Chapter 46

- Ashava. As in, Ashava the Pestilent – Tyrael echoed in utter disbelief as he sat down next to the table. – As in, Ashava the "I cut a third of the Luminarei legion in half with a single spin" Pestilent.

- Eyyyup – Adenah nodded, her cheerfulness now greatly dampened.

Ashava had been an absolute devastation in the Eternal Conflict. With one breath she had poisoned angels with little to no hope to heal them in time. With a single, insanely wide sweep her arm blades sent warriors back to the Arch by the dozen. She was fast, she jumped around the battlefield, she moved underground with frightening speed, she trampled just about everyone in her path.

Then… she just disappeared. One day, well before Inarius' treachery, Ashava did not show up in the demonic siege of the Pandemonium Fortress. And from that day forward, she was never seen again, much to the collective relief of the entire Angelic Host. Whatever had happened, it clearly had not made the Evils happy, so they hadn't been the reason behind it.

The last thing Tyrael wanted was to revisit why she was so feared in the first place.

Quiet had fallen silent at the news, and once they all sat down inside, he kept glaring at the table as if it was his arch nemesis. That was fine with Tyrael, he needed to focus on this problem right now.

- Are you trying to tell me that Ashava is here on Sanctuary? And nobody noticed her arriving?! – he demanded, with slight panic in his voice.

- Of course nobody noticed her – Adenah frowned at him. – She had arrived long before any humans or Nephalem existed! In a way, she had been Inarius' first follower.

- She… what?

- You heard me: she followed Inarius. Somehow the Boss had convinced her to stay out of the Eternal Conflict until Sanctuary was ready, then she moved here and dug herself into the earth to sleep undisturbed. She was never one for small talk, to be honest.

Tyrael stared. Ashava… the "Scourge of the Battlefield" Ashava had followed Inarius. There was no way in the Hells. Just what kind of a smooth talker his little brother had been in the past?!

- Turns out, Lilith had never dared to mess with her, not even during the Purge – Adenah continued with a shrug. – She had remained here and slept for ages. But something happened… there was… something a month ago, like a sudden flash of power, but it was extinguished almost right away. Next thing I know, Izba has felt her stir again just a few days ago, right under this region! Her aura is growing stronger and my old girl is picking up anger in it!

- She's going to erupt?! Where?! – Tyrael leaned forward, grabbing the side of the table.

- We don't know yet. Nor do we have any idea about what caused her to stir in the first place – Adenah said helplessly.

- But if we find the cause, we might find the spot she will emerge, correct?

- Yes… maybe? I don't know!

- We need to figure something out! – Tyrael stated sternly.

- Hey, we have been trying, alright?! – Adenah argued. – My old girl Izba has been running around Khanduras, looking for any kind of lead. We couldn't find anything, that is why we need help! The Boss could easily solve this—well, the Boss in his old state… you know.

I highly doubt he could have, Tyrael thought, thinking back to the fate of Inarius, but wisely decided not to mention it.

- Alright – Tyrael leaned back with a tired sigh. – How long has this been going on, exactly?

- Roughly five days. We have been trying to figure something out ever since – Adenah grimaced.

- So… we don't have much time left.

- Probably not. Ashava is the heaviest sleeper of them all, but she must be getting close to waking up and going on a rampage.

That's when Quiet finally stirred and looked around like he has just woken up from a nap. Tyrael almost felt envious at this laidback attitude in the face of a mini-apocalypse.

oooOOOooo

- GET AWAY! RUN, ANGEL!

- I come in peace, Ashava.

- You know nothing about peace! Nobody knows anything about peace in this maddening war!

- I can hide you. I know a number of great hiding places.

- They will find me, they always find me! Do not come to me with empty promises, noteling!

- But I can help you. Trust me, please.

- Why would I do that?!

- It is finished. You can come over now.

-… Will it remain standing?

- That is solely up to us.

-… True.

Quiet snapped out of the memory violently. He recognized his… no, Inarius' voice, but not the other one. She sounded large and ugly and frightening, yet also like she was afraid. Quiet looked around sleepily, he needed a few moments to remember where he was exactly. Strange, he felt like he had just remembered something, but when he tried to recall it, only the voices came back to him, no pictures.

