Paladin 4: Chapter 31 (Patreon)

Dozens of crazed seraphim frothing at the mouth charged at Darren and his companions like wild animals. He planted his feet, prepared to wrestle them to the ground. When he wanted to be, Darren could make himself an immovable pillar. No matter how many of these seraphim swarmed him, physical strength would never overcome the quality of his skills.

Unfortunately, numbers were a quality all on their own, and though they couldn’t shove him aside, they could soon swarm him. Darren was confident he could shrug off their attacks and break free, but Asuriel still hadn’t fully recovered from being surprised by the lingering contaminated Divine Aura in the area. Nor did she really have the skills to deal with a situation like this.

Asuriel’s abilities were much less strength and power and more efficient lethality. She could help him kill these seraphim, but she couldn’t help him disable them.

“Asuriel, tie them up as I disable them,” Darren shouted over the snarling growls.

Figures hazy and full of mindless anger, even seraphim could look like demons. Darren fought back against his instincts. He spotted two of Kilean’s companions among his assailants, and he needed to rescue them. And the rest of these seraphim were likely victims as well. He couldn’t kill them because they fell for Kalaziel’s tricks.

“I’m on it!” Asuriel shouted. Darren threw her some rope, which she caught with a practiced hand. “I’m an expert at being knotty!”

Darren grabbed the nearest seraph by the wrist, swinging him around like a club to knock the others aside. Then, when he was good and dazed, Darren tossed him on the ground behind him for Asuriel to tie up.

The wave of seraphim charged again, and though Darren had taken out one of their number, several more joined the horde after growing tired of beating on one another.

“I think I can come out now...” Ashe appeared behind Darren, reluctantly manifesting her humanoid form and gingerly touching the ground.

Darren tossed her more rope for Asuriel without looking. “Help Asuriel!”

Ashe nodded and soon got to work. At first, the brawl was simple enough. Two dozen feral men and women would charge at Darren, and he would dodge, block, or punch them in return. Between his superior skill and speed, even these odds couldn’t overwhelm him.

The task became much harder when they started going for Asuriel and Ashe. Though the Divine Aura in the area had grown thinner, there was still enough of it that he couldn’t take his attention off them completely, nor could he stray too far from them. While the two women could handle themselves, they couldn’t handle themselves while also tying up the unconscious seraphim Darren kept throwing their way.

He had to defend them against one charge after another. Usually, that meant charging in return and intercepting everyone coming for them. The feral seraph attacked from all directions, including from above. He pushed, shoved, punched, and kicked, and all those were done to him in return. One of Kilean’s companions even bit him on the arm, and a woman nearly tore his pants off, grabbing at his groin.

That was the one and only time during the fight Asuriel used one of her abilities.

“Hey, don’t damage the goods!” Asuriel shouted at the crazed, drooling woman as she flung a sphere of condensed Divine Energy her way. The tight bundle of power knocked the wind out of the seraph and scorched her skin, leaving her unconscious and badly hurt. They would have to get some of Darren’s Fountain of Youth water into her as soon as the fight ended if she was to survive.

Once Darren and his companions started putting a dent in their numbers, dealing with those that remained became progressively easier. He wasn’t swinging them around and using them like a mallet to bash the others with so much anymore and could deal with them one at a time. His new ability, Soul Weaving, was useful in disabling his attackers.

He couldn’t take them down with that skill alone, but by tugging on the Divine Aura inside the seraphim charging at him, he found he was able to make them stutter in their steps or turn their bodies against them for just a moment. That alone made disabling them much easier.

“I think that’s the last of them!” Asuriel said as she tied up the final seraphim who’d attacked them.

Darren wandered around, healing the wounded. He’d done his best to do as little harm as possible, but the feral seraph hadn’t done the same for one another. Those who hadn’t been attacking him, Asuriel, and Ashe had been pounding on each other until both parties were to a bloody pulp. Already several were too far gone. So he picked one at random and used his Resurrection skill to bring them back to life. He’d hoped that would restore their sanity, but they had no luck.

