The panicked steps echoed all over.

Screams, yells, none as loud as the strikes, the rumbling of flames. Two human eyes looked back in terror, as he rushed ahead through the chambers, hearing the steps behind him. His arms clutched desperately the books he had been reading before all had gone to hell.

A very strange hell, considering what chased, what lurked.

It did not matter; those beings were as murderous as the most feral of devils. He had seen. Blood had poured fast, from the unlucky ones who had no time to react as shadows dashed onto them.

He saw the figure cut distance, fast. Its shadow loomed closer; steps did not echo now, only his.

So he hid. He ran into a smaller chamber, rushing and crouching behind tall bookshelves. Outside, steps again. No sound of air being cut, the clanking of an armour getting closer. He held his breath, as afraid of letting it go as the holy books in his grasp. They were most probably what had caused all this in the first place; and still, it did not feel like he should let them go, not at all representative of this raw bloodshed.

It was right behind him now, looking over the chamber, looking for him.

It was obvious he was hiding there.

“Ah!”

A strong kick, accompanied by intense flames. The pilgrim heaved, pushed fiercely forwards, the bookshelf almost crushing him as he tumbled. He scrambled to his feet, dodging just in time a slam of axe, which would have sunk in his ribcage. Near, there was another door; it was locked, but he rushed to it, finally having to forget about the books.

That gave him time, because the angel halted to pay them mind at his feet. With his wings open wide, he invoked fire again, cold eyes filling with contempt as he burned them to ash.

Meanwhile, the human had been yanking at the door, knowing he was next. For having dared hold them, set eyes on their pages. Or perhaps for just being here. It really made no difference.

He would have died right there, cornered and trapped, like many others. The screams echoed from everywhere in the fortress. He would have, if the door did not open quickly, letting him fall through with a panicked gasp.

“Out! Go!” He stared up for a moment at the keeper, who had opened from the stony corridor. His glare was fierce, his eyes almost aflame under his old hood. There was barely any patience as he yanked at him and heaved him away. “Out I said!”

The pilgrim panted, falling onto his back, the next things he saw made him question all the moments he had spent in this place.

That hunch seemed to twist, convulse. Below those robes, there was now a hammer. The angel who chased him advanced from the chamber, and that mace when directly for the keeper. However, what should have rendered the hunchback into a bloody pile on the floor only made him terrifying.

Angus broke the back of his robes with a growl, letting his own wings show as much as the ones of the soldier that dared lunge at him. He smirked, seeing that angelic axe falter, the eyes of the other angel opening in surprise.

Enough surprise for him to make it his last reaction.

The human screamed in alarm, seeing an angel drop dead inches away, skull bashed in by a swift hammer.

Angus huffed, glaring down at the corpse and pilgrim, having little thoughts for the kill he just committed. He could not care, not when he could hear slices, stabs and dying calls from the guts of the fortress. This angel was not the only one who had pierced these chambers with murderous intent.

“What are you looking at, idiot?!” Angus pointed a wing forward, growling with intent calculation. “Get up your ass, make a right turn, find the stairs and keep going down! You’ll find the tunnels! Once there, don’t stop running through the fields until you see a valley! Move it!”

The man could not say a word, the angel leaping over him, dashing into the dark, right from where the glints of fire emanated.

While brown wings cut the stagnant air of lower chambers… silver ones tensed against the breeze high above.

His cold eyes looked over every single flame, every single corpse near his men, all the books turned to ashes. As it should be. Yet he wished to see something else, something he had craved to reach, incapable of truly grasping for so long.

He did not show a hint of appreciation when one angel approached him, bowing with news.

“Sir, we have secured the coast. We have found it.”

“Good.” They had taken some time to find this northern fortress; they had needed to find something else as well, something that would secure their next moves. “Cleanse the chambers, the fields. That cavity can wait.”

The humans were no threat, after all.

“Yes, sir.”

His subordinate rushed away, wings batting and opening as he jumped from the balconies, heading north once more, to inform the ones that stood by the cliffs so far ahead.

That portal and its blockage were the least of his concerns, not now.

Where are you hiding?

No, Angus was not one to hide. He knew. Whatever his old friend was doing in between these creatures was a calculated move.

All around him, his comrades moved expertly, their expressions angered, showing pure disgust at what they could see, scriptures so easily reached for so long. And as they advanced and took care of such heresy, he moved differently.

He did not scout the cold chambers seeking for humans needing to be purged. He ignored and did not assist the captains in their burning or cleansing.  In fact, he even let some maggots run away, evading his direction; he did not chase, not even if it would have only taken a wave of hand to burn them alive.

