Raphael crept through opulent rooms and down vast hallways as he searched his maze like palace, straining all his senses in an effort to find the intruders. Memories of Raum before the fall all those thousands of years ago ran through his mind. Was his knowledge of the angel going to be of any use when dealing with Raum the demon? Raum’s sharp intellect was renown before the fall, and based off his ability so far, it seemed he still held onto his intelligence. Luckily, Raphael was one of the few considered more intelligent. Raphael was often thought of as the most complex mind ever created, and yet whenever he talked to his Father, he was left reeling with boundless epiphanies.
Despite having the ability to run through thousands of possible scenarios in a second, all Raphael could think about was Le’theril. His every moment was filled with thoughts of her, of millions upon millions of experiences he would share with her. He just couldn’t get her out of his mind. He longed for her at every breath. He would do anything to see her smile as she had earlier.
Raphael tried to push thoughts of his love aside as he peaked through the solid wooden door to the next room, spreading his awareness through the room before proceeding. Despite the sinking feeling that someone had been here just moments before, he sensed nothing. He stepped through the door and entered into his vast library. Books covered every wall as they soared to meet the ceiling over ten metres above him. The marbled floor had strange circular patterns that twirled in on itself like never ending vines seeking the piercing light.
In all the rooms of his Palace, this was Raphael’s most loved. It held his collection of ponderings and possibilities that he had discovered within this world that Father had created. He had wanted to write it all down to help him understand the complexities of this universe, and yet even amongst the tens of thousands of books here, he felt as if he had just scratched the surface.
Raphael scanned the room, deciding to rely on pure vision after concluding that these shadow demons must have some way of concealing the energy of their darkened, polluted soul. They hadn’t thoroughly been able to hide, he could still sense their general presence, but it was more a guttural unsettling feeling born from his instinct as opposed to an identifiable energy source.
In a plane without darkness, one would think that a shadow would be easy to spot, but one would be wrong. He walked down the centre of the huge library, searching each row of book-filled walls. He could feel the sickness of evil in the pit of his stomach everywhere he went, and yet he couldn’t find even a trace of the demons.
A sudden pressure fell on Raphael as if the roof had suddenly dropped onto his shoulders. The pressure of his brother’s focus pounded against his every fibre. He could feel Uriel’s determination within the raw energy that seemed to blanket his palace with the pressure. His brother was sending a clear signal, we know you’re here, and perhaps, Raphael thought, a message to him. ‘I’m on the roof, hurry’. Raphael understood his brother’s reasons, but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. He could bear with the pressure of his brother’s focus, but Le’theril would not be immune to such attention. She would’ve been forced to the ground, unable to stand under the intense and constant pressure. Despite her discomfort, he could do nothing. It was not time to introduce Uriel to her or their relationship.
Deciding the library was clear, Raphael returned to the same door he had entered knowing that if anyone had entered through any of the other doors, his traps would have been released, and he would’ve felt their deaths. Raphael stepped through the door frame before seeing a gigantic black object flashing towards his head. Raphael rolled under the bastard sword and heard it strike against the door as he summoned one of his double bladed battle axes, already whipping the chain around where he estimated the hilt of the sword to be as he came to his feet.
Raphael spun around to find the weapon gone, no energy, no sense or sight of his attacker. It was if the sword had literally appeared from nowhere, its wielder disappearing into the abyss. At least he was now convinced of one thing, he was no longer alone.
It wasn’t knowledge that brought him any comfort. It were as if he were being haunted by an ethereal presence, and for a moment, he thought he understood the fear that so many humans had experienced through the torment of demons on Earth. Moments passed, and as time grew Raphael began to consider the possibility that it was simply a trap left for him. Perhaps one of the demons had seen him enter, but did not want to attempt to attack themselves. It would make sense to attempt to stall him and buy them more time to search for Le’theril.
The sudden thought of her reminded him of his promise, ‘whatever it takes’, was he living up to that promise right now? No, enough games, this was her life at stake. Uriel had been right all along, sometimes, brute force was necessary to achieve one's goal. With the thought firm in his mind, Raphael braced himself as he released one of the protective barriers on his soul, and then another as he felt his burning energy begin overflowing his physical body, energy burning around him as his soul’s fire burned.
An ear piercing scream split the room around him, and Raphael spun around to stare in shock as a thin humanoid shaped shadow began tearing itself from his back. Small flames had alighted the demon’s torso as it pulled itself free, screaming in pain as the flames grew brighter.
Axe already in hand, Raphael launched his attack, unwilling to wait for the demon to free itself. The blade sliced through the shadow as if it hadn’t hit anything, the lack of impact caused Raphael to stumble against the weight of his swing. Stepping around with his left foot he spun with the swing ducking under the familiar bastard sword that lashed out at him as the shadow demon separated itself and seemed to solidify, forming a cloak of darkness, wearing shades of night like a veil, covering everything except for two bright, glowing red eyes.
“I wondered where you were hiding.” Raphael stated before summoning his second war axe to his left hand. The demon hissed a foul whispering chuckle, its amusement striking a chord of irritation within Raphael, pretentious creature.
He slashed down at the demon, drawing its enormous sword into a block as he swept up with his other arm slashing up the demons chest. This time, the axe tore into flesh as the creature screamed in agony as the burning slice of his axe turned murky darkness into something that resembled dry, cracked rubber.
The demon stumbled back against the pain, but Raphael wouldn’t give it time to recover as he spun forward, his left axe sweeping the sword away to leave plenty of room for the following swing as it followed through, slicing deep into the demon’s neck. It didn’t have a chance to scream as the slash bit straight through where Raphael guessed its neck should have been. The milky darkness that covered the creature turned brittle and exploded into dust as the body hit the floor.
