Ryan came awake to the exquisite sensation of lips tickling his ear. He tried to roll away, and a hand came to rest on his waist to keep him still, turning his sleepy giggle into a lazy moan of desire.

“Vithius,” he said softly.

“Yes, Ryan. I am here.” The Angel’s deep voice came from behind him, and Ryan felt himself grin goofily at the simple pleasure of awakening with someone who loved him – whom he loved in return. Without even thinking about it, he was already hard, and as if the Angel could sense Ryan’s state, he whispered:

“I want to touch you, Ryan. May I?” The idea that Vithius would ask made Ryan giggle again and he turned around in Vithius’ arms to claim a kiss from those velvet soft lips, still a little awestruck by the fact that Vithius was his, that he welcomed this, and that Ryan could have it anytime he wanted.

“How could I deny you anything?” Ryan asked vaguely, feeling the fugue begin to take him over before he’d even fully awoken. “You have an unfair advantage,” he said dreamily as he succumbed.

“Yes,” Vithius agreed, his voice a sexy purr against Ryan’s ear again. “I must admit I find myself wanting to make full use of it.” At the statement, something in Ryan’s brain shorted out, and he pressed his body against Vithius in need an a plea for mercy. “But I would do nothing unless you wanted it, Ryan.”

“Do anything you want,” Ryan moaned softly, “please…”

Perhaps he had thought that Vithius wanted to kiss him, or explore his body, or maybe he thought Vithius had wanted a blowjob again. Instead, when he felt the Angel’s oil-covered fingers seeking his opening, he squirmed suddenly in shock. “Oh!”

“Is this all right?” Vithius purred against his ear, his finger stilled for the moment. “These are your spots, are they not?” Vithius flicked out his tongue to trace the delicate shell of Ryan’s ear just as his finger moved again, delving into the crease of his buttocks to tease gently around his opening.

“Oh, yes! Vithius!” Ryan squirmed against the Angel’s body in a need for friction, only now becoming aware that Vithius had him pretty much trapped. The Angel’s free arm held Ryan close securely, stopping him from moving too much, and Ryan whimpered helplessly. “Please!”

Still Ryan parted his legs in encouragment, rubbing himself against Vithius as much as he was able, driven frantic when he felt the Angel’s erection against his. When the finger penetrated him, he thought his world would fly apart and his eyes closed in ecstasy as Vithius sighed against his ear.

“I love it that you enjoy my touch, Ryan.” It was the understatement of the century – perhaps the millenium – and Ryan groaned incoherently, just distantly aware that he had managed to hold back, and his body was still on the edge of orgasm.

He could feel Vithius’ finger inside him, sliding smoothly over his internal walls despite his body’s instinctive reluctance. And then, as if all of this wasn’t enough, he became distantly aware of a change in the atmosphere. The air was highly charged, and now there was the scent of apples…

“Anifiel –”

“Is here at my invitation, Ryan. I spoke to him earlier. If his presence bothers you then you only have to say so.”

“Yes,” rumbled a familiar voice from behind him, much too close for Ryan to even dream of escaping from it and the desperate need it brought. “You only have to speak, little human. But I think you will be quiet… at least for now.”

As if proving Anifiel’s words true, Ryan only groaned in reply as the commander’s hand rested on his waist too, linking fingers with Vithius as if the two Angels were in league with each other. And all the while, he was aware of Vithius’ finger inside him, and he knew that the darker Angel must have noted his body’s reaction to Anifiel’s presence.

“A-Anifiel…” Ryan blurted, and then became immediately confused, because he was sure he had the wrong name. He moved his head back to look at Vithius and whimpered in helpless lust when he found that he was resting his head on Anifiel’s shoulder. The blond Angel looked down at him, commanding and stern, but there was a little curiosity if one paid attention. Ryan had never paid such close attention in his life, and he almost melted. “So beautiful…”

Anifiel smiled as if he had won, and Ryan moaned and closed his eyes against the perfection of it. “This will be anything but beautiful, little human. You may have blinded Vithius to your lusts, but you have not done so with me.” Was Anifiel talking about sex? Ryan struggled to open his eyes, and found himself staring at Vithius, who looked past him at Anifiel, a kind of challenge in his eyes that it was impossible to ignore.

“You smell of lightning again,” Anifiel noted, “human.” He said the last as if it were an insult, but Ryan was far from reacting to the familiar taunt of Anifiel’s voice. The atmosphere had changed and he felt the tension between the two Angels flowing through him so that it made him want to weep.

