An Angel in Demon Skin

Gonyaul wheezed and sputtered trying to catch his breath. His chest heaved up and down as he strained to get an ounce of clean air through the bandages. Even though he had remained lower than the smoke level the majority of the time, while inside the building, he had not avoided breathing it in entirely. But at this point each breath felt disgusting and if he survived this ordeal, the memory of theses sights, tastes and smells might haunt him as the vileness begotten by violence.

His entire backside felt like he had been dragged through a briar patch with thorns. His head consistently throbbed like the slave galley pace drum of maritime warships. It actually was better now that he was on his back and not running around like an animal; which had caused more pressure on his head cause of the horizontal relationship between his chest cavity and lowered head position. His loud screams of pain, while struggling with the larger brute, had turned to groans of discomfort. He would have been content to pass out right then and there, if he wasn’t still aware that Voah was missing.

He turned his head to the right and looked at the unconscious man, with the unkind blow to the side of the face, laying next to him. Gonyaul felt sorry that it had come to that. How he wished they would have just halted earlier when he begged them instead of it having to resort to all this mayhem and suffering. At least, no one had died by his hand, he consoled himself.

He suddenly thought he caught a glimpse of Voah like a beautiful sunrise over the horizon line of the prone Dark Robe by his side. Was he imagining things like earlier? Voah was like an angelic battle maiden full of passion and in her under garments? This was definitely a dream he told himself as he felt an arousal swelling with all the other inflammation about his person; that made him feel like he was as on fire inside.

He began praying of all things. Praying to Cambena and Hoi, the two pillars he had the most time talking to. He spoke to them like they were there with him laying on the ground casually watching what was unfolding.

~Please be with Voah. Give her a second chance. You are her first love. I know Vastad exiled her from your blessings and purposes; however, can’t you see how much she is doing. It is not because she is trying to earn anything for her own gain, but because she genuinely loves you. Don’t leave her alone in this. Don’t turn your face and favor from her. Protect her and welcome her back. I know I am nobody to ask such things of you, but I really want a life and family with this remarkable woman … so I need you to get involved to help me with that.~

It suddenly dawned on Gonyaul, as he began taking in more of the scene, how surreal everything felt. Voah, his beloved, in her underwear fighting for survival. A lady covered in ice with a spear. Alcuin? He was there too? This dream was getting weird. It was a daydream right?

His mindfulness was shaken by a tremor of vertigo that caused him to connect the dots once more between fantasy and reality. What he was witnessing was indeed happening. It was Voah. He had found her. A wave of relief sent helpful endorphins flooding through his system to combat some of the pain. He wouldn’t die without seeing her after all. In fact, seeing her galvanized his resolve with an urgency to protect her from the multitude of threats coming against her.

Gonyaul mumbled to himself in Vauxian. “Come on Cambena and Hoi, we have work to do. Let’s put an end to this fight.”

He crawled over the unconscious man, removing any weapons he had on his person and tossing them off to the side. To any onlookers he would have appeared as something out of a nightmare; as if he was emerging from the prone man’s shadow. His long silky black hair was disheveled. His deep dark angled eyes reflecting the flickering flames from the buildings. The majority of his face tightly bandaged and red with blood. His skin covered in strange markings. Large expanses of blood, some not his own, trailed downwards along with sweat, mapping out his powerful lithe form. And the sound of his labored and ragged breathing, was similar to that of a beastly possessive growl.

He crawled over the body and remained on all fours; favoring his left leg and right hand. Forget being scared of dark robes and witches, a true demon seemed to be present. Little did they know that he was an Angel in disguise.