Authors: Randall Morris
CHAPTER 33
Raven approached Jess with her weapons secured on her belt and her hands in the air.
“I have an army with me, but I promise I just want to talk.”
“Well that’s… unnerving.”
“We couldn’t think of another way to do this. You see… Gangrene and I know that Aim has been stalking him and it’s at the point where Aim is trying to kill him now.”
Jess grabbed her scythe. Raven didn’t draw her weapon.
“He’s still deciding what he wants to do. The problem is that Aim is going to try to kill him anyways. So I’d like you to come with me and talk your brother out of what he’s trying to do. There’s still the possibility that this can end peacefully.”
Jess grabbed her scythe, spun Raven around to face Gangrene’s army, and held her scythe’s blade to Raven’s throat.
“Back off. All of you.”
Raven nodded.
“Do it.”
Gangrene’s army marched back several paces and waited.
“So this is how you want to play this? Gangrene will kill your brother if you hurt me… and then he’ll come for you.”
“Gangrene can’t kill me and he can’t kill Murmur.”
“Maybe not, but he’s comfortable playing a waiting game. Shadow could kill you both. Leech could kill you both once Lilith brings him back. Guess who they would side with if you kill me?”
“You know I don’t want to do this, Raven, but Gangrene isn’t leaving us a choice. If he leaves with his scythe and his army, Nightmare and Astaroth will slaughter our armies and then all three of us. It’s self-preservation. That’s all. We just can’t let him leave.”
“He wasn’t planning on leaving until he caught Aim following him.”
“Let’s just go to Gangrene and Aim and work this whole thing out. My army is coming with us.”
Jess hit her scythe against the ground and her demon army started to crawl out of the sand. Jess waved her scythe and Raven’s hands were bound. She placed the scythe’s blade on the small of Raven’s black and nudged her forward.
“Take us back to Gangrene. We’ll sort this out.”
Aim had attempted to shoot Gangrene three times. Gangrene had blocked the shots with his scythe. He still had the feeling that Aim wasn’t really trying to kill him yet. Aim was still afraid and he had good reason to be.
The truth was that Gangrene and Raven were leaning towards respecting Lilith’s wishes and staying in Hell until they discovered that Aim was following them. Gangrene couldn’t let something like that pass. It was too disrespectful to his position and his army would think he was a coward if he didn’t respond appropriately.
Gangrene had waited long enough. He either needed to kill Aim or take him prisoner. He was worried that Jess might have killed Raven. Gangrene started advancing towards Aim. Aim shot the ground immediately in front of Gangrene.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Gangrene froze for a moment and then took a few more steps. Aim took another shot at the ground in front of Gangrene.
“I’m warning you, Gangrene. Don’t do anything stupid. I
will
kill you.”
Gangrene took another step and Aim shot him in the foot. Gangrene closed the distance between them and grabbed both of his hands. Aim’s hands started to sizzle and melt. He cried out and dropped his gun. Gangrene spun around and placed his scythe’s blade on Aim’s neck. All of Aim’s snipers trained their weapons on Gangrene.
“What did you do to my hands?”
“Melted them a little. It’s going to be difficult to shoot anyone for a while.”
“What the fuck, Gangrene?”
“You shot me in the foot. I couldn’t give you anymore leash. It’s time we go see your sister and see if we can still resolve this without me slitting your throat.”
“It would be the last time you ever saw your girlfriend.”
Gangrene looked down the sandy hill and saw Jess walking behind Raven. Raven hands were bound behind her back. Gangrene saw his army next to Jess’s army.
“So do we trade and then battle this out? If I can’t get Raven back, I will cut his throat right now and then take his gun. This won’t end well for you, Jess.”
“I don’t want to kill her. We just couldn’t let you leave.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving until I caught this dumbass following me. Now there’s no way I can trust you. You, Aim, and Murmur can kiss my ass!”
Gangrene’s army cheered approvingly.