Carrying so many back was a bit tedious. Still, Asuriel was very talented with ropes and knots. She fashioned a way to tie everyone together so that all they could do was squirm against one another. Wrapped together in tight bundles of flesh four to a pair, she tied loops around them that made them something akin to a basket. When they flew back to the Protector’s office in Calabor, it would look very strange, but Darren had done weirder things.

“Damn, this is super hot,” Asuriel drooled as she bundled up the third batch of female seraphim for Darren to bring back.

“You sure we shouldn’t dress them?” Darren asked. All the fighting meant most of the seraphim wore little more than shredded clothes.

“No!” Asuriel said, “This footage will fetch a fortune! But, uh... I mean... don’t worry about them. A wind chill won’t hurt someone at the fourth order, and the two at the fifth won’t even feel it.”

Darren was unconvinced, but when Asuriel insisted, he relented. Then, strangely, all the male seraphim got was a canvas sack each, just like the one Asuriel had been hauled in on.

Darren carried everyone back, straining his wings to do so. While lifting all these people at once wouldn’t have been difficult for him, keeping so many in the air with nothing but his wings was much harder.

“Yeah... that’s it...” Asuriel wiped the drool from her cheek as she watched the bound female seraphim swaying in the breeze while Darren hauled them along. He heard the distinctive clicking sound that happened whenever she was saving images many times throughout the trip.

Sweat beaded on Darren’s forehead, thanks to the exertion. He took his shirt off to cool down, much to Asuriel’s increasing excitement.

“Heavens above, you think it’s too late for me to pretend to be feral too?” Asuriel asked Ashe.

Ashe shook her head. “You have a problem.”

***

Their return to Calabor aroused much suspicion. The odd procession was spotted from afar, and a few local Protectors came out to see what was happening. They were initially suspicious, but when they saw it was Darren and Asuriel, they stifled their confused looks.

“Make way! Official Protectors’ business coming through!” One said as they cleared the way for Darren to head straight for the Protectors’ office.

Despite their cooperation, they did fetch the captain. Everyone was curious at what Darren and Asuriel were up to, but they all wanted their captain to be the one to ask the awkward question.

“Just what in the Seven Hells is this?” Captain Gaviel said as Darren laid the bundles of feral seraphim to rest outside the Protectors’ main hall. “Why are all these women tied up?”

“The men are in the sacks,” Darren explained.

“That’s not what I was worried about...” Captain Gaviel pinched his temples to clear his head. “Perhaps you should start from the beginning?”

And so Darren spoke from beginning to end. Captain Gaviel hurried him along, though he grew increasingly worried when Darren described how the villagers attacked Asuriel. When he revealed the egg-shaped device, he grew even more nervous. Finally, when he got to the part about the giant egg in the wilderness and fighting all the seraphim turned feral, he wore a look of fury on his face.

“You three, get these people inside. I want identification for as many of them as we can. Check the Protectors’ database,” Captain Gaviel ordered.

The Protectors hopped to it, and soon they had a list of names for their captain. Of course, the list meant nothing to Darren, but Gaviel’s expression turned as bleak as the darkest pits of the Seven Hells when he read it.

“Curses and damnation. You were right. Many of these people were Protectors who were away on missions. This is worse than just manipulating the ophanim. This is practically a declaration of war against the Protectors!”

Gaviel paced the office floor, a scowl growing deeper with every passing moment.

“What shall we do?” Darren asked.

Captain Gaviel’s fingers twitched, and suddenly his eyes grew hard. “Pack your things. I’ve done all I can with my personal power and influence. It’s time to take this matter to the top of the chain of command. We’re paying a visit to Prime Saint Horon.”

***

Asuriel got the next few days off, thanks to her exemplary service. So she could mentally recover from any problems fighting fellow protectors might have caused for her. Asuriel wasn’t too bothered, but she accepted the vacation time.

