03. Defetead?

Iuna lets out a cry of agony as Desmon's axe penetrates her body. She falls to her knees, her eyes filled with tears of pain and shock. Shandra, even though wounded, cries out in anguish as she witnesses the attack on her friend.

 

Desmon removes the axe from Eluna's body, smiling with satisfaction. He watches the two young women fallen before him, wounded and vulnerable.

 

"Now you will learn the price of defying a fallen angel," Desmon says, his voice full of disdain and triumph.

 

Shandra, despite having to hold her own pain steady, struggles to stand up. She stares at Desmon with determination.

 

"You won't win," she says, her voice embittered with pain. "Who do you think you are? Some god, by any chance? I think it's good to get off that pedestal while you're facing me."

 

Desmon laughs, a cold, cruel laugh.

 

"Listen here, you insignificant thing. Despite the many tricks, which I must say are extremely boring and tedious, none of you are pariahs to me.The sooner you accept certain defeat, the more merciful I will be...Or not," he teases.

 

Shandra, despite not wanting to, begins to take a few steps backwards. Genuine fear takes over her limbs, as does a slight trembling in her feet, though she knew that yes, she was as strong as he was.

 

The handsome man begins to move even closer, looking bigger and more fearsome than ever. His neck and arms full of veins make him utterly menacing.

 

"So, Shandra, is now when you start screaming for help? Who will come to you?"

 

The young woman wants to scream, but in defiance, not for help. She opens her mouth and then finds that her voice just doesn't come out.

 

What was happening? Why was all that fear taking over her?

 

With the corner of her eye, Shandra notices a faint white light shining on Eluna's ugly open carving, courtesy of Desmon's own cruel axe. The luminosity is subtle, almost translucent. Could it be something purposeful so that the man would not notice what she was doing? Clever girl.

 

"What is it, little Shandra? Don't tell me you're... afraid?"

 

He opens a smile so big, so cruel, it is very reminiscent of the unexpected smiles filled with exaggerated evil; the same devilish smiles he saw on the faces of his two princes.

 

Once again, Shandra tries to assume a more haughty, more courageous posture, but fails. Sweat now runs cold down the skin of her back, causing both of her arms to shiver.

 

Desmon laughs once more before speaking:

 

"Very well. No resistance, then? This is going to be a lot easier than I thought."

 

"Don't touch her," Eluna whispers, weakening, slowly getting up.

 

She could heal herself too... and quite quickly, apparently.

 

"More tricks?!" he grumbles, irritated. "Is it possible that you won't just lie down and die? How can you be so stubborn?!"

 

With her spirits a little more renewed at seeing Eluna up and well, or as well as she could stand, Shandra raises her sword. Behind Desmon, Eluna raises both hands, leaving her palms wide exposed.

 

"Shall we finish him off once and for all?", Sam's girlfriend allows herself to let out a chuckle, despite her latent panic.

 

Eluna doesn't match the giggle, preferring to concentrate on the magic that was building up between her fingers. Blue lightning, tiny bolts of lightning that fluttered like streamers in the wind.

 

"What a joke," grumbles the angel.

 

Then he simply shoves the axe into the ground, opening a crack where the two sides of the blade break the ground.

 

"What are you doing?" whispers Shandra.

 

Desmon's eyes begin to turn as red as blood. His white wings spread open.

 

"Now you will understand who you have messed with, you insignificant vermin."

 

Dark red flames begin to fall behind him, very reminiscent of the small embers that Sam and Julian summoned when they were concentrating their own power. Desmon's debauched expression disappears, giving way to an unbelievable seriousness.

 

This was nothing, nothing good.

 

A spell. That was what the fallen angel was about to do. And probably the potential for destruction was too great.

 

Eluna takes a deep breath, trying to strengthen her beams even more before finally releasing them. After all, a quick but weak attack, just at that moment, could literally be the end for both of them.

 

Shandra, in pure desperation, begins to create a thin, translucent barrier on both Eluna and herself, praying that the power would be enough to protect them from the impact of whatever that attack was.

 

But as Desmon concentrates to finally annihilate them, from the shadows, as if he had simply opened a hole in space-time, a hooded figure appears...

 

And the stranger attacks Desmon from behind, with a flame very similar to the one Shandra had seen months before, on a dark and frightening night...

 

The fallen angel is taken by surprise, his eyes going wide before he loses his balance and falls to the ground.

Shandra and Eluna look incredulously at the mysterious figure that has just saved their lives. They both flinch.

 

A hero? Or just a new opponent they should face?

 

Shandra dries the sweat from her forehead, paying attention not only to the defeated angel, but also to the stranger. She instinctively starts to protect the rear of the woman beside her.

 

The hooded man approaches them and lowers his hood in one swift motion, revealing a familiar face.

 

Coppery eyes, smooth, fair skin, an unshaven beard, coppery eyes, an aristocratic nose, and the hottest lips she had ever kissed in her entire life: these were the features of her savior.

 

"Sam!" exclaims Eluna, her voice full of surprise and relief.

 

Sam smiles at them, but his expression is tense.

 

"No time for explanations now," he says quickly. "We need to get out of here before more fallen angels arrive. Julian is waiting outside, he has an escape plan."

 

Shandra and Eluna stand up with difficulty, leaning on each other as they follow Sam toward the exit of the shed. Blood drips from their wounds, but the determination in their eyes remains unwavering.

 

They would get out of there... and finally be free of that martyrdom.