War of Existence : - The Beginning of Saga

The Cold Forest

His vision was blurry. His body felt weightless as harsh wind blew past him violently……..and something exploded above him which quickly forced Lucifer to open eyes wide and manoeuvre away from the falling debris. It was then he realized that he was free falling from a height of several thousand feet above the ground.

“I’m getting old for this crap.” he groaned.

Luna, now in her Phoenix form was soaring through the sky. The angels were nowhere to be seen and same could be said for the demons. But those didn’t concern her. She was more worried about her friends.

“Luci!”, she screeched.

Hearing that dreadful pet name, Lucifer pricked up and turned at direction from where it came. The wind blowing past his ears had dulled its effectiveness and so he couldn’t exactly pin point her direction. So he called, “Kid!”

No sooner had he said that, he almost chocked as a pair of talons grabbed him by his collar and broke his fall.

“Mind the claws, You’ll ruin my jacket!” said Lucifer with a huff.

Luna gave a light glare at his direction and retorted, “You could’ve thanked me, you meanie.”, Lucifer could almost imagine Luna puffing her cheeks, “Indeed…..Look out, Kid!”

And look out she did. Another debris missed them by an inch. Looking up, the duo saw the Galleon. The huge Vorkish ship, finally being engulfed in brilliant flames, eating away its floaters and the wooden parts of the hall. The Amber stone cells powering the engine must have caught fire as well resulting in many explosions on various parts of the ship, finally forcing the ship to acknowledge the dominion of gravity, pulling it into a crushing embrace.

Lucifer looked with hard eyes; death wasn’t something new to him. He had seen many, maybe more than anyone has. But seeing so many has made him practically immune to its psychological after effects. He still cannot say whether it was a good or a bad thing. Yet Luna wasn’t, he could feel Luna’s grip tighten around his collar, probably still thinking about who ever was left alive in the ship.

“I know you’re upset, Kid, but there is nothing you could’ve done. So don’t beat yourself to it alright.” he reassured as much as he could, earning a quite “Hmm...”, from her.

Another flaming chunk zoomed past them, pulling both of them away from their trench of thoughts. Which was a good thing as Lucifer noticed what that particular debris was. It was the other half of the escape vessel and Rose still seemed to be inside it.

“Kid!” Lucifer spoke out aloud. The Phoenix didn’t have to be told twice, she spear dived towards the debris in which Rose was trapped. On reaching close enough, Luna let go of Lucifer’s collar. He landed on the half destroyed vessel. With no time waste, he went over Rose to check on her. The silver haired demon was unconscious. Just what Lucifer didn’t wanted.

“Kid, can you carry the two of us?”, asked Lucifer to his companion. Luna shook her head and apologised. The fallen angel cursed at this as he was running out of time. The ground was coming closer by each passing second and the impact from such a height would be fatal.

“Kid, we don’t have much time!”

 “And what should I do?” asked an aghast Luna.

“Try and slow down this thing!”

Luna was confused beyond belief. Having no idea, what to do, but seeing the ground closer, she flew below the hull and pushed.

“IT ISN’T WORKING!” complained Luna through gritted teeth or beak. Lucifer face palmed at this.

“Of course it will not. Use your power you silly bird!”

“Oh!” Luna tried again, this time, she face downwards and pushed. Still, it didn’t work and the forest below seemed bigger by each passing moment. Now their lives depended on Luna’s wings. She tried harder, Harder with all her strength.

‘I must do this. They are counting on me. Luci is counting on me…’ her wings strained, her body was tired yet she pushed on ‘No, not now. I can do this. I have to do this. I.MUST.DO.THIS!’ Luna gritted her teeth ’I must save them!’.

She yelled with a new determination and pushed. Her fatigue and pain left forgotten. She called her very being for every ounce of strength she could spare.  Something in herself answered her call. It flowed throughout her being and concentrated towards her temple. And before she knew it, a very strong stream of fire ejected…….Out of the mark on her forehead.

