Nisrock was having a good time. He delighted in watching the faces of his enemies as he surprised them by getting in close and stabbing them with his sword. They didn’t know what hit them. The hardest part was fighting his way in close, as most were adept at keeping the small distance between them that the sword demanded. But once inside that range his prey were his. It took little to get them to drop or raise their shield just enough for him to slip his blade into their stomach, chest, or neck. Sometimes he had to settle for a knee or thigh, but those proved to be useful in taking his prey down and rendering them nearly useless.
He passed his new tactic along to other rebels he encountered as he sought more enemies to slay. Their sounds of pain and surprise were becoming intoxicating to him. He was now driven by a battle lust that made him want to inflict pain – need to inflict suffering on those who opposed him. Battle is glorious, he thought as he stabbed another Authority in the neck, his blade coming out the other side.
* * *
Satan was enraged. He was throwing hundreds of energy blasts a minute at his enemies and still they were not falling fast enough. The sky was crammed with streaking balls of energy, all directed toward the legion of Angels and a few Cherubim who dared to go up against his superior forces. Let them come and meet their destiny, he thought as he tracked his last double shot of energy. He watched with delight as both orbs slammed into Petriel and knocked him from the sky. The Angel landed hard on the ground and lay in a heap not moving. He smiled to himself as he thought of all of them meeting with the same fate as their leader, Gabriel, had just before. He was slightly saddened that he had not witnessed Gabriel’s final twitching and writhing, but he saw his orb hit its target just before the ground around the Angel burst upward and blocked his view with a shower of debris.
The darkening of the sky which had been following the rebels was now hanging heavy above the battlefield. It seemed to grow darker as the battle wore on. The energy blasts lit the sky with their magnificent hues as they streaked toward their enemies. The colors danced in stark contrast to the gray sky as the energy lit up their foes as it made its way through their entire being. The victims of the orbs looked like maniac marionettes as their arms and legs jerked in uncontrollable spasms as the intense heat and pain raced through them.
Satan continued to unleash his crimson orbs at the Angels who were still coming toward him. He now saw that some of them had retreated into the forest on either side of the field. He motioned for Raguel and the Angel, Sensiner, to pursue them. They flew off taking a hundred Angels each, Raguel to their left and Sensiner to their right.
They’re scared and weak, Satan thought. We shall have victory today.
* * *
As Gabriel flew up toward the battle line of rebel Angels he saw that they were too preoccupied with shooting down their enemies to pay attention to him. Even Satan was not searching for him now. He flew as fast as he could, his sword out. He said a silent prayer and gave praise to the Almighty just as he entered the mass of hovering bodies.
He swung hard at those near him as he flew passed. Their screams of surprise and pain rang in his ears and made him shutter. He was now above and looked down upon them. He saw Satan in the front leading the counterattack, which now seemed more like an assault. He thought of going after him and trying to end all of the madness there and then, but he was weakened by his exertion and he knew what one of those orbs would do if he was struck. He decided to fly back into the huddled Angels as he had before.
The air whistled by him as he flew slashing blindly with his sword. Rebel Angels shrieked as they fell from the sky, their arms severed, their sides split open. Gabriel continued his fast attack, zigzagging a path from the top of their formation to the bottom and back up again. Some of the rebel Angels were now firing their orbs at him once he was clear of their formation. Gabriel dodged expertly as he continued on his path. He had just completed another circuit and was descending again when a white orb slammed into his sword knocking it from his grasp. Gabriel instinctively changed his course and began weaving. His luck held as countless white orbs flew passed him on either side, narrowly missing their target.
He gradually made his way back toward the main body of rebel Angels, the sizzling balls of energy following him in deadly arcs. Gabriel was not overt in his flight path, for he wanted it to seem that he was narrowly evading the attack, which he was in part. But he was allowing them to track him, to follow him with their shots. He flew down toward a group of Angels, heading directly toward them. He locked eyes with Sagriel and watched as the rebel unleashed a volley of energy, as did the six Angels to either side of him. The balls of energy crackled as they spun toward him at a fantastic speed. At the last moment Gabriel dove sharply. The balls of energy that were directed toward him from both the front and rear slammed into each other. The detonation was astounding...