When Heaven meets Hell

Chapter Fifty Nine

They transported themselves directly into the inner ward, bright white light breaking through the omnipresent blue glow. The moment the three appeared, the silence greeted them. Nothing moved beside the silent waterfall.  Slowly, faintly there came the sound of robes rustling against the stone floor, growing closer and louder. Joan felt a shudder run down her spine as a low, sinister chuckle caressed her skin.

"Back so soon?"

Satan materialized out of the shadows, his demons following in his wake. He stopped, standing before the waterfall and cocking his head to one side.

"Your energy reserves have been restored." He noted, surprise flickering upon his face momentarily. "Where did you get it? I was sure I wasted it all, unless..." He trailed off, his gaze lingering on Avander as confusion and curiosity changed to mockery.

"A self sacrificing demon, now I've seen everything." He chortled mirthlessly , earning hearty and taunting chuckles from his followers. Behind Joan, Avander made a move to advance but she stopped him.

"Don't you dare." She murmured, lips barely moving. "Leave this fight to me and Heidi . You've done enough."

He nodded reluctantly, allowing Heidi and Joan to step before him protectively. For a few seconds, the two parties glared at one another, daring the enemy to make the first move. When the silence became too much to bear, Joan was the one who broke the stalemate.

One minute she stood before him, the next she spun in the air behind , sword whistling and inching towards his smug, hateful face. When she was sure her attack had hit home, her sword met only air . Satan melted away. Feet skidding against the floor she turned, narrowly avoiding a blast of energy .

On the other end of the room, the demons surrounded Heidi, a dangerous circle closing in on her. Calmly she raised her hand, needing only to click her finger to have the demons stop in their tracks. Except this time her magic lasted only a few minutes, with demons springing back to life and once more snarling at her.

"Let's not make things too easy now." Satan chuckled, sidestepping Joan as she came barreling into him, sword thrusting forward. She spun round in time and managed to block his glowing fist by raising her sword.

"Heidi!" She called, straining to keep her sword held against Satan.

"I'll be fine Joan. Leave the demons to me." Her voice called, calm and cool.

"Indeed dear Joan, you should keep your eyes on me." Satan taunted. Gritting her teeth, Joan stepped back and slammed her fist into the ground. Waves of blue light peeking and then exploding out of the cracks, rising into air and twisting like a great serpent. Any demon exposed to it was instantly incinerated. Satan slashed and hacked at the stream of light, sending small flickering pieces floating around like torn cloth. They reformed stubbornly and Satan had to summon a great many shadows to plug the cracks and trap Joan.

Joan stumbled as she struggled against the bonds holding her. She succeeded a second too late. The moment she burnt the wispy shadows away, Satan lifted her into the air and flung her back in a streaking mass of purple light. Joan crashed into the wall, sliding down weakly as blood trickled from the side of her head. Shoulders shaking, she stood and glared up at him, only to have something large and buzzing come whizzing towards her. Bracing herself for the jarring impact, She raised her blade and felt the two entities collide with a soft hiss.