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I watched as the world turned showing me scenes of death and destruction who had been my constant companion across time following me as thunder is to lightning. I have fought in many wars ones of peace, justice, and anger that I used to hide and forget turning into another one of the nameless soldiers on the battlefields. They kept me in the here and now instead of the past that would constantly flash on the edges of my vision. I knew I was running hiding my face in all times always changing and blending into my surroundings.
They would eventually find me no matter how hard I try. I knew this as the souls of the past whispered secrets into my mind showing me locations and faces of people I had never met. This had once been a comfort as we could always tune into the soul waves, and know we were never alone for we could always find each other within the blink of an eye. Now it was of a more sinister form leaving me constantly checking over my shoulder listening as they came closer and closer to my location.
I have not seen my own kind for many centuries not since the Egyptian Empire, but our influence can be seen throughout all of time in any culture who worshiped the gods, and told stories of ones who walked the earth never dying, living forever. Those times are long over as this new age has begun believing in science instead of putting faith in the mystical powers that still haunt the Earth. We are but remnants of a time long past, a time of powers long forgotten.
I still miss my companions even as I run from one, for death come to all except for us; and to become invested in human life is to lead to devastation as they constantly creep closer to death. To prevent a repeat of my past from occurring, I distanced myself and watched as the human race flourished no longer needing our guidance and help.
I can remember a time long ago when we once walked among them as friends and family. There was no fear in their eyes. Many years past as we lived among them, and they began to notice our eternal youthfulness as they withered and aged. They began to notice the inconsistencies in our appearances as we never changed forever frozen in time. This would eventually lead us to the beginning of the greatest tragedy to ever befall us, one that would never end.
Soon they began to fear us, and turned against us. One night when I and Raziel had stayed with the tribe as the rest went out on a hunt, I awoke to screams coming from outside of the cave that we resided in which was separate from the rest of the tribe. Rushing out, I became frozen in horror as I viewed the grisly sight before me. Lying before me, Raziel lay prone on the ground. He had been murdered. A tribesman had snapped his neck. In death, Raziel lay unseeing and peaceful as compared to the little brother I knew who had always been full of energy never able to sit still.
At some point I must have fallen asleep as I was awoken by a scream that pierced the night sky. Turning in the direction it came from I saw Azrael sobbing over the dead form of her husband making sounds similar to that of a dying animal.
Turning to me with her hair covering her eyes, I heard her whisper, “Who is responsible for this?”, and to this day I wish I had never spoken as to what would occur would forever haunt me.
Unable to choke out the words I uttered contortedly, “The humans, they came.”
Suddenly her head jerked up, and I saw that the effects of madness had overtaken her as a crazed glint shone in her eyes. She was no longer the woman I had once known.
Abruptly she attacked me screaming, “Why did you not save him? His death is on your hands, his blood drips from your fingers. You could have saved him! Now I will take vengeance on you, and the ones responsible; but you will have a fate far worse than death. You will know for eternity that you could have saved him, and gradually this knowledge will drive you insane; and eventually you will join me in the destruction of humanity; but for now… I will kill the ones who have committed this atrocity.”
Unexpectedly, I saw her fist coming towards my head, and being unable to dodge she slammed me in the back of my head with a resounding crack which left me dizzy and lying on the ground. I watched her walk away as if in a dream, but unable to conjure up any reason as to why I needed to stop her. I began to crawl after only for my vision to begin to darken until I could see no more.
I awoke to the cawing of crows in the distance. Remembering what had occurred I began running towards the river where the tribe had recently moved to. Once I arrived, it was already too late. Strewn throughout the clearing lay the bodies of the tribe each had been mangled in some unspeakable way. Unable to look upon my fallen countryman any longer, I turned. As I looked upon the sunset, I saw a figure standing before me upon the crest of a hill. She had an aura of red surrounding her spreading her killing intent throughout the air. Cackling could be heard as she turned towards me for the final time for many centuries. She was painted in blood dying her once blonde hair a ghastly red as I watched it drip from her slight frame. Turning from me, she began to walk away until I could no longer see her, her form disappearing in the distance.
Despairingly, I began to look for my other companions fearing for their deaths. I eventually found them returning from the hunting trip they had left on before the murderous occurrences. As if from a dream, I wobbled towards them crying tears of joy before collapsing into Michael’s waiting arms. They all began to question me on what had occurred before Michael hushed them, and told them to give me some room.
