A resounding war cry rings out from above.
The clouds above are thick with draconids silhouetted against the eclipsed sun, so many that they darken the air like a storm.
I was right. Their full force is approaching fast.
Calmly and quietly, Umbra leads the charge, and the Wretched follow from below much more cantankerously. I'm not sure what the plan is, but she hasn't changed to that colossal form she used earlier. Whatever is about to happen, I'm certain she knows what she's doing, but I can only imagine what that might look like.
But I never could've guessed.
As the enemy draws nearer, Umbra reaches up with one claw then slashes open a gouge of black in midair, just like when she released me from the Hells. This time, however, the void portal collapses inward and something horrifically incomprehensible is born from within it.
A sphere of black. Except…
When I look upon it, everything behind and around it bends outward, as though it's distorting the very fabric of reality. A glowing orange ring cuts horizontally across it, and a sort of halo of the same shade arcs around its top half. The sound of it is unparalleled, like the deep rumble of an earthquake or a volcano soon to blow. I've never seen anything like it, and I have just enough time to question what it is and what it does before the answer reveals itself.
As mere blurs of color, the heavenly draconids all around us are inhaled into the black anomaly, vanishing just as quickly as the ones who died to Umbra's wings. The rest struggle against the force of its power, trying and failing to fly in the opposite direction, only to be slowly dragged inward regardless. The instant they get too close, they too disappear.
I can feel it pulling at me. "Umbra?"
"Stay close. Do not let go of me."
"What the fuck is that thing?"
"A black hole. My creation. Aurora has her stars. I have these." With the flick of a finger, she sends it beaming off to the left where it devours more of the approaching army. Another one forms, and another, and another, and she scatters them in every direction. "Disappear. All of you. Mere cosmic dust."
I keep hold of her and watch in awe.
This is the power of a divine being.
This is the might of the woman I love.
This is the strength of my Umbra.
The second wave breaks against her impossible magic. These black holes swallow them by the dozens, then the hundreds, maybe even the thousands. It's practically effortless on her part. Only a few lazy motions of her fingers command the devastation like a conductor directing an orchestra. The massive army is reduced to nothing but stragglers in a matter of minutes.
And then it's over.
She draws the six black holes inward and they orbit around us like moons. For a short while, she simply maintains our altitude. "Hm. Crimsy. Are they gone?"
It takes me a second to find my voice. "Y–Yes. They're… They're gone. Just some stragglers left, but they're fleeing. You… You did it, Umbsy. The Church's army… Gone. Without a single casualty on our side."
"Mmm." The black holes close inward and dissipate as she sighs. "Good that Bast changed my mind. To think how many of our people could have lost their lives otherwise… Damn it. What was I thinking?"
"You were thinking about me." I crawl along her head to look her in the eyes upside down. "You wanted to protect me. Remember? That's a good thing. But this is better. You protected me and everyone else too. Thank you, Umbsy."
"Ahh… Of course. Gladly." She's looking right through me. Her eyes see my colors. I'm sure of it. "Stay with me. Just like this. I so deeply fear losing track of you amidst the chaos. My blessings link us, and I will always know where you are, but I cannot know if you've been captured. Or worse."
"You're fretting, my love. I already promised to stay close. I'll stay perched right here on your head if that helps. I won't leave it unless it's to save someone nearby or some such necessity. Which appears to be irrelevant, actually, now that the battle is won."
"The battle is far from won, my little rose. This was the easy part. From here, it only gets worse. We've merely conquered the open field, so to speak. Next we must break through the palisade, then lay siege to the castle walls. But not before we collect the spoils of this partial victory."
"Spoils? You mean the Lifespring and such?"
"Yes. All the utilitarian skylands of the lower Heavens are now ours." She pumps her wings and lowers her head towards Avi, where the Wretched fly in unison. "Generals! Direct the collections and transports! Take anything of value from the residential skylands that remain! Begin! Now!"
