Nezzar

Part Two: Insanity

"Can I attack now?"

"No," Abaddon answered. His stare ahead remained steady, not a single shift in his expression. Ziba, on the other hand, was getting more and more restless. It was the fourth time she had asked Abaddon if it was time to attack, and his answer was yet to change.

It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at the plain of Dura, and now the sun was almost setting. Still, Abaddon stood upon his cloud, staff hovering before him as he observed Insanity from a distance.

Insanity had stopped his raging the instant Abaddon and Ziba arrived. Now he sat upon the crowned head of the statue, shoulders and wings drooped, arms limply hanging between his thighs and head cast back as he watched the dark swirling clouds gathered above him.

"There is something..." Ziba's words faded as the strange sensation intensified around her. It was like a second layer of air resting upon what was previously present. As it pulsed against her skin, she tightened every muscle in readiness to strike.

"He sent one of himself after the king," Abaddon mumbled.

"Shouldn't we attack now? Why are we waiting?"

Even though Abaddon gave no reply, Ziba suspected he was doing something in the background to counter Insanity. What about her? What should she do? This stare-off was messing with her patience.

Red lightning flashed amidst the swirling clouds and at their wake were rumbles of thunder. Ziba switched to her adult form and willed to existence golden blades that lined the sides of her arms.

Algodon's warning made complete sense. Something was beyond off about Insanity. The level of power he was emitting-Ziba shook her head, unwilling to deeply consider how he would choose to unleash it.

"That meddlesome angel must have sent you to stop us," Insanity finally broke his silence, but his eyes remained fixed on the sky.

"We will kill the king tonight." Despite Insanity being a considerable distance away, his whispered words reached Ziba, fleeting from one ear to the other. "We are no longer interested in taking his mind. His life. He will pay with his life since he robbed us of our sacrifice."

Ziba was about to spit a reply in response to his twisted logic, but Abaddon's warning reached her faster than her lips could move. It was a prod at her right temple like a finger tapping once. Biting her tongue, she swallowed her bitter words.

Dragging his focus from the dark clouds, Insanity pierced Ziba with his full attention. His eyes were wide and shifty with pupils so shrunk they resembled black dots, and his blond hair was dull damp strings that curtained the sides of his now gaunt face. "First was Daniel, now these three."

Insanity's left wing twitched as he cast his attention below and eyed a dead furnace. "The fire was fierce. How they would have burned."

Though the change was slow, it began. From the base of Insanity's wings, black ate away at the white, the tips of the feathers appearing singed with fire as they gave off wisps of smoke. Soon, what was once a dazzling white robe turned black with tattered sleeves and hem.

"They would have burned, and it would have been beautiful-a mockery of their faith. Ha!" Insanity's slouched shoulders shook as the beginning of a low laugh seized his body, and then his laughter turned raucous before growing to tearful bawling. Black tears tracked down his face as his eyes bulged. He did not stop staring at the furnace as he wept and laughed. "A flawless plan ruined. Now, he cuddles his wife and basks in the glory of his kingdom. Such prideful ignorance is deserving of death." A hateful scowl pinched Insanity's face.

Abaddon retrieved his staff from its floating position, but as if triggered by the movement, Insanity's attention snapped his way. "At last, you moved. Have we begun?"