Original Sin

Chapter 32

The clang of angel fury was louder than thunder and more vibrant than lightening. It flashed against Hailey's sheer skin and translucent eyes. She displayed every crime Michael had committed upon her flesh, a memorandum of his sins. He would die staring at his despicable self.

Hailey roared with anger as she struck a monstrous man out of the way. Michael's horde descended upon Hailey as she attempted to strike their leader, their creator. But she had two swords now, both encased in raging fire, and angelic powers that produced more force than a thousand monsters combined. One to her left now, but Alex's sword sliced its head clean off, and its body fell lifeless to the ground. Another two charged at her from behind; she raised both swords at her back and inserted them in an X-like pattern through the monsters' heads. Brain matter spattered on her hair as she ejected the swords and brought them down upon an unsuspecting, smaller female monster who tried to bite Hailey's leg. How easy it was, cutting down monsters one right after another. 

But for every monster she struck down, ten more popped up in its place. Michael seemed to be creating them out of thin air, though Hailey knew this wasn't possible. With every step she took towards the arch angel, he took two steps back. If her blade was within reach, he parried and sparred with her, continuing backwards, matching her every movement, until his monsters came to sacrifice themselves for his unholy cause. She wasn't winning, just fighting in endless circles. It needed to stop the end was to come. 

How to break from this horde? Hailey thought as she decapitated two more half-man monsters. This seemed to be the most effective and efficient way of exterminating the creatures, but it was exhausting work. 

The power of ancient angels is at your service.

The voice did not announce itself to Hailey; it just appeared whenever it thought angelic fury could be of service. But Hailey did not understand how they could help her in a time like this. Weren't they already producing the fire element upon her and Alex's swords?

Ask and we shall serve.

They were certainly persistent. Very well, Hailey thought. 

Then, as if on autopilot, her arms raised above her head and struck the swords together in the air, producing lightening, thunder, wind, and rain. The power was visibly coursing through her veins, and she watched the images of ancient angels, the original fallen ones, travel up her arms and into the lightening. They used her body as passageway into the world again. Light erupted from her swords with such force that Hailey was pushed back into the dirt, her wings the only things that saved her back from breaking. 

The air stilled for what seemed like an eternity. Then, as the dust settled, Hailey saw emerge from the ground giants with wings, beings older than Hailey and Michael combined. There were four of them altogether, and they did not look as human as Michael, Alex, or Gabriel. They were made of rock and Divinity, seemingly impenetrable. Their angel fury was visible in pulsing golden lines from their enormous heads, down their torsos, and ending at their feet. It was a miraculous sight no human soul could see, aside from Hailey. 

With one simultaneous motion, their hands made quick work of picking up monsters and popping their heads off like pimples. The creatures could not bite through rock nor scratch with their claws. Hailey watched briefly as angels pushed forward and crushed the horde like it was nothing.

Her breath came in short pants as she realized that they could, in fact, help her in this hour of battle. Now, Michael could not hide behind his monsters. She pushed up with her hands and sprinted to Michael, who was so entranced with the scene of angels in front of him he barely noticed her presence.

"Michael!" she shouted. She wanted him to see her face and his sins as she crushed him with her anger and victory.

He seemed to realize there was no use in putting up a front. He had already lost this battle and, overall, the war. He faced Hailey with a look in his eyes that was strange to her. She had never seen someone so curious demeaning during their defeat. It was suspicious but didn't change the facts of her situation. She needed to eliminate him and everything he stood for. Then this curse, the interference of angels and demons in human affairs, her immortality...  Soon, it would all be over.