There was a sudden blaze of light, and a blast so powerful it knocked both Angels from the sky and sent them tumbling to the razor-sharp, jagged rocks below. They tore flesh and feathers as they skidded slowly to a stop, and when they looked up, they saw Tribunal standing before them in a blaze of light. Tribunal, the most beautiful of all, the most powerful of all.
Instantly, Nyx felt all her love for Tribunal – for the man and the God – come blazing to life inside her. She pulled herself to her knees. “Forgive me, Tribunal. Please forgive me!”
“Forgive you?” said Tribunal. He reached down and put His hand on her head. The touch of him, alive, real, and pure divine flesh, sent a tremor of pleasure through her so strong she started gasping. “Why must I forgive you, my love?”
“I couldn’t do it,” said Nyx. “The Angel. I couldn’t kill her. I didn’t even want to kill her. Please, I didn’t know.”
“There is no reason to beg forgiveness,” said Tribunal. “As soon as the Angel came into this world, I felt her. I knew then that you would not be able to kill her, as I had requested.”
“I am so, so sorry,” said Nyx, tears streaming down her face. “So sorry.”
“Nyx?” said Persephone. “What’s the matter?”
“Be silent,” said Tribunal to Persephone. “Nyx is my servant, my lover and my queen and she has the right to speak in my presence. You do not.”
“Fuck you,” said Persephone. “I’ve talked to God himself.”
“I AM GOD HIMSELF!” The word echoed through Hell, and the force of it sent Persephone to her knees. “I am made from Him, I am of Him, and I am Him! And you will be silent, or I will order you to dismember yourself with your own sword, and you will do it.”
Persephone believed hHm. She looked at Nyx, waiting to see what to do next.
“I have only a short time here, my beloved,” said Tribunal to Nyx. “Only a short time before God the Father realizes I am gone, and calls on me to account for my whereabouts. You must listen to me.”
“I listen, my beloved.”
“Lucifer has taken your Angel, and holds her in your palace,” said Tribunal. “He tortures her mercilessly. He rapes her, he cuts her, and he makes her scream, just to enjoy the sound of it. You must rescue her.”
“But…” Nyx was still weeping and couldn’t stop. “I still can’t sacrifice her.”
“No need, my beloved,” said Tribunal. “You do not need to sacrifice your Angel. That will not happen here.”
“Oh, thank you,” whispered Nyx. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, beloved.”
“Time is short,” said Tribunal. “Gather your forces, bring them together and launch an assault on your palace. I shall go protect your Angel until you arrive.”
“I hear, my beloved,” said Nyx. “I obey.”
Tribunal’s light blazed brighter, and vanished. For the first time since her return, Nyx could sense all of Hell. She could feel every Angel in it, and knew that Lucifer could feel her as well.
“So,” said Persephone. “He’s an asshole, isn’t he?”
Nyx knocked Persephone to the ground with a single swipe of her hand. Persephone hit hard and lay there, stunned. “Don’t,” warned Nyx. “Don’t ever speak of Him in that way again.”
“All right,” Persephone slowly pushed herself upright. Even though He is an asshole.
“He said he’d protect her until we can get our troops ready,” said Nyx. “So we get our troops.” She pointed. “The City of Iswednokkurn. There are a thousand Angels here who will serve me, and the rest will probably just stay out of the way. We go there, we get troops, and we do it in a hurry.”
Tribunal’s presence was in Hell again, and once more Nyx could not feel anything else. “He’s there! He’s protecting my Angel! Hurry, Persephone!”
Nyx launched herself and Persephone, taking a moment to wipe the silver blood from where Nyx had split her lip and another to swallow her own misgivings, followed.
Iswednokkurn stood on the edge of a tall black crag overlooking the plains of Hell. The screams of the damned were audible from there, but only barely: a continuing discordance that grated in the mind as one walked the streets.
