A portal opened in the middle of the air over the back of a building. An angel with two teens clinging to it, had to go down twenty meters. Fortunately she had wings and could, with some effort, land. After carelessly dropping them both on the ground she complained:
- Damn it! You deceived me well. You seem small, but you are much heavier than I could imagine
- Yeah, I'll tell you the same. You look so feeble, but you managed to pick up both of us. I'm impressed. - Said Esther.
-Feeble, huh? I'll show what looks feeble here.
- Hmm. Ladies. I hate to interrupt, but where are we? - Zacharias asked when approaching the side of the street.
The boy could not believe his eyes. The view was stunning in Heaven, but it made sense to be all crazy and revolutionary there, not on Earth. He had lived all his life in Gad Semini and what he had seen was mostly made of a lot of stone, not of concrete, iron and cement. The houses had a more natural look, at least in terms of size, however seemed to be accompanied by iron and glass objects on wheels. He observed several people with clothing that covered the whole body, made of materials unrecognizable to him. The weather was much cooler to what he was used. It approached the cold he sometimes felt in the caves at night, definitely not a pleasant feeling in the morning.
Esther thought she was already prepared for these radical differences. She had always been interested in the world around them and in her clan, while observing the diversity of garments these people had, came to the conclusion that the temperature would be cooler elsewhere. "If they had more advanced ships, why not everything else?" She asked herself, several times. However, the reality exceeded her imagination at all levels.
After a brief moment of observation, Dane decided to explain:
- We are now in Alasehir or, as was formerly known, Philadelphia. The church must be half a kilometer that way. - She said pointing to a street that ended in what appeared to be a park. – We should head there now. After all, you promised me that we would take care of this quick. – The angel mentioned with a smirk on her face.
Zacharias asked:
- Not that I want to disagree with a dame like you, but could you let us accept this situation just for a bit more?
- All right, be quick.
- Thank you, beauty.
Zach turned his attention to Esther, who had shining eyes:
- So… was this what you imagined the world outside would be?
- In part, yes, I thought I would ... No, forget it, this is much more than I ever imagined. Larger, more advanced, more ... gray. It's weird. I am as impressed as I am disappointed.
- It is true. I do not know if it's this place, but even having done nothing strenuous, it seems I'm already out of breath.
- It's pollution. - Dane intervened. - Whether light, sound, or the fog you feel in the air. There are consequences for such a breakthrough technology. But you are feeling well, right? Because, if I have to carry you to every small place, then I might as well leave you behind.
- We'll get used to it. - Said Esther. - It's almost like being at the top of Moses Mountain. The air was also hard to breathe, but if we have enough time to get used to it, it won't even affect us. – The girl wondered how long it would take to acclimatize, how long it would take to move and fight at full power.
The two teens sat a bit more, while Dane flew in search of the target church. When she saw that the young had risen, she landed beside them:
- Finally! I thought you were going to sit forever. This town is not anything special, you didn't need to take so long.
- Oh, excuse me love. You have every reason to be annoyed. If I can spend a quarter of an hour looking at a paltry town, then I can look at you for a whole day. - Zacharias declared.
- Of course… - She said, annoyed to think of the amount of comments that would come. - Look, I just flew over the area around the church and, I think you should see this.
- Are there any abnormal appearances? - Esther questioned.
- Well, firstly, the church is in ruins, but I fear that the same will happen with the other six. Second, it has several obstacles that I would like you to see me obliterate.
- You?
- Of course! I want to show thee that I must be respected!
- Wait, you want us to respect you?
- Seriously? Of course , I want that.
- Well, I respect you as much as a tiger respects a deer. - Dane let out an audible sigh, but Esther continued. - But are you thinking of going alone? If someone is going without help, it's me. After all, it was I who forced you to come with me.
- And how are you going to do this without powers?
- Honey, do not underestimate her. - Zacharias advised. – She may not even come close to you in terms of beauty, but in force, she has no equal.
- It does not matter, she can't do anything against demons.
- Hmm? - Said, the girl lost.
- Look ahead. You'll see what I mean.
The church of Philadelphia was almost entirely in ruins. What remained were the four corners that once served as the foundation of the church. Esther noticed a bright light on the side of one of these, telling Zach to investigate later. The place looked more like a garden than anything else, and, apparently, was considered a tourist site. About five people wandered, took pictures and played without knowing the demons that haunted them. However their inner demons weren't the only ones in the site. A crowd of demons, with no associated human, seemed to secure the location. Dark-skinned creatures like shadows with human-like proportions.
Zach approached Esther and said:
- I think I now realize what you have been through for so long.
- Not exactly. It has never been this bad and never in such a large amount. Usually it seems that the demons are shadows of people, but here they are not coming out of anyone.
- Are you by chance talking about inner demons?
- Yes, why?
- Those are the demons that you see? - Dane exclaimed surprised. - So you really are special. Usually, only the guardian angels can see them.
- Seriously? That's weird. Why only them?
- Their job is to advise people in the form of consciousness, and lead them to make the right decisions. The only obstacle they have ahead are the inner demons that make precisely the opposite, causing them to discuss. All decisions of human depend on who wins these arguments.
- So why have I never seen an angel?
- Because that is how God wanted.
- Of course, because everything has to depend on Him. - She ironically declared.
- Look, your conversation is interesting, but I think we are ignoring the obvious now. - Reported Zacharias, pointing toward the amount of demons. - How do we release this place from all those creatures?
