The Battle of Good Vs. Evil...

[Neale]

Gabriel

Gabriel repressed a flinching of irritation at Raphael's touch. After all, he was only behaving as his Creator had intended. He looked where Raphael was pointing and saw a flying creature that was totally unfamiliar to his millenia of experience.

"Something new under Heaven, brother? Still, whatever it is, investigation shall have to wait until our commander returns. If he returns. What will the Bitch-Queen of Hell do next? Our time in Heaven has left us ill-prepared to second-guess the Mistress of Dark Deceit. We can but hope that Michael is on his guard, and Good will triumph. Hmm... I can't go after him, but perhaps a little music will lift his spirits. After all, when I play my horn, every one of God's creatures hears the clarion call!"

At that, Gabriel settles his wings around him and summons his horn. The music of the heavenly spheres themselves issued forth from it, and all good creatures everywhere felt themselves heartened and uplifted. Gabriel knew it would be scant comfort to Michael as he entered the jaws of Her camp, but it was all he had to offer... for now.

 

[Morgoth]

"That is all I ask, my queen", bowed the Tarasque in mid-air. "Join the army", he bellowed at his ground troops. They quickly filed up to join the army already assembled on the hill. The Tarasque and whirled around as he saw the Angel Lord Michael approach. The Tarasque already had many guesses about who had banished him into the Black Flames for what was supposed to be an eternity of torture, even for a demon Lord, but he had barely gotten free. He growled and gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing that Michael belonged to his re-newed queen. Yet he still drew his sword, as he had once done, as her highest captain.

 

[Toku]

Raphael

The heavenly music Gabriel produced with his angelic horn gave him the shivers and brought back memories of forgotten times, times of prosperity and happiness. The music gave Raphael strength and hope for a better future. He continued,
"but isn't there a way to help Michael?" he silently said to Gabriel.

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

Raphael and Gabriel are stil talking. What is going on? I really hope Michael has not gone to offer surrender. Humans may be weak, but they fight with enthusiasm and possess a survivalist instinct which is rare in angels. Angels rarely fight to the death. Some are just cowards, afraid to face the reality of the world which we govern, and would sooner run than to fight for it.

My thoughts are interrupted when I see a young woman wandering through the undergrowth. A closer look proves me to be mistaken as I realise that she seems to know what she's doing. Scouting the area? It's a dangerous thing to be doing at a time like this. Spreading my wings I fly towards her.

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I was well on my way to my scouting point-a large tree that was tall enough to serve as lookout when I heard the sound of a horn. All of a sudden the anger left me and I felt a rush of well being and courage flow through me. I was suddenly not mad at the angels for using humans and I was ready to fight the forces of evil to death itself.

I stood imobilized for I dont know how long before the last of the notes faded away and the feeling finally ebbed. I shook myself and muttered under my breath. My anger was back and twice as bad as I was now angry at myself for not being in control of my feelings. It just went to prove my point that the winged creatures on both sides were not beyond using any method to control we humans.

Moving quickly across the field, I neared my destination only to catch sight of something in flight out of the corner of my eye. I cursed myself. I should have been more alert and less into my anger. I quickly scrambled up into the tree and looked down as the figure approached. It was one of the angels. He looked familiar but in one of those back-of-your-mind-cant-quite-put-your-finger-on-it type of ways. I sat in the tree hoping he would go away and leave me to myself but it was a vain hope as I could see that my tree was his intended destination.

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

As I took off the air filled with the notes of Gabriel's horn. It has been many years since that sound has passed through my eardrums. I doubt he even remembers my name.
Turning my eyes to woman I see her climbing a tree as I approach. She must have good vision to spot me. Most never realise until I've thrown the dagger.

Circling the tree I come to rest on a branch directly in front of her. When I look into her eyes I can see the anger burning inside her, and a bitterness towards.....us? This one has an unusual soul. I have to admit i'm intrigued.

"Why are you up here?"

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I sighed as the angel approached. He had seen me alright and I again cursed myself for not being more careful though I was not sure he would not have spotted me if I had been. You never could tell with these winged ones.

He circled around me and then lit on a branch in front of me. He looked me in the eye and I felt a chill run up and down my spine. What was it about him that made me feel like I had seen the last of my days on earth?

He got right to business. "Why are you up here?," He said as if I actually owed him an explanation. "Excuse me?," I said letting the sarcasm drip from my voice even though I had to admit his nearness made my breath catch and my heart chill.

I sat back and put on the best of my airs. Attitude my father called it. "I wasnt aware that I had to check in with any winged ones when I decided to do something. I apologize. Next time I will be sure to let our keepers know what I am doing before I do it."

I gave him a scathing glance. "Until then is it alright if I sit here and see what is coming before it hits us mere mortals this time?"

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

I smirked at her insolent response to my question. She is a brave one, just like most humans.

