Answered Prayers

“COME, MY DEMONIC BRETHREN! LORD ABADDON HAS DECLARED THE START OF THE FEAST! LET US RAVAGE AND DESOLATE THESE PITIFUL HUMANS!”

The Demon Prince Aluga stood triumphant, one hideous clawed foot crushing a monument to a dead king of these weak mortals. Above, the skies turned blood red, before the charred black clouds puked their contents, raining down blood, bile, and other foul bodily fluids. Foul flights of winged monstrosities flew through the horror, hooting with a maddening gibbous howl, devouring the wails of the mortals beneath.

And what awfulness blasphemed these grounds! The armies of darkness marched, stamping the soil with their burning hooves, crushing man and their makings underneath. Throngs of beasts, both great and small, clamored over each other in their lust to slake their bloodthirst. Foul imps and lemures and other contemptible weak fiends satisfied their evil desires with wretched glee. They feasted on the scraps of the slain, both mortal and vile, while the few that had some greater degree of intelligence (debased as it was), found pleasure in mounting the dead and near-dead on spikes of wicked iron. These foul devices drained their blood, spilling it out in puddles around the base, replacing it with a profane ichor. Upon its injection into the corpse, their limbs jerked with a hideous intensity, as they rose as the undead.

Soldiers desperately fought against the horde, but all the training and arms in the world could not shield their souls against the horrors they were up against. In swift order, their formations were overwhelmed, and the survivors were broken into small groups, desperately struggling to live for even another moment. The civilians, what was left of them anyway, had either fled and been cut down, or were holding their breath in cellars, praying for a miracle.

Aluga triumphantly marched forward, his membranous wings extending from his back, the ground weeping tar where he trod. His bestial face split into what could be considered a smile, where it not so revolting, with tusks the size of a man’s forearm being licked by a slobbering tongue dripping with some unspeakable form of saliva. His eyes, deep-set and beady, gleamed with malevolence as he stood before the final holdout of this doomed town – the church.

With a single swing from his wicked axe, he splintered the doors asunder, delighting in the screams of fear from the cowering humans inside.

“GOD, PLEASE, SAVE US!” one woman cried, shielding what must be her children with her body. Aluga laughed, the sound like the pits of hell, as he held his arms up wide. His armies deferentially stood behind him, knowing that he desired first blood before they could tear into the helpless, mewling flesh before them.

“GOD? THERE IS NO GOD HERE, LITTLE ONE, NOR ANYWHERE ELSE. IT LONG ABANDONED THIS WORLD TO THE WHIMS OF ITS INHABITANTS, AND YOU LET US IN. THERE NOW EXISTS ONLY US, AND YOU, OUR PLAYTHINGS AND FOOD! HERE, IF THERE IS A ‘GOD’, THEN LET IT SHOW ITSELF AND SAVE YOU!”

He stepped within the holy building, his claws digging trenches through the stone. He roared in victory.

“SEE? NO GOD, ONLY –”

Aluga’s words were cut off without warning. A golden spear erupted from his chest, pinning him in place, as what ectoplasm that passed for blood gushed from the wound and his mouth.

Outside, the sky split open, revealing the clear sky and the bright sun. A sunbeam burned away the corruption that tainted the ground, as with the grace of a dove, descended the answer to their prayers. The Angel floated toward the howling demon prince, scorching away all evil in his presence. The weaker demons simply combusted, blowing away as ash in the wind, while the stronger ones scurried like cockroaches from the light. Even Aluga, as powerful in darkness as he was, found his wings burn as the Angel approached.

Aluga was thrice the stature of a normal man, while the Angel was a mere twice, not that it seemed to matter. With contemptible ease, he lifted the golden spear, demon still pinned, before spinning it in an arc, launching the demon off the weapon and sending Aluga crashing backward.

