Screams were the first sounds to come. Screams not just from our side, but from theirs as well. The screams were followed by the sounds of clashing metal, shouts for backup, weapons moving swiftly as they found their intended mark.
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. My eyes locked on the two warriors at the front line, slicing their way through anything and everything within their grasp.
"Find your marks!" someone shouted beside us as each bowman lifted their arrows skyward.
"Ready! Hold your aim! Steady!" the commander of this unit shouted again, his voice strong.
"Now!" he yelled.
Evie and I watched a barricade of arrows come slicing down onto the battlefield. Each arrow making its mark in some form of dark creature. Some of the arrows pierced through dark wings while others pierced scaly skin or furred backs.
We watched on in horror as some of our men went down. Watched in pure unadulterated terror as the dark creatures moved swiftly through our army and decimated groups of them at a time. As I watched, a sickening feeling twisted its way up my stomach and into my heart.
I had to do something. Letting go of Evies hand, I turned to face her.
"You keep your promise to me Evie" I said, pulling her in for a quick last moment embrace before sprinting down to the field. The stench of blood was heavy in the air. Leaping over the injured or possibly bodies, I kept my focus directly on two of the creatures currently working their way down the left side of our warriors. Pulling up short, I stepped between the two and pushed out my ability to seize control of their minds. Each beast pulled up, sniffing the air and turning towards me.
A cruel smile found its way to my mouth.
I am your master now I spoke into their minds. Pushing further, I twisted my head slightly, I grasped hold and stepped closer.
Turn to your kind, and kill them I ordered. They did exactly as I commanded. Turning to face a group of dark angels currently fighting against our warriors, the beasts launched, winding their way past our soldiers, they annihilated their way through the dozen of dark wings. Short lived screams gurgled into nothing as the creatures moved on to the next group of dark creatures.
The angels who had been spared turned to face me, fresh determination in their eyes before shouting out battle cries and diving into the crowd. Pulling out my bow, I aimed right between the eyes of one of the witches I recognized. In this moment, I cared very little for who she was. She noticed me at the last moment, her eyes widening a fraction before closing them completely. She stood still, and I knew in that moment, she wanted to die.
She wanted to be free of her bargain to Lucifer.
I let go of the taut string, as my arrow whizzed through the air and struck true; Right in the center of her forehead. She collapsed immediately, and I couldn't help noticing the small smile upon her dead face. A sharp scream pierced my ears as a wendigo headed directly for me. Tugging out a sword from my hip, I swung and my blade swept the things head clean off its shoulders. Swinging around, my instincts brought the blade straight through the heart of another witch. Her gargled scream died out as blood spilled from her mouth.
Tugging my sword free, I didn't so much as pause before her body hit the floor. A banshee was the next to try her luck on me, and she went down just as easily, her body easily split in two under the power of my blade. A soldier close to where I was had found himself trapped underneath minotaur. The horrid creature had its hooves pressed down on the angels wings, and the female soldier was screaming. Without thinking, I swung my bow around, taking aim for the creatures head. The arrow went soaring across the field, straight into the creatures right eye. It howled, pulling away from the angel it had been trampling on, and turned its attention toward me. Pulling another arrow, I let it fly directly into the beasts left socket. It reared once before dropping down onto the floor, kicking its legs wildly. I stepped up to where it was, and my blade found its mark through its neck.
I turned to the soldier and helped her onto her feet. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she'd burst a vessel under the pressure of the screams she'd been forcing out. But she picked her blade up, tucked in her crushed wings, and headed over to aid her comrade.
On and on the battle went. I focused on slicing, killing, controlling whatever I could within my power to help us fight. To help us win. I'd managed to make my way through the crowd, helping many of our own along the way, who then stepped up to help others.
I scanned the area slowly, noting almost all of Lucifers' creatures had been slain, with the exception of the two I controlled, and a few dark angels before my senses picked up on something happening. There was something else brewing. The battle was too easy. Something wasn't right.
