ANGEL'S LANDING | BL

CHAPTER 14 | YOU'RE KILLING US!

"On your left!" A shout from Castyr warned Rae of the danger racing for him. Turning to face the demon craft aiming for him, Rae controlled his sword telekinetically and used the blue blade to deflect the deadly bullets flying at him.

Once the bullets had been deflected, Rae's sword flew back to him and hovered around the colonel as Azyr and Destil spiraled around each other as they zipped through the hovercraft, shredding it with their blades. Rae tightened his hold on the boy in his arms as he twirled around to assess the situation.

With the remnants of the demon craft falling toward the city below, the constant assault that had chased them over the city came to a quiet end. Being airborne, the angelic unit was easy to spot as Rae and his subordinates flew over Harlim. The closer they got to the city's edge, the more the assaults lessened until they eventually stopped coming.

Now that they had defeated the forces from Hades that had been pursuing them, Rae and his unit continued flying over the dark city. Power had been lost for several days, leaving Halim in utter darkness during the night. The only light provided was that of burning fires as Hades continued to invade the city.

Axel watched with wet eyes as his home faded into the night. The skyreachers grew smaller and smaller as the colonel carried him away from the war-torn city. This was the first time in his life that Axel had left his home, and he never could have imagined it would be to run from Hades as demons ransacked the city.

Dad... Jay... Callon... A single tear rolled down Axel's cheek as he mourned for those he had lost. The sudden war had taken so many innocent lives in such a short amount of time.

How...how did I survive all this...how did I survive when everyone else didn't...? Why? Why did I survive...? Axel closed his eyes as another tear was swept away by the cool, night breeze. Guilt and hollowness consumed Axel as he realized he had lost everyone.

Rae glanced at the boy in his arms as he felt a tear fall onto his neck. Reaching up, Rae placed a hand on the back of the hangel's head and began to slowly pat his golden head. The colonel's hand on his head startled Axel slightly, but the moment the angel began to soothe him, Axel began to feel calm.

The emptiness and anxiety that had flooded his heart began to drain as Rae gently patted his head. The hollowness was replaced with exhaustion. Axel had been running at a hundred-and-ten percent the past five days, and now that he was relatively safe and no one was chasing him, he allowed his mind to grow foggy as tears continued to roll from his closed eyes.

The flapping of Rae's wings eventually lolled Axel to sleep as the colonel and his unit continued to bring Axel far from the dark city. Rae flew through the night as he led Unit R deep into the remote areas of Earth. He was familiar with an area titled "Nature's Reserve" that the world government had set aside and preserved from technology and industrialization. This was his destination.

Nature's Reserve consisted of a small range of mountains and valleys and all the towns that were already established at the time of the area's preservation. No new cities were allowed to be built on the preserved property once the land had been placed under government protection, so the area was fairly rural and secluded from the bustling urbanism that decorated the planet.

The preserved land was vast, so Rae hoped to find a place in which they could settle and set up a base. They would be able to train and protect Axel until he was ready to re-enter the war. Seeing as there was no way to rebuild the Transport Tower without driving Hades' forces from the city, it would take a good while for the Heavens to send reinforcements.