I don’t know who’s having more fun in this moment: War or Famine. It’s been a long time since Famine got the chance to play, and she’s delighting in it more than I could have expected. Her psychotic joy brings a smile to my own face, as I watch her battle as gracefully as a dancer besides the arguably lesser of the two fallen archangels.

Not to judge, but it wasn’t Ramiel that got the title of Prince of Darkness.

Following the initial charge and explosive collision of bodies, I pull back to stay apart from the thick of the fray and observe from where I stand atop my mount’s back. I know that he wants nothing more than to charge forth with his three other brethren. But I wait; I wait and watch. Every now and then a brave angelic soldier tries to take a stab at me, but I swipe away the few foolish enough to try.

The board of battle is laid out before me, and it is a chaotic mess of aether and ichor. They flash black and gold against the white of the frozen landscape...thus far: there is no determined winner. Victory depends upon one very important person, and that person will likely have the Morning Star attached at his hip -- only slightly metaphorically, and very likely literally.

There!

I see my targets. Lucifer and Hyun rotate around each other, covering for each other the best that they can; the Morning Star, however, is at a disadvantage. And that disadvantage is the love he bears for his son. This chink in his infernal armour is more than enough of an opening for Michael or anyone else on his side to claim a victory.

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And if Michael were to win…

I shake my head: I do not contemplate the worst case scenario. I merely acknowledge its slim possibility. After all, I am only ever on the victorious side.

Now if only said ‘side’ would make a move to shift the paradigm. If we continue in a melee such as this, it will not end until both armies are decimated potentially to the point of no return. It’s not as if God is going to show up and stop all of this from happening; were that the case, I assume He would have done so already.

“LUCIFER!”

The General’s voice shakes the world, and I hear some of the ice around me creak in protest. I see the eternally-matched brothers poised across from each other, Hyun caught quite literally between them. Lucifer’s fingers clutch his son’s shoulders, and he leans in to say something.

I smile. I can already see what the fallen angel has planned. I notch my arrow, pull the bowstring back so that it is taut enough that, were it any other weapon in the world, its white cord might snap. I breathe in. Lucifer pushes Hyun forward so that the kid stumbles at an uncontrolled run until he slams the Staff of Winter into the ice.

Now, I exhale.

My fingers release. The arrow rockets loose.