Stone Tears(Book one)-The Love of Isis.-

Prologue

Prologue
...And then there was war...

The ancient war between the kingdoms of Heaven and Hell has lasted even before intelligent life on Earth existed. It is said it began because of their different views on how the planet should be taken care of, those who are not so foolish know that it was the very creation of Lucifer’s demon soldiers and God’s archangels that truly set them both off. Their reasoning for the creation of these creatures was, and still is a mystery. But it has lead to a fierce power struggle for rule over the last living planet in all the universe. All eternity knows there has never been enough room for two kings on one thrown.

Lush, beautiful rolling hills filled the view of the stout-hearted archangel’s eyes. He took in the view with a deep breath of fresh air through the large nostrils on his well groomed snout. “I’m ready.” He said aloud in an ominous tone.
The young archangel colonel stood at a medium height of five feet and eight inches, and was but a beautiful man-beast of God. He had the body that of a man, but had the outstanding facial features of an elegant arctic-wolf, with pearl white fur about the visible parts of his being, and all that was covered by his armour. The large gold-brazen wings were folded about both his shoulders, partly hiding his shoulder-guards that looked of polished sapphire, like that of the rest of his armour that cover all of his body with the exception of his forearms and face. His gauntlets hung tied together onto the right side of his waist, made from onyx-dragon skin leather with mysterious flexible opaque armour covering most of the top of the forearms and knuckles of the beautiful combat gloves. His helmet rested in the pit of his left arm, it had been sculpted to precisely match the size and shape of his cranium, and had black chain mail attached to the inside of it so it would not cause discomfort when worn.
“Paladin Algren.” A subordinate archangel had approached so silently that Algren did not notice his presence. “Your ride, as requested.”
Algren slipped on his helmet with a perfect fit and tightened the leather straps underneath his jaw, only showing the naked front of his nose and his glowing ruby eyes.
He fit the excess chain mail over the lower backside of his neck and turned about to see an archangel that stood an inch above himself, but with bronze armour showing his lower rank of captain. The younger captain’s fur had more of a grey tint, their armour was similar except for the obvious exception of no winged medals on the opposing sides of the forehead part of the captains’ helmet.
The captain had on a white rope a winged stallion that supported a gold saddle with a bronze-dragon leather skin harness that held on the saddle and had excess semicircle of rope that went round the center of the glaring white stallions’ teeth that provided the rider control of the beast. It had armour fitting around the stallions’ facial bone structure and was fit snug on the front of the pegasus, and loosely around the sides. Its gold horn stuck out as the peak of the beasts’ elegance, it looked luminescent within the grasp of the sun’s beaming soul.
Algren hopped onto the winged beast with one swift-fluid movement, gliding aboard to the naked eye.
He then heard the marching of all of his troops behind him and turned the beast about with himself.
The captain still awaiting his orders in front of the vast fleet of robed archangels, signaled them to stop by a faint wave of his right hand.
The well-disciplined fleet stopped with one loud “thud.” They were all moving in unison.
All the captain could see was an army of luminescent cloaks that made the fleet look as though they were a never-ending patrol of ancient ghosts.
“Matthias, order them to un-sheath themselves, his evil ends now.”
The elegant Matthias nodded silently to his commander, and turned his face towards all of the patiently waiting troops.
He then tipped his head back with subtle grace, took a long silent breath and let out a loud air-vibrating howl, and with brief haste all of the white robes fell off all the soldiers’ bodies, showing all of the white-armoured troops previously beneath them.
In the front and main body of the large fleet were all wolf soldiers with wings folded upon all of their shoulders.
However to the rear were multiple lines of female archangels, with the bodies like that of human females, but with light white skin leather armour about all their form, with large white wings that stretched out behind them. They all had large sapphire helmets upon their heads covering the top halves of their faces, with a part of the helmet that extended out to fit their nose, and long blond hair that extended down to their lower backs from the all-covering backsides of their helmets. The only part of the upper face the helmets showed were all of their white, luminescent eyes. They all grasped in the middle large bows that could shoot extended distances their crystal-head arrows contained in their large quivers strapped upon their backs.
“They are ready Paladin, they await your orders.”
Looking into the clear sky upon his winged stallion, Algren’s eyes began to glow, and he shouted in the loudest and fullest of voices, “Come Damien! You will no longer be an asset to your evil kingdom. I tell you, oblige me!”
The sky went dark and started to moan under the supernatural force set upon it, lightning began to dance across the black skies.
Algren turned his head to his left and glanced at Matthias, his eyes gave off sapphire flames.
“He’s arrived.” Matthias said in a grim tone.
Lightning bolts struck into the ground two hundred yards over the next hill before Algren’s fleet of soldiers. And in one climactic scream five lightning bolts struck behind the next hilltop, it all went aflame.
