"Oh, crap," blurted Noah. "I knew it was too easy."
"Did you really think that your little stunt went unnoticed?" Michael asked in an amused tone. "Though, I must admit that summoning another demon here was quite a distraction."
"Out of the way, Michael," barked Lucifer in his commanding tone, stepping forward, his back straight, black wings outstretched to full span. He stopped directly in front of Lhori, shielding her from the angel's sight. "Where are all your lackeys? Do you think you can stop me now when I'm no longer bound?"
"That's a good bluff, Lucifer. But we both know, you haven't regained your power yet," mocked the angel. "And yet you have guts to order me around. It's a real shame I have to put you down again."
"You can try," the demon growled. The air around Lucifer crackling with static and in his outstretched hand a whip materialised; each of five leather strips burning with purple fire. He looked over his shoulder. "You two stay out of it," he said and moved toward Michael who was now wielding a huge, sword, gleaming with jewels.
"You're on," snarled the angel and jumped at Lucifer slashing his weapon in a wide arc. The demon jumped into the air and struck with his whip from above, but the weapon collided with a shield that suddenly materialised in Michael's other hand. The angel jumped into the air to face the demon on an equal level.
Their movements were so fast that Lhori's eyes could barely follow what was happening. She was gaping with her mouth open, unable to move. Solomon's words playing on repeat in her mind: Don't go against Michael. You will stand no chance with him. Do anything to avoid him. If he catches you before you get out of there, it will all be over like that! It was bad.
Suddenly Lucifer was struck by one of Michael's mighty blows and was thrown at the wall with enough force to crack the stones. Lhori gasped and fell on her knees. She suddenly felt as all the air has left her lungs, leaving her wheezing on the floor.
"Lhori!" gasped Lucifer struggling onto his feet again.
"Oh, isn't it fun!" laughed Michael landing in the middle of the room lightly as a feather. "I don't even have to threaten your little human. I only need to beat you up, and she will feel every ounce of your pain! That is just too good!"
Lucifer ignored the angel and hastened to Lhori's side. "Are you alright, love?" he asked, helping her back to her feet.
"I'll be fine," she wheezed with effort and squeezed his arm. "Don't worry about me, focus on holding him back, and I try to open us a way out."
"Are you sure?"
"We don't have much choice, do we?" she smiled weakly. Lucifer kissed her head.
"Come now, Lucifer! It's not the time for a break yet!" teased the archangel. "I haven't even started yet!"
Lucifer growled, and the whip appeared in his hand again. Without further delay, he ran at the sneering angel, with a series of lighting fast attacks. Michael kept laughing dodging and blocking all assaults without even sweating.
"Noah, can you do anything to help?" asked Lhori when she could breathe normally again.
"Not really. I'm no more than an annoying mosquito to him," he replied gloomily. In his hands, two daggers gleamed in candlelight, his body was tense, his eyes never leaving the fighters. "I'm waiting for an opening, but I haven't seen any so far."
"Keep at it then, and I'll try to open the portal. If we are lucky, maybe we'll manage to sneak out."
Lhori took out the scroll Solomon gave her and narrowed her eyes. The incantation was awfully long, and it looked like it needed a series of preparation first. She quickly looked around the room, trying to ignore the clash of steel and bursts of magic from above, where the old adversaries took the fight to the air again. The circle on the floor was broken, and some of the symbols were erased or incomplete. She searched the floor until she found the discarded chalk and started immediately restoring the runes, looking at the scroll every so often for reference. She was squirming from time to time when she felt the sudden pain flowing through her body every time Lucifer got hit, but she gritted her teeth and continued her work.
When she finally restored the circle to its proper form, she kneeled and started reading the scroll. It was hard. The words were in ancient demon dialect, and she didn't know at least half of them, so she was stammering a lot, and had to start from the beginning several times, as she felt the gathering magic disperse while she clumsily tried to chant the spell. And the sudden spikes of pain didn't help with her concentration either.
