Chapter 13. The sound of rumbling

The sound of rumbling could be heard as the floor began to quake. Slow thunderous footsteps destroyed the ground beneath as the towering creature motioned towards the spiraling tower.

“Wh-what is that? An earthquake?” Arthur interrupted as the quaking of the ground got more intense.

“No, something is coming this way.” Boss replied, knowing what’s to come. Hearing what Boss had said Michael raced towards the door peeking his head out to see what was outside. An enormous creature’s silhouette came into view as it made its way out of the hallway and into the cavernous space.

“Seraphim!” Michael yelped before instantly pulling his head back inside and shutting the door with his back against it. Would he be able keep the Seraphim from breaking in?

Rumble…rumble!

“Seraphim!?” Julie was full of shock from what Michael had said. A Seraphim, the highest order of Angels is here…? What on Tierra?

Panicked she could only say “What do we do? What do we do?!”

“Don’t panic so much, it’s not a real one.” Boss interrupted. “Go look at it for yourself” he pointed towards the door. Julie motioned towards the door, every step quivering as if she would fall to the ground with the slightest scare.

Rumble…rumble!

She stumbles in front of Michael, falling into his embrace as she tries to maintain her calm. Silently thanking Michael in her head, she slowly pulled open the door, her head peeking outside saw the Seraphim in all its glory. A monstrous six-winged angel nearly 7 meters (23 feet) tall with a vicious look upon its face as it made its way closer to the tower.

“Eep!” She yelped as she slammed the door closed behind her in the same behavior as Michael. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to collect herself from what she had seen. That thing wasn’t an Angel! It was the marble statue at the entrance of the long maze of a hallway before coming here!

“H-how can it move!?” She asked the people inside.

Shaking their heads, the three youths showed that they had no idea. She turned to Michael hoping he’d have an answer. However, his head shook too, a look of disbelief can be seen on her face as she squatted down on the floor, defeated.

Rumble…rumble!

The footsteps were getting closer, if they don’t do anything soon that thing outside will break its way in and then who knows what will happen?

“What do we do!? What do we do!?” Julie began panicking again, her butt flat on the floor as tears welled up in her eyes.

Michael peeked his head outside to see the incoming Seraphim statue, it was halfway there a few more steps and it’ll be right before them!

Rumble…rumble!

Shelly who had been silent all this time finally made her way towards the door with the kitten hugged in her arm. Her head peeked outside as the Seraphim took the next step. Followed by the other. Only 6 more steps and it’ll be before them.

“We’ve got to run” Shelly calmly replied causing those within the tower to look at her in disbelief. She continued “It’s slow, the steps are big, but if we run fast, I think we can outrun it.”

“We’ve got to move, right now.” Shelly tried to rally them, hoping they would listen. Arthur and Boss followed her orders and stood beside her. However, Julie was still on the ground “I-I can’t get up.” She said sheepishly, her legs lost all its strength.

Rumble…rumble!

“It’s coming! Quick!” Arthur shouted after seeing the enormous presence two thirds of the way there. Michael rushed to Julie on command and lifted her up princess style. He fixed her into his embrace as he rushed back to the door.

A whistle can be heard coming from Boss complimenting Michael’s chivalrous demeanor.

“On the count of three we run to the right as far as possible, then we’ll rush right back towards the entrance when it is following us.” Shelly stated her plan causing the rest to nod in agreement.

“One”

Rumble!

“Two”

Rumble!

“Three!”

Everyone darted out immediately running to the right side of the tower, deeper into the cavernous space. The statue stood in place momentarily before it turned towards the direction of the group of people.

Rumble…rumble!

“It’s coming after us!” Arthur shouted as he turned his head around to see the figure following behind.

Rumble rumble!

Rumble rumble!

“It’s getting faster, run!” Shelly shouted as they turned, heading towards the hallway. Their hurried footsteps could be heard as the enormous statue was quickly catching up.

Julie closed her eyes and turned her head to face the monster, a quick glare with her bright hazel eyes completely focused on the monster made it stop in its place. Everyone slowed down as they turned around to see the Seraphim, it was motionless.

However, a gleam could be seen coming from the statue’s eyes, a ting sound could be heard. A white glow began to form around its eyes as a violent beam flew out, it was heading straight towards the group causing everyone to erratically evade.

Boom!

Boss pulled Arthur away from the spot in the nick of time saving his life. Barkie immediately jumped down from his spot and stood behind Boss.

Michael with Julie in his arms and Shelly rolled off on opposite side down on the ground. Silver too, hopped out of Shelly’s embrace mid roll and hopped onto Boss’ shoulders. Gravel and dust flew up in the air blanketing only their vision.

Shelly and Michael immediately got back up. Michael quickly turned and reached for Julie’s hand helping her back up into his embrace.

Ting!

“Shelly! Dodge!” Boss yelled causing Shelly to immediately hop off to the side and roll on the floor.

Boom!

An enormous explosion followed by gravel and dirt filled the air as the spot Shelly was in prior was left with an empty pit.

Ting!

“Shelly!” Shelly could only hop from her place halfway from getting up, her distance shorter.

