The Archangel's Promise

Do you see her? The fallen angel, descending from the heavens? Through her sinful black wings, to her glowing golden hair. A graceful white dress befitting to her angelic halo. Shrouded in her veil of light and dark, blasphemous to our creator. A storm is brewing, our savior has fallen, the prophecy foretold. A new era has begun.

The fallen angel descends from the skies, plummeting to the earth in a fiery blaze. She crashes into the earth, sending shockwaves to the nearby forests. Woodland critters run away in fear, afraid of what's to come. The angel is unconscious, as if in a peaceful slumber. In mere minutes of her arrival, a light drizzle begins to fall.

Thunder rumbles in the distance.

The slumbering angel awakens to its calling. She opens her tired emerald eyes and notices the skies above. A flurry of grey clouds floods her visions as its teardrops water the earth. Around her, a patch of grassy dirt, made from the impact of her fall.

The angel stands up and looks around. Grassy plains surrounded by a myriad of trees.

In a confused and dazed state, the angel starts walking. She starts walking into a seemingly random direction, hoping to find any signs of human life. The gentle droplets of water fall to her face but never touches her.

As she enters the forested area, she could hear the sounds of woodland creatures running away from her. She stops in her tracks and turns towards the sounds. In her sights was a stag, with an antler missing and a deer cowering behind it. The stag had many scars surrounding its body, like a tortured victim. The deer behind it had an innocent fear, frightened to the unknown instead of a reason.

The angel steps forward gently in a nonchalant manner. The two creatures run deeper into the forest out of sheer terror. In a moment of rejection, the angel smiles sadly as she resumes her original route.

As the angel walks deeper into the dense forest, she had noticed an astonishing amount of flora and fauna. Varying species of plants reside in these woods, seeking refuge from the dangers of man- made structures. However, the forest is not impenetrable. A cobbled path had been made in these depths. With it, lamp posts were installed to penetrate the darkness of the forest.

The angel continues down the cobbled path.

As she walks further into the forest, she notices an old rotting sign on the path. The sign points forward with the word 'Miltown' Painted onto it. The angel takes a quick glance at the sign and resumes down the path.

The angel draws closer to the town. A lingering scent of flames grow stronger with each passing step. The angel, unfazed and undisturbed, slowly walks to the direction of the flames. In a matter of seconds, screams of the living could be heard. Cries of children echoed through the forest seeking for help.

At long last, the angel steps foot onto the village of Miltown. The village is set ablaze. Flames pierced the sky effortlessly as the fire had been spread to all four corners of the village. However, the flames had no effect on the forest itself. The angel inspects the village in silence and examines the flames carefully.

The flames were of a vicious orange, not of human origin, but of a species that had long been forgotten by humans. Their kind had existed through multiple millennia and were defeated by the great queen of angels. Yet, its flames still rage on, like a plague.

The angel steps forward to the center of the village.

"Hey, you! Stop! It's too dangerous!" A voice said.

"The monsters will get you! Please come back!" A concerned voice said.

"She's doomed! Forget her! We need to run!" A coarse voice said.

The angel walked towards her destination as the surroundings around her began to fall into a purplish darkness. As she does, whispers of disembodied voices began to mutter.

What is she thinking? Is she crazy? What a lunatic? Get out of my sight whore! You dare defile the sanctity of this sacred land! What kind of monster are you?

The angel paid no mind to the horrible comments, instead she herself muttered a single phrase.

"May the goddess rid evil from this sacred land..."

A flash of light engulfed the angel. Her dark wings sprouted from her back, stretching meters over her body.

"The light shall be my vessel; guarding me from sin..."

The aura of light surrounding her begins to grow, the purple darkness around her screams in pain.

"Rid this accursed plague from this earth!"

The angel slams her palm onto the ground. The aura of light around her subsides into a ball and it inflates into a magnificent flurry of light. The light engulfs the vicious flames, destroying them to its core.

The battle was over, the orange flames were gone, however, the inflicted would never recover from their burns. The angel relaxes from the explosion and replenishes her energy. The remaining villagers scurry to help the trapped victims under the rubble and the survivors all cheered in unison for their savior.

The angel could not hear them. She was focused on something else, something in front of her. In her vision was a man, a figure she menaced. A charming young man of unknown age, with a striking black suit and a tie to go with it. He was sitting on the fountain in the middle of the town, smiling with vex.

"You!"

"How did you like my present, darling?"

"You'll pay for what you did to her!"

"Now, don't be like that, Iris, we all knew it would happen."

Iris grimaced, her face contorted to a violent rage.

"Don't be angry my dear, it'll ruin your beautiful face. That's all you got, after all."

The man laughed maniacally as he walked away from sight. Iris chased after him, but he was gone before she could catch up.

The angel fell to her knees, gritting her teeth in frustration.

"If only I was stronger!" She muttered.

Tear droplets fall to her knuckles, as the angel weeps.

The concerned villagers, shocked to Iris's outburst, decides to give her some space. A little child in the crowd, jumps out of the commotion and runs to the angel. The other villagers notices this too late and fails to stop him.

Iris notices the boy standing in front of him, his face concerned and full of innocence. In a somewhat awkward and frightened tone, the boy shouted.

"T-thank you for saving us!"

The boy bowed respectfully.

"So, please, don't cry miss!"

Iris gave a blank stare to the boy, confused and bewildered.

A couple of villagers began to rush over to the boy.

In a moment of silence, the angel smiled gently and hugs the boy.

"Thank you... I'm sorry for scaring you."

The boy, shocked by her response, stood still for a moment. Eventually, he caved in and embraced her.

"I promise, I will protect you." She whispered.

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he began weeping uncontrollably, as if he was sharing the memories of the fallen angel who had lost everything.