Justice for the Fallen

The wind howled around me, swinging the cage widely and making my head spin. I tightened my grip on the bars and focused on the sparkling towers of the city. Looking down at the emptiness dotted with fluffy clouds wasn’t the best idea. Angels were indeed a creative bunch. With their talks about peace, forgiveness, and all that crap, they went out of their way to make sure their prisoners suffered. And no, it wasn’t dark dungeons and torture chambers style. All they needed was a plain cage.

They hung it beyond their splendid floating city’s edges and let it dangle thousands of feet over the ground.

It was marvellously simple. If I tried to get free using force, the rope securing the cage would break, sending me diving down for my death. Prisoners offed themselves? Great, problem solved. No need for the trial.

I leaned my forehead on my knees. I was so screwed.

You walked into that one, said the voice in my head.

You don’t have to remind me.

I told you Golden Boy was trouble. I told you we should have killed him when we got a chance. If we slit his throat at the start, we wouldn’t be here.

Yeah, we would probably be long dead for killing an archangel. That’s not an improvement.

You don’t know that. We could have killed them all, taken over the city, and made rivers run with blood.

I scoffed. Keep dreaming.

If you let me out, everything would be different. We might not get out of here alive, but I would make the angels pay for what they did to us. I would make HIM pay.

“Shut up,” I growled, tightening my grip on the bars. The cage creaked, and the cord stretched and wobbled dangerously, so I quickly loosened my hold and tried to calm my anger. “I can’t think with your blabber in my head.”

Thinking won’t get you out of here. I would.

No, you wouldn’t. The moment I let you out, you would break this contraption, and we would fall to our death. Also─

I never finished the thought because the cage started to move down the beam back towards the city’s edge with a sharp tug. I looked at the sky that slowly turned from clear blue to orange and pink and noticed the sun dip below the horizon. If they wanted to drag me to trial already, they moved quickly.

Far too quickly. I still have no idea how to get out of this mess. But I’d be damned if I let those pompous pricks see me helpless and pathetically miserable.

I held on to the bars tighter and heaved myself to my feet. It was not easy in a swaying cage, considering it didn’t have a typical floor, just crisscrossing bars all over, with huge holes through which I could see the clouds and the ground looming very far below.

I planted my feet stable on the bars and straightened my back, ready to face whatever they would throw at me with my head held high.

The cage got closer to the landing platform lined with more contraptions that were currently empty. The last remaining sun’s rays reflected on an ornate golden armour. I gritted my teeth when I saw who pulled the lever getting me back to the landing.

Golden fricking Boy.

Let me out, and I’ll cut him to pieces.

I pushed my inner demon to the depths of my being. I had enough fury and didn’t need her to stoke the flame even more. Golden Boy had his fancy armour back and looked like some flaming miracle in the setting sun.

So annoying.

His face was glum. His brows were furrowed, and his mouth formed a thin line. I raised my chin and held his angry gaze.

The cage reached the landing platform and stopped abruptly, sending me bouncing off the bars. Keeping my dignity when pushed around the stupid prison was hard, but I did my best. I was relieved that the thing had stopped swinging.

Golden Boy gave the guarding Angels of Courage a side glance. “Leave us.”

“But sir, we have orders─”

“And now you have new ones. Leave us.” Melkyal voice was so cold and commanding that the lower-ranked angels cowered before him. “I’ll let you know when I’m done interrogating the prisoner.”

I crossed my arms, waiting until the blue-feathered angels disappeared inside the court building, and looked back at Melkyal with narrowed eyes.

“What are you doing here, Golden Boy? Are you supposed to be my executioner?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. What have you been thinking?” the archangel demanded. He walked onto the platform and grabbed the bars. Suddenly, he looked intimidating with his tall, muscular body and stormy expression. I took a step back, but my shoulders hit the bars on the opposite side of the cage. There was nowhere to run.

Golden Boy was angry. I never saw him like this. He clenched his fist so hard his knuckles turned white, and a small vein pulsated on his temple. My own fury rose inside me, sending a wave of hot rage through my body. If anyone should be angry here, it was me.

“What I’ve been thinking?” I hissed. “I followed you here because I trusted you! And you promised I’ll be safe here. That you will protect me.” I scoffed. “Look where that got me. Serves me right for acting like a naïve dimwit.”

“You are in a cage because you lied to me,” Golden Boy said bitterly.

“I never lied to you.”

“You omitted the truth. It’s the same thing! If you told me before, maybe I could think of something─”

I laugh. “Don’t be daft. You are the Archangel of Justice. What would you do if I said I killed a human, hm?”

“I…I…” he stuttered.

“You’d have me in chains in seconds, and we both know it.”

Melkyal sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “When we just met? Yes, I would probably do just that. But now…”

“Now what? It doesn’t matter. I should never have come here. I should never have put my trust in an angel.” My voice shook, so I closed my eyes and took a calming breath before continuing. “They will execute me, and you can do nothing about it.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“It doesn’t matter. I killed a mortal and broke the Peace Treaty. The punishment is death. No one cares about why.”

“I care.”

Two simple words and they hit me like a hammer. My stupid heart raced even though I knew it was foolish, hopeless, and impossible. We were from two different worlds, never meant to be.

“Sanna, talk to me, please,” Melkyal said gently.

I sighed and slid down the bars to sit with my knees pressed to my chest. “Gallagher was a horrible person. He deserved it.”

Melkyal sat down with his legs crossed to be at the same level as me, his golden wings brushing the ground. He no longer seemed angry, but his face was solemn. I realised I had missed his foolish smile.

“I’m not asking if he deserved it,” he said calmly. “I asked why did you kill him?”

