Faith’s discomfort increased as Samael and the figures surrounding him approached. At one moment she almost fainted due to the light-headedness.
“Are you ok?” Warren griped her under his arm. “Do you want us to leave?” He asked with concern.
“No,” Faith muttered under her breath. “Something is telling me to stay here, I think we were supposed to be here.” She said lifting her head to watch over approaching clouds of liquid smoke.
Warren did not like what was happening to her, he wanted to leave so badly, but his gut was also telling him to stay. Faith was only getting worse with time, they needed to get some answers finally.
As Samael and his group approached, the black liquidish smoker began to take form, revealing the figures within it. They were unlike anything Warren and Faith had ever seen before. They appeared to be human or at least tried to imitate one, but there was something different about them, something wrong on so many levels.
As they got closer, Faith's discomfort turned into a feeling of dread. She could feel a sense of otherworldly presence emanating from Samael and his companions. The feeling was overwhelming, and she had to fight to stay conscious.
Warren could see the fear in Faith's eyes, and he tightened his grip on her arm. He wanted to protect her, but he knew they were in unknown territory. He had to trust his own judgment and hope that everything would turn out okay.
As Samael and his group finally reached them, they came to a stop floating above ground only a few feet away. Samael looked at each of them with his piercing black eyes before finally addressing Marcus.
"You and you I remember, but who are those three," Samael said pointing at Mr. White, Faith, and Warren, his voice sending shivers down Faith's spine.
“They are-” Before Marcus could finish his sentence Mr. White cut him off.
“Oh, you are real, o mighty Samael,” The wealthy businessman fell to his knees. “I’ve searched for you my whole life.” The old man's voice was shaking, Marcus had never seen him like this.
Samael looked down at Mr. White, a small smirk appearing on his face. "You have been searching for me, what for?" he asked, his voice low and ominous.
"I seek the gift you can give," Mr. White said, his eyes pleading. "I have dedicated my entire life to bringing about the end of days, to speeding up the rapture. It was not supposed to happen for thousands of years more, but I have found a way to hasten it, but I couldn’t find you, I thought the Rapture would awaken you as well but I was wrong. That’s where Marcus and his team came in handy, they found you oh Mighty One."
Marcus’s heart skipped a beat at Mr. White's words. He couldn't believe what she was hearing. This man caused the rapture? What for? What gifts was he talking about?
“What the hell are you talking about?” Marcus jumped in front of Mr. White cutting his view of Samael off. “What is this about?” Max joined Marcus in front of the old man.
“You don’t understand anything,” Mr. White said. “You will, I can ask for you to receive the gifts as well!” Mr. White said trying to move the two of them to get to the view of Samael. But Samael wasn’t there anymore, he moved, hovering above Faith, Warren holding her under his arms, the young girl barely keeping her head up.
“You,” Samael said his voice echoing through the plateau. “There is something different about you.” He said circling around her in the air.
Faith felt a chill run down her spine as Samael circled around her. She could feel his presence weighing heavily on her, and she struggled to keep her composure.
“What do you want from me?” Faith asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Samael stopped circling and looked directly at her. “I want to know what you are,” he said, his voice filled with curiosity and a hint of something else.
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“I’m just an ordinary human,” Faith said, trying to keep her voice steady.
Samael smiled, and Faith felt a shiver run down her spine. “No, you are much more than that,” he said. “I can sense it.”
Warren tightened his grip on Faith, and Marcus and Max stepped forward, ready to protect her if necessary.
“That was not the deal,” Marcus said. “You said you would tell us everything we needed to know.” Marcus shouted at the floating figure.
“I made no deal with you, human,” Samael said. “And that was before you brought her.” The creature said.
Mr. White finally got himself up and jumped in front of Samael. “I surrender my will to you, please grant me immortality, oh mighty one!”
As Mr. White knelt before Samael, pleading for immortality, Samael looked down at him with a look of disdain.
