Darksiders: Age of Creation (Book 3)

Chapter 6: Reconciliation in all The Wrong Places

Zareal watched as Death and Fury streaked across the barren plains.
"...odd, I always thought they traveled together..." He thought out loud, jumping down from his perched place up in the tree.
Shifting quietly through the dense brush, Zareal edged closer to the horsemen to listen on their conversation.
"....I don't think the Council should have allowed Damiana to watch over Abbadon, you know how....distracted she can get." Fury voiced to Death, slowing her mount down to a trot.
'Abbadon?' Zareal thought, edging closer.
"Yes, I'm fully aware...but maybe she'll prove us wrong-"
"She barely could watch the house for an extended amount of time! There's an assassin..." Fury interjected, biting her bottom lip in fear.
"And Damiana is skilled enough to fight it off. The Council has its reasons to have made Damiana a Guardian to Abbadon." Death said, trying his best to soothe his sister.
'Assassin...Damiana....Dami.' Zareal felt his chest constrict in agony.
The two, although not officially together, had stop speaking weeks prior.
Well, Damiana stopped speaking to him. Ever since her mother was killed, Damiana had kept to herself, secluded herself even, from Zareal especially.
'This is gonna be stupid...but I'd rather die than to allow Damiana to do this alone.' Zareal took a sharp breath in and jumped into the path of the two horsemen.
Almost immediately, the two siblings drew their weapons and halted their horses.
"State your business." Fury hissed.
"Uh, yeah...not sure if you remember me-"
"You're the fallen angel Damiana detained and freed." Death said simply, keeping his blade towards Zareal.
"Oh, so you do remember. Um....speaking of Damiana...I couldn't help but hear that Damiana is in danger, based upon your concern?" Zareal stammered, unnerved by Death's piercing stare.
"Why would you care, Fallen One?" Fury snapped her whip towards Zareal in a testing manner.
"I...care for Damiana more than you do."
"You've only seen her once." Death said slowly.
"....Right. What does this assassin want? Why does Damiana have to protect Abbadon?"Zareal asked shakily, fearing the answer he would be given.
"How do we know YOU are not the assassin?"
Zareal sighed deeply and shrugged.
"Guess you're gonna have to trust me." He reached down into his satchel and pulled out a familiar light blue necklace.
"That's...how did you come-" Fury slid down from the saddle and snatched the necklace from Zareal's hand.
"What was Damiana to you, exactly?" Death asked.
Zareal blinked and ran a hand through his black hair.
"We are...were off and on, I guess." He replied, avoiding Fury's glare.
"I don't think I believe him, Brother." Fury said over her shoulder in their dead language.
"Damiana would have said something to us about you, even if she was wrong about it." Fury crossed her arms.
"There's a lot she didn't tell you."
"Such as?"
"Her favorite holiday is Halloween. She killed when she was just 10. She has the cutest birthmark on her thigh-" Zareal dazed off thinking of Damiana.
"How did you know she has-" Fury's place cheeks immediately turned a tinge of red.
"Fair enough...however this is classified between us and the Council." Death muttered, urging Despair to pass Zareal.
"You know...Dami is an Archangel too..." Zareal called after Death.
Despair came to an abrupt stop and Death turned to look at Zareal in the saddle.
"What?"
"She was born from an Archangel, that makes her 2nd in line to replace her parents in that position....and since her mother is dead..."
"Dammit!" Death turned Despair around and charged the other direction.
"We'll never make it-"
"Stay with the Fallen One, I'll be back!" Death called to Fury.
As the pale rider rode forth, Dust flew beside its master, easily matching Despair's pace.
"Go tell Damiana to stay put, you're faster than us." Death ordered, motioning for Dust to fly forward.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Present....
"Oh Great, it's Death." Damiana sighed, absentmindedly stroked Dust's wing.
Dust looked down at the approaching horseman and made a loud caw.
"Alright, guess we'll go down there and see what he wants?" Damiana turned and walked past Abbadon, motioning for Vora to follow.
Dust struggled against Damiana's grip and made a series of caws and screeches. When Damiana didn't seem to care, the crow circled around her head and pecked at her hair.
"Gah! What the hell, you stupid chicken!" Damiana snapped, waving Dust away.
Dust, seemingly giving up, simply landed on her shoulder and stayed silent.
"Maybe it was...warning us?" Vora questioned, floating next to Damiana.
"No, it always does that." Damiana rolled her eyes and walked down the hallway.
"It seemed alarmed, are you just going to wave it off?" Abbadon asked, looking down at Damiana in question.
Damiana only shrugged and soon came up to the top of the stairs leading down to the front door.
"Jeez, this place is a maze..." She mumbled, remembering that she and Vora went down the hallway beside the door.
When a harsh kick brought the front doors down, Damiana tilted her head at the approaching Horseman.
"Wow, Death, that wasn't-"
Death stopped once and blinked, as if he were shocked to see Damiana there. After a quick moment, Death drew his scythe and roughly pushed Damiana aside.
"What the hell?!" Damiana rose from the ground and glared at Death.
Death looked back at Damiana from the side, orange eyes glowing angrily. Looking away, Death raised his scythe and went to attack the stunned Abbadon.
"Hey!" Damiana took up Furor and Opacere, and jumped towards Death, knocking him back a few feet.
"Abbadon, go somewhere else!" She called to the Archangel, ducking when the blade of Harvester sped towards her head.
Death brought his blade back and swung downwards to Damiana. Yelping , Damiana crossed her arms together above her face. When the blade halted, Damiana opened one eye and noticed that a black ish grey shield materialized in front of her.
"Why are you doing this?" Damiana rolled backwards on to her feet when Death hesitated.
"You...gained your powers back?" He said quietly, voice not sounding at all how it usually does.
Damiana noted his voice change and took note, half heartedly swiping at Death.
Getting agitated, 'Death' grabbed Damiana by her neck and threw her into the wall beside them.
"Ow..." Damiana groaned, shaking the broken concrete from her hair.
When Damiana looked up and saw the blade come towards her head once more, Damiana crossed her arms and conjured the shield of shadows once more. Bashing Death's scythe back, Damiana dove to the side and held her defensive stance. When Death charged at her, Damiana listened to the tiny voice inside her head and transformed the shield into a large bladed sword.
The two weapons clashed and both parties struggled to gain the upper hand over the other.
"You're worthless. Why protect them?" Death muttered, orange eyes slowly turning to a deep purple.
"Who are you?" Damiana mumbled, slowly gaining the upper hand.
"I am...your death." 'Death' answered her, swiftly kicking Damiana's knee.
When she went down, Death approached with blade raised, prepared to strike. She took a sharp breath in and grabbed the hilt of the shadow sword. Blinking in uncertainty, Damiana thrusted the blade forward and punctured the Eldest Horseman's chest.
"You insufferable brat!" 'Death' roared, tearing the blade from his chest.
     He stopped abruptly and listened to his surroundings for a moment. When the familiar clatter of hooves echoed down the hall, 'Death' turned and looked down at Damiana.
"I won't hesitate in killing you next time, maste- Damiana." He said, holding his chest wound as he ran the opposite direction.
"De-Death..." She mumbled, sitting up.
     Ignoring Vora's, who had just reappeared, tugging for her to get up, Damiana only stared at the tip of the shadow blade.
Dark grey blood dripped from it...