He also felt very very sure about this memory… like something big happened that day which made a big change. He just couldn't remember what that big change was. It reminded him of the time he had decided to go on this journey alone and not with Leendonn.

I'm sorry, Leendonn, he thought bitterly, but determined. But I will see you soon! Promiss!

Now, if only Quiet could understand why he had decided to do that…

- Boss? You there? – Adenah's voice disturbed his line of thinking.

- Y-yes? – Quiet blinked up at her from his seat.

- Alright, so… I know you do not remember Ashava, but—

- I do – the little angel blurted out.

- You do? – Teeriel looked at him funnily at this.

- I remember her voice – Quiet mused loudly. – She talked to Inarius about… about hiding places, I think.

More funny staring. Quiet puffed up his cheeks in annoyance.

- That's what they said! – he insisted.

-I—Is he Inarius? – Adenah asked Teeriel while pointing at him.

- No! – Quiet cried out angrily.

- He had been. Once – Teeriel mumbled.

-… Why are angels so complicated? – Adenah sighed.

- Trust me, this one is new to us as well.

- Hey! I am here too! – Quiet slammed the table with his tiny hands.

- Sorry, Boss – the fat woman turned back to him.

- Alright, so – Teeriel shook his head –, first we need to figure out what might cause a sleeping demon to stir. Cult activity, perhaps? Maybe they called upon her with a summon?

- Cultist had been summoning a single demon for almost a week? – Adenah raised her eyebrow.

- Hm… true.

Quiet thought for a bit.

- She said "they always find me" – he finally spoke up. – Who are "they"?

- Probably the Seven Lords of Hell – Adenah grimaced.

- Yes. Ashava had been an elite warrior of theirs before she disappeared – Teeriel nodded. – Although this "always" part sounds a bit strange.

- Don't tell me that one of the Lords is here! Izba would have picked that up! – Adenah hiccupped.

- No, they are probably back in the Hells, slowly but surely reforming. With any luck they will be too busy with that, and later with taking revenge on each other to be much of a bother – Teeriel sighed.

- Revenge? – Quiet looked at him.

- It is an evil act, In—Quiet. It means someone did something bad to you… or something that you think was bad… and you do something bad to them in return. Some people claim it is a good thing, but I have to disagree.

- That… bad.

- Demons love doing it, but yes, it is something we should be thriving to avoid.

- Can you blame us for leaving the Hells? – Adenah grimaced. – Everything is about revenge and betrayal there.

- Wait! Quiet, can you sense her? – Teeriel turned to him.

- N—no?

- But you remember her!

- I remember her voice!

Teeriel loudly sighed at this:

- Nevermind then…

-… Where is Ashava now? – Quiet turned to Adenah.

- We don't know. Somewhere under this region, but that is about it – the fat woman shrugged helplessly.

-… She is in the ground?

- Y-yeah, yes, she is. She's been sleeping there for a long time.

To this, Quiet hopped off from his chair and went for the door.

- We will ask the ground, then! – he said matter-of-factly.

The two adults shared a confused glance before rushing after him. Outside Quiet crouched down and placed his palms onto the wet ground that smelled like rain. He asked it questions, but it was silent. Quiet frowned. Maybe the ground cannot talk, it can only listen to him. After a moment of hesitation he instead reached out with his mind for life – and found so so many of it. Creatures of a lot of sizes were scuttling around underground. Quiet sent out a pulse, demanding that they hear and obey. It was weak and barely any animals heard it. Frustrated, Quiet tried again, battling with the bad feelings that had been inside him for many days. They made him weaker, he knew, but without Leendonn it was difficult to push them aside.

- What is he doing? – Adenah asked Teeriel uncertainly from somewhere behind him.

- Asking for help, I believe.

- From wh—?

The ground moved. In front of them, in a very very wide half-circle, bits of earth spewed and rolled. Small insects, funny-looking cute mammals, big ugly worms with many teeth, snakes, lizards and plant-like strange creatures climbed out, forming into nice lines and looking at Quiet expectantly. The little angel let out a relieved sigh, tired from the effort. He shouldn't have been tired from just this, he thought worriedly. Calling those Beeests a few days ago did not make him tired.

- Damn! Impressive! – Adenah smiled widely.