How did I ever like it down here? Nyx wondered as she went from house to house. There’s none of the abundance, beauty and enterprise of earth. No music.
She didn’t need to do much persuading of Angels. As son as they saw she had returned, they flocked to her, black or red armor on, swords and whips at the ready. They had been sorely abused by Lucifer, and more than one had surrendered themselves to him, swearing loyalty to end their suffering. But none of that mattered now. The Queen of Hell was returned, and her Angels were loyal to her once more. Together they would crush Lucifer, and put Hell to rights.
Persephone was made Nyx’s second in command. The captains of her army assembled together and heard her instructions. There would be no time for strategy, no devious plan. The longer they took, the more warning Lucifer would have, so speed won over strategy. “We fly in straight,” said Nyx. “We drive through his armies to my palace and I tear Lucifer limb from limb. And once he is destroyed, then I will once more rule in Hell.”
And in Paradise, too, Nyx thought. If Tribunal will still let me.
A thousand dark Angels gathered around her, weapons ready, thirsting for blood. Nyx looked over her army, knowing it would be dwarfed by the legions that Lucifer would send at them. It doesn’t matter, Nyx told herself. We don’t need to defeat his armies, just break through them. Once I’ve defeated Lucifer, Hell will be mine once more.
“Follow,” she said, and spread her wings wide. She hurled herself into the sky and her black-winged army followed after.
She lay in a small black cell, buried deep in the bowels of Lucifer’s castle. Her wings were torn off, and one of her arms missing. Lucifer took great delight in watching them grow back, then tearing them off again. She, unable to resist his strength, let him. Her mind was rage.
The door to her cell flew open, and a dozen demons swarmed over her, biting her flesh and ripping out chunks as they forced her to the ground. One, larger than the others, kicked her in the head until her skull split and ichor spilled out. She lost consciousness.
In Nyx’s throne room, Epipheneia hung, still and silent, staring at Lucifer and the being beside him who had so much power.
“Why are we waiting?” Lucifer demanded. “Why not kill the little bitch and get it over with?”
“Because her creator must be here to see her death,” said Tribunal. “Even now she has assembled an army of Angels and is coming to fight you.”
“How is this good news?” asked Lucifer.
“Your army vastly outnumbers hers.”
“With Nyx that’s not necessarily enough,” said Lucifer. “That bitch is wily.”
“That bitch,” said Tribunal, “Wants the little bastard creature she created.” He walked over to the Angel. “Poor thing. Not of Heaven, not of Hell. An Angel of Earth. Useless everywhere.”
“That poor thing killed a dozen of mine,” said Lucifer. “I’d be careful if I were you.”
“I don’t need to be careful, do I?” said Tribunal to Epipheneia. “You won’t hurt me because you know who I am, don’t you?”
“I know who You were made from,” said Epipheneia in her lovely, melodic voice. “And I know who You think you are. But You are not him.”
“Look!” said Tribunal, pointing at her in mock surprise. “She has some knowledge after all.” He sneered. “Tell me: who do I think I am?”
“You think you are God,” said Epipheneia serenely. “You are not. And when you try to destroy Him, He will destroy You instead.”
Tribunal slapped her across the face, hard enough to twist her head half off her neck. Epipheneia didn’t make a sound. She turned back to the front and once more stared at them.
“You will not speak,” Tribunal said. “Or I will be very displeased!”
“You’re going to kill me anyway,” sai
d Epipheneia. “Why should I care about Your displeasure?”
“Because death can take a very, very long time,” said Tribunal. “Once the ritual is complete, Lucifer can take as long as he wishes with you. He may rape you, dismember you, dine on your flesh if he wants. He will be able to do whatever he wishes, just as long as you never leave this hall again. So be silent.”
Epipheneia’s blue eyes bored deeper into Tribunal’s brown ones. “You lie,” she said. “You’ve always lied. There is only one way for me to die in this ritual and we both know it, little Godling.” There was a hint of mockery in her voice, but only a hint. Her expression remained grave and calm.
