A thick smog hung in the air, the fire that had consumed the secret demon city of Dublios could still be smelt lingering in the cold wind, the last sanctuary the demon race was able to call home was no more. Dismembered bodies filled the cobbled streets, connected by rivers of blood, while hot ashes floated down from the sky burning the grass of the surrounding forest. Two people, both a man and a woman, ran down one of the few marked paths that led out of the city, trying to escape the same fate as the rest of the city's inhabitants. The woman held her wailing baby to her chest, desperately attempting to soothe the child in her arms before their attackers found them.
"It's going to be ok. I promise it's going to be ok." The young mother whispered lovingly to her child, hoping that her son would manage to fall asleep to the gentle rocking caused by her quick steps.
"Aliyah we have to run!" The father called back to her.
"We can't just leave them, Mende!" Aliyah cried out, hoping her husband would agree to her wish to fight to defend the city.
"The city has already fallen! Our people are all dead! They gave us a chance to escape!." Mende tried to explain.
"You don't know that they're dead! There might still be some survivors! Please, you and I will be able to save them! I know we can! Our family is back there, Mende! Do you want to abandon them!?" Aliyah pleaded.
"Our family is right here! You, me, and our son! Is that not enough for you!? Is it worth risking what we still have!? The angels don't discriminate when killing! You fought in the war, you saw what they did to our people! Do you really think that anyone is still alive back there, knowing what you know, having seen what you have seen!?" Mende barraged her with his series of rhetorical questions. "Besides… We have to get Russel out of here at any cost… If he really is the one in the prophecy…"
"Do you honestly believe that old fools rambling? Russel is just a baby! How can you believe nonsense like him saving us from the angels? And his soul being able to resurrect him, of all people? He's the source of every problem we've faced until now… We both saw what they did to him, no one in any of the realms could come back from that… How is it possible!?" Aliyah screamed, demanding an answer she knew he could not give.
"I have no idea, and honestly I have no choice but to believe it right now! Do you have any idea how many have died tonight? If Russel stays safe at least they will have died for something. Do you want to deny them that final honor?" Mende responded, levying a question of his own.
Aliyah went silent and looked down at the baby, trying to come up with an answer for what Mende had asked her. The baby had managed to calm down at this point and looked up at his mother with his large grey eyes questioningly. She smiled softly at the child who began to giggle and reach for her nose.
"You're right… Of course you're right… Let's get somewhere safe." Aliyah sighed sadly, returning her gaze to the path in front of her.
As they continued to run a bright light began to shine behind them, until suddenly it was right above them directly shining down on them.
"Damn it! One found us!" Mende yelled as a warning. "Come on! We still may have a chance!"
Mende quickly stopped and waited a second for Aliyah to catch up to him before roughly grabbing her hand and running once more, dragging her along behind him. He felt his legs ache slightly as they had already been running for what seemed like forever at this point, but if they didn't manage to shake off their pursuer, their child was as good as dead.
"Stop demons! We have been ordered by the Divine One to exterminate you!" A booming voice said from above them.
"Always the same with these guys… They take way too much pleasure for something they do under orders." Mende hissed.
Aliyah looked at Mende and saw his teeth clenched in anger and desperation. She smiled sadly, already regretting what she had decided to do.
"Take the child and run!" Aliyah ordered, thrusting the baby into Mendes' arms. "I'll hold them back."
Mende turned his head back violently, his eyes flashed with confusion and fear as he met his wife's gaze. His composure started to falter as he began to protest.
"Are you insane!? You'll be killed! The boy needs his mother, so you better keep running damn it!" Mende reminded her.
He was scared to break eye contact with her for even a second. After knowing Aliyah for as long as he had, he knew that if he looked away now he would never see her again. Aliyah stared back into his eyes as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. She let go of Mende's hand and spun around to face their pursuer.
"Go!" Aliyah screamed out to him.
Mende wanted to stop, but was reminded of the child he held in his arms when the baby started to cry once more, no longer seeing it's mother. Mende exhaled sharply and closed his eyes, blinking out the rare tears that threatened to form. He cast one final look back at Aliyah, seeing her silhouette standing strong and proudly against the fast approaching light.
"Damn it!" Mende cried, starting to run even faster than before.
In front of Aliyah, the source of both the light and voice descended coming into here direct view, the bright light slowly revealing the figure of the man that hid within it.
"So your husband left you to fight me alone… I don't know how but you demons seemed to have managed to grow even more reprehensible in the past thirty or so years. Any sense of honor and loyalty your race had seems to have died along with your leader." The man scowled.
"You know nothing!" Aliyah spat, voiced trembling slightly in both anger and disgust.
"Ah, but I do. I have had far too many encounters with your kind to not understand exactly what you are." The man taunted. "Violent reanimated corpses of innocents who once died, raised by the devil to fulfill his desires."
The bright light started to fade and revealed an orange-haired man in a golden suit of armor with a harp-like crest embedded in the front of his chest plate. Coming out of the golden armor were the two large white wings, a dead giveaway that she was facing an angel. But what was the most disturbing was the silver blade he held.
