Overwhelmed with everything I was just told, the only thing I can manage to say is, “okay.” Getting up, we head out the door and find Uriel in the hall.
“Took you long enough,” he mutters, annoyed.
“Well, what did you expect? That someone who never believed in all of this would just simply accept it?” Frida retorts, then looks at me. “You will get used to him. Okay, let’s go.”
We head down the hallway and it suddenly opens up into a huge courtyard with marble pillars. As we continue on I notice people standing inside huge rings sparring with each other.
“Here we have our hand-to-hand training grounds. This is where you will practice your transformation and learn how to control it. Once you can do that, you will move on to the combat arms training ground,” Frida says. “If you look to theend of the courtyard, you will see where we have our infirmary.”
“I swear that I saw my arm heal on its own, so why would you need an infirmary?” I ask cutting in.
“Yes, you have healing abilities, and so do the angels. But the healing abilities that we have only work to a certain point. As Archangels, we have divine weapons that can kill anything in existence. Just keep in mind that Lucifer was an Archangel, and still has his divine sword. He also found a way to give his demonic generals weapons that can kill angels. Those weapons can severely harm an Archangel but not kill one,” Uriel replies.
“As for you, those weapons would do the same thing as a sword or ax would to you back on Earth,” he continues.
“The infirmary is to allow those who have been injured in battle time to heal. If you sustain a wound from a demonic weapon, it will greatly reduce your healing ability; if you sustain a wound from an Archangel blade, you could be wiped from existence,” Frida says.
“Most of the battles that we have fought only have one demonic general in command, but they are enough to completely turn the tide in any battle. They should never be underestimated,” Uriel remarks.
“So, you’re telling me that these demonic generals have the ability to not only kill us, but might even be able to wipe me from existence?” I question in shock.
Frida shakes her head. “No, only the Archangel blades can potentially wipe you from existence. And the only one who has one in Hell is Lucifer.”
“Not if we kill all of them first,” my wolf butts in.
“Some of them, like Lilith, have the ability tocorrupt us and force us to do their bidding. Lilith has been known to corrupt the strongest of us and when that happens the Archangels step in to dispatch of them. If power that we are given is corrupted, it becomes so overwhelmingly destructive that it can even kill an Archangel. The strongest one of us that she corrupted was our last commander, Rathor,” Frida tells me.
“When we were dispatched to smite Rathor, I led the charge against him and he was so corrupted that in a single blow he cut through our ranks. Eviscerating, dismembering, decapitating angels, and his own comrades that he fought next to for centuries without hesitation. Before I could react he had his claws dug deep into Azrael. Just as he went to deliver the killing blow, Frida intervened, pulling his focus away from Azrael. She tore off his right arm. Freed, Azrael took his Archangel blade and slashed his chest just before Lilith swooped in and saved Rathor, retreating from the battle, which was almost a thousand years ago.
“Lilith, along with her Knights were able to heal Rathor’s arm, using a combination of black magic and blood magic, they imbued his arm with an Archdemon blade. Giving his right arm the same power as an Archdemon weapon. In his human form he bears a black spiked arm with shards of blood-red obsidian embedded in it. When he shifts it changes as well, becoming more grotesque and jagged, resembling demonic steel more than flesh. Every battle since that day that Rathor has been a part of, has been a complete massacre. Nothing has been able to stop him and he has killed countless angels, Lycans, and even some Archangels,” Uriel says, lowering his head in shame.
“You see, when one of us gets corrupted, the rage that youfelt toward that soldier demon changes to a hatred toward everything divine and pure. And unlike us, when we are no longer in the presence of evil, it subsides. That hatred never goes away, growing over the centuries. It consumes them and, for the lesser of us, makes them savage. But, Rathor being the strongest of us has found a way to use it to increase his power with every battle. I fear that if we don’t stop him soon, even the Archangels won’t be able to,” Frida replies, frowning.
“How long has this war been going on?” I ask.
“Since Lucifer rebelled against God and Heaven,” Uriel responds.
“And when did you start using werewolves to help?”
“Lycans,” Frida butts in with a smirk.
“Sorry, Lycans,” I correct, amusing her.
“The tide was turning against us about five-thousand years ago. God decided that he would enlist exceptional warriors who either didn’t have faith or who he saw as deserving a second chance to prove themselves. God imbued them with this gift to test them and increase their battle prowess. This turned the tide for us to the point we thought we would end the war. Then Lucifer corrupted the first Lycan and everything changed,” Uriel says, as we continue to walk.
“If a Lycan falls in combat and is seen to have done enough, they are given a choice by God, they can either ascend into Heaven or return to battle. If they have not proven themselves, they get to choose to either return to the battlefield or cease to exist,” Frida says.
“All of the religions that have ever existed have worshiped the same divinities. God has gone by many names; Chaos, Atum, and Ymir. The Archangels have gone by different titles as well. Even Lucifer has been called by other names: Set,Hades, Loki, and Mors, just to mention a few,” Uriel says, glancing at me.
“So, every single religion has worshiped the same God?” I reply, perplexed.
“Yes, all the different cultures all worshiped the same God,” Uriel replies. “This allowed God to pull the strongest and most talented warriors from Earth through the centuries… Let’s go, it’s time for you to meet the rest of your Lycanthrope division.”
“You said my division—how many divisions are there?” I ask.
“We used to have a lot more, thousands even, but now we only have a few hundred remaining because of Rathor,” Frida answers with a look of deep sorrow on her face.
“Each division consists of five Lycans and the strongest in each division is their commander. Your Division consists of Perseus, Lucius, Frida, and is led by Achilles,” Uriel says.
