Chapter 32

Panic. Chaos.

There was no clear way to define what happened next.  War had only just finished her speech before the crowd was once more in a panic. People fled, running as far and as fast as their feet would carry them away. I found myself knocked back a step as people pushed and shoved past me in an attempt to get away faster. I planted my feet and held my ground even as people bounced off of my wings.

There was so much confusion in those moments. My lack of height meant that I couldn’t see what was happening, couldn’t see what had everyone so panicked. I was forced to just stand there and try to fight the tide of people rushing towards us. I had to trust that the others would be able to stop this new threat. I could feel little hands brushing the inside of my wings, stroking the feathers gently. It was soothing and I wanted nothing more than to stand there and enjoy the feel of it.

Gunfire rent through the air so I clenching my jaw as I tried my best to ignore the sensation. Instead I kept my attention on War. The red head had allowed her body to age, looking fiercer and more like a warrior than her previous visage. She was sat on the edge of the stage, her eyes roving over the mania unfolding before her with childish glee. It was the first time that I actually thought that her smile was genuine. It was terrifying.

She was so involved in her entertainment that the horseman never noticed the arrival of two others on the stage. First I just saw the dark hair bobbing above the edge of the far side. The head looked left and right before the body made an appearance.  Gabriel held Binah’s hand as they climbed up on to the raised platform. Both kept as small as their bodies would allow as they edged carefully along the stage.  

My stomach churned. Even from this distance I could see that both of them had been hurt. Binah had claw marks across her face, her face already swelling underneath the bloody wounds, and yet she remained standing. There was an underlying weariness that still consumed her body but there was strength there too. Her eyes were focused on her kin. There was a rage unlike anything I had ever witnessed burning within them as she as focused on War.

Trouble was definitely brewing and part of me longed to uncurl my wings and join in the battle. I kept still.

My eyes saw the moment that Binah became trapped in another vision. Gabriel wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her knees before sweeping her off of her feet.  They two of them disappeared behind the abandoned drum kit, the instrument offering them little in the way of shelter. If War was to turn her head, they would be caught.

My mouth went dry and my hands felt clammy. Nerves welled within me. I wanted nothing more than to keep watching the events unfolding on the stage. Fear for my friends was first and foremost in my mind but I knew that they could handle whatever was thrown their way.

With reluctance, I turned and looked out over the square. The crowd had finally cleared enough that I could see what was happening on our level. My heart thudded in my chest as I saw it. No more than twenty feet from me there were approximately twenty masked men. The masks themselves were unsettling. Each wore a hockey mask which hid their features from view but it was the faux paint splatter that decorated each of them which made them truly chilling. I hoped it was paint splatter because the alternative told me that more than one person had lost their life.

Just this group of men in masks would have been a terrifying sight on a normal day but today, it was the weapons in their hands that caused the greatest panic.

Several held automatic weapons in their capable grasp while they stared down the crowd through the masks. A large heavy set man rested his weapon against his shoulder, his attention roving over the crowds almost apathetically. I gulped. He had damned bazooka – I didn’t have to be a expert in weaponry to know one when I saw it.

 How did he even get one into the square? It’s not like you could hide one of those under your coat.

The thought was stupid considering the circumstance. War wanted them here so they were here. The red heads battle thirsty minions had a small armoury at their disposal because she wanted this. She wanted a show and she was truly giving us one.

Zeke, Caine and Caius circled the group, swords drawn as they met them glare for glare. Their wings were flared out from their backs. Another angel joined them, more and more angels until the group were completely enclosed by a circle of ferocious winged warriors and the crowd were sheltered from the bullets.

The bazooka fired off. I screamed as it made contact with one of the angels sending him flying through the air and into the crowd. I knew it wouldn’t kill the Angel but I could not stop the panic from overwhelming me. The other angels quickly closed up the space and took a step closer to the armed men, closing in on them so that they had no escape.

