Chapter Two: Uriel

Fighting through the pain of the knife wound in his left side, Uriel forced himself to his feet. He quickly oriented himself. The battle was still raging outside the cave.

Gritting his teeth, forcing himself to ignore the pain, Uriel removed the six-inch blade from his side and let it fall beside the dead, three-armed demon that had put it in him.

Placing his hand to his side, he leaned against the crimson rock of the cave wall to stay on his feet. Concentrating, he heated his hand until the skin beneath his palm began to sizzle and burn.
Uriel screamed.

The bleeding stopped.
He exhaled rapidly, as the pain faded. He needed to get back out there. The children. What about the children?

He quickly turned around and was relieved to see the thirty-some-odd children he had rescued and secured here before the battle became too intense. They all cowered at the rear of the cave, looking to Uriel as though he had become a threat. They huddled together, some of them crying silently.

A blast of fire impacted above the mouth of the cave, causing the kids to scream suddenly in terror. Uriel flinched, quickly looking back to the battle outside. A Dorager, massive and winged, screeched a terrifying cry of hunger as it flew by, too large to enter the cave. Uriel almost cussed; it knows we’re here.

He looked back to the children. “Stay here.” He instructed, “Be quiet.”
The kids didn’t answer, but the fear in their eyes was enough. Uriel, who stood at just under seven feet, ducked to exit the cave.

He had seconds to survey the battlefield; Odin’s Valkyrie Order had arrived, but their presence wasn’t doing much to turn the tide. The Valkyrie were effective against demons they had encountered before. These mammoth beasts, all instinct, no intelligence, and at least fifteen in number, were new. Some of them had been brought down, but not nearly enough to offset the tide; their roars shook the land of Eden, and they easily bent and swooped to pick up and devour everything they came across. Children ran, screamed, hid, and died; the young adults fought valiantly and died, those who had come to their defense did their best, and died. Formerly green grass was now soaked red, and crystallized corpses of the dead lay as far as the eye could see.

As long as someone was still alive, Uriel would hold ground here. He looked up to acknowledge the descending shriek of the returning Dorager. As he did, it opened its colossal jaws.
Standing at the opening of the cave, Uriel crossed his arms before his face protectively.

The fire hit him with the force of a heated battering ram and knocked him back, but did not burn; the training had paid off. The Dorager saw that its fire had no effect and intensified its blast, landing directly in front of Uriel and raining down its impossible napalm.

The force alone was enough to force Uriel back, but he maintained his footing. Beneath the terrible din of the fire he heard the demon roar in frustration. Somewhere in the distance, two swords clashed and a woman screamed in rage.

The fire stopped suddenly. Uriel lowered his arms and looked ahead; it flashed through his mind that he could only see the neck of the Dorager. The head was gone…

It grew quickly and ominously dark above him. As Uriel looked up, he saw jaws leading to an abyss descending upon him. He had no time to move.

As the Dorager’s mouth struck the ground, Uriel instinctively crouched, reaching out and slapping his palms against the upper and lower parts of the jaw, even as it closed upon him.

Uriel closed his eyes, desperately fighting off the invasive fear that he was about to be swallowed whole. The jaws tightened around him and the sky slowly vanished. He attempted to superheat his palms, but the Dorager didn’t notice. With Uriel firmly in its mouth, the Dorager raised its head from the ground and began rocking backwards, attempting to swallow…

Uriel awoke violently and bolted upright from the massive branch he had been sleeping on. Enveloped in a cold sweat and nearly hyperventilating, he rested a hand on his head and got himself under control. The battle was only fourteen days past; the nightmares were still fresh.

Peering out of the open space in the concealment the tree provided, Uriel realized that it was morning. Time to move.
Uriel stood up, looking down the ground twenty feet below. He scanned the immediate area; he appeared to be alone. He hopped down and landed silently to avoid detection.

As he stood up, he felt the presence behind him and immediately turned around. As he did, he repressed the sense of horror that crept up. Standing before him, dressed in the infallibly white robe that marked their order, was a Seraphim soldier. This one was younger than most.

“I’m not going back.” Uriel said flatly.
“I am not here to arrest you.” The seraphim returned calmly.
This struck Uriel as odd, and for a moment he didn’t say anything.
“I am to deliver a message.” The seraphim informed him.
Uriel clenched a fist. Skipping right to the execution, are we?

“What message?” He growled in a challenging manner.
Without hesitation or fear, the seraphim removed a folded piece of paper bearing Yang’s seal from within his sleeve and approached Uriel, who accepted it. He broke the seal and read over it, unsure what to think; it was an invitation to appear at Asgard in three days, if he could make the journey.

“What is this about?” Uriel asked, looking back to the Seraphim. The soldier exuded no emotion. “I am not privy to that knowledge, sir. I’m only to pass you the invitation. I am also to inform you that your arrival will result in the forgiveness of your crimes.”
Surprised, Uriel looked up. The seraphim was gone.

Next Chapter: Gabriel

Previous Chapter: Michael

---