Celestial Wars Ch. 01

"No," he said as he put his head against the wall.

"All my planning, all my Angelic training for naught. I came to our confrontation prepared, and you came to it full of arrogance."

He nodded.

My lip curled up into a snarl, "Creation has no justice. Creatures like you shouldn't exist."

Devnikolus shifted me off his legs, and I fell to one side in surprise.

"The sun has set," the Demon Prince said. "Nine hours of darkness should be more than enough to find my little half breed."

He would be reunited with my half-sister, and all my efforts would truly be for naught.

"Traveling by magic to France will attract the Light to your presence. Isn't that why you traveled by carriage earlier?"

The Demon looked at me with his head cocked, "You were the agent of the Light whom was tracking us," he said simply. "It would be hard to find me by sensing my magic unless some entity was actively watching for it."

I had to admit, without intercepting the binding spell on his imp, I would have never been able to keep pace with the Demon Prince.

"Come Seraphim," Devnikolus said, "I will show you where you can stay in the Dublin manor before I leave for France."

The band at my neck tingled, and I found my limbs moving to join him on the stairs...while my mind silently seethed.

The manor was quaint. It was nothing like the grand sweeping chateau that I had infiltrated in France. This manor was built of mortar and stone, and possessed a quiet elegance that I found instantly appealing. Climbing ivy clung to every corner of the two story dwelling and served to warm and color what would have otherwise been a very grey exterior.

The Irish winter night was gripping, and the cozy house seemed to beckon silently.

Devnikolus strolled down the little path ahead of me, and my disobedient legs struggled to keep pace with his long strides.

With a way of his hand, the oak door swung open noiselessly.

"Ho Devnikolus!" Came a voice from behind.

The dark haired Demon turned, and looked past me toward the entrance of the grounds.

A slender man dressed in a royal purple waistcoat and white vest ambled gracefully up the path. He had long deep black hair that seemed almost blue pulled pack into a pony tail. Twin red orbs glowed above his crooked smile...marking him as a Demon.

I had seen this entity before.

Three hundred years ago I had been a part of a sortie of Seraphims led by High Seraphim Achael against this creature. We were to prevent this Demon from meddling in the affairs of the Light.

The Byzantine Empire fell at Bursa after this Demon assured Osman that if he could keep Bursa under siege for nine years he could take the fortress. Osman would never have kept up his assault had he not been assured victory was certain.

"Orias," Devnikolus said warmly, "This is indeed a surprise."

Orias, Demon Prince of Prophecy and Change bowed, and smiled up at Devnikolus. "It has been far too long my friend. I visit your realm frequently, only to find you are away spending time amongst the mortals."

Devnikolus shrugged, "My stewards can manage my rule. I return occasionally to lend them aid should they require it."

The two men eyed each other for a moment. They took quiet stock of each other, and for a moment I wondered if something had been exchanged unsaid.

"You haven't really changed have you?" Orias said. "You still don't care for the inner machinations of the Dark."

"I haven't fought Lucifer's war for a long time," The Prince of Destruction said firmly.

Orias held up his hand placating, "I say these things meaning no offense. In truth, our King has little need of his Princes and Princesses. Most of us spend our time as we see fit."

"But not today," Devnikolus said as he eyed the other Demon closely.

Orias mustered a wane smile, "No...you're right. Not today."

A frigid night-cooled wind swept across the grounds, and I shifted slightly as I suppressed a shiver.

The movement caught Orias' eye, "I see Lucifer told me truth when he said you had captured yourself a plaything."

"I hate you monsters," I managed to say weakly.

My heart wasn't in my loathing. I was cold and depressed. I just wanted to go home. I imagined the warmth and light of the Second Sphere of Heaven. I wondered when I would see it again.

"This isn't the first one I've captured," Devnikolus said slowly. "I can't imagine Lucifer knows that I've subdued this Angel already."

Orias merely shrugged, "I have found that underestimating him is unwise."

Devnikolus nodded, and looked up at the sky, "I have other things to do this night Orias," he said leadingly, "I would appreciate it if you could say your piece and depart. We can retell our travels this past century on a different eve."

