Rain hammered onto the roof tiles with a pitter-patter, the water was redirected through pipes that led to saturated ground, puddles developed into rivulets that gushed down the streets. The wind was howling and causing the rain to fall at an almost horizontal angle. Lightning struck a nearby tree, splitting it in half as it was engulfed in sparks and flames, the thunderous noise boomed across a small inconspicuous village with a population of Evolved humanoids. Their lives were about to be turned upside down by the presence of an Angel.

The villagers knelt in the wet mud, shivering from cold and fear, they felt nothing but revulsion for the overwhelming presence of the person that was entering the village. The very presence of this person seemed to emanate a force that compelled them to stay on their knees. They knew why the Angel was there, they had heard rumours from other villages that a crackdown was happening. There were accusations of people supporting the demons and that villages were harbouring a fugitive that the Angels called the Heresiarch.

A figure stood at the entrance observing everyone and their surroundings, they were draped in grey robes that covered their figure from head to toe, they began to walk into the village. If it were not for the oppressive aura that radiated from them, and the fact that neither rain nor filth touched their body, they might have appeared to be an inconspicuous traveller who enjoyed their privacy. They walked past the kneeling villagers without so much as a glance in their direction, the Angel was making its way to the centre of the village. Each step they took was soundless, the only noises that could be heard were caused by the rain, wind and thunder.

The Angel's ominous silent march eventually brought them to the centre of the village square. It was a small stone fountain with a statue of Adam, the statue had a benevolent look about them, Adam’s stone face peered down at his subjects with magnanimity. The Angel then knelt before the statue in prayer, the villagers were still on their knees waiting for when they were spoken to or released from the presence of this person.

The grey-robed figure then stood up and faced the crowd of villagers, they whispered in a quiet ethereal voice, but the sound carried to everyone's ears. “Your village has failed to pay the tithe for two quarters, this has severely disappointed the Angelic orders. How can we maintain peace for you in this world? How can we protect you from the Demons that threaten your very existence? Should we assume that you now side with those vile desecrators?”

At the mention of Demons, there were several squeals of fear, the villagers cowered at the prospect of being associated with them. They had heard what the angels did to those that were found to conspire with the Demons.

“No one? Then I wish to speak to your leader to resolve this matter,” The voice from behind the grey hood made it sound like a request, but everyone knew it was a demand.

A woman called out, she had long greying hair that was currently dangled in the mud and water due to kneeling. “I am here, I will speak for this village”.

The Angel turned around releasing the person from her aura, the village leader gasped and fell forward at the unexpected reprieve from the pressure they were experiencing. The village leader composed herself then climbed to her feet. Mud and water dripped from her shivering body, streaks of dirty water ran from her hair, they were incapable of projecting any sense of dignity in the presence of an Angel. The village leader remained still while the Angel made their way towards her with quiet steps that didn’t leave so much as a ripple in the water or a footprint in the mud.

The grey-robed Angel stood directly in front of the leader, their very presence was oppressive. It made it difficult for the leader to remain standing, but the leader persisted, she was indignant at the way this being entered their village and expected complete obedience, they did not want to appear weak or allow themselves to be cowed. The Angel inspected the leader, looking her up and down, observing that she had feathered eyebrows, a sharp hooked nose and golden penetrating eyes.

The village leader spoke to the Angel representative. “My name is Haast, I speak for the villagers here. How may we be of service to you Angel of Wrath?”

If Sarah was surprised by the fact that her name had spread, she didn’t show it. She got straight down to business. “I don’t care about the tithes, I don’t care about whether you have chosen to side with the Demons, if that was the case then retribution would have already descended upon this village. I just need you to truthfully answer my questions.” Sarah’s words spoke of her disdain for these petty things such as tithes, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

“I don’t understand then, what questions do you have for us?” Haast asked in confusion.

Sarah responded in a flat tone, “Oh, I think you know what I want… where is the Heresiarch?”

Dread and adrenaline pumped through Haasts veins. ‘She knows… Damnit, this is going to ruin our plans.’ She hid her fear well but her heart thundered, had it not been for the storm raging around her, she feared the sound coming from her chest would give away her feelings. “I do not know whom you speak of,” Haast replied in an equally flat tone.

“LIAR!” A single word that was louder than thunder left Sarah’s mouth, her eight-pointed silver halo appeared above her head, the villagers who were still on their knees fell flat, forced to lay on the ground, their faces buried in the mud and water. Some were drowning and unable to lift their heads higher than a few inches from the floor. The village leader crumbled backwards to the floor, she writhed on the ground screeching in pain, clawing at her skin. “Stop...please stop!” She begged.

Sarah released some of her oppressive aura, “You wish to speak?”

