“Angus?”

His voice had echoed through their small home that day, tentative and hesitant. There were many wonders and thoughts in his mind, which he doubted to express. It was the glance his uncle gave him that made him push aside his self-inflicted quietness, engraved into him by other angels.

“What are humans like?”

In those times, he was still trying to do his best, barely having spent a few months in that garrison. He had not been broken yet, and so, he still attempted to reach their expectations. The soldiers and elders would preach that they were being trained to fight for humanity, and he would listen attentively.

However, each time humans were mentioned, the only thing that would be described was what oppressed them. The speeches would always shift onto devils and their depravity, only referring to their prey as weak. He never dared ask, not wishing to interrupt and be punished.

That garrison was oppressive and exacting, but near a forge, he found less judgment upon his curiosity. Angus was as stern as those angels, but never as harsh. There would always be an honest answer.

“A human…” He did not know it then, but Angus had seen humanity. His whisper hinted familiarity, but he had no way of suspecting it. “They are strange beings, you can be sure of that. As you surely have been told to no end, they are far punier than us, never to enjoy a long life.”

Those words made him frown, for once finding the teachings of priests accurate and important. He considered his presence in that garrison appropriate, until Angus kept speaking, somewhat bitterly.

“They don’t have an eternity like us, so they make the most out of every second they experience. Crafty and sly, there is no chance they won’t take to improve their existence, in a way they see fit. They are not bound by tenants or unbreakable laws, so they reach for freedom, by defying demonic or angelic domain.” Angus snarled, grasping his hammer once more, his work the only thing that gave him peace. “Those pesky fools do whatever they want, in that big world of theirs…”

Angus said no more, and he did not dare break the silence again, for his uncle was sterner in the first years of his life. Still, his curiosity was set alight, and it would not be satisfied with the words of the angels around him.

The day after he voiced his wonder, he neared that damn abyss for the first time, once his duties in the garrison were over. Under the setting sun, he walked tiredly to it, dragging his feet and golden wings across the big fields. When he stood upon it, he held his side shakily and angrily, for he had received many bruises in the daily duels.

Bitter, jealous of the freedom those beings supposedly enjoyed, he glared down at the blackness. And for the first time, the abyss granted him a glimpse of that world, which would mark him forever. He did not see much more than distant figures and structures, but it was enough for his soul to feel trapped.

He was so young then, oblivious and naive, blissfully unaware of all that was to come. His struggles then were not easy to endure, but they were nothing compared to what he would live.

Humanity was all Angus said it was, and more. Their frailty was their strength, for they struggled to overcome it at any cost, each decade more frantically. Their ambition only needed a spark to ignite, and they had found a great one in this century. The wonder and curiosity they felt were far greater than the ones of a simple angel.

Their feats were truly admirable, and he understood why Angus respected and approved of it. But he did not share the sentiment; he dreaded what he could see. And maybe, if he had not perished under angelic conceit, he would too.

He had heard the whispers, the calls. At first, he had disregarded them, for he had not wanted to believe it, not again. But the murmurs of the crowds never lied; they always spread terrible news like fire. He had to pay mind to those curious gossips, for they announced what he should flee from, before it could catch up to them.

“It sets off in one minute…”

He heard his demon whisper, warning. They all tensed, hiding behind some crates. There was a lot of noise around them, the crowds bigger than they were a few years ago. There had always been more populace in the south, yet that fact only intensified in the last decade, because these lands were the first to experience the industrial stimulus that pierced the world.

The steam train was right there, what would take them back north. They had roamed these regions a lot, but it was time for them to take their leave. They never settled anywhere, even though these parts were less arid. Too many people roamed this edge of the continent, and all land was claimed, even before they set foot on it. They never had a chance to find a permanent home, it was never there.

An angel like him had no place between these people, not before, less now. This country was not for them, even if it had granted demons like them liberty, for a long time. Good things never lasted forever.

“Hide.”

