Velvet Redemption

As had become his standard in this fight, Lucifer gave me no time to think. He was on me as quickly as the physics of Hell would allow him to be. This was it. I’d failed, and mankind would pay the price. Lucifer’s next attack would finish me, and I’d never see Death again.

“I’m sorry, Death,” I muttered as Lucifer brought down Umbra toward me.

The last thing I looked down at was Velvet’s hilt. It was all that remained of the sword.

I waited for Umbra to cut me in two for what seemed like years, but instead of my death, something else happened entirely.

I heard a clang and then a large hissing noise. As I looked up, I saw Lilandra behind Lucifer with her wooden sword under Umbra. She’d caught the blade from behind with her own wooden sword, and this wasn’t the Lilandra I was used to seeing. Her eyes were glowing wild and bright with a fury I’d never witnessed from her before.

I’d seen her fight before, sure, but never like this. Her whole body was covered in a bright red fire as she burned all her aura.

“It’s not over yet, Justin. We came here to stop a war, and that’s what we’re going to do!”

Slowly and surely, she pulled Lucifer back until he was far enough back that she leapt up from behind and slammed the side of his head with her blade. That move sent him flying sideways several feet until he hit the ground.

This was amazing. She’d just effectively kicked Lucifer’s ass, and then it hit me. . . she wasn’t defending herself. She was fighting offensively.

I called out, “Lilandra! Stop!”

She looked back at me and smiled, saying, “No choice, Justin. We have to finish this at all costs. . . and I do mean all costs.”

Lucifer got up and popped his neck. He looked like he’d been hit with a freight train, and he was still trying to figure out where that train came from.

“How did you do that with. . . such a pathetic weapon,” Lucifer said, pointing at Lilandra’s wooden sword.

“You boys and your swords are all the same. You think the sword makes the warrior, but it’s the other way around. Only a fool mistakes a blade for true strength. I’m the best sword master in the universe. That’s how I smashed the king of Hell, you stupid ass,” Lilandra said.

“You? The best? That’s laughable,” Lucifer said, charging her again.

“I am the best. You’ll learn that as you die at my hand, you son of a bitch!”

Lilandra stopped Lucifer’s attack almost effortlessly. He growled as he tried to

overpower her, but she would have none of it. She nearly disarmed Lucifer and then

proceeded to bash the Hell out of him with her blade. She was moving faster than I’d ever seen her our time together.

Lilandra had become the beast in this fight, and Lucifer was her whipping post.

He tried to block her, but she was too fast, and her blows were too numerous.

She knocked him up in the air a few inches, and then, while he was still off the ground, she grabbed his neck and choke-slammed him into the solid stone ground, making a small crater.

She leapt back as Lucifer exploded in larger black flames. He was pissed that he was being beaten by this woman without a magical blade.

He roared and leapt into the air, coming down at her with Umbra. She raised her own blade horizontally to block Umbra like I did with Pestilence back in Egypt. Lucifer poured everything he had into his assault, and the ground under Lilandra cracked, but she did not waiver. Then, she roared, and her red aura engulfed the two of them. As Lucifer’s feet hit the ground from losing momentum, she shot her blade up and rammed Umbra, causing Lucifer’s arms to fly up into the air as he stumbled back a few steps.

That was when she made her final move and thrusted her wooden blade forward, straight through Lucifer’s gut.

I could see it shoot out of Lucifer’s back a few inches, and he screamed in pain. His screaming voice made my ears bleed, but Lilandra was unphased as she let go of her blade and stood before the king of Hell who was on his knees.

“And that’s what it means. . .to. . . be. . .best,” Lilandra said, her voice slowing as I heard something start to crack.

It was soft at first, but it grew. It was Lilandra’s skin. It was cracking slowly, much as mine did when I broke the angel curse and returned to my true form.

I gasped as Lilandra, too, fell to her knees. Her body was being ruined, and I knew exactly why.

The cracking grew louder and louder as a silence filled the courtyard. She was the only person making noise in the entire castle. She slumped over in pain, and Lucifer stood up, pulling out the wooden blade from his gut. It was covered in black blood.

Both of them were in bad shape, but Lucifer was just doing just a little better than Lilandra, in that, he wasn’t breaking into pieces.

“So, now you’re learning the price an angel pays for breaking an oath. They shatter,” Lucifer said.

I called out, “Lilandra!”

“Ironic that becoming a demon didn’t remove you from your oath. I guess since you made it as an angel, the Heavens themselves are holding you to it,” Lucifer said with a dark glee.

She’d beat the shit out of the king of Hell, and he was happy to see her dying in front of him.

I had to get up! I had to save her!

No amount of effort from me was getting my body to respond though. It was wrecked, and I couldn’t move to save anyone, even Lilandra.

I raised my right hand toward her in some pitiful effort to keep her from dying, but it was useless.

Lucifer looked up at me and laughed.

Then, he looked at Lilandra and asked, “Any last words?”

Time almost seemed to freeze as Lilandra turned slowly to me with tears in her eyes. She’d fought her entire life to stop one thing from happening, and even in her last moments, it was all she could think of.

“Stop the war. . . please, Justin. I’m begging you,” she said, weeping.

With that, Lucifer slashed right through her with Umbra as her body faded into dust flying off into the air.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Lilandra!”

