Prologue - Fiery Vengance

Prologue:

Fiery Vengeance

 

The Earth holds a peaceful silence, as the pale moon sits at its highest in the darkened sky. Unsettled dust trails freely across the grave like stones of Cumae, escaping into the passing air. No human could live here; they'd never survive the harsh reality of the once radiant village known as Cumae. All that remained are the stone walls that history had beaten down to nothing. Large cracks scale across the surfaces, and hide under the coverage of growing moss. In the distance life flourished. Healthy shades of green surrounded the rummage of the village, strangely never entering a root on village grounds.

Its eternal history of silence is disrupted, as the forgotten village craves for something it hasn't had in centuries - visitors. They come in a group of five, landing against the dirt packed ground without emitting a sound. Four of them hold similar features but one. They cage him with their presence, like a bird clipped of its wings. They nipped and clawed at the odd being. He was the ugly duckling of the group. Although he was far more beautiful than any mortal eye could witness. An angel. Rusty gray bracelets weigh heavy around his wrists, fusing his badly torn hands together. His skin still shone bright against the wounds inflicted to his body. He imagined flying back through the heavenly gates of Nirvana, free from all this pain and suffering. However to his bad luck, a dark unknown magic sealed his four feathered wings. The angel was trapped and outnumbered by four of the ugliest creatures spat out from the underworld itself. They forced the angel along the scattered remains of Cumae, piercing his skin with the tips of their claws. As they walked, they savoir the iron taste gathered at their crusty mouths. The faint light of night reflected weakly against the scales that covered their bodies.

Slowly, they descended down concrete steps until they came to a stop. The evil beings started to speak in a language not recognized by the angel, but he was sure this was the place. He'd heard the ancient gods speak of its whereabouts, and the evil locked within. The cave of Sibyl, he thought, the gateway to hell. On the outside the cave was a black hole, with the dimmest of light for guidance. Its triangular stone walls proceeded down into the ground, where no man could see from above. The creatures tugged and pulled on the chains, flapping they're torn wings with sickly excitement. Finally, the journey through the narrow descending tube ends. A hard concrete wall stands in the way. Earth born's would presume a dead end, but if they looked at it with fresh eyes and altered their view a little, they'd see an entirely different obstacle - a gate. The angel scanned his eyes over it, searching for clues to what’s waiting on the other side. One creature neared it, brushing its four fingered hand over the surface. The angel wanted to speak out, demanded to know what it was doing, but his mouth was sealed shut. Then, the creature turned its head slightly to its comrades, before returning its attention back to the gate. It placed a cracked claw inside a small hole at the bottom left corner. A faint red light hovered over the dark claw. Soon after three marking emerged on the surface of the gate. Rectangular structured and were a decent size.

 

The deadening cries of tortured souls, leaked out from behind the thin cracks along the face of the gate. The angel watched as it slowly opened, releasing the loud noise of friction, as the stone slides against the solid ground, revealing the furnace within. Shoved forward, he is forced to step inside. The heat from the fiery lake below hits his face at eye watering temperature. The strong stench of burning flesh forced him to turn back in a struggle to escape. The demotic creatures grasp tight onto his arms, piercing through his beaten skin. There is nothing he can do, but watch as the gate closed, locking him inside.

 

It was exactly how the ancient Gods described it - Hell. A kingdom of punishment for the souls who did wrong in the eyes of God. Inky stone platforms levitated above a boiling lake of lava. Its temperature so hot, that it would incinerate a human before contact. Where the stone stairs spread out and descended downwards, one leads high above the rest. At the top sits the thrown of a fallen angel. As they walked across the hard stone, souls cry out from the tortured, pleading for freedom. The torment is too much for even the eyes of an angel, as he turns away in despair. Humans trapped in pools of boiling lava, never to die but to feel their skin melting away with their insides, creatures ripped joints from bodies and sunk their teeth down into their flesh. These souls never pass on, sworn to suffer the same pain over again.

