*groans* I am soooo sorry, readers. I feel so bad for taking so long- especially after leaving you guys with a cliffhanger. I just never seemed to find a lot of free time in order to write, not to mention how absolutely tedious the Black Throne is. Ugh! I tried so hard to not have it be so repetitive, but I'm so sorry if I epicly failed in that department. I discovered that it's not as fun without Sariele there to spark our interests with banters between her and War. I do rather enjoy writing those miniscule moments with them. T~T On a little more of a positive note, you find out what exactly it is that is ailing our dear little angel.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING of Darksiders. It belongs to the developers/creators of the game and universe. Oh ,and the cover art was done on Azaleas Dolls by 'The phantom's girl'. ^^
Chapter Thirteen: The Black Throne
War felt his teeth grit together as Sariele's head limply fell to one side. In his mind, the memory played again and again as he tried to figure what had happened. This was something far more serious than recovering from paralytic poison- this had been ongoing. His head lifted and he gazed at Azreal, who from where he was trapped could only gaze in anguished silence before he turned his head away in apparent shame.
"It is as I feared." the angel said quietly, his arms pulling toward his chest in his sorrow.
"What has happened to her?" War demanded, his voice now a harsh growl.
"Her wing..." Azreal murmured, pointing to the mentioned broken limb. The Horseman glanced at it, too- at the withered mass of muscle and dead, gray feathers that had indeed at one point been one of Sariele's wings. "How did it happen...?"
The memory flashed in War's mind- watching as the young angel was knocked to the side by the demon unexpectedly. It must have been in that moment. "The Endwar... a demon attacked her..." For a moment, it seemed to him like Azreal's eyes drifted off sadly, but if they did, they recovered in time and looked to the Horseman once more.
"Then her grace was seemingly cut off." Azreal concluded. "The wing remained attached- if nothing now but dead weight. Because she still retained her other wing, Sariele still was receiving grace, but only in fractions. I can only surmise that she was doing as little as she could in order to accumulate grace and keep herself alive for the time being, staying to the shadows. One hundred years of staying hidden, surviving... while she may have saved some of her grace, I can only imagine that the world outside took away more grace than it gave. To have seen the monstrosities she has and not fall prey to corruption... she is far stronger than any of us."
"But why did she collapse? Even if her grace had depleted, she would have only been severely weakened."
"If she was aiding you with your quest, Horseman, then I can only imagine that the road was a perilous and painful one. A human body, no matter how strong the will, would not be able to endure the strain of traveling through the world as it is now. No doubt it caught up with her."
"She said 'I made it farther with you than I had hoped to.' She knew." he noted with a frustrated growl. "Why did she not tell me?"
"Two reasons come to mind." Azreal answered. "The first is this: in all the time I have known Sariele, I know that she hates one thing- the feeling of being useless to a good cause. That brings me to my other reason: in her mind, she must have deemed your quest well enough of a cause- something worth sacrificing her life for." War glanced down at her lifeless form in his arms. The utterance of his title brought his attention back to the Archangel. "Bring her here. I cannot do much, but mayhaps I can forestall her fate, until the seals are broken."
War considered it for a moment, knowing that there was likely no other way to save her. Gently and carefully, laid Sariele at Azreal's feet, folding her hands reverently over her chest. In this, she looked to merely be peacefully asleep. He glanced at her one minute more and then turned for the first door. Azreal watched with sadness from where he was suspended and then fought against the restraints he felt on his seals, if only to bend down and so very gently touch his fingertips to his former student's brow.
"You have been through so much because of me, little one," he murmured, "even when it had only been my intention to keep you out of that very same danger. I doubt you will ever forgive me, but that would be a fair punishment for an old blind fool, would it not?"
