Major Demons (15 page)

CHAPTER 31

“What the hell are those things?”

Sarah pointed at the army they had found. The demons painted themselves, snorted chemicals, and didn’t wear any kind of cumbersome armor. She also heard a lot of yelling and fighting amongst the ranks.

“Berserkers. Nightmare converted his entire army into berserkers as well. They’re part of the Dragon’s army. They used to be led by a demon named Bloodlust, but I heard he was killed by Nightmare. It makes sense, because Nightmare has the berserker staff and he fused it with his scythe. That’s how he made the demon scythe, Rage. Azazel crafted it for him.”

“So the Dragon is somewhere nearby?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t really sense him anywhere near us. I wonder if maybe we should ask them.”

Shadow got up to walk towards the berserkers, but Sarah grabbed his arm.

“Why would you want to do that? They might kill you or take you to the Dragon.”

“I really don’t think he’s around. I want to know what they’re doing. If the Dragon is around, I need to kill him anyways. Besides, I’ve always wanted to learn how they fight. It’ll be worthwhile to talk to them.”

Shadow stepped out from his hiding spot and approached the army. He was immediately surrounded. A large demon stepped out to meet him.

“Shadow of the nephilim. What on Earth possessed you to walk into our camp?”

The demon noticed Sarah trailing Shadow and laughed.

“With an angel, no less. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you both and bring your corpses to the Dragon.”

“I can think of a few. First, you can’t kill me. I have the armor of Michael the Archangel. I’ve fought the Archangels Gabriel and Raphael and neither of them could kill me. Second, I can always teleport away. I may not be a traditional demon anymore, but I still have my scythe. Third, I’m just here to talk. I don’t sense the Dragon anywhere around here and I want to know where he is.”

“You want to kill him?”

Shadow nodded. The demon extended his hand and Shadow shook it.

“I am Adrenaline. I took command of the berserkers after Azazel killed Bloodlust, the commander before me.”

Shadow looked confused.

“Azazel killed Bloodlust? The rumor in Hell is that Nightmare…”

“Nightmare was fighting him at the time. Azazel snuck up behind him and stopped him. Otherwise, Bloodlust would have destroyed Nightmare before he fell over and died. He was headless and still the berserker staff fueled his rage. He continued to fight on.”

“So… you’re ok with me killing the Dragon?”

“Yes. I would like you to kill him.”

“Why?”

“Ever since Nightmare took our staff, we are no longer in the Dragon’s favor. It’s not like Nightmare can control us or anything like that, but he still doesn’t trust us anymore. He has us hunting nephilim while he marches towards Abaddon with the rest of his armies. So at this point, he doesn’t really care what happens to us. We failed to protect the berserker staff and are now a disgraced order.”

“I see. Well I know that Nightmare has fused the berserker staff with his scythe. I don’t know how you’ll ever get it back.”

Adrenaline looked at the other berserkers and they all shook their heads.

“The loss of the staff won’t be a problem forever, but I won’t tell you why, Shadow. We don’t trust you. Our purposes may align, but we know you’re only after power. My turn to ask some questions. Why are you traveling with an angel?”

“She’s the granddaughter of the Archangel Gabriel and she’s helping me kill the creatures we’ve come here to kill.”

“And they are?”

“Azazel, Abaddon, and the Dragon.”

The berserkers screamed and yelled at the mention of Azazel.

“We have been following Azazel hoping to kill him as well. We heard a rumor that your friend, Leech, had already killed him.”

“No, unfortunately. Leech injured him very badly, but he got away. I’m going to kill him for Leech.”

“Then two of our enemies are the same. Why do you hunt Abaddon?”

“He’s my father. I need to put him down. I can’t let him destroy this world. It’s my responsibility to stop him because no one else can.”

“Admirable. We don’t often consider responsibility. Our emotions are much simpler. You kill one of us and we kill you… even if it means another of us dies in the process. Bloodlust should have defeated Nightmare and Azazel needs to die. So now you have your information. I’m not sure how it helped you, but we will let you leave without trying to kill you. You are not our enemy, Shadow.”

