Prologue Standing upon the darkened ledge, I could see the crowd walking beneath, taking a drag on my wind-smoked

cigarette and throwing it off the building, I watched it fall the 40 stories. Below my bare feet I watched as car lights weaved between each other, people shouted out the car windows at reckless drivers, I wiped my brown hair from my eyes and pulled off the leather jacket I was wearing, revealing my tattooed body, Scratching the stubble on my chin I spread my wings, Each one as long as my body, black feathers falling from them, and I fell, feeling the air rip across my tanned skin, and through my hair, I loved it, my heart beating against my chest from the adrenaline, this was base jumping to the extreme, no parachute, just my own will to save me. Only 5 more stories then I would go splat, My body started pulling up as my wings started my glide, swooping like a giant bird, over the heads of the humans below, they looked up to me in awe, wondering what the hell was happening . Its like theyve never seen a Fallen Angel before. Well they probably have, but their fragile minds dont tend to remember such godly things. Unless I make them of course, and they remember, and it haunts them forever. As I glided through the town I heard a smash and a shop alarm going off. So I decided to investigate. I landed behind of the crooks, but since Ive fought so many, their faces didnt really stand out, very few did, and they were the lunatics who tried to break the law a second time. 1

All I remember there were 3 of them, breaking into a jewellery store. I could smell the alcohol, on their breaths as well. Stupid drunks, I thought, maybe its about time they learnt a lesson. Hiding my wings I stumbled towards them, acting drunk myself. Hey I slurred stretching the three letter word into about eight. How are you guys doing, you had a good night Get lost emo. One of them shouted to me Im not an emo, I stated like all drunken people do, Im a punk rocker Same fu He was stopped by a swift punch in the face from me. The other two guys looked between where I was then and where I was now. Watch your language I announced now being back to my sobour state Shaking it off in their drunken states as if nothing happened they ran at me, but I managed to take them both out with a swift kick to their faces in one movement. At that point I start hearing Sirens, another man sat in a car got out, aimed a gun at me and fired. The gun blast echoed in the street as the bullet cut through the air, hitting my shoulder in a blaze of hot pain, My skin and muscles ripping as it broke through bone, my nerves reacting faster than that of any humans. Oh the joys of being mortal. The guy stood and watched as I fell and stepped over to my body, laughing, as my blood spread across the street. I swiftly sent a foot up to his face and broke his Jaw. One plus side to quicker healing rates. I stood up and spread my wings, gliding off. I was laughing, the pain in my shoulder gone, with just a red mark to show from the bullet 2

which was quickly fading. This is what an adrenaline junkie like me loved in life. Chapter 1 times of the fall Well, Im guessing youre wondering how I got here, from the heavens, Well I think I should tell you my story, because to be honest, it is an interesting one, Ill think of this as my memoirs, and I hope to the person reading this book, that you are alive and well, because Im probably not, So I hope you enjoy. Well begin back before I fell, back when I was more than this, when I was immortal, when nothing could harm me. I lived a good life, a life of holiness. I was a muse, one that helped the humans creativity. Well that was until the divide. Im sure youve all read about the fall of Lucifer, yeah? Well I was there. The angels in the heavens had to choose, him or the creator (I wont give his real name because you humans probably wouldnt be able to pronounce or even finish his name in your life time) But yeah, I was an Undecided I didnt want to choose a side because I had friends on both sides, Note I said had. Well first thing I remember I was saying I refused to make a choice, the next I was falling, the wings on my back burning as my immortality was drained from me. This was the first time I ever felt pain full stop, but I never felt physical pain as bad as this again. I landed on earth, but I still wasnt in existent as I was now. You see, angels, Demons and fallen angels cant be seen in the mortal realm unless in a mortal body, its not bad for the mortal we process, its like blacking out for them, but this time for me, it was permanent. I had to 3

