The world moved both slow and fast at the same time. Ju'Shal could barely see anything, feeling like she was as intoxicated as the first time she'd ever drank. Save for the pain in her chest and leg, she would've thought this was all a dream.
As the ringing in her ears finally faded, she rolled onto her stomach to push herself up with a groan. The pain that shot up her leg made her fall back onto her knees as she stood, making her look down and find a large chunk of wood that had delved itself into her thigh.
Sitting on her feet, she fought the pain enough to look around the desecrated battlefield.
Soldiers on both sides laid dead on the burnt and blood covered grass. Due to the explosion, some bodies on both sides had been torn to pieces with the blood still dripping. She looked to the left to find one of her soldiers laying dead on a pillar that used to be their gate. The Oracian must've died quickly, given the strange angle their head was laid.
To her right, she found a Gnome grabbing his thigh, the leg long severed in a gruesome way. He was being hugged by a Beast-Kin Lion, who was doing her best to soothe his pain.
Behind her, she saw the gate was blown wide open. Among the smoke and debris, she saw more dead and heavily wounded soldiers. Those that could move were shouting and moving those that were still alive out of the rubble. The ones that weren't that injured formed a makeshift wall to hold the enemy off the best they could.
It was only then that she realized her hearing was shot, the sound muffled in her ears. As she sighed, she looked down at herself to check for any other injuries. Not noticing anymore serious wounds, she reached down to grab a sword from one of the enemy corpses before attempting to stand.
The pain that shot up her spine made her tip over and drop the sword. If it wasn't for Vela appearing next to her, she very well would've fallen on the blade.
Ju'Shal could feel the Oracian shake her while the woman shouted in her ear, but she couldn't understand a word that was said. Looking down, she noticed the potion Vela was offering her and quickly grabbed it.
Popping the cork off, she chugged the liquid quickly before letting out a grunt. Just as the red liquid began to do it's job, Vela grabbed the wood chunk and pulled it out as fast as she could, causing Ju'Shal to sober up and finally hear what Vela was saying.
"C'mon Ju'Shal, we've gotta fall back to the second line. The gate has been blown wide open." Vela said as she looked at the army that was gathering back up. "We don't have much time."
"Thanks for the update. How many do we have left?" Ju'Shal retorted as she reached down to grab the blade she'd dropped.
"Only 10 of us are mostly unharmed. The rest are either heavily wounded or dead." Vela grunted as she adjusted Ju'Shal and grabbed her arm.
They took a few steps towards the gate, but Ju'Shal stopped Vela to look back at the army that destroyed their gate. She saw they had lost interest in them and were instead looking up at the sky with their weapons at the ready.
Following their gaze, she dropped her sword once more and turned around. The sight was both glorious and deeply disturbing for everyone. Hovering several meters above the ground was a figure in gray and black armor. The two sets of wings looked like blades lit up in a violet hue, adding a sense of death onto those bladed wings. In their hands were a pair of what could only be small crossbows with a chain three times their height connected to the weapons and floating around them.
It took a minute for everyone to finally notice the dark, angelic like being that looked over the battlefield. The strange armor they wore gave away their gender, but didn't take away from how otherworldly they looked. In fact, if anyone were to describe them in the future, they would only be given a name made up in the moment.
The Angel of Death.
Nobody could move, even the injured could only look in horror and awe at the being that singlehandedly lulled the battle to a stop.
After a few moments of looking around, the Angel looked down at Ju'Shal and spoke in a distorted voice.
"Blessed be the Moon. Are you the village under Mother's Gaze?"
Ju'Shal was shocked at first, but was quickly swept by the ray of hope that basked over her. As she fell to her knees, tears welled in her eyes while a smile swept her muzzle quickly.
"Blessed be the Moon. We thought Mother had abandoned us, I'm glad to see she has instead sent us a messenger to guide us." Ju'Shal spoke as she clasped her hands together.
The Angel slowly fell to the ground infront of Ju'Shal and offered a hand. She could see her own reflection in the glass face of the helm the Angel wore, making her feel nervous as she took the hand.
"She hasn't forgotten any of her children, and never will. Those that have perished will find themselves in Mother's arms soon. I suggest taking care of the injured while I deal with the enemy." The Angel spoke as she pulled Ju'Shal to her feet.
It was only then that Ju'Shal realized she stood several heads above the Angel. Once again, she could see her reflection in that pool of glass that covered the helm from chin to the top of their head. She also noticed that the armor to her front was torn to shreds, exposing some of her left breast and right stomach.
She'd wanted to say something to the Angel that was staring at her chest, but was interrupted by an arrow that suddenly appeared infront of her face.
It took a few blinks to realize that the Angels chain had stopped the arrow mere inches from her eye, coiling around it once and snapping it in half to bring her back to reality.
"Go inside cutie, I'll be done shortly." The Angel sighed as she turned around and rolled her neck.
Ju'Shal couldn't find the will to move her feet, forcing Vela to grab her arm and drag her over the rubble of the gate.
"You, are you their ally?" Thu'Tal shouted as he drew another arrow and aimed it at the Angel.
"Are you the one who shot that arrow?" The Angel asked as she brought her right hand down to her thigh. Some of the metal pulled away from her leg, forming at the tip of the strange weapon in her hand and melding into a sword.