A shudder underfoot rocked through the crowd of dark and light warriors. The ground cracked and hissed as dirt and grass and rocks began to pull apart from each other. More creatures poured out from underneath us. Hundreds more. The beasts kept coming and coming.
I knew then what had been missing from the start.
The princes of darkness had finally decided to join the party.
Chaos erupted as they made their way through the crowds of angels, blades and swords swinging fiercely, slicing through wings and limbs.
"Gods, we need a miracle" I breathed shakily. There was no way we could take on the princes without help.
The universe decided to answer as a voice screamed to me in the distance. Evie waved her arms frantically pointing towards the sky. Bodies winnowed in and out of existence until the closed in on the field. Gods and goddesses dropped one by one onto the field, joining in the battle against the darkness.
Someone landed beside me without so much as a fumble. Glancing to my side, I prepared to swing.
"Careful now, you don't want to start a war with me too" Ares spoke. My mouth popped open as his violet eyes sparkled in delight. This is what he lived for. Blood and war and death. He was completely in his element. Razor sharp twin swords remained on his back, and the one at his side remained in its harness as he turned to face me.
"I heard you needed help" he said, shrugging his shoulder, "and I did once tell you that many men would go to war for you" he finished, shooting me a wink and stepping into the battle field. Once he found his target, the twin swords unsheathed from his back as his arms swung in a mighty whoosh. Slicing through four opponents at once, he glanced back my way, a vicious grin on his face.
Other Gods had joined the fight, back to back they fought amongst our warriors. Turning back to where Evie stood, her eyes glistened with tears. She must have prayed to them too. My attention snagged to the woman who stood beside her. The woman calling forth secret shadows and sending them out to fight for us as well.
She was the one who stood out amongst them all.
My grandmother.
She turned her eyes from the shadow creatures, offering me a firm nod of recognition before continuing to release her beings. I turned back to the battlefield, eyes searching for the two people I needed to protect. Finding them in the center of the field I took off sprinting towards them. Gabe and Micah stood back to back, fighting five dark angels at once. Their blades swinging hard and their faces determined, disregarding any aches that came from wielding their weapons.
I stepped up to face Gabe, his eyes glancing to me briefly before swinging hard and slicing through the dark angel on his left. I brought my sword up, slicing straight through the middle of the one in front of him, watching as it collapsed to the ground in a shuddering thud.
Gabes answering grin had me throwing one back and saying "Now we are even".
Micah continued to fight off two enemies on his own, as Gabe took on the third.
Stepping up beside Micah, I caught the attention of one of the angels who sneered at me, swinging his weapon in my direction. Micah took the opportunity to slice through the other angels wings, severing them from her spine. She let out an agonizing scream before his sword shoved itself into her heart. Micah pulled it out, turning it on the angel between us.
His focus never shifted from the angel as they went toe to toe, metal to metal clashing in the air.
"Angel!" Gabe cried from behind me. Spinning on my heel, my weapon firmly in my grasp, I pulled up short. I recognized this angel immediately. His face was one I would never forget. His long golden hair had been cut short, and sat messily around his brow line. His eyes, penetrating me where I stood.
"Moloch let him go" I spoke between clenched teeth. Micah, who was still fighting on his own managed to turn and see enough of what was happening.
"Get away from him Adeline!" a plea and a warning. But I knew this angel. And I wanted vengeance.
"Adeline, you look more beautiful than I remember... What I wouldn't give to have a moment with you alone. I'd so enjoy breaking you apart piece by piece" he spoke, and my mind flashed back to the first time I'd met him. How he wanted to break my spirit down.
"I said let him go" I replied, my tone rough and bitter.
"There are two kinds of people in this world, Adeline. Those who save lives, and those who take lives. You are trying to stop an inevitable storm by blowing harder. Ridiculous. You can't protect without killing a little" he said before plunging his sword through Gabriel, right into his heart.