Hell's Gate Ch. 05

***Thanks for being so patient, readers. I've got little excuse for taking so long with this chapter other than it was a long and busy semester at college. Hopefully now that I have some time, I can get this story up and going again.

No sex in this chapter. It's all about wrapping up this part of the story. Lots of action though. Hope you enjoy. Remember to comment.***

Chapter Five: Stranded

{Hell's Gate; Early Morning}

Clava stood in front of the enormous stone gate, hands planted firmly on her hips as she surveyed the complicated locking mechanism. Behind her, a small company of guards held the King of Angels and his companion secure. They were silent, no doubt trying to figure a way out of their situation.

The Keykeeper welcomed the peace; the next few hours would be crucial for her plan to succeed and she didn't need any distractions.

"What is the status on the Gatekeepers?" she asked a robed figure that appeared out of place among the huge demon guards.

"They are planning an attack against the Archangel at Lord Wraith's castle," the demon in robes replied.

Clava smirked, "Perfect," She raised a hand and cocked a figure, beckoning one of her guards to come forward. "Make sure my army is ready to mobilize," she ordered, "Events will begin to move very quickly now and I don't want to be caught unprepared."

The guard nodded and turned around, jogging back toward the giant black castle in the distance behind the company.

"Any moment now," Clava said aloud, still facing the gate, "And your kingdom will be mine."

Gabriel shifted and Clava smiled.

"That's right," she said, "As soon as Michael takes care of things on his end, this gate will open and my army will storm your City and destroy everything that you love," she laughed once, "Maybe I'll even let them rape your women..."

Shackles clanked together as Gabriel struggled to free himself, "You bitch! What do you mean when Michael takes care of things!?"

"I mean," Clava said evenly, "That you have quite the traitor in your midst. And a few deflowered maidens as well," she chuckled.

"You're a liar," Gabriel growled, "Michael would nev-..."

The King's voice cut off abruptly as the very traitor in question materialized directly in front of Clava in a brilliant flash of light. He was covered from neck to foot in black armor, and was holding his hammer in his hands, the blunt end red with blood.

"You won't have to worry about anyone raising an alarm when the gate is opened," the Archangel said to Clava, hefting his hammer for emphasis. His eyes skimmed across Gabriel's face, contorted in mixture of shock and betrayal, before he turned his attentions back to the demoness.

Clava held out her left hand, "You have something for me?"

Reaching into a red pouch that hung from his waist, Michael produced a small, golden key. "As you requested," he said, placing the key into Clava's hand.

She closed her fist around the object, "That was easy."

"Not really," Michael snorted, "But now you have all you need. Are the other Archangels occupied with the Gatekeepers?"

Clava nodded, "They won't know what I've done until I have already sat myself upon the King's throne."

"You mean what WE have done," Michael smiled, "As King and Queen."

The Keykeeper returned the smile with sickening sweetness, "No; I mean I."

Faster than anyone could react, Clava flicked dagger that had been hanging around her hips out of its short scabbard and buried it to the hilt between Michael's ribs. She had navigated the layers of armor with expert precision, planting the tip of the dagger squarely in the Archangel's heart.

"You...," Michael stuttered, grabbing weakly at the dagger with his right hand.

"I don't share anything, Michael," Clava said softly, "But thank you for your devoted service; I could not have done this without you."

Michael's strength was waning fast as the dark magic imbued into the dagger's blade worked its way through his system. Sinking to his knees, he stared up at Clava with the same look of betrayal Gabriel had given him seconds before.

"Never trust a demon, old friend," a sad voice said from behind Clava. She turned her head to see Gabriel looking at Michael with tearful eyes, "They are all vile creatures. You've seen that yourself today."

Clava smirked, "Then you should have exterminated them all when you had the chance," she said, "Instead of leaving this one behind to do your dirty work while revenge festered like a wound in his heart."

The King said nothing, refusing to meet the Keykeeper's eyes.

Turning back to the gate, Clava ignored the dying Archangel at her feet, opening the fist that held the golden key she had just acquired. With her other hand, she grabbed at the air, opening this fist as well to reveal an identical, silver key.