Amidst the flaming battlefield dark forms crept above onto the peak of the hill opposite the fleet of archangels. Dark shadows started to envelope the once pure hillside and a large form rose above with the grace of death, its gigantic form spanned nearly the size of the whole fleet of demons before the archangels. Combined roars similar to the tyrannosaurus rex leapt out from the throats of the whole dark fleet, vibrating the holy battlefield with unreasonable force, and the large beast then shot a large streak of hellfire from its mouth.
The large beast hovering above the forces of Hell was a dragon fifty yards long, with a large wing-span that reached twice the length of its body. The crimson dragon lunged its head back with its long neck and let out a deafening cry and thrust his head back forward, beckoning to the orders of its master who sat upon its back.
The creature had the body of an archangel, yet had no wings and had large horns that curled back behind its pointed ears. He had an extremely bulky body with only hard diamond-dragon skin armour that covered all his body with the exception of his arms and face, which showed the dark fur matted upon his cranium and limbs. His cape flew about in the air only staying attached to his body by the onyx-stone pins upon each of his shoulders. Three small spikes rest in a triangular formation on each half of his chest, his other six rest parallel on the opposing side of his body, hidden beneath his cape, for these were not for decoration, they had grown like the demon soldiers below him, from the surface of the skin on their sternums. His long, scaled reptilian tail hung freely from the where the general of Hell sat upon his beast.
“…Damien…” Algren muttered under his voice.
“Paladin.” Matthias awaited his commander’s next order.
Algren faced Matthias, “Launch the warning volley, captain.”
Matthias nodded and faced the fleet behind him, the female archangels in the back obediently readied an arrow in unison and angled their loaded bows. Matthias turned about and threw his right arm forward, and a large volley of arrows flew in one distinct line with a swift whistle. They leapt above the hilltop and the two officers upon it, sticking firmly into the land a hundred yards before them, displaying to the fleet of demons and their commander the line either of them had to cross to begin the skirmish.
The fierce demons then let loose fire balls from their hands into the ground ten yards in front of them, creating a fire wall where they struck.
The demons all wore heavy dark armour on assorted sections of their bodies, like our gladiators of old. They had smooth reptilian skin with the pigment of crimson flames, and their bodies were all far more muscular then those of the archangels. Unlike the wolf and bird like features of the archangels, the demon soldiers had the facial features of a man-sized feline, with a lack of fur growing on any parts of their bodies. They all shared the feature of a scaled reptilian tail like that of Damien’s, the same went for the horns that reached behind their pointed feline-ears.
Algren then gave a nod to Damien from the long distance, and drew out a sword-handle with two thin-black metal bars on its opposing sides, and with very little concentration a luminescent sapphire blade leapt from the base of the handle between them. Algren pointed the sword onward, and his winged horse began a fast gallop down the hillside, and war cries leapt from his fleet that marched behind. Launching rows of arrows shot out from the rear and right into the grouped demon fleet, screams came from the demons falling to their death.
Damien let out a loud war-cry and his dragon whirled into a fast flight towards the archangel-fleets’ commander.
His loyal demon soldiers charged at immeasurable speeds towards their enemies, launching fire balls from their palms into the archangel fleet as they all drew out their weapons.
Very few fire balls penetrated into the charging archangel fleet, for the archangels in front held large shields before them to provide a barrier for the rest of their archangel brethren. Each connecting fire ball screamed and detonated, making the shields crack and groan under the pressure of the brutal force wrought upon them. The large white cross attached to the fronts of the black shields got charred from the burning infernos.
The archangels in the front all dropped their shields in unison and unsheathed their long lances only a couple yards from the demon army and threw the large missiles forward into the fleet of demons, shedding off more of the forces that outnumbered them so. And they all drew out their luminescent swords with Matthias up front, and the fleets then came into each other with a loud crash, and the surface of the battlefield began to rupture and crack under the forces clashing upon it.
Algren’s winged stallion shot off of the ground and flew right at the dark general. Damien quickly drew out a short black battle axe with a flip of his right wrist. Algren and Damien’s weapons both met with extraordinary atmosphere-shattering force.
Matthias at the head of the rest of the forces penetrated straight through the soldiers that met in front of him. A demon flung himself at Matthias with a loud roar and he parried to the side, his sapphire sword met with the diving demons’ back and split him into two. He then drew out his small sword with the quick flip of his wrist and threw it with a blur of movement straight into the forehead of the demon coming at him from behind, it launched his body backwards and into the ground, and Matthias somersaulted over to the fallen demon to retrieve his blade.
Above the large fray a fierce melee continued between Algren and Damien. They made fast charges towards each other clashing their weapons together each time their beasts made passes parallel to each other.
