It was an eerie night. Everything was still.

The moon was mourning, clothing itself with the black sackcloth of night.

No mouse squeaked. No toad croaked. No firefly lighted the lush weeds. No merry cricket dared calling out its signature mating sound.

In the physical, a curious ripple could be seen on the surface of the waters. Spiritually, it bubbled and boiled. Then, like a tsunami, it rose, gigantic and hulking.

The silent night was pierced by the roar of an enraged warrior, followed by the shrieks of his accomplices.

Like darts, imps, goblins, demons of all sizes and shapes were flung aside like water from a centrifugal drier-tossed like paper blown by an hurricane.

There was a rotating whirlpool in the middle of the water body.

"This is not your territory! What have you come to do here?" With his glowing, red eyes and huge, scaly body, Leviathan confronted the intruders.

Another blast of energy hit him straight on his chest and he tumbled backwards, creating a streaky pathway of bubbling water in his wake.

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof!" an echo of deep yet serene voices boomed from the center of the whirlpool.

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Moments earlier,

Spiritual Center of the Seven Seas,

"What do you mean the prisoner has escaped?" Leviathan roared at the whimpering form of a demonic guardian. She was a mermaidian spirit, complete with her human torso and aqua-fin. She went by the name, Mergirlina.

She was beautiful. Well, it was the kind of beauty that masked such hideous degree of darkness that could make one's skin crawl and suck out life from one, slowly but surely.

"Mas- Master, I tried my best to-," she attempted to explain but was cut short by a choking sensation.

She flailed her silvery tail in struggle against the invisible hand that held her, squishing life out of her.

Leviathan was at the far edge of his throne, seated in coils. His frame was like that of an elongated, gigantic crocodile that was covered in ashen spiky scales.

"You tried your best?" Leviathan's gruff voice rippled through this spiritual underwater atmosphere. His blood-red eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip around the poor thing's neckline.

Mergirlina gurgled, her life ebbing away fast, signifying her perpetual banishment into the Dry Place.

"You let our priced possession go, and dare you open that filthy tongue of yours to tell me you tried your best?" Leviathan scowled until Mergirlina decided she could bear the sight no further.
"By Hades, I will personally hand you over to our Evil master for special torment."

All the blood in Mergirlina's face drained. Being personally delivered into the hands of the grand Lord Lucifer was even worse than banishment to the Dry Place.

"None of this was my fault," she wanted to argue, wanted to put up a speck of defense for herself.

The prized possession in question, a female earthling named Ella, had been covenanted from birth by her maternal ancestors to be the vessel to spread the influence of the water gods to the land of humans.
Ella was chosen to be a secret weapon to wreck havoc to the camp of the saints of the Holy One.

The naive young lady, presently a twenty-one-year-old lady, was faintly aware of her status in the spiritual realm. She had, in fact, been delighted to wield such power.
That was, till she began to slip away from the grip of Mergirlina who was her assigned personal demon, all because of the intercession of one saint of the Holy One, Deborah.

Mergirlina was mad, scrap that, infruirated, at Deborah.
This meddler was the reason why Ella escaped, why she was now in the camp of the saints of the Holy One.

"Let her go, Lev," a deep, breathy voice slurred. "She is not worth the trouble. Besides, we have more captives to monitor and more preys to catch."

The source of the voice stirred, it was Behemoth, the hippo god.
His throne was round and fat, just like him. His thick, leathery skin did justice to his matching voice.

"We can as well find a better vessel to open the portal for Dagon," he continued.

Turning to Behemoth, his grip on Mergirlina never faltering, Leviathan said, "You know she was meant to be the vessel not only for ancient Lord Dagon, but for all of us as well. I had her groomed well to accommodate legions of our kind."

"Be not mad," Behemoth simply said in a bored tone.

Leviathan let go of Mergirlina so abruptly that she plonked into the icy floor of these gods' palace, coughing and wheezing like a fish removed out of water and dipped into desert sand.

"Now, how did it happen?"

Mergirl gulped in hesitation. Speaking might only infruiate Leviathan the more.

"Speak up!" another voice, this one feminine, shrilled.
It was the Queen of the Seven Seas, the godmother of the coasts of the orb. She was also spookily beautiful-the epitome of pride and seduction.
She had curly blonde hair that matched her azure skin colour perfectly. Her white, irisless eyes sparkled with irritation.

She had been silent all through Mergirlina's report because she was angry and disappointed that her minion had flopped a very huge plan.

"Emm... I, I- was atta, attacked by the Host of... Heaven," Mergirlina stuttered out.

