14. Agaliarept's Gate [Part II] There are things more powerful than Hell and its demons, it's called, self-interest. [Prior to the battle that was about to take place, Siren had taken her mother's corpse and within a moments time committed it to ashes in a urn, within the confines of the coffin area; thus, to take it back to her planet. She put it into a small sack and tied it onto her belt.] The chill for battle went up and down within her spine, and within the marrow of her bones, it clung to her marrow, within her spinal column, a savage chill, a chill that was intoxicating, it came out of her face"reeking, strange as it was, for her it was enthralling: "I feel I've been in battles before," she murmured to her Army of Twenty. Now she was looking at Agaliarept, and his one-hundred plus headless warriors standing by the gate that lead to the harbor and to its boats that brought in the souls of the dead, the damned spirits to be sectioned off and directed here and there for the future domination. "Comin'?" she said, not sure way she said what she said, she was as if, as if taking orders from a voice hidden way back inside her cranial, it even sounded familiar, perhaps her mother pushing the influence of leadership upon her. Agaliarept just looked, and looked, and gazed and looked, almost dumbfounded, this was unheard of in hell, a revolt, but then Siren was not of the human race, she was not subject to the same rules: '...how could she battle with us?' was dancing in his mind, Agaliarept's mind, '...she must have something up her sleeve?' But she was not human, she was not demonic she was different than all the creatures within this underground kingdom. He was a cautious demonic-being if ever one was, yes he was not Satan's Henchman for nothing; so Agaliarept just stood his ground; it seemed like for hours, but it was but a few minutes. He noticed Siren was not haggard or aimlessly wondering what to do, she had a plan, small or large she had an ongoing plan, somehow someone was tutoring her on the spot: if he knew anything he knew body language, and the nature of things. So there was no sadness on her face"she was guilt free, with not an ounce, not even an iota of fear on her face; nor fear of death, those kinds of frustrations the enemy relays on, psychologically plays on its enemies; Agaliarept knew she was dangerous; or she was putting on a good show he conjured with a second thought. Said Agaliarept: "I know the Manticore, and Aznar were the corrupt ones in this fantasy of horror, your mother underwent on their behalf, and I really can't do much about it, although I will inform them it was not to my liking, but I give you my word, should you go now, you go in peace, leave this underworld while you can!" A voice in her head was pounding, throbbing"as if some one was beating on a drum: '...no, no, no"demons lie, as much as giants eat.' So Siren played a trick with her facial features, she gave a little smile, a thought, as she looked up a at him to show she was trying to put things together, when she already had put them together. At this time, the entire harbor was looking at these two groups: thinking: what was going on here? Can this happen in hell, rebellion? They were center stage: Agaliarept then looked over at Aznar, getting angrier for putting him in a position of compromise. The Battle As the battle was about to start, Agaliarept noticed her men appeared to regard her with profound respect, for such a small period of time; respect that said they'd walk out with her, or if not, they'd cause all holy hell in Hell. To be frank, he didn't like the looks of things. Like all demons, thieves, and so on, they all want the advantage on their side, and when there is doubt in this area, there is an apprehension to pursue a deadly course, and this is what was taking place: Agaliarept had to have time to think, this was not normal, this was the first time in his career, in 7000-years that such a disaster presented himself. It was a disaster, and he was not prepared for it. As Agaliarept looked at several of the twenty odd looking beings behind Siren (odd looking because he had not seen them before, and was used to seeing his kind or earthlings for the most part), she said something: akin to a spell: and seven two-headed deadly poisonous snakes appeared in their hands. That even impressed Agaliarept, he raised his eyebrows. Who was he dealing with? He thought more and more on his, what would be his next movement. Here on earth, Hell and demons were the opposing forces of mankind, but now things were different, these beings were Moiromma citizens, deadly to deal with; the laws of this area did not restrain them with magical spells; she had special gifts from her mother's birthplace, part of her birthright from Asteroid-Ice Cap, it gave her magical or supernatural gifts, like them. Agaliarept