Diablo:The Beginning of new Anguish

My body seemed to go limp, my jaw dropped as I stared at her half in disbelief and half whatever type of spell she seemed to have on me.

“Why would you give away your only child?” I said never looking away from here gaze.

“It's for the greater good.” She said. She grabbed my hand, it felt warm and soft and somehow right.

I stared into her eyes, my heart pounding, wondering why she was having this affect on me. Wondering why now, of all times.

“Are you a demon?” I asked.

She laughed. “Oh my sweet dear no, I am no demon I am human like yourself, only I see the greatness the burning hells has to offer. You see my dear I was raised in hell.”

I stared at her stunned. “Why had the demons not killed you?”

As my mind was trying to process this information a cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows and put his arm around the girl.

“Don't you see?” The recognizable voice of Azmodan said. “Do you really think for twenty years we have been sitting idle licking our wounds? You are a fool if you think so. Although you may not have heard about it much but we have been stealing newborn children from there mothers for a very long time now.”

“What purpose could they possibly serve?” I asked.

“Why it's simple.” Azmodan replied. “Don't you see? We banished the prime evils into your world. Our goal was to remove the Worldstone. You see there was once a demon known as Lilith, she was very smart and cunning and had this wonderful idea. Of course at the time we did not realize how truly brilliant this idea was.”

“Typical demon.” I said.

“Silence!” Azmodan yelled. His voice nearly making my head feel like it was going to explode. “Who more innocent and easy to train and learn than a child? Children you see were the key to our success. We raise them and taint them and in turn they annihilate the forces of heaven. You see what you don't understand your power and every humans power is now limitless, the only thing stopping you is your imagination.”

“I don't understand why are you telling me this? Why don't you just kill me?”

“Why because you are his prize.” The female said. “I believe I will take you to him.”

The shadowy figure of Azmodan dissipated in the wind.

I retracted my hand away from her grabbing my bow.

“Now don't play hard to get dear.” She said in a sweet voice that for some reason made my heart want to melt. She reached out her hand and my bow flew into hers.

I stared into her eyes a longing had come over me that I have never felt before, I did not feel it when I met her for the first time, I was confused at these new found feelings.

Suddenly I heard a voice in my head, it was soft but noticeable.

“You are being played.” It said. “You must approach this situation in another way, she is not casting a spell but willing your heart to fall for her. Fight back.”

As I realized exactly what was happening I started fighting back.

She fought harder.

I willed myself to come to my senses and see the situation for what it is. An idea formed in my head and I decided I would play along with it.

“Come closer dear.” She said to me in a deep dark seductive voice. She smiled her teeth glinting.

I knelt down before her and leaned in close grabbing the tip of my knife.

“That's it dear, now lets have some fun before I take you back to hell.”

Starring into her eyes I felt myself start to crumble a little, she leaned in close to me, my heart started pounding as if it were going to jump out from my chest and into hers.

Coming to my senses I pulled out my knife and slit her throat open. I quickly backed up before she could try and retaliate.

She did not overreact instead she put a hand to her throat and looked up at me and did something I would never have expected, she smiled at me.

She stood up and threw my bow at my feet and covered the wound with both hands. When she pulled them away to my amazement her wound was no longer there, she had completely healed herself.

“My dear.” She said. “My sweet loving darling, why would you do something so terrible?”

I picked up my bow intending to end this struggle once and for all.

She reached out her hand I held my bow fast willing it to stay in my hands.

“If only you would have came quietly.” She said. “I was hoping to not have to force this upon you, I even offered to have some fun with you before they hung you up in the depths of hell for all to see. A reminder for what we strive for. It's a real shame I'm going to have to harm you.”

“I'll kill you before you lay a hand on me.” I nearly yelled at her.

“Do I make you uncomfortable dear?” She asked.

As much as she did I was not going to show it or let her find out, and use it as an advantage. I notched an arrow. “Any last words before I end your miserable life?”

“Give me your best shot.” She said with a smile.

I shot the arrow.

What happened next was totally unexpected. I watched as she quickly got up and avoided the arrow and before I could react accordingly I found myself on the ground, a knife held up to my throat.

“Valiant effort.” She said. “You are going to have to do better than that, here I was thinking you were a great shot. I was not even a foot away from you and you missed.” She shook her head. “I had higher expectations than this.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.” I replied reaching for my knife.

“You looking for something?” She said laughing.

I realized the knife being held next to my throat was in fact my own.

“So where does this put us?” She said. “Are you going to stop struggling?”

I smiled at her and willed the sand next her face to explode.

She quickly reacted by driving the knife toward my chest, but I rolled out of the way and quickly got up.

I grabbed my bow and notched an arrow and fired at her, she quickly rolled away from the shot.

“I pity at the lack of your imagination.” She said to me.

“How so?” I asked grabbing another arrow.

As I was getting ready to aim, she formed a ball of fire with her hands and shot it at me.

I hesitated unsure of what to do, I tried getting out of the way but was to late, the fire hit me and sent me to the desert ground.

As I recovered I found myself looking up into her red eyes for some reason to me they seemed completely beautiful.

“I don't think I ever caught your name.” I said to her trying to stall and get my senses together.

