"Peace is the outcome of a man's greed. Wars do not end because men do not have the same notion of justice. Even in attaining peace, they must act in barbarism because blood nourishes the roots of serenity."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Droplets of blood splattered on the ground. Caleb's torn hand repaired on its own though still smeared with red. Sevor stormed ahead in a flash, clashing against the angel's spear. The men's arms trembled from the opposition of strength.
Slade rushed to his twin's side. The werewolf rammed his fist against his face, sending him in great lengths. Before Slade could fall off the cliff, his hand transformed into a claw and hooked on the floor—grazing the soil until the momentum of his body stopped.
The angel successfully shoved the dragon away, twirling his spear. He aimed the keen edge to Sevor's face; the dragon sandwiched the blade between his palms.
Slade launched himself towards Caleb with his bony blades piercing out from the side of his arms. The werewolf grasped the blades and spun him around until the dragon kicked him on the chest. He effortlessly expelled fire, propelling him away from the wolf. Caleb grinned and stood, absorbing the blaze that did not even cause the slightest burn on his skin.
"You call that fire?" he insulted.
"Don't get cocky, asshole!" Slade shouted.
"I have every reason to be, bastardo," Caleb said before snorting.
The werewolf's red eyes gleamed blue; he aimed his palms at the twins. Icicles that branched out from each other shot out from his hands.
The twins scaled their limbs to shield themselves from the penetration but they weren't fast enough. With Sevor sacrificing an arm to save himself, the angel took advantage of it and lanced his spear forward. The older twin caught the spear with his other hand but the angel yanked his weapon away and successfully pierced it through his shoulder.
I was lightheaded while I watched them tear each other apart. If I only had my power back, I would be able to shoot thorns that would silence the ruckus they were making.
My heart throbbed painfully in my chest as the beats slowed down. Sevor snatched his arm from the icicle's pierce, maintaining the cold material stuck in his flesh. He grabbed the spear that was puncturing his shoulder and jumped back.
"Stop it," I murmured.
They were deafened by their sense of justice and childishness.
"I'm going to kill you!" Slade snapped.
"Let's see you try!" Caleb retorted.
"Stay away from my charge!" the angel shouted at Sevor.
"You stay away from our mate!" was Sevor's response.
The ground we stood upon cracked from their attacks. Caleb and Slade took turns punching each other while rolling on the ground. Sevor and the angel would grasp every opportunity to stab and lacerate.
"Stop it..." I softly spoke, catching my breath.
I clenched my chest—my heartbeat had ceased. I fell forward on my knees. My hands paled, black veins spreading on my skin.
I told them to stop.
But they would rather chew their own liver than to heed my request of truce.
A high-pitch wail rose from my throat that made the ground tremble. A flock of birds scattered from the forest. A gust of dark particles hailed around me and spread far and beyond. The particles decayed the forestry. The clouds darkened as the smell of rot surfaced.
The shrieking scream that was very unlikely of me caught the four men unguarded. Once the scream died down, my heartbeat returned and the veins disappeared.
"Lucian?" Caleb worriedly called out.
The angel flew to my side and slowly helped me up.
"What the fuck was that?" Slade asked me.
An explosion in one area of the forest snatched our attention. A giant that was as big as Garmir with rotting flesh rose from his grave. He was wearing a thick set of metal armor. He limply held a humongous sword that had a big purple stone at its rain-guard. It was similar to the stone of my belt.
"Lucian, what did you awaken?" The angel asked.
I blinked at the catastrophic giant, tilting my head in thought.
"A creature who doesn't seem to be a morning person."
Perhaps he was Garmir's drinking buddy.
The giant bellowed deeply—sending waves of vibrations to where we stood. He hoisted his heavy sword on his shoulder and then aimed it at us.
"Oh sh—" Slade's cuss was cut off once the sword was hurled to our direction.
It spun diagonally; we jumped down from the cliff to avoid getting minced like onions.
"We have to go!" Sevor barked.
The sword pierced through the wall. We ducked and watched it spin back to the owner.
Crowley, Ziru, and Kox were tied together. The Hanuman and the rainbow-haired boy were trying to call my attention, but their mouths were gagged—courtesy of the twins. Kox sat and read as if he was merely waiting for someone to call him for dinner.
Caleb immediately untied them. Sevor gathered the children and transformed into his dragon form.
"Bloody Nora, what is it this time? Lucian, are you carrying a cursed trinket with you?" Crowley queried.
"He is the cursed trinket," Kox commented.
"May Wye Fye be with us all..." I murmured.
"Let's go! Are you holding a prayer meeting?!" Slade shouted.
Whenever things would go out of hand, Peaches was always nowhere to be found. It would be much easier if he would appear and do what he had done to Garmir.
"What is that? Help! Get me out of here! Is this how you would treat a prince?" Frey demanded from the tent they were graciously provided with.
Did he expect a fancy banquet with his name scribbled on our tooshies?
"Prince Lucian, listen to me. We have to go back to Cludea. Our marriage would solve all of these problems!" Segreth tried to convince me.
I was not aware that marrying a deformed goo would solve world hunger. If anything, people would lose their appetite and prefer to die in starvation.
