When Angels Fall (Demon Lord) (28 page)

“Your
blighted offspring will be stamped out. The light gods will see to it.”

The angel tilted his head. “Why do you champion the light?”

“I do not. You are abominations. My kind will slay you too, if you are no use to them, and since you are so arrogant, you are not. Your extinction is guaranteed.”

“Our females are well hidden, and already with child.”

“As soon as they are found, they will die.”

“No one will find them.”

Bane’s lip curled. “Run and hide then, while you can, but seeking me out was a mistake.”

A
movement stirred the air beside Bane, and he stabbed at it, then lunged at the visible tra’mith. He vanished as Bane’s sword swished through the spot where he had been. Bane became invisible, even though it did not serve him as well as it did the dark angels, since they could still detect him. They were growing bolder, goaded by the dark power’s arrogance. Soon, one of them would blunder. A thud behind him made Bane spin, his sword raised. He leapt aside, slashing at the spot. A dark angel became visible as the weapon clipped his wing and made him reel, and he leapt into a Channel. So, if he touched them, he could see them.

Bane
whipped around again, and his weapon hit the second angel, sliced deep into his ribs and sent him sprawling. As Bane followed, something hit him from the side. The tra’mith seized Bane’s sword arm, his face twisted, and stabbed at his chest with a curved dagger. Bane blocked the blow, the weapon gashing his arm, and the angel slashed at his neck. Bane parried it again, drew his dagger with his left hand and impaled the angel’s flank. He released Bane and vanished. Bane glanced around, but the second angel had also disappeared.

Bane took stock of his injuries, neither of which was serious. He was far faster than the
tra’mith, and the bolder one had paid the price, but Kayos was right; he had to kill these two, lest they follow him. They lost him for a while when he Moved, but he could not do that in the God Realm. He cut a strip off his shirt and bound his arm, wondering if the angel he had injured would die.

An almost inaudible
swish made him spin and slash as an angel with snowy wings sprang from the air. The tra’mith became visible as the newcomer bore him to the ground. Bane stemmed his stroke as the two rolled across the concrete in a blur of white and grey, massive wings beating. The dark angel broke free, leapt up and vanished, his attacker in hot pursuit. Bane stared at the spot where they had been, surprised. He could have sworn an archangel had attacked the tra’mith. He dispersed the shields and waited. Tense seconds ticked past, then the air above and to his left parted and the two angels fell out, hit the ground with a thud and grunt and jumped to their feet.

The dark angel
scanned the area, clearly wary of Bane. The archangel wore silver armour and was armed with the Sword of Vengeance: Majelin. He sprang at the tra’mith, his sword aimed at his foe’s heart, but he spun away. The archangel’s weapon sliced into his opponent’s shoulder, and he raised his sword as Majelin crashed into him, sending him sprawling. Bane found their fighting style insane, since it involved so much brutal contact between two beings whose wings looked so fragile. Perhaps broken wings were the object of the exercise.

Majelin pinned the tra’mith, holding his sword at bay, and
Bane stepped up and chopped off the dark angel’s head. Majelin jumped up and backed away. Remembering that he was invisible, Bane shed the light shield.

The archangel
relaxed, lowering his weapon. “Demon Lord.”

Bane rested the tip of his sword on the ground and leant on it. “Majelin. What brings you here?”

“You required my aid.”

“Actually, I thought I was doing quite well, and was close to killing that bastard. I already killed the other one, or, at least, I injured him.”

“Did you?” Majelin frowned at the corpse. “That is bad.”

“How so? And how did you find me?”

“I was trying to find him in the Channels, and eventually I did, just as he attacked you. As to why it is bad that you injured one who escaped, that is because he will summon the rest.”

“
There cannot be that many left.”

“I must go.”
Majelin turned away, then swung back. “If you wish to keep your existence a secret, as Kayos does, do not let them see you.”

“
Who? Majelin, wait, I…”

The archangel stepped into the air,
and Bane frowned at the spot where he had been and muttered, “So now he leaves.”

The Demon Lord
sighed and gazed at the city, then at the corpse, which had turned grey, as if made of ash. He poked it with his sword, and it crumbled, revealing that it was indeed ash. Drevarin appeared beside him and bent to peer at the angel-shaped pile of dust.

“
So, when dark angels die, they are snuffed out utterly,” he commented. “Nothing remains of them, not even their flesh.”

A sparkling in the sky drew
Bane’s eyes upwards. Along the edge of a bank of clouds, the air shimmered and parted. Angels stepped out, spread their wings and soared towards him. Each held a shining sword that pale fire licked. Pure white hair flew around their shoulders and silver armour clad their muscular torsos. Archangels.

The angels swooped into the
city, and fire demons rose to meet them. The archangels stabbed and slashed, making the demons dim and swirl as blue fire ate away at their sickly flames. One rushed at an archangel who fought an air demon, striking him with a massive impact. The angel’s wings folded and he fell to earth, his foe on top of him. Bane started towards them, but then three angels appeared beside the embattled pair and plunged their weapons into the demon, which expired in a greenish-yellow flash. The three rescuers helped the downed angel up, and they all vanished again. Further down the street, an earth demon slumped into a pile of soil and rocks. An archangel stood over the mound, a silver sword glinting in his fist, then stepped into the air.

“It seems your friend has summoned aid
,” Drevarin observed. “Archangels fight the darkness in all its forms.”

“They
are insane. They will be slaughtered. It is hard to vanquish greater demons.”

“
They have the Sword of Vengeance.”

“I hope that is enough.”

“I do not think they are fools, Bane. They know what they face.”

“Do they?”