“Raphael Gallagher was one of the most powerful nobles in the city, as you already know.” I started fidgeting with my fingers. “This kind of person is basically above the law. He just paid the city watch to look the other way whenever he did something illegal. Gallagher was known for his excessive indulgence in physical pleasures. He not only had plenty of mortal partners, but he also had a taste for… exotic lovers. A man of his status could have anything he desired, and he had enough money to pay for it. He also didn’t take no for an answer.”

“I think I know where this is going.” Melkyal sighed, his fists clenching.

“The stories had been already circulating in the slums that it was better not to get anywhere near him. Because if he liked what he saw, his men would grab you, and guards wouldn’t give a crap about it.”

“Did they try to take you?” he inquired.

I leaned my head on the bars behind me. “I wish they did. Do you remember Ina from the orphanage?” Golden Boy only cocked his head. “Oh right, you never got her name. The pretty girl that served you tea.”

“Oh yes, of course.” His brows furrowed, and his golden eyes darkened. “Don’t tell me….”

I nodded. “You must have noticed Ina has undeniable charm. Considering her demonic heritage, it’s a curse. She always gets unwanted attention.”

“But… isn’t she still a child? How old is she?”

“She turned fifteen this spring.”

“Oh, gods…” Melkyal rubbed his jaw.

“One day, she got snatched from the street. Luckily, Albie was with her, and before he ran for help, he followed them to see where they took her.”

“And you followed.”

“I did.” I clenched my fist and looked at the claws piercing my skin. “I didn’t plan to kill him or anything. I just wanted to get Ina out and leave. But when I got there….” My mind was flooded with memories I didn’t want to relive. I felt my inner demon stirring inside me with a satisfied purr.

“What did you find there?”

I steeled myself and continued. “Gallagher had the whole big mansion where he kept his victims. His menagerie,” I spat with disgust. “There were so many of them. Most form the slums, the ones nobody would look for too hard. All cleaned up and perfumed to be perfect toys for the lord.” I hid my face in my hands. “This frickin degenerate kept children younger than Ina there.”

I ran my hands through my hair and looked at the city sparkling golden in the last rays of the setting sun. Beautiful, but cold and distant. Indifferent for the suffering of those in the world below.

“When I saw him, I completely lost it, and she got out.”

“She?” he asked, raising a brow.

“My inner demon. The essence of wrath. Whatever you want to call it. It was as if suddenly I got no control over my own body. I just watched as she slashed the noble with my claws. Again and again and again, until all I could see was red.”

Melkyal was silent. To my surprise, there was no hatred on his face. He raised his hand and pressed his palm to the bars separating us. The gesture of sympathy.

“I turned into a monster myself. People were screaming, and that made her even more furious. She was ready to strike them all. Doesn’t matter who they were, oppressors or victims.”

“But you stopped her eventually.”

“It was Ina. She was the one who stopped me.” I chuckled. “Foolish, brave girl. Not caring for her own safety, she grabbed me and tried to stop. I-I almost…” I stuttered, and my voice almost broke.

“But you didn’t. Ina was all right the last time I saw her.”

“Yes.” I wiped the tears with the back of my hand. “I managed to wrestle control over my body in the last second. But the things I’ve done to that man… it was horrifying. He was a monster, but so am I,” I added in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

“You are not a monster,” Melkyal protested. He raised to his knees and leaned closer to the bars, sliding his hand inside and gently brushing my cheek with his fingers. “I do not condone taking the law into your own hands and playing vigilante, but I can’t blame you for wanting to protect those who are too weak to do it themselves. To be honest, I don’t know what I would do if I were there instead of you.”

I gently pushed his hand away. “It doesn’t matter. The secret is out now. There is no way I’m walking out of here alive, and we both know it.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Melkyal said and withdrew his hand. “The trial will be held in the Human Realm.”

I frowned. “Why?”

Melkyal shrugged. “I have no idea. The excuse is that the Gallagher family wants to see the killer apprehended and executed, but I think there’s more to it.”

“They want to make a spectacle out of it,” I guessed, and my insides twisted at the thought. Being condemned to death was one thing, but being paraded like cattle before the slaughter for your family and friends to see was another.

“Yes. You were right, pointing out that someone is actively working to sabotage the balance between Heaven and Hell.” Melkyal sighed. “I just wish you would trust me with it and wait with casting accusations until we had proof.”

I shrugged. “They would have chained me anyway. That High Judge planned to arrest me the moment I arrived here. What I said didn’t change a thing.”

“Maybe, but it didn’t win you any sympathy amongst the angels. And you will need that.”

I raised my brows. “Why would I?”

“Because when you go to your trial in the Human Realm, I will defend you myself.”

My heart raced, and I felt a comforting warmth spreading from my chest. But I wasn’t foolish enough to hope for the impossible. “It won’t change anything, and you know it. Your people are not planning to give me a fair trial. They want a demon scapegoat to paint us all as villains.”

“Maybe, but I don’t believe it’s what most angels want. They want to take the trial to the public? Let’s use it.” Melkyal’s voice brimmed with excitement now. “I will find all the witnesses and evidence to show everyone that Raphael Gallagher was a monster, and what you did was to protect innocents. If the public understands that, they will have a hard time painting you as a villain.”

I leaned onto the bars separating us. The spark was back in Melkyal’s golden eyes, and I couldn’t look away. “Are you certain you want to do this? I’m pretty sure it’s not in your job description. And I don’t think the Archangel of Wisdom will like that.”

Melkyal covered my hand with his. “I don’t care. As Archangel of Justice, I have a right to participate in trials. I’ll get you out, trust me.”

Don’t, whispered the voice at the back of my mind.

I ignored it.