Celestial Wars Ch. 01

The smooth stone walls made any sound reverberate for a minute before it slowly disappeared. I had placed wards on the walls. Not to keep myself hidden, but to amplify what went on in here. If I was to play my part, the Light needed to sense me.

Slowly, I began to ease the iron grip I held over 'that' aspect of myself.

Like a muscle that had been held clenched and tight for too long, as soon as I relaxed my barriers, a pressure lifted, and a stress I hadn't know I carried was dissipated.

The power rushed to the surface with a roar.

Black flames sprang up on the dark stone. They flickered menacingly about my seated form. They were hungry...oh they were hungry. I stared back at them, transfixed. Their dancing shapes whispered to me.

They wanted to destroy, to undo. Anything they touched would be consumed...obliterated.

These shadow flames were Destruction made manifest.

The power surged again, and the heatless, lightless flames rose. I couldn't control them, it had been too long. With a feral howl I clamped down again. I could feel my mental barriers bow and shudder underneath Destruction's might.

'Why do you deny us Master'They uttered sadly.

'We love you...we are you...we could make you great again'

My shields solidified, and the voices stopped, and I was left alone in my place of rest...deep under the Dublin Manson.

All I could hear was the sound of my unsteady breath.

My hands shook, but that was not important.

The sun was setting once more, and I hadn't slept.

This deep underground, the sun did not send me into my normal lethargy. My thoughts had drifted between my struggle with my own powers...and my lost Halfling.

I hoped she was finding her way to me, I hoped Jon was guiding her here.

My hands ached to possess her again, and that small part of conscience that she had been able to wake ached to love her again.

Thinking of one sister, made me think of the other. Bitter Cariel would still be confined to her bed. The band would make sure of that. I had half a mind to let her sit there for eternity. Still, I didn't want to summon Destruction again so soon.

A little distraction might be welcome.

I dissolved my form, and left the underground room.

I gathered myself together, and took solid form again at the foot of the Angel's bed.

Cariel looked on in shock as my body formed out of red sparks.

"Hello there," I said in my best deep and hypnotic voice.

She was staring at me, her silver eyes wide and full of fear. She clutched the sheet to her naked body, and she edged as far away from me as the bed would allow. Her shoulders bumped into the head board, and her lower lip quivered.

"I sensed it again," she said softly, her voice colored with despair and anger, "I sensed what you keep hidden."

I shrugged, "I've been told to be distracting. Didn't you ever wonder why I am called the Prince of Destruction?"

Her face moved between different emotions rapidly. It settled on hatred.

Cariel looked up at me...her lips curled in disgust, "What a thing to be lord of. You are pathetic. You are a blight on existence, tearing down what was lovingly built. "

I froze.

No one spoke to me that way. She should be terrified...yet once again, this red haired Seraphim sought to irk me. I curled my hand into a fist. For a moment I thought I would destroy her...despite the fact that she was Maria's sister. My black flames could eat her being in a heartbeat. I wouldn't have to fiddle with burying her alive. Destruction would feast upon her and I would never be troubled by her again.

But the moment passed, and I realized it would leave a poor taste in my mouth if I validated her by using my namesake.

"What?" Cariel said mockingly, "Couldn't do it? You should just destroy me Demon, it would spare me another moment in your wretched presence."

"Silence," I spat.

The band flashed. Cariel doubled over and she coughed noiselessly.

"Why would I destroy you, when I can play with you instead?" I asked slowly... I stalked over to the bed, and my dark form loomed over her. On the bed, clothed in nothing but a white sheet, the little Angel's bravado was broken only by her shivering.

Her pale white skin quivered in fear. Her red hair looked striking as it touched her fair shoulders.

The beauty of an Angel.

I faltered.

This was hard. My heart wasn't in this familiar game. Her fear was a reflex to a creature like me. Her mind remained unbroken...and I found that I didn't want to do it harm. This was Maria all over again. These sisters had a strange power over me.

I took a step back.

Now I just wanted to sleep...I just wanted to not think for a while.

I wanted to forget.

Cariel stared at me. Her mouth wasn't moving, but her eyes told a story of disgust.

