“Interesting?” Raea asked. “Shouldn’t we be concerned?” She frowned at Pyre’s smiling face as the soldiers bustled and regrouped in front of the elephants. Michael started to approach Raea’s group.“When you reach my age,” Pyre said and tucked his pipe away, “most things just cease to matter. I’m most likely going to die within the next decade. Minor things like rebellions don’t affect me; I wouldn’t even care if the capital was overturned and ran by demons.” Michael stood on a layer of wind and floated up to the top of the storage chest. He walked behind Pyre.“Pyre,” Michael said.The blindfolded angel continued to look off the edge of the storage chest. “Michael,” he said. “I borrowed Miss Caelum as a guide. I hope you don’t mind.”“I don’t,” Michael said, not sparing a glance at Raea. “I need your opinion on where to go from here.” Pyre raised an eyebrow. “Ishim’s side clearly has the advantage of the terrain. Our troops are a higher caliber than his however. The problem is we don
“I can finally move,” Palan said as he sat up in bed. He clenched and unclenched his hands while laughing. Cleo climbed off of Palan’s legs and rubbed her eyes. She let out a yelp and curled up into a ball as a loud banging sound resounded through her ears. Powder fell off of Palan’s fist as he brought his hand to his side. There was a new fist-shaped hole in the wall next to him.Raea sat up in her bed across the room. “Palan?!” she asked as she threw off her blanket. “What happened?”“What’s going on?” a sleepy voice said. The door opened and Pyre stepped inside the room. The army had traveled to the outpost under much harassment and occupied it quite easily because it was empty. Uzziel was willingly replaced by Pyre as Raea and Palan’s watcher. “Young people are so lively.” Pyre yawned and pulled up a seat. He sat down and took out his pipe.Palan glared at Raea as she approached him. His contractor hesitated before speaking, “You’ve recuperated? That’s great.” Palan’s face hardene
“This doesn’t feel right, Ross,” an armored angel said. He was holding a shovel that had dirt on the tip. Next to him, an angel was leaning against a tree with a shovel by his side. Sweat dripped from his brow, and he used the back of his sleeve to wipe his forehead.“That’s because it’s not, Kore,” the angel called Ross said. He sighed as he stared down at the mound in the earth between them. “This isn’t what we signed up for, but what can we do?”“Why don’t we run away?”Ross snorted. “And get captured by Solra’s dog?” he asked and shook his head. “Let’s just hope this all blows over peacefully. We can just say Captain Ishim forced us to fight for him once we lose the war.”“But what if Captain Ishim wins against General Michael?” Kore asked and glanced at the end of his shovel. “Then everyone is going to be executed by the council. Let’s run, Ross. We can make it. The outpost isn’t that far from here. We can alert the general, maybe even—““Stop,” Ross said and threw his shovel ont
“What are you staring at?” Palan asked as he bared his teeth at the guards standing on the watchtowers of the outpost walls. Palan wondered why Ishim’s army abandoned the fortified area for a glade in the middle of the wilderness but shook his head and inhaled as his ribs throbbed.“Should we let him in?” one guard asked the other. “Wasn’t Jeb supposed to be looking for him?” The guard leaned over the railing and shouted down at Palan, “Where’s Jeb?”“What kind of name is Jeb?” Palan said and snarled. “Open the gates, or I’ll open them myself!”“I think we should open the gate,” the other guard said and readjusted the handkerchief hanging around his neck. “He’s the mini-tyrant’s demon after all.”“Mini-tyrant?”“Yeah,” the handkerchiefed angel said. “You know, the Tyrant’s little sister. People are calling her the mini-tyrant now. I heard that she got into a fight with Uzziel over the quality of the food and killed his demon.”“Over food? Just what I expect from that man’s little sist
“You’re done already?” Raea asked and looked up from the book she was reading. The glowing blue light on her chest started to dim while Palan got off his bed and stretched. She was using the light to read in the otherwise dark room.“I don’t feel myself getting stronger anymore,” Palan said with a frown. He stood up straight and twisted his body while reaching down, touching the back of his feet while keeping his legs straight. Cleo tried to imitate him but fell over. “If it’s not working, then there’s no point in continuing.”“Oh,” Raea said and nodded. “I don’t know much about demon growth, but maybe Pyre can—“A snore interrupted her. Pyre’s head hung low, his chin touching his chest. A line of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth onto his brown robe. He was sitting in a plush armchair with his arm hanging over the armrest, his pipe on the floor. Raea blinked. “Or not.”Palan stepped to the window and pulled aside the curtain. The yellow moon hung in the sky. Palan squinted hi
A moment of silence passed as Palan unsheathed and sheathed Anidun’s dagger before strapping it to his waist. “Why would you even want to kill an archangel?” Raea asked. “Did Michael leave that bad of an impression on you?”“Didn’t you just say we shouldn’t be talking about this?” Palan asked in reply. He stood up and glanced out the window. The moon was still visible in the middle of the night sky.“Yes. But I got curious,” Raea said and scratched her cheek.“I just wanted to name a price that old man couldn’t pay,” Palan said and glared at Pyre. “His smug face was bothering me.”“Oh?” Pyre asked as he pat the floor around his chair with his feet. He stepped on his pipe and broke out into a smile. “Is that so?”“You’re not lying to me, right Palan?” Raea asked gazing at Palan’s face.“Of course not,” he said, his countenance unchanging. “Have I ever lied to you before?”“Well, you did deny making a promise with me,” Raea said and crossed her arms over her chest. “I still don’t get wh
Palan returned to the area where he killed Ross and Kore. By the time he arrived, the second sun was beginning to rise. The angels’ remains were missing, only a bloodstain and a few flecks of flesh proving that they were even there. He narrowed his eyes at the scene and continued forward, heading towards the impaled heads in the distance. They acted as a demarcation between the forest he was in and a valley that was obscured by vines.The forest was unusually quiet as Palan passed through it, occasionally stopping near bloodstains. He wasn’t sure if they belonged to angels or wild animals, but he had the feeling that it was the former. As he got closer to the macabre border, he began to see skeletal remains decorating treetops, causing him to raise an eyebrow. The amount of dried blood on the tree tru
Palan frowned, the smell of metal entering his nose. Faint sounds and discontented grumbles entered his ears. “Can’t we just give up, Jeb?”“We’re not going back until we catch that demon. I’ve never failed a mission before, and I don’t plan on failing one now.”Palan turned around to glance at Madison who was still hopping after him. She didn’t seem to notice or care about the group of angels ahead, preening her feathers. She raised her head and stared back at Palan. He sighed and asked, “Just how long do you plan on following me?”“I’m not following you,” Madison said and tilted her head. “You’re following me.” Palan took a step backwards. Madison hopped one step forwards. She let out a ch