What War came upon was a room that was quite large and separated by several large gates. On the surface of such gates were crystal switches. As War suspected when he gave an experimental toss of the Crossblade, the gate before him descended. War made his way through into the next section and then opened the next gate, causing it to rise. Before him was a staircase, and up on a high ledge he saw his way out. He ascended the stairs and made his way through the archway. However, he could not go through, as the pathway was blocked. Instead, he opted for another pathway, high over his original path. After activating another crystal and lowering a wall, he retreated, but took the higher path toward the now open door.
He found himself on the outside of the tower as he opened it. In the open air of such a place, he felt the wind blow rapidly around him. Quickly he moved away as the door sealed behind him and walked forward. Before he could even approach the strange contraptions connecting the tower with the floating tower across the empty space ahead, a dark portal appeared before him. From it, a Wraith approached; this one, however, was different to a substantial degree. While the ones in the past had been light-colored and shone their faces- floating hair and all- these ones were coated from the head down in ebony and covered their faces with wide black hoods.
"My sisters warned me of you..." it hissed in a whispery voice. War's eyes narrowed and he drew his blade- whose anger matched his at the very moment- and then dashed at the Wraith, landing a hit on it. As he swung again, however, the creature chose then to become intangible and float away from him. Setting his jaw, War pursued it until it became tangible once more and then attempted to swipe at him with both of its curved black blades. He countered with several heavy swipes of his own until finally he grew impatient and with his gauntlet grabbed for its body. With all his might he tore it apart at the abdomen in a matter of seconds.
When the barriers faded, he observed the contraption. At his side were two switches; above were four very strange plates from one end to the other. They were too high for him to leap onto (not to mention too far apart for him to jump over). One, however, did have a grappling point for the Abyssal Chain. At this he realized that the switches would turn over the plates. He began with the ones on the left, turning them over, and then continued with the ones on the right. Rather than another grappling point appearing on the closest one, though, War saw the glowing of a crystalline switch. He activated it with a hurl of the Crossblade and then returned to the switch after the third turned back around. When all of the grappling points were in place, he fired the Abyssal chain and swung across, grappling at the pinnacle of each swing until his feet reached solid land.
As he entered this second tower, he noted that it was nothing more than a wide room. Again, the door sealed behind him and silently he began to wonder how he would return to the main part of the tower. For the moment, however, he would keep himself focused on the task at hand. As he dropped into the larger main part of the room, he realized he was not alone. Corrupted Angels, this time cloaked in red auras, assaulted him, swinging their battle axes with remarkable skill. War had to jump back and used his gauntlet to block one of the swings of a nearby angel's axe before swiping forth and cleaving the wings from his shoulders before tossing the useless corpse to the side. Its comrades were soon to follow, with their blood staining Straga's horrific visage on the floor. Next came the demon drones and the red- glowing Prowler. He forwent attacking the smaller enemies and climbed atop the Prowler. From the Prowler's back, he was able to momentarily set the larger enemy on the smaller ones. When they were dealt with, he resumed by decapitating the Prowler.
He was not finished, however, as from the corner, there came the Wraith and more Corrupted angels. At this point, War had lost his patience and let go of his anger, thus letting the beast out. As the enemies were permanently put down, War reverted back. As he did, the plate with Straga's image parted with a flash of light. What lied beneath was another cask-like device- something that held a new weapon. Jumping down into the cavity, he split the cask open with a swing from his sword. As the mechanism fell apart, War knew exactly what he was receiving as he took in the sight of the mysterious stained glass windows on the floor and the walls. As the new weapon arrived in his hands, he quickly equipped it, aiming it at the closest 'window' and then charged it before aiming at another. Two portals appeared- one an orange vortex of swirling energy, the other blue. He dove into the orange portal and a second later flew out of the blue. He had flipped in the air for just a brief moment before he found himself back up on higher ground; with a wave of dismissal, the portals were gone.
