Justice for the Fallen

I lowered my flight when I got closer to the city. It was a massive conglomerate of miniature buildings, snaking narrow roads, and too many people crowding the place like ants. I beat my wings faster and turned towards the eastern part where the slums district took one-third of the city. The stench of rot, failing sewage system, and unwashed bodies were so pungent my insides twisted and turned with disgust. One more smell also stood out from the multitude of repulsive fetors.

Freshly spilt blood.

As an Archangel of Justice for this region, I was not often called down to the city under my jurisdiction. Keeping order there was primarily up to Angels of Courage─they made sure people behaved, and those who didn’t were jailed and punished accordingly. I was only summoned to deal with far more complicated troubles.

The cases involving demons.

After the last devastating war between Heaven and Hell, both sides signed a treaty to keep the fragile balance. We could still intervene in the Human Realm, but within certain limits. Angels could send their representatives to spread the words of the Mighty One and give aid to people in need or help fight crime. But we were not allowed to stop people if they were willing to choose a destructive path of turning towards the dark arts of the Fallen God. We could only assist in apprehending them once they spiralled out of control and harmed others.

Demons, or the Fallen as we often called them, also sent their agents. Unfortunately, they were chaotic and dangerous creatures. They were also forced to abide by the treaty, but it had only one simple rule: not kill or harm any human directly. They were free to do whatever they wanted to lure poor fools into signing their souls away for the Fallen God.

The demons often went on a rampage, ignoring the treaty entirely. In those instances, the Fallen God conveniently renounced any claim to them as his servants and gave the Mighty One a free hand to dispose of them in any way He saw fit.

That was my main task. I was trained to track down those renegade Fallen, capture them, and bring them to justice. Of course, it was not always that easy, as those who succumbed to their chaotic nature were often completely mad.

And so, I had the liberty to kill them if I saw no other way.

I never did it lightly, but it had to be done to keep the balance intact. As a sworn servant of the Mighty One, I had to obey His will. His words were clear─build a safe and peaceful world for everyone. We had to eliminate the rot that the Fallen spread.

I located a small alleyway where two Angels of Courage waited for me. I dived down and landed carefully on the filthy cobblestones.

“Archangel Melkyal, sir.” The female angel saluted, and her companion followed suit.

“At ease,” I said and recalled her name. “What do you have for me, Amitiel?”

“We’ve finally captured the perpetrator behind the recent vicious murder streak. It’s a demon, sir! We caught her red-handed!” She sidestepped, pressing her blue-feathered wings close to her to make more space in a small alleyway.

I moved forward, but the other angel put a hand on my arm. “Be careful, sir! She’s dangerous.”

I let my gaze linger on the bloody claw marks marring his face. He looked familiar, but I didn’t remember his name. He must have been one of the newest recruits. “It’s all right. Dealing with the Fallen is my job.”

The angel nodded, and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment when he stepped back.

I finally moved further into the little street and scanned the whole scene. The cobblestones were slick with blood. The mutilated body lay at the end of the alley while the limbs were carelessly thrown all around. But with just a glance, I noticed the head was nowhere to be seen. A female demon, already cuffed with holy chains, stood in the middle of the gruesome shambles.

I frowned. She was not what I expected.

Her black eyes went wide with surprise and fear when she saw me. I had a certain reputation─demons knew I was a hunter, and I would show them no mercy. Once she realised I was looking at her, she quickly regained her composure, putting an angry scowl on her almost pretty face, and baring her pointy teeth at me.

I strolled towards her, eyes scanning her person, looking for well-known signs of corruption. She was relatively small for a demon and seemed almost fragile. It was a deception, of course. As children of the Fallen God, the demons possessed strength and agility far exceeding those of humans, even though their bodies looked similar.

Her skin was dark red. I noticed that the cuffs had already bruised her wrists badly. Another brown blotch grew on her jaw, and some claw marks marred her neck, no doubt resulting from some brawls with other demons. Her face was all sharp angles with high cheekbones and a pointy chin. Long lashes shadowed the narrowed black eyes looking at me with hostility. Her little turned-up nose was adorned with a small metal ring. She had a wild mane of wavy black hair that almost covered dark ram-like horns curled around her pointy ears. Her red tail lashed angrily. The humans must have seen her as an unprecedently beautiful woman. But that was the way of the Fallen. They were made to lure and deceive innocents.

I found it curious that her clothing was old and tattered in places. So far, all the demons I had encountered were always dressed in the most expensive and excessive style. They often used humans not only to take away their souls but also to do their bidding. But for some reason, she looked like a regular inhabitant of the slums. Maybe that was her strategy to fit better among mortals.