We ask for your help. We are looking for Ashava, Quiet sent his thoughts to the animals.

- No word "Ashava". No word – came the united reply.

But she is called Ashava!

- No word, no word.

Finally, a big worm with green saliva spoke up:

- What "Ashava" look? What look?

Quiet turned to Adenah and relayed the question.

- Uhm… massive, really. Huge. Bone-colored – the fat woman mused.

- Her head is like the skull of a giant lizard, with red tentacles growing out of it. She has many eyes. And two long sharp blades grow out of her wrists – Teeriel added.

Quiet turned back to the animals who began twitching and murmuring uneasily.

- Earth monster sleep long but wake now – a small mammal chirped.

- Earth monster fight – a snake added. – Fight—

Fight what? Quiet frowned.

- Fight – a lizard murmured, but no other word came… just a fraction of a thought that expressed confusion and fear. And flashed up the form of something very very big.

Quiet realized the animals couldn't understand of what was happening, so he couldn't ask more either.

Where is Ash—Earth monster now? he thought instead.

- Not far, not far.

Show us the way!

- Yes, we show – they all bowed.

Some of them dug themselves into the ground, but a big number of snakes and lizards gathered and formed a long line that slithered among the rocks like one big animal. Quiet, Teeriel and Adenah rushed back inside the cottage, and gathered around the window as Izba stood up and trotted after their new guide.

- Hah! I knew I could count on you, Boss, I knew it! – Adenah laughed.

- That was… very clever, Quiet – Teeriel smiled very faintly, as he held onto the door jamb to keep his foothold.

- Thank you – the little angel tilted his head to the side, honestly surprised that Teeriel said something nice to him.

The line of reptiles led them for a long time, the sun was getting close to setting when they finally stopped and started to disperse. Izba came to a screeching halt and quickly crouched down so her passengers could hop onto the ground safely. Straightening out, the hut looked around and let out a worried "mmmmmmm". They stood on a hill covered in sickly grass and ugly dead trees. Not far from them, at the base of the hill…

-… Old Trisstram – Teeriel exhaled loudly.

- Trisstram? – Quiet echoed, confused.

All he saw was a bunch of old broken houses, some of them only had their walls and nothing else. Plants grew over everything, covering the ruins further. A bit farther away a large stone building stood with a strange pointy tower on its front. It had a big hole in one end and it was surrounded by a strange garden of stone slabs.

Quiet felt the bad feelings return and he drew closer to Teeriel, mewling. The big house with the garden reminded him of the one in Kingsssport… with the huge evil demon and Johhana. He was still very very afraid of that memory, and he feared something similar will happen here as well.

- Hells, I always hated this place – Adenah grumbled, placing her hands on her hips. – Ever since the Big Red was here… eh, it all went to shit and never stopped ever since.

- Agreed – Teeriel nodded solemnly.

- Bad place – Quiet added softly.

- So… uh, plans? – the fat woman suddenly asked.

Quiet and Teeriel fell silent as they looked at each other. They didn't have a plan.

- Uuhmmmmm – Quiet stammered.

- Teeriel, you had fought Ashava before! – Adenah glared at the bald man.

- I had! And I had been backed up by the entire Angelic Host!

- Well, we don't have that right now. But you are the veteran soldier. Surely there is a tactic we can use.

- We mostly forced her into retreat with ranged weapons. A thousand arrows roughly. That was the best we could come up with! Ashava is a menesss!

- Meness? – Quiet asked.

- Not now, In—

Izba screeched. A big aura suddenly appeared like a bubble underground and rushed to the surface. The ground trembled so hard it knocked everyone off their feet. Right where the main square of Old Trisstram was, a giant crack opened up. Then another, then another…

Then two very huge bodies exploded out into the open, grappling with each other.

oooOOOooo

A Mallet Lord.

Of course.

With their god-awful luck, why wouldn't it be a goddamned Mallet Lord?!

Tyrael rolled to the side as a huge chunk of earth –carrying a piece of the former town plaza– crashed into his spot. Ground and stone rained everywhere as the two titans flew upwards briefly then came crashing down. By the light of the descending sun, their forms were revealed.