“AHAHAHAH! FLAMING FOREHEAD! WHY THE HELL NOT!” she seemed to have lost it as Luna laughed like a lunatic (no pun intended) at supposedly nothing, making Lucifer sweat drop. But to his surprise, the steady stream of fire from Luna’s mark was acting as an improvised counter thruster, which significantly slowed the hull. Lucifer couldn’t help but feel proud of his friend.

“HA-Ha-ha..”, even though Luna’s ‘Flaming Forehead’ was more than effective. The stream of fire was gradually getting thinner making Lucifer’s eyes widen. The fight in the ship had exhausted her and the technique to slow down the ship had drained her even more. He looked out of the open part of the hull, finding out that they were still a good hundred feet from the ground. Lucifer groaned, he picked the unconscious Rose over his shoulder and took a deep breath. With a little head start, he jumped out of the hull, which hit the ground and got instantly crushed. As soon as he jumped out, Lucifer reached out and grabbed a barely awake Luna, dragging her along with him. As he fell into the forest below, the fallen angel brought both Rose and Luna closer to his chest and turned his back towards the ground, taking the full damage for the women. He crashed through branches, trees and what not before finally contacting the moss covered ground where he was sent skidding for a good distance, leaving a deep impression of the forest ground.

He groaned. Now that they were safe, he gently tossed the two occupants on his chest to his side and sat up. The back portion of his jacket would most likely be ruined, making him groan again. Someone coughed besides him. Luna had reverted back to her humanoid form and weakly spoke, “So…How did I do?”

Lucifer turned towards her and nearly burst out laughing. Luna’s eyes had turned black due to some charred ash which now surrounded her eyes. The redhead tilted her head in confusion, “What?”

The blond chuckled at her obliviousness. Seeing he didn’t need it anymore, he took off his cravat and wiped Luna’s eyes clean while saying with content, “You did fine, Kid. You did fine.”

                                                                                        ---X---

Lucifer had patched up his jacket the best he could. Not the best thing but he couldn’t be choosy.

Besides it was better than wearing a jacket with a hole in the back. All the while Luna, who had somewhat recovered as Immortals recovered very fast, was attacking Lucifer with her endless volley of insane questions. Some ranging to a point where she asked whether she could shoot fire from other parts of her body like legs, mouth…even nose and ears.

“Phoenix tears*…”Lucifer spoke, confusing Luna, “Those fires are called the Phoenix tears. Hotter than a thousand suns, with the power to melt even the strongest immortal forged gear.” he explained running his hand along his long lost Sword. “Only Phoenix has the gift to summon them. I still remember how easily a flock of Phoenix can decimate an Angel city in a matter of moments. Yours is still weak to meet the strength of an adult Phoenix…” This made Luna look at the ground with a forlorn look. Seeing this he sighed. Stabbing his sword on the ground he sat next to Luna. “Yet to think that you unlocked those powerful flames so soon surprises me. Keep at it and you might surpass even the strongest recorded Phoenix.” His words gave Luna the much needed reassurance she needed and smiled widely. Even if Lucifer didn’t say it out aloud, he was proud of her. To lighten the mood, she jumped up to her feet and boasted, “Of course I will. What else did you expect?” Luna declared with a confident smile.

Lucifer raised an eye brow showing his amusement, “Don’t get cocky, Kid.” This served only to make Luna grin wider.

Rose slowly stirred awake, finally catching their attention. Lucifer came over her and spoke in calming manner, “Easy there, Ms. Rose. You’re safe now.”

Rose slowly sat up and rubbed her head, “What…happened?” her head still a bit fuzzy.

“The escape vessel crashed. You blacked out.” Replied Lucifer. Suddenly Luna tackled Rose with a hug, surprising the Demon as Luna cried, “Rose, you’re okay!” while the said person liked more baffled than okay.

Lucifer chuckled, “Don’t be worried. Luna was just worried about you.”

“I was so worried about you!” Luna too cried in affirmation. Not knowing how to really feel about this Rose gave a coy smile, even if it was covered by her tight mask, she hugged her back awkwardly. “Um...Thank you for your concern Lady Luna.”

