Diablo was pulled back into the goblin lair he claimed by the goblins that were standing by. His wounds were quickly seen to, and all he could do was rest. I narrowly escaped my fate. Next time, I will be better prepared. But, now he had a small dilemma. The body he was in now could no longer summon more goblins. It was twisted and warped. I need a fresh goblin body. He gleaned the memories of his host and snorted. I need to find one of her daughters and entice her to hold the stone. He would prepare better.
"Have him ready for me! When I have a new body, I shall ensure that he is the only one able to test what needs to be done," Diablo grunted at where Mitherael was still recovering.
"Why?" the mortal angel asked weakly. "For...what purpose...?"
"That is for my own knowledge. You are simply a tool. We shall see if you survive what needs to be done. Until then, all you have to do is recover yourself. I'm not killing you. At least, not yet. You should be grateful for that."
Mitherael could only look away now. If he knew that plans to rescue him were in motion, he would have felt a lot better about his situation. He was on borrowed time once again with Diablo hunting down one of the Baroness's daughters. Up in Heaven, another confrontation was happening.
"I seek a meeting with Anaurael," an angel with a massive, two-handed sword said.
"Oh? For what purpose?" Izarius asked. Then he saw Xypherael walking over with Kartha.
"Xypherius! There you are. I thought you were with your mate?" he asked.
"Well, I want her to meet with Anaurael. I think the meeting would be good for her. Can they meet?" Xypherius asked. At this, Izarius gave off an indecisive sensation.
"Imperius has her in his sanctum. You know how he feels about mortals," he started.
"Please? I think this one needs to be met. And here is my proof," he said with a stone tablet handed over now. Izarius paused and looked at it.
"Interesting! You know that Itherael will want to see this," he said.
"I know. It's why I brought it," Xypherius said.
"Hmm..." Izarius now thought to Anaurael. "Go bring who you must to the Council chamber."
"Very well," he nodded and teleported away.
"Must we?" Imperius sighed with disgust.
"Love, Izarius said a prophetic tablet was given. That alone is enough for me. Come! I'm sure it will be fine," she soothed. He shook his invisible head and replaced his helmet. "And it's a Druid! We have yet to meet one! And they live for a very long time, so they are not completely mortal."
"Do not sway my thoughts into accepting them," he grunted. Then he laughed softly when he gave her a light tickle to her side. "Very well. But, I will not set you down."
"I know," she smiled and let him kiss her before taking her to the Council chamber.
"Mah!" Mal said from where he was with Izarius. Imperius was able to let her cradle him, as he cradled her now. Mal now sucked on his thumb with contentment, and she chuckled when Tyrael walked over to show he was there. Itherael was studying the tablet with intense curiosity. When Malthael appeared next to Mal's body, he was amused.
"The seer wishes to be here..." Malthael droned out.
"I can fetch her," Izarius nodded. Imperael was soon there to stand tall and ready for anything to happen. When Myriam appeared, she nodded to them all there. Anaurael smiled back at her and looked over to where Malthael was standing. He was studying the tablet, and he was quite intrigued. Auriel was next to arrive to see it.
"This is a very interesting prophecy!" Itherael said. "So many appear to be coming known now."
"That they have been," Auriel agreed. Imperius simply snorted and held Anaurael and Mal. Tyrael had to look at the tablet, and even Izual was called on. When they looked at the center of the room, Anaurael was surprised. She was looking at one of the largest wolves she had ever seen.
"Anaurael, sister, this is Talarine," Xypherius said and rested a hand on the wolf's back. She was easily the size of a large pony. Possibly even larger.
"I thought she was human?" Anaurael blinked.
"She has a human form, but she is not allowed to reveal it right now," he chuckled.
"Greetings, Talarine! I am Tyrael. Anaurael is my wife on Sanctuary, and she is holding my son, Mal. And that is short for Malthael. It's a long story. I am also the head of the Horadrim. If you see any of us, you are more than welcome to come to us to help us clear out the demons that infest the land," Tyrael chuckled. The wolf nodded at him.
