I do not own Darksiders. I'm sorry this took so long. As compensation, this chapter is VERY F*CKING LONG.

BLAKE

My breath steamed in the seemingly frozen air as we stepped out of the tunnel. Out from under the tons of concrete we stepped, the ground glistening slightly with ice as I hopped from foot to foot, cursing myself for tossing away my shoes. Why did I feel the need to toss them away?

I glanced about as we pressed forwards, taking in as much of our surroundings as I could. More ruined city spread itself as far as the eye could see, with a gigantic overpass stretching over us beyond the edge of the road that dropped into a chasm. I whistled, "that is a long way down," I felt my gaze wander about the buildings before kicking an approaching Wicked off the edge, where it promptly fell out of sight, "how much farther to the Cathedral?"

War licked at his lips slightly, his eyes tracing the horizon. Finally, he stated, "about another week on foot."

I nodded, both annoyed and grateful for the amount of time that I had on my hands as I glanced at my gauntlet, the measly two hundred and three souls I had collected glowing with a slight blue glow as I focused. If I didn't hurry things up with the collection, I was screwed.

As we started towards one of the buildings to get to higher ground, I asked "War, you wouldn't have any tips concerning soul-collecting, would you?"

He remained silent, though the quiet was that of thought rather than that of ignorance. Finally, he spoke again as we reached the door, "if there are demons you know you can kill easily, then bring down as many of them as possible. Other than that, I can only say that generally, the stronger a demon is, the more souls it has devoured, and the more that its own soul is worth."

I nodded as he kicked the door in, splinters of glass and wood shooting across the room within, "stronger demons have more souls. Got it," I huffed, walking past him into the relative warmth of the building. The familiar sound of metal sliding from a sheath filled the air as I once again drew my knife, and kicked a Wicked to the ground, promptly ending its life with a downwards stroke without a second thought. I shuddered slightly as the soul was trapped by my gauntlet, "damn... we've been attacked by Wickeds so many times now that I don't even feel anything when I see one. I just don't. I've gotten used to them. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing..."

More silence as we ascended the steps, the knife and sword sliding back into their respective places. I gripped onto my arms, internally cursing War for ripping apart my shirt as we reached the top, a gaping hole in the wall letting the wind freeze the building from the inside out. Upon seeing the broken bridge that stood across the frozen concrete, I felt my gaze go back to War, "at least I have some warning this time."

Without a word, he grabbed onto me, once again hefting me onto his back before leaping out into the free air, the wings of shadow extending from his back again, silently gliding across the gap before once again disappearing in a flash of aquamarine light. The wind rippled as the process was repeated several times across gaps in the bridge, until we came to the final section of bridge before the concrete simply fell of into oblivion, another gap between us and a building that might lead to higher ground.

That was when life decided once again to rip us a new one.

The instant the roar sounded, War immediately did a one eighty, staring at the cloud of dust that had appeared on the edge of the bridge from where we came. I glanced up at him as I drew my knife, "please tell me that thing is smaller than it sounds."

He merely drew his sword, his eyes scanning the area, "we don't have the luxury of assuming otherwise. I know that roar. It is a sound that heralds the arrival of one specific species of demon."

"And that is?" I shifted my weight, then nearly leaped out of my skin as the creature leaped forth from the cloud of dust. It was nearly identical to the one that had attacked me, Leon and Cross in the EndWar, the one that War had killed, its orange scales a dull inferno in the mist, the black blades that extended from its wrists and the chains that clanked across its body glinting, the tusks that jutted out from either side of its maw dripping with spittle. A series of black tusk-like spires grew from its back and shoulders, bits of debris tumbling from its body as the beast shook itself. Its beady orange eyes scoured the bridge until it caught sight of us, and with another roar, it began its approach towards us, the concrete beneath it cracking with each thundering footstep, so loud I thought that the bridge beneath it would crack open and send the creature tumbling to the earth below.

No such luck.

"That," War stated, "is one of the most powerful species of demon that Hell has at its disposal - a Trauma."

"So what do we do about it?" I questioned, backing up a few steps as the creature leaped across the first gap, "run?"

"No," the Horseman gave a slight snort at the idea, his gaze never breaking from the approaching monstrosity, "running is pointless. Traumas are fast enough to keep pace with most creatures on foot. However... we do have an advantage over it."

Another roar drew my attention back to the demon, and I let out a shout, hitting the dirt as fast as I could whilst the smashed up vehicle soared through the air towards us. War didn't even flinch, merely bringing his blade up in an arc and cleaving the chunk of rusting metal cleanly in two, the pieces sailing down into the misty abyss below.