“My name is Emma. How sweet of you to ask.”

I decided I would try to do exactly what she did, I felt my hands turn hot and I raised them toward her and willed fire to shoot from my palms.

She screamed as she flew back.

I quickly got up and grabbed my bow.

“Save yourself.” The soft voice in my head said to me.

I knew I was going to regret this decision but I was exhausted and summoning the fire took a lot out of me. I put my bow around my back and decided to run.

The desert was completely black but I believed I was going the right way. I heard a laughter off in the wind. I willed myself to go faster hoping Emma was not somehow easily catching up to me. I did not dare look.

The darkness surrounded me. It was so cold that it reminded me of another time when I was stuck in the desert and it was rather dark, only during that day the sun was blocked by serpents. Claw Vipers.

The news spread around town like wildfire, as I was hearing that the heroes that defeated Andarial had restored light to the desert once more and slain the serpents causing the eclipse of the sun. I looked up to those five champions. I longed to join them but did not have the courage to seek there audience. I did follow them of course slaying my fair share of demons and strange creatures.

During those dark times everything seemed somehow easier. It's like the demons back then kinda wandered with no goal in mind, although they did have a goal it was just not noticeable.

I felt my stamina drain from me, I was completely drained of any willpower and the thought of continuing seemed pointless.

I fell to my knees utterly defeated.

“Do not give up now hero.” The soft voice in my head said to me.

“Who are you?” I cried out. “What do you want with me?”

“Would you like me to reveal myself to you?” The voice asked.

“Only if you can help me.” I said aloud trying not to fall face first into the sand.

Suddenly a bright white light enveloped me, and just as quickly as it came, it was gone. A hand came down and offered help.

I accepted it and felt a jolt of determination. I looked up to see a figure dressed in white robes, as she spoke her voice became more clear and more feminine.

“Why certainly.” She said, her voice echoing from inside my head.

“Are you an angel?” I asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes.”

“Why did you save me?” I asked.

“Iris, my lieutenant sacrificed herself so you could live, normally I would not approve of such intervention, but I will not let her die in vein. We share the same beliefs that you must help us defeat the demons and bring an end to the Prime Evils plans once and for all.”

“Why not bring an army of angels here to fight back the demons.” I asked.

“Because I'm afraid if we do that would invite all of hell to invade and attack us, utterly destroying your world in the process.”

“I see.” We started walking along the path I believed would take me to Lut Gholein.

“Something troubles you.” The angel said. “What is it?”

“The demons. They say they have been abducting children and training them to fight for the cause of hell.”

“We have had our suspicions about this.” The angel told me. “This is why we need people on our side combating them.”

“You have a lot more humans on your side than on there's. The battle will be tough but I'm sure we will pull ahead in the end.”

“Don't be so hasty to underestimate the powers of hell. If you do you will find yourself in a situation that you will never escape.”

“What are you going to do? You must send angels to assist us, if the humans are anywhere near as powerful and cunning as Emma we may fail.” My mind was a confused blur, I could barley comprehend what I was saying but I felt that the angels needed to assist us.

“You see we are under a conflicted vote, We are suspecting that the powers of hell have already gathered a significant large number of humans willing to fight for them and able to do nearly anything, taught to use the unexpected to there advantage like your conflict with the human girl.”

“What are your plans?” I asked.

“Well normally when we vote to keep something alive or destroy it bringing up past votes is normally forbidden and we don't do it but recently, it has arisen again and though we have discussed it many times it seems like the outcome will change.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “What do you mean by vote?”

“Well you see like the Prime Evils that rule among hell there are angels that rule among heaven, the most powerful and the most high of all. We decide the fate of our people and when we next strike against the powers of the burning hells. We call ourselves the Angiris Council, which include myself and four others.

I stared at her in awe. “You are a ruler among heaven?” I asked.

“I would not put it like that but I do have a say in things. Among us in an angel Tyrael perhaps you have heard of him.”

“Yes I have. I hear he formed the group known as the Horadrim which captures all three Prime Evils and locked them into the soulstones.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“So if I may ask what is it you are voting for now?”

The angel was silent for a long moment. “I don't think I should divulge this information to you. Not only for the safety of our plans but how you may react to such a decision.”

“I promise your secrets are safe with me, the demons would not be able to torture such information out of me.”

The angel pointed ahead. “There is your destination.”

I stared astonished at the jewel city of Lut Gholein. How we traveled so fast when it should take at least half a day to arrive was beyond me.

“Be prepared for the worst.” The angel said. “Depending on the outcome of a few certain battles your world may be in danger.”

The realization suddenly hit me on what the angel was talking about. “Are you really debating about destroying our world?” I nearly screamed. “How could you be so damn heartless! You can save this world!”

The angel put her hand up silencing me. “Free your imagination. Do not let your powers only extend to your bow, continuing such things will be the end of you.”

I only nodded.

“Farewell, for now. The other heroes await you, prepare yourselves mentally for the exhausting battles ahead. Do not dwell on the information you have received today, the fate of your world lies in you and the other heroes that rise in these dark times.”

Suddenly a white light enveloped the angel and she was gone. My heart sunk and I wondered if perhaps the angels were no better than the demons we both sought to destroy.