The keys began to glow softly where they rested in her palms and lighting forked in the sky overhead. Raising her hands, Clava threw her head back and twin beams of light, one red and one white, shot from her palms upward, until they converged above her. From where the beams met, another ray, this one blue, shot straight forward, striking the stone gate and causing it to reverberate loudly with frightening energy and a sickly-sweet hum.

"I want you to watch this," Clava shouted over the din of the gate, "I want you to watch as I destroy the kingdom that you have tried so hard to protect, Gabriel."

The gate was getting loader now, and a high pitched squeak rang out at it began to swing forward on rusted iron hinges for the first time since it had been built so many years ago.

It continued to open, slowly revealing what lie behind its great stone façade and opening itself to Hell. It took only moments, and when the squeaking finally ceased and the gate was fully open, the lights from the keys vanished and it grew quiet, the only sound was that of Clava chuckling softly to herself.

Beyond the now-open gate was a never ending expanse of rolling green hills and valleys. A few clouds dotted the otherwise pure blue sky from where they escaped across the Wall and ventured into the Spirit Dimension.

For that was all that Hell was; the part of the Spirit Dimension that lay beyond the Wall.

"What a beautiful kingdom you have," the Keykeeper mused, causing the two keys she had used to vanish and staring straight ahead, "I will very much enjoy destroying it."

She turned around, facing the company of guards who were all stricken by what they were seeing. A paradise just a few hundred feet away that they never knew was so close.

"Go lock these two up," she commanded pointing her chin at Gabriel and Leo, who had been so quiet the entire time that Clava almost forgot he was there, "And mobilize the army. It's time."

******************************************************************************

{Outside Wraith's Castle; Morning}

"You don't have to do this," Taint told Olivia solemnly as she buckled on the last of her light, leather armor, "Who says he won't kill you where you stand?"

"No one," Olivia shrugged, "But you need the distraction." She looked up at her tall, powerful demon lover and smiled at how lucky she had been the past few days, "What have I got myself into?"

Taint reached out with one huge arm and pulled her to his body, "A whole lot," he smiled before leaning down and kissing her deeply until she moaned and gripped his arms and he had to let her go before they were in danger of missing the big battle.

"Come on," Taint said, "We've got to meet the others. I don't think that Archangel is going to wait much longer before raining holy hell down on us."

"I would agree," Olivia suddenly sounded worried as she strapped on her sword and led Taint out of the bedchambers and down the steps of the tower they had been staying in, "I'm surprised Raphael hasn't tried anything already, to be honest. I wonder what they're waiting for."

Taint growled, "Despite their grandiose power, even an Archangel would think twice before besieging a fully armed castle of a Demon Lord. He'll wait for us to make the first move, especially now that they know you might have turned sides."

"It's not about sides," Olivia sighed as they neared the front gate of Wraith's castle, "It's about doing what's right."

With a grunt, Taint threw open the heavy wooden door and walked outside. He was met by an enormous crowd of demons, large and small, that dwarfed his own army that had marched off to fight ogres only a few days before. It stretched beyond the walls of the castle, forming a gigantic semi-circle around the Gatekeepers, who were all standing together, clad in various types of armor. The robed figure of Slake was not far off from the group, but had her back turned and arms raised toward a small shape that floated in the air in the distance.

"Raphael," Olivia pointed out with her chin, "Slake appears to be concentrating on him pretty hard."

"She can only conceal us for so much longer," Taint said worriedly and as they neared the other Lords, Olivia could tell that he was not the only one.

"We have leant some of our magic to Slake," Lord Fulmen said.

"But we can only give so much," his brother, Magus said, "We will need it for the battle."

"It won't be much longer," Taint assured, "We have a plan."

He relayed it quickly to the other Lords. "Risky," the disembodied voices of Peril and Hazard hissed.

"I agree," Wraith boomed, "It will take a while to mobilize to that position. Are you sure Olivia can distract him for that long?"

"It's only about a quarter of a mile by my approximation," Taint said, "It won't take more than fifteen minutes if we hurry. We're demons, remember. Quick and powerful," he tried to smile, but it came off as a thinly concealed grimace.

"Fine," Fulmen nodded, "But we all need to pitch in some power for Slake. She won't last another two minutes let alone fifteen."

"Agreed," Taint nodded, and then turned to Olivia, who had been waiting patiently for the word, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she nodded, and silver wings snapped from her back and spread wide as she prepared to take off.

