Sigillum ex Fatum [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter 39

I looked at the small gathering. We were all dressed in our black military uniforms, weapons at the ready. Mikha'el was the only exception–he was dressed in his golden plated armor. We were a sight to behold for sure. Twenty seraphim in all; the four remaining chief archangels, Mikha'el, Auriel, Gabriel, and Raphael. Rounding them out were Sealtiel, Barachiel, Jophiel, Hasdiel, Camael, and Joel. In our ranks were also the likes of Zerachiel, Calistia, Jegdiel, etc. Then there was me–a seraphim who had notoriety to my name but not much else.

Jophiel strode over to me. In her right hand she held a red flaming sword. She extended her left hand with a grin. Slightly confused, I shook her hand.

"It is an honor to serve at your side," she told me with a nod. "I have not been so excited to perform a duty since I escorted Adam and Eve out of Eden."

"Oh," I stuttered. "Er, thank you. It is an honor to meet you."

Still grinning, she fell back in line and took up conversation with other archangels. It worried me, noticing how the ten archangels were grouped together and the other ten seraphim were apart. I frowned. As such I unfurled all six of my wings and cleared my throat loudly. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and faced me.

"In order for this to work," I said in my best commanding voice, "we must create a symbiosis cohesion. I understand that there is a hierarchy, but I need to remind you that we are all God's angels here."

Everyone looked at one another, a few shifting on their feet nervously. Even Mikha'el looked the tiniest bit baffled. I pointed at the group.

"I understand the archangels are used to conducting themselves exclusively amongst fellow archangels, but I have hand-picked you to serve as one unit." As I spoke, I slowly moved my sword, sweeping over every single angel before me. "I have hand-picked you because I considered every strategic angle, using your strengths as well as your known weaknesses as a means to counterbalance one another. As such, we should be, in theory, unstoppable."

I overheard the angel Gibborim chuckle. I lowered my sword and strode directly in front of him, staring him down. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head, hoping I looked properly intimidating.

"Have you interpreted something I have said as humorous?"

"No, Seraphin," he replied.

"Good." I took a step back. "Everyone, break rank and intermingle."

No one move. Not even Mikha'el.

"Now!" I snapped, and everyone scrambled.

Once everyone had settled, I withdrew a feather from my inner breast pocket. It belonged to Malael's son. I had requested it, and he gladly plucked one for me. I was working under the theory that, since Baliel was one of his fathers, I should be able to hone in on Belial exclusively. I had presented my idea to everyone involved as such.

However, the blue book I had did not cover such a topic. I was working on a hypothesis. No one aside from me needed to know that—it would have furthered doubt in my plan and probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground

I hope this works.

I extended the feather in front of me. "Everyone, touch this. When the last one touches it, I will perform the summoning spell. Is everyone ready?"

There was a grumble of agreement. I gritted my teeth.

"Is everyone ready?"

A more enthusiastic response greeted my ears. I nodded, and every angel stood with me on the sigil I had painted on the ground. Everyone reached out with their free hand to touch a part of the feather. Last was Mikha'el, and we locked eyes. He gave me a nod of reassurance.

I allowed my angelic essence to flow out of me as I recited the incantation. When the last word left my mouth, I felt a great lurch, like I was being pulled by my naval. Within seconds we found ourselves in a room lit with torches. A long, black conference table bisected the room. A plethora of demons sat. At the head, standing and mid-sentence, was Baliel.

I blinked. "Oh fuck me."

The plan was to summon him to us. To this day I am unsure what went wrong. Perhaps it was the fact I was using such a muddled feather. Perhaps it was because Belial was so powerful he was unable to be summoned without his permission.

Reasons didn't matter. We had all been transported to Hell.

Chaos broke out. There was a great upheaval, everyone shouting and screaming. Truthfully I think the only thing that saved us that day was the element of surprise. Yes, we were surprised as well, but we had our weapons at the ready. The seconds it took the demons and Fallen to summon their swords were crucial. Two were beheaded immediately.

We outnumbered them, but it was still a fair fight. They were all powerful, high-ranking demons. Two were Fallen. The fight was brutal. I focused on what I was doing and could only pray our casualties would be minimal.

At one point Auriel saw an opening and took it. He had jumped up on the table. As soon as he stared down Baliel, he burst into flames. He charged, screaming with his true angelic voice. It was deafening, to the point where mugs and glasses that had been sitting on the table shattered and exploded. Auriel threw himself at Belial, a force of sheer power, spinning himself like a drill bit.

The scuffle between them was brief. Belial had started chanting, but Auriel drove him down to the ground. Their swords clashed again and again, black steel against flaming blade. Everyone had stopped to view the outcome, demons and angels alike.

Auriel hit Belial's sword so hard it shattered. When that happened, Auriel threw down his own sword and grabbed Belial by the face with one palm. With a great gust of wind, Auriel smote him. The demon screamed. When Belial's body went limp, Auriel returned to his humanoid vessel.

He punched Belial in the face, over and over and over again. One by one the remaining few demons disappeared; we let them go, having killed both Fallen. We all watched Auriel brutalize Belial's dead body.

Demons, unlike angels, do not disappear when they die; only Fallen do. As such, Auriel beat on him, moving to his chest with both hands clasped, raising them above his head and slamming them against Belial. His eyes slowly stopped glowing and he began shrieking, body raking with hysterical sobs.

I made my sword disappear immediately. I strode across the room, pulling Auriel away.

"Auriel—Auriel. Stop. It's over. Everything is over."

He struggled against me, and when he finally faced me he pounded his fists against my chest. I wrapped both arms around him tightly, pinning his arms at his sides. His legs gave out and we sank to the floor. The room was filled momentarily with nothing but his broken sobs.

I looked up at everyone. They were bloody, but all were accounted for.

"Retreat," I gave the order.

One by one we disappeared back to Heaven.