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The wind howled off of what used to be the ocean, the intensity of the rain like tiny pinpricks upon their exposed flesh.
Francis removed his horn-rimmed glasses and put them inside his shirt pocket.
They walked across the deck, down some steps, and crossed a small yard. Francis opened a gate at the end of the property and then the two of them descended a short flight of wooden steps to the beach below.
The closer they got, the more disturbing it all became. The ground that had once been the ocean floor was revealed to the world; seaweed and rocks and refuse that had lain at the bottom of the sea for years, exposed, as well as thousands of examples of ocean life writhing and flopping about in their death throes.
But their suffering went on and on, for they could not die.
An ominous rumble of thunder reverberated along the coastline. A white flash that resembled more the blast of a nuclear weapon than lightning illuminated the distant horizon, and Remy gasped at what he saw. The Horsemen.
They were giants, sitting astride their equally enormous mounts, waiting for the signals to unleash their intent. And then they were gone, lost in the gloom of the never-ending storm.
But Remy knew that they were still there, patiently waiting for the festivities to begin.
"I won't ask if you saw that," Francis said, staring straight ahead as they made their way toward the group of figures waiting for them on the beach.
Remy was about to warn Francis to be on his guard when he saw it from the corner of his eye. A patch of what he thought to be part of the storm-blackened sky dropped down suddenly, flowing toward them.
"Watch it!" Remy managed, as the patch of darkness expanded, enveloping them both in its freezing embrace.
The shadow was all-encompassing, but the sword that Remy carried provided them with a small area of light.
He and Francis stood back to back, swords raised. They were silent, tensed, and ready, listening to the scuttling and rustling of their opponents beyond the small circle of light.
"Did I mention how much I hate these guys?" Francis asked, as the first of the Black Choir emerged from its hiding place within the concealing shadows.
It crawled along the ground, malformed wings folded upon its back. It saw Francis and stopped, a spark of fear in its jaundiced eyes. The Guardian between Pandemonium and Earth was not someone that anyone — fallen or exalted — truly cared to mess with.
Remy had always believed that it was a good thing that Francis was on his side.
The Choir member's flesh appeared injured, its body speckled with open wounds, exposing muscle and bone.
An aftereffect of Francis' special shotgun blasts from the previous night, Remy guessed, raising his sword and bringing it down upon the vile creature's back.
The demonic angel shrieked as the burning blade cut into its pale, loathsome flesh. It flipped onto its injury with an animalistic hiss, grabbing the sword blade with both hands before Remy could withdraw it.
"A blade of God in the hands of one who has shu
Remy tugged on the blade.
Other members of the Choir emerged from the black, some flying, others charging. They had their own weapons as well, nasty blades and clubs that looked as though they had been formed from the shadows where they made their home.
Francis met their attack head-on, his tarnished blade not having as dire an effect, but the sharpness of its edge proving to be more than devastating. The screams of the injured Black Choir were deafening.
Using all his strength, Remy yanked on his weapon, watching the charred and blackened fingers of his opponent break away with a snapping-kindling sound. He spun around to assist his friend, the glow of the blade seeming to instill in the Choir a certain level of fear.
"Wish mine did that," Francis said, bringing his blade down upon the skull of a fallen angel that suddenly swooped from the darkness above, nearly cleaving it in two.
But the angel did not die, and neither did any of its brethren.
"You ca
Remy didn't understand what the abomination was going on about. He thrust back with his sword, feeling the glowing blade pass through the emaciated flesh of its stomach before biting into the spinal column. The Choir member cried out in pain, attempting to take flight from its perch upon his shoulders, but the blade was stuck firm, and all it could do was struggle to free itself.
"Let me help you with that," Francis said, coming to aid him, his own sword cutting deeply into the Choir member's chest, knocking it back.
Remy pulled his blade free with a grunt of thanks and turned his attention to the next wave of attack.
The Choir were burnt, cut, and mutilated, but still they came.
"Why?" Remy asked, his anger fueling his fury, causing him to remember — and embrace — the warrior's high that he had attempted to escape for so very long. "Why would you risk this? The end of all things would result in your deaths as well!"
The Choir halted their actions, clumping together to glare at him with pain-filled eyes from the shadows that shifted like thick smoke.
"We would risk anything to be forgiven," one of them said in a chilling whisper, as if merely saying the words could result in some form of punishment. "To again be allowed in His presence."
They all bowed their heads in reverence, praying for it to be so.
"Forgiven?" Remy asked.
Francis stood beside him, his friend's face spattered with the lifeblood of their enemies. "Somebody's been feeding them a lie," the Guardian said.
"Who told you this?" Remy demanded to know. "Who told you that God would forgive you if…"
There was a sudden, searing flash of white.
The Black Choir screamed in agony as their pale skin was burnt from their bodies, Remy's and Francis' own cries of pain joining with the creatures of shadow.
Remy fell to his knees, shielding his eyes from the pulsing emanations. He could barely make out the shape of someone within the white fire, searing light streaming from its outstretched hands like the rays of the sun.
It was the light of the divine; the power of God given to those who served His most holy cause. If Remy had been merely human, it would have burned his flesh and turned his bones to ash. It was another painful reminder of what he truly was, and could never hope to be.
The Choir's screams had ceased, but now Remy's ears were filled with the agonized moans of his friend.
The light of the divine burned him worse, for he had fallen from the grace of God.
"Stop it!" Remy screamed, feeling around until his hands found Francis' thrashing body. Remy threw him- self atop the Guardian, blocking his body from the destructive effects of the holy glow.
The power of Heaven roiled inside him, awakened by the purity of the light. Remy could feel it stirring, trying to push aside the humanity he had worked so hard to emulate. "Show yourself to me!" he demanded of their attacker.
And the light was extinguished as quickly as it was ignited, returning the world to darkness and gloom. The remains of what had been the Black Choir lay about Remy, the blackened bodies still twitching with life. He lifted himself from atop Francis, who was curled into a quivering ball on the dry ocean floor, his body smoldering from the touch of the divine emanations.
"Are you all right?" Remy asked, reaching out to grip his friend's shoulder. A portion of his jacket crumbled beneath his hand.