She felt the sweat on her brows, and her hands were shaking. They were running out of time. Lhori could feel overwhelming fatigue emanating from Lucifer; only his steel willpower kept him continuing this fight, while Michael was clearly toying with him. The portal was their only way out. Lhori took a deep breath, cleared her mind and started reciting yet again, this time determined to get the spell right until the end. She was so desperate that even the painful shouts and waves of physical pain exploding in her body couldn't shake her out of her concentration. That was it; she could almost feel all gathered power. The circle started crackling with energy, a little wisps of light started forming the gate. The letters on the scroll started glowing too. Lhori felt as her mind was now locked on the parchment, even when she closed her eyes, the glowing letters of remained incantation were still burned into her brain. She was so close now!
Suddenly there was a loud thump, and Michael landed right in front of her. She was reciting the words desperately now, hoping she'll manage to finish the spell on time, but the angel snatched the scroll from her fingers and set in on fire.
"NOOOO!" she shrieked, as the rest of incantation evaporated from her mind as fast as the parchment burned, leaving nothing but ashes. The gathering energy of the portal dispersed with a low hiss.
"Lhori, you naughty girl!" chided Michael. "What were you trying to do here, hm?"
"No..." she whispered still shocked, looking at the scorched pieces of parchment. She was so close! And now there was no hope.
Michael leaned over her like he wanted to pick her up from the floor, but suddenly Lucifer crashed onto him with all his body pushing him away. The angel swayed back and hit the wall with his back.
"Stay away from her!" Lucifer growled. His breath was ragged, the blood was pouring from his nose, and he wiped it with his sleeve smearing it all over his face.
"Oh my, you still have a fight in you, old pal," Michael said with a bemused smile, but his sapphire eyes were ice cold. "But I got bored with this little play already. Let's finish this." He outstretched his hand, and the beam of white light hit Lucifer square in the chest, throwing him at the stone pillar. Lhori fell on the floor feeling burning pain in her chest, fighting desperately for every breath. Michael dashed to Lucifer with inhuman speed and closed his hand on demon's throat, pinning him to the pillar. "This farce is over," he growled. "Surrender, or I'll tear you to pieces right here."
Lucifer was desperately trying to escape, but the angel's grip was relentless. Lhori could feel her consciousness fleeting, seeing black dots before her eyes. She knew Lucifer felt exactly the same, but he was still putting up a fight. A movement caught her eye, and she turned her head to see Noah stepping out of the shadows.
"Catch that, asshole!" he taunted, and something gleamed silvery in the candlelight. Lhori was not sure what happened, but Michael roared in pain and let go of Lucifer's neck. Only when she drew a blessed breath full of air, she noticed two daggers sticking out of the archangel's back, right between his shoulder blades.
"How dare you!" Michael roared turning to face Noah, who was crouching, ready to flee, his hands already holding another pair of daggers. "You, a lowly human scum, raising a hand at the archangel!" he bellowed in rage. He strained his muscles, and the daggers popped out of his body as they were merely a child's toy. Michael's eyes turned golden, and the air started rippling as in great heat. "I'll show you what happens to the insolent creatures like you!" The beam of scorching white power flew into Noah direction, but demon hunter was already on the move, escaping narrowly from the powerful strikes. "Stay still, damn you!" growled the angel throwing more projectiles after Noah.
Lhori felt a gentle touch. She turned to see Lucifer, who crawled his way to her and squeezed her hand.
"I'm sorry, Lhori," he whispered through his bloody lips.
"Don't say that," she protested weakly.
"I was the luckiest creature to be with you, even for this shortest time..."
"Lucifer..." she was interrupted with a crash of falling stones. Noah screamed surprised, and there was a sound that she was sure was cracking bones.
"Ha! You're not so fast, after all!" laughed Michael maniacally.
Lhori squeezed Lucifer's hand harder. If this was the end... She looked at their joined hands, her eyes landing on the ancient ring on her finger and she suddenly gasped. The Ring of Light! It was supposed to focus and amplify her magic. It was useless for her now, but what if she could give all this power to Lucifer?
"Lucifer," she whispered frantically. He looked at her raising his brows in question. He was bloodied and exhausted. But it was the only chance they had. "Open your mind for me," she said and closed her eyes. She reached deep inside her soul, where the magic source was pulsating slowly with power. "My name is Lhori, and I am commanding all seven of the most powerful demons of the underworld," the words were escaping her lips without any conscious thought. "I call upon all of you in the hour of the greatest need. Lend me your power, give me all you've got. Make me the vessel of your combined magic." She opened her eyes. Something was happening. The air around them was crackling with electricity. She looked at Lucifer; his crimson eyes were wide in shock. She could see in them her reflection; her own eyes were glowing silvery. She smiled and caressed his face. "Lucifer, our souls are bound by the pact. You are mine, and I am yours. All my power belongs to you. Take it, and take this bastard down!"
