Chapter 15 - Descent

Hastily, I climbed up the roof of the airship, hanging on to the various ropes that held the cargo—and the very ship, together. The angel was circling us. I took my machine gun I recently…borrowed, and aimed it at it. I pulled the trigger. Several bullets started flying off towards it, but as it flew so fast, all missed.

This wasn't working.

Suddenly, a cloud of dark energy began to surround me. I began to lose confidence. How could I defeat such a gargantuan at such a disadvantage? What if I fell off? Would I die?

I tried to cast away the dark energy, but instead, I fell off the roof. A nauseous feeling began to surge throughout my body. How could I die so vainly?

Suddenly, a soft, smooth hand grabbed mine from above. God's hand?

No. Nadine's. She caught me, and was struggling not to let me go. As our eyes met each other, I found a smile forming on my once tear-flooded face. Gripping tightly, I pulled hard on it with such force, that I rocketed up. As soon as I reached the roof, I grabbed one of the ropes.

Guns wouldn't work on it. Maybe magic would?

I looked around. There was no sign of it. Slowly, I felt behind my back for my wand. I slowly took it and searched around for it once more.

Without warning, it shot at me from one of the clouds. I fell off balance and hit the roof hard, biting my chin in the process.

"OUCH!" I screamed in pain. I quickly grabbed one of the ropes; letting go of my wand in the process. Without thinking, I let my left hand go of the rope and grabbed the wand instead.

Slowly, I stood up, making sure I wouldn't fall of every inch. I darted behind me, where I knew the angel was. It glared at me through its bloody eyes and held out its palm. A purple sphere began to form. Growing.

"Ego exorcismus in nomine Patris," I began chanting. Whoever finished first would be the victor in this round. The sphere grew larger than its hand, swallowing it up. "Et Fili,"

By now, it raised its hand high into the air, where the sphere detached. It grew to an enormous size and began sucking in everything like a vacuum. In a matter of seconds, all the clouds in the vicinity were swallowed up by it.

"Et Spiritus Sanc—" I was cut short by a figure that had just made a hole through the angel using his fist. The figure landed on the roof of the airship, fist-first.

The sphere began to suck everything in—including itself and the angel, until it totally disappeared. The figure in front of me slowly stood up and glared at me.

"It's been a while, Re." An arrogant voice said.

Fakir.

"What do you want?" I exclaimed, hastily taking my shotgun and firing at him. He, on the other hand, caught the bullet between his index and middle fingers.

"How primitive." He began, throwing the bullet away.

As if that weren't enough, I heard a loud roaring from the distance. A vaguely familiar roar.

A demon came out. The demon with stone wings. The demon that sorcerer summoned.

It was traveling at extremely fast speeds—faster even, than the airship. On the demon's head, I saw a human figure. Not surprising, it was the sorcerer. He raised his arm into the air. Clouds began to spiral around the area. Dark clouds, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

A moment later, rain began to fall. Perfect.

The sorcerer raised his gun, that oh so familiar gun, and shot. Quickly, I took a backslide, landing on my back, just inches away from the edge.

"KRUSIMA!" The sorcerer bellowed. The demon had a name? "Faster!"

Krusima accelerated, flapping its wings with such vigor. Meanwhile, I had forgotten all about Fakir. He grabbed my shirt and lifted me through it.

"Why are you still alive?" He questioned.

"…and why are you, you bastard?"

He stayed calm, yet I could see the irritancy in his eyes. A blast erupted from his hand, and I was pushed back several feet.

"Essurael!" He bellowed. Without knowing it, the sorcerer, Essurael, and his demon, Krusima, were right behind me. He outstretched his arm and grabbed my shirt, pulling me in.

I landed hard on my back on the forehead of the demon. It was rough, yet it looked smooth at first sight.

Quickly, I stood up, and without thinking, drew my shotgun.

What luck, he did the same. A gun was right in front of my face and his. At least now I know I won't be dying alone.

Without warning, he tripped me, and I once again fell hard on my back. He aimed his gun at me. Hastily, I rolled on my side. The bullet missed and hit Krusima the demon instead. It roared in pain as it shook its head. I fell down, yet somehow, Essurael managed to stay atop it.

Once again, I was plummeting down to Midgard, only now there was no saving hand to help me. On the side, I heard Nadine's scream as Fakir molested her. The images, I knew, would be imprinted on my mind forever. Unforgivable.

Turning around, I kicked the air and started rocketing towards the airship, as if being pulled by magic. In a matter of seconds, I reached the airship and rammed Fakir. I landed hard on my chest, while he on his back, near the edge of the ship.

Too bad. He could've fallen off.

He slowly stood up. Then, I saw a large wound on his arm, which looked strangely familiar to mine. In a state of fury, he dashed towards me and rammed me off the ship.

Oh great, I'm falling—again.

Suddenly, I was hit again from behind, by…Fakir? How was that possible? How could he possibly have that much speed?

Without warning, he appeared once more in front of me and rammed me yet again. Then he hit me from behind, sending me plummeting towards the airship, where I landed hard on my chest. My chin was bleeding, along with my tongue. Not good. Definitely not good.

I slowly stood up, choking blood. Fakir landed in front of me and picked me up by my shirt. He glared at me again through those merciless eyes.

I'll show him merciless!

I punched him in the nose. He immediately let go of me and began to apply pressure on it—standard first aid. I hastily took my shotgun and shot his arm once more.

"That was for trying to kill me!" I exclaimed.

"And this—" Nadine said as she lifted her foot. Was she about to kick him? "—is for molesting me! UN-FOR-GIV-ABLE!" She bellowed, pushing Fakir off the ship.

Immediately, we heard a blast where the cockpit was. There was a problem with the engine and were going to crash.

I peered down the ship. Krusima the demon caught Fakir, as Essurael tended to his wounds, with Fakir glaring at me full of hatred.

"Re! We're going to crash!"

I know that. Don't rub it in.

I helped her get in once more, then I followed. Hastily, we ran to the cockpit.


"I THOUGHT YOU KNEW HOW TO FLY THIS THING!" I bellowed at Kaizel.

His personality had changed back to that when he was with Fakir. That cold, stern voice, along with that bad-ass look on his face.

"YOU—" He began, "FORCED ME!"

He pointed his new handgun at me. Nadine kicked it off his hand. Looks like she learnt some martial arts.

It slid across the floor. I wanted to get it so badly, but I couldn't—apparently, he was my ally now.

"Stop fighting and start thinking! We have to do something! I mean, we can't just die like this!"

She was right. We could settle this somewhere else. I looked sternly at him and gave him a nod of approval. He rushed to get his gun and the three of us went to where our hoverbikes were.

By now, we were nearing the ground. I opened the compartment and took out my coat, donning it on myself. I then mounted it, and Nadine rode behind me, clutching my waist. Kaizel mounted his own.

"At the count of three, we drive the bikes off the ship!" I directed.

"We WHAT?" Kaizel and Nadine replied.

"Gotta problem? Besides, it's our only chance of survival now!" I explained, "One—"

Nadine gripped tighter, and I could hear muttering from her lips, as if praying.

"Two—" We revved the engine.

"THREE!"