Cult of The Raven

”Yeah yeah.” Samael said with a shrug, continuing to take drags from his cigarette and enjoying the buzz if nicotine. It stopped him from getting even more annoyed with the circumstance around him, being trapped within likely his father’s domain. Even as he slid down the incline, he felt that he was drawing closer to what felt like something dangerous, causing his chest to grow dense. The male said something about carrying him, Samael turning to him with an arced brow.

”As nice as that sounds little guy, I would prefer not to get carried around.” He said, drawing the last drag from the cigarette and letting it flutter to the ground. ” Besides, I don’t need you dropping me along the way.” Samael added, seeming to take a running position and then he darted forward at a speed that was a little quicker than any human was likely able to. It would still take an annoying amount of time to get there, though he ended up skidding to a stop a few minutes into the run, as a shadow flew over them.

He looked up to see a giant black bird flying above them, looking about as large as a bus. ”The answer is yes, a giant raven. Though that is likely still not the worst. ” It let out a cry with a few more beginning to circle, flying down with sharp talons at the ready.

Jake was rather glad that the half demon was not so hard as he thought he might be on that. Seems Jake had put him on the wrong side of who he was personality wise.. Doe he was surprised by the sudden boost of speed as the half demon ran past him, not as fast as Redline of course but still faster then normal.

To catch up, Jake jumped on an angle to keep up, making long leaps before landing and jumping forward in a lunge once more, more or less keeping up with the faster half demon. After a few minutes of this, they came to a stop as Jake followed in step, wondering why, Jake watched as the half demon looked up and Jake followed suit, seeing a rather large bird and finally getting that answer from his earlier question.

However when the Ravens began to gather in number and fly lower, sharp talons easily seen in the empty sky. "Can't you tell them to stop and give us ride." Jake turned to the half demon, expecting him to do something before suddenly feeling his back giving way and he fell to the ground as claws cut though the fabric of his suit and began to dig into his skin, not entirely cutting though but close. Pressing his hands to the ground, Jake would quickly push hard, knocking the Raven's foot off his back and quickly turning, Jake would grab it's clawed foot and sit up before lifting it off the ground and swinging it back, it would thrash about to try and escape but with no regard as Jake flung it back up into the sky, only for it to stabilize and resume flight.

"God damn it my suit!" Jake complained as he looked into the sky, jumping to the left as another Raven dived on him. "Make them stop!?" Jake yelled at the half demon as he continued to back away with dives and rolls as best as he could not sure how to attack these flying creatures or if he should, seeing as this was the domain of the Raven, would it be bad to kill one? Jake wasn't sure and he didn't want to find out.

Samael cursed under his breath, taking note of the ravens that had turned their attention towards him. Likely they were his father’s personal ravens, bred for battle and meant to kill. He had sent two after him before, both with the intention of killing him and yet he had survived the ordeal before. They were difficult to kill, though luckily what few demonic powers he had managed to allow him to survive the grueling battle that had followed them attacking and he hoped now this kid would be able to help him against what looked to be generously six. Some of them swooped down to attack Jake, and a few more attacked him with deadly swiftness and accuracy. Without even thinking, Samael moved out of the way as the talons raked through the front of his shirt. They managed to scrape his chest, but only drew painful red lines across it.

Rapidly his nails began to darken, elongating and turning more like raven’s claws as he moved around another slash and grabbed onto the ankle of the bird. It let out a cry, still ascending with enough strength to carry him with it. Feeling the ground lift upwards from him was a disorienting feeling to have, and yet he did not let go, instead moving to where he could settle onto the things back. It would try to throw him off, and so he dug his claws into the flesh of the back, as the others could not attack him without crashing into his mount. The kid was likely doing his own battle, so he wouldn’t bother him, and instead plunged his razor claws into what seemed like spine, rapidly paralyzing the wings and causing it to dive towards the ground.

Jumping off the last minute was a gamble but he managed to roll without taking too much damage. ”I can’t do that! They never actually listen to what I tell them.” He shouted to the angel boy as the rest continued their attack, seemingly angered by one of them being taken down so quickly. Samael had no issue crippling or killing them, especially considering that they were demons after all. ”Just hit them really hard! They shouldn’t be hard for your strength.”