What kind of advantage could we possibly have against that thing!? I wondered, looking back up at War as I got hurriedly to my feet.

He spoke again, as though to answer my question, "Traumas are powerful, but for all they have in physical strength and blood-lust, they lack concerning intelligence of any sort. They are little more than beasts - living engines of destruction, unable to even tell allies from foes. That's why Hell wraps them in chains - to keep them on their leashes until the time has come to let them loose to rampage among their enemies."

I flinched slightly when my gaze went back to the hellish abomination, "so in other words, they're your typical brutish meat shield? Big, burly and really, really stupid?"

He scratched slightly at his chin before cutting apart yet another of the Trauma's projectiles, his face its usual stone mask as the demon continued its approach across the gaps, only one left to go, "I suppose that would sum it up well enough."

I only managed a slight smile before one final smash heralded the Trauma's arrival. It stood before us, easily three times War's height, and heavier than any of humanity's tanks from before my "kingdom" had fallen. Pure hatred - no, not hatred. Hatred was something that could in no way be pure. It always came with other emotions - fear, pain, rage. What burned in its eyes was merely anger, animalistic, unreasoning, unrelenting anger.

While it was only a grand total of two seconds, the silence seemed to last an agonizing eternity before the Trauma let out another roar, raising one clawed fist and bringing it down into the concrete mere inches from where War now stood, the Horseman never wasting a second before bringing the blade down on the demon's wrist. Blood spurted from the wound, and the demon merely let out another roar, throwing War to the side before moving to strike again. The harbinger of the apocalypse merely dodged away, the Trauma striking too deep, its claw stuck in the concrete. As the monster struggled to pull itself free, I found myself at War's side.

"How much of your power did you lose?!" I shouted, "the last time you fought one of these things you had no issue at all! You butchered it like it was already dead!"

He said nothing, merely grabbing me and pulling me aside as the Trauma finally yanked its claw from the cold stone, its serrated blades missing War by mere centimeters as he nimbly shot out of range. He grated his teeth as he tossed me away, and then he and the Trauma began circling each other, squaring off in a standoff that was all but silent, the only sounds being the clanks of War's armour and the cracking of the concrete beneath the Trauma's feet. I felt myself begin to tremble as the tension built with the blood-lust, the feeling in the air seeming to claw at the inside of my lungs, like razors in my chest cutting away at my organs. Still, I stayed standing, watching, waiting, the instincts I had relied on for so long keeping me focused.

It was within their next exchange that I saw my chance.

When the Trauma charged forwards, bringing its claws down atop of War's Chaoseater. Sparks flew through the air as War parried, driving his sword up into the bones of the demon's wrist, through the scales, metal and bone that stood in the blade's path. As soon as the blood began to flow, as soon as the Trauma let out another roar of pain, I bolted, rushing past the Horseman and sliding between the demon's legs. Getting back on my feet, I jumped up onto its back, using the knot-like growths in its bone-like spikes to climb up its back. Oddly, though, the Trauma didn't seem to notice; either it was too enraged with War to even feel me on its back, didn't see me as much of a threat, or the massive, spiked growths on its back were like hair or nails, devoid of a nervous system. Either way, it kept launching itself at War again and again like an enraged bull, swinging its massive arms at the Horseman to between little and no avail. It took all of my strength and concentration to keep from being thrown from the demon's back, but eventually, I made it to its massive shoulders, right above its hideous head.

I drew my knife, and put the blade in between my teeth as their next exchange shook the beast I had climbed upon from head to toe. As War leaped away again, the Trauma began to turn again, its head whipping wildly about as it struggled to get him back in its sights. All the while, I slid down atop its neck, straddling it like a horse's saddle before removing my knife from between my teeth. Right as the Trauma finally took notice of my position, I raised the blade, and drove it into the creature's eye, thick, crimson liquid spilling out of the cavity like a fountain from where the knife lay buried in the socket where its organ once lay.

The Trauma let out an unholy shriek as I withdrew the blade from its head, swinging at me, its clawed fists more often than not too close for comfort as it thrashed about. I gripped onto the chains around its neck with such power that I could have sworn my hands began to bleed, my teeth grit against each other so hard I thought they would break as I shifted from side to side, each time just barely keeping myself out of the Trauma's grip. Finally, I managed to get a better grip on its head, and impaled its other eye with a shout, the blood tinging the air with a powerful metallic stench. The Trauma howled, and War came back into view, the Chaoseater glinting as he brought it down on the Trauma's hand, cleaving it clean from its body with a single blow, not sparing an instant before sending its other claw to a similar fate, severed from its host with a single downwards slash.