Orias' mouth turned down slightly, "I was afraid of this Devnik," he said gently. "Unfortunately, what I have to ask of you requires that you stay here."

There was a pause. In the distance I could hear a drunken mass of humans belting their laughter to the heavens.

I watched my captor closely.

"It's not really you who's asking is it?" Devnikolus said in a resigned tone.

The Prince of Prophecy shook his head.

With a sigh Devnikolus motioned for us all to move inside.

My feet fell heavily upon the ground as I stomped ahead of Orias and the silent Angel.

This was the worst possible time. I would have been almost happy for Lucifer to have a task for me anytime during the past hundred years. Well...maybe not happy, but certainly more agreeable than right at this moment.

"Oh dear," I heard Orias say as we crossed the threshold into my manor, "I hope he isn't always so irritated. That might be rough on you m'lady."

"I'll kill you both," I heard Cariel respond petulantly.

Orias burst into ringing laughter. "I can see the appeal of this arrangement my friend. Humans would not be so delightfully resistant."

I resisted the urge to smile at Orias' easy good nature.

With a loose gesture I said, "Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable for a moment."

Orias flopped into a plush and heavy leather couch in the middle of my sitting room.

Cariel stood hesitantly in the doorway. Her silver eyes darted between us. Her ragged tunic hung from her pale and shapely body. Our fighting had taken its toll on her. She had a sunken look to her eyes, and I could see the beginnings of true despair about her features.

My heartstrings fluttered once more.

"Cariel, this is not for the ears of little Angels. Go upstairs to the room at the end of the hall. There is a tub. Use your powers to draw yourself a nice bath, and then cloth yourself as you see fit."

She stood there...frozen for a moment, her pink lips turned down in a frown, and her red hair covering one of her eyes.

Then, the green runes within the golden collar flashed, and the magic of binding carried away my enslaved woman. With the magic doing the walking for her, I could hear her devoting her free will to tears.

"That was rather nice of you," Orias mentioned offhand, as if he were trying not to offend me.

I moved to sit across from him in a high backed burgundy chair.

I snapped my fingers, and a fire sprung up in the hearth...immediately abating some of the Irish winter.

One should always have a fire.

"Talk Orias," I said sternly. I wanted to convey my irritation to him. This was difficult, because Orias was someone inherently difficult to be irritated at. Lucifer probably thought of that when he chose his messenger...damn him.

"Our King needs you to do him a favor," stated Orias as he held his slender fingers near the fire.

"Can it wait for a night?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that we don't know enough of the variables to risk not starting our plan immediately." He replied smoothly...as if he had rehearsed his argument.

"You are a foreseer of variables. Can the stars not reveal these unknowns to you?" I asked.

"The currents of the future are changing to rapidly. Every time I look upon the heavens I see a different break in the stream. As I said...variables."

I sat back, frustrated. "What do you need me to do?" I said.

Orias fixed me with his eyes. His normally light expression furrowed, "Lucifer wants you to stay here...he wants you to be a distraction."

"Explain," I said tersely.

"All I know is that Lucifer is trying to get his hands on someone or something that is being guarded quite closely by a powerful Agent of the Light. He wants that Agent to be distracted by something more pressing, so he can work unfettered."

Typical. This was all part of the war... I wondered briefly want could be important enough for our King to attend to it personally. But that answer would require speaking to him again.

"Why me?" I asked sullenly, "I know for a fact Baal currently walks the Earth. Why not have him be distracting. He would certainly be better at it."

Orias shrugged, "I was not given details....but I think some of the blame lies with you and your recent behavior. The Light must be furious with you Devnik. You've corrupted two of their Agents...and you continue to travel the Earth with impunity. Perhaps Lucifer thinks the Light is angered enough by you for you to be sufficiently...distracting."

"Is that all?" I asked scornfully. I was truly angry now.

"Well," Orias said with his face full of trepidation, "Lucifer also suggested that you might tap into some of your...unique abilities... as an additional incentive for the Light to turn their attention to you.

There was a beat of silence. The fire that I had lit was dwindling...and clouds of frost gathered upon the windows.

"Absolutely not," I thundered as I roared to my feet.