"You sound bitter." I pondered my statement for a moment.
"Not that I blame you. I myself, an angel, have found myself questioning heaven's motives in the past few decades. I feel we are losing touch with what's important. The battle against evil has made us forget our compassion towards humans."

She looked a little confused. Maybe she wasn't expecting such a profound statement from one of my 'kind'.

"However, we are still sworn to protect, and that I will do whether you like it or not. This is a dangerous place to be sitting."

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I looked at him puzzled. This was not a speech that I had expected from one of his kind. It took me back for a moment but I shook it off just as I had the music from Gabriel's horn.

"Compassion for humans?," I said, bitter laughter evident in my voice. "Excuse me if I dont grasp that concept. When did your kind show we humans that we are anything but pawns in a game?"

"From the very beginning until now we have been moved around the earth in a design only God knows about without so much as a by-your-leave. Even your fellow angels use us to their advantage."

I waved my hand towards the hill where Raphael and Gabriel stood. "One uses the women for his pleasure and the other his music to command us whether we wish it or not. We have no choice in this matter. You know our every weakness and use it to control us. Just as the enemy has always done before you decided to place foot on earth."

"Speaking of which why did you decide to come down her amongst our kind? For centuries you have left us to deal with the evil that assualts us on our own yet now we are worthy of your protection?"

I shook my head in disbeief. I had said too much. I dont know why I was venting all my frustrations to this winged one but once I started it was almost impossible to stop. I wrapped my arms about my knees as I sat there and looked at him with all the resentment I could muster.

"And what of you, angel? What is your sworn duty in all of this? I feel I should know it. It is as if you are almost familiar yet I cannot place you."

"Why should you care about protecting humans? And if you are so set on it than go and protect those that would appreciate it. I have no need for your kind."



[Edited by Isolde on 02-15-2001 at 06:41 PM]

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

Her eyes betrayed her feelings to me before she blurted them out. I could empathise with her, but I had to make my point.

"My duty? Very well, if you want to know I will give you some information.
I have travelled this earth for five hundred years now. Five hundred years! I have seen many things, I have trodden the battlefield surrounded by fighting and dead bodies stretching for miles. I have seen horrific tortures, suffering which I had never thought possible until it passed before my very eyes. Misery takes many forms, and until now I thought I had seen it all."

"'Why?', you ask? I have been forced to watch the pain and strife for a reason. My task is not an easy one. Where the poor man is abused by his lord, where a woman is attacked by those with evil motives, where injustices are carried out, I am there. For I am the angel that brings forth retribution to those who inflict pain and suffering among their own kind. I am the only angel that has the right to take a human's life; and it is a burden heavier than the crucifix carried by Jesus on the day of his death. I have no name. Just a soul."

"You think heaven has been resting on it's laurels these past centuries? I'm afraid your mistaken my dear. Heaven has been busy; finding those capable of containing the evil that lies within all humans, those who can stare into the jaws of hell and remain sane, those who are fit to fight the battle that will decide the fate of all that is." I extended my arm and pointed towards the camp.
"These people are not just a random gathering of humans. They are the elite, those who heaven has chosen to endure the battle that will soon be upon us. Heaven cannot make your choices. A person decides their own destiny, all we can do is attempt to push them in the right direction. Humans choose their own roads."

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

When he was done talking, I found for the first time in my life that I was speechless. It was as if, with his words, he had drained all the arrogance from me and I found I could not speak. So I simply sat there hugging my knees to me and looking off into the distance where the enemy camp lay.

The silence streatched between us, yet he did not fly away. He said he was there to protect and his actions made it clear that he would stick to his word. I did not know whether to be glad or irritated that he thought I could not protect myself.

Finally the silence between us got to me and I said softly,"Five hundred years of death, huh? So how do you deal with it? How do you finally accept that those around you are dead? How do you stare at the faces of your friends and know that you will never talk to them again? How do you watch as your mother's blood stains the ground and you know you cannot save her?" These are questions I had asked myself many times since this whole holocost thing had happened. I didnt know why I was asking the angel beside me-maybe it was his tone of voice when he talked about humans dying. As if he really felt the sorrow and misery he had talked about.

I lay my cheek on my knees and looked over at him. "And if heaven knew well in advance that this was going to happen, why did you not try to prevent it? Why unleash this kind of torment on us? Are we that expendable? Do we matter so little that it was nothing for heaven to cut our numbers down to such a small group?"

[Edited by Isolde on 02-15-2001 at 08:19 PM]

 

[Neale]

Gabriel

Gabriel takes his horn away from his lips, letting the last notes softly fade away. "Raphael, I just don't know what to do. That's why Michael is our commander, you know. Most angels have a terrible time thinking for themselves. After all, we were created solely to follow the will of God, and self-will was purely inconsequential to the task. Michael has as much drive, as much will as Her, but he uses it in God's service, as he should. I'm a follower, for all of my divine power and position as an Archangel. Without him to lead us... I just don't know."

