Every sense kicked into overdrive, my body pumping adrenaline so fast I was surprised my stomach hasn’t emptied itself in this clear blue abyss. I plummeted through the sky, a color so eye aching despite my lids being glued shut. I did not know which was louder—the wind whipping my frame like a cat batting a ball of yarn, or the blood rushing in my ears.

I fell haphazardly in a tangle of limbs, turning in complete disorder, not knowing if the empty space above me was the place where I came from, or the place I will soon be. The fall is ruthless, bending my body in ways it should not be bent.

Never had I ever been so blatantly terrified of the sky before. Such a fear is not known to angels. To us, the sky is our true home, our paradise, our pride. I was chosen by Seraph Gabriel herself for being quick on my wings, something I had always taken for granted.

The Falling won’t happen to me. I am a devoted follower, loyal to my land and my Archangel. How wrong I was. It was so childishly stupid I laughed, the wind catching my voice and throwing it away.

I laughed until my throat grew raw, until my maniacal tears turned to ones of sorrow. Then, I wept. Sobbed for the things I will never have, for the things I had never been truly thankful for. The wind took my tears, too, and I could not help but think how greedy it was. How I hated it for that.

“They’re mine!” I screamed, my throat tearing. “Mine! You cannot take them from me, world. I will watch you burn.”

And I will rise from your ashes like the phoenix. You will not break my soul, too.

My mind was spinning, the adrenaline leaving me as quick as it had come, rendering me hopeless.

The bindings, a voice in the back of my brain hushed. Free them.

Blindly, I fumbled to break the rope on my wrists, pulling until my skin tore and bled. The friction of rope against rope, making the fibers thin before they snapped, freeing my hands. They stinged in the sharp wind, and hell, that made me feel alive. That didn’t solve the whole situation, but it lifted my spirits just enough for me to dare to hope.

Eden, Seraph Gabriel whispered. Find her.

I will, I wanted to say back. I will find her.

Balancing in midair was arduous. Wings are what keep us at equilibrium in the skies, and with mine still bound, the task will be even more challenging. I could not see the knots, and my hands were jittery, fumbling franticly at the tangle of ropes.

The dark, looming shape of forming land did not help with my sense of urgency. I fell through the clouds, vapor dampening my robes and mixing with cold sweat. A strangled sob escaped me as I suddenly struggled to breathe, gray spotting my vision even after I closed my eyes. It did not matter anyhow. I had already gotten my share of beautiful views in this world. I did not need them to be tainted in my remaining minutes of life.

I managed to wriggle a finger between the rope and my wing, tugging on it hard until it loosened just enough to lodge another finger in. The apex of my wing ached from the constant pressure, but I could not give in to such small troubles. With the rope pulling painfully at my feathers, the knot untangled, leaving it to flap limply. The second wing was less of a struggle as I had more room to move, and soon it was free.

My eyes snapped open, and my stomach dropped for the millionth time today. The deep green of trees rippled below me, curving with the shape of the earth. It went on forever, stretching out at impossible lengths. If it were not for the immediate danger, the view would have been much more admired. Alas, my greed for survival won yet again.

My wings struggled to open to their full length from the sheer force of gravity. It was painful, even, to have nature shove its full weight against my insignificant mortal body. But if I wanted to live, I had to slow my fall this instant. The muscles burned with protest as I forced them to their full size; my wings whistled as the air fell through them. I jerked back from the force of feathers catching wind just as I grew close enough to see details in the forest’s foliage.            

I’m not making it in time, I realized. I won’t be able to slow down fast enough.

Instincts commanded me, and I fell into a dive, flowing with the drop instead of fighting against it. I let my wings carry me in a fashion too fast to be called gliding, watching this new earth approach me as I flew down in an unsteady diagonal, leaves from the treetops whipping my face, my arms, my legs, until I was fully submerged in the wood. Not a limb went without a bruise or scrape, and I was soon praying that these branches were going to slow my fall.

Just let me live. Just enough for me to survive.

It was as if each branch in the whole damned forest held a deep hatred for me. My robes were torn and bloodied, my left eye too hurt to fully open. Leaves and twigs tangled in my hair and my wings straining with every fiber of my entire being. But hell, I hadn’t died yet, so I welcomed the pain with open arms.

I did not know when I hit the ground, nor how I made it there. All I felt was the ache of another injury, and the next was the deep musk of decomposing leaves. My breaths came and went with difficulty, my lungs sore and my body panging. Bile rose and emptied out until there was nothing left, and I was coughing on the ground, dry heaving with great effort.

My mind was fuzzy, dipping in and out of consciousness so often I mistook the murmuring of voices for a nearby stream. A hand grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. I stared, my eyes out of focused and dazed, not comprehending the stranger in my midst.

“E-Eden?” I wheezed.

The person laughed. “Oh, how you wish, little angel. I’m afraid you may be a bit confused; you’re looking a little worse for wear right now.”

I closed my eyes to block out the pounding headache. “Then, who?”            

He dropped my head, letting it fall back into the dirt. “Something filthy as yourself does not deserve to know my name,” he hissed, nudging my side with the tip of his boot. He dug it into my ribs, making me gasp in agony. He clicked his tongue, fake sympathy seeping into his tone. “Poor thing. You’ve got broken ribs.”

“You angels wander so often to my lands I’m beginning to think you want to be taken away by me. Casted down from heaven for being tainted with sin. How fitting.” He turned vicious, his voice baring a deadly edge.

I must get away.

But I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed from exhaustion and fear and wanted nothing more than to just sink into this very earth.

“I wonder, what shall I do with you?” he crooned, pressing the cool blade of a dagger to my back.

I need to get away—

“Satan!” A new voice burst forth with so much hatred I feared the trees would wilt. “Get away from him.”

“Aww, Lucifer. You’re always ruining the fun,” Satan pouted, adding more pressure to the knife, tracing my spine with a new wound.

“Get away from him,” the man demanded. I could not see his face, only his sandaled feet as they moved closer to me. “We have a deal.”

“And what if I break it, Lucifer? What then? You have no power over us now.”

“Then I will make you.”

Pure power rippled over me; a bloodlust so thick I choked until I succumbed to the darkness at last.