“It stopped being a game the second Raziel took you. I didn’t think I needed to fucking explain that to you.” He looked vulnerable for a minute, and my heart twinged. “I thought you knew that underneath it all, we were friends. I never wanted to leave you like that.”
I softened, shooting him what I hoped was an apologetic look.
“I know, Hazai. I knew it was just a game… Wearefriends… I just didn’t think, after all this time, there was still a threat. You nailed Yahweh to across.I thought we were back to our usual shenanigans.”
Trying to get playful Shem back, I winked at him, but he just darkened further.
“Until Raziel is unmade, we’ll never be safe,” he muttered, and my heart broke at the hopelessness that haunted the chaos demon’s eyes.
Alexa play: Nazareth by Sleep Token
Rome 290 AD
It was raining. The gladiator games at the Colosseum that day had been especially bloody and brutal.
I had heard that a chaos demon had been making deals with the Roman emperors. My interest was piqued, and I came to see the games.
They were violent, cruel and bloody.
Having glamoured myself as a nobleman’s wife, I’d been led to the imperial box to watch with the emperor and his key advisor.
I immediately recognized his advisor as a demon.
He lounged lazily in a throne-like chair next to Diocletian, who was gleefully ordering the slaughter of dozens of the god of creation’s followers.
Bright green eyes fell on me as I entered, and his dark eyebrows rose in surprise as he immediately recognized me for what I was.
Like recognized like.
“What do we have here?” the demon purred, and our energies tangled together in curiosity.
As the mother of witches, I was no stranger to demons. My magic came from the natural elements of the earth and the sky. I drew from the immense, bottomless power of the universe, and I walked the line of balance that came from the careful positioning of the planets and stars that made up our reality.
Demons, on the other hand, fed off anti-matter. They were the antithesis of everything I stood for. However, as a champion of harmony, I knew that this was a necessary counterbalance to all things good.
I didn’t fear this demon. I was simply intrigued.
“I have come to watch the games.” I smiled, and the creature’s lips spread into a devious grin, his green eyes traveling slowly up and down my form in curiosity.
“By all means,” he said, gesturing to the open seat next to him.
“We’re slaughtering Christians today. It’s been entertaining, to say the least.”
My ears pricked at the clear edge of his tone. This creature clearly hated the humans that were currently being gutted in the sand-filled area, and I frowned as I settled into the seat next to him.
The violence did nothing for me. I didn’t enjoy watching the humans bleed. Death was a natural cycle of life, but hatred and animosity were poisonous things that had the potential to put your inner peace at risk.
Whatever you sent out into the universe would be returned to you threefold. Looking at this chaos demon next to me, I worried for him.
The amount of hatred and scorn that radiated off of him was enough to put his entire future at risk.
“You hate them,” I observed, cocking my head to the side.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He turned those intense green eyes onto me, and he regarded me quietly for a long moment as if carefully considering his answer.