Vithius’ finger left his body and Ryan heard himself cry out in desperate need, his anal muscle clenching and relaxing as he pressed himself as close to Vithius as possible. It wasn’t quite as serious as a fight, and yet Ryan felt the wrongness between the two.

Until he felt the tip of Anifiel’s member against his entrance, he only knew want, and in that moment he felt himself climax. But it wasn’t over. Perhaps he blacked out for a moment, but he came to still caught up in the fugue, still caught between them both like a sacrifice. He could feel Anifiel’s member pressing against him for entry, guided by Vithius’ hand, and he looked into the dark Angel’s eyes, wanting to deny what was happening.

The challenge still blazed there, until Vithius looked at him, and then a look of acceptance and adoration shone in his lover that took Ryan’s breath away. He tried to say no. He wanted so much to say no, because wasn’t this being unfaithful? But he knew he was begging. He didn’t need to hear the meaningless words that fell from his lips to know he was begging for Anifiel to take him and to be with him… inside him.

“No release,” he whimpered, aware that his own cock was rapidly becoming hard again at the continued onslaught of the fugue. Were it not for the fact that Anifiel and Vithius still held him steady he would have moved back and impaled himself on the commander’s member, if only to bring an end to his torment.

He had closed his eyes, and he opened them now, to find Vithius staring past him again, and the certainty of the tension made him reach out and cover Vithius’ lips with his as he murmured. “Please, don’t… just… love…” It felt as though he had a duty to settle the atmosphere between them, and at the same time as Vithius moaned against his lips and deepened the kiss, Anifiel moved forward suddenly, sliding deep inside him.

There wasn’t awareness left in him to register the way Anifiel caught his breath in surprise, or the way that Vithius smiled against his lips, but Ryan tried. All that mattered was that he was here, that he was playing his part, and though he couldn’t mentally participate, he knew his body was reacting for him. He knew that his lips moved against Vithius’ as they kissed, that he raised his leg and draped it over Vithius’ hip to make it easier for Anifiel to claim him, but it was like watching himself in a movie.

Then, just as it seemed the world was going to stop, Anifiel found a rhythm. Ryan cried out when the blond Angel pulled out of him a little way only to thrust inside again, deeper this time. And again. And again.

“What are you doing to me?” a harsh voice demanded, and Ryan whimpered submissively, already breathing his apologies as Anifiel carried on taking him, filling him so completely that even in Heaven, it almost hurt.

“Do not be sorry, Ryan. This is beautiful.” Vithius’ voice in his ear, purring the words like a secret as he dragged Ryan’s hand down with his to touch them both, their hard shafts sliding against each other, slick with Ryan’s seed from earlier.

It was the cruellest torture and the most wonderful experience Ryan had ever known, and he felt the cresendo as a wave that swept through him. All at once it seemed that they had been trapped in this unending rhythm for eons, and Anifiel hardened inside him, his thrusts coming faster and deeper until Ryan felt sure he would die. Then the heat began to fill him and he spilled in his and Vithius’ combined grip, hearing the moan that meant Vithius had found pleasure too, and he let go of the physical at last, because it really was meaningless.

For the next few moments, all Ryan knew was peace. Every moment of his life made perfect sense. All the petty jealousies and hatreds he had endured were no longer so hurtful, but he felt sad for those who felt them. All the misunderstandings were clear to him then, and he knew he was weeping for the missed chance to make things right. Someone kissed his tears away – Vithius – and for one moment longer Ryan was there before he returned to himself and the aftermath of what they had done, the insights hiding themselves from his overburdened mind once more.

“Ryan,” Vithius said softly. “How do you feel?”

“Sleepy,” he replied, refusing to open his eyes, and smiling when he heard Vithius giggle.

“And you, Anifiel? Now do you see?”

There was a long pause, and Ryan’s relaxed state withdrew a little as he felt the blond Angel pull free of him. He moaned and waited like Vithius for Anifiel to say something. Just something.

“I see nothing. It is as I expected. Physical pleasure, no more.” For some reason the words cut deep into Ryan and he shivered at them in remorse, feeling as though he must have done something wrong. He clutched at Vithius as if to seek shelter from the coldness of Anifiel’s reply, and took a little comfort when he felt Vithius’ hand in his hair, holding him close.

