Akting Out

Uriel leapt from the neck of the doomed beast as it crashed into the ground with enough force to shake all of Eden. Violently thrown across the ground from the beast’s tremendous impact, Uriel righted himself to a kneel and looked over his right shoulder; the Dorager was blessedly still and dead, wisps of gray smoke billowing from its nostrils, mouth, and black, hollow eye sockets. It had taken him almost everything he had, but he had been able to immolate the beast from within.

The sounds of battle—no, not battle, slaughter; battle would’ve been more evenly matched—screamed all around him. Demons laughed hellishly, their glee a grating cackle as children bled and died at their hands. Where the hell are the Sefiroth?! He could only hope that Sean and the others had made it, and that help was coming. Till then, injuries and all, Uriel was their last hope.

Clutching a bite wound at his side that had refused to quit bleeding, Uriel roared in disgust and anger, lashing out with his right hand, releasing a blast of napalm that leapt upon an unsuspecting horde of imps that were chasing down children no older than five. Their gleeful cackling turned to surprised agony as they were quickly disintegrated. Uriel looked above him, a high-pitched wail getting his attention; an ashen, three-eyed, winged beast was closing in on Taurus, who had managed to secure a small group of terrified children on one of his hawks. Taurus was the best pilot of Uriel’s students, but the ashen beast was matching Taurus move for move as they spun and moved through the air in the deadliest of aerial ballets.

Uriel reached up, firing a beam of superheated energy straight into the air. His aim was spot on, and the energy tore a hole clean through the beast’s wing. The thing shrieked, thrown off course, beating its wings ferociously as it struggled to stay aloft. Taurus looked down to Uriel and nodded his appreciation. Uriel nodded back; just get them out of here…

“Uriel!”
His eyes widened as ice shot down his spine. He knew that voice; it shouldn’t be here. Slowly, Uriel turned, but it wasn’t Rahab’s appearance that threw him; it was the demon’s actions.
Rahab appeared as gigantic tan stingray, rising vertically into the air. Its gullet was horrifically expanded and translucent, like a bubble born in sewage.
In its gullet were seven screaming children, pounding against Rahab’s outer stomach as liquid and bile poured in from the bottom. As Uriel turned fully, taking in the horror of the situation, a pungent odor reached him, making him lightheaded. Methane…
Somewhere deep within, he knew how this situation would play out. Rahab spoke to him in his mind. “I was so hoping you’d be here! I wanted you to see my newest trick!”
“Rahab…” Uriel’s voice was almost pleading, but he knew there was no point to it. He began to advance on the amphibious demon. “Just let them go.”
“Oh, I will! They’ll be gone soon enough!”
The bile was rising quickly, already filling more than a third of its gullet. The children were beginning to panic. “Rahab, damn you…”
Uriel fired a burst of pure flame from his hand, careful not to hit Rahab’s gullet, aiming for his flattened head. His shot hit the mark, but Rahab only laughed as his flesh was seared. “Woo-hoo-hoo! That’s the spirit! But come on, Uriel! These poor little cherubs are counting on you!”
Abject horror crept over Uriel as the bile filled more than two-thirds of his enemy’s gullet. The children struggled to scream, keeping their heads above the putrid liquid. “Damn you, you bastard! How’d you get here?!”
Rahab was more than twelve feet in the air now. Wings of flame erupted from Uriel’s back and he rocketed up to meet his adversary. “You heard me!” Uriel demanded, “I wanna know who brought you, Rahab!”
“You mean…you don’t know?” Rahab feigned hurt feelings; truthfully, he was enjoying this. “Your people, Uriel…they asked me to attend.”
Uriel didn’t want to believe it, yet no other explanation made sense. Rahab could not appear in Heaven unless summoned. “It’s amazing.” The dark humor had subsided; Rahab was being coldly serious. “You really have no idea what’s going on here, do you?”
Damn you, shut your mouth…
A two-handed burst of fire shot from Uriel’s hands engulfed Rahab’s head. The fire dissipated, only appearing to knock the demon off balance momentarily. “You actually believe you’re fighting for something noble, don’t you?” Rahab continued. “That’s what makes you so much fun.”

The methane smell now radiated off of Rahab, forcing Uriel to breathe carefully fifteen feet away. Uriel could see the children inside retching, and coughing. In the distance, Uriel could see several figures approaching at high speed. It was all like some macabre, carefully-choreographed sequence that could only have one ending.
“Come on, Uriel.” Rahab growled, “Save them.”
They were dead anyway.
If he did this, there would be no going back. Yang didn’t permit the homicide of its own under any circumstances.
But Yang had never been put in this position, either.
Uriel repressed tears and anguish as he quickly shot his hands forward, releasing a spiraling column of flame aimed directly at Rahab’s gullet. The shot found it’s mark, resulting in a tremendous explosion. Rahab both screamed and laughed as his own flesh—and charred glass—rained down upon them. Exhausted ass if from orgasm, Rahab breathed quickly as he said his final words to Uriel; “Be seeing you, old friend.”
The gaping hole in Rahab’s gut should’ve been fatal, but Uriel knew better. They’d been through this too many times before. As Rahab disappeared into thin air, Uriel locked eyes with the nearest Sefiroth officer who was racing towards the scene. He was coming for him…

Uriel tried to turn and fly, but was unable to muster the speed in his weakened state. The Sefiroth tackled him from behind, taken to the ground. As Uriel struggled to get to his back, the young officer cursed him, striking him in the head–

Uriel bolted upright suddenly, quickly orienting himself. He was in Yevon’s castle keep, his entire body racked with fading pain. Not far from him, Sira was braced on her hands and knees. She was hyperventilating from crying so hard, her face red and tear strewn. “By Yang, I didn’t know….I didn’t know.” She kept saying over and over. Uriel ignored the pain that fired through him as he got to his feet, Sira raising her eyes to meet his own, “They just told me to bring you in. I didn’t know what you had done. I didn’t know you…you had to do that. I’m so sorry, Uriel. I’m sorry…”
Uriel nodded. Now he remembered.
The Seraphim had been torturing him. They nearly tortured him to death until Sira unexpectedly arrived. Uriel had fallen unconscious; the only way she could save him was by jolting his mind, and the only way she could do that was by drawing on his memories. It was a Valkryie method of interrogation. Unfortunately, she got to relive the memory with him…

Uriel had never harbored any ill will towards Sira; they were both soldiers, and soldiers did their duty. Her loyalty was beyond reproach; she had done her job, even if it meant betraying a friend. But now she knew what he’d been living with all this time.

Uriel raised his head suddenly; above them, a battle was raging on. There was always another battle to fight.
Uriel quickly approached Sira, extending his hand. “There’s nothing to be sorry for; you did your job. Now let’s go. We have work to do.”

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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