Harbinger of War

I once again awoke in the pearly white palace of angels. I opened my eyes and got out of my bed, which was placed in the barracks along with most other angels. It was a pretty open space, like everything in the palace. It's easy to make it so when you have near limitless power and space.  I turned to my wardrobe, placed next to my bed, and strapped on my armour, A silver-white chest pice trimmed with gold and bracers and shin guards to match. I also picked up my spear and made my way outside into the courtyard. The courtyard was huge, fountains everywhere with long lines of bushes and trees and whatnot from the surface. In the centre was a sort of... pool, made out of white brick with a glowing blue liquid contained within.  It was the portal to the surface world, where humans, elves, dwarfs and every other creature lived... aside from those residing in the underworld. Beside it stood Archon, my tutor. I was young, even by human standards, only... I think you would say 18, and as such, I was still in the midst of my training, which Archon was providing me with. I walked up to him, his white hair was slightly flowing in the small amount of wind we get here, and his eyes turned to the portal. They were black eyes, a pretty uncommon trait among angels, most of us, including myself, had silver or golden eyes. It didn't matter though, we didn't much care about eye colour.  He looked back over to me, finally noticing my presence. "Ah, Elyon! Finally decided to grace me with your presence, have you?" He was somewhat of a joker, more sarcastic than anything, but he was more comedically gifted than every angel I knew... which isn't a high bar to hit. "I apologise, Archon. I was not aware I was late." I knew I wasn't late, in fact, I was right on time, to the second... well maybe not that precise... maybe to the ten seconds. "If I may, what am I doing today?" He was vague yesterday as to what we were going to do, not uncommon but annoying nonetheless. "A minor demon was spotted by a small town on the outskirts of some kingdom, we get to go kill it. Come on now." Archon then stepped onto the bricks and jumped in, I followed soon after, knowing no fear. I had never been to the surface before, so I was excited but this was a business trip, we can't exactly go here for leisure. I followed Archon down, straight to this small town he was just talking about. It was only about... thirty buildings, all of which conformed to the same style of wood and stone. There was one paved road going down the middle of the town, but otherwise, all the paths were dirt, plastered onto the earth through repeated use.  The full moon was bright, eerily so, but the stars were all covered by cloud... well would be. Archon and I hadn't gotten below the cloud level yet. It would be strange to see the moon from below, instead of above, but it didn't matter. We soon got to the surface, the only noise being made was a few flaps of our wings and a couple of footsteps as we slowed down our lateral motion. I looked around, we were on the stone path of the town, which as I could now see, was lined by trees every twenty paces or so. There was also a large number of hills surrounding this town, making it quite... claustrophobic for an urban centre. No light nor person could be spotted, Archon informed me that humans sleep for eight hours a day at the least. We angels did sleep, but rarely and for short periods of time, we simply didn't need as much rest as the mortal races. Archon was already wondering about, his sword in hand. "I can't see any signs of corruption in any of the humans. This must be an extremely shy demon." "Perhaps it's just an imp?" A demon that didn't corrupt whatever it so desired was strange. An imp, however, would simply exist to serve a demon in a limited capacity, as such it seemed to me to be the report was wrong and an imp was spotted, not a demon. Archon shook his head, however. "No, an imp would've perished long ago. Humans are tenacious Elyon, remember that." I nodded in response. He had a point. The humans would have killed it long ago if it was but an imp. Imps aren't the smartest things, and wouldn't know the danger that awaited it around humans.  Demons, however, would likely remain vigilant everywhere on the surface world. It still doesn't answer why there is a lack of corruption here. Dismissing this, we continued, searching for this demon. It took a couple of hours, as it wasn't even in the town, instead, it was found in the hills surrounding the town.  It took the form of a small girl, with violet eyes and long brown hair. It wore a simple tunic, often found among the common folk of the human kingdoms. "Now, Elyon, demons can be tricky, so take your time and be patient." The demon whipped around to see us standing there. Archon moved off to one side, leaving me to take on this demon alone. A good training exercise. I readied my spear and took a few cautious steps towards it. The demon knew it couldn't trick an angel and as such got ready to fight. Demons could use weapons, but the lower-level ones would use their claws. This was one of the lower-level ones for sure. I circled it and waited for it to do something. I had never fought a demon before, as such I knew nothing about how they would fight. The demon soon grew impatient and pounced on me... or at least attempted to. I raised my spear in a defensive position, which caused it to instead grab onto my spear, which allowed me to redirect the beast's momentum into the ground.  