* * *
Jerahmeel's team had flown in the belly of the beast several hours, weary, constantly dodging Lucifer's' henchmen, and careful not to aggravate Hell above her tolerance. Being in the presence of so much evil, and exposed to the Withering that festered among the Horde began to take its toll. Jerahmeel would be glad when he could return home.
"How much further, Turiel?"
"According to the latest records, the Forge should be just ahead."
For several of men's days, Jerahmeel had traversed the innards of Hell. His mission: to seek out and destroy the false Kiln of Lucifer's making, and if possible, to find his brother, Talus, and see themselves home.
After their separation from Iblis, they wound deeper into the intestinal tract of the beast. Each carved stairway twirled in a circular fashion toward a vestibule that housed the heads of angels. The dangling, squirming bodies of punished angelic rebels hung from the ceiling. Metal hooks pierced their flesh; eyes and mouths were sewn shut. Some were impaled against the walls, their hands, and feet pinned to the soft consuming walls of Hell that slowly acidified their flesh for consumption. Cries of those being eaten alive echoed through the halls and Jerahmeel considered how different this realm was from Heaven. This domain, decorated to Lucifer's taste, where groans, wails, and screams were all that were ever heard. The hissing of steam, crackling of fire and stench of brimstone assaulted his nostrils. Jerahmeel beheld his brother's work and knew that if he were not stopped, the fate of Heaven would mirror those he saw suspended from the ceiling.
They slowly flew by what could only be the entrance of some great hall, and the sounds of animals issued forth. Jerahmeel, Eskalion, and Turiel into a staging area and to their left and right were pens of Wyverns, miniature dragons, used as steeds to buttress the Malakim Griffins in combat. The trio moved forward, past the black giant sentinels that misted like the Grigori, as they were gaseous in nature and covered in fire-like black onyx armor. Moreover, they had four arms and held in each hand a great sword. The four stood two to one side and two to the other, and the three angels passed through them, but the creatures did not respond to their presence.
"I don't like this," Turiel said. "We should not be able to easily travel in the midst of such creatures and none be present to stop us. Is it a trap?"
Jerahmeel looked all about, his eyes gazing at the monstrosities before them and nodded. "It is most assuredly a trap."
The light in the room raised and Jerahmeel and the party looked up. Four silhouetted figures stood on a pedestal. Behind the three elevated highest loomed a dark figure that Jerahmeel presumed to be Lucifer. And standing below him was Zeus, Ares... and Iblis. Ibis' eyes darted away from Jerahmeel's disappointed gaze.
"A trap? Nay, dear brother. Not a trap, but an opportunity! Nay...I have allowed you and thy companions to traverse these halls, and know, dear brother, that it is such an immense pleasure to see you again. Iblis here hath apprised me of how you so much wanted to find us... and find us thou have."
Jerahmeel looked up into the darkness as Lucifer's voice bounced as an echo off the walls. "Show thyself, Satan! How is it that a being who boasts in his ability to manipulate light hides amongst the shadows?"
A chuckle floated through the air. Turiel and Eskalion looked about them but saw nothing until yellow eyes began to appear in the depths of the darkness. Squinty eyes that did not blink. And the trio noted that the groans became louder... and closer.
"You are wise, Jerahmeel. In many ways, I would have considered you mine equal in the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, but your blithe demeanor hast always shown a contempt for the more serious matters. Be it known, however, that I would answer thee on this wise. Know ye not that darkness is nothing more than the absence of light? For our Father spoke into the void, 'Let there be light,' and it was so. But I, Jerahmeel. I have always been there, for I have learned in the depths of Hell, even through the stupidity that was Apollyon, that darkness, my brother....darkness proceeds all. Thus, I have no pleasure in illumination, but in the Shadow, in the Void. In nothingness doth, all things spring. This the Godking knows. Thus, why honor Him to be light when I can honor myself by exalting that which precedes the light, that which is primordial even to God – darkness. For it is darkness, Jerahmeel, that is the true state of creation. It is the Void from which all things spring. And sin, dear brother, assists in the degeneration of all things: to return us to a state of true purity. The purity of the Void."