Tribunal glared at her, then turned to Lucifer. “She is astute, I’ll give her that. Are your armies in place?”
“All of them,” said Lucifer.
“Good. Because Nyx is almost on top of you.”
“What?”
“Even now she is winging towards the palace,” said Tribunal. I suggest your armies rise up. Now.”
Lucifer spun and shouted at the Angel near the door. “Tell them to go! All of them! Now!”
The Angel ran from the room. A moment later a horn rang out, then another, then a hundred.
In the skies of Hell, Nyx and a thousand Angels winged toward her palace.
Her palace had not been built for defense. She had built it long after the wars in Hell had ended and Lucifer and his minions were under her control. It had been built to frighten the souls who came to it for judgement, and to provide pleasure for the Angels who stayed in it. There were huge windows open to the night, what went on inside visible to all. The rooms were large enough to fly in, and many large enough for a dozen Angels to have sex in mid-air while they did. The palace would be easy to take, hard to defend, and the closer Nyx came to it before they met resistance, the easier it would be for her to reach Lucifer and gut him.
A horn sounded. Then another, then a hundred, and below her, the black plains of Hell swirled into life as the wings of a hundred thousand Angels leapt into the air and charge upward to meet Nyx’s small force.
“Faster!” Nyx screamed. “Faster! Get to the palace!”
From below Lucifer’s forces, a hundred times stronger than Nyx’s, rose up and engulfed them.
She came conscious as they dragged her into the throne room.
“About time,” said Lucifer.
“Where do you want her?” asked one of the demons.
“Against the wall, where the Angel was. And hurry up, I want her to be the first thing that bitch sees when she get here.”
They dragged her up to the wall, and drive Hell-stone spikes through her arms and legs, pinning her.
Lucifer’s Legions rose up like a tide to meet Nyx’s Angels.
Nyx had planned for this, of course. She knew that Lucifer would bring all his armies to bear. And so the Angels around her dropped down a hundred feet, forming a wall between her and the ones rising up. The air below became a maelstrom of silver blood, severed limps, flashing blades and cracking whips. It would not last, Nyx knew. There were too many attacking for her band to do more than buy her an extra few hundred feet towards her palace.
It’s less than half a mile away, Nyx thought. Out loud she cried, “Press forward! Don’t pause or look back! Keep forward!”
Then the Angels below broke through, and her world was reduced to the chaos of battle.
Persephone stayed just behind Nyx, keeping a squad of Angels together to help protect Nyx’s back as she winged forward.
We’d be fine, Persephone thought, If we weren’t outnumbered a hundred to one.
And it was true. She had been one of the best fighters in the 6th, and these Angels who rose up around her now were no match for her. Again and again her blade struck through armor, smashed through faces and severed limbs and heads. Again and again her whip found eyes, wings and flesh to rip open. And every time an Angel fell screaming as its blood and ichor exploded from its body or the gaping hole where its head used to be, another Angel was there to take its place. They were unending, and were it not for the power of Nyx in front of them, they would have been forced from the sky.
Nyx slashed out with her blade and whip, not bothering to defend herself. Her power, grown so much from her encounters with Tribunal, made it seem as though the armor and flesh of the angels around her was as frail as tissue paper. Every cut hit its target, breaking Angelic steel and crashing through armor to rip open flesh. Every crack of her whip tore wings and flesh open and sent Angels hurtling from the sky. Even so, there were so many of them that she could not help but slow down. They blocked her way entirely, trying to reach her with blades and whips and howling in frustration as their attacks were ignored and Nyx kept moving slowly forward.
Below her, her escort was being destroyed. Hundreds of Angels from both sides were dropping from the sky, pulping their bodies on the jagged Hell-stone below, becoming temporary feasts for the demons who cavorted, waiting for them to hit, and then swarming over their broken bodies.
