CHAPTER ONE

Fire.

The smell of burning stings my nose and soot cloaks my skin. Screams and shouts ricochet off the marble walls and red stains the floor.

All my senses heighten and adrenaline finally kicks in. As the arrows dipped in flames shoot into the room I'm in, I crouch down behind a worn-out couch and assess the situation.

So; I'm in the highest level of a burning building that is a few minutes from collapsing, we have been surrounded by fairies that are trying to kill us and I only have three more arrows left in my quilt. I do have quite a few throwing knives and my double blades strapped across my back but I don't think they will do any good if angry-flying fairies are raining hell upon us. Even if Yrene specially enchanted the blades with tons of different spells I can't be bothered to remember. I think she said something about 'safety and precaution against evil' but I just think she wanted to test out some new protection spells.

No biggie.

And by us, I mean the Nocens. My friends. My family. Closer, actually. Family by choice, not by blood. Except for that prick Nyx. He's the bastard out of all of us. Sometimes I want to throttle him until I see his eyes roll back and lips turn blue. But of course, I can't do that. Only then, I'd have the rest of my friends to answer to. And as much as I hate to admit it(I do hate to say this), he is vital to our little group of bandits. Despite the situation, I find myself smiling at the thought of pissing him off. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about that egoistic idiot. I have better things to do. Like, for example, save people from a burning building and kill about one hundred seething faeries.

Sighing, I roll back my shoulders and smirk. Let's show these faeries what real fire looks like. I strap my bow across my back again and adjust the hem of my battle dress.

It's a muted grey dress that reaches just above my knees and is designed to be as flashy as possible. It also has multiple pockets to house a variety of weapons and stuff. Some might say it's unnecessary but I like to think that my enemies know who they're up against when they see a gorgeous dress with a black trench coat with ALOT of weapons attached to it. Know that it's a fallen angel that they messed with. And where I'm from, I like to be just. Very, very, just.

The thought turns my smirk into a grin and with that, I summon my flames. The cold blue starts as a tiny ember in both my palms and grows into a crackling ball of Moonfire.

Standing up, I face the window the faeries are attacking from and thrust fireball after fireball at them. Yeah faeries, you can feel that cold burn can't you?

Taking the pause in the ambush as a sign that they weren't ready for that, I shout across the room to Valaeri-a charming versipllis who is my bestie and basically my sister. She is busily ripping into a tiny faery with fair skin and unearthly green eyes.

"HEY, SEND A SIGNAL TO THE REST OF THE SQUAD TO EVACUATE THE BUILDING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE REST."

With that, the busybody faeries decide to strike again so I wave a shield of pure blue fire around me with a flickering of my wrist. From the corner of my eye, I see the shapeshifter's huge grey wolf form ripple with sheer power and leap to the top of the building with ease.

Satisfied, I pull out two identical blades and stride to the edge of the windowsill.

Suddenly a beautiful woman-no a godsdamned faery- leaps at me with an ancient blade arched above her head. I defect the ambush with a simple swipe of my arm and settle into a comfortable fighting stance- as I have done thousands of times before. Exchanging attacks for blocks, I slowly feel myself slip into the steady rhythm of battling again. Oh, how good it feels to be back. You see, fighting is a special type of dance. You twirl, swing, and move your body in beautifully deadly ways and it is mesmerizing to watch. Even more so to do yourself.

Finally getting bored of the slow waltz-like fight, I slice the faery's arm deep enough to wound her and stalk back to the windowsill. Where I was before when I was very rudely interrupted. I scowl at myself.

I prop myself against the edge and dangle my legs over the ledge. Occasionally blocking flaming arrows for myself or Orpheus who doesn't have magic like the rest of Nocens do, I wait for the signal.

Not even two minutes after I sit down, I hear a wolf howl and shouting from the distance. I glance around and realize everyone has left or rather evacuated. I thank my ears that I heard that howl because even for my heightened hearing sense with my fae ears, I almost didn't hear it. Valaeri must have taken them quite far back. I make a mental note to thank her and turn back to face a horde of angry tiny people bunched together waiting for me.

I suddenly have the absurd thought that they look like a bunch of angry children whose lollipops have been stolen. Well, in that case, I'm the bad guy. Oh well, no one can always be a hero. It gets tiring sometimes.

Grunting, I get up and dust myself off and meet each and every set of unnervingly bright eyes in front of me. Their small butterfly wings flapping is the only sound within the radius.

"So, I'll give you two chances, faeries," I say to none of them in particular. But maybe that one male faery that is shooting daggers at me who I decide I already hate. I give him a sweet and sickly smile just for him though.

"Either you listen to my advice-which is you to turn your backs and fly back to your mini tree houses or wherever you come from- or you will not live to see another day because you will die looking at my beautiful face as the last thing you see. As much as I want you to go peacefully, I'm personally very tired and want to let out some frustration so I'd say choose quickly. I haven't much patience left in my reservoir at the moment."

I shift a little to get comfortable and also read their faces. I resume, "Plus, I find the fact that looking at my face while you die very flattering because I'm not exactly an eyesore either. I mean," I step back and gesture to my face with one hand, the other clutching my blades in a casual grip.

"I'm sure you haven't seen a pretty face like mine before. I'm not being vain, I'm just stating facts. Anyway, so what's it gonna be? Option one or two?" I shoot them a smug grin to emphasize my 'mercy'.

I scan the faces of the faeries to spot any signs of emotion but all I see is other-worldly beauty that doesn't quite sit right with me. I always found faeries to be...too beautiful. Almost as if they don't belong in this world. It's hard to explain, to be truthful.

Pushing aside the thought, I spread my feet and brush away broken shards of glass off my outfit. My delicately pointed ears detect a rustle of clothing and my eyes instantly land upon a faery who seems like he's going to pounce into me.

I guess it's option two then.

The temperature drops in the surrounding area and a cold, burning Moonfire erupts all over my body. Ah, I forgot to say. My outfit is also fireproof. Handy, I know.

Twirling two beautiful knives glowing blue in my hands, I take a step and leap off the edge of the building.

Wait...did I forget to mention that I was also on the highest level of the building? And, oh, I am also an angel? Well, oopsie. I guess you know now.

I will my wings to spread wide and relish the thought of flying again. Gods, I haven't tasted the wind in so long.

My elegant wings, which are made out of pure Moonfire, shoot from my back and I adjust myself to the current. I dart, glide and zigzag towards the waiting audience and just for the fun of it, I flex the fire to grow extra bigger and to glow extra brighter.

Now face to face with the faeries, without any apparent warning, I begin a series of deathly motions that I have been practicing for the past 423 years of my immortal life. At one point, I feel a rumble and hear the crash of the stone building finally giving out and tumbling to the ground. Everywhere becomes rubble and dust. But I continue. Cutting, slicing, and burning my way through the crowd of all sizes of faeries, I only stop when I realize that there is no one left to eliminate.

Well, that was quick.

I'll be honest. I am slightly disappointed. I haven't even been able to blow off any steam. Shrugging, I huff away a silver strand of my hair that became unbound while fighting. I put away my carved blades and lower them to the ground gracefully.

Evil and disgusting faeries or not, everyone deserves a proper farewell so I set to work burning every single body. I work until I feel the familiar sense of exhaustion seep into my bones and every pore in my body.

Setting my hands on my hips, I take a deep breath and summon a gentle breeze to blow away the ashes far, far away.

I just defeated a whole village of faeries and cremated every single one of them. My magic feels a bit depleted but that's okay. It was good exercise. I needed to build stamina anyway.

As I said, no biggie.