FSE

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Five hours of searching and nothing. Nothing was coming up in the search for any remaining survivors from the blast that had rocked the citadel. There was nothing but the rubble of the underground room which was now half exposed to the surface where the powerful force had lifted hundreds of tons of solid rock into the air.

It had been a large circular room with one entrance, a bloody entrance that more than three dozen good men had died to simply get into the room. In the center was a cauldron on a slightly elevated area, now a crater. The walls had stone book shelves that were covered in ash and the charred remains of their content and when the searchers first arrived, there were a few bodies, not many, but a few, twisted and contorted into forms. It was impossible to tell if they suffered, only that the arcane energy that had poured from the explosion had done terrible things to the few bodies that hadn't been instantly dissolved away.

Thedius had personally inspected each body, unrecognizable in their faces and bodies, but recognizable by the armor they were wearing. Two were Templars, the crest of the order was visible on what was left of their chests. Another was from Heraleth, a small, but devout kingdom to the south with the easy to see blue undergarments that the people of Heraleth were known for. There were other bodies, but none that Thedius was looking for, there was no sign of the distinct armor that Antes wore. It was a true piece of work, forged in the fires of the heavens. It was a light chain mail that seemed to somehow always reflect light off of it brighter. Nor was there any sign of his cloak that he had that kept his face hidden.

"That's it, sir." One of the soldiers who had volunteered to come and help look for any more survivors said as he wiped his brow off with a piece of cloth. He was in his undershirt with just a few pieces of armor on his legs and elbows left on to protect him from scrapes when he had to crawl to check under debris. "We've searched the entire area."

Thedius sighed. He had expected something. Angels were notoriously difficult to kill. Thedius had seen an angel, Cormac, he believed it was, a large angel that he believed to be of the Taurus race due to the horns that stuck out of the angel's nearly, all encompassing helmet, get smashed down by a giant demon that had to be five times his size. Cormac had gotten back up time and time again after being beaten down repeatedly, always pushing forward, shrugging off the blows as minor annoyances. In the end, Cormac had the demon's head.

"Sir." The soldier waited patiently for the commander. Everyone was feeling down about not finding any sign of the angel. They were the center of the army's morale, their mere presence had turned the tide of many battles. They inspired those that had been routed to turn back around the keep on fighting. It showed the mortals that they weren't just fodder for the demons, that the angels were right there with them.

"Start packing up." Thedius finally responded. "We have a demon army to pursue." He was referring to Gorgon was had a several day head start on them already. They would need to catch them before they got to the Autumn Woods which the Templars nor the angels had jurisdiction in due to their alliance with the demons.

The Autumn Woods was one of the few kingdoms under demon control by choice. They resisted any and all incursions by the Templar or their angel allies. They enjoyed a booming slave trade which is illegal in most places. If the demons got there and alerted the king of the Autumn Woods, Belus of the Boars, the king would send reinforcements and the Templars would be forced to fall back.

The soldier saluted and left the commander to go relay the orders. Thedius watched as the soldiers gathered up their supplies and began to leave, their heads low. After the last group began to leave, Thedius turned from his position near the center of the room to leave. He looked down in the crater and saw something.

During the search, the soldiers had neglected to search int he crater much since it was assumed that anything there was instantly destroyed, failing one thing to escape their notice.

Thedius saw something glimmer unusually bright from under some displaced dirt. He stepped into the crater, using a hand to steady himself as he slid down the side down to the bottom where the glimmer was.

"It can't be." Thedius said as he got closer to the object that seemed to be a narrow piece of metal. It wasn't a blade or some piece of armor which Thedius had thought it to be at first. It was one of the metal feathers from Antes' wings.

--

Cormac sat in his chair uncomfortably, looking down at the metal feather along with the other ten angels. There were supposed to be twelve in total, but with Antes gone, there were only the eleven. Eleven of the strongest and wisest angels were at the Hall of Twelve. The hall was one of marble steps that led up to a series of seats where the angels sat and could converse on major issues.

