Ethereal - Part Two

Chapter 46 - Prized Trophy

Kazier mercilessly struck both his sword and his dagger into the one whom he once called his brother. My hand flew to my mouth after Kazier had pulled out the weapons and Thoren still fought back with such aggression. Apparently having my blood in his system made him much stronger than before.

After I had slaughtered Mammon, my next aim was targeted at Lucifer, but during the fight with Ryelen on my side as we fought the two demons, I had injured him and he had then disappeared. That stressed me out completely. I didn’t know what his next move would be, so I didn’t know what to expect.

My eyes flitted back towards Kazier as he and his brother attacked each other and my heart sank. Kazier wasn’t faring too well against his newly turned demon brother. My body jerked forward in response to want to help him but Azriel pulled me back into his protective embrace.

I knew he felt as though it wasn’t our part to interfere, but Kazier was now on his knees with Thoren’s claw gripping tightly onto his neck. He needed help. Thoren was proving to be a stronger and more agile fighter than Kazier, now that he was a demon.

I turned to my side to look at Ryelen, Torrin and Destry. They were finishing off the last handful of demon filth that was around. Some time ago, Zeir left the room in search of Clarren who was making sure that the portal to reach back home wasn’t in any way of being compromised.

I wondered to myself if there was some way in which portals could forever be banned. That would at least ensure the safety of humans on Earth if no more demons could travel from here to land in Earth.

But how would that be possible and how would it even be monitored? My concentration soon broke as a pained shrill filtered through the air, simultaneously heard with an outcry of agony as I examined and saw Kazier driving his weapon into his brother’s chest.

Thoren stumbled back in shock as he glared back at Kazier. You could see that he hadn’t expected his own brother to defeat him and slice through him so mercilessly.

But Kazier was relentless. I watched as he reached down to grab a dagger that was strapped to his thigh and then he brought it up in the air. Letting out a lengthy scream, he jumped forward, plunging the small knife along Thoren’s neck.

Thoren was dead basically immediately, but Kazier never stopped screaming. I then broke free from Azriel’s hold and ran over to Kazier, who had now fallen to his knees. I placed my arms around his neck and dragged him towards my embrace, while he howled in my ears.

My own tears moistened my cheeks at Kazier’s condition. Someone who was always so cheerful and smiling. I rubbed the back of his head and he buried his face deeper into the crook of my shoulder.

“My brother…” He started, but I hushed him instantly. “I know, I’m so sorry”. Kazier sniffed a few more times until he slowly moved away from me. “You do not need to be sorry, my brother failed you and for that I apologise”. “There’s no need for that, Kaz. None of this is your fault” I assured him, my hand wiping at his tears.

“All of this could have been avoided if I had checked up on him”. “Kaz…”. “No, I knew he was up to something. He seemed…distant. Not his usual self”. I was about to tell him that there was no way he could have seen this betrayal coming, when Azriel gripped Kazier by his neck.

“You knew something was wrong and you did not tell any of us!?”. “What the fuck, Azriel! Let him go”. My hands promptly trying to pry Azriel’s hands off Kazier’s neck. “I know, I messed up. I should have said something”. Torrin noticed us and joined, placing himself between Azriel and Kazier. “This isn’t his fault, just let him go!” I shouted and eventually Azriel let go.

Ryelen clicked his tongue behind us and I turned to look at him. “Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves, brothers. We have already lost one of us, we need to stick together”. Azriel and Kazier glanced at each other and then slowly, Azriel reached his arm across Kazier’s shoulders, giving him a slight squeeze.

“Good, now we can leave from here” Torrin spoked and I stretched my hand out to stop him. “Leave? We can’t just leave, what about Lucifer?”. “What about him?” Azriel asked me. “Are we not going to kill him?” I asked him, my eyebrows hiking up my forehead.

“That is just the thing, we cannot. Lucifer is the ruler of Hell. If he dies, no one controls the punishment of the souls. Of course, he can be replaced. But such is a life no one would want for themselves” Ryelen told me. “But he will come after me again” I reminded them. Lucifer would surely not just give up and let me go, would he?

“Not anytime so soon. We have killed almost all of his demons; he will need some time before he faces us again” Torrin replied, his voice sounding slightly sullen. “When he comes for you again, we will be better prepared” Azriel assured me and ran his hands up my arms in a comforting gesture.

“Now that all that is spoken for, are we leaving?” Destry’s bored voice was heard and the rest of them nodded their heads. I turned my head to search across the room quickly before they started walking out of the room.

“What are you looking for?” I heard Azriel ask and I glanced at him quickly, before stepping over a few dead demons. I crouched to the ground and slipped my hands under the heavy weight. Then I stood up and walked back to Azriel. “Leave this behind, Mira. We have no longer a need for it” He told me, a soft crinkle appearing at the root of his nose.

“No, this is a part of you. I won’t have Lucifer parading your honour on the walls of Hell, like some prized trophy from a fresh kill. It’s coming home” I responded to him, stroking the silky black feathers with my thumb. Azriel let out a lengthy sigh and then took the heavy set of wings from my hands to keep in his own. “Fine, as you say”.

Azriel and I quickly caught up to Ryelen, Destry, Torrin and Kazier. Luckily it was a short walk to where the portal out of Hell was. And soon we were standing before the dark abyss, where Clarren was waiting for us.

“Where’s Zeir?” I asked her, the minute my eyes noticed that he wasn’t around. Clarren’s lips were drawn into a thin line as she pointed down a corridor to her side. I turned to look at the direction she was pointing in and had to narrow my eyes at the lack of light to make out their figures.

Zeir was busy talking to his sister, Lilith. “There is no time to waste, the sooner we leave the better for us” Ryelen said and tilted his head at Clarren, signalling her to get Zeir. She nodded her head and then went after Zeir. I stood where I was, my eyes following Clarren, in case Lilith decided to do something to them. But to my surprise, she just gave her brother a hug and then walked down the corridor, out of sight.

Zeir and Clarren both walked towards us. Zeir gave one hard glance at the wings in Azriel’s hand and then he sent a soft smile my way and asked, “Are you ready to leave”. “More than ever” I replied and then slipped my hand around his and Azriel’s arms.

Destry and Ryelen went through first, and then Torrin, Kazier and Clarren went after them. I stepped forward, my hand still clutching onto both Zeir and Azriel. Before I stepped into the portal with them, I glanced back for a moment and saw the dark shadow of Lucifer in the distance, watching us.