Maybe she was right. Even if I didn't rape her... there was nothing I could do about being the living aspect of Destruction. I would always be evil in her eyes.

I shook myself. The Dark had long ago accepted its role.

"Come," I said, "Follow me downstairs. I will keep an eye on you while I practice."

My mouth wouldn't work.

I had more to say to this Demon. He confused me, he enraged me. He represented an evil that could not be contained.

He touched me softly. He had bathed me. For one small second I had felt cared for as he put me to bed.

No...mustn't think those thoughts. My body was already his, my mind mustn't follow.

I watched his back as he gracefully descended the stairs. He was wearing a dark black waist coat with a charcoal vest and blood red tie.

His French outfit had been similar. I tried not to notice how nicely he filled out his coat. I tried not to remember how firm his body had been pressed next to mine.

Mustn't think those thoughts.

Instead, I focused on my fury. My resolve strengthened as I remembered how he had enslaved my half-sister. My resolve strengthened as I remember those awful black flames that lived at his core.

Yes...now I had found my strength.

My breasts wobbled slightly as I walked. Being kept naked was so humiliating. Yet, here I was, following the Demon like a beast on a leash. I wasn't even aloud to talk...making me a mute beast.

We entered the lounge from the previous night.

The Demon sat with his back to the fireplace. With a wave of his hand, the burgundy and gold curtains drifted open, and the moon peered in through window panes. The room glowed milk white.

"Be seated," Devnikolus said dismissively.

My legs moved without my input, and deposited me unceremoniously on the plush leather couch.

"Don't move," Devnikolus said, "No matter what happens."

With that, his eyes slid shut, hiding those blazing red eyes behind pale lids. Without those hateful eyes, the Prince of Destruction looked like a beautiful dark haired man.

The room grew cold again...and I knew the Demon was calling his power.

It wouldn't be pretty red sparks this time either. Devnikolus was practicing his unique art.

In the fireplace, black flames leapt up.

They offered no warmth and they offered no light. Within the silence I thought I could hear voices cackling within the flames. Cold voices, evil voices.

Devnikolus opened his eyes. He must have seen something he didn't like on my face, because he turned away. The Demon Prince stared into the unnatural fire and took a deep breath.

"It is getting easier," Devnikolus said, "The flames will not destroy that which I do not allow them to. They will not spread unless I allow them to. After more than a millennium, it takes me but one night to regain my control. Even I am surprised."

The Prince of Destruction had not used this power for one thousand years? Curious.

Why did black flames not eat away the churches and monasteries of the world? Why did cities not disappear under the Demon's power? Every other Demon I knew would have unleashed this weapon at a whim.

"You may speak," the Demon said, "Tell me...do you think these midnight fires are pretty?" He asked mockingly.

"Why has it been so long since you have called this power?" I asked, ignoring his goading.

He turned his head, "I didn't know any talkative Seraphims before now," he said spitefully.

I bit my lower lip in frustration.

It was so strange to be the weak one for once. As a Second Sphere Seraphim, few creatures in creation could treat me as this Demon did. I was used to giving orders, and smiting the Dark where ever it hid.

"Why won't you answer my question?" I said, trying to match the enmity in his voice.

Devnikolus turned to face me. His face looked weary, and his eyes looked lidded.

"Why don't you use this power?" I asked again.

"Stop asking Cariel," the Demon said, using my real name for the first time in a long time, "I feel every one of my years this night. You have done enough to test me. Be thankful you are alive...most of the Dark would have killed you by now."

Behind him, a flicker of movement caught my eye. The black flames were seeping out of the fire place. The very stone of the hearth seemed to be burning.

"Demon!" I shouted, "The flames!"

Devnikolus whirled around and gazed on as the very stone of the fireplace started to disintegrate.

The Demon Prince clapped his hands together, and the fires of Destruction recoiled. Slowly the heatless blaze dwindled, and then winked out. Devnikolus was breathing heavily and his legs were buckling.

Such weakness...and in front of the Angel to make matters worse.

For just a brief moment, I had felt so tired and then the flames had slipped their leash.

Her question wasn't groundless, but I didn't want to answer. Things in the past should remain there. But some part of me wanted to confide in someone

I turned to gaze upon the red haired Angel. Her silver eyes blinked at me curiously. At least curiosity was better than the outright loathing she expressed earlier.

