Hello everyone and welcome to chapter V of this lovely little tale. Lemme know if you enjoyed it.


CHAPTER V – SNATCH AND EXTRACT

The area was different than what Elaiel had seen of hell so far. The clouds were dark crimson, probably made that way from the reddish hot vapors emanating from the colossal volcano. Numerous lava streams flowed down from its surface toward the base, almost flooding the entire area in small incandescent lakes. Hills of all shapes and sizes bordered the volcano, creating a natural defensive wall. The mountain itself was towering above all of them, considerably the highest structure of the area. Aside from the lava streams, it had massive spikes unnaturally coming out of it, completing a nightmarish landscape of terror and dread.

On top of one of the hills, secluded, Elaiel was studying the base of the volcano. There were thousands of what appeared to be iron cages dispersed in every direction, each one of them containing a human soul. But they were not the only beings there. The angel counted at least a hundred demons roaming around, either tormenting souls or simply patrolling among the cages, probably seeking a new victim to torture. They were gruesome, grotesque creatures, repulsive to any sight but their own. Dark-tone colored skins, emaciated, with form inequalities, they fully resembled the concept they adhered to the most: chaos.

Elaiel's eyes spotted his primary objective: Christine. She was lying in a cage separated from all the others. Carefully honing his supernatural senses, he did not distinguish a higher power among all those low-tier demons. None of them was strong enough to have had ripped Ahziel to shreds like her killer had. He was not here and it vexed Elaiel. But there was still a card to play. Christine. She surely must know who the demon is. He had dragged her to hell in the first place. And even if she doesn't know his identity, the angel could still use her to get to him.

However, assessing the situation better, he knew he had to rescue her from this crude prison. With so many demons present there, there was no other option. The question of 'how was he going to do that' gave him pause.

"Love what they've done with the place." the stranger declared after materializing next to Elaiel, gazing upon the demonic settlement. The latter ignored him, continuing to focus on his current strain of thoughts.

The stranger sighted Christine as well. "Well, seems you've found her. But not quite what you were looking for, is it?"

Elaiel speared him with a look of annoyance. But there was no time to engage his mysterious follower, having already devised a plan on how to recuse the human woman. Manifesting one of his light wings, he retrieved a small piece from it, which turned into a feather. He shoved it in the ground.

"And here he goes." the other male was exasperated, correctly deducing the angel's intent. "Look, even if you do manage to save her, and that's a big IF, judging from all those demons down there, how the hell do you think she can possibly help you? You think she'll just come up right and give you a name?"

Not minding him, Elaiel teleported to the next hill and repeated the action. The stranger was right behind him.

"What makes you think she's capable of anything? She's been continuously tortured, flayed, maimed and violated ever since she got here, in every possible way. How do you know there is anything left of her?"

"I've had enough of you!" Elaiel snapped. "You are NOT going to make me back down, you obnoxious lint. Nothing, NOTHING you will say or do can change that. Mark my words, demon filth, after I'm done with this, I'll find you, and shove a sword down your throat. And when I do, you won't be able to run like you are doing right now, you stupid coward. You can count on that."

The stranger chuckled. "Be my guest then. Go over there and die." Afterward, he vanished into thin air. Elaiel breathed relieved, glad that he finally had some peace to do what he had planned.

/|\

When the demons heard the thunderous explosion coming from the nearby hills, all of them directed their gaze to discover what had happened. Some of them even headed to the source to investigate, leaving a large portion of their prison unsupervised. Taking advantage of the distraction he created, Elaiel swiftly entered the compound. He silently took out several demons in his path toward Christine. Everything was going exactly as he planned. Speed was of the essence, for he knew the hellish jailors would eventually return upon finding out the insignificance of the explosion.

Having seen him dispatching another demon, a human soul begins to howl and yelp, becoming very agitated and shaking his cage back and forth like a madman. Witnessing someone killing his tormentors, the man thought Elaiel could save him and desperately attempted to draw his attention. Other souls caught on and followed him in a vast cry for help. A cry that was making a lot of noise. It did not draw the angel's attention alone.