He used the portals once more to reach a higher ledge and then followed the long, curved hallway until he came to what could be misconstrued as a dead end. War would have thought most definitely so were it not for the stained glass window on the floor and the one to his immediate right. First he fired at the former and then shot a charged one at the latter. The result had him shot through the air; War flipped himself upright so that he could manage to grab a hold of the high ledge and pull himself upward.
Here, he found another plate, but had yet to find its pair. As he stepped forward, his foot stepped upon another switch, which caused the plate to rise on a vertical track up even further; he took note of that before continuing down the hall and finding another plate and a strangely- placed bomb plant. After retreating back down the hall and having found the plate returned, he activated the plate and then pressed the switch before dashing back down the hall. With a shot from the Voidwalker towards the other plate, he found himself looking at the red crystals blocking his path up above. Grabbing a bomb plant, he lobbed it through the portal. After he watched it break the red crystal apart, he leapt through, managing a tight grip on the ledge and pulling himself up.
He was met with another large, bottomless hall and grimaced as he saw the Icy Duskwings floating about overhead. He pushed down on the switch beneath his feet and then made a dash for it, dealing with the bat demons with projectiles from his pistol, but kept running until his feet reached the solid floor on the other side.
In the small, dim hallway, he was met with a Shadow current, which he eagerly took, followed by another, reaching the threshold of another small room. War found himself sealed within the room when he cleared the doorway. The other door had on it a seal that he had seen over every door that he had passed through thus far- a visage of a strange creature holding beneath it a pearlescent orb. The only way out was through the portal plates that led him up to another level.
After he had ascended, he found himself in a wide open outer area. The portal plates were systematically lain into the circular floor as if the design served some sort of purpose. He could only surmise that it had something to do with the strangely built machinery in the center. He approached carefully and then paused as the thing jolted to life, quick to move away as it wound around its morning star-like left arm. The offending limb, as he had predicted, detached itself from the torso, connected by a singular chain. Slowly it stepped toward him; War waited until it was in just the right position and then moved to the side; with one swift movement, he fired a shot from the Voidwalker to one of the stained glass plates behind the drone and then another at his left. He was just in time, too, as the construct approached and swung the heavy mace of its left arm down on him. War dashed to the side at the last possible second- barely avoiding the heavy blow of the mace and the jolt of electrical energy he could see crackling through the chain- and through the portal before he was propelled into the air. He managed to unfurl the dark wings of his Shadowflight ability and glided down to the top of the construct's head. It was here that he found the most likely literal weak spot- a plate of glowing yellow orange with a long slit down the middle, just the right size for Chaoseater to do some damage. Taking that as his cue, War jabbed his blade into the weak spot and then wrenched it back and forth. Beneath his feet, he felt the drone shudder and then as he leapt off of it with a back flip, it collapsed. Seeing this as a moment of opportunity, War struck at it; he determined that the next weakest point on it would be the strange-looking glass abdomen.
He only got a few hits on it, however, before it returned to its feet, glowing an angry, ethereal red. Knowing that this meant the drone was about to become serious with its attack, he moved well out of range, bracing himself against the wild gust created by its spinning attack. Amidst it, he fired two portal shots- one at the plate nearest him, the other beneath the drone's feet. He stood still for but a moment, gaining its attention. The drone began for the Horseman, but before it knew what was happening, the Horseman was gone through the dark hole and it felt itself failing. War noted as the glass abdomen had stopped glowing that eerie blue and dimmed. He sent it falling back with a powerful uppercut. As it did, the mace arm was loosened from its socket. War cut it off with a powerful blow from Chaoseater and then grabbed it by the severed chain and swung it around. By the second time the chain had come around, the drone had gotten back up to a seating position, but it was too late. He swung the chain around once more before launching it at the creation, striking it with an extremely crippling blow that scattered pieces of it. The remnants of the guardian slumped to the ground. He finished it off with a high leap and a downward slash of the chain-arm, scattering the remains. Around him, he noted the ethereal faces around him- ones which he immediately recognized as souls, and a great number of them. This, then, must have been what Azreal had mentioned.
