Ria
I held onto Arsheus as we walked, afraid that the angels would realize we were here and attack us. Every second I looked back at the peak, where the angels were still trying to bring the whole mountain down with their powers.
Luckily for us they were still entertained with that and hadn't noticed we weren't there. Unfortunately they seemed to be succeeding. Half the highest mountain was gone now and the smaller ones weren't much better.
We didn't have much time until they realized we couldn't be inside and came looking for us.
" Faster"
Arsheus pushed me lightly on the back, shoving me forward.
He wanted us to go as fast as possible without running and catching their attention. That meant walking like we were possessed while stopping whenever we heard a whistle.
A whistling sound meant the angels were looking our way. I had no idea how they knew where they were looking, you would have to have incredible eyesight to see them, but I wasn't going to complain. It had worked so far. They had yet to catch us.
My feet hurt the more we walked. Luckily I had brought good shoes, so the pain was somehow managable and nowhere near the pain I had felt yesterday, but it still wasn't pleasant.
The soldiers followed behind us, as silently as they could. The only source of sound I could hear was the slightest noise when the soldiers stepped on the snow. Otherwise the clear was as quiet as when we had arrived.
With a little bit of luck the angels wouldn't notice us.
Flying would be faster but I was never flying again after my first experience and more importantly: their black wings would contrast greatly against the white snow and give away our location. Our only option left was to walk in the ground.
After walking for quite some time the fear of being caught turned into boredom and tedium. We had been walking for what seemed like hours without a single stop. Worse of it all was that I could still see the angels in the top of the mountain, looking away.
We hadn't even gotten that far away and yet I was busted. I didn't want to take a single step more, but I had to. I didn't want to die either.
I wanted to whine and ask Arsheus if there was much time left, but I was wiser than to do that.
Calling out to him in this silence would only call the angel's attention to us. And that was the last thing I wanted.
So instead of whining and complaining as I wanted I surveyed my surroundings. Everything was covered in heavy snow, from the path we were walking to our sides, but through the snow every now and then I could see some kind of remanente structures, a husk of what they were in their time.
As we kept walking the soldiers's faces changed, going from fear to anger and sadness.
I looked around to see what had made them change so suddenly and wanted to puke.
The spirits that had been missing all along were all around us now, their eyes never leaving the soldiers as we marched forward.
I diverted my eyes and focused forward, ignoring the spirits that seemed awfully interested in the living. In my experience that meant that when they were alive they had had some kind of relationship.
By the way the soldiers clenched their fists and avoided the corpses littered all over the ground I could tell they used to be friends or at least allies.
It was truly devastating. The whole area was covered in corpses barely visible through the snow.
An arm here, a leg there. Only limbs could be seen littering the snow. And near those corpses the spirits lingered, eyeing us with their unnerving and expressionless faces.
I kept walking, avoiding eye contact. Thankfully we were near the end of the graveyard. I could see the line where the spirits disappeared and the snow covered everything, whitout a single corpse in sight.
I was so eager to get out of here and run away from the spirits that I didn't notice the soldiers had stopped walking behind me.
I only stopped on my tracks when Arsheus grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
What was going on?
As I spun fear gripped me.
The angels were no longer focused on the mountain. They were looking at us as they flew our way.
" What do we do now?" My voice was little more than a shriek as I asked Arsheus.
We had to get out of here before the angels arrived.
Arsheus looked at his men, then at me and lastly at the incoming angels.
" We'll fly away"
He didn't look convinced as he faced his men.
" Get ready to fly"
All of them nodded and spread their wings, turning the white landscape into one of darkness, as if someone had spilled ink on a white sheet of paper.
" Why aren't you spreading your wings?"
I didn't truly realized what he had meant until Arsheus was looking at me, his wings fully spread behind his back.
" I.... I"
I didn't want to tell him the truth, but I also had to get out of here.
I was deciding what to do, whereas to tell him the truth or lie when Arsheus made it easier for me.
" I'll carry you"
Fortunately for me Arsheus was way too focused on the angels to pay me any attention.
Thank god for that.
As I was breathing a sigh of relief Arsheus grabbed me by my hip and pulled me into his arms.
" Hold on"
I did as he said as he jumped into the air. A second later we were no longer on the sweet ground, but rather on the sky.
" Over here"
Arsheus leaded everyone as he flew, taking turn after turn and spinning in the air to confuse the angels. I was going to puke. My whole head shook as Arsheus did yet another spin to kill time while his men caught up to him.
I was definitely not made for the sky. I wanted to go back to the ground. I gripped tighter onto Arsheus's shoulder, beginning to feel dizzy.
