Angels don't die

"Angel!"

I heard Max's wild, terrified thoughts as she screamed my name. I blocked it all out, flinching away at her pain.

Then I grunted as something slammed into me from behind, sharp teeth tore at my back… my wings. Total snarled, and twisted in my grip to snap his jaws around whatever was behind me.

Oh, Angel, Max whispered in her mind. Oh, my baby.

I felt something warm dripping down my back as the thing behind me howled, and tore away from me, Total still gripping onto it with his teeth.

I turned around to look at it.

It had oval, amber eyes embedded deep into a skeletal, grey head, and a thin body with long, lopsided limbs hanging down from its torso, lengthened further with curving, black claws. It even, as I saw when it span around, had a spiked tail.

Before I knew what was happening, the creature stabbed Total hard with his tail, then, with one last, pitiful whine from the small black dog, flung him powerfully down below.

I dropped like a stone, the blood from the slashes in my back spurting out, gritting my teeth as my injured wings kept making me fly sideways.

"Total!" I yelled.

No answering shout came back, and I never wished more than I did now that Total's wings could support his whole weight.

Max suddenly sped past me, down to where Total was still steadily falling. Her arms snapped out to catch him, and she held him tight as she flew back upwards.

"Angel," she ordered, "go and land, and we'll fight these guys. I'll see you later."

"But—" I began.

Please, she begged, kissing me once, softly on the forehead. Please do what I tell you. You're in no state to fly either, with your wings.

Sure, I thought, planting the words in her brain. Sure, I'll stay. But be careful.

I know. She gave me a half-incredulous, half-amused look. Since when was I never careful with the flock?

Those things are awful, I told her. Different. They want to kill you, Max. Really badly.

I know, sweetie. I know.

With those last thoughts, she flew back up to the fight, and I reluctantly went down to a small crevice in the rocky cliff nearby, watching the battle through the flock's thoughts.

A weak snuffle brought me quickly back to my senses, and I turned Total slowly over onto his side. I winced at what I saw.

"Total," I said. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Angel," he mumbled. "Yeah, just."

"This looks pretty bad," I began. "You know that right?"

He groaned in reply, and I took that as a yes.

"The thing used its tail on you," I carried on. "I was lucky I only got the teeth."

The claws, it seemed, had small barbed endings, and these were stuck under Total's skin.

"Oh," he gasped as he moved slightly. "Oh, God. It hurts."

"Yes," I said. "But I need to take these things out."

"No," he refused weakly.

Total, I crooned in his mind. Total, all it needs is a little work. We just need to get some small things out of your body. It'll take two seconds, I promise. And it might hurt, just a bit, but that's your imagination. Two seconds…

"You can take two seconds," Total slurred. "Two, only."

I took my sweater off, and wrapped my hand in it. Then I slowly pulled one of the barbed hooks out of him. Total shut his eyes firmly, but didn't say anything. I looked carefully at the hook. A thick orangey yellow liquid was oozing out of it.

Poison, I realised with a start. Total's got poison in him.

Total shuddered, and I pulled out another barb. And another. And another. Eventually, my pile of black barbs was as big as my fist. Total seemed slowly to be awakening, but the poison was still in him.

I fumbled around in the bag that was slung around my hip, pulling out my water bottle. I poured most of the water over the wounds, then dabbed it dry with the only thing available: Celeste, my lovely angel bear. I made him drink the rest of it, though some just dribbled down his chin.

He's getting better, I thought happily. Max would be proud of me.

But the wounds were still open, and bleeding steadily, so I fished a handful of band-aids out of my bag. Max had said they were only for emergencies. And this was definitely an emergency.

Once I was done, I sat back, satisfied, my eyes flickering back to the flock.

Then there was a massive boom! and I thought of Gazzy, triumphant with his bombs. But then I saw the dark, putrid orange smoke hanging over the skies, and I knew, in that split second, that none of the flock had anything to do with it.

I left Total there, and launched myself off the cliff face, rushing to where the smoke was. In the distance, I could see the crowd of the creatures that had faced us flying away, but there was no sign of Max, of Fang, of Gazzy, of Iggy, of Akila.

No sign, at all, of the flock.