• Ein walked through the oddly deserted streets of Sparge, everywhere he looked his eyes were greeted with nothing but the sight of the drizzling rain falling on the cold, stone walls of buildings and the pavement.
    Ein was nothing special to behold, if anything he was very average; he was about 5”8 with thick black hair that was done in a wolf cut, his features were sharp and his cloudy, gray eyes gave no hints of his emotions or thoughts, though his expressive face usually took care of that, his sinewy yet exercised body might suggest a gymnast though this was not the case. Ein didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life, even at the age of 24, his light skin was free of any scars, blemishes or markings save for a tattooed pattern of blue diamonds adorning his upper arms. He was clothed with a plain black shirt covered by a brown leather flight jacket, along with khaki cargo pants and simple brown heavy-duty shoes.
    Ein suspected that things weren’t as they should be; it was very unusual for the busy streets to be completely empty; Sparge was always a center of attraction…always. Ein looked around and saw that lights were still on in apartments and businesses; he peered into a popular coffee shop and found the lights and fans on, even the chairs and stools were pulled out like people were sitting there but were now departed, not even the cashiers and waiters were in the shop. It’s understandable if people didn’t want to be in the rain but thousands of them being absent, as if they disappeared into thin air, it would strike even the most unobservant person as bizarre. Ever since he had woken up, Ein hadn’t seen a single living thing in the normally bustling city, all he had seen was the steel gray landscape of Sparge, devoid of the river of color that normally flowed through its crowded streets.
    Ein turned his eyes to the overcast heavens, as if expecting the city’s populace to descend from the sky, as he turned his eyes to the monolithic towers of Sparge’s skyline, giant spires that shredded clouds and impaled the sky; he noticed a figure atop the tallest of the towers, crouching against the rain and wind. Ein rubbed his eyes against the rain to make sure that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him but when he took another look, the figure was gone. Had his mind been playing tricks on him? Or had he really seen someone high atop the tower? Even if he had, how he or she keeping their balance all the way up their and more importantly, how did they get all the way up there? The towers were known as some of the tallest structures on the planet.
    Ein turned to walk away and his heart skipped a beat; for there someone was stood there right in front of him. He stood at about six feet tall and wore a long trench coat with a high collar that obscured his face and he wore a wide brimmed hat, though most notably he carried a long case across his shoulder.
    “Looks like I missed one.” He said
    “W-who the heck are you?! Was that you on the tower!?” Ein demanded
    The figure answered calmly “Yes, that was me you saw. I am Nero the Shadow Dweller.”
    “S-Shadow Dweller?! What’s that? Some kind of cult” stammered Ein “Are you responsible for all the people being missing?!”
    “A cult? Ha!” laughed Nero, his laugh was like a harsh wind in the trees “Yes, I am responsible for the people being missing. Their souls were harvested for our cause.”
    “Your cause?” inquired Ein “What in the world are you talking about?”
    “It serves no purpose to tell one who is about to die.” Nero replied. At this he lay down the case he was holding over his shoulder and opened it, from it he retrieved a gleaming glaive with a red shaft, and he aimed it at Ein and gave one solid thrust impaling him straight in the chest. Everything went white.
    Ein opened his eyes to find himself floating in and endless white.
    “Ein.” He heard a voice call his name.
    Who’s there?” he called “What’s happening to me? Where am I?”
    The voice laughed softly “I am not your enemy Ein. I am Aereoth, the high priestess of angels.”
    Ein looked and saw the silhouette of a winged woman flying towards him; he couldn’t make out anything about her even when she embraced him in her arms.
    “Ein.” She said “This Shadow Dweller is a threat to all humanity, not only him but all of the Shadow Dwellers; they are denizens of the darkness, caring not for the ways of humans or angels. I beg of you Ein, help us destroy them.”
    “But what can I do?” asked Ein
    “I’ll show you what you can do Ein.” She said in her soft voice. She kissed him on the forehead and whispered “Rise, Ein of the Ragnarok.”
    Light once again flooded Ein’s vision and he heard the voice of Nero.
    “What?! This is impossible!”
    Ein once again stood in the streets of Sparge with the cloaked figure of Nero in front of him, but things were different now; Ein was robed in a shining white cloak covering his now white shirt and pants, the wound left by the Shadow Dweller’s weapon was gone and in Ein’s hand was a shining, glowing sword, it’s blade, which widened toward the bottom then split into two slender blades, seemed to be made of light it was so bright, it’s golden hand guard was that of six angelic wings which separated the blades from the shining, black onyx hilt. He looked around and saw black feathers on the ground; he looked over his shoulder and saw two huge black wings sprouting from his back. He felt empowered; he looked at the sword and whispered to himself “Ragnarok?” As if responding to his voice, the sword glowed even brighter.
