Chapter Ten: Escape from Niflheim
Lillith seemed to have stopped breathing beside me, she stood, staring down, her mouth slightly agape as the large creatures scurried beneath us, their luminous red eyes squinting upwards hungrily.
"What are we going to do?" she finally asked, turning to me, her hand shaking slightly.
"I have no idea," I looked into her eyes, which were quivering slightly. Fear trickled down my spine, ice spread through my body.
As I stared down at their rhythmic movements I tried to focus on what we could do to get out of this mess. They were particularly fast creatures and climbing down would result in immediate death. I realized that as long as we were on top of the building, we were safe.
As if reading my mind, the creatures began to scratch at the walls, trying to find a way upwards. "Okay," I said turning to Lillith, my voice rising an octave in desperation. "We need to find a way out of here and now." Lillith's response was a solitary nod and her hand went to cover her mouth again. The flicker of silver in the night caused me to remember the large butcher knives the Bloody Murderer's used as weapons.
A plan formed quickly in my mind and I turned to Lillith.
"Start descending the opposite side of the building as quickly as you can, I'm going to distract them." I turned away before she could protest and ran to the edge of the roof where the creatures where. Already a few had started to slowly climb the brickwork, their big bulky frames scratching the vertical face. 'May any God be with me,' I thought, lifting my Staff. I lifted my Staff outwards and my palm, closing my eyes.
"Thunder.." the words danced off my tongue as the volts began tearing through my body and into my palm, causing it to glow an electric blue colour. "..Storm!" I cried out, swinging my Staff as the thunderclouds overhead roared with anticipation, bolts of lightning raining down onto the creatures. The creatures who were clinging to the walls were thrown to the floor as the lightning crashed onto them. The roar of anger and pain exploded into the night, filling it with their tremendous noise. I looked down and made sure they were all watching me. I turned to Lillith who was standing still.
"Climb down now!" I screamed, running away from her and towards the edge of the roof.
I lifted my leg and smacked the heel of my Sleipnirs, running at top speed and jumping from the roof. For a moment I felt like I was floating on air before gravity took control and I began to plummet to earth. The thunderous sound of rampaging feet told me the fleet of monsters had fallen for my distraction. I lifted my Staff as the ground neared and slammed the pointed end into the earth as my feet touched down, screaming into the night with a determined force, "Fire Wall!" The towering inferno of flames burst forth from my Staff and barricaded the monsters inside the alleyway between the two buildings.
'Thank you Darum,' I thought, recalling how I pinned him in the alley.
I turned and quickly ran to the opposite side of the building, knowing that my fire wall wouldn't withstand the sheer amount of creatures it was containing. I ran to the opposite side of the building and saw Lillith jumping from a few feet to the floor, landing, standing up and flicking her hair. I grabbed her arm and began to run out of the street. We ran round the corner and stopped as the giant figure of a Bloody Murderer stood before us, lifting it's Butcher Knife high into the sky. I stood paralyzed in fear, the blade glinting.
"Holy Light!" Lillith shouted, the small ball of divine energy connecting with the Bloody Murderer's jaw, knocking him back slightly. Lillith grabbed my arm and dragged my away from the monster, the pair of us running as fast as we could. Our feet pounded heavily on the worn earth, our clothes billowing away from our bodies. The sound of thunder came from behind me and I realized that it was the noise of a fleet of rampaging creatures chasing after us.
"We need to do something," I shouted between breaths, looking at Lillith as a bead of sweat trickled down her cheek. Or was it a tear? I couldn't tell.
"My holy attack takes a long time to cast." She replied, turning around to see the menacing eyes of the army of Bloody Murderer's behind us.
'Some say the Devil himself walks the streets of Niflheim,' the voice of Sister Nygella rang through my mind.
"The Sanctuary!" I shouted.
"The what?" Lillith replied, running forcefully.
"Just follow me!" I shouted, pulling her arm forwards and running faster. We dodged through several alleyways and in between houses, running as fast as our legs could carry us. The monsters began to fall behind us but we kept running until we came to a deserted alleyway. It's length was undeterminable due to the fact that it faded into darkness halfway down.