It fell off my spear and landed on it's back before scurrying away to a safe distance. It regained its stance and I did the same. "Good. Learn your enemy's movements. It will help you in future battles." Archon finally spoke. He had his arms crossed, looking on with an emotion I couldn't discern. I had spent too long studying Archon and the demon took its shot at being rid of me. This time it scurried low and attempted to swipe up. Thankfully my reactions were fast enough to back-step and slam its head with the back of my spear, again causing it to retreat. "Never lose focus, Elyon" I grunted a bit. I knew that old man, I just made a mistake. I again began circling this creature. This time I struck, leaping into the air with the aid of my wings and descending right onto it from above. I managed to stab it through the neck, as it seemed to accept its fate before I even struck.  "Well done, Elyon. Made one or two mistakes but it all worked out." Archon patted me on the back. "I'd say it's time to go home for the written part of today." I nodded and sighed internally. I didn't enjoy the writing part of my life, but it had to be done.  Archon and I made our way back into town. It was normal for angels to check where they entered the surface world for any mortals. Archon looked around and shook his head. "I can't see anyone." Admittedly he didn't check all too hard and instead just glanced about. "Well, come on." Archon then took off, straight up. I was about to follow him when I heard a voice behind me. "Y-you're... beautiful." I turned to see a human woman, about 18, the same as me, with bright blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair. She had... a, what I'm going to call soft, face which was pretty in its own right but... she was crying. There were tears in her eyes. What was I supposed to do if a human sees me? Archon never told me... this is my first time down here. Ah... f**k. In a panic, I smiled at her and quickly took off, following Archon. On my way back up, I would find myself glancing back down there to the woman. I quickly stopped before Archon would notice me looking. What am I supposed to do? Should I tell Archon? What if he kills her? I don't know if that would be just. Do we just... ignore her? People have seen angels before but that was always agreed on by the generals beforehand. We got back up to the palace and Archon beckoned me to follow him, which I, of course, obliged, We walked into Archon's... office. I'll call it an office. It had the typical big wooden desk, a bookshelf on one of the walls and two chairs, one each side of the desk. I sat in the one closer to the door, Archon took the other one, same as always. "Well, Elyon, before we begin, did anything happen that I am unaware of?" Did he know? No, he couldn't. But, now is my chance to tell him. But should I? What am I thinking?! Of course, I should! "Yes, Archon. Just after you left the surface... a human spotted me and called me... beautiful. I was unsure as what to do and as such just flew off after you." I hung my head, in part to avoid his gaze, and in part to hide my shame. Archon got up and walked over to the bookshelf.  "I see. Well... it doesn't really matter. Humans live such short lives but it does break the rules in all honesty. For now... it will be your duty to keep an eye on her. Follow her daily routine, and should she tell no one of your, you may speak to her." Archon spoke, slowly and quietly, which was especially strange for him.  "How long must I wait to talk to her?" I raised my head, to again look at Archon. He sighed and flipped through a book. He soon turned back around and sat in the chair once more. He then waited a few moments to speak. "I believe a week would suffice. Shall we get on with our lesson?" I nodded and we then began spending the next few hours learning about the mortal world. I would often think back to this woman... she had called me beautiful. I  don't know why but those words stuck with me. I'm beautiful.  My attention would be ripped back to the lesson at hand quickly through no doing of Archon. I would just remind myself of the task at hand. The lesson soon concluded and I was sent off with some material to study while I did my duty. It was about the laws of the mortal world, a useful subject for me to see if this woman is indeed a criminal or something. "Oh... and Elyon. Should this woman get into trouble and remain lawful, you are to help her." I had heard of this. Young angels would be selected to act as guardians for certain mortals. Those mortals would go on to do great things and those angels would seldom be seen. I shook off the thought for now and headed to the barracks where I sat on my bed and began reading through my homework. Angels came and went through the day, a few asked how I was and what I was doing. It was culture to leave the youngest angels to their studies and wait for them to be assigned a role before too much interaction can happen. Why? Likely to keep the young angel's mind focused on what needs to be done. Soon enough it came to the end of the day for me. I had a habit of laying in bed for a time, much like humans. Not many other angels did this, but it wasn't unheard of. And so I lay there, thinking about that woman. Did she know what I was? Did she know what she was doing? So many questions.  