"Fifteen minutes," Taint confirmed, "And then get out of there."

Olivia nodded and crouched, wings folded in.

"Good luck, Little Angel."

She kicked off from the ground, shooting into the air before spreading her wings and flapping them heavily to gain altitude. From high above, she could make out the massive size of the demon army. Swallowing hard, hoping that it would be enough to at least send the Archangels back the Spirit Dimension, she flew toward the floating shape in the distance.

It did not take long to near the growing figure of Raphael, who had no doubt noticed her by then. To her surprise, she saw that he looking not at her, but intently east, toward Taint's castle and, beyond that, Clava's. She was next to him in minutes, and he barely registered her presence.

Short for an Archangel, at only five feet, eight inches, Raphael was built like a tank. Muscles bulged from every bone and his tarnished, bronze armor made him look like a statue come to life. He was completely bald, and wore a mace to his left and a short sword on his right and would wield both equally well, and at the same time in battle.

"Olivia," he said in his shockingly soft voice, "Good to see you again."

"Raphael," she said uncertainly, looking in the direction he was and trying to make out what he was watching so intensely. In the distance he could see Taint's castle, black and looming on the flat, brown fields of Hell's boundary. Beyond that, she could barely make out what must have been Clava's castle. It was a tiny black dot on the horizon. She definitely could not see the Wall at this distance, but Archangels were more powerful than regular Angels and Olivia could only assume Raphael could see something she could not.

"What have your actions caused?" Raphael asked heavily before finally turning to her, his eyes filled with a potent mix of worry and rage, "What did you do?"

"I'm sorry I attacked Raguel," Olivia said, "But he wouldn't listen to reason. I only want to..."

"Stupid girl," Raphael shook his head before turning it back east, "I was not referring to your pitiful attempt to wound one of us. I'm talking about you opening Hell's Gate. Do you know what this means?"

Olivia was floored. She had no idea what Raphael was talking about. All she did was fix the Wall. The last thing she, or any other Angel, would dream of doing was opening Hell's Gate. It was unthinkable. As much as she had fallen for Taint, she had enough sense to know that opening the Gate would have serious repercussions for both sides of it.

"I wouldn't...I couldn't..." she protested.

"How did you do it?" Raphael turned back to her, more rage than worry in his eyes now, "Seduce Michael so he would tell you how? Sneak away to shack up with some Demon Lord, draw your father from his kingdom and then kidnap him so he wouldn't pose a threat?" the accusations kept coming, louder and angrier, "How'd he get to you, the demon? Sneak through a crack? Fuck you until you told him you'd do anything for him? Huh? Is that how? Whore!"

Raphael roared the last word and stuck Olivia with the back of his hand, causing her to reel and drawing blood which she could taste on the inside of her mouth.

She spat it out, watching it fall to the earth below. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, trying to sound strong and not as afraid as she was feeling.

"You've brought ruin to us all," Raphael growled, and Olivia saw him draw his sword, "And for what? Some demon filth? I don't care whose daughter you are, you deserve to die. It would be a betrayal to my oath not to do it myself."

Olivia drew her own sword, knowing it was too early to flee. She needed to give the army more time to sneak into position, and the only way she was going to be able to do that was to fight Raphael. It was not supposed to go like this, but something Raphael had saw had made him unreasonable.

"He's not filth," she grimaced, gripping her sword with two hands, hoping to muster some rage that would fuel her energy.

"They're all filth," Raphael growled, "And so are you."

He lunged and Olivia blocked him just in time. Metal clanged on metal and sparks leapt through the air. Recovering in an instance, Raphael spun around and swung another blow at the Angel princess. Folding her wings in, Olivia free-fell, avoiding the lethal swing.

The Archangel pursued her expertly, diving and gaining on her quickly.

"Hurry," Olivia pleaded to Taint, "Please." And then turned, sword raised, to face her attacker head on. Preparing for death.

******************************************************************************

{Between the Wall and Wraith's Castle; Morning}

Taint saw the spark of metal high in the air and let out a roar of anger. They were only halfway to the Archangel, and he had already started to attack Olivia. The Archangel's aggression did not shock him, but it was still a scary thought to think that his Little Angel was facing one of the most powerful creatures in the universe alone; and he had let her do it.