The villagers managed to lift themselves back onto their knees, some were gasping and coughing up the brown muddied liquid that had entered their lungs. Haast who was on her back laying on the muddy ground, crying pitifully, sobbing coughs leaving her body. “What...what do you want from us?” She cried out.

“Heresiarch” Sarah whispered, she didn’t elaborate further but the single word communicated enough to the village leader.

****

‘Please, just tell me! I don’t want to be this person, tell me what I want to know and I can leave.’ Sarah mentally begged these Evolved to just give up the person she had been tasked to seek out.

Ever since becoming the Angel of Wrath, She had been diligently performing the tasks she was given. Initially, she was sent to different planets to resolve little disputes, accusations of Demon sympathisers, Brewing troubles or wars breaking out on planets. Some communities questioned the Angels laws and refused to pay tithes. She dealt with all those petty squabbles, she completed these pointless trials without complaint. But her latest trial, to find the mysterious Evolved, the one who the Angels called the Heresiarch. She had been attempting to complete the mission for some time and it had been causing her a huge headache.

As part of a different trial, she had been sent down to planet Earth. Initially, she was excited, it was the first time she had set foot on Earth ever since her arrival in the ascended universe. It started as a routine trial, to her was an opportunity to see what the current condition of Earth was, She was tasked with finding suspected demon sympathisers who resided in some villages. It had transpired that a figure had emerged amongst the evolved species who had inspired them to rebel against the Angels. Different Evolved settlements had suddenly stopped paying their tithes, they were told to ignore the Angels' laws, to abandon the very people that kept them safe from demons in order to create their own society with their own beliefs to try and remain safe from the eternal war.

This figure’s words were spreading around to all the villages, towns and cities around Earth. When the angels had caught wind of brewing troubles, they wanted to nip the problem in the bud, so Sarah's trial was changed to seek out this person. But the person's whereabouts were unknown. She kept encountering dead ends, leads would dry up. On several occasions, she had been attacked by the villagers, she had stopped trying to be nice after that.

Sarah had been forced to do terrible things, things that disgusted her, made her question everything that she believed in. Yet she persevered, the Angels insisted this task was important and that the problem could not leave Earth. If this rising rebellion started to spread to other planets it could ruin their plans for the war.

Her latest lead had brought her to this village, she suspected that this time she was close to finding this elusive person. All that stood between her and the Heresiarch was this village, the village leader Haast knew something and she wasn’t talking. Sarah would make her talk, she would do whatever it took.

Looking through her hood at the leader on the ground, suppressed by Sarah’s aura, pitifully coughing and sputtering her words. After telling the woman what she wanted, Sarah now expected the answers to spill out of the woman's mouth.

Waiting in silence, the rain splashing down around Sarah, never touching her body. The mood in the village began to change, the elder began to roll onto her stomach, Sarah watched as the elder tucked her knees under her body then started resisting Sarah’s field of oppression. ‘Why? Please, don’t make me do it…’

Haast had managed to stand up, she proudly stood before Sarah, despite her ragged appearance, the mud, the rainwater, the howling winds. The look on her face was pure defiance. ‘No, not again! Please.’ Sarah’s mind pleaded for this evolved woman to just answer her, she would be forced to carry out more horrific acts.

The village spoke up, her words were hissed out of her teeth “You’ll never find them!”

Sarah increased her field of oppression but the villagers around her remained standing. ‘What’s going on?! No, it's a trap!’ Sarah felt a sickening fear before she became consumed with a different aspect of her personality, burning wrathful vengeance would be carried out against those that rejected the Angels.

“ATTACK!” Haast screeched, her hands were in front of her wielding a wand with a glowing red gem embedded in it. A scorching beam of roaring fire shot forth at Sarah. The other villagers pulled back their cloaks, dropping their humble villager facade. They revealed themselves to be wearing armour, they were also well-armed and they radiated their own dangerous auras. The Evolved militia charged towards Sarah’s location, condensed projectiles of mana made up from different elements shot towards her.

Quick rhythmic bolts of lightning struck the ground where she stood, striking her time and time again. Each time it struck the thunderous sound rippled around her, a dome of air kept appearing and the rain would be knocked away before it would be allowed to resume falling down again. A conflagration of spells erupted and struck her location, an incessant barrage of magic all striking towards the feared Angel of Wrath.

The initial ambush ended, the militia all stood in a circle around Sarah, smoke and dust obscured her presence. Haast retreated away, letting the warriors take over for the close combat. Many of them were wielding swords, spears and daggers. They clutched at their magically empowered weapons, anticipating the next actions of the Angel. The rain continued to cascade down, the warriors stared intently at Sarah's last location. Waiting patiently to see if she was still alive.