"Should we chance it?" Lillith asked, panting heavily as we stood before it. It looked like the throat of a huge creature. A roar in the night caused my heart to beat faster. I looked around furiously before grabbing Lillith's arm and dragging her down the alleyway. Halfway down, light became minimal and I could only see a few feet in front of me. As we ran, Lillith suddenly stopped and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt with her. She stood there, panting furiously, her hair sticking to her face.
"Alexander will be in Louyang," she said, staring at me, her eyes firm and calm. I stared at her, my mouth open a little as I struggled to draw breath.
"Why are you telling me this?" I gasped, my chest pounding as I tried to maintain my life functions.
"He feels no remorse, if I don't make it, you'll be able to find him." I looked at her for a moment, staring deep into her eyes before turning to run again. However, Lillith once again pulled my arm and pulled me round to face her.
"He's ascended." She said bluntly as sweat ran down her face.
"Ascended? Alexander?" I asked, obviously in shock. Ascension was reaching the ultimate state of power, it could only be found by winning many battles and training furiously. You had to be in the perfect state of mind for Ascension, and upon reaching it your outer aura was visible as you glowed with perfection at your pinnacle of power.
"He reached it just before I quit, he has been amazingly arrogant about it since" She replied. The words sunk in and I began to regain my breath. 'Alexander has ascended, he's at his most powerful state. Bloody typical.' I thought.
In the distance, two pairs of red eyes began to wander down the alleyway, towards myself and Lillith, their silver blades shimmering. As they neared I caught sight of their glowing eyes and I grabbed Lillith's arm and began to run down the alleyway only to bump into a wall. The alleyway was a dead end!
"Lillith," I hissed. "What are we going to do?"
Lillith didn't respond but lifted her hands, both were clenched and I heard the tiny shatter of a gemstone in one of her palms. Her eyes were closed as the demons drew nearer. I felt a power wash over her as if she was summoning all the holy power that existed. A yellow aura seemed to shimmer from her body and her hair was blown backwards away from her face, still her eyes remained closed as the two creatures finally stood before her, lifting their knives high into the sky.
"Safety Wall!" I shouted, bringing the pointed end of my Staff down onto a blue gemstone on the floor, causing it to shatter and the protective pink barrier to appear before Lillith as the knives sliced through the air, bouncing of the barrier with a few seconds left to spare. I sighed with relief only to see the demons rush towards me. Finally, Lillith's eyes opened.
"Magnus Exorcismus!" she cried, her hands opening revealing her palms as once again, the magnificent bright light appeared beneath us.
I shielded my eyes as I felt the ground beneath me rumble, the sheer volume of holy power exploding from the ground. Several jets of light careered past my ears, bouncing off every edge of the monsters bodies, they, screaming in agony. Lillith's eyes were resolute as she focused on the task at hand, her hair being blown back ferociously by some unseen force. She looked like a goddess, standing there, surrounded by the tremendous light as her body glowed and her hair was being thrown around.
With a mighty roar, the monsters exploded in white light, Lillith lowering her palms and the light fading fast, her hair returning to sweep around her shoulders. She stepped from the pink barrier and turned.
"Quick, let's go." She said and began to run up the alley. I hesitated a second before following her. My feet pounded the pavement, the sound resonating up the walls running parallel to my body. We slowed as we reached the mouth of the alleyway, peering round the corners before running into the open.
'It's more terrifying not knowing where they are,' I thought. 'At least before I knew they were behind me.'
"Where's this Sanctuary?" Lillith demanded, as we ran through the main street of Niflheim.
"I don't know, I'm lost." I said, looking around for anything I might recognize but nothing stuck out to me, nothing I had seen before. From a side alley, there was a tremendous roar as several of the demons poured from a side alley. I grabbed Lillith as one jumped through the air and shoved her sideward, the Bloody Murderer crashing into the ground where we had been standing just a few seconds before. 'Great,' I thought, 'now they can fly too'.
