Immolation Ex: The Knower (COMPLETED)

Chapter XXXVIII

Carter, Angel, Louisa, Azazel, and Michael all peered over the edge of the sandstone cliff and down into the valley at the Grigori horde.

"Holy shit!" Angel exclaimed. "There is no way we can fight that and win, ya'll!"

Carter nodded. "I agree. We need a lot more Original Souls...trained Original Souls to handle this."

"Carter, you and Angel are both correct. We cannot defeat that many Grigori. Even with Dustyn and Danny, the odds would not be in our favor."

Flash! A cloud of dust rose into the air behind the five beings.

"Sup, you guys?" Gadreel said, as he lowered himself in between Michael and Azazel who just stared at each other in confusion. Gadreel looked to his left and then his right. "I got nothin' better to do my brothers. That gig down in Boca Raton got cancelled due to some storm."

"Right," said Carter.

Gadreel peeked over the edge. "Holy shit!"

"That's what I said," Angel said with a nod of agreement.

"There is no way we can fight that and win, you guys!"

"I know, right?" Angel agreed.

Azazel stared blankly across the desert wondering what in the Hell he had gotten himself into.

Michael rubbed his face with his hands. "We need to get word to Heaven somehow and let them know what is going on down here. With this many Grigori aligning with that cabal of Watchers, there has to be something very, very big in the works. This is not about Dustyn, Danny, or any of us. We are just a means to an end."

"And what is the end, brother?" Azazel asked.

"I don't know, but the only way to find out is to get closer..."

"I'm not going down there," Gadreel said. "Bro, I know you and Azazel might think I've lost my mind a long time ago. Heck, since I've decided I would help you guys out, even I think I'm nuts. However, this? I don't know...this is just Angelcide."

"You mean suicide?" Carter asked.

"Mine sounds better, Badass," Gadreel shot back.

Carter shrugged his shoulders and then returned his attention to the golden army milling about below. He squinted. "Hmmm, what's that?" he wondered and then formed his rifle in his hands.

"Whoa, wait a damn minute, fool!" Gadreel said excitedly. "Are you insane?"

"Calm down, Gadreel, I'm just looking at something," the sniper retorted, placing his eye to his rifle's scope. He scanned over the Grigori encampment and then froze. "Damn."

"What?" Michael asked.

Carter laid the weapon down and closed his eyes. "Bezaliel's been busy."

Azazel extended a grey hand to Carter. "Let me see!" The watcher secured the rifle from the former soldier and lifted it to his eye. "Damn."

"Will somebody please tell me what all this 'damning' is about?" Louisa said in frustration.

Carter and Azazel both looked over at the police officer. "Soul Disruptors."

"Huh? What are those?"

BOOM!

"That!" Carter shouted as he grabbed the woman and pulled her down with the rest of the spiritual assault team jumping back from the edge of the cliff. The bolt of energy whizzed over Carter and Louisa's heads, missing them by millimeters.

Louisa lay back on the warm sandy rocky surface and glanced around at the serious faces surrounding her. "That felt like...like...okay, that shit was scary! I mean I'm dead, I get it, but, damn!"

"They're demon killing bazookas or somethin'!" Angel shouted. "We had some back at the warehouse, but they got left when we had to split."

"So, you've ran into them before?"

"Oh yeah, but not this many. From what I can tell, they've got dozens of them now." Carter said. "We have to be careful."

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"I gave no orders for anyone to discharge their weapons!" Countess Bathory shouted as she stepped from the cave and into the desert air. "Who is responsible for this insubordination?"

Bezaliel followed the Grigori commander out into the Mojave sun and stood with her hands on her hips. She growled as she witnessed Elizabeth's Confederate assistant approaching them.

"Ma'am! It's Michael and all! I seen 'em up on that ridge over yonder!" Bloody Bill exclaimed. He narrowed his golden eyes as he witnessed Bezaliel's sneering gaze. "What, witch?"

The Watcher lifted her hand.

"Don't!" the Countess barked. "Both of you, that's enough! Continue William."

"One of Himmler's SS soldiers spotted something reflectin' up amongst the rocks." The Grigori commander pointed toward Michael and the others' previous position above the valley. "It looked like that sniper feller was checking us out with his rifle."

"Very well, dispatch two squads to intercept them."

The rebel nodded and began to turn.

"Wait, make it three and have your troops circle around behind them, but do it from a wide area, one squad from each direction with the canyon to Michael and Azazel's backs. I don't want them to see us coming. And Bill?"

"Yessum?"

"I want them in one piece."

Bloody Bill acknowledged his orders with a tip of his hat and then quickly glided off to gather his team together.

"Azazel must have sensed it."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, looking at the Watcher over shoulder. "Sensed what?"

"Dustyn's, erm, change in status."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed asked. "Where is he?"

"Gone. Apparently, who or whatever took my toy must have dispatched him. Either that or he vanished from existence because of my somewhat aggressive play sessions," Bezaliel said with a grin. "Without a recharge, his energy could've just faded."

"You are absolutely unbelievable. How have you and your kind managed to exist this long? The concept of taking a hostage must be foreign to you," the countess said, crossing her arms. "The objective is to keep the hostage...well, actually hang on to the hostage and then keep them alive until such a time their usefulness has run out. You don't kill them or lose them before its time or what's the point?!"

"I didn't lose him, he was taken! In fact, I am going to ignore your sudden and rather flagrant disrespectful diatribe for a moment, Countess, and tell you like I told King David...you are all dead, already!" The Watcher turned and strode angrily back into her cave.