Devil's tale

Devil's tale chapter 32

Farris had Jazz swung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and he had the goblin's mace stuck in his belt. The young man emanated a divine, golden, etherial light and from his back, two golden wings extended. Avarice recognised the wings, he'd know them anywhere. His face contorted into a grimace. "Neat little trick, disguising yourself as my father. How'd you managed to replicate his presence and wings like that?"

Farris began to pace side to side, eventually, he tossed Jazz to the ground, a look of disgust on his face. "It seems the goblin lied to me, you were looking for him, or at least, such is what I heard from the soldiers here."

"I don't abandon my friends, now answer me, how did you come by those wings?" Avarice asked as he ran over to Jazz to help him to his feet.

"You okay?" He asked the goblin.

"I've been better." Jazz groaned.

Avarice quickly tried to cast a healing-spell, but a blast of golden light shot at him and he was forced to dodge. He was too late, however, and the bolt of divine light deflected off of his dragon scale coat.

"Still hiding behind that little garment, are you?" Farris asked.

"What? Does it bring back painful memories for you?" Avarice asked, using his magic to change the air around them to mimic the sound of a dragon's roar and beating wings.

A look of frustration passed Farris's eyes. "Cowards like you always must rely on higher powers to save them, regardless."

"And you? Were you always an angel, or did your precious king give you that power?" Avarice said.

"That's not the same. I earned this power through my own merit. The king bestowed this strength upon me out of his trust in my skills." Farris said.

Avarice laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what he told you! All he did was mimic the power of another angel and give you a cheap copy! Those wings aren't even originals! Your king's clad you in hand-me-downs."

"You think these wings fake?" Farris asked with a small smile.

Suddenly, a grave look crossed Jazz's face and he said softly. "Avarice, whatever he says, you need to stay calm!"

"Well duh. I'm not so stupid as to-" Avarice began to say when Farris cut him off.

"These wings were taken from a foolish, fallen angel who had lost his right to bear them. By my honour, I shan't disgrace this gift by failing to capture you a second time." He said as his radiant wings flared with divine light so strong Avarice had to raise a hand in front of his eyes to block the glow. He felt the overwhelming strength of Farris, even at this distance. He sensed reserves of power so large they may as well have been limitless, skills and spells the angel could inherently perform that were almost beyond Avarice's comprehension. But none of that mattered to Avarice, all he felt in that moment, was pure, unbound, rage. Avarice let out a scream and from his body, there erupted a torrent of fire. For the first time, Avarice didn't just control fire, he brought it into being. Had he been thinking rationally, he may have wondered if this was thanks to his increased acceptance of his devilish side, but he didn't have the luxury of calm analysis at the moment. He stared Farris down and asked in a trembling voice.

"Those- Those wings... they're Roland's aren't they?"

"Indeed." Farris replied.

A singular tear fell down Avarice's cheek, only to evaporate from the heat his body was giving off. He then glanced over to his side, he might have been enraged, but he was still himself, and he realised his fire could have hurt Jazz next to him. To his surprise, however, the goblin was fine. Avarice said quickly in goblin. "This is going to get destructive! Emily's at the imperial hotel. Regroup there!"