“What are you staring at, Golden Boy?” she hissed at me, breaking my train of thought. “You better uncuff me. I’m not your killer.”

I tilted my head a bit, not moved by her taunting voice. Her hands and claws were stained with blood.

“You said you caught her red-handed?” I turned to Amitiel.

“Yes, sir. We found her crouching over the body.”

The demon scoffed. “That’s your proof? When I found the poor sod, he was already in pieces.”

“Shut your trap!” the freshly recruited Angel of Courage shouted. “No one here will fall for your lies.”

I raised my hand to silence him. Both angels seemed too eager to blame the demon and call it a day. Most of the Fallen were corrupted to the core, but as protectors of this land, our task was to find the murderer, not blame it on the first seemingly fitting suspect.

I turned back to the prisoner. “What were you doing here in the middle of the night then?”

“Taking a walk. It’s not illegal, is it?” the demon replied, looking at me defiantly.

“You were taking a walk. In the most dangerous district of the city. In the middle of the night.”

She raised her chin and straightened her back. “Yes. It’s not like humans are much danger to me anyway.”

“And you randomly walked into a dead-end alleyway with a body?”

“Yes. I smelled blood and wanted to see if maybe there was someone in need of help.”

Amitiel laughed mockingly. “Yeah, sure. You, a demon, were running around and helping humans. You’d rather try to poach his soul before he huffed his last breath. Or even helped him die. Maybe cut off a few limbs while at it?”

The Fallen only gave her an annoyed glare but said nothing.

“So, you found her, and then you apprehended her?” I asked Amitiel.

“Yes. The cursed spawn resisted and tried to run away, but we managed to stop her, sir.”

I turned to the demon with a raised brow. “If you’re innocent, why did you try to run?”

She scoffed. “Because it’s obvious you dimwits are looking for a scapegoat, not a true perpetrator. I’m not letting you frame me for a crime I didn’t commit.”

“Did you search her?” I asked the angels.

“Yes, sir.” The young angel picked up a simple sack. “She had a whip, a small dagger, and a bag full of food. Stolen, no doubt.”

“Hey! I didn’t steal that,” the demon protested fiercely. “I found it.”

“We also found a couple of purses full of coins cut from people’s belts,” added the angel ignoring her.

“Oh, right.” The Fallen deflated a bit. “I forgot about those. I might have stolen those, yes.”

I sighed and crossed my arms. “You might have caught a thief, but I don’t believe she’s a killer.”

“What?” both angels asked simultaneously.

“Finally, someone with half a brain.” The demon grinned.

“But sir!” Amitiel protested. “She was found on a crime scene, covered in blood.”

“And how exactly did she do it? Did you even look at the body?” I asked, annoyed with their incompetence. They were angels, and their actions reflected on all of us. It was hard to believe that they would accuse an innocent, demon or not, of this atrocious crime to close the case. “The limbs were chopped off with a sharp blade. Did she do that with a small dagger?”

“Demons are strong, sir,” mumbled the young angel. “She could just rip him apart.”

“Ripping someone apart does not leave clean cuts,” I explained, calling upon all my patience. “And if she sawed his limbs off with a dagger, she would be covered with blood from head to toe before she was done. Look at her─only her hands and her back are stained. She probably just fell into the puddle of blood. Besides…” I turned to the demon. She looked at me with wide eyes and her mouth half-open as if she was shocked that an archangel was taking her side. “She’s not a renegade demon. If she were, you both would have been killed already.”

The main thing that made demons on rampage dangerous was that they succumbed to their dark nature, letting all the power out. That rendered them mad but very powerful. The angels could easily sense their dark stench from miles away. This woman wasn’t emitting anything. I couldn’t even tell what kind of demon she was. The Fallen were very good at concealing their dark side while living among humans.

“Splendid,” the demon said, breaking an awkward silence. “If we are all on the same page, why don’t you uncuff me now?” She raised her hands towards me. “I’ll be on my way, and you, glorious boys and girl, can talk it out all night long if you want.”

“With all due respect, sir, you can’t let her go. She’s still a thief,” Amitiel protested.

“Oh, yes, there is that,” I mused, rubbing my chin. I turned to the demon. “You know, stealing directly from humans is illegal. I can send you to jail for a good couple of weeks.”

An annoyed growl escaped her mouth, and she bit her lower lip to contain it. She didn’t relish the thought of losing her freedom. That much was clear. And that gave me perfect leverage for what I planned to do.

I strolled towards her, plastering a friendly smile on my face. “I might overlook this little theft. On one condition.”

She perked up, her eyes narrowing as she glared at me. “What’s your condition, Golden Boy?”

“You’ll help me find the killer.”