“Just call me Luna.” replied Luna with a bright smile with a last hug, she let go the masked girl.

Rose rubbed her now sore neck and asked, “Where is the captain?”

“Don’t know.”

“The key?”

“Can’t say.”

“The ship?’

A huge explosion echoed from the other side of the forest, answering her question. Rose frowned, looking down at her hands, it felt colder. She got separated from her crew and it was a new type of dread she felt. Soon, snowflakes started falling lazily form the sky. Making everyone feel a tad bit colder.

“What do we do now?” she asked, her voice was small, almost above whisper and filled with fear. Lucifer felt pity for her yet wasn’t sure whether bringing her along would be a good idea. Luna was different for she didn’t owe her alliance to any of the immortal faction.

Whereas Rose was an official soldier of the Inferno’s Legion. Her travelling with him might frame him for a*******n or worse, frame Rose for betrayal or desertion. And angels might accuse him for being in allegiance with the Demons, if those Angels scouts hadn’t already spread the word. So all in all, his rational side advised not to take her but the other side disagreed. The girl seemed pitiful like a lost puppy and leaving her felt wrong.

While he was busy with his internal debate. Luna suddenly declared, “Hey look!” she was pointing up in the sky, following her finger, both saw a beacon had been fired into the sky.

Rose frowned, “Could it be the demon survivors?”

“Could be…Let’s go find out.” Suggested Lucifer picking up Sorrow breaker. 

“You sure it’s a good idea?” asked Rose showing her worry.

“I’ve a habit of having bad ideas so, No, Probably not. But that’s all we got for now. So we have no choice. ” Replied Lucifer tying his sword on his back using his dirty cravat as a make-shift rope. Finally he tied the holster of his boom stick on his hip and put the gun in it .With that, he was all set to go. Rose didn’t like the idea but he was right, they had no choice.

The two had been walking for a while now, with Luna taking to the sky to scope out their location on Lucifer’s request. The said fallen angel jumped over a narrow but very deep ravine and looked around him. The forest was thick. The trees were very tall with moss and ferns of different shapes and sizes growing on the forest floor. Along with some giant grey mushrooms growing at the base of some tree, which the two had used as jumping platforms on several occasions. The dense canopy stopped some of the snow from directly falling on them but it was enough to cover the sky, meaning they could no longer see the beacon’s light.

“How much further?” asked Rose, jumping besides him with superb agility. Lucifer looked up and narrowed his eyes as snow was falling on his hair and beard, “Shouldn’t be much further.” He wiped his face and moved forward with Rose on his tail. Soon they reached what looked like edge of a clearing. It was wide, with a huge rock on the other side and a huge fallen tree at the side. The beacon was in the middle of the clearing but no one else was there. All smelled of a trap.

Lucifer turned to Rose and put his finger on his lips, giving her the universal ‘Keep quite’ gesture. Rose nodded at this. Using the various vain like roots of trees like a cover, Lucifer crept closer towards the clearing. He scanned the premises for a while and signalled Rose to come when he believed it was clear. The Shadow blade came over with much more refined discretion than Lucifer. He signalled her to stay put and slowly went out of the cover. It was stupid move he repeated it over and over again in his head, but Lucifer needed to know what he was dealing with. He sticked his head out of cover and slowly advanced into the clearing. When he wasn’t attacked immediately, he almost had his hopes up.

Until he had to move his body out of the way of a Maya blast. Several more blasts were sent his way, forcing the blond to sprint towards a fallen tree. Vaulting over it, he took cover but the blasts passed through the organic material like hot knife through butter. However it did concealed his position and the assailant soon stopped his blank fire. Hostile presence confirmed, Lucifer turned towards Rose who was back at the roots.