"We need to hurry!" he yelled, and then took off at a sprint. His Angel was in trouble, and he needed to do something, anything. Army or no. "Catch up, quickly," he yelled toward Wraith and pulled ahead of the group, his long, powerful legs carrying him swiftly across the brown grass toward the dueling Angels.

When he reached the spot directly beneath them, Taint wasted no time in summoning a ball of energy in his right palm, which he threw with as much power as he could at Raphael, who was fifty feet above him and advancing on a rapidly tiring Olivia.

The ball hit the Archangel's wing and he cried out in fury and pain, abandoning his attack on Olivia to focus on Taint. The demon drew his great sword and took a defensive stance against his aggressor.

"Leave her alone," he yelled at Raphael, "She has nothing to do with this. I'm the one you want to fight."

"So you're the filth that tainted her?" the Archangel snarled and folded in his wings, falling like a stone to the ground and landing heavily on his feet. His wings disappeared and Taint shifted his sword in his grasp, ready for a fight he knew he probably would not win.

Olivia landed clumsily next to him, and Taint could see a tear in her armor near her shoulder. Blood was seeping out of it, but it did not look fatally serious. Nevertheless, Taint did not want her fighting anymore.

"Go back to the army," he whispered to her, "They'll protect you. You've done more than enough for me."

Olivia shook her head, "I'm not leaving you. We stand a better chance together than alone."

"Stubborn," Taint growled, but knew better than to argue. She might stay, but Taint made a vow to himself then not to let any harm befall Olivia.

"Lover's quarrel?" Raphael sneered.

"Go home, Archangel," Taint said, "We had nothing to do with kidnapping the King. And Olivia has made her choice to stay here. She is no one's prisoner."

"Perhaps," Raphael shrugged, "But she is a traitor and you are an accomplice to multiple treaty violations. And for that, you must both die by the hand of an Archangel."

He sprung without further warning, leaping astonishingly high into the air, slashing at Taint in a wide arc. Despite the distance, Raphael traveled fast, and Taint was barely able to lift his sword up to block the blow in time. The attack landed hard, and reverberated through his body, vibrating his bones and causing his ears to ring.

With a mighty heave, he threw Raphael off him, and made a countermove. The Archangel blocked it like it was nothing, and swung low at Taint's legs. He managed to jump back, but he was too slow and the tip of Raphael's blade dug into the flesh of his thighs with searing pain. He only wore armor on his chest and torso, leaving this part of him vulnerable to the full force of the attack.

Crying out, Taint faltered and barely dodged another ringing blow from the more powerful being.

"Is that all you've got, Lord?" Raphael mocked and raised his sword high above his head, "They always said you Gatekeepers are the laughing stock of Hell."

Taint crouched low and rolled out of the way, pushing himself up while Raphael recovered from the miss.

While he was preparing his next attack, Taint was surprised to see the Archangel turn his back on him. Something had distracted him, and Taint saw it was Olivia, who had managed to land a glancing blow along Raphael's shoulder while he had been busy with Taint. She had drawn blood, and no matter how little it was, it was enough to renew Taint's confidence.

It was also enough to redirect Raphael's rage onto the Olivia, and he advanced on her, swinging his sword wildly, barely missing the lithe Angel and moving further and further from where Taint was standing.

"Olivia!" Taint shouted, and rushed to where she was trying desperately to dodge Raphael's continuing attacks. Olivia was quicker than the Archangel, but it wasn't enough, and Raphael continued to advance until she stumbled and fell onto her back, now completely prone to the killing move. And Taint was still too far away to do anything.

With a bellow, Taint leapt into the air, much as Raphael had done for his opening move, and came down heavily behind the bald Archangel. Raphael flipped around in a blink of an eye, holding up his sword to block Taint's attack. But the swing had had the entire strength of the demon Lord's nearly seven foot frame behind it and the Archangel was forced to one knee.

"Impressive," Raphael admitted with a grunt, "But not enough."

White hot, searing pain ripped through Taint's lungs and he staggered backward. Something had rammed itself hard into his ribcage, and he was having trouble breathing. Stars danced in front of his eyes, and he struggled to stay upright and hold onto his sword. He barely saw the mace coming for him a second time, and once again fell to the ground, rolling away just in time.