Black Wings

Chapter 2

Michael groaned softly as he woke up. He flexed his wings before folding them against his back. As much as I disliked him, I'll admit, I had always watched his wings. They were strong, powerful, and perfect. Beautiful among all other wings like them. He looked towards the rising sun, the soft light illuminating his features. But his features soon became distorted with a frown. He should be waking up to the moon high in the sky, not the rising sun.

"You didn't wake me."

"You seemed tired." I said, exhaustion evident in my voice. "Besides, I like you better when you're not talking." I added with a smile.

"You went on four patrols yesterday though, right? Aren't you exhausted?"

I just shrugged.

"Well, our patrol is almost over. I can ask for you to have the day off if you'd like."

"No thanks, I don't need special treatment."

"But-"

"Nor do I want it."

"Fine."

"I'm going to take a little nap, wake me when our....patrol....is...."

"What's the matter?"

I noticed three little dots moving towards Heavens walls. My stomach dropped. Those weren't angels, nor were they stray human souls. It was something I had been trained against but had only seen in person a few times.

"Demons." I said quietly.

"What!?"

I launched myself out of the tower. I kept my wings tight against my body, spreading them just enough to rocket myself towards the threat. I didn't know if Michael was right behind me or not, but I was solely focused on eliminating the demons. Just before hitting the ground, I drew my sword and flared my wings. I landed and stabbed one at the same time. One eliminated, but another snuck up on me and kicked my back. I was knocked over and lost my grip on my blade. The female demon removed the blade from her fallen comrade, while the male demon growled at me. He tried to lunge at me but was stopped by his female partner.

"She killed him!"

"She's the Blackwing, we can't kill her. But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun."

She grabbed me by the front of the shirt and pulled me up. Then started beating me with little mercy. I tried to fight back, but they had the upper hand. But the worst came when I had my own blade plunged into my left wing by the female demon. I bit my lip to prevent myself from crying out in pain. Then a blade was plunged into her. I used the moment of surprise to pull the blade out of my wing and into the male demon. I wiped my blade clean on his shirt and looked to Michael, who was doing the same with the female demon.

"Thanks for joining in." I said sarcastically.

Michael didn't say anything, nor did he look at me. A heartbeat later, four second ring angels showed up to clean up the mess. Michael grabbed the wrist of the female with red hair and whispered something to her. She nodded and came to put her hand on my shoulder, flashing us to the infirmary.

All healed up, I left the infirmary. As I headed towards the barracks, I was confused by the ruckus. It was our garrison, they were surrounding someone. It was Michael. They were all giving him words of praise and clapping him on the shoulder. Michael was smiling and holding his head up high. He noticed me a short distance away, and his smile faltered. So I returned to the barracks, dejected and as invisible as ever.

I won't say I'm not used to it, but that didn't mean it didn't sting. I sat on my bed, giving my wings a quick cleaning. Even though they were the reason behind everything, I prided myself on my wings. I always made sure keep them clean and my feathers soft. Finally overwhelmed by exhaustion, I fell asleep, hoping I would have at least a few hours of sleep before I was called on another patrol.