It was cold.
What more can I say?
I felt the chill on the hilt of Lumen Spatha as the seven of us angels waited silently. The air was frigid from both climate and tension. There was ice underfoot and snow falling down.
I stared at the gate in the distance that was built in the side of an iceberg. I wondered what effects it would have here because there wasn?t anything to kill off. Perhaps it was extra cold. I wouldn't have been able to tell; I had never been to Greenland before.
My mom had volunteered to go close the gate in China since she didn't have as much combat experience as the rest of us. We had been waiting so long that I thought for a moment that we were in the wrong spot. What if Adrian had tricked us and his army was in China?
From our hiding place behind a giant slab of ice, I saw them. They didn't waltz right out of the gate like I had expected them to. They just . . . appeared. Before I knew it, a mass of monsters was ahead of us. There was everything from simple demons, to minotaurs, harpies, and skeletons.
Adrian parted from the crowd and walked forward. Vivian fluttered around him on her dark wings and came to rest beside him.
"Let's make this quick," Adrian shouted at us. "I know you're there, I know you want the girl back, and I know you don't want to fight us. But it looks like you don't have much of a choice now, eh?"
"Let me take care of this," I said. "Feel free to jump in and help as you see fit, but no matter what happens, Adrian is mine."
Without giving the other angels time to protest, I stepped from behind the ice and started talking to Adrian.
"Listen, Adrian," I yelled. I tried not to say his name without cringing. "We don't need armies. How about an even fight? Just you and me!"
Vivian laughed. Adrian cracked a smile.
"Did you think I'd bring an army here and not use it?" he inquired. "Oh, Pet, you have so much to learn."
"Don't say I didn't give you a fair chance," I told him. I drew my sword and felt the surge of extra power course through my veins.
"Well then . . ." he said with a smirk, "en garde!"
He and Vivian stepped back into the mass of monsters and sent them running at me. Beyond the front line infantry (which were skeletons), I could see him walking towards the door. There was a girl waiting there for him about half way. It was Grace.
Adrian grabbed her forcefully by the wrist and dragged her the rest of the way to the gate. Without thinking more than a second about it, I started running after them. I slashed the skeletons as I went, hacking left and right over and over again. The skeletons dissolved into nothing and were sent back to the Land of Below with every blow.
I soon was in the second wave of troops and found myself surrounded by more advanced beasts. With fangs and claws sharper than knives, they attacked me ferociously. I was slightly overwhelmed -- I mean it must've been at least thirty against one.
I fought for a while before I felt another angelic presence by my side. Jacob had jumped in and was fighting demons with his light sword.
"Liz, you need to go," he said. "You have to rescue Grace!"
With the excitement of the battle, I had almost forgotten my objective. I sheathed my sword, spread my wings, and flew out of the ring of fiends. I soared over the heads of hundreds of Adrian's soldiers. I looked back to see the other angels putting up the fight of their lives. I was surprised to see Charlotte fighting so well. She looked so young and inexperienced until she had a sword in her hands.
I focused my attention on Adrian again. He was getting close to the door. He was several yards away.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp blow to my stomach and was knocked out of the air. I crash-landed on the cold, hard ice. I stood up and uncovered Lumen Spatha. Vivian alighted in front of me. She pulled out her scimitar and charged at me. I blocked her first swipe with my blade and lunged back at her. We started fighting like an old time duel. However, I wasn't getting anywhere. Not only was Vivian extremely skilled with her sword, but also she was also much swifter than I was because my weapon was big and slow. I soon found myself with my sword on the ground and the point of her blade pressed against my neck. She leaned in so close that I could feel the heat of her flaming hair.
"Do you know anything about this sword?" she asked. "If you do, you should be very frightened right now. It's made of celestial steel. I can kill you with this. You'll be gone. Forever."
She pressed a little harder against my neck.
"Any last words?" she inquired evilly.
I couldn't say anything. It's not that there was nothing to say, I simply couldn't force any words out of my mouth.
Vivian dropped her sword and fell to the side. A light arrow stuck out from a hole in her armor. She dissolved away. I had been saved right before checkmate.
I grabbed my sword and rushed the rest of the way to Adrian.
"You're too late, Pet. You can't stop me before I close the gate!" he exclaimed.
