The Wrath Of The Forgotten, page 32
part #4 of The Fallen Angels Series
“Have you encountered it before?”
“Once or twice but I never stayed for greater study. There is something unnerving about it.”
They passed along the earthbound side of the cavern, both of them keeping their eyes on the seething darkness. Neither of them trusted it.
They passed through several caverns, each dominated by a wall of inky water along one side. There were no other tunnels for them to travel down, so they were forced ever forward. Both of them felt trapped.
The air was stale and cold, the heat they had come to enjoy was gone, as was the cheerful light of the magma. The only light in these caverns came from bioluminescent patches of bacteria and fungi that cast weak blue or green lights. There were also phosphorescent patches of white stone. All else was darkness and deep, thick shadow.
Hecate did not like the way they seemed to block out the soft glows, she knew all too well what little disturbance was needed for some creatures to notice.
They continued on in silence.
Sariel grabbed Hecate and pulled her into the shadow of a rock column. The cavern they were now stuck in had a gigantic eye poking out of the water on a long, mucus covered stalk. Two scythe-like claws of dark grey crystal crept into the cavern, they were followed by the long, brown tentacles covered in short, stout crystalline spines. More eyes came out of the water, these were much smaller but far more numerous. They twisted and shifted about the cavern, clearly looking for something.
Has it seen us?
I hope not.
For Sariel, this was starting to remind her of her journey through Hell. Here she was once again hiding from Monsters she had no understanding of.
She looked up into the large unblinking eye of the Monster, it pupil contracted as it focussed on them both. Other eyes appeared around the column to look at them. They stood there as still as possible waiting for some other movement. They watched in horror as one of those giant scythes crept around the column.
“Run” Sariel yelled as she jumped up into the air, her light blazing brightly. The thing screamed as it was blinded, its claw struck out randomly at them, shattering the column. Hecate ran up a column, somersaulting back over to strike down on one of the eye stalks with her Nyxite blade. It severed through the skin easily, squirting black blood all over the place. Where it stuck, it started to corrode through the stone.
Its screams intensified, with pain and rage. From the watery depths came even more claws, each one a deadly scythe. It pupils were contracting, it was getting over its blindness.
They both knew that they could not run. The tunnels had disappeared. They had to fight for their lives.
Sariel dove down on the main eye, stabbing it with her platinum blade, as she did so she poured forth brilliant light and flame. The eye exploded in a blaze of fire, apparently it was quite flammable.
It shrieked its fury, and the water wall collapsed.
The Dark Abyss rushed in towards them, the black water itself forming tentacles and teeth to claim them. Sariel flew above it, while Hecate vaulted herself up into the air with magic, the act drew the attention of the creature. Yet even as it surged towards them something from the Dark Abyss reached out for it. They saw gargantuan tentacles, pale white in colour and each ending in a mouth of its own. They wrapped around the other creature, biting into its flesh, eyes and crunching through the crystal scythes with its gnashing diamond teeth.
Then it was pulling its prey out of the cavern, the suction pulled out all the water that had collapsed in. The cavern returned to how it had looked beforehand. New tunnels had appeared in the walls behind them.
Hecate grabbed Sariel by the hand and hauled them both down the nearest tunnel leading away from the Dark Abyss.
They had run from one battle into another. Sariel and Hecate stared in horror at the cavern that they had entered. It was bright not with magma but with the fire and electricity being thrown around by the Monsters within. They had stumbled into chaos, the various types of Primordial Gods were all squaring off against each other in a complete free for all.
Power rent the air, the smell of burning flesh and ozone lay thick in the cavern. Roars and shrieks were a constant drone as were the clash of body parts. Claws and teeth tore through armour, spines and clubs battered combatants into the ground. Blood of all colours squirted through the air and formed mixing puddles on the ground. The shattered and twisted remains of crystal and metallic body parts littered the ground. There was no way forward and the tunnel behind them had closed.
Except that instead of rock replacing it, as usual, it was the black water of the Dark Abyss, and the tunnel was growing larger. They were stuck between two inescapable forces. They had no choice but to move forward.
They summoned up their powers, weaving them together to form shields as they shied away from the Dark Abyss. Creatures near them began to shriek and roar. They were far easier targets.
They ran together as the Dark Abyss broke through its constraints and water rushed in behind them. It poured past them, freezing and lifeless, to smash against the Primordial Gods running towards them. They shrieked in terror at the water surrounding them, apparently they knew to fear the water.
Tentacles of different colours started to appear out of the water, reaching into the cavern with malicious intent. Eyes and gaping jaws followed, along with razor sharp fins, claws and spines followed after.
Water boiled as it encountered fire, parts of the floor collapsed to reveal magma pits with drank up the water and turned it into vast plumes of steam.
As one, the subterranean Monsters turned against the marine invaders. Sariel and Hecate went unnoticed for the moment, but they were not safe in-between the legs that towered over them. They might be immortal but being squished by one of them would seriously damage them, enough so that they would be easy prey.
They reached the end of the cavern with the battle raging unresolved behind them. They scrabbled against the wall but found nothing.
