Growling, Romakus grabbed one of her hands and yanked her close enough they almost hit horns. They stared at each other, some silent conversation happening, before Livian nodded, and turned to the rest of the group. Without a word, the hooved demon guided the tigers, gargoyles, brutes, vrats, incubi, and sole bat girl back down the tunnel.
“Alright, let’s go make sure Julisa doesn’t get us all killed,” Romakus said.
Mia stared after the fleeing group. They were probably going somewhere they’d agreed on earlier, an ‘oh shit’ zone to go to if things got bad. From there, they could either go hide in the tunnels, or leave the mountain through one of the exit tunnels. But with hundreds of angels in the sky, exposing themselves wasn’t an option, so the maze of tunnels it had to be, full of hellbeasts and probably other deadly problems.
“We… don’t want to join them?” Mia asked.
Romakus shook his head and gestured down the tunnel to the exit.
“We’re going to go see what’s up.” And without meeting her eyes, Romakus walked past her.
Vin and Mia traded glances. That was peculiar behavior from Romakus, for sure. Why would he want to bring Mia to the angels? Was he the traitor? Or, would he use Mia as a bargaining chip to save Yosepha’s life if that was in danger? Or maybe he just thought Mia would be useful. Did Galon tell him she’d learned how to use batlam? Or maybe he thought she’d use her necklace to force Vin to help if something happened to him or Julisa, or Yosepha, or–fucking hell, where was David when she needed him?
Sighing, she sprinted back to her alcove, put her precious egg down out of the way, and followed Romakus, Vin in tow.
She hadn’t seen much of the outside in the past nine days since Vin had fought those three angels; the Damall didn’t want them going anywhere, and it wasn’t like she wanted to stick her head out and risk getting found again. But as they rounded the curves of the winding tunnels and grew closer to the exit, she smiled.
Why did the burning sky look so beautiful? Was it the angels? No, she couldn’t see them from this angle. Whatever the reason, as the fires of Hell’s blurry not-horizon came into view, a warm sensation flooded her, something cozy, and very much not what she should have been feeling when looking out over the barren wasteland of Death’s Grip. Jagged, rocky mountains, lava, fire, bones, and absolutely no plant life save for burning bushes and bloodgrip vines, and yet, it was all oddly lovely. Fire was lovely.
And then she saw the angels. Once Romakus reached the end of the tunnel, he stopped and let her go first; understandable, given how small she was compared to a tetrad, let alone Vin. She stuck her head out, looked up, and gulped down a boulder.
Wings. So many wings. Beautiful, glowing wings, subtle gold light highlighting the perfect white of their feathers against the burning backdrop of Hell’s sky. Their armor shone, gold and silver, details lost in the distance. And while the heat haze blurred their bodies, it looked like the angels wearing lighter armor wielded trumpets or something similar, while the ones in front of the swarm wore heavy armor, and carried swords, spears, and shields.
It was an army.
If Romakus was right, and angels were weaker than they used to be, that was maybe a good thing. Vin wasn’t healed that first fight, but now he was good to go. Maybe he could fight more than three? Maybe five? Maybe ten, if using the tunnels? But there had to be at least five hundred angels up there. What the fuck could they do?
The army approached, trumpets blasting, and the mountain trembled. It was the most Heavenly sound Mia had ever heard, a rolling wave of gorgeous tones that only brass instruments could create. It was almost like a pipe organ, except a thousand times bigger, wider, and heavier. And instead of filling her with awe or joy, it struck her down with terror.
The fire clouds twisted and churned above the angels, responding to their wings, or maybe to the sound itself. Movement drew Mia’s eyes around, shadows in the neighboring mountains, behind giant boulders, trenches, and harsh cliff faces, silhouettes that came into view as nearby demons stuck their heads up just enough to see what was going on. It was a lot more demons than Mia thought she’d see, mostly imps and grems, but some others, too. They weren’t Damall, just hiding demon tribes, looking for food. It wasn’t long before hundreds of distant black horns and heads poked up out of the crevices of Death’s Grip, each aimed up to get a peek at what was making all the racket.
Julisa snarled, hiding behind a boulder, crouched as low as she could go, red eyes pointed up. She was scared.
“Galon,” Romakus said.
“W-What?” Mia asked.
Romakus stuck his head around the curve of the tunnel exit, scanned the burning sky, and yanked his head back into the shadow.
“Do you see Galon? Or Yosepha?”
“Yosepha left… six days ago, right?” Mia asked. “If she was here, now, that’d mean she’d only gotten to the vortex, and came back immediately. And–oh god.”
“What?”
Mia snuck further out into the open, crouched low, and kept a shoulder to the rocks. The angels weren’t directly above them yet, and as long as she stayed in the shadow of the rocks, they shouldn’t spot her. Hopefully.
Galon hovered in the air almost as high as the approaching army, wearing his armor but without a bow or quiver. The army headed straight for him, rapholem at the head with enormous shields in front. And behind them, several angels carried a cross.
A woman was on the cross, someone with dark skin, and wearing loose white silks, soaked red. Yosepha? No, it couldn’t be Yosepha. Whoever it was, they had to be human. They didn’t have any wings.
They didn’t have any wings.
“I… that…” Oh god oh god oh god. “I… I think the angels have–”
The song rose to a thundering crescendo, and stopped. Hell grew silent in the wake of the triumphant anthem.
“There’s no point in lying to us, Galon of Avinoam. Yosepha told us everything.” An angel’s voice fell on the dead silence, and everyone heard it. The rumbling of the fire sky might as well have not existed compared to the booming, rolling power of whoever that man was.
Oh no. Mia looked behind her, and while Vin had his eyes on the ground, deep in thought, Romakus’s eyes had snapped wide open. His grip tightened on his sword, and he clenched his teeth together as a snarling growl worked through his throat.