The Angel looked into the church, seeing the faithful survivors inside. He raised a hand and as a bright light emanated from it, the survivors felt their wounds heal and their spirits lift, before a golden barrier surrounded them. Once this was done, the Angel turned to face the forces of hell. He looked to the left, then the right, then up to the sky. His wings extended to their full length, and with a slight bend of the knee, he took to the sky!

He moved like a lightning bolt! From flying demon to levitating monstrosity, he decapitated each one in a single blow, leaving a golden blur as the only sign that he had moved as he landed back on the ground. He touched down with such delicacy that even an ant would not have been squashed under his feet.

Aluga snarled, one clawed hand clutched over his torso wound, as he struggled to his feet. The cowardly imps and lemures were scattering in fear, and even the larger demons were looking to him for leadership. Aluga stood to his full height of 15 feet and reached out to his axe. He had dropped his weapon in the surprise attack, but with his gesture, the weapon was summoned to his hand. Even as he continued to apply pressure to his chest, he rose the weapon at the Angel in declaration of a challenge.

“SO, YOUR PATHETIC MASTER WAS LISTENING THEN! VERY WELL, FACE M–”

The Angel didn’t even let the foul demon finish the sentence before he was upon it. Wielding his spear in both hands, he jumped forward, bringing its tip baring down at Aluga’s heart. He was just barely able to bring the head of the axe to intercept the attack, but the sheer force behind the strike was enough to make him stagger! The Angel gave no quarter and continued his assault. Aluga was overwhelmed in an instant, as blow after blow stabbed into him, the holy power contained within burning away his demonic flesh.

“ENOUGH!” he finally roared, belching out a gout of black fire. The air seemed to catch fire, as the ground began to melt! But it was useless. The Angel raised his spear and summoned a barrier, not around himself, but around Aluga! The flames were completely deflected, and no matter how many Aluga brought forth or how hot he made them, they were powerless in the presence of an emissary of Heaven.

The Angel narrowed his eyes and began to clench a fist. As he did, the barrier he had created around Aluga began to shrink! Aluga’s bestial eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. He clawed at the barrier in desperation, but the Angel had no mercy for such an evil being. He made his hand into a fist, crushing Aluga, blood and bile and ichor covering the inside of the barrier.

The Angel raised his fist to the sky, causing the barrier to raise upward. The higher it went, the brighter it began to glow, until it appeared to be a second sun in the sky. The brightness intensified until it exploded with the sound of a thousand trumpets! Light banished the surrounding darkness, the clouds were scattered, and demons fled upon seeing the destruction of their leader. For all those who follow evil and power alone are fundamentally cowards, and this horde were no different. But even though their leader had been slain, the Angel would still bring justice to the wretches. Raising his spear again, he slammed the ferrule down, sending a shock-wave radiating outward, encapsulating the ground and the sky. All the demons that were so much as touched by the burning light were burned in holy flame. Much like before, the weaker demons were simply annihilated, while the stronger ones suffered immolating burns.

Rallied by the Angel’s presence, and bolstered seeing their foes flee in flames, the surviving guards and soldiers cheered and went on the offensive. The Angel left them to it; even the strongest of the dark forces present here had been crippled and were fleeing, making them easy to clean up. The Angel instead turned his attention to the citizens. He strode into the church, and as he did so, the surviving humans clamored around him. Some wept in thanks, others begged forgiveness, some just stood there, mouth agape.

With a kind smile he spoke to the congregation. “Be not afraid, children of THE LORD, for the forces of evil shall not prevail. THE LORD has sent me to defend and protect you, and I shall follow that command until I am called back to Heaven.”

Members of the congregation fell to their knees, praising the Angel, almost worshiping him. However, the Angel did not accept this as worship of him, but of the only one worthy of praise and adulation. He smiled and walked to the front of the church hall. At the front, was a large altar with a golden cross upon it.

“Yes, let us pray.” He said, as he knelt before the altar, raising his spear before him in reverence, and began a sermon.