Sharp as always, Aurora was the first to spot trouble walking their way. They shrunk against the crates, Alexis finding himself squished below their figures. Multiple soldiers marched ahead through the station, patrolling. They were unnoticed, luckily.

In their first years of pilgrimage, while they fared through the entire continent, they had been able to forget about war and death. But that calm only preceded a storm, which was beginning to loom over them. They would flee from it, as always. They were in this station to get away, because they could not set off as they had always done, wandering at a slow pace.

Now, they could have bought tickets for the train, like all the normal people around them did. If not for two reasons… One, they were trying to leave no trace of their presence in these regions, which such purchase would hint. Two, the local government was very cautious of where people came and went, and they were dodging a very serious draft.

Soon, the engines blew more steam, loudly, almost muffling the loud ring of a bell at the end of the station. All travellers had boarded already, all but them. The huge amalgamation of metal and timber began to push forward on the tracks, slowly, yet they kept still.

It was a long train. Its frontal carriages sheltered the lodgers, each consecutive one less luxurious. They did not want to enter any, for they would be noticed in them. They would wait for the least accommodating wagons, where the cargo was stored. They truly wished to leave no record of them ever having roamed these parts, for he still pretended to be human, and bureaucracy was only getting more precise in keeping track of people.

Lykaios was the first to move away from the crates, small and unsuspicious in the crowd. It was only when he spoke up that a few patrons blinked and paid mind to him.

“Clear!”

The soldiers were far enough to not spot or hear them; and so they dashed, receiving quite a few perplexed glances, both from demons and humans. They quickly ran for the moving carriage, which had been locked, but not enough to deter them.

Uriel and Ariel jumped against the huge door, hanging from it with the help of their claws and tails. It supposed no struggle for him, even if he was wearing many pieces of his old armour, as to not have to leave it behind. In a second, both slammed their nails against the big lock, which melted under their flames. As soon as it fell off, they beckoned the rest to jump in.

The three ran by the speeding wheels, following close to their tails. No one who watched dared stop them, for they held no authority, unlike the soldiers that were not seeing them break in. Uriel had opened the door, and now leaned to help them up, in order.

Ariel snuck without help, Lykaios leapt fiercely and let Uriel grab at his fur, while Aurora delayed slightly. Her blue eyes sharpened, fixing on Alexis, who was giving her the same glare as he ran.

“Go on, fly in!”

She ignored him, for his senseless priorities were expected at this point. With one single glance at Uriel, an agreement was reached. Alexis huffed when his daughter grabbed one of his arms, while his demon leaned down to snatch his other one. In a second, he found himself being heaved up, both dragging him in with ease.

Her claws let go first, as soon as he dropped into the cargo, away from the speeding wheels below them. She looked away with a frown and folded her wings, her landing much more graceful and easy to manage.

Alexis let out a long sigh, not bothering to stand, leaning against a nearby box instead. He sat there with his arms crossed, refusing to meet Uriel’s apologetic stare.

“I know it bothers you to be helped, but-“

“Just close the door, the flow of air is getting stronger, and that is more bothersome.”

Uriel sighed too, but obliged. The carriage was left in darkness, yet the angel was the one that worried less about that fact, even if he was the one that had weaker senses. Still, he could see how their eyes gleamed, revealing their presence near him.

Once more, he displayed how much he worried for them, disregarding how they felt the same towards him. He wished to carry their burdens, and Uriel had struggled to keep him from working until exhaustion all this time. Even if all had given their all in small trades, jobs and tasks, he was always the one to contribute more, like if his life depended on it.

It was an attitude that had arisen much more this past year, all ever slowly. Recent events had reminded him of how they had once been threatened with captivity and death, and he could not handle the thought of it happening again.

“Why can’t we live in peace?”

They did not have any rebuttals or answers for his bitter whisper, not this time. All agreed wholeheartedly that things were unfair, that their hopes just kept being shattered. Once more, they were expected to surrender their lives, due to the hate of others. Their flight had no end.