When Thedius had reported his troubling findings, a meeting had been called and everyone had dropped what they were doing to come. They had to see it for themselves.

"We would have felt it." Another angel, Hermes, a young looking human angel stood up and pointed at the feather which was already rusting at the edges. "We would know if he was truly gone."

Hermes had been one of Antes' many students nearly a millenia ago and had looked at him like an uncle. It was no surprise that he was taking the news the hardest out of anyone there.

"Do we not know when one of our own dies." Hermes cried out. "There's always been some sign that we've felt." He spoke the truth, whenever an angel did fall, which was very rare, every angel knew immediately. This was simply referred to as the Death Rattle, the last thing an angel did before dying.

Cormac nodded, his arms crossed across his chest. "I agree with Hermes, there was no rattle." He said and set down his great helmet onto the ground so he could stand up and address the rest of the group. All eyes went to him. "I do not believe that he has left us."

"Then where do you suppose he's gone?" A jaguar that wore pitch black robes with its hood down asked. Dubra was a newer addition to the twelve and was often a voice of doubt, always challenging all claims. Dubra had taken up the mantle of ensuring that nothing was passed by the twelve without ensuring some thought was put into it.

"I don't know." Cormac sighed, but did not give up. "But I have an idea. The mortals have traced some sort of after effect of the blast to the Autumn Woods. They've already sent two to investigate and the demons are heading towards it as well."

"Yes." Hectate a white mare who had spent many ages studying all types of magic spoke. "This after effect does have some peculiar attributes to it. I think it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on it."

"I can go down." Hermes quickly offered. "I am the fastest of us, I can go down and assist the mortals."

"I would advise against that." Dubra interjected much to Hermes' annoyance.

"Why do you always doubt?" Hermes snapped. "Do you not want to see if our friends still lives?"

"He does." Another angel, Anu, the leader of the angels finally spoke up after sitting out for some time. "It is his position to always doubt. Without doubt, we become complacent and too quick to act."

Hermes bowed his head down. "I'm sorry. I was too fast to assume."

"We understand your feelings, Hermes." Anu said and Hermes sat back down. "We are all eager to find out lost brother." He was now addressing everyone. "Antes is one out wisest and oldest the loss of him would be one that we would not easily recover from. However, Dubra's comment has merit." He looked over at jaguar and nodded for him to continue.

"Thank you, Anu." Dubra said quickly. "As you yourself said, Cormac, this magic from the explosion has settled in the Autumn Woods, have we not forgotten that they are allied with the demons? We cannot simply stride there and go rummaging through the leaves. It would attract too much unwanted attention and then we would never be able to truly know anything."

"What do you suggest then?" Anu asked.

"The mortals have already sent some to investigate, they will get the truth." A few in the room murmured agreeing tones, while the rest remained quiet.

"You suggest that we just sit on our hands?" Cormac responded.

"I suggest that we do not do anything that will complicate the situation more." Dubra responded swiftly, already anticipating such a response. "We can't afford to expand this war, not now, there's too much going on already."

Cormac wanted to keep arguing, but Dubra was right. The angels had a lot to do with very little time to do it.

"Is there anything else that needs to be said?" Anu asked. No one spoke up, though many did want to keep the argument going. Antes had a lot of friends within the twelve. "We shall remain vigilant." He looked over at Hermes who was brooding, his wings brought tightly up to his body and quivering slightly. "If any word comes, you'll be the first to be notified. Now!" He stood up and the rest of the group stood up with him. "This meeting is adjourned."

The angels filed out of the room to return to their duties, but Cormac stopped Hermes before he could leave.

"Do you want to talk? I know that you looked up to Antes, we all did."

Hermes sighed. "I'm good. It's just that it seems as if we're doing less and less each day. We barely help the mortals anymore. Antes was only allowed to go down in the first place since it was an arch-demon causing trouble."

"You know why we're pulling back out aid." Cormac said, even though he agreed that they should have been doing more.

"I know." Hermes said. "There's a lot of preparation and the mortals need to learn how to live without us."

"They have become rather dependent."

