Thea picked up the severed head of the Demon Ollie. “Alas,” she started, before tossing it aside. “Angelina. Again.” The head rolled along the dusty road. Sanctuary 1 was in turmoil. Their sleeper agent had done her job and she was even still with them.

“Hello, Thea.”

“Hello, Melody. How do you feel now?”

“My head is clear. I understand the purposes that I must play in this grand story. The Angels will fail. The Earth will be restored to you. Gaia will be released.” She was docile now, now that her human form and Imago were fused in a beautiful marriage of flesh and carapace. Her calcified human skin cracked at the joints, breaking into the shiny plates of her new exoskeleton. Likewise, her face was breaking up into plates, shards forming into a makeshift helmet up top. A trio of ocelli poked through the skin on her forehead, while beneath her lips, mandibles moved in a way that must have been unnerving to humans. And to Thea too, though she wouldn’t admit it. Still, it was undeniably beautiful.

Quetzal had had quite the plan, it seemed. Thea’d had no idea it would be this effective. But she could hardly argue with the outcome. A legion of fallen Angels. This was their world, now, and the Angels were tools of her ultimate purpose. The destruction of Humanity. The reclamation of all that belonged to her people. But still...

“Search the area,” she said to Melody. “Find Quinn. Make sure they are all accounted for.”

“Understood.” Loyalty was another of the new Angels’ virtues, it seemed. Her wings sprung to life and carried her off into the desert.

Thea couldn’t shake the thought that they’d missed something. And still no sign of Quinn. She’d seen her just moments ago, shortly before their agent had taken effect. The effect was surely spreading now, any Angels that hadn’t fled would quickly fall under their sway. Their anchor to Gaia was their very downfall; that connection, if corrupted, touched each and every one of them.

But her absence seemed greater by the second.

Footsteps. Dr. Lee was here. The lady was just a human. Thea kept needing to remind herself of that. Despite her human frailty, she was the only one who truly stood before Thea without a hint of fear. Those awful red goggles she wore made her expression inscrutable. It frustrated Thea to no end. “What did you tell my daughter?”

“Don’t worry about it, doctor. This is what you wanted for her, is it not? I’m simply enabling her to reach her full potential.”

The doctor bit her lip. “Be that as it may, I am still her mother. I—”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You made your decision, woman,” said Thea. “There’s no need to pretend to care about her all of a sudden. After all, she didn’t choose you. She chose her fellow Angel..” Was that harsh enough? Was that intimidating enough? She couldn’t quite tell. The expression on that woman’s face never changed. Thea had stared down the Archdemons worst before. But it was this human...

“Be that as it may, why was I told to leave when she approached? I lost the opportunity for our technical demonstration to the world.”

“You’ll have another opportunity. More than enough. And time to talk with your daughter, too.” Best to hide her own doubt, Thea supposed. “Our sleeper agent worked. The Angels belong to us now. Including Quinn.”

“Do they?”

“Enough of your innuendo, lady. Is there something that wasn’t considered? Spit it out, then?”

She stayed silent.

“Good. Don’t forget your place. You joined our cause, human. You do not own it.” She turned back towards Sanctuary 1. “Come. Let’s admire the handiwork of this new order.”

***

It was a clear evening, and the new Angels were lining up before their new masters. Before the entrances to Sanctuary 1 stood a great multitude of Demons and their ilk; legions of blackened Echoes smouldering like embers in the fading daylight. The sands themselves were churning, new rifts forming where Echoes would be born to join their endless ranks.

But the star of the show were the Angels. They flew out in vast numbers from their hive, endless pairs of wings fluttering in the sky and glimmering like jewels in the evening light. It was beautiful; the perfection seen first in Melody now gracing each and every one of them. They stood obedient to their new master, to the great Echoes now infesting their every mind and thought, bending their wills to the Demonic cause.

Thea surveyed the ranks with apprehension. She searched and searched for Quinn, seeking one more glance of the scarlet armour. But she found none. The thought gave her a warm feeling in her heart. Was this what she wanted? Even now? Even so devoted to her life’s only purpose? Did she secretly want it all to end?

No. The night was falling. Though their target had vanished for now, Blood Thunder would have their dissection anyways. The world would know. And, in fear of these shattered Angels, they would take the will of the people and turn it towards them.

***

Night was falling. Some said that it was already here. The darkness overtaking the world left only pinpricks of light in the sky. But one pinprick was moving. And, inside, feathered Angels laid a handful of their sisters to rest at long last from their work. They would wake again. But until then, it was the time for their brothers to at long last take flight.

Not all Angels had transparent wings, it seems.