“My sister, what has befallen you that has left you in such a state?” he asked me gently while rubbing my back reassuringly.
Quietly I whispered to him, “A mad demon stalks the Earth looking for revenge in the blood of her victims. She will paint the world in red, our brother, Raziel, is dead.”
A hush fell upon them as they learned of his fate, for we had never experienced the pain of loss, and this had hit us terribly; for now, we knew we could die. Raziel was no longer among us, and Azrael had been driven mad. We were but seven. What worried us the most that moment though was not for Azrael, the humans, or even for ourselves it was for Raziel’s soul.
We were the first of creation or as we like to call it the practice run; and we were made with no souls. It had not been deemed necessary when were we so few, and when we were created to never experience death; but now we wondered where we would go. Would we go into the void, and simply cease to exist; or would we continue on as we once were without access to our dead bodies? There were many other ways, but we hoped for the best for Raziel’s sake.
Brokenly, Cassiel began to sing a song of death, of remembrance, and of life to remember our fallen brethren. She wove a tale of untold years of fortitude with us always by his side, and no matter where we are we will always carry him within our hearts. She sung into the wee hours when the sun just kissed the horizon telling us of a new day to come.
Gently picking me up off of the ground where I had been resting, Michael began to carry me back to our encampment. Resting my head upon his shoulder I was soon asleep.
I heard a voice calling me back into wakefulness. Opening my eyes, I saw it to be none other than Abathar Muzania, or Aba for short. I had apparently slept through the night as once again the stars were before me.
Leaning forward, he whispered, “We are preparing for the burning of Raziel. You need to awaken, and join the rites. I will try to weigh his soul as I have never performed this on a soulless one I do not know if this will work.”
Shocked, I stared at him it had been many years since he had practiced his art as it had fallen out of habit with the humans filling their hearts with grief if they learned his or her life had not been lead well.
“Give me a moment to compose myself. I will be out in a minute.”
“Gabriel, take your time. Raphael had been unable to heal his body, so we have shrouded him so we will remember him as he once was; and not as he is now.”
At this he took his leave. I sat with only my thoughts for company for many minutes until I decided it was time, time to say goodbye. Readying myself for what was to come, I began to walk towards the clearing. I noticed that upon my arrival all of my remaining family was huddled around Raziel pyre standing solemnly together, all except for one, Abaddon. I sat there watching him until he finally noticed my scrutiny. His eyes, they were dead. They were the same as Azrael’s had been. The only difference was that the madness had not overtaken him as of yet, but I would tread carefully for I would wish that experience upon no one.
Abaddon had been the closest to Azrael. They had always shared a deep bond, closer to each other than the rest of us. This bond had only been rivaled by Azrael’s love for Raziel, but now they were both gone; and I was worried for him. Among the humans, they had been called twins for they were so alike, and one was never far from the other. They could communicate with naught but body language which would leave the rest of us in the dark with their private jokes.
In his eyes, I also saw the question of why, why was I left, and when is she coming back? Unable to answer him, I walked to where the rest of our dwindling ground stood. I was the last to arrive as the ritual began.
Aba began to form a scale out of the earth from which we all were fashioned. Cautiously, he lifted his delicate creation over the covered form of Raziel’s body, and chanted, “methericanta remiscica”, repeatedly until finally the scale began to move. The scale began to minutely move until the left side was lower than the right telling us he had moved on in peace lifting a giant weight of our shoulders.
In a commanding voice Aba announced, “He has been weighed well. He has returned home in high favor. Now, Maalik, cleanse his body of his worldly sins.”
Maalik lit the pyre with his summoned hellfire. It shown bright through the night until morn was upon us, and as the light of day touched him for the last time he shattered. His ashes spread across the wind carrying with it a warning of the future that only my eyes could see, as it was a message through time.
In this message, I saw ten trees in a row. One was blackened and twisted as if from rot, one was hanging and broken as if the years had finally caught up with it, another had been cut down leaving naught but a stump, two were twisted so tightly together they looked to be one tree, and five stood tall and proud against time with only their braches weaving together. Sluggishly, I returned to my present time never to speak of this to any mortal soul. For I am the messenger, and time tells none what cannot be witnessed through time itself only giving you warning of what was to come.