The continent they once left menaced their existence once more; war had been declared, bringing chaos to the huge isthmus that connected both continents, in the lower hemisphere. The cruel humans they once evaded had only grown more adamant in their beliefs, for their domains had been contested, not only by demons, but by angels as well. They wanted land and resources, and they would fight for it.

Great technological advancements had been made, and even though angels had claimed the northern side of the eastern continent, they had been kept there. Those humans were building up machinery far greater than this train, and they would soon use it to conquer as much land as possible, from any conceivable foe.

If what people said was true, that coalition was both struggling and rising in power, its politics shifting dangerously. Ambition had led them to eradicate almost all demons in the past, and now they set their aim upon the angels that dared steal what they had wished to invade. Worse, they hated this land as well, because it denied them aid against those angels, and it refused to oblige to their calls for demonic eradication.

The northern side of this continent was still at peace, considering such attempts of invasion foolish and unrelated to them. It was believed that this declaration of war was nothing but a silly political play. He knew better, however, because he had seen such clash before. Still, he hoped this southern country would endure and keep the conflict far from the north.

They had left those deserts just a few years ago, finding them repressing. Yet now they returned to them, the least grim choice. The main city in those lands was big, built upon ancient ruins, with endless underground tunnels. Its walls and grave-like streets would do, for there was no way they would join a skirmish and risk losing each other.

Little did they know, that they were only winning time. The cruelty of the world was a constant, inescapable.

—————-

Growls echoed fiercely, malevolently. A huge shadow lurked through the devastated camp, its size putting the big fires around it to shame. Not too far, a smaller figure crept, trying desperately to hide.

The child took deep breaths, trying to stay calm, even if death searched for her. It had taken all around her. She was the last. Still, she would try to make it out alive, for she had seen what that monster could do.

A demon had attacked their settlement in the middle of the night, with no warning or sign. Out of nowhere, it quickly lunged upon her people, starved. Though, it had the occasion to feed before coming across them. It had not escaped its confinement, not by itself.

The coalition had always kept some of these monstrosities under chains, it was no secret. This one had been contained deep in a fort, near the border. And that fact… an angel came to know, while it scouted these regions. It foolishly tried to slay the devil, and failed miserably, only bringing misfortune upon all.

This thing was now free, and it was desperate to fill its beastly stomach. No bullets from their rudimentary rifles took it down, no fire scared it. It was too big, its hide far too dense. It could put a reinforced vehicle of the militia out of commission.

She could hear its tusks pierce the earth, to try to pick up her scent. Its tall horns were casting terrible shadows over her hiding spot, hinting their sharpness. Each step of its four claws made the ground tremble, and it was getting closer.

Soon, it halted right over the tent she hid against. A shiver ran through her small body, for that long hairy tail tangled on the ground, almost brushing her feet. It took a deep breath, because it knew she was there.

When a droplet of blood fell on her clothes from above, she knew she had to move. A millisecond after she jumped away, those maws closed around the space where she had been crouching. The demon snarled, realizing it was not grinding a human between its huge teeth, but air and the bone fragments of its last kill. She gasped as it roared, with a sound similar to a boar, if it had mated with a lion.

A claw slammed near her, only missing due to her fast run. Her eyes shed tears, seeing many bloody corpses on her way, most mangled and torn. It could keep feeding, but it actively chose not to. Though it had the intelligence of a beast, it could recall how it had been kept in chains, how it had been mocked and toyed with.

It could resent. And in its rampage, it was engraving that sentiment into her heart as well. In the little time she had lived, she had heard how creatures like it stole everything from her people. Once, her community had lived in towns; but no longer, not ever since those angels began to soar from the north.

They had been alright, even if they struggled and tried to find a place to call home again. All had hoped to settle somewhere safe, far away from the angels that were burning everything. Their hopes were ended by a demon, yet another being that could be destructive and malevolent.

There was no way to fight such creatures, not without strength. Something people like her lacked, simple fodder for them, unarmed. She gasped when she felt a pull, something latch around her right foot.

