Angelic Hell
Cole looked around the battlefield from his perch upon a hill; lips curling into a smirk at the sight of the once beautiful heaven tainted with the blood of its inhabitants. The battle had, for the most part, moved towards the golden gates leading to their Creator’s throne; all that remained in the courtyard were the dead and dying. Whole, pure white wings, slicked with rich purple blood, lay scattered across the ground, their owners’ corpse resting not too far from them. Cole had no sympathy for those who had perished during this grand battle. If they were dead then they were either fools who obeyed their Creator, or weaklings unfit to serve his Lordship. His true God, Lucifer, had been right to say said their Creator was incompetent; it was time for a new utopia to be built under the rule of the Son of the Morning, and those who felt inclined to disagree deserved to die.
The young angel shook his head, causing platinum blond hair to fall into his face as he did so. It was a shame Michael couldn’t see past the blind faith their Creator had cursed them with. It had pained him to hurt his friend like he had; he could still remember the look on the other angel’s face when the blonde’s sword was thrust into his shoulder. Cole reached down and drew the weapon, a fine blade as black as night with his name carved across it in beautiful red script. It had been a gift from Michael; the brunette had given it to the archangel-in-training as an early graduation present.
‘Maybe I can ask His Lordship to forgive Michael of his idiocy when we have won,’ Cole thought, idly twirling his sword in one hand before sheathing it once more.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Michael walked across the battlefield, his shoulder throbbing painfully. He remembered what had happened, Cole charging at him, piercing his sword through Michael’s right shoulder. Michael wondered why Cole had joined Lucifer when he would have made a great archangel. Instead, the blonde had fallen from grace and joined the Son of the Morning.
He rubbed his shoulder, trying to relieve the pain; luckily the wound had already begun to heal. He continued on, gazing brokenly on the corpses of his fellow archangels. Some were just new recruits, who had barely started their training. It reminded him of Cole, who had just started his training when Lucifer took over his mind.
Michael looked up from his wonderings to see Cole. The younger angel stood upon a hill with his back facing Michael, cold gray eyes staring apathetically at the battlefield.
Carefully drawing his sword, the brunette snuck up behind his friend. Michael pressed the tip of his sword into other angel’s pale skin just enough to draw forth a tiny drop of purple blood. “Don’t move,” he commanded.
“Now, now, Michael, there’s no need to draw blood between friends,” came Cole’s cold reply. With inhuman speed, the blonde drew his sword and turned, knocking Michael’s sword back.
“Why did you do it?” Michael demanded vehemently.
Cole smirked. “Do what? Choose the winning side in a war?” he inquired softly, stepping forward with a slash of his sword towards the brunette. Michael blocked the strike, delivering one on his own and catching the younger angel beneath his ribcage. Cole hissed, covering the wound with his left hand as he spun and slashed at Michael’s legs, satisfied when he felt the edge of his blade bite deeply into the brunette’s thigh muscle.
The two backed away from each other and started circling, Michael with a slight limp and Cole holding his wound and twirling his sword. Suddenly Cole lunged. Michael moved to block the attack, but the blonde pulled out and spun around, hacking at the brunette’s unprotected side. Michael managed to evade most of the attack, but suffered a bodily wound.
Cole chuckled as he flipped behind Michael, standing just outside the archangel’s attack range. “Getting slow, aren’t you Michael?” he asked mockingly, once again twirling his sword. The brunette scowled and spun to face his former friend, angelic powers already beginning to heal his wounds. Cole shrugged and spun his blade into air, managing to run his fingers through his silvery blond hair before catching the sword’s hilt expertly, “Why don’t we take this to the skies then?”
Unfurling feathery white wings, Cole leapt into the air. Michael quickly followed. The two began circling once more, but this time it was Michael’s turn to lunge. Taking advantage of the blonde’s lowered defense, brunette shot forward and, with deadly accuracy, cut across Cole’s chest, leaving a bloody trail from right shoulder to left hip. He didn’t pull back fast enough, however, and Cole was able to drive his sword into his former friend, piecing the other angel through his navel. Michael gasped in pain, head falling forward to rest on Cole’s shoulder.
“You know, I would’ve asked for you to be forgiven,” Cole whispered into the archangel’s ear as he drove his blade deeper into Michael’s stomach.
The brunette slowly lifted his head, a sad smile gracing his lips. “And I for you,” he replied. Lightening fast, he reached behind his friend and grabbed the base of his wings, fingers becoming entangled in their feathers as he began to pull on them. Cole screamed, trying to push Michael from his sword, but to no avail. With a final tug, Michael tore the blonde’s wings out.
Dark red blood dripped from the former angel’s mouth as he let out another scream and began to fall, clawing at Michael’s legs as he tried to stay airborne. The brunette looked down at his former friend, pity clear in his hazel eyes. He bent down, gently placing his hands on top of Cole’s. “I’m sorry,” he whispered before roughly grasping the blonde’s fingers, twisting and breaking them with an audible snap.
Cole’s eyes widened in disbelief as he fell, feeling too shocked to even scream. He hit the ground hard, the back of his head colliding into a large rock almost as if to prove the young boy’s mortality. Platinum blonde locks became damped with blood as Cole’s grey eyes glazed over with the look of the dead.
Michael paused for a moment, gazing down at his friend’s corpse. Slowly, he descended to sit next to his former friend. He reached out brushed a few stray hairs out of Cole’s face before standing once more. Without a word, the brunette turned and flew off to join the rest of the archangels in the final battle.