"And if I am?" Thu'Tal smirked as he pulled the string of the bow back further.
"Pray that your God comes to save you then." The Angle sneered at the man before looking around. "Let's make this quick, I've got things to do."
Before Thu'Tal could reply, he saw the figure rush his mages in a flash of black. He tried to shoot an arrow to stop the Angel, but missed and dropped one of his own soldiers instead. All he could do was click his tongue and watch as his mages were killed by a strange technique and a few bolts of orange light.
"Don't just stand there, kill her!" Thu'Tal roared in anger as he drew his sword. Even if he made it out alive, this disgrace in losing his mages would be heard of throughout the kingdom. He at least needed this Angels head to protect his pride.
On command, all archers and footsoldiers began their wild attack on the Angel. Yet every arrow, every sword and spear, every spell the last Mage threw at the Angel, none of it could reach this new opponent.
Their movement reminded Thu'Tal of the dancers he saw in the capital during royal balls. As if the Angel was following an unheard rhythm, they danced through the attacks and weaved through his troops while their sword and blaster began to lay waste to his troops.
Just as an arrow was about to meet it's mark, they would simply twist and make their softened wings spin to slice up the surrounding troops. He saw one of his soldiers drop his weapon and try to run in fear, only to have his neck rung by those chains and thrown up into the air. Another spin allowed them to dodge a spear before a sword delved into the poor soldiers chin and out the top of her head.
The archers tried a unified attack, but was met by the soldier that was thrown into the air that broke their formation. All Thu'Tal could hear was screams over the hard thud of the soldier hitting the ground, obviously dead by how his body contorted.
As the Angels chain was brought back, four soldiers attacked at different angles desperately. As the Angel spun and raised their arms up, the chains leapt out to join in her dance and shred the soldiers and form a red mist. At this point, no one could listen to the orders given anymore. They only felt one emotion that caused some to fall to their knees while the rest tried to flee.
Fear.
An indescribable fear on seeing the disaster that was this Angel. They hadn't realized it yet, but no mercy was to be found from this Angelic being.
Reaching down to their thighs, they pulled out few small contraptions that glistened as they spun. Each step sent out a bolt of orange that would pierce those that ran. The clinking chains swept out to kill those that fell in fear quickly, while those that ran were riddled with holes that caused pain unlike anything they've ever felt.
Mere minutes was all it took for Thu'Tal to stand alone on the blood soaked field. The rest of his troops were either dead or begging for mercy with tears streaming down their faces. It was then they heard a noise that quieted the attempts to ask for mercy.
Laughter.
The Angel leaned back and laughed with their hands raised to the sky. Blood dripped down their chains, but none was found on their strange armor or wings.
A perfect slaughter was what anyone could describe it.
Thu'Tal, desperate to live, turned tail to run back to the main army for reinforcements. Before he could even take a step away, he felt a searing pain in the back of his knee and his left shoulder.
Looking down, he found blades piercing his body. The lifelike metal didn't stop there. It shot out and aimed back at him with a small wiggle. The pain of the chains forcing it's way through his flesh was enough to make him drop his bow, allowing the blades to pierce his other shoulder and knee.
All he could do was scream and buckle to his pierced knees. He tried to grasp at the ground to crawl away, only to find himself several meters up in the air. He tried a desperate attempt to wiggle himself free, but the chains kept wrapping and wiggling around his bleeding body as they pulled him towards the Angel.
As he reached the Angel, he was forced to spin around and look down at them. He hadn't realized till then that those that begged for mercy each had a smoldering hole in their heads. Mercy was not found on this field, but he had to try.
"P-please. What do you want? Money? Pleasure? I can provide it all for you, j-just let me go." Thu'Tal begged as he tried a useless struggle against the chains.
"What I want, huh? That's something I haven't heard in a while from someone as lowly as you. I'll tell you." The Angel chuckled in a distorted voice. He could hear it though, the light tone of a woman hidden under all of that armor.
"Y-yes, I'll give you want you want. L-let me live and you'll have it all." Thu'Tal smiled through the pain, feeling himself weakening from the bloodloss.
"I want you to give your God a message." The Angel spoke as they lowered the man to his feet.
"Message? Y-yes, I'll deliver it. I'll do it right away." Thu'Tal gave a weak chuckle as he sensed a bit of hope.
"Tell them this. The Moon is disappointed in your work on this world. I will be taking over from here. Get in my way, and I'll walk in your ashes." The Angel chuckled as she turned around and started to walk away.
Thu'Tal paused as he listened to the message. He didn't understand what the Angel meant, but understood that she belonged to the long hidden Cult that hid in the shadows. All kingdoms recieved an oracle to dispose of these fanatics at any cost. Fury swept away his fear as he roared at the Angel.
"You Cultist, you'll be swarmed by all sides by every God's armies. Do not think you'll escape all this worlds God's wrath." His breath was caught at the end of his speech as the chains tightened their hold suddenly.
"Then warn them all that the 'God Killer' has descended in this world to clean them up." The Angel didn't bother turning back. Instead, she waved and chuckled at the poor soul behind her.
Before Thu'Tal could say another word, the chains suddenly shifted, tearing through the Bear-Kin and tearing him to pieces in an explosion of blood.