Enter: Xavael

Just as abruptly as I spun into a fatal dive towards the ocean, my fall was cut short. A much less violent impact and a grunt from someone else as well as myself. Someone caught me? Just below cloud level? I could not make out my bearings from the radiance that enveloped me.

"Bloodwing," the soft voice danced in my ears. "My sweet Husband..."

This creature was...WHAT? I opened my mouth to ask a barrage of questions, but the Founder had a more urgent matter.

"XAVAEL! My armor!"

The joy in the angel's crystal eyes dissolved into horror. Bloodwing had summoned his Armor of Rage. Xavael was impaled with a dozen wounds from the vicious spikes, and the celestial's blood was already spreading across my breastplate.

My gaze shifted from her anguish to the squadrons of the wasp demons diving through the clouds towards us. Xavael gazed upwards at the coming onslaught, fighting the growing wave a numbness from blood loss and drew in a deep breath...