Angels

The Earth was dark and haunted. Even in the modern century. Even now as she swooped down over the city, she could see blood being spilt everywhere. There was no sun shining, only a dim red light emanating down into the atmosphere, and thus, Earth. She nearly felt bad for the humans who lived down there. But there was no pity in Amaril’s heart.

            Her white wings, white as a swan’s, shone pink in the red light. Dark clouds loomed in the sky as if it might rain. It never did. The only rain was acid rain, polluted by man. The land was corrupted and dry. There was no life beyond the city’s dome; if there was, it was in another city dome. The only life beyond the city’s dome was that of their old city. Where the sick and diseased ones lived.

            Her dark brown hair floated behind her in the moist air. It would rain, though it would be a rare one. There was no acid in the moisture, no burning on her skin. She looked down onto the lonesome, diseased city that was haggard compared to the magnificent city beside it in the dome. The people of the diseased city looked up at the now thundering sky with hope apparent on their sickly faces. It made her heart bitter. She settled down onto a patch of dry ground underneath a dying tree. They had not seen her; even if they had, it would not have mattered. There were stranger and more dangerous creatures living outside both haggard and beautiful cities.

            “I see that our Lord has cursed you to wander this wasteland,” said a smooth voice up above.

            “Not exactly, Malachi,” Amaril answered blandly.

            A young angel her age dropped down beside Amaril. His gilded gold hair glinted orange in the red light. His wings were as white as Amaril’s with touches of silver here and there.

            “Then why are you here, Amaril? Have you fallen?” Malachi glanced at her with harsh blue eyes. “If you were to have fallen, you would be in Slyth where all those other traitors, more so the blood ones, live.”

            “I have not fallen, Malachi!” Amaril snapped.

            Malachi smiled and touched the side of her face gently with his hand. It was the reaction he had wanted. Amaril’s lips hardened into a fine line and she slapped his hand away.

            “So you wish to live with the blood traitors, don’t you?” Malachi teased.

            “Do not speak of that place. Don’t ever speak of it. The Lord hears all.”

            “The Lord only hears what He wants to hear.”

            “How could you speak such blasphemy? You could get thrown"”

            “"out of Heaven like Lucifer?” Malachi finished for her. He chuckled, his laugh full and pompous. “Lucifer hated the perfection of Heaven. He hated our Lord. Now he burns in the pits of Hell with his demons. You think I don’t know that? I have read the ancient scrolls. Even the humans here have it inscribed in a book they call ‘The Bible’.”

            Malachi snorted; Amaril glared at him.

            “You will become fallen, Malachi. The Lord will see to it.”

            Malachi smirked. “You still haven’t told me why you are here, pretty Amaril.”

            “I could ask the same of you,” Amaril whispered coolly.

            “Lord Gabriel sent me and asked me to wait here. He said there was a renegade demon running amuck Earth in this precise area. Someone was to come and deal with it.”

            “That would be me.”

            “And who sent you, dear Amaril?”

            “Lord Jegudiel. He knew of the plight on Earth and sent me, as one of the best, to take care of it. He never mentioned that there was someone waiting for me.”

            Malachi ran a finger down the side of Amaril’s cheek.

            “And here I am, one of the best as well, to vanquish the demon.”

            “We are to vanquish the demon. If we succeed, Lord Michael will be pleased. Maybe pleased enough to reward us.”

            Amaril smiled at her own words. She would never have to visit Earth again and simply wallow in luxury in Heaven.

            “Dear, you dream so. All hunter angels wish for the same thing. Few have gotten it.”

            “It doesn’t stop me,” Amaril murmured, gazing up into the black and red sky.

            The dim red light faded and a breeze smelling of salt whipped through the air. Amaril breathed in deeply. Fat raindrops plopped down onto the ground. The rain shower was thick within a few moments of beginning. She ran a hand through her sopping hair. She glanced at Malachi; he looked over the far horizon with glazed eyes.

            “The only thing that Earth has that Heaven has not is this,” Malachi whispered. “Never rain, never imperfection.”

            “We are bound to our Lord for all eternity. You don’t want free will, Malachi. Look what the humans have done to themselves.” She waved a hand towards the two cities; one standing tall and proud and bright while the other shambles and diseased. “They poison themselves, kill their brethren. It is free will that has cursed them and free will that has made them so.”

            “But freedom still. The freedom to choose your own destiny.” Malachi took Amaril’s hands in his own and pulled her towards him. “The freedom to love.”

            “I don’t want you.”

            “Question the way things are sometime, Amaril. The way things have been for thousands and millions of years.”

            “To question would be to provoke our lord archangels. Heaven would be a mess of chaos if we all had free will.”

            Malachi smiled at her. A secret was hidden in his smile.

            “Dear Amaril, pretty Amaril…you said you wanted a reward from our Lord Michael for vanquishing this demon. Why not ask him for the two of us to have free will?”

            “The Lord God would not allow it,” she hissed. Desire brimmed in her chest; what would happen if she did have free will? “Do not tempt His angels.”

            “Ah, but it’s within temptation that He knows what we desire.”

           

~ ~ ~

 

            The rain still fell from the red and black sky that night. The moon’s light peeked through the dark storm clouds and shone white on Amaril’s white swan wings. Malachi watched her sleep; he danced a hand lightly across her face and flinched away when she shifted.

            Malachi folded his hands and closed his eyes as if in prayer. He whispered words in a language older than any on Earth. It was the language of Heaven; no human could speak it. It was born within the blood of angels and the blood traitors of Slyth spoke little of it.

