Darksiders: Deathly Aura (Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen From Spire to Citadel

Corruption had driven them beyond the point of madness.
As each Angel surged in to attack, their words came out in demented rasps.

"You will serve us!"

"Those who oppose us must die!"

"The Balance is no more!"

However, neither Carina or Death paid much heed to their words. The two had already decided on their plan of action.
Divide and conquer.
Like moths attracted to the light of a lamp, the Angels immediately pursued one or the other.

Scythe drawn, Death made himself airborne; leaping up to meet the nearest Angel. As it lashed out with the sword it held, the rider grabbed its forearm and threw himself over the Angel's shoulder. With an arcing swing of a blade, his opponent plummeted to the ground; its body in one place, head in another.
As soon as Death set foot on the blood-splattered stone floor himself, another Angel smashed into the Horseman; sending them both crashing across the ground in a mess of fists, wings and blades.

Carina jumped and flipped from place to place, dodging Angels that lashed out with their weapons, or those that swept in to try and pin her down.
As the small group of them surrounded her, the Auralin instantly began charging power to her hands, releasing it in a blasting shockwave of crackling blue. With her attackers stunned, Carina launched herself at the closest one; aiming for its tainted wings.
Getting behind the Angel, she plunged her newly formed swords into its shoulder blades. Screeching, the corrupted thing painfully spread its wings and suddenly shot upwards.

"Oh crap, no! Abort!" Carina exclaimed as she tried to retract her blades before the Angel got too high.

However, it suddenly arced, its back facing the ground. With a curse lost in an unintentional cry, the Auralin fell. But with a hard strike from the quickly descending Angel, she dropped like a stone, bouncing across the ground before skidding to a stop.

With the wind knocked out of her, Carina coughed and spluttered as she tried to sit up. A winged shadow fell over the Auralin as her corrupted attacker made a return. Weapon drawn, the Angel surged downward, but never hit its target.
Seconds before impact, Carina dodged it by rolling back. The Angel's sword became lodged in the stone, cracks rippling outward from it. Not wasting even a second, the girl got up and came forward, slitting the Angel's throat. Lifeless, it collapsed; both blood and black ooze flowing down its front.

Backing up, Carina looked ahead to see how Death was managing. The rider was making quick work of his latest enemies, but for someone else, it wasn't fast enough...

As the Horseman went to finish off another Angel, a beam of bright yellow light did the task for him.
Both Death and Carina looked up to see a mighty, four winged Angel fly down into the battle. Armed with a powerful staff, he killed off the last of his lost brethren that remained without so much as a second thought.

With the fight abruptly ended by the newcomer, both Horseman and Auralin withdrew their weapons. Dust and Soren returned to them as they'd fled to the sidelines when the battle broke out.

Settling himself on solid ground, the Angel turned to them.
Grey robes, accompanied by bronze armour covered him from head to toe. Underneath a draping hood, the Angel's face glowed with a yellow radiance.
Tucking in his double set of feathered wings, he spoke.

"You're fortunate today, Horseman. As are you...Auralin. Now, perhaps you should enter the safety of my abode before more forces of darkness rear their ugly heads"

Not waiting for a response, the Angel took off for where he had come from; the top of the tower.
Those he left behind exchanged glances with words attached.