Several millenniums passed after this, and we continued as before but smaller and more broken than previously, but we ignored the faults in our foundation that would eventually lead to the cracking of our small family. Eventually, we all split going our separate ways all-wishing for the solitude we had never had a chance to experience before. I journeyed to for many years going land to land with no path but the wind to guide. I experienced many wonders and great sorrows during my travels that left me no longer naïve to what my elder companions had sheltered me from while we walked among the human race.
In time, I think before the era of the Egyptian Empire. I began to hear tale of a monstrous demon who slain all who would dare cross her path leaving a trail of death following behind her, and an even greater being, that would protect her from all harm who left a wake of dead men in his wake as he accompanied her during her travels. Knowing this I assumed them my missing brother and sister, Azrael and Abaddon. I began to search for them to try to talk some sense into them only to find them among a sizable amount of tribesmen the size of which I had only seen among northern societies.
The tribesman worshiped them as gods building them great temples to show their wealth and power, and making them king and queen. I soon arrived in this country, and began to infiltrate their palace to observe them by taking on the guise of a royal servant. I wished to observe them as they were before their people to see if there was a glimmer of hope for their futures, but there was not. They ruled with a cruel hand once cutting off the head of a servant who had dared to look into their eyes.
Egypt was the name of the land they ruled. I had learned this from a fellow servant in the palace, and was a newly founded empire obsessed with growing power and land gained by conquering the surrounding countries, which lead to the deaths and enslavement of many. They were constantly at war incessantly looking for some unknown object or being. They had changed, and were no longer, as they once were. They were power hungry and mad.
I continued to watched until I one day grew tired of my deceit. I nobly rose from my kneeling position next to the throne, and unhurriedly walked to where I could stand eye level with my kin. A hush flew over the room at I looked upon their sacred faces as none but the priests were allowed to do. Upon my treasonous act, Azrael began to scrutinize me even as my features began to shift into my original face.
Pleadingly I beseeched them, “Azrael, Abaddon please end this injustice! Do you not see what you are doing? You have destroyed and taken over the race that we have watched and guided since the beginning of time. They are to me as if they were my own children as they once were to you. We watched them crawl, and watched them finally stand on their own two feet; and now you have reverted them to what they once were. They are now the children who crawl once again, and need our help to stand! You must forgive them for past grievances, for you cannot judge one bad apple and cut down the whole tree.”
Hissing Azrael stood before me, “Do you not remember what they did to my beloved, how they killed him for nothing more than our unchanging forms! That should have been you! You were the one who was always among them guiding them, loving them as your own kind! You should have died that night! I will make them you and they pay for what has been done from now till the end of time!”
“You cannot base all actions off of the brutality of one human, this is the beauty of the human race, and they are all so very diverse and unique. There is not one who is the mirror of another, and there will never be.”
“Hush, little sister,” Abaddon droned from his throne watching us argue with bored eyes, “Don’t you see, Azrael will bring perfection to this race making them subservient to us in all ways, and we will rule over all as we should”.
“Don’t you see what she has done to you, Abaddon? She has blinded you to the truth, and you will follow her into the abyss she will create! This will not end well for you, and I do not wish to be there to watch you burn. If you do not stop we will be forced to stop you.”
Azrael turned ominously to me, and prophesized, “You will ride upon the wings of death, and never stop running until the angel of destruction joins you at last”.
Then, Abaddon coldly stated, “Kill her”.
Shocked and struck with grief, that of which I had not known since the death of Raziel, I transported myself within a blink of an eye to my only sanctuary. Once an island it now sits as a coral reef swallowed the sea forever sunken beneath the waves. Panting from the exertion from my transporting, I collapsed to the ground numbingly going over what had just occurred. They had wished me dead, and did not care if I died. I knew we had to stop them; we were the only ones who could.
Sending out a message to my scattered kin, I told them it was time to gather to discus and urgent matter that would require all of us. Within the passing of an hour, Michael, Raphael, Cassiel, Aba, and Maalik appeared. Impassively, I told them of what had happened in Egypt. After I was finished with my report, Michael turned to me with a look of sympathy for he knew what had to occur. The others walked a little while away where he could check on me, as I had always been closer to him.
Compassionately he asked me, “Are you all right?”