"You humans are always so desperate for more time," Samael said, his voice dripping with contempt. "But immortality is not a gift I can give. You misunderstood it I am afraid."
Mr. White looked up at Samael, his eyes wide with desperation. "Please, there must be something you can do," he begged. “I did not do this all for nothing.”
But Samael did not acknowledge him. Instead, he turned his attention back to Faith, who was still struggling to keep her eyes open.
"There is something about you," he said, his voice low and menacing. "Something that sets you apart from the rest."
As Samael was about to approach Faith, the sky above them suddenly exploded open. It was as if the very fabric of space and time had been torn apart, revealing a blinding light beyond. From within the light emerged an army of angels, numbering in the hundreds, led by three towering figures.
The angels descended upon the plateau, their wings creating a fierce wind that almost blew humans away. The three larger figures landed on the ground, each one radiating a powerful aura of light and the rest of them were hovering above, keeping their distance.
“Samael,” One of the larger figures said, and Warren immediately recognized him as the angel from the day of rapture, the one that Faith had hurt.
“Raphael,” Samael said, his voice confident and terrifying at the same time.
“So you did not cause the rapture this time around?” Raphael said. “I see that you only recently awoke.”
“No, I thought you did,” Samael said. “But it would seem this human has somehow managed to do it,” Samael pointed at Mr. White who was watching in awe.
Raphael looked over to Mr. White and over to the rest of the humans. He noticed a young girl that started to grip her hand, a small scar emanating from her arm, similar to one he had.
“He has her,” Raphael said to his brother. “The one that hurt me,” Pointing towards the girl. “Kill him!”
Samael looked in confusion to faith then back to the Angels that were charging him. He easily turned back into the liquid smoke state and evaded their attack.
The angels continued to pursue Samael and his companions, their swords, and spears glinting in the light of the exploding sky. Samael seemed to be enjoying the chase, taunting them with his movements and his words.
But Warren noticed something strange happening with Faith. The scar on her arm was glowing once again, and she seemed to be in some kind of trance. Suddenly, she lifted her head and spoke in a strange voice that was not her own.
“Vathronia zylkariana zoranthia!" The voice boomed, echoing across the plateau. Seconds later a high light burst emanated from inside her.
The light that burst from Faith was blinding, illuminating the entire plateau. The intense brightness seemed to have a pulse that radiated from her, pulsing out in waves. The air grew warmer and it almost felt like the very ground beneath their feet was trembling.
As the light grew brighter and stronger, it started to engulf Samael and the angels that were attacking him. They seemed to be struggling, writhing in agony as they were enveloped by the light. The black smoke that made up Samael's form started to dissipate, and the angels seemed like they were being stripped of their power, their wings turning to ash and losing their glow in the process.
The three big angels managed to escape the binding light and fly away high in the sky, while dozens of regular angels got evaporated, nothing but ash left where they once stood in the air. Some of the Samael companions suffered the same fate, while he completely turned into his liquidish form and flew away from the light.
Mr. White looked in terror as everything that he worked towards in his life was being destroyed, his goal of immortality was being taken from him by this young girl. He rushed towards Max taking his pistol and aiming it at Faith. Warren saw it almost in slow motion but was unable to reach to in time. Max tried to grab the old man by the hands but the shot echoed through the plateau and Faith dropped to the ground, the lighting stopping as she fell.
“No,” Warren yelled at the top of his lungs and rushed towards her, he had moved away once she started pulsating the light.
“You son of a bitch,” Marcus said and grabbed his pistol turning it towards Mr. White. “You knew everything about it, you cost me my family.” He pressed the trigger another bang echoing over the plateau, but before the bullet hit the old man something grabbed him and pulled him into the air.
It was Samael in his non-solid form engulfing him in his smoke and protecting him from the bullet in the process. They flew away in the direction they came from, while the last of the Angels ran into the rift in the sky as it closed behind them, leaving Max and Marcus standing over Warren that was holding Faith's body.