Silence of Death
Work... that's all my life was. Technically it would be called hunting, but that's more of a morale debate; of which I'm not the go to guy for. I hunted daemons, possessed beings, and The Fallen. The last one was the most satisfying.
Feeling a lance of pain run up my side, I flinched and opened my eyes, squinting as the mid-morning sunlight streamed through the window. With a hiss I flicked my hand and a tentacle made of shadows shot from across the room to shut the blinds. With the light out of the way I opened my eyes completely, now able to see without impediments. My bedroom was as it was last night, papers and books scattered haphazardly across the cold wooden floor, as was several mugs of coffee. Carefully stepping over the books and papers, I made my way into the bathroom that stood right next to the main bedroom. Taking off my shirt, I looked at myself in the mirror for several seconds before seeing what had woken me up. A scab had opened up on my left shoulder, letting a trickle of blood run down my arm. Normally, such a thing wouldn't have bothered me enough to wake me up, but this one had been self inflicted. The wound would heal into a circle inside a diamond that was
bisected by a straight line.
The wound, and many others scattered across my body, was a sign of my devotion to the one true God that I would renew every decade. The scars would also serve the purpose of keeping my mind, flesh, and soul, free from the taint of the horrors of Hell.
With a sigh, I yanked the room's shadows towards me and pulled them up until they covered my entire body. Closing my eyes I began to speak, and my body began to change as bones broke and reformed, as did my skin. After several minutes, the shadows fell back to their old positions in the room, and I stood in the center of the room. Staring at myself in the mirror I checked to see if everything was as it should be. Black fur, check. Gold coloured mane and tail, check. Religious scars, check. Completely white eyes, check. Pegasus wings, check. Everything was completely ready. Cracking my neck, I left the bedroom, my hooves clicking on the finely crafted wooden flooring. On my way out, I grabbed my rosary beads off the bedroom doorhandle with a shadow before throwing it on. The cross itself was repainted from its original bright gold colour to a deep black.
Walking down the hallway, I entered a large room filled with weapons and armour. In the center of the room was a handful of ancient and rare weapons and armour. There was the Mark VI 'Corvus' Power Armour, a thunder hammer, my sword and armour, and various other weapons and armour. Trotting up to the stand, I used several shadows to pull off black armour that was shaped to fit a pony. As the shadows tightened the leather straps, another shadow brought me the sword and hilt as well as my saddle bags. Hearing the door behind me open, I turned around to see a unicorn stallion with silver colored fur and a black mane. The stallion wore a three piece suit, and a silver plate floated in front of him.
"Breakfast sir?" he asked as I turned completely around to face him.
"No thank you, I'll be eating out this morning," I told him as I headed for the door. "Oh, and Tittles?"
"Yes sir?"
"Star Fire is coming by this evening, can you please prepare tea for her and keep her occupied, I'll probably be late."
"Of course sir," Tittlesworth replied as he backed away. Following him out the door, I turned to the left, and headed down the set of stairs towards the entryway and towards the front door. Hanging on a peg was a long, black, hooded cloak with a blood red trim. Using a shadow, I threw it on and unlocked the front door.
"Where there is light, I shall bring darkness," I began, speaking the Litany of Devotion. The litanies were a series of incantations, prayers, and promises that every Angel knew by heart. They would help focus or clear my mind, or prepare myself for combat. "Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light. Where there is shame, I shall point atonement. Where there is rage, I shall show its course. My word in the soul shall be as my sword in the field."
Finishing, I stepped into the streets of Canterlot. Ponies hurried back and forth, going about their business. A lot of them gave me weird looks as I made my way towards the castle, but I ignored them. Most of the ponies in Canterlot were arrogant assholes who only cared about themselves and money. It was pathetic, money is replaceable, wasted time isn't. As I walked up to the castle gates, two guards stepped in front of me.
"Name and reason," the two gold armoured, white futures, and blue coloured hair stallions asked, their voices a complete monotone.
"Marticus, and Princess Celestia asked to see me," I told them in an equally bland voice.
"She's waiting," one of the guards told me as the gate behind him opened. Without a word, I took a deep breath and walked through the gates and into the castle itself. I hoped that Princess Celestia wouldn't be too mad at me, considering that the last time she had a job for me, only twelve out of thirty guards she sent with me came back alive. But then again, I didn't have the support of my team. Hearing the clicking of hooves on the stone floor, I turned around to see an earth pony trot up to me. The pony was one of my closest 'friends.' She wore blood red leather armour under a black trench coat. Her fur was cream colored with a similarly coloured mane and tail.
