The Codex: An Angel's Guide To Seducing A Human (37 page)

Narius's grip on his sword loosened. "Really? I... I mean, I can't let you go."

The demon sighed and took a step towards us. “Enough. You will step aside, little cherub. I do not enjoy killing babies, but I will do so if you prevent me from beginning my work.”

“Work?” I asked. 
Going around killing people for doing you a favor?

He took another step. "Yes, work. To make the world a better place. The complete eradication of the elves, dwarves, trolls, and any other intelligent creatures capable of forming societies. Without their opposition to humanity, the world would be a peaceful place. One without racial wars. All would bow to Lord Halfaya, or be disposed of if they cannot see the truth of our ways.”

Well, he's a nutjob.
 I pointed my staff at him, several spells already formulating in my mind, the cracked orb radiating a bluish hue. “No one is going to listen to you.”

Palkeon stopped and placed his hands on his hips. “Really? I’ve seen a lot during my imprisonment. Humanity as a whole is incredibly gullible. Even Heliose’s valiant—yet misplaced—handiwork with the high priest of order shows this." The demon drummed his finger against the Grimoire. "But, unlike him and his limited goal of saving his wife, I will ensure that humanity will rule supreme with my guidance and praise Lord Halfaya.”

“Right. You keep telling yourself that.”

His crimson eyes glowed for a moment. “Now, I have places to go. Kings to meet. Armies to raise.”

“I... I," Narius said, "cannot let you leave this place."

“Oh? And what are you going to do to stop me, cherub? I could snap off your wings in an instant.”

Narius squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his sword. “I am Lord Halfaya’s servant. I will not back away!”

“Is that so?” Palkeon stretched his hand towards Narius. A wisp of corruption flew out, and the dark mist wrapped around Narius.

Before I could react, the blade in Narius’s hand glowed brightly and drove the corruption away.

The demon frowned. “Interesting. Care to tell me why you have Lord Arudi's personal sword?"

Narius shifted his feet, and exhaled. "Not to you."

"I see.” Another strain of smoke erupted from Palkeon and formed a spear. Grasping the weapon, he threw the spear towards Narius.

I shot a shield of ice from my staff, knocking the spear to the floor before it could harm Narius.

The demon glared at me, the amusement in his eyes gone. “Maybe I was being too lenient with the two of you. Perhaps you—"

With a sweep of his wings, Narius flew at the demon and swung the blade, slicing through Palkeon's armor and across his chest. "For Lord Halfaya!"

Palkeon howled and flew backwards, a line of blood spurting from the gash and onto his armor. The demon's pupils reddened. “You worthless vermin!” he roared. Summoning yet another spear from thin air, he thrust the weapon at Narius, who sidestepped the blow and closed the gap between them.

I tried to cast a spell, but they were too close to each other. The two angels locked their weapons. Sparks flew off and the air vibrated every time the blinding white sword struck Palkeon's dark spear.

Narius swung his sword relentlessly, not giving Palkeon time to recover. He let out another war cry and increased his pace, forcing the demon into a defensive posture.

Palkeon parried and blocked Narius's blows, but a labored look crept into the demon's face as he stepped back with every blow.

Hope welled inside me as Narius pushed Palkeon towards an arch on the side of the room. Narius was fighting well, even better than he had in the arena, and the demon, probably unable to use his corruption due to Narius's sword, was losing ground. "Keep at it, Narius! He's tired!" I shouted and readied myself to cast a spell as soon as they separated.

They didn't. Whenever Palkeon tried to peel away, Narius used his wings to close the distance and hack away with his sword.

I watched them fight, but something seemed off. 
Why is Narius winning? Even if Palkeon was telling the truth about his exhausted condition, he seems to be more than capable of defeating Narius.

Then I spotted the unstable archway above them. Both of its pillars were cracked from Heliose's attack, threatening to break apart at any moment. 
Oh, no.

The demon was playing with him.

"Narius! Get out of there!"

He didn't seem to hear me. Instead, he kept up his assault, sweat dribbling down his forehead as he panted for breath.

They continued their dance of death, the holy weapon striking the demonic spear, with the former changing color every several blows while the latter remained dull and lifeless.

Soon they were both underneath the arch. Palkeon glanced up and grinned. He released his corruption, and dark smoke poured into the arch, shaking it and dropping bits of dust down onto the them.

"Narius!" My heart stopped beating for a moment, and pain spider-webbed across my chest. "The ceiling!"

He craned his head back to look at me, but at that moment, Palkeon jabbed his spear and pierced the edge of Narius's wing.

Narius gritted his teeth and ignored me.

I had to do something. So, doing the first thing that came to my mind, I froze the problematic blocks, hoping to freeze them in place and sprinted towards Narius.

But despite my spell, the marble blocks above slipped little by little as I rushed towards the duo.

The demon smirked. Moments before the first stone fell, he jumped back and thrust his spear towards Narius. The sudden attack forced Narius to spring away from Palkeon, and he landed directly under the arch as the ceiling groaned and collapsed.

Narius looked up and froze at the sight of death raining down on him.

I leaped into the air and tackled him.

We sailed through the air and crashed against the floor. Behind us, a thundering roar of stones smashed into the tile, forming a massive tomb. Part of the cathedral's ceiling had fallen inward, and dust filled the air. I shielded Narius with my body while shards of broken stone pelted us, some stabbing into my back as I shielded Narius. I bit my lips, trying to stifle the cry of pain as they stuck deep into my flesh.

Finally, the rocks stopped falling, and everything became silent.

Dazed, I stayed still on top of him, struggling to focus when Narius gave a short grunt and shoved me off.

