Dancing In The Void

The black wind howled at Baphomet’s feet.

He watched as the angel fled, once again escaping his grasp. But no matter, the anger and rage that fueled him would now be used elsewhere. Death itself stood between them. She dared prevent him from ending the life that should have been ended eons ago. She dared stand before the might of Hell itself with impunity. Were the situation different, he might have found the irony amusing.

However, there were no smiles on Baphomet’s decrepit face. Just the dark determination of someone prepared to unleash their fury. His muscles were tense, aching for the single breath that would release them. The chains on his engorged arms were perfectly silent. His eyes were locked on his opponent as she channeled the endless souls of the fallen.

Then he saw the opening, when the azure flames dampened for the briefest of seconds. He dashed through the air in an instant but Death was just as fast. Rubble shot erupted outwards as she dragged her weapon through the ground. Their two bodies clashed halfway, left hand against left gauntlet, with Death’s profane scythe in the other aiming towards his head. Baphomet’s right arm vibrated intensely as he arched it back. He was faster and Lady Death realized.

She brought her arm close to block the blow just as it landed. His fist exploded with swirling brimstone and unholy force, sending Lady Death’s armor flying backwards through the building behind her, and out the other side. She recovered, sliding on her feet and scythe to a halt. Then, her blade transformed into an ethereal bow, and she loosed dozens of massive silver bolts towards the demon.

He dodged them all but they distracted him enough for Death to close the distance. She swung her scythe at him over and over, as he dodged and parried and deflected her blows with his hellchains. The two were locked in a deadly dance and shockwaves radiated outwards from their attacks, ripping buildings, streets, and the ground itself apart.

But Baphomet was cunning. He caught another opening and stunned Death with a dizzying punch to her gut. He gave no reprieve as he then began pummeling her with fist after fist of scorching hellfire. The strength of his blows sent Death’s limp armor into the air once more, only this time Baphomet’s chains lashed out towards her. They wrapped around her waist and shoulders as the Demon Lord began to spin in place. Faster and faster and faster as a tornado of dark flames arose around him and Death.

“Raaaargh!” He howled as he whipped his chains downward, turning Death’s armored body into a massive fiery crater in the ground. A monolithic pillar of dark flames shot up from the impact point accompanied by a deafening thunder.

The dust settled around the Demon Lord, his chains clinking as they wrapped back around his arms. He positioned himself once again, awaiting Death’s counterattack. Her armor was empty and scattered across the crater, her dark cape faded like mist. There was nothing but the pressing silence as the seconds passed.

“Am I supposed to be tricked by this?” He called out, enraged. “Stop toying with me you insolent brat!”

Then came a haunting melody. The whispery singing of cursed souls, beckoning. Quiet at first, and growing into a majestic cacophony. His eyes went wide and he jumped back, high into the air, as he saw Death’s scythe gleam in the distance. A colossal wave of black ice shot from the ground towards him. The spears carved from the void grew towards him, chasing after him into the air as Baphomet jumped from platform to platform up in the sky. But the glass-like ice kept chasing him, faster and faster until it was a hair’s breadth away. With the final jump, Baphomet arched his fist back once more and unleashed a sky-shattering punch. The sheer force traveled forward smashing into the ice. It reverberated throughout it all, shattering it into billions of tiny fragments of black snow.

The snow sat in the air motionless, as Baphomet floated down onto the safety of a truck. Then it began to shudder, coalescing into a crystal sphere that grew rapidly. It remained in the air like a portal to the void itself, darker than the shadows surrounding it.

From it, Lady Death stepped forward, her armor pristine, still rebuilding upon her phantom body. Her cape billowed in the air as if the night sky itself cloaked her. But she was not alone, as a pair of glowing twisted eyes manifested themselves next to her, followed by its sickeningly empty grin. Lady Death pointed her scythe towards Baphomet and uttered only one command.

“Reap.”

The pale shadow lunged forward like a starving hound, as the blackfire on its head and back flared in its fury. It howled its ungodly howl as its endless decaying hands clawed their way to the Demon Lord. He tried fighting the beast, but its attacks were relentless, fueled by the need to please its master. Baphomet’s rapidfire punches, kicks, and chain-whips did little to beat back the monster as it chased after him. Its claws tore his skin and sinew at the slightest touch, dousing him in a deluge of black blood. For every hand that Baphomet destroyed and dismembered, the pale shadow had three more reaching for him.

His eyes spotted a nearby train high above in the air and an idea crossed his mind. He avoided the pale shadow’s blows, and jumped across the skies, higher and higher towards the vehicle. After putting some distance between the two of them, his chains reached towards one of the wagons and wrapped themselves around it, over and over and over again. He yanked with all his might, screaming as he pushed every ounce of this physical body to the limit. The train slowly budged. First the wagon, then the next, then the entire thing. It accelerated as Baphomet spun his body once again.

