Chapter 2

A Chapter by JaenelleEvans

It wasn’t long after the men had fallen into a restless sleep that the souls from beneath them began stirring closer to the surface. The ground stained with their own blood churned over to make way for one of their rare trips to the surface. The screams of the souls rising created a blood chilling harmony if anyone had been unfortunate enough to still be awake. Angels and Demons alike rose slowly, desperate to be the first to reach the top, to be the one who got through.
In this state they couldn’t fight, they barely existed at all; it was a recruitment not a permanent escape. Finally one of each team broke through the surface and drifted across the familiar grounds where it had all begun. Each gazing longingly over the bodies that lay around them while trying to choose the best for their own side.
The Demon paused kneeling next to a body, watching the man’s chest ride and fall with each breath enviously before moving along. He carelessly stepped through the bodies which didn’t interest him, cursing their dreams that night with the worst nightmares imaginable.
The Angel glided delicately around each of the warriors, pausing at each to inspect them carefully but after completing her trip she still stood empty handed. She frowned glancing around the grounds again; she had sworn there had been some stronger warriors in the group earlier.
The Demon glided across to her side, resting a hand casually on her shoulder.
“If you don’t want one I’m happy to take two.”
She glared at him, shaking his hand off her shoulder. It was always the two of them who ended up on the surface and he was always so carless and immature as soon as he got one fake breath of clean air. She turned away from him and kneeled beside the best she could find.
Her hand was just about to touch his when the Demon interrupted.
“Wait!...” He sighed, almost wishing he knew how to hold his tongue. “The one you’re looking for it resting in the Sauri’s cabin. The sneaky b******s thought they could outsmart you … which I guess they kinda did actually... You know I don’t think you’re really nearly as smart as you seem to think you are, you always go on and on about how thick I am but really-”
“Shut up moron.” She glided towards the cabin frowning, how could she have missed that?
The Demon followed a few paces behind; his grin showing all of his carefully sharpened teeth which almost glowed in the moonlight. He let her enter the cabin and watched as she began her search again. She gasped as she stared at one of the bunks but he didn’t move from the doorway till he saw her shoulders trembling and heard a muted sob. He then carefully made his to her side, delicately brushing the arm of everyone he passed, each one then groaned in agony or whimpered in fear.
“Oh… how thoughtless of me. I should have mentioned he was blocking it. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have to see him again… How terrible heartbreaking, the sorrow, the hatred, the betrayal.”
His grin widened as her tears began to fall to the floor, her hands clenched at her sides, her shoulders shaking from sorrow and anger.
He brushed a tear from her cheek.
“You know you can’t take him, but he sure put a lot of effort into making sure you didn’t find him… I wonder why that could possibly be?”
The Demon walked passed her, bumping into her just enough to shift her gaze to a boy laying sound asleep in a bed near them. He continued around the room making sure that each man was deep in his worst nightmare while he kept half an eye on the progress she was making.
Her eyes darted between the two of them. She knew the time was running out, the second she took their hand that was it. There wasn’t much to it, choose a strong soldier and return, the boy was defiantly the strong soldier she wanted, and it would hurt the man who had put up the spell. She knew it would hurt him; she just couldn’t quite work out if that’s why she wanted the boy or if that was what made her pause.
The Demon came to a bunk he knew he had passed, yet still there was a smile on the woman’s face, that was all he needed to know. He turned to the Angel.
“I’ve chosen, you’d best get moving, and don’t forget to pick a good one. Unless you want to lose? And by your current reaction it seems you’re happy to take whatever happens with a smile. Oh what a good Angel you must have been.”
She spun at his last word.
“I’m still an Angel, and we will win!” She reached out and snatched the sleeping Boy’s hand who was instantly yanked from his sleep.
He sat upright in his bed staring around the room but he saw nothing but fog. He was half way through reassuring himself that it was just a dream when the fog curled around his arm and began pulling at him with amazing force. He was about to yell out when Adrian’s words echoed through his mind. He bit his lip, instantly drawing blood but managing to keep himself silent as he was dragged from his bed by an invisible hand.
The Demon growled, this wasn’t the show he wanted. He reached out and clutched the hand of his choice who woke with a scream waking everyone else in the cabin playing her part quite well. Adrian leapt to his feet, his eyes instantly falling on Demitri who was already half way out of the cabin. Out of all the people, why did it have to be him?
He only hesitated for a moment, but by the time it occurred to him he had to move they were already down the hill headed fast for the battlefield. He ran out the door and some of the men followed suit despite the earlier warnings but they were all left behind staring in amazement as he flew down the hill quickly closing the gap between himself and Demitri who reached out with his spare arm desperately to his only chance of survival.
They managed to both get a strong grip on each other’s arms and for a moment it seemed as if they were making ground, as though the spirits hold was weakening until a face appeared through the fog that held him and the Angels voice chimed through the night.
“Let him go Adrian.”
As the fog swirled back into nothing Adrian’s grip on Demitri weakened and despite his shouts he couldn’t focus back on the situation, still staring at where the face had appeared, her voice echoing in his ears. He stood motionless as Demitri was pulled effortlessly from his grasp.
The ground behind them opened up and the screams from beneath engulfed the battlefield waking what few soldiers that had managed to stay asleep. The fog and the two who had been taken descended into the crack in the Earth, Demitri still reaching out desperately to his frozen leader.
He lay in his bed, sleeping, as always, with one eye open. In this world you couldn't trust anyone and there was never time to sleep really. His clothes were stained in blood from the last few weeks, his arms ached from constantly wielding the sword, his stomach cried for food and he yearned for contact other than bloodshed.
He didn't know how long he had been doing this, only that it wasn’t as long as everyone else, and he couldn't remember a time before fighting and he couldn't think of a world after it. The only thing he had of a different life was the dog tags around his neck with the word Demitri carved into it. He assumed that was his name though he had no memories of ever belonging to it.
All that existed what there was here and that was all there could ever be. Those thoughts kept him awake at night and staying awake kept him alive. Though he didn’t particularly care for his existence he knew he had to be a part of the fight. He didn’t know what it was for exactly but his side had to win.
The trumpets blew and he sprung from his bed. Change of troops, or back up was needed, either way it meant back to the battle field.