With them free, they gathered and entered the great pearlescent orb that looked over the area. From a smaller orb just beneath that, there burst forth a beam of immense potent energy of that same glowing blue. He knew then that the beam of energy would be able to demolish the barriers over the door and must have been instrumental to breaking the Angel of Death's seals around him. He retreated back into the tower, but did not drop down into the lower level until he activated a portal into the plate that the beam was currently colliding with. Once back within the tower, he opened the other portal. The effect was almost instantaneous and the door disintegrated, revealing a long hallway. War followed this curve until he reached a dead end and was greeted by the presence of another warp plate and a strange machine beneath another soul-collecting energy orb. Retracing his steps, he activated the portal in the upper part of the room previous and then returned, opening the portal and powering the machine. Activating it brought him down to the original room of the tower, where he had found the Voidwalker. The orb above his head activated and shot out toward the portal plate. War activated that one and the one next to it and with that, all that was left to do was walkthrough the door.
He had unexpected and unwanted company as he left the tower interior. A pair of Wraiths slithered from the ground, brandishing their sharp, dark blades. War set his hands to the ground, allowing himself once more to become encased in earth. No sooner had the stone finished enveloping him, he could feel the Wraith's blades attempting to chip away at the stone of his skin. He lashed back when they least expected it and fell, effectively sliced in half. The next to greet him were a giant Prowler and a host of corrupted Angels. War dealt with them as he leapt upon the back of the demonic beast and with his sword caused it to lash out at the fallen warriors. Any who failed to fall prey to the claws of the beast were subjected to the fierce swipe and sharpened edge of War's angry blade. The beast was subdued with a simple downward stabbing motion before he leapt down and continued beneath the archway, grappling his way across the empty space again until his feet touched down on very familiar territory.
When he came back through the door into the divided room, he took note then of the ornate hole meters above his head- large enough for the beam to go through. With two portal shots, he brought the beam from where it was high above his head down to his level. As he traversed through the sections of the room, he employed the Crossblade to place the walls so they would align and grant the beam passage. As the last wall lowered behind him, he approached the door back to the main part of the tower as it disintegrated. He and the beam entered the main room in tandem before the energy hit the skull-like seal, jarring it and making it tremble with the heady power threatening to break it.
Azreal's great wings unfurled, becoming accustomed to their newfound freedom. He sighed, and War could see in his face the great sadness as he gazed down at the angel still lying in the great, glowing circle beneath his feet. It was clear to War that the Archangel had started to heal Sariele, starting with the various cuts that marred her now pale skin. Gone, too, was the grime and dirt amassed on their journey together. Apart from that, she remained the same as when War had parted from her, almost feigning sleep. Azreal raised his head.
"Horseman... I never imagined that you would be my salvation- nor that I would have Sariele returned to me at your side." He fell silent for but another moment. "Hurry now, before Straga knows of your coming."
"When I found you, you said, 'The Seventh Seal was not broken'." the Horseman pointed out heatedly before he turned away. "I've heard those words before. Abaddon said the same... right before he died." He did not look back; he didn't need to in order to know that the Archangel had hung his head in what appeared to be shame for but a second before he addressed the seal. With palms of glowing blue power, he banished the seal, causing it to evaporate in a bright flash of blue. Following that was a pulse of that same potent energy. War's attention was then brought to the wall, where three large sections of it began to lower as they revealed three glowing runes. From above came a 'halo' of what looked like stairs.
War leapt atop the lowest of the wall fragments and followed the rest of them until he reached a high balcony. From there, he managed a running leap towards the 'halo' before taking a look around. He found then that there was another open door high above. He followed the steps of the ring to the highest point and then leapt to the door. With both hands, he pried it open and made his way through.
The long hallway he had come across led to a round, cage like area with a lever-like switch. War activated it and it slowly shifted to life, beginning a slow ascension. The moment he sensed movement, he drew his sword and caught the first of the demons right through the abdomen. The rest of them surrounded him.