“You deceive yourself, Anifiel,” he said in disapproval, shaking his head, and Ryan opened his eyes so that he could look around. Now that it was over, he felt the familiar hostility again, and he hated the fact that he had given anything to Anifiel. A part of his mind insisted that Vithius had made it happen, but he ignored that. Vithius would never knowingly hurt him.

Glaring at Anifiel, Ryan made it shakily to his feet, and blushed when he felt the warmth inside him. He snatched his tunic up from the ground where Vithius must have put it, and pulled it over his head quickly.

The commander watched him in silence for a moment, his green eyes shining, then he switched his gaze to Vithius as if Ryan didn’t exist. “No, Vithius. It is you who is deceived. It is you who wants to believe there is something of worth in the base acts you commit.”

Ryan could endure many things, and since arriving in Heaven, he had endured humiliation and more at Anifiel’s hands – but he couldn’t bear to hear the blond Angel speak to Vithius like that. So dismissive. Ryan glanced over and saw the hurt disappointment in his dark lover, and it made him burn in righteous anger.

“You bully!” he accused, his legs feeling shaky as he approached the ground where Anifiel still lounged like a large tom cat, self-satisfied and arrogant. “What would you know about it anyway? You don’t feel anything because you don’t love like others.” Vithius gasped in shock as Anifiel’s eyes darkened.

“Ryan –” Vithius began, a warning in his voice that Ryan would not heed.

“No, Vithius. It’s true.” Ryan glared at the commander from his standing position, enjoying the feeling of power it gave him. “Not even Finn could teach you to love, could he?” It was the worst thing he could have said, and Ryan closed his eyes in regret as he tasted the bitter words, unable to take them back though he wished it.

“What should I have felt?” Anifiel asked, his voice deep and tinged with curiosity. Ryan opened his eyes and stepped back as Anifiel got up and moved towards him.

“No…” he said uselessly, wondering how the blond Angel could corner him when there were no corners. He cried out in shock as Anifiel pulled him close, the length of their bodies pressing together, and as if it had been called, the fugue began to return.

“What did you feel?” Anifiel questioned as Ryan curled his hands around the broad shoulders, whimpering when he felt the commander’s hands sweep down to cup his buttocks. His lips were close to Anifiel’s neck, and he was so tempted to kiss…

“No… not again. Not ever,” he murmured, though he knew it was a useless statement, and Anifiel brought that home to him when Ryan tilted his head back to escape the temptation of Anifiel’s skin, only to have the Angel follow him, the blond’s lips on his neck, brushing over his jaw… his ear.

“Again,” Anifiel whispered, and Ryan shivered and moaned in response. Whereas before he had felt tormented, now he felt truly afraid of Anifiel for the first time, because there was nothing nervous in the way the Angel touched him or teased him. No, now Anifiel was supremely confident, and Ryan felt his legs go weak, startled to find that Anifiel held him up. “Again, what did you feel?”

“I…” Ryan tried hard to concentrate when he felt the slightest nip of teeth on his earlobe. “I feel… felt…” Ryan struggled to remember it, forgetting completely that he didn’t want to answer, knowing only that he had to give Anifiel what he wanted. At the moment that was an answer to his question. “Please… I felt peace.”

“Peace?” Anifiel purred, and Ryan whimpered again. “But there is no peace here between us, is there?”

Indeed, Ryan felt the impossible stirrings of his body again, and though he was tired, the fugue woke in him a sense of urgency, and he shook his head in agreement, because that too was what Anifiel required of him.

“No… no peace,” Ryan said, trembling. Anifiel chuckled, and despite the devastating influence of the fugue, he knew that he was letting the commander win and it riled him. Amazingly, the thought he needed slipped through the net of desire easily, as if it was meant to be there. “But there was, for a moment,” he said dreamily.

“You are wrong, little human. But I will teach you. Be ready for me.” And with that Ryan found himself set free from Anifiel’s grip as the Angel spread his wings and rose up into the air.

Folding bonelessly and falling to the ground, Ryan simply watched as Anifiel flew away from him, answering Vithius’ uncertain smile with one of his own when his lover came to check on him.

“Why did you do that?” Ryan asked Vithius some time later, when the afternoon’s events had softened a little in his memory. Vithius looked troubled and shook his head, making Ryan want to love him.

