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Uriel, the dark angel Uriel is one uncertain of her place in the world. She learnt of society's judgmental nature in the most painful way possible… through experience. She was left at birth by her parents, two dark angels on a flight from the inevitable mortality of the realm of Kythandria, who abandoned her upon the realization that she was gifted in the arts of healing, the cursed mark of Daos, so they believed. She would have died, but for Apephi, a greying hermit with a kind and loving heart. He saw the midnight beginnings of wings on her back, and knew it would have been, in the end, more benevolent to let her die. After all, he had seen a dark angel once stoned for no reason than the shade of their feathers, yet he simply could not leave an innocent babe, having yet to taste life, for dead. He believed that no race could be born truly evil, that all children deserved a chance to live. It is a belief that would one day cost him his life. He named her Uriel, after the dark angel he had seen stoned to death. For a time Apephi was able to keep her safe and well hidden, but as years passed the dark angel began to yearn for the outside world, for freedom. Though she listened to Apephi's warnings she was unable to comprehend the dangers that came with her appearance. Finally, at the age of four, the restless child sought out the world. A day was spent in the forest, frolicking among its beauty carelessly, and only at night, with the stars shining brightly and the moon high in the sky did she return. Apephi, who had grown to love her as a daughter (as she loved him as a father) was furious, for while she had spent a whole day carefree and deliriously happy at her newfound playground, he had spent his sick with worry and pouring over the thousand ways that she could have been murdered. Seeing her joy however his kind heart gave way again and he replaced harsher words for naught but a stern warning. After all, she had not encountered anyone in a whole day. Perhaps if she ventured no farther than the forest, all would be well. If. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and as Uriel's expeditions became more frequent. Inevitably, she made a fatal mistake. She entered a village too small to be marked on the map. It seemed cheery and warm, filled with laughing children and a bustling marketplace. Taking its size and demeanor as a sign of its harmlessness, she paid no heed to Apephi's most dire warnings and entered, kohl wings in full view. |
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