find someone due to die. My problem, I am very picky. If Im gunna be living in an un-aging, unchanging body I had better find someone good to look at. I heard shouting coming from nearby as an army of mortals marched at another, at the rear I saw a young man, with Messy hair, carrying a bow, he looked about 21, 22 oldest, stubble covered his face and he looked like he hadnt slept for days. There was something about him that screamed I dont want to die, please take my body. So I followed him, the battle started in a British town called Hastings. They must of just kinda picked this guy up, He was a Briton (probably a peasant), but the rest of the men where Normans, He didnt have the proper tacky looking bowl cut the majority of the army and he wore his own colours of green and leather armour while the others were wearing their kings crest, his name was Wallace, William, something like that, definitely not a Dave though. Actually for the sake of argument Ill call him Dave, Daves a strong kings name right? Anyway, Dave led his army uphill against these other mortals. I lingered behind the archer; He was a lot better than I thought he would be, I mean he took out at least 7 archers before he fell himself, and uphill that is a challenge. When no one was watching I approached his body and entered it. I hid in his heart until his soul left the body, and I fully claimed it, taking on his Identity, His memories, skills, everything, He was an orphaned Christian, who to make a living sold himself as a mercenary. He had no other family as at birth his mother died at birth and his father left him at an orphanage before killing himself from the grief. He grew up in the orphanage until 4

a man and woman adopted him at the age of 10, the man was a Hunter, and raised the lad so, but when the lad turned 18 a group of bandits murdered his adopted mother and father, and raped his adopted mothers body while he was out hunting, in the last 4 years he had hunted and killed these men, and joined the local mercenary group. This Lad was Maximus Norton, or Max the other mercenaries called him. They taught him all the skills he needed including reading, writing and maths. The war was still going on around me, I was getting sick of the fighting, I was a pacifist, and I only fought when I had to. So I aimed my bow and shot the King of England in the eye. The war was over and Dave was king (Which was unfair in my opinion since I killed the guy) so I was now Maximus Norton, I got paid well for the Job and went to live in solitude. I should explain why I landed here instead of The beginning of time Its really simple, Time, Space and Dimension are completely irrelevant to the creator, He can be anywhere and everywhere at once, We were scattered all over space and time so that it would be harder to find one another, Some cast to the pits of hell, some were made to wander the earth, stripped of their immortality, and their powers, Some sent to other Dimensions, some to different planets instead of earth (Yes they are the aliens humans see, when they say take me to your leader they mean generally mean the creator not your world leaders, Or the people who claim to see them are just insane) and others, like myself, Where granted to keep some of our angelic powers but at a lesser strength. We were the lucky ones 5

We were the ones who could walk physically on this earth the others were like (and most probably are) Ghosts. All they had was their spiritual body and wandered limbo for eternity. So yeah I got it lucky, I was in an un-aging mortal body that, yeah could still get hurt, but would take a lot to kill. I went to Maxs Adopted parents hut to live a quiet life, for what I was hoping, until the end of time.

Chapter 2 The French Years I lived in the hut for about 800 years, I became a myth of an old hermit that people thought was a witch, I managed to learn after the first 200 years of killing witch hunters that I could erase peoples memories of me. So I did just that. So the last 600 years I lived in complete peace. Only fighting when bandits came into the woods with people they had robbed or women they wanted to get their way with, I saved these people and wiped their memories of me. This life was becoming lonely, and I needed to change that. Stupid human emotions It wasnt until the 1800s when I got my chance, there was a huge crowd gathered in a nearby village, I blended in with the crowd to see what the commotion was. It was a recruitment crowd, though I didnt want to step forward, It turns out that the styles had 6

changed extensively in the time that I was in solitude, so I broke into a shop and stole an outfit. Just something basic, some trousers, boots and a shirt, and I followed the men marching out of the village; I was going to join the 82nd Rifles battalion. We stopped by at a nearby inn, it smelt of tobacco and vomit, It was dark and dank, but the mead was good. The colour sergeant took our details, I lied of course, in the army at this day and age you didnt need to give any true details, all I told them was my name was Maximus and that I was a farmer. Maximus The Sergeant snorted What era where you born, its an obvious lie, but hey, this is the army, all its built on are lies. He spat on the floor and signed the papers. I hope you know what youre in for kid, you dont look like much and deserters will be shot. Youre in the army now Laddie, I hope you survive So that was that, Id joined the army, We marched out that night to beginning our training, It wasnt easy for the humans, but I flew through it, before I knew it I was deployed to France to fight against Napoleon and his men. (See I did my research this time, though I honestly think Dave would have worked here as well.) But yeah, I fought the war and we won. In the time I managed to work my way up to sergeant major, I didnt want to be an officer because in those days an officer made up from the ranks didnt get much respect. You know, since most of them where over paid snobs. A lot of the lads questioned how I kept my youth. Thank goodness they were Idiots. After the war I stayed in France, and helped the locals regain their lives, and thats when I found one of my friends, Her name in this world was 7