“It seemed…” He sighed heavily and rested his head in his hands in defeat. “I thought that would be the end of it.”

~~~~~

Trying his very best, Ryan attempted to trudge through the snow, but the snow wasn’t having any of it, and he grinned. It had been on his mind since Vithius had told him there were areas ‘designated’ for snowfall, and he had made his lover bring him here to see it. Vithius had left him alone some time ago, and Ryan had been happy for the chance to be by himself, leaving behind those mortals who were playing in the snow to walk in a perfect white and sparkling landscape of soft hills that layered upon each other so that he felt he could see into forever.

It was cold, but it didn’t hurt. That was one of the first things that struck Ryan about the snow here. It was snow, and it was cold, but it simply didn’t hurt to walk through it barefoot. It didn’t hurt your fingers to touch it and to build with it. He and Vithius had spent some time making a castle together, which the children who played with them peopled with snowmen.

Now he walked, and he found another amazing quality to the snow. It refused to allow one to trudge. Actually, it was impossible to resent the snow in Heaven. Turning, Ryan looked back over where he had come, and smiled in childish joy when he saw that his footsteps had disappeared, leaving nothing but a pristine expanse of white snow in that direction too. He shouted out up at the sky, fighting an urge to throw himself to the ground and roll in it; to luxuriate in it because it was here and it was his to play in.

Laughing at the image in his mind, and thinking that he would try it with Vithius soon, Ryan turned back to his original path and stopped dead. A tall figure stood in the snow not a hundred feet away, arms folded, flakes of snow in his blond hair as his green eyes stared. Anifiel. Suddenly sober, Ryan shook his head and turned away, forgetting for the moment that he could leave this place anytime he wished.

But getting Anifiel out of his view didn’t lead to the relief he was expecting, and Ryan began to jog through the snow, breathing quickly, imagining Anifiel behind him like some kind of snow monster until he felt warm hands grab lightly at his waist to stop him from running.

“Little human. So I find you here.”

“What do you want, Anifiel?” Ryan asked, not bothering to keep the resentment from his voice. The snow wasn’t cold enough to hurt, but that didn’t mean the warmth of Anifiel’s body wasn’t tempting, and Ryan gave in with a sigh, pressing his back against the blond Angel’s muscled chest.

“You were thinking of me,” Anifiel noted, and Ryan shook his head as the hot, sweet-scented breath ruffled through his hair. He felt the electric touch of Anifiel’s hands sweeping down over his thighs, and then back up, the backs of the Angel’s fingers brushing over his stiffening erection in a deliberate act of teasing.

“Don’t!” Ryan gasped, feeling the fear again because Anifiel was no longer afraid. “I mean, I didn’t… I wasn’t…” For a moment the image of rolling in the snow was back, and this time it wasn’t Vithius. This time it was Anifiel with him and Ryan moaned in helpless desire.

“Liar,” Anifiel announced in a growl, bringing Ryan’s tunic up with his hands and freeing him of it easily. “But I will help you to see the truth nevertheless, and for this you will thank me, will you not?”

Ryan still had his arms raised, and he rested them on Anifiel’s shoulders in an attitude of complete submission, wanting nothing but to surrender. “Thank you…” he groaned as the Angel’s hot breath caressed his ear, such a contrast to the snow around them.

“Do you remember how to worship me, human?” Anifiel growled the words into his ear in such a way that Ryan was instantly knelt on the ground facing him, pressing the familiar kisses to the commander’s foot, completely unaware of anything except the need to do whatever the Angel asked of him. When he spared a single moment to look up, he sat back on his heels in pure admiration. Anifiel had rid himself of his own clothing while Ryan kissed his feet, and now he found himself on his knees before a living statue of gold.

“Continue!” Anifiel demanded sharply, and Ryan reached out cautiously, expecting to be admonished as he did what he had wanted for so long, as he curled his hands around Anifiel’s calves to steady himself and faced the Angel’s erect cock, licking his lips in anticipation. Anifiel swayed forward slightly, so that the tip of his erection nudged Ryan’s lips, and Ryan lost all thought from that moment on.

First, he licked at Anifiel with all the fervour at his command. Ryan didn’t simply want to use his mouth on Anifiel; he wanted to taste, to feel the heat, to enjoy the hardness against his tongue. He let his tongue run up the length of the hardness from the base to the tip, relishing how the springy hair gave way to smooth veins and velvet skin. The slightly salty taste that leaked from Anifiel was so wonderful that he automatically sealed his lips around the head of the Angel’s cock and sucked to see if he could get more of it. It was more than he had dreamed of, and the quiet moan that floated down to his ears was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