I pulled her sideward, the hulking beasts following us down a very narrow street. I saw the large wall at the end looming upwards before we reached the end of the alley.
"Shit!" I said out loud, looking at the dead-end before me. I turned to Lillith and saw the monsters drawing closer.
"We're going to have to work together." I spoke quickly as time was running out. "You use your holy powers and I'll rain down thunder from above." I stared into her eyes, fear pulsing through my system.
"I don't have t-" she began.
"I'll cast Safety Wall, we'll need to make time!" I said, placing the blue gemstone on the floor beneath her and smashing it with my staff, the pink barrier appearing between us. She stared at me, her body shaking and smiled at her.
"You can do this," I smiled at her warmly, leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Jumping back a little before jumping high into the air and for the second time that evening, landing high up on a rooftop leaving a large group of monsters below me. I instantly lifted my head and focused on my power as the thunderclouds rolled overhead. Lillith had her arms raised and her hair was being thrown back again as she called the power of God.
"Thunderstorm!" I cried out, several sharp bolts of lightning ricocheted from the sky, crackling and connecting with the Bloody Murderer's below. They roared in agony but kept walking forwards.
"Thunderstorm!" I shouted again, more lightning raining down onto the demons, their red eyes squinting as pain poured into their bodies. They were drawing nearer to Lillith now, her power not ready to be used.
"Thunderstorm!" I screamed out into the night, trying to force more power through the razor sharp volts smashing into the dark creatures below me. It seemed to slow them down and before long they were in front of Lillith. They began their assault, lifting their knives and crashing them down onto her, the pink barrier spraying several sparks into the night as it defended her loyally.
"Thunderstorm!" This time my voice was shrieking. I was demanding more power as more and more lightning rained down onto our foes.
"Thunderstorm! Thunderstorm! Thunderstorm!" I screamed, more and more bolts of lightning erupted from the billowing smoky dark clouds above me. Suddenly, Lillith's eyes opened as her body began to glow.
"Magnus…" she began to shout, but before she could continue, the barrier shattered into several thousand sparkles that glittered in the night, falling to the floor and melting.
"Lillith!" I screamed, my eyes dilating to large proportions as I looked down at her as the blade was lifted high into the night, the end of the blade twinkling in the now full moon which had appeared from behind a cloud. There was a loud shriek in the night as the blade made contact, blood streaked across the dark floor and I stared down, paralyzed as another blade was lifted. I looked at her as more of her blood was strewn onto the ground. She lifted her head and stared up at me. I noticed as she whispered the word "sorry" before dropping her head.
The next sound that came from her mouth seemed as if it was from a different planet. Its tone, its timbre and its octave were extreme as she screamed, "Exorcismus" deep into the night, her voice echoing around the city, demanding attention. The fantastic white light exploded upwards, radiating from the floor, as Lillith seemed to fall forwards in slow motion. Still, the blades were lifted and fell like a Mexican wave, even though the creatures were in severe agony.
'The Goddess has fallen,' I thought.
"Thunderstorm!" I screamed, my voice high-pitched as more lightning bolts speared from the sky down between the two buildings.
"Thunderstorm!" I shrieked, watching as Lillith lay limp on the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Thunderstorm!" I whispered as the heavens crackled, my sobs becoming louder and louder. Grief washed over me as I fell to my knees, driving the Staff deep into the roof.
"Thunderstorm!" I cried out into the night, all my grief escaping my body, demanding that more power were to fall from the sky. That god himself was to punish the forsaken that had slaughtered Lillith below me.
I hung my head and whispered "Thunderstorm!" yet again and was rewarded with the thunderous roar of agony from below as the monsters slowly exploded, the white jets of light escaping upwards from the magnificent force of divine power that was radiating below. My face was streaked with tears as I whispered yet again and for a final time, "Thunderstorm!" The building gave way to the power of lightning and crumbled beneath me. I felt the foundations give in and collapse in on themselves, as floor by floor; the building began to cascade downwards. My body fell with the roof, falling down and down and finally landing.
"Thunderstorm," I whispered, and then there was darkness.