The spirit tried to entangle me, to stab me, to freeze me. At its each attempt, though, I would phase away into nothing. It felt natural to do. There was a kindness in it. It didn’t hurt me. Not like how the spirit tried to. Not like how the demons would. It made me dread coming back. And my eyes started to well up with tears. They disappeared when I did and then welled up in the moments I appeared again in the world.

I felt kind of pathetic, crying like that. I’d been crying so much. I hated being so fragile. I had to save my companions. I had to stop this thing. I had to get out of here and live again. I needed to be strong, but maybe that was why I needed to cry too.

Crystal vines, discarded from each failure, slackened and fell. They tangled together and, over time, became a deep jungle. Even though I didn't stay in any one particular place, the terrain became cruel and mistakes became easy to make. Vines whipped about in sharp, snapping fury and I trembled for the small moments I could feel their breeze. Failure was close—too close. And as I dodged and danced through death, I confided in the memories I had of those before me. From that shining black rain, I tried to recall anything that might help me.

The sounds of an enormous river echoed deep beneath us. We walked along the two ends of an ancient, dead tree. And atop its enormous, golden trunk, on its carved flat surface, we circled one another. My gut was taut and my hands still lightly trembled. I could hear gentle clangs from his thick plate armor. Wings to the side of his helmet swayed with each step. We circled in silence, slowly shuffling closer.

His armor was irritatingly bright and gaudy. I couldn’t even see his eyes. My look wandered toward a bird darting just past him. If I could fly, then maybe I’d finally be left alone. He saw this distraction and took a downward swing. I sidestepped it while my look was still held on that bird. Because that bird had an answer, an instinct, a sense—a soul. And I could see them, gauge them from the reflection of her eyes and use them. I looked at him again as she flew off. He thrust for my chest. In his blade was a reflection too, an answer—an implication. I could see into it like a mirror and it revealed the space that reality would be. I parried and dragged my sword into a stab, but found no weak point in his armor, and the blade's tip just skidded right off.

I could block and dodge every blow, thrust, and slash as I pleased, but the most I had managed were small dents against his armor. I grew exhausted and he grew wiser. He tried switching blades, dual wielding, until eventually he dropped blades all together and started using his fist. He tore his cloak and used it to cover his hard metal gauntlet and just started punching me with it. Such an idea was stupid on the surface, a simple cloak wouldn’t stop me from seeing a reflection of reality just because the reflective metal was covered. And that was probably all he thought. This cloak was enchanted, though, it wasn’t anything fancy, it was seemingly just something to keep it nice and clean, but something about it interfered with my ability enough to prevent me from seeing. The reflections on the other parts of and things around him weren’t helpful enough to prevent every hit from his heavy metal fist. And as we struggled against each other, I became too exhausted to keep up, until finally he knelt over and slowly beat me to death. A veil of unconsciousness descended over me. It lurched forward after every hit, taking more and more of my thoughts away, until it completely overcame me just as the sun began to set.

From the rain, I had seen these final moments of his life. I had seen the sensitivity he had for others. How deeply he cared. And how that same care became the magic he fought with.

Must everything be to fight? I thought.

There is not much of a choice.

I’d gauged the intentions of the demon rangers we’d first met. Though it didn’t work in the end, I was sensitive in a similar sense. I cared just like he did. And I could fight just like he did.

To try it, I looked with curiosity at the one thing that followed me everywhere—my halo. Failure felt so close. I was afraid. But I knew to be kind. I knew to be patient.

With some time, I noticed light dancing along my halo in a familiar way. It reflected the world. It wasn’t a direct, clear reflection, more a language I developed a feel for as I dodged death across those moments.

I had phased small distances before, maybe unknowingly using it, but this was a new precision. A greater range. And in narrow paths, I flashed across the world, uncaring to the canopy of vines, uncaring to the air. I had to stop it, that spirit. I had to free my companions. And I steeled myself to fight, to kill it if I had to.

***

There weren’t even bodies. I had hoped to find where the ranger party was by making my way to the greatest concentration of arrows, but we’d only managed to find several discarded arrows roughly around here. There were faint signs of a battle, a dented arrow, some ones that maybe missed and just landed on the ground, but not really enough to get a clear picture.

I hovered in the air and crossed my arms. This was probably where they died, but I had to at least come up with a suitable excuse. My father wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less. A reaper archfiend? No…no… those are rare, my father would probably try to send me on another chore to hunt it down. Maybe a rogue soul storm? Would rangers really be wiped out by that though?