“I have a lot of work to do with those new images...” Asuriel muttered. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll lock myself in our apartment for the next few days.”

Captain Gaviel and Darren would make the trip to the Fifth Layer of the Heavens on their own. Darren spent some time making sure his seraphim disguise was as solid as he could make it. While it could hold up against Fifth Order seraphim so far, he was worried about his upcoming meeting with Horon. Would he still be able to conceal himself against a Sixth Order Prime Saint?

He hoped so, because Captain Gaviel was leaving. He seemed a bit nervous about making the trip, though having Darren at his side seemed to ease some of his worries.

“We’re going to need to stick close and travel quick,” Captain Gaviel said.

“Is the Fifth Layer of the Heavens dangerous?” Darren asked.

“It might be, at least for us. It’s an orderly sort of danger. This isn’t like the mortal world, where there are thieves, bandits, and muggers around every corner. It’s more like there are people there desperate to do the dirty work of people in power. And those people in power might not be the most morally upstanding individuals, especially when you’re meeting with their biggest rival.”

In other words, Captain Gaviel was worried that they would be ambushed by Kalaziel loyalists before they could meet with Horon. It was a reasonable fear. But Darren had grown up in the Seven Hells and there, avoiding, and escaping ambushes were a way of life. He was confident that he could escape anyone besides Kalaziel himself.

The flight to the nearest path upward went smoothly enough. An hour passed in silence. Darren wasn’t talkative, and the captain had a lot on his mind.

They flew upward to the Second Layer. Like in the Seven Hells, the terrain here changed. There were fewer sprawling forests and more beautiful vistas. He sensed a few powerful and bestial presences as well, which meant there was no doubt something worth fighting nearby.

But they were in a rush, so they kept on flying. Captain Gaviel knew the way, and soon they were soaring over the Third Layer of the Heavens and then the Fourth. The layers grew smaller each time, like the layers of a cone narrowing to a point. As Darren suspected, the Seven Heavens were a mirror opposite of the Seven Hells. Already he could make out the distant edge of the Fourth Layer of the Heavens. It was about the same size as the territory Limedeep controlled.

The Fifth Layer grew smaller still, and here the trappings of the seraphim’s civilization were everywhere. The wild natural beauty of the lower layers was gone. Instead, every tree and patch of grass was carefully groomed and manicured to look clean and presentable. The trees were symmetrical, and the ancient cobblestone paths looked like they had been lain just a day prior.

A single city dominated the surrounding landscape in the center of the Fifth Layer. It had no walls, but it likely needed none, considering the power of those who lived here.

“State your name and purpose.” A seraph at the fifth order stood guard over the aperture they exited from, eying them up and down with a sword at his side.

“Gateguards,” Captain Gaviel whispered, barely holding back a derisive snort. “More bureaucrats than warriors. Cushy gig.”

He had the form of a cleric, unlike Darren and Gaviel, so he stood only to chest height of the two of them. But he made up for what he lacked in height with the shininess of his equipment.

The Gateguard either hadn’t heard Captain Gaviel or pretended not to. It was hard to tell through his heavy helmet adorned with a billowing pink feather half as tall as he was. His entire set of armor was like that. It shone like polished silver and had a mirror finish. The edges were trimmed with gold, and the chest was encrusted with bright blue and red gemstones and enamel. It looked a bit gaudy to Darren, and it certainly wouldn’t stand up to real combat without a great deal of magic behind it. But he suspected the armor was just for show.

“I am Captain Gaviel of Calabor, and my companion is my second-in-command Darren Hellsmiter. I sent word of our arrival ahead of time. We’re here to meet with Prime Saint Horon. We need to discuss some very important developments, and some of them are too serious to send over the network, especially considering part of those developments involves the network itself.”

The Gateguard nodded, pausing a moment as he received a message. “This way. I am to escort you to Protector Horon personally.”

