Melancholy Wings: Decadence Read Free

hollow red eyes, and he wore a long dark red cloak with ornaments that resembled roaring golden fires. Once he put down the tome, he grabbed his sceptre and held it in one hand. The top part of his sceptre looked like an open skeletal palm.
-           “Excellent job, dark angels.” He spoke in his usual, slightly aberrant tone of voice, before Azrael got a chance to say anything, “I’ve heard the battle was a success.”
-           “That is correct.” Azrael confirmed, “We are now ready for further orders.”
-           “Further orders? You’ve read my mind.” Hades said satisfyingly, “So you too noticed that it was an unusual attack.”
-           “That’s right, my Lord. The creatures were from Infernal Pit. It, however, doesn’t make sense that Lord Beelzebub would send such a deficient army to start a war. He hadn’t made any declarations of war either.” Azrael explained his point of view on the matter.
    Adelais watched with interest how Azrael and Hades discussed the situation. He could see that they were both confused and were trying their best to come up with the soundest explanation. He himself wasn’t sure what was going on either.
-           “And this is the second attack this interim as well.” Hades added after a brief pause, “This means it wasn’t a coincidence.”
-           “Should we go to the Infernal Pit and request answers?” Azrael asked, not knowing what else would serve as a good idea.
-           “Yes, I was about to suggest that. Take Adelais with you, and take some machai as well, in case you run into trouble. I will send a messenger so that Lord Beelzebub would be notified of your visit and would be willing to speak with you when you arrive.”
-           “We will be on it right away.”
    Hades dismissed the two of them after that and they went back out of the palace the same way they came in. On the way back through the main corridor Adelais got curious about where two of his teammates were.
-           “Are Ethel and Lazarus not joining us?”
-           “They are still in Helheim.” Azrael gave a short response.
    Ethel and Lazarus were part of Azrael’s squad too. They left earlier in the current interim to provide some support for Helheim, one of the sectors allied with Erebus.
-           “They’ve been there awfully long.” Adelais noted.
-           “Helheim must’ve gotten two attacks as well.” Azrael theorised, “I am sure they’ll be back soon.”
    Adelais didn’t question him any more after that. As soon as both of them stepped out of the palace, they took off into the air to prepare to head out to the Infernal Pit. Azrael decided not to bring too many machai with them, as he wanted as many guardians as possible to remain in Erebus and to defend, in case of another attack during their absence.
     

 
    Chapter 2
    Friends Forever
     
     
     
    Once Azrael picked half a dozen machai soldiers, he and Adelais headed for the Southern docks. Since the Underworld was very huge, consisting of twelve sectors, flight wasn’t the best option for travel over large distances, as it tired the angels out. In addition to that, angels weren’t the only travellers in the Underworld. There were many other creatures and guardians that could not fly, yet needed means of getting from one sector to another. That’s why the main transporting method was by boat. The five rivers of the Underworld were all joined together and reached out to every sector. Boats were of various sizes, some small, for just a few individuals, while some others were large, for ferrying around big sections of armies. Each boat was steered by one or more boatmen, depending on the size of the boat. Since each river flowed one way only, the boatman was required to steer the boat in the right direction and to take the correct turns.
     Once Azrael, Adelais, and six machai