Jake would turn to the half demon, his eyes telling words, words such as Seriously? Maybe the only word needed to be told at this current time. For as much as he would love to make a lovely conversation on how he was the son of the demon prince of oh you know Ravens, he had much, much bigger problems on hands. "I swear if these are your dad's personal favorites" Jake would mutter under his breath as a Raven drew close, talons ready to cut into his flesh if they could. Getting ready to duck, Jake waited till the infernal beast got closer before he ducked under the swiping talons but reached out and grabbed one of the toes of the raven and pulled, tugging the bird back with his strength, Jake would then raise it above his head and slam it into the ground in front of him before rising it again and slamming it back into the ground.

Looking around, he would see another one of the four remaining Raven's come closer, unfazed by its fellow birds brutal death. Looking back to the one of the ground, Jake would sigh and look back to the enclosing bird, gripping the toe of the  bird, he would drag it along the ground away from the current attacking raven, letting it get close before swinging the dead one right into it, letting go of the toe as the squawking bird was taken away by the corpse and eventually stuck under it upon hitting the ground. He questioned if this was the best hell could send at him, so far a.. dog thing and now a bunch of birds. Would the demon prince really be that tough himself?  In his thoughts, a third bird swooped down on him, grabbing both of his shoulders and digging into his skin, slightly surprised but able to take on the weight of the massive bird, Jake would look up to find the bird's talons where digging into his shoulders and if he let them, sooner or later they might just poke though the skin, grabbing the leg of the bird now, Jake would rip the leg off his shoulder, growling as the claws had dragged along his skin, leaving red marks that stung a lot. Slamming this bird into the ground like the first one, Jake would let go and jump on the tuft of the birds chest feathers, crawling towards to it's head, Jake would straddle it's chest and raise his fist. However the bird would not give up easy, continuing to struggle to throw Jake off, it would swing it's head around, trying to strike him with it's beak.

Grabbing it's beak with his left hand, Jake would slam it to the ground before punching the demon raven in the side of the head, once, twice. He punched till the bird stopped struggling, and upon so, he got up from the dead bird and moved towards the first two, the still living one having finally escaped from it's prison, rising into the air, Jake felt the need to just end it and so he run forward and then jumped, lunching into the air, the bird would begin to maneuver to avoid the incoming Jake to which he reached out, grasping the wing, Jake would use his momentum to swing the bird around, the two of them becoming a black and red color work of spinning feathers and leather. Landing on the ground with a crash. Jake would stand and grab the wing of the raven with both hands, using his strength to bend the wing and eventually breaking it. Ignoring how the beast squeaked, Jake would stand over it's head and raise his heel, slamming it down on the bird till it too stopped moving.  They may have not been too bad of a problem for the strong meta, but they were really annoying and something just felt... right about killing the birds, the demons.. Jake's back began to hurt once more and so Jake shook away the feeling of righteousness and looked to his companion Half demon, hoping he was okay and had possibly dealt with there last raven foe. Not quite noticing the blood the covered his fist or his suit quite yet.

Well hitting giant birds was something that he could trust this angel boy to do, though Samael was still more worried about the giant birds trying to rip him apart with claws that could likely kill him. While more and more were being killed with well-placed punched, the cambion however was making use of every physical ability available to him. Two more had turned their sights upon him, one trying to spear him with a rather deadly looking beak. Making use of their rather direct trajectory, he sprang onto it as the thing collided with the ground, and was temporarily stuck in it as he sprung back to avoid the other raven caught within a now dive that had collided with the stuck one, ramming a clawed hand into its back to quickly disable the spine.

It took all his strength within the punch, though blood and flesh gave way easily enough as the thing grew limp. Something about this felt easy, far too easy considering the last time that he had fought such dangerous things. That was when he became aware of something, the ground beginning to sag underneath them, the combined weight of the two giant avian creatures causing something to give way under him. Gravity did the rest of the work, as he felt one of them try to crazily flap, to fly upwards as Samael continued to fly and the massive hole within the desert continued to give out. His mind scanned the surrounding area for anything to grab onto, reaching out for the edge of a sheer cliff, and scraping along, arm aching from the sudden jerk that came with it.

Looking down Samael saw that it was a long drop, leading to what appeared to be an ancient, worn down civilization, buildings ages old made of likely adobe. Making use of  holds within the wall, he slowly made his way down and landed on one of the many roofs that formed the underground town/city, wondering what or who lived in a place like this.

