Awaken Book 3: The Rise of Knonus

Chapter 26: Bereave

"As much as I'd love to, I'd kill you here and now, but that would only make matters worse.." Knonus says as he suddenly loses his footing, Nira collapses almost lifeless from his hands and Angela makes a prison out of mystical wood to entrap him. Knonus' vision becomes very blurry, he spits out blood, "(No...no...not now...)" He says to himself as Knonus breaks through one wooden bar and it instantly replaces it with a stronger, more durable bar. "What's wrong...with him?" Thomas asks as Angela helps him up, he slightly freezes his wound over his chest. His body turns from white to red, his human features crack back to his original demonic form, he sees that he's changing; "No...NO...I don't have much time!" Knonus says in his head as his eyes light up and lifts his hand a little to right in front of his face. "ABLAZE." Knonus says as ashes fall from my fingertips and they all suddenly spark up in flurries, then turn to a gigantic explosion.

Angela makes three force fields to cover herself, Thomas, and Nira before the blast reaches them, Knonus breaks through Nira's field during the huge blast. The smoke clears as Thomas and Angela both see Knonus' hand in Nira's chest, pulling spiritual chains out of her, with blood dripping from it. Thomas leaps high in the air towards him, he blows a gust of cold air and it turns into a sledgehammer to attack him with, he swings directly towards his head. The heat coming off his skin melts the icy hammer and he halts him in mid air, "Yesss." Knonus says as he pushes him through the forest behind them and he falls to the ground hard. "Nira! GET OFF OF HER!!" Angela yells.
She puts her hands in front of her, "There's no use to try, little girl..." Knonus says as he smirks, "Ritual of Control." She says as her hands start to shake and Knonus can't move after the chains from Nira absorb into Knonus' body, he laughs as he slowly starts to walk towards her. His twisted smile becomes bigger and bigger as he gets closer, "Come....on..." She says, the ground burns little by little as Knonus gets closer to her. "Magic won't hurt me. Whoever taught you those pathetic tricks should've told you that.." Knonus says as his once ref skin turns white and reappears, she watches his horns break out of his forehead, a black trench coat appears on him as his arms aren't through the sleeves; rested perfectly on his shoulders.

Angela stands still, fear cripples her body as she shakes and he puts a hand on her face. "Believe it or not, when I came to this world, I was so sure, so convinced I had a calling. I realized that fear can really shatter a person of any faith, size, and even strength. That's what I first inject in people, make them know how inferior they really are, that no matter the fight left in you is left. You need a reminder that this world, your realm, and this entire universe was never safe. You will learn...soon, all of you will see." Knonus says as he disappears and Angela drops to her knees. "Sweetie..." Nira's faint voice gets Angela's attention and she runs to her. "Your...your wounds...I can't-." Angela starts to say as she cries, "I...I know, there's nothing you can do. The ones you love, the ones we swore to protect from any threat...we'll always be here, right there whenever you need them. Tell Salo when you see him, I love him..." Nira says as her eyes, that were once full with life, turn dim and clouds start to cover the sky above. Angela teleports to Thomas, he's unconscious in the ditch Knonus made for him, she helps him up, he opens his eyes. "Where....where...is Knonus?" He says as he looks around. "Gone." She says as she flies away with him off to the distance.

~Heaven~

Amy runs towards Inoa, "Animal Formation: King Snake, Box Jellyfish, Golden Poison Frog." She says to herself as she wraps her body around his body like a snake, he smiles and punches her in the face. She leans back and multiple tentacles wrap around his body, "HA!" She yells as she zaps him with 1000 volts of electricity, Inoa screams and flies back. Whitmore runs towards him, Inoa sees him coming and blows a gust of fire at him, Whitmore makes a cross in thin air and makes a path through the fire. Inoa stretches her wings and blocks both Salo's arrows and Amy's attack, she runs towards him and slides underneath his wing. She taps his wing and he sees her, almost stomps on her head, Salo fires one arrow and it strikes him in the heart; "Prosper." Salo says as the arrow digs into his chest and Inoa collapses to a knee. "This dragon is with Knonus, part of his council I'm certain." Donovan says as Inoa smirks and Whitmore punches him in the face, he looks back at him and spits blood at Whitmore's face. He plants his foot on his throat, "Whitmore. Remain calm, we need him-.." Salo starts the say as he cuts him off. "We don't need him. Donovan, you, and or I can extract what we need out of him." Whitmore says as Inoa laughs. "You're gonna try and brainwash me?" Inoa says as Donovan kneels next to him. "We broke Timothy, I'm sure we can do the same to you with the right methods.." Donovan says as Inoa laughs some more. "That kid could never keep to himself, he was a lose cannon from day one of Knonus' aid, he should not even been a general." Inoa says as he stops smiling. "Wait. How did I...?" Inoa says as stops himself again, "Smart how you will cancel your mind out as if somebody would attempt to read your mind, but I am too quick." Donovan says as his eyes glow white. "So. How do we defeat Knonus?" Donovan asks next, "...It's not easy, everyone in the council tried to overthrow him in his dictatorial rule and we all failed...he....he...he absorbed gods and goddesses with hardly any recognizable weaknesses and he uses each of their powers separately...unless...unless..." Inoa keeps stuttering as he fights against Donovan's spell, "Bastard. He was spilling the beans." Donovan says as Amy smokes a cigarette, "I know you didn't just say that.." Amy says as she blows a small cloud.  "Wait? You can smoke in Heaven?!" Donovan asks as Amy smokes and blows in his face. "Hasn't stopped me yet." She says. "Knonus...what did you learn from all that time in isolation..?" Salo asks himself as Inoa's eyes are dazed, "Studied your weak ass world.." Inoa says quietly and then passes out.

~Somewhere~

Ally floats in the sky, smiling as Knonus appears next to her, "I can tell you had better results than I did, Lord Knonus." Ally says as Knonus' smirk disappears after he hears that. "You didn't end up victorious? Explain." He says, "Golden boy became a man...stronger than I've ever expected." She says as Knonus smiles again and puts his hand in her shoulder. "Don't you worry about him, you still have...him?" Knonus asks as Ally smiles after a shocked expression, "Why of course. How could I forget about the first councilmen of the council?" She smiles as a pearl swirls in her palm, "He could definitely get the job done..." Knonus says as he smiles. Ally and Knonus float next to each other, both are smiling as she drops the pearl and it falls into the clouds underneath them. "Where to next, my Lord?" Ally asks as Knonus looks in the distance, "Hell." Knonus says as she makes a portal and they both fly into it.