With tears in my eyes, I nodded and quietly said, “You do know what must occur?”
“Yes, but it weighs heavy in my heart.”
I turned to him with a look of determination, “We must stop them.”
Michael and Raphael began planning as we tried to conjure up a way to stop them without killing her or Abaddon, as we could not survive the death of another. One night while our minds were leaden with thoughts of her betrayal, Maalik exclaimed solemnly, “I know a way!” We all turned expectantly to him.
“We can trap her in my realm of fire. Gabriel can shift forms into Raziel, and begin making appearances around the palace. Although,” he said turning to me“, you will have to make your appearance to be transparent. After a time, she will hear the rumors, and think it to be her beloved Raziel. She will wish to contact you, and one night you will appear before her, and ask her to repent of her sins; and meet you on Atlantis to revive you from the dead. While you try to influence her to come here, we will be here with a one way portal ready to my dimension ready and waiting to trap her there forever.”
We agreed to go through with this plan, and we put it into action within a fortnight. Once more, I returned to Egypt, but this time in the guise of a ghostly Raziel. After following Azrael around for many nights, she began pleading me to forgive her for his death saying she would take his place in a heartbeat if it meant he could live.
Upon this announcement, I crouched down to her and whispered as if but a rustle of wind, “Go to Atlantis for there you shall retrieve my body from the land of hellfire, and we will be together once more”. Slowly, I began to ease my form out of existence until I was invisible. I watched as she transported to Atlantis only to come across Maalik meditating in a clearing.
Without moving, he asked, “So you finally heard of how we can revive Raziel.”
“Yes”, she said reverently, “Now open the gate to the hellfire dimension!”
Without further ado, Maalik snapped his fingers. The Earth began to yawn open showing a road that lead to nowhere, and at the end, you could see the flickering of lights, the hellfire.
“Enter if you wish”, he uttered darkly.
Unafraid, she enters his dimension, and begins the trek to the end of the road. When she is halfway down, and unable to see us any longer I transform back into myself. Watching her saunter farther down the road, I hear a crack come from behind me. It was the breaking of a twig. Wary, I begin to watch for movement when suddenly a cry sounds.
“It’s a trap run Azrael!” Hearing the scrap of steel on steel, I spot Abaddon running out of the forest while drawing his sword.
Cursing, I turn to hold him off yelling over my shoulder, “Close the Gate!”, before he finally reached me and began to attack.
When we finally lock blades, Abaddon unemotionally states, “Back down little sister. I have no wish to kill you, but if you stand in my way, I will not hesitate.”
“I am sorry. I am not the as I once was, and I cannot step aside. This must be done,” I told him as I moved to parry his blade.
Yelling a war cry, I attacked with everything I had only for him to stop me short with a block, jarring my arms. Twisting out of the way, I made a quick feint to the right before making a slash across the left side of his face landing me first blood. It made a clean line through his left eye leaving him blinded. He retaliated with a slash that crossed my chest. Hearing a cry of sorrow, we both disengaged to see Maalik kneeling over where the portal used to be crying. He had done it. He had imprisoned Azrael.
In a rage, Abaddon began wildly attacking me until I began to run leaving Maalik and my family behind to keep them safe, as I knew that he was after me. To this day, I am still running, hiding from his rage where my family will not lose another, for I do not think we could take it.
Standing on the hill in the countryside in the year of our lord nineteen forty-six, I saw ten mailboxes one was black, one was broken, one was gone, and two were together as one, one stood with dents in it now, but still stood tall with the other four. This caused me to think of long ago when time had sent me a warning. It was the same message given to me all those years ago with trees, but now I understood.
The five who stood tall were Maalik, Raphael, Michael, Cassiel, and me. The one with the dents was I, but I still stood even after all the years. The two who were together were our “twins” Azrael and Abaddon. The one who was gone was over beloved Raziel. The one who had been broken was Abaddon, and the one that was black was Azrael as she had been driven insane. Time had told me our futures, but it was only now clear. This had been fated to happen.
It is time to move Abaddon draws near. I cannot linger for too long. He is closing in on me, and I cannot stop for I can wish no harm to befall him. If he were to kill me, Michael would scour the Earth to destroy him. Our chase must continue, for I am the messenger; and the messenger cannot fall. He draws closer… I must run.