The sliver haired Demon knew it was a bad idea but what Lucifer suggested was even worst. He slowly took out his gun and held it close. He looked at her in the eye and pointed at himself, then at the direction of the Rock from where the blasts were coming form with his gun. He was going to engage the enemy head on. He pointed at her and made an arced motion. She was to sneak behind the enemy. It was very risky. Even though the fire rate suggested only one enemy, it wasn’t a solid proof of the enemy number. Not to mention the danger this plan will likely put Lucifer in. But the look in his eye’s was all Rose needed to see that he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Rose took a deep breath and nodded.

“Curses!”, Gabriel cursed very un-angel like fashion as he aimed his ranged weapon. They had to face defeat at the hands of those Demons when victory was in short reach. All thanks to that blond traitorous Fallen Angel who had somehow allied himself with the unholy beings.

This wasn’t part of the plan. Never had they expected Azazel, one of the finest warriors of Celestia would be defeated so easily. Gabriel cringed at this. Just when the Demons were probably going to finish them off, the Brutum, which they had no idea were boarded on the ship for some reason, much to their horror, tore the entire mortal made machine down to shreds. But worked in the Angel’s favour as it created a good diversion and that was all they needed to make a tactical retreat. They even gunned down the escape vessel coming out of the ship, likely holding the escaping Demons.

But it seemed his fortune was frowning on him because Gabriel was hit by debris while in air, successfully separating him from the rest of his team and sent him crushing down on the ground. His left arm was still hurting, it would be days before it could even heal properly and for an Immortal it was a significantly long time as their regeneration capacity was better than anything on Existence. Hell Gabriel was lucky that his arm was still intact.

 Tired and wounded, he had set up a distress beacon, a device to call for help and show his position to his team by sending a beam of light in the air, standard issue to all soldiers.

One thing he didn’t count for was the simple fact that his team wouldn’t be the only ones to see it. And now, here he was, backed up against a huge boulder, aiming down the iron sight of his Ranged Maya Projectile Blastor or a RMP-Blaster*(The very weapons rangers used to do all their ranged attacks) he had left in his arsenal. Still cursing at his stupidity, with no way to undo his mistake, he scanned the area again, looking for his Blond enemy. The falling snow made him nervous as it was blurring his vision. Every chirp of nearby animal, every snap of a twig made him more anxious. Fear was what he felt. How could he not? That guy had beaten the crap out of their strongest warrior like child’s play and Gabriel wasn’t sure a RMP-Blaster would fare better, especially when he himself was injured. Another twig snapped and young angel released a burst of Maya blast at its direction, his paranoia beyond measure. His lips and throat felt unusually dry and his grip around his weapon tightened.

Suddenly Lucifer dashed out of his cover, his wing out and raised like a shield as he ran towards the boulder firing mock shots, intended to get the enemies attention rather than kill him. Gabriel answered with his own volley of Maya blasts but proved futile as Lucifer’s wings rendered them useless. Feeling how hopeless the situation was, Gabriel was now nearing the point where he was losing his cool. Lucifer again took cover behind another tree as Gabriel continued his shooting spree. A quick look out and Lucifer could make out that Rose had nearly reached Gabriel without the angel noticing. Seeing his plan going as he expected, Lucifer raised his wing and again got out of cover.

The colour of Gabriel’s face faded as the fallen angel made a full on sprint directly towards him. On instinct Gabriel opened fire as rational thoughts was all but gone. But these too didn’t stop the Eldest Angel as Lucifer was on to him sooner than Gabriel anticipated. With a precise shot, a very hard task for a gun of Boom stick’s calibre, Lucifer destroyed Gabriel’s weapon which he was still holding in his hand. He was shocked beyond measure, but realizing he as unarmed, Gabriel reached out for his mace, only to feel the coldness of a demonic sabre against his throat. The Shadow Blade had already had him in her grasp and there was nothing he could do as the blade drew closer to slice open his throat. Until Lucifer raised his hand and commanded, “Stop.”

Rose was more than a bit baffled at his odd request. She had the Angel. All it needed was a simple slice and they would be done with it. Yet she honoured his judgement and slowly removed his blade. Gabriel glared daggers at the Blond as he came over the angel, his gun still aimed at his head.

Gabriel spat venomously, “What’s your play Traitor? Just kill me and be done with it!”