The moment that statement landed, a stifling silence reigned. A forbidden word had been uttered.

Worse, they were here. Their holy aura could be felt invading the darkness.
'Since when did darkness have the power to summon light?' was the question in every silenced being's mind.

As if by automation, all the other water spirits, imps, goblins, hobgoblin, nymphs and mer-creatures that made up the demonic ranks of the Seven Seas were summoned. It was an emergency call that could only mean one thing-Prepare for battle!

All at once they appeared in their grotesque physiques, teleporting from their various locations across the planet.

The Heavenly Host!
Pfft, Leviathan would have mocked, for they were but three in number.
It was the fact that they were renown and much dreaded in the Kingdom of darkness that kept him mute.

Griel, the whirlwind. Haliel, the shearer. Ammiel, the thundering hammer.

Leviathan narrowed his eyes into slits, making him look all the more like the reptilian god he was. That was partly because he wasn't the least bit glad to see them, and partly because their light was blinding, eating at and piercing through his well-constructed force field of darkness.

Leviathan could hear the hisses of pain as some of the minor demons were obliterated by the angels' light, and the snarls and growls of the much stronger of the demonic horde.

Behemoth and the Sea Queen flanked his sides, poised for battle.

This intrusion was so unexpected. Why were they here? There was a defined limit for darkness and light. The Holy One had ordained it from the beginning.
They-the principalities of darkness-were the moon and stars ruling by night. They were the god of the underwater system of this orb.

"How dare you invade our territory, you losers," Leviathan spat through gritted, fang-like iron teeth. His breath stank of rotten fish, blood and, of course, hate.

The angelic crew said nothing. They simply simultaneously unfurled their wings to release more bursts of glory. Their wings were translucent, each flutter in the spiritual air caused ripples of light to burst through the water. Their wings shimmered of gold and every precious stone.

That singular action cut through more demons, sending them automatically spiralling down to the Dry Place with howls of horror.

"We have come to reclaim the land for Yahweh," they chorused, their voices in sweet synchrony and harmony, strong and full of authority.

Before Leviathan had the chance to respond, the angels lifted from the ice floor with their wings, their hands intertwined.

Griel started the whirlwind and the water roared.
Haliel gladly sliced through the shrieking hordes of stubborn demons who were trying to fight back.
Ammiel's thundering hammer was very effective in smashing and crushing the heads and whatever body part of the unlucky demon it met.

"Nooooo!" Queen of the Coast screeched, her voice fading away. Griel's whirlwind had captured her, which meant being bound and sent into the abyss.

Behemoth was dispatched quickly by the thundering hammer of Ammiel. His black blood oozed out into the water like tar. He disappeared in a puff of cloud.

Now, only Leviathan, stubbornly fighting and spewing out flames from his mouth and nostrils, remained.

Griel, Haliel and Ammiel merged their spirits as one, fueled by the prayers of the Saints, by the decrees of the Word, by the unction of the Holy One who commanded them to conquer.
Lightning, fire and water swirled into one fearful massive wave.

"This is not your territory! What have you come to do here?" with his red eye glowing and huge scaly body twitching, Leviathan growled.

Another blast of energy hit him straight on his chest and he tumbled backwards, creating a streaky pathway of bubbling water in his wake.

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof!" a deep voice boomed like the sound of thunder and many rushing waters from the center of the whirlpool.

And with one advance towards a disoriented Leviathan, the angels shattered through his defenses, his haughty heart, his scaly skin, his spiritual form.
Blood streaked, undulating in colour between deep red and obsidian black hues.
The water became still again.

~•••••✓✓✓✓✓•••••~

Author's note: My wonderful and amazing readers and friends!😍😍😍 How are you all doing?🤗

Firstly, let me apologise for just going off for such a long long time. Many things have been demanding for my time.

Honestly, it feels so good to be back here in this space.☺️

So, this story is inspired of God. It was actually initially a response to a prompt on reedsyblog. Then, I decided to entertain my status viewers with it on my WhatsApp status.
Obviously, the Lord has greater plans for this wonderful story.

And just so you know, I'm still working on the sequel of A Pastor's Daughter Diary. I wish to write these two hand-in-hand. I'm a pantser so I won't promise you guys speedy updates. But by the grace of God it's going to be one of the best stories you will read. 💖😁

So sit back and enjoy.
Read and bask in his glory.

Quiz:
1. What do you know about Leviathan, Behemoth and Dagon?
2. Who is your favorite angel among the trio introduced in this chapter and why?

Alright darlings,
PeculiarPraise Out. ✍️