It was thanks to her that they escaped without harm.

Her wings kept moving, and those huge claws kept ripping through the tall trees, trying to claw her down from the sky. With a low flight, she taunted the monster repeatedly, calling for its attention, for it to leave them be. With a tired grin, she even did a loop when it jumped higher through an opening. Those maws were smelly, yet she let them clamp near her feet, to give it hope.

“Come on, you can jump higher!”

The beast roared up at her while leaning its thorax impossibly high, unnaturally and aggressively. The grinding of those scythes was the only curse it could give her, the only promise of pain it could show. If those voids had irises, they would be filled with frustration and fury.

Aurora panted, but she quickly glanced sideways. She could tell that things were moving down below. Some demons were circling an area, and she was sure that it was because her family roamed there. They were very close to the hills, they were almost there.

She looked again at the beast with a smile, and then motioned her claws inwards to her chest, calling.

“Let’s keep playing, but a little further ahead!”

It did follow when she flew north. She smiled, because when the beast stormed through, the small shadows she noticed crept away scared. Below, Uriel saw the small demons whine and hide, because of the rumbling steps of their biggest alpha. He pointed ahead, where he could see light, the end of the woods.

“We’re almost there, keep going!”

Lykaios sprinted more. Unhindered by any demons, they did not find any obstacles towards their safety.

Aurora halted at last and sighed in relief. She saw them run out from between the trees, and then slam tiredly onto the grass of the hills, where they had told her the things would not venture. She was relieved, frozen as she saw them reach safety. In that moment, when she lowered her guard, the thing almost got her. She screamed when two scythes slashed down towards her from above. She dodged as the thing plummeted because of its weight, after having climbed onto thicker trees and heavier rocks. It left a huge hole on the surface of the forest, enough to shine a lot of light into it. She scrambled in the air, and ended up falling onto the top of a tree. With a loud huff, she rolled a little, ultimately slamming on a big branch.

She shivered and whined after the hit, because the thing was right there, maw open near the branch. The light was all around, yet she was still in the woods. It had her, right there; the hills were close, but not enough for this monster to retreat.

It opened its mouth and neared the branch where she dropped slowly. She closed her eyes. She waited. And nothing came. Nothing but a loud heave, feral, but full of fear.

She opened one eye nervously, much like her father would when cornered. She saw that maw, inches away from her, wide open. However, the thing had stopped, and did not seem to be looking at her anymore, but what was right behind her. The hills, it was looking at them with a frozen stance. Its limbs were lowering, losing their murderous intent. If it could hold an expression, she would say it would be one of shock.

She screamed, because that moment ended. The thing moved in a dash, with the loudest screech she had ever heard. She slammed her hands onto her ears and braced herself, seeing it lunge. Her body thrashed in the air when it broke the tree she laid on with extreme force. She huffed when she landed on the broken wood and ground, wings first. The limbs moved over her, inches away from trampling her to smithereens.

She waited to be ripped; the sound of it moving was hellish.

Yet… the sound left her. The limbs moved past her, not onto her. She felt no pincers or bites.

Again, she uncurled and looked. Panting, she realized that the monster had pushed past her, towards the hills. It had gone past the boundaries they had sworn it had; it had pushed its way ferociously out of the forest, breaking its way through every single tree or branch. It had left a path, destructive and clear.

She shook her head, fearing it had gone for them.

“No!”

While jumping to her feet, she ignored the soreness on her wings. She ran ahead, while the devils that hid in the dark let out a loud hiss in the air. All demons were acting strangely, and not only had she noticed.

Ahead, they had stopped running. They were resting on the grass, trying to regain their breaths. But then, the thing burst out of the forest, roaring, screeching, and right towards them. They screamed or gasped, but quickly reacted. With nowhere to run, Uriel moved first. After seeing the beast lunge to them, he tackled Ariel down to the ground with him as a shield, knowing they had no way out. At the same time, Lykaios leapt in front of Ayako, acting as coverage while she twirled her crossbow upwards.

They were surprised, because it did not slam onto them, but kept going past. They all watched with wide eyes as those tall limbs carried the monster up the hill, ignoring completely their presence. Its moves were chaotic but decided, fearful too.

As they sighed after the scare, Aurora reached them. She landed, not gracefully, and immediately dropped near Ariel, who was getting up from Uriel’s hold.

“Ariel!” She huffed when Aurora crushed her in a tight grip, anxiously. “Did it hurt you?!”