One was a towering figure, with four pillar-like limbs, a skull-like horrible face, armored kilt and pauldrons, and a crest that looked like a giant ribcage. There was an old slash wound running across one of its eyes, and Tyrael wished to Anu he didn't remember how that injury got there… but he most certainly did. The Mallet Lord tried to gain some footing with three of his appendages, while keeping his chokehold on his enemy with the fourth. The other monster was Ashava herself, in all her bone-colored, ragged and poisonous glory. Her deep red tentacles (filled with teeth for some reason) flapped around wildly as she struggled to dislodge the giant arm with one of her blades, while slashing around widely with the other. Horribly smelling green gas spewed from her jaws but the Mallet Lord seemed unaffected by it.

Quiet scrambled to Tyrael in panic. The mortal angel jumped to the shell-shocked Adenah and dragged her up from the ground. Izba ran in the opposite direction, screaming in terror. Tyrael followed her, yanking his companions along before throwing themselves behind a sturdier tree that withstood the rain of earth from the wrestling of the giants.

- We are dead! We are dead! – Adenah shrieked, barely being able to breathe from terror.

Quiet pressed himself close to Tyrael, shaking in his entirety. The mortal angel bit down on a long stream of curses as he listened to the unearthly howls and struggling in the background.

- Perendi – he breathed out the name, as if afraid it would gain the attention of the Mallet Lord.

- Perendi?! Perendi the Avalanche?! – Adenah shrieked.

- Yes. I fought him once.

- And you survived?!

- Barely.

It was the sad truth. There had been only one time Perendi, the Mallet Lord of Doom was ever involved in the Eternal Conflict – when the fighting drew too close to his lair which he defended vehemently. Perendi had come charging straight into the heart of the battle without a moment of hesitation. He knocked angels and demons aside like they weighted less than nothing and he trampled over three Siegebreaker Assault Beasts and five Angelic Ballistae. With just his presence alone, he promptly became the de facto leader of the Armored Destroyers who abandoned their posts, took to the skies by the dozen and rained down on both sides like there was no tomorrow. Perendi moved much faster and hit much harder than any other member of his species and he beat the living hell out of everyone so hard the two armies were forced to flee for their lives – which was later classified as a "hasty retreat", to save face. Tyrael, having been the master of suicidal plans even back then, charged at the beast all alone, to buy some time for his brethren. He had managed to attach himself to Perendi and hung from his pauldrons like a bat, holding on for dear life. The Mallet Lord threw himself around like a madman, but by some Anu-given miracle the Archangel of Justice managed to slash one of his eyes out before getting flung into a nearby cliff. He would have died there, but out of nowhere Imperius rushed onto the scene, hauled Tyrael onto his shoulder and flew away like an arrow, before the Mallet Lord could properly recover and stomp the life out of them.

After that incident, the area around Perendi's lair –a good dozen kilometers or so– had been declared off-limits by both sides, and nobody had any objections.

A giant boulder came crashing down right next to them. Quiet screamed and climbed onto Tyrael who scrambled back among the roots of the tree in panic.

- Okay! I have a plan! – Adenah shouted and sprung to her feet. – We run after Izba and don't look back!

- No, wait! New Tristram is just around the corner! – Tyrael grabbed her wrist and yanked her back behind the tree. – If we leave—

- What can we do here, angel?! – the woman roared at him, her face morphing into a dog's. – We are ants compared to them!

Whatever Tyrael wanted to reply, was interrupted when a massive body came crashing down not too far from them, vaporizing the boulder from earlier and making him jump again. Ashava laid sprawling out next to them, mouth open and breathing heavily, green blood oozing from her orifices. After a moment of stillness, she began struggling to get up, but the unseen Perendi began pulling her back to him and she let out a horrible screech as she was dragged past them. One of her blades were broken.

Tyrael hated himself for it, but in that moment the idea of running away sounded appealing to him. He made a move to get up…

And noticed Quiet wasn't with them anymore.

- NO! – he bellowed helplessly as he jumped out in the open.

The destruction was total, Old Tristram was gone without a trace. Only the cathedral and the graveyard stood somehow, but that probably wouldn't last for long either. Perendi was standing on top of the ruins, his body covered in claw- and bite marks, some of them green with poison, but he hardly seemed to notice it. With two hands he was pulling the beaten Ashava closer and closer to himself while preparing his other two limbs for a brutal finishing blow. And before all of that stood Quiet, with his back turned to Tyrael.

