The Tragedy of Yinx - 19. The Archangel

Laneer

Holy shit! Angels are actually here! They are real! Well, of course they are real. I just never thought I would see one in person. Let alone what looks like an army.

I must say, they look quite terrifying. They look like a bunch of flies headed towards us.

The Angels came out of a giant portal in the distance behind the palace.

Behind the palace is the rest of the desert. Sand dunes can be seen far across the horizon.

It is a bit dark out, but the angels have a sort of glow to them. Like little fireflies.

“We need to gather as many people as we can to guard the city.” King Jeriko says.

I look to the twins. Surely they could be useful there.

“My guards can go and help in the city.” I say. “Would you like to go as well Beatrix?”

She bites her lip then nods.

“Thank you.” The King says. He calls to an officer and speaks to him in a language I do not understand. It must be orders of what to do in the city.

Yinx finally appears next to me.

“What is happening?” He says. “Is the Angel here?”

I nod. “Yes, but it isn’t just one Angel. It looks like an army of them.”

Yinx curses under his breath.

“Are we supposed to just...kill them? Can they die?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes they can die pretty easily. They came through a portal, yes?”

“Yeah?”

He curses again. “That means there is an Archangel. That is their leader and they keep the portal open. We have to kill it first and then the Angels should all run away.”

I bite my lip. “Is the Archangel tough?”

Yinx nods. “I asked for help from Morgoren. If we are lucky, he will listen.”

I know he most likely tried to play me, but I would think that the God would try and protect his champion. Surely he wouldn’t just leave us to die here.

“Are you sure he will help us?” I ask.

Yinx shakes his head. “No, not at all.”

Dammit. Well, now I am scared.

“Just how powerful is this Archangel?”

Yinx shrugs his shoulders. “Nobody has ever defeated one before. We can only hope that all will be alright.”

Welp. That does not exactly boost my confidence.

If no one has ever defeated an Archangel before, how the fuck are we supposed to win this?

The man that the King was speaking to salutes, and then motions for Beatrix and the twins to follow.

“We’ll be fine.” Beatrix winks at me,”Show them how big and bad the dog can be.” She then leaves the room.

I glare at her and glance at the Yinx’s parents. They don’t seem to care for the comment. The twins just look at Beatrix in confusion.

As soon as they leave, the Queen asks, “Are you going to transform during combat? I believe we have special armor for either of the wolf’s forms.”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “You...you already know and you don’t mind?”

The Queen shakes her head, “We already knew you are under the backlash of a demon contract. You will get no shame here.”

I glance down at Yinx next to me but he only purses his lips at his Mother’s voice.

“Should I?” I ask him.

He looks up at me and smiles. “It is up to you. You will most likely find other werewolves in the battlefield with you.”

Wow! I never thought I would fight with along others in my wolf form. Let alone among other werewolves.

“Yes please. I’ll take it.” I say to the Queen.

I know just how much stronger and durable my hybrid form is. I might as well use it during a battle like this.

People are running all over the palace. Many soldiers are here to keep guard of the water table. It is to be used by some lady.

A few officers are standing with the King as he is giving them orders. I guess those will be joining us?

“Come.” Yinx says, pulling on my arm. “We should get ready.”

He pulls me into a room that looks a bit empty. There were most likely guards stationed here but at the moment, it is empty.

Yinx opens up a door and shows me the armory.

Again, it is a bit empty since it is being used at the moment, but he points out a spiked harness and steel-plated pants.

“This will be your armor for your wolf.” He says. “If you wish to transform now, it would probably be for the best.”

I bite my lip and stare at the armor. “What if I lose control?”

Yinx smiles and stands on the tip of his toes to kiss my cheek. “You won’t. I’ve got your back. Now,” He moves to the door to leave, “I need to get changed as well, I will meet you by the table.”

I nod and watch him leave.

“I love you!” I call out.

I hear him laugh before he calls back, “I love you too!”

~~~
~~~

Well, this harness is not entirely comfortable, but it is very much needed right now. The pants are fine however. I might have to steal these.

I walk back out to the water table and only see the Queen standing there, staring into the water.

She glances up at me and nods. “You look ready. Yinx will be down in a moment.”

