Eutopia - Apocalypse

Chapter 17

'Sorry to break up the party,' Loki rumbled with a gruff grin as he barged into the luminous gloom clutching something to his chest. He knelt on one knee in the centre of the cavern, his fair hair falling across his eyes as Jinn and Eutopia watched him place an armful of glowing orb-like lights on the now blood-stained floor. He cupped one gently and raised it to his lips where it buzzed and hummed gently like a firefly. Eutopia watched in amazement as Loki pursed his lips and breathed into the little glowing light. The humming shifted in tone, lightened as the small orb of luminosity stretched and grew into a delicate bubble of a rich purple-blue hue that danced airily on his fingertips. The whispered song that seemed to emanate from the sphere rose a little higher in pitch, joining the ghostly sound of vibration given up by the other glass-like orbs. Loki sat up with a little smile and with a twitch of his finger sent the pearly bubble floating up towards the roof where it was tangled almost instantly by a dangling piece of twine, caught like an insect in a spider web. His expression was one of utter serenity, his eyes were slightly crinkled at the corners as he smiled calmly, utterly absorbed with the love of his task.

'What's he doing?' Eutopia whispered to Jinn as Loki deftly scooped up another tiny white light to breathe into.

'Capturing the souls of those he's killed.'

'Oh, wow. It's beautiful,' Eutopia sighed, awestruck, as another blue bauble floated up to join the others that dangled like jewels from above them.

'It's sick,' Jinn breathed into her ear, causing a warm shiver to run down her spine. 'With their souls trapped here these people cannot pass over, they are trapped forever in purgatory. It's a childish hobby he has, collecting these souls, he's like a child tying a thread to a fly and watching it die of exhaustion before it can free itself. These are human,' Jinn's fingertip touched a jade green bauble that swayed hypnotically by his ear. 'These blue ones are Nephilim. And these silver ones are angels.' The frosty orbs were sparse amongst the blue and green ones, like little snowflakes caught amongst the green leaves that were human souls.

They both watched wordlessly for a while as Loki continued to craft sparkling blue baubles out of the lights that rested by his bent knee. Eutopia turned to lean back against Jinn, the blood dried now on her hand and smeared across her face, black in the dim light, like war paint. Jinn's arms slid around her shoulders, supporting her against his warm, solid frame.

'Thousands of years ago, Loki used to be the Angel of Death. He was Michael's executioner, destroying the unruly angels that had been sentenced to death for their crimes and hunting down Nephilim and humans for fun. He still has that same bloodlust now, that's a flame you would never be able to quell in him, but his conscience got the better of him.'

'You got the better of me,' Loki said as he straightened up, the last delicate bubble floating up to tangle itself in the twisted twine above and he stood back to admire his handiwork with a cocky smile. 'Jinn persuaded me to his cause. To his Evangeline. We followed him into battle and are still paying for the consequences. I had a gleaming golden suite in Hiera, had every whim attended to whenever I so desired. Now look at me, scraping away an existence in the back end of nowhere, killing whenever I can instead of whenever I like. Wait. Just wait, I'll rise to the ranks of Commander soon, and you'll be the key.' Loki winked at Eutopia, snapping her a sharp little salute with one hand. 'Michael will probably hand me Hiera on a platter when I return with you.'

Jinn laughed, tugging Eutopia along behind him as he made his way to the front of the cave, where the fire still burned steadily.

'I told you, Michael will have no need for you. He has no real need for Eutopia either. That's why the Nephilim were after her, the order's been put out for her death now that Petra's told them I didn't go through with it and Michael wants her gone as quickly as possible.'