Seeing that the half demon was having his own problem with the giant ravens, Jake was about to make way when all of a sudden the ground began to rumble underneath them. Jake's mind raced to figure out the cause of this as the sand began to fall and take the two intruders with it. Losing his balance because of the shift in the sand, Jake fell on his back which made the ground begin to sag and collapse under his weight combined with the dead birds that were around him. As gravity began to take him, he reached out for a hold any hold but found none.

The last thing he remembered before the fall truly took him was that his back hurt and he was going to die. With a scream Jake began to plummet from the sand towards the grounds of the Ancient city, his eyes closed as he braced for the inevitable impact that utmost scared when suddenly his back broke out in such a intense pain with a added weight to his back that Jake forgot he was falling to turn his head to see why and he almost thought a Raven had grabbed him, so why where the wings so gray.. Realizing the fact that is wasn't claws, wasn't black feathers, that he could Feel those wings, he surged with hope that he could save himself with these strange additions.

That hope floundered as he realized he had no clue how to use them, trying to flex his back, the grey wings floundered and flapped about, slowing his decent but also sending him off course and away till finally he crashed into the roof of a building, going though it to the bottom floors before finally stopping. His body was whacked with pain and the wings.. His wings, he could feel them, bundled and pressing against a wall that he was lying against. "Could.. this.. day get... any stranger." He groaned as he stood up, confused about his surroundings.

Samael frowned, feeling a faint amount of pain within one of his wrists, though he imagined sudden stops would be hell upon said wrists. ”Wasn’t told about a place like this.” he muttered to himself, leaping over the edge of his personal roof and landing on a lower balcony and then onto the smoothed street below. The scent of darkness that had persisted above ground had ceased, leaving them with the odd scent of fresh air. This was something that just did not belong within such a place, but then again maybe he would find some manner of answer to that. There was the feeling of being watched, but he didn’t really let it bother him as he continued to walk onward.

His nails had rapidly changed into what looked to be more humanoid shape blackened to nearly opaque. ”Now, where the hell is that Nephilim bastard?” He muttered to himself, taking in every stimuli around him as if that would give some manner of clue as to where he was. Not that he cared too much, but leaving someone alone in a place like this just did not sit right with him. Honestly, he just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, which would be even more annoying now that he was somehow stuck underground.

”Hey! Where the hell are you?” He barked out loud, diving through one of the windows of an abandoned home. Dust was thrown up, though no one came into view as he continued to examine the place around him taking note of a sword attached to the wall. It was composed of a black metal he couldn’t recognized, though Samael took it off the wall, and just strapped it across his back. He had no idea how far it would take him, but it would be useful in the short run.

Making his way to what seemed like a door, Jake tried opening it, finding it was locked, Jake decided he'd feel better opening it another way and stepped back before kicking the door down with a satisfying thud, walking forwards, Jake saw the outside of his new surroundings for about a second before he hit the sides of the door with his wings and fell back inside the building. "Right. That." Standing up, Jake would try to move the wings but failed, he could feel them, the muscles connected to his back yet they just.. felt off. Like gymnastic for someone with no experience except muscles that made no sense. Stepping to the side, Jake would side step out of the building before looking around, from what he saw above, this didn't feel right, they were in hell. Or at least a.. sort of hell. This city just didn't feel like it belonged, not that he felt like he belonged ether but there wasn't much he could do about that.. Jake's thoughts went to the half demon he had been traveling with, not knowing where he was, a bad sign.

That was, till he heard the man's voice, loud, calling for him. Not too far away. Jake began moving towards the origin of the voice, careful not to let his new wings catch on anything in there lazy state. After a minute or so, Jake found the Cambion, a newly attached sword hung from his back. "Yo. Two things. You have not said your name this entire time and unless you want me to call you half demon or son of Raven all the time, spill it and... well if it isn't obvious do you know what the hell these are?" Jake motioned to the gray wings, stretching his arm back to grab one to bring in front of him and finding that it bent fairly easily and felt.. weird.. the feathers were soft yet... they just didn't feel natural. "Am I turning into a Raven? Do they do that? I swear they only clawed me" Jake began to ask, freaking out a little over the situation, first red eyes, now these things. Oh and entering the literal hell. This day was just an off day right from the beginning, but at least it couldn't get any worse then this, Jake had to hope it couldn't, other wise... well. He didn't want to ponder on that.

