Seventy years later

"Attack!" Amira yelled at the top of her lungs. With one mighty heave, her wings exploded forward, the midnight color stark against the grayish sky. With her powerful wings, Amira felt unstoppable.

Ten echoed her screech with his own hoarse cry, his wings raised in challenge. With his face filled with hunger for blood, eyes gleaming, he charged for the incoming fray of teeth and claws. 

Amziel lifted his shining sword, his expression harsh as he strode forward, wings arched above his blond head. One smooth slash and four demons fell back with gaping bellies.

Amira's blood pumped even faster through her veins, as the foul scent of demon filled her nostrils, triggering her Warfire.

Instinct roared inside her, begging her to leap into the throng of demons. Her eyes tingled, signaling the change of her normal brown eyes to unnatural red. Her vision sharpened. 

With a cry, she ripped two throwing daggers from their sheaths, launching herself at a demon with reptilian eyes.

He didn't stand a chance. With a shrill whistle, the dagger buried itself in the center of his black throat. A moment later, Amira yanked the dagger out and darted past his slumping body.

Pleasure blossomed inside her as she sliced, lunged and dodged. Her wings slammed into her opponents, knocking them off balance while she lunged in for the kill. Her Warfire roared in victory as she sliced a demon's throat with practiced skill.

A few feet away, Ten bellowed a challenge, his big body slamming demons aside, even as his battleaxe decapitated heads in his way.

A distance away, Amira could see Amziel's white blond head bobbing above the mix of dark shriveled skin, the sword flashing in his hands.

A sudden roar from her left caused Amira to jerk her head up. A demon had crept up on Ten from the back, digging into his broad back with long claws.

Fury bubbled inside her stomach as she flung one of her daggers into the demon's shoulder, sending him flying to the ground.

Ten stared at her with crimson eyes, devoid of reason, even as blood welled from new scratches on his back. She threw herself back into the battle, her daggers dripping with blood. The next few minutes she passed in a trance. There was nothing in the world besides her daggers and the vermin they exterminated. Spinning, she danced her way across the battlefield, mindless of the screeches and growls echoing in her ears.  

The last demon gave a small cry as Amira's dagger slit its throat. Her Warfire flamed before it died down as the body fell forward, next to her feet.

Ten limped to a stop next to her, staring at the dead demons in front of them. "Well, that's another horde down," he murmured.

They were in the outer rings of Hell and around her, Amira saw black grass and scraggly trees. Ahead, a long narrow bridge of bones disappeared into the blackness. This was as far as they went for no angel would dare to enter the inner rings of Hell. There was no saying what laid waiting in the darkness. 

They had been fighting hordes of demons for years now. This was probably our thirteenth horde this month, Amira thought, gazing at the felled bodies of the demons. Seventy years ago, thousands of demon hordes were able to attack Heaven through a rip in the space continuum, leading to the deaths of hundreds of angels. The archangels couldn't close it and so the La'ziel were created to keep the tide of evil at bay.You know, saving Heaven from death and destruction. Yet, this time, there had been so many hordes of the rats. Amira couldn't help but feel weariness settle in her bones.

Under her feet, blood squelched in the black grass. 

"Shit," someone cursed behind her. 

Amira turned to see Ten drop down to one knee his red eyes flashing to blue again. When he looked up again, pain filled his eyes and Amira winced as she looked over his wounds.

"Damn, Ten," she winced as blood trickled from his multiple wounds. Ten was always the first to lose his Warfire after a battle. Amira wondered if it was because he fought so hard in each battle.

He groaned in pain as Amziel walked to them. His white blond hair was streaked with black blood and gore painted the black shirt he had on. His pain filled expression told Amira that he too had lost his Warfire. Numerous cuts and slashes painted Amziel's body. Amira could see the sweat beads on his forehead.

For some odd reason, Amira didn't think her Warfire ever stopped. While other La'ziel angels seemed to only have Warfire when they fought and lost it once they stopped, Amira felt her Warfire every minute of every hour. Her Warfire was a constant companion and was probably the reason why she didn't feel as much pain from her battle wounds. Because she hadn't heard of anyone retaining their Warfire after fighting, she never told anyone. She had learned that the best way to survive was to shut your mouth and do as you were told.

However, it did come in handy as she would always be ready. Even when her Warfire was slow and reduced to a few small flames, it protected her from some hurts.

