God's Gone AWOL

[1] Camael Really Sucks, honestly.

Xander ducked under an awning, praying silently that nobody had spotted him.

He had been so close to the gates of Hell. —So close! Then a few angels had to show up and ruin everything. Shaking them off wouldn't be too difficult under normal circumstances, however this particular tail seemed to be more than just a chance encounter. And they did not seem to be in the mood for a civil chat. Under the peace agreement, he wouldn't be able to fight them physically, which was the only kind of fighting he was really any good at. So if there was any confrontation, he would have to come up with some other way out of it.

The most daunting thing was the realization that, if angels were following him this persistently, they must have already known about the thing he was carrying. And they probably didn't feel particularly comfortable with it being in the hands of demons no matter how innocent said demons claimed their intentions to be. Because there was no doubt in Xander's mind that this thing he was carrying was certainly enough of an excuse to get his demonic ass whooped.

Pressed against the stone wall of the building like a lizard clinging to a walk, he watched as three white figures soared over his head. They went, of course, unseen by any of the eyes below other than Xander's own. And they were flying slowly relative to angel speed, but still quick enough to out fly a bullet. They weren't chasing him now, they were looking for him. The demon on the ground didn't have time to identify any of the three specifically, and to be honest, he didn't really want to.

Once the angels were out of sight, Xander took a tentative step back out into the alley way. Pretty soon he was running again, avoiding any and all streets or alleys with any bi-pedal beings in them, so as to stay clear of as many obstacles as possible. Though his wings itched, desperate for flight, it wasn't safe to take off yet. He needed to make sure his new devout followers had lost track of him before resuming his route to the gates of Hell again. So he stayed on two feet, looking for somewhere safe to hide.

Which proved to be a mistake, he realized as he rounded a corner and found himself face to face with a particularly muscular example of an angel.

Immediately, Xander did the obviously intelligent thing and did a full one-eighty turn, cursing loudly. Then he started running in the opposite direction. However this also proved to be rather useless as another angel touched down directly in front of him. This one was gripping a blade and glaring forward with glowing, golden eyes.

Now trapped on either side, Xander resorted to the only option he had left. He opened his wings and prepared to take off. But before he could get even a foot off the ground, he was blasted back by a bolt of white light. Something fell from his body and hit the ground without a sound.

"Get the pouch!" The command was clear, simple, and immediately made Xander's subconscious fall into full fight or flight mode.

She was standing on the roof of a nearby building, fully armoured as though ready for battle. The look on her face was enough to give a weaker demon a heart attack, however Xander's face bore a similar visage of dangerous hatred. This was clearly the leader of the three. Her eyes were glowing a bright gold, reflecting the very large and threatening spear she gripped in her hand. —Okay yeah, Xander already knew he was in deep trouble.

The other two angels immediately obeyed her words. The bulkier of the two rushed forward to grab the precious cargo that had fallen from the demon's body during the blast. Xander tried to reach for it but was quickly kicked back down by the other. Although it wasn't anything deadly, that kick was the first notable act of violence between an angel and a demon since the death of Bentley Hellbourne and the establishment of mutual peace.

And although none of them knew it yet, this was the moment that the peace agreement was prematurely broken.

But the violence didn't stop there. The angel now on top of Xander struck another blow across his face. Then another. Then another. Never once stopping to consider why he didn't fight back or even try to resist.