Immolation Ex: The Knower (COMPLETED)

Chapter LIII

Jason peered into the gray clouds above and paused, ceasing his efforts to save his friends from the Grigori horde. With his hands lowering to his side and his mouth agape, he witnessed what appeared to be a massive shooting star emerging from inside the churning nimbus clouds. The young warrior stepped backwards in concern as the luminous object rapidly grew in size, its speed never decreasing.

BOOM!

On the far end of the valley, the ball of light slammed into the ground, ejecting a massive mushroom cloud vertically into the air. Gigantic shockwaves of wind and dust rippled outward from the epicenter of the impact, slamming into the Grigori troops, rolling the hordes of golden creatures over like sand in the sea.

Before the dust could settle, a shimmering winged man carrying a large sword in one hand and some other object in the other burst through the wall of roiling sand and strode toward the army of gold.

Something else caught Jason's eye. On the opposite side of the open ravine where the Grigori overran his friends, four clusters of Grigori exploded into the air as if they had collectively stepped on land mines. At the center of each of these explosions now stood more pure white beings, two of which bore wings that menacingly stretched out on each side of them just like the winged man quickly approaching. One of them raised his arms out by his sides and yelled a blood-curdling battle cry that shook the ruins behind Jason. The young man was terrified. Even in his dreams he had never experienced a sound that frightening.

The remaining Grigori immediately ceased fighting and quickly began backing away from the four angelic creatures now joined by a fifth. Jason recognized the one on the far right as Michael.  The other Archangel, now quiet, produced a flaming angelic sword in his hand and advanced, the others following suit. "Is that Azazel!?!!"

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When he felt the first shockwave, Shiloh opened his eyes and found the attacking Grigori frozen in their tracks with their backs turned to him. As another round of explosions took place somewhere else followed by the terrifying scream of an Archangel, they turned and began running. Shiloh felt the sun's warmth on his face and looked up as it peaked through the retreating clouds, only to be blotted out by another shadow. 

"Oh no, my friend...no, no, no," Dante said remorsefully, kneeling to place a hand to Verne's face. "Were I an Archangel, I could take you to Heaven," he said, looking up at Verne's faintly glowing orb floating just above Shiloh's head. The Watcher turned his attention to the other biker. "You realize there are no bodies around here, don't you?"

Shiloh sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye, and nodded. "I know. That is why I am crying. I understand what it means. It means goodbye, forever."

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Dustyn suddenly vanished, appearing in front of the unsuspecting Countess to grab Gadreel's celestial blade in his hand, stopping the knife only millimeters above Angel's head.

"No!!!" she screeched. "She's mine!"

"No, she's mine." Snatching the weapon out her hand, Dustyn grabbed the Grigori Commander by the throat and lifted her into the air. He flipped the knife around in his bleeding hand, gripped the leather-wrapped handle, and thrust it upward, burying the shimmering blade  into the Countess' skull.

He cocked his head sideways and examined the female Grigori's expression before throwing her flickering body to the side. "Bitch."

Dustyn turned and knelt down next to Angel, his eyes returning to normal, the electricity no longer ejecting from his fingertips. He flinched as the alarming sound of an explosion followed by a scream echoed from somewhere down the valley, however, Dustyn did not care to look into it. Instead, he placed his hands to Angel's chest and summoned some of the Watcher's energy from within him to force it into her mark, desperately attempting to wake her. Nothing. Again and again, he tried, all to no avail. It appeared that for all of his newfound destructive power, the young man had no idea how to save a life. Truly, he was no Samael, just as Bezaliel said.

"Angel?" He was confused...he had stopped the blade. "Why won't you wake up? Angel...please, wake up."

 The former King David  lowered his face as a tear dripped from the tip of his nose and plopped to the desert floor.   

"Dustyn..." whispered a voice on the wind. "Don't cry."

"Huh?" Dustyn exclaimed and bolted upright.

Oddly, Angel's body began to glow. The young man squinted. He turned his head away as the light grew to an unbearable intensity, even for him.

When he opened his eyes, Angel was no longer lying on the ground. Instead she was hovering over him, floating above the ground in a flowing white dress, her hair dancing about her pretty head as if she were floating in space. She held out her hand to him.

"Come on, Dustyn. Our friends need us."

Dustyn smiled. "Well, I guess I will be taking 'make out with the bedroom ghost girl from Ghostbusters' off my list, too."

"Weirdo," Angel said with a grin, as the pair flashed away.

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Dustyn and Angel appeared behind the SUV ready to fight, only to find no one was there...well, almost no one.

Something above them growled.

The Grigori formerly known as Danny stood above the duo on the overturned vehicle with his axes held out beside him. It said nothing, choosing only to occasionally spin one of the bladed weapons around in a large hand for effect.

"Danny...hey bud, it's me, Dustyn," the young man said with his hands in front of him, attempting to keep the Mongolian Warlord calm. "Dude, just put down the axes and we'll see if we can help you, okay? Come on...come on down."

Danny growled and clanged his axes together. He stepped forward and floated gingerly to the ground.

"Let me try, Dustyn."

"Okay, but be careful."

With a soft smile, Angel nodded and then glided briskly toward Danny. "Hello, my friend..."

"Angel you're getting too close!" Dustyn said, stepping forward to stop her.

The former cheerleader waved him away and continued her approach. "Danny, it's alright. Look at me, not him."

The Grigori bared his teeth and raised the pair of axes, readying for an attack.

Dustyn moved to form his swords, only to have Angel turn her head to look over her shoulder. She glared at Dustyn, threateningly.

"Okay...okay!" he said, raising his hands and stepping back.

Angel was now within striking distance of the warlord, nevertheless she continued to approach the trucker unabated. "Hey, over here! Look, Danny, listen to me my friend, put your weapons away and let us help you, okay?"

The man's golden face softened with each centimeter of Angel's approach until she was standing within a meter of him.

"An-an-angel?" the Grigori inquired with a raspy voice. He dropped the axes to the ground.

Angel smiled, the expression releasing the tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Yes, sweetie, it's me. Come here you big idiot!" she commanded with her arms outstretched.

Danny fell into the young woman's arms. "I'm so sorry...I couldn't help it, Angel. They changed me...Holok changed me."

"I know, I..."

"ANGEL!" Dustyn cried out as the cheerleader fell backwards from Danny's arms, collapsing to the ground with the handle of a golden knife protruding from her chest.

Danny slowly retrieved his axes and turned to face Dustyn with a menacing, evil look spreading over his face. "Next?"