He did wish, for only a moment, that Sariele had been here and helping him fight. At the same time, he could feel the anger surge within him at her mistrust in him. He clenched his teeth together as he blocked another strike and then retaliated with a forward thrust- right through the demon's abdomen before swiping through the dead tissue to clip another with another wide arc of a blow. For the few left that had foolishly decided to come up behind him, he struck Chaoseater into the floor of the lift. The demons were not aware of the swords coming up to stop them until it was too late.
At last, the now-cleared lift came to a stop to a long hallway, which War traversed until he came to a massive room with a large gap, separating both ends of the room. There was nowhere to step save for two large columns and the path that appeared by magic and wound its way around them before quickly disappearing. War watched as it made its way around, noting its path. When he saw it end at the larger of the two columns, he waited. It was only another second before the path reappeared in front of him and he leapt onto it. He didn't stop until he arrived at the smaller column. Even then, he dashed across it, leaping onto the next part of the path. Quickly, he thrust his arm out, catching the portal on the upper part of the room and dodging the projectile attacks of the Duskwings fluttering overhead. He dashed along the path as it materialized beneath his feet and wound around the bigger column. Holding out his hand, he created another portal and then leapt through it, arriving safely on the other side.
He emerged from the tower to find that this time there was no bridge. Instead, there were two ornate columns that were constantly rotating, facing each other and then turning away. War created a portal on the first of the rotating columns and then put his attention upon the large stained glass window at his right. Through the 'window', he could see the second column's window. With precision aiming, he shot a portal that traversed onto the window of the second column. Waiting for just a moment, he jumped through the portal and to the other side when it came into view.
The enemies that had awaited him rose through the floor, including a gargantuan figure wrapped in fearsome armor- another Demonic Lord, no doubt. War stood his ground as the thing charged him, battle axe sharpened and ready for him. All around him, the smaller demons swarmed; he could see in their eyes that they were ready to strike at the first sign of weakness. That was a luxury he would never grant them, he decided as his grip on Chaoseater tightened. He blocked a severe blow from the battle axe, holding his ground. Bracing himself from further attack with the slightest shift of his hold on his blade, War pulled his gauntlet back and delivered a solid punch toward the demon Lord's head. The effect was literally shattering; the armored helmet flew off of the demon warrior's head. Smaller fragments to larger pieces scattered over the ground. He was not done, however, and no sooner had he pulled his hand back, his head shot forward, bashing the demon Lord's skull with a sickening crack. The giant soldier of Hell reeled back, pressing a hand to its head in an attempt to stop the blood now escaping from a large gash in its brow. War took the distraction as his chance and leapt high, pointing his sword downward over the stunned warrior.
The lesser demons looked in fear towards the now blood-soaked Horseman as he turned on them; in fact the last thing they heard were the supposed tormented screams emanating from his blade as it whistled, cutting through the wind and then proceeding through them one at a time. The Wraith that arose was no different and she soon discovered that the impatient blade- as well as the one who wielded it- was not to be trifled with. The last thing it registered before death engulfed it was that white-hot pain as its head separated from its shoulders.
He made his way towards the door, but was blocked as another armored figure appeared. At this point, War had lost what little patience he had left; he gripped the handle of his infamous sword so tightly it threatened to break from the sheer amount of anger radiating from his body. He would truly give no quarter, and that would be the last honorable mercy he would grant this enemy. Remembering something Sariele had accomplished back in the Twilight Cathedral, he launched himself at the enemy, moving aside at the last second from a swipe of the battle axe and then leapt. With a forward thrust, Chaoseater slid through the gap in the armor between neck and shoulders. The body slumped to the ground and the head came tumbling after.