It also made her a better fighter.

Amira glanced down at her arm, watching the long gash slowly heal, the sides of the wound knitting together to create pink flesh. She had always been fascinated by her rapid healing, even after so many wounds and battles.

Ten stood up, albeit slowly, shaking his head at her incredulously. "That is so unfair," he complained, watching as Amira dusted herself off. "How come you heal so fast?"

Amira bared her teeth at him playfully. "Maybe I'm just more powerful."

Ten snorted, his broad face squinting. "Ha. Yeah right. Amziel's more powerful than both of us."

They both looked at the blond angel who was methodically cleaning the blood off of his sword as if he was drying the dishes. Because of his quietness, most misunderstood Amziel's strength for weakness. It was a fatal mistake.

The white haired angel had a thin body but it was muscular and strong. Combined with his powerful wings, his shrewd mind and skill, he was an angel to be reckoned with. Not to mention that he had other angels going crazy over his electric blue eyes and chiseled jawline.

Ten was also a force to be reckoned with. The big angel sitting to her left was over six feet tall, as wide as a column. Ten was the brute force of their trio and he smashed his way through demons like they were feathers. He was also handsome, though he lacked the traditional beauty Amziel had. But to Amira, Ten and Amziel were her brothers. She didn't give a damn whether or not they were handsome--they had her back in battle and she had theirs. 

Then there was herself. She was of average height for a female angel but with two very tall angels next to her, she appeared even smaller. Straight black hair down past her shoulders and ordinary brown eyes that only changed in battle. Sometimes, she cursed the archangels for her plain features when she saw the beautiful gray or blue of other angels' eyes.

"Hey." Ten's fingers snapped in front of her face and she jerked back. "If you want to keep your finger, you'll keep them to yourself," she hissed in annoyance.

Instead of being angry or annoyed, Ten grinned. "Where were you just then?"

Amira shrugged. "I was just thinking about how many hordes we have to fight," she said. It was partly true. She was worried about how much more her Warfire could rage. After battling so many hordes of hungry killers, she was getting tired. She wondered how much Warfire the others had in them.

Ten's smile faded. "Yeah," he muttered darkly. "There's been tons of them this time."

Amziel walked over to them, his sword now clean. "I think we should head back," he announced to them. "We need rest after fighting so many."

She agreed. It was time to go back to Heaven. God knew she needed a nap. And a bath.

--

Chatter filled the air as Amira walked into the mess hall. The scent of fries and chips were crisp and strong as she neared the tables. While angels didn't need as much food as humans, they still required sustenance. The whole idea that angels didn't need food because they were immortal beings was definitely not true. Yeah, they were immortal but that didn't mean a knife to the heart wouldn't kill an angel. At the end of the day, angels were just hardier versions of humans.  

As she walked past a group of seraphim, the noise at the table died down. Eyes stared at her and whispers followed.

"Oh, my, it's a La'ziel..."

Amira gritted her teeth and bowed her head as the Warfire raged up. It seemed as if the prejudice against the La'ziel would last forever. Seventy years later, still nobody accepted the angels who kept the demons at bay, she thought.

"...Ew, look at her hair."

"She was probably off killing things..."

"Shh! Don't provoke her."

A rush of disgust filled her. They were commenting on her hair? Judging her? Didn't they realize that she was the one protecting them from getting their throats ripped out?

As the whispers got louder and bolder, she had a sudden idea. She prodded her Warfire gently and it eagerly obliged, sharpening her vision. She looked up at the group of nosy angels and sent them the evilest grin she could manage, combined with her red eyes.

The seraphim recoiled and a few gasps filled the air. One angel fainted.

Amira stifled a chuckle and hurried on, past the cherubim table, the common table and the guardian table with their judging eyes...and finally, to the La'ziel table. It was a small round table at the very end of the room, sequestered off from the rest of the angels. They had tried to move their table closer to the other angels only to be met with glares and scoffs. Whoever said Heaven was paradise obviously didn't know what they were talking about. Prejudices existed here just as they did on Earth. 

She squeezed in next to Ten when suddenly he clapped her on her shoulder so hard, her chest collided with the edge of the table. Her breath exploded from her lungs. Across the table, Amziel flashed her a wicked grin.

"Sorry, I'm late," she laughed, still reveling in her little trick. "I had some nosy angels to put in place."

