The War of Sins

There has always been a war fought somewhere on earth ever since it fell.

What was once a solitary point of light in a cold and silent universe has turned into a purgatory for the living and many thousands of years of progress was slowly being torn down day by day, this is simply the reality we live in now, one brought about by many turn of events that eventually led to every version of earth in the Universe to come crashing into one giant ball, where creatures considered to be nothing but fantasy, now walks upon a very real world, where magic is a fact of life just as much as the vaunted technology of earth.

In this world, man had to fight for their survival against the endless hordes of chaos, creatures from different realms who did not take too kindly upon their sudden arrival on earth and decided to cope with their exile by trying their best to take over.

The grey men of Alnur are amongst the most violent of these creatures, a horde of bruttish juggernauts with surprisingly high affinity for pack tactics. No one thought they were a real threat to Paris, the last bastion of humanity, but that was before they broke through the empty stretch of lands to the Southwest that used to be called Chartres.

Now, they were a threat. Now, another war will be waged in the borders and there a Paladin and an Angel will meet, bleed and sin together.

Since the invasion of the lands of the world had began, people were running hiding scraping to find some break in the madness in order for their lives to remain. Imogen and her husband some of those people. They had been quite active before the worlds had unfolded. Her husband, Alfred, was a scientist for the russian government. Imogen was a farmhand, a people person. As much as her husband had objected to her going out, traveling to help those in need, he could have been spending the time doing other things. Alfred loved Imogen and her large heart, it made his dark heart less black inside from all the madness he knew and kept her from. On her last try flying out to help starving people and people in medical crisis, she had forced the grumpy Alfred to come with her.

Of course he was cursing fighting with the soft hearted Imogen about the whole trip, who never raised her voice never so much as mutter a complaint to him. The flight had been to the one place Alfred hated most, London France. Imogen was excited to be there, happy as a button when they had landed moving into a rental home for them to live for a while. Alfred was ready to leave, go back to Russia in a month but...well that was when the madness of the world happened.

Portals had opened from different times, different dimensions and rapidly the human population had diminished. The first wave of eructation of the world have sent technology back to the stone age. All form of contacts through phones, computers, internet had been closed. The second wave had come, causing more and more people to flood to the city where they only prayed they would be safe. Then third wave had come, attacking in a massive wave against the city of London. Everyone feared this was the end, that the human race would end right there and then. A shine of hope came out of a blue, a Paladin they called him. Easily he had seemed to slaughter the creatures, saving them all and blessing the human race.

Alfred had become obsessed with the aspect of the Paladin, the rumors about the man, he wanted to learn more but his wife..well Imogen was just grateful to be alive. Imogen had started to do more in the city then, realizing they were trapped there for the rest of their lives. She had picked up the wounded that had been attacked by stray monsters, taking them to a broken down warehouse to help..save their lives as best she could. Imogen's father had been a doctor, and often she had watched him, now she was taking the reins, doing what she could to stop their deaths. She had began to make a garden the best she could in the park, growing her own food and...well some people were helping her, making a farm with what little land they had to live on. In the months that had passed, the soft spoken Imogen had become the beacon of hope for the city. Imogen the angel, people started to call her giving people a reason not to give up.

Often as did come her task for trying to save people in the crossfire the Paladin missed, there were casualties. People that often died on the table or in her arms and Imogen's heart..it broke at the sight of it. She took their deaths all too personally, wondering if she could have gotten there faster if it would have made a difference. Done something different on the table. Most of the people wished o just throw the bodies in a large ditch, but Imogen wouldn't allow it. Especially the babies and childrens bodies.

Today had been no different. Imogen had cradled the baby of a 6 month old in her hands, wrapped in many blankets that had died from her parents leaving her with no one to feed and care of. She had walked past the border, a little way out of the city to dig a small hole. Placing the body down gently Imogen worked. She had brought some flowers with her, taking a large stone to set at the front of the small hole. Smaller rocks were taken from the debris to circle the grave she was making before her pale hands moved and lifted up the child. Imogen caressed the infant beneath the cloth, raising it to her lips, kissing it's dead forehead before wishing it farewell. Slowly she lowered the lifeless corpse into the ground, releasing it before she took the dirt from the ground and started to cover up the body under there was nothing but a mound of dirt. Imogen placed the flowers on top of the grave as well as by the larger stone at the top. There the young woman of 18 kneeled in front of the grave, hands in front of her face in prayer.

