Daerios was conversing with Tiamat when he smelt thick, putrid smoke coming from the ground floor. He sprang up and checked the exit for warmth. When he confirmed that it was cold, he deemed it safe enough to open.
He was greeted with flames. They raged across the floor, devouring paintings and carpets. He gazed down the stairs in hope that the fire hadn't spread too far, yet it had. Smoke filled his lungs as he raced down, barking orders along the way.
"Tiamat—use the window! Abaddon—don't open that door! Balaam—grab the water pails!"
He weaved through the raging inferno, somehow able to keep his clothes from catching on fire. Yet the smoke was burdening him down, and his lungs were starting to fail.
"Please ... be alright!" The blaze had covered the entire floor. He froze and stared. "They're gone ..."
The thought faded as quickly as it came. If he was quick enough, he could save them.
He burst through the wooden doors to see the sight of his family panicking. The snakes were scattered all over the place, some on the verge of suffocation.
He gathered them up in one hand and broke the glass cage with the other. The glass embedded itself in his soft flesh. The pain ripped through his body, blood splattering everything under him, yet he did not cease. Once the hole was of a sufficient size, he threw the pythons out. Falling from several feet wouldn't be good for them, but dying in a fire was even worse. As he threw the last of the youngsters outside the hole, he could only hope that they ended up alright.
In the next room, he was greeted with an even worse sight. A black python with fiery wings sat in the middle of the inferno, squirming and trying to make its way out. He immediately recognized the serpentine form — it was one that seraphim used. "Azazil, you ..."
As much as he wanted to leave Azazil there, he couldn't help himself. Fellow snakes were his weak spot, and seeing Azazil lying there, in pain ... He gathered Azazil up and tossed him out the door.
After he rescued Azazil, Dareios rushed outside — or rather, he tried to. The smoke had almost completely filled his lungs, and the pain spiked with each step he took. The adrenaline had shielded him from the pain until now, but once he saved everyone, it had faded away.
His legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, helpless. Am I really going to die like this? Without a glimpse of salvation?
As Dareios' vision blackened, he thought only one thing: Father ...
YOU ARE READING
The New Helel
FantasyAll his life, Azazil was expected to be perfect. He rose from the ashes of his namesake Helel, so he was expected to become even greater. But what happens when you have to become greater than the most perfect of God's creatures? Unfortunately for Az...
