When the sun finally came up, we were already so close to the Font that it was hard to tell. Before, we had only seen its cloud of colors on the horizon; now we were inside of that cloud. It was a deep fog of colors, through which the sun could only be seen as a slightly pale spot in the sky.

We’d had a hard night. Knell said we’d been attacked by 38 different demons, but I’d given up counting long ago. I felt tired and dizzy, and my feet were sore from walking. I decided to sit down and rest for a bit.

Knell, however, was annoyingly full of energy, and couldn’t stop talking. “So, what’d you think of my technique? I took down so many of them! Probably not as many as you, because you’re faster than me, but I don’t know how you do that! But that’s what you said you were going to tell me! I can’t wait to learn your secrets!! Man, I’m so hyper! It’s probably because I ate so much last night! I don’t usually hang around Fonts, so I don’t usually get to eat that much! Really, it’s thanks to you that I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff that I never-”

“Knell,” I interrupted. “Why don’t you sit over there, quietly, and I’ll tell you my ‘secrets’.”

Knell promptly obeyed, very unsuccessfully trying to do his statue routine. He was sitting cross-legged at attention, but constantly fidgeting and trying to suppress a mile-wide grin. Although he blamed his excitability on the amount he had eaten, I felt like this was his real personality, as opposed to the calm angel I’d met yesterday afternoon. Underneath it all, he really was just a child.

“As you know, demons are psychic creatures,” I began. “All you really need to defeat them is a clear focus and a strong will. The reason that angels have such a hard time with demons is that, frankly, they don’t give a damn about anything. You, however, seem to be different, which is why I think you might be teachable. With an angel’s durability and a demon hunter’s skills, you could be a powerful force for good in this world.”

Knell beamed. I went on. “Now, your technique…is messy. You like to climb inside of them and tear them apart up close. It does work, but it takes a lot of time and energy, during which you’re totally unaware of your surroundings. That’s fine if you’re by yourself, but if you’re trying to protect other people, it’s a highly inefficient strategy, to say the least. So you’re going to learn how to destroy a demon with one strike.”

I pulled a silver delta off my boot and gave it to him. He made a face, and slowly turned it in his hand. “What is this thing?” he asked.

“It’s a delta,” I replied. “Most demon hunter guilds have some kind of emblem, and this one is ours. It can be any shape; the important thing about it is its material. It’s made of silver.

“In ancient times, silver was a poison to the demons. It could kill them on contact. Being a demon hunter wasn’t much of a profession then; as long as you had some kind of silver weapon or barrier, the demons would leave you alone. But over time they adapted to it, and at this point it’s little more than an irritant to them. It is no longer a weapon, but a symbol.

“You are this delta. A small pure element that will destroy. Focus on that, practice, and slaying individual demons will become easy for you. The only difficult part will be learning to maintain your focus and re-center yourself, so that you can win against larger groups as well. That’s it, really.”

I looked at Knell. The excitement had completely disappeared from his face, and in its place was something that looked like a mixture of misery and dread. He just kept turning the delta over and over in his hands.

Surprisingly, I felt a tinge of concern. I had never seen such an expression on his face before, and it bothered me. Had I said something that upset him? Was it the delta itself? Maybe he met someone else from my guild who’d given him a hard time in the past. Not all demon hunters are good people, after all.

“…You don’t have to hold onto that,” I told him. “You’re welcome to keep it, of course, but if you don’t want it, you can just-”

Before I could finish, Knell tossed the delta in my direction and buried his hands in his sleeves. Now he looked embarrassed, as if he’d done something he shouldn’t have. I decided not to press him on it. I simply picked up the delta and sat with him in silence until he was ready to speak.

“…I think I get what you were talking about,” he finally said. “I’m not really good at all that focusing stuff, but it makes enough sense to be worth a shot. Thanks for telling me!” He forced a smile.

Just as I thought I was beginning to understand him, he became a mystery again.

“Wow, right in the miasma! I don’t get paid enough for this…gang way, little earth-crawlers; I’m coming in for a landing!!”

Suddenly, something dropped in from the clouds above. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a person with large, brilliant wings, falling fast.

Knell deftly rolled out of the way. I just stared, as whoever it was came to an abrupt stop right before touching the ground, sending the reddish dust flying everywhere.

As the dust cloud settled, it revealed a young woman in an orange vest. Her skin was a metallic green, but darker than Knell’s; almost an olive color. Dark green hair fluttered around her horns like ocean waves, never still, as if every movement of every air molecule kept it afloat. With her white, glowing wings spread wide, she hovered just above the earth.

It was another angel.