"When are we going to tell them? When are we going to let them know that we're not always going to be there. The last time this happened, we waited too long and there's no way of knowing how that affected the mortals."

"Soon." Cormac said. He didn't know how soon the mortals would be told that they would have to fend for themselves in less than a decade. "Enough of that though. I'll stick close to Anu, as soon as word comes up, I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thanks." Hermes smiled at the big bull. "I know he's still alive."

"He may be old, but he's one of the best. If anyone could have survived, it would be him."

--

Antes stood in what appeared to be an endless white room. He called it a room even though it seemed to go on forever in every direction. There was no indication that there was even a wall, ceiling. The only thing telling him that there was even a floor was the lack of him falling since he didn't currently have wings.

After the blast, there had been nothing and the angel believed himself to be dead, but he began to doubt that now. He had died once before when he had left the mortal realm, and he remembered it clearly. There should be pain and disorientation as the soul was torn away from the dying body, but he felt lucid and calm.

"If I'm not dead..." Antes rubbed his chin which was exposed to sight. He was not in his traditional battle wear of light mail with a thick hooded robe over it. He was in a single white wool tunic with sandals, much like how he had been when he had first stood before the gates of heaven.

There was no gate this time, only the white.

The place was at a comfortable temperature and humidity. Antes felt no discomfort of any kind as he elected to walk in a random direction.

Antes felt strange without feeling the familiar weight of his wings which he had grown so accustomed to. The way they were always there, pulling at his shoulders slightly, forcing him to lean slightly forward to prevent himself from falling over since he was only a short man.

Antes was an older man that would have resembled a healthy forty year old with a lean build not suited for combat which was why he like to use magic instead.

Antes didn't call out for anyone as he walked with nothing to tell him if he was even going anywhere. He just kept walking, he had existed for centuries, he could wait some time before he felt the urge to call out for help.

It wasn't long before something started to change. There was a crack in the whiteness, a small, tiny really, crack in the distance. If it wasn't for the blinding whiteness, that contrasted with any sort blemish, most would have missed it in any other environment.

Antes started heading towards the crack. As he got closer, the crack got bigger and bigger until it was about as tall as he was and was just a few feet away.

"Fascinating." Antes said as he reached out the touch the crack that seemed to be just floating in the air. Antes compared the crack to a few spells he had seen which often had to do with creating a small hole in the fabric of the world to see another part of the world. It was unstable magic, not as volatile as portal magic, but dangerous nonetheless.

"Did that explosion do this?" He mused as he decided to take a peak through, hoping to get an idea of where he was.

He wasn't sure what he was looking at as he saw a young woman in some sort of unfamiliar clothes that were on her loosely. She looked back at him, or rather past him. She looked distressed.

"What?" A voice called out. It permeated through the entirety of the place as if the voice was coming from Antes side of the crack. It seemed to be everywhere at once.

"You two alright?" Another voice spoke, but this one came from the crack. Someone outside of Antes' small field of view was speaking. "What's going on down there?"

The room was getting a little hot as the view from the crack shifted a little and a paw came into view. The finger's wiggled and the room got cold, dropping from a summer day's temperature to a autumn evening. The view jerked slightly as a human hand came into view, resting on a shoulder that was very close to the crack.

"You alright, bud?" A face, a human in his twenties as also wearing strange clothes that looked like they provided no protection at all looked down with some concern etched on his face.

Antes noticed how the two had looked at the crack, they didn't look past it, it seemed as if they were looking right at him. In a way they were, Antes realized that he was looking through the eyes of someone else.

He continued to watch since he had no other things to due and even if he did, he wouldn't have left. He was intrigued by the thought that he was piggy backing in what Antes hypothesized to be some unused corner of someone's mind.

The group of people, four in total, including the one Antes was experiencing left behind a burnt structure of some kind.

Had they been hiding in there? Antes wondered about them more and more as they bumbled about the woods which Antes had also correctly guessed to be the Autumn Woods.

