[Kings of Peace] - Writing Practice

A suffocation. A drowning sensation. The loss of breath, replaced with a liquid in his throat. It was dark, very dark, sight eluded him. The taste of bitterness filled his throat, the smell of something foul overtook him. Struggling blindly, scratching at the river that overtook him. Only when did his claws trace over his jaws, fangs and down to his neck did he feel the sticky warm blood that was his own. A gash in his neck, his life pouring out of him like a waterfall under his hands. A hideous laughter filled his head, a laughter with a thousand and one voices. Manically laughing, none in the least bit of concerned for the drowning individual before them. Why would they? It wasn't even real.

The shadow vail of darkness was ripped away as he finally opened his eyes. And in that instant, he plummeted. The wind rushed around him, he flailed briefly and in his panic summoned open wings that ripped out new, fresh and tearing through his spines. He just managed to open one completely when he hit the floor with a hard thud. A whirlwind of dust and paper flipped up, and surrounded him.

One wing stood up, and then flipped down covering him like a blanket, the other was bent under him. It was stinging, but he ignored it as he tried to recover his senses. The world flickered back to him, and before him was the two rows of benches, the carpet floor before him to the doors. The windows on the side, even though covered in dirt and broken, the stained glass glittered with light.

One of the chandeliers above suddenly shook lightly. Flickering whips of shadow formed together, like mist turning into a form an outline filled with darkness. It winded through the branches of the chandelier and leaned out, an outline of a mouth open in surprise.

"Aza'Zel!" It yelled in a voice echoing in itself. I leaped from the golden wires and floated down like a leaf, gently next to the fallen one. The shadow spirit looked up, to see where exactly his companion had fallen from. Nothing was above them besides the large arch of a ceiling. More than likely he had been floating in his sleep.

Aza'Zel remained on the cold floor, his gaze fixated on nothing in particular. He just stared out, trying to recall exactly what had happened. Had he been sleeping? Yes. He remembered how exhausted he had been when he had decided to relax. Had he been dreaming? Improbable. But not impossible.

The shadowed spirit leaned down, looking into the eyes of Aza'Zel to see if he was conscious, or if the fall had damaged something- other than wing.

"I'm fine." He finally responded, but continued to lay on the ground. The shadow's mouth twisted in some untold expression as he leaned back. The shadow sighed and then called out to the darkness.

"Rosary!"

A rustle, somewhere in the rows. A figure lifted and hymns fell off, cluttering to the floor. It stretched from waking, coming into light just faintly. Immediately the shadow spirit turned away, and called out in a hushed tone "Your mask…"

The last of the three froze for a moment, then placed his hand to his face. With a flick and a wave, a theatrical mask formed to hide what monstrosity may lie underneath. The large creature stretched out leathery torn wings and stood up. The bench creaked, finally relieved of the weight. Rosary moved across the floor and to the isle, bumping into the two benches with each step.

"What's wrong, Shadow Man?" The masked creature looked to the holes in the burned ceiling, seeing starlight well in the middle of its time. Still late in the night.

Shadow Man moved over Aza'Zel, floating just above him and to behind. He laid down next to the 'demon' like a sphinx. Ears perked, twitching and listening to the room around.

"He fell."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Then get up." Rosary spoke in his hushed whisper of a voice. He walked over, claws clicking across the thin carpet. Aza'Zel sighed and instead of listening, he rolled over just a bit to face the ceiling. His eyes traced the burn patterns that had scorched up the sides of the chapel some hundred years ago. It was a miracle in itself that the building had not fallen and collapsed into itself yet. The support of it was shaky at best.

Rosary sat down next to the two folding his legs over one another. The two abnormally long tails behind him flicked, one clicking with each movement as the exposed bone rattled, the other tore at the carpet, its thin blade flickering the starlight.

A sigh escaped Aza'Zel as he rolled over once more, face now buried in the carpet. The broken wing underneath him now finally flickered out, bent in a way that would leave it useless, unless it was given time to heal. Didn't matter.

"I got it." Shadow Man replied to nothing, and set to work carefully lifting up the wings and examining the base. It was a process they had done since the day they had met. Aza'Zel would only ever 'summon' his wings in dire needs, and in doing so kept them out. Open. He hated it. It, them, the wings. Not demonic at all. Black and faint traces of red, yes. But demons don't have feathers.

So the tainted shadow tore them off, at first brutally, but over the years he had perfected the task and found ways to make it less painful, and to hide the scars.

