Rise of Azrael

Submitted into Contest #20 in response to: Write a story about a character experiencing anxiety.... view prompt

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General

-Nova

-Azrael

-Aspen  

-Phoenix

-Hydra

-Eon

-Raven


“Now that you have all finished signing the document, accommodations have been prepared,” said the squire.

“Very well,” replied Eon. I knew creating you would serve me well.

Eon was an excellent creator. He was the master of time. He could see the future and the past, but he didn’t often because it drained him of his energy. He was the one who had the idea of a treaty.


“Well, is that everything?,” asked Phoenix.

The gods had just finished signing a treaty that said that they and their people may only use their powers and resources for good after consulting the other gods. They must also collaborate on a project to create planets.

“Just show me to my room,” sighed Aspen.

Raven used his dark magic to shut the entry. 

“Wait, what about our people? Who will protect them in our absence?”

“What do you mean?” Nova asked. 

“Have you done something with them without my permission, squire?” he said.

Hydra boomed, “Silence!”

Everyone turned to look at him. He was often referred to as an advisor because of his age and his wisdom.

“Squire, did you move our people to someplace of which we know not?”

“Yes. My deepest apologies, but I did not want you to get enraged. I have separated the land around the temple evenly for the number of people.”

“Azrael. Have you any say in the matter?”

“...”

He nearly never spoke. He seemed to always be taking everything in. While they were all immortal, he was probably the youngest among them, and he had a very unique and useful skill. He led his people from a temple and had his advisor speak for him. He always dressed in dark grey or black. In summary, almost nobody knew anything about him. 

About 2 Centuries Later…


The gods would each direct all their powers into one blast and send it somewhere in the vast and empty space. If one god decided to use more power, that blast would eventually become a planet with more of that element. All suns were made by Phoenix and Eon so it would be hot and last for a few millennia. 


One night, Azrael was in the library researching some names for planets. He opened a book with a strange cover. When he looked through it, he came upon his own name. (Azrael (/ˈæzriəl/; Biblical Hebrew: עֲזַרְאֵל‎ ʿázarʾēl) is the Angel of Death in Islam). He was quite startled since he was never told what it meant, but something made him stop reading. 


“Eon…”, said an eerie voice behind him.

“Who is there? Show yourself!”


He readied his dagger.

“So he can speak…”


It was probably a released spirit from the open book. Azrael started reciting a containment spell to send the spirit back to the book. 

“Wait, I have information on the person who trapped me here.” the spirit pleaded.

“And who trapped you here?”

“Eon.”

Every day, at nightfall, Azrael would go to the library and the spirit would tell him information about Eon. In return, Azrael would temporarily revive the spirit so it would have a human form. Eon had done some terrible things, but the one that struck Azrael the most was his separating families and enslaving them because of a lack of resources. 

“What is your name?”

“My name is Donato. It means a gift from god. Also, what do you think of your ‘beloved leader’ now?”

How could he?, thought Azrael. How has he successfully covered this all up? He must have had some help. I must keep this a secret until I am sure that my discoveries. 

Azrael became incredibly suspicious of everyone since anyone could have helped Eon. At first, he thought Nova, but his powers of light do not permit him to do any act of evil. That left Hydra, Aspen, Raven, and Phoenix. 

Raven had found out about what Azrael had been doing and confronted him.

“Are you going to tell Eon?” Azrael asked with a little fear.

“No. Not unless you do as I tell you to do.”

“And what would that be?”

“Follow me.”

Azrael did; not because he wanted to, but because he needed to get close to Eon. He couldn’t be escorted out of the temple or that would never happen. 

Raven took him to his quarters and into a hidden room that was uncovered with a wave of his magic. 

“Go in,” Raven urged.

̈ ̈What, are you waiting for an invitation?”

In the room was a glass table with a scrying ball.

“This must be where Raven is always disappearing to,” thought Azrael.  

“I have sent an invisible raven to follow Phoenix.”

“Would you be so kind as to send one after Eon as well?”

“Have you already forgotten why we are here? I need a favor from thou. You need to follow Eon and get to his destination before he gets there.”

“Why are you not doing this yourself. Are you not well suited for this task?”

“I cannot risk getting caught.”

“######## ###### ## ##### ####### ### # # ########.”


“What was that?”

“A silencing spell. You cannot physically say that I have told you to do anything.”

“...”

Azrael got so angry that his powers flared up and he accidentally killed Raven.

“What have I done? If I revive him, he will tell somebody.

“I must run away before anyone finds out, or I will be punished to the severest extent. At least I have absorbed his powers and acquired his memory.”

Azrael ran out of the room and out of Raven’s quarters. A guard saw him and bowed.

“Get out of my way!” he yelled.