Raphael looked down upon the remains of the demon as the scene played over in his mind. He could hear the creatures laugh, repeating over and over within his mind. Suddenly everything clicked. The uneasy feeling he had since entering the palace, and Uriel’s sudden, overbearing pressure. They were all warnings, disastrously overlooked!
As the pieces began connecting in his mind, Raphael was already rushing back to Le’theril’s room, unlocking a third barrier of his soul as he prepared to unleash his rage at being so easily deceived.
Passing through room after room he grew frustrated at his own restrictive designs. Why couldn’t he have made this damn palace simpler, he needed to be back there now!
As he came upon the door, he didn’t even bother with opening it as he sent a sharp, piercing edge of his soul out, splitting the door into pieces before he stepped through it.
Raphael froze as he came upon a scene from his worst nightmare. Raum stood before him, his once beautiful, fair skin now burnt and scarred. His once blue eyes now faded to grey met his with sickening amusement. The angel Raphael had known would have stood straight and proud, wide smile on his face as he smelt victory. Now he looked upon a frail creature, his back bowed as if he could not stand under Uriel’s pressure, but it looked like a position he was used to. The demon’s lips hand been singed off, making his mouth seem like just another hollow cavity to another hollow carcass.
Besides Raum, a shadow demon stood towering behind Le’theril, gripping her arms behind her back. The other had a small dagger to her throat, stained black with the deaths of thousands of poor souls before her.
Raum eyed him, curiously applauding his entrance with an enraging, mocking clap.
“And I always thought you were the smartest of your brothers.” Raum replied his pious voice shockingly different from what one would expect by looking at the creature.
“Let her go,” Raphael growled, struggling to contain the rage burning inside him as his soul screamed to be released, to strike out at these demons and destroy them all. He knew he had to, but as he looked into Le’theril’s eyes, he knew he couldn’t. He would not risk her life.
“Oh, that’s exactly what I plan on doing. After you open the gates to Lest’eriel, and then Tellaniad.” Raum’s crooked smile grew as Le’theril squirmed in the demons grip, her screaming pleas muffled by a torn piece of silk sheet that had been tied around her jaw.
“You’re insane. I won’t give you free access to this plane,” Raphael replied.
Raum beamed as he hobbled towards Le’theril, “oh really? Then I guess I should just remove this pathetic necklace right now then.” He suggested as his bony, pock covered fingers reached out to the Rae’lium cross that hung around her neck.
“No, wait!” He screamed reaching out towards her. Raum turned, eyebrows raised, at least they would be if he had any.
“So, the mighty Archangel, jailer of the Grigori has truly fallen in love with a human, how quaint.” Raphael refused to respond to the slight as he carefully watched every move, waiting for his window of opportunity.
“Ahh such intensity, I love it. You see! You see that!” He said kicking at the shadow demon holding his love’s arms behind her back. “That’s the kind of focus I’m talking about!” He shrieked before taking a deep breath and focusing back on him.
“You see, there were two others. Besides the one you killed that is. No, I suppose you killed the other two also, those devious traps of yours; and you call me insane? Hah!” Raum caught the hilt of the dagger that still rested against Le’theril’s throat. Raphael tensed, his heart roared as he prepared to make a last second effort to rush for her. Just before he made a move Raum released his grip and smiled knowingly.
“Just checking I still have your attention,” he goaded. Ignoring the air that wavered around them, as if the air was shaking in fear with the pent up tension and power held within the room. His hand reached around to grasp the thin gold chain that held the Rae’lium cross around her neck.
“I thought you might take some time to consider your position. Don’t worry; we’ll keep your woman safe. Until you decide you no longer want her of course,” Raum smiled as his hand trailed down the necklace and floated over her breasts. Le’theril squirmed against him, her bright green eyes filling with tears as she locked gazes with Raphael as he helplessly watched on.
Raphael fought against every fibre of his being as he desperately wanted to destroy this evil creature, but he had played out the scenario a million times in his mind already, and the odds were always against Le’theril. He needed to buy them both time. A thought easily recognised, yet harder to achieve, his soul begged for release, and he was losing grip. As if the thought cursed him, Raphael felt the fourth barrier to his soul release uncontrollably. Light rolled over his body as every orifice burst forth with the blinding light of his soul. Wooden cabinets and the bed burst into flames as he screamed out in pure rage.
Raum reached for the knife and ripped it from the shadow demon’s hand as it screamed against the searing light.
“Think on it!” Raum screamed as he threw the knife into the ground before Raphael’s feet. Raphael rushed forward, stepping to the left of the blade to avoid it. Raum had dug his hand into his tattered vest and pulled out a black, smoky sphere. He crushed it within his hands still gripping Le’theril’s neck as Raphael sent a rolling surge of power forth at the huddled over demon. A wave of darkness sprang forth from the demon’s hand that still gripped the crushed sphere. Raphael’s soul struck against the darkness which covered Raum, moulding itself to his body like a second skin.
Within a second Raum had gone and he had taken Le’theril with him, the wave of darkness curling in on itself until it collapsed like an ever shrinking black hole. The outlined shapes of the two shadow demons had been burnt onto the wall, unable to withstand the force of Raphael’s soul. The whole room was empty, covered in ashes from burnt timber. Raphael looked down at the death stained dagger lodged into the floor, its hilt tipped with a strange black flame trapped inside a deep red jewel, a small eye to the plane of Hell.
Raphael forced his soul back within himself, sealing the barriers once more. The pain that filled him dropped him to his knees. Four barriers; he had never gone so far before. Only Michael had been further when he first battled Satanael and cast him from heaven. Whatever it takes, the thought echoed through his mind hauntingly as he gripped the daggers handle and ripped it from the ground, whatever it takes.