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    Berith struggled to reach the pendant at Uriel’s neck.   “I have never felt better, little brother!”
    Uriel pushed Berith’s hands away.   “No, that is mine.”   An arrow glanced off his cheek.   His invulnerability held.   He looked up and noticed Apple for the first time.   “Ah, what is this?”
    Berith threw the Archangel back.   “Do not look upon her!”
    Uriel kicked his brother in the stomach, sending Berith flying.   He grinned at Apple, his teeth sharp.   He salivated.   Apple pulled another arrow from her quiver.   Uriel took a step closer, his eyes locked on her.   “You love Berith.”
    “Yes.”
    “I take love.   I take what is his.”
    Apple smiled.   “I have heard, but I am my own.   I am no ones.”
    Uriel smirked.   “Not for long.”   He dove for her.  
    Belial leapt on Uriel’s head.   She raked his face with her nails.   “You siblings and your second best syndrome!   Always stealing what isn’t yours!   You’ll never be anything but poor copies!”   She scratched his chest with her black talons, trying to catch the pendant.  
    Uriel grabbed Belial’s arm and twisted, breaking the bone.   He laughed.   “We just take what is rightfully ours, darling, what you were never good enough for!”  
    Uriel swung her into a tree.   Belial’s ribs broke, puncturing a lung.   He snapped a leg bone like a twig.   “But Belial, you are good enough for me, though I will need to break you again.”   He lifted her over his head and threw her with every ounce of strength he possessed.
    Belial’s body smashed through the forest.   She reached for trees, anything to catch her, but the force of the throw was too great.   She had time enough to close her eyes before she slammed into the side of the manor.   Her body crashed through room after room, bones shattering on impact, her skin and clothing torn.   She broke through a window and fell into the backyard.   She landed in a limp heap on the grass at the feet of Jacob, Tracy, and Celeste.   Belial’s body was mangled, almost unrecognizable.   Her legs were torn down to the bone, her clothing blood splattered and in tatters.   Her chest did not rise or fall.   She had no pulse.  
    Tokala broke off from battling humans and ran to her.   He touched her face and looked at Dahlia’s terrified human friends.   He grabbed Tracy’s hand and placed it on Belial’s lacerated chest.   “Stay with her, luck charm.”  
    Tracy nodded numbly and made no move to get away.
    Tokala touched Belial’s legs and closed his eyes to aid in her healing process.   A boom made him look back at the scene beneath the shield.   Furcas floated above the ground, surrounded by light and halos, he held Michael’s spear at bay.   Furcas stood between the Archangel and Dahlia.   His face bore a grim determination.   Furcas watched the Archangel’s every movement.   Michael raised the spear and swung; the blade tore through Furcas like paper.  
    Tokala cringed, looked away, and concentrated on Belial.   An iron knife plunged into his upper back.   Tokala spun around gasping.   A lone human Solomon Soldier stood behind him, grinning even as he bled to death from other wounds.  
    Jacob knocked the man to the ground.   He punched him out of fear until the man stopped moving.  
    Tokala’s limbs went numb and lost mobility.   “Knife…out…get it out.”
    Jacob pulled the knife out of Tokala’s back and tossed it away.  
    Tokala blinked as his vision blurred.   Iron poisoned his blood.   Slow cold ooze filled his body, pulling him into dreams.   He coughed and slumped down next to Belial.   Tokala looked up one last time as his world went dark.
    ***
    Helion saw Belial smash through the house.   He felt Whitney’s pain from where Uriel had flung her like trash beneath the shield.   He looked between the two, Belial his injured twin sister and Whitney his wounded lover.   Helion did not know what to do.