We stood in the chamber for a few moments, dumbfounded. But soon, I could feel it. There were Echoes here. A lot of Echoes. And the others were feeling it too. The ground shook above our heads, like an earthquake. But this was no earthquake.

I hurried up the stairs to a changed world. The floodlights were blinking yellow, on and off, illuminating the cavern piecemeal. On the ground, people were hurrying in all directions, as hundreds more zipped past in the air. Despite the obvious commotion, everyone seemed to be moving in an orderly fashion, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

Suddenly, the Archangel in brown reappeared, grabbed my hand, and took me with her. Though she was a head shorter than me, she ran way faster, scurrying along the causeways as her wings warmed up. I could scarcely keep pace; just as I felt myself catching up, she took off, and I was dangling from her hand. As she grasped my wrist, my wings sputtered to life, and she let go, letting me fly alongside her.

She spoke first. “I’m sorry. This must be very confusing.” Her voice soothed my nerves. As we glided above the crowds, the other Angels parted to make way for us. “Vespa,” she said, addressing my symbiote, “I am glad that you have chosen a new host. The time is drawing near, after all.”

“I...”

“Quinn. You’ve been very brave so far. But to truly awaken, you’ll need to grow more.”

“I... I still don’t know your name.”

“Quinn! Be more tactful!” hissed Vespa. Tactful? Right, she was...

“Oh! Sorry. It’s Viviana. Archangel of Flight Magister.”

Flight Magister. That was what I was supposedly in. Command and control, was it? So then... “So you’re—”

She giggled. “Yes, I’m also the head of all the Angels.” Oh my. We turned abruptly into one of the vertical tunnels, winding upwards closer to the surface. I could feel the presence of the Echoes even through the solid rock. “Ooh, I’m excited to see what you’ve got in store, Quinn. Show me your powers!”

“Um, I’m not sure about—”

Viviana continued unabated. “Don’t be shy. I know you’ve got so many. You’re Vespa’s host, after all. You’re going to lead us all someday. And you clearly defeated Ecto somehow. I mean, sure, he wasn’t actually the Archdemon of Eyes, but...” she giggled.

“Wow, she talks a lot,” I muttered to Vespa.

“Is that so?” Viviana continued to laugh. “That’s not something I hear often.”

“Ah... I... I mean...” We emerged up in the hangar. All hell had broken loose. On top of the flashing lights, there was a great commotion on the ground. Some Angels were still hurrying out of the cavern, while others rushed in. The sky was full of the buzz of Angels and their insect symbiotes, and the thrumming of ornithopters taking off and making their way towards the yawning entrance. Where once the winter sun had been shining so brightly, now there was a dense screen of sand and dust that completely shrouded the entrance. Though, between the shifting debris, I could make out the shapes of echoes thrashing about. Already, just in front of the sands, echoes were streaming into the hangar, leaving trails of molten ichor behind them.

“Are... incursions like this common here?” I muttered, dumbfounded.

“They are. They’ve been regular for several weeks now. Things have gotten much worse since Ecto was defeated, though. But enough small talk. Take command.”

“Sorry, this is a bit overwhelming.”

At that, she shook her head. “You cannot allow yourself to be overwhelmed. We are Flight Magister. We must lead.” She drew weapons from her body, two great uneven-edged swords with translucent emerald blades.

“I just don’t know what to do.” I drew my own weapon. Next to her armaments, the glaive seemed simple, fragile, and weak. Still, I pointed it forward, hefting it slightly between my hands.

“I can help, if you want.” Her voice was strangely hypnotic, almost like Ecto’s. Though her words bore no sinister overtones. Rather I felt a sense of deep love and care, like that of a mother. “If you let me.”

Before realizing it, I was nodding.

I felt a tap on the back of my neck. Her hand. She stroked my nape for a bit before pressing down hard. Suddenly, everything became clear. I could see all the Angels and Echoes individually, like they were highlighted. “What did you—”

“I let you see what I see. Now go.” She gave me a gentle nudge forward and I took off. It was like my body had a mind of its own. I was reminded of my last encounter with Thea.... no time for that. I glided into the fray, scanning for... for....

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Just act natural,” said Vespa.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Echoes here were different. While the Echoes I’d seen so far were sturdy, basaltic creatures, with rocky skin and molten insides, here the Echoes were far more fluid. Their skin was orange, glowing molten like magma. Keeping their form somewhat consistent were filigree skeletons, embellished with swirls and florets. The skeletons glowed like red-hot cast iron and gave these Echoes a far more... well... “They’re a lot... hotter.” I chuckled to myself.

Still, my glaive cut through their skin like butter. The skeleton was somewhat tougher, like pulling through molasses, but still this little blade easily sliced them up. I simply let my body take control; it moved on its own, dancing through the carnage, forward towards the dust.

And then I saw Sarah.