The little angel visible struggled from the effort, but he managed to raise a big ball of earth into the air and launched it at Perendi, just as the Mallet Lord raised his hands to strike. The boulder nailed the demon straight in the head and he went staggering back, his limbs unable to hold onto anything. With an earth-shattering thud he fell onto his back, and Ashava could finally stand up on shaky legs, her chest heaving like a fan forge. She looked at the source of the attack, and utter disbelief colored her horrid features.

- Inarius? – she breathed.

- Ashava? What's going on?

Tyrael, who was about to run and drag Quiet away from there, froze to his spot, then staggered back like he had been smacked across the face hard by that voice.

"Quiet" looked positively lost now, as if there wasn't a cathedral-sized Mallet Lord a couple dozen meters away from him trying to get back up while further leveling the terrain around him.

- Where have you been?! – Ashava shouted at the little angel.

- I don't… I don't know, I—

Perendi slammed his arm down hard enough to shake the entire hill and he finally stood up, glaring daggers at the small angel.

- Are we still on—? – "Quiet" stammered.

- MOVE! – Ashava screamed and whacked the small one out of the way just as the Mallet Lord renewed his assault.

The two giants grappled once more while Quiet rolled across the ground, safely out of danger. Tyrael forced himself to move as well and he ran to the little angel, hauling him behind the only remaining wall.

- You lied to me! How could you—You said you were barely there! – he cried out, desperately searching for words while the world shook madly around them.

-… Tyrael? – "Quiet"… no, Inarius stared up at him with wide eyes.

That was when the mortal angel realized "Quiet" no longer had the Worldstone-pieces on his body. The tiara was pure gold and the little wings lost their wrists.

- What happened to you? – Inarius breathed as he was set onto the ground, staggering. – What is going on?! Where are we?!

- I… – Tyrael stuttered, watching as his long lost little brother hyperventilated and snapped his head around in a hopeless effort to find some point of reference.

- Is this Sanctuary? Did it survive?

This time, Perendi came crashing down, with Ashava successfully climbing on top of him and pinning him down. The Mallet Lord flailed and Tyrael and Inarius had just enough time to jump away from their hiding place, before it was flattened by one arm.

- Inarius, I don't know how much you remember, but right now we need to kill this Mallet Lord somehow! – Tyrael shouted over the roars.

Realizing his only chance for survival, the mortal angel simply let go of trying to figure things out right now and allowed his eons upon eons of battle experience to take over. He had no idea where Adenah and Izba had gone, he had no idea how the hell Inarius surfaced once more, and he had no idea how exactly Perendi ended up here or why Ashava was so adamant on fighting him despite clearly losing. So he cast all that aside for the time being and focused on the current objectives: survive, and stop the Mallet Lord from winning.

- How—why is he here? – Inarius was still clearly hopelessly lost, and Tyrael honestly couldn't blame him.

Hells, the mortal angel currently needed every bit of his willpower to shut out the flood of memories and feelings that came back upon hearing the characteristically soft voice of his brother.

- I wish I could answer that question! – he shouted, summoning El'druin.

Perendi managed to punch Ashava in the face, sending her flying straight into the Tristram Cathedral. The building instantly gave away and crumbled in its entirety, its proud tower crashing down onto the already dazed demoness, burying her completely. Tyrael would have been happy to see that accursed building finally go, if it was in any other situation. Right now the sight only filled him with more dread.

- No, Ashava! – Inarius cried out.

He slammed the ground with his tiny fists, trying to charge up a strong attack. Instead, barely ball-sized rocks and bits of ground rose and started pummeling Perendi, who looked borderline offended at the pathetic attempt. Tyrael let out a strange trill of a battlecry without registering and he made a daring dash under the Mallet Lord, avoiding the flying boulders and slashing at the arms in a wide arc.

Perendi made a move to squash the tiny mortal, but just then with an earth-shattering screech Izba came flying out of the remnants of the woods like an arrow. She latched onto the Mallet Lord's back, almost sending him to the ground again, and began clawing and smashing her building body into him with rage. In her door, Adenah stood in her dog-headed leather-winged demon form, tying herself to the jambs and digging her clawed feet into the floor. She used a long spear shimmering with an unknown power, stabbing and poking at the demon.

