5

Heaven had created the Cherubim specifically for this task. They had been created to kill the dragons, my family. They were made to drive my kind to extinction.

We had been disloyal. We had disobeyed The One. We would not bow down before Man. Why should we? Man was our equal, one of the many creations of the Garden. The humans had not been given any abilities that we had not.

I had survived because my mother shielded me, protected me with her own body. I can still remember her words, “Do not move my child. No matter what happens, stay close until it is quiet. After, go to the caves where you can hide.” And she hid me, the youngest of us all, under her body as the Cherubim carried out their massacre.

When I emerged from under her, nothing moved except the blood that flowed like a river through the valley. My mother and all my family were dead and I was alone.

After the Cherubim, other angels were created, including this one now sleeping before me. Why had he been chosen to find me? He was weak even compared to a human, despite the wings that gave him flight. He could never beat me.

This cave we now rested in is unique. There are other special caves but this one has served as my home and my protection for a while. They were a secret, my mother had told me, from the other creatures and even the angels themselves. This is where I came to escape the nightmares that have plagued me since that terrible day.

Obviously she had been wrong, since this angel knew to find me here. But I could not help the feeling that this place, my home, was safe. In any case, the other angels, were caught up in their own civil strife. A war had broken out in Heaven and the sky flashed and echoed with the sound of their battle.

This one before me slept fitfully, perhaps aware of the battle that raged overhead. He had been the second casualty, after Samael. But now there were many more. The sky was black and streaks of red and yellow light outlined the angels that fell from Heaven.

For now, the Cherubim were preoccupied in battle. They would not come looking for us. We were safe, at least for the moment.