Her enormous pair of scissors made her instantly recognizable on the battlefield. She was flying beside her sister, Rachel, who bore an enormous... syringe? They were both far up at the front, near the thick of the fighting. I could see puddles of red-hot ichor pooling on the ground far beneath their feet. And among the pools of ichor and the swarming Echoes, right up against the sand, was Heidi.

Her pitted metallic armour defended against the fiery assault, while the hammer she bore in her hands smashed the Echoes running by with deadly precision. From closer, I could see that she was forming a line with other Angels, each with similar armoured Imagos. They seemed to be pressing forward slightly against the tide, with other Angels behind them picking of the stragglers.

Something heavy slammed into Heidi, knocking down the ground. She scrambled backward on her hands and feet, when all of a sudden an enormous beak cut through the wall of sand. The Demon controlling it was hidden behind the sand. But thanks to Viviana’s help, I could still see its outline glowing behind the veil.

Rachel noticed something was off immediately, and grabbed her sister, holding Sarah back. “Don’t go in yet. It’s not your place.”

But Sarah was having none of that. “I’m not just standing by!” Sarah leapt in front of her, her giant scissors opened wide. The blades jammed between the creature’s jaws, cutting into its molten flesh and holding it open. Heidi recovered and rolled away, but Sarah found the jaws closing in on her instead.

Rachel didn’t hesitate for a moment. She dove in, stabbing the Echo’s jaws with the tip of her syringe, pulling back the plunger so that the chamber filled with molten ichor. She flipped the weapon around, mechanisms clicking as it morphed into a minigun, blasting the creature back with steely bullets of the hardened ichor. It reared back, and Rachel swooped in to grab her sister. We retreated to safety and caught our breath.

“Who is—”

“Quetzal,” said Rachel. “The Archdemon of Empires, harbinger of the sixth Calamity. And the newest thorn in our side...” She turned to her sister. “Sarah. What did I say?”

“I’m not listening to that. It’s a dumb order.”

“You put yourself in danger for her. It’s her job to be in danger. Not you. You need to stay back. You can heal. We need you to be safe.”

“So I’m just supposed to let my friend die?”

“She would have been fine.”

“And you swooped in after me, didn’t you? Whatever happened to staying back—”

“Don’t bring that into this, Sarah.”

“You’re just being—“

“Quinn!” Nep shouted at me from up at the rafters. I flew up, glad to be out of earshot of their argument. Kei was sitting next to her, nearly perfectly still in her black-and-gold armour. While Nep had her scythe out, Kei was holding a short, angular sword. A katana! The greatest of all swords.

“Katana’s are actually pretty lousy weapons, since the feudal Japanese had inferior steel to their neighbours,” Nep interrupted, as if reading my mind. “It’s compensating for—”

Kei shut Nep up with a nudge to the stomach. Kei whispered something in Nep’s ear. “Where is the Demon?” Nep asked on her behalf.

I pointed out from the hangar, to the vortex of sand and dust swirling at the entrance. “Huh? You’re speaking for Kei? I thought she didn’t want to talk to... to you.”

Nep morphed back her human face just so she could smile and wink. “The truth is, she’s actually just—” Her words were muffled by Kei’s black-and-gold gauntlets clamped over Nep’s mouth. Nep struggled for a bit, grabbing at Kei’s arm and pushing it away. “Hey! That hurts, Kei?

Kei simply looked at me and nodded her head. “Thank you, Quinn,” before rocketing off towards the cloud of sand, Nep in tow. As she flew, she let out a loud whine, leaving a thunderclap that stunned the Echoes in her wake. The Angels cheered and pressed forward. The sand began to clear, and the Echoes retreated, and the form of the giant Echo became clear. It was an enormous dragon, two vast membranous wings of lava spread wide over the desert sand. Its wingspan was so great that it could not fit through the hangar doors, instead simply hovering low over the ground. A tiny figure sat atop its back, what I could just make out as the Demon.

Next to it, there were two other figures. Kei and Nep. They flitted around him for a bit, but after a second loud shriek from Kei, the Demon reeled. The enormous Echo turned back and took off into the sky. With its size, we watched it as it flew over the desert and disappeared beyond the horizon. So Quetzal. That was the next Demon adversary that we’d face. My body shook with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

***

Viviana remained silent as we walked back toward the citadel. She hadn’t said anything since the incursion had ended, remaining oddly silent as she surveyed the damage and checked in on the various groups of angels scattered around the hangar.

“Why isn’t she saying anything?” I whispered to Vespa.

“Why?” Viviana whispered back. What? She’d heard me again? “Why would I speak to them? They wouldn’t know their place if I spoke to them. No. We are Flight Magister. Our purpose is not to love the other Angels. Not to be nice to them. It is our purpose to command... and control.” She tapped her finger on the back of my neck, and I felt something catch in my brain. “Now, you won’t tell anyone about this, will you?”

“No.” The words spilled out of my mouth before I could even think. No. Who was she? What was she up to?

“Good. Now, back into the citadel.”