There was shouting. Several loud bangs echoed through the air but still the angels kept advancing. And then there was silence. When the angels backed away, the men were dead upon the ground their guns lying beside them like toys.

Caius gave me a stiff nod, his jaw clenched tight before he rushed across the square. I followed his movement and tried to gasp. Several men had rushed to the side of the wounded angel. One man had pressed his scarf into the angel’s shoulder to try and stem the flow of lifeblood. The angel waved his hands. The humans shook their heads but finally slipping hands under his shoulders. They levered the fallen angel to his feet.

I gasped at the sight of Caine’s face. One side was a complete mess, blood dripping down his cheek and burns into his flesh. Caius ignored the humans holding up his brother and pulled his twin into a tight hug despite his injuries. They whispered to one another before giving one another a manly clap on the back.

Several humans who had been forced to remain and watch the fights unfolding started to clap and cheer. A  few taking up the abandoned weapons from the floor and taking up sentry positions around the two angels while they embraced. I felt a rush of warmth and affection for the New Yorkers. Their worlds had just been turned upside down. Angels exist. Hellhounds exist. And yet, despite their own fear, these people were putting themselves in harm’s way.

At the sight of this, War threw a tantrum.

I had seen children throw tantrums. I had even seen a few demons throwing hissy fits but the unrestrained and uninhibited display that followed was the scariest tantrum I had ever seen.

The red head threw back her head and screamed out her fury. The very sound of it made my ears bleed. The family inside of my wings whimpered and trembled but I pushed back their fear.

The red headed horsemen threw the microphone away from her. It soared out into the square and smashing onto the floor. War didn’t spare it another glance. She stood up on the stage. Her very essence started to swell with the anger building within. Her body started to change. The rage that consumed her allowed her form to grow taller and taller until she was nearly seven feet tall and built like a line backer.  Her features had become warped and grotesque, the picture of the ugliness that lurked beneath her skin.

War slammed one foot down and then the other. I could feel the tremors vibrating under foot. The stage creaked and groaned in protest even as she roared her fury. I hoped for  a moment that the platform would collapse around her but the metal structure held fast.

Binah stumbled on to centre stage to face her sister.  Gabriel laid upon the floor, his hand outstretched to the woman. She stood only a few feet away from her sister now but the other horseman was oblivious as she continued to bluster and create noise.

In the shadow of her kin’s monstrous form, Binah held her hand out to the side and shining blade formed in her palm. It was beautiful. I did wonder how she could even call forth an angel blade if she had never truly been angel.  Her face was intent and focused as she stared at her sister’s back. For once I saw the being that she truly was. Binah’s form seemed to swell with her power then, to become something more. 

She drew back her arm and then with all of her strength she sent her angel blade soaring through the air. The air whistled around the perfectly formed piece of angelic metal. I held my breath and prayed. But nothing was ever that easy.

War stepped to the side swiftly, whirling to face her attacker even as Binah’s sword sliced through the Horseman’s arm. Black blood welled from the wound and dripped down her arm.

“Sister,” War hissed, ducking her head in mock reverence as her twisted features turned up into a bitter snarl.

“Sister.” Binah replied, her face dropping for a moment as she bestowed the other woman wish a look of sadness and regret. “I am sad that we are meeting this way. I had hoped you would learn from the errors of your past.”

“Errors of my past.” War’s laugh was more of a rasping growl as she squared off to her kin. “You are sounding far too human. You forget that we are more than human. We do not make errors.”

Binah shook her head as bestowed a pitying glance upon the beast before her.

“You do not understand and you never will. I was going to offer you a chance but now I can see that you will never be redeemed.”.

“Ha. Redeemed? I do not want your redemption.” The beast strutted from side to side on the stage only to snap her head to the side when she noticed another person trying to sneak up on her.

The terrible beast that was War swiped a clawed hand towards Gabriel. He back pedalled, teetering on the edge of the stage as he tried to avoid the deadly talons. Her let loose his beautiful wings and leapt from the stage as the clawed hands swept towards him once more. He moved through the air seamlessly and landed softly on the balls of his feet.