Haunt and the others get right to work.
"Transport?" I wonder aloud.
"Ah, you must have been distracted or asleep during the discussions in court. Sweet little thing. We're constructing a gigantic project that recreates an environment similar to the Heavens, but contained within the Hells. We all enjoy the open skies, so it will be a slice of paradise within the confines of our domain. For those who prefer the safety of being close to home, but still wish for some light blue air."
"That… I vaguely recall hearing something about an excavation. Small matter. Umbsy, that's fucking beautiful of you to do for our people. I love this idea."
"Thank you. It came to mind some time ago. When you declared so fervently that I had stolen the sky from you."
"I'm still sorry for that entire tirade…"
"And I will forever forgive you." She flies a little higher, her black tongue flickering from her maw every few seconds. "Mm. As much as I would like to flatten your needy little body a second time, there is a hot iron in need of striking."
My chest flutters and tugs as she starts climbing higher. Hells, I love when she talks about me like that. The two of us fly higher and higher, drawing ever closer to the Solaris with every brush of her beautiful red wings. I'm clueless as to where we're going until it comes into sight from behind the clouds.
Umbra careens toward the Cathedral and hits the landing with thunderous force that makes its glass panes rattle. Without wasting a moment, she canters up the stairs and uses her claws to rip the structure wide open by taking off the entire front wall. Hundreds more draconids in human form are cowering throughout the farcical sanctuary, most of them concentrated around a lone silvery-gray quetzal in their draconic form.
The new Seraphim, I presume.
"Surrender," Umbra fiercely snarls, flaring her black armored plating and bristling her dorsal plates as well. "Stand down, you of both cowardice and wisdom. If you so much as dare to raise a claw against me, I will erase you from existence just like I did to the rest. Time is no longer a luxury you hold, it is a privilege I am now denying. You have one final chance. Submit to temporary incarceration and you will be protected. Refuse, and you make yourself our enemy. Decide. Now."
The second Seraphim bravely demands, "You expect us to surrender to you? This temporary incarceration is nothing but a lie, Deceiver! You're only going to murder us all!"
Her tailblade pierces and fractures the marble floor as she hisses in a voice as cold as ancient crypt. "Now you test my patience further. If I intended to kill you, it would already be done."
I speak up. "We've no time for this senseless indecision. Ample opportunity was well beyond given, Umbra, and they knew the consequence for refusing it. Kill them. Kill them all."
"Wait! Wait!" the quetzal blurts. "I was just clarifying! That's all! Sur–Surrender! We surrender! Down to–You said Nyth's skull, right? We'll go down there now! If you'll… let us pass…"
Umbra lingers for another moment, then turns and flies a fair distance above and away. As the cowardly and the wise vacate the Cathedral, indeed diving low toward our waiting forces, Umbra hums in thought.
"Are they going?"
"They are. Yes."
"All of them?"
"It appears so."
"Good."
"Mhm."
It's quiet for a time. Only her wings pumping.
"Was that a bluff, in there?"
"What are you referring to?"
"You told me to kill them. Were you bluffing?"
"Hm. Was I? Or wasn't I? Suppose we'll never know."
"Do I need to coax the answer out of you?"
"Oh? How would you go about doing that?"
"By fucking you senseless atop the altar."
I gasp. "Oh! Okay! Do we have the time?"
"All that we like. Our army is busy with the surrenders and transports, and Aurora would need to open the castle gates to counterattack, figuratively speaking. She will not risk giving us that opening. Not for any reason. No, she will hold the line and prepare for us to push it. With that said, no more talking, pet. If you are to speak, it will only be in a whimper. Oh, and I should warn you. Killing people ignites my aggression and stokes my desire. It will be… intense."
"Um. Y–Yes, please. Please? Please–"
She plunges back toward the Cathedral.
I wasn't expecting war to be this phasic.
Or our commander to be so… distracted.
Not that I'm complaining!