Looking into the water, I see what looks like moving pictures of the city. At a closer glance, I see that it is in real-time. Angels are swooping down and shoving their golden swords into random people. The Angels die a lot more than we do, however.

Archers shoot them down and the Angels fall to the ground, turning into swirling golden dust. A few Angels even fight on foot. They honestly seem like regular people in full robed armor.

Their halos are rather creepy. I always imagine a golden loop hovering over their head. That is not at all the case. The halo looks to made of smooth bone. The bone starts from the top of one ear, arches upwards over the head, curls forward along their forehead, then it comes back down to the other ear.

They wear helmets that cover their faces and shiny golden armor with clean white robes on top of them.

All the Angels carry golden swords and nothing else.

“They are filthy spirits.” The Queen says next to me. “I know you are probably in shock to see them attack innocents like this, but this is actually quite normal.Well, maybe not in giant masses as this, but Angels do kill humans.”

Seeing so many Angels fall from the sky like flies is a bit entertaining in all honesty. It just doesn’t help knowing that they are attacking the Palace as well.

Shouting can be heard all around us. Clashes of steel against steel, and then what sounds like birds screeching.

I can already guess those would be the dying screams of Angels.

They seem to fall fairly easy. Their armor almost seems to be made of butter. Yet their numbers never fall. The Angels constantly enter through the portal behind the palace.

“Jeriko and a few groups of wolves, mages, and soldiers are already making their way to find the Archangel.” Queen Natzalia leans back and looks up at me, “We are to defend the palace until they call for us.”

I nod and turn back to watch the moving pictures in the water.

It is strange to see even regular families use magic against the Angels. They were not even called to fight, yet they are just choosing to defend their home.

Maybe magic is not so bad after all.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Yinx’s voice comes up behind me.

I turn to look at him.

Yinx is wearing a sleeveless shirt, dark red pants that are wrapped up from his ankles to his shins with a long strip of cloth.

His arms have strange symbols painted on. His face also has a few symbols that trail under his eyes.

The overall theme here seems to be different shades of red.

I huff at him and poke his feet.

“What?” Yinx crosses his arms. “I need to see as much as I can. It doesn’t help that Angels can fly. I have to make small sand storms just so I can somewhat see them in the sky.”

I grumble at that and push my nose against his arm.

“I am not going to burn myself while playing with fire. You can forget about me using sleeves.”

Sighing, I stare down at him.

Yinx smiles and scratches his fingers against my chest. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

That only makes me feel more worried.

These are Angels with swords. Swords! Sure he will be doing...whatever with fire, but he could easily get hurt if one gets too close.

“I have the Ancient Ones to protect me. Remember?” He says.

Oh right. Those giant automatons. Yeah, Yinx should be fine.

Could they fight of an Archangel though?

“Are you both done?” Queen Natzalia says next to us, “We need to protect the palace.”

Yinx nods and rolls his eyes before pulling my down by the harness and kissing my nose.

“Be safe.” He whispers.

~~~
~~~

I change my mind. We should totally be fine! The Angels only get one swipe from me and they poof into dust immediately.

This entire situation is very strange. I am killing Angels. Now that I think about that, it sends a shiver down my spine.

Does this mean I am going straight to hell?

I would assume so. Wait, I think my father told me that we are bound for hell thanks to my grandfather. Well...I am just not going to think of that right now.

Or maybe I shouldn’t. The idea of already being hellbound kind of loosens the guilt of killing them. I am never going to be them, so why not kill them now?

Yeah, that makes all this insanity way better.

At the moment, I am in a strange area that has grass. Not that patchy long grass. A straight up grassy area where there are proper trees growing.

It is not at all natural and standing here is making me nervous.

Yinx is not with me. He is defending some gate that leads to the desert behind the palace.

When I look into his direction, I just see a cloud of sand that no doubt is cause by his magic.

Angels will fly into the swirling mass of sand to try and get to him. As soon as they enter however, they are incinerated by a wave of hot fire.

I wish I could move over there to see it better, but I have been ordered to keep a stand in the gardens.

A few guards are next to me, shooting down Angels. There is also a mage and another werewolf.

The mage shoots these bolts of lightning that chain into different Angels, sometimes killing seven at once.

The werewolf runs around with me, swiping at any Angels that get too close to the archers or mage.

So far, nobody has gotten hurt. This is good.