Ariel could have done many things in that moment: yell at her for flying away, or give her coldness for her recklessness. Of all that she could, she did one simple thing. She smiled at her sister tiredly, and then laid a claw over her long blond hair. She chuckled a little, tail moving lethargically.

“No, no it did not. You are a good distraction.” She eyed her warmly, scolding her a little with a brush of nail. “Just, please, never leave me again. I thought I would lose your trail.”

While the sisters looked at each other warmly, Lykaios eyed the top of the tall hill, which blocked their view of the fields. He was confused, wary.

“Where is it going?”

Uriel saw it first. He saw it, and he did not want to believe it at first.

He was the first to bolt, to run uphill. He had caught a glimpse, but only when he stood tall on the top of the hill did he see it fully. All his air left his lungs, he felt faint while looking at the distance. The smoke, he had seen traces of it in the air, but now he saw it in all its hellish glory. His legs felt weak; he watched with mortified eyes how the fire tangled in and out the fortress like a living physical wind. The temple was more ashen now. Most parts of it were now black, nothing but embers came out of those tall arcs. It was an immense torch, which licked the sky.

Ayako was the first to catch up with him, and she was as terrified when she saw.

“T-the fortress!”

Ariel did not understand, but did feel extreme worry when Aurora panicked. She left her side with a quick move, a dreadful heave. She dashed uphill, opening her wings fiercely.

“Sis, wait!”

Aurora stopped, but it was not for Ariel’s call. She froze when she heard a groan of agony, one that was broken, growled. She heard someone drop to their knees in pain, and when she turned to look back, she saw it had been Uriel. He had let out the most pained gasp she had ever heard, as he dropped down onto a claw and his knees. His mouth was open; his fangs showed as he breathed unevenly, gaze lost.

She lowered her wings in fear, while Ayako dropped too, to hold him.

“Uriel, what’s-?!”

“I- I can’t feel!”

Ariel asked while reaching for him, never having seen her father so hurt.

“Feel…?”

Uriel cried out, looking up hazily with tears in his eyes.

“The ache, it’s gone!”

Gone. It was how he could define it. The insistent pounding in his heart, the painful spell that told him of his bond with an angel, it was gone, in an instant. Like a flash, the beating in his heart returned to its normality. The sensation he had carried pridefully for years, it had vanished. It left him empty, cold. It should have been a feeling of relief, of immense freedom, yet he felt stolen of something that he had come to cherish. The pain, it always reminded him of what he had, of who he had found.

Now… he felt nothing but a slow beating. Not the one of his angel, but his own heart. The spell that always called him towards another soul had ripped him apart while leaving him.

“No, no.” He kept saying it like a mantra. His heaves became growls. Ayako could only step back when he pushed himself to his feet ferociously, even if shaken to the bone. “He CAN’T!”

There was nothing but his fear. There was nothing but his angel. He could not see Ayako, or Lykaios; not even Ariel or Aurora. Rendered voiceless by the cold in his heart, he ran, straight for that burning fortress, for the hellfire where he had last seen Alexis.

He could not be dead. Not now. Not after they had spared each other. Not after refusing to perish, or leave her to live alone. They would leave behind too much.

There was only one way for a demon to stop feeling tied to an angel. And he was scared of it; he was not ready to feel this. It was too sudden. It could not be. For countless nights he had lived nightmares in which he would be in those cold caverns: he would stab into the flesh, rip a heart out without mercy, and then feel this very same thing. He had kept telling himself he would never feel it, that it would never happen. Yet he was feeling it, right now. He could not take it.

Uriel was the first to reach the feet of the temple. He did not look back, not even when they called, as fearful as him. The sound of Aurora’s wings opening reached him, but he paid them no mind, knowing Ayako was holding her back from flying up to those flames. They were following, but not as fast as him. He halted in front of the tunnels, on the snow at the feet of the imposing statues. His feet stopped there, wary of the monster that clawed the walls and tried to crawl through the pathways.

Desperately, Jarogniew lifted his scythes upwards while standing on his lower limbs, outstretching and roaring up. He was trying to reach for the towers, for the place where his master lurked. Even he was too small to reach for the heights, where the flames flowed. He was insignificant in comparison to the temple.

Uriel flinched when the monster stopped attempting to reach or enter. While letting out a loud long howl, its pincers cracked as they tensed sideways. It let out the most mournful of screams. Whatever humanity was left in this creature, it was showing now, ferociously. It let itself kneel down onto the snow, right in front of the statues… and like if Uriel was not there, it proceeded to commit the only thing it desired.