I tumbled against the floor before coming to rest on my side. The world spun around me, and I wobbled to my feet. Jagged pieces of debris were stuck in me, and the pain was agonizing.

I leaned against my staff, trying to see Narius, and heard a sound of metal crunching against something wet.

I looked to the source of the sound. There, Narius rested on the floor exactly where he had pushed me away. A dark spear was planted in his chest with Palkeon standing over him.

Narius screamed and grasped the weapon in an attempt to pull it out.

Palkeon drove the spear deeper, then twisted it.

The screaming stopped. Blood poured out under Narius's armor and dyed his wings red. Narius lay still.

The world fell silent and everything slowed down to a crawl. "Narius?"

Life began to move, slowly. The dust shining from the sun settled to the ground before me. "Narius?"

Palkeon pulled out his spear and winked. "Oops."

The air around me chilled.

My blood boiled, and I thrust my staff at the demon. 
I'm going to shred his face and tear his limbs from his body. He's going to die. Slowly. Painfully. I'm not going to stop until he's a bloodied piece of meat begging me to stop.

I cast every spell I could think of. Javelins, spears, arrows, and any other spell that could hurt another living being—I conjured them all and sent them at the demon.

Colorful explosions of ice and pure magic consumed the demon, but none of the sounds of destruction reached me.

The world was muted, so I battled in silence. Off in the distance I heard my body screaming out at me to stop, to save myself. I ignored the pain, nothing mattered anymore.

Everything was simple.

I didn't care anymore.

I just needed to kill.

The demon walked towards me, shrugging off my spells, smiling.

I clenched my teeth and threw everything I had at him. Shards of ice filled the air to kill, but they all disintegrated upon touching the corruption around him.

Palkeon stopped in front of me and raised his hand. It was covered with corruption so dark it seemed even the sun refused to shine her rays into the bleak void.

My next spell fizzled. So, I swung my staff at his head. The blow connected, but Palkeon seemed unaffected, and before I could move, his fist slammed into my belly.

The sheer force of the blow threw me into the air, and I landed against the altar with the wind knocked out of me, right next to the little elf devouring her father.

Filia glanced at me with her silvery, predator like eyes. I shuddered and cried out. "Narius! Help me!"

With cat-like speed, Filia climbed atop me and grinned. Blood and entrails dripped from her mouth. “I wonder what you taste like.”

I raised my staff to cast a spell, but her hand shot out and knocked it away with unbelievable strength.

The elf licked her lips and revealed a mouth lined with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. She pulled her head back, ready to rip the life out of my veins.

The monster lunged for my throat but a hand reached out, grabbed her hair, and yanked her back. Light shone out from the hand and blinded me. The ray of light felt warm to me, but the elf screamed, the shrill sound shaking the air around us as dark smoke leaked out of her with a hiss.

Filia became silent. When my eyes adjusted, I saw her sitting on top of me, steaming and smelling of sulfur.

Behind her was a winged figure, cloaked in the shadows.

"Narius?" I asked.

Palkeon emerged from the shadows. He kicked the body off me and smiled. “I am afraid not. He's dead. But forget about him for a moment. I thought that little abomination was going to hurt you.”

"You killed... that thing, didn't you? Just like how you killed Narius." Tears threatened to burst out of me, but I held them back. 
I need to be strong. I can cry later.

"Thing? I believe her name is Filia. And no, I did not kill her. She's not a threat like you."

I scrambled away, until my back was against the altar. 
He's the same as Heliose. I just need to cast a spell while I am touching him.
 I looked around. My staff was too far away for me to reach, resting against the wing of the decapitated angel. I clutched at my neck and felt Narius’s feather resting there. Remembering what Narius had told me about it so long ago, I touched it gently and channeled my magic into it. 
If I can just freeze him in time for a few seconds, I could reach the staff and—

The demon strode up to me, and slapped my hand away from the feather. “Why are you so worried? Smile. Don’t ruin that pretty face.” He stroked my cheek. “I want to see the wonderful face that your angel died protecting. There is no one here to save you. No one here to see us. So, shall we get started?”

"No!" I tried to crawl away, to reach the staff, but he grabbed my leg. I clawed at the velvet carpet to slow me down, but his grip tightened, and he pulled me back to him.

I moved my arm to strike him, but he swatted it aside. I screamed. In response, his hand came down and he backhanded me. The blow rattled my skull and left me disoriented.

“It would be a shame to kill you, but if no one knows, then it won't do any harm." He edged closer to me and whispered, "You know, I was going to let you live, make you help me find other enlightened ones.”

“You… you mean there are more of you out there?”

“Of course. They're all either in hiding or locked away in some demented prison. But don’t worry, little demonspawn… I will find them. Who knows... I might even find the one who sired your grandmother.” He reached out and grasped my throat.

I scratched away at his fingers, but they tightened their grip and prevented me from breathing. The air in my lungs vanished, and the edges of my vision blurred. “Sleep, little one. When you wake again, you will have a second chance for a new life.”

The strength in my arms disappeared, and they hung by my sides, limp, as I took in the last moments of my life. "No… Narius. I... I love... you..."

My eyes flickered. Everything grew darker by the moment. 
I'll be with you soon.

Suddenly, the pressure on my neck disappeared.

Fresh air filled my lungs and relieved the pain.

I coughed and grasped at my throat as my vision cleared. In front of me, Palkeon floated just a little bit off the ground, suspended by a glowing white sword through his chest. The demon's eyes and mouth widened in surprise.

The blade pulled out with a sickening wet sound.

Palkeon crumpled beside me, his black wings crashing against the crimson floor. He spewed blood and his hands reached out for me. “No. I cannot die like this. Come to me. Let me drain you. I must save the world for Lord Halfaya…”