax and a cyborg that could be easily identified as Everex. Hau’rah activated his shield and pointed it down, cutting off the flames long enough for his wings to recover and take him back into the sky. He ascended, blood pouring from his wounds, and bellowed for a Purifier to assist him, scanning around for his attacker.
Geek swore quietly and started charging the spell once more. She’d never been good at getting that one any closer than about two feet away from where she wanted to hit. She was surprised that his secondary shield, the one around his skin, hadn’t blocked it, but she supposed it was on a frequency that he wasn’t prepared for.
This time, Hau’rah was ready, eyes locking onto her glow and the unmistakable crown on her head. He raised his shield, protecting himself and the Purifier healing him, and barely shifted when the full force of the spell slammed against his shield.
“Be ready,” Geek warned. “I think I’ve pissed off an Archangel.”
Her guards looked worried and gripped their weapons tighter, moving to fly in front of her.
Hau’rah flew towards them, the Purifier following him and a couple of Avengers coming in to back them up. Geek bared her teeth and flipped to another page of the Nethernomicon, focusing on a demonic pulse that she’d never been too good at pulling off but the humming in the Crown made her more confident.
The moment the Avengers sprung out from behind Hau’rah’s shield, ignoring his shout, she released the pulse. They screamed, green flames consuming their bodies, searing their wings, and sending them plummeting to the ground below, where swarming demons awaited them with claws and fire alike.
Hau’rah’s face twisted into a snarl. “You bitch.”
“Original,” Geek said dryly as three of her guards surged forward to attack. The Purifier started firing beams of light energy from his staff and hands, keeping Geek’s guards from circumventing Hau’rah’s shield and getting to either of them. Geek held her fire, calmly peering into Hau’rah’s angry white eyes through his shield. “I must say I’m not very impressed with the Archangels so far.”
“I could say the same about the Queen of Hell.”
“Cut me some slack, I was only coronated two days ago. I’m still figuring it out.”
“What took you so long, huh?” Hau’rah pointed his sword at her guard and fired a light blast, making her scream in pain and back up. “Why did Hell go without a ruler for five hundred years?”
Geek shrugged. “We lost the Crown.” She started to charge up another energy beam. “I found it again.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You can believe anything you’d like.” Something was wrong. He wasn’t fighting as viciously as she’d assumed he would. She released the energy beam, unsurprisingly doing nothing to his shield, and mumbled the incantation that allowed her to temporarily see the ley lines. She glanced around and immediately noticed the telltale signs of someone invisible and very, very powerful flying towards her. She charged another blast. “It’s a shame you’re not very impressive.”
“And why’s that?”
“I was hoping you’d try harder.” She turned and fired, hitting her invisible target head-on and shattering their spell. The angel roared in pain, flapping his gray-feathered wings frantically to avoid falling. He glared at her with furious red eyes, a blade in each hand and the mark of a Punisher emblazoned on his armor over his heart.
Hau’rah threw himself forward, slamming his shield into her guards and trying to stab her with his sword. Geek flew up, barely out of the way, and shot a fireball at him, growling as the invisible shield covering his skin absorbed it.
The second angel- who must have been Archangel Hex’el, his gray feathers looked to be almost made of light- moved in, quickly becoming surrounded by four of her guards. One continued to battle the Purifier while the sixth kept beating on Hau’rah’s shield, eating light blast after light blast and refusing to give up. Geek struck Hau’rah in the side with a beam of energy, which unsurprisingly did nothing, and the warping of an energy line drew her attention upwards in time to see Cataclysm launch two wingfulls of ice feathers directly at Hau’rah.
He turned and blocked most of them with his shield, eyes narrowing. “So you’re the abomination.”
“I could say the same to you, suneyes,” Cataclysm snapped back, moving to hover next to Geek.
Hau’rah froze, almost missing a wingbeat, before shaking it off and glaring at him. “Why do you call me that?”
“It pisses you off. It’s always pissed you off.”
“How does a filthy demon like you know that?”
Cataclysm smiled thinly. “You learn things about a guy when your brother is his nemesis.” He froze his wings again, beating on Hau’rah’s shield as he hovered, stunned, staring.
“No. No, you’re not- Maker above. Maker above you’re Zi’s brother, aren’t you? When those demons attacked from the Pit, they dragged you in, didn’t they?”
“There were no demons. Zi stabbed me through the chest and threw me in.” Cataclysm's voice was icy, colder than his feathers had been moments before.
“You-”
“Stop talking!” Hex’el snarled, driving his sword through one of Geek’s guards’ chest and pumping them full of light energy, immediately killing them. “That thing and the demon queen need to be destroyed!”
