The Healer's Past, the Assassin’s Burden

Aeris Valenwing never asked to be part of the mortal world.

Once an angel of the Seventh Radiant Choir, she was cast down during the Celestial Sundering for choosing mercy over judgment. Her wings, though still luminous, carried the stain of disobedience — half-white, half-charcoal. Her eyes always shimmered like twilight skies caught between day and night.

But now, sitting beside a crackling fire, surrounded by Riven and his companions, she felt something alien…

Warmth.

"You don't talk much," Lyra said, chewing on a dried skewer of meat. "Which is weird. You've got this silent-deadly vibe, but you also heal people like a mother bird."

Aeris smiled faintly. "Is it not possible to carry both destruction and kindness in one soul?"

Selene sipped her bloodwine. "That sounds like something Riven would say."

"Hey," Kaela interjected, "at least Riven owns it. You? You dodge everything."

Aeris stood without warning, her expression unreadable. "Because not all truths are safe to share."

---

Later that night, Riven found Aeris atop a cliff overlooking a shimmering lake. The moonlight bathed her figure in silver, her wings slightly unfurled like curtains drawn to a whisper.

"You left during watch duty," he said.

"I felt… restless." She hesitated. "Riven, do you believe in redemption?"

He joined her at the cliff's edge, eyes fixed on the stars.

"I believe people carry burdens they can't put down. And sometimes… they need someone to help carry them."

Aeris looked away, fingers clutching a small pendant around her neck — a glowing feather.

"My fall wasn't because I failed," she said. "It was because I refused an order. I was meant to erase a village — they had harbored a heretic. But I saw a child crying in her mother's arms. And I couldn't."

She turned toward him, voice trembling. "I killed my commander instead. I thought I'd done right. But Heaven called it betrayal."

"You did the right thing," Riven said simply.

"Then why," she whispered, "do I still feel broken?"

---

The next morning, the party found themselves ambushed by Seraphim Wardens — elite enforcers from the Celestial Dominion. Their wings shimmered with blinding light, their faces hidden behind halos of divine flame.

"Return with us, Aeris Valenwing," their leader commanded. "The Council of Judgment has decreed your execution — soul erasure."

Aeris stepped forward, no hesitation.

"I will not run anymore."

Kaela lit her palms ablaze. "We're not letting anyone take our people."

Selene conjured blood runes. "Especially not for crimes called compassion."

But Riven raised a hand. "Stand down. This is Aeris's trial."

The fight was short — yet radiant. Blades of light clashed with shadows born of Aeris's own duality. She weaved between strikes, her healing aura pulsing in rhythm with each dodge and counter.

Then, she did something unthinkable.

She summoned her Oblivion Feather — a forbidden relic that erased divine memory. With it, she sealed the lead Warden's knowledge of her existence.

The seraphim fell, dazed, their memories wiped clean.

"I am done being hunted," Aeris said as they vanished.

---

That night, Aeris approached Riven in silence. She sat beside him, shoulder barely brushing his.

"You didn't stop me."

"I knew you didn't need saving," he replied.

She slowly turned her face toward him. "But I still wanted to be seen."

"You are," Riven said.

Her head lowered, golden strands brushing her cheeks. "I've been afraid to hope. But… when I'm with you, I remember how."

She opened her palm. In it, a single radiant feather.

"My wings may be stained, but I offer them to you. Use them, should the world try to drag you down."

Riven took the feather. A symbol of fallen grace, and rising strength.

In silence, they sat — a healer, an assassin, an angel without a heaven — and the man who had already lost everything… except those who chose to stay.

And somewhere in the stars above, a new legend began to write itself.