Demoness 2 - Chapter 41 - A Seraph (Patreon)

The figure of light descended, and the surrounding air shimmered with an oppressive pressure of [Divinity]as if it was a physical force.

Elder Gant threw himself to the ground and began to prostrate, while Magister Bannon fell to one knee, barely propping himself up with his rapier.

The crushing feeling ran through her wings, and she felt like her entire body was made of lead.

A red glow formed in the shadow of the seraph’s hood, and she could feel a spike of [Power]that was almost overwhelming in its intensity.

The seraph lowered the point of its sword toward them.

There was only a second to react, and she launched herself toward Bannon. Her HUD [Power] gauge was missing, but if it had been visible, she knew it would be spinning downward rapidly just from the expenditure of flying under the weight of the seraph’s presence.

[Guilty.]

The seraph’s voice was a deep, resonant echo that filled the chamber.

Elania scooped up Bannon and then kicked backwards just in time as a narrow red beam lanced the spot. The ruby wave carved its way toward them and the bridge in an expanding straight line.

Bending a wing banked them to the side and out of the way of the beam, but the force of the updraft sent them tumbling up and over the edge of the bridge.

And then everything exploded.

That was the only way she could think of to describe the release of energy.

There was no way they could fight against whatever that was… not with how strong the magister and she were. Even if all four of the Magisters were there…

The chaotic air currents and the shockwave made flying impossible, and Elania curled her wings around herself to protect them from the heat and stone shrapnel shooting out in every direction.

Bannon clung to her middle like she was a life preserver and cursed as he lost his sword into the tumult.

When the force finally abated enough for her to flare her wings and slow their descent, they were far, far below the city. Above them, the remnants of the bridge were crashing downwards nearby.

The stone hit hard enough to send a dirty spray of cold water up into the air.

They’d almost hit the bottom.

“What was that?” Elania asked, her voice still taking on the reverberating tone of a seraph.

“Take us back up,” Bannon said, his voice strained.

The light of the seraph was still visible, even from the distance they had fallen. Another red light flashed out from it and slashed outward across the city.

There was a minor earthquake and the water below roiled and splashed angrily.

Was whatever the monks unleashed going to destroy the entire city?

“It’s a long way back up,” Elania said emotionlessly. “It would take you a long time to climb if I left you down here.”

She felt his shock more than saw it as he tightened his hold on her. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She focused on the light above, her wings slowly flapping to mimic the motion of a bird while they hovered.

“You didn’t answer my question. I don’t like that,” Elania said, leaving the threat hanging.

“It’s a seraph. The Conclave has had it bound in their hall since the city was founded,” Bannon answered. “It’s their source of power, and their guardian.”

Elania’s eyes narrowed. “Everyone seems to have their own pet celestials here,” she muttered. “It’s a prisoner. Why does it help them?”

“I’m not sure it is,” Bannon said. “It’s a divine being. It’s likely not sane and wants to punish the city.”

“Eziel wanted to save the engine,” Elania said. “Maybe this thing can be reasoned with?”

“It’s not going to listen to reason,” Bannon replied. “I don’t think they can let it run free for long, or it will escape.”

That seemed accurate, because the golden light above winked out.

The pressure had vanished when they had fallen, so she wasn’t completely sure if it was gone, but Elania flexed her wings, and they began to rise quickly.

“Don’t take us back to the Fortress. We need to regroup,” Bannon ordered.

Elania grunted but then nodded, turning down a canyon to turn their path away from the cliff holding the Conclave Fortress. Even moving away from there, the sound of gunfire and spells slowly began to grow as they approached the city.

She needed to find Yolani and the others.

A spike ran through her, and her wings actually flickered as she realized she didn’t know if they had made it across the bridge. The fighting, the detachment and [Divine]essence had blocked out her worries for them.

“If you’re out of energy, use this,” Bannon shouted. He held out a ring with a small gemstone in it.

Not a gemstone, a small mana shard. She plucked the ring from his hand and held it in her hand.

She didn’t feel the need to correct his misconception about the reason for the flicker. “I’ll put it to good use.”

She could feel the depth of the shard. It was a decent one. About average, and it solved the problem of her destroying all the ones she had during the escape.

