Hypnotic

Eighteen

300 Years Ago

I winced as the sword dug into my throat, and I could feel my blood running down my flesh. "What are you doing here, abomination?" The angel growled, and I forced myself to meet his gaze. "I want to speak with my father," I replied evenly, flinching as the blade bit just a little bit deeper. "You aren't welcome here." "I'm well aware. But I'm still half angel. Are you really so willing to kill the offspring of your brother?" "You have no right to -" "Uriel.  Enough."

I inhaled a sharp breath as the weapon was lowered, and I placed my fingers to my throat, healing the bleeding cut. Uriel stepped back with a loud huff, wiping my blood off of his blade. "Samael," Michael began, his large black and white wings folding behind him as he crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?" I met his eyes and smiled coolly. "Nice to see you too, Dad." "Samael, this is no time for games. Father will be back soon, and -" "That's exactly it!" I interjected, pushing off the wall and stepping towards him. "God has been gone now for what? Seven thousand years? And he's just now coming back? Doesn't that make you wonder?"

"The only thing that makes me wonder is why in my Father's name you have to be so stubborn and hard headed!" Michael glared at me in anger, but I refused to back down. "I am so sick of you acting as though I am the same thing as you! I'm not an angel, Father!" "You could have been!" Michael's voice thundered loudly as his power spiked, lightning crackling outside of the palace. "You refuse to follow in my footsteps! You could have been such a wonderful asset to Yahweh!"

I bristled with anger, and I could no longer hold back the surge of power that raced through my veins. Uriel stepped back from me. "My God..." I bared my teeth at my father as my horns curled from my skull, my fangs glinting in the white light of the room. "Yahweh? You mean the one who killed my cousins, Kion and Aleric? The one who hunted me like prey for 200 years?" The rage was building inside of me rapidly, and I knew that I was about to fly off the handle. "The same Yahweh that forced your brother to give up his daughter just so he wouldn't kill her?"

"Samael, you have no place to speak of my Father that way!" Michael's fingered twitched around his Blade, and I scoffed. "You can't be serious! You're willing to kill your own son over this? It's starting to look like I'm not the bad guy here." "Enough!" He roared, lunging at me, and I let out a cry of pain as his blade impaled itself in my shoulder. I tried to pull it out, but I soon found that it had me pinned to the stone wall.

I watched Michael warily as his body shook in fury. "You never know when to shut your mouth," he growled, stalking forward and ripping the blade from my body. Hot, agonizing pain tore through my entire being, and I dropped to my knees, holding my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding. My dark green blood stained both my flesh and the stark white marble floor. A hand tangled itself in my hair and jerked my head up, causing a grunt to escape my clenched teeth.

"Why are you here, Samael?" Michael hissed in my face. I coughed as I struggled to catch my breath, but it very quickly morphed into laughter. In disgust, he threw my head back as he stood. I grinned up at him as I was finally able to heal the suture. "You hate me because I remind you of Lucifer. Isn't that it, Michael?" The archangel swung his weapon at me once more, but I quickly countered it by shielding myself with my wings. The cut stung, but it didn't affect me nearly as much as it would have had it touched my flesh.

"Get out!" Michael blindly swung at me, Uriel moving to help corner me. "Get out of the Lord's House, you illegitimate swine!" His words hurt, but I would have died before I showed it. "Your God is not my God," I said, readying myself to flee. "The next time I return to Heaven, I will kill him." I took off through the window, but I could hear my father's voice follow me.

"Watch your back, bastard son! We will never stop hunting you!"

For years, I ran and hid from the angel armies. For years, I was alone. But over time, I had made allies, people who vowed to stay by side no matter what happened - Waylon, the gryphon; Bune, the dragon; Orias, the demon; Sariah, the kitsune; and my oldest unlikely ally, Azrael, the Angel of Death. Each showed me how to walk Earth as a human, and taught me the ways of humans so I could better blend in. And after many more years, the angels had all but completely given up on their hunt for me.

Everyday, I strengthened myself. At first, I didn't like what I had to do in order to gain power. But as time passed, it evolved into a pastime. I was stronger than most of the other creatures that walked the Earth, and I eventually became equal in power to my father. Part of me wanted to return to Heaven and challenge him, but the other half quickly reminded me that angels weren't honest. I would have been remarkably outnumbered.

"So." I glanced up at Waylon as he sat beside me on the bed, brushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes. "Have you picked out a more human name yet?" I stared at him in confusion as he ate a chip. "Human name?" "Well, yeah. People don't exactly go around with names like Orias and Sariah." I raised a brow at the gryphon. "Then what do you go by?" "Kai." He shrugged as he took a sip of his cold coffee. "Short and sweet. Plus, it means King, so bonus points."

I sat in silence for a moment before I finally answered. "Damiar." 'Kai' pursed his lips. "Still an uncommon name, but I like it." I nodded, but mainly to myself as I returned to my phone.

"My name is Damiar Benjamin Krogh."