did not take that into consideration, but during the several months Jokaneen was isolated in the coffin, she did. Then she spoke another spell (and then she knew, she was the new prophet of Moiromma, for Tfarcevol who had used up his lives), and when she spoke the last word, several more of her armament, became three headed dogs. Hell was facing hell's raft itself; all the creatures were hissing, no fear of the ugly headless men, who Agaliarept thought would petrify them; if anything, Siren gave a smirk that opened up Agaliarept's eyes wide as a mans head, he took it as an insult; as she wanted him to: yes, yes, she said in her minds eye, get him angry and he will lose his concentration to fight a perfect battle. The rest of the men, along with Siren, pulled out crude weapons, knives "rough crafted stilettos, and shapely chiseled stone daggers. Then she said something, something that made Agaliarept wonder in horror, shock, and terror: "With these knives, whoever should touch the blades will be cast into the stone blocks of the gateway, and become fossilized. They had all seen too many wonders to not take this serious. Yet Agaliarept's integrity was at stake, his character was becoming confused on what to do and even if there was a way out of this mess"could he take it. This was not how it was suppose to be, but then, there was a hidden rule among demonic forces, to simply deal with earthlings, and souls brought in from the surface (since normally they could not leave its gravity), no one had ever gone beyond this and brought back creatures or even specimens of parts from other life forms: and especially those that had, or may have had more supernatural powers than they, or equal to theirs, or even different ones. In essence, Agaliarept knew the two whom brought them back [Aznar and the Manticore], and had wished they'd had done their homework on the subject a lot better, and what could he say about the angelic renegade: Amasras'"it was a job for Lucifer, for he was just a demon, not a powerful archangel. Siren then spotted Aznar, he started to run, and Siren threw her blade, her stone knife at his spine, and when it struck him, shooting into his vertebrae, it separated it similar to a cow being cut open from top to bottom, and before he fell, he was cast into the granite stone walls of the gate. He was no more than a living fossil, from that moment on; Agaliarept, ordered his men to have their heads placed back on their necks, and they appeared as if they were simply camouflaged. Three men of Agaliarept's Army ran toward the disarmed Siren, for it was every warrior's strategy to kill the leader, thus leaving the Army in panic. But before they reached her, the snakes jumped out of the hands of three of Sirens soldiers and bite them several times as they fell and disappeared into a mist, and reappeared, and disappeared again, like a ghost. The bites could not kill; only disarm the spirit-filled beings. Now the Manticore stepped out. He was a ferocious looking being, and he knew this was really his fight, and should he not fight, Agaliarept would deal with him later, and possibly Hell would be spared. As he stepped forward, the three headed doges ran to him chewing every inch of his body as if it was raw meat, he was in pain, and as soon as the dogs stopped, his wounds started to heal immediately, but then the dogs could chew forever if need be, but they hesitatingly waited to see his next move; but his strength was not much, he could not fight the dogs again, only push them here and there, then he just laid down and let the dogs chew and chew and chew, and pull him apart if need be, and they did again, and then moved back to Siren. Then Siren grabbed a stone knife from one of her men, and threw it at the Manticore, but he was smart enough to roll aside. Now Siren and Agaliarept caught each others eyes, and she again was disarmed. At that very moment, Agaliarept did something he thought he'd never do, he kicked the stone knife over to Siren, and she picked it up, and jumped on the Manticore and drove it through his heart. And within a moments time he was cast into the stone gateway that led into Hell's front door. Said Agaliarept, "Where do we go from here?" Replied Siren (with a firm calm voice) "This is your world and your domain, my mother is satisfied with my victory, her revenge is complete, I will go, should you try to stop me, we'll finish the battle." There was not and once of room to discuss the matter. He never replied by voice, but lightly closed his eyes and they went to the dock area, ordered several demon to get out of their boats, Agaliarept again not doing anything but nodding his head 'yes,' to get rid of them, just wanting them gone, and gone for good. And so they jumped in the largest boat, all cramped, and that was the last Hell had seen of the Moirommalit's. |