“Begone!” He screamed when the pale shadow leapt upward towards him. Right before he slammed it from the side with the train, unleashing his entire demonic strength. It squealed in pain as its body plummeted to the ground like a meteor. Down, down, down it fell until Baphomet heard the distant thud of a broken body. His eyes scanned the battlefield until they found Her once more. Seeing Lady Death watching him nonchalantly as she sat on a floating car further down below him filled him with rage. He descended, until he reached the same level as Her. But his rage left him blind to his senses.

A massive skeletal arm grabbed him suddenly from the back. His head whipped around to see the haunted smile of yet another pale shadow. It arched itself through the air, shattering his body against the topmost floors of the tallest building. The beast then rapidly crawled down the side of the building, smashing Baphomet’s body through each floor with its vice-like grip. When it got close to the ground it threw his mangled body with vile strength.

His body rolled like a ragdoll until it was completely still. Through his blurry vision he saw the previous beast smiling above him, as its many arms curled into fists. The ground trembled wildly with each ravenous punch the shadow released upon him. Like an angry child taking revenge, the pale shadow crushed his body and the very earth beneath him, and Baphomet was powerless to stop it. When it finally calmed down, the pale abomination tossed his body forward aimlessly. The two creatures stepped onto the avenue and paced around his body, circling like vultures.

Baphomet’s body was obliterated. His skin and muscles were almost completely ripped off of him, his bones were shattered and the only thing that kept him whole were the hellish chains he wore. He lay in an ever growing pool of blood as Death approached him.

“You truly live up to your name oh Lord of Hell.” She said, as she pet the pale shadow’s head. “But even with just a fraction of my true self, I am beyond you.” She giggled, running a finger over the edge of her scythe.

Baphomet laughed gurgling up more blood onto his face.

“What’s so funny?” Lady Death asked, surprised.

“Hahahaha… isn't that then… all the more reason...” He said, barely a whisper. Death knelt beside him and leaned to listen more closely. “...for me to stop you right here and now?”

Lady Death instantly put up her scythe as his body exploded into a blast of infernal energies. The explosion sent her flying back. The pale shadows were both instantly vaporized by the direct hit, screaming as their bodies melted to ashes. When the hellfire subsided, Death saw him.

Where Baphomet’s body was, now stood his true demonic soul. His chains were scattered and broken on the ground. His massive body was now cloaked in a blackened garment, hovering high in the air. His dozens of hands clasped together in prayer while a pentagram drawn in blood appeared between the horns that adorned his fiery skull. Five pairs of colossal wings made of fire and blood adorned the Demon Lord’s back. His light blinded the night.

Lady Death looked around and saw the bodies of those killed earlier that night, now rising from their ruined tombs. The dead were ripped from their peaceful slumber back into unlife by Baphomet’s mere presence. They rushed out into the street, before they raised their hands in worship. They screamed in endless pain as their souls yearned for release.

“Accursed necromancy… you would dare insult ME like this?” Lady Death screamed with rage, swinging her scythe towards the demon. With a rapturous hiss the blade’s edge sliced through the air, but Baphomet evaded the attack with ease. Infuriated, she swung her blade again, and again. Despite his colossal size however, the demon was untouched by her God-reaping weapon.

“You have insulted the natural order on this day.” His voice echoed like thunder. ”You used me and your pawn to break the veil between worlds in this place, so you may tread upon the earth once more. I will send you back to your realm, Dream-Walker, and I, Baphomet, Silence of Sin, will be your warden.” He said. When he finished, each of his hands began drawing demonic symbols in the air with his blood. “For all eternity if need be.”

Lady Death felt her armor become heavier and heavier, her body wrapped in the same chains that Baphomet wore earlier. She swung her blade uselessly one last time before her body became completely still.

“Ha… hahaha…. Hahahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!” She laughed maniacally. “You think you can hold me? I AM DEATH! I AM THE PRIMORDIAL WILL! AND I WILL BE FREE!”

“Ashraka!” Baphomet began chanting. The undead all joined him in his prayer.

“Hahahaha, what of the angel then, Wolf Tamer? You’re just going to let her go after millenia of chasing her? All for little ol’ me?”

“The angel will be dealt with in time. Right now, I cannot allow you to get your ignominious hands on her. The gates of Hell are open thanks to your little huntress, my legions are endless. They will carry on my task in my stead. Cuomraka!”