It wouldn't do for me to express my doubts to another member of the Dark. We might be united against the Light, but we had endured plenty of internal fighting. When another Demon Prince sensed weakness we would try and steal land and subjects from each other's plane of Hell.

But this soft vulnerable looking Angel was mine, bought and paid for with magic that was exceptional even for me. She could be anything I wanted her to be. I still needed a bondsman. She could attend to me. She could ease this weariness that recent events had pressed down on me. She could be my unwilling confidant.

"I'm going to move us with magic Cariel," I said after a long pause, "Don't try to resist."

Unholy magic engulfed us both, and swept us down into my chamber deep underground.

It still reeked of Destruction down here.

"I can't see anything," Cariel complained, "I feel uncomfortable...where are we?"

A ball of red light flashed into existence on my hand and I threw it up at the stone ceiling. It stuck to the ceiling, and bathed the stone chamber in a heady red glow.

"You're underground, little Angel," I said cheerily. "You best hope that the ceiling doesn't cave in. I hear Angels don't do well underground with dirt on all sides."

Cariel's silver eyes seemed dim and unresponsive in the red light. "If you want to bury me, just do it," she said, "Don't put me in this box and toy with me."

I put my back against a wall and slide down to the floor.

Maybe I had pushed him too far. Perhaps this stone box deep underground was to be part of the torture he had threatened. Angels do not like being underneath the Earth. It made us feel weak and lethargic.

"You asked me why I don't use my gift," Devnikolus said softly...like he was testing the words in his mouth. He had his eyes closed again.

I kept my silence, worried that I might break this odd mood that had taken hold of him.

"What would you do, if you had my powers?" The Demon asked.

That was not what I expected him to say.

I had thought perhaps they were hard to control...or that it caused him pain or great fatigue to use them. I had not been expecting him to ask me anything.

"I told you before," I managed to say stiffly, "The power to destroy repulses me. Creation is the embodiment of life and love and light. Destroying it would be a sin, hence, I wouldn't use your power if I had it."

The Demon chuckled lightly against the cold stone wall. He looked like a prisoner in a dungeon for a brief moment...depressed and limp and trapped.

"Is it so strange to think that I might think the same thing?"

Yes, was my immediate, internal reaction. You are a Demon. You have wronged my sister and me beyond forgiveness. I should have made better plans before I entered that clearing. I should have won.

"I can see by the look on your face that you do think it strange," Devnikolus mused. His eyes were open now, but the usual intensity of his gaze seemed to be missing.

"I don't care so much about sinning," the Demon continued, "I've always thought those rules arbitrary. But I would much prefer to enjoy Creation, rather than see it burn."

That...made a sort of sense, I thought to myself grudgingly. The Demon was too much of a hedonist to be an impartial destroyer. He was loathe to destroy that which brought him pleasure. Like my sister...or me.

I shuddered at that last thought...even though my entire body tingled, and my mind skipped back to our bath again, and his tender fingers on the sides of my breasts.

"Lucifer was overjoyed when he discovered my Demonic powers," Devnikolus continued. "He had grand visions of burning down entire cities and pissing on the ashes."

He paused, and his eyes slid shut once more.

"All I wanted to do was fuck mortal women, and drink their blood. Every once in a while I enjoyed fighting the Light, but using Destruction felt too easy...it felt like cheating."

My fatigue caused by being underground must be making it hard to think clearly. I was feeling sympathetic towards the Demon. He was a creature who hated a part of himself...maybe even all of himself.

"You will eventually come to terms with serving me," Devnikolus said softly, "My butler Jon hated his service...but he has come to enjoy it. You too will take pleasure in serving me."

"I wouldn't count on it Demon," I said....but once again I couldn't muster anger to my voice. His voice was hypnotic...and the band around my throat tingled.

"You will be my bondswoman," he continued. "You will rub my muscles when they are sore and stiff. You will comfort me and care for me when I am weary. You will stand at my side and be loyal to me," the beautiful Demon took a breath, "You will be my confidant, and you will keep and treasure my secrets."