There were only two things which would make him lunge, and he knew one of them was here, somewhere. He had seen, even if faintly, through the void. It had never left his mind.

No, that day could never be forgotten, by neither of them.

At last, he heard a familiar voice.

“Einar…”

The silver winged angel had hoped to be the one to corner, to find. It was the other way around. He slowly turned, and Angus finally saw his face after all this time.

“Angus.” He barely hinted any emotion in his greeting. But the raw hatred was there, even if no one would ever discern it on his burned and scarred face. “It has been such a long time.”

“Yes, not enough.”

“Too long.”

Angus glanced subtly at the flames around them, the fortress all the darker and surrounded in black. Both their wings were slightly hidden by smoke, all alone in a secluded chamber.

“I knew one day you bastards would come flying…” He held his hammer more tightly, while Einar unsheathed a brand new silver sword, specifically forged for this moment. “But I wonder why now. You took your sweet damn time.”

“I truly regret not coming any sooner. I would have leapt with my comrades much, much sooner, I assure you. However, the elders would not have it, not without guidance.”

“Let me guess…” Einar smiled faintly, as Angus let out the only reason for which angels would be allowed to leap. “The high priest has kicked the bucket.”

“Oh, how it has stricken the hearts of our citadel. Yes. He… fell ill.”

Angels didn’t just fall ill. Both knew.

“And let me guess, it surely was due to the corruption he saw in here, surely.”

“But of course. What else. First, our world is breached by devils. Then, humans believe they can usurp our holy rule, even daring to cleanse the demons we must slay. They dare to wield forbidden knowledge, a horrible sin. This world could not be facing a more terrible path. How could the high priest endure such sights? No, we couldn’t wait for guidance, not after his death. This blasphemy and grievance must be corrected, or god will weep upon our indifference.”

Angus laughed angrily, knowing well that the elders were too fixated on their god’s will to attempt to launch another crusade, not without a clear sign. They had been forced to comply with this.

“Ha… you really begin to sound like those old priests.”

“Indeed. But I do not need their influence anymore.” He bowed his body and wings, smirking cunningly. “I guide our fight now.”

No more weak fools that would stand in his way. He had as much say now as the oldest of priests. He had made all see; perhaps he led them to wish for a different objective than his own, but it was a common desire.

“Now, this world may be bigger, Angus. But you and that… maggot have nowhere to leap in order to evade your demise. I’ve found you, and I’ll find him next.”

Angus took a fierce stance, having always known that this day would come. He spat, defiant, proud.

“Over my dead body.”

Einar glared coldly, not bothering to smile.

“That is the plan.”

——————————

 

His violet eyes were impossibly sharp, trying to pierce the sky with a horrified glance.

“It’s in their blood! It just is!” Uriel hit the reigns harder, begging the horse to be faster. “He always runs off, always! Senseless! Impulsive! And she’s just like him!”

Her voice called behind him in dread, her claws tight around his frame.

“Perhaps! But I beg you to understand!”

“I do understand!” Uriel met Ariel’s fearful eyes, as scared as her. “I do get it, dammit! However…!”

He shook his head, heaving as he tried to keep the fast pace of the huge feline ahead, the town almost there. Their horse was running as fast as possible, unhindered by the cart, both riding on it to reach the two.

Wings were always faster. Always.

 

—————-

 

Two shadows dashed, sinking into the dark of a huge balcony.

The landing was not graceful.

Alexis rolled on the stony floor, heaving as her claws finally unlatched from his frame. His daughter snarled as she slid along the ground, her claws leaving marks as she tried to stop her fast drive. Her eyes were impossibly sharp, not only due to the strain of having held his weight in the air, but because she had picked on many scents.

Her whisper told enough with just one resentful growl.

“Many.”

By how her wings had sharpened, impossibly big, he could tell already. His amber eyes scouted the dark, one of his arms covering his mouth against the smoke, while the other unsheathed his old sword.

Both blonds stood close, knowing this side of the fortress was secluded; only thanks to years of them roaming it.

“Can you-?“

“No. Can’t, it is too much.”

Not even a devil could distinguish between so many scents. Smoke, fire, too many trails of blood, somewhere, all scattered in the depths. As well, angelic feathers. She could not trace the one that mattered.

He was the first to dash; her steps were less fast and warier. She raised her bow, keeping an eye on everything, all her senses blaring.

Both knew this was extremely stupid, dangerous. They knew what roamed. They had seen some dashes in the sky, far along at the coast.

And still, they could not help it. He had cut one of the horses loose and had begun to descend fast towards the far distance on it, leaving them behind. Until he felt claws on his shoulders, two huge bronze glints over him. Though the two weighted almost the same, she had been able to snatch him up, his eyes narrowing in both dislike and understanding. He did not stop her, merely allowing her to give them both the speed they wished, forcing a stance that would not hinder her soaring. Long ago she would have not been able to make him hang in her flight, but an old four-winged demon had been right; her wings were different now, she had changed in time.

