Chapter 25
Standing up, I shake my hand as the ash from Lilith falls from it. I close my eyes. One more.
My ears hone in on Beelzebub and Azrael’s battle. Looking around the battle that’s still raging on, I see the rest of the Division is handling the other Knights with ease, so I take off to assist Azrael as I begin to notice that a shadowy mist lingers through all of Purgatory.
Beelzebub is so focused on Azrael that I catch him by surprise and slash at his back. As my claws tear through his flesh he notices me, giving Azrael time to get some distance between them.
“You fucking cur,” Beelzebub shouts. Turning all of his attention to me, but unlike the last time that we fought I’m calm and level-headed. With every attack he throws at me I slash his arms, blocking and dealing considerable damage.
As he continues his hits, the blood running down his wrists is thrown all over me.
His attacks are slow and Azrael jumps back in, just as he disappears into a cloud of black mist trying to hide his movements. The only issue with that is that he can’t hide the blood. His steps begin to retreat, based on the dripping blood.
I chase him down, reaching the end of the trail. I begin swiping but don’t hit anything. Azrael takes flight. “MOVE!” he shouts. He throws an arch of fire in the direction of the blood trail, just as I jump out of the way.
As it hits the ground an explosion rings out and reveals Beelzebub, blasting him backwards and to the ground. Running up to him, blood is flowing from his mouth and he begins to laugh. I hear the bellowing roar coming from Hell’s gate.
Looking up, I see dozens of Hell beasts emerging from the gate. Following the beasts is someone I’ve never seen before. A tall muscular creature with long, wide, jagged black horns and fiery red skin with multiple dragon wings steps forward.
Azrael lands next to me. “That’s Satan,” he says with a quiver in his voice. “This is bad.”
“Hahaha you’re fucked now, you have no chance against my Lord,” Beelzebub laughs.
Quickly Azrael swings his sword, decapitating Beelzebub. As his body twitches, I see Satan lock onto a spot in the battlefield. Following his gaze he is focused on the pile of ash that was once Lilith.
Looking back he is gone, a black mist dissipating from where I last saw him, then I see him appear at the ashes. He reaches down and scoops some up. “My child,” he hisses. He vanishes again then suddenly I’m filled with immense dread as the black mist surrounds me and he appears standing before me.
He backhands Azrael, hurling him far off into the distance. Then he grabs me by my throat, lifting me a couple feet off the ground.
“You must be Evander,” he growls. “Your very existence insults me, and your transgressions against my children will not go unpunished,” he snaps.
His strength rivals Michael’s as he continues to squeeze my neck. He takes his long dagger-like claws and slowly digs them into my side. I let out a painful howl that dies out as he squeezes. I can feel pure evil infecting me through his claws.
Just as I’m about to pass out from the pain a brilliant light cuts through the darkness and I’m thrown from his grip. As my sight quickly returns, I see Michael and Gabriel standing between me and Satan.
“Leave him to us, Evander. Azrael, heal Evander’s wound,” Michael commands.
“We will deal with this filth, you two dispatch his pets,” Gabriel sternly says. Before we have time to acknowledge them, they dash at Satan.
Michael swings his sword as Gabriel thrusts his spear with lightning speed. Satan counters them by drawing a huge black sword, a jagged blade with human skulls adorning the hilt.
Each strike is so powerful that thunderbolts strike out and shockwaves emanate from their collisions.
Azrael grabs me, pulling my attention from the colossal battle before me as he places his hand over my wound and pushes his fire into it. The flames instantly destroy the evil within.
“Okay now let’s go, we have a job to do,” he shouts, looking at the Hell beasts rampaging through the angels.
We take flight and separate. He drives his blade into a Leviathan that was stomping angels to death as something new catches my attention. A huge bat-like creature with a wingspan of twenty feet.
As it shoots toward me I roll avoiding its attack. Using my speed I get behind it and slam my claws into its back, shattering its spine right between its wings and sending it hurtling to the ground.
As it hits the dirt I’m immediately upon it and I thrust my claws with such force under its chin it removes the front of its face and skull. As it falls limp I see Achilles fighting a Cerberus, and he is in the process of destroying its last head as a Hydra steps in.
Before I get to them, Lucius slams into the Hydra and begins removing its heads.
Seeing how strong they have become is rather impressive.
