Chapter 2

The red eyes continued to haunt us through the worsening blizzard. Trembles wracked through my body but it was difficult to tell whether they were due to terror or the cold that permeated even the many layers encompassing me. The way that the wind battered us meant the thermals were about as effective as standing in the snow in only my birthday suit. The wind flew at us with intent, blowing so strong that each step forwards was a small battle.

“Lucius,” I gasped, squeezing his hand as tight as my gloves would allow while he relentlessly pulled us through the storm.

My words were swept away by the wind but the reassuring pressure of his hand around mine let me know that he was still there.

Thus we continued onwards and I hated it. Something about the unrelenting blindness set me on edge. We had been walking for what felt like hours and yet we had barely travelled anywhere at all. At least that’s what it felt like.

I stumbled forwards as my knees struggled to keep pushing my body forwards. Only the hands holding mine kept me upright. A second had barely passed before I tripped again but this time there was no catching my balance. My knees gave out and I tumbled onto the floor causing pain to course through my frozen body. My arms were wrenched in their sockets as I was painfully dragged a few feet across the frozen ground before the angels had even realised I wasn’t walking with them anymore.

In a second Lucius was sat beside me, using his thick gloves to brush the snow out of my face. It was pointless as within seconds flecks were sticking to my cheeks once more.  I tried to smile up at him but it wobbled and wavered before slipping off completely. I dropped my chin onto my chest and sighed.

“Come on Savannah, we can’t just sit here.” Lucius murmured in my ear, his hot breath creating painful tingles on my icy skin.

“But I’m tired Lucius and we are lost. You know that whatever is in that city it trying to keep us out.” I shouted back, my voice quickly getting swallowed by the wind’s howls.

 I hated that I was so weak. The entire situation just felt hopeless and bizarre which was a lot to take when I had only been living in this fantastical world for just over a year.

Lucius pressed his lips together and glanced over his shoulder at the impenetrable white beyond. When his eyes fell upon me once more, there was a glint in his gaze.  I knew the words before he had even spoken. The intent in his eyes told me enough. He would not leave me here to wallow in my own pity.

“I know Savannah but we have no choice. We HAVE to carry on.”

He pulled me to my feet and held me close to his side. His body warmth seeped through both of our clothes, warming me from the inside out. No doubt it was intentional but I revelled in the cosiness and distraction it provided. Nuzzling closer to him, I allowed him to pull me forwards.

And then it all stopped.

The sudden silence was unnerving. For so long we had been surrounded by the keening and howling of the blizzard, for too long the icy temperature had bitten at our skin and now it was gone. We all stilled, our feet halting our progress before we could even comprehend what was happening. Snow still whirled around us but we were in the eye of the storm, stuck in the quiet and stillness at the centre of the blizzard’s vortex.

Growls tore through the air then. They were terrifying, hitting us from all sides. Goosebumps formed over my flesh as those eyes which had been watching us for entire walk moved forwards, their predatory gleam growing brighter as the pack of hellish beasts surrounded us, drawing closer with each second.

Immediately the men and women of our group formed a circle, all of us back to back. Bright glowing angel blades shone brightly in the weak light that was filtering through the gaps of the storm clouds above.

Lucius nudged my arm. Tearing my eyes away from the red orbs floating around us, I tried to shake away the mental image of snarling salivating beasts just waiting out of sight as I let my gaze drift up to meet his. He nudged my arm again before nodding at his own hand which held his shining sword.

The abilities that they possessed still amazed me – the same abilities that I had come to possess. The blade was unlike any other blade I had seen. It was formed completely out of will and was sharper and deadlier than any mortal blade. Though I was still confused how each of us could create an angel blade when we were all far from being angels.

Nodding in assent, I closed my eyes in an attempt to calm myself. Inhaling deeply, I shook my hand as it adjusted the very real weight of my sword when it materialised in my hands. I would never get used to that particular skill – it probably had something to do with my very human heritage. I breathed out and relaxed into fighting stance. Whatever happened we would go down fighting.

With bated breaths and bodies tense we all watched and waited.

The growls, the snarling and the snapping grew louder and louder until it was just a huge cacophony ringing in my ears.  I winced and drew myself upright as I tried to keep my eyes on every creature in my line of vision. However there were more than twenty creatures which meant that we were seriously outnumbered. Unless of course each had four eyes - not a completely implausible thought considering what some of the demons in hell looking like.

“ENOUGH.” The voice rang out over us all, shaking the very floor beneath my feet.