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

"Have you not listened to anything I have said?" I felt myself becoming slightly angered at this woman's misdirected anger.

"How can we stop this? Demons may have been among us but only a small number. Hell has been amassing its forces for centuries, waiting for their time. Powerful we may be but we do not have one that is powerful enough to rip the heart out of the demon's stronghold."

"If people die it's their own fault. Alll we can do is influence. Imagine if we went around trying to save every human? People would start to take us for granted. They would become free souls, feel no danger and be even more reckless and stupid than they already are. Heaven would never accept that outcome."

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I felt like I had been delt a slap in the face. For a moment-one brief moment-I had let down me defenses and opened up. To a winged one at that! Well, that tells you what kind of a fool I could be.

I unwrapped my arms from my legs and knelt before him, my face close enough to his that I could again feel that chill run up and down my spine. My green eyes flashed and I could feel the tears stinging them but I held them back.

"Have I listened to you? Your words are the first I have let reach me in a very long time. Which I guess makes me a fool! If you knew us humans so well, you would realize that it is in our nature to search for answers to what is happening around us. I thought, wrongly it seems, that I had found someone who was willing to answer some of those questions. I apologize for imposing on you. I will now take my reckless and stupid self and go on with my scouting."

I swung out of the tree and dropped to the ground, hitting it harder than I was at first planning to and wincing as the thud jarred into my legs. Crouching for a moment to let the sharp pain pass, I looked up at him and added,"Since you have not the ability to save each soul, go back to the camp and concentrate on the others. Mine is simply one where there's are many."

Having said my final piece I stormed off to finish scouting around the hills and making sure no evil had approached the camp while I was busy.

 

[Morgoth]

The Tarasque sheathed his sword, much against his instincts. "My queen. I must go back to my Stronghold. I shall move it to this hill. Here you can utilize it", said the Tarasque humbly. He lifted up and flew not so far away, where a mountain stood. Not a very tall mountain at that, but it would have to do. The Tarasque threw up his hands, and a rumbling shook the mountain. Suddenly, lava burst forth where there wanow a volcano. When it was done, the Tarasque surveyed his work. He did another gesture, and a huge, red, snakelike head emerged from the lava. Then came the body. After about a minute, 2 Crimson Hellkites had emerged from the flames. He pointed to where his castle was, and they flew off. They came back in 5 minutes, clutching one huge black stone. The Tarasque flew back to the hill. "My queen, the Hellkites have brought the magical stone that I created for my castle. If you will move the army, I can have a castle sitting here. It will be yours, as a present from your greatest minion", he said.

 

[poohlive]

Michael watched the man fly off. He sighed, but still kept a somewhat pleasent smile towards the Devil. Fear clutched at his heart, as did courage. He had to keep both centered, for if one become stronger than the other, he would surely die, especially in the hands of evil.
"You always liked the keep the most powerful under your thumb, didn't you?"
Not bad. A little ice breaker couldn't hurt anything. He was always up for idle chit chat, but not today, today was one of those days where the stakes were too high to be playing mere mind games.
Michael gave Lucifer a somewhat meaningful look, and then let his eyes rest on the horizon.
"I believe we have some business to discuss..."

 

[Toku]

Raphael

Raphael was suprised at what Gabriel had said, had he walked among mankind to long or was it 'his task' that kept him from not being such a 'marionette' like Gabriel and the others. "Well, Gabe, if you'd like," he spreads his wings, "come along and," he lifts up from the ground, "and help me with my 'task', you can do that, can't you?" after which he dives down the mountain, enjoying the flight towards the human camp, hoping Gabriel follows him.

On his way he sees in the distance an Angel he hadn't seen for a while, the loner, the one which kills. He always gave Angel the creeps, but he would give himself the creeps if he himself had to do the loner's job, he thought. A woman was walking away from him, obviously hurt or something like that.

Raphael flies across the Loner, whispering to him, "let me handle her, brother, that's my district," after which he flew over the woman and landed right in front of him, startling her a bit, "I'm sorry if I scared you, beautifeul lady. I am Raphael, your Guardian Angel. How can I help you?" he said, not knowing this was a woman with different thoughts about angels than most of the women he had met.

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I was limping along. I figured I had twisted my ankle or something but than again that was what I got for letting my anger get to me and jumping so far from the ground. Still I was too stubborn to give up and go back to camp.

All of a sudden I was startled by a winged one setting down in front of me. Thinking that it was the angel I was just talking to, I was all set to let my temper loose on him again when he spoke and I got a good look at him.

"Oh, God, not him!,"The thought flit across my mind. I had heard about all his charms and good looks every day from my three sisters and now here he was large as life right in front of me.

