The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 9

IX

URIEL

175 A.E.F.

Eli's Chapel, Sanctuary

"I don't know who you are, or why you're doing this," Uriel said, his voice reverberating as if an enraged chorus was shouting along with him, "but you're never going to touch Eli again." His hand shot out as Faust began to rocket upwards from the force of the blow. Instead of allowing his enemy to tumble back to the ground, however, Uriel grabbed his enemy's ankle and whipped his foe back down into the ground like a hammer. Something else had taken hold of him. That same fire that had claimed him in the forest. "I'll break every bone in your body if that's what it takes to stop you."

Faust laughed as he snapped his jaw back into place. He laced his hands behind his head, resting comfortably in the small crater his violent impact had created. "You're different than you were before. Than even a moment ago." He looked over at Eli. "It really is something, this thing that you've made. It's a monster, just waiting for the right push. Don't worry, I'll give it the proper motivation."

"Uriel," Eli wheezed, "run." He held his hand out, training a desparate finger on Faust as white sparks began to fizzle around the tip.

"No," Faust said, grabbing Eli's sword from where it had fallen on the ground. "I'm afraid I've got plans for him now." In one blindingly fast strike, he disappeared in a flare of dark fire, reappeared behind Uriel, and then rammed the Silverwood through Uriel's shoulder. "You said you'd break every bone in my body? Let me show you how it's done." Then he grabbed the handle of the blade with both hands and used it to beat Uriel against the chapel's pillars, its walls, and even its pews. All while the blade slid back and forth through the meat of Uriel's back, like a jagged saw. "I warned you. I gave you a chance to stay away," he said, putting a foot on Uriel's back and giving the blade's handle a push. "But I have to admit, I really should be thanking you instead." Faust glanced over at Eli with a frosted smile on his emotionless lips. He slammed his heel down on Uriel, a rib audibly cracking under the brutal force. "You're the one pressure point that can make Eli squirm. And he's your," he said, watching a spark of anger light in the Fisher's eye. "And, unfortunately," he said as he again brought his heel down on Uriel, this time crunching a leg bone, "this is only going to work if you both suffer. Not needlessly, but just enough. So we'll do this slowly."

"Stop this, Faustus," Eli said, steadying his finger as its sparks continued to increase in intensity and frenzy. "I would never raise my hand against you for my own life," he said slowly, "but you won't strike Uriel again."

Faust raised an eyebrow. "No? Well, we'll just-"

Suddenly, Faust was thrown to the side as Uriel's body shot into the air, propelled by a blast of white fire. The embers in his eyes blaze brighter than ever before as he spun in midair, a fist engulfed in an angry inferno rocketing into Faust's chest and sending the Nephilim tumbling to the ground. Uriel landed effortlessly on his feet and then extended a palm where a torrent of silver combustion began to gather. "Your name is Faust, right?" this Uriel said in his distant, choral voice. "You know, I'm not exactly sure what you are. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I am." He glanced down at the sword in his shoulder and gave his opponent a maddened grin. "But I do know that whatever the hell I am is a hell of a lot stronger than anything you've got."

Faust hissed as he rose to his feet. "I stabbed you through the shoulder, beat you against the walls, shattered a rib and crushed a leg." He threw out his arms wide. "How are you standing? Don't you feel any pain?"

Uriel tore the blade from its bloody resting place and threw it to the side. "No," he said, pressing a burning hand to the wound and sealing it instantly. "Let's see if you do."