“We’re trapped again.” Sariel glanced around at the vicious fighting. One of the Abyss denizens had been hauled out of the water and was being feasted upon by crab and scorpion-like Monsters. It was like nothing she had ever seen before but an amalgamation of a squid with a snake and fish. It body was pale grey, long and lithe but muscular. Long sharp fins covered its body and its mouth opened with long razor sharp teeth. Around its neck and from its tail were numerous tentacles that were still writhing about in its death throes.
Even as it lay dying others were creeping in behind it, the water level was rising quite quickly, many of the magma pools had had filled up so much that they had cooled to stone.
“Which one is our biggest threat?” Sariel asked Hecate.
“The Abyss creatures, in their world we are easy prey.” She paused to ask “why?” but it was too late Sariel had risen her burning hands. Great plumes of magma exploded out from the flooded floor, water boiled rapidly and steamed up. Despite the water surging in from the tunnel, the water level was dropping noticeably as Sariel used heat to turn the tide in the terrestrial Monsters favour.
“What have you done?”
All the Monsters within the cavern had ceased their fighting to turn and look at them.
Chapter 48
Samael studied the drops of emerald magic that fell from his palm. It was a completely unexpected development in his magic. His entire life he had been the Son of Death, only to progress into the Angel of Death. Oh he had a myriad of other powers, but they were always forgotten, always brushed aside in regards to his death magic. Even his titles of Betrayer and Seducer were overlooked by that defining title. Not even his rise as one of the Lords of Hell had eclipsed it, he might stand just after Lucifer in receiving Satan’s faith power, yet that was all overlooked.
It didn’t matter what he did, and he had tried to break the mould many times. He had joined the ranks of wildly varying Gods to extend himself, to be cast in a different light. He had learned to ply his body from Inanna and her servants, he had risen to be a great general for Kali, a political manipulator from Zeus and to plunge the depths of the unknown from Hecate. He had recast himself in many new ways, he had earned a reputation for his sexual promiscuity, the pleasure he could bring so easily and the things he demanded in return. He had risen, challenged at every turn, to be an Arch Angel but his power had paved the way for him with the lives of those foolish enough to doubt him.
He had proved time and time again that he was adaptable, destructive and power hungry. He had challenged Gods and bathed in their core, he had claimed parts of the Earth for himself. He had sat on his Arch Angel throne and planned the rebellion. He had led the forces that had won the War of Heaven, he had changed his tune as he learned the implications of their success. He had been cast out of Heaven for his views and transformed into a Demon by his own son and daughter-in-law.
Through it all though he was always the Angel of Death.
There had never been anything that had allowed him to break that mould, and he had finally accepted it, but now there was something that could truly break the mould and have him recast as something completely different.
He could access the Lifestream.
The emerald magic surged up from within him, and as it did so veins of green could be seen running beneath his feet. The barren rock surface glowed with potential. Thin stems of hardy desert plants began to grow from around him.
He raised his hands, letting the magic drip down on him. He drank in the power, knowing that it was his and yet revelling in the potency of it. He was now a Bringer of Life, the Lifestream had accepted him into its confines and gifted him with the powers rarely granted to males. He had become a Green Man, a Nature God, an Earth Father.
“I will use this power to heal you I swear Gaia.”
He plunged his hands and power down into the ground, green ripples exploded out from around him. Turning the barren wasteland green. The ground beneath his feet broke and collapsed. He stood on air as water surged up beneath him and flowed down into the depressions. He watched as the developing plants eagerly soaked up the life-sustaining liquid.
He watched with tears in his eyes at the life he had created. Not manipulated or changed but created from nothing. He was now tied to the planet in a way he had never been. He knew what it was, his wife and daughter were both connected to it, he had a suspicion that so was Gabriel. He had never encountered a male Angel who had the connection, though, there had only been a handful of male Gods who had, and most of those had forsaken Heaven for the comfort of the Surface.
Now he understood well.
Brigid’s lands would flow with life, more than they already did. Jealous and hungry eyes would not just covet but lust for and crave their lands. Refugees would pour into their empire desperate to be fed, and the Angels would lose their followers. Hunger and envy would undermine the Angels authority more than anything. After all, the Angels’ lands were still close to barren. They had done very little, or could do very little, to enliven their lands.
He would not do a little. He would make the Earth sing.
Simurgh wheeled through the air, revelling in her freedom. She would never be confined again, even by her own memories.
“Why won’t you let me return?” Inanna wailed in her claws.
Simurgh ignored her until she was hovering above her lake. Below she could see the swirling streams of the Lifestream within the water. It was a focal point for the land, from which life rippled out. It was her achievement and hers alone. No other God or Divine had touched these waters or the land around.
“Why are you doing this?” she wailed again.
Simurgh’s patience had worn thin with Inanna. You want to return, then return. These waters are rich with the Lifestream, returning will be easy if you even try. Self-pity does not become you, Inanna.
“You don’t know what I have been through, what I have suffered and endured.”
