An angel and a demon

" If I could change the world, I would make sure there would no longer be animosity between the angels and the demons," She whispered into my ear as we lay in each other's arms under the starry night sky, appreciating the constellations that lay above us while dwelling in the other's comforting presence. Her voice sounded optimistic as she recited her dream of a world void of war, where the two opposing races could live peacefully beside each other. As the night grew older, she cuddled closer to me and I noted the faint shine of hope that her dark eyes possessed and with a pang of regret, I knew that it wasn't mirrored in my own pair of light grey eyes. Ah! She is the dreamer, an optimist who's living up to her persona as a female angel while I'm the male demon, knowing the hard knocks and pain that the world offers.


Sensing my silence, she propped herself up on her elbows, her cascade of dark curls
falling over her shoulders, framing her beautiful face as she looked at me. Lovingly, she runs her delicate fingers through the short silky strands of my white blond hair, her fingernails gently massaging my scalp. “What’s the matter, my love? Don't you agree with my wish? For a world of peace where we can be together?" She queries, her orbs never leaving my aristocratic face of Adonis-worthy features. Letting out a sigh, I cupped her cheek in my large hand, drawing a design on the smoothness with my thumb." I wish this dream of yours could be reality, cara" Her sweet face continued to gaze at me with love as I imprinted her face in my mind for the fear that we will never meet again always lay near. Every time I see a lifeless angel on the battlefield, my heart thumps wildly against my chest. Panic and fear surging through my veins until I, myself had confirmed that it was not my lover who lies dead. Every night, when the others rest and tend to their wounds that the war had given them, we meet near the ancient tree, away from the prying eyes of our contrast societies, involved in a forbidden relationship, the love between an angel and a demon.


She stops caressing my hair and started to trace my facial features with intensity instead. “Are you trying to memorize my handsome looks, cara?" I teasingly ask my lover. “I already see you in my mind's eye, my love. I just want to look at you and dream of you tonight," Her answer is honest, sincere and the simplicity of it brought a lump to my throat. We fell asleep that night, her dark head resting on my torso with my arms around her, both of us dwelling in the comfort from the other's warmth. The steady rhythm of her breathing lulls me to a sleep of sweet dreams, foreign to a demon like me. It was certainly a view to behold, the sight of an angel sleeping peacefully in the embrace of a demon is something you didn't see everyday.


Now, I stand tall in the middle of the battlefield, screams of pain and horror seems to echo from all around me as the war continues its rage. The weight of the sword in my hand went unnoticed as my grey eyes look among the fighting angels and demons, among the corpses on the ground, some which I knew while others were merely acquaintances or strangers, vainly searching for my lover. An angel raises his sword and points its tip towards me, a direct challenge for a one-on-one battle. Ignoring the blood dripping from a deep gash on my cheek, I thrust my weapon forward, the metal glistening with the crimson blood of the angel I've killed just moments ago. An angry growl rises from my throat as the angel stops my attack, blasting the fight to full mode. Over his shoulder I could see my lover, looking at me with a mountain of hope that I will be victorious although resulting in the death of a fellow angel. In a short careless moment, lack of defense, my enemy's blade manage to inflict a deep cut on the wrist of my sword's hand, causing a throbbing pain as drops of my blood fall to the ground. I could see the horror on my lover's face as I try to hold the sword steady in my injured hand, as she battles with an opponent of her own.


Grinding my teeth together, I strike the angel with such force and anger that the moment my blade made contact with his flesh, the angel was enveloped in flame, his scream of pain and agony turned to silence as the inferno consumes him, leaving nothing but ashes. Never make a demon angry for the anger will flow to their attack and will only end with a repercussion. My lover was standing her ground against the demon, defending herself vigorously as her opponent inflicted blow after blow. It was the first time I saw her in action and her skill and agility in swordplay surprises me and also amazes me as I had portrayed her as the image of gentleness in my mind. Her pair of dove-like wings was folded demurely on her back, the pure white feathers glistened in the sunlight, the image of her on the battlefield left me speechless.


