A Demon With Wings

Two

"As all of you should know, we are at war. No matter how many times we try to overthrow Satan, he fights back, and tries again," sighs the All-Father. "If we want to win this battle, we will require strong allies. I would like to have you heroes get into teams of five."

I instantly grab Evangeline's hand and Kevin's arm. Goodie walks over to us too.

One more. One more partner.

I quickly glance over to the others. Four groups have already been made. A lone girl, however, remains seated at the table.

She's around thirty, and she's incredibly ugly. Teresa Flint, the "stupid hero".

Kevin shyly calls out Teresa's name.

Teresa ignores him and simply pretends he doesn't exist.

"Teresa?" Evangeline tries.

Ignore. Ignore.

We must look like idiots now, yelling after a girl who refuses to listen.

"Miss Flint?" Goodie calls out cheerfully. "Can you tell us a story?"

I can spot the others laughing at us now.

Fuck it.

I sigh and draw my sickle. Instinctively, everybody else backs off. We are going to do this the hard way, and trust me, it's not going to be pretty.

"Teresa Flint, I suggest you to stand up and answer us now!" I yell, holding out my sickle.

For a moment, there's nothing but silence.

Teresa stares blankly at me, but her expression changes. Her angry look has changed to fear and hate. She stands up and starts failing about.

"No, Helen, I won't go to my room!" she yells.

What. The. Fuck.

Goodie looks at me in confusion, his spaghetti hair plastered across his head.

Evangeline looks at me in horror.

And Kevin remains emotionless, making no comment or taunt.

"Helen, you're mean! I hate you! Go away!"

I quickly scan the confused or laughing faces of the others. As far as I can tell, nobody present is called Helen.

Now I get why she didn't move when the All-Father told us to, and why nobody asked her to join their group. Flint is batshit crazy.

"Teresa, we're a team, whether you like it or not," I snap. "Or we could go on our quest and leave you behind."

Flint calms down and ignores us.

"Meh," I say. "Let's just go as a foursome."

Flint glares at me and starts going bonkers all over again.

The All-Father sighs. "Miss Flint, if you do not wish to join in the mission, you may leave now."

Flint leaves, still screaming about Helen.

I roll my eyes. Gosh, words cannot express how much I hate drama.

The All-Father sighs. "Miss Flint has issues with our quest. We cannot force others to do things they do not want to," he says wisely. "I'll call in a replacement. She'll be here in a bit."

The girl who showed up made me prefer Flint over her. And no, I am not being sarcastic.

She's in full armour, and her titian dreadlocks peek out from under her war helm. Her silver eyes are cold, just slits under it.

"Thanks for the opportunity, sir," she salutes the All-Father, and walks over to us.

"Hey," she lifts her helm. I cringe at the sight of her face. Her face…it's marred with scars. "I'm Trixie." I know her too. Trixie Alluni. Stood alone against all odds to slay a drakon. That's where she got the scars.

"Orson," I say. "This is Evangeline."

"Kevin," says Kev, shaking her hand.

"I'm Goodie!" cries Goodie happily. "Mr. Trixie, tell me a story!"

The worst bit about Trixie? She reminds me of Jezebel.

"What weapon do you use?" I ask, trying to be polite.

"Oh, I'm random," Trixie replies cheerfully." She shows the rest of us a packet of knives, and I feel the temperature drop.

For some reason, seeing Trixie's knives, splattered with gore, makes me doubt her.

"Wow, Trixie, I…"

Trixie stares at me, and I can't help but feel sorry for her. Without those hideous scratches, she could have been beautiful. And then, all of a sudden, she bursts out laughing.

I blink. Nobody told a joke.

"Oh, they say I'm insane. But I'm not crazy!" she says, a little too cheerfully.

Fuck, I hate psychopaths, whether they own tons of knives, or just want a good story!

The All-Father speaks up and adresses each group by turn. When it's ours, he hands both me and Evangeline a scroll each.

"You shall go west," he instructs. "You shall approach three individual armies, and ask for their support. I have given both Mr. Goldbloom and Miss Youngspire a list of the names, and information you need to learn."

"Yes, sir."

That actually sounds cool. Only tracking down colonies. No devils and monsters for a while.

Kevin looks relieved, too, and Evangeline gives little Goodie an encouraging smile.

Did I imagine it or did Trixie look slightly disappointed?

I shake off the feeling and roll open my scroll. It mentions three war clans.

The first one is the Gold Miner Hunters. I've heard that they're decent fighters, but the name is awful.

The second colony is called the Guardians of White Flame. Again, stupid, stupid, stupid. I have no idea what they do.

The third is named the Councillors For The Good of The World (CFTGTW), and the only thing I know about the organization is that some fucking varmint named it.

"So," I said, "Anybody else ready to kick some Satan ass?"

"Don't swear in front of a kid, Orson!" protested Evangeline.

I roll my eyes. "I don't really care, but I'm pretty sure that everybody knows what I mean. Does anybody doubt me?" I challenge.

Trixie looks at me strangely, and bursts out laughing for no good reason- again.

Did I mention I seriously hate psychopaths?