My fists clenched. She was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I looked up in rage at Lucifer’s voice as he suddenly stood over me. He kneeled down to be eye level with me, and I said, “I’m going to kill you.”

“I don’t think you are. I think you’re about to die much like that demon whore that just faded into oblivion before me. Just think. She won’t go to Heaven or Hell. When the very soul is shattered. . . she just fades into nothing. It’s just like my horseman did at your hands. Just consider this revenge for their deaths,” Lucifer said.

“Choose your words wisely, Lucifer. They’ll be your last,” I growled.

“I’ve waited thousands of years for that bitch to die, and I finally got what I wanted. Don’t worry, you’ll follow her into nothing soon enough. Your threats are as empty as her chances were of stopping my impending war with Michael. What an foolish notion she worked so hard for,” Lucifer said.

“That’s enough!”

“What are you going to do about my words, boy? Your sword is shattered, your friend is dead, you’ve got one wing, and your strength is depleted. What can you possibly do to stop me?”

It was at that very moment that a scythe spun down from the air and landed immediately to my right, with the blade sticking into the ground.

I looked up to see Daniel carrying Death in the air above us.

“Avenge her,” Death said with tears in her eyes.

I reached over and took hold of the reaper’s scythe. As I did, black aura exploded around me, blowing Lucifer back and shattering the wall behind me.

I inhaled deeply as I stood up, and the aura engulfed me. My wounds closed, and my missing wing grew from shadow. Both of my wings were now reaper black along with my clothes.

New energy surged through me. The powers of Death were mine, and I was going to use them to finally obliterate the king of Hell.

The ground cracked under me as I walked forward toward Lucifer. My eyes were solid black, but my vision was as good as ever. One thought echoed through my mind: “Gut this gravy-sucking pig like the son of a bitch he is.”

This wasn’t about saving the Earth anymore. That was going to be a mere byproduct of killing the king of Hell.

“Wretched reaper. I knew I should have snapped another leash on you. You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side since you were defeated by Justin in battle,” Lucifer said, looking up at her.

“Cut the shit, Lucifer. We’ve something to finish,” I growled.

He made eye contact with me, and I vanished, appearing above him and slicing

downward with the scythe. Our weapons shook as they collided for blow after blow.

Lilandra had done the trick. Lucifer was severely weakened after her beating. If it weren’t for Umbra, he’d be finished, and I intended to see that through.

Blow after blow my rage grew stronger and stronger, and Lucifer seemed to grow weaker

and weaker. That raw power he seemed to previously have so much of was quickly fleeing the battle. His breathing became more ragged and heavy.

Lucifer was grimacing more and more from the contact of our weapons.

Clash after clash we fought, and I was smashing Lucifer’s willpower into pieces with every strike.

And then, it happened. With a quick and powerful swipe to the left, I disarmed the king of Hell. Umbra flew out of his grasp and spun through the air, landing in the ground about 15 feet away. Lucifer looked over at the sword now stuck into the ground, and I knew this my chance.

“This is for Lilandra, you sick bastard!”

I spun the reaper’s scythe and sank the blade deep into his chest. He shook violently as the weapon did its work.

“What’s. . . happening. . . to me?”

“This scythe kills anything it pierces. You’re going to fade into nothing just like Lilandra and all of your godforsaken horseman,” I said.

Lucifer looked panicked and reached slowly for Umbra as if to call it to him, but I kicked him back and crushed his arm with my left foot.

He didn’t have the energy to cry out in pain.

“Fool. . . if you kill me. . . Michael will get exactly what he wants. You’ll be doing his work for him,” Lucifer muttered.

“Irrelevant. I’ll kill him as soon as we’re finished here,” I said, as the life drained from Lucifer’s eyes. Then, just like his horsemen before him, his body turned into ash.

I looked at Death and tossed the scythe up at her. I was done with it.

I didn’t quite feel right all of a sudden, and around the time it began to click with me, an arrogant voice came from behind me.

“That’s your soul that just returned to you. With the demon holding it dead, it has come back to its owner,” Michael said.

I turned to face him, and I fell to my knees. What was this weakness? Why was it attacking me so rapidly?

“Confused? Let me explain. With your magic sword shattered and the demon holding your soul deceased, your soul has returned to you. This has destabilized your spirit body. That blade solidified you in a sense, and with it gone, you’re just a human soul without a body,” Michael said.

“This is all really fascinating, but why don’t you stop with Ghost 101 and tell me why you’re here,” I said.

“I’ve come to see the results of the final battle with my own eyes, and I’m quite pleased. Lilandra is no more, and neither is Lucifer. I guess that means every single threat to me has been extinguished,” Michael said smiling.

Growing dizzy, I asked, “What are you planning now?”

“I’m not planning on attacking Earth if that’s what you’re worried about. No, you’ve succeeded in stopping that war. Congratulations, by the way. As a prize for your efforts, I’m going to give you a new body and restore your human life now that you’ve got your soul back,” Michael said, raising his hand.

I started to glow white, and I heard Death yell for Michael to stop.

“Don’t worry, Justin. I’ll stick you in a new life, with a new woman, and no memory of this horrid nightmare that has been your existence for the past few years. Consider it an early retirement package from this spiritual war you’ve been fighting,” Michael said.

The last thing I heard was Death’s scream before everything went white. . . and then black.