Melancholy Wings: Decadence (11 page)

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“We’ll have to be careful with Malakai then.” Cael stated.

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“We have to be careful with anyone who is from another sector.” Azrael said to Cael in response.

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“That is correct.” Hades agreed, then, just as everyone faced him once again, he continued “Now, Alastor also mentioned that Lucifer was building an army once again. Using Garridan in the External World to harvest souls of wicked people was one such way. Another way was, as Lazarus explained to me, the Pandemonium forces have taken control over the Abode of the Corrupted, what means every soul currently locked inside it belongs to them.”

The dark angels were shocked to hear that. Adelais was especially revolted. He felt anger starting to build up inside of him, and he wanted with every little part of his soul to punish the demon kind for such an atrocious act.

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“Lord Hades, we have to save those souls right away.” He quickly spoke up, before Hades had a chance to continue.

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“We will eventually, Adelais, but at the moment there are a lot of other things to worry about.” Hades calmly replied to Adelais’ comment.

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“With all due respect, master, this is against our nature to sit by idly when there is suffering going on out there. Those are human souls locked away in the Abode. They are just waiting for their chance to purify and to earn their well-deserved peace with the Creator. It is not fair on them to suffer more than they deserve and to become the minions in Lucifer’s army.” Adelais protested with a solid hint of persistence in his voice.

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“Adelais, stand down!” Hades increased his voice slightly, “I have considered that. However, it would be incredibly difficult and would take a long time for Lucifer to convert any of those souls into demons. Those souls are quite safe for now.”

Adelais didn’t speak there. Hades might’ve been right, but he still couldn’t come to terms with what was happening. It was eating away at him from the inside.

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“Was this all that was said between them?” Azrael quickly went back to the original topic.

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“One last thing was that now Malakai is going to try to get us to attack Lord Beelzebub, which in turn would force Lord Beelzebub to move over to Lucifer’s side. Given all this, we have a lot of tasks to do.” Hades replied.

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“Just tell us what needs to be done, master.” Gideon was eager to hear about the next mission.

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“Firstly, I am going to send messengers to Helheim, Purgatory, Limbo, and Den of Retribution, so that they are aware of the situation. The rest we need to prioritise. We need to locate and stop Garridan once and for all, we need to release Abode of the Corrupted from the Lucifer’s grasp, and we also need to know what Malakai is up to right now, not to mention also the reinforcement of our defences in case of an attack.” Hades summarized everything.

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“Why can’t we just send a messenger to Lord Beelzebub and tell him about all this?” Ethel proposed, “He needs to know this too.”

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“Yes, but we don’t have proof.” Hades pointed out, “Malakai most likely already informed him falsely that we want to attack him. If we tell him of Malakai’s actions, he is likely to consider it as a faulty attempt to try and divide his army. He is much more likely to consider Malakai’s word.”

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“I think I have an idea that would accomplish two of those in one go.” Azrael suddenly realised, “Why don’t we head over to Infernal Pit and ask Malakai to help us in beating Garridan? Not only would we stop Garridan, but we also would be able to keep an eye on Malakai.”

By Hades’ facial expression, he seemed to like the sound of that idea. Adelais could see why. This method would help them to accomplish several tasks at once.

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“Yes, that does sound like a feasible option.” Hades acknowledged almost straight away, “Let’s do exactly that, and once we defeat Garridan, then we would need to assemble a small team that would go to the Abode and try to liberate it from the forces of Pandemonium.”

That concluded the meeting. Azrael took his team to get prepared for departing to the Infernal Pit, whilst Gideon was instructed to take his team to the Abode of the Corrupted and to analyse the defences there, providing useful information for an attack strategy later on.

 All of the dark angels exited Hades’ chamber there and eventually out of the palace. Azrael and his team wasted no time. They took into the air and flew towards the Southern dock in order to head to Infernal Pit by boat. They decided not to take any other reinforcements with them, as the four of them were a solid fighting force, and also that ground troops could slow them down.

 Once they landed at the docks, Azrael instructed his team to stay put whilst he sent a messenger to Malakai about their visit. Adelais, Ethel, and Lazarus waited patiently at the docks. Adelais kept thinking about the poor souls in the Abode who were going to be sacrificed needlessly if no action would be taken soon enough. Ethel saw his distress and so approached him slowly.

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“Don’t worry, Adelais. We will rescue those souls.”

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“I am not too confident about that.” Adelais admitted doubtfully, “Not with the rate at which things are happening right now.”

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“Stay positive.” She tried to comfort him, “We will do it together. Once we are done with Garridan, if Lord Hades still does nothing about the Abode, I will point it out to him.”

