Wrath of Azrath

Noel did her best to ignore the pit of guilt in her stomach as she sat watching the TV with Danny. She could almost feel Azrath’s angry aura from the stairs. It was like he was there in the corner of her eye, just out of sight.

Her eyes remained fixed on the screen as the Police Hero Squad fought yet another rubber monster. Danny was practically glued to the screen as the heroes rescued a boy from an ugly purse monster. Even though she was paying attention to the show, she had no idea how to explain what was going on. Luckily, Danny didn’t ask.

Captain Pig Dragon didn’t look much different than he did at the department store. Officer Red, though, was definitely a different actor, which was slightly disappointing. It looked like the heroes were winning until Pig Dragon began to dance.

“By the power of Satan and all the forces of Hell,” said the monster, “I command you to grow!” Which the monster did.

Noel gave a start. The forces of what!? This was supposed to be a kid’s show. But if the bad guys were saying it…, Was it encouraging or discouraging? She was happy to wrestle with this moral quandary to keep her mind off of Azrath. That was until Jillian came home with dinner. Then Azrath was back in her mind.

His presence loomed over her until—by the end of dinner—she could barely stand it.

“I think I’m done,” she said, “I’ll be upstairs studying.”

“Alright,” said her aunt, “Just don’t stay up too late.

As Noel climbed the stairs, her feet felt heavy. Each step felt like scaling a tiny mountain.

Before long, she stood in front of her door. Noel reached for her doorknob, fingers trembling. Why was she so scared? She was a hundred times his size. Maybe a thousand. If anything, he should be scared of her. Even still, she opened the door with caution and looked around. The room was dark.

Noel pressed the light switch to find Azrath sitting on her desk, wings folded and eyes closed. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was asleep. That’s a good sign. The lights didn’t seem to disturb his rest.

Noel crept into her room and slowly closed the door behind her. As soon as the door clicked shut, she turned to see Azrath’s eyes snap open.

“You sure took your time.” His voice was calm, coldly calm.

“I-I was—Uh… only…” she found herself at a loss for words.

The one day. The one day I didn’t go to school with you—That Darris! He goes and sends an Ahngreel after you.” His entire body was quivering with rage. His fur was fluffed to twice its usual size. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No. I’m fine. Listen, Azrath—”

But Azrath cut her off, “I swear, letting an Ahngreel loose on the public. What a dangerous, reckless thing to do.”

“Azrath.”

“Just imagine the damage that thing could cause. And you.” He turned angry eyes onto Noel, “What do you think you were doing fraternizing with the enemy? In all my days, I’ve never seen such reckless, irresponsible—”

“Azrath!” Noel was close to shouting. But she kept her headache in check as she sat on her chair. “He’s not that bad.”

He stared at her with a mix of outrage and shock. “Not that bad? He’s an Ahngreel! You’re lucky to be alive!” He stamped a talon on her desk. “And so are your neighbors!”

“But we’re not. Buster wouldn’t hurt anyone. In fact, he—”

“Buster?” Azrath blinked rapidly, “You know his name?”

Noel rolled her eyes, “Yeah, it was hard to miss when he started shouting it at the department store.” She almost clapped a hand to her mouth to shut herself up. Azrath looked like he was about to faint. His ruffled fluff sagged to the point it was almost flat.

“Department store? As in yesterday’s department store? Was he there?!”

Noel started to stammer a response that even she didn’t know where it was going until Azrath quelled her with a stare.

“You met an Ahngreel yesterday, and you didn’t even tell me? We’re supposed to be in this together!”

Noel hung her head in shame. “I know. I’m sorry. I was just confused about what to feel.”

“What’s there to be confused about?” said Azrath much more calmly, “You should be comfortable about telling me anything. Even when you’re attacked.”

Noel met his gaze, “But that’s the thing. He didn’t attack me.”

Azrath was silent for a few seconds. “Explain.”

Which she did. She told him about him meeting her at the department store, the accident on the roof, and their earlier conversation.

“A training partner?!” By the time she was done, Azrath was pacing back and forth. His wings spread to keep him balanced. “What utter nonsense! Noel, don’t believe a word he said. It’s obviously a trick. Wouldn’t be the first Ahngreel to do so.”

“That’s the thing, though. I don’t think Buster’s capable of dishonesty.” Noel’s initial impression of the Ahngreel was that he always said the first thing that popped into his head. As weird as he was, the one thing Buster wasn’t was a liar.

“But don’t you see, Noel? That’s what he wants you to think! There’s no low that an Ahngreel won’t sink to! That’s just how they are! I bet you that the whole accident was a setup.”

“How do you know?” For some reason, Noel found herself staring at Azrath with disdain, “You haven’t even met him. If you just talk to him, then you’d see—”

“Talk to him? Not a chance.”

“But why not?”

“I don’t need to talk to him to know he’s up to something.” He stopped his pacing to look her dead in the eye. “Those Ahngreel are all the same. Filthy, sneaking, evil—”

“Shut up!”

