33. A Time For War #2
Az’s dim glow turned overpowering, lighting up the sky like a miniature sun that illuminated the battlefield.
Waves of hellions covered the landscape, their generals at the back of their formation.
Some marched on us uniformly, like swarming ants.
Others were misshapen, their movements slow and disjointed.
Those would be the easiest for the humans to take out, so I focused on the organised units and their general.
No one gave an order. With one glance and nod to Stavros and Zach—their support warming me to my bones—I started running.
Better to catch them farther away from the gate, I figured.
The ground shook beneath me as I took off, Azariah’s holy light temporarily blinding. But it spurred me on, my surroundings blurring as I picked up speed. Power and strength coiled within me, eager to be unleashed on the hellions attacking us.
I have to save the best for Kimaris, I reminded myself as the hordes came closer.
When Az’s glow didn’t completely subside, I looked at my hands and saw holy light radiating from me . “Thanks for the juice, Az.” I smiled before refocusing on my target.
With a sweep of my arms, I took out rows of hellions easily, their forms vanishing into dust as I cut through them like butter.
I extended my fingertips, shooting holy light and pulses of my own out as far as the eye could see.
Nothing got past me. They wouldn’t even get within throwing distance of Bethel.
I cut a straight line through the unit, heading straight for the general, a multi-headed fucker with male and female faces by the name of Dantalion.
“The succubus!” multiple mouths wailed in unison.
That was all they got a chance to say.
I pulled John from his sheath, the blade a shining gold as I cut across my body, and severed all twelve of Dantalion’s heads from their necks.
Black sludge poured out of the gaping wounds as the body fell.
I was careful not to let it touch me as I whipped around, taking out another horde of hellions who tried to attack me from behind.
Running across the field to the next general, each step was like a flying leap across the landscape. And I had barely dented my power reserve. Az was right—I really was an energizer bunny.
The area surrounding Bethel was barren and charred to a crisp, thanks to the hellfire and complete lack of sunlight. So a stag with an impressive rack of antlers was nothing if not a suspicious sight.
I stopped my run at the base of the hill from where the animal watched me, holding John at my side. “Who are you?” I demanded.
The stag’s ears flicked as it watched me wordlessly. It had to be a trap. No prey animal could survive out here.
I sliced the air in front of me, concentrating my strength as my body tingled with power. “This is your final warning. Name yourself!”
An awful screeching sound emerged from the stag, like metal grinding on metal, as batlike wings sprouted from its back. Its front hooves turned into humanlike hands with long, dark claws.
“You don’t slaughter your brethren and make demands of me , traitor succubus,” the demon bellowed. “I, Ferthur, will ensure you are begging for death when I return you to Kimaris!” His wings spread open to the sides as he dove off the hill, heading straight for me.
I clasped John in both hands and held the sword ready like a baseball bat. “You always were a liar, Ferthur.”
The demon’s claws extended as he reached for me, that ear-splitting scream ringing in my ears before I swung. John tore through his wing and the trunk of his body. He didn’t cut through as easily as with Dantalion, so while Ferthur thrashed with my sword embedded in him, I grabbed his antlers.
With a sickening crunch, I pulled and twisted the demon’s head to an impossible angle.
Of course that didn’t kill him, but it kept me from getting stabbed by antlers as I finished the job.
I yanked John out from his ribcage and hacked at Ferthur’s neck until he was just as dead and decapitated as the last general.
I panted slightly, watching his body dissolve into nothing. That took a little more energy, but I was still in decent shape. I could take out another general or two before going back to Az to top myself off.
My decision made, I wiped the black, sludgy demon blood off of my blessed blade and carried on.
“You’ll pay for this betrayal, whore of humans!”
“Tell it to someone who cares.”
I drove John right through Ouras' stupid horse mouth, silencing the demon once and for all. Leaning heavily on the sword, I rose to my aching, tender feet.
Two more waves of hellions and their generals had emerged from the fog, and I used more precious energy on them before I could get to Az or my guys. My run back toward Bethel was at a more human pace now, my lungs laboring with effort, and John feeling significantly heavier in my hand.
I didn’t see many hellions left, but it was still so dark out. I could only hope I was following the correct lights back into town, and another demon wasn’t trying to lure me into a trap. A whooshing sound came from above me and I spun defensively, raising John on instinct.
“Deyva, it’s me! Where have you been?”
“Az!” I cried with relief. He was burned out too, his holy light dulled to a faint glow, with ash and sweat covering his body. I probably didn’t look much better.
The angel swooped down and gathered me up in his arms. He sagged slightly under my weight, but never once touched the ground.
“I didn’t see you for so long, I got worried.” He stroked my hair, cradling my head to his chest as he flew us back toward the town. “Why didn’t you come find me sooner?”
His concern was sweet, delicious, and it filled me up like an empty jar left out in the rain. I hugged around his neck, pressing kisses to his throat and jaw to replenish him in return.
“I felt fine after the first two generals, so I kept going. Then two more snuck up on me and I couldn’t get away without leading them right to you.”
“You should have, we could have fought them together.” He tugged at one of my horns, being chastising and affectionate.