No, but I can easily imagine, I was transformed into Hell. You live my pain, and I will live yours. Magic flared as Simurgh pulled out Inanna’s memories and gave her her own in return.
She let go of her. Find your freedom.
Inanna stared in horror as Simurgh’s copper and rainbow image got further away. She was plummeting to the ground. Golden tears streamed out of her eyes. She was going to smash into the ground. While it wouldn’t kill her, it would severely damage her. She would never be able to return if she had to keep expending power healing her battered body.
She smashed against the surface of the water, her broken wings breaking further beneath her. Golden blood exploded out of her in a plume of ruined feathers. Pain tore through her as she sank beneath the surface. She stared at the streams of green magic spiralling around her.
She could feel the power flowing through her, but before she could reach out to it, she felt Simurgh’s memories taking control of her. No, she was so close to returning!
Odin looked around the ruined halls of Valhalla with utter disdain. The Angels had picked clean every usable thing from his halls. The other realms of Heaven were just as savaged. Asgard showed signs of habitation, so much so that he had not stayed to investigate. The stain of the Inquisitors was all over it. It sickened him.
At least they had not left their mark on Valhalla, they had simply ruined it. Yet they had not taken the most prized possession from it. The hall was lined with hundreds of Valkyrie statues, the guardians of the halls. They had been his loyal servants, gathering the spirits of deceased heroes to fill his halls. Those halls might be completely empty of the spirits, but they still held their secrets. Some that not even the other Gods had been aware of, and it seemed the Angels had never discovered.
His one eye surveyed the halls but his lips swept up into a smile within his beard. He had always been gifted, and that had only grown when he had given up his eye to drink from Mimir’s Well, but none would have suspected him of this brilliance.
When his Valkyries had tired of their time he had not returned them to the Lifestream, instead he had placed them in an eternal slumber and encased them within granite to muffle their powers. He had always had access to them, and many had wondered at his ever increasing power. It was the equivalent of having control over hundreds of Vestiges. True they would not offer the same power as a God Vestige, but the Valkyrie were by no means weak. They were his immortal warrior servants, and their loyalty was beyond question.
He touched the oldest of the statues, the one that stood behind his now empty dais. Hildr had been the first of all Valkyries. She had ascended from a desperate need to protect her pathetic father and husband. She had resurrected them for countless years before she grew weary of their fighting and abandoned them to their foolish deaths. She had become his lover and the leader of the new race of female warriors. Yet with all things time had worn down her enthusiasm until she grew weary of her immortality. Mortals did not always adjust well to immortality.
He had given her the peace she required and in turn gained control of her powers.
Now it was time to bring her back. Light flared beneath his hand as the granite cracked away after a ripple of white light spread through the stop. She fell into his arms as the stone crumbled away, her eyes slowly fluttering open between her long blonde eyelashes. He had forgotten just how beautiful she was. Long flowing blonde hair, flawless skin and large glacial blue eyes that captivated.
“Is it Ragnorak?” she hoarsely whispered.
“Close enough my dear, but far worse. It is time for your shield sisters to once again pick up your spears and fight by my side. There are a great many things in the world to be righted.”
“As you command my liege.”
His magic released all the other Valkyries from their stone slumber. He would need every single one of them if he hoped to battle the Angels.
Chapter 49
“I called up the magma to hold back the water. I didn’t think it would unite them.” Sariel wailed.
It seemed that her powers had united the Abyss creatures with the land dwellers. Now both sets of beings were bearing down on them, and there was nothing comforting about either. They were doomed to die by teeth or claw no matter which side got to them first.
Hecate blasted the leading runners with her flames. It did some damage but not a great deal, the armoured creatures were particularly impervious to fire damage. Sariel, on the other hand, summoned up more of the magma to spill out before them. That had dramatic effects.
They shied away from the newly formed magma pools. The Abyss dwellers were careful to stay away from the boiling water, though that seemed not to concern the terrestrials. Yet as time progress none of them backed away, slowly they started to make their way forward again.
“Sariel I think you are going to need to be more dramatic.”
“But magma isn’t going to harm them any more than it would us.”
“It will if you use sufficient quantities of it.”
More magma poured up from the vents in the floor, it came up with such force that it flew into the air, splattering onto all in front of them. As Sariel had said it did minimal damage, it just seemed to breed confusion more than anything.
“Any other ideas?”
“We can’t fight all of them, neither of us are that strong. If only we could escape.”
“Can’t we?”
“There’s nowhere to go.”
Or was there. Sariel could feel the beating heart of the planet deep within the magma. They had to reach Gaia’s core one way or another, and that meant travelling through the liquid layers of molten rock. Why not now?
She grabbed a hold of Hecate, then let her powers loose. Magma flowed up in vast quantities, flooding the whole cavern. This time, it did not stem the advance of the creatures. They might not be able to express their magic beyond them, but it infused every fibre of their being. They walked through the magma receiving no damage. The first wave of them came to crash against their shields. Their solid weight and latent magic causing their shields to waver and flare. They had power within them, and they knew how to use it.
