Karasu no shugo tenshi - The Prophecy of Light - Part 1: Heaven and Hell

Chapter 4 - The croak of hope

Verentia looked thoughtfully at the prince's castle. Once again they had lost the battle. Although the demons had finally set a few houses on fire, as well as eliminated a few light magicians, the angels had come down. No one could fight against light, so they had withdrawn. „I need to cool my wounds", complained Perniger, who rubbed himself over the hurting spots, which affected almost his whole body, „If you are looking for me, I will organize water." „Do what you want", Falx commented casually and looked questioningly at Verentia, „Not everyone is back yet. That doesn't necessarily mean anything yet." Audibly, she exhaled: „I was so hoping that it would be the solution to our problem, but now..." Out of the corner of his eye, Falx saw Perniger disappear into black smoke: "We have failed - ok - but that is not the downfall of our race. Look around, we are still here. As long as we live, we will fight. After all, we are demons." „You are right", Verentia replied, „And I represent all the demonesses in this fight. I must not give up and I will succeed." Smiling, Falx nodded at her: „That's how we know the awesome. Always proud and ready to fight."

The houses in the village square were ablaze with flames. Some demons had simply appeared there with other normal people. At first Candidus had thought they were prisoners, leverage, or the demons were using them as shields, but none of that was true. They were also using magic, but not light magic, instead dark magic. The same magic that the demons used. Before you knew it, the dark magicians had gone after the villagers and the demons had set the surrounding houses on fire. Candidus had been in the marketplace at the time, intending to trade his harvest for other things, as was customary. Instead, he found himself in a fight. The attackers had quickly bypassed the shields and were attacking with swords, daggers and knives. Gabriel's angels came rushing to help after a short time, but the fire did not stop blazing. „Get more water!", Candidus shouted to the other villagers who had no magic. He himself, as well as the other magicians were still trying, together with the angels, to fight off the attackers. One by one, small balls of light dipped into one element and then permanently attacked the demons and dark magicians. Candidus attacked with balls of light magic, looking around again and again for his fellow comrades and possible wounded: „Do not give in. Gabriel protects us, his angels help us. We can do it." His strong belief in the skills and Gabriel himself not only helped him, but also encouraged the other magicians. They had received the light to protect their loved ones and that is exactly what they would do. While the dark magicians focused mostly on close combat, the light magicians tried to stay away from them. If the dark magicians got too close to them, they produced concentrated light to blind them and regain their distance. Their luck was that the demons actually stayed in the background. However, the fire was just out of control. The angels sent down more light elves. For Candidus and the others, they were only small balls of light that made their way to the enemy, but no one suspected that some kind of small creature was hiding inside. A group of light elves dove into the flames, taking on the element of fire. They purposefully attacked the dark magicians, for the angels knew that demons could not burn. It would hurt them, but it would not scare them off. The dark magicians, however, cried out when they came into contact with the fire elves or threw themselves to the ground in panic when their clothes began to burn. The heat of the fire bothered Candidus as he continued to attack the dark magicians. There were fewer of them. More and more simply disappeared in black smoke. The angels followed up once again with a new group of light elves, who again dived into the fire. However, not all of the light elves left the fire again immediately, one seemed to be missing. The magicians, demons, and villagers did not notice. They were far too busy with the actual battle. A young wolf, about the age of 20, ran unclothed from the flames of the burning house. He seemed unharmed, but confused. Candidus noticed him out of the corner of his eye: „Are you hurt?" Strangely, Candidus had never seen him there before, although everyone in the small village knew each other. Was he a homeless guy who had been hiding in the village until now? There was no answer to Candidus' question. Candidus could not care much about him, because he still had to take care of his own defense and fight off the rest of the attackers. The strange wolf started to move, beating his chest as if he was struggling for breath, and suddenly a jet of fire shot out of his mouth, as was usually