Unwitting Spy

Later that night...

The full moon was enchanting as ever, and the cool night breeze was calming to Levana. She always loved nights like these. They were the best kind of medicine for her to help relax. She never did like sleeping in confined spaces like her bedroom and had been sneaking out of her room at night to nap in the trees since she was young. It had become a habit of hers to step out for a breath of fresh night air.

The wind carried an array of scents in it, and one of Levana's favorite was the moisture that would gather into dew by daybreak. That combined with the fragrance of freshly opened blossoms permeated the air and drew her into a comfortable lull. She slipped deeper and deeper into her dreams of paradise and grew more lax.

A scuffle brought her back from the edge of slumber. Someone else was up and at once Levana was struck with worry that she had been found. She sat up and looked to see who was coming, but she didn't see anyone.

Another rustling sound followed by voices; alarmed Levana shot behind the tree trunk and hid in the shadows. Then out of the inky blackness she could make out the moving forms of three people moving about in the shadows of the academy. One figure being apprehended and dragged by the other two in the direction of the Hall of Powers.

Who knows what possessed Levana to follow them, but that is exactly what she did. The two figures moved into the building with their struggling captive between them. Levana found this curious as she had never heard of the Powers making arrests. She followed them making sure to keep a good distance between her and the three to avoid being detected.

Levana had never been this far into this building, and wondered if she would be able to find her way out of here as easily as she got in. Up ahead, they dragged their prisoner into a candlelit room located deep within the Hall of Powers. Levana crept along the corridor towards the cracked door which the angels had gone through. She could hear the quick and accusatory voices from behind the door and drew closer for a look. The light streaming into the hallways illuminated the scene for her.

The room was occupied by several angels, and many of them she recognized. The identities of the two angels who had by then dumped their prisoner onto the floor were Samael and Azazel. This surprised Levana, because she had never heard of the angels of death aiding in any interrogations like what she was witnessing.

"Here's the spy," Azazel's voice rang out.

"Well, well. What do you have to say for yourself, hmm?" Belial looked down upon his prey. The cruel smile of Belial's face was made even more horrifying by the candlelight.

Astaroth's sadistic chuckle came from one of the room's corners, "Looks like we have some garbage to deal with."

Belial delivered a quick kick into the jaw of the trembling angel on the floor; knocking him from his knees he fell only to be caught by the scalp by Belial. He then bent over and uttered with a low voice, "If you beg, then maybe we'll kill you now."

The bound angel shook with sobs as tears streamed down his face. The angel was a kid like Levana; if he was older, then it wasn't by much. His clothes clung to his small frame with sweat, and blood dyed the cloth he was gagged with. He was a pitiful sight to behold.

Unsatisfied, Belial picked the boy up by the hair and punched him in the gut. The kid's body crumbled to the floor. Astaroth giggled with pleasure in the corner as Belial delivered one kick after another into the heap on the floor.

A strong voice called out, "Belial… that's enough."

Belial ceased immediately and withdrew to the sidelines.

He strode over to the tormented angel. The tall male figure with black hair and dark coal eyes was unmistakably heaven's most glorified angel, Lucifer. Even with that deadly, cold gleam in his eyes, he was the most beautiful of heaven's children. Power emanated from Lucifer and it engulfed Levana; it threatened to suffocate her in a never-ending darkness. She was overwhelmed by how malevolent and foreboding his aura felt.

He rolled the angel over with his foot and looked down on him. Fear griped Levana as anxiety welled up from deep within. She had never seen this expression on Lucifer before. His expression was sinister and petrifying; freezing Levana breathless to the spot. She could only imagine what it felt like to be on the receiving end of such a look.

He slowly and deliberately crouched over the angel. In a bone chilling, velvet voice he chided, "You really shouldn't have angered Belial with such deceit."

He reached down and gently stroked the boy's face.

"It really is a shame. If it weren't for your sneaking around then there would have been a place for you amongst us."

Lucifer's fingers lazily snaked down to the boy's chest. Levana watched horrified; as with one smooth, swift gesture Lucifer thrust his hand into the angel's chest and pulled out the still-beating heart. The boy's eyes widened in shock with the sight of his own heart in another's hand; blood trailed down Lucifer's arm as he gently rolled the organ in his palm then seized on it, crushing it into a bloody pulp. Levana swallowed her scream as she fell back from the door. She scrambled to get her feet under her and bolted. Of course, it was too late. She had been heard and had pursuers.

Acting more out of instinct for self-preservation, Levana called upon her power over wind and dissolved into a gust of air. She let it carry her with great speed out of the Hall of Powers and swiftly back to the academy where she dropped out and materialized in her room. She shuddered with terror at what she had witnessed and collapsed to the floor.