When the barriers lifted, War made his way inside. This tower was much darker than the one before it, and what puzzled him further was that there seemed to be no way forward. The staircase before the door led to a well with a questionable floor. His eyes narrowed as they found a chest at the far side of the well. Knowing that this more than likely a trap, he slowly descended. As he took his first steps across the floor, it made him all the more suspicious that nothing appeared and nothing even stirred. Carefully as he possibly could, he walked across the cavity. Upon breaking the chest open, he felt the floor begin to quake. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted as one of the corners fell away. Behind him, he heard rustling and he reached up and lashed out as one of the prowling enemies attempted to jump at him. He turned in the next second and then began to move forward, away from the edge. He knew that a great amount of impact would cause the floor to cave in beneath him. It was a risk, but the greater risk would be to do nothing. Time was of the essence.
He let go of his anger quickly and felt it swallow him. The collision of his landing jarred the floor, so he made every blow to the enemy count. As the last enemy faded, the floor was on its last limb, as was War's spent rage. The barrier faded and the Horseman leapt for the stairs, just barely managing to grasp the edge of the bottom step. Gritting his teeth in his effort, War pulled himself up. Looking up, he noted that from the ceiling there came three multi-tiered platforms, suspended by chains from the soaring ceiling. It appeared as if each had at the ceiling and the floor of each platform had a portal window. At the other end of the circular room, he noted two blocks of dark stone that had appeared as well as two windows of stained glass.
War shrewdly narrowed his eyes and moved around to the other side. He fired a portal at the window on the wall and then one to the lowest of the three platforms. Grabbing one of the blocks, he moved it, pushing it until it disappeared through the window. As he had initially suspected, the three platforms were actually part of a giant balance, one that would elevate him to the upper level. He dispelled the portal on the wall, also dispelling the portal. After that, he made another on the floor, beneath where the block sat and then leapt to the 'roof' of the platform. Summoning another portal to the ceiling of the next highest caused the block to fall onto that platform and War was lifted.
It was after this long process of trial and error that War was able to finally pull himself up onto the highest of the three platforms. As one last effort, he activated a second portal on one of the 'floor' windows and weighed down the second, lifting him high enough as to where he could jump and reach the upper ledge. Using the Beholder's key he had found in the chest, he made his way through the long tower corridors, the Shadowflight catching onto a strong current that lifted him towards a high corridor. Using his Shadowflight through two more portals propelled him further and he eventually came across another lift. Activating it lifted him to the top of the tower.
Like before, there was another mechanism waiting for him. Unlike before, however, the windows were sealed over. As he moved forward, he determined that the only thing that would likely be strong enough to crush the coverings was the drone he had just activated. He sidled to his left slowly, waiting for the drone's clumsy footsteps to catch up with him. As he felt them move closer, he knew that the drone's arm would come down upon him. His instincts were correct and he dashed to one side as the heavy chain mace came crashing down on him, sparking with its harmful energies. It made itself busy slowly by attempting to pull its hand back; meanwhile, War made himself busy by fabricating two portals. Again, he repeated this process of stabbing into the almost flesh-like weak point on top of its head, then attacking the central abdomen, dashing away when the stone creature glowed an angry red.
He received some satisfaction in finally seeing the guardian sag against itself and enjoyed knocking it back and then again using the chained mace of its left hand swung it and shattered the central part of its abdomen. Once the souls were free, he turned back, activating the portal window and lowering the lift once more. This time, however, the path he came back from was barred over. Instead, he was left to take another curved hallway around the other side. Along the walls of this hallway were what appeared to be strange mirror-like disks atop strange apparatuses. He activated the beam, which followed the mirrors' course. A quickly aimed throw from the Crossblade lifted three mirrors that were out of alignment towards the end and energized the lift set off to one corner.