"Lord help me, can we just leave them here to be one with the earth?" Crowley asked.
"The earth wouldn't want to be one with them," I sighed.
Caleb harshly lifted and tossed the tent that was confining Segreth and Frey. The two flinched from the exposure. He yanked them up and shoved them forward.
Our bodies were knocked down by the force of gust and boulders when the sword of the giant burst through the wall.
"Sevor, take the children and go!" Slade barked.
The older twin nodded with a huff and soared away quickly, carrying the children on his back. The giant's cloudy eyes followed his form and pointed at him with his two fingers.
With obedience, the sword pierced through the air, aiming for Sevor and the children.
Slade wasted no time to transform. He leaped and mutated before gliding to chase after the sword.
The weapon was much more agile compared to the dragon that Slade could not catch up to. Sevor abruptly switched direction and flew upwards; the sword kept on pursuing him.
"So are we just gonna wait here like sitting ducks?" Caleb asked.
"Lucian can't fight with his condition. We better hope that the twins can shake that piece of junk off. Where is the reaper?" Crowley queried.
"The reaper is doing his job at the moment: reaping souls of the damned. We should take care of this problem ourselves," the angel answered.
"What did you say your name was?" Caleb asked.
"My name is Raphaello," he replied.
"Ello Raphaello," we all greeted him in unison.
Raphaello forced out a grin. "Not a very good time to give me a warm welcome."
"We should hurry, the big brothers aren't looking so good," Ziru told us while we watched the three play a dangerous game of chase above us.
Sevor had a plan in his mind. He soared off and came back with the kids no longer on his back. He flew to the giant with Slade still eager to bite the hilt of the sword.
The sword gyrated to break the chain of the chase. Slade was stricken on the face, earning him a bleeding laceration while Sevor's tail was halved.
An uncomfortable and shaky feeling stirred inside my stomach from seeing them get hurt like that. Both twins growled in pain but neither let themselves plunge into defeat.
While we were busy observing, Segreth grabbed me but was frozen by Raphaello in an instant. Caleb bared his teeth at the popsicle version of Segreth. The angel's eyes gleamed with sternness and rage; he faced Frey who flinched from his gaze.
"I didn't do—"
"Just in case," he cut him off.
His fate was sealed the same way.
The giant backhanded Sevor, grabbing his sword to swing violently to strike Slade.
The younger and snappy twin dodged and bit on the blade. Sevor recovered from the hit, launching towards the giant. The rotting monstrosity raised the sword that was champed on by Slade, easily slamming the dragon on the ground. He pinned Slade with his foot and grabbed Sevor's jaw to smash him beside his twin.
With the uncomfortable feeling overpowering me, I walked forward, planning to intervene with what little power I have, but was stopped by the angel.
"You stay there. This time, I'll protect you," he told me with reassuring silver eyes that shimmered blue.
"But it is my fault that they are experiencing this," I reasoned out.
I could awaken slumbering catastrophes if driven with enough emotions.
"They deserve it," Crowley and Caleb agreed upon.
"The sword has an Elurio stone, do not break it, it will capture the rotting soul," Kox advised.
"Good, we have rotting twins," the werewolf snorted.
Caleb asked Ziru for arrows and munched them down. Raphaello flew away. Fenris took form while continuously feeding on Ziru's power like it would be his last meal.
Crowley placed a hand on my tensed shoulder. I flinched.
"Relax, they can win this."
Weren't they trying to clobber each other to death earlier? Perhaps this was a wake-up call for idiot barbarians.
Hopefully, it will last.
The angel spiraled around the giant while freezing his torso. The possessed vessel released the dragons and tried to break free from the constricting ice.
The children and Frey's slaves who were dropped off far away from here managed to find their way back. They donated their energies to Fenris who neared his fill.
The twins got up, mauling on the giant's arms. The ground continued to quiver from the giant's weight. He held his sword tightly while the rest of his body froze. The twins released him when the ice nearly took him captive, but they were outsmarted when he broke from the ice and became even more feral.
He must have been a well-admired warrior in his past life.
The twins soared back, blowing scorching fire from their chests. The monster wasn't immune to fire and was wearing metal that made the burn worse.
Raphael returned to escort Fenris to his explosion site.
"The stone, tell the twins to steal the sword before letting Fenris detonate," Kox reminded before whispering something under his breath.
Crowley was suspicious of the inaudible sounds he made after that suggestion, but he didn't pry any further for he had high hopes for this profound collaborative effort.
Their teamwork was surprisingly good for people who wanted to murder each other at first sight.
"I'll notify them," Raphael replied.
As the twins burned the undying giant, Raphael attempted to whisper the plan to Slade. The plan could have worked, but the idiot twin merely flicked him, effectively making him drop Fenris into a fulmination of disaster as the angel was sent to dig holes in the ground.
Their teamwork was just too good to be true.
The shockwave of the explosion blew us away. Dusty smog impaired our vision and a screeching agonized soul lurked into the mist. It was a formless silhouette with red eyes; it was flying aimlessly. Once it spotted me, its screech grew louder and it dove for my body.
Wye Fye was really with me through good and bad times.
I could guess what Kox whispered that time:
"This plan is never going to work."