Elrith sucked in his breath as he turned towards the two approaching figures. A dome of air slowly formed over the marketplace as swirling winds pushed the black flames back. Elrith lowered his head and said, “Mom. Dad.” The flames continued to burn, but it was completely silent inside of the dome. The other merchants had fled long ago.

“Elrith,” Raea’s mother said. She continued walking towards her child at a steady pace. A frown appeared on her face when she saw Sally clinging to Elrith’s body. The frown deepened when she saw Raea. A tiny wrinkle formed on her brow. “You are Raea?”

“Mom,” Raea said as she squeezed Palan’s hand. Her body was trembling.

“Then the rumors were true?” Raea’s father asked as he narrowed his eyes at Raea. “You have fallen? But what happened to your appearance? There was no mention of wings in Elrith’s letter. Even Abaddon looked nothing like a monster when he fell.”

Raea bit her lip and turned towards Elrith. He wanted to do the talking, so she’d give him this chance. A spark of resentment flared up, causing her chest and neck to itch and burn. She had forgotten about the letter Elrith sent her parents so long ago. Elrith wet his lips as he raised his head. With all that happened in the past few months, he had also forgotten that he sent a letter to his parents explaining Raea’s situation when he first found her. “Let’s forget about her appearance for a moment,” he said. “What are you two doing in the second sector? We weren’t expecting to see you here.”

“When you hear your youngest child became a fallen angel and your oldest child deserted the army to accompany her, you would want to see them in person as well,” Raea’s father said, his voice monotonous. “It reflects badly on us when you make mistakes. Did you consider that before you left the army?”

Elrith’s brow furrowed. “Honestly, I did not,” he said. “I was thinking of what was best for Raea. I couldn’t leave her alone by herself after Selena died. Do you have any solution for Raea’s situation? I remember I wrote to you and asked for help, but you never replied.”

“I did some research,” Raea’s mother said before her husband could speak, “but there was nothing conclusive. There were a few angels in the past who adopted demon-like characteristics, but nothing in the texts mentioned if they turned back to normal.” She turned towards Raea. “Are you an archangel now?”

Raea nodded. Her wings started to droop, but Palan tickled her palm with his thumb, causing her to straighten her back. Cleo and Linda were inching towards the edge of the dome, and Raea’s mother waved her hand, creating a safe passage to cross the black flames. Linda and Cleo exchanged glances before scrambling through while Linda shouted her thanks.

“There is no need to air our dirty laundry in front of outsiders,” Raea’s mother said when her husband turned and raised an eyebrow at her. Raea’s father nodded in response.

“So that’s what I am in your eyes? Dirty laundry?” Raea asked, her eyes narrowing. The black flames nearby started to press against the dome of wind.

Elrith swore in his head before taking a step forward. Sally shuddered and clung onto Elrith’s body tighter. “I know Raea and I have committed crimes that are punishable by death, but you’ll forgive us, right?” he asked. “Raea can turn back—become a pure angel instead of a fallen one. I can beg to rejoin the army. If I contribute greatly to the current war, they’ll make an exception for me.”

Raea’s mother tugged on her husband’s sleeve. “If Raea does convert back into a pure angel, the capital will greatly benefit from another archangel,” she said. “We can give her another chance, can’t we?”

Raea’s father pursed his lips and didn’t respond. He looked at Elrith. “What’s that thing on your back?” he asked and took a step forward. “It’s filthy. Get rid of it.” He turned to look at Raea. “And you. How long are you going to hold onto his hand? You already look like a demon; do you want to become one that badly?”

“Looks like parents aren’t that different no matter what culture they’re from,” Palan said and licked his lips. Raea’s face darkened, and black flames began to circle around her feet, singeing the ground.

“Well?” Raea’s father asked Elrith who had a dazed expression. Lightning flashed in the sky as black clouds began to gather above the dome.

“Her name’s Sally,” Elrith said and furrowed his brow. “She’s a harpy.”

“The Caelums don’t use halflings as slaves,” Raea’s father said. Sally’s eyes widened as all of her feathers fluffed outwards. Her body began to shake uncontrollably as her heart pounded in her chest. Every cell in her body screamed at her to run, to flee, to get as far away from that man as possible. Her legs squeezed and her talons clenched, digging into Elrith’s sides and drawing blood.

Elrith winced. “She’s not a slave,” he said.

His father took another step forward. “Then what is she? A pet?”

“She’s my companion,” Elrith said and straightened his back. He ignored the pain in his sides as he stared down his father.

“Ridiculous,” his father said. “It’s clear that Raea has been a bad influence on you. You wrote us saying she had a problem with making halflings as friends. Are you not doing the same thing?” A red bolt of lightning manifested in his right hand. “It seems I will have to separate you from Raea until she returns back to normal. But for now, I should remove the negative influences in your life.” The lightning flashed through the air, heading towards Sally’s head which was peering over Elrith’s shoulder.

Elrith’s eyes widened as he shouted. He stomped his feet against the ground, causing a wall of earth to rise out of the ground, but the lightning bolt was already past the wall by the time it fully formed. Elrith gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and leapt to the side, fully intent on blocking the lightning with his body. The expected shock didn’t come, but he did crash to the ground. Sally’s screams rang in his ears, causing Elrith’s eyes to flash open.

“What the hell?” he asked as he climbed off the ground. He was standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by vegetation. The only sounds that could be heard were Sally’s screams and crickets chirping. A few birds flew into the air. “Are you alright, Sally?” Elrith asked as he turned his head to look over his shoulder.

“It hurts!” Sally said. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Her legs and wings released Elrith, and she fell to the ground, her body convulsing. Sweat poured from her head, but other than that, Elrith couldn’t see anything visibly wrong with her.

Elrith bit his lower lip and lifted Sally, inspecting her body for injuries, but there weren’t any. If anything, she seemed like someone who overdrafted their mana. And what happened to the city? Was he in an illusion right now? He hugged Sally to his chest, and rubbed her back until her screams reduced to whimpers. “Where are we?” Sally whimpered as a shudder ran through her body.

“I don’t know,” Elrith said as his brow furrowed. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“The lightning bolt,” Sally said. “It was coming closer and closer, and I really wanted to get us away. You leapt to the side, and then the scenery changed. Then pain. Lots of pain.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “It hurts so much.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like we’re in an illusion or any immediate danger,” Elrith said as he summoned a pillar of earth beneath his feet. The duo rose into the air until they could see over all the trees. Off in the distance, Elrith could barely make out the outline of a red wall. He bit his lower lip. “I think we’re in the borderlands….”