Not that detonating the shards had been as effective as she hoped. Actually, from what she could tell, it had done a tremendous amount of collateral damage while not even finishing Elder Winx.

She wondered if he had been able to save the other monks with him at the time.

Eh, probably not.

The smell of smoke hit her nose long before they reached the city level, and the evidence of the seraph’s attack was horrific as she picked up altitude high enough to see the city.

It had not just severed the bridge from the Conclave to the city, but also carved a line of fire across the more distant districts. A fiery line made a nearly perfect crescent from one side to the other. Where the noble district’s pillar met that line, there was a deep gouge that looked like it had tried to cleave the entire mountain in half.

Smoke billowed from the destruction, and not just from the seraph’s ire. Combat spells and gunfire were still being exchanged, although she saw that most of it was coming from the noble district now.

“They’re coming down the lift?” Elania asked.

“Lightbringers,” Bannon said. “I’m not sure how they seized it, but their paladins were already here and then more from the surface have been arriving.”

Elania’s eyes narrowed. That definitely spoke to a larger conspiracy.

“Magister Roland is leading the defense,” Bannon said. “We need to get to the guard.”

“You can go. I need to find Yolani and the others,” Elania said.

Bannon shook his head and pointed toward the Guard fortress in the distance. “That’s not important right now. We need to plan—”

“Not important to you,” Elania said. She cut their ascent and slowly turned around toward the Conclave district. “I can drop you here.”

Bannon’s grip tightened. “On the ground!”

“Of course,” Elania agreed. She curled her wings, and they descended rapidly toward the street. She flared out and came to a stop just above the ground, then landed gently on her feet.

Bannon released her and stumbled before catching himself.

“The Magisters were supposed to be the ones to lead the city,” Elania mused. “The five of you were supposed to be strong enough to protect it.”

Bannon dusted himself off and eyed her warily. “I’m going to assume that’s the indifference of the seraphim talking. You’ve shattered centuries of balance in the city like an earthquake through a mountain.”

Elania’s eyes narrowed. “Things already weren’t going too well when I arrived. Do you have any idea on how I can find Yolani? Can you use your telepathy?”

Bannon frowned. “When the attack started, our connection was severed.”

“So the barrier in the fortress did more than just mess that up temporarily...” Elania muttered

“No. You don’t understand. Everyone’s link was severed. From what I can tell, the Conclave or Lightbringers somehow disabled the way stones function throughout the entire city,” Bannon said.

Elania’s eyes widened. No wonder the defense was so chaotic. She had expected the guards would be more disciplined and fight in groups, like she’d seen during the riots. Not having any of their magical communications would have definitely thrown a wrench into that.

A crack of a musket sounded nearby, and Elania flexed a wing to slap the projectile out of the air. It had been aimed at her. “They aren’t going to think I’m friendly...”

“I’ll pass the word about your new form, but I can’t promise it will help right away, unless I can find a way to get the way stones working again,” Bannon said.

Elania nodded. “How many Elders do they have left?”

“If Gant survived, then there are still three,” Bannon said. “But I don’t know if they are still in the fortress. You need to avoid them.”

“I’m aware,” Elania said. “When I find the others, we’ll head back to the Watch fortress.”

“Or the Magistry,” Bannon said. “Magister Keswick is tasked with guarding it. I’m assuming you have more essence to repair the engine with.”

“You’re thinking about something like that now?” Elania asked, an incredulous tone entering her voice.

“Especially now. If the Celestial Engine wasn’t damaged, we’d be able to use it as a weapon against the seraph if they released it again,” Bannon said.

Elania looked down at her hands, clenching and then releasing her fists. “I’ll need to figure out a balance. This form is powerful... but vulnerable.”

Bannon nodded. “They’ve had a long time to perfect their manipulation of holy magic.”

Another musket ball slammed into the stone wall behind them, this shot taken from much farther away. She stood out like a flaring light beacon.

“I need to go,” Elania said.

She didn’t wait for his answer, instead she kicked off the ground and opened her wings, skyrocketing back into the air.

Flight felt liberating. It was a shame she couldn’t feel enough to enjoy it.