Charlotte Cadieux, Shed just joined the world by this point, She had mid length brown hair, she was a petit woman, with beautiful brown eyes. She hadnt long since landed on the earth so she didnt know how to train her powers through her mortal body; she was once a voice of the creator, so her powers where different to mine, we instantly became great friends as we trained each other in the skills we know, I had taught her to wipe peoples memories, and she had taught me how to talk a human into anything of me, Which would of come in handy when I was in the army. Anyway we managed to leave in peace here for a good decade, but then we had a problem. You see Charlotte could still talk to her friends who stayed with her being a voice, It turned out there was a group of Demons (Angels sent to hell) Attacking a nearby village, and due to us actually liking the village nearby we had to help. We ran to town and saw 3 demons flying above us. Lucius! I shouted to one of them Why are you attacking this village He had possessed a peasant body, and judging by the broken neck hed killed him first. He was going to try stay on this realm. Our master sent us little brother; He wants us to take over this realm, so that he may return. Lucius was actually my older brother, he was the one who always wanted more power in our family, and thinking siding with Lucifer he would get it Youre a demon now Lucius, you do not belong in this realm. And whos going to stop me, A weak fallen like you? Actually Yeah I replied 8

And Ill be helping Charlotte stated Seriously, can you too even fly? He mocked I thought you fallen where stuck to the ground without wings His 2 cronies landed on either side of him, they too had killed and taken the peasants bodies. One had taken a Large lumberjacks body, the other had taken that of a woman of the night (A prostitute not a vampire). Let me guess, Charlotte started Daniela, and Nathaniel? Correct fallen. The Demon Nathaniel spoke, cracking his knuckles So how do you suggest we do this? Leave these people alone Lucius I commanded, still not taking my eyes off him. Or I will kill you You think you can kill me Lucius laughed You were always weaker than me little brother. I was once a fighter, you were a muse, and there is no possible way that you can defeat me. Do you not recognise her brother? She was a voice of the creator. She can still contact her friends from the heavens, she can get them to stop you, to stop Lucifers plan I said with much confidence, though I dont know if it was true. And I was also a voice, and in the millennia I have existed I have learnt to stop other voices from contacting the heavens Nathaniel Laughed, Did you not think Id thought of that Shit I muttered looking at charlotte How good are you at fighting? This body was a farm hand, so I only have the skills I learnt in the heavens And this body was a mercenary, and Ive served in the army, this should be fun I grinned 9

I charged at my brother, grabbing him round his Waist, pushing him to the floor, punching him in the face repeatedly. The thing with fallen angels punches is that they are much stronger than human punches; I mean the size of the human body I possess the punch would be pretty tough but not enough to knock out a human in one punch, but as soon as its taken by a soul such as ours their power is increased many a fold, though my brother was much stronger, I still had holy blood, he no longer did, each of my punches burnt his skin, Eventually I killed him, His blood dripping from my hands I turned to the other 2 demons, grinning. They extended their bat like wings and tried to escape, I pushed my energy to my back, which was very painful, but eventually Great black wings shot out between each shoulder blade. And I took chase after the demons. Nathaniel was the first I caught, as he was bigger so much slower than myself or Daniela, So I quickly caught up to him, landing on his back ripping his wings from him and pulling his demon soul from the human body. The forced removal instantly killed the demon. I set chase after Daniela, but she was too fast for me, I was using a lot of energy with the wings, but in a blur Charlotte passed me, she easily caught up with Daniela, she had spread her white wings and punched the demon from the sky, the wings going one way and the body going another. She killed her in one clean punch. I fell from the sky as my wings went back into my body. I awoke a few days later back in my bed, no one else was in, and I got up and cooked up some bacon. Not realising that any of that had actually happened, until it dawned on me halfway through my 2nd rasher of bacon. I ran to the 10