Jerahmeel scrunched his face, realizing that Lucifer's mind was slowly decaying. His ability to reason darkened and caught up in the vestiges of pride, hurt, lust, and lies... a deceptive cocktail that once imbibed destroyed his faculties of reason.
"You have Talus. No?"
"He is here..." Lucifer replied with a chuckle. "We are all here."
Jerahmeel screamed into the air.
"Release him! Surrender this foolish cause, and lay down thy arms!"
Laughter echoed throughout the chamber, a jocularity that was indicative of one who knew he had heard a foolish request. And still the yellow eyes stared out from the darkness with slit pupils, accompanied by the sounds of groaning, and the audible advance of things slithering forward in the darkness.
Turiel and Eskalion closed ranks around their friend and drew their weapons.
"I decline," Lucifer said. "Instead, I submit to thee a counter offer. Bow down and worship me! Acknowledge me as thy God. And if thou do this thing, I will see thee escorted safely home, for wouldst thou not like to return to realm eternal? Is it not wonderful to be in the presence of the Father? For who can abide in the bowels of a creature designed to house and destroy our kind? Nay, Prince of Harada. I will not surrender..," he said with a swaggering step, "but if thou do this thing, my word will I give that you will be allowed to go free. But if not..."
The light level within the chamber rose further and the trio could see daemons all about them... a legion of the walking celestial dead... the empty shells of former angels who followed Satan in his fall and paid a heavy price. Some dragged along the ground, others hobbled in flight, barely able to keep themselves aloft, and dozens crawled, as they had nothing but an upper torso to drag along the floor, and all displayed ravenous teeth ready to rip into the flesh, teeth set to devour them all.
Jerahmeel and all the party looked about them, their backs pressed against one another.
"We cannot defend this position, Jerahmeel," Turiel said.
Eskalion nodded. "Nay, we cannot."
Lucifer smiled and looked down from his elevated perch of darkness. "Well, Prince of Harrada? I would demand an answer this day. Whom shall you serve?"
Jerahmeel looked stoically upon the figure that was his brother, surveyed the surroundings and saw that they were encircled on every side. And somewhere past the Deceiver's gloat, Talus was still held captive to the wiles of the Devil. He sighed heavily, shrugged his shoulders, cracked the trapezoid muscles of his neck, smiled in confident tenor and replied, "Yea, though we stand troubled on every side, we are not in distress; though perplexed of how El might succor us, even in this, we are not in despair; though alone in the depths of darkness we are not forsaken; and know King of False Gods that though you think to cast us down, we shall never be destroyed. For El, oh lying one... is Lord and God."
Lucifer grinned and spoke, "An unwise decision. Take them, my loves. Subdue them and make their bodies your own." Immediately, daemons leaped from the darkness and besieged them from every direction.
Jerahmeel reached behind his back and pulled from its center the two axes strapped to it. The weapons dangled from chains bolted to the manacles on his wrists. He flexed his muscles and white armor shards climbed over every inch of his body. Turiel also assumed an attack posture and his stylus turned into a dagger. Eskalion pulled from his robes a long cadmium pole that he flexed at its center and it stretched to five feet in length.
A daemon hurled himself toward them and Jerahmeel swung his chained axes like a lasso, slicing the creature in half before it hit the ground. The legion of daemons rushed toward them as one man, and the trio fought for their lives assaulted from all directions.
In a frenzy, Eskalion used his staff to keep many at bay, twirling and jumping over multitudes, creating circular patches of ground they were able to defend.
Turiel misted and floated through throngs of the creatures, slightly rematerializing within them and causing them to shriek in pain.
Slashing, stabbing, and rattling chains twanged in the air as the cavern erupted with the sounds of battle. Jerahmeel lifted his hands and within the confines of Hell itself, what moisture resided within the beating hearts of the creatures froze and all fluidic motion within them ceased, bring many to a standstill unable to move for on a day never seen before nor experienced since, an angel of the living God caused snow to exist in Hell. A blizzard settled over the Prince of all Harrada, and with command of thermal energy, Jerahmeel slowed the kinetic energy of particles and a sheet of ice formed a protective barrier to the group's rear, barring any passage.