None of them would die, of course. Nothing died here. But having to regenerate inside a demon’s digestive tract was slow and painful and likely to take a hundred years.
There was a shout from in front of them, and the hundred-thick wall of Angels between Nyx and her palace parted, scattering away from Nyx’s much-reduced force like leaves scattering in the wind.
Then another flight of Angels, five thousand strong.
“Oh, fuck,” moaned Persephone. “It’s the 666th. Everyone get ready!”
The 666th smashed into Nyx’s force like a like a giant cast of falcons stooping on their prey, driving them down. Even Nyx’s power, which hacked through three of the attackers in a single blow, was not enough to keep them from being driven down toward the earth. Nyx realized that fighting was futile and screamed “Dive! Dive!” She put deed to word, stooping herself and racing toward the ground then pulling out to speed along a hundred feet below her attackers.
For a moment it seemed to be working. Then the legion descended on her again, mashing into her with their bodies even as she broke their weapons and ripped open their flesh, driving her towards the earth. It was less than 200 yards to the castle, now, and for every foot she flew she was being driven down ten. Soon she, too, would be smashed against the ground, and then the demons of Hell would fight over the scraps of flesh from their queen’s body.
A scream from above and Persephone, leading a flight of fifty Angels, smashed into the ranks of the 666th, buying Nyx a little more time, giving her a little more room to fly forward. More silver blood flew from the sky. More Angels crashed to the ground to be devoured. More limbs and wings and heads flew off as the two sides battled against one another.
Then the tide turned again as, from below and behind, the other hundred thousand Angels of Lucifer’s legions closed in around them.
The palace was gone from sight, now. Nyx could see nothing but red and black armor and the flapping wings of those that attacked. Her world was reduced to the length of her whip and her blade. More bodies smashed into her, driving her down again and again, until she could see the ground beneath her and the demons that jumped up, trying to reach Angel flesh. Nyx screamed defiance, even as she knew that her strength was not enough, even as the Angels forced her down further, sacrificing bodies and limbs to drive her to the earth.
I can’t break through, she realized. I’m not going to save her.
The thought tore Nyx’s heart in half, even as it made her realize she had one weapon still at her disposal.
God will hear it. God will hear it and come and destroy me, Nyx thought.
If it lets me save Epipheneia, I don’t care.
She opened her mouth and spoke the Word.
The Word was all things. It was the essence of God and creation and birth. With it, one could shape the very fabric of the universes and make time itself twist to serve whoever spoke it.
It was also, when the speaker chose, the greatest force for destructio
n known.
It was the Word that had rained fire on Sodom and Gomorra, that had ripped open the molten core of the world so that rock would flow and become the continents. It was the Word that, before time itself, had cast the Angels from Heaven.
And when Nyx spoke the word, when she called on its power, she called for destruction, and nothing could stand before it.
The power of it exploded around her, and the shock of it ripped apart flesh and bone, rock and ground, Angel and demon as if all were just paper. The very foundations of Hell shook and the ground split in a hundred places, sending demons, Angels and souls into the Hellfire below. The blast of wind that that followed the shock had the force of a hundred hurricanes, scattering her enemies and allies alike, sending them spinning out of control to smash to the earth or be hurled far, far away.
When the dust cleared, Nyx was the only creature on the plains of Hell. And all of the power that she had gained from Tribunal was gone. She felt weak and exhausted in a way she never had before. Any Angel with a sword could have defeated her, had any been near. And she knew with certainty that the Word would never work for her again.
Forgive me, my Tribunal for giving up your gifts, she thought. I could not let them stop me.
But I am still Queen of Hell. And I will not be defeated here.
Sword in hand, Nyx rose from the earth and flew, an arrow of rage driving towards her palace. The walls of her palace were cracked and tilting, and holes appeared in them in a dozen places. She smashed through the doors before the Angels within could recover. She cleaved the flesh of any being that got in her way. She flew down the hallways faster than any creature had flown before.