“Nightmare and Astaroth have to be watching this. Whoever wins this fight will still lose. They’ll move in to finish off the weakened victor.”
“So what do you propose?”
“We trade and then I’ll leave with Aim. Our armies will go with us. We won’t keep a tail on you anymore. If you want to go to Earth, we won’t stop you… but no bloodshed right now. Do we have a deal?”
“The next time I see this asshole following me, I will disintegrate his hands for good. As it is, he’s not going to be able to shoot his gun for a couple of weeks. You know what else?”
Gangrene stepped forward and picked up White Death.
“I’m keeping this. It’s an annoyance tax for having to deal with the two of you.”
“That’s not part of our deal.”
“I didn’t agree to a deal yet. The two of you tried to have me killed and then you kidnapped Raven when she came to talk things over with you. You’re lucky I’m not giving you your brother back in three pieces. Those are my terms. If you don’t agree, I’ll put the two of you down, put your armies down, and then flee to Earth. Once I find Shadow and Leech, I’ll be back to take our Murmur. So do we walk away from this or do we end this hear and now?”
“I’ll make the trade. Keep the gun.”
Aim turned to face Gangrene.
“I don’t agree to this. That’s
my
gun.”
“I didn’t ask for your permission, broken sniper. I was negotiating with your sister. Now get the fuck out of my sight before I change my mind.”
Gangrene shoved Aim. Aim tripped and fell backwards down the hill, rolling the last few feet. Gangrene’s army laughed and cheered. Jess nudged Raven with her scythe and Raven started walking forward. When she came to Aim, she helped him to his feet and Aim returned to his sister. Gangrene kept White Death trained on Jess and Aim until they were out of sight.
Raven kissed Gangrene on the cheek.
“One of your demons wanted to kill them. Did I make a mistake?”
“Nope. You made the right call. I’d trade a bullet in the foot for a legendary weapon any day. We came out way ahead on this.”
CHAPTER 34
Once they had been painted with the customary markings of the berserkers, Shadow and Sarah began the training process. Adrenaline started each of them off against one of his berserkers. If they won, he made them face off against another and then another. Sarah made it through about five before she collapsed. Shadow showed no signs of tiring.
“This is when it counts. When you don’t have anything left to give. I’ll be your next opponent.”
Adrenaline was tossed a long stick from one of his berserkers. Sarah used the stick she had been given to slowly climb back to her feet. Adrenaline immediately tripped her. Shadow cloned himself and made the clone continue fighting his opponent. He came over to Sarah’s fight to watch. He didn’t want to interfere but knew he was going to if they hurt her beyond what he could stand to watch. Adrenaline circled her as she struggled back to her feet.
“Your opponents will not be as forgiving as I am. They will not go easy on you because you’ve defeated five in a row. So after each opponent, you need to get angrier.”
Adrenaline struck again. Sarah tried to raise her stick to blow the incoming blow but she was too slow. Adrenaline struck her hard across the face. She didn’t fall, but she stumbled and fell to one knee.
“There’s a rage inside all creatures that can help you when you have nothing left to give. It’s as powerful as any power ring or drugs we can give you. Ignite that fire and we will show you how to enhance it.”
Adrenaline struck again, but Sarah blocked the blow with her stick. She began circling in the opposite direction of Adrenaline. He smiled at her.
“Good. You’re angry. Now… do you have enough in you to put me down?”
Adrenaline struck quickly at Sarah’s left knee and then kicked her legs out from under her. She fell. Shadow stepped forward to intervene but Adrenaline placed his stick in Shadow’s path.
“You need to go back to your own fight.”
“No I don’t. My clone is doing just fine.”
“Sarah will get this and I can’t have you here. She needs to learn this on her own. By attempting to intervene, you’re denying her the power we can grant.”
Sarah got back to her feet.
“It’s fine, Shadow. I want to learn. Go back to your fight.”
