Uriel wrung his hands as he made his way to the sparring grounds. Raphael had told him this was where the Archangels would be found. He flicked his wings as he walked, trying to flick away his dread about meeting the Archs. Raphael did not seem to like the Archangels, and Raphael had passed his apprehension onto the messenger angel.
The metallic clash and ring of swords made Uriel's stomach rise to his throat. The men behind these sounds were strong and relentless; the clatter of metal against metal made the hair on Uriel's arms stand on end. He wanted to turn and go back to the Palace, simply take the punishments from the Ruler, and avoid these brutal Archs.
–No. I must be brave–. Uriel would be under suspicion if he did not follow through with summoning the Archangels. What if he failed in his mission? He would have to come clean about knowing about Michael's disappearance, Seraphim Remiel's meeting with the Ruler, the Reflecting Mirror, Michael's sins, and his meeting with Raphael about what the Archs do. Uriel knew too much. He must be brave. He must face these men.
Setting his jaw, Uriel pushed open the gates to the sparring grounds. He pulled his shoulders back, making himself look as significant as possible. He ran his hands through his red hair. –I can do this.–
He turned onto the battlegrounds, watching several large armored Archangels sparring with one another. The size of these warriors reminded Uriel of Michael; the Seraphim stood six feet and seven inches tall, and these men were of similar stature. It made sense to Uriel; the Ruler would want the most enormous and most intimidating angels to train to be warriors.
To the far right of the field, two similar-looking Archs sparred. Their blades swung furiously, their identical faces showing equal effort to best the other. Both Archs were dressed in black, their bodies armored. Uriel's small amount of gathered courage faltered. He did not want to envision these men hunting down Michael.
One of the sparring Arch's blades struck slightly faster than the other, knocking the other Arch off balance. The faster man spun, coming up behind his partner and slamming his shield into the man's side, causing him to fall. The victor pointed his blade at the fallen man's chest, placing his boot on his stomach. "You lost, Samael."
Uriel's hands turned clammy. These men were dangerous, just as Raphael had warned him. He had not noticed how he had pulled his shoulders inward toward his body as he watched the Archs spar. His grey eyes were large, and his breath was shallow. The Ruler expected him to talk to these men? He could hardly look at these men.
The man who had defeated Samael had offered his hand to his fallen comrade. Samael knocked his hand away and stood up on his own. Uriel took a moment when Samael was getting on his feet to approach the men. He repeated his thoughts to himself. – I can do this, I can approach these Archs.–
"Good afternoon. Are you the Archangels Samael and Azrael?" Uriel used his most fearless voice. He stood at eye level with the chests of the two Archangels, who stopped their battle practice and stood side-by-side with one another. The pair of Archs looked much more similar close-up, their only difference being their chosen hairstyles. The man on the right had long, flowing black hair, whereas his partner on the left had shorter black hair.
"That depends on who is asking," the Arch on the left replied, looking down at the red-haired messenger angel.
Uriel pulled his shoulders back, flicked his wings, and stood tall. "I am Uriel. I am the messenger angel of the Palace of the Ruler."
The pair of Archangels looked at one another, intrigued by Uriel's words. The longer-haired angel grinned maliciously, causing Uriel's stomach to twist. "We have not heard from the Ruler in a long time."
The black-clad Archangels stuck out their hands simultaneously toward Uriel. The messenger angel grabbed the one closest to him, the Arch on his right, shook his hand, and shook the hand of the man on his left. The man on the right, with the long black hair, introduced himself as "Samael." He was the one who had lost the battle of the brothers. The short-haired brother, the twin on the left, introduced himself as "Azrael."
Azrael led his brother and Uriel to a bench on the side of the sparring grounds and offered Uriel a drink. Uriel politely declined and sat next to Azrael on the bench as Samael removed his bracers, inspecting the damage his twin brother had caused. Azrael took a drink and mocked his brother for losing the spar. He finally turned to the messenger angel, who was still very uncomfortable in the battlegrounds of the Kingdom.
"The Ruler has not bothered with the Archs in a long time. We just figured He had forgotten about us. We keep training in case He ever calls on us, but we were never sure if or when He would. I suppose you coming to us today is good news for us." Azrael put his arm around Uriel, who felt incredibly small by Arch's gesture.
"I suppose it is good news for you two, especially when the Ruler specifically asked for you and Samael." Uriel tried not to show his nervousness regarding his mission for the Ruler. He tried to make small talk with the Archangel, as Samael was still busy inspecting his injuries from his sparring loss. "So what do you and Azrael do?"
Azrael puffed his chest. "We are the warriors, Uriel. The Archangels serve as the warriors of the Kingdom. We have not been called to service in centuries, but we keep at the ready for whenever the Ruler needed us. We are the best we are at what we do. If the Ruler sends us to track someone or something, we have yet to fail."
Satisfied with his inspection of himself, Samael sat on the other side of Uriel. "We like the chase. The thrill of the hunt. We almost prefer it when the target runs. It makes it more of a game. So, are you ready to bring us to the Ruler? We are ready when you are, friend."