- Its easy. If you don't bother me, I will take care of them all.
- We will not leave you alone. - Argued Zacharias. - However great is the army, if there is the opportunity for me to be at your side, then I will take it. Don't you agree, Star?
- Well, not exactly. But in this case, you'll have to let us go with you.
"Human crap always intervene where they should not." - Dane thought, then said. - It's ok. I guess I have no choice.
The angel spread her wings as much as she could and pulled out one of its feathers, this appearing to be of metal. It had a small fist with a ring to hold, and was extremely thin and sharp, being a deadly and well concealed weapon. Esther even wondered about the reason for an angel to be wielding a weapon, remembering that she was told a demonic invasion would be eventually fought in Heaven.
Dane flew into the garden of the ruined church, immediately drawing the attention of all present opponents. Demons soon changed their posture, getting prepared for a fight. The first she could face, was able to demonstrate its speed and impressive strength, to deviate from the first two attacks from the angel and push it a couple of meters away. Dane did not give up, using all the acceleration she could to penetrate her weapon in the monster's chest. He collapsed on the floor giving way to another quartet of enemies.
The two young men were left behind because they could not reach the speed of a winged woman. Esther tried to advance, being interrupted by Zach who warned:
- Wait a second, we cannot leave without a plan.
- You are kidding? We cannot move, but Dane can?
- I trust in her ability to protect herself, as she was prepared for such a situation. I, on the other hand, am not. Haven't you told me you tried to fight demons before, with no success?
- Yes, but this is different. And, by the way, I cannot show myself weak in front of her. Come on, I know you do not want her to consider you a sissy.
- But ... – The boy tried to convince her, but was pushed abruptly into the battlefield.
The two of them ran, Esther with all her courage emerging and Zacharias frightened and forced to join. The girl quickly withdrew the club's fold from her clothes, lifting it down on someone's head. Zach got rid of her friend's hand, moving away a bit and preparing his sling. He took a few pebbles on the ground, however were small, not having the proper size to cause any damage. So he decided, in this case, to only serve as a distraction, attracting the attention and to annoy opponents. So her friends could do whatever they wanted freely.
Esther found her first opponent quickly, swinging her weapon against its head. She nailed it, and took down the opponent to her surprise, but others came to replace it. This second beast did his best to take the weapon from the girl's right hand, succeeding. She scratched her arm, leaving visible marks as well as making the arm unable to raise the club again. She jumped back to avoid another scratch and while rolling on the floor, got the chance to take the club with her left hand. She shook it again against the opponent's head and made him turn to dust. And, as before, another appeared.
Esther began to feel helpless, not knowing if she could continue for much longer, that is until a stone hit the monster's chest, and a friend began to draw attention. Zach shouted "Hey, you there, you giant poo. Don't you see that this girl cannot face you? Come here to me." The monster stood glaring at the boy, no longer paying attention to the girl. She placed the tip of her stick on the demon's chest and pushed him against the other four. She tried to flee out to recover. It looked like she was about to slip away, but a demon appeared. She was caught in the back by a fatal slashing attack.
A deep cut had been caused, making her fall to the ground helpless. She was frozen in pain and could not do anything but faint. Zacharias cried, scared, running after the friend with the intention of saving.
Dane also began to have problems after the fifth downed opponent. The moment she heard the cry of the boy, she decided it was best to leave. Flew up to a point in which the demons could not reach. She looked around looking for the "annoying" brats. She spotted Zach exasperated and running, but could not find Esther. While still in the air, the monsters began to pile up on top of each other, creating a real evil tower. Dane when she finally noticed the girl lying on the floor, had little time to meet her. Her foot was less than a centimeter from the closest monster's hand and if she hadn't moved when she did, she would have certainly have been caught. When preparing to descend toward the girl, the demons moved away, not wanting to be caught by the breakneck speed of the winged lady. She quickly took Esther in her arms and then flew to Zach to catch him as well. She flew away, until she had no more strength to continue to take them. They moved up, at most, three blocks until they landed and rest. When they reached the ground, Dane sat trying to relax, but the other two were not so lucky.
Zach went to help her friend, seeing what he could do about her injuries. He pulled his T-shirt given by Vehulah and used it to clean the deep cuts of Esther. As if it were sacred, which it was, the t-shirt seemed to be able to improve her condition considerably. The boy even wondered if it was with this intention that he was given the clothes, if Vehulah wanted it to be used for that exact circumstance. All he did know was that it would take some time to be able to have the answer, since they could not turn to Him in this demand.
The girl seemed to be now, just unconscious and not so much near death, with mostly clean cuts. Still the boy knew she needed more treatment, the deep cut in the back wouldn't be cured so quickly, so he asked Dane:
- Lady, you by chance have some healing ability that can heal the wounds of Esther quickly?
- No, sorry. Not to mention the ability to fly, to be extraordinarily fast, to be the most beautiful and the second most able with a knife, I cannot do much.
- Oh, don't martyrize yourself so much. But seriously! – The boy didn't know whether to please the angel or act desperate for her friend. - What do we do with Esther? How can we heal her?
- We could always ask God. I am sure he will be merciful and help.
- If we did that, we would disrespect Esther. She had the courage to go against God, don't let all that go to waste. There has to be another way to heal. This city has by any chance dew, eucalyptus leaves and porcupine spikes? I may be able to do something.
- I would love to see you try, however, I have a better idea.