"And it is good to meet you, too, Talarine. I am Anaurael. My parents were angels once, but they removed their wings to become mortal," Anaurael smiled. The wolf paused at her intense beauty at first. It was completely unexpected, but the sight of her molten-gold hair was even more surprising, too. "And Imperius is the one that is holding me. It is a pleasure to meet with you."
"Hrmph..." Imperius grunted.
"Love..." Anaurael chuckled and pressed into him. "Oh! Your son is kicking again!"
"Is he?" he asked and was able to rest a hand on her belly. "So he is."
The wolf looked at her mate, and he chuckled. "Yes, Talarine. She is very pregnant with Imperius's son. An important prophecy is happening now. For the Angiris Council to be birthed in a mortal form. I'll tell you more about it in depth later on."
"Why do that?" Imperael finally asked from where he stood. Talarine looked at him and actually showed widened eyes at the sheer mass and height of this Archangel. Now she knew that, if she did have a problem, she could, quite possibly, request for that one to appear to help.
"He likes to kick things," Xypherael chuckled from where he stood with Kartha.
"And why not? I'm good at it," Imperael chuckled and hefted his massive, two-handed sword up with one hand easily. "I'm good at killing off filth, too."
"That you are," Tyrael grinned lightly.
"You are very different, are you not?" Myriam mused, as she studied the Druid's wolf form. "Definitely more than what you appear to be. Ah! Celsa, you should come by my wagon when you can. I may have more insight for you."
"Can't you share it now?" Xypherius asked.
"I would, but you are holding something, too, that should not be spoken mildly about," Myriam said knowingly. She spoke of a dagger he kept. This had him go quiet, and she nodded.
"I am most curious about this tablet. Talarine, you cannot speak with us?" Itherael asked.
"She will in time. She has to know that she can trust us first," Xypherius said. Malthael smirked at that, but he only watched in his own hidden way.
"Why wouldn't she? We are all on the same side," Anaurael frowned. Then Mal looked over at the wolf and waved. In a surprising way, Talarine huffed a greeting right back. Now she found herself confused as to why she was responding that way!
"Mal is to be Sanctuary's champion. All manner of Sanctuary's beasts know him as an ally," Xypherius said softly. "He will champion all in the end."
She gave him a puzzling look, but then paused at the sight of Anarius's prismatic form landing in from an open window. He looked at her with his invisible gaze and nodded.
"GREETINGS! I AM ANARIUS. I AM ANU, REBORN. REST ASSURED, YOU HAVE A VERY STRONG LIGHT WITHIN YOU. I AM SURE THAT MANY OTHERS OF YOUR KIND WILL BE SEEN AND SOUGHT OUT. DO NOT WORRY. YOU HAVE A GREAT DESTINY, INDEED! IF YOU NEED OUR AID, XYPHERIUS WILL CALL ON US. I SHALL GRANT YOU A GIFT," he said and strode over quickly to place a forefinger to her forehead.
"You are marking her? Why?" Imperius asked.
"SHE WILL KNOW WHO IS OF TRUE LIGHT THIS WAY. SHE WILL KNOW HOW TO TELL IF ONE HOLDS LIGHT WITHIN THEM OR NOT. IF SHE CAN HELP US FIND THOSE PURE IN THE LIGHT, WE CAN SEND ONE DOWN TO CLAIM THEM TO BOLSTER HEAVEN'S FORCES. WE MUST BE DILIGENT IN ALL AREAS NOW. WE SHALL HAVE TO CHECK IN WITH THE PALADIN ORDER, TOO. FROM ALL SIDES AND FACTIONS. WE CANNOT IDLE ABOUT IN THIS," he explained. Imperius just shook his head and grumbled.
"Trust in our son, Imperius," Anaurael smiled warmly.
"I know. It's just..." Imperius started. Then he paused when Mal put a hand on the edge of his helmet to pat on it. "Stop that!"