Orias blurred to his feet as well. He held his hands up defensively...attempting to mollify me.

All I could see was my rage. This task was unacceptable. He knew what he was asking for. I had told our King eons ago that I despised that aspect of myself. I raised my hand at the offending Prince and gather my power.

Red light danced about my palm...Orias was not my equal...he would regret even uttering those words in front of me.

He spoke softly now, "Devnik...stop. I'm just the messenger! There is no reason in creation why we should fight right now! I feel no better about this than you do."

I paused. The magic on my fingertips stilled and the tide of anger ebbed enough for me to hear his words.

Sensing that he was calming me down, Orias continued, "Do you think that I readily accepted the task of delivering these orders to you? Did you think I didn't know? That I didn't care?"

I dropped my hand, and my friend eased his stance.

After a deep breath I said, "Do you think it will work? If I do what Lucifer asks?"

"If pure destruction rears its head upon Earth, I'm sure the Light will come running. All this bad behavior you've been up to will just be icing on the cake."

I nodded once, knowing that I would do it.

-Cariel-

Steam curled gently above the water in the tub, as the last of my magic that heated the bath faded away. I reached up behind my neck, and unclasped my ragged tunic. The warded and carefully battle crafted garment pooled at my feet in ruin.

My hand paused as it brushed over the warm surface of the locked golden band. Tingles pricked at my fingertips as I felt the magic running beneath the smooth metal.

I shook myself...my bath was getting cold.

One pale foot joined the other as I carefully stepped into the water. I sunk into the tub with a groan as I felt my muscles loosen after all the abuse my Demonic captor put them through.

I dunked my head under the water, and pushed my hair back and out of my eyes. When I resurfaced, the Demon was standing in the doorway.

Startled, I jerked in the water and it splashed and lapped over the sides of the bathtub. I quickly moved to cover my breasts and sex with my hands.

"You knew I was in here!" I said, my voice dripping venom. "Now that you've had your thrill, get out!"

His sin-red eyes gazed upon me uncomprehendingly...like he heard my words but didn't quite understand.

"I'm stuck here," he said quietly. His normal deep timbre quivered slightly with emotion. "She's out there, and I can't go looking for her."

My mind froze. I didn't know a Demon had any emotions that weren't lust, anger or hate.

He moved slowly...except for when he didn't. My eyes would track his lithe form as he closed the door, then he would blur to the other side of the room where his shirt would be removed. He picked up a small lump of soap from the cupboard, then in another blur he was standing next to the bath completely naked.

His body was flawless. He had tight defined muscles that made his body look like it was carved from a living marble. His manhood hung thick and limp, and I couldn't help but stare. With a firm hand, he pushed me forward, and slowly slipped into that bath behind me.

I couldn't move. My limbs were tense and wary as the demon settled in behind my back. His torso felt hard and masculine against the soft flesh of my back. He put his legs on either side of my and sunk down into the bath. This caused his half-awake sex to slip down, and press firmly into my ass.

I felt invaded. The Demon felt like he was penetrating my very being simply by his presence.

With a soft hand, he took the lump of soap and trailed it up and down my arms as he worked my skin into a lather.

Still I couldn't move. His hands would direct my body and I obeyed. He bathed me like I was his living doll.

His hands slipped under my arms and soaped my armpits and the sides of my breasts. He drew a reaction from me as I shivered. To my horror, a spark of arousal jumped within my sex.

"Stop Devnikolus," I said softly, my voice thickly laden with pleading. "You can't keep doing these things to me. It isn't right, I haven't asked for this."

His slim fingers tightened painfully on my arm as the other hand gripped my throat. The Demon gripped hard...unworried about killing me from suffocation.

"You will serve me this way Little Angel," the Demon said in a tone truly worthy of a monster. "You took her from me, and now you will replace her until she can be returned to me."

My fear was palatable now... I could practically taste his anger.

"You will do this for me," he said, "Or I will torture you until you beg me to end the suffering."

As if nothing had happened, he released his grip and resumed washing me in that methodical and loving way.

He soaped the undersides of my breasts and moved down to my belly and legs. He cleaned my pussy with his long gentle fingers. I could feel my channel pulse around his fingers. My face flamed with embarrassment, yet his warning kept me silent.

