Chapter 2

Dominus stood in the flickering torch-lit entryway awaiting the call into his master's presence. He had no way of knowing that at that exact same moment, in a place immeasurably distant, another servant of another, and far brighter lord, was awaiting permission to enter his master's presence. He was, of course, aware of the existence and cunning of his enemies. His hatred of them was unrivaled, even among his compatriots. Dominus never allowed an opportunity to destroy one of them pass by.

As Dominus awaited the forthcoming audience with his master, he wondered what his next assignment would be. His mind began conjuring images of possible tasks, all of which involved the wholesale slaughter of enemy soldiers. As he was reveling in the imagined bloodshed that would (hopefully) be forthcoming, the doors to the throne room opened to admit him. The dark, winged, humanoid creature walked into the room, out of the flickering torchlight into a vast chamber who's size was concealed by the almost total absence of light. In fact, the only light in the room came from eight torches: seven in a semicircle behind the huge, cavernous throne and one next to a podium which stood about five feet in front of the throne.

Dominus quickly approached the podium. Once he reached the solid gold stand, he stood at attention and waited for his master to speak.

:Dominus." The voice was low, raspy, old. "I have a new task for you."

"It is my honor to serve you, master."

"Our esteemed adversary is planning a new assault upon us. I recently received a report from a reliable intelligence source that he has begun assembling a new strike force. I don't yet know whom he has chosen to head it or what its targets will me. All my spy has determined is the force's goal: Undermine our control, and steal our hold on the world from us. Your task is to find this team and stop it. You may have all the men and resources that you need. I don't care how you stop them, Dominus, or what you do to them, just stop them from causing major damage!" His voice rose with tightly controlled fury, "Our hold on this world is shaky enough without their direct interference! After all, much as it pains me to admit it, humanity tends to look to his direction for leadership. Something they inherited from Adam and Eve, I suppose."

Dominus smiled cruelly at the thought of the bloodshed and death he would visit upon his adversaries, he would repay them for all the bloodshed and crimes they had visited upon his kind during the War.

"So, go!" Boomed the voice from the shadows.

Dominus gasped, smile vanishing. He bowed low until he had retreated from the throne room. As he as he straightened and turned he heard the heavy doors close behind him and, strolling down the torch lit halls, he smiled again in expectation of the power and pleasure that would coarse through his veins when the slaughter began. Yes he thought, this will be very pleasurable indeed! He laughed, a low chuckle that made the skin crawl and the body shiver. His laughter echoed softly down the hallway behind him as he walked.

Edward's body pounded with excitement as he surveyed the structure before him. They stood in front of a large brick building that was home to many of the Enemy's soldiers. Edward thought it was a grotesque piece of architecture. The dark red building was large and imposing. The main entrance consisted of a pair of huge, ornamented, wooden doors. Above the doors was an enormous stained glass window. Perched on the pitched roof above the entrance was a towering spire which served no purpose other than to draw the attention of anyone who happened to see the building.

The new commander and his men were all disguised so as to conceal their presence and identity. They had quelled the light which normally radiated from them, which allowed them to hide in the nearby trees and bushes. The plan was to remain undiscovered until the moment they attacked.

After he had ensured that his squad was ready, Edward sent a quick mental query to each of his captains and confirmed that they and their troops were in place and awaiting the command to assault the target. He quickly assessed the situation, confirmed that the time was right and instantly relayed a single word command to his army, Begin.

Edward then rose quickly to a crouch and scuttled towards the structure. He was unable to hear the troops that followed him; they were too silent for even he supernaturally sensitive ears to detect.

Finally, they were next to the building. Edward and his men spread out along the wall they were against; He knew without seeing that the other squads were doing the same thing along the other walls of the building. Edward risked a peak through the window that he was beneath. He saw his enemy's forces standing inside the room.

The were interacting with the humans who were also inside the room: flying around, possessing the humans, causing them to enter into violent spasms and speak gibberish in halting voices, and generally causing huge amounts of spiritual chaos. Edward felt a twinge of pity for those humans, they were unable to see or understand all that was being done to them. They were unaware of the spiritual bonds that Enemy had placed around their hearts and minds. Though other mortals would see only normal, well-dressed, ecstatic people of various ages, Edward could see their immortal souls and these were weak and sickly, bound hand and foot in heavy chains of ignorance and slavery. The mighty angel felt tears well up in his eyes as often happened when he beheld spectacles such as this, he vowed to himself that he and his forces would help put a stop to the Enemy's control of the world, if only so that he would never again have to witness this sight again.

A tap on his shoulder brought him back to his senses; he glanced offer his shoulder into the face of one of his warriors who was looking at him quizzically. Edward nodded that he was fine and raised his eyebrows in askance. The soldier quickly confirmed that all was ready. Edward then sent another mental command to his men, Execute.

Edward spun off the wall and jumped through the window, of course as the window was physical, and Edward was spiritual, he had no effect on the window itself, he simply rolled through the opening. His effect on the creatures inside the room was as stunning as if he had, in fact, crashed explosively through the large, ornate window and sent shard of it's brightly colored glass hurtling across the room. The humans, of course, remained undisturbed, but the Enemy's forces abruptly ceased their gallivanting and stared at Edward. Edward drew his sword and his disguise was instantly purged from him as his true nature was revealed in a blinding flash of light. He held his sword high above his head and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"For the Light!"

Suddenly the entire room seemed to implode as one hundred spiritual warriors burst into the building, some through windows, as Edward had done, some through the walls, and closed doors, and even a few were gliding amongst the rafters after having streaked straight through the roof. Half of the force was concentrated in this room, the other three squads having been detailed to clear out the kitchens and communal dining area as well as the basement rooms where the spirits aided in the enslavement of the young. Even though only about fifty of Edwards soldiers were in the room, the light radiating from them was so blinding that it is impossible to describe.

The shock and awe on the part of the Enemy soldiers and their seeming inability to believe that they were under attack here, in their very stronghold, was so great that Edward was able to cut down two of them before the spell of surprise broke. One of them, a leader to judge by his size, drew his sword and bellowed, "Destroy them!"

The other creatures drew their weapons as well. Nasty, disgusting blades they were, long, sharp, wickedly barbed, and many of them dripping a foul-smelling ochre. Edward shuddered to think what would happen if one of those things was to strike him. Then the dark ones charged, and the battle was joined in earnest. Edwards found himself pressed on three quarters at once, forcing him to spin and parry his simple, elegant blade as fast and accurately as possible. Through a series of skillful maneuvers, he was able to catch the blade of the creature on his right and forced the fighter directly into the path of the center monster's thrust. A quick thrust of his own caught the unfortunate soldier on his left in the throat and left Edward free to kill the center opponent at his leisure as he struggled to extract his barbed sword from the back of his fallen comrade.