"Balthazaar don't!" screamed Nicholas as he saw him running towards the tornado that swirled around Morpheous and Nubeous.
Walking towards it was synonymous with walking towards one's own grave because the power that those two possessed was supernatural. It was beyond his reach, it was beyond any fallen angel's reach.
But then he saw Damianos also running towards it along with Eva, so for a moment, he deliberated. It was sanity versus the action of the masses.
When Morpheous had blocked Nubeous's hand, The bolt that he had conjured up, struck the ground instead and it was a catastrophe which stopped at nothing. And thus ran a divide that started splitting the earth into two.
The cracks started to widen and slowly that huge crack gave way to little veins that spread open. Those cracks didn't just run wide, but also deep as the bolt started melting everything underneath.
With great difficulty, Balthazaar tried to reach ahead as his footing wasn't strong anymore. Everything was melting, lashing out flames. That whole place had become like a maze of fire. It was then that he heard a yelp.
"Damianos!"
Yelped Eva as she was finding it hard to walk around.
The tornado wasn't helping either. The wind was adding up to the flame. Indeed it was not a place to be, not for the faint-hearted. So even though his heart wanted to join them, Nicholas started running back towards the village, but alas, the crack widened further and made it impossible for him to jump across.
So he helplessly turned back and jumped along with the bits and pieces of land that were intact.
"I am coming Balthazaar. Wait for me," yelled Nicholas but Balthazaar didn't have the time to listen. He had to stop them from killing each other. If he saved Morpheous then he would kill Nubeous and his promise would be broken and if he saved Nubeous then he would kill Morpheous and if Damianos was right then the dream of regaining back the glory of Vanaheimr would stay forever as a dream.
It was deadlock for him.
And there was only one way out of it and that was the path of sacrifice.
So he stopped for a moment and gave a hand to Damianos who then jumped close to him along with little Eva. Her one hand clutched the hands of Damainaos and the other held on to the amulet of Morpheous.
He looked at them and said,
"When I say it's time, no matter what touch Morpheous and be with him. But make sure he isn't touching Nubeous."
"Are you going to turn us back in time again?" asked Eva.
"I will try!" said Balthazaar and tried to stabilize himself for the tornado was increasing in intensity as the two had engaged in a fierce hand to hand combat.
"But you haven't healed. You don't have any..."
"A man must do its duty, and I am an angel. I must do more than that," said Balthazaar, cutting through the words of concern of Nicholas.
"What about me?" asked Nicholas.
Balthazaar looked at him for a moment and then said,
"Join them. We go together."
"It's not going to change anything. Going back into the past doesn't change anything. Don't you know that by now?" yelled Eva. She had tears in her eyes for only she knew the pain of losing her parents twice, Only she knew how it felt to see her village and her clan getting engulfed by the fire again. She didn't want to bear it the third time.
But Balthazaar didn't reply a word and tried to find a path to reach the two.
"Arrggghhhh....."
"Hyiaaahhhh....."
"Thud"
And then suddenly they all lost their balance as the tornado broke apart for two had tussled hard and were thrown away because of the surge of power.
But they both got up quickly and ran towards each other.
"Hiyaaaahhhh....."
And Nubeous punched hard on the chest of Morpheous and then echoed a loud noise.
"Crack"
A smile etched on his face as he had clearly broken his rib cage. Morpheous winced in pain and held on to his chest and groaned.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh....."
"Brother!" yelled Eva as she couldn't bear to see him in pain. She tried to wriggle out her hand from Damianos, but he exactly knew her intentions and held on to her even more tightly.
"Now you see... With or without the ring, I am the invincible one. Hah!" lamented Nubeous and matched towards Morpheous to finish him off with his deathly blow.
He raised his fist up in the air to strike on his head but his fist stayed in the air as Morpheous blocked it with the sheer strength of his left hand. Holding his hand in his grip, Morpheous got up and straightened his back.
"Crack"
"Crack"
And within seconds the bones were set back.
Eva couldn't believe her eyes. The past was repeating itself exactly in the same way. In the fight at the coliseum, Nubeous had scarred the chest of his bother with his sword but he healed and now his broken bones were repaired.
And then Morpheous blocked the other hand of Nubeous and again started the surge of power. It was a clash of the titans. Both equally powerful, both equally bestowed. It was only a matter of time that there was going to be a bloodbath.
So as the tornado started swirling again, Balthazaar gathered up his courage and inched ahead. Reaching close to the outer rim of the tornado, Balthazaar conjured all the power that his frail body had possessed.
His hand started to glow in a light shade of blue and he yelped in pain.
"Gaaaahhhh....."
And as he yelled and used all his strength, the light faint suddenly started turning into a shade of bright blue. Then slowly that light started spreading through the necrotic arm of his hand and his heart started to glow underneath his chest.
Eva was taken aback but seeing his face, she realized that he was in acute pain. So she pleaded,
"I am telling you, going back in time isn't going to work. The past is repeating itself. Can't you see Balthazaar? You were there at the coliseum. Don't waste your power in sending us back. Do something else. Save my brother, I beg you."
Calming his expressions Balthazar looked at Eva and said,
"I know. That's why we are not going back in time. We are going into the future."
And then without wasting a single moment, he yelled,
"It's time."
And then whatever happened was like a bleak memory for Eva. Damianos pulled her and Nicholas inside the tornado and somehow managed to grab onto Morpheous's thigh.
In the next fraction of a second, Damianos used his angelic power and pulled Morpheous away from the grip of Nubeous, and then there was a faint blue light that prevailed.
.
"Tee-Tee-Tee-Tic"
"Tee-Tee-Tee-Tic"
Sounded the alarm clock. It was 7 am already.