Mal only drooled as his response, and that got the others snickering and chuckling. Imperius shook his head again, but he chuckled quietly enough for only Anaurael to hear him. Then she thought and said, "Is that baby Bogadile still okay?"
"Oh! That one is doing fine. Growing very swiftly, though. For now, we had to take it back to Sanctuary to let it grow. But, we do have angels guarding over it at all times," Izarius said.
"Good," she smiled. "Oh! Talarine, if you want to do something fun, the next time you eat something, let Xypherius kiss you to taste it. You'll be surprised!"
"Hmm..." Xypherius mused and looked at Talarine. She was getting some ideas, too.
"I am taking her back to her chambers," Imperius muttered out and turned to carry her off with Mal. Tyrael just sighed and shook his head. Anarius stayed, though. He wanted to see what was happening around them all.
"He will always get annoyed with us. Bah!" Myriam snorted. "I need to retire, too. And I expect to meet with you both at my wagon."
"Very well," Xypherius nodded. Izarius was quick to take her back and return to help Anaurael.
"Let's go move some furniture around," Kartha nudged Xypherael.
"Again?" he asked her.
"Saying you're tired?" she smiled. Now he seemed to lower his head and laugh. Then she squeaked when he scooped her up and teleported away with her.
"Let's go," Xypherius chuckled to Talarine.
"Wait. You should try to meet with Haedrig, too," Tyrael said. "Xypherael said that Talarine was a blacksmith. They should get together."
"Oh! You're right. We could do that," Xypherius mused.
"And we could use your help with the Greed Goblins. If you find any that give off a dark aura, stun them, blind them, and bind them up. Send them here so we can get them to where the Nephalem is. The faster we try to corner them, the faster we can save them. We don't know what Diablo is going to pull next. We have to be on guard," Tyrael said sternly. At the sight of Talarine's ears going back with a heavy snarl, he knew what that meant. "Yes. Diablo is free and causing intense havoc. He has infected various Greed Goblins with demonic taint. We know how to remove it."
She snorted with a small nod. She would see what could be done. Right after that, she left with Xypherius. Itherael was a bit upset, though. "I was hoping we could learn more about the tablet."
"I'm sure we will. Right now, we need to go to a viewing pool. Inarius is getting ready to kill Lilith again. Gurzick has a Soulstone set up and ready to pull in her soul," Tyrael said.
"Oh? Does it contain her father?" Izual asked. At Tyrael's smirk, he started laughing. When they got to the viewing chamber, Imperius was already seated with Anaurael. At the suckling pig dish in front of her, Tyrael was quick to sit down to help her eat it. Itherael and Auriel appeared to stand watch and witness once more, too. They simply had to do this.
"I do hope he'll be all right," Anaurael sighed. When Anarius appeared, she pressed a chaste kiss to his invisible lips and he paused. She had just eaten a bit of the meat, and he was amused.
"MOTHER, TASTE THIS," he said and pointed to a large, succulent piece of the pork meat. She laughed and did that to let him get a taste with another chaste kiss. He clearly liked it. They looked down below in the pool and saw Inarius walk back into the chamber. The cage was already set up with Lilith inside it. The only difference was that Telanya was with him.
"Hello, again," Inarius said and brandished his sword.
"What? I don't get a fighting chance this time? Too weak to fight me without this shell holding me down?" Lilith smirked. At the sight of the female angel, she grinned. "Got a new whore for yourself? Good! Maybe she'll pick up after you, too!"
"You will not speak of her as such!" Inarius spat out.
"Stop," Telanya said gently to him. "She is only baiting you. She will get her fate shortly."
"That she will," Inarius nodded and regarded Lilith again. "And you call Telanya something fit for demons? Look at you! You are already at a point that anything can simply come up to you and give you a form of sin right away. Disgusting."
"Are you saying you would be the next thing?" Lilith crooned out. Her seduction had no more hold on him now. He actually shuddered with revulsion.
