and fight, and let the ones that win through fight for our queen!”
Two thousand of the legion leapt into the air at once, racing for the opening. Immediately, blades clashed and whips lashed out at wings and flesh, as each Angel sought to be the first to reach the gate. The air above the lake became a mass of whirling black flesh and feathers, as if four hundred massive crows fought at once for scraps of dead flesh hanging above.
In the crowd still on the ground, Ishtar, once renowned through Babylon as goddess of love, sex, and war, glared at Persephone, who had dragged her down and prevented her from rising into the fray. “What are you doing, you stupid bitch?” Ishtar demanded. “We could be by Nyx’s side! We should be by Nyx’s side!”
Persephone kept her grip.
Persephone and Ishtar could’ve been Nyx’s sisters—even down to the beauty marks above their upper lips. Ishtar had her eyes lined in black, like the goddesses of Egypt, which she had once been. Persephone’s were lined with white, and her upper eyelids and lips looked kissed by frost. They had fought beside Nyx from the beginning, and won her love and respect. Dark Angels possessed a savage loyalty to those they loved, and Persephone and Ishtar both loved Nyx dearly.
Persephone had been a much gentler goddess than Ishtar, seen as a symbol of innocence lost and of the coming of spring. Persephone enjoyed the worship and was revered throughout the Roman Empire. She loved the sexual aspects of the changing season and made it a core part of her temple’s secret rituals. She’d also made the legend of her return to Underworld, not because she enjoyed torture for its own sake as Ishtar did, but to because her other great love was battle, and there was no better place to train for that than among the 666 th .
She was the better fighter of the two, and more important, she was more observant. “Something is wrong,” hissed Persephone. “Look.”
Ishtar looked, and saw that the Angels on the ground, the ones who had not flown, were tensed and ready to take off, their weapons gripped tightly and their faces tight with anticipation.
“What the fuck is going on?” whispered Persephone.
She got her answer when Lucifer cracked his whip again. The remaining three thousand Angels leapt into the air and attacked the ones fighting for the gate. They made no attempt to fly up to the gate, only smashed at full force into the others, bringing them down in the dozens.
“Lucifer’s betrayed Nyx!” shouted Ishtar over the screams of battle. “That bastard!”
“You think?” was Persephone’s acid reply. “He’s going to kill any Angels loyal to Nyx and send his own people out!”
“We have to get there first!” said Ishtar. We have to get out!”
“I know,” said Persephone. “And so does he!”
Above, the first Angel broke free of the mob and soared toward the hole. Lucifer lashed out with his whip, tearing one of the Angel’s wings apart and sending him spinning into the Lake of Fire below.
“Stay together,” said Persephone. “We fight as one, we just might make it.”
“Yeah, might,” agreed Ishtar. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Swords out and blazing with Hellfire, whips in hand and ready, the two launched themselves into the air. In the distance, they could see the gaping hole in the sky, a small pocket of magical space shimmering in the endless blackness that surrounded it, like a cut on the skin of a God. Between them and it, five thousand Angels were locked in a desperate battle for dominance and survival. The sky was black save for the lights of the Angel’s Hellfire weapons. Blades and whips cut, stabbed, cracked, and slashed through the sky. The light of Hellfire flashed again and again through the darkness, becoming an entity unto itself. Shrieks of pain and defeat and curses filled the air as dark Angels collided. Falling limbs, bodies, and buckets of silver blood drenched the stones of Hell below.
From below them
Two thousand of the legion leapt into the air at once, racing for the opening. Immediately, blades clashed and whips lashed out at wings and flesh, as each Angel sought to be the first to reach the gate. The air above the lake became a mass of whirling black flesh and feathers, as if four hundred massive crows fought at once for scraps of dead flesh hanging above.
In the crowd still on the ground, Ishtar, once renowned through Babylon as goddess of love, sex, and war, glared at Persephone, who had dragged her down and prevented her from rising into the fray. “What are you doing, you stupid bitch?” Ishtar demanded. “We could be by Nyx’s side! We should be by Nyx’s side!”
Persephone kept her grip.
Persephone and Ishtar could’ve been Nyx’s sisters—even down to the beauty marks above their upper lips. Ishtar had her eyes lined in black, like the goddesses of Egypt, which she had once been. Persephone’s were lined with white, and her upper eyelids and lips looked kissed by frost. They had fought beside Nyx from the beginning, and won her love and respect. Dark Angels possessed a savage loyalty to those they loved, and Persephone and Ishtar both loved Nyx dearly.
Persephone had been a much gentler goddess than Ishtar, seen as a symbol of innocence lost and of the coming of spring. Persephone enjoyed the worship and was revered throughout the Roman Empire. She loved the sexual aspects of the changing season and made it a core part of her temple’s secret rituals. She’d also made the legend of her return to Underworld, not because she enjoyed torture for its own sake as Ishtar did, but to because her other great love was battle, and there was no better place to train for that than among the 666 th .
She was the better fighter of the two, and more important, she was more observant. “Something is wrong,” hissed Persephone. “Look.”
Ishtar looked, and saw that the Angels on the ground, the ones who had not flown, were tensed and ready to take off, their weapons gripped tightly and their faces tight with anticipation.
“What the fuck is going on?” whispered Persephone.
She got her answer when Lucifer cracked his whip again. The remaining three thousand Angels leapt into the air and attacked the ones fighting for the gate. They made no attempt to fly up to the gate, only smashed at full force into the others, bringing them down in the dozens.
“Lucifer’s betrayed Nyx!” shouted Ishtar over the screams of battle. “That bastard!”
“You think?” was Persephone’s acid reply. “He’s going to kill any Angels loyal to Nyx and send his own people out!”
“We have to get there first!” said Ishtar. We have to get out!”
“I know,” said Persephone. “And so does he!”
Above, the first Angel broke free of the mob and soared toward the hole. Lucifer lashed out with his whip, tearing one of the Angel’s wings apart and sending him spinning into the Lake of Fire below.
“Stay together,” said Persephone. “We fight as one, we just might make it.”
“Yeah, might,” agreed Ishtar. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Swords out and blazing with Hellfire, whips in hand and ready, the two launched themselves into the air. In the distance, they could see the gaping hole in the sky, a small pocket of magical space shimmering in the endless blackness that surrounded it, like a cut on the skin of a God. Between them and it, five thousand Angels were locked in a desperate battle for dominance and survival. The sky was black save for the lights of the Angel’s Hellfire weapons. Blades and whips cut, stabbed, cracked, and slashed through the sky. The light of Hellfire flashed again and again through the darkness, becoming an entity unto itself. Shrieks of pain and defeat and curses filled the air as dark Angels collided. Falling limbs, bodies, and buckets of silver blood drenched the stones of Hell below.
From below them
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