Fallen (Undergoing editing)

Chapter twenty:

"Now!"

I sensed the large blade above me hovering like impending doom, every muscle in my body tensing, rippling with fear for what was about to happen. Air swooshed around me as the blade was brought down and cool metal met my wing joints with a quick bloody slash. My screams cut off abruptly as dry air welled up in my lungs. There was a sickening fleshy rip as my wings hit the floor, broken away from my body and I began to feel warm wetness rain down on my back like warm water from a shower. My body shuddered with shock with air trapped in my lungs, I'd forgotten how to breathe. The pain seemed to have gone dormant before it ruptured like a volcano inside of me. Wave after wave of agony, I rocked unsteadily on my knees, trapped in the eye of my pain. Uncontrollably, I vomited violently as blood trailed down my arms, sucking in shaky gasps of air.

In the distance far away from the pain that enveloped me, the courtroom walls shuddered and the court audience drew their attention away and gazed towards the ceiling that rumbled.

  "Lilith Black...!" Nicoli yelled through the thundering noise that sounded like it was breaking in from the outside. "You will be sent—oh will someone please go see what is making that noise? Guards!" Nicoli barked impatiently, hardly any care or regard to my horrid state.

 Trying to keep conscious, I rolled on to my side, falling into a warm puddle of blood that I instantly recognized as my own. Panicked screams from the people now drew more serious attention as bits and pieces of the ceiling began to crumble and fall to the floor at people's feet. It wasn't long before a monstrous roar rallied the people up and a black scaly clawed hand punched through the ceiling, cracking the gold marble that collapsed to the floor, sending people fleeing the courtroom and out the door into the hall where there too seemed to be commotion.

  "Send for the Guardians! We are under attack!"

"Arm yourselves!"

 "Brace yourselves!"

"Incoming!"

As the courtroom came crumbling down all around me, Guardians arming up and angels scattering to safety, I lied in my own little pool of blood, fighting against blacking out. I waited for a large enough piece of the ceiling to come crashing down on me or whatever monster was tearing the city apart to come devour me and end my suffering.

 "...Lilith!"

"Lilith where are you!?"I heard, over the chaos, voices calling my name. I knew those voices.

 Enrique and Thor.

I became overjoyed, gritting my teeth as I sat up, pushing back the nausea and dizziness from the loss of blood. I nearly rolled back to my side as the ground quaked again from the beast that clawed its way through the hole in the courtroom. It stuck its long scaly snout in, pulling back more of the building's stone and sliding its long snake-like body into the court, curling its wings tightly against its body, allowing it to fit somewhat properly.

 "Lilith!" a voice screamed.I squinted through the falling debris and cloud of dust to see Thor and Enrique standing together, dressed in Guardian gear; Thor with his sword and Enrique with his purple glittering bow.

"Lilith, behind you!" Enrique yelled pulling his bow back and drawing an arrow.

I rounded to see the reptile-looking demon leer down at me, snapping its jaws just feet away from my body. Too weak to even sit up, I could only stagger back down to the ground, trying to slide away to safety. There was suddenly a zip through the air as one of Enrique's arrows flew through the air and rebounded off the demon's scales, clattering on to the ground next to me, useless. The demon blinked with its big round evil cherry red eyes and turned towards Enrique and Thor, as if noticing them for the first time and began to pursued them.

 "Lilith, we're coming—!" Thor jumped back, grabbing Enrique just as a blast of fire shot from the demon's jaws, encircling me in a blazing ring of scolding fire, barring me from any escape or rescue.

Surrounded in flame, I struggled to my knees where I turned and gazed into the monsters bright eyes shivering in fear. My eyes flashed up behind his head where I unmistakably noticed a rider sitting squarely between its shoulders. Hood pulled over the figure's head and dark metal gear covering his whole body, I saw no face. With a motion of its hand, the rider commanded the demon in some rough old language that boomed through the broken courtroom. Suddenly reaching out with its clawed hand, the demon slid me against its rough leathery palm, clutching me tightly, cradling me with its claws, squeezing my wound until it burned with excruciating pain. I cried out and fell limp in its clutch, subdued by my pain, too weak to fight against it.

"Lilith!" Both Thor and Enrique cried as I was hurled into the air with the monster as it held me tightly, clambering awkwardly back through the destroyed courtroom and launched suddenly into the purple starlit sky with a hard and almost clumsy flap of its wings.

 As I lied falling into unconsciousness I couldn't elude. I saw as Avon became smaller and smaller until it resembled a grain of sand and I began to fly without wings.