I hope things are going well with the group and the King.

An eagle had flown into the palace earlier. Apparently the King needed the Queen’s help. Yet he already has mages with him. Does that mean he needs more help?

It makes me nervous honestly. Maybe they found the Archdemon but now they need more help.

After making sure everyone was fine to hold off on their own, I rush over to Yinx’s side.

Running through palace was very strange. It is very calm inside. Sure there was a General screaming at the top of her lungs and sending soldiers into different places for reinforcements. That water table is very helpful.

Leaving through the back of the palace, I find Yinx in the middle of a mini sandstorm, he looks as if he is literally dancing. A long snake made of fire dances with him, following the movement of his hands.

The Automatons have decided to show themselves again. All three stand around Yinx, they swipe out with large swords that cut through the Angels easily.

Any time a Angel flies into the storm, the snake of fire would immediately fly off and chase it down, instantly the Angel would screech and burst into dust.

I slowly make my way towards him. The Automatons only glance at me for a second before going back to killing the Angels.

I quickly transform back into my human form, biting back the pain.

“Yinx!” I call out, holding the pants to keep myself from possibly getting naked.

Yinx turns and looks to me. “What’s wrong?” He yells.

An Angel dives down to try and go for him but an Automaton swings their sword so fast, the Angel can’t even scream before it becomes dust.

“Your parents.” I say, “I have a feeling they need our help now.”

The sandstorm disappears and Yinx makes his way towards me. “Do you know where they went?”

Natzalia shares a somewhat similar scent to Yinx. Not at all as sweet, but it is still almost the same.

“Yes I think I can find them.” I say.

He nods. “Lead the way then.”

Honestly, I thought I would have to fight him just for having to find his mother, but I guess he still somewhat cares for her? Unless this is simply for his father.

~~~
~~~

After telling the screaming General that we were going to help the King and Queen, we immediately headed off to find them.

I must say, I never thought I would do anything like this.

I am in my wolf form. I never really want to use this form because it gives the wolf more control, but it should make the search go by faster.

Yinx is riding on my back, his hands grabbing a fist full of fur to keep himself from flying off.

He has my armor in a bag so I can switch back into my hybrid form if needed.

How did the Queen get this far so quickly? I have been running for a good five minutes and we are pretty far from the battle now.

A few Angels pop out and try to attack us, but they get cut down or batted out of the sky by some unseen force.

The first time I saw that, Yinx calmed me down by saying it was the Ancient Ones.

Strange how those things can just go invisible.

Natzalia’s scent has gotten stronger so that means she must be closer.

She traveled with a few others as well so obviously she got here just fine. Just where exactly is here?

This part of the desert has small mountains.

Every now and then I see a dead body. Most have been cut in half. That just makes me nervous. I can tell they make Yinx nervous as well.

“I-I think they found it.” Yinx whispers.

I huff in response and keep following the trail of bodies.

So far, none of them hold the King or Queen’s faces so that is good. Still, I am sad that people are dying.

There are a few piles of golden dust laying around, so clearly our people were winning at first.

Rounding around a giant boulder, a flash of light can be seen in the distance.

More flashes can be seen as Yinx’s Mother has a staff in her hands. She twirls around in front of her and strings of lightening fly out towards a giant Angel.

I take it that is the Archangel.

It has two sets of wings. It is twice the size of a regular human being, it’s armor glows a bright yellow and it’s sword is absolutely humongous.

It honestly looks the same as the other Angels aside from the wings and it’s mask. The mask seems to resemble a human face. It is rather creepy.

“Is this all you can manage, Witch?” The Archangel laughs and uses his swords to block the lightning from the Queen.

A few soldiers are attacking at the Archangel’s feet but it honestly doesn’t seem to notice.

Yinx jumps off of my back, drops my armor at my feet, then runs in, the paint in his arms glows red before the fire snake reappears.

The snake flies forward and slams into the back of the Archangel’s head.

That forces the Archangel to fall headfirst into the sand.

While it is still down, I quickly shift into my Hybrid form and try to get my armor on. It is a bit sloppy, but it will have to do.

A yell grabs my attention and I see the King raise his longsword and swing down at the Archangel’s arm. That only manages to dent his armor.