“Most of them are older than the two of us put together, and have been fighting demons all their lives. Plus, they are immortal.”

The angels
disappeared as they returned to the Channels to seek out demons. A rustle of wings made Bane turn.

Majelin
bowed. “Demon Lord. I have asked my brothers to aid in this battle. We may not be able to defeat a dark god, but we are a lot better at fighting demons.” He gestured. “Look.”

Bane looked down.
Far below, three angels surrounded what appeared to be a businessman and ran him through. The man crumbled to dust, and the angels returned to the Channels as people shouted and fled. Up and down the street, archangels attacked people who turned out to be demons, always three to one, and their ploy of surprising the disguised demons was effective. While the demons that had attacked the city had left, many others remained, it appeared. The people who had emerged from their hiding places fled from the brief bouts, but the conflicts were over so swiftly they allowed only a glimpse the combatants.

Some
demons shed their disguises and fought back, and not all the battles went in the archangels’ favour, as demons and droges drew together in defensive gangs. Two dark angels attacked an archangel and retreated into Channels almost immediately. The archangels followed, to continue the conflicts within them, Bane assumed.

Bane fought the dark power’s malicious enjoy
ment of the angels’ peril, most of whom leapt into a Channel when attacked. In other instances, more angels joined a fray to even the odds. The abundance of demons surprised Bane, who had not taken note of the number of soulless before the battle.

Bane turned to Majelin. “Your brethren should leave.
They cannot win.”

“
We know, but it is our duty to fight the minions of the darkness.”

“These people do not deserve your
aid.”

“We are not here for them.”

“Then why?”

“The child goddess,” Majelin said. “You have done all you can for her and these corrupted people. Now it is time to allow others to partake in the battle. This is not only your fight.”

“It is pointless. This world is doomed, and I hardly think you lot are equipped to fight demons.”

“We will surprise you, then.” Majelin smiled and raised his sword. “Also, we are far better equipped to fight dark angels. We will slay them, rest assured. Ordur has ordered it.”
He leapt off the roof and glided down.

Bane stepped closer to the edge to watch him.

Drevarin came to stand beside him. “It is time we joined in, do you not think? The demons will not flee and the archangels will not see you if you make yourself invisible.”

“They will as soon as I use the black fire.”

“Then Move.” Drevarin vanished.

Bane Moved to
the street, became invisible and directed twin streams of black fire at a demon, blowing it apart. He searched for the soulless, since droges were harder to spot, owning corrupted souls, like most of the populace. Archangels assaulted demons in melees of flashing swords and sweeping wings, leaving bystanders agog. Piles of soil littered the pavement, and Bane destroyed or dismissed any demons within his range.

A few
droges fired projectile weapons or light guns at the angels when they attacked a demon, and the angels made short work of them. The conflict became a running battle between archangels and demons, but the angels had the advantage of the Channels and used them to good effect, while the earth demons had nowhere to flee. Even if they dived into the ground, the angels stabbed their fiery swords into the pavement to impale them.

A fire demon took true form
and flew down the street, but an archangel smashed into it from the side in a tangle flames and wings. An air demon swooped at three angels battling an earth fiend, and another angel stepped forth to plunge his sword into the misty form, which burst into a poisonous cloud. Bane destroyed several more demons before others turned tail and quit the city. Droges fled in air cars, sometimes pursued by angels, who attacked the vehicles and slew all within in a bloodless carnage.

Bane rounded a corner and found
three angels battling an earth demon, which smashed one down. Bane unleashed a bolt that tore into its chest, and it turned to dust. The other two angels landed next to their fallen comrade and knelt. One lifted his head, murmuring to him, then picked him up and stepped into the air.

The Demon Lord
continued down the street, wondering how many archangels would perish. He suspected that, like tra’mith, catastrophic injuries would kill them, despite their immortality.
Angels died. Immortality was never as the word implied. Immortals lived forever unless someone killed them, since the inability to die could not overcome such fates as burning, dismemberment or being turned into something else, such as stone. Any survivor of those fates would rue his immortality deeply.

Mortals, ironically, had more claim to immortality, being blessed with an immortal soul, which immortals were not. For them, death was the end. Bane wished he knew more about what happened when angels fell, but that was the purview of the light.
He was surprised that the archangels were such effective fighters, when armed with their Sword of Vengeance. On their own, they would stand little chance, especially against a fire demon, but in trios, and with the advantage of surprise, they made short work of them. The fact that the demons wore human disguises helped, too, for they were far more formidable in their natural forms.

A rumble of thunder made him look up. Grey clouds blanketed the sky and blocked out the sun. He had been too busy to notice the clouds rolling in, but now rain began to fall. He knew at least one angel had died. The sky wept when angels fell. He wished he had been there to save him. Angels should not die to save unbelievers, even for the sake of a child goddess. Perhaps the rain was Sherinias’ tears. She had been weeping when he had left the light realm.

Bane crossed into a wide thoroughfare lined with trees and shops, where a group of ten archangels stood in the centre of the road. Frightened people hurried past them, and he surmised that the angels were invisible to all but gods. Majelin stood at the group’s forefront, his expression proud and just a little bit smug. Bane stopped a few paces away.

Dozens of archangels drifted down to land behind him. Their cobweb clothing and silver armour were fairly uniform, as were their tall, powerful physiques, shoulder-len
gth white hair and black brows.

Majelin bowed
to his brothers, and they returned it, then stepped into the air one by one. When only Majelin remained, Bane shed his light shield.

The archangel smiled. “We have done all we can for this world. Most of the demons have been driven from th
e cities or defeated. The droges are beneath our notice. The humans must find ways to protect themselves now.”