Rose rolled her eyes. Now this was the typical angel arrogance she always heard about. Lucifer didn’t say a word and gave a hard look towards the young angel as if searching something, making Gabriel eventually stop his ranting but his glared never faltering tough. Finally Lucifer spoke, “Boy, Are you by any chance related to the one they called The Saviour?”

The young angel’s eyes widened at this, leaving him speechless. Slowly he muttered, “That….was what they called father when he was still in the army with mother….”

Lucifer raised an amused eyebrow at this. He chuckled to himself, “So the brat finally had the gut to court her…” confusing Gabriel as well as Rose, having no clue what the hell was going on. Lucifer lowered his gun and asked, “You’re Michael and Uriel’s kid aren’t you?”

This hit Gabriel like a thousand bricks. He glared at Lucifer and roared, “How do you know her! Answer me!” Gabriel was about to get up and strangle Lucifer but his wound bit him back, making him fall down and writhe in pain.

Lucifer kneeled next to him and examined his wounds, “Easy there boy.” he looked up at Rose and requested, “Can you please heal him?” shocking both of them. The look on Rose’s face screamed ‘Are you sure?’ Lucifer gave a firm nod at this. Very hesitatingly Rose closed her ruby eyes and called on to her healing power. With a sigh, she used it on Gabriel.

The young angel felt the warmth of healing Maya over him. It soothed his pain and left a content feeling in its stead. Gabriel despised it for it was being done by a demon, yet he couldn’t overrule the importance of it. He was wounded and needed help even though his pride roared in protest. He narrowed his eyes at Lucifer and hissed, “What is the meaning of this? Why are you helping me?”

Lucifer snorted. He stood on his legs and spoke, “And old debt. Nothing more- nothing less.”

Rose was done; the angel’s arm was now in much better condition. Her work finished so she stood up as well while her sword was still trained at Gabriel lest he tried something funny.

“Let’s get out of here.” Said Lucifer aloud, an idea Rose was positively agreeing for once. They were about to leave or would have had not the two encountered the rest of Gabriel’s surviving team. Both the parties looking at each other with equally baffled expression.

“Of course the others will follow the beacon as well.” scoffed Lucifer as he brought out his sword. The other angels too aimed their weapons at the two while Rose held her blade close to Gabriel’s throat, holding his hostage, stopping the angels from immediately attacking.

An injured Azazel stood over his remaining men. The sight of Gabriel as a hostage was annoying. As much as he didn’t like the kid, he needed him alive because he didn’t want to get into more trouble than he already had. And the sight of Lucifer pointing Sorrow breaker at him was even more annoying especially since he had hold on to that very sword for a very long time.

“Never expected that I would meet you again, Traitor.”

Lucifer gave a deadpanned look, “Trust me I had no desire to see your face as well.”

Azazel gritted his teeth in anger at this. Suddenly from above, a voice yelled, “Luci! Those winged freaks are coming…” the Phoenix flew towards them by halted. Seeing that the angels had already arrived and didn’t looked pleased, “Oh, I was late I guess.” She spoke with a cheesy smile. Lucifer sighed at this while the rest sweat dropped.

Azazel broke into a fit of laughter; “Have you fallen so low, ‘Lord’ Lucifer?” mocked Azazel putting an extra emphasis on the word ‘Lord’. This earned surprised gasps from all of his men, especially Gabriel concluded, ‘That explains a lot…’

Luna sent a glare at the dark haired angel, “Leave Luci alone you jerk!” yelled Luna, finally settling down on Lucifer’s shoulder. But it didn’t have the desired effect, the opposite in fact. Azazel laughed even louder. “Ahaha, and now, even a filthy Brutum calls you names...perhaps you wouldn’t mind if  we call you one too…” had the angel kept on speaking he probably would have shared the same fate as the tree besides them which was destroyed by the maya blast shot form Lucifer’s Boom stick. This successfully made the angel stop dead on his tracks. They all felt a shiver down their back at the look Lucifer was giving. Although his face looked stoic, his eyes were practically glowing with anger making him much more intimidating.  