"Damn it!" Elaiel cursed. He had failed to take into account the human souls. His entire plan was spoiled, for the demons, noticing the ruckus, headed there en mass. Several of them just dived in the ground and sprung back to the surface, right next to Elaiel. However, they quickly found themselves sent on their backs by a spinning hook kick. "Right," he said. "Hard way it is then."

Up against every demon present there, the angel started taking them all on, one by one, slowly advancing to Christine's cage. Agile, fast and extremely skilled, he adroitly defeated his opponents, removing them out of his path with great ease. When their superior numbers gained on him, he appealed to his supernatural energy attacks. Rays, spheres, particles and beams bolted out of his hands, similar to the fire of a minigun, blasting at every demon which dared to approach him or stand in his way. He utilized his light wings as well, swinging them at his enemies with accurate precision. They burned devastatingly hot, allowing them to act both like extremely sharp blades, cutting demons left and right, and like a shield, protecting Elaiel from any harm. Two feather-like pieces detached from them and transformed into swords. The angel hacked and slashed dozens of adversaries with masterfully executed moves.

Even in such greater numbers, the demons realized they did not stand a chance. So they simply formed a phalanx like formation and charged at their attacker. Elaiel repositioned his wings to point sideways, tipped his swords forwards and prepared himself for what seemed like a head on collision. But he did not wait there. He activated his supernatural speed and launched himself at the oncoming demonic formation. The force he channeled made him topple all the demons like a battering ram. Furthermore, his wings and swords cut each and every one of them to pieces.

Finally, he arrived at Christine's cage. Breaking the lock with a swing of his sword, he opened the door. "Come with me." he pleaded. She, however, did not respond, barely reacting to anything. She was catatonic. Elaiel realized that. The stranger's words replayed in his mind about Christine's state. Indeed all the torment she had been subjected to took its toll on her. Nevertheless, they could not linger there. He grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the cage. But when he turned around, he saw that they were surrounded by the remaining demons, who were standing still, eying them like a predator does with its prey before attacking. Elaiel, standing between them and Christine, knew he had to kill them all or there would be no safe escape. And just like that, he engaged all of them, almost recklessly throwing himself into their ranks, dealing fatal blows and planting the blade of his swords with pinpoint precision into his opponents.

Christine was motionless outside the cage, having not moved ever since the angel pulled her out of it. Normally, she would have been at risk close to such a battle but Elaiel was fighting so fiercely, he kept the demons' focus solely on him. In the process, he absorbed hits and strikes himself, unable to guard from so many attacks. At one instance, he fell and all the remaining living demons proceeded to pile up on him.

Immobilized and struck down, constantly hit and unable to react in any kind of way, Elaiel's anger grew tenfold. These pathetic wretches had the audacity of attempting to stop him, just like the stranger. Who were these fiends, who did they consider themselves to be to even think of standing in his way? To slow him down like this? Not in a million years was he going to be thwarted by the likes of them. To be thwarted from finding Ahziel's killer. Never, he screamed in his mind.

Just then, with a powerful move fueled by his rage and ambition, he threw all demons off of him. Standing tall, with his wings fully folded and eyes glowing as bright as ever, he was showing them his might and resolve. The demons, witnessing how easily they've been knocked down, instead of getting back up and continuing the fight, ran away, too scared to face the angel any longer. Action which didn't surprise Elaiel much. Demons were cowards.

Alone at last, he stood down from his battle stance. He suddenly remembered about Christine. In the fight, he had lost track of her. Quickly turning to where he had last seen her, he breathed relieved that she was still there, unharmed. But that was the only good thing that could describe her condition. She had bruises everywhere, her fair hair seemed pulled and wrinkled while her face was covered in dirt and ash. She only had a greyish, ripped-to-threads dress to wear and her feet were bloody and swollen. She was standing still, eyes wide opened, but in a complete vegetative state, hardly capable of answering any kind of question. Of revealing the identity of Ahziel's murderer.

Elaiel thought of an idea to put into practice but before he could do anything, a very loud screech was heard from the surface of the volcano, high above them. The ground started to shake while all the mouths of the lava-rivers flowing from the mountain violently shot their slow, steady stream with great force. The peak shortly followed, viciously blasting the fumes coming out of the crater toward the sky. Something was very wrong and all the angel's instincts were intensified by the level of danger.

A large swarm of what appeared to be live gargoyles covered the sky after leaving the surface of the mountain. They were so many that, moving very closely next to each other, made it look like a giant black shape was roaming in the air. There was no doubt in Elaiel's mind that he had to take Christine and flee the area as fast as possible. He was no match for an entire fleet of flying demons.

He grabbed the woman in his arms, sprung his wings and took flight, producing a loud sonic boom. Without any question, he was much faster than the avian beasts on his tail, but not fast enough to disappear from their sight. And since he was in midair, they could easily follow him, no matter where he would go. He had to shake them in some way. So, he created multiple explosions in his wake, temporarily making a visual contact block between him and the demons. They couldn't see him anymore, but they still could sense him. His small delay was not going to last long. He had to take advantage of it.

/|\

Ana was gathering everyone, preparing to leave the caverns of the mountain that gave them shelter for such a long time. She mulled over all the risks of having a large group of human souls travelling together on the apparent infinitely long steppe that waited outside. They would be exposed, they would be extremely vulnerable. It was inviting death to come claim them all. But so was remaining in the mountain, especially after two demon groups had arrived and did not return. She was expecting their kind's inevitable terrifying wrath to rain down upon them, punishing their audacity and defiance. No. They had to leave there, as soon as possible. The last thing she wanted was to put everyone under her care in such danger.

To her shock and that of the rest of the souls present there, she saw Elaiel arriving among them, holding a woman in his arms, looking very agitated. The angel put Christine down and trained his hand forward, closing his eyes as if focusing steadily to accomplish a difficult action.

"What are you doing?" Ana asked confused.

"Holly God!" one of the males there expressed pure horror, pointing at the black swarm of flying demons approaching from afar.

"All of you be quiet!" Elaiel demanded, still engaged in the strange activity he had started. For a moment, Ana could have sworn that the ground she was standing on briefly disappeared before reappearing back. She noticed the same with the walls. Everyone else did. After that, Elaiel opened his eyes and pointed them at the incoming demons, hinting that he had finished whatever he was attempting.

Outside, the swarm flew by them as if they were not there. One of them stopped, appearing as if it was looking right at them. Everyone in the cavern hold their breath. "Be perfectly quiet." Elaiel softly said, enough so he could be heard by the humans. Even he seemed to be filled with tension at the highest level. If the demons would enter the cave, it was all over, for any one of them. Ana felt her heart beat faster and faster. She was not sure it was her heart, if she even still had it, that she was sensing. But she was certain she was beyond terrified. She started to pray.

Elaiel, in the meantime, was piercing the demon with his gaze, almost demanding for it to turn around and leave. "Come on, you piece of crap." he whispered between his lips. Next to him, a human male was shaking uncontrollably, asking himself whether they were going to die in the next couple of moments. They were trapped, with no hope of escape, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. All it would take was one instance, and it would all be over.

Eventually, the demon shifted its black eyes and flew away just like the others from the swarm. Everyone let out a loud sigh of relief, including the angel, who was very glad that what he did worked.

"He couldn't see us," Ana acknowledged to herself, as if she just realized what had happened. "He couldn't see us, could he?" she turned to Elaiel. He shook his head, giving her the understanding that what he had done hid them from the demons' sight, placing them under a sort of an invisible veil.

While everyone recovered from the strenuous amount of tension, Elaiel turned his head toward Christine. Ana as well, trying to figure out what was this all about…


The next chapter will be longer. I'll probably post it in several parts. Thank you for reading. Until next time, cheers!