Malevolent

Chapter 31

The earth might as well have ruptured beneath them open and unleashed the devil standing before Amra. If she thought Dante looked unholy before, this was nothing compared to the times she had seen the beast within him unleash itself.

With a sinister grace, vast black wings unfurled from each end of his shoulders. 

The fire that licked along the edges of each razor-sharp feather added to the promise of pain, but the fire wasn't limited to Dante's wings anymore.

Amra's mouth hung open, her gray eyes so dilated they were nearly black. Above Dante's dark-scaled imperial horns, hovered a ring of light, a halo of fire that matched his left eye, while the other blinked back an abysmal shade.

A grim smirk twisted his lips, accentuating an unsettling pair of canines.

Amra followed the contours of his body—a nebulous blue shade tinged down his bare chest, lingering over the sturdy trunk of his torso. His forearms were cloaked in darkness, like a sinister glove, extending to his elongated talons— so sharp, they  could easily slice through anything in his path. 

The inky darkness trailed down his pelvis towards his legs, a river of obscurity that merged into the powerful legs on which he stood. Each clawed foot could easily deliver bone-crushing strikes. 

This was the true nature of Dante's demon.

From his clawed extremities, to his fiery horns, Dante stood over 7-feet, a beast of bone crushing might. And in response, the angels clenched their weapons tighter in their grasp, steadying their footing. 

They held their ground, not completely at a loss either. They stood just as tall as Dante, their wingspans as long, and their belts strapped with weapons.

"Well," Dante took a step forward unraveling a deadly smirk. "What are we waiting for?"

With a single powerful movement, he flared his shoulders, a burst of razor-sharp feathers shot from Dante's wings. 

The angels dove out of the way, slinging their blades back at him.

Dante marched forward unfazed, closing his wings around him, like a shield of fire and metal. 

"It's like you're not even trying!" He taunted.

Each blade that struck the shield fell to the floor, melting from the heat. 

Dante had managed to avoid each blow, unlike one of the angels who caught a direct hit from Dante's feathers.

Amra watched anxiously, her heart racing as she observed Dante emerge from his shield of feathers. He was maintaining control, but he hadn't fed, and she wondered how long until his rage and power burned through the walls of his control.

For now, the demon within seemed content to be unleashed. Dante's own fury was enough to fuel the demon.

Dante ducked away, avoiding the angelic blade that was swung towards his face. He seized the angel's wrist, using their sword to block the blow of the other sword that was about to strike his back. The angels grunted as their fists began to move at blurring speed.

The angel who had been down was finally recovering and sat up—three against one.

There was no way this could keep going. Not without any fatalities. 

A bright light caught Amra's attention skyward and through the shield of dark glimmer came another two angels. Shit! Amra cursed. Her heart sank. Dante stood, surrounded by five angels. 

☽𓇢𓆸☾

Lily felt as though the world were spinning. What the hell had just happened? One moment she had been next to her sister and the next it was as if a bomb had detonated between them.

As Lily's vision cleared and her ears stopped ringing, she swore she could hear a voice whisper her name, but she was too shocked by the sight before her. 

Darkness surrounded her. A strange current of electricity swarmed through the air, and as she looked up, she swore there was something there, coating the night sky like a glimmery shield. 

What the hell is this? 

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she looked around the parked cars and trees for Amra but couldn't find her. Instead, just a couple of feet away from her, stood three massive men. Hooded, with wings—yes long angel wings— that stretched as far as they were tall. 

Lily felt her heart rhythm spike, for once she wasn't sure if she had finally gone insane.

"Lily." She heard her name again. She spun around to face the person calling her and almost screamed, except a firm hand clasped around her mouth, muffling her voice.  

"Shut up, I'm trying to help." A man with unnatural neon green eyes scorned her, his tone as sharp as his gaze.

Lily wasn't sure why, but she felt more fear of the hooded angels behind her than for the man with wicked neon green eyes.

A scream pierced the air, catching Lily's attention. Her gaze snapped back to see her sister had been caught within the grasp of one of the winged men. A guttural roar followed, shaking the ground below her. 

The sound sent shivers down her spine and pumped her veins full of adrenaline.

Lily followed the roar, leading her straight to a massive demonic-looking creature with giant curled horns, its predatory eyes were locked onto her sister. 

On instinct, she shuffled closer to the green-eyed man's chest. "W-what the hell is that?"

"Lily." The green-eyed man tilted her chin towards him. "You need to get out of here." He pulled her up by the arms, not giving her a moment to speak.

Lily had no idea what was happening, but one thing was certain in her mind— her sister was in danger and she needed to help. Hell...I can't bail. She stomped her foot down, but it was as if the green-eyed man hadn't noticed. He hauled her like she was weightless. 

"Hey, wait, m-my sister we can't leave her." She tried to wrench herself free from his grip.

Arlo growled, his expression darkened as his jaw tensed. "I knew you'd react like this. Listen to me. I need you to grab your brother and head somewhere safe. I'll take care of this."

"Take care of this? That's my—"

"This isn't an option. Either you go willingly, or I will make you, but the longer you take, the longer it will take me to help your sister."

What could he do against five winged men and a demonic creature? Still, something about his gaze pleaded with her to trust him.

"Ugh, Fine!" Lily grumbled, shooting him a glare and pointed her finger at him. "But promise me that you will come get me once she is safe."

"I promise." He said as they reached the end of the shimmering shield.

Her mind raced, wondering how she was supposed to get out of this thing? The shield completely sealed them in, from the sky above to the ground below.

As if reading her thoughts,  the green-eyed man pushed his hand onto the shield, lighting up some sort of glowing rune. He reached down, behind a nearby bush and lifted a massive sword. 

Only half of it was visible to her, the pointy end was somewhere outside of the shield. As he began to lift the blade, the shield began to spark, crackling and opening up. 

Lily assumed the sword must be the only thing keeping the shield from completely closing.

"Quickly, before it catches their attention." He ordered.

Taking a deep breath, Lily took a heavy step forward, her foot imprinting into the mud below as she went through the barrier.