“See, sister. It’s just you and me now. I look forward to painting the world with your blood and peeling the skin from your flesh. A traitor’s death is the only one that you deserve sister.”

“I do not fear the end. I never have.”

“FOOL.”

Binah smiled softly even as she called her blade back into existence.

“You are the fool.”

The words echoed across the silence of Times Square. The sounds of the city had become muted as it waited with baited breath for the final fight. The two horsemen stood off to one another, their eyes glaring back as her other.

A car horn sounded somewhere far off in the distance. Like the bell had been sounded the two fighters sprang into action. War ducked her head and charged at the spot where Binah had been stood only seconds before only to stumble to a halt when she ran only through empty space.

My mouth dropped open as I watched Binah, The grace with which she moved. I shook my head. Her entire being sprang into action seamlessly, each duck and weave was like a beautiful dance choreographed before the battle had even had begun. Her feet crossed the stage, closing the gap between the horsemen so quickly that I had trouble keep track of her movements. She was fluid, each step perfectly placed to allow her to move beyond the erratic swiping claws of War.

She ducked and whirled, her angel blade flowing through the air perfectly in sync with her movement. War raged on as the glowing piece of silver sliced through her skin over and over again before moving out of her reach. She tried to hit back harder and fast, her heritage allowing her to be relentless in their attack.

My hands clenched at my sides.

“They’re too evenly matched.” I murmured the words, dread forming in the pit of my stomach.

And then it happened.

Binah’s foot caught on a strip of cabling that hadn’t been secured properly to the stage. She stumbled forward, catching her body before she could fall down upon her face. The stage shook as War made another charge at her. The dark haired horseman turned to face her opponent but she was just a second too slow.

The big clawed hands swiped through the air batting Binah backwards on to the floor. When war opened her large hands, she released the chuck of flesh that she had torn from Binah’s body and dropped into to floor. I pressed my lips together as bile filled my throat. I couldn’t see her properly from where I was stood but it didn’t take a genius to know that the Horseman was in bad shape.

“See little sister, you should really learn to pick your battles.” Raising a giant foot in the air, the red headed beast stomped in back down again.

A loud crack rent through the air. Bones had been broken but still Binah remained silent. She must have been in incredible pain but not a single whimper escaped from her lips.

“I wanted nothing more than to make you suffer but maybe you can just die with the knowledge that you have failed. You can die knowing that all of these humans will bow down and serve me or they will face a fate worse than death.”

War leaned down close to her sister. I could see her lips moving as she spoke but I was too far away to hear her words.

Binah’s hand lifted and touched her sister’s arm. And then she wrenched. War toppled down on top of her, unprepared for the attack. The dark haired woman, despite her many wounds rolled the pair of them so that she was sitting on top of the mighty beast and held her sword above her head.

Instead of expressing fear or regret in her last moments, War cackled merrily.

“You’re too late sister. My work is already done – I can feel war brewing on the horizon and it is bigger than anything you have even bared witness too.”

War opened her mouth to continue speaking but the dark haired woman thrust downwards with her sword, her blade cutting through flesh and bone even as her sister’s talons struck a blow at her head. The angel blade pierced true but the damage had already been done. Binah toppled to the side, her eyes closed as she slumped onto the stage unconscious.

My breath escaped my lungs in a whoosh.

“It’s over.” The words passed my lips in a soft sigh as I stared up at the stage.

I wanted to believe that it was true but in my heart I knew that it was far from over. We had won this battle but the war was only just beginning. The horseman’s words were still ringing loudly in my ears sending a tingle of fear through my body.

 I drew my wings back into my body, sighing when the settled back under my skin. My lips ached as I tried to smile at the small family that I had saved. They were hugging and crying while their Halfling little girl got caught up in their embrace. It was a touching sight after all of the bloodshed but it was almost too much to bear.

I turned away. The battle was over and now it was time to put the horseman back where they belonged.