With only the front to be concerned about, the trio advanced through throngs of daemons, slicing and smashing the enemies of God back.
Bodies flew through the air and screeching howls overwhelmed the ears. Sweat beat upon Eskalion's brow as his large Arelim frame hosted three daemons. One bit into his calve, whilst another grappled his neck, attempting to bring him down. Others swung from his arm and bit into his bicep. He dropped his staff, pulled him off and flung the creature as a bat against the daemon attacking his legs, knocking his adversary into the darkness. Reaching behind, he yanked another off his back and flung him into a crowd of frozen enemies, shattering them to pieces. Eskalion heaved the last assailant high into the air. The creature clung tightly in vain attempts to harm him with claws and teeth but he smashed him into the floor of Hell, splattering the daemon's head wide open.
The trio advanced further in battle until none stood before them but the four silhouetted shadows on raised pedestal.
"Enough!" cried Jerahmeel. Lucifer, you know me. I am Lumazi. I will not be denied."
Lucifer looked on, the contour of his body barely visible from his perch, and replied. "So be it, Lumazi. Zeus, Ares, bring these unbelievers to heel."
When Jerahmeel heard the name Zeus, his rage kindled and a crackle of ball lightning erupted above his head. Spherical lightning flashed to the ground in front of him and knocked the trio back. While eddies of visible current wormed its way across the floor, Zeus rose from the midst of voltage. Sparks crackled around his person and he held a glowing sword the tip he dragged across the ground.
"We meet for the last time, Jerahmeel," he said.
Jerahmeel stood to his feet. His white armor sparkling and puffs of chilled air radiating from his body. He raised his axes and crossed their blades with swipes to sharpen them. He nodded and replied. "Shut up and fight."
Zeus smiled, disappeared in a spark of light, and then reappeared next to Jerahmeel, his sword bearing down to strike.
Jerahmeel side-stepped and his adversary's sword barely missed. Again, Zeus jabbed his sword forward and Jerahmeel parried the blow, blocking the blade's bite with his axes. Heaven-forged steel rang out, and flashes of voltage sparked as each weapon kissed the other's edge.
Weaving and ducking, Jerahmeel and Zeus dodged and zig-zagged one another, neither able to gain an advantage over the other and each entwined in a fatal dance where one misplaced step could lead to death.
Meanwhile, Turiel misted and hovered upward to where Lucifer and a cowering figure stood in the shadows. And Lucifer spoke to the oncoming Turiel through the darkness.
"You have not been summoned to approach my presence, Turiel. Iblis, my son, do me the honor of ridding me of this annoyance."
Iblis emerged from the darkness and spoke. "I am sorry, Turiel."
Turiel continued his floating approach towards the two adversaries and replied. "The day for sorrow hath passed."
Iblis then also misted, and the two merged as separate cloud formations melding into one. As a warm weather front meets a cold, lightning and thunder ensued and resonated through the room for in the vapor that filled the chamber, two ghostly figures wrestled with one another. Each grappling with the other in a gaseous skirmish to seize the advantage, their battle a foggish slugfest above the heads of Jerahmeel and Eskalion.
Another muscular figure emerged from the darkness...the silhouette of a heavily armored Arelim bearing a sword. It was Lucifer's God of War, Ares.
"It will give me great pleasure to disembowel you, Eskalion," he said.
Eskalion raised his staff horizontally in front of him. "I have swum in the bowels of our brethren as they died in the abomination called Tartarus. You will find me a most difficult adversary to kill."
Ares charged and the Arelim raised his staff to deflect the blow and sidestepped. Ares' momentum threw him forward and Eskalion's staff smashed into the back of his skull, sending him careening into the dank floor. Eskalion backed away, twirling his staff like a fan, circling in a defensive stance.