“I’m a Guardian,” Hau’rah said irritably. “You stand behind me and you kill them.”
“I’m a Punisher! We don’t have the luxury of-”
Hex’el was interrupted by a cyborg slamming into him, throwing them both to the ground and forcing Hex’el to take most of the impact. He roared, activating his light magic and fighting them on the ground. Geek dismissed it, focusing on Hau’rah in front of her and tapping her claws against the Nethernomicon thoughtfully. Her guards surrounded and killed the Purifier, which made Hau’rah looked pained but he continued to hover, shooting at anyone who tried to circle around him.
“This is pointless,” Cataclysm muttered. “We won’t be able to get through his shield without several Archdemons helping us and they’re a bit busy.”
“If Corvus were to help…”
“Corvus is clearly jerking off somewhere instead of doing whatever it is he’s supposed to be doing. Hell, Nathan, too.” Cataclysm crossed his arms. “Do you think Geluu-”
Hau’rah suddenly folded his wings and flew down, flipping around and vanishing into the crowd of angels. Cataclysm started after him but Geek grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Let him go. We’ll get him another time.”
Cataclysm growled. “Fine. I should get back to Emma, anyway.”
Geek’s eyebrows show up. “Emma’s here?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Isn’t she pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“You let her-”
Cataclysm shot her a look. “I can’t stop Emma from doing anything she puts her mind to- I can only defend her, which I’m going to get back to doing. She has Annihilation and Shatter looking after her, too, but…” He shuddered. “Later. We’ll talk about this later.”
Geek nodded in agreement and watched him go, crossing her arms.
Things were all happening at once, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-28 11:36 pm (UTC)I read the last bit as Geek is not amused XP
For this time, he would be fighting directly. Hell had a new ruler, and they would undoubtedly send the Archdemons into combat. The Archangels couldn’t afford to continue staying back, out of the conflict. They couldn’t afford to throw hundreds of angels to their deaths against more powerful demons, demons that had not seen combat since they took the position of Archdemon, as far as Hau’rah was aware. Hopefully, this would mean that they would fall against the Archangels, who were never allowed to fall out of practice with constant training and sparring.
Well Vel'kex isn't that rusty, he did a bit of 'combat training' 5 years ago XP
His Archangel was blind, and that was coming from a man who was missing an eye.
When you realise that you're fighting a war for the wrong reasons but can't do anything but follow orders :(
“Be ready,” Geek warned. “I think I’ve pissed off an Archangel.”
Her guards looked worried and gripped their weapons tighter, moving to fly in front of her.
Might not have been the wisest thing to do Geek....
Geek struck Hau’rah in the side with a beam of energy, which unsurprisingly did nothing, and the warping of an energy line drew her attention upwards in time to see Cataclysm launch two wingfulls of ice feathers directly at Hau’rah.
He turned and blocked most of them with his shield, eyes narrowing. “So you’re the abomination.”
“I could say the same to you, suneyes,” Cataclysm snapped back, moving to hover next to Geek.
Hau’rah froze, almost missing a wingbeat, before shaking it off and glaring at him. “Why do you call me that?”
“It pisses you off. It’s always pissed you off.”
“How does a filthy demon like you know that?”
Cataclysm smiled thinly. “You learn things about a guy when your brother is his nemesis.” He froze his wings again, beating on Hau’rah’s shield as he hovered, stunned, staring.
“No. No, you’re not- Maker above. Maker above you’re Zi’s brother, aren’t you? When those demons attacked from the Pit, they dragged you in, didn’t they?”
“There were no demons. Zi stabbed me through the chest and threw me in.” Cataclysm's voice was icy, colder than his feathers had been moments before.
“You-”
I wonder if Hau'rah will keep the information about Cata to himself or whether he'll share it with the other Archangels, if he shares it it'll be interesting to see their reactions to the news.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-29 12:41 am (UTC)I'm assuming you didn't notice the joke behind Rei'shar Recthan?
geek doesn't care geek doesn't give a shit
We may get a few more Archangel PoVs but most angel perspectives will by Myrzen.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-29 01:46 am (UTC)True she don't have no cares, she's got the crown, is Queen of Hell and is hella powerful even more so than she was before with the Necronomicon, and if you didn't want to piss her off before you certainly don't want to now.
Cool, I like the angel POVs
no subject
Date: 2017-03-29 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 12:31 am (UTC)What was the joke with Rei'shar btw?
no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 03:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 07:24 am (UTC)It's worth noting that it's currently past midnight and I recently had sugar after not eating anything for 2 days.
-Observing Anon
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Date: 2017-03-30 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 09:54 pm (UTC)-Observing Anon
no subject
Date: 2017-03-31 07:19 pm (UTC)