Not wasting any more time than what he needed, the Horseman rushed up the Trauma's bleeding stump of an arm, reaching me within seconds. Lifting me out of the way and onto his back with ease, the Red Rider grunted as he gripped the chains on either side of the screaming demon's neck, and twisted its head around in one single, violent movement, the resulting snap that echoed through the air seeming to bring an all encompassing silence of sheer disbelief.

A long few seconds passed before the demon began to topple forwards, and War nimbly jumped away without a word, a resounding boom echoing in my ears as the demon hit the concrete, its massive head resting on its chin before the ever familiar orange flame began to eat away at the corpse, a multitude of blue flames erupting from the body and forcing themselves into our gauntlets.

I stared at my gauntlet, blinking at the sheer amount of souls that had been absorbed by that single demon.

Before I even knew what was happening, War had set me back on the ground, his eyes narrowed with intrigue. I put my arms behind my head, sighing with annoyance,"yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm an idiot who takes stupid risks for no good reason. I-"

He raised his hand, cutting me off. He stayed silent for a few seconds, as though making sure I was listening before finally speaking, "on the contrary, boy. I'm actually somewhat impressed. There are not many who are brave enough to interfere in a battle between a Trauma and one of the Horsemen."

I blinked, surprised by his words. He then took a look at Chaoseater, "however, keep this in mind," he gave his sword another swing, the blood splattering across the ground from the blade before slinging it back across his back, "though the risk you took did indeed yield results, it was also an... uncalculated risk that may have gotten you killed. The first thing you need to evaluate is whether the risks of your next steps are worth the desired result. The other," he tapped the side of his head, "is that there is a fine line between courage and stupidity. You need to find that line and be able to define bravery from idiocy on your own. Am I understood?"

I thought about what he said, taking into account what would have happened if I had made one wrong move with that Trauma. Then I nodded, "crystal clear."

He nodded, a small smirk pulling at the edges of his mouth, then grabbed onto me again before leaping over the next gap. Then one more, to a crumbling building, larger in stature compared to the others. Climbing the steps, I glanced out of one of the windows, a flash of gold catching my eye before disappearing. I froze, transfixed before walking back to the window, sticking my head out and searching.

Nothing.

"Boy," War stated, catching my attention. I turned back to him, and his eyes narrowed, "what is it?"

"I..." I looked back out the window. Reluctantly, I turned back to War, "it's nothing."

As though suspicious, War approached the window himself, taking a long good look to the outside before finally grunting, "you should trust your instincts more, boy. There's something out there, and we both know it," he turned on his heel back towards the staircase that led upwards through the building, "I just don't know why I didn't notice until now. Follow me, and don't let your guard down for an instant. If they are out there, we cannot make any mistakes."

"If who are out there?" I followed close behind him, my gaze fixed on the back of his hood as we came to the final staircase, open air above us.

He didn't answer. Instead, he hesitantly approached the top of the stairs, and another flash of gold arced across the sky. Immediately, he was against the wall, his massive gauntlet pressing me against the cold stone as he looked out towards the sky from the opening. A voice echoed from somewhere above, "This way!"

Another soon after it, this one slightly harsh, as though scolding the first one, "it's nothing. Some demon trick."

The first voice argued back, almost desperate, "I know what I saw."

War gave a slight curse under his breath, and before I could ask him what was wrong, a third voice echoed down, this one feminine, but commanding and powerful, confident in its abilities "he's right."

I finally managed to get a glimpse past War, and found my breath taken away by the sight. A winged woman descended from the skies, her body clad in gold, silver and dark blue armour, her tanned skin like chocolate in the dim light of the clouded sky. Her golden wings were easily seventeen feet across, the tops coated in armour, and her white hair flowed freely from the top of her head to her shoulders. A pale white rune was etched into her forehead like a tattoo, and her eyes blazed a bright gold like the setting sun. One of the voices from before took an apologetic, almost reverent tone, "Uriel."

At the name, memories blazed through me, and I grated my teeth as I remembered who she was. She was there, in the EndWar. She left me, Leon and Cross for dead in favor of vengeance.

Without so much as a glance behind us, War grabbed onto me, and we both slowly retreated back down into the building, the angel continuing her speech, "it's there... beneath the stench of this place. You can sense it. Ancient."