only known from demons. Candidus now naturally saw him as an enemy, but the stranger seemed just as frightened and ran away. Candidus shortly considered following him, but decided not to let his comrades down.Finally, the last dark magician disappeared in black smoke. Shortly after, the demons also withdrew, which instead burst into black flames. The light magicians, however, had no time to rest and began to run for more water. Some houses were already lost, but it was necessary to protect the neighboring houses. The angels above their heads made the light elves disappear, their task was done. The bright figures now rose higher into the sky again and finally disappeared. Bucket after bucket was brought up from the well. „Make it faster!" „The flames just don't get any smaller." „We need more water!" „The fire spreads to the fields!" Voices rang out from everywhere. Had they really won the battle? There would probably be nothing left of the village but ashes. Candidus looked up at the sky: „Gabriel, please, if you can do anything, please help us." It would be impossible for them to master the flames on their own. Between all the smoke that was drifting towards the sky, other clouds seemed to form as well. A glimmer of hope began to grow in Candidus: „Rain, please make it rain." In fact, lightning flashed between the clouds, thunder rumbled, and big raindrops fell in a torrent of water over the village. The villagers stopped, some of them put out their arms and gratefully let the rain pelt down on them. It was a true miracle. The fire went out, the smell of wet ashes was everywhere in the village. Many of the villagers who lived in the center had lost everything in the flames. Slowly the rain began to subside and the villagers realized the loss and the full extent of the destruction. It was the remains of a battlefield. Candidus didn't have much himself, but his house stood further away from the village and had thus been saved: „I can take a few people until we rebuild the houses. I'm sure there is room for others." He looked around, agreeing, some people nodded: „If you don't have a place to sleep, you can stay with neighbors and friends. We'll manage that." You could feel the relief of the now homeless, they would not die miserably on the streets. Tired, Candidus looked at his field. He had been lucky and nothing had happened to his family. Nevertheless, he was worried, because the fighting would certainly not end soon. His life as a farmer had always been enough for him, now he was using magic. It still seemed a little strange. Protecting himself, he held his arm in front of his eyes as a bright light came out in front of him and Gabriel appeared: „You have done well today." It took Candidus a short moment before he answered respectfully: „Your angels have helped us a lot. Without you, your magic, your angels... we would all be dead. We are all endlessly thankful to you." „You have a strong faith", Gabriel said with a smile, „and the light magicians need a leader. I want to give you the crow magic." „I'm just a farmer, I don't know what this crow magic is. You should choose someone else. Someone in a higher position", Candidus protested, somewhat shocked by Gabriel's proposal. „It is a special magic", Gabriel explained in a calm tone, „A stronger form of light magic. I have given this magic the form of a crow, as a symbol of the bond between life and death. In addition, light magic has many more possibilities than you have used so far. I think you are the right one to lead your people, the people of light magic." „I have no idea how to lead a nation", he contradicted again and looked somewhat helplessly at Gabriel, „As much as I am honored by your offer." Smiling, Gabriel raised his hand and placed it on Candidus' chest: „I will help you, you are not alone. Your faith is your greatest strength. Do not forget that." Then Candidus began to glow, stronger and stronger. He closed his eyes, but quickly relaxed as the light felt warm and friendly. The light disappeared into his body and a light gray crow symbol appeared over his left eye. It seemed like a fur marking, unusual but natural. Candidus looked at his hands and then undecidedly at Gabriel: „It doesn't feel much different." „Your children should have it too. Once you are gone, they must be able to defend themselves and lead their people.", Gabriel explained to him gently, „Don't worry, they will master it better than you one day. They grow up with it and it quickly becomes a normal part of their lives." Candidus turned back to his house: „All right, I'll go get them. Wait here for a moment." Quickly he went into the house to bring his daughter and son to Gabriel. Even though the situation still overwhelmed him, he trusted Gabriel completely. For the well-being of his family, he would become the leader Gabriel saw in him. He had to put his fears aside.