A claw sent her to the ground and began to drag her back, slowly. She kicked and screamed, angrily. She had almost managed to reach a nearby cliff, which perhaps would have allowed her to lose it. A waterfall could have made it hard for it to sense her, providing noise and a humid scent.

She did not manage, and so, she found herself hanged up by its nails. It did not stab her, not yet. It truly was able to think, because what it was doing was nothing but mockery. Those red eyes peeked from that dense black fur, its horns and tusks looming threateningly. Slowly, it opened its huge maws, letting her dangle over them, upside down. Finally, she closed her eyes, resenting the fact that she was powerless.

There was a loud bang, and she felt herself fall. As she dropped to the ground, she realized two things. The sound that blasted in the night was not her body being ripped in half, because the beast had recoiled, forgetting about her entirely in its surprise and hurt.

She stayed still on the ground, not daring move as smoke and steam flowed over her. Even she could smell the blood, which now dripped intensely from the side of the demon, having been shot squarely. Figures emerged in the distance, marching out from the remains of the camp, hidden before by the blazes. They stepped into the clearing slowly, led by a long armoured tank, from which steam still emanated.

Judging by the sound that rattled inside it, another fierce shot was being readied. The demon growled at it, dragging a claw along the ground, hinting its intent at charging against it. And so it did. Tusks first, it was unfazed by all the shots it was sent, by the soldiers that now approached. It did not stop its lunge and managed to slam its horns against the vehicle, which was smaller than it.

The men inside it fired, and it made it flinch and bleed more, but not succumb. It tore at it, both with claws and tusks, revealing the soldiers inside it. That posed a danger… yet a man did not falter. As if angered by the stubbornness of the demon, he climbed out and stood tall on the tank. He pointed his rifle down, glaring hatefully at those red eyes.

“Stay down, abomination.”

One shot, it faltered. It slammed a claw up, trying to free its tusks, but it missed him by inches. Two shots, its side finally leaned in pain. There was a slam of tail against the vehicle, which was an attempt at sending him down with the rumble.

He did go down, but willfully. He jumped off and landed by its head. Its red eyes narrowed, the point of the rifle promptly pushed between them. The third shot did it. The man snarled, glaring down as the demon convulsed, its skull pierced enough for it to begin to die.

It took another shot of the steam tank to make it stop and drop dead, but at that point, he had lost interest. He leaned his head, apparently surprised to spot a survivor. The girl had finally stood, and now was looking at them dazedly, finally aware of her own exhaustion.

“Sir!” The young man turned and stopped looking at her, hearing his second in command approach on his horse. “Viljar, we have found no-“

“There is one who has made it, Jamin.”

His counsellor blinked, surprised by the fact. Meanwhile, he was much more angered by it.

“Obviously, only a demon would leave a child as the last to be devoured.” He holstered his rifle, and then turned away, not without commanding fiercely. “Get her to safety, and get rid of that disgusting thing. We don’t want any of those vile angels snooping again.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Though barely in his twenties, Viljar had proven to be an important asset in the politics of their dominion. He had killed many angels and had the same hatred for demons. He had seen what they could do, tonight barely another memory to add to it all.

Jamin stared at the girl, much more coldly. While Viljar felt pity for people like her, he saw potential. After all, the young general had started his rise in power like this child, tormented by the horrors that surrounded him.

He neared her with his horse, imposing and with no trace of empathy. Yet she only saw virtue in him, for he had a hand in the end of that beast.

“Now, kid, you can rest easy. It’s dead.” He pointed at two soldiers, who let down their weapons in order to near her. “Follow these men; they will ensure you are taken care of. We will make these monsters pay, we promise.”

She obeyed, taking one of their hands to be led away to their camp. They truly intended to keep their word, for they had been heading north, to push back the angelic forces that had been assaulting the region.

Even though they would fight, she was not satisfied. Something twisted inside her that day, and her eyes became even icier.