'Impossible… That blade… No, it can't be…' Aliyah thought frantically looking at the angel's sword. 'It's him!'
The angel started to laugh at the horrified look on Aliyah's face. Moving his gaze to his sword before stretching out his arms towards the night sky. The angel could tell what the woman was thinking, as she wore the exact same expressions as others who remembered him from the Battle of the Split.
"Why yes it is, this is indeed the holy blade Excalibur! And in case you have forgotten my name, I am wondrous Arthur. Also known as the swordmaster of the Order of the Dove, and the man who slew Satan with this very blade. While you are Aliyah Diabolous, the former right-hand woman of Satan himself. And if I was able to eliminate someone like him, I should have no problem with his mere lackey." The angel boasted, oozing a cocky confidence.
Aliyah scowled and shot a black beam out of her hand. Arthur raised his sword and right as the beam was about to hit him he cut through it. The dark energy started to be absorbed straight into the sword, which was covered in an even brighter light than Arthur had been before.
"Behold Aliyah Diabolous! This is the power of the holy blade Excalibur! It doesn't just have the ability to negate your ranged attacks by cutting through them, it can even absorb them altogether, giving it even more power!" Arthur laughed maniacally. "Now then, why don't you take the kiddy gloves off with me? Or have thirty years of being a housewife reduced you to some pitiful woman!?."
"You bastard…" Aliyah hisses, looking at the man continuing to boast.
"Show me how powerful you really are! Make it hard for me to go and kill that husband of yours! Make it hard for me to go and kill your child that you claim to love so very much!" Arthur screamed as if he was crazed, his insanity clearly showing.
"How did you know about him?" Aliyah scowled.
"The child? My dear Aliyah, did you think that someone like me would not know of the foretold Child of Rapture? How could someone like you be so foolish!" Arthur questioned as he struck down with his sword.
Arthur's sword suddenly stopped and where Aliyah once stood was a monstrous being with intense blood-red eyes, pointed ears, large claw-like fingernails, and tattered black wings coming out of its back.
"Stay away from my baby boy!" The monster screamed pushing the blade back towards its wielder.
"Incredible! You managed to stop Excalibur mid swing with only your hand! Yes Aliyah Diabolous, my hopes for you were not misplaced!" Arthur screamed in delight. "How about we switch it up a little?"
Aliyah looked at the man in confusion before feeling a searing pain. She looked down to discover she was struck on the left side just below her rib cage and began to scream out in agony. Arthur snickers before grabbing her and throwing her to the ground.
"You make my blood boil over with excitement! However, I'm afraid that this is where your pitiful life ends!" Arthur screamed as his blade ignited, covering itself in golden flames as he began twisting it in her wound.
Aliyah screamed as her flesh started to crumble, leaving a fine black dust at her feet. Arthur cackled happily as he continued to twist his blade, the screams like music to his ears, giving him a feeling that he was unable to find anywhere else. But after a moment his victim fell silent and her corpse fell off his sword as all the flesh it had been stuck in had crumbled away. Arthur started to pout as he looked at the motionless body before speaking again.
"Well, it's a shame that I didn't get to battle you any longer... It is always a joy to fight an upper-class demon. Oh well, guess it can't be helped." Arthur sighed as he bent down and plucked a single black feather from Aliyah's wings. "Yes… You'll go nicely in my collection now wont you, my new friend! Well it's about time to go take out those other demons. If they are even a tenth as entertaining I'm in for a treat!"
Arthur started to walk away before he heard a rustling behind him that grew into a pained groan. He turned around to see the charred corpse pull herself to her feet and stare at him viciously.
"Fabulous! Absolutely fabulous! You still refuse to die!" Arthur grinned, happy that his toy had come back from the dead.
"Stay away from my family!" She screamed, her whole body violently becoming engulfed in purple flames.
She clenched his fist and the flames started to swell, growing taller and more menacing quicker than one's eyes could properly perceive.
"Oh… Well this isn't good…" Arthur stared, his grin having fallen into a fearful frown.
He quickly turned around and started running to try to escape the inevitable blast. He quickly jumped behind a tree, just in time to hear a loud explosion that sent purple fire in all directions, setting everything around them ablaze. Arthur turned around and sighed in relief as he saw the woman's corpse on the ground, lifeless once more.
***
Mende's lungs and legs were screaming in agony as he continued to run along with Russel in his arms. He was panting heavily and felt himself losing his balance and his head growing light. Thirty years of relative peace had taken its toll on him. All of a sudden he felt a shockwave that threw him to the dirt. He cursed as he quickly shifted to fall on his back so as to not crush Russel under his weight. He groaned as he struggled to sit up, looking into the sky and seeing a tower of purple flames rising into the night sky from a distance.
"Aliyah… Don't tell me you…" He trailed off into a whisper, terrified at the fate of his wife. "Damn it!"
Mende wiped the tears from his eyes and pulled himself up to his feet. He scowled and began to run again, feeling as though he was hit by a second wind. He ran through the forest until he reached the edge of a cliff. He dug in his heels and skidded to a stop right before the edge of the cliff.
"That was close…" He sighed looking over the edge.