When Ayako caught up, it was to the sight of something horrible. She doubted to near the tunnels, not for the gigantic demon, but for what it did. Ariel took a step back when those scythes moved up… because they descended inwards, in a blur. All winced and frowned, all backed away. They heard the loud crack, the sickening stab of those pointed bony limbs. The scythes sunk into that thick thorax, ripping and reaching deeper.

The demon killed itself. Unable to do anything against those flames, it despaired. It seemed to be able to smell the blood of the only one who still could see its former self. It began to crumble down slowly. While letting out a sad gurgle, it cried in hisses, fixing its eyes on the fortress, dying while looking at the thing it had always shielded.

All stared at it, now dead, immobile, laid against the walls and statues, to remain there. It was a pitiful sight. However, Uriel did not falter there for long. Growling, he pushed past its corpse, into one tunnel. He could not slow down. He could not pay mind to that being.

Outside, while he ventured into a raging amalgam of fire and stone, Ayako looked into the tunnels, which let out part of the heat building up above. She looked at Lykaios and begged him.

“Please, keep them safe. They can’t enter!”

Ariel did stay put, holding on to Lykaios’ black mane. But Aurora did not. She was the one to yell, alarmed.

“No! I have to go in too!” She tried to run past her mother, but she managed to grab one of her wings and pull her back. That did not mean she did not keep on trying to reach a tunnel. “He’s in there! He’s going to burn!”

Ayako huffed and contained a cry. She was struggling to keep a straight face with what she was feeling. It was obvious her youngest daughter had not fully comprehended what Uriel had meant. She pushed Aurora back, and then commanded with the most authoritative desperate yell she ever gave her.

“Aurora, listen to me!” She shook her, pierced her with icy angry eyes, full of contained tears. “The whole place is burning down, and I can’t bear the thought of you two getting hurt! I am about to break right now, and I wouldn’t protect you like I should if you went in there! Please, I know we have let you down, but you’ve got to do as I tell you now! Stay here, away from the flames!”

Aurora kept still at last. Her wings batted down in defeat, her eyes narrowed with impotence and anger. She begged, with the most dreadful of whispers.

“Take him out of there…” Ayako faltered, shaken. She let go to step into a tunnel. Aurora was not satisfied, so she took one step closer, to repeat her words loudly. “You have to take him out!”

Ayako looked away and sprinted in. Ariel held back her sister, who kept yelling her request, in fear. Lykaios hid the view of the girls, and Ayako did not know if it was better or worse for her heart.

The hunter chased into the place where she last saw the angel, but she did not know if she would find him alive. She remembered the time he saved her from being hanged to death, the time he ran against every fear he had to protect her. She owed him her life, yet she could have failed. She felt powerless, useless.

A few floors above, the demon was pushing his way through the fire, clawing and growling. Each step he took, he did onto embers and burned stone. He hurt, but his body would not flinch back. While breathing out his own unnatural fire, he glared at the hell around him, swiping his nails onto every single flame that dared touch him. Slowly, he surrounded every single path he took in violet fire, which kept spreading onto the real one, consuming and assimilating. It was taking a toll on him; he was focusing more on stopping the fortress from being destroyed than his skin from being burned. He kept searching in the shadows, having no clue where his angel could be. For the first time, he felt lost. He had no way of telling where Alexis could be. All this time, he had always been drawn by an invisible string he could follow blindly.

He was lost… until he smelled it. Blood.

He found himself standing in a circular old chamber. He looked at the pillar in the centre carefully. He laid a claw there, glaring at it. He brushed off the blood marked on the runes, silently. Turning, he eyed carefully the ground, which he cleared of embers with a wave of tail. There were small drops, and they led upwards.

He did not run this time. Slowly, he ascended, expectant, dreadful. The scent of blood increased. Even if the flames rose high, the chambers were as dark as night. His violet eyes gleamed in the shadows when he spotted a figure, hunched and curled against a wall, painted in red.

“Zelophehad…”

Two red glimmers glinted in the shadows when two eyes opened. He had heard Uriel, his soft quiet call. With a wheeze, Zelophehad looked up, and Uriel did not know how to feel when he saw him grin.

“Ah… Uriel.” Zelophehad attempted a laugh, too wounded to stand. “I’m afraid you’ll hate me more now, won’t you?”

Uriel ignored his words. Zelophehad did not seem to care when Uriel pushed away the flames that had been brushing him. He had been resting near fire; his good wings were now as ashen as his torn ones. Half of his body displayed many burns; his robes were red now, ripped. His armour was broken at his chest, where most of the blood poured. Uriel kneeled there, after making sure no more embers scorched him. He inspected the wounds, and shook his head when he realized nothing he could do would help.