Shadow nodded and fused with his clone. He continued fighting. Adrenaline leaned over Sarah again.
“When you’re actually out there fighting, you’re not always going to have Shadow to run in and save you. There will come a time when it’s all up to you. Either you win the fight or you die. He’s going to be up against challenges that will test the limits of his strength.”
“I can do this.”
Adrenaline decided to change tactics and get meaner.
“No, I don’t think you can. It was a mistake to think that an angel can learn how to fight like a demon. You don’t have it in you.”
Sarah swung with her stick and Adrenaline stepped out of the way. She struggled to keep her footing and not fall down again.
“Pathetic. I guess the ‘moral superiority’ is all the angels have because you sure as fuck can’t fight.”
Sarah struck at Adrenaline’s face, but he deflected the blow easily.
“Do you even know how to be mad? Are you forgiving me as I’m saying this shit? Wow. If that’s all Heaven can produce, the Archangels are more of a joke than I realized.”
Sarah attacked and swung several times. Adrenaline blocked each incoming attack and tripped her again. Sarah went down hard.
“Does it bother you that Shadow pities you? That he runs in to fight your battles? That he doesn’t think you can take care of yourself? Is that all you are? A pathetic creature that exists because of the pity of the strong?”
“Shut up.”
“Oh… did I finally strike a nerve? It’s about fucking time. Stop forgiving me and fight!”
Sarah struck and Adrenaline countered the hit. He struck her hard in the legs. Instead of going down, Sarah used the momentum to complete a backflip and came at him again. She struck hard with her stick at his jaw. He wasn’t expecting it and Sarah drew blood. She smiled.
“Is that angry enough for you?”
Sarah saw Adrenaline’s eyes go red. He hit her twice in the abdomen with his stick and then delivered a roundhouse kick to the right side of her face. Sarah had to struggle to stay conscious. Adrenaline extended a hand and helped her back to her feet.
“That’s all it should take to set you off. One strike. One connection. It should anger you to no end. Every time your enemy hits you, it’s a personal insult that should make you stronger. If it helps, keep repeating the words in your head that set you off until you don’t need them anymore.”
“So are we done for the day?”
“You’re still standing. I’ll throw you back into the rotation. Here’s a chance to apply what I just taught you. Find your limits and then ignore them.”
Adrenaline put Sarah’s stick back in her hand. He walked towards his tent and tapped one of the berserkers on the way. The berserker took Adrenaline’s stick and went to fight Sarah. Sarah had the berserker down before Adrenaline reached his tent.
Adrenaline gave orders to have two at a time face off against Shadow. Then three. Then four. Ultimately, Adrenaline realized that Shadow may not have limits. He didn’t want Shadow to realize this. It would boost his ego and get in the way of developing fury. Once four failed, Adrenaline sent in five berserkers at a time.
CHAPTER 35
“Uriel, it’s time for you to go home. I’ll give you a chance to walk away before I kill you and slaughter your army.”
Uriel laughed.
“Do you think the threats of an outcast are going to scare me off? We knew you were coming. My army should be finishing off your mixed-blood children and wiping your stain off this Earth as we speak.”
“You had your chance. I’ll make sure to explain that to anyone who comes to investigate your death.”
Samael started by casting a spell that set a blinding light around his sword. Uriel laughed.
“You can’t blind an Archangel with light.”
Uriel felt a stabbing pain in his lower left shoulder blade. He turned and swung his sword. There was nothing there.
“I wasn’t going for a blinding light. I was going for a distraction. You angels are so limited in your thinking process.”
Uriel removed the dagger from his shoulder and saw that Samael had retrieved his sword. He had left it in the ground and attacked from another angle while Uriel was looking at the sword.
“Looks like I drew first blood. Not bad for an outcast, right?”