Samael became aware of the Nephilim as he stepped into the room, taking note of the wings with an arced brow. Well, the ravens were not wrong about him being a Nephilim, though he wasn’t sure if they were supposed to have dusty grey wings. That may have been a thing, but he did not really question the possible mobility that they would offer  in getting the hell out of here. All he did was smirk, seemingly amused by the kid suddenly having wings when he did before. Something told him that they were new just from the fact that he was acting like he never had wings sprouting from his back before. Samael understood that, mostly because he never had wings sprouting from his back at any point within his life. ”The names Samael, but you can call me Sam if the full name is too hard to remember.” He said with a shrug, vaguely aware of the weapon now strapped to his back.

Then came the mention about wings, and if getting scratched would make him turn into a raven. ” Also no, you’re not turning into a raven. Those things aren’t were-ravens.” He chuckled, shaking his head and burying his hands into his pockets. The stagnant air about them was sharp in a sense, but it was something that he could easily ignore. ”If what those ravens said earlier were true, I think you might be a Nephilim. If you don’t know what that means, either your mommy or daddy were an angel. Well, either that or you just have weird wing based powers that also involved punching hard I guess.’ This was just guessing on his part, so maybe he had no idea what actually was going on.

”Worry more about suddenly growing wings when we get the hell out of…Hell. Those ravens were hardly what could be thrown our way.” Perhaps they could find a way out through this underground city, or maybe he could find a way for himself to get out of there. ”I also need you to keep a calm head. because I guess it’s obvious that you’re stronger than me. Can’t having you lose your shit and getting us both killed.” Dying was especially not on the top of his list. ”I have a feeling this place has some kind of portal out of here, so let’s get searching for it.” He stepped through the front door, into what looked to be a wider street that lead towards what he assumed would be a town square.  The sense of something watching them was present, though he would wait for their stalker to make their move first.

Samael, it was easy to remember, Sam just kinda felt short for all they had done together. Samael, Jake would make sure he remembered it. Besides that Jake listened intently to Samaels words, only nodding and taking it in. Nephilim, children of angels. Cambions, children of demons. This was a strange world.. and if there were demonic Ravens claiming that Jake was the child of angel.. well, he was in hell which made that.. not entirely impossible, it felt weird, foreign to admit it but.. what if it was possible. "And don't worry. If it's anything I do. It's calm thinking." Jake stated to assure Samael on that regard, Jake knew, broken leg and he still saved Redline, and that event with Lorelei.. He wasn't going to recreate it.

Nodding to Samael stating this city could have a portal, Jake followed him closely out of the building, making sure to avoid getting trapped by his wings. "Well. Nephilim or not. Wish I could control these bastard wings.. also. I've been thinking about it since you said it." A lie, he wasn't really thinking about it when the Raven's attacked but it came along. "Your the son of the Raven king or whatever. I know he hates you, but those Ravens.. You can kill them, they attacked you even though your heritage and I understand why.. I think. bad relations with dad.. But. You killed them. Really. I think you just need to show them that... well. Outsider or not. Your still there prince. Maybe next time we can avoid me getting my clothes ripped apart next time. Heck, you can even use me, a tamed Nephilim, that would get them listening." Jake added with a disgruntled laugh, feeling along his naked back, ripped by talons and the sudden expansion of the wings, while not exactly showing the whole of his bare skin, it still showed enough that he would feel self conscious if anyone looked. Which was strange to feel in there situation, this wasn't high school where he was ogled and made a target of jealously of because of his muscled frame, yet it still stung, maybe it was because he had the feeling of being watched, not really noticeable.. but it still lingered.

The male mentioned something about always doing calm thinking, something that he had to doubt more than anything else. People that made such statements tended not to actually have such calm thought processes, and he much preferred not to be disappointed by his lack of a clear head. Still, Samael was confident enough within his own abilities to at the very least make it to a potential portal that would get them out of this hell dimension. Hopefully his father did not have full control over every exit that existed within this world, otherwise they would have been screwed. ” Unfortunately blood alone hasn’t really done anything for me. Demons only really respect power, and I’m pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to power.” Samael explained, keeping himself ready to reach for the weapon attached to his back, but that was when he heard the low growling coming from the shadows of the buildings rising around them.

