Epica!

Endless running. She couldn't get away no matter how far she ran. She pressed on holding on to the small sliver of hope that maybe, somehow, someway, a miracle would happen. But it never came as she finally surrendered to the darkness clouding her heart. She collapsed heavily near the roots of the oak tree. Today is the day, she thought. Today was the day she died.

She laid on her back and was startled to see him there. "Just leave me be!" she pleaded with the last of her strength. Her bones seemed to shake in exhaustion, and her ears rung in pain. He only grinned, and leaned down to her level. Placing his cool hand on her cheek, which was hot and flushed from the run.

"Never." he said holding her chin firmly in his grasp before pulling her face closer. A single word prohibiting her freedom, she began to sob silently when she heard it. "Your beautiful soul. . ." he continued like an undertaker delivering a eulogy. There was nothing she could do, nothing to turn the hands of the clock. She could only reap the consequences of her actions now, and there was no more running. "It's mine."

As though a guillotine were coming down on her head, she froze. Her breathing steadied, her eyes closed, and then and there, she died. There was no sound that night, not even insects singing their midnight melodies. It seemed that everything was sleeping in the area. He allowed her to die peacefully. That was his gift, but soon she'd see him again and her peace would end there.

"Such disgusting and pitiful creatures ignorant and repulsive." he murmured silently to himself with loathing and distaste. They were the reason for his banishment. For his fall. He couldn't bring himself to feel any emotion for them but utter hate.

"But they are His." a sudden voice cut through the night forest. He turned to the source to come face to face with one of the Cherubim. A being through which He used to speak through. This one took the from of small black eyed child.

"In His image! I'll never forget that insult." he seethed. One of the many reasons why he hated such lesser beings. He gave them everything, yet many shunned him. He gave them the ability of choice. But as soon as he sought that ability he was expelled.

"He sent me to test your hate." The child continued seemingly negligent to the increasing rage of the being before him. "To see if you had yet learned your lesson."

"I've learned nothing. Why would He choose us as the lesser being?! Humans are disgusting creatures susceptible to temptation and vice! Tell Him that!" he ordered.

"He heard." The child spoke almost as soon as the words had left his mouth. "He said that yes, sometimes they stray, but in the end, man will always look to return to their father. They can aspire, and dream, and always hope for a better future, even when it looks bleak. That's what sets us apart from them, what makes them so special."

He scoffed at the child's words, or rather His words spoken through the Cherubim. "Lies." he hissed lowly. "With an absent father, the children will wander. Never to return to His hand."

"You are mistaken." the child interjected.

"I will show you!" he shouted loudly. In the empty forest no one would hear him but those present. "Any human, any at all! Can be corrupted! Their souls twisted from what they once were! Look at her body and tell that's not true!" he shouted pointing an accusing finger at the lifeless body of the girl who had so desperately tried to escape him.

The child did as his elder instructed and gazed solemnly at the dead girl. "Not all of them can be corrupted as such."

"Show one who you think is pure and incorruptible, and I will prove to you, how much his soul can twist!" he spoke loudly, challenging his very father.

"There is one He says. His name is Ariel. He will not bend before your corruption." The child responded with fire in his eyes. Before him stood the only one who dared oppose His will, yet who was born into obedience. Such insubordination had to be punished.

"I'll attempt the task." he said boldly, confident that he would win. He knew how weak the human soul was, and knew that He gave his human brothers too much credit. There was only one, who he could stand to be in the presence of. Only one who deserved his love, and that only being was Him. "However. . . when I succeed in proving how week they really are He must allow me return to Him." He declared. He was his father, a king, and he a prince. There was nothing more that he yearned for but to return to Him and be away from the human world. "He must end my exile!"

"You are free to try, but He tells me - or rather warns you - when you fail, He will send the Seraphim to toss your soul into the lake of fire in the ninth circle, where you will be given nothing but traitors' flesh to feast on for willingly choosing to betray your father, and to oppose your brothers." the cherubim warned.

The Seraphim, second only to Him in power. Four fierce warriors who constantly burned with love towards their only father. Like dogs they obeyed him and would die for Him if they could. An Archangel hardly stood a chance against them. Yet he refused to feel fear.

"Repeat to me, Cherubim, the name of the poor soul which He and I have wagered upon?"