Their screams calm to groans and they become still. Then Lucius sits up. “That fucking sucked,” he groans, looking at his chest as the gaping wound heals quickly. He nudges Perseus. “You okay?” he asks.
“Fuck, no I’m not,” he coughs, panting, still laying on the ground.
“Tomorrow we will all meet back here and I will take you two with me to see what you’re now capable of, while Evander trains with Achilles,” Michael says in a stern voice, looking at Lucius and Perseus.
The next daywe all met up. Michael takes them off to the pit and Achilles joins me in the ring. We both shift and as I begin attacking I quickly notice he is considerably faster, now he is able to dodge the majority of my attacks with ease. Then he begins his own hits and lands a blow. It hurts a bit as he is stronger now too.
“That’s good, Achilles, now I’m not going to hold back,” I shout as I unleash my full power and press him hard, until I break through his defense and land a few powerful strikes, breaking some ribs and his shoulder.
Unlike before he lets out a roar and heals faster. I grin as he lunges at me.
We go back and forth like this until Michael, Perseus and Lucius return.
We finishedthat day off with all three of them fighting me in the arena. We go on like this for what seems like weeks. I look over to Azrael.
“Now let’s see what you’re capable of,” I say. He grins and walks into the ring. “Draw your sword,” I demand.
He looked at me concerned. “If I do that I’ll kill you,” he replied.
“If you don’t, I’ll kill you,” I confidently reply back.
“Azrael, do what he says and don’t hold back,” Michael remarks.
The look on his face changes and Azrael draws his sword. As the ring echoes out, a deep purple flame swirls around the blade. “You asked for this, Evander,” he remarks. A smirk crosses my face and I close my eyes.
Both Fenrir and I give ourselves to the divinity and that calmness washes over us. Without opening my eyes I raise my left arm catching his blade mid swing.
Slowly opening my eyes I see the look of shock on his face as he tries to withdraw his weapon, but struggles against my grip. Balling up my fist I deliver a devastating gut punch, shattering his breast plate and he lets out a bloody cough.
Rotating my claws up I open them and forcefully dig them in, grabbing the bottom of his ribs. As my claws dig through his flesh and through the opening of his lower ribs he screams out.
I feel his blade lose the strength behind it, so I quickly let go, drawing back and driving my fist into his face, sending him flying back across the arena. With a snap his lower ribs crack and are left in my hand, as he hits the dirt.
Discarding the bones I look at Michael. He raises his hand, gesturing to me to pause. “I told you to go all out,” he shouts at Azrael.
He staggers to his feet, using his sword for stability, with blood pouring from his mouth and a gaping hole in his chest. “I see now how you were able to kill Uriel,” he manages through blood filled coughs and wheezes.
Then he does something intriguing, his posture becomes rigged, his wings flare and he raises his sword, holdingit perfectly centered with his chest. The purple flames explode out, burning wildly and they surround him in a ball of fire.
Then suddenly they vanish. His wounds are healed and his eyes burn with the same purple flame.
“That’s better, now you’re taking him seriously,” Michael shouts.
This time I attack and he is noticeable faster as he blocks my claws and matches my strength. He then lets out a flurry of slashes, which I block and dodge all of them. We are moving so fast that only Michael is able to follow our movements.
He continues slashing, then something different happens. As his blade cuts through the air the flames fly off of it in an arch that hurls toward me. Jumping out of the way just in time it hits a wall and as it does it detonates like a bomb. Impressed that I was able to dodge it, Michael steps in.
“That’s enough for now, we don’t want to accidentally kill the others who are training,” he says as we remember where we are and calm down.
“I’m surprised that you were able to avoid that, Evander. It’s been a long time since I’ve used that technique,” Azrael shouts with a hint of pride in his voice.
I turn to reply when we hear it, the sound of trumpets fill the air. Without hesitation we all rush to the portal and nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to walk into.
Chapter 24
As I walk through Hell’s gate I feel its evil essence envelop me, soothing my twisted soul. Stepping into Purgatory I see legions of demons already closing in on Heaven’s gate.
As the few angels try to hold them off they are quickly ripped apart and strewn across the ground, causing an involuntary giggle from me. The portal opens up beyond the gateand Azrael steps through with his mutt’s and that’s when I see him.