 

They started on the ascending stair case, with the broken walls of the castle above in plain view. The heat from the boiling lake below soaked the angel’s wrists with sweat, allowing the metal bracelets to slip down, relieving the tight pain. The hot stone burned his bare feet when he walked along its surface. At the top of the stairway, the angel turned back and took a final look at the eternal misery hell has to offer to the damned. The large stone doors opened, the heart stomping sound of doom blemished from them. Two creatures stood guard outside, whilst another two followed the angel into the castle. The first room is bare, with only the ghostly blue flares of burning torches, hung from concrete walls for light. When the angel casted his eyes along the room, he stopped and swallowed the rising spit that gathered in his throat. Faces of tortured souls gasping for a breath of air were trapped within the cracked walls of the castle. In the centre of the room, a single staircase spiralled to the above floor. With a sharp prod to the side, the angle carefully ascended to the stairs. The humid air from above brushed across his cheeks as he walked. Strangely, the inside of the castle had been pleasantly cool, compared to the furnace waiting just beyond its doors. The next floor was just as plain as the one before, and contained only two burning torches on either ends of the room. A piercing shade of red caught the corner of the angel’s eye. A door, as dark as the colour of fresh blood with the numbers 666 hanging slightly from a hook - the devil's number. One of the creatures crept forward, opened the door, and gestured for the angel to step inside. Its face was filled with mystery and curiosity. A voice spoke in the angels head, Come, step into the devils lair. The metal chains rattled as he moved forward into the room, hearing the door slowly close behind him.      

 

The room was large, but didn't hold many features. A heavy slab of stone centred the floor. Claw marks dug deep into its surface, stained blood crusted the edges of the hollow marks. An enormous window stretched across the far distant wall, and revealed the harsh punishments taking place beyond it. The airy flames from the torches cast a faint glow against a dark silhouette of a man stood before the window. Darkened cracks line his skull, and disappear behind the shadow of his body. The air in the room had become thin and stuffy, as if the shadow was responsible. Its head turns slightly, and pretended to only now acknowledge the angels presence. Its split eyes smoulder a pulsing red, against the blackest of shadows, and sent fear through the room like an electrical current. When the shadow moved again, and turned his head completely, the surrounding walls crack softly with its movement. Slowly, it steps out from the darkness towards the stone table; its body was visible for all to see. It raised its skinless hand in mid air, clenched its thin pointed nails against each other, and with a sudden flick of its bony finger, the heavy bracelets loosened and fell towards the ground. The sound of them hitting the solid concrete was music to the angel’s ears, as his wings and mouth were also freed. The creature’s eyes scanned the angel up and down, harbouring a look of discuss in its burnt face. When it finally spoke, the razor jagged teeth emerge from behind its blackened lips.

"Brother how nice to finally see you again."

"We are not brothers Lucifer, you’re a monster," The angel snapped back.

"Ah so you remember my name, not all is forgotten then," the demon sickly smiled, edging its claw along the table.

"Look at me Raziel, look what I have become."

"You have no sympathy from me, only you are to blame for the actions you took,"

No pity lingered in Raziel's voice, only pure hatred at the monster standing in front of him.

Lucifer spoke again, and tried to plead with the angel, "We use to be brothers at mind, you and I. Never apart, always together. Until you left me."

Raziel took a step forward in anger, "No don't you dare alter the truth with your lies, you turned against our lord."

"He is not MY lord! He means nothing to me!" Lucifer screamed, the tension of his anger only furthered the cracks on the walls.

The angel stood frozen, speechless at Lucifer's rage. He was half way around the table by now and drawn close to Raziel, but his movement was motionless as the air in the room.

"Tell me, do you think he adores your company as much as Micheal or Gabriel? You’re just a diary to him," Lucifer's voice was as dark as Raziel could remember, the same vengeful voice he spoke on the night he was sentenced to an eternity in the Lake of Fire.

"I told you I'd be back for you the night I left didn't I not," Lucifer added, "I said you too will pay for betraying me, and taking sides with him."