“Hahaha, worry not Demon-Lord, for the seeds of annihilation have already been planted. Uriel will come to me willingly. She will liberate me from eternity and no man, no demon, nor any God will prevent that from happening.”

“INFERNUM VINTRIEM!” Baphomet’s voice pulsed with the fury of hell itself, and both he and Lady Death were then dragged across dimensions into the void.

Nikolai watched her masterpiece with wonder and awe. The flame expanded rapidly, engulfing everything around her until pure white was all her eyes could see. She relaxed her body, letting the staggering force of her balefire wash over her. The blast radiated outwards and soon she woke up from her trance. She did not know how much time had passed, though it felt like seconds to her.

With her back laid on the ground she opened her eyes and immediately, the pain surged through her. An echo of her earlier exertion. Nikolai clutched her chest with both hands, gasping for air as she looked at her left hand, her scars burning like fiery brands digging further and further into what little unscarred skin she had left. The more she strained herself, the more the fire consumed her in equal measure. She twisted and turned her body from side to side, trying to keep the trembling, aching, anguish in her arm out of her mind.

Breathe, just... Breathe. She tried telling herself, before smashing a fist into her chest. Damn it… Damn it all, this is all their fucking fault…

She grit her teeth, letting the pain fuel her rage, and using that rage to push herself off the ground. Air filled her lungs once again and a warm liquid dripped down her cheeks. Nikolai wiped it off and noticed her left eye, ever-flaming, was bleeding from the sides.

“Graargh.” She groaned. “That fucking hurts… It hurts… but damn, I really leveled that city didn’t I?” She said, looking around and seeing nothing but smokey, strange-looking clouds. “I … think?”

Nikolai turned around and proceeded to nearly step off the platform she was on, suspended high in the sky. She gasped and tumbled back on her ass, before crawling slowly towards the edge and peeking over it. A wicked grin crept across her face as she saw the true extent of her destruction from on high.

The earth below was nothing but a smoldering ruin, a burning crater that stretched outward for miles. Few buildings remained tall, with most crumbled and collapsed. And the silence, how the silence ringed in her ears. No screams, no sirens, nothing. Nearly everything had been obliterated. Satisfied, she untied her mask from her wrist and placed it on her face.

“Well, that's certainly something, hehe.” She giggled to herself. But how do I get down from here? She then thought.

Nikolai sat on the edge of the chunk of street she was on, legs dangling daintily over the abyss and brow furrowed. An idea crossed her mind. She looked at her left hand, still sore and aching, but she flexed her fingers bearing through the pain. She hesitated for a moment, before finally snapping her fingers forward, sending out a wave of bright flames. Nikolai let out a sigh of relief, but still winced at the electrifying pain that surged through her palm. Near the tail ends, the wave of fire dissipated rapidly, but some of it remained, floating suspended in the air and forming into a ball-like shape before it too slowly faded away. She stepped closer to the edge of the platform, and watched while she massaged the center of her left palm

“How very interesting.” She said with a blank expression. Nikolai got up, cracked her knuckles and then shot her hand downward, unleashing a massive fireblast that illuminated a path to the city below. She clapped excitedly before stepping off the edge and getting carried on the strange wind and shattered gravity. A tinge of relief ran through her as she did not immediately begin plummeting. Instead, she focused her mind, and propelled herself through the air using her power, slowly descending towards what was left of the city below.

Nikolai found a great deal of enjoyment from skipping through the broken sky, jumping from broken clouds to broken debris to broken chunks of floating asphalt. She paused on an upside down car, smirking before eyeing her next target, a large vending machine stuck in space. Her eyes lit up as she ran and jumped into a forward flip before she shot another blast of fire from her hand, pushing her onto safety. The wicked grin on her face grew larger. Nikolai then jumped again and again, twirling, dancing, swimming and gliding through the air gleefully. Down, down, down she went.

“Ahahahaha!” Nikolai laughed as she paused on the roof of a building that managed to still stand. “I haven’t… had this much fun in such a long… time…” She said to herself.

After looking at her left hand once more, she turned and looked back at the trail in the sky that she descended. Her gaze shifted to the city below, and for the briefest of instants an inkling of sadness crossed her mind, thinking of all the ruin and death she caused. The sadness faded as soon as it came, and her frown turned back into giggles and laughter.

“Well! They’re all free now, liberated from their petty mortality! I cleansed them all… I’ve done my duty.” She said.

But… how I wish I was free like them.

