Devil Possession

2

Ray was still new to leadership and so he could be forgiven for not hearing to the standard protocol. The former leader,Pell , had been one of those sacrificed in the fires of the tribute as Lucifer chose the oldest of the various races to consume.

Three of them are friends .

"You do not speak for me," Ray said, a hint of teeth appearing as he snarled.

Ray didn't seem impressed. "Perhaps not, but do not think I am the only one to notice that you are softer on the mortals than your predecessor. The other Angel-"

Alex eyes narrowed in fury. "Do not speak to me of Tian. He is not and never will be yours."

Ray tilted his head, his vacant eyes moving over Alex as though he were a bug under a microscope. "I can better protect him-"

Now Alex fangs fully dropped and he took a threatening step towards the Ray, but Mell hand across his chest stayed the movement.

The wolf's fingers were tipped with deadly claws but they did not attempt to pierce the flesh of the vampire. "We are in the middle of a battle," Mell said patiently. "Now is not the time to argue about Tian."

Alex shrugged off the other man's hold and the Ray gave no reaction whats-so-ever. Shide watched the by play with interest, his eyes moving between the 'allies' as they glared at one another.

Why don't they share if they like that angel that much.

Such conversations were rare in hell-but then there were rarely beings of equal status. There was always someone more or less powerful and status was determined by who you killed and what you took as your own.

And Shide . . He'd taken quite a bit over the centuries. While he'd been born within the mortal realm, the Devil had been taken by Lucifer back to Hell when he'd still been a child. After killing his human father and revealing his Devil mark, the demon had come and swept him away.

Shide had visited Earth a time or two, but he generally preferred the lawlessness and debauchery of Hell to the false veneer of civility that seemed to grow stronger with the passing years along with the narcissistic self importance of the Angels .

A self-importance that had eventually blown up in their faces.

Shide looked away from the squabbling creature's and back towards the battle. There was a cloud of magic that hung over the fighting masses and he smiled as it continued to swell with every death-Angels death, that is. Thousands of demons had been lost, but they were never truly alive to begin with. Their essences would be cast back into hell and they would be reborn once more with only the need to fight. But the hundreds of dead Angels . . . their souls had been been carefully collected. Lucifer would consume some of them but others would be repurposed into greater demons to serve him.

There was a rush of power, barely noticeable in the flux of the battle, but Shide was completely in tuned with battle magics. His eyes moved over the field in search of the source, and he felt the pausing of the others as they noticed his attention.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

His eyes narrowed as he felt a new pure Angel magic the through the carnage. "One of the pure Angel among them . . . he has left the protection of the runic fields beyond the battle. He has entered the fray."

"They are retreating. Why would a Pure Angel join the fight now?" Ray asked as he too looked over the field.

Shide had no answer and so said nothing as he leapt from the cliff and down towards his forces followed by Ray and Alex. He felt drawn to this power-drawn to whoever it was that seemed intent on sacrificing themselves. His eyes scanned the carnage as his body moved through the sea of men, women, and demons. He cut down the enemies in his path like a scythe through wheat, a smile curing his lips. If he could destroy a high ranking Angel in the throws of battle, it would be one less obstacle to victory.

Perhaps if the Angel had been less skilled, Shide might have missed him, but the way the young Angel released arrow after arrow into the skulls of the demons-they fell around him like puppets on cut strings.

Shide paused, watching the man and he realized that the Angel wasn't moving. He was staying put, keeping demons away, but not trying to flee or giving into a bloodlust. The Devil eyes narrowed as the Angel paused during a lull and reached down to . . . help someone.

An small girl struggled to get up from the ground. Her side and shoulder were badly burned from his hellfire spell. The acid rain had burned through much of her Wing's, but she still held a blade to fight.

"I'm alright, Shuyi," she said, though her words were soft with strain.

The young man- Shuyi-shook his head. "You shouldn't have been out here," he said with more than a touch of irritation. "Ohm-"

The girl made a noise of anger and irritation. "Please don't talk about Ohm right now," she said as she finally hauled herself to her feet.

Another wave of his forces moved in on them, but the pair had obviously trained together for an extended length of time. They worked in almost perfect tandem as they cut down demon after demon.