I was sure the white expanse of land under my feet was an amazing sight and yet I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes and see it. Because if I did I was sure I would puke all over Arsheus's chest. That and I was still afraid of the sky even if I knew he needed me alive. It was something primal, the fear of being in the sky, so high up that nothing could save me if I fell. It wasn't a comforting thought.
" Crap!"
I opened my eyes and twisted my head when I heard one of the soldiers swearing.
When I looked at the direction of the sound I held onto Arsheus tighter, grabbing the dagger with my hand until my knuckles went white.
" What do we do now?"
Arsheus didn't seem to react but I could feel his pulse spiking under my hand.
" Faster!"
He turned to look at his men and screamed.
Behind the soldiers were the angels, catching up fast.
How were they flying so fast?
It was as if they were being carried by the air itself.
As the angels came closer and closer to us Arsheus turned to look back and screamed, actual fear in his voice.
" Faster!"
The soldiers looked defeated as they looked backwards, where the angels had all but caught up.
One of the soldiers with the highest rank smiled sadly as he flew faster, giving it his all as his muscles strained to catch up to us.
Once he was on our same level he smiled at Arsheus.
" Promise us you'll take it all back"
Arsheus's face paled when he heard his man's words.
What was he talking about?
" Don't you dare!"
The demon smiled sadly and fell back.
That conversation was weird as fuck.
I felt as Arsheus slowed down and turned to look at his men.
Behind us the soldiers had stopped too. They were no longer flying away. They were in the air, their weapons ready.
What were they trying to do?
I got my answer when the two of them clashed.
Blood poured down as the angles were stabbed with the demon's swords. For a second it seemed like the demons had the biggest advantage, but it was just for a second.
The angels fell to the ground, already dead as new ones replaced them, this time ready to fight.
The metals clashed as both the angels and demons danced in the air.
It was clear the demons were more trained than the angels. As they moved their swords and daggers the angeles fell, screaming and begging, but here was no one to beg to. They were already dead.
I watched in awe as the demons held their ground. They were highly outnumbered and yet they stood strong, going against an army that would eventually destroy them, because that was what was going to happen. I had no doubt they were eventually going to die.
No matter how good they were the angels were more. Every time a demon fell their formation broke a little more.
From my back I could feel Arsheus's every muscle straining not to run into the brawl.
I knew he wasn't going because of me and honestly I felt a little guilty.
I was about to speak and tell him he could just put me on the ground when an explosion threw the both of us backwards.
I screamed as I felt the whole world twist positions and we fell to the ground.
What I feared the most was happening right now. I screamed at the top of my lungs, fear gripping me, as I clawed Arsheus's back.
The ground came closer and closer as my fear spiked. We were going to die.
Just when I thought we were done for Arsheus opened back his wings and begun flying again, barely avoiding the ground.
I held onto him tighter, my whole body shaking when I saw I wasn't going to die.
I could've cried of relief. Thank god.
I closed my eyes in relief and when I opened them back up to see how the battle was going I saw that above us the demons were being massacred.
As the angels begun using their powers the demons fell one by one, as if they were nothing more than flies.
I watched in horror as their numbers decreased more and more.
Arsheus clenched his fists near me, but intead of running into the fray he flew away, right into the mountain.
The angels and demons were still fighting as we flew away from the conflict.
Was he going to abandon his men?
I felt relieved when we walked away. I felt safe again even if that meant the soldiers were going to die.
" Where are we going?"
" Back to your realm" Arsheus's voice was dark as he answered, his lips forming an angry expression.
What? Why were we going back? Hadn't he been the one that had said he couldn't bring us back and that it was a bad idea?
" Why?"
Arsheus sighed behind me.
Sorry for asking perfectly normal questions.
I huffed and moved a little closer to him. I didn't want him to throw me down because he got annoyed with me.
We soared through the sky as we left the battle behind.
Arsheus flew the faster he had since he had picked me up, no longer having to slow down to keep up with his men.
If I looked at his face I could see he was gritting his teeth and something inside me squeezed my heart.
I wanted to comfort him.
" Don't worry. I..."
Before I could finish my sentence Arsheus flinched and groaned, almost letting go of me.
I held onto him tighter, afraid he was going to let me go because he was pissed, but as soon as he stopped groaning he picked me back up, his arms regaining their strength.
What was going on?
As I moved my head to look better at him a few drops of blood fell right into my face.
What the fuck?
Looking at Arsheus I saw an arrow coming out of his shoulder.
When the fuck had that happened?
I looked around in a panic and saw a few angels coming our way, flying as fast as they could as they tried to catch up to us.
They were fast. Faster than Arsheus.