As the dust began to settle, Sarah was still standing there. Not a single mark on her. “How!?” Haast cried out, she couldn’t believe it. Everyone knew how powerful the Angels were but they had prepared for this Ambush, they calculated how much an Angel could resist them, they thought they knew how powerful their defences were. But Sarah was standing before them, they had used magic that was powerful enough to kill a behemoth, yet there was not a single blemish to indicate any damage had been done to her.

“I’m sorry, you brought this on yourselves, you made me do this” Sarah’s voice was sad, it was tinged with disappointment and regret. ‘Why, why must they force me?’ Sarah started to flicker then disappear. The warriors became even tenser, looking around themselves, their breath began to steam out of their mouths. “Where is she?!” One of them yelled. Another screamed, “At the entrance!”

Sarah only allowed herself to be ambushed once before she learned her lesson, and that was a long time ago. Since then she had sent in illusions of herself into the villages. Her drenched robed form walked through the town entrance, towards the warriors who had ambushed her. The hood of her robe was blown back. Her brilliant white hair blew in the wind, a radiant spiked halo shone around her head. Sarah held a beautiful gleaming white staff with a large glowing blue gemstone on top, she raised the staff and the air began to crackle and freeze around her.

“Stop her before she finishes her ability!” Haast cried out.

The warriors that were moments before surrounding Sarah’s image, launched themselves towards her real position. A spear was thrown towards her, a sonic boom rang out as the spear shot forth. The metal head of the spear reached an invisible barrier, the spear bent and warped around her barrier, then launched out towards the same location it had been thrown. The spear impaled the warrior’s shoulder, he cried out and fell back.

“Spatial barrier!” One of the warriors cried out. They immediately halted their charge towards Sarah, trying to reassess the situation.

She was still casting her ability, the rain and water all around her had frozen solid, the sphere of frozen air began to expand outwards, crackling and stilling everything in her vicinity. Several spikes of ice erupted out of the ground and impaled some of the warriors who had stayed too close.

“Ice Domain!” Haast cried out. “Throw the mana bombs!” A warrior shouted. The warriors who were impaled coughed up blood and reached for their mana bombs. Two of the warriors successfully threw their mana bombs at the ground where Sarah stood. They detonated, throwing her into the air and outside the village, her shield took the brunt of the explosion and tried to project some of it back, but the energy from the secondary explosion threw her further away.

One of the warriors who was impaled by the ice, noticed it rapidly spreading around his body. He attempted to throw the mana bomb, but his arm began to freeze, his fingers released the bomb. His eyes turned to frost and then glazed over, the mana bomb fell before his feet and exploded. His shattered body became frozen projectiles that struck at the surrounding warriors.

“Fuck! Retreat!” Haast screamed. The remaining warriors looked towards Sarah’s location, she was unscathed, however, they could see that her spatial shield was rippling and beginning to fail. She was slowly getting up and was preparing to charge back into the village.

‘Fucking heretics!’ Sarah screamed mentally, she had been forced to kill several people. Taking in her surroundings she saw that her ambushers were fleeing. ‘No you fucking don’t!’ Sarah was done with being nice, she pointed the tip of her staff in the direction of the fleeing warriors, a glowing blue orb was expanding on the tip of her staff.

The orb condensed and then shot forth like a ray of frost, it instantly froze anything that it made contact with. The freezing beam struck three escaping warriors. Two of the warriors became statues of ice, a gust of wind tipped them over, their bodies crashed into the ground and shattered into pieces.

One of the escaping warrior's legs was caught by the ray. His momentum carried him forth but his leg broke into pieces as it hit the ground causing him to tumble to the floor. ‘I’ll question him.’ She could no longer see the remaining group of ambushers, the rain obscured her vision too much and she didn’t know if they were leading her to another trap.

Sarah carefully observed her surroundings, steadily approaching the incapacitated man who was writhing on the ground, he was crying out in pain. The man made desperate calls for help that no one seemed to acknowledge.

The man tried to reach towards the now empty air where his leg was supposed to be. His face contorted and blood leaked from his lips. He could hear crunching ice, he looked up and saw Sarah's wrathful appearance making its way toward him. The ground was carpeted with ice, spreading out before her and she was easily walking on the now hardened frozen pathway, it allowed her to quickly catch up to him.

The now disabled warrior rolled onto his stomach and started crawling away, a pointless effort to escape the inevitable. He felt his remaining leg compress, he turned his head and saw Sarah’s glowing white eyes that were piercing into his soul. She stood over him with her foot on his leg, preventing him from escaping any further. “Believe it or not, I don’t take any pleasure in this, I hate being forced to do this,” Sarah said to the maimed man.

The Evolved man just glared at her, his green eyes with narrow slits dilated as Sarah ground her foot down on his leg. “Arghh! Stop, please Stop!” He desperately cried out, having difficulty enduring the pain.

