(BLAINE)

Years ago

Villages are burning. People are burning. Demons swarm like fire carried by strong wind, scorching everything in their path. Screams rent the air as flesh melts from bone and lungs draw in the thick smoke. Only then, when the flames have finally consumed them, does the screaming stop.

But it's too late. We came too late.

My brothers and I walk through the ashes of yet another destroyed village. Another place where innocent lives have been taken. The scent of the burning flesh isn't one to be described easily. There is nothing to compare it to. It fills my senses, smelling of rot and death. Men, women and children, all slain.

"This must end." Kian growls as he kneels and retrieves a cloth doll from the ruins. One now without a little girl holding it tight. My brother clenches the doll

tightly in his fist before he drops it back to the ground. "This has to end."

Even before Zenith began his quest for power, this had been the norm. Death, chaos and even more death.

I hear what sounds like flapping wings and turn as Cyrus arrives. His pure white feathers contrast

to the dark night surrounding the burning village. Yet, his beauty has no effect on his ferocity. As the leader of a celestial army, he never hesitates to strike down whoever dares to challenge him.

"The preparations have been made." Cyrus says, eyeing us. "We must take action now when we still can."

Kian bows his head before releasing his wings, the feathers midnight black, just like the rest of us.

We are the sons of the seven fallen angels who rebelled against the celestial realm and joined forces with Zenith. Angel blood runs through our veins, but we are half human just as well. Nephilim. And, we are also cursed, bearing the sins of our fathers so that we never forget the crimes they committed.

Each one of us represents the seven vices of humanity. The evils that taint the soul. The reasons why our fathers left their brothers in the heavens and fell to earth.

I am Blaine, the avatar of wrath. The anger that is now coursing through me is screaming to be released. I won't stop until I get vengeance for all the lives lost since Zenith brought destruction to the earth.

Cyrus flaps his wings and shoots into the sky, and the rest of us follow. The time has come. And Zenith must be stopped. It's now or never.