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“Thanks Ethel.” Adelais gave a tenuous smile, “I can only pray to our Creator that every single one of them will still be fine by the time we reach them.”

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“We will save them, but for now let’s concentrate on our current task. Worrying will not sort the problem out.” Ethel reassured him once again.

Adelais did not reply, because he was still not sure. He knew Ethel was trying to alleviate his troubles and to uplift his spirit. It was a very considerate thing of her to do, but he knew that the problem could still be quite bad. He just decided to comply for now, because their current mission was going to require his full commitment.

 When Azrael finally returned, the four of them took a small boat from the dock, and the boatman began transporting them along the river to their target destination.

Chapter 12

Cooperation

Azrael and his team managed to get to Infernal Pit as they planned. They got off the boat and stepped onto the sector’s grounds, where they got confronted by two guards. Azrael mentioned to them that Malakai would be expecting him and his team, and the guards let the four of them through.

 Once the guards approved, Azrael asked his teammates if they were ready to proceed. They each gave a nod in response, and finally all four of them ascended into the air and flew in the direction of the main cave tunnel network. They flew with a good pace and got to their destination fairly soon. Malakai was waiting for them just by the entrance to the cave complex, alone.

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“Greetings everyone.” Malakai welcomed them all with an unusually warm, friendly attitude, “How can I help you? Do you wish an audience with Lord Beelzebub?”

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“No, that’s not necessary.” Azrael dismissed amiably.

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“Then what brings you here?”

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“We would like an audience with you actually.” Azrael clarified.

He could see a surprise on Malakai’s face. It seemed Malakai wasn’t quite expecting this to happen.

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“Sure. What is it that you need to discuss with me?” Malakai asked finally after a brief pause.

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“We would like your help in tracking down and defeating Garridan. He is a dangerous individual. You must’ve heard of him.” Azrael said it straight out.

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“Right. The one who is using demonic powers in the External World to slaughter innocent people?” Malakai asked for clarification.

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“That’s him.” Azrael confirmed without a doubt, “We’ve engaged in a fight with him, but he escaped, which means we are likely to need some reinforcements.”

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“Follow me inside.” Malakai finally said and turned to enter the cave.

Azrael and the others followed him right inside. As they began descending the tunnel, Malakai began talking:

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“Do you just need me then, or do you want my entire team to come too?”

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“Either way will be beneficial.” Azrael answered neutrally.

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“I would be glad to help, but first of all I’ll need to consult my master about it. If he gives me permission, I will lend a hand.”

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“That sounds reasonable.”

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“In that case just wait here until I return. I will be prompt.”

Malakai led them into a small chamber just at the side of a tunnel. The chamber was plain and empty, but a satisfactory enough waiting area. As soon as Azrael and his troop entered the chamber, Malakai left to discuss the matter with Beelzebub. Ethel, Lazarus, and Adelais sat down, but Azrael kept standing still and waiting with patience. Malakai’s motives were difficult to figure out, but he could tell with great ease that Malakai was acting slightly strange. Even if he didn’t know of what Malakai had done, he was sure he would’ve still noticed that something in Malakai’s behaviour was different. For now he could only wait and see what came next.

Malakai was almost at his Lord’s chamber when Aurora came across him. He found it unusual that he kept running into her so often lately. On top of that, she kept giving him a weird look.

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“Is everything fine, Aurora?” he asked her, trying to figure out what she was up to.

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“Yes. I’ve heard the dark angels of Erebus were visiting again.” She replied to his question.

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“That’s right. We might be heading out with them on a mission. Just wait here. I need to confer with Lord Beelzebub first.”

Aurora nodded in agreement and did as he said. Malakai then continued to the very end of the corridor and into the chamber with the door to his master’s private room. Once again he hovered above the part directly above a giant carnivorous worm and approached the doors, which swung open by themselves. As soon as he got inside the room, Beelzebub spoke loudly:

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“They are here I take it.”

Beelzebub was as usual sitting in the centre of the room, in his usual nonchalant manner, and was enjoying the company of numerous buzzing oversized insects around him.

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“They are.” Malakai confirmed, “They say they need my help.”

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“What do they need help with?” Beelzebub was curious to know all the details.

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“Lucifer has an agent of destruction in the External World, as you know. They asked if I could help them with bringing him down.” Malakai explained.

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“And you know how to do that?”

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“My spy messenger returned just before they got here. It’s not quite as simple, but I think I know of the way.”

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“If you are sure, you have my permission to go. Lucifer is a threat to us all. I hope you can find out some more about what he is planning right now. I suspect he is about to start another war. It’s a bit overdue I must admit.” Beelzebub instructed whilst at the same time trying to warn Malakai.