Aluvia awoke with a scream.

Every night, it was the same. The same nightmare. And every morning she would wake with a scream, drenched by a cold sweat. The bed and floor beneath her and the roof above her showed scorched black marks from where her wings had moved and touched their surfaces, twitching and flapping even as she slept, as though they sought to act out what was happening in her mind.

[i]Except it wasn't a nightmare.[/i]

Even nightmares passed from the conscious mind swiftly, even if they left a lingering sense of terror. This however, was a memory. At any time of any day, she could recall with perfect detail the events that played out for her every night. The hours that led to her death. She could feel every little thing, from the wind and rain to the tip of a sword cutting into her arms, to the pain, sorrow and hate she had felt in the titanic battle in which she died. In the day, she suppressed the memory as best she could, drowning it out with other memories, but every night, she died again, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She climbed slowly from the ground in the abandoned room she had been sleeping in, not the most comfortable resting place, but necessary. She had long ago ceased to sleep on any bed that could collapse, for they usually did, her burning wings wrecking the room and the bed every night.

With every movement, pain shot through her body. No matter how she rested, she could never be free of it - it seemed to come with the memories. As she remembered more, the pain became greater. As she remembered more, her wings grew more incandescent and lost more of their control feathers. Folding them was difficult and awkward for her now, and so she left them unfurled, trailing behind her like great burning banners.

She shivered as she pulled on the thin cotton clothes that were all she had for keeping warm and remaining decent. Somehow the cold made the aching pain even worse, but she hardly noticed it. She had long ago accepted that pain was a constant in her life, and that fighting against it was futile.

Without a frame of reference or any clue as to who she was, she was also not able to truly distinguish between her own values, if indeed she had any, and those that she could remember having. It was clear that the woman in her memories was not her. Could not be her. The hands from her memories were not the same as those she saw in front of her. The wings were different too. And obviously, she was still alive, despite remembering dying. And yet the memories did not feel foreign, it was undeniable in her mind that they belonged to her.

And so it was only logical that in the absence of any other values or morality, she take on those that she could remember, however strange it all seemed. Thus, here she was, in this city of men, demons and angels, with one purpose. To judge it. If it was found wanting, she would use her power to destroy it, and all of its inhabitants. What she had seen so far had not impressed her. As she stepped out of the building and into the light, she considered that, barring a miracle, she would bring death to the city in only a few days.

Part of her hoped against hope that the miracle would occur and redeem the city in her eyes. The rest… simply smiled at what was to come.

---

Wandering. The city was large, and it was taking her quite some time to get what she believed to be a good enough account to judge it. With no map and no plan, she simply walked, turning corners at random taking in the sights as she went. People often seemed to either get out of her way or outright flee when they saw her, she did not know why, nor did she care. Some few had attacked her, small demons mostly, but all had been swiftly repulsed. This most recent area she had entered seemed quite empty however, and those that were there and did see her seemed not to care. She found it strange, but bravery did not make an individual any more worthy of life.

One by one, shadows began to take shape as six large creatures sprouted into place. They were foxes, from their narrow snout to their long tails, their eyes glowing while they watched. Two of their own stood a bit farther off and had been stalking the woman, her essence filled their scent like a beacon they couldn't ignore. They had watched her dispatched other, less important demons yet she continued on as if their lives were meanless. Not that it mattered to the beasts but her position was concerning. It drew too near a place they stood guard over. Darius's strict orders fluttered into their mind causing the foxes to react. Very, very violently. 

It was to be a warning. A small draw of blood and nothing else, just to deter her from her current path. 

The smallest of the group, the youngest, strolled forwards and growled a warning. It's hunches pulled low in its approach, readied to spring the closer it drew until finally it came within range. It was a monster to any human who dared to trespass on its grounds. Darius's territory. The woman seemed unfazed. Its fur rose, then it shot forward to sink its teeth deep into her arm. 

It was strange to see creatures that she usually only found in the wilderness here in the city, though not so strange that she stopped. When it growled, however, she poised for swift movement, an action that payed off as moments later, the beast lunged forward towards her. In an uncharacteristically swift movement, she spun on the spot, slapping the beast mid leap with her burning wing as she did. As she came to a halt again, her wings were stretched around her in a protective stance, to cover as many angles as they could, leaving only the space directly ahead of her clear so as to let her see incoming attackers. The sky instantly clouded over then, thick black storm clouds gathering at an unnatural rate while wind suddenly howled down the street, picking up papers, dust and trash as it went.