Raziel fluttered his wings slightly, and tried to hold his nerve. Lucifer was a favourite in the eyes of the lord.His right hand man, and truly was the strongest and mightiest angel of all. His beauty was captivating, shone the brightest, and had a voice that calmed the stormy seas. However, his dark heart was the poison to his veins. He didn't understand the ways of the lord, and sought punishments for the mortal kind. Lucifer could easily overpower Raziel with just a sudden flick of his skinless finger.

The demon sketched his claw around the front of the stone table. The stench of burning flesh lingered from his presence.

"You cannot hold me here, there are more angel troops heading this way as we speak,"

Lucifer's voice was sour, "You’re standing in my realm Raziel, are you not? I don't see a God bursting through my door,"

Lucifer was right, was anyone actually coming to Raziel's need? Did they see him as a fallen angel now?

Raziel refused to let his mind clog up with disbelief, and begun asking questions to bide his time, "How did your demons find Nirvana?"

His satisfied voice replied, "They are not demons you fool, they are nothing but shadows held together by black magic. They were able to find Nirvana because my angel blood runs through they're bodies." Lucifer paused before continuing, "I call them Shades, stronger and wiser than any demon."

Raziel spoke in astonishment, "Thats impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, you should know that. You’re an angel who has done no wrong, yet your standing in hell."

Raziel's eyes dropped to the ground, still baffled by his new discovery. Lucifer wondered back behind the table, hiding a cunning grin that only showed the points of his disfigured teeth. The shadow of his torn wings casted darkness across the surface of the stone table. It was Raziel that spoke first.

"Don't think because you were able to spill the blood of the heavenly troops, that you can still get away with this," Raziel raised his head to Lucifier, "The Descendants will avenge us."

Lucifer broke out in a sharp laughter that shook the flames burning from the torches, "The Descendants haven't even formed yet, and when they do I'll be sure to greet them with open arms."

His laughter was cut short when he slammed both hands down onto the table, his voice remained neutral, "I want out of this eternal burning, and you’re going to help me."

Raziel spoke harshly in his mind, I will never help you demon! He brushed his hand against his waist, where his sword once lied before he was attacked by shades.

"As the archangel of God's secrets, I know you know where he hid the three underworld plates," Lucifer said.

"I will never betray the lord's trust in me."

"No, but you betrayed my trust didn't you. You b*****d I should burn you where you stand!"

The tension in the room was thick and small, slits had begun peaking through the surfaces of the stone table. Raziel was powerless below the earth, there was nothing he could do but try to escape. Turning away from Lucifer he hurried to the door, pulling on the jammed handle that refused open. The demons voice screamed behind him tinged with rage, and he could hear the table being split apart, "DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME THE SECOND TIME RAZIEL!"

When the angel turned back to find Lucifer, he saw the evil for himself. Black torn wings lashed out into the air, his red eyes burned brighter than ever, and his lips that were pulled back, showed the entire range of razor teeth. The flames were cut and the room was replaced with darkness so black, that no light dared to pierce it. There was no sound of movement, just the trembling of nerves that escaped Raziels body. He held his arms out searching for the window. Although it was smeared with black smoke, maybe he could break it and fly out through it. Raziel's hands brush past the shattered remains of what use to be the stone table. He realized at this point that the window wasn't far from reach, and started edging towards it. The sharp sound of footsteps bounces of the walls, and tremble the ground below. Raziel's breath is stolen from him when the torches push the darkness away with a burst of light, and revealed the monster standing over him. Teeth on show with gleaming red eyes. Lucifer moved so quick that the angel didn’t feel the piercing of bone teeth ripping away into the skin of his neck. They sunk in deep, pulled back, and down into the neck wound again. The sound of torn flesh painted an image in Raziel's mind. It was gruesome and stomach turning. A scene of angel blood scattered across the red face of the devil, whilst he lied there falling in and out of consciousness. The image faded when his energy-less body hits the ground.

Lucifer’s voice echoed, "Your mine now."