“You know what I want, where is the Heresiarch?” Sarah Asked. The man stared mortified, he knew his end was coming. “I don’t kno..arghh!!” He yelled as Sarah stomped harder, sickening pain spread through his body.

“I… I saw them once. Months ago!” He hissed through clenched teeth.

Taking her foot off his leg. “Please tell me more.” Sarah requested for him to go on.

“He...He told us the truth, what you are, what the Angels wanted, What they were doing to us. You're just a tool used to oppress us, make us weak and easy to farm mana from! You keep us in the dark! You allow the monsters on this planet to cull us!” He was beginning to become reinvigorated and impassioned by telling her this truth, the truth that all Evolved beings on Earth were waking up to. The Heresiarch’s words were spreading rapidly, it wouldn’t be long before everyone knew.

Sarah was taken aback, she had never actually heard any of the teachings of the Heresiarch, just murmurings that this person had encouraged them not to pay the tithe, encouraged them not to support the angels. ‘Is this what they have been taught? Is it true? Is this what we are doing to the Evolved species on these planets?’

Sarah had a crisis of faith for the briefest of moments. “No, that’s not true, we need your help. Why would we oppress the people we need? I’ve seen the Demons, I've fought them. Have you?! Have you seen what’s out there, the hell that awaits everyone if those Demonic creatures reached this planet?!” Sarah screamed at the downed warrior.

The man coughed and laughed. “I’ve not seen them, but I've heard they are no better or worse than the Angels!” The Warriors head exploded outwards, spikes of ice grew out of his eye sockets, ears and mouth. His blood froze before hitting the ground.

“HERESY!” Sarah cried out clenching her fist which detonated ice infused mana inside the man's head. She didn’t want to listen to his lies anymore, didn’t want to have her faith confused. She was sure he wouldn’t provide any more useful information anyway. Sarah had encountered Demons when she had travelled to other worlds, she had seen what some of them were capable of, the things they would do to force the evolved to do their bidding. The Angels were nothing like them.

‘Another dead end.’ Sarah blew out cold air, her frosted breath left a white trail of ice. She stepped away from the now dead warrior.

Sarah knelt, then prayed to the Order of Innocence. ‘I’ve searched the village, it was an ambush. I dealt with some of them. The rest escaped. No further information. Your orders?’

She waited in the cold, the wind battered at her, the rain hid her tears. Waiting in the terrible weather for several minutes before she heard a response in her head. ‘Acknowledged. You can return for some R&R and debrief then we will mark the next village. Kaziel says you did the right thing, don’t beat yourself up again.’

Sarah’s mind flicked like a switch, her tears turned to icicles and she suddenly became excited. ‘Finally, I can return. I have enough ascension points to reach the next cap. I need some advice before making the next step.’ Sarah was pleased, she was close to her next evolution, she would earn her wings soon. She also dreaded the next stigmata that she would have to endure.

Sarah reached into her spatial pocket, retrieving a return stone that would take her back to Elysium. She cracked it in her fists. A white light enveloped her and she disappeared from where she was kneeling.

****

“Damn It!” Haast cried out, she thumped the floor until her fists began to bleed. Someone put a hand on her shoulder, they spoke in a low deep tone “It’s ok Haast, we anticipated this possibility. We will be better prepared for next time. We now know more about her abilities.”

Haast began to sob, “They were good people, they didn’t deserve to die like that. Those damned Angels!” Haast mourned the friends and warriors she had lost under her command. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“Yes, but you have to remember the bigger picture Haast, we’re not Demons, we don’t deal with Angels or Demons.” The voice spoke to her.

Hast looked to the person who had their hand on her shoulder “I know, but they can’t get to you. You’re too important.”

The hand gently patted her shoulder before replying “I know, that’s why I wasn’t there with you. If you didn’t stop me, I would have fought alongside all of you.”

“That’s what we’re afraid of, if you die it could ruin everything.” Haast replied, she had stopped sobbing, reminding herself of the bigger picture, she seized control of her emotions. Acknowledging that the sacrifice her friends had made wasn’t for nothing.

The person nodded, helping Haast to her feet. “I know, but we all have to make sacrifices for freedom. Even I’m willing to pay that price Haast”.

Haast smiled towards the person, the so-called Heresiarch. The one person who brought the real promise of salvation to the population of Evolved creatures on planet Earth. They would not fall for the Angels tricks anymore, their attempts at oppressing them had to end.

The Angels were the very people who brought them into this universe in the first place, the same people who used the population of Evolved on Earth as a global resource farm, suppressing them while they carried out their crusade to eradicate unworthy species. They wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

With the Heresiarch leading them, they would find their place in the universe, They would find peace. But not without the struggle that would come before it.