The demon smiled and kissed her. She felt the wave of heat, and a rash of something powerful that was rolling through her body and transferred to Lucifer. When she opened her eyes again, He was smiling. There was no sign of exhaustion there anymore. His crimson eyes were sparkling, and she realised she no longer felt the ever-present pain from all his wounds.
"Your wish is my command," he whispered and stood up.
"What have you done?" barked Michael eyeing them suspiciously.
"Regrouped," said Lucifer with a smirk. "Now let's settle this once and for all!" the demon outstretched his hand purple flames hit surprised angel throwing him back at the wall.
"What the..." Michael cursed under his breath, looking at the demon with shock.
"You were so busy gloating, that you never consider that my bond with Lhori works both ways," said Lucifer calmy, his voice full of the distinguished command once again. "It's not only pain we share. It's also power. You also forgot that she forged pact not only with me but with all my brothers. I might not be powerful enough to defeat you, even with my full power restored. But the combined strength of all of us together?" he smirked triumphantly. "I wouldn't bet my money on you, old pal."
Michael growled in rage, flaming sword materialising in his hand, and dashed at Lucifer, swinging his weapon furiously. But his assaults made no impression on the demon. He easily dodged or blocked all of them. He was the one playing now. The situation got reversed.
Lhori used the opportunity to sneak past the fighters and find Noah. He was sitting in the rubble at the back of the room. His legs were buried under the rocks, that have fallen from the collapsed ceiling, his right arm was bent at the wrong angle.
"Noah!" she gasped, rushing to his side.
"Oh, hey there," he said, looking at her, his green eyes a bit glassy. "You restored his power. Good."
"Noah... are you..."
"I'll be fine. Just a few cracked bones," he smiled weakly. "I've been worse."
"It's hard to believe. We'll get you out of here. Just wait until Lucifer is done with this."
"Yeah, he's back to save the day," Noah grimaced.
"Hey," she protested and turned his face gently to look at her. "You saved him. You saved us. I'll never forget it."
"Don't sweat it," he said, his eyes sparkling with glee. "Just can't help being a hero, you know."
"Idiot," she teased and ruffled his auburn hair.
"Hey, listen Lhori. Once the archangel is defeated, you might want to bound him. It would be good to bring him to authorities, so he takes responsibility for this whole mess."
"Good idea. How can we bind him then?"
Noah smirked. "The same way they did it to your demon. Go to the back room," he gestured with his healthy hand at a narrow back door, she hasn't noticed. "There will be a stash of all those chain loaded crossbows. Take it and use it once he's down."
In the meantime, Michael had a rough time fighting Lucifer. His attack seemed not to do any harm to the blasted demon, while he was taking a severe beating. The archangel stumbled on his feet again spitting the blood. He calculated the odds, and the outcome was not looking good for him.
"Don't you think it's enough?" teased Lucifer smirking. "I can do it all day, you know."
"You are a fool Lucifer. You might win this round, but I won't rest until I bring you down," he barked.
"Oh, leaving so early?" asked Lucifer, flaming whip materialising in his hand.
"We'll settle it another day," the angel scoffed and raised his hand. The glowing portal of white light appeared behind him. "I'll come for you, Lucifer."
"Oh no, you won't!" Lhori shouted. Michael looked surprised in her direction, but he only caught a gleam of something blue shooting through the air at him. Before he could do anything, the metal chains twisted around him, pinning his arms and wings down. And then the thunder rolled through his whole body. He screamed in pain and fell on the floor; all his magic was suddenly evaporating from his body. And then, when he thought it was over, another chain hit him. And another.
"You think that will be enough?" asked Lhori standing next to Lucifer.
"Oh, yes, love. I think that's quite enough. Good shot."
"Well, thank you. I bet Diavolo would like to have some words with him, don't you think?"
"That will be remarkably interesting conversation indeed. Shell, we go back home then?"
"Can you open the portal now?"
"Sure, no problem."
"Let's go home then," Lhori said with a tired smile.