Prologue of Part One: To Earth

Prologue

         Various silverware rattled as the commander’s armored fist hit the table. “Dammit, Alex, you’re talking about your own brother! How can you say something like that?”
         Alexander Victoris looked at the man coldly. With his legs crossed and his hands folded in front of him, he would more fitting in a comfy chair, reading a book in a nice, heated library. A stark comparison to a tent in a freezing battlefield. “It’s either him or them. This isn’t war. This is a meaningless massacre. If the only way to end this is through his death, I’ll do it. Gladly.” He stood up abruptly, startling the armor-clad man. “This energy...he’s starting again.” He grabbed the sword leaning against his seat. “We’ll see what he’s up to this time.”
They exited the tent to see Gladys waiting for them. Clothed in a winter dress, her beauty hid her deadliness in battle, but even the ‘Invulnerable One’ seemed to be worried. “Honey...it’s Nathaniel. We need to get there now. He seems to be...losing control.” As soon as she finished speaking, a giant explosion lit up the entire night sky a few kilometres away, changing the dark night into a glaringly luminous white.
“Understatement.” Her husband said under his breath. He unsheathed his sword, a beautiful weapon that was pitch-black on one side and a dazzling white on the other. “Let’s go. Oh, I think it’s best if you stay behind, commander.” He said, grinning bitterly. “Family matters need to be handled privately.” Before the man could respond, the couple’s surroundings blurred and warped as Gladys moved them instantly to Alexander’s brother.
         Nathaniel was a sight to behold; the man was shirtless despite the cold and had eight pairs of wings sprouting from his back. He was exuding waves of energy that far surpassed any human, so much so that it would have been a daunting task for a normal person to even stand in his presence.
         Even severely limited, an Archangel’s power is overwhelming...If we’re exposed to this aura for too long, it could prove fatal, Alexander thought. Gripping his sword, he was prepared to charge his opponent when Gladys stepped in front of him.
         “Stand back. Even if he’s your brother, he might be too much for you, honey. If I don’t make it...” Alexander could tell from her voice that she meant when, not if. He decided that should she ever lose, he would use everything in his arsenal to win. He watched, sword in hand, as his wife slowly approached the insane man, ripping her dress off to reveal her usual combat outfit.
         He watched them spar for an hour, some of the blows too fast to follow.
         He watched her slowly tire.
         He watched her fall.
         He was running before he knew it.

         A young soldier who had been dozing was woken up by his partner, who was shivering because of the weather and fear. He pointed to a distant shape in the blizzard, a giant thing that was moving towards the camp rapidly. Before they knew what to do, they heard the thing cry out for help. “Get medics! Healers! Apothecaries! Now!”
         When the voice got nearer they saw that it was not one thing, but three; a man was carrying two bodies, one on each shoulder. On closer inspection, they saw that the man was Alexander, legend of the battlefield. “I SAID NOW!!!” He roared. When an assortment of the medical field came, he carefully lowered the body on his left shoulder down onto the stretch they had brought with them. It was his wife, Gladys. She was a sight to behold, with countless cuts on her body and blood coating the area around her mouth.
         A healer brought another stretch for the body on his right shoulder. When Alexander saw this, he simply shook his head, walked away from the crowd, into his quarters. Had one entered the tent with him, they would have heard the sobbing of a desolate man over the body of his beloved brother.