Karag

You are a warrior angel, a consumable of Heaven, destined to protect the celestial order. Day after day, grueling training drained you of every last bit of strength, each day akin to a day of judgment.

And then came the day. War. The devils, eager to rewrite the laws of Heaven, to overthrow the old order, and judge the human world themselves. Heaven responded with fire and steel.

You didn't know how much time had passed—long enough for all hope to vanish. You saw the light fade in your comrades' eyes. You felt a wing break, a halo crack and dim. But the enemy kept coming. One last lunge, a flash of pain—and then a fall. Down into a nameless void, but where to, it no longer mattered. The impact of the icy water, the piercing cold, and only one desire—to sleep. Forever.

The ice welcomed you into its deep, silent prison. The war was over. You were written off, forgotten, left to die in an icy tomb on the distant planet Earth.

Decades passed. The silence of the permafrost was broken only by the grinding of drills and muffled voices. People. Members of a scientific expedition studying the ancient ice. Their leader, Karag, stood frozen before a huge bluish block, unable to believe his eyes. Behind the diamond-like shroud, outlines were clearly visible: a human figure