Nikolai’s concentration was broken by a sudden loud explosion somewhere below her. Walking closer to the edge of the building, she saw Uriel fighting someone she did not recognize. Her first instinct was to jump down, but the strength and ferocity of the man’s attacks caused her to stop. There was a strange catharsis in the way the angel was getting brutalized and beaten. Her breathing quickened as they shouted at each other, too far away for her to hear what they were saying. Anger flowed through her veins, how was this damned angel still alive after she was hit by the full force of her balefire? She hated her. God, how she hated Uriel, despised her for everything she had done to her and everything she kept doing to her.

Its your fault. Its all your fault. You deserve it all. Everything, since the day he found you… why couldn’t you fall in someone else’s home? Why did it have to be Constantine’s? My dear Constantine… that fucking Constantine… why... why... why? You should be dead, dead, DEAD, why are you not dead?

Another flash of light broke her wild gaze, and Nikolai saw Her standing there, between Uriel and the bald man.

You… I thought you wanted her dead? Why would you save her…

Her eyes trembled with feral rage and her breathing quickened. Her body pushed further over the edge until an idea clicked in her mind. She saw Uriel blown back by Lady Death and the Demon’s clash before she got up and started wobbling away.

“I see… I understand you now!” Nikolai said with a grin. “You’re just giving me the chance of killing her as I should have!” Her palms pressed against her cheeks in glee before she stood up and locked her eyes on the fleeing angel. “I’ll take great pleasure in eviscerating her!”

Nikolai ran to the other edge of the building, jumping with a burst of flame pushing her towards the ruined building below. She chased after the angel, watching her as she made her way further and further away from the raging battlefield. The two Gods she left behind collided with inconceivable force. The shockwaves of their attacks billowed Nikolai’s hair even at that distance. She covered her face from the dust and smoke that was blasted her way, coughing and wincing at the foulness of it all. Despite it however, she could not help but be impressed at the magnitude of strength on display.

“Such power… such glorious power.” She said under her breath. Remembering her goals, she looked back down towards the empty avenue below, seeing the angel also pausing and looking back in reverence.

Gotcha. Nikolai smiled as she jumped off the building towards Uriel. She ran down the cement exterior of the building, covering her body in flames the faster she went. Once she was at an appropriate height, she jumped forward, exploding into a furious sphere of amber light. Her body plummeted through the air in an infernal ball of fire, her right leg extended downward.

The angel heard the howling wind rapidly approaching her just in time to jump back, but the full force of Nikolai’s crash sent her spinning back, along with a large portion of the street she was standing on. The sound exploded outward like rumbling thunder. Nikolai stepped out of the crater she made, slowly walking towards Uriel. Her hand blazed with unholy fire.

“Still alive huh…? Aren’t you an annoying little insect.” She said as her hand shot forward, throwing a blast of fire towards Uriel. The angel quickly stumbled on her foot and tumbled out of the way. She wobbled to stand up and Nikolai paused to look at her and how pathetic she looked. Blood poured down her forehead and over her bruised face. Her left eye was half-shut from her earlier beating and the opposite-sided wing drooped down at a slightly unnatural angle. Uriel’s arms were pointed forward in a defensive manner, and Nikolai smirked at all the bruises and cuts and burns she noticed on them.

“Y-you…” Uriel groaned.

“I didn’t notice earlier, but lost a leg, have you?” Nikolai mocked. “What happened, did you trip down the stairs and break it like an idiot? Or did you break your own leg to become even more useless than you already are, to be even more of a burden on those around you? You’re so pitiful.”

“Niko-” Uriel did not even get her full name out before she was hit in the chest with an extremely fast fireball that knocked her back on the ground.

“Don't. Speak. I will permit you to scream if you’d like.” Nikolai said menacingly.

Uriel groaned as she curled up into a ball and started quietly sobbing. Nikolai was surprised, and the flames on her hand dissipated in response. Something about Uriel’s current state reminded her of a memory long faded, a wisp of times long past. Another girl curling up on the cold, filthy ground, crying and begging for someone to save her.

N-no, don’t try and beg for mercy. You deserve this... You deserve nothing but death…

“Do it then… kill me.” Uriel said quietly as if she read her mind. “I’ve had enough Nikolai. Every day is nothing but torment, afraid that today’s the day I’ll finally die to some demon or another. Afraid that today’s the day I finally get the rest of my friends killed trying to protect me. This cursed power that I barely understand, this cursed form, I’m pathetic like you say, I should be powerful but I’m too weak. My weakness caused this whole mess. It’s my fault, I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you. I never meant for you to die because of me.” She said, the echo in her voice trembling as tears and blood streamed down her face.

“YOU THINK I MEANT TO DIE FOR YOU?” Nikolai shouted back at her. “You let me die. You were my friend, and you sacrificed me instead to save yourself. You and Constantine both did. As I am now, I am nothing but a monument to your sins.”