"Good morning sexy," the mare said gleefully before kissing me.
"Hmm?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow at her. While this wasn't unusual behavior for Star Fire, it was unusual for her to do this publicly.
"You don't remember what day it is?" Star Fire asked, frowning.
"Uuuh..."
"Anniversary?" She suggested as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"In my defense, I have been gone for three years," I replied as I turned to walk towards the throne room.
"That would have worked a millennia ago, but it's not working now!"
"Look, sweetheart, I'm really sorry. I am, but-" I began, trying to make up an excuse on the go before she interrupted me.
"You can make it up to me tonight," she told me with a completely blank face. Oh lord, please help me from this one. In her past life Star Fire had been a succubus and no form of sexual torture was beyond her. Continuing on, I headed for the throne room, Star Fire close behind me. The golden colored doors of the throne room, seeing the doors, a big, idiotic grin formed on my face. I knew she was probably reading the report I submitted last night right now, and she would have some very stern words for me. But she was one of my closest friends other than Star Fire, though Star Fire was more of a lover than a friend.
"Wait here," I told Star Fire as i continued to trot towards the doors of the throne room. "Mimsaret,' I whispered and my body became intangible and invisible.. Walking towards the doors, I passed by the guards posted in front of it and phased through the doors. God I loved forbidden magic, it was just so much fun to use. Letting the magic dissipate, I slowly materialized in the throne room itself. The floor was made of solid stone as was the walls and ceilling. The walls had windows of colored glass that let the only sources of light into the room. Sitting on her throne at the very end of the room was the sun princess herself, Princess Celestia. Her coat was the same cream colour and her mane was the same gold, white, purple, and pink. And she wore the same tiara and neckplate as I remembered.
As I walked towards her, I saw that she was reading my report.
"Good morning your majesty," I greeted her, giving her an exagerated bow. Princess Celestia smiled and set the papers aside.
"Good day Sir Vlad Tepes the Third Marticus of the Draculi Family," the princess replied with a nod of her head. i struggled to maintain a straight Facebook as I stood up.
"How is your da-" I couldn't contain myself any longer and burst out laighing. It ws an age old joke that went back to when I first met the princess two hundred thousand years ago. I had never been one for formalities (the only exception being my religion) and durring my first few decades, I had gotten into quite a bit of trouble because of this. Over the years, it had turned into a joke between the princess and I. "Anything new with the world?" I asked after finally recovering from my laughing fit.
"Not as of now," the princess replied. "But I have q question. The first beeing why did you list the destruction of a barn in Dodge Junction as entertainment?"
"I had to list it as something. And i dont think the nobles would particullarly belive it if it said, A Dark Angel in the service of God, Country, and Good, fought a seven legged, six armd daemon from the pits of hell. I think 'entertainment' was the better explanation."
"You're going to need to start coming up with better explanations than that if you want me to keep funding you," Celestia replied as she rubbed the bridge of her snout.
"I'll think about it on the way to Ponyville," I told the princess as I turned to leave.
"Please tell me you're not going hunting again," she replied.
"Just prepare yourself," I warned with a smile.
"I'll prepare the reports," she sighed. Flinging open the doors to the throne room, I strode out, a bounce in my step. As I passed the guards that stood in front of the doors, they looked first at me, and then at each other, completely confused. "Come on," I told Star Fire. "What's going on in Ponyville?"
"A minor daemon, Jacobs and his team left last night to stake out the town. Though I dougtt it's a single daemon.."
"They never travel alone," I replied as I trotted up to a nearby balcony. Looking down, I saw a mare and a royal guard practicing swordfighting. It was actually pretty funny to watch the young mare try her hoof at swordfighting, though she did seem to be somewhat good at it. Ignoring the two, I looked up at the sun, my eyes closed. Gathering the shadows around me. I dissapeared in a cloud of black smoke, and then after several seconds of nothingness I appeared about a mile above the ground. Looking around, I saw that below me was a large sprawling town. I could see that a large crowd had gathered near the center of, the town. They surrounded a large group of horrifying freaks and they did nothing. Folding in my wings I fell towards the ground. I loved this feeling. The feeling of falling, of the wind rushing past me, it was euphoric. Opening my wings I stopped suddenly, merely inches above the ground. Next to me was a dead body of a bright
green pony, it's throat torn out and it's chest and rib cage destroyed. Kneeling, I ran my hand through the pool of blood that surrounded the mare. With a smile, I licked the blood off of my hand as I stood back up.