The Archangel laughs and swings his arm out. Tiny little spikes of light fly out towards everyone.

The King and soldiers create a shieldwall as cover and the Queen creates a black barrier around herself.

Yinx does not manage to dodge in time. He twists his body to avoid the spikes, but one manages to graze along the bottom of his stomach and travel upwards to the bottom of his ribs.

He yelps from the pain but does not fall.

I run up to him to check if he is ok.

“I’m fine!” He grits out. “Don’t worry about me.”

“What is this?” The Archangel all of a sudden shouts in annoyance.

The Ancient ones are no longer invisible and are trying to hold the Archangel’s arms back to restrain him.

The Queen strikes her staff into the ground and ice erupts at the Archangel’s feet, keeping him in place.

Yinx creates a small symbol in the air in front of him. He punches into it and then a ball of fire flies forward and explodes on the Archangel’s chest.

Just as the King and his soldier are about to strike again, the Archangel yells in frustration before he spreads his wings out behind him and flaps them hard towards us, causing everyone to stumble and fall on their feet.

Yinx and I actually end up flying.

I grab Yinx and curl myself around him as we collide with a stone wall.

Pain immediately flares up my spine and I groan as I try to move again.

I grunt and check if Yinx is fine.

His head wobbles a bit but he quickly stands and runs back to fight.

Yeah, he’s fine. I...I’m not so fine.

The Automaton’s all of a sudden go flying above me. Somehow the Archangel threw them all and they run into a pillar of stone. Rock begins to fall of top of them and I have to dodge and weave to not be crushed as well.

It feels like absolute agony along my back with each step I make. I throw myself to dodge a falling stone and cry out as I fall flat on my back.

I’ll just lay here for a bit. My vision feels a bit hazy.

The Queen is about to send another attack when the Archangel swings his sword and a trail of golden light flies towards her.

It shapes into the form of a sword and before she can even summon a shield, it pierces through her stomach and pins her to the ground.

“No!” The King shouts. “You’ll pay for that!” Rage fills his voice.

Without thinking, he runs for the Archangel. He swings his sword over and over but it does nothing to the Archangel’s armor.

The Archangel only laughs before grabbing the King and shoving his sword into the King’s stomach.

He throws his body towards the Queen.

Yinx’s eyes look as if they are about to cry but he just clenches his jaw and slowly walks towards the Archangel. He has a limp in his leg.

The Archangel chuckles as he watches Yinx, “Well isn’t this just pathetic. What are you going to do, little mage? Tickle me with fire again?” His voice booms with laughter.

“If you hear me,” Yinx says, “now would really be the time.”

What is he doing?

I try and move to pull him back to safety, but I just can’t move. Everything hurts and I end up falling on my face each time I try to stand.

He continues to walk slowly and keeps one hand over the cut along his stomach.

Yinx lifts his hand to inspect the blood on his fingers.

The wind begins to pick up and swirl around us.

The Archangel raises his sword high above his head and then swings down hard onto Yinx. Before the sword can touch him, a bright pillar of light shines down from the moon, directly on top of Yinx.

The blade that would have cut through Yinx breaks into a million pieces, as if it were made of glass.

Yinx spreads his arms out and begins to chant in a language I do not know.

“What is this?” The Archangel shouts.

Red runes burn in a circle around the Archangel. When he tries to move out of the circle, he gets shocked and forced back inside.

Yinx’s painted arms begin to glow and instead of just one, four fiery snakes erupt from the symbols and they all fly straight for the Archangel. They wrap themselves around him.

The snakes are twice as long and three times as wide as before.

The fire burns into the armor, melting it. It burns into the skin of the Archangel and he can only scream in agony.

The snakes tighten around him and pull him to his knees.

“Who sent you?” Yinx’s voice echoes into the air.

The Archangel clenches his teeth together as a fire snake slithers around his neck, getting closer to his face.

“Ask the one who gave you this power.” He grits out.

There is a moment where Yinx looks confused. It only lasts a moment before the snake around the Archangel’s neck forces its head into the Archangel’s mouth and enters his body.

The Archangel gags and screams before his entire body erupts into flames.

I look away, seeing the flesh burning off into nothing is becoming too much. The smell is not so great either.

When the screaming finally stops. All that is left of the Archangel is a giant pile of golden dust.