We watched as the group settled down and started to make their camp. It was odd to see a group of humans travel with any other than other humans. Humans were naturally distrustful of the other races, preferring to not even venture down from the North where they lived in relative isolation. One of them, the human called Jason seemed to be especially fond of Henry, always staying close by his side and every time Jason came into view the air got hot around Antes.

Antes wasn't surprised when the slavers came shortly after the fire was started. The Autumn Woods was notorious for its slavers who preyed upon the unsuspecting, what better catch than humans who were a favorite pet amongst the nobility.

The dialogue between the humans and the slavers was short and soon Antes watched as Jason and Henry began to run off.

Antes felt useless as they ran for their lives, at least Henry was running for his life, the slavers would try to avoid damaging the humans as to not lose revenue.

"Why would they do this?" Henry managed to ask between labored breaths. The two stopped after a few minutes to get a quick breather and to see if they were being followed.

"I don't know." Jason shook his head, eyes closed. "I don't know what the hell is going on." He looked like he was about to start crying. "None of this makes sense."

"Come out, come out." The boar came into view at a distance, his sword was drawn in one hand and he had a spiked gauntlet in his other hand. "We've already got your other two friends."

"You don't think?" Henry whispered as he watch the boar slowly get closer and closer.

"He's lying." Jason quickly responded. "Shit." He said as the boar saw them.

"There you are." The boar had a nasty smile on his face which scrunched up his wide, wet nose and showed two long tusks.

Henry and Jason turned and ran.

As the night went on and the game of cat and mouse continued, Antes noticed something about the place he was in. The crack was growing as Henry got more distressed. Long stress fractures appeared all around, as Henry got more and more tired and wearied, the area Antes was in showed it. It worried the angel, the boy wouldn't be able to handle it much longer at the rate he was deteriorating.

Then the boar caught them.

The bolas seemed to come out of nowhere, entangling itself on Jason's legs.

"Jason!" Henry yelled out and was about to go back for him, but Jason put a up a hand.

Henry looked back and forth between Jason who was now the main focus of the boar and towards the woods where he would be able to escape to if he ran.

"Don't leave him." Antes yelled out in frustration. He had been watching the scene for so long now that he felt himself more involved than he would have like to admit. During the long night of running, he had seen them get through the struggle together and didn't want to see them torn apart. As an angel he often forgot about the smaller picture, that there were daily struggles that he couldn't fix because he was dealing with the larger threat and now that he was here and unable to do anything, he just felt horrible. How was he suppose to defend the weak like this?

Henry looked around, suddenly mystified. He had actually heard him.

"Don't be a coward." Antes yelled out. "Save Jason!"

Henry watched as the pig stopped by Jason, grinning. "You're a fast one. Fetch a pretty price on the markets of Vimora." He reached down to grab Jason.

Henry sprung into action, charging to pig, tackling him and knocking them both down.

Henry rolled quickly and was immediately over by Jason, undoing the tangle on his legs.

The pig got back up, sporting his bladed gauntlet. He was furious and moving fast.

The two began to run, but they couldn't go fast. Henry was running forward and then suddenly not as the area around Antes flashed red and the cracks spread even further. Antes winced as he could feel some pain in himself, it made him sick to the stomach as Henry was lifted to the air. The ground was getting farther and farther away as the image through the crack began to go black. The boar said something and then pure pain when through Antes' side. He collapsed as he felt as if he had just been stabbed.

Antes wasn't sure how long he had blacked out, but the room that was once white was now a dull gray and getting darker. He could hear slow and jagged breathing echo through the room. Henry was dying and by how Antes was feeling, he was dying as well.

"I'm so sorry." Antes said, he slowly got up, his gut still hurting. "I convinced you to go to your death."

"It's alright." Henry actually replied, coughing up some blood. "I wouldn't have been able to live on if I left him anyways." The tone of his voice was sarcastic. He believed he was just talking to some figment of his imagination.

"You're going to die." Antes replied, he could feel it, the wound was deep and fatal even if he got some sort of medical attention right away. "I don't think you have much longer."

"No." Henry raised his hand which he had been cupping over his wound, it was covered in his own blood. "I don't think so either."