The growls cut off abruptly, like someone had pressed the pause button. The wind died away and the blizzard disappeared with a last angry flutter.

I blinked. And then I blinked again.

The terrifying beasts who had been stalking us through the snow were now sat on their haunches, craning their heads back while scaled tails wagged excitedly back and forth.  To make it worse, I felt a hysterical giggle escape my lips when I noted their lack of stature. Each of the fallen cussed and berated themselves under their breaths.

“What are they?” I questioned.

I didn’t mean to shout but even though the winds had disappeared, I could still hear them howling in my ears. I would probably be hearing them for a long while yet. I rubbed my ear and eyed the small creatures with a wary gaze.

They were kind of cute in the scaled puppy kind of way – if one didn’t mind the forked tongue that slipped easily from their open mouths or those blood coloured irises that never blinked or wavered.

“Hellions,” Lucius murmured in response. He crouched down beside me and held his hand out to the one closest to him. The little beastie with its silver and grey scales hopped forwards and nuzzled its short snout into him palm with a pleasant hum. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it.” He laughed as the little beast changed to a dusty pink hue as it burrowed further into Lucius’ caress. “They’re like the Chihuahuas of the demon world. But I have absolutely no idea why they’re here. They usually hate the cold – it’s why they like Tartarus so much. ”

He spun on his heel, his gaze snapping to the right, towards the large city whose boundary wall was sitting only meters away.

“And I have no clue why they stopped.” Lucius murmured, tilting his head all the way back in an attempt to see what was on the very top.

“You may not,” Castiel cut in. His voice was barely more than a stiff whisper as he used his free hand to rub as his reddened nose. “But he does.”

The unveiled contempt lacing the man’s voice was enough to bring my attention away from the vast wall that stretched too high and too wide in every direction.

Craning my neck around to see the object of his ire, I felt my breath pulled from my lungs. And there he was. The man that we had braved freezing temperatures, blazing winds and ridiculously large egos for was standing only a few meters away. He looked older than he ever had at Satani Media; Mephistopheles appeared to have one foot in the grave. His face was gaunt and sallow, most of his white hair had fallen out and his limbs trembled to keep his body upright as he leaned heavily against a black cane.  And yet there was a power about him that he hadn’t worn before. It was in the eyes. No longer was he elderly office man Phil Watson. He was a demon with a millennia’s worth of knowledge and memories shining bright in those sinfully intelligent eyes.

He was a walking contradiction but he was our only hope.  

“Phil.” I whispered, drawing a shaky smile from the old man.

Lucius snapped out of his stupor and took a step towards his ex-employee only to halt when every little creature sat around us doubled in size and their scales turned a soulless black as they trained their attention on him.

Phil hadn’t even batted a lash at the tension. He clicked his fingers and gestured to the ground at his feet, drawing the faithful pets back to the side of their master.  His eyes were trained solely on Lucius as he did so, though it was difficult to know exactly was going through his mind.

It was bizarre. There was stand-off between us - Phil and his pets stood on one side of the line and me and a bunch of fallen angels on the other.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why do think?” Lucius retorted as he lazily drew shapes in the ground with his sword.

“You should be back in England. If you don’t fix this soon it will be too late. It might already be too late.” Phil’s attention drifted into the distance and his eyes turned glassy.

“What on earth is that supposed to mean?” I muttered, rubbing my hands up and down my arm to try and get some warmth and feeling into my limbs.

“Never mind that. We shouldn’t be out in the open, even out here. Follow me.”

Phil clucked his tongue, apparently recovered from his momentary lapse of mental clarity, and led our group towards the white wall which sealed the city away from the rest of the world. As he stepped closer, the air rippled a meter away from the wall. A shudder moved through the earth beneath our feet and the icy ground opened up, revealing a small cramped staircase which went down into the ground and underneath the city wall.

With a sharp glance over his shoulder he nodded his head at us. He disappeared from sight mere seconds afterwards, his scaly little friends following eagerly at his heels. I looked to the others in our group. They all wore slightly different expressions but the resignation in their very posture had me turning back to the creepy staircase with a sigh.

Mephistopheles knew more than we did and we desperately needed answers. So one by one, we all filed into the hole, quickly becoming engulfed in darkness and the icy walls. The earth rumbled when the last of our group descended into the darkness, the stair way disappeared behind us as the cold biting air was cut off as the entrance closed. Doubts crept in but the ground sealed up behind us with a definite crack. We all knew that there was no going back.