"No. That would be worthless to me," he said. "A complete waste of my time."
"How about you, girl? You want to help me out?" Lilith grinned. "He can watch..."
"Filth!" Telanya spat. "My love, I grow weary of this thing before us."
"You're right. Well, Lilith, I hope you can give your father our regards. You'll be meeting him soon enough, as it is," Inarius smirked at her.
"What?" Lilith blinked. Now Inarius pointed at a Soulstone lodged into the wall.
"Your father is trapped in there. Your soul will go into that. And I hope you have a very...ah, touching reunion. I have no idea what will happen in there..." Inarius said and readied his sword.
"No! You can't! You don't know what he will do to me!" she shrieked.
"That I don't. Shall we find out?" he asked and ran her through. She screamed and tried to lash out, but she was bound down. Three times, he stabbed her heart to ensure she had died. When he backed away, he saw the dark blot of her soul try to pull away from the stone in the wall. It was no use. She was absorbed neatly into the powerful stone.
Inside the stone, Mephisto saw his daughter. His eyes narrowed with hatred when he flung himself at her. The conflict between them raged with streaks of red and slight vibrations. When it went silent, it was thought that she may have perished. Instead, her father had her in a tight grip. He had a possible idea that he wanted to try. He knew his brother had bred himself out to make a vessel. He was thinking of using his daughter to make the stone unstable with possible new growth. Then he thought against it. As much as he could have, it was simply more fun to beat her senseless. She was tainted to him, anyways, by laying with an angel. He despised her that much.
Besides, he was gleaning on the idea of slamming her against the walls hard enough to see if the stone walls could possibly start to crack and shatter away. It was a way to idle away the time of boredom, too. They were, quite likely, going to be together for quite some time. He may as well make the most of it and amuse himself with her suffering.
"You have the stone?" Inarius asked Gurzick.
"Yes! I have!" he nodded.
"This one will have a special place in my domain. If it breaks open, I shall have other stones ready. It will be the same with any other stone that have multiple souls," Greed said. Inarius nodded and teleported away with Telanya. With Lilith finally crossed off the list, Greed looked at the other Soulstones that dotted out his domain. Azmodan's soul was neatly merged in with Duriel's stone for now. He liked being the one that guarded such vile things. And they were pretty to look at, too!
"My Greatness of Greats!" a goblin said on running up to him. A dagger was in its hands. The same one the Baroness had as her first item. Greed grinned and took it up to place in his belt for now. He liked it when his things were returned to him. He liked that a lot. He was also curious of the new Druid tribe. He wanted a closer look at them. Musing to himself, he moved to where the odd artifacts he collected over the years were. Glancing through them, he found one thing. It was a sword, and it was stamped with a mark that the Druids may know well.
"Give this to the one that knows how to make things. The female that can turn into that thing. Go!" Greed commanded one of the scouts. The sword was taken up, and it vanished away. Another weapon was found that would be recognized for the Paladins. That was also sent away. He didn't know why he was doing this. But, if they were going to start helping in fixing the other Greed Goblins, he felt that this small bit of acknowledgement was the best way to start to show that he wasn't all bad. And, if the items were rejected, or lost, I'll always get them back. That had him grin.
Back on Sanctuary, though, the Demon Hunter clans were being talked to by Vincent. They were giving over the goblins they caught that were possessed. The same thing was happening in Ivgorod and Xiansai. Everyone was trying to get as many goblins under control as possible. Even the unicorns were finally feeling the strain from so many. But, once the goblins were freed, they were quick to help track down the others. It made it go much faster.
There were even bounties put up to assist in the capture. That made it go even quicker. Before long, there were hardly any being found by the end of the day. If they only knew that the goblins were being called back. Another attack was readying itself. And another of Diablo's allies was being sought out by the goblins at his command. This would prove incredibly troublesome when they find out who it is. That wouldn't be revealed for some time, though. Diablo was being very crafty in this. He simply had to be, if he didn't want to get lured out into the open again.