Her feral side was showing now as she followed his slow steps, her fangs peeking in her snarl, her claws extremely sharp, and her wings barely able to fold, opening extremely and brushing the black walls around them.

That would have been a sight that should have made him shiver. But he had other things to think about.

There were no screams, no sound; only the echo of their steps and distant embers. The fire had died out long ago.

It was foreboding. It was twisting them inside.

There was always sound, there was always someone around; be it pilgrims, scholars, travellers…

Angus.

He had been why they had dashed here, against all common sense. Angels roamed, and yet, they could do nothing but bolt, try to get here as quickly as possible.

God, how he knew this could happen. And yet, he did not want to think it possible.

It was possible. And a high risk. It was bound to happen, one way or another. Time never allowed things to remain stagnant and constant. It had been such a long time that he had been complacent, uncaring of those first fearful years.

“Alexis, if those bastards ever come, and be sure that they will…”

Angus had pulled him aside, once, while Ayako still lived. The possibility had always been there, present, from the very start.

He made him promise. And he did comply; that day, as he glared him down in the dark between tall bookshelves, he swore he would never dare to do what Angus had done in that dammed citadel.

Perhaps he was a better liar than thought. Or maybe he was a fool for really believing he would have a choice in the matter.

The more they dared venture, the more they could hear whispers.

“None are left.”

“And what about that disgusting settlement?”

“On it, at this very moment. No humans will roam near the temple.”

Aurora tensed, seeing her father do so too. Both heard that second whisper, and that tone.

They knew that voice.

Alexis stood frozen for some seconds. Then, he began to shake his head. Aurora saw him begin to tremble. She tried to place a hand over his shoulder… but she did not manage.

The wingless angel moved with a speed he rarely showed, his stance much more offensive, his lunge hiding him from her sight, taking a turn that took him deeper.

“Wait!”

She tried to be silent; she tried to call as quietly as possible. For the whispers had not been far.

Ahead, between smoke, Alexis slammed his back against a wall, his eyes piercing the dark. His heart was beating impossibly fast, with a fury he could not control. All his being was telling him to step away, go back, and hide. And yet, instead, he was closing in, sword raised, stalking.

He was so close… he could hear those disgusting silver feathers flutter in that stony corridor, just a turn away.

His mind was a cacophony as he fought two sides of himself, one wishing to step into view right then, the other wishing to wait, just a little longer. Both parts wanted to bring hurt as the words echoed.

“The fortress is secured. Perhaps the men need your lead out in the fields. That town seems to be… resisting. They should have come back already.”

“They should be able to deal with those humans easily. Must I really go through that portal and request reinforcements myself?” Alexis growled silently, the next words ominous. “Unblock it fully, return home, and finally announce our successful siege. I shall linger here until you come back with guards. I shall not leave yet. I must… dispose of something, myself.”

By the time Aurora dashed close enough to Alexis, that second angel seemed to have moved away, following the commands of his superior. A silver angel was alone, right ahead.

Her blue eyes looked at amber ones. She mouthed a no, shaking her head. Her claw was right around her bow, her wings trembling. She begged him silently to wait, for that horrible being to walk away too.  There was something in the air, something that was making her twist inside. They needed to wait.

But he… could not wait any longer.

It was not a dash. Nor a lunge. Her breath halted as she saw him simply take one step, face the long corridor ahead.

As he did, with a piercing glare, the figure sensed his presence.

Einar turned slowly, his cold eyes seeming surprised. But that surprise seemed a pleasant one. He turned fully, stopping looking over his shoulder. Both angels pierced each other with their stares, keeping silent for a few seconds. No smoke could hide the recognition, the hatred in their gazes.

The pure venom in his greeting.

“And I thought I would need to burn everything in this world to make you come out…”

The runes of the golden sword seemed to glint, anger coursing through the one who wielded it.

“Where is he?” Alexis took a step closer, blade pointed firmly, even if Einar had raised his new one as well. “What have you done to him?!”

He could not care less if other angels heard, he was not being answered.

Those silver wings were open, blocking any view of what laid behind him. Alexis could only shiver when Einar folded them, with a slow move, keeping a condescending stare on him.

His amber eyes finally saw what laid ahead, those wings allowing him to.

“You-“

Einar smiled, inching closer, satisfied to be here to see his fear. His whisper echoed with pride, fulfilment.

“Two birds with one stone.”

Alexis avoided getting his head cut off that day. Today, Angus did not.