Halo Of Horns (Discontinued)

FIVE

Harpies were disgusting hybrid bird creatures with a fowl screech that could deafen anyone within earshot. They would breed and roost on the peak of Mount Pilar and would ultimately escape Hell to pass judgment upon the sinners of Earth.

This of course was necessary before the birth of Christ when sinners needed to face the wrath of God. They traveled on the backs of the wind and feasted on flesh, an insatiable hunger controlling them. They were no longer needed in the modern age, but their numbers continued growing rapidly. Each breeding season, an immense amount of harpies would be born and flood the banks of the River Repose, where souls who neither did good nor bad in their lifetime waited in eternal rest.

When Leviathan initially requested Azazel's assistance it was meant to be temporary. Most of what he needed him for was disposing of the harpies that were beyond the River. He also knew Azazel's wrath hadn't been unleashed in a hundred years or so and the tension would be building inside of him.

Azazel was not born a demon. He was born an angel who had fallen. The difference was, evil was not within his being but rather had to be accepted. Over time, the evil within him would bubble and grow, fueling his wrath and making his outbursts more damaging.

Unleashing this wrath had similar effects. It fed into his hate and greed, his pride soaring with each accomplishment, and thus his power growing. It was a dangerous mix that needed to be maintained.

Azazel agreed, rather unwillingly, to join Leviathan on Mount Pilar just for the few months after the breeding season when the older harpies were kicked from their roosts to make room for the young. Their numbers needed to be controlled or even altogether exterminated.

However, as each breeding season came and went, the issue never seemed to diminish. Each time they thought the job was close to being done they were met with another wave. Before long, four years had passed.

Four years of continuous hunting and slaying.

It was enough to turn his eyes from their normal orange glow to a deep red, the color of stained blood. His soul, or what was left of it, was hollow and dark, leaking the evil that lay inside and spreading it. His wrath had almost completely overtaken his body, making it nearly impossible for him to control his natural instincts and impulses.

Leviathan took note of Azazel's change in behavior and his heightened aggression. More and more Harpies were being slaughtered and torn to pieces in apprehensible ways rather than simple painless killings. Leviathan was no saint, but he made it a rule that all killings outside of soul torture, needed to be swift and clean.

Azazel was losing control and the handle on his wrath was slipping past a point that Leviathan wasn't sure he could stop it. The only other time Azazel's full wrath was experienced by the likes of Hell, was when he rose from his sorrow upon Lucifer's arrival. His entire being had changed so much from the bright light that shone upon Earth and walked alongside the humans. Being taken away from the beings he loved so much, destroyed his soul and it was only after thousands of years that he had managed to contain his inner sin.

Leviathan did not want to open that door once again, so he decided to send Azazel back home, waving away all of his complaints and his want to stay on the Mountain. Unwillingly, he agreed and returned to the castle.

Lucifer loved his brother and while he did not mind Azazel's appearance now and again, after finding Irina, Azazel's distaste for the girl and the two's tense relationship was creating a strain between the brothers.

He hated to admit it but the past four years, were more or less smooth sailing. Lilith only returned a few times to provide comfort to Irina when she was lost, but overall the puberty drama eventually died and his little girl was back to her normal self. She had completed her studies and spent most of her time in the library or her bedroom.