William
I made it to Tobias' garden in just a few minutes, opening the door into the large greenhouse. It was humid and balmy inside, a welcome change to the winter storm outside the glass building. I couldn't sense Tobias, but I saw the demon. His back was to me and he was wandering like he owned the place. While he didn't smell familiar his heavily muscled frame was. Nothing came to mind when I tried to recall if I had ever faced him before though. I thought of a way to get him out without destroying Tobias' sanctuary. The only way coming to mind was to physically force him out.
He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at me. He had distinct gold eyes with snakelike pupils. His eyes narrowed and he turned fully to face me. He looked infuriated at my presence, as though I had no right to be there.
"What are you doing here?" He snarled, his fists clenching.
"Me? How dare you enter the sanctuary of an Archangel?" I snarled back.
I lunged for him, poised to strike. He honestly looked surprised and a nuance of conflict passed over his face. He dodged my punch, taking a step back before flickering out of sight. I whirled around and saw he was outside, the door of the greenhouse swinging on its hinges. I exited the greenhouse, closing the door behind me so the plants didn't suffer from frostbite. The demon was waiting for me a few meters away, his closed fists in front of his face.
"You sure you want to do this?" He called over the wind, his tone mocking.
"It would bring me nothing but pleasure to wipe your disgusting existence off the earth." I spat venomously.
The demon laughed and punched the air. "You're nothing but talk!"
To my surprise, a slab of earth slammed into me. I grunted from the force, sliding back a foot or two. I was briefly winded, giving the demon time to get closer and punch me in the face. I staggered and brought my arms up to block his next blow. Before he could pull back, I hooked his arm in mine and brought my knee hard into his elbow. It cracked and he shrieked.
Up close, he looked somewhat like Melanie. It struck me then he was one of the two demons that came to rescue her from Luke and me a few months ago. Her older brother, if I remembered right, and the one who ripped Luke's arm off.
He didn't have his weapon, but he was no less formidable as he delivered a rib-crunching kick to my side. I kicked him back from me. The demon withdrew, staring at me with narrowed eyes.
"I saw the way you looked at me. You remember me, huh? Good." He remained in his odd fighting position.
I could feel my ribs heal and my breathing leveled somewhat. "You're her brother. I know you know about us. Return to Hell and I will forget I saw you."
The idea of ripping his arm off for Luke was certainly tempting but I hesitated to do it in case the demon mentioned to Melanie her lover did such a thing while knowing he was her brother. It just wouldn't be worth the argument.
He smirked. "I'm here on business; I was exactly where I was supposed to be when you barged in."
His smirk disappeared and he looked angry. "You're the one who has no business here. Why don't you piss off?"
"I'm not going to fight you. You mean a lot to Melanie." Still, I felt my patience wearing thin and my fists alighted.
"Don't die," He warned, "because I plan on fighting you!"
He began punching the air again and I dodged the slates of earth propelling themselves toward me, nearly slipping in the snow. I punched through one. I sent a wave of fire at him, the snow melting as the fire flew over it.
I heard a hiss of pain as the fire hit its target. He was on one knee, wincing in pain from the third degree burns blistering on his arms and face. I walked over to him, prepared to deliver a finishing blow that wouldn't kill him, but get my point across. He stared up at me with one eye horribly burned and the other intensely glaring at me. I closed my fist and pulled it back. The scent of burning flesh was nauseating up close.
As I was aiming my attack, however, I heard a bird screech and sharp talons ripped through my hair. I shouted in alarm as the talons gripped my hair and tugged, forcing me back from the recovering demon. The strength of the bird was alarming as I was met with considerable resistance when I tried to prevent it from tugging me backward. Soon, though, I found myself unwillingly stepping with the bird to keep the insistent tugging of my hair from causing me too much pain.
The demon looked on, his eye filled with surprise. I slapped at the bird, hitting it a couple times. It untangled its talons from my hair and flew over my head, landing on a nearby branch. Rubbing my head, I scowled venomously at the bird, expecting to see a large raptor. Instead, I saw a common raven with beady red eyes. It was staring sternly at me, its feathers ruffled and singed from where I struck it. It gave a sharp caw as though it was telling me off, flapping its wings a couple times. Its head swiveled sharply to regard the still kneeling demon, a soft croak emerging from its throat.
The demon stood. His wounds were beginning to heal. "I was wondering when you were going to get here...Melanie."
I gaped at the bird as it glided off the branch and landed in between me and him. Sure enough, it transformed into Melanie, the black feathers becoming smooth, pale flesh. The beak changed back into her small, slightly hooked nose. The eyes sharpened with intelligence and the red became slits as black surrounded them. Yet there remained a red tinge to the blackness of her iris.
She stared hard at me, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Despite how much she hated the snow, she didn't hop from foot to foot like she did earlier. I saw she was wearing her socks. She was in a wide stance, as though preparing to engage in a fight, her right leg slightly behind her left.
"You were going to kill him." She said with no inquisitive inflection in her voice. She said the statement flatly, as though she knew without a doubt I had been about to eliminate her kin.
My hands extinguished and I held them palms up. I exclaimed defensively, "No! I was giving him a warning. I told him I was going to let him go, but he continued to fight me."
The red tinge in her eyes disappeared and she turned to study her brother. He didn't look even a little remorseful, staring smugly at her.
She asked, "Zane, why are you here? And, from what I'm gathering, so close to an Angel's garden?"
He wiped his face of emotion and turned his back on her.
"None of your business." He growled over his shoulder as he began to walk away.
"Does Father know you're here?" He stopped moving, his fist clenched. I lowered my arms and stared at her, concern building in my chest.
She waited expectantly for him to answer until she said, "Your silence says 'no.' Were you summoned?"
"Melanie, butt out. What I do is no concern of yours!" He whirled around, glaring at her heatedly.
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