“So… let me get it straight: you're going to use your unique powers to get us in that place… the Dusk of Souls… because this voice—who we are counting to be our ally without any kind of proof— told you that there we will find a way to get the Elements to be fully charged in no time?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“In short… yes, that’s it,” Azrael said straightforward, while writing a circle around him and the Mane Six.
“Ah, fine then. I thought I had missed something.”
The Elements of Harmony, Shining, and Luna looked quite confused when Azrael told them of his vision and of the fact he had to take them to the Afterlife, but they also knew that it there was no other way. Without the Elements backing them, Sombra would have been much harder to face.
The one problem that made everyone afraid was the fact that it could have take a while to come back. Shining Armor knew well that if they stayed there to wait their return Sombra would have find out about their plan so the best solution was to keep him focused on the battle, so to give them the time they need it to do whatever they had to do. The angel of death advised them to not do anything that may defy the dark tyrant, or else he will join the battle… and then it would be game over, to use an expression of Rainbow Dash.
With that said (and Shining having reassured his little sister that he would not die) the Mane Six and Azrael got into position and prepared for the spiritual rite.
It was… quite hard to describe the feeling of leaving one’s body. There was a significant lack of the necessity to breathe and the sudden absence of a heartbeat made the experience unearthly. Seeing their bodies standing there as if it their time had arrived, while the spirit flew lighter than any pegasi or alicorn could ever hope to be, added to the effect. It was both creepy… and beautiful.
And then, as the bearers of Harmony turned around they found themselves no longer in the desert but in a mystical looking forest. Rainbow Dash was a little disappointed.
“It doesn’t look that much impressive,” she commented, trying to not sound offensive.
Azrael looked around, confused.
“Something wrong, Azrael?” asked Fluttershy.
“I… don’t know,” he mumbled, checking the trees and the grass.
The vegetation looked dry and it lacked the leafs and greens that he had saw it before. And the grass… well, there wasn’t any. It was like the nature of that place was dead. And that was absurd; how could a place like the Dusk of Souls be reduced like this? Azrael got up, thinking that it wasn’t the best time to solve this riddle and focus to his main objective, his supernatural senses telling him to proceed to north.
“It’s better we start moving,” he said.
But then the forest echoed a chilling shriek which sent shiver down the spines of everypony.
“What was that?” asked Pinkie Pie, with a voice choked by the fear.
“It can’t be,” muttered the angel of death, looking shocked, “He had destroyed them.”
On cue, a shadowy figure with blood red eyes appeared from deep within the forest, its body levitating off the ground. It looked like its body was covered by a big cape, but Azrael knew that there was nothing under that cloak but pure hunger and malice. Soon enough other figures, whom looked the same, started to crawl out of the dead trees, surrounding the group.
“Run,” whispered Azrael.
The Mane six and Azrael started running and flying at all speed they could muster, but the trees prevented an easy escape route. The distance between them and the pursuers decreased minute by minute; the creatures’ cries sent shivers down their bones. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, soon more of those phantom like creatures started to appear, even in front of the group, forcing them to change directions many times to avoid getting caught. In no time the heroes had behind their back what looked like an apparently endless army of those things.
Azrael started to fear that this was a trap and that his choice to trust that voice was a mistake that would cost the life of all. Luckily for him this time around he was wrong.
The Mane Six and Azrael found before them a shield of energy. Without any other choice, they rushed at it hoping to get through but to their surprise the energy field let them pass without problems. And stopped the ghost creatures from advancing any further no matter how hard they tried. The group stared at the magic barrier: it was so tall that it seemed to reach and cut the skies and long enough to cover the entire world, apparently. Despite not having the same need of their material bodies the group decided to rest for some seconds to shake off the terror of that chase.
“What…for…Pete’s sake…were those creature?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“They look like… Wraiths,” said Twilight while watching at Azrael for confirmation. The angel of death nodded.
“And what exactly is a Wraith?” asked Rarity.
“From what I’ve read they are some kind of evil spirit of people who feeds of the flesh of the livings.”
“They are far worse,” said Azrael, looking at the ghost creatures. “They are spirits, yes, but they are not of pony or any kind of creature. They existed when the Dusk of Souls came to be and they would have feed off the soul of the departed if Death didn’t erased them from the Existence.”
“Wait… if they eat the souls of the dead… does that mean that Floral Heart—” stuttered Fluttershy, horrified.
The though crossed the mind of everypony, filling their mind with grief. For how much sad Floral death was at least Azrael knew that once in the Dusk of Souls she would have meet peace and joy by meeting with her parents. The idea that was devoured by one of those Wraiths…
“We can’t be sure of that,” Twilight stated. “For all we know the Wraiths may have appeared after our arrival and so Floral wasn’t eaten by them.” She wasn’t sure of that, but she had to believe that her friend didn’t suffered such horrible fate.
“We got to hurry,” Rarity stated. “If the battle starts and somebody gets killed he’s going to get eaten by those monsters!”
After giving nice glare to the dark spirits, the group started moving in the more lively section of the forest where the Wraiths presence didn’t sucked the life out.
Applejack then realized something.
“Azrael, you are the angel of death, right? Is your duty to take the souls of the dead in the afterlife… Dusk of Souls,” she asked.
“Yes,” answered Azrael.
“Then how is it that you never knew of this place until now?”
“I’ve heard of this place when I was Death’s student. But I’ve never entered in this place like this before. Usually I just point the path that the deceased must take to reach it. A soul doesn’t need that much instruction to do so,” he explained, looking sorrowful.
“Why didn’t you come here before?” asked Twilight Sparkle.
“Because I did not felt worthy to be in this place.”
Azrael’s answer made the Mane Six regret to have asked this question and decided to change argument.
“Azrael, you said that Death had destroyed the Wraiths. Then how is it that they have returned?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“I don’t have any proof to prove my point, but I think it is Sombra’s fault,” answered the angel of death.
“You mean that he knows about what we’re doing?” asked Rarity, worried.
“I don’t think so. Even though I admit that, for how much bad that thing would be, there is a much worst possibility.”
“What do you mean? That he summoned them by accident!?” asked Twilight Sparkle, shocked.
“Yes. That’s what I’ve tried to explain to Rezor and Sombra. But people just have the arrogance to think that Death’s power can be used like the most common thing. If we don’t stop Sombra, you can bet that he will end up to destroying himself with his own hands,” the angel of death stated.
The words of the alicorn were grim, but Rainbow Dash managed to raise the moral.
“You know, this Death guy sounds quite too much OP for my tastes,” commented the element of loyalty.
“What’s an OP?” asked Azrael, confused.
“Over Powered. It’s a term used when a character is far too much powerful and can solve everything with easy, giving no sense of conflict joy when he wins,” explained the cyan pegasus.
“That’s really interesting Rainbow Dash. I didn’t know that reading so many books had improved your character,” commented jokingly Pinkie Pie.
“Hey, if one day you notice that I’ve spat out the phrase, “This is so awesome,” so many times, you have all the right to beat me on the head,” she said.
“You can count on it,” said Applejack giving a wink to the others.
The Mane Six laughed at the joke, and even Azrael couldn’t help but smile at their humor.