In a flash he drew the weapon as what looked to be slimmer, sleeker versions of the hound they had fought within the human world slunk from the shadows. Their fur was black as midnight, with eyes glowing like fire baring their teeth. ”I don’t like the look of this.” He muttered to himself, brandishing the weapon and keeping an eye on the various wolves drawing towards them in a pack like manner. ”I have a feeling this might be a problem, we might want to run from these things.” He suggested, as one of them dashed at them with a rather impressive speed, Samael whipping the weapon around as the sound of something howling in pain could be heard, though he was already in motion as more of them continued to leap his way.

Fighting was not his goal, made clear by the fact that he took off running rather quickly down the largest street within the abandoned town. He wasn’t sure if the angel boy would follow him, but that was not his problem.

Jake was appalled to learn that Samael did not think himself too good on the power level, from what Jake had seen, he seemed pretty moderate. "Nah, you got that speed, and those cla..." Jake was interrupted by the low growl had stopped his tour guide, Jake's fist rose as Samael drew his new weapon as Jake spotted there newest foe, these things did not seem that dangerous at first, skinnier then the hell hound he had faced earlier, it wasn't till he noted that there was more then just one or two. There was a pack and they moved fast.

While Samael dealt with his own problem, Jake saw one charge at him too, fast enough to make the boy worry, he couldn't afford to be knocked to the ground with the numbers against them and so when the creature got close, Jake ducked and charged his shoulder into the creatures stomach, sending it reeling back from the impact, it was after this that he heard Samael claim that they should run and while Jake had wanted to deal with the fast demon creatures, he did not want to lose his guide ether.

Turning on his heel, Jake would chase after the fast half demon, his wings lagging behind, Jake did not realize the problem of this till he felt sharp claws rake along the feathered wings, bringing a surprised yelp from him, as he turned and kicked the demon away, his wings seemed to be less durable then his body, which made sense... in it's own strange way. Looking to escape the furred beasts, who proved to be much faster then he could hope to be on the ground, Jake once again turned towards Samael and jumped.

He had however, forgotten about the wings and there affection on his ability to move midair, tumbling though the sky, Jake crashed into the wall of a nearby building and punched his hand into the wall for grip. Climbing to the top, Jake looked behind him to see that some of the hounds had changed course to follow after him, a urge to move encompassed Jake and so he run to the edge of the building, Grabbing a hold of his wings and holding them as close to his body as he could, Jake would lunge from the adobe building to the next, trying to keep up with Samael to avoid the claws and teeth of the demonic beast that chased him. This was however for naught, as Jake made another leap to catch up to Samael, a growl came from his right and to his surprise as he turned his head to see one of the hell beast's lunging at him, letting go of his wings, Jake tried to react but was too slow, being tackled to the ground with a heavy thud, his head slamming into the dirt ground.

Slightly Dazed, Jake struggled to kick the beast off, planting a foot into it's stomach and pushing forward, sending it into a wall. Going to stand, Jake felt claws rip into his wings, spinning him around and throwing the boy into the ground, soon claw after claw began to rake into Jake, his wings taking the blunt of it but he was not so fortunate to just have the new wings take the punishment, his mask had been torn off and most of his upper suit was gone, leaving his chest bare to the claws that kept coming, digging deeper and deeper into his skin with each passing second.  "Keep going Sam!" Jake called out though the fur and tooth, he flung his fists wildly, striking one or two of the hell hounds before they started to pin his arms and legs, the joined weight enough to tire the Nephilim, leaving him helpless to the continued raking of his body, his effort to fight them off proving only useless as each one he managed to knock away, another replaced them, keeping the assault that if not for his durability, would have left him a shredded piece of flesh and meat yet at this rate, with teeth digging into him as well as there claws, he wasn't sure that fate would be too far behind.

The stench of blood filled his nostrils as he continued to run down the street, the sounds of his heart pumping filling his ears along with each pound of his feet slamming against the ground. He did not know if the Nephilim was actually keeping pace with him, but he had hoped that he was not getting too far behind. The creatures chasing them were getting closer, though all that did not matter as they dashed through the rim of the large town circle, and his legs were swept from under him. The world around him quickly began a blur as Samael tried to get ahold of himself, but found himself being slammed down against the ground. Teeth bared, with low moist growling could be felt against his cheek, looking up to see the thing shaped like an odd wolf holding him down.