Incredibly, the snow was still falling around them, and Ryan registered the tickle of it falling on his nose, the way it got caught in his eyelashes. A flake of snow landed on the hot flesh before his lips and melted instantly, and suddenly Ryan sucked in as much of Anifiel as he could as if to protect him from the snow.

Suddenly there were demanding hands in his hair, and he instinctively tried to pull back from them, aware of how big Anifiel was and sure he couldn’t accommodate all of him if Anifiel used him that way. But then despite the way the commander held him, his movements when they began were gentle, not forcing Ryan to swallow him. Relaxing then, Ryan made his lips into an ‘o’ around Anifiel’s girth.

He closed his eyes, listening to the deep rumbling moan that spilled from Anifiel’s lips and answering it with a muffled whimper of his own as he dropped one of his hands and pressed it against his own aching length. Oh, it almost hurt! And he knew that if the blond Angel touched him just once then he would not be able to hold back.

“Your lust needs to be satisfied again,” Anifiel noted darkly from above him, his voice more strained than usual, pulling away from Ryan’s mouth suddenly.

“Need… please…” Ryan whimpered, forgetting himself to reach out with both hands for Anifiel again but the Angel stepped back to evade his grasp.

“Is this why you touch yourself? Because I am near you?” Ryan whimpered and his hands fell to his erection as if he had been commanded. “Don’t!” Anifiel thundered as Ryan opened his eyes, and he immediately rested his hands in the snow at either side of him. His hips moved of their own accord as he looked up at Anifiel from his knees, his eyes widening as he saw the commander’s wings fan out in a graceful arc, as white and pure as the snow around them. He thought Anifiel was going to leave him, and he sobbed once, looking down in misery as he readied himself for the rush of air as Anifiel took to the sky, but then something happened he didn’t expect.

“Lie down in the snow,” came the deep musical command, and Ryan gulped as he did so, feeling the cold press into his back as the rush of air came. But Anifiel wasn’t leaving, the rush of air was caused by him coming suddenly forward, straddling Ryan’s prone body on his hands and knees as the giant wings formed a canopy over them, somewhere free from the falling snow, but darker and so intimate that Ryan trembled.

“P-please,” he began with a shiver as Anifiel’s face loomed over him, a slight curve to the Angel’s lips that made Ryan feel that the commander was laughing at him.

“Yes, beg me, human. Beg me to teach you where love is, and where love is not.” Anifiel came closer, settling his weight on Ryan so gently that Ryan took a deep breath in awe as he felt Anifiel’s erection alongside his own.

“Don’t hurt me!” he blurted uselessly, scared by the look of intent in Anifiel’s green eyes. Again he had the thought. Anifiel is no longer afraid. And on the heels of that: Oh, Vithius, why did you do this to me? To his surprise, Anifiel chuckled.

“Silly, human. I could not hurt you here in Heaven or any other place.” Ryan gulped, ready to apologise for the insult, but it seemed Anifiel didn’t care or didn’t take it as such. “But worry not, Vithius has instructed me. I know what you need.”

For a single shining moment, the image his mind provided him with took his breath away, and he bucked up a little against Anifiel’s hard body, seeing the two Angels together so clearly that he almost came from the thought alone. It didn’t make him feel jealous though, and he would have devoted a second of thought to it except for what Anifiel did next.

“Stay still,” Anifiel warned, and then raised his hand to his mouth and laved his first two fingers with his tongue. Seeing those two fingers disappear into the blond Angel’s mouth did nothing for Ryan’s composure and he closed his eyes against it with a moan of need.

“Oh, God…”

“Another lie,” Anifiel noted, apparently having finished sucking on his fingers, “but do not worry. I promised I would help you, and I will… until you see the truth.”

“Stop,” Ryan began, and then gasped when he felt Anifiel reach down with his wet fingers and begin playing around his opening. “Stop saying that,” he clarified, spreading his legs as much as he was able, moaning because it was so right when Anifiel rested on him like this. When he felt a finger penetrate him, he bucked up again, inadvertently rubbing his shaft against Anifiel’s, startled to hear them both moan at the same time in the safety of the shelter Anifiel’s wings gave them. Ryan’s head fell to the side, and he watched the snow falling through the gap between the pure white feathers and the ground as Anifiel touched him so intimately… no longer afraid.