When Aluvia's wing came down, it singed and burned. The beast howled in pain. It's wound flickered with red, embers, where it strike causing the other foxes to tense in silence. The fox that clashed with the impact was sent backwards where its body slammed then skidded to its side. It whimpered, pitifully pushed itself upwards and staggered on to all fours once more. It gave another snarl with white fangs bore at the pain's source. Jaws snapped, muzzle curled, unfazed by her outstretched wings trying to defend against the others starting to circle. 

None were aware of the skies above showing its rage or the wind eerily picking up, their minds embedded with a single task and intended to carry it out with their last breath. One leapt to the side when a trash can fluttered by, knocked to its side, with trash rolling in its wake. The wounded fox perked its ears then looked to the skies giving another warning bark. The others, however, were fixed on the curled winged angel in their path despite the odd essence scent she was giving off. It only increased their aggression into lower growls.

Impatient, three broke off from the group. One came from behind, the other two at either side, as they lounged with open mouths ready to sink into the delicate wings. 

When Aluvia realised she was surrounded, she willed the wind to even greater heights and spread her wings out while leaping into the air. Teeth tore into the fabric that flowed around her legs as she rose, but her wings had caught the wind already, and her skin was untouched as she was pulled backwards and up through the air. Far above, the sky split with light, a great fork of lightning spearing down to explode on the roof of one of the buildings above, leaving the air charged and metallic. The sound of thunder arrived almost as soon as the lightning, for the storm was directly overhead.

As soon as Aluvia landed, several meters behind the foxes, she focused on controlling the furious wrath of the heavens directly, willing the lightning to ignore its natural path and strike where she wished, in this case on the largest of her opponents.

One moment their target was before them, ready to be torn to pieces, then she was gone! Absent was the feel of flesh shredding, the copper taste of blood, and the scream of their prey. Instead their eyes widened, ears pinned back, when she rose to the skies. Leaving the three foolish foxes to slam into each other. A skull cracking sound was heard just when their figures collided together then collapsed into a pile. The fastest and strongest ended up on bottom, its teeth bared and shoved off its brethren in a show of dominance. Quickly the smaller two scrambled off. Their heads twisted about to seek their prey's image again. 

Crack! Lightning illuminate their darkened forms like wraths of the night. They barely flinched at the angel's show of force, not knowing better, as they turned to face her new position. In a blur the farthest two foxes dashed forward across the open street to eat the distance between. Another pair darted up a nearby fire escape while they made their way to the angel's position, slightly hoping to take her by surprise should she take flight again. Meanwhile, the injured fox slowly retreated back into the cover of shadows and watched while it licked its wound. 

No sooner had the beasts regrouped and begun running at her than she had wrested control of the sky's wrath and summoned a bolt of fork lightning to directly strike the lead fox. The electric tang in the air was exhilarating, and the prospect of causing death stirred some part of her to great joy. She almost forgot the constant pain as she swept her wing to slap the second fox away, but somehow it also felt wrong to be enjoying the prospect of carnage as much as she was.

The lead fox's head was crouched low, its body made into a streamline function, while its lungs throbbed in its chest pounding to feed its legs into a rapid pace. Its eyes flickered with heated lust for blood while it thumped harder and faster on the concrete. The rough texture rippled through its paw as it leapt off the surface in quick, brief moments. Each stride ate away at the distance. Its jaws widened ready to rip a chunk from her…then all that remained was ashes. A loud crack, sizzle and pop when the lightning roared through its torso. A million volts raged within its core. Its lungs and other critical organs were immediately fried, the blood cooked until it dried, leaving the beast with little time to howl its misery before it died. It shuddered then flickered into nonexistence. 
 
Its companion barely knew it was gone. It only had its sight set for the threat at hand, its fangs flared while it coiled up and rushed forward. Paws outright and aimed to knock the woman down only to be batted back. Pain ripped through its back while the wing’s fire heated its fur and muscle creating a raw patch from the third degree burn. The beast rolled onto its back, caught up in the wing’s momentum, as it came back onto its legs. In a fast turn, it lashed its torso to the side then lead about to strike at Aluvia’s exposed side with her upheld wing. 
 