I soon decided to go fulfil my duty to watch over her. Now, you may be asking how I was to do this... I... didn't know. So I went to go ask Archon. "Oh, right! I knew I forgot something! You must go down to the surface and protect her from above. You're an angel, flying is no issue for you." With that question answered, I did as he asked. I went to the portal and found myself on the long fall to the surface world. I ended up on the hills overlooking the village, good. I could fly up with the smallest chance of being spotted while remaining close by.  I flew up into the sky and found the woman. She had yet to wake up, I guess she did have a late night last night. The village itself was quiet, a few stores here and there, and a few people to work each of them. Soon enough, the woman I had been sent to watch emerged from her house, wearing a blue dress that was... relatively high class... then again that could go for the entirety of this town. If I had to guess this was a merchant town, where merchants lived and stored goods. It has the position for it, placed in the middle of three prominent cities, one of which was a port city. The woman I had been sent to guard walked about the town with a sort of wicker basket. She walked about the town, buying things like apples and carrots and other fruit like that.  Come midday, she returned home briefly and then left without her wicker basket. She made her way to the local inn. Upon her entry, I lost sight of her, but I could still hear her. She had met with a group of young women, just like her. I assume they are her friends of some sort. I then heard her say something that actually brought some... sadness upon me. "My mother... last night... perished. My father isn't taking it too well so... I'm having to step up as the lady of the house." I see. That is why she was crying when she saw me. Good to know my ego won't get much bigger from that night then. Bad joke, I know. So, she had lost her mother last night and this was her first day caring for the household. I wonder how many people she had to care for. I elected to leave her briefly and... unlawfully enter her house. I was an angel so I just kind of... willed the lock to open and walked in. The house was nice. There was a fireplace, explains the chimney, with a cooking pot over it and a table with six chairs. So... there were four others she had to care for now, excluding her.  I then heard some footsteps upstairs and panicked a small bit. I quickly left the house and flew back into the air. Thankfully, no one was around as it was lunch. They were all eating either in an inn or at home. That was much too close.  I followed the woman for the rest of the day. She would buy a selection of foods and other goods and then bring them back home. Come evening she made her last shopping run and remained at home... well I guessed she would. I sat on her roof, listening to whatever she had to say and in case something were to happen.   She simply cooked a stew for her family and then retreated to her room. I was also wrong about how many people she had to care for. There were only four in the house total. I guess the extra chair was for symmetry's sake. Once she was in her room, she opened her window and sat at a desk she had right there. How do I know? Well... I saw. I saw the window open from the roof and I remembered that room being very... sophisticated. In the room, there could be found a desk, a bed, wardrobe, bedside table and a bookshelf. That was it. She didn't have the customisation of her siblings.  I then heard her speak. "An angel... I saw an angel." This must be a lot to take in over a day, the death of her mother and myself. "I should probably get to writing... yeah." I didn't know what she was writing, could be anything really. But I didn't dare take a look. That would be much too risky. Soon enough the sun was lost under the horizon and she went to bed. I got curious soon after and opened her window to look at what she was writing. The upper body strength of an angel makes hanging off a windowsill child's play. I grabbed the book, which was still open to allow the ink to dry and went back up to the roof.  The ink by this point was dry so I could flip through the pages as I pleased. It was a diary, written in the form of a letter. This one only went back a few months and was pretty new. It starts with her mother getting ill with... something, she doesn't know what. Through her diary, I also learn her name is Ella. I like that name, it's humble and sweet, unlike every angel I have ever met.  Like, why are all our names stuff like 'Apollyon' or 'Archon' or 'Elyon'? Can't we have normal names or is that too much to ask? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. I spent a good part of the night reading through her diary, placing it back as I found it when done. I also chose to leave for the palace shortly after. Where I found Archon waiting with a smile. He simply stood there, as if he knew what was going through my head.