Imogen's hair had been braided by the children of the city today. Her gown was what little an old lady could do with the tattered remains of the dead and the cloth they scavenged from their homes and others. The dress was a soft coral, bits of brown along the top and fringe on the bottom. Her purple eyes were closed behind long lashes, deep in her prayer.

So used to the madness she had become that the sound of feet thumping against the ground shaking it, did not make her budge. Slowly the creatures came, Imogen did not waver. Not until the breath hit her head, the presence of something lingering right behind her. Her eyes opened at the feel of the cold air tickling the nape of her neck. Slowly Imogen let her hands pull down from her face. Slowly she turned her head.

"What a pretty little thing." The monsters voice cooed at her reaching and grabbing a fistful of her hair. Imogen reached for her hair as the beast tugged her head back, moving and dragging her behind him. "Ahh!" Imogen cried flailing her legs and clawing at it's dripping gooey hand. Still it walked backwards towards more of them that were running forward. Arm stretched straight as it pointed in the direction of the city. "Kill them all!" The beast shrieked with furry.

"To arms! To arms! For Paris and the alliance!"

Cries of battle filled the L'aquitane, of men and women riding forth in large armoured vehicles to meet their invaders with weapons in hand. While the Personel Carriers were a product of modern military science, the battlecries were a much more primitive tactic, an effort to drown out the ever-present shadow, lingering in every soldier's heart, constantly whispering promises of death and oblivion.

One man among them was not afraid.

"Unit one through four! Left Flank! Suppresive fire!"

His voice rose up to the heavens.

"Five, Six, Seven, Enggage the center line! Eight, stay back!"

The Paladin surged forward, a heavy assault motorcycle replacing the white horse that all heroes ride in legends of old. Horses are fragile, he needed something stronger, not a symbol for he himself was already that.

Throughout the din of battle, he saw her, the Angel of Paris, caught in the center and without a moment hesistation, he gunned his engine, crashing through the frontlines, blades cutting a path open towards Imogen.

Cut by cut, his opponent fell, cut by cut, his hunger grew, and by the time he made his way to the angel, his eyes were red with rage. An unearthly howl escaped his throat as his handsome visage twisted into a monstrous version of itself.

The creature never had a chance, it was cut in half before Imogen's very eyes and Nathaniel skidded to a halt.

"Why are you out here?!" He yelled at the woman.

Imogen kicked and screamed, clawing her hands into the creature. The others of it's kind leapt over her, moved like shadows under her towards the oncoming army. The heels of her shoes dug into the ground picking up the dirt and grass as she was pulled further and further from the burial sight of the infant. Here she had come to do something kind out of her big heart and now she was being punished for it.

The sounds of screaming caught her ears. Neck unable to bend in the direction of the sound, she was trapped to the creatures mercy. Quickly, as the revealing of a motorcycle came in the distance, the beast pulled her up forcing her to face it. Imogen may have had a gentle heart, but she was a Russian woman and she was anything but helpless. Imogen barred her teeth as the creature cackled, she spat in it's face before clawing at it's face trying to dig her fingers into it's large black eyes. The beast cried and threw her against a rock.

Imogen screamed as her back cracked. Just in time to avoid the Paladin as he came up and sliced the beast in two in front of her eyes. She was crouching, moving to try to get on her feet as she turned seeing the swarm of them coming, rushing forward at the city. His voice hit her like a smack in the face. He was yelling trying to get her attention. "It..doesn't matter! I need to get home." Imogen moved, running towards the Paladin, she ducked as she felt something behind her just barely missing as a large hand swung where her head had once been. Imogen crawled, moving away from the creature, trying her best to find some place where she might not be in the crossfire of what was happening.