Meanwhile, the second pair had reached their position. The only thing which gave them away were their glowing eyes, ever watching the current pair sparing, when their figures started to lean over the guard rail. Their claw lengthened and borrowed into the vertical surface until they were close enough. Then they leapt. Fangs and claws aimed for the woman’s exposed back and head in their surprise attack. 

Aluvia barred her own teeth and hissed, leaping back to avoid the strike of the fox she had just beaten with her wing. She was not used to anything getting back up from a strike such as that, most being could not resist the heat and essence burn so effectively. Her leap was fortuitously timed, the two foxes attacking from above coming into her view as she moved. With a thought, she will ed the lightning to strike once again, this time on the highest of her airborne targets, which, with no way to ground itself would likely suffer even more than the previous lightning struck one had.

With pain as constant as it was and rage consuming her mind, she did not notice that there was a streak of red on her right side. The next fox to approach her would find her wing slamming down upon it edge first to hold it against the ground while she focused her mind to summon lightning again.

Burnt fur and charred flesh filled the air, the lightning cracked to split the skies and chased away the darkness in a blaze light again. Two barks, pitiful, filled the air before they were silenced. In moments the two airborne foxes combusted into scattered dust and vanishing. Their corpses melted into the shadows once more leaving no traces save their stench.

The one which had attempted to lunge at her exposed side shortly found itself pinned. The wing burned and sizzled, fire rippled across its hide creating pain while it mixed snarls and whimpers of pain with its struggles. Before the lightning struck the pinned one, another blur rushed at Aluvia. It seemed while she was defending against the third attackers, the other had crept up slowly, their forms darted into sight only briefly then vanished back into the cover of shadows among the surrounding buildings. Each flash gave them away causing them to halt in their tracks, motionless, until night once more allowed them to approach. 

While a fifth fox went for the Angel's back, another readied to latch upon the calf when she evade (if she did) and sink its teeth into the flesh. If successful, it would weigh her down and drag her to the ground where the fifth and last fox would join on to a feast of blood, flesh and feathers. 

Aluvia had been about to strike the pinned fox with her other wing when she felt something collide with her from behind, knocking her sprawling. She rolled along the ground, her wings wrapping around her and scorching the cement beneath her as she went. Rather than try to leap to her feet, Aluvia instead curled herself as small as she could and covered her form with her burning wings, willing the whole area to be pelted with hail.

It would be a moment before the frozen water from far above would reach them, but the stilling of the wind and the sudden sharp drop in temperature was a strong indicator of what was to come. The sound of the first of the golf ball sized ice sphere's smashing through the glass of a buildings window above was piercing, and Aluvia knew it would be joined by many more at any moment.

When the fifth fox hit the woman, it pushed back with its hind legs, once more landing back on all fours as it eyed her body being thrown to the ground and rolling away. Its lips curled then started to cover the distance between in it attempt to tear into her while she was vulnerable. Slowly the other fox, the one pinned, staggered upright, its right paw held upright against its body while panted heavily. As if sensing the change in the air it tilted its nose skyward. Then was belted with a golfball size ice ball which caused it yelp and dart to the nearest cover: back the way it came. It was followed by remaining others, save the one trying to rip into Aluvia's wings, however only two made it out of the massive downpour alive. 

In moments two of the foxes sizzled and faded, their whimpers and cries faded from the world. Glass scattered across the pavement, dents and property had suffered, leaving a chaos to reign until all that remained was the aftermath. 

An almost feral grin spread across Aluvia's face as she heard the whimpering of the foxes that suffered under the hailstorm. Many of the ice balls had impacted her wings as well, only to be flash boiled on contact. The hailstorm ended as abruptly as it had begun when she heard no more of the pitiful sounds of the creatures being bludgeoned from the sky, and as soon as the last hailstone had fallen she stood and unfurled her wings. A gentle rain began to fall as she regained her sense of direction and kept walking. The rain would wash away the blood and the dirt, and though she still did not notice the claw marks on her flesh, it would not be long before they would heal, having been cleaned by the rain. Though she felt eyes upon her, she did not care if some of the beasts had survived. Any that were lucky enough to still live could spread the word that she would not be so easily defeated. A smile picked at the edges of her mouth with the thought of being feared.