Noel was standing before she realized it; she slapped her hand on her desk so loudly that Azrath reeled and fell on his back, his legs flailing helplessly in the air. He froze as soon as his eyes locked on her hers. Noel could feel the familiar fire blaze in her eyes.

Azrath watched her with a look of shock and terror as Noel towered over him. “W-what are you—?”

“You don’t know anything about him….” Noel’s voice was quiet and cold. “Ahngreel or not, he saved my brother’s life. He at least deserves a chance.”

Azrath blinked and seemed to regain some of his courage as his eyes narrowed. “You’re that sure, are you?” His tone was not kind. “Let me ask you something. What does he get out of this deal?”

Noel opened her mouth to answer but found that no words had come out. She hadn’t thought about that.

He continued as he rolled himself to his feet. “You’re probably going to say that he’s only following orders. But Ahngreel aren’t so obedient as that. They always have their own goals. Remember Hilqamaar.”

A shiver rose from Noel’s core and crawled up her spine. She remembered. His lustful eyes were sometimes there in her nightmares. Maybe Azrath was right.

But then Buster’s goofy expressions and enthusiastic babbling popped into her head.

“Turns out people like to pretend to be bad guys for entertainment. So, beating them up is harder than I thought.”

At those words, the chill at her back dissipated. Noel shook her head. “No, you’re wrong.”

Azrath blinked once more. “Excuse me?”

“If Buster is up to something, it’s nothing bad.” When she first saw him at the department store, she, too, had been afraid of him. Only to find out there was more to him than being a scary Ahngreel. She had judged him based on what he was, just like the woman at the department store had done to her. Just as others had done to her and her family all her life.

Well, she was sick of it! “Listen. If you don’t want to talk to him, then be my guest. But I will. And I’m gonna learn everything he has to teach.”

She stood straight and whipped her ponytail behind her as she stared down at Azrath, who was silent. Then she turned away to grab her school bag.

“I-I forbid you to see him!”

Noel stiffened at that. Then she slowly looked behind her at Azrath. He stood his ground, eyes determined. And she thought he couldn’t get any cuter. Her mouth curled into a smirk.

“You? Forbid me?” She fully faced him. “You forbid me?”

“Yes!” His resolve was strong. But as she placed both hands on her desk and leaned in to stare him dead in the eye, the fur around his mouth twitched. But then his expression hardened.

They looked at each other for several seconds. Neither wavered in their expression.

Noel broke the silence as she pushed herself off her desk and clapped her hands together. “Well, you win. I won’t see him.”

Azrath gave a start, “Wait, really?”

Noel crossed the room. “Sure. After all, you forbid me. And who am I to disobey? I’ve never been known for it, really.” She opened the door as Azrath’s mouth opened, eyes shifting rapidly.

“’Never been…?’ You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”

“Oh, nooooo.” Noel opened her eyes as wide as they could go and shook her head. “I’m tooootally serious.” She backed herself through the doorway. “I’m just going downstairs to not talk to him. Just like you wanted.”

Azrath sputtered out an incomprehensible response. A more comprehensive answer was him flapping his wings to take flight.

Noel’s hand was already on the doorknob as she slowly pulled it closed. “Byyyyye.”

The door snapped shut before Azrath could make it. There was a soft frump as his body hit the wood. There was silence for a moment, which concerned Noel. She pressed her ear to the door and heard a series of scratches on the knob as Azrath clawed at it.

“Stupid, useless talons!”

Then she heard several angry curses from the other side.

“Eingh de Sah, Noel! I swear, that girl will be the death of me! If I were my original size, then she’d respect me.”

She snorted at that. He was right. If he was anything like the angelic vision she’d seen, she’d be terrified. But he wasn’t. He was small, weak, and helpless.

Noel looked at the time as she went back downstairs. It was about six. There was still a little bit of light left outside. If she hurried, she might be able to find Buster before dark. Sunset came early in Japan, even during the summer.

As she passed the door to the bathroom, she suddenly got an idea.

“Hey, Aunt Jillian?” she called.

She heard Jillian’s response from somewhere in the kitchen.

“Is my laundry done?”

Jillian poked her head out from the kitchen entrance.

“Should be. Why? I thought you were studying.”

Noel shrugged, “I just remembered. I had something with a friend.”

“Oh? A friend?” Jillian flashed her a grin. “He’ll think you’re cute no matter what you wear.”

“It’s not like that, okay!” Noel could feel the color enter her cheeks.

“Whatever you say. Just be back before dark.” Her head disappeared. Noel stared daggers at her. It wasn’t like that!

She was tempted to barge into the kitchen and set the record straight, but there wasn’t enough time. Noel only had about 30 minutes before it was completely dark.

Instead, she entered the bathroom, which was separated into several small rooms, the first being the laundry room. Noel spotted her laundry basket where the shirt she had in mind sat atop her neatly folded clothes.

She snatched the shirt and made a mental note to take the rest to her room when Azrath was in a better mood.

Then she slipped on her flip-flops and was out the door and into the dim twilight.