Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

and bright were now faded, dirtied from soot and ash. Long chestnut hair had been hacked off, and Renat could see strands of it clutched in various demons' hands, held close like the precious drug it was. Tasting pure celestial energy was the rarest of all experiences, and Semiazas had done his part to buy the crowd by dispensing a small measure of that energy to them. Instead of a robe of white the angel was nude, and his naturally flawless skin already showed signs of abuse, red and black burns weeping where Semiazas had laid his flaming hands on him. Draped over his shoulders and coiled around his legs was a chain of hellfire, and it burned a sullen blood red, able to restrain the angel but unable to harm him as long as his purity of soul remained intact.
    "Renat," Semiazas hissed, his voice nasal and flat. A forked tongue poked between the gap in his enormous teeth. "What brings the Pretender of Hell here?" The Pretender was one of many names that Renat carried through the pit. He was one of the very few Fallen who had mostly held on to his angelic form despite their exile from God. His appearance angered many of the other demons, especially those who had been totally transformed by the fires of Hell.
    "This angel is mine," Renat replied. His voice was calm and cold, while inside he was shaking with the need to claim. "You will release the binding chain holding him."
    Semiazas brayed loudly, vastly amused. The nearest demons joined in with scornful laughter. "First to find, first to bind and then the deal is done," Semiazas said when he could speak again. "I found the angel, I brought him through the Western Gate. He is mine to enjoy as I please." He jerked the chain, forcing the angel up onto his knees. Renat couldn't let himself focus on it. If he did he would lose his mind.
    "I give you one last chance to release the binding chain without bloodshed," Renat intoned, stretching his wings a little wider. He knew how this was going to play out, had known from the moment he heard which demon was holding the angel. Some demons could be bartered with, some could be intimidated, but others could only be stopped through brutal application of force. Semiazas was one of these. He feared none but Satan, and would never give up the angel without a fight.
    Sure enough, Semiazas simply grinned, steaming saliva dripping to the ground as though his mouth were watering for the fight. Perhaps it was, at that. He tossed his end of the chain away, then lashed out with one razor hoof. It caught the angel square in the chest, knocked him through the air and onto his back. None of the crowd dared to touch him, not even to sample his energy. If they handled the chain without Semiazas' consent, it would burn the offending limb to dust.
    Again, Renat kept his eyes averted and focused everything on his opponent. Fire crept up Semiazas' hands and arms, eventually engulfing them completely in a flame so hot it was the color of ice. In turn, Renat unsheathed his sword. The light emanating from the blade was bright enough to hurt the eyes of the watching demons, a strange, twisted pain brought on partly by the hellfire that had been poured into its forging, and partly by the thread of angelic virtue that somehow formed its core. Renat had made the sword very early after his fall, imbuing it with the tattered remnants of his grace and making it an enduring symbol of his reason for falling, which was solely love. The sword helped him to remember and kept him from overwhelming regret, and in turn the blade was one of very few weapons that could lastingly hurt a demon.
    "You and your toys," Semiazas growled. "You are nothing but a plaything, Pretender." He reared back onto his hind legs, and the tremor caused by his thundering strike as his front hooves hit the ground again made the pillars of the Western Gate itself tremble. He launched himself at Renat at a full run.
    Renat swept up into the sky, avoiding Semiazas' first blitzing attack. Unable to stop his bulk in time, Semiazas plowed into the first rank of watching demons, snapping and hissing as he lashed out at them, trying to turn around. Renat dove down, his sword flickering faster than sunlight, and cut through the tip of Semiazas' long, reptilian tail.
    The demon roared, flames spilling down his arms, then raised them up and leveled a sheet of blue-hot fire at Renat. Renat flew up and away, not quite fast enough to avoid the bottom edges of his wings getting singed. It hurt, but Renat