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I looked back at my party. A thin layer of soot and ash had accumulated on them. It left smears on their multicolored faces and dark marks on their weapons and armor. They fidgeted quietly in the air and looked on at me with hunger and anticipation.

I searched the ground one more time for something… anything.

I noticed… crystal flowers. The way they sparkled drew my eyes easily. They weren’t super helpful for me to come up with anything though.

It didn’t make a whole lot of sense for a quiver of arrows to just completely disappear. If the archer had simply been killed, I’d have thought I could at least follow my way to the quiver inside some hungry fiend. Unless maybe they were digested.

It had gotten too loud. It became hard to think over their shouting. I gave up on finding an excuse for the moment. It wasn’t very important when the ground opened up and crystal vines, full of deadly thorns, began lunging for us.

The ground cracked open. From it an enormous crystal lotus emerged, riding a pillar of vines into the sky. The strangest thing too. An angel… followed it into the sky. Flying in hops as it disappeared and reappeared. I immediately noticed she didn’t use any spatial magic. It was as if she had just stopped existing entirely for moments at a time. Is that really something angels can do though? Isn’t that basically just killing yourself over and over just to move a few steps? I laughed. That’s absurd… that’s… completely stupid. I thought. Maybe I was wrong, I hadn’t met any angels before. I smiled at the idea though. And watched her closely as she followed the lotus into the sky.

***

Demons were there to greet us as we emerged into the world. Many in numbers, scores of ten, they worked away at the vines with flames and ash and sword. They did not try to strike me. Still, one floated in the air and watched me. It gave me a shivering uneasiness. A cold feeling. I didn’t know how I’d manage to save everyone now.

I was surrounded by demons, trapped by a spirit. I tried, I really did. And yet I still feel as though I failed. And the days together again with Ahaviah, Uriel, and Simcha now seemed… like a far off dream.

Even as I rose to the lotus, I felt no relief.

“We could help.” The spirit said.

I couldn’t do it alone. But I couldn’t—I couldn’t do it with the very thing that tore my life from me. And so I clicked my knives into my hand and phased into this spirit’s very core. It could not stop me. Not since I could resist its awful curse. Not since I could foresee its attacks in the reflection of my halo. And so, I tore away into its delicate insides and shattered its very form.

I let myself fall from the carnage as the lotus broke into many pieces. Its sparkling shards fell with me. But I felt no freedom. I felt no victory. As I saw the demons move around and toward me.

A cluster of shards in the shape of a disk floated near me. It vaguely looked like it was trying to resemble a flower, but it was too disjointed for me to really tell.

“We… could… help...” It begged.

I guess I missed a spot. I thought. But I felt no will to finish it off. I lacked the anger I had before. Honestly, I just wanted to resign myself, to stop trying, to rest.

I felt myself sinking in that air. I felt like I couldn’t fly and I felt like I couldn’t land. I felt… hopeless.

“Plea…se.”

I looked at its pathetic shape.

“Tell me spirit.” I said. “What can you do?”

***

This angel creature fascinated me.

I watched it fall from the sky with a feeling of awe. I wasn’t really impressed by the fact she’d killed that spirit. Any upstart demon prince could do something like that one-handed. It was her strange way of fighting that drew me in. And definitely not the fact she was pretty.

I can spare this one. I decided.

I’d always wanted to meet an angel.

I warped just behind her.

“Hey–”

A blade flashed to impale me. It resembled obsidian, and stretched out many paces from the angel’s hand. I reflexively warped away.

She’d just tried to kill me. When I meant no harm at all. It was just like that Fiend I’d decided to adopt. Do angels have a wild variety like demons do? I pondered.

I sighed and observed her from a safe distance. My father would likely scold me for one already. Could I handle keeping two? They need a lot of attention and care to develop the right sensibilities. I murmured little calculations in my head as I considered taking her home with me.

“Aah and the feeding.. the feeding takes so long because they keep trying to kill you…” I murmured to myself.

“Stop that.” She said.

The other demons were only just getting here.

They’re so slow. I thought.

I shooed them away with a hand gesture and they obliged.

“Stop what?” I smiled.

“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me...” She said.

I averted my gaze. “Is that better?” I asked.

Silence.

“Leave me in peace, I want to retrieve my companions.” She said.

Interesting. I guess maybe angels are just defensive creatures. It’s at least a kind of compliment to be seen as a threat. I thought.

“We’re here to retrieve our ‘companions’ as well.” I said.

Her face contorted in fear.

Oh?

“You seem to know something.” I said. “Don't be shy.”