“Oh, I missed …” Lucifer spoke casually, yet his voice sounded much colder. He now aimed directly at Azazel’s unprotected head. “Care to try again?”, the Fallen’s message was clear, ‘choose your next words with extreme care’

A thick silence followed with tension so dense that you could cut it with a knife. The atmosphere was tense, making even such a cold forest feel hot. But from the depths of the forest resonated a deep and primal growl. It was low and guttural which put everyone present there on edge. Without a warning something jumped out of the forest.

It was a hell hound. With a howl it caught the closest angel and bit hard. A pained scream was all they heard as the hound bit off his head; his armour didn’t next to nothing to protect him from its powerful jaws. The Angel’s body started disintegrating away at his demise, ready to fade away in oblivion only for the Brutum to absorb the essence of the dead angel. A trait unique to all Brutum, to take what wasn’t theirs. The hound seemed to growl in satisfaction as the marking on his body glowed green, then it turned towards the rest of the terrified angels. Its markings glowed bright red, signalling its hostile intent. His roar echoed throughout the forest as it charged.

Suddenly a huge stream of fire came flying towards it, hitting the hound directly. The power of the attack was strong enough to fatally injure the hound. With half of its body destroyed, it collapsed and let out its last breadth.

Lucifer was surprised that Luna was able to use phoenix tears again at will, tough it did wind her heavily and she was panting heavily. But they had no time to dwell on such matters as more howls could be heard from almost all direction. It was clear that the hoard was big and it frightened them all and right now in their current number and condition, confronting a Brutum horde would be suicide. Lucifer made eye contact with Azazel and uttered a single word, “Hide.”

In other situations they would’ve never considered this but right now, they didn’t give a damn. The four remaining angels rushed under the boulder where Lucifer and his company had taken refuge, away from the upcoming hoard.

More howls followed, causing them to make haste and slid into cover immediately. Then they all heard it. Claws gnashing the soil, un-natural growls, grunts and howls with stench of death. Lucifer slowly raised his head to take in the situation. The Hoard had at least over fifteen huge hounds, where searching throughout the clearing. “Seems the Beacon attracted more than just us.” Whispered Rose who had crept besides him.

“You think they are the ones from the ship?” asked Lucifer. Rose nodded.

“Why on bloody hell do you demons even have those abomination on your cursed ship?” hiss Azazel, who was somehow now besides them.

The hounds made way to where the previous hound was killed by Luna and sniffed. They roared in outrage. A hound which was bigger than others came over and sniffed as well and he roared the loudest. Seeing the beacon in the middle, the Hound growled and crushed it by simply stepping on it. The biggest one, who was probably their leader, let out a low growl and all the hounds ran towards West, leaving the clearing in silence.

Lucifer sighed in relief because he was not in the mood of dealing with the Brutums at the moment. Now that was dealt with. He looked at the angels. They too looked at him with awkward and untrusting eyes. Quickly he pulled out his gun and sword, pointed both of them at the angels, who intern pointed their weapons at him. Besides him was Luna, now back to her humanoid form, she had her arms covered in flames, ready to attack. Both the parties would have attacked had Rose not came between them and spoke, “Would you cut it out already!” surprised by the boldness of the woman, Azazel growled, “Why must we listen to you, Demon?”

Rose glared back and spoke, “Like it or not, Angel. We are on the same situation here…..Stranded in an unknown ground with no back up and surrounded by hostiles.” Turning towards the angels she asked, “So tell me….Would you rather start another fight and give away our position to the Hoard and die…or the alternative?”

They hated it. All of it, yet the demoness spoke the truth. And after all they had been through; the angels wanted nothing more than to survive. Lucifer nodded, “The Lady is right...” he put away his gun and sword, “Truce?”

Azazel narrowed his eyes, not willing to entertain the idea of this truce. Yet need eventually overcame pride and thus he reluctantly nodded, “Very well Fallen….but only till we leave this forest.”

“Fair enough.”…………………..