His world became an awful neverending ache of rhythmic movement; Anifiel’s fingers moved in and out of him, his body rubbed against Anifiel’s until he felt he would go insane. “Enough,” Anifiel kept saying, as if reprimanding him for moving, for impaling himself again and again, for taking the friction that was offered by the Angel’s hardness aligned with his. He whimpered and moaned, and again Anifiel said the word, until Ryan realised it wasn’t what he thought it was, and his reply came in a needy rush of words that ended his torture… or perhaps prolonged it.

“Yes, it is enough… please…”

Anifiel’s fingers left him, and he changed position slightly, leaving Ryan’s hard member hard and alone against his stomach. He moaned when he felt Anifiel push inside his body, one hand lifting his hips in encouragement to make it easier, and Ryan’s body obeyed, relaxing and opening itself to the Angel’s girth as Ryan tried to catch his breath. Still, his eyes were open, and he didn’t miss the look that stole over Anifiel’s face before the Angel opened those green eyes in a kind of satisfied victory.

“Anifiel,” Ryan pleaded, reaching out for the Angel’s shoulders to bring him closer. All he received for his trouble was having his own arms pressed to the ground by Anifiel’s strong hands.

“Now,” Anifiel said with a smirk, finding his rhythm again as he had that first time so that Ryan writhed and whimpered in his grip, desperate to feel friction on his cock as it rolled uselessly against his lower belly. “Repeat after me,” he commanded. “Lesson one.”

“Ohh… Can’t, stop… don’t…” Ryan mumbled incoherently in reponse, earning himself a stern glare that only seemed to excite him further.

“Repeat it,” Anifiel demanded mercilessly, rolling his hips.

“Oh, Jesus Christ…” Ryan murmured, trying to remember what it was he was supposed to say as his eyes rolled back in his head. “Lesson one,” he managed eventually, and though his eyes were closed he could feel Anifiel smile at him.

“Good,” the Angel whispered, sounding a little breathless himself now, but that must have been imagination because when Ryan was able to open his eyes, Anifiel looked just as composed as ever.

“I cannot hurt you,” he said then, waiting expectantly, and Ryan shook his head, not comprehending. Instead of trying to understand, he bucked up under Anifiel again, whimpering when the Angel leaned up out of the reach of his cock. He moved into Anifiel’s thrusts desperately, watching in fascination how his wings quivered as he moved.

“Anifiel…” Ryan moaned, writhing again, as if that was the only word he knew how to speak.

“I cannot hurt you. Say it.” At last Ryan locked gazes with the Angel at the timbre of the command, and he tried to speak.

“I… You…” As if to prove his point, Anfiiel thrust forward powerfully, sliding deeper into Ryan’s body than he had been thus far and Ryan cried out, not in pain but pleasure. “You cannot hurt me!” Anifiel became rough after that, taking Ryan with increasing speed and urgency, and yet none of it was painful.

“Please… please…” he begged over and over again, until Anifiel grasped his erection at last and tugged on him once, then twice, stroking him. Ryan only lasted for a few seconds, spilling into the Angel’s hand as his body was ridden hard and deep and fast. Barely aware, he felt Anifiel reach completion too, a minute or so after him, and he finally realised his arms were free, using them to cradle Anifiel against him in love and satisfaction.

The shelter of the Angel’s wings had left, and he smiled when he saw how now Anifiel’s wings rested flat on the snow at either side of them. In that moment, the fearsome commander no longer seemed so indefeatable, and Ryan sighed happily before the feeling left him, as Anifiel stirred and kissed his shoulder before leaving his embrace and his body. Snow fell on him again, and Ryan stretched lazily, closing his eyes against it.

“There is no peace.” The voice stole into his awareness like the cold of the snow couldn’t, and Ryan frowned unhappily.

“There is,” he insisted, opening his eyes to look up into the blinding white where Anifiel stood looking down at him. It was impossible to see the commander’s face clearly, and Ryan shook his head. “Don’t you feel it?”

He saw enough to know that Anifiel shook his head too, and he closed his eyes because it hurt, turning onto his side and curling up in defeat as he found himself sobbing. Why would he cry just because Anifiel was stupid? It didn’t make any sense.

“You still require lessons, human,” Anifiel said quietly, and Ryan sobbed in response.

“No, I don’t. You can just leave me alone,” he argued tiredly, feeling the familiar animosity begin.

“I will never leave you alone until you admit the truth, human,” Anifiel said, his voice fading as he walked away, and the rush of air as he took off into the sky making Ryan realise he was alone again.

“My name is Ryan,” he replied, knowing Anifiel wouldn’t hear him, sniffling, burying his face in the soft snow that was cold, but didn’t hurt.