The lift brought him back down to the main part of the tower, where the balances still hung over the now-bottomless pit below. Another panel opened up directly ahead, revealing another portal plate. War leaped down, carefully descending until he was on the lower outer ring of the room and noted the mirrored disks on the underside of two of the balance platforms. He understood what had to happen now and used the Voidwalker to place the block of the lower platform onto the empty higher one. When lowered to just the right position, he used the portals and the mirrors to guide the beam to the door. Once again, it was dissolved away and War left the tower. Using the rather large portal window, he was able to use the others to guide the beam over to the other side, also obliterating the barrier over that door.
Upon returning to and entering the main part of the tower once more, War took advantage of the three mirror disks that appeared over the smoke-filled abyss of the room's midsection. As soon as he directed them with a hit from the Crossblade, he used the Abyssal Chain to grapple his way across, directing the beam towards the orb over the first lift. He rode it back down to the main tower room- losing patience with how slow the ride was going in its descent. In his impatience, there was also hinted apprehension about Sariele's condition.
Before he could focus more on his growing attachment to the angel, he felt the lift slow down as it lowered to the base of the high room. He pushed the door apart and noted the crystal that was blocking the only portal plate level with the current beam. Upon riding the slowly spinning halo, he discovered a bomb plant. With a quick lob of the projectile, the barrier was gone and he was able to direct the beam just in time to meet the back of the second seal.
War jumped down before Azreal, who was seemingly murmuring a strange chant. Below him, Sariele still lay, but the cut that had marred her face from an ordeal that seemed so long ago was glowing in the same light as the circle she now lie in. The bite marks, gashes and bruises he had gained on the journey were now gone or nearly gone.
"The universe..." Azreal began, diverting War's eyes away from the younger angel, "is sick, Horseman." War thought that a strange thing to say, but as he looked up into the Archangel's eyes, he could see the guilt and pain once more. Azreal's shoulders sagged as if saddled with an immense burden. "The Charred Council refuses to admit it, but those of us who look... we see... we had to do something."
'An open attack on the Dark Kingdom would violate the treaty!' he argued, almost pleading for his friend to come to his senses. 'What you're proposing is madness!'
'Azreal, evil darkens every corner of creation... and Heaven waits?!' Abaddon replied with a passion that no amount of his friend's pleading could sway. 'The Council ties our hands!'
'To question them is to question the Creator... Do you believe you know better?' He had known Abaddon to be sure of his decisions, but this... Abaddon turned at that moment to him, a confident smirk on his otherwise serious face.
'Yes, old friend... I do.' he answered. 'When the seals are broken,' he then began to explain, 'Hell will send its Chosen to declare battle rights. Their leaders will be gathered in one place.' At this point, his good eye narrowed. 'And there... we will sever the head of the beast.' Azreal was quite taken aback by the monstrous plan Abaddon was proposing. He had seen this madness- this pride- long before... 'The Hellguard stands ready!'
Azreal was at this point beyond speechlessness. Desperately, he tried one last plea. 'Breaking the seals will trigger the Endwar! The Kingdom of Man is not yet strong enough. Earth will be destroyed!'
'No,' Abaddon replied dangerously, 'there will be no war, Azreal! We will crush the Dark Ones before it has even begun.'
'The Pact is a sacred covenant. Even in victory we will face the wrath of the Council.'
'They will arrive to find the Seals intact.' Abaddon assured. 'And it will be our word... Heaven's word, against that of the Prince of Lies. Now do you see?'Unfortunately, Azreal had nothing left to argue. In his indecision, he could only hang his head in concession. Satisfied with this, the General's focus returned to the Seal before them.
'The Seals will be reforged. All will believe that Hell's legions invaded and were delivered to justice by our hand.' clarified the Angel of Death. Both then turned to the third conspirator. 'For the Glory of the Light, will you do this?'
Ulthane shook his massive head. 'Oh Azreal..." he murmured, reaching for the impressive Heavenly Blade dangling at his waist. "You old fool." As he flourished it, it began to crackle and glow with Heavenly light. Slowly did the Angel take the handle of the giant blade, knowing that he was nearing the edge, nearly passing the point of no return. Closing his eyes to blind himself of his guilt, he began chanting the mantra for his spell. As he felt the crescendo of his power being reached, his eyes shot open and he plunged the blade downward, fracturing the first of the Seals.
