TRYST // Philza X Reader

6

Whatever had been about to kill you burst into flame as the blade cut through it's skin, staggering away from where you were curled on the ground. You watched as the thing - it had been a zombie - tried to run, only to be hit again and collapse to the ground, still burning.

Your eyes drifted upwards catching onto the glint of the sword that had saved you and following the curve of the blade upwards until you came to a knarled hand, with dirt under the fingernails. You followed the arm upwards until you reached his face - partly obscured underneath a green and white striped hat. You were able to catch onto blue eyes and the scruff of a beard underneath a mop of blonde hair though. What drew your attention most though, was the crow's wings behind him, flared out and glinting by the light of the sword. You hadn't even heard him swoop down for the approach.

For someone who hadn't been seen in over a century, the Angel of Death looked young... too young.

But then he was spinning away, wings flapping behind him so that he hovered over the ground as he sliced through anything that came too close for comfort. Even the skeletons a ways away weren't safe from his flames when their zombie counterparts came staggering too close. Soon enough, the dark forest was alight with burning undead creatures, providing a light source for you to stagger up to your feet as the Angel slid his sword back into it's scabbard.

You weren't expecting him to round on you like he did, fire in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I-" You started, grabbing onto a tree so that you didn't have to put weight on your ankle. "What?"

"There's no way you just accidentally wandered this far off the path." The Angel said. "You're miles away from any sort of village or camp - and you almost just died." He sounded genuinely upset for some reason, even though to him, you were just some stranger. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You're the Angel of Death." You said intelligently.

The Angel just sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Yeah, I am."

"But you're my age." You said. "You should be as old as the king, if not older-"

"Well, time works differently when you're me." The Angel said, cutting you off. "Listen, if you can tell me where you're supposed to be headed, I can fly you to the nearest village in that direction, and you can be on your merry way and out of my forest, alright?"

You weren't paying attention though, instead rummaging through the outer pocket of your bag until you found the scroll, still tightly sealed. You pulled it out of the bag and presented it to the Angel, making sure the seal was facing towards him, the silver dusting on the wax glinting in the light that still radiated from his sword.

"What is that supposed to be?" The Angel asked.

"A message from King Etienne, about the war." You said. "He sent me out to look for you-" Unthinkingly, you shifted your weight, causing a burst of pain to shoot up from your ankle. You winced, shifting back to how you had been standing, leaned against the tree. You kept your arm extended though, waiting for the Angel to take the scroll from you.

Instead, his eyes zeroed in on your ankle. "Are you hurt?"

"It's fine." You brushed his concern off. "I just twisted it when I fell, here." You held the scroll out a little more, gesturing for the Angel to take the message.

The Angel just pinched the bridge of his nose again. "What was he thinking... sending someone in the middle of the night... on foot no less... that bastard Etienne knows very well he could have just handed it off to a crow and that damn message would have found it's way to me... probably couldn't be bothered to go outside, the arse..."

The Angel plucked the scroll from your hands, but instead of opening it, he just stuck the paper into his pocket, still sealed. You made to retract your hand, only for the Angel to grab your wrist and tug you forward. You slipped away from the tree, trying not to put weight on your injured ankle to no avail.

"It's not fine." The Angel said, looking down at where you were obviously favoring one foot over the other. "Grab on."

"Grab onto what?" You asked.

The Angel just rolled his eyes, using the hand that was still wrapped around your wrist to sling your arm over his shoulders. His arm wrapped around your waist, letting you lean on him and take the weight off your ankle. It didn't matter for too long though, because before you knew it, those powerful crow's wings of his were lifting you both up off the ground, and the slight weight you had been putting on him turned into you clutching on for dear life.

The Angel's arm tightened around your waist, and you could feel something of a laugh rumble through his chest as he picked up speed, lifting you above the trees. The night sky opened up above you, and the forest spread out like a blanket underneath your feet as the Angel flew you across the sky, heading out to somewhere you didn't know.

If you looked back, you could just see a speck of light in the distance - the castle and the capitol. It didn't seem so far away as it had from down on the ground, but then again, everything seemed smaller up here. You were just happy that your heart was still comfortably seated in your chest, and that the scroll was tucked away into the Angel's pocket.

Even though you had almost died doing it, you had gotten the message to the Angel. Now, you just had to get him to comply to what the king was asking - for the sake of the war, and for you own sake.