“Well, I think all the leaders are gone, so we’ve done our parts. How are the guys?”
“Worn out, but holding on,” he said. “A few hellions slipped past them but the townspeople took them out with fire hoses.”
“Where are they?” I scanned the ground below us. “I need to replenish them.”
“Hold your damn horses, succubus. I need to replenish you .”
“Hurry the fuck up and kiss me then!”
Azariah laughed with a nip of my ear. “Let me find a place to land.”
“What’s the matter, fly boy?” I tugged his lower lip between my teeth. “Can’t fuck in midair?”
“Fuck me,” he groaned, hand sliding down my back to clutch at my ass.
“That’s what I’m trying to do.” I sucked hard at his neck, dragging my lips along the taut muscle as his hips ground into me. “There you go,” I whispered, my tongue against his skin. “You’re getting stronger already.”
“Quit distracting me and feed, you little minx.” He squeezed my ass, rubbing and grinding his cock against me while his wings carried us. “Only you could turn me on so much in the middle of a battle.”
“I’m sure Zach could too,” I said, taking greedy gulps of his desire while pushing love and affection back to him. We were an endless feedback loop, taking and giving to each other.
“Speaking of, I see the priests. Hold on, Deyva.”
Our bodies pressed together as he picked up speed, wings folding back as he dove toward the ground. Turning my head to look, I spotted my three guys forming a circle with their backs to each other, while hellions surrounded, closing in on them.
Az laughed amusedly at my protective growl. “Let’s save the day!” he yelled over the wind rushing in our ears.
Keeping one arm around his neck, I stretched the other out toward the enemies forming a gradually tighter circle around my boyfriends. Az copied the gesture, holding me secure against him with an arm around my waist.
Our outstretched palms glowed with holy light, growing brighter by the second. The hellions barely knew what hit them, blinded by the force of our combined power before being smited into oblivion.
“Deyva! Babe!” my guys called out to me.
Az released me, hovering a few feet off the ground.
Within seconds, hands and mouths caressed me—touching my face, hugging me, kissing and caressing my horns.
It all tasted beautiful, but I couldn’t allow myself to feed and drain them even more.
I pushed strength into them instead, the resolve to win and end this.
One by one, each man’s spine straightened up, their eyes growing a little brighter.
“Is anyone hurt?” I felt for pain, injuries, anything I needed to heal. To my immense relief, everything was surface level—scrapes and bruises. The guys were just exhausted. “How are the townspeople?” I asked when everyone had a chance to catch their breath.
“Good,” Kais panted, wiping sweat from his brow. “Back inside the gate, for now.”
“Is that...it?” Zach dared to ask, his face covered in soot. “Did we win?”
“As much as I’d enjoy that victory threesome now, I don’t think we should get too hopeful yet.” Az looked around, wings tense and high on his back.
The silence was just as eerie as the rattling, rasping, and shrieks of the hellions.
Only a breeze howled softly as we walked along the gate’s perimeter, with Az buffing up the weak spots in the crucifixes.
Taking out the few remaining hellions clinging to life, we all started to breath a bit easier upon nearly making a complete loop around the town.
Then the earth started to shake.
“You two, get in the air!” Stavros shoved me at Az, who pulled me into his chest and took flight despite my squirming.
“No, we have to stay with them!” I shoved at Az, struggling to remove myself from his grip.
“It’s not them he wants.” For the first time ever, I tasted sharp, genuine fear from the cocky angel. “It’s us.”
A massive crack in the ground appeared, an ear-splitting thunder rumbling over the world as the two sides began to separate.
My priests ran for cover, Zach pointing and shouting at how close the fissure was running toward the gate.
When the familiar black-clawed hand shot up from the gradually spreading canyon, dread filled me, like I drank from a poisonous well.
“Deyva.” Kimaris grinned, hoisting himself up. “At last we’re reunited.” His soulless black eyes slid over to Azariah. “No thanks to you, angel.”
“What can I say, Kim? She’s a much better lay.” Az’s grip around me tightened, his fingers locking at my waist.
Kimaris' proportions were ridiculous here on earth. He was as tall as the church itself and almost as wide, his horns the size of helicopter propellers.
“Don’t you two look sweet wrapped up in each other!
” The demon’s voice dripped with cruelty, likely already fantasizing all the ways he would abuse us.
A memory of Ahlaeus, my first angel lover, popped into my head and I clutched around Az’s neck tighter.
“It’s actually perfect that you two are together.
Your screams will be most entertaining to our special guest.”
The ground shook ten times more violently than before, knocking my priests off their feet as they struggled to stand. The fissure in the ground stretched open like a gaping maw—or the Mouth of Hell itself.
“What’s happening?” I could only hold on to Az and stare at what looked like the entire planet breaking apart.
“I don’t know.” Then, “Oh! Ohhh, shit .”
If I thought Kimaris was big, he was dwarfed by the monster crawling out of the earth.
Clawed, gnarled hands the size of houses reached up, kicking up dust storms as the palms flattened against the earth.
Wide horns emerged, the ends curving up like those on a longhorn bull, and a heavy blackened crown sat between them.
My dread morphed into a bottomless pit of despair as King Belial pulled himself out of Hell.