"We broke all but one." he explained, his eyelids as heavy as his shoulders with the weight of guilt upon them. "Abaddon ordered the final Seal not be harmed. He protected it himself!"
"Are you certain?" War asked, his anger reducing his voice to nothing but a raspy whisper as he walked forward.
"Without question." Azreal confirmed. "We... dared not involve the Horseman. We never dreamed we would have to, until it was too late..." The Horseman before him clenched the fist of his gauntlet.
"Yet I am to pay the price for your betrayal!" he growled. The Watcher, who had been present in the explanation, also approached, narrowing its eyes at the Angel.
"Treason!" it exclaimed. It then turned to its charge. "War, you will root out all involved and make them PAY! Starting with this one!" It proceeded then to point at Azreal.
"No." War rumbled. The Watcher glared at him.
"Fool! You deny the will of the Council?"
"You heard the angel's confession." he replied. "My service to the Council is ended." With that, he turned and began to walk away before he began to feel that wretched, writhing pain from inside out, indicating that the Watcher was using its torturous abilities on him.
"We made you! We own you!" it ground out, increasing the power of its spell in a torturously slow fashion. Such pain rendered him and brought him to his knees. "You're not done until you find the Destroyer and shut him down! 'Balance'... remember?" it cockily reminded him. "Get up. Azreal lives until he stops being useful; the girl, too- not that there's much left of her now. After that you WILL do your duty."
War picked himself up off the ground, feeling an odd protective feeling overcome him as the hateful creature suggested such a thing.
"I beg of you," Azreal pleaded, his voice more than alarmed, "I know I am beyond deserving of punishment for what has been done, but please, let Sariele live." This caused War to turn. The Watcher also turned, and in its judging nature, it came back until it was almost face to face with Azreal.
"Oh, so you mean to say that the little brat had nothing to do with helping with this conspiracy?" it accused.
"How could she? I was ordered by the higher powers of Heaven that her time for learning was finished. As a member of the Hellguard, she had to serve. Before now, I hadn't seen her since before any of this happened. She never knew."
"You never wanted her to fight in the Endwar." War concluded. Azreal shook his head.
"Surely I need not remind you the atrocity found in the idea of child soldiers. I begged Abaddon to keep Sariele out of this. She was too young- far too young... to see the literal hell that is battle. Her presence here only serves as a painful reminder of a promise broken." He looked to War. "I beg of you, Horseman, do not let her life end because of my offenses."
The Horseman's gaze turned to the unconscious angel once more before he turned away. Taking this as confirmation of his request, Azreal raised his hands, summoning his magic once more and dissolving his second seal. There was another massive pulse of magic that caused another part of the tower wall to part, creating more access to the upper parts. Another slowly revolving halo descended as well.
"There is no time. The Well of Souls must be SHUT!" he exclaimed. The Horseman did not to be reminded, either, that Sariele's life was on the line.
So here's Part One of the 'Black Throne' level. Part Two will follow soon. Now that we have all of this out of the way, next will be the third seal and the fight with Straga. Time for some wonderful payback? I most definitely think so. ^^ I apologize if this seemed a little rushed, particularly in the second Tower area. I can't stand the balance puzzle, so I didn't want to go into too much detail with it. Anyway, I promise not to take as long with the next chapter. Now that we're getting to the end, I can happily say that I'm ready to get back in and get this part overwith.
By the way, I'm trying to construct a playlist for this story that I will post on my profile page as soon as I feel I have sufficient. If anyone has any suggestions for songs, (Seriously guys, I am open to almost everything as long as it goes with the story), send me a message. If I like them, I will post them as you suggested them. Many thanks, you guys, for reading and for patience. Again, I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting. Until next time. ^^