Everything was much more formal up here, from the way the Protector acted to the stiff and formal way he flew. His wings stayed straight and rigid, and his armor shone with a flawless luster.

“After you two,” the Gateguard said.

“Prime Saint Horon’s home is that way.” Captain Gaviel pointed down the large street running through the city.

The Gateguard shook his head. “During this time of tension between the Prime Saints, it’s best to stay unnoticed. So follow me down this side tunnel and we’ll avoid undo attention.”

Darren was skeptical, but Captain Gaviel shrugged and followed the Gateguard. Darren slid in between the Gateguard and Captain Gaviel, keeping a wary eye over his shoulder all the while. For a moment, he thought he sensed the shadow of a frown on the Gateguard’s face.

The suspicious feeling dwelling deep in Darren’s heart continued to grow stronger as they traveled through the tunnel.

“We’re going pretty far down, aren’t we?” Captain Gaviel asked skeptically. Worry was blossoming on his brow as well. “We’ve gone far enough through this shortcut of yours. There’s a side tunnel up ahead. We’ll take it and head topside again.”

“You don’t want to do that, Captain Gaviel,” the Gateguard said. “There could be any number of assassins waiting for you on the surface.”

“I’d rather face them where I can swing my sword than down here,” Captain Gaviel grumbled.

Darren’s fingers curled into a fist, and he sent his mind flicking through his Inventory. This cavern was too narrow for Melancholy and his Hell Sundering Sword of Annihilation.

“Fine... fine... we’ll do this the hard way...” the Gateguard muttered. His hand darted to his sword in an instant, drawing it easily in the narrow tunnel thanks to his modest size compared to Gaviel and Darren.

He tried to dart past Darren, seeing Captain Gaviel as the greater threat. He was a renowned fifth order captain among the Protectors. If his reputation for being one of the best of his order was anything to go by, the Gateguard would normally have made the right choice targeting him.

But Darren wasn’t someone he could just ignore. Darren had been on his guard already, and the moment he showed steal, Darren’s fist slammed into the Gateguard’s stomach. The blow would have turned a human into a paste and shattered the tunnel walls in all directions, but this was no human, and the walls of the heavens were built of sterner stuff. As it was, all the punch did was knock the Gateguard back against the wall.

His sword fell from his limp grasp, and Darren scooped it up. It was the perfect size for these narrow tunnels, and Darren didn’t think that was an accident.

“Ambush,” Darren said.

Captain Gaviel hadn’t missed the sudden attack. He’d barely had time to raise the alarm of his own before Darren had knocked aside the Gateguard and taken his weapon.

“Well done, Darren! I knew bringing you along was the right choice,” Captain Gaviel chuckled. He cracked his knuckles and looked the Gateguard up and down. “I’ve always wanted to wipe the smug smiles off these Gateguard’s faces. Maybe we’ll have some extra information to bring to Prime Saint Horon...”

“Behind you,” Darren warned.

Even if Gaviel had come alone, Kalaziel’s forces shouldn’t have been totally reliant on one lone warrior being able to catch him by surprise.

And true to Darren’s instincts, a moment later, four figures stepped out of the very exit Gaviel had pointed out moments before.

“Captain Gaviel, we meet again...” A familiar voice let out a dark laugh. “I think it’s well past time we had a rematch. It’s time I reclaimed my rank as the strongest Fifth Order warrior in the Heavens!”

Darren’s eyes darted to the familiar face. He’d fought this seraph in Salsroth. Darren remembered him fighting by Kalaziel’s side, and he’d caused no small share of trouble for him then. He’d proven too tough to beat then, but Darren had grown a lot after his adventures in the Seven Hells. The seraph’s name came a moment later on Captain Gaviel’s lips.

“Commander Thorn, I should have known you were still nursing a grudge.” Captain Gaviel grinned. “If you want to get knocked on your ass again, that can be arranged. Only this time, you won’t be getting up again.”