Uriel attacked and Samael blocked the attack with his blade. Uriel followed it up with a head-butt. Samael stumbled back several paces before he regained his footing. He could feel blood streaming down from his nose. Uriel charged again, but Samael was ready this time. He cast a tornado that sent Uriel hurling back into the air. He then pulled his bow from his back and shot an arrow at the airborne Archangel. It connected with Uriel’s shin.
When Uriel landed, he broke the arrow. He pointed his sword at Samael and lightning shot out of the point. It hit Samael square in the chest and he flew backwards through the air. Uriel moved in for the kill, but Hypnos, Thanatos, and Lilith arrived. Uriel turned and ran.
“Coward!”
Lilith and Thanatos stayed with Samael while Hypnos ran after Uriel. Uriel slowed his pace and turned on Hypnos. Hypnos pulled a dagger from his belt.
“Looks like he beat you up pretty bad. Here’s a parting gift from the nephilim.”
Hypnos threw the dagger. Uriel spun and the dagger barely grazed his cheek. He was ready to counter attack when he felt his strength start to leave him. He was suddenly very tired. Hypnos grinned at the Archangel as he turned and ran. When he made it back, Hypnos looked at his brother.
“What do you think? Is he going to make it?”
Thanatos shook his head.
“The attack wasn’t fatal. He’ll live. At least… I think he’ll live. I’m honestly not sure. We should have made it back here sooner.”
Lilith paced back and forth with Lucia.
“Is there anything we can do?”
Thanatos shook his head a second time.
“He’s beyond my ability to do much of anything. That was an Archangel that shot lightning at him. He has to win this one on his own.”
Steam looked at the two corpses on the floor and laughed. He had a dead demon on the left and a dead angel on the right. He prodded them both with his boot to make sure they were actually dead. No reaction. Steam stepped over their bodies and approached the cockpit of the airplane.
Steam was an outcast from both the angels and the demons. His mother was a minor demon and his father was a minor angel. He had lived with his father briefly before being thrown out of the Heavens. He tried to live with his mother, but was thrown out of Hell for being too much of a light source. After being rejected from Heaven and Hell, he made his way to Earth. Steam was mostly a scavenger, tracking angels and demons and then feeding off of the souls they find.
Both an angel and a demon had been deployed to deal with the pilot of the airplane. He had been contemplating suicide. The angel was sent to talk him out of it. The demon was sent to talk him into it. After the angel and demon fought at the front of the plain, Steam moved in and finished them both off with his sorcery and then stabbed them both several times with his short blade. He knew he had a rare opportunity. If he talked the pilot into bringing the plane down, he could feed off the souls of the passengers for weeks. After reading the intel in the pockets of both the angel and the demon, Steam approached the pilot and whispered in his ear.
“She
is
cheating on you. You daughter is actually your neighbor’s daughter.”
Steam saw the pilot shift uncomfortably. He went in for the kill.
“Bring this plane down. Go down with a boom. You have nothing to live for. No one loves you.”
The pilot started to sweat. Steam switched to his other ear and was ready for another round when he felt a strong feeling. He had occasionally felt it when he was getting too close to nephilim, but never this strongly. Steam felt a strong headache followed by a pressing urge to jump out of the plane. He stumbled back several steps and fell on his knees. When Steam made it back to his feet and stumbled towards the pilot, he couldn’t remember what he was supposed to be doing there. The need to jump out of the plane was too strong. Steam made his way to the plane’s emergency exit and jumped.
Lilith continued to pace back and forth. Hypnos wore a solemn expression on his face and wasn’t acting like himself. Thanatos was moving through the sleeping and injured angels and cutting their heads off with an axe. Lilith stopped pacing and Hypnos saw that she was watching Thanatos with a curious expression.
“He does stuff like that when he’s nervous. The death calms him down. He must be pretty worried about Dad.”
“How is he even still alive? Leech fought him a while back and I thought he killed him.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure he can be killed. He’s not crazy powerful or anything, but I’ve thought he was dead several times before, too. He always comes back.”