As we fight back the beasts, it dawns on me that not only are they stronger, but they have killed all of the Knights without any assistance.
Based on the evidence of their bodies torn to pieces all over the battlefield.
As we work together slaughtering the rest of the beasts a cry rings out. Looking back I see Satan’s sword sticking out of Gabriel’s right shoulder. His wings fall limp and Satan throws him hard to the ground, then turning his full attention to Michael.
Azrael and I rush over to him. When we arrive he is still alive, but barely.
“Evander take him to the gates, I need to help Michael,” Azrael commands.
Without hesitation I nod, scooping him up and flying as fast as I can to the gate. Just before I get there a fireball explodes on my back, sending me cratering into the dirt. The rest of my Division rushes to my side.
“You good, Evander?” Lucius shouts.
“Give him to me,” Perseus says, reaching down grabbing Gabriel from my arms.
Lucius helps me up.
“What the fuck did that?” I ask a bit dazed.
“Fucking Hell Drake,” he answers looking up.
Seeing where the attack came from, I watch as Achilles jumps off of the ground with so much power he impacts with the Drake’s chest and fully passes through it, leaving a huge hole in its chest. It’s dead before it hits the ground.
“Get Gabriel to safety. I need to help Michael and Azrael,” I shout to Lucius.
My wings hurt, so I take off running to help and Achilles stops me. “Where are you going?” he asks.
“They need my help, assist them and then get out of here, this battle is beyond any of you,” I shout, taking off again.
Just as I reach Michael, he throws out his divine flames that soothe the burning on my wings. As the flames hit Satan he lets out a tremendous roar and the mist around him explodes, dropping a veil over all of Purgatory.
“Your tricks will not work against us,” Michael shouts. Then Azrael and he raise their swords together and with a fell swoop the black haze vanishes. Looking down at us is a dragon of ungodly proportions.
Its body is covered in black scales, which are obscured by the fleshy red veil that covers its flesh.
It possesses a striking double lower jaw, each with a row of extremely long, sharp fangs.
It has two large twisted horns at the sides of its head with a red pentagram centered between them and two large red glowing eyes.
Its toes and wingtips are adorned with sickle-shaped claws.
Its wings look like decay as the flesh hanging from them sways with its every move.
“This doesn’t change anything,” Michael shouts, then picks up Gabriel’s spear. “You’re going to pay for your impudence.”
Gripping it tight he hurls it at Satan and it plunges into his chest. He cries out in a high pitched screech. Then he swings his tail through the battle, killing hundreds of angels and demons in an instant.
We all rush in and split up, attacking from different angles. But when I get to him and begin to slash, my claws do nothing but deflect off his scales. Even imbuing them with my divinity does nothing.
Trying to figure out how I can help he swats me off of him and when I hit the ground he thrusts his head down, trying to devour me. I manage to catch his upper fangs with my hands, trying with all of my strength to push him back.
Azrael hits him in the side of the skull with his sword, violently throwing his head aside.
“Use the rotted holes in his flesh to your advantage. His scales are too strong for anyone other than Michael to penetrate,” he says, helping me up.
Then I see it, about two feet of Gabriel’s spear protruding from his chest.
“Fenrir, let’s try something.”
“Let’s go,” he shouts.
We dart back and forth, dodging multiple attacks as Michael and Azrael fight back.
Lunging at Satan, I hit his chest and grabbed hold of the spear.
I push my divinity through my claws, like I would to kill a demon, but this time it contacts the spear and a bolt of electricity shoots through it, causing a horrendous screech from Satan.
As a shockwave bursts from the tip of the spear throwing all of us in different directions.
“What the hell was that?” I ask, sitting up. The spear is still in my hand and it’s as if electricity is flowing from my hands covering the spear. The dust settles and the dragon is gone and that tall slender figure is back.
“Well we turned him back so that’s something.”
“Don’t get too confident,” Fenrir says.
A voice rings out around us. “Michael’s still causing me problems,” it says. Looking over to where the voice came from is a tall angelic looking man with black wings, holding a long blade that looks like Michael’s sword, but it’s black.
“Lucifer, how dare you appear before me,” Michael snaps. “I told you that if I laid eyes on you again I would destroy you for your blasphemy against Father!” he shouts.
“Brother, it took all of you to banish me and all I see before me is you, Azrael and this fucking wolf that keeps killing my servants,” Lucifer snaps back.