Boom!

The shockwave of the explosion collided with her forcing her mid jump to fly forward three meters before crashing onto the ground. Her body on the ground, motionless.

“Shelly! Mew!” Arthur screamed while Silver meowed, seeing her fly out of the range of dust clouds before their very eyes. Silver hopped off Boss’ shoulder as Arthur shook himself free from his grip and rushed towards her incapacitated body. Boss with Michael and Julie alongside, hurried to their side to inspect Shelly.

“She’s alive” Boss sighed in relief as the dust particles and gravel disperse revealing the enormous Seraphim standing still in its place. Ignoring the motionless Seraphim, Boss hurried to carry Shelly in his arms, her face wrought with bloody wounds. Silver hopped back onto his shoulder as it looked down on Shelly with worry in its eyes.

Click

The Seraphim wasn’t done! Everyone kept their eyes glued on the Seraphim exhausted from the running, carrying and dodging.

Click

Another click can be heard as one of its wings unfurled completely, followed by the other. Six majestic wings shining lifelike as a white energy began to envelope it.

Ting!

The Seraphim exploded in place as the wings propelled it forward right before Arthur.

Boom!

Boss quickly kicked Arthur to the side causing him to roll on the floor. The Seraphim’s arm dug deep into the ground where Arthur once was.

“Arthur! Get up! Run!” Boss yelled commanding to Arthur to jump onto his feet. He ran straight for the hallway.

The Seraphim got back up, freeing its arm from the ground.

Ting!

It immediately vanished in place and appeared right behind Arthur.

Boom!

Arthur managed to half evade it and was propelled through the air, tumbling on the ground before a door on the hallway and getting back to his feet. He quickly turned the knob and pushed his body inside, closing the door behind him. Click, he locked it.

Ting!

Boom!

The enormous Seraphim stood before the enormous door pounding it with his arm causing the entire door to violently shake. The Seraphim stood still momentarily. The gleam in its eyes returned once again.

“Arthur, get away from the door right now! Bark! Bark! Boss voice could be heard from the room behind the door. Michael and Julie stood behind him, their expressions revealed their thoughts, why was the Seraphim targeting only Shelly and Arthur?

Ting!

The beam from its eyes completely shattered the enormous door blocking it, causing dust and particles to fly up into the air. Arthur quickly hid underneath a bed his body shivering, but he made no noise.

The Seraphim made its way slowly through the door, scouring the room for any signs of life.

Rumbe… Rumble…

It’s heavy and steady steps entered the room as it scanned its head to look around. It glanced at another enormous door within the room and headed towards it.

Ting!

It fired disintegrating the door into smoldering ash, the door within was a giant wooden one and not made of stone as the front. It slowly walked in with each heavy footstep leaving a print as the ground quaked.

Arthur saw the Seraphim disappear behind the door, he immediately scooted out from underneath the bed and attempted to dart out of the empty door. He needed to find another hiding place and fast!

Ting!

Arthur immediately hopped to the side of the door as the beam flew past exploding on the ground a distance ahead. He quickly rushed to another door to hide within its room. However, click the door was locked. In panic he tried the same with another one, it too was locked!

Ting!

The Seraphim appeared right behind Arthur sending its marbled fist towards him.

“Oh no!” Arthur couldn’t evade in time as he made a last ditched jump, his body flew like a broken kite and slammed into the opposite wall. His body peeled off the wall as he landed face first onto the ground.

The Seraphim wasn’t finished. Arthur was still alive, it wanted to finish him off with the next blow. It walked his heavy body towards Arthur and stood before him. It lifted its left leg up in the air ready to finish the job.

Clang!

The sound of something metallic hit the ground, the Seraphim’s leg was still in the air as an old bald grandpa with white eyes walked into view. He was walking forward relying on the silver cane to move as a golden scepter was in his other arm.

Clang!

The silver cane smacked the ground again reverberating towards the enormous Seraphim, the leg it held fell straight down to the ground missing Arthur completely. The Pope continued to move forward.

Clang!

The Seraphim’s twisted face distorted, slowly reverting to what it was in front of the hallway maze. The Pope finally arrived before the Seraphim and Arthur, he turned one eye towards the kid followed by looking at the girl in Boss’ arm and eventually resting his eyes on the Seraphim before him.

Clang!!

The cane hammered the ground harder than the previous times. The Seraphim before him immediately lost its form and turned into a puddle of pearl white liquid, as it flowed down towards the entrance of the hallway on its own completely disappearing.

“Michael” The Pope’s voice was soothing as he spoke. “Pick up the boy gently and follow me.”

“Yes, your Holiness.” Michael did what he was told and gently lifted Arthur up into his embrace. Barkie and Julie followed alongside Michael as Boss carried Shelly walking a short distance behind.

The once twisted maze-like hallway was only a single straight path forward on the way back, it took only a matter of minutes to get back to the entrance. The enormous 7 meter, six-winged Seraphim returned to its spot completely the same as if it had never moved.

Looking at the spiraling stairs before them the Pope only muttered one word. “Up”. The golden scepter let out a soft glow as their entire body lost all its weight and began to ascend.