Screams echoed through the dilapidated building. It had stood so long without this level of destruction forced upon it by the scourge. It had been a stronghold for those within it and most importantly, it had protected the most valuable thing on the face of the currently war torn planet. The building was nothing special. Four stories of beautiful white stone with apartments within to house the protectors. They had been able to work their miracles within to keep the building off the radar of the scourge but they had been systematically picked off, one by one. In doing so, the scourge had made them weaker. This in turn had created a dent in their defenses and eventually they could no longer hide the chalice of life. Now demons flooded the doors. They overpowered the angels and forced their way through the barriers that had been put in place. 

No matter what the angels did now, they were fighting a losing battle. The screams rose with the flames of the fire and the laughing of the wicked demons causing the downfall of the strong hold. Among them was a demon who had never really laughed. He was tall and strongly built. His appearance was deceiving. His eyes were stormy gray suiting his cherubian curls of blonde sat upon his head. He had wings like an angel but they were pitch black. He was the sin between an angel and a demon himself. That was why he’d been chosen. Tanner could sense it. He could feel his way through the angels' protective barriers and find the chalice. He had been making his way through the hallways as flames licked at his pale skin, reflected in his gray eyes and blonde hair. 

His eyes were a pure white glow, wings pressed tightly against his back as he navigated the fighting going on around him. Blood had already splattered across his body, his face, smeared across one cheek. He was honing in on the chalice. He could feel it. He was getting closer. The chalice was just at the end of the corridor behind the big golden door. It was already ajar. He stepped in front of it and kicked it open, expecting to find some sort of treasure trove with many precious religious artifacts that the angels had hidden in the basement of the building but instead… He found a room. His brow furrowed. The bed was huge and the comforter looked cozy. The silk sheets were immediately filled with the colors of the fire outside blazing from each room. 

There was an open wardrobe with clothes and a vanity desk with an ornate mirror attached to it. It was also fairly untouched by the fire or any damage the scourge had caused in the rest of the building. There was only one thing out of place in the clean and beautifully decorated room. The dead body of an angel pooled in blood in the middle of the room at the foot of the bed. Tanner stepped inside and the noise of the chaos outside seemed to fade away. The room was peaceful, dark. There were no windows and they had made sure to kill the electricity to the entire building so the only light coming through was the light from the fire in the hallway leading to the room. How would a chalice need a bedroom? The demon’s confusion was evident as he began exploring the room cautiously. 

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He did sense it. Something in the room had a holy glow. Then he saw it. Faint at first but as he stepped closer he could see the glow more clearly. In the corner beside a bedside table sat a bundle glowing faintly with holy light. If he hadn’t been paying attention to the unmistakable draw pulling him toward that spot, he would have missed it. As he stopped in front the bundle of wings and glow he pulled a dagger from his belt and prepared to slaughter the angel holding the chalice in her embrace. She had blonde hair just like him but her curls were looser than his. Her wings were soft and white. It wasn’t until she lifted her face from her knees that he came to the realization. She wasn’t holding anything in her lap. She was the chalice of life. Her beauty was unmistakable. 

Her skin was soft, her cheeks were rosy and full. She seemed child-like and innocent. Her bright green eyes were locked on the dagger and full of fear, mouth pulled into a silent scream. Tanner felt instant shame at scaring her and yet he knew that was just her empathic powers playing tricks on him. She was powerful but she didn’t know it. Her glow filled the room at that point and he was sure it would have burned any demon in the room. To Tanner though, it felt like the sun on a hot day. In one fluid motion he crouched before her and put his dagger up against her chin. Her mouth shut in an instant and those big green eyes grew bigger with fear. 

“You are the chalice of life aren’t you?” He hissed in a low deep growl. “You’re not an object at all. You are a living being.” Her only response was to stare at him and swallow nervously. 

A scream broke the tension between the two of them. It was somewhere in the building down the hallway. Time was running out. Upstairs was crumbling. He knew without even looking. It was time to go and she was coming with him. His hand reached for her upper arm. She tried to pull away from him. Tanner’s anger flared and he smacked her across the face. Her body instantly fell sideways, hitting the ground with a soft thud. Fragile little thing. It would leave a bruise, he knew but it wouldn’t matter to Satan. He wanted her out of angelic reach and Tanner was going to give him what he wanted. Tanner was a good little soldier if nothing else. Tanner reached down, finally taking a firm hold on her arm. It didn’t take much to pull her up and force her to her feet.