Damien then got more distance from his enemy archangel and halted his beast in a mid-air hover, the beast roared from the uncomfortable restraint its master applied to it. Damien lifted his half-fisted left hand and waved his upper hand towards himself, signaling Algren.
Algren saw this action and nodded as he soared atop his beast. With two quick jabs into its sides the pearl horse gave a neigh and gave itself a forceful boost toward the static Damien with a strong thrust of its wings. The air roared as the stallion’s wings cut the air, and it reached a high speed, with only the fanged face of a dragon in its view.
Algren was but a moment away from Damien before the dark lords’ beast let out a meteor of fire too fast for the winged stallion and its master to react. The archangel leapt from the beast at exactly the right time, and his stallion let out a painful cry as it fell aflame into the grounds below. Algren’s wings spread wide and he gave them one hard thrust into Damien’s sternum, knocking him off balance and irritating the dragon underneath him.
Damien let out a yell and shoved his enemy off of him, doing a horizontal slice into the air forcing Algren to fall onto his back.
Algren kicked Damien into his stomach not fazing him a bit, Damien only faltered backwards a few feet. Algren, taking advantage of his gained time flipped the blade of his sword to a downward position and stabbed through the back of the dragon and into its gigantic heart within.
The dragon let out a final cry and fell downwards, leaving the two soldiers brawling in free-fall in the limits of the sky.
Damien kicked off of his enemy and gave him a smile, straightening his body out and shifting his weight pointing his head towards the ground thousands of feet below him.
Algren, doing a back-flip from the pressure given by Damien watched as his enemy shot down to the ground like a speeding cannonball. He spread his wings to give some resistance to the air about him, knowing he would not survive the fall if he did not.
Algren softly landed onto the ground, folding his wings back again and observing the soldiers about himself. The fray surrounding ignored him, as he did it. He looked about and saw smoke rising from behind crowds of fighting soldiers. The ground began to shake below him and he looked down to see the surface cracking below himself.
Gold spikes shot from the ground, spearing through all the demons and archangels in its path towards Algren. They all let out cries as some stuck into the large spikes and some got hurled into the air from the great forces emitted from the hell-spikes. The spikes retracted into the ground leaving large holes in the grounds surface where they first rose. At the end of the shattered trail of land and dead soldiers stood Damien, smiling and unscathed.
Matthias’ sword retracted from his killed enemy and he threw it down from the choke hold he had on its neck. He glanced to his right to see the ominous dark form that was Damien, going at a stroll towards the shocked Algren. “Algren!” Matthias sprinted towards the sworn enemies, slicing through any demons that came into his trail with ease.
Algren then narrowed his eyes and rose his sword up, and began to charge at his enemy. He met Damien with a tall vertical slice of his sword.
Damien parried to the side with no hardship. He threw his battle axe high into the air leaving both arms open and grabbed a hold of Algren’s right fist that grasped his sword with his own left hand, grappled Algren’s throat with his right, and gave a strong head-butt that shattered most of the archangel’s helmet, and bloodied the young colonel’s face.
Algren’s face screamed in pain through the nerves of his muscle. He felt Damien release his grip on his throat, and he fell to his knees, looking dazed into the sky, releasing his blade voluntarily.
Damien’s battle axe that had been thrown into the deep sky came back down and nestled back into his fisted right hand.
“Algren…NO!” Matthias cried out, watching helplessly from a distance as Damien rose his battle axe, and struck vertically into the skull of Algren.
Matthias’ eyes went wide, his vision went blurred and fury ran through his veins. His speed then doubled and he charged directly at Damien, who only rose his left eye-brow in curiosity.
Matthias swung his sword multiple times with all his might, his bright blade leaving light trails where they sliced.
Damien merely parried from side to side, seeing the rage in his new adversaries’ eyes he frowned. He then gave a quick chop of his hand into Matthias’ sternum, shattering his armour, and gave him a swift blow to the stomach.
Matthias’ eyes went even wider, and translucent tears fell from his eyes and shot out the eye holes of his helmet as his body arched over the powerful fist that connected with his stomach. His vision began to blur worse, and it faded black.
Matthias awoke upon the ground, all of the nerves of his body screaming in pain. He viewed all the dead bodies about him, all archangels had perished aside from him. He got up sluggishly and walked about, viewing the flames and carnage brought upon the surface of the battlefield. His body became numb with sorrow as he saw his fallen commander laying on the ground face down, soaked in his own blood.
He viewed the fallen officer up and down, and he fell to his knees beside him, looking blankly into the sky. Tears began to drift down his cheeks silently, and closing his eyes he let out a long, mournful howl into burning dark skies above.

The souls of the archangels and demons fight for their strength, honor, and love. They defend their fathers by all means necessary, even if it means the loss of their own lives. They were bred for war, and war alone.
The clashing of medieval weaponry, bloody massacres, all something you would expect only from man. Indeed, man was made in the image of God…



"...There is no good, there is no evil, there is only life..."-Paladin-