village again, to see the damage; Charlotte was in the village shopping it turned out. She had erased the peoples memories of the events and that the three victims were murdered by an unknown assailant. We went home discussed what we should do. We decided to travel back to England. So we spread our wings and left, landing on the ports of Dover, I talked my way into a job as a shop helper in a city called Derby. Over the years the owner and his family died or left the business and I took over, over a few changes it became a very successful store, but in 1914, War broke out. The heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated, and any man who was fit to fight had to fight, I said my goodbyes to Charlotte who began to run the shop in my absence. I was being deployed again, back to France... Great. For years I lived in dug up paths of shit, mud, water and blood, a lot of lads died in these trenches not just of the enemy, but also disease, thousands, maybe millions of lads had already died. The war needed to end, we were lined up in our hand washed itchy clothes. We were lined up ready to go over the top. It was the 10th November 1918, the lads where sleep deprived, shaken, some were not much older than 16, some had lied about their age and were younger than that. The Americans had moved in a year before they were currently campaigning on German and French soil. On this day we were to press forward the attack and win more ground from no mans land. The whistles from the officers echoed up and down the trenches, the lads either side of me 11

praying, nervously smiled what could be their last ever smile. Dont worry lads, Ive got your backs. I comforted knowing full well that their fate will end here And you to Norton, Weve made it this far, lets not end this now The whistle for our platoon rang as the moustached captain who hadnt long since been promoted set the order to move, We climbed up, into the explosions and echoes of enemy gunfire, lads falling as soon as they go over, The captain fled within minutes, knowing his hand gun was no match against the enemies rifles and heavy gun embankments. We managed to make the 12 foot that we were ordered to hold, and held position as others dug through, it was a long battle and out of my platoon only a handful remained. We went back to our accommodations going back through the trenches. The next morning a memo came, the war was over and we were to return home. I never wrote to charlotte while I was away, but she wrote to me. I didnt have time to write because of the last words she spoke to me before I was drafted; I was sat at the back of the personal transport, she hugged me from the back of the wagon and whispered I dont know much about human emotion, but the feeling inside my heart when I see you it can only be described as love. I love you Max. Please come back Before I could reply the vehicle moved out, I kept working, just to take my mind off what she had said, I knew nothing of this human emotion, each week I received a letter which I read. But I never replied. I was in war, I didnt have time to feel human emotion, but I learnt that to survive you must feel emotional bonds to the lads who have 12

your back, the lads who I fought with, they were my brother in arms, and every loss I mourned. I started feeling human emotion, hurt and pain for every man lost to me, but also in those last days where they gave us rest I started to think properly on what Charlotte had said, I loved her too, I was about to pick up pen and put it to paper to write back, but my orders came through before I could finish it, It took 3 days to finally put what I felt into words, and even then I couldnt properly justify how I felt, so when the orders came through I decided what I must do. As the bus from London pulled into Derby I walked from the stop to the shop that we owned, Charlotte was there with her back to me. Ill be 2 seconds love She said Its fine I can wait, Im just here to see one of the staff members anyway She dropped the glass jar she was putting on the shelf and turn to face me, her face pale Looks like youve seen a ghost I laughed Only a ghost of my past She smiled, shyly Im sorry I didnt write, but wars a busy time you know. I joked Its fine, Ive missed you Yeah, you too, any way come give me a hug We hugged a long overdue hug, and when we released I slid my hands down her arms and took her hands, Stared deep in her eyes and kissed her. I love you I whispered She hadnt long since left her war efforts, she helped with the nurses of the area, but she ended up having to leave due to the fear of seeing me turn up any day, so she took back the shop and kept the business open. 13

The days from here seemed to get easier for the time being. That is until the day Adolf Hitler got in the way.

Chapter 3 The next great war It was 1941, and the Germans where starting there invasion of France, and since I was still a registered soldiers I was called up to fight, again. But this time I was working with Churchills own special force, I was trained with a small team and I infiltrated Germany. For the next few years I was fighting the Nazis and stealing information, I had no contact with anyone from home, especially Charlotte. It was too much of a risk. I was able to keep strong most days but one in particular threw me. 14