“Oh, Satan, there you are, not looking too good, honestly I thought Michael would have killed you already,” he says with a laugh.
Getting to his feet, Satan retorts, snidely. “If you think you can do better, fallen one, then show me.”
“I plan to,” he says with the aggression rising in his voice.
He dashes at Michael and as their swords clash black bolts shoot out, vaporizing everything it touches.
“Azrael… UGH… Evander finish Satan. I’ll hold… I’ll hold off Lucifer,” Michael grunts.
“Oh will you now, we will see about that, brother,” Lucifer slyly snaps back.
We regroup and attack again, but this time I try to use the spear. As I do, Satan quickly disarms me and slashes my chest. Azrael jumps in and unleashes a volley of attacks with the majority of them landing with the final one throwing Satan to the ground.
Just then a black bolt hits the ground at Azrael’s feet and explodes. He hits the ground and it looks like he just got shredded from head to toe.
Staggering to my feet I try to run to him, “AZRAEL, NO,” Michael shouts out. This distraction is what Lucifer was looking for. He slams his sword into Michael’s chestplate, sending him slamming into the marble wall beside Heaven’s gate.
Before I can do anything, Lucifer charges at me. With a powerful swing of his sword he cuts one of my wings clean off. Letting out a painful roar I try to attack him but it’s useless.
He begins to laugh, then punches me in the head, cartwheeling me to the ground.
“You have been such a pain in my ass,” he barks, raising his sword he swiftly cuts my other wing off.
“AUGH,” I scream out as I feel the divinity quickly leave me and the silver in my fur fades.
“That’s what I thought. Your wings were the source of that power,” he snickers.
“Time to put an end to this,” he says, raising his sword. Then Michael’s sword stops his blade just above my head.
“You will have to kill me to get to Evander,” he shouts.
“We have to get up, we have to help Azrael.”
“We can’t move Evander. I don’t see a way out of this,” Fenrir says, his voice getting weaker.
“We have to try.”
“AUGH!” I shout again, trying to push myself off the ground, but it doesn’t work. “Damn it,” I scream. I see movement in the distance and it’s Satan. He is up and about to finish off Azrael.
“NO!!!” I roar in a prolonged shout.
Michael jumps in, slamming his blade into Satan’s chest, sending him hurtling all the way across the battlefield and into the portal to Hell. As Satan vanishes into Hell a sharp pain pierces my back.
Lucifer is standing above me, his sword driven through me into the ground. He leans down. “I told you I was going to put an end to this,” he whispers.
Michael looks back at us, shock then rage washes over his face. He lunges at Lucifer, causing him to rip his sword from my back.
“I’m sorry… Michael… that I couldn’t do more,” I pant out, watching him and Lucifer still fighting amongst the thousands of corpses until everything fades to black.
Suddenly a jolt hits me as a familiar voice rings out and that same feeling of warmth and divinity fills me.
“My son, you and Fenrir have done me proud,” it says with a soothing voice.
“Where are we? Fenrir, where are you?” I shout, still confused.
“I’m right here with you, Evander,” Fenrir says.
“God, is that you?” I ask.
“Yes, my child, it is me. You have fought valiantly in my name and for that you will be rewarded.” God’s voice emanates through my soul.
“If you so choose you can be reunited with the love that you both have lost, or you can return to the fight,” he commands.
“Your decision needs to be made by both of you.”
Feeling exactly how Fenrir does we both speak at the same time. “We want to be with our soulmate.”
“So then you shall,” he says.
Suddenly everything goes white then fades black. I come to lying in a golden field with the warm sun kissing my face. Sitting up I see a woodline in the distance and a massive black ball of fur laying next to me.
“Fenrir?” I ask.
As it stretches out, it groans. “Yeah, wait,” he says, looking at me, then down, seeing he has his own body back. He starts jumping around like an overexcited puppy. “I can’t believe I have my body back!” he playfully shouts.
Then we both hear it at the same time and freeze.
“It’s about time you joined us, we have been waiting for you,” Frida and Serafine exclaim, walking out of the treeline with smiles. We can’t believe our eyes as we sprint to them.
Fenrir and Serafine playfully run around and jump on each other. When I reach Frida, I embrace her, crashing my lips against hers. Feeling the void that held our connection in my soul is once again whole.
THE END