He couldn’t control his own powers and Raven’s. He was blasting darkness everywhere. When his hands touched, a portal was made and without thinking, he jumped into it. *Whoosh.* He must have been thinking about where Eon was because he was in Eon’s bathroom. Outside the door, he could hear footsteps. Azrael had a genuine fear of Eon because he knew what he was capable of. 

“You are a god. You have people to lead,” he kept telling himself.

He forced himself to regain his usual collected composure and tried his best to make another portal to escape. 

*Whoosh.* 

He escaped to outside the temple and ran to his portion of the land where his people were to remain. 

He could sense that Eon had gone back in time and seen everything that had happened. This was expected. What happened next wasn’t. Aspen saw, no, entered the room and gave a report to Eon. She had been helping him all along! 

Azrael ran to his personal temple and told his guards to bring every capable man and woman to the coliseum. 

An Hour Later

“I need an army, but I want to 

ask this of you and not force my will 

upon you.”

Man 1: “I have my own family \

to take care of.”

Woman 2: “Yeah, and I have a 

store to protect.”


“Very well, then.”

He stood back from the podium and started chanting a spell he had never learned. He figured that it must have been from Raven’s memory. This was a hypnotic spell and everyone in earshot, except the spellcaster, would be under the spellcaster’s control.

“Now for your weapons and armor.”

Azrael closed his eyes for a moment and he could feel the emotions of every one of the thousands under his control. When he opened his eyes, everyone had armor and weapons.

“Excellent,” he whispered. 

The gods were making busy creating planets. This was one of their most productive years. 

“Where are Azrael and Raven?” Nova finally asked.

“Slacking off, I presume,” answered Phoenix.

“That is none of your concern, right Eon?”

“No. They deserve to know... Azrael has been plotting against us for decades.” lied Eon.

“He wouldn’t dare,” said Aspen, playing along.

“Oh, he would. That young man has committed many unspeakable acts. I am just learning about them currently.”

“How is Raven involved in any of this? He did not assist in any of these crimes did he?”

“Of course not. Raven was loyal to the end.” Eon began.

“End of what?” Phoenix asked dreading the answer.

“Raven is, well there is no easy way to say this, but Raven is dead. He was killed by Azrael on purpose because he found out about his evil plans.”


“Why, when I get my hands on the weasel,” Aspen said.

“I shall look into the future to see what will happen.”

Eon was looking into the future, but not for the reasons that Phoenix and Hydra thought. He wanted to see where Azrael had run off to. Nothing showed up because of his psychic blocks.

Azrael and his army marched to the temple. Eon had walls put up and his defenses fortified. 

Azrael called out to Eon, “I am Azrael, angel of death and I have come to bring justice to the families which you ruined. I used to look up to you and so did Donato.”

“How do you know his name?” said a shocked Eon.

“CHARGE!” commanded Azrael.

Azrael really didn’t want to kill all these innocent people. They thought they were fighting for what was right. That did not matter. This had to be done. He fought his way to Hydra and Phoenix. 

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. When I get angry, I cannot control it,” said Azrael.

Hydra called the water from the temple whilst Phoenix pulled fire from their world’s core. Phoenix attacked first trying to set him on fire. Hydra, from a short distance, tried to drown him by covering his head in the water. The heat started to get to Azrael. He had almost defeated Phoenix, but then he couldn’t breathe. He extended his arm 15 feet with magic and touched Hydra and then he fell down. Phoenix ran to help him, but it was too late. Azrael had lost control and the magic set after Phoenix. It strangled her and then she died in a fiery blast. It blew Azrael back but put the controlling magic back inside him.

“All this bloodshed is because of Eon.” he thought.

Azrael sensed Eon silently charging at him from behind. He materialized his sword and cut his right leg. 

“Surrender, boy. You can end this all right now. Eon’s power had obviously been drained recently, so that made his job much easier. Azrael then came at Eon. He didn’t want to make it slow, he wanted to end it quickly. 

“You deserve to be sent to the depths of Valhalla. And I will be right there with you.”

Suddenly, the battle stopped. Azrael had taken his sword and stabbed right through Eon and himself. 

One Year Later

Nova gave Azrael a proper burial and Aspen repented for her crimes. Azrael and a chunk of land were sent to the outskirts of the solar system. Azrael’s corpse grew extremely cold with an aura of frost. The sun at the center of the solar system contrasted the cold and formed a perfect area in the near middle, otherwise referred to as the goldilocks zone. This effect then spread to all of the outer space because since no one killed him and he killed himself, he kept the powers of Hydra, Phoenix, Eon, Raven, and his own. With all this power and nowhere or it to go, this effect kept duplicating. At least we know that Azrael will forever be remembered as a hero.



December 17, 2019 14:21

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