For a second I feared Arsheus would let me fall and save himself. If it weren't for me he would be way faster and could easily run away from them.
My fears dissipated when he held me tighter, his facial muscles letting through the pain he didn't want to acknowledge.
" Hold on tight"
I held onto him harder as he smiled at me and folded his wings.
Motherfucker!
" Ahhhhhhhh!" I screamed, panic filling me up as for the second time today I felt as gravity pulled us to the ground.
The snow came closer and closer to us by the second.
We were going to die!!
I clawed at Arsheus's back in panic.
I didn't want to die.
I closed my eyes in fear just as the ground almost reached us.
Stupid bastard was going to kill us.
When the ground was only a few feet away Arsheus opened back his wings and flapped them as hard as he could, lifting us enough to land on the ground without eating it.
My body shook hard in shock and fear as Arsheus let go of me and I fell to the snow, still too shocked to move.
In front of me I saw the angels landing and taking out their weapons, ready to kill as they eyed Arsheus, who was unarmed.
I looked down at the dagger I was still holding and miraculously hadn't lost and then at him.
I needed the dagger to go back home, but Arsheus had told me he was going to bring me back home either way and I couldn't let him die. If he died then I would be all alone with the angels that wanted me dead.
Out of all the evil I had to choose the one that brought me the least harm.
" Catch it"
I screamed as I used up all my remaining strength to throw the dagger at Arsheus.
Fortunately he spun at the last moment and caught it with his bleeding arm, not showing any signs that having an arrow through his arm bothered him at all.
The angels advanced with smug smiles in their faces, thinking the battle was already won.
I tried to get on my feet, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. I was still shaking from fear.
Fuck!
From in front of me I saw Arsheus gritting his teeth and then the whole ground shook as magma erupted from underneath.
What the fuck?
I tried to back away, afraid the magma would catch up to me, but it never did. It stayed under the angels, five of which had managed to fly up in time.
The other three hadn't been so fortunate.
I covered my ears as they screamed at the top of their lungs.
Wow. That was one flashy way to die.
I couldn't pull my eyes away from the writhing angels as their flesh peeled away and their skin burned up, flames enveloping their whole bodies.
" Flilthy demon"
The one that seemed like the leader of the angels spit on the ground, sneering at Arsheus.
" Today is that day you'll die. I don't know how you managed to survive, but you won't see past another day"
The other angels sneered too, looking down on Arsheus.
He, on the other hand, just gritted his teeth and the air above the angels turned to water.
I saw the moment their feathers absorbed the water and pulled them down, right to where the magma with their dying friends was.
The angels must've noticed too because they begun panicking, trying to fly away.
Was this what Arsheus had been so afraid of?
They didn't seem that important or threatening to me. They were just angels.
They couldn't even put a single scratch on Arsheus's face. The arrow had just been pure luck.
If Arsheus could take them all down then why had we run away instead of helping the soldiers?
As I looked for the answer I finally got it when the angel's reinforcements arrived, just in time to help their comrades and spare them the fate of being burned alive.
The angles screamed as they flew away from the lava, angry.
The reinforcements smiled as they threw a dagger our way, sneering.
Arsheus avoided it easily enough, gripping his own dagger as he spread his wings, ready to fight them.
Was that it?
It was kind of underwhelming.
As soon as the dagger hit the ground behind him Arsheus fell to the snow, clutching his chest.
I too begun feeling like something was trying to take out my heart. It hurt so much I couldn't even see straight. All I saw were blurry images as the pain begged me to give up and go down.
It hurt so freaking much.
As I fell to the cold ground, clutching my chest I saw the spirits of the fallen angels coming in and out of sight.
Even through the fog of my brain and the big pain that was my whole chest I knew that wasn't normal. Spirits didn't snap out and into existence.
The only explanation was that I wasn't seeing them. How was that possible?
I got my answer looking at Arsheus.
The pit of lava that had been the ground went away as Arsheus fell, his whole face contorted in pain.
I could tell how much it hurt. I was just the same.
Through the pain I could hear the angel's laughter as they came closer.
" What did I tell you? Demons are easy to take down once you have the right tools"
So that was what the dagger was. A tool to take down demons. Then why had it worked on me?
I couldn't focus enough to answer that question. All I wanted to do now was to make the pain go away no matter what it took.
The pain intensified when the angels reached the dagger and touched it.
Oh, man. I thought they were taking
my heart out of my chest and ripping it out. It hurt so fucking much.
I groaned and screamed as the pain got worse and worse.
So this was what Arsheus had been so afraid of. Next time I should listen to him.
With that last thought the world went white as another spike of pain reached my chest.