Asmodeus(72)

Michael's voice penetrated through Brianna's mind, a whisper invading her thoughts. "That is Asmodeus's wife. He failed to mention to her what he was, and she has grown old as he has remained youthful. The passage of time was harder on humans back then. They aged quickly. She no longer trusts him, yet still, he lies to her."



"Isabel." Asmodeus greeted her with a kiss to her forehead. Isabel pulled away, flinching visibly.



Brianna pushed away the sharp sting of jealousy. This was Asmodeus's wife. The mother of his children.



Asmodeus ignored her as two boys shuffled into the cottage. The oldest resembled his mother, but had his father's eyes. He held two rabbits in his hands. The light in his eyes spoke of strength and determination. He seemed ready to take on the world.



The youngest resembled Asmodeus. Though he was all arms and legs, no older than seven or eight years old, his face was the spitting image of his father. He flounced over to his mother and threw his arms around her.

She smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Jorian brought home supper, though I pointed to the rabbits, Mama. I saw them first."



The boy Jorian put his bow and arrows in the corner of the cottage and went back outside without a word.



Asmodeus came to kneel next to his wife, and Isabel positioned herself as far from him as she could. Asmodeus, the pain in his eyes evident, ruffled the young boy's hair and left the cottage.



Again the scene faded, and Michael's voice broke the silence. "Because of his actions, he created a race of demonic creatures. I believe you recall your own encounter with one of them."



The next vision slammed into her. Asmodeus was bloody and fighting for each breath he took. Isabel was screaming, holding onto a young man. He had been the young boy in her earlier vision, now a few years older, and he clung to his mother's skirts.



They stood beside the cottage that she instinctively knew was their home. Chaos ensued around them, men running, women screaming. Bodies of Nephilim and young men littered the ground. The cottage was engulfed in flames, the orange glow eerie against the black, star-covered sky. Isabel looked terrified, yet the young boy was remarkably calm in spite of the circumstances.



Asmodeus stood before them.



Tears coursed down Asmodeus's face, mixing with dirt and blood.



"Stay away from him. You are the devil. You are evil!" Isabel clutched the boy to her chest, bending down and wrapping her arms around him as Asmodeus slowly advanced.



"Go into the dwelling, Isabel. Now."



Isabel glanced beyond him as a man ran his sword through a young girl. The girl's scream was cut short. She crumbled to the ground. As if that wasn't disturbing enough, the man brought his sword down on the tiny body one last time.



The girl's head was severed from her body.



Asmodeus's wife became even more hysterical. "Leave him. Leave Bael to me!"



Asmodeus kept walking, finally reaching her and wrapping his hand around Bael's arm. The little boy didn't cower. He only looked at his mother with wide, tear-filled eyes.



Isabel went wild. She hit Asmodeus, and he allowed her to take Bael from his grip.



Bael smoothed his mother's thin, graying hair from her face. "It will be fine, Mother. I love you. It will be fine." He hugged his mother, then turned to his father.



Asmodeus shrank away from him.



Again, the little boy was the reassurance in the situation. "I understand, Father. I don't want to be like them." He held out his tiny hand. "Father, will it hurt?"



A gut-wrenching sob escaped Asmodeus's lips. He didn't answer his son as he led him away, the sword in his hands red from Jorian's blood. This she realized from some instinct. Somehow Michael was giving her details that seemed to be important.



She saw Michael standing to the side, his blond hair and white robe moving in the wind, his eyes darker than the blackest night. He held out a hand. "You will stay here and slay him."



Asmodeus growled at Michael. His lips pulling back, he bared his teeth. "I will take him away from this massacre. I will see it done, though not here." His voice broke as he kept walking. "Not here."



Michael let her go and the vision faded away. Her heart broke for Asmodeus as she crumpled to her knees. The pain he had experienced throughout his life. The horrors. Her chest felt hot, as though a flicker of flame had ignited in her bloodstream, and it traveled throughout her body. She vaguely had the notion she could kill in that moment.

"Is that the kind of man who deserves another chance?"



Forgetting her fear of Michael, she practically snarled at him. "You are a cruel being. Don't you think he has been through enough? Don't you think he's been hurt long enough? I'll do anything. Take anything from me. My firstborn, my soul, but just give him another chance."