“What did this?”

Zelophehad was blunt, yet still daring in his words.

“A shield. One would consider it far too pretty for it to be an offensive weapon; yet… You can observe its efficiency.”

A loud cough, with blood. Uriel groaned and quickly eased him back, making sure to stop him from moving his burned wings.

“You are in no position to joke right now.”

“I’m not, you’re right.” Zelophehad brushed his wound with a claw, and then stared at it while holding it over his eyes. “I should not be smiling right now. But I can’t help it.”

Uriel did not understand why he grinned and laid his head back against the wall like if he was relieved. He questioned, looking at the room urgently.

“Where’s Alexis?”

Zelophehad’s smile grew. Tears flowed down his eyes, mixing with the blood on his lips.

“It brings me great peace of mind, to know you have chased so quickly. You truly do care for him. I… I feel peaceful, even though I’m dying. Even if I should be lamenting this grim moment and its consequences, I can’t avoid but cherish that thought.”

Zelophehad closed his eyes again, sighing loudly. The chambers were not burning as much now, the fire was subsiding. The flames Philander had summoned were dying. They had not destroyed the whole library like he had intended; some books and rooms had been saved. Uriel had done him that favour, even if he did not need to.

Uriel was not pressuring Zelophehad for a clear answer, knowing well he was in pain. Yet he was anxious. The fight that had happened here was clear. A lot of furniture and walls were broken; the slices of the trident that fell nearby were all over. Spells had hit the ground, even the ceiling. Many feathers were around, scattered and reduced to ashes. The blood was all over, not only Zelophehad’s.

Ayako reached them at last, having found a path past the fire that still clawed the stone. When she halted, it was to the sight of Zelophehad watching grimly while Uriel reached for a cloth on the ground, forgotten.

A breath escaped Uriel’s mouth, shaky and mournful. He gripped the ripped and scorched cape in his claw, noting the cut marks on it, the blood. Alexis had been here, yet there was no corpse.

Ayako was rarely scared of Uriel, if not never. But now, when his head turned to glare at Zelophehad, she was. His voice was demanding, harsh.

“Where is he?”

Zelophehad contained a cough while Ayako sat at his side. She began to examine his wounds, carefully. She asked too, her icy eyes full of regret and sorrow.

“What happened here?”

Zelophehad admitted at last, grimly.

“As I vanished the barrier, I allowed Philander to sneak his way in. No matter how fast I had invoked it back up, he was already inside. He waited for the perfect moment to strike… You can see what he has done. He took him down first; his sword was no match for his shield. His spell, it rendered your angel to nothing more than a ragdoll. After taking him out the way, he struck me.” He smiled at them, bitterly, apologetic. “I have not been a worthy match. All these years, all this time, I have waited and entertained the thought of ending him… yet I let him win. I let him take him.”

Uriel stood up. He neared and loomed over Zelophehad, demanding with sharp eyes, motionless. The cape still hanged from his claw, gleaming much less than it did before; the golden strings he had sown years ago were burned.

“Did he kill him?”

Uriel was surprised of how easily the words left his mouth. He asked, coldly, resentfully. He felt nothing but emptiness. Zelophehad answered, but not in a way that offered him hope.

“You don’t feel it, don’t you? That sensation, the one I only felt once. Heavens only sent one angel to curse my soul, and I slew that being down. No more did god attempt to end my life that way, no angel managed to stand tall under my deadly spells. It is strange, to miss that connection. It must hurt you greatly.” He was blunt, meeting those desperate violet eyes. “Last thing I saw before crumbling down was Philander dragging him away. I do not know for certain, I’m afraid I cannot affirm if he was alive at that point; he was motionless on the ground. Philander took his sword and him, and left me alone to burn.”

Uriel’s expression contorted. His fangs showed while he contained a cry. He was ready to bolt, he made a subtle turn to do so… but then Zelophehad continued, whispering.

“You don’t feel him. Yet, it can mean another thing. I know Phil. Ask yourself, why would he drag him away if he can let two abominations burn at once? Why would he rescue a corpse from fire and scorching embers?” Zelophehad smiled at them with a tired lean of head. “He’s always been so traditional… How he wished to take me to his superiors, to display me upon the highest elders in his world. Alas, I am too defiant to submit to his most prideful of dreams. My mother had a trial; she was cursed, sentenced. Alexis could be dead… or he could be gone. Gone, through the very same portal that would take back any angel long ago, to a place where all would see Philander’s glorious acts, judge the ones of a corrupted being. You think he’s dead, while I believe he has just left this land. A demon only feels a bond like yours if his angel roams the same world. I am certain that he lives… but nears the grasp of death.”

