Expendable lives

Cloaked in a white veil the creature looms in front of me, my head between its sullen fingers as I wobble under the shadow of its four white wings. I do not see a face underneath the veil, but nor do I need to.

"Come now, little one," The Holy One remarks in a tone that is slicker than a snake. "Surely my son has told you a lot about me?"

"Where are they," I demand, not daring to move from where I stand, yet my body screams in protest, as though every single bone in my body is coming alive to fight this creature, this god that wavers before me. "Where are my friends?"

"Friends," the lurking creature muses, rubbing its fingers together as it thinks over this word as though it is a foreign instance in this place. Slightly unhinged at the sight, I take a small step back. "Round here we have no time for what you fragile creatures like to call 'friends'."