The Protector (Niall Horan)

Chapter 14 - The four Dark Angels of the Underworld

Chapter 14 – The four Dark Angels of the Underworld

The tunnel was dark, is it wasn’t for Jack’s torch I would have walked against the walls numerous times. Liam – being a werewolf – nearly had a perfect night vision, so it didn’t bother him.

I ruffled the feathers of my wings and continued to follow Jack and Liam who both walked in front of me. Jack looked like he knew the way, as if he has been here numerous times before. I really need to ask him about that later.

When we had entered the tunnel Liam had changed back to his human form, me and Jack still had our wings.

“We’re almost at the end of the tunnel.” Jack announced after a while.

I looked up, and sure enough, I saw a flicker of light in the distance. Signalling the end of the tunnel was nearby.

“And then we’re inside the castle?” I asked.

“Yes, on one of the lower grounds. We need to go underground, to the dungeons. I assume they keep the other lads there.” Jack replied.

“I do recall being in one of the lower parts of the castle. When I escaped I had to climb many stairs,” Liam added.

“Liam, you better shift back to your wolf,” Jack told the brunet boy. Liam raised one of his eyebrows in confusion. “I have the feeling someone is waiting there for us, as a wolf you can defend yourself better.” He added.

My eyes widened. “What about me?” I asked.

Jack smirked and handed me a blade he clearly always kept with him. I took the blade with wide eyes. It seemed to be made out of glass and it had a dull colour, the edge was sharp and it was as light as a feather. “It’s a seraph blade, weapons of the angels and nephilim. Name one of the archangels and it takes their power.” Jack instructed and I nodded.

“Uriel,” I whispered, remembering one of their names. The blade glowed up in a silvery-white light. Jack took a similar looking blade and I could hear him whisper ‘Raziel’. Just like my seraph blade, it glowed up in a silvery-white light.

Jack grinned. “Let’s go,” he announced and he ran towards the end of the tunnel, his seraph blade casting a glow on the walls of the tunnel. Liam – now as a wolf – ran after him, snarling and howling. His talons scraping across the rocks of the floor. I tightened my hold on the seraph blade and I ran after Jack and Liam. 

The lights inside the castle blinded me for a while, but when my eyes adjusted, I noticed Liam and Jack standing in front of me. I ran towards them and stood on Liam’s other side, facing the four men in front of us. When I took a closer look, I noticed it weren’t men, but angels. Dark Angels precisely.

I recognized one of them as Avok; black hair and ice blue eyes, as Liam described him to be. I knew that the other Dark Angels were called Lucifer, Gideon and Lariel. One of them had brown hair and brown eyes, the other had white-golden hair and dark green eyes. The last one – who I recognized as Lucifer had red hair and coal-black eyes. They all had pitch-black wings on their back, like a raven’s wing.

The thing that surprised me the most was that all four the Dark Angels were looking at Jack with wide-shocked eyes, they seemed to recognize him.

“You,” the blond one spat at Jack, who merely raised one of his eyebrows in a mockingly way. “You do have courage to come back here, I give you that. But you are more foolish, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Gideon is right, what the hell are you doing here?” The one with the brown hair asked, his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. So, the blond one is Gideon. The one with the black hair is Avok. Lucifer is the ginger, so the one with the brown hair must be Lariel.

Jack merely shrugged his shoulders and took a step forward, his seraph blade blazing in his hand. “Three of my friends are here, kidnapped if I’m right. I’m here to get them back, together with my companions.” He said and pointed to Liam and me.

Avok’s ice blue eyes fell on Liam. “I recognize the werewolf boy, he’s the one who escaped. I assume the other three are the humans?”

Jack nodded and Avok’s eyes fell on me. He lazily took me in from head to toe and said, “What if we make a deal?” He directed Jack, his eyes not leaving me. Upon seeing the wicked twinkle in his cold eyes, I knew I wasn’t going to like the deal he was speaking about.

“What kind of deal?” Jack asked sceptical, clearly not too fond of the situation.

“The three boys for the angel, the short blond one.” He said with a nod in my way. I felt a bit offended that he referred to me as the ‘short blond one.’

“Me? What in the name of the Angel do you want with me?” I asked in disbelief. My white-golden wings ruffled in confusion.

It wasn’t Avok who replied. But Lucifer, who has been silent the whole time. His voice was as smooth as silk and it held a surprising gentleness. But upon seeing his cold and dark eyes I knew he was far from gentle. “You are powerful and our Master wants you on his side.” I assume that the ‘Master’ is Hades.

I huffed, “I’m not that powerful if you must know.” I told the Dark Angels with my arms crossed.

A smirk appeared on Lucifer’s face and my blood ran cold. “You don’t even know you’re powers, what you are capable of, this is amusing.”

Lucifer nodded in Jack’s way, who’s blazing green eyes were fixed on Lucifer, challenging him. “You may not be as powerful as Raziel over there, but it’s impossible to get the Archangels on our side.” He told me, with a quick glance at Jack – or Raziel – who had tensed when Lucifer called him by his real name. My mind blanked, not fully progressing what he was saying.

Raziel? Of course I have heard of the Archangels before, everyone in Heaven has, it’s something we learn in the schools. There are seven Archangels and Raziel is one of them, together with Michael and Gabriel he is the highest in the order. The others are Uriel, Israfil, Azrael and Ithuriel. Lucifer used to be in the order, but he betrayed Heaven and got banished.

Raziel is the ‘Angel of Mysteries’ and the ‘Keeper of Secrets’, I would never had thought Jack out of all people would have been an Archangel, let along Raziel. But now that I think of it, it makes sense in some ways. How he’s always so secretive and won’t tell me how he knew certain things. And it also makes sense how the Dark Angels recognized him, because Raziel and Michael were the ones who banished them from Heaven. Of course you would recognize the person who banished you.

“Is he speaking the truth, are you Raziel?” I asked Jack-Raziel, just to be sure Lucifer wasn’t messing with me. Liam looked confused between us, wondering what in the world was happening.

His green eyes met mine. “Yes, I am.”