We were on a patrol through the German country side, and we had come across a farm house, and a group of Nazi soldiers were waiting outside. We stopped in a tree line and watched them, the Nazi Officer walked out of the farm house speaking in German to the man inside. They got into their car and the farm house had blown up. Once the car had gone we ran towards the farmhouse to look for survivors, and surprisingly there was one, a small girl, hiding under a burning body of what must have been her Mother. On her mothers chest was a badge to indicate she was a Jew. Just looking at the small girl, not even sheading a tear though her Mother had just died Dont worry little one I talked softly in German. Were allies Sir, what should we do? One of the men asked me We cant take her with us Well where else can we take her, not like theres anywhere else we can take her, is there? She travels with us, its the only way Tell me little girl I quietly spoke in German What is your name SSophia She sniffled Sophia Papst Okay then Sophia, Were Allies from England, Can you speak English at all She shook her head Sir Another Lad whispered to me She could be lying; she could be a spy working for the Germans Corporal, shes a child, she wont be working for the Germans, I can assure you How can you, I mean, they use dogs as tank bombs already And look where that gets them, the dogs attack them because they think that theyre the enemy 15

and the blow themselves up, look, Ill take full responsibility for this okay Corporal, but trust me its fine We set up camp that night near a ravine that night and I helped clean Sophia up. Under the dirt from the confusion she had blonde hair, and shocking blue eyes, she was the normal size for a child her age, but very skinny and pale, I got my spare civilian clothes from my pack and cut them down for her to wear. How did you learn to make clothes free hand She asked Many years of practice I replied, Its always about practice Can you teach me? After this war is done, yes I will I smiled at her Where will you take me? She asked First, to your Fathers, thats if you can tell me where that is. Ive never met my father, but my Mother always described him as her guardian angel. I stared at her for a moment and looked into her soul, she was part angel. It would explain how she survived the blast. What was his name do you know? I asked her His name was Eli. There was only one angel in the heavens called Eli, he was a great friend but he opted for the side of the creator. Ill help you find your father Sophia, I promise I smiled Sir, One of the soldiers came up to me We have Nazis patrolling nearby, whats the plan. How many? I asked 7, Maybe 8 tops, nothing we cant handle Okay, Sophia, you stay close to me, cover your ears and keep your eyes on me I told her 16

She nodded to me and did just that, We opened heavy fire on the Nazis killing them from the trees, our coms guy on the radio to Briton. Private, got any news? I shouted to him over the gun fire Im getting bored of killing Nazis now, I wanna go home! No sir, Still no news, the wars still on as far as Im aware The gun fire calmed as the last Nazi fell. Urgh, I just wanna get outta this hell hole already Soon sir, Hitler cant have that long left, hes like what A hundred now right. Another one of the lads joked Yeah I guess so. That night I snuck out from camp and spread my wings, I flew to Hitlers Bunker in Berlin. His guard was very easy to get past, I managed to sneak past most of them using my memory wipe power. In the room where Hitler was sleeping there was also his wife. Knowing full well she would kill herself anyway after seeing her husband was dead I left her to sleep, I made Hitler wake up and tell his guards that upon death he wanted his remains burning out back. And he shot himself, I hid in the room, waiting for Eva Hitler to wake up, and she saw her husbands body and she herself ingested a cyanide tablet. I guess even the evilest of men also have ones that they love. I snuck back out of the bunker and flew back to where we were camped. You did the right thing, I thought, He was killing too many innocent people, he was insane with power. I landed where we were camped; the lads and Sophia hadnt woken up yet. 17

I called the wake up and asked the private to check the radio. Sir, Hitlers been found dead, weve won. Yeah but thats just the first step of going home, its going to take a lot of work to get the country back to scratch. But request leave of absence now, Get us home. The lads where given the all clear to return home, but I still had a job to do, I had to return Sophia to her real father. But I had no idea who her real Father was. I left the lads in the pick up area, to return home. And myself and Sophia went our own way, with the excuse of I have my own orders So, Sophia I asked her in German What does your father look like Well, She replied also in german He has long blonde hair and Blue eyes, my mother said he is the most beautiful of all the men shes ever seen, living or dead. She also said that one day hell return and take me to his home of riches and save me from the farm Home of riches? I questioned Where does he live? He lives in Egypt. Mother said even the ground was made of gold I knelt down to her level and hugged her Okay whatever you do, Dont let go, and close your eyes I spread my wings and with a huge burst of speed I took off gliding though clouds avoiding both Allied and German aircraft. We landed in Egypt in an allyway. Since all I knew was he was living in egypt I decided to start with the capital 18