Page 104 of Kiss of Magic

Kam paused.

“There’s another creature, a beast. He’s a giant pain in the ass to be honest, but he comes from dark magic and…”

“Let me put your mind at ease, Elhinn. Only those beings completely devoid of compassion and love will feel the force of the witch-light.”

“Witch-light?”

“A gift from the angels. We placed it in a wiccan five thousand years ago and left it to mature. It has taken generations but it has finally done its job.”

“That’s why you created the Angelus Coven. To protect the witch-light, give it time to grow.”

“Indeed. The angels wished you to have the means to slay the demons.”

Kam thought of the witches who’d lived in exile in the mortal realm for five millennia, just for this moment. Of one witch in particular, the descendant of the original key, who had been sacrificed.

“The cost has been high,” he said neutrally. “Many have died. Why couldn’t the angels have come back to help when the seal opened? There would have been far fewer casualties.”

Zeferestiel looked sorrowful.

“You think of the angels as allies, do you not? You are wrong, Elhinn. Angels were never your allies. Not then, not now. I have had five thousand years to think upon what happened and I am ashamed.”

Kam frowned.

“What do you mean? Angels helped us defeat the demons. They fought by our side. Without their help we would never have been able to lock the creatures away.””

A curious expression flitted across Zeferestiel’s face. He looked away, suddenly unwilling to meet Kam’s gaze.

“Do you ever wonder where the demons came from in the first place?”

“We assumed they were created from dark magic. The black practitioners, the dark sorcerers… that’s why we banned it.”

Zeferestiel hesitated, as if deliberating over his words.

“Demons did originate from dark magic,” he said at last. “But not the way you assume. They were created inadvertently by the angels themselves.”

Kam’s jaw dropped.

“Sorry,what?”

“We were trying to achieve perfection. We thought we could be better. We experimented with dark magic to change ourselves.”

“So the demons…”

“Are, in fact, a type of angel. Mutated, yes. But angels nonetheless.” Zeferestiel was sorrowful. “We were vain and arrogant. We made a mistake.”

Kam couldn’t speak. His mind reeled and he put out a hand to steady himself against the ruins of his palace.

“That can’t be,” he croaked. “It’s impossible!”

“It is hard to believe I know, but it is the truth. We made them. And then, because of their ugliness and their savagery, we banished them from the angelic plane. We did not wish to sully our eyes on them. We drove them out, not knowing or caring where they went. They came here.”

“They appeared from nowhere,” Kam said hoarsely. “Overnight. Hundreds of them. The ancient texts describe them as a malignant plague.”

“We did not realise the damage they would wreak. When we saw what they were doing, we decided to help. Not because we were noble or selfless. But because we felt guilt.”

Kam stared at the angel, his face white. In a few short sentences, the entire history of Nush’aldaam had been upended. Angels weren’t the heroes they were thought to be. Angels had been the cause of the terror and bloodshed.

“Tens of thousands died,” he stuttered. “The population was decimated, the realm almost destroyed…”

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