Aza'Zel let his shadowed companion work without a thanks. Instead he just lifted his head up to face the fallen angel in front of him.

Rosary looked down at him, his true expression hidden under the smiling mask. No one had ever seen what lay under it. It was rumored, that one person had. Only one. But if so, they would not betray their son and tell the world what Rosary was ashamed to show.

Rosary's shoulders moved, and neck leaned a bit to the side. Leaking out body expression to strike up the conversation.

"What?" Aza'Zel hissed, annoyed. Rosary laughed halfheartedly and answered back "I find it humorous…" he started. And left the rest unanswered just to make the demonic ask.

"Find what?" Shadow Man asked for him. His wisp of a tail flickered in the air, twitching as he worked. Small drops of blood dripped to the floor, not much. Just a few drops. Aza'Zel winced but ignored it.

"This. Us." Rosary's tail shot out behind him and grabbed a book out from under a bench. He pulled it close and picked it up. The book was a soft faded blue. Probably once a bright sky color. The words on the front had faded in time, damaged from the smoke and the elements. But all three knew what it was.

"Where hysterical. A real sight to see." Rosary went on, and opened the book. The words were gone. The ink was there, but it was ruined. Pages damaged, torn, faded, and shredded. Not that Rosary needed the words to read it. He had memorized it all. Every hymn in the building.

"Ol' goat boy would shit a brick if he knew where we were staying. That damn devil." Shadow Man stated, laughing. Aza'Zel rolled his eyes slightly, still listening.

"Nearly old as you are, never done anything worth wild besides start a cult. He's known, but not important."

Rosary added on "Probably kiss your ass Aza'Zel." Losing his virtue like nature. "If you go through in joining that… eh… 'Royal guard'," he paused, sugar coating the situation of it all. "Not only would you leave room open for more replacements, but he'd want you to put in a good word for him."

"I hate him."

"Who doesn't?" Shadow Man asked, and then added "As a bonus you'd could replace Pro-"

"I'm not joining." Aza'Zel said quickly. Then added "It would just get in the way of other things. Or do I have to remind you why exactly we're here now in the first place?" He was annoyed again.

Shadow Man finished with one wing, the remains flickering away and dissolving into an ash. He began on the second.

"No, mon cher~" He said with a hiss, which was followed with a smack by demonic's tail to his face. Rosary laughed again but it quickly faded.

"Why did you fall?"

Aza'Zel shrugged, one of his shoulders aching, the one connected to the lost wing. But, he followed with an answer.

"I might have been dreaming. It's not important. Just surprised me when I woke and I lost concentration."

The fallen angel was satisfied with the answer. He leaned back, relaxing. Aza'Zel pushed himself up, feeling the broken wing come off.

"Your welcome." Shadow Man said brushing his hands across the floor, wiping off the ash. His long shadowy tail flicked across the floor and wrapped around Aza's own. The demonic huffed and answered with a "Thank you."

Rosary stood up, tired of sitting on the floor. It was uncomfortable. He much rather preferred the soft seated benches. He walked away slowly, his tails dragging on the floor behind him as he moved back to the bench he was asleep on. He quickly found his spot, and laid back down. The bench creaked, but held firm. A moment later, the damned soul picked up a grey thick book, and started reading where he had left of before sleep had overtaken him.

"You good?" Shadow Man asked, floating up. He may have floated away completely if he hadn't wrapped his tail around Aza'Zel, and used him like an anchor.

"I'm fine." He repeated, once again. Finally he 'stood' up. His hand brushed past some of the ashes of his decayed wings. He lifted it up and looked at it, taking a moment to observe. One hand with five claws, covered in the ash. One with four, scars traveling up all the way to his wrist.

"I wonder if all of me will turn to ash in the end." He said, more so to himself then to Shadow Man. The canine shrugged, folding his arms.

"A millennia of life, not once have you spoken about death until you met your new interest. Seems she got you thinkin' about how you use your time wisely. Perhaps…."

"Hush you." Aza'Zel said turning away. Floating off to the back room of the chapel, where the priest would stay. There was a ruined remains of a bed there. Shadow Man followed, silently. Twirling in the air, waving about like the excited spirit he was. Never a dull moment for him.

"Ah, and don't worry." Shadow Man said watching as Aza'Zel disappeared into the room, fading through the warped door. The tainted canine spirit laughed lightly. Then, without hesitation followed him in.

"If you fall again I'll catch you."