This was more familiar to Antes now, this was what he felt like when he had first died, when he had been mortal. The pain that was more of an afterthought, the weakness he felt and the fogginess in his head, it was almost exactly like when he had died.

He remembered it clearly. He had been a soldier, a warrior, a defender of some long dead civilization. He had been fighting off invaders and was stabbed right through the gut and left to die slowly. He had laid there for hours, slowly bleeding out until death took him. It had been dark, much like it was getting now.

"I'm so tired." Henry said though he wasn't talking to anyone in particular, just stating how he felt since he couldn't put together coherent thoughts.

Antes tried to think of ways he could help. He had to be there for a reason, why had he been brought here?

He clenched his hands, trying to call on his powers. If he could just get some sort of magic flowing, he could do something.

He could feel a small spark within him. "Hold on." Antes shouted as the last light began to fade and Henry's breathing began to slow dramatically. "Don't give up on me!"

--

Yuri looked down at the body. It was a bloody mess and made him vomit a little in his mouth.

"We were too late." Molus said as he got up from the body. He had tried to patch the wound when the Canis was still alive, speaking incoherently as if he was having a conversation with no one. "The wounds were too much for his body."

"We'll need to take the body with us." Yuri said and spat some of the bile out of his mouth. "I can feel some of the portal magic around him."

"I wonder what he was doing out here." Molus dug into his bag and pulled out a thin sheet which he threw over the body. The blood soaked through it where the wound was, but the body was covered now. "What about the other one?"

"What about him?" Yuri sniffed a bit. "The slaver has him now, we need to go before we run into anymore."

"We can do something." Molus took a step forward. He had oaths to uphold, to protect the innocent. "We can't just leave him to be enslaved."

"We have a mission, to investigate and report." Yuri pointed at the body. "We have something." He choked on the words. Watching the Canis die, to actually see his last breath leave his body had done a number on the ferret. He really just didn't want to go off and see more brutality.

"You're a coward." Molus spat, but didn't go charging off. His own mission was to protect the mage.

Yuri didn't respond, he looked at the covered body thinking about how he was too slow. He had fumbled with his stun spell too long. He could have saved him.

He kneeled down and reached out hesitantly to cast a levitate spell so neither of them would have to physically carry the body.

There was a twitch, a slight movement under the sheet.

"He's not dead." Yuri yelled over to Molus who had his back turned, gazing over in the direction where the boar had dragged the human.

"Impossible." He turned around slowly on his heel. "There was no-"

The body twitched again, more powerfully as some light actually came from under the covers.

The ferret and lion stumbled backwards as the body spasmed.

"Is it cursed?" Yuri put a simple shield between them and the body.

"I sense no dark magic." Molus had his sword out and ready. "I-" He closed his eyes and focused. "I feel angelic magic."

The spasming stopped and was replaced with coughing as the body under the covers came back to life.

"By the gods." Yuri gasped as the covers were thrown off and the Canis that they had just seen die slowly stood up. The wound was healed, replaced with red, stained fur.

The Canis looked over at the two and cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"You were dead." Molus replied.

"Nearly, but I managed to intervene just in time." The Canis flexed his hands and held it off to one side and a sword seemingly appeared out of thin air into it. "Hah good." He exclaimed. "He's magically tuned."

"He?"

"Henry." The Canis said casually. "He's resting right now, I'll be taking the reins for the time being though."

"You're not making any sense." Yuri was beginning to think that he might be hallucinating. Maybe they had stumbled onto some trap rune and they were really unconscious, being dragged off by clever slavers.

"I admit." The Canis said and gave the sword a few swings, testing his strength. "I don't quite understand either. But, I suppose the owner of this body is too weak right now, letting me take temporary control." He looked over at them. "My apologies, allow me to introduce myself." His body erupted in light for a moment and he was suddenly in a suit of steel armor with a helmet that covered his face entirely. That wasn't the most startling thing however, from his back, sprouted a set of wings, grand and shining along with a simple halo that floated above his head. "I am Antes and I have some slavers to hunt down."