“Interesting. Well… he still gives me the creeps.”
“Lilith, we’re all a little weird. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but most angels and demons think you’re…”
Lilith looked angrily at Hypnos as he chose his words very carefully.
“…slightly insane.”
Lilith laughed.
“That was very polite of you, Hypnos. I know that I’m batshit crazy. I just get nervous around a creature who calls himself the nephilim of death, especially with my newborn daughter.”
“He’s harmless to us.”
“That’s not how he seemed when…”
Their conversation was interrupted by a creature dropping out of the sky. Lilith and Hypnos both cautiously approached. The creature started to get to his feet when Thantos charged with his axe. The creature didn’t move. As Thanatos swung his axe, it went right through him. The creature grabbed the axe and wrestled it away from Thanatos.
“Woah! Calm down. I’m not here to hurt you guys.”
Lilith took the axe back from the creature.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
The creature put his weapons on the ground and stepped back with his arms up.
“The name’s Steam. I just had a really weird feeling that you guys needed my help and that I should come down here.”
Lilith raised one eyebrow.
“Come down here? Where were you?”
Steam grinned.
“On a plane. I jumped.”
Steam’s grin turned into an annoyed expression.
“Aw shit! I was going to bring that plane down and eat for weeks! This fucking sucks!”
“Why did you feel like you needed to come down here? We don’t need any help…”
“I’m not sure. Can I get my stuff back now? I swear I won’t attack you.”
Lilith pulled out her whip and lit it on fire.
“Not just yet. Tell us who you are. I still don’t understand why you came here.”
“Before I answer that… I need to know. Are you guys angels or demons?”
Lilith looked at Hypnos, unsure how to answer. Hypnos responded by taking the axe from Lilith and giving it back to Thanatos. Thanatos returned to slaying angels, no longer interested in the conversation.
“Neither. We’re nephilim. I’m Hypnos. This is my sister, Lilith. Fair warning, don’t fuck with us. My brother and sister may be crazy, but I will defend them to my last breath. That goes double for my niece and my father.”
“Well that doesn’t make any sense. Generally, when I sense other nephilim my instincts tell me to run the other way.”
“You’re a nephilim, too?”
“Yup. Mom’s a demon and Dad’s an angel. I can’t live in either place so I live here. I kill angels and demons after tracking their prey, but I don’t mess with other nephilim. You can trust me. We’re not going to have any issues.”
Lilith looked at Hypnos and Hypnos nodded. He thought Steam was probably alright. Lilith pointed at Steam’s weapons.
“Go ahead. Take them back. I’m still not sure why you’re here but…”
Steam gathered his belongings and made his way towards the tree under which Samael was resting.
“What happened to this guy?”
Hypnos put his arm in Steam’s path, blocking him from moving any closer.
“That’s my dad.”
“An angel?”
“Was almost an Archangel.”
Steam looked impressed.
“So this is Samael? I’ve heard the stories. This guy’s a legend. Never thought he’d still be alive. I figured the angels would have hunted him down by now.”
“Well that’s what they just tried to do. The Archangel Uriel was hunting my sister and fought my father. Dad got in some good hits and Uriel ran away.”
“He got hit with lightning, didn’t he? That’s gotta hurt. I can try some remedial first aid if you’d like.”
Hypnos looked to Lilith. Lilith nodded.
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Just some water. I can convert it into steam and run it over the char marks on his armor. It should help. I’ve used it on myself a few times and it always makes
me
feel better.”
“Go for it then.”
Steam drew some water from a nearby river and heated it with his hands. The steam floated towards Samael’s armor and then slowly started to coat his wounds. After a few minutes, a loud explosion interrupted the nephilim and everyone looked to the nearby hills. Steam grinned.
“Fuck yeah! The pilot brought the plane down! There’s going to be a ton of food over there. Everyone ready for some food?”
Lucia heard the word ‘food’ and started to clap her hands excitedly.