"You didnt scare me," I said, my tone edged with a coldness it did not have before,"I should have been more alert and known you were there. And you are not my Gardian Angel. You can be the Gardian Angel of everyone in the camp and especially the women as you seem to do so well but leave me out of it."

"As for what you can do for me....nothing. Except leave me alone. I seem to be a magnet for your kind today and I dont know why. I am a mere mortal but I can take care of myself thank you. I dont need anything from you or any other winged creature in either camp."

Walking off from him with only a slight limp, I was determined to finish my scouting trip when an idea struck me and I made my way back to him.

"I take that back. There is one thing you can do for me," I said, coming close to him. As I neared him I could tell why my sisters went so ape over him. Damn these winged ones, how did they manage to play on human emotions like this. Steeling myself against the emotions, I said,"In the camp there is the tent of Lt. Tariq of the humans. In that tent there resides three young women besides myself. Three women who melt at the sight of you. Stay away from them. They are my sisters and I want you to just leave them alone. Get your thrills elsewhere besides my family."

Gritting my teeth against the tenderness of my ankle, I continued on to my self-imposed scouting mission. I knew if my father ever heard how I was talking to our 'protectors' that I would be in for it but at that moment I didnt care.



[Edited by Isolde on 02-17-2001 at 06:43 AM]

 

[Kepic]

Talor

Reaching a point near enough the mountains summit to eavesdrop on the conversation, I hid myself, changing back to my human form - the form I felt more comfortable in.

Neither Heaven nor Hell had accepted me, being half daemon, half angel. But that gave me certain advantages. I was invisible to their senses of 'good' and 'evil', being an equal blend of both, and so neither. My otherworldly 'kin' however still had sharp eyes and ears, so I had done my best to keep a low profile, over the many centuries. I had walked the Earth long before this damned War began, before the Dragon came...

I frowned, remembering the human world before all of this. It may not have been heaven - but it was a hell of a lot better than it was now.

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

I smirked at the lady blew off Raphael in a second. Raphael just stood there dumbstruck. How could such a high ranking angel be such a fool sometimes?

Seeing that the girl had injured herself and was limping I took off from my perch, swooped behind her and picked her up in my arms. "Your scouting would be much easier this way my dear. And try not to get too excited or we will both fall, and while i may live you may not be so lucky."

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I let out a small yelp as I felt myself being lifted up. How did one see these winged ones coming? So far this was the third time I had been surprised by then. It did not show off my scouting talents very well.

His warning of not moving was not needed. I closed my eyes and grabbed onto him. My mouth went dry and I shivered a bit. "I suppose this is a bad time to mention that I have a thing about heights," I said through gritted teeth.

I berated myself for not acting more like the daughter of a military man and less like...well...my sisters. Forcing myself to open my eyes slowly, I caught my breath. The land was skimming along below us and the feeling of exhileration took my breath away. I was lost momentarily in the feeling of soaring and I completely forgot who I was with along with my fear of heights.

 

[Ask For More]

The Killing Angel

We flew around the surrounding area. I was keeping an eye on the territory as i suspected she was just enjoying the view and the experience. Then I noticed a man who seemed to be hiding near Gabriel's viewpoint on the mountain.
"Do you see that guy?" She nodded in response.
"Let's check it out." I changed direction and headed towards the man.

 

[Kepic]

Talor

The beating of wings made me look away from the slopes, to see an angel, carrying a woman with him. I sighed, as I watched them approach - they seemed to have spotted me. So much for listening in on the Lucifer and Michaels conversation in quiet.

 

[Isolde]

Belinda

I frowned. I didnt know how good it was to be going so close to the enemy. As we neared I recognized the man. He had spoken to my father many times before. I had never talked to him personally but I had seen him in conference with Father.

Turning to the angel that carried me I said,"Not so close. The enemy will be able to sense you. Lets set down here. I know the man...or at least have seen him. Pull back some so we are not discovered."

 

[Toku]

Raphael

Raphael just stood there, staring into nothingness. The Loner flew off with the girl. Raphael stared, stood still. A few more minutes, Raphael didn't moved an inch. He just stood there.

Than a soft smile appears on his face, the smile becomes a big grin, and suddenly a huge laughter comes out of the Angel's mouth. He fell on his knees, holding his stomach. The laughing continued; "Woehahahaha, Hahahaha, Woehahahaha, Father Forgive me, I haven't laughed like this in ages," he stood up again, still laughing a bit, "by the gates, was I a fool! You've done it this time, Raph, the woman got you. That's how I remember mankind. How did they say it in the old days," he thinks for a moment, "I remember! 'That's the spirit!'"

He slowly sits down on a rock and stared into the sky, mumbling to himself, '....not my guardian angel...', '...stay away from my sisters...'.