- FOR SANCTUARY! – she howled in a distorted voice.

- Adenah, Izba! You are alive! – Inarius shouted in relief.

He summoned roots that tied themselves to the Mallet Lord's arms, but they were too thin and weak to mean more than annoyance to the demon. Tyrael had to flee from under his foe, there were too many things going on at once. He wished he still had his wings so he could move about faster and assess the situation from the right—

The next second he was flying. A single finger of Perendi's got caught in his travelling cape, and that had been enough. Tyrael soared up in a beautiful arc, the entire countryside of Tristram appeared before him in the light of the setting sun. New Tristram seemed unaware of the titanic battle happening just beyond their doorstep. Dark clouds gave a wonderful frame to the red sun disk, the nearby woods waved and shimmered peacefully in the orange light.

Normally, a person would panic in this situation. Tyrael, however, was mesmerized by the view, his mind suddenly turned empty and light and, dared he say it, happy. Afterall, it was such a lovely view to fly around in. Too bad his arc was turning downwards now.

Tyrael landed softly, on his feet. Immediately his brain switched out of the pleasant numbness and the panic of the situation came back with painful sharpness. The mortal angel staggered and looked around with large eyes. He was completely fine, untouched, only his cape was a bit torn as he stood on the hillside, a bit further from the battle.

What the hell has just happened to him?!

He ran back up, just in time to see Izba getting thrown off of Perendi. Inarius was still there, desperately trying to summon something, anything to attack with, but his powers were weak and stuttering. Whatever happened to the Worldstone's might, Tyrael asked himself.

How the bloody hell did he even land back there so smoothly, while they were at it?!

Forcing himself to once again push every unanswered question out of his mind, the mortal angel took a running start and climbed up the Mallet Lord's back, latching himself onto the pauldrons. His small size finally came in handy for once. Perendi could not reach him there, and while his flailing around was still incredibly powerful, the limbs were at least out of the picture. Tyrael found a relatively stable position and he began slashing wildly with El'druin, at the shoulders, the back, the crest, the neck, anything that was within reach.

The Mallet Lord was about to simply do a flip and fall onto his back deliberately, when another boulder, courtesy of Inarius, hit him in the shoulder, then immediately he was fly-tackled by Izba in the chest. The cottage demon screamed with all defiance in the world and pushed the Mallet Lord back. Adenah jammed her spear into the plates of the armor, trying to dislodge them. This suicidal frontal assault finally had an actual effect. The Mallet Lords' only weakness, their lack of short-ranged attacks, was working like a charm here: Perendi was forced to choose between using his arms to (uselessly) whack at the close attackers, or to hold onto the ground to keep his footing. This deadlock allowed the desperate group to just slash and smash away at the demon as much as they could.

Then Perendi blindly struck out – straight at Inarius, who could not get out of the way in time. The little angel went flying through stone walls and trees and disappeared beyond the hillside.

- Inarius! – Tyrael shouted, witness to the whole thing.

He was thrown off of Perendi the next second, tumbling to the ground, the smooth landing from before now nowhere to be seen. He rolled across the ruins of Old Tristram, but thankfully did not smack into a stone. He laid in the mud, dazed. Next, Perendi finally managed to whack away Izba, and punched the cottage demon square in the front wall. Then he shook himself and raised his arms to squash his foes around him once and for all.

With a roar, Ashava appeared behind him, somehow surviving being buried in the cathedral. She slipped under his arms and, swiping with all of her remaining strength, she jammed her last remaining blade right into the center of the Mallet Lord's chest. The angle of her attack caused the bone sickle to slip under the cuirass and come out through the back, before breaking off from Ashava's wrist with a sickening crunch. Perendi staggered back, mouth agape but no sound came out of him. He took a dozen shaky steps backwards down the hill side, before finally, finally his arms buckled under him and the Mallet Lord collapsed with an earth-shattering thud. The alarm bells of New Tristram sounded at the sight of the dead demon, their haunting melody provided a solemn farewell to Perendi, and to the final beams of sunlight over the horizon.

