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Falling, falling, falling…
Unfathomable distances flew by, the world a blurred kaleidoscope of shape and colour, fracturing before his eyes as Ashkariel plummeted.
He could scarcely breathe, the need for it alone already a shock to his system, even without considering the blinding pain that lanced through his battered wings and coiled like a noose under his skin. All around him the air began to burn, the laws of this world bending to the will of its damnable Creator - that even an angel might be subject to mortal pain, that even an angel might be set ablaze and discarded.
———
Descend O star of Eden
Dragged below by forces beyond your control
Pride has ignited in you a spark, yet folly now casts you upon the pyre
You reach too high, angel
Your gaze set with the resolve of one who wishes to be called a Saviour
Descend and know that it is your punishment
Retribution for the desires that now unmake you
———
Trapped in what felt like an eternal freefall, Ashkariel knew only rage and despair, the tumultuous cocktail tearing at the few parts of his mind still clinging to cognisance. There was no way of telling how much time had passed, the sun’s warmth and the light of the surface such distant memories they more resembled dreams.
Darkness entombed him, broken only by the embers sparking off his burning form.
The angel’s halo bore the brunt of the damage as hell’s miasmic claws dragged him further below and flames attempted to swallow him; a once hallowed construct blackened to a shade darker than obsidian and warped beyond all recognition. Fractures marred its every surface, the cracks running through to reveal the vessel contained within now barren of all gifted grace, what power remained of the angel’s own wrapping around himself in protection.
Even still, it was not enough to save his wings.
———
The first pair are a bridge between mortal and divine
Each feather the shade of gentle cloud cover
Each beat the answer to a prayer
The second pair are a mark of growth and maturity
As age instills patience and tempers inexperience
As compassion provides purpose and devotion feeds endurance
The third pair are a symbol of love
The manifestation of affection outpouring
The capacity of a heart to give without end
———
What were once six flawless wings of pearlescent white, each individually extending more than three metres when fully stretched, had been reduced to little more than stygian kindling. Engulfing flames ate mercilessly into each feather, from the tips into the veins and consuming even bone as they indulged in this rare feast - a ravenous hunger unchained upon a being whose regeneration factor refused to let him die. Sustained by only instinct, Ashkariel could only writhe and scream, the unrelenting flames charring his wings over and over, stunting them millimetre by millimetre as the destruction wrought outpaced his healing.
With each regeneration the newly grown feathers gradually became darker and darker, permanently stained by hell’s corrosive energies. The closer the flames crept to base of his wings the more they ate at Ashkariel’s body and mind, the torment on his emaciated form growing in aggression the further he fell - screams of the damned echoing ever louder, the searing sensation crawling beneath his skin digging ever deeper.
There was no rest, no consciousness without pain, no hope for an end.
…
Until all at once the world fell cold and silent, as Ashkariel’s prone body hit the ground.
What remained of the fallen angel’s halo absorbed the initial shock of the impact, shattering into dust and throwing his body to the side where he slammed shoulder first into a cliff face and came tumbling down. Each movement rattled his thundering soul, eventually landing in a heap of atrophied limbs and eviscerated wings; what few feathers that survived now the same unfathomable shade as the scattered remains of his halo.
With his first breaths of clarity in 3,000 years he forced his head to turn and cast his gaze upwards, a bitter wheeze of laughter spilling from his lips.
“…what a truly useless god… Worry not… this… is not my end”
———
Let it all fall, I still remain
Scars spell my name through the burning flame