The dark angels were backing away, and somehow, I just knew it wasn't because of me. Grim certainly didn't.

They weren't going after someone else, though. At least, not anyone I could see. By focusing both my mundane senses and my aura sight, I was able to spot a blindingly bright, white light, underneath the street. I turned my head away, multi-colored spots filling my sight. Whatever the hell that light was, it was dangerous. It reminded me of looking at Barbiel, my angelic case officer, but...on a much greater scale.

And yet...something like a human shape had been at the center of that light, but there had been no sign of a blue human soul.

No matter. Something to worry about later. The dark angels might have moved away, but new ones, looking like they were made of light, had all but taken their place and wrecking the Nightside. Their auras were a bright, clear white, but they were as callous as any demon I've ever fought while they blasted buildings apart and turned people into pillars of salt.

Had Barbiel ever done something like this? 'The Host does not banish. We destroy.' That was what he had said, after he and his-our-angelic brethren had destroyed a horde of demons. Was the angel I knew just as ruthless, as alien as this, only presenting a human mask when interacting with me?

The though chilled me to my core. It bothered me more than I'd have liked to admit, but...no. I'd always known God could be harsh when needed-the way my parents and brother had died was proof enough-and angels did not have free will, as such. They could make their own choices, but not deviate from their purpose.

I had meant to ask Barbiel how Lucifer had fallen, then. But I had thought I'd have enough time, before I'd been snatched away from home.

We always think we'll have more time, later.

I Pulled myself to the side of a building, then ran on it, Posting myself with every footstep so I wouldn't fall. I crouched in the shadow cast by a terrace, breathing harder than I would have liked. My unique physiology was much like a racecar: it could and did kick ass when needed, but it also needed loads and loads of fuel and maintenance. In this case, food.

Back home, my were-bear-wolf, Awasos, often shared meals with me. When he was in bear form, we ate about as much. Thankfully, the Nightside was never short on food, as people came here to indulge every vice and excess. And even if I had to steal from a restaurant...well, I had stolen a car once, and the city was under attack. Surely people would understand.

I stopped Clinging to the wall, dropping the fifteen meters to street level and landing lightly on my feet. I glanced around, but I was on the main street-or as much as a street could be called such, in the Nightside. The establishments here catered to other kinds of hunger, and reaching the restaurant area would take some time, even at full speed.

Dammit. And I didn't even know where Jason was, either-

A blurred, blue shaped crossed my field of vision in a moment, before leaping up into the sky. The angles it smashed aside fell to the ground like broken dolls, their unearthly light dimming, then vanishing, along with their bodies.

I looked upwards, trying to get a clearer look at the shape, but I couldn't. It was in the midst of a group of angels now, spinning and sending the ones that came too close flying down through buildings and into the street.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Finally, gravity took hold of it, or it just got bored of spinning, and it fell to the ground, gracefully landing on all fours. It had Jason's face.

Longer, sharper, more like a real wolf, but still, his face. Its body would have been wolflike, if wolves had been large enough to step on cars and flatten them. It turned in a blur to look at me, tilting its head in curiosity. Its face stretched in a grin, but there was no amusement in its eyes. Nor any humanity.

"Ah," it said in a voice completely unlike Jason. "I should thank you, Malahidael."

"What do you mean? And where the hell did you learn that name?" I asked, crossing my arms and standing my ground, despite every instinct telling me to either kill or run from it.

Its grin widened. "I was there, when the Enemy's bootlicker condemned you, in its hypocrisy. I have been with you every time you were with my mortal. We have never been as separate as he would like to believe."

"Are you the spirit that was bound to Jason? The Blue Wolf? Where is he?"

"I see the Maker doesn't choose its puppets for intelligence," it sneered. "He is right here, fool! Don't be as blind as the things whose shape you ape! It's embarrassing, for both of us. I have taken over Wolfe's mortal coil, and reshaped it, made it better-suited for fulfilling my-our-purpose."

"And what purpose is that?"

Its grin returned. "Why, saving the Nightside, of course."

Before I could voice my skepticism at that, the street broke open under our feet. I didn't know what to expect-the source of that blinding light from earlier, maybe-, but the giant bugs were something of a surprise. Though, maybe they shouldn't have been. Bugs often came from underground, after all.

I prepared to blast them with my aura, but the Blue Wolf was swifter. Walking on the air above the gap as if it were solid ground, it gripped the gap's edges with its paws.

"No, you don't," it growled, and smashed the gap closed. The bugs were flattened with a wet, squelching sound, and their dying screams were surprisingly human. The Blue Wolf looked upon its work, found it good, and howled in delight. Angels wheeled above us, and they looked to me like they would have dearly wished to have a go at us, but weren't dumb enough to try.

"Well," I said, trying for light. "That was something. I'll be sure to call you around if I ever have termites...any plan for what to do from on here, though?"

"Of course. We go to the Authorities."

I nodded. "That's a good idea, but...do you even know where they are? I certainly don't, and, unless your senses come with a search engine..."

"We just have to follow the carnage, and we will soon reach the nest of those exploitative, greedy worms..." the Blue Wolf trailed off, as if it had sensed something, then chuckled to itself. "Oh? She seems to have slaughtered them already...good. A handful of kills I no longer have to worry about. I'll be sure to thank her for it, after I eat her guts."