The band was vibrating.

No...I thought wearily. I thought this collar could only give me physical commands. I had just gotten used to being a physical slave.

I couldn't be a mental one too.

But, whether I wanted to or not, the band had been activated...and it was doing something.

I kept my eyes closed.

It had felt good to say those things. They were out in the open now...and they no longer felt like my sole burden. This mythically beautiful red haired Angel would serve me this way. I'm sure she would eventually come to terms with me being her master.

Her sister had.

"Are...are you sore now Demon?" She said in a stilted voice.

I was so tired. Those flames took everything out of me.

"Yes," I said simply. Hopefully she would sit there and be quiet and let me sleep. Or maybe she could ease my aching muscles...though it would probably be years till she started to fill that role.

Then I could feel her soft cool hands on my shirt.

My eyes flew open. I was ready to defend myself in an instant. I looked about for her spelled Holy dagger...but I couldn't see anything. Just her trembling hands, clumsily undoing the buttons of my vest.

"Help me?" she asked softly.

I lifted my gaze. Her silver eyes had a film of tears glittering along the edges. She looked sad, but resigned. I realized a moment later that the band was doing this, I hadn't realized it had been registering my commands.

I kept my eyes locked onto hers as I slowly undid the buttons on my shirt and vest.

She met my eyes for as long as she could, but eventually her gaze dropped to the exposed muscles of my stomach. The Angel shivered...and sniffled. She was but a moment away from crying...teetering on the edge.

I shrugged out of my garments to reveal my back.

With a sigh, I turned around and faced away from the Angel. I crossed my legs, and leaned forward.

"Start with my back Cariel," I said soothingly. "I know you can do this."

She pressed her fingers tentatively into my skin. Her cool fingers warmed as she began to trail her hands down my spine. Her hands kneaded the tight muscles just below the surface. They hardly moved.

"I am not human Angel," I said lightly, "You will have to put real pressure on me."

I could almost hear the Angel set her jaw, and vigorously press the heel of her palm into my tight muscles. She kept up that inhuman strength as she trailed her hands up and down my torso. My body began to relax as she caressed the flesh of my lower back.

I sighed, and the Angel cooed softly...almost inaudibly.

She pressed a particularly sore spot and I shivered.

Tiny red sparks flashed and crackled happily along my body.

She jerked her fingers away.

"Relax," I said, my voice filled with sleep, "They won't hurt you."

Cariel replaced her hands on my back, and started to work on my neck. I wondered if she thought about how my throat was unadorned and free, and hers was collared and controlled.

Sleep took me while my new bondswoman rubbed her master.

The Demon had fallen asleep sitting upright.

Gently, I pulled him down to the ground so that he might be more comfortable.

'What am I doing... this creature is my enemy'

But the ground was so hard and cold. The muscles that I had just worked over would stiffen and hurt after sleeping upon a stone floor. Why did he bring us here?

'To escape the sun, this monster cannot abide its cleansing Light'

With a wave of my hand I conjured up my favorite sleeping mat. Blue sparks flickered about as they worked my will. My mat made of soft pink silk stuffed with goose feathers appeared upon the Demon's stone floor.

That's better. I wrapped my arms around him, and pulled him onto the comfort of my travel bed. This felt strangely intimate to bring him onto the bed that I slept on away from home. This felt like going to bed with the Demon.

My sex tingled at the thought. I could feel the beginnings of arousal lubricate my pussy.

'These thoughts are wrong. These actions are wrong.'

He's still wearing his shoes. It can't be comfortable to sleep in shoes.

I knelt down, and took his shoes off one at a time, and then removed his black leggings. His feet were cool and perfectly proportioned.

I paused.

My hands are so cold. It can't be nice to be touched by cold hands. I crossed my arms and put my hands under my armpits hoping to warm them for Devnikolus.

"Demon," I whispered, "Do you still want me to...um...comfort you?"

I watched his youthful face carefully. He didn't respond. He was deeply asleep.

Why did he have to be a monster? He looked like a young man who would wake with a laugh and a smile. I could imagine that carefree dark haired youth clearly in my mind. He would have been something to behold.

He never told me to stop my actions.

'This creature should never tell you anything.'