Amziel grinned again. "Really? By flashing them your red eyes?"

Amira shrugged. "They need someone to put them in their place. I just happened to be nearby."

Ilana, a female angel with stormy gray eyes from another squadron leaned forward. "I'm glad you put them in place," she told Amira, her eyes flashing. "They're stupid ungrateful bastards."

Asa, a gentle female bit her lip. "We're so different from them though," she murmured. "They don't understand, I guess."

To Amira, Asa was always an enigma. The brown haired angel had gentle green eyes and a smile so sweet that were forever in contrast to the black wings that hung like a veil of death behind her. Amira wondered how an angel so good could have Warfire and kill demons. Then again, the beasts were pretty ugly.

Ten's comment broke Amira's thoughts. "I agree with Ilana," he said, his face twisted into a sneer. "They'll never accept us. I've given up a long time ago."

Ten's bitterness reminded Amira of the first time she had tried to mingle with the other angels. Unlike humans, angels had perfect memory. Even now, she remembered the events as if they had happened yesterday. She had been four years of age and her wings hadn't even brushed the ground.

She had tried to talk to one of the common angels, a beautiful blond haired girl with blue eyes and white wings only to be pushed away by her angry parents. She remembered the pain when they shoved her onto the floor away from their "darling girl." Their "darling girl" had looked at her with such disgust, that a part of Amira had shattered that day. It was the first time that her Warfire had raged and even then she remembered wanting to rip them into shreds for hurting her. Her carrier had picked her up, white wings wrapping around her.

Even then, there was no love in their eyes, just disappointment. "You are a La'ziel. You aren't like the other angels," her carrier had told her. Even now, she saw those cold brown eyes and thick curly hair as clear as day.

She had asked why and had been shut in her room for days. Her carrier had told her that only if she promised to keep away from the other angels, they would let her out. She had refused to promise, hanging on to the hope that they'd accept her but finally the need to fly and run had gotten to her and she promised.

From that time on, she hardly looked at another species of angel. She had convinced herself that it was because she wanted to be a good angel for her carriers but the truth was that she couldn't stand the look of revulsion on the girl's face.

"Amira?"

She looked up, her spoon flying from her hand to land in Amziel's hand. She looked at his worried face and sighed. No doubt he would start questioning her now. While Amziel was the epitome of a stone-cold killer, he cared about his squadron. Sometimes, Amira didn't know who was the leader in their little squad: sometimes, it felt like Amira but there were days when Amziel felt like the one leading them all. Today was one of those days.

"Yes?"

Amziel continued to look worried. "Are you okay? You seem so distracted today."

A few heads at the table turned to look at her in concern.

"You do seem distracted," Ilana said. 

Amira looked down. "Nothing," she lied. "Just...thoughts."

Amziel didn't look satisfied but Amira didn't let him stay on the subject. "So, when do we head out next?"

Ten stared at the flashing brace around his wrist. The gem circle flashed with bright red light, signaling... "Another demon horde. We have to leave now."

Amira held back a sigh, dropping her bread on her plate. Duty calls.

--

After facing off the fourteenth horde of the month, Amira trudged back to her room, after saying goodbye to a bone-weary Ten and Amziel. Her room was located in the La'ziel dormitory, a run-down four-story building on the edge of Heaven's boundary. A far cry from the gleaming, new apartments that the other angels lived in. 

Her vision was adjusted perfectly to the dark but nevertheless she flicked on the hatch of holy light by her bed. Another thing her creator did not equip her with. La'ziel angels were unable to create holy light, a useful weapon against the spawn of Hell. Instead, they were forced to rely on swords and arrows to kill. Thank you, archangels.

Her room was familiar and the coziness of her bed called to her. On one side of her room was her bookshelf, consisting of the few books that she had. She had insisted on learning to read Angelic when she was little and her carrier reluctantly taught her the few things they knew. The books on her shelf were not her age's level but a few levels below. Still, they were hers. 

Amira's knees were weak and trembling and her eyes drooped as she fell into the bed. Contrary to popular belief, angels needed sleep. Without sleep, they wouldn't be able to regenerate and heal and the La'ziel definitely needed it.

Above her bed was a window for gazing up at the sky. The stars glittered now, like diamonds placed on navy velvet.

Tucking her wings close to her body, she fell into a deep sleep.

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