More would seem to move in to pin the Nephilim down, biting at his legs and other joints only to force him down and then bare their teeth at his throat with obvious warning. ”Infiltrating my domain, how dastardly of you.” The seemingly familiar voice reverberated through Samael’s ears as he tried to twist to look at the male approaching him. They were dressed in a cloak of black feathers, young looking and radiating with a sort of darkness that made him shudder to the corner. ”And with a Nephilim no less.”

”Fuck you too.” He growled through his teeth.

Jake found himself growling as he fought to get the hounds off him, only to feel more teeth find there way to his flesh, till finally he was stopped by the feeling of sharp teeth closing down on his throat but not biting down for the kill, the first sign that something was very wrong besides the wet feeling that was drool slathering his neck. Having finally admitted defeat, Jake let went silent and still, tense in case he had to make a sudden move, without losing his neck hopefully.

However, Jake was taken aback when he heard a strangely human voice, one he had not expected to hear besides from himself and Samael. Trying to look to who spoke, Jake felt the teeth on his neck deepen and he stopped, letting his ears decide what was happening. And from what the two demons... half demon and such, said, Jake could only guess. He also kinda knew that if his guess was right, then it would be bad to leave the two alone, might have been bad to say anything to interrupt the two... "I'm... Guessing that you... Would be Samaels... Dad.." Jake said slowly as to not agitate the hell hounds surrounding him, trying to grab the demons attention in hope ether Samael could do something or something he could possibly do himself, which in effectiveness, wasn't a lot... Well except for one thing and it was not the best plan he could think of, but it was his only plan.

Malphas considered Samael with mild amusement, not wasting too much time beyond that on him as his eyes glanced over to the Nephilim that had asked about him. ”Something like that. Though I would prefer I not be associated with such disappointing offspring.” Was all he responded with, Samael trying to get out of the grips of the hellhounds, but only feeling teeth prick into his neck, and likely draw a little blood. Still, they did nothing more than threaten him, and he knew that was his fathers doing. ”Haven’t had a child of angels wander into my realm since…millennia ago.” He digressed with a shrug, snapping as the hounds would relent their grasp upon the two, skulking to form a perimeter around them. The statement was there that they could swoop upon them whenever they wanted, and Malphas was another issue entirely.

”So what brings you to my realm? Come to stop me like you stopped Samhain?” Malphas questioned, directing it at Samael yet keeping some attention on Jake. His guard was not up, and yet he had a feeling that didn’t matter in the end.

”The plan was to deal with your cult going about doing their gross human sacrifices.” Was the response he gave, glaring at the greater demon with no real fear from him.

”I suppose the question is why I shouldn’t kill the both of you now.” The raven demon, seemed to pace around them, Samael looking for any change within his movement.

Jake's eyes squinted when he heard what the demon lord had to say about Samael, words that didn't make sense to Jake much because why would a father consider there son... Disappointing. Heck, to Jake, Samael was not disappointing, but that also spoke of what the Demon lord could be capable off, because if the title of a king of Ravens wasn't enough, he was a prince of hell. A Lord. He in that terms. Was scary.

Soon, the hounds let go and Jake quickly got to his feet, wiping away the saliva that was left over by the hell hounds. He also felt around for his suit and it's remains, finding that he was all but shirtless light scratches and teeth marks scattered about his skin, his suit was basically gone besides the pants that had counts claw marks and holes and his mask, plastic thrown everywhere. After his inspection was done, Jake watched the demon lord carefully, not saying anything and letting Samael do the talking, that was. Till Malphas had asked the very, very serious question. Why not kill them now...

"Well... That is... Indeed a good question... That deserves a good answer.. I mean.. Let us go... We leave, no problem for you.. Or... Maybe if I can punch you... Really hard that it hurts... Maybe we run really fast the other way and hope there is a portal before you come back.. or maybe that impresses you enough you let us leave... And if the punch doesn't do anything... then well I done fucked up." Jake said, knowing that his punch would indeed be enough that he could hurt the demon... at least he hoped it would be enough... No... It had to be good enough for that plan to work.