"Your friend, Auden, has the power of a mid-order Sequence Martyr. A fancy way of saying he has half the power of a low Angel—in other words, he's a problem!" Daemon commented as he saw from the corner of his eye the group being pulled away. Aryanna desperately tried to go to him, but Elijah managed to pull her back.
Smiling, he could only say in a self-deprecating manner:
"And here we are… an Order-Sequence 7, an Order-Sequence 13, and a regular human against a Half-Angel!"
—••••••••••—
BEYOND THE VEIL:
THE GREAT SHIFT
CHAPTER 23:
THE GREAT SHIFT: PART 9
—••••••••••—
Auden stood in front of the Twilight Church, from his forehead down to his chin— his skin peeled back. He groaned with every drop of blood.
"Leave… don't save me… leave… don't save me." Each word got weaker and weaker as the blood leaked more and more. Suddenly, Auden stopped along with his ravenous groans. The strips of skin and flesh peeled were suddenly reverted as if it was reconstructed.
A small twisted smirk forms on each end of Auden's lips, looking directly at them—he smiles. "Auden…?" Atlas questioned as he whispered, yet the words sounded loud. 'Auden' continued to smirk with his twisted expression, suddenly, 'Auden's' long graying hair turned into this unprecedented pure black color—as if looking into the abyss.
His calm blue eyes turned into a deep flowing red hue of blood. "Oh.. please, do bring me joy," 'Auden' muttered, his voice sounding the same. However, there was this tone of difference, as if two voices were overlapping over each other.
Within a blink of an eye, Atlas, Yves, and Daemon felt a sudden breeze of powerful wind blowing fastly. Daemon was the first one to immediately gain his senses as he saw the endless canvas of the pure blue sky which had been turned dark by the absence of the sun.
"So fast!" As all three were falling to the ground, Yves and Atlas regained those senses saw noticed their surroundings—or lack of surroundings.
Looking down, Yves used his knowledge of math and small parts of science to calculate how close they were to the sky. Before Yves could comment on the time they had left, he felt himself hitting this liquid.
Yves could only groan as his shirt and pants got wet. Looking around, he once again saw the darkness of the night sky—looking around fully, Yves saw the clouds a few dozen feet away from him on all sides. Ankle-deep water was placed in an invisible barrier that held this world. However, there was something that caught his attention.
The darkness of the sky was especially potent with the clouds that surrounded him resembling the gray frog or smoke. To his right and left were Atlas and Daemon—they were also observed in the ankle-deep waters and the gray smoke.
Suddenly, coming from the smoke was 'Auden.' He still held his facial structure and base appearance like height and weight, however, everything else was different. Along with his raven black hair and deep red eyes, he wore this flowing cloak that seemed woven from the shadows of a smoldering fire.
The fabric shifts like dancing flames, casting this ethereal glow. Embedded within are crimson threads pulsating with the essence of the crimson liquid of blood.
In 'Auden's' right hand was this blade forged in obsidian rocks with it being engulfed in crimson fire. On top of 'Auden's' head was a dark helm crowned with flickering embers with horns curved like twisted thorns, revealing only 'His' piercing red eyes beneath.
A sash made of interwoven threads of the abyssal abyss and blood-red strands. It billows like a sanguine flame, emitting an otherworldly heat. Possibly the most noticeable change was the symbols etched across "Auden's" skin in dark, dim red runes and the black orb within "Auden's" which swirled with shadows and flames.
"It's a shame that my time spent in the Abyss was cut short because of these things," Muttering softly to himself, he began to smile wider and wider as two mouths formed immediately on each side of "Auden's" face.
"What the hell!?" Yves could only mutter while Daemon and Atlas grimly looked forward. The mouth on the right side frowned deeply, "Please shut up, Mister 'Lord of the Abyss'. I had enough of these thousand years of experience." The right mouth had been mocking "Auden" as the left mouth didn't say a word.
"How comedical…" Yves could only comment to himself as he tried to alleviate himself from the oppressing and overwhelming aura around the thing that took Auden's body.
"Auden" rubbed his chin softly as he looked at the 3 of them. Atlas, Daemon, and Yves felt shivers run down their spines as if his mere gaze could kill them millions of times over. Before could say anything, "Auden" bowed down to a similar matter of the Snow monks.
"I am Lord of Blood, Flame, and Abyss. Better known as the Lord of the Fiery Abyss, how may I address you?" Every word that "He" muttered was like a train wreck within their mind. It wasn't until ten seconds later when Yves of all people regained his consciousness and control of his fear gulped down his thoughts and simply replied.
"Yves, Atlas, and…"
"Daemon," the Eggers male replied himself as the Lord of the Fiery Abyss nodded slightly. "I'm wondering… how much do you know about your circumstances?!" As "He" stroked his chin, the mouths around his face disappeared.
"What circumstances?" Gulping down even more fear, Yves once again replied with the Lord of the Fiery Abyss smiling. "You do know that this feeble body was controlled by my other half, Azeroth." Immediately, the air around the skies shifted as if some type of forgotten existence had once again appeared.
They all felt this suppressing force engulf every aspect of their existence as all thoughts of Azeroth were expunged from their consciousness. The Lord of the Fiery Abyss smirked half-heartedly, "I see what you're doing, little Art."
Before any could question more, the transparent floor holding the ankle-deep water disappeared. Immediately, Daemon looked around and stretched his arm out for Yves who desperately needed the help as he was a regular human compared to Atlas.
As the very tips of their fingers touched, thick beams of light shot from the heavens and completely engulfed Yves. "What the hell!?" Before Daemon could think, he could only feel pain as an overwhelming sense of death washed over him as the Lord of the Fiery Abyss had kicked him in the ribs.
Because of this kick, his speed was accelerated greatly, and was thrown back to the Twilight Cathedral.
…
…
…
Daemon could only feel dripping blood from his side as every moment hurt. Looking up, he saw the Lord of the Fiery Abyss floating gracefully from the large hole within the Twilight Cathedral. The ankle-deep water spread to the sanctuary of the Cathedral with the large cross being flipped upside down.
Suddenly, flames and blood poured from the sky upon the Twilight Cathedral as it spread through the entire portion of the sanctuary, turning it from the House of the Barren to the rough grounds of the Crimson Hell.
The Lord of the Fiery Abyss descended with soft sounds of feet landing on the ground, he muttered in a soft voice: "After 3,000 years, I finally have worthy hunts!"