D E A T H

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DIMITRI FELT PAIN.

It gnawed at his bones, making it difficult for him to breathe. The pain sliced welts into his back, digging at the wounds that had already formed due to the loss of his wings. Even though he wanted to scream his throat hoarse, his voice was still stuck at the base of his throat, struggling to leave his lips. All he could do was writhe in pure agony, clawing at the grass and begging for the sweet release of death to finally overtake him.

Death.

He had never seen so much death before. At first, it was the battle. When Lucifer had marched into the fields with a sword gripped tightly in his hand and determination painting his eyes, Dimitri had not even thought of the possibility that he might be rebelling.

Then, Lucifer proved him wrong. He proved everyone wrong. He had brought down a mighty blow at those angels that dared to question his intentions, swiping fiercely at their heads before relieving their necks of their heads in one clean motion.

Dimitri remembered how he had felt at that moment. At first, it was just shock. The pure disbelief that an angel could bring such violence and destruction into the realm of eternal peace. Then, Dimitri felt anger. Such a rare emotion it was for angels but he felt rage boil in his bones. It crackled at his skin, making his teeth grit tightly together before he soon found a weapon of his own to fight back.

However, when Lucifer brought down a mighty stab into the soil and broke off a piece of Heaven itself, Dimitri felt scared. He became frightened when his feet began to disconnect from the ground unwillingly and within seconds he was plummeting down.

Though he attempted to fly, his wings would not comply with his demands. Dimitri could only watch helplessly as his friends and allies, along with his newfound enemies, soared downwards in an endless descent. Debris flew after them, destroying any possible path for them to fly upwards.

Before Dimitri could try for the third time to take control of his fall, a piece of rock hit his wings, yanking the left side straight off of his body when it collided with another falling boulder. Golden blood had poured from the wound, smearing all over Dimitri's back like a sin that could not be washed away.

At that moment, Dimitri knew that he was done for.

He could not even remember much of what happened next. Dimitri remembered shouting. He remembered the pain of his landing that tore off his other wing. Someone had called out his name before shoving him to one side. Next thing he knew, he could smell the coppery scent of blood once more and this time, the blood was not his.

Adelia laid just a short distance away from him, a boulder crushing her down. His eyes had been hazy but he knew that he saw Lucius rush to her side, frantic words pouring past his lips and desperate prayers that fell on deaf ears.

She looked to be dead, eyes fluttered close and chest not moving an inch. There seemed to be no life in her and Dimitri felt his heart crush painfully. No matter what, they had been close friends. Adelia had meant so much to him and now that she was gone, nothing more than a limp body held in Lucius's arms, Dimitri knew not of what he should do.

For a split second, Dimitri's eyes clashed with Lucius's ones. He was staring at a brown field, now drenched with rain after a storm and was no longer strong enough to hold its place. Lucius had destruction slashed across his features, his own form of pain blatantly showing on his expression.

Dimitri was a coward. He could not take a second more of that sort of death glare and he fled. Mustering the rest of his strength, Dimitri rushed straight into the trees, disappearing deep into the forests. His bare feet thudded against the soil, smearing his feet with dirt and mud. Yet, Dimitri did not care. He focused all of his attention on just running, desperate to get far away from the scene of his friend's death.

When he had finally stopped, it was not because he was tired or that he had reached his destination. It was from the pain that scorched through his back, feeling as though a thousand needles had started to thread at his skin all at once in perfect synchrony.

Letting out a groan, Dimitri fell to the ground as his fingers clawed at the soil. Paradise was now a graveyard with unburied sins, the world bleeding because of Lucifer's crimes. Although Dimitri had never felt heartbreak before, it was all he could feel and understand at that moment. It raced through his mind, body, and soul, reverberating in his ears like a dreadful chime that he could not drown out.

"Dimitri?"

When he heard his name called out, the fallen angel looked up. His silver eyes were glazed over and hazy, barely even focusing on the three figures that stood before him. One crouched down to meet him at eye level, face hovering close to his own.

"Are you alright?" The figure continued to examine him before the other two came around his sides. Their hands gently pressed against Dimitri's arms, lifting him up gently and careful not to agitate his injuries.

"He is badly hurt," one observed. Dimitri thought the voices were familiar but his mind was in a delirious state. He could not pinpoint the name to the voice and whenever he even tried to look at them, their faces would zoom in and out of focus.

"What in heaven's name happened to you?" Another mumbled softly under his breath.

"Adelia..." Dimitri weakly murmured. Her name tasted like misery against his tongue, something so cursed and wretched that it made his heart clench painfully.

"What is it?" The first man asked after hearing Dimitri's voice, carefully lifting his chin to face up. "What about Adelia?"

The others waited hesitantly, breath caught in their throats. The silence only crushed Dimitri more than the noise did. It reminded him of the aftermath.

Death was silent. After the war, it was a plague that swept the lands clean of life. It was unspoken misery and suffering or a sweet release away from pain. Dimitri felt that in his bones.

The more he thought about it, the harder his back stung. It felt as though someone had pressed hot iron against his skin, scoring his back with marks that will surely scar.

He groaned with gritted teeth and forcefully clenched eyes, crumbling at the knees as the two men that held him up struggled with the sudden momentum.

"Dimitri! Get a grip!" One yelled, panic tainting his words.

The earth below them trembled along with Dimitri's screams, piles of dirt shifting before a large crack split in the middle. For the second time in the day, they started to fall.

However, this time, it was into the unknown.

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