A sudden stab of immense pain through my lower torso took me completely by surprise. My hand pulled out the arrow slowly before throwing it to the ground and turning to face my opponent, fire in my grey eyes. Another angel stood a few feet away from me, a sword in his hand. His bow had been stowed away on his back, alongside his quiver of arrows. The pain on my torso became more unbearable, making me suspect that its tip had been in poison for a few minutes later, my wounds had such intense pain that all I could do was defend myself from the angel's attacks. Every sudden movement would trigger a pain that burned my insides. A piercing scream from behind me diverted my attention from my ongoing battle. The sight in front of me was the most horrifying moment of my life, as my lover had a knife deep in her abdomen, her hands on the wooden hilt, immense pain reflected on her face.


Everything else was forgotten at that moment, my enemy, the war raging around me as my hand lets go of the weapon as I tried to reach my love before she fell to the ground. The pain of my wound doubled when I caught the weight of her body in my arms, the cut on my wrist opened wider. I bit back the cry of pain as I struggled to hold on to her. "Hold on, cara" Her dark eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she looked up at me. The knife that was causing her pain was slowly pulled out and clattered to the ground as I wiped away the residues from her face. With horror, I saw that her pinkish lips had turned blue, her honey colored face was pale and her body was trembling or was it my body that was trembling? Her white robe was red with her blood and ... mine, dripping from my wound as I held her tightly. With a trembling hand, she cupped my cheek, the cold and clammy quality of her skin told me that my lover would leave me. A drop of salty liquid escaped from the confinement of my eye and trickled down my cheek and on to her hand as I held her in my arms, a dying angel. I was half aware that my opponent was watching us with shock, the same expression of disbelief on the faces of the angels and demons in their vicinity, all who had stopped fighting to look at the scene unfolding in front of them.


“It looks like my dream won't come true," a drop of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. “Don’t say that, cara" I whispered back, but I knew that Death was waiting for her and also ... me. I could feel my own life draining away, slowly but surely but I had to hold on for I wanted to make sure that my lover's dream would not die along with her. “I’ll see you again, my love and then we can be with each other" her voice became lower and with a small angelic smile on her face, my angel left me, her dying demon alone in the world. The tears were now flowing freely, never have I thought that I would do so in the open. " Wait for me cara" I whispered into her ear, fully knowing that she couldn't hear me but I still placed a kiss on her forehead before laying her on the hard ground. My hands trembled with pain as I faced the mass of stunned on watchers. I knew that I would soon follow the steps of my lover but I had to do this.


“Is this what you wanted? Death and destruction? My love died because of this stupid war and ... so will I" I coughed, drops of blood spurted out of my mouth as I steeled myself. “She wanted us, angels and demons to live together, no more of this ancient feud that not one of us remembers the cause of!" A few angels bowed their head in shame while a demon that I grew up looked at me with regretful eyes. I shook my head, silently begging Death to spare me another moment. “It’s too late for me and my cara! But you can still change the world. All she wanted was a world void of animosity between the angels and demons," I fell to my knees, beside my dead angel and grasped her cold hand. “Is it too hard for that?" I asked the mass.


The pain slowly drains away with my life as I put my arms around my love, the crowd was looking at me, no one was fighting as the whole battlefield had heard of the forbidden affair between an angel and a demon. " At least they have stopped for now, cara" I whispered into her ear, my sight became darker, my hearing ability weakened while my breathing became quick and shallow and at that moment I felt myself leaving the world behind, leaving the animosity and the war, leaving the place where we couldn't be together. We can be together at last, cara.


An angel stepped toward the pair of dead lovers and took off his white cloak and covered them but it was clear that the cloth wasn't enough to a demon who quickly took of his cloak and laid the black cloth alongside the former cloth. Both of them remained silent as they eyed each other but with a mutual nod shared they mourned the dead. It was not like the war had ended but an angel and a demon had just agreed to something, and that is a start.


FIN