“Information is not all I was seeking. I’d like your help. I’d like to learn how you fight so I can incorporate the techniques into my own fighting. If necessary, I need to be ready to keep fighting on to kill my foes even if I fall down dead in the end. I’ve heard of berserkers who fought well past when they should have died. I need to learn how to fight like that and I don’t think Nightmare did it the right way.”

Adrenaline spit on the ground.

“The berserkers under Nightmare’s command are an abomination. They know nothing of our ways or how to channel the rage.”

Sarah stepped forward.

“I would like to learn with Shadow.”

Adrenaline spit on the ground again.

“We don’t train angels. No exceptions. We only spare your life for Shadow’s sake.”

“We should talk in private, Adrenaline. There’s something you should know.”

Shadow looked around.

“I won’t tell you in front of your entire army.”

Adrenaline nodded.

“Back to training!”

The berserkers reluctantly dispersed and resumed training.

“Well? Go ahead then.”

“Sarah isn’t an angel. She’s a nephilim like me. If you’re willing to train me then you should be willing to train her.”

“The Archangel Gabriel mixed bloodlines with a demon? You lie.”

“Not Gabriel. One of his children. It’s a secret few know and I will seal it with your death should you ever tell anyone.”

“Can you prove it?”

Sarah and Shadow had been practicing a few demon spells in case Sarah had need of them. She summoned ice in her left hand and fire in her right, careful to not let any berserkers other than Adrenaline see her powers. Adrenaline smiled and looked at Shadow.

“Amazing. Your secret is safe with me as long as you rid us of Azazel and restore our name. We will train you.”

Sarah stepped in between Shadow and Adrenaline to confirm what he was saying.

“You’ll train
both
of us?”

“Both of you. It’s not every day that we get to work with nephilim descended from Archangels.”

CHAPTER 32

Hypnos had asked Lilith if he could continue to carry Lucia and Lilith had agreed, as long as he didn’t hand her over to Thanatos. Thanatos still creeped Lilith out. While Lilith still didn’t fully trust them, she felt much better with Samael and her half-brothers around. At least she knew she wouldn’t be caught off guard again. The group had been following Samael’s lead for several days now. Samael stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong?”

“The angels are still following us. Uriel never went back to Heaven. I think we need to deal with them before we continue towards Shadow.”

“There are four of us and a baby.”

“You’re right. I know it’s not fair. We’re far more powerful than they are. We don’t really have a choice, though. They’re going to keep following us until they can ambush us again at night. Angels are generally cowards like that.”

Lilith giggled.

“Aren’t you an angel, Samael?”

“A fallen angel. There’s a difference.”

Lilith figured now would be a good time to approach what was likely an uncomfortable subject. She didn’t care. He owed her an explanation.

“Why did you hook up with Vixen? That still doesn’t make any sense to me. I thought angels weren’t drawn in by lust.”

“Angels can be tempted and I was obviously not the first to…”

Samael shifted uncomfortably.

“Was it simply an attraction based hook up?”

“Pretty much. I was also curious what it was like to be with a demoness. I like new experiences. I…”

Samael looked over at Lilith and saw that his discomfort was amusing her.

“So this is how you’re going to get back at me? Fine.”

“Just having some fun. We can move on to easier topics. When did you find out she was pregnant?”

“A few months later. I had spies watching her. They confirmed that she was with child. Of course, I didn’t know if it was mine or not.”

“When did you realize I was your daughter?”

“Shortly after you were born. I saw you and I tried to take you from her. I almost took you to Heaven. I was talked out of going through with that idea. The angels would have killed you. You look too much like your mother. I returned you to Hell and…”

“You thought Vixen was going to take care of me? She was a vain, jealous…”

“I knew she wouldn’t.”

Samael hung his head.

“I tried to protect you. After I was cast out of Heaven for my sins, I watched over you every time you came to Earth.”

“A lot of good that did me. Did you know I grew up with a minor demon named Panic? I had no real family. All of Vixen’s children were jealous of me. I was alone almost all the time.”

“I know about all of that.”

“How could you know all of that?”

“Because I hired Panic to take care of you and I blackmailed your mother to keep your identity a secret. I didn’t want word getting out that you were a nephilim.”

Lilith stood and scrutinized Samael. Her instincts told her that he was lying.

