The Demons Within

A Frozen Grave

Ruby eyes flashed angrily as they watched ships descend on the heavy snow outside the walls. These pesky angels dared to intrude on his sacred Homeworld, and defiled it with the presence of mortals. For Eons, it had stood as a bastion of the Horsemen, and now Uriel dared to strike against him.

The heavy winds of his home battered the ships almost as much Pestilence's artillery, the invaders losing well over half of each wave before they even touched the ground. A single breach in the mortals flimsy thermal protection was a death sentence, the devastating cold eliminating them before they had a chance to comprehend their woes. Spikes of green ice ruptured from the ground, symbols of his will made manifest upon the world.

Yet still his enemies continued. They had struck forth in uncountable numbers- and with his foresight blinded by God himself- Pestilence was struck unaware. The conquered systems around his Homeworld were shattered, given only enough time to warn their master. The Archangels had pooled their power together and managed to negate his Phasing, leaving him stranded on some random world he had been invading.

Pestilence, the first of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, was forced to flee. The mere thought of such an action sent rage throughout his entire being, causing the darkness itself around him to bubble angrily. He was the heir to powers equal to his former lord, and he was forced to flee from mortals. A twisted grin spread across his face as he thought of the gift he had left for them. Oh how he would love to torment their souls after this war was won.

But for now he had to focus on the task at hand. His forces were limited, and barely half of his clockwork guard were fully operational. He acutely knew his grievous losses despite the heavy snow fall quickly hiding the twisted metal frames. Each one of his warriors slew dozens of their fleshy foes with green blasts of energy, but for once he could not win a battle of attrition. Both on the planet and above it unfortunately.

The sky and battlefield in front of him both resembled a rock concert that Death had once shown him on earth, with the oppressing darkness he had spilled forth like a miasma being consistently broken up by flashed of brilliant light in all variants of color. It grated heavily on his nerves, and for three days it had not stopped.

A bright light suddenly appeared in the sky, shining like a star through the heavy clouds that permanently cradled his world. Some of the strongest planetary shields in the galaxy stopped the shockwaves from distrusting the surface, but the light could only mean one thing. Pestilence scowled heavily as a Clockwork came over to intone the losses to it's Master.

"Cruiser 7D10Y is no longer responding to transmissions. Data streams indicate fatal collapse of the core."

A small Task Force was all that remained now, desperately trying to distract the Invaders from across the solar system. They had to keep harassing until reinforcements arrived, or all would be lost. Uriel had dared to bring a planet-cracker all the way to his Homeworld, and even now Uriel's weaponry beat fiercely against the shields. A full sector of space had been abandoned to requisition Uriel's Troops, and Pestilence would make sure it was wasted.

Snarling in anger, Pestilence felt his Sorcery boil through his veins and chunked an orb of lightning into the battle before him. The screams were drowned out by the howling winds, but Pestilence still felt some relief with his actions.

Suddenly a searing pain filled his skull as another presence tried to force its way into his head. He could feel the arrogant aura of Uriel, and heard her whispers to surrender before the planet was destroyed. Angrily the Horsemen pushed back with his full might, and disappeared with a loud pop much to the surprise of his guards.
——————-
Pestilence was just as surprised as his guards when he stumbled down onto the cold metal floors of some unknown place. Almost instantly he scrambled back onto his feet, and found himself in some kind of bar, surrounded by mortals previously relaxing. Some kind of human music played softly from a speaker, contrasting heavily to the shocked and horrified mortal's faces.