"Found you!" A gleeful voice yelled from behind him.
Mende turned his head and faced Arthur who had already drawn his sword. Arthur smiled manically and pointed his sword at Mende.
"Now then, why don't you hand over the child?" Arthur suggested.
Mende scowled as he tightened his grip on Russel. He took a deep breath and backed up, letting himself freefall from the top of the cliff.
"Very bold, however, I won't let you be the master of your fate." Arthur said blasting a beam of light at the plummeting Mende.
Mende sprouted beautiful black wings and rolled out of the way of the beam, shielding the baby. He turned himself right side up and began to glide quickly to the ground. Arthur scowled and jumped off after them, staying in pursuit.
Russel started to cry in Mendes' arms and he frantically tried to soothe his son, rocking him gently in his arms, careful not to drop him to certain death. Mende looked ahead into the night and saw a lake in the distance that he could land at. He started to use his wings to gain altitude in order to get a better chance at landing when he felt a sharp pain in one of his wings. He looked back and saw that Arthur was pursuing him blasting light at a rapid pace. Mende started to swerve in order to avoid the beams causing the child to cry harder. Each beam that was fired towards him was more intense than the last, and Mende was running out of room to dodge in a way that would keep Russel from falling. He cursed as he tried a desperate maneuver, flipping backwards at an attempt to get behind Arthur. But Arthur read his movements and halted for a moment, staying behind Mende and firing the most powerful beam yet. Mende had no chance of dodging this and instead of making a very sharp move which could cause him to drop the baby, he took the attack head-on. Mende screamed from the pain and began to fall violently to the ground. Arthur looked at the demon falling to his demise and sighed. The angel swept towards the ground and quickly arrived at where Mende had crashed. When he found the demon he was clenching part of his back in pain trying to move into the rushing river next to him.
"I think not." Arthur said as he grabbed Mende and threw him into a tree.
Arthur inspected Mende, forcefully removing his hand from his back to find a cleanly cut stump pouring blood from where his right-wing used to be. Arthur looked to see that the child was gone as well.
"Where is the child!" Arthur yelled, distressed over where his assigned objective had gone.
Mende just smirked as he glared at the angel who began to slam him against the tree. He coughed violently and spat a mouthful of blood into Arthur's face before uttering his final words.
"Better luck next time." Mende taunted beginning to laugh softly, his eyes slowly glazing over.
Arthur scowled as the demon passed on, throwing the corpse to the ground and giving it a solid kick. Mende's body flipped over and revealed the stump of his right wing once more, causing Arthur to think about the situation he was put in.
'When did he lose his wing.'
***
A black feathered wing floated along the river leading out of the lake of its owner's death. Concealed in the wing was a baby boy. He had grey eyes and a tuft of black hair growing out of his forehead. The child slept peacefully in the warm, blood coated surface of the wing. Wrapped in its soft, sticky feathers the child slept for two weeks without waking or needing sustenance of any kind, a trademark characteristic for demons.
On the morning of the fifteenth day, the wing got caught on a rock and stopped moving through the river where it was discovered by a preacher who served the Order of the Dove going for his morning wash.
The man was starting to submerge himself in the cold waters of the river when he saw a matte black feather, caked in dried blood float towards him. Intrigued, he looked around to see a trail of these feathers going upstream.
"It can't possibly be..." The preacher wondered aloud..
He followed the trail of feathers before discovering the black wing curled upon itself. The preacher inspected the wing cautiously, knowing it belonged to a demon. The preacher was about to leave as quickly as he could, until he heard a muffled cry coming from the wing. Curious, the man uncurled the wing and found a small child staring up at him, shedding tears.
The baby calmed and smiled at the first rays of sunlight he had seen in weeks and the preacher noticed the two fang-like teeth on either side of the child's mouth. Though he was unmistakably a demon, the preacher took pity on the poor child and picked him up lovingly in his arms, not thinking of what could happen to him for breaking one of the orders fundamental principles.
The baby smiled and reached playfully for the preacher's nose which caused the man to chuckle. He looked back at the wing and noticed that underneath where the baby slept for all those days there was a note.
To whomever fate has brought my child upon,
I have failed in my duty of guarding my child and have entrusted him to destiny to guide his path to new beginnings, I have no idea how long or how far he has traveled, or if this note is in a foreign language to its reader. But I trust the boy to fate nonetheless. Though I have no right to do so, I beg of the one who is to read this note to take care of the child, a boy we have called Russel.
He is destined for things bigger than anyone's imagination.
I am forever in your debt.
Though the preacher knew that his duty was to the order he served, which just so happened to be the single worst enemy of demons. But he would be damned if he was to leave a little boy without a family, or have his life taken prematurely. However, it would certainly be troublesome for anyone who adopted a child, not knowing it was a demon. The preacher smiled softly, not seeing any other option but to take him in himself.
"Welcome to the family, little Russel." The preacher said, kindly smiling down at the baby.
The baby giggled happily as he continued to try and reach for the preacher's nose. The man started to chuck and began to sing to the child in a soft voice. As he sang his song, the preacher set off back up the hill and through the forest to his home in the city of Eastcliff.