“You hired Panic to protect me?”

“I did. He reported to me on a regular basis and told me how you were doing. He sent me pictures. He even stopped me from marching down there and taking you up here to Earth once. He was a good guy and a credit to the race of demons.”

“Where’s your proof? Can you prove any of this?”

Samael removed a folder from his bag and handed it to Lilith. It was filled with letters in Panic’s hand-writing and pictures of Lilith from when she was younger.

“Do you want to know why I got kicked out of Heaven?”

Lilith sat back down and returned the folder to Samael.

“I told them I had a daughter that was half demon, but I refused to acknowledge it as a sin. They told me to deny loving you and that the whole thing could be forgiven. I couldn’t do it. I walked out on the angels and came to Earth… then I had your brothers with another demoness and waited.”

“Waited for what?”

“For the right time to let you know who I was. To let you know that even though you made your own friends, you always had a family that loved you, too.”

Lilith could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. She scooted next to Samael and hugged him.

“Protecting me is going to be hard.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m kind of insane and I act on impulse. I think I get that from Vixen.”

Samael laughed.

“No, my child. You get that from both of us.”

The next morning, Lilith sat down with Samael, Hypnos, and Thanatos to plan their attack on Uriel and his angels. Samael took the lead.

“What we have to do is capture or kill Uriel. They’ll scatter in fear if we can pull that off. Nothing short of that will get them to stop. Any thoughts?”

Lilith looked at her half-brothers.

“Question. How far-reaching are their powers?”

Thanatos was holding something under his cloak and looking at it from time to time. He would grin when he saw it. Lilith assumed it was a mirror. Hypnos answered her question.

“We have to come into contact with them. Our powers only work through touch. They multiply after contact, though. If Thanatos touches someone long enough, he can kill them and I can put angels and demons into comas.”

“That’s too bad. Leech’s powers were long range and more amplified than that.”

Thanatos took this as a personal insult.

“Trust me, Lilith, we’re more powerful than Leech ever was.”

“That’s hard to believe considering the fact that Leech took out an entire nephilim army and severely injured Azazel on his own.”

“I would have killed Azazel.”

“Then why haven’t you? You’ve had plenty of opportunities!”

Lucia started to cry when she heard her mother raise her voice. Hypnos started rocking her in his arms.

“Enough, guys. You’re upsetting my niece.”

Thanatos looked like he wanted to continue but Samael looked at him and shook his head.

“We will not insult the memory of one of the most powerful demons to ever walk the Earth. Leech was every bit the fighter that his grandfather was.”

Lilith was immediately distracted by the tangent.

“You knew Baal?”

“Fairly well. Fought him plenty of times. He even gave me something to remember him by.”

Samael removed his gauntlet and revealed a long scar across his palm.

“Did you give him something to remember you by?”

Samael grinned.

“Of course. Long scar across his lower back. We’re scar buddies.”

Lilith giggled. Thanatos looked like he wanted to get back on the subject of who was more powerful. Hypnos spoke before he had the opportunity.

“My powers are growing. Anything in my general vicinity tends to be more tired and I can put this little angel to sleep without touching her.”

Hypnos tickled Lucia and she giggled. She grabbed his hand and it started to turn red. He pulled his hand back before she could fully set it on fire. Hypnos grinned sheepishly. Samael took control of the discussion back.

“I do think we have a way to win this without too much effort. I still have an angel’s ring of distraction. Lilith can wear it and I think she’s powerful to make the entire army look at her. Once all eyes are on her, Hynos and Thanatos can put everyone to sleep or down for good. I’ll take on Uriel while the three of you deal with the army. Join me when you’re finished and the four of us will take on Uriel.”

Samael reached into his pocket and produced an angel’s ring of distraction. He handed it to Lilith.

“I’m distracting enough as I am.”

Samael laughed.

“Then this will just amplify your natural abilities. Trust me, it’ll help. I don’t think you’ve distracted an entire army before… and angels are harder to distract than demons.”

“I won’t need it.”

“Then wear it to humor me. I’m not doing this unless I know you’ll have everything you need to be safe.”

Lilith sighed and put on the ring of distraction.