Tyrael let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. His entire body shook, he could barely stand let alone hold El'druin straight. The only reason he hadn't been impaled by his own weapon during his fall, was that the sword could not hurt just beings. With a choked sob he ran to the hill side where Inarius had disappeared to. He found the little angel lying on his belly at the foot of the hill towards New Tristram, at the end of a long skid mark in the mud. He was audibly breathing, but it was a pitiful whistling wet sound, accompanied by stream of light blood from his mouth, that renewed with almost every exhale. His clothes were torn, his fluorescent skin bruised and cut in countless places.

- No-no-no, Inarius! – Tyrael stammered as he skidded to a stop and gently cradled the small form into his arms, only now realizing just how fragile it was.

Inarius opened his eyes and with some difficulty, focused on the mortal angel.

- T—Tyrael?

- I'm here, don't worry! You'll be fine, you—

- I—missed you – Inarius smiled faintly through the blood.

Tyrael could only swallow hard, battling with his own tears. Before he could answer, Inarius closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. The Worldstone-pieces slowly melted out of the tiara and the wings as Quiet returned. Eyes fluttering open once again, the little angel burst out in tears.

- H-hurts – he hiccupped in his normal voice once more.

- I know. You will get better, don't worry – Tyrael whispered.

Before he could lift Quiet, a snake suddenly slithered to them from somewhere, hissing insistently.

- You want to help me? – Quiet muttered in confusion, shakily reaching out.

After a moment of hesitation, the reptile gently rubbed its nose against the small palm. Immediately a bright red flash ran across its body and raced into Quiet. Some of the little angel's shallower wounds sealed themselves without a trace. At the same time the snake suddenly went slack and slumped on the ground, forked tongue sticking out of its open mouth.

Both Tyrael and Quiet needed a moment to realize that the animal just died before them. Quiet remained silent a moment longer, frozen, then he screamed in terror and scuttled into Tyrael's hug. He clawed his own palms in panic, as if that could help him get rid of his deed. The mortal angel had to hold him down as he stood up and rushed away from the dead snake. Not too far from them, Perendi's corpse lied, Ashava's blade sticking out of his torso. The strongest, most fearsome Mallet Lord was dead, but this was no occasion to celebrate.

Tyrael climbed back up to Old Tristram. There, Adenah was busy patching up the painfully croaking Izba, smearing some kind of salve onto the shattered boards of her walls. Adenah was standing next to them, beaten and bloodied, but still alive by some miracle. She stared before herself emptily, taking long deep breaths as if she was afraid to move in any direction.

- We have to go – Tyrael gasped, cradling the crying Quiet in his arms.

Nobody brought up any objections. The newly formed group turned to the east and dragged themselves away from the battlefield.


Hotdamn, I am proud of this chapter! Not because it is something exceptional, but because I have managed to write it while also working on another project of mine. This is unprecedented, cupcakes, I usually focus on only one thing at a time. But now I am doing my best to leave that bothersome habit behind and gain some control over my own creative workflow. It's far from over, but this was a promising first step down this road! :D

Say hello to Inarius, the proper one! Well… proper as one can be in a small body, but you get the idea. What will this mean for the future remains to be seen ;)

Funny story is, in the first version of this chapter, I accidentally wrote a key scene which will appear at a later time. Completely unwittingly I have solidified the entire point of this Act for myself, but it had been too early for it to happen yet. Still, I am very happy to have it in my clutches. -u- The joys of Discovery Writing, amIright?

As always, thank you for your continued patience and support, cupcakes! See you next time!

Lore & Trivia Corner

- Summoning animals for answers: although this motif is as old as time itself, I personally got the idea of asking animals for help from Hungarian folktales. There are multiple tales where someone (usually an old hag) calls upon a certain group of animals (usually by a whistle or a flute) to help them out.

- Perendi & the Mallet Lords: Mallet Lords are among the largest enemies you can encounter in Diablo 3, demons so powerful that they usually cannot be commanded not even by the Prime Evils. The only time they show up is when Prime Evil Diablo is born and commences her attack on the High Heavens. Among these, perhaps Perendi is the strongest – he is a Rift Guardian, with elevated attack speed and damage, as well as the ability to nigh-constantly summon Armored Destroyers from the sky to pummel you further with them.