    “This is not possible!” shouted Nero “How could a lowly human become an Archangel of Aereoth?!”
    Ein pointed Ragnarok at Nero and it shot a beam of light at him, burning away his coat and hat, revealing the Shadow Dweller underneath, his entire body seemed to made of shadows, lit only by the glow of his blood red eyes, a tail fell to the ground with a thud, small devil wings jumped from his shoulders and his fingers elongated to sharp points.
    “Now you’ve done it boy!” he said, lunging and Ein with his weapon
    Before he could even think about it, Ein moved to the side to avoid Nero’s attack and slashed with Ragnarok, catching the demon in the side, causing him to howl in pain. Nero jumped at Ein again only to have him sidestep again and slice him again. It was as if Ragnarok was allowing him to do combat with Nero, the Shadow Dweller jumped at Ein once more and felt the sting of his blade slice him in the other side.
    “Blood Rave!” shouted Nero, his glaive glowing red.
    Nero seemed to multiply as he came at Ein with lightning speed in a flurry of attacks, faster than he could ever hope to be, Ein blocked every stab, slash and slice and then countered with several slashes of his own. He glided in a circle around his opponent and swung his sword, severing Nero’s tail, it fell, thrashing to the ground and dissolved into a hissing, black and purple puddle. Nero swung his blade in a wide arc but Ein pulled up Ragnarok and blocked the blade. Nero swiped at Ein with his claws and paid for it when Ein impaled his hand with Ragnarok. Holding his ruined hand, Nero threw his chest out sending coils of darkness in an attempt to ensnare his prey. Once again Ragnarok guided Ein through Nero’s attack; he severed each coil, coming closer to Nero with each successful slash until he spun and left a large gash across the Shadow Dweller’s chest. Nero stumbled backwards, clutching his chest, his eyes widened as he saw Ein prepare one last assault.
    Ein’s wings spread apart to their fullest extent as he flew high into the air, higher even than Sparge’s towers. As he shouted the two words that every Shadow Dweller would come to know and fear, his voice rang out across the entire city, filing every crevice and crack;
    “LOST SERAPH!” Ein dove down towards Nero at the speed of a bullet; impaling him on Ragnarok, and then swinging upward he launched his enemy into the air, Ein warped up to him, slashing three times before he warped again slashing again, then warped and slashed, warp and slash again and again, Ein warped away and threw out his hand and several arching beams of light, striking Nero right on target, and then Ein spun like a top, slashing over and over again, he ran Nero through with Ragnarok before he finally pointed his sword at the ground and slashed upward, causing a pillar of light to erupt from the ground, enveloping Nero and when the light subsided, the Shadow Dweller was gone.
    Ein landed again on the ground and his wings folded over on his back. When he looked around he saw a white robed, winged figure walking toward him; this time he saw her clearly; she was beautiful, silver hair that fell to her waist and six white feathered wings sprouting from her back. Her fair, soft face was complemented by her hair and was the kindest face Ein had ever seen, her sparkling cerulean eyes made Ein relax when he looked into them.
    “Aereoth?” He asked
    The angel priestess nodded.
    “What just happened to me? Why was I able to fight Nero?” asked Ein
    Aereoth replied “The holy sword Ragnarok guided you and allowed you to defeat Nero.”
    “The Shadow Dwellers are attempting to reawaken a beast called the Eon Wyrm; we must not let that happen for if it does the Heavens and Earth will be in danger. Do you know what you must do Ein?”
    “Yes.” He replied “With the power of Ragnarok, it is my duty to make sure something like this never happens again, to destroy any Shadow Dwellers I find and to keep them from achieving their goal.”
    Aereoth spoke “This journey will not be easy Ein. As an Archangel you must stop any Shadow Dweller you find, they will attempt to rally you to their cause but you must not be swayed, do you understand?”
    Ein nodded “I do.”
    Aereoth put her hand beneath Ein’s chin, lifting it toward her face kissing Ein again “May the winds of fortune be at your back Ein.”
    Again everything went white and Ein was once again alone on the streets of Sparge, he was in his regular clothing again and in front of him laid a familiar, shining, angelic sword.