The bath took almost twenty minutes. A Prince of Hell washed my entire body, and even lathered my hair. I sat there in the crux of his body both terrified and shamefully aroused.

When the water became cold, he picked up my unresisting body and toweled my pink and clean skin dry. Before I could even understand what was happening the Demon used his preternatural speed to move us from the bathroom to the bedroom across the hall.

He placed my naked body into a bed of soft feathers and clean white sheets.

"You will rest here during the day as best you can," Devnikolus said. "You are not to leave this bed until I give you permission. Do you understand?"

The gold band flashed its green runes, and I knew his order carried the weight of the compulsion magic. I nodded slightly. I had never felt any more feminine. This creature was treating me like a little girl, and I had no choice but to fill that role.

Devnikolus blew out a candle by my bedside, and plunged the room into darkness.

The soft sheets pulled me instantly down into my own darkness moments later.

The Meeting

~Humans do not naturally posses magic. A child of dust and mud can only achieve power through four ways. They may pledge themselves to either the Light or the Dark, and be rewarded with a sliver of their power. They may channel the inherent magic of the Earth.

The fourth way is to steal it. These thieves are called The Afflicted and they are abominations- The lecture Notes of Father Fredrick~

-Daniel Fleeting-

I knew it the moment it happened. One moment I was riding into the rising sun, mere minutes from confronting Devnikolus and earning my salvation. The next, I sensed the familiar swell of teleportation magic...and then he was gone.

I had screamed then.

My horse reared back and I toppled from my saddle. Hard stone rushed to greet my less hard head...and I lost consciousness.

The waking world greeted me with a sharp pain at the back of my skull.

'You're lucky to be alive...again,'Vraiel, the Angel in my head stated wryly.

'How long was I unconscious?'I asked through the throbbing.

'You cracked the back of your skull,'Vraiel replied,'The damage was severe, and you would have died had your stone heart not used its unholy magic to heal you and stop the bleeding.'

I winced. The next time I had to use Light magic the residue from my Demonic core would cause me terrible discomfort.

"We missed him," I said out loud.

This always happened. The power of travel by magic was beyond me, but the Prince of Destruction used this ability with impunity. But he hadn't teleported for so long...I had thought...had hoped... that I would catch up to him this time. Now he was too far away to even sense, and I would have to start all over.

'We will just have to hope we stumble over him again,'Vraiel said in my head,'We have no idea how far he has gone. We should just pick a direction and commit to it.'

I looked around, hoping that my horse was still nearby.

'When the unholy magic began to work upon us the horse became spooked and bolted,'Vraiel told me bitterly.

My sword was poking uncomfortably into my side, but at least it hadn't been in the saddle bag.

I stood up slowly, and brushed the dirt from my travel clothes. The saddle bag filled with my tools was gone. My vial of holy water, my scroll of earth moving, and my ever precious thrice blessed cross. Without that cross I didn't stand a chance against the Demon Prince.

'The cross is safe, along with the scroll,'Vraiel said cheerfully,'I'm glad I insisted you have that leather smith make you that hip pouch.'

With budding joy, I touched the small bag looped to my trousers.

'That is another thing that I am in your debt for Vraiel,'I said.

He didn't reply, but I could tell he was happy.

I was just stretching and limbering out my sore shoulder, when something caught my senses. In the distance, in the direction that Devnikolus had been in, I caught a faint trace of his power. It was starting to move north quickly, as if it was moving by horseback

'How is this possible?'I asked Vraiel silently.

'It is possible that we are sensing one of the Prince's servants,'Vraiel responded with glee.

I would have to run using Light magic to keep pace with a horse, and it would be agony. But, this traveling flicker of unholy power was all I had to continue my search, and I was willing to bear it.

"Let's go introduce ourselves," I said as I began to run.

The cart trundled along at a maddeningly slow pace. My head bobbed as I tried to keep myself awake against the gentle motions of my wooden seat. Jon sat beside me looking straight ahead.

I dared not fall asleep, because if I fell asleep all I saw was his face, and that caused me misery when I woke and found I had only been dreaming of my Master.