Zelophehad grew silent, wincing. Ayako let out an audible gasp and brushed away her fears for the moment. While Uriel looked out the arcs grimly, she attempted to get out some bandages from her bag. Before she could attempt to stop the bleeding however, Zelophehad moved her hands away with his.

“That… won’t be necessary.”

“B-but-”

Uriel looked at her, with a hopeless expression. He shook his head, agreeing with Zelophehad.

“His heart has been pierced.” Uriel looked down, defeated. “It’s only a matter of time.”

He remembered when he was stabbed, both by cuts and claws. He had been lucky; he was able to heal.

Ayako’s hands clenched onto the bandages. She looked at Zelophehad, who smiled again, like if he did not care at all for those wounds, like if he was not in agony.

“Do not worry, Ayako. I have dreamed of this moment. I have pondered for ages, debated my mortality. I wondered if I would slay Philander, and then be cursed with eternal wait, unable to end myself.” She let his claw brush her face, as he admired her fragility, her humanity. “I have always… loved how humans cherish their limited time in this world. It is… precious.”

Both stood there, as he breathed in and out, slowly welcoming what was to come. The demon spoke again, giving them all his thoughts, all the advice he could give.

“My heart is broken, yet it keeps struggling, battling against every sting of pain. It will have to surrender soon.” He reached for his trident, and dragged it closer to his side. “You two, I would like you to hear my last discourse, if it’s alright. I’m not the king I used to be, I have no rule over you two. I know you want to run, to seek… but I have no one else who might listen.”

Uriel said nothing, while Ayako nodded, supporting.

“I listen, Zelophehad.”

He closed his eyes, holding his weapon closer.

“I see your troubled gazes. Do not think I regret your intrusion in this temple. Speaking to somebody at last, it has been a gift; seeing what you share, a miracle. I do mourn the fact this has happened, to me, and him, but it is not your fault. Again, Philander won’t stop until he steals the life of his proclaimed enemies. I’ve gotten to see a trace of hope in this long tedious lifetime of mine; I only fear the possibility of him extinguishing your fire and warmth.” He looked sideways, to the sunlight he could see now through the arcs, now void of fire. “I wish I could tell you where that portal stands. I searched, but I did not find it. I wanted to destroy it; I wanted to steal Philander from the only thing that would take him back, if I was to die someday. It is hidden, somewhere near the coast, past sharp cliffs and dangerous reefs. Go past the mountain where this fortress rests, and seek it. It may take you time, time you might not have. If you don’t find it, I fear, for he will be executed. They will sentence him; do not hold hope for any mercy. They will near his own sword to his neck, and end him.”

Uriel growled, slamming his tail down, glaring.

“I will not let them. I will find where that portal rests. I would chase him past the end of the world.”

“You hold great dedication in your heart. It reminds me of father…” Zelophehad moved a claw, asking him to near, tiredly. “Come, Uriel.”

He obeyed. He looked him all over with a frown, because he raised his trident, and then laid it in his hands, pushing it closer to his chest.

“Take this, and shield your angel; do what I couldn’t. Do not let him meet the same fate as my mother. He’s needed, he can’t go; it would leave her broken, and turn her into what I embraced. If he dies, her heart might be clawed by hate, corrupted. She needs him, to let her see the good in both sides. She has to keep her heritage, not turn into something bitter and feral. He’s a kind angel; he does not deserve to be judged. He has you. Fate might be more lenient with you than me, it may favour you better. You’ve stood together until now, do not break apart. Do you understand these words?”

Uriel answered this time, slowly.

“I… I do.”

“Good.” Zelophehad slumped back. His wings folded even if burned, around him. “Good…”

Uriel looked down at the trident. It was ancient, dark, and sharp. He did not know what he felt while wielding it, much less when he heard Zelophehad whisper his last words, slumping between his wings.

“I wonder… if I’ll see them once more.”

With that last breathed whisper, silence. If not for those wounds and burns, he would seem to be asleep. His expression was peaceful, welcoming. For a long time, he had wanted to rest.

Ayako remained still for a minute. Then, she slowly reached up to those red eyes. She carefully closed them, respectful and mournful.

In between the ashes, she spoke, her voice echoing in the emptiness.

“We should move.”

Uriel nodded firmly. His claws clenched around the trident while he glared outside. No flames clawed around them now, yet there was fire in his eyes.

“We must.”