The difference in sound was soothing, like a balm to Gabriel's ears and mind. The Faceless Ones swirled overhead in a confused spiral, no longer descending; repelled and revolted by the spells Gabriel was using. Would they recognise the refrain, he wondered? Did it ring against something in them, something they had forgotten in their insanity?
He hoped not. He hoped so. He didn't know what to feel. These, Lucifer aside, were the worst of the Fallen, and yet still he pitied what they had become.
Gabriel knelt at the end of the written spell, his spear-point dug in to the end of the final letter. His eyes closed, he murmured the spell, directing it at the cliff around them and letting it seep into the stone, resonate the air. His voice still felt raw, but at this level it wasn't going to get worse.
He felt the ripple of Skul's voice against his own more than heard the detective's words conventionally. Skilfully the Archangel twisted his spear, chanted a last few rounding words, and then stood and turned in one smooth motion. The briefest twitch of his wings put him beside Skulduggery, and quickly Gabe pulled his human cloak back over himself. The absence of his light made the cliff-side seem positively dim in comparison, though the effects in hue and newness lingered.
"It should hold for a while," he said, "but I can't say how long. It'll be sooner if they destroy the sigils."
If Skul listened carefully, he might hear the faintest resonance, like electricity inside a building's walls. But it was all tied to that spell in the ground, and even though it would take more than just wiping it away to destroy it, Gabriel didn't doubt the Faceless Ones' capacity to simply break the cliff-side.
no subject
He hoped not. He hoped so. He didn't know what to feel. These, Lucifer aside, were the worst of the Fallen, and yet still he pitied what they had become.
Gabriel knelt at the end of the written spell, his spear-point dug in to the end of the final letter. His eyes closed, he murmured the spell, directing it at the cliff around them and letting it seep into the stone, resonate the air. His voice still felt raw, but at this level it wasn't going to get worse.
He felt the ripple of Skul's voice against his own more than heard the detective's words conventionally. Skilfully the Archangel twisted his spear, chanted a last few rounding words, and then stood and turned in one smooth motion. The briefest twitch of his wings put him beside Skulduggery, and quickly Gabe pulled his human cloak back over himself. The absence of his light made the cliff-side seem positively dim in comparison, though the effects in hue and newness lingered.
"It should hold for a while," he said, "but I can't say how long. It'll be sooner if they destroy the sigils."
If Skul listened carefully, he might hear the faintest resonance, like electricity inside a building's walls. But it was all tied to that spell in the ground, and even though it would take more than just wiping it away to destroy it, Gabriel didn't doubt the Faceless Ones' capacity to simply break the cliff-side.