            A breeze shifted Malachi’s golden hair to the opposite side of his face and he bowed in his Lord’s presence. A faint white light shone above him; Malachi dared not look.

            “You called me, Hunter Malachi,” Lord Michael’s voice said softly.

            “As a reward for vanquishing the demon,” requested Malachi from where his face was on the ground, “Hunter Amaril and I would like a reward.”

            “What reward would this be?”

            “The gift of free will.”

            Lord Michael frowned at the cowering Malachi.

            “She will have the gift.”

            “Just her, my Lord?”

            “I have heard the blasphemous thoughts in your mind and heard the words you have spoken against the Lord God. You will never have the gift of free will.”

            The light was gone. Malachi glanced up. His beautiful face became twisted with anger and revulsion as he glanced at the one he loved behind him. He rose from the dry orange ground and shot high into the sky.

 

            “Tell me.” Malachi pressed the demon harder against the wall of the house. “TELL ME.”

            The demon looked at Malachi with its full black eyes and nodded. Malachi threw him to the ground. The demon clutched his throat and glanced up at the angel. Its eyes held no ounce of white, no pupil; simply full and black like the night. The demon, Azazel, glared at him with malice. It even looked evil; Malachi felt as evil as this creature.

            “You want free will,” Azazel rasped in a crackling voice, though he was a young demon. “I can help you with that.”

            Malachi stepped forward. “How can I get it?”

            Azazel smiled a sharp toothed smile at the angel. His red skin was a blood red in the darkness. His eyes glowed evilly from where Malachi stood.

            “Bring me the hunter angel who calls herself Amaril. Then we will talk.”

            Azazel shifted into the guise of a wizened old priest and scuffled off into another room. Malachi left with a feeling of contentment around him. He would soon have what he wanted.

 

~ ~ ~

 

            A cackle awoke her. Amaril opened her eyes to see a priest leaning down over her. She swallowed in fear as the priest changed into his original form as the demon Azazel. She glared at the demon.

            “How did I get here?”

            “Your ‘friend’ brought you here,” Azazel cackled. He motioned to the doorway where Malachi stood. Something was different about him. And then she saw it; the innocence was gone from his eyes. His once swan white wings were darkening to black.

            “How could you betray me, Malachi?” she cried to the blood red sky above. “Have I wronged you that much?”

            “I talked to Michael the archangel. I asked for free will as a reward for the both of us. He said that only you could have it.”

            “Your thoughts! Your words!”

            “They don’t mean anything anymore. Satan is my Lord now.”

            Amaril narrowed her eyes and grimaced. She glanced away and to Azazel. He held a knife poised above her heart.

            “You can’t kill me,” she whispered.

            “How can you kill something that doesn’t have a soul?” Azazel asked in a rasping voice. “With demon’s blood.”

            Her eyes pinpointed on the tip of the knife. It was dark red, nearly black in color. She tried to struggle away from the knife, but her arms and legs were pinned by her sides by iron shackles. All she could do was watch as that knife lowered closer and closer to her heart and her eternal death…

            The knife grazed her skin, opening up a burning wound hot as the fires of Hell. Azazel glanced up in fear and anger at something in the distance. Amaril craned her neck; among the graves of those Azazel had killed so that he could live walked unknown angels. All had wings of snow and cold set faces.

            They flew up into the air and two charged at Azazel. Another two caught Malachi and held him in firm grips. Spirits rose from the ground and swirled around the demon Azazel. Azazel watched as the spirits charged him and he burst into flame. The two angels that had charged the demon glanced back at Amaril and released her from her bindings. Amaril stood, the wound on her skin fading and burning at the same time.

            “We are the four servants of the Archangel Lords,” the female said in a cool watery voice. “The Lord Michael, as a gift of his own to you, grants you with free will.”

            “Give the Lord my thanks,” Amaril said.

 

            The four servants of the Lord Michael faded into the sky. Malachi was in binds and chains, dragged by them to be sentenced to the pits of Hell because of his betrayal. He had his free will; it had been granted by Lucifer, or the devil Satan as he was known.

            The red sky faded into black as the sun set into the horizon. Amaril sat under that same dying tree where she and Malachi had talked only hours before. The Lord God worked in mysterious ways; even the angels knew that.  She remembered the last words of the last time they had really talked.

“The Lord God would not allow it,” she hissed. “Do not tempt His angels.”

            “Ah, but it’s within temptation that He knows what we desire.”

Author's Note

Inspired by the song "Angels" by the band Within Temptation. This uses a world I created beforehand. It takes place in the year 2999.

Reviews

[TC Dunn]

awesome story. I really loved it, and I love within temptation. "Angels" is one of my favorite songs, and angels in general are one of my favorite topics to write about as well. Can't wait to read more about the world you created. :)

[quinfinn]

terrific write! very intriguing and historically accurate (as far as biblical and folklore go) clever and compelling . couldn't stop reading. very nice job!

[Jack E Khthon]

Enjoyed the read...fascinating story...I like the whole good vs bad dichotomy you had going on there...The story was easy to follow and had a message to it which was pretty neat...It seemed like you created your own world, and would be cool to explore that world a little more...The dialogue seemed true to you characters and the pacing of the story was well...Although the whole God /satan idea seems a little cliche' to me it was intriguing enough for me to read all the way through...all and all I would say it was a good read..