"Speak up ye men of God. Let us all know who you are," I yelled as I slowly made my way towards the group of daemons, the shadows collecting at my feet.
"We are the soldiers of the Dark Angels," four voices yelled back as four figures landed next to me in similar attire to mine.
"Then tell me, soldiers of the Dark Angels, what do you hold in your right hand?" I replied as I felt my body slowly change. The daemons stared at us and held their position.
"Daggers and poison," they yelled back as the fell in beside me, forming a line.
"And what do you hold in your left hand?"
"Twenty pieces of silver and a straw rope!"
Then, as one, we yelled out, loud enough for the entire town to hear us, "We are belivers, yet not believers. We are disciples, yet not disciples. We are heretics, yet not heretics. We are Apostles, yet not Apostles!" As we said this, my skin changed into a deep red, as did my eyes, and my teeth grew and sharpened themselves. Reaching up, I undid the clasp that held my cloak in place, revealing my black and gold armour. The gold was an intricate pattern that covered my armour. With an insane smile I continued. "With our daggers flashing in the moonlight, and poison served at every supper! We are angels in the service of death, and when the time comes, we shall cast our twenty pieces of silver into the sight of the holy... And hang ourselves upon a rope of straw!"
I continued towards the large group of minor daemons as the four other angels stopped and stood completely still, unmoving. "The rivers shall run with your blood," I yelled as I drew my sword. Like my armour, the sword was black and gold. With the pommel being solid gold, and the blade made of a black material I had never seen since.. "The oceans will be stained crimson as I sink my teeth into your neck and consume your soul. For I am a Dark Angel, the nightwalker. Everywhere I go, lakes of blood follow. With a soul so black it casts a shadow upon evil itself. Entire armies have been raised against me, and I crushed them beneath my heel, for they were not worthy enough for the back of my hand. And the bodies of the guilty shall fall as I consume their souls. For I am the Judge, the Jailer, and the executioner. I deem thee guilty."
Thrusting my sword forward, a shadow from the pool of them at my feet shot out and impaled the closest daemon. And that unleashed the beast. All of the daemons rushed towards me. Laughing hysterically, I hacked left and right, cutting down anything and everything in front of me. A daemon reached out with one of its claws, starting to stab me. With my free hand, I made a stabbing motion and another tentacle shot out and stabbed into the daemon's chest. Yanking down, the daemon was torn in two. As I continued to fight, I was vaguely aware of the other Angels joining in the melee. It was glorious, the blood was flowing and I was enjoying it. There was no better form of worship than fighting the enemies of God.
But unfortunately the battle was over almost as quickly as it had begun. I stood in the center of a pile of bodies and severed limbs, covered in blood. Looking around I saw that there was a daemon struggling to crawl away.
"So is the seed of empires is the blood of heroes," I said as I slowly walked towards the daemon. The daemon was insectoid in nature, with two legs and four arms. But it did have a dog's head and a scorpion's tail. "So is the blood of villains it's water. And those who slander will hate their own cander," Reaching out, I grabbed the daemon by the back of its neck and lifted it up. "As I wrench you from your slaughter. Expect no abate from these hellish gates that you fools have opened wide. Like the Eldar first in line, you are now mine. Your soul, body, and pride!" With the last word I opened my mouth and sunk my teeth into the daemon's neck and started sucking. As I did, a bright white glow appeared around the daemon and slowly made my way towards me as the daemon gave out a pain filled shriek as I not only sucked it dry of its blood, but also consumed its soul. Looking around I saw all of the equines. Nodding at the figure to my left, he reached a brown scaly claw into his belt and produced a small green orb . Throwing it into the air it released a green mist that descended upon all of the ponies. It wasn't anything that was very dangerous. All it would do was knock out the ponies for a few hours and probably erase most of the memories of the days events. They would remain unconscious long enough for us to do the unholy work of destroying the daemon's body.