“I-I’m sorry.” Was all Uriel could say.

Nikolai was strangely content with the reply. She sighed, her decision final and raised her left arm pointing towards Uriel. Her finger surged with bright heat, radiating light as energy coalesced within it. Nikolai could see the defeated smile on Uriel’s lips. She forced herself to be angry, to tap into that rage deep within her. Without that fury and hate towards Uriel, she might have faltered at the last moment. The flames in her eyes billowed with that same fervor channeling her powers into her hand.

“I wish our friendship could have ended differently, Uriel.” She said quietly.

“Me too.” Uriel whispered back as Nikolai’s fire shot out of her finger like a blade of pure lightning. She closed her eyes as the light enveloped her.

Time itself slowed to a crawl and in that split second, Nikolai felt the wind and shadows rush in front of her. A phantom cloaked in white materialized between them, spinning to face the full force of her flame. The visage sliced her fireblast with its weapon, splitting it into multiple divergent streams to the left and right of the angel. Then she saw him fully as time resumed and her attack completely obliterated the ground behind Uriel. It instantly liquefied the chunks of cement that were blown away by the sheer force of the blast, turning it into a light shower of lava. Both girl’s eyes went wide when they saw Constantine before them, slight wisps of smoke emanating from his body and blood pooling from the hole in his chest. Nikolai stepped back in disarray, as her anger faded into despair.

“No… no not you…” She mumbled.

Constantine stumbled forward, nearly collapsing. He groaned under the sudden pain, but willed himself through it, staring her in the eye.

“Nikolai…” She heard him say. “I’m sorry you died. It was my fault, not Uriel’s. I tried to save you, and I let you go when I should not have. That moment will haunt me for the rest of my life.” His voice resounded with both strain and determination.

“And… Uriel... It was not your fault.” He said with a weakened voice turning toward the angel. “I never want to hear you say that you want to die ever again. Don’t throw your life away for something beyond your control. I made a promise, an oath to myself, that I will protect you from those that want to harm you.” Constantine coughed and blood spurted from his mouth onto his chin. His knees buckled under the sudden realization of his condition. “But… fuck… I guess this is the end for me huh? I’m sorry, both of you.”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Uriel screamed with tears streaming down her face. She got up and rushed towards Constantine, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Constantine, look at me please!” She pleaded as her hands pressed against his cheeks.

Nikolai just watched silently thinking about his words. “Nothing but ashes… ashes in between us.” She whispered while Uriel unleashed a heart-wrenching scream. White rings of light erupted from her forehead enveloping them both. Nikolai looked in awe at the swirling vortex of magnificent light and energy, the sheer force pushing her back.

“Constantine, I cannot let you die for me.” Uriel said, her voice echoing ethereally. “I-I lost all hope just now. I confess. But please, if you stay with me, I will never give up again, please, I forbid you to die! I need you. I… love you… don’t leave me… alone”

“I’m sorry… Uriel.” He said weakly.

“NO!” Her voice boomed. Her eyes went alight with the blazing fires of heaven and her hands together, pressed against her chest. “I command you to live!”

Nikolai listened, but she could not hear the prayer the angel uttered. Her eyes went wide however when she saw Uriel tear out her still beating heart from her chest.

“Live, through me. Breathe… me.” The angel said quietly.

A golden flame enveloped it as her heart hovered between her palms. Eyes sprouted onto it, with blood-red irises. Long, bloody, pulsing veins and arteries burst from it, wrapping around their hands. The last thing she saw was Constantine take a bite out of the organ with the last of his strength, before a blinding flash of light exploded outward from them. Nikolai averted her gaze until the light subsided.

When she looked back, she saw the two of them standing as one. Constantine’s eyes were white iris-less pearls bathed in holy fire. The skin surrounding them flaked and cracked, becoming pink petals floating in the wind. Wings made of celestial sunlight materialized from his back along with a crown of gilded horns sprouting from his head. Between them on his forehead was a single bloodshot red eye that watched unblinkingly. In his hand, he held his holy lance, now glowing with the swirling power of Uriel’s divinity.

“Haah...” Nikolai sighed, a part of her glad that Constantine was not dead, but the other aching deeply over what had just transpired. “Even in death, you will not let me have him? Even in death, you will try to take him from me?”

“Nikolai.” Constantine and Uriel’s voices echoed as one as they stepped towards her. ”I will never stop trying to save you, even if there’s the slightest glimmer of the girl I love hidden somewhere within. But… right now, what I see before me is a hateful imitation. Nothing more. No, you are not Nikolai. You are dead, and the dead should stay dead!”

“To death then.” She said, letting the fire consume her as a single tear fell down her cheek.