I shuddered, instinctively drawing the conclusion that she was talking about War. Then I saw something; a creature coated in angelic armour, massive, with the body of a lion, and the head, talons and wings of an eagle, an angel upon its back. I glanced up at War, and he nodded, flinging me up onto his back once again as he began to run through the building, leaping over whatever he could not simply trample beneath his armoured boots in his run towards the window as the griffin-like creature flew past. All the while, I could still hear Uriel's chilling voice sending thrills of something horribly close to fear down my spine, "from neither the White City, nor the Black Depths. Something lost between."

I felt War leap, smashing down atop of an angel, ripping the glaive from his hands before leaping across onto the griffin, knocking the angel from his mount and into the mists below. It took him a moment, but he got the creature under control, and dove towards the foggy depths below, even as I held onto the back of his cloak in a death grip. Finally, he pulled up, bringing us back up to level and letting me sit back down into the saddle further down its back, fastening myself in place as best I could, my heart racing with exhilaration and fear. Either way, I was pretty damn sure War just ruined roller coasters for me. For life.

"So much for keeping a low profile!" I shouted, glancing up as the angels finally got a bead on us, and dove in a swarm, Uriel letting out a shout.

"Hellguard, TO ARMS!"

I grated my teeth, "you'd think these jerks would be on our side, seeing as we're trying to kill demons."

War said nothing, merely tightening his grip on the reigns and on the angelic weapon in his hand, firing at every angel that got in our way, every shot putting another of the winged soldier out of the sky, dead, or wounded and about to be dead when they finally hit the ground, souls just flying by the tens into War's arm. But for every one War shot down, another two took their place - it seemed like there was no end to these guys.

I just held on as tightly as I could, my hands on the saddle in a death grip as the chase through the city continued, every once in a while receiving a heart attack when an attack from one of the angels got too close for comfort. Finally, things seemed to relax slightly as we entered a cavern, angels still coming but no longer able to swarm us like before.

"You think you could let me borrow some of those?" I joked, gesturing to his gauntlet, but he paid no attention, instead frying an angel with a single blast as it rounded the corner.

Soon, we exited the cavern, free air once again blasting me in the face, but oddly enough, no angels came out to attack us. Feeling an eerie chill shoot through my body, I glanced about, my eyes widening as I looked up, and another angel sped down towards us, silent as he dove, much smaller than the others, his armour sleeker and his body leaner than the ones before, like he had been bred for speed. He raised his glaive, ready to plunge it downwards, and I glanced at War.

The Horseman hadn't noticed. Or, more accurately, was too preoccupied with a new force of angels that blasted out from the buildings, a single hellstorm of armour and feathers that were ready to tear the Horseman apart.

Cursing, I unstrapped myself from the saddle, and stood unsteadily, drawing my knife. I waited for the one to get close, then leaped, catching him by surprise and crashing into him, my knife going through his armour and into his shoulder. War glanced back, his eyes widening as we both began to fall, me over top of the angel as we engaged in a midair melee, my knife hacking through his armour as he struggled to get me off. Again and again, the blade flashed white and crimson as it bit into his arms and shoulders, and I felt blood trickle from my mouth as he lashed out, catching me in the jaw more than once. Finally, my grip slipped slightly, and he kicked me, my grip on him disappearing for an instant as he began to fly up.

Fear shot through me as I grabbed his foot, and stabbed him in the leg, shouting as I climbed back up his body, "no you don't!" I removed my knife from his body again, our descent slowed only by the beats of his wings as he struggled to stay aloft, and finally, with an upwards slash, I knocked his helmet from his head.

What I saw beneath the helmet made me utterly freeze. Bleach blond hair flowed from his head, catching what little light it could with a flash. His eyes were a bright, leaf green, filled with rage, which was quickly overtaken by shock as they met my own blue ones as we stared each other in the face, taking in each others' features.

I couldn't believe it.

This couldn't be possible.

And yet here he was. Right in front of me. Falling with me.

"L... Leon...?" I managed.

For a long few seconds, time slowed to a crawl as we stared at each other in disbelief. Then something gripped onto me, and hoisted me away from my brother, and I found myself back on the griffin, War's face twisted with an angry snarl as he pulled back up. I looked back at my old friend as he caught himself, hovering in midair as he stared after us, unable to do anything but beat the air with his wings to stay aloft until he slipped out of sight as we flew into another cavern.

Lava boiled beneath us, and swarms of small, batlike demons surrounded us, like a grotesque combination of insect and bat as we flew through, soon accompanied by the larger, bulkier bat demons from before, in the Choking Grounds. Without a second thought, War fired at them, and they fell one after the other. But it was something even larger that made me worry; in size and power, it put the Trauma from before to shame, with a massive, strangely draconic body, curved, jagged horns spiraling from either side of its head, and a pair of massive wings extending from its back. Its thick tail lashed about in the air as it glared at us, its hideous, vaguely humanoid head splitting in a roar as it gathered its power into its claws, then fired, red flame crashing down upon us before War managed to dodge, causing an explosion somewhere behind us. The firefight between them went on for several minutes before finally the demon fell, disintegrating in midair, its souls scattering into the air before they were absorbed into War's gauntlet like all the others.

Finally, we broke free of the cavern, a gigantic, church-like silhouette dominating the horizon. Before that, however, was one last swarm of angels, the one leading them in particular standing out to me.

His armour was white, and like Uriel, he lacked a helmet, several scars across his rage twisted face as he snarled at us, his wild white hair whipping about, a massive cannon aimed at us, "it was your fault!" he shouted, "it was all your fault, Horseman!" spittle frothed forth from his mouth as he began to charge the cannon, "this will end it, and avenge everyone you doomed!"

War merely pulled the trigger on the glaive - only for it to click, signifying its lack of energy. Cursing, the Horseman merely hefted the glaive, and hurled it with all his might. Somehow, some way, the glaive hit its mark, impaling the cannon the angel carried. The angel hovered, shocked, then threw the cannon away with all his might, sending it soaring before it exploded, scattering the angels in the wind and clearing the path to the distant Cathedral.

In the distance, a massive, demonic figure even bigger than the one before shot from the building towards us, smashing into the griffin before we could even react. The two locked each other in midair for a long few seconds, the demon's long, sinewy tail smashing into us and knocking us from the griffin's back before resuming combat with the angelic beast, the two of them flying away in their melee towards the building. I felt War grab onto me, and pull me to his chest, a long few seconds of feeling sicker than ever before passing before all the air was knocked from my lungs as War smashed into the concrete beneath me, cracking it.

Feeling his grip on me release, I stood, taking in our surroundings as I shivered slightly. All around us, a river of lava flowed like the Nile, thicker than molasses and infinitely more deadly, making the Cathedral a single island in the middle of a lake of lava, with no way across besides flying. Behind me, the Cathedral loomed, imposing and bigger than what Samael's vision had made it seem. I swallowed hard as the Watcher revealed himself for the first time in hours, "Tiamat, I assume? Guess she wasn't up to having visitors today."

War merely grunted as he struggled to catch his breath, having brought himself up into a sitting position, obviously having had the wind forced from his lungs. I held my hand out to him, "you alright?"

I found his clawed gauntlet encasing my entire torso as he slammed me into a light post with enough force to put a dent in the metal, the iron fingers securing me in place as he glared at me, speaking through grit teeth, "what. Did I. Tell you. About. The difference. Between. Stupidity. And bravery!?"

"You didn't see him!" I shouted, "he would have killed you! It was either jump or-"

I choked as his massive fist tightened, forcing the breath from my lungs and making my ribs creak, "no excuses!" he barked, "if you EVER do something that stupid again, I won't even bother taking you on!" his breath slowed as his voice grew slightly calmer, "consider this your only warning. Next time, I won't save you. You'll be on your own. Am I understood?"

I felt the pressure decrease enough for me to breath, and I choked on my own breath. Finally, I managed "alright. Got it. Clear."

"So you say," his grip tightened one last time for good measure, then he let go.

I fell to my hands and knees, choking and gasping for breath, before looking back over the events of the flight. Leon was alive. I smirked in spite of myself, shaking my head, "I should have known... I should have known they were alive."

War barely glanced at me, "who are alive?"

"My friends," I managed, massaging my aching chest as I stood, "more like brothers to me than friends, really. You saw them in the EndWar. The two kids with me," I chuckled as he scratched his chin, "if there's one thing we all have in common, it's that we're to stubborn to die. The angel I tackled... that was one of them, Leon. And if Leon's alive, then in all likelihood, so is Cross," I tilted my head upwards as the rain began to fall, "I should have known..."

War nodded, then rolled his shoulders, "alright. First, we'll find shelter so you can get some rest. Then we'll enter the Cathedral."

I glared at him, "I can keep up just fine-"

"Don't. Argue with me, Blake," he cut me off, "you are resilient, but you are still human. And like all other living creatures, humans need respite in order to function properly. Now come on."

He started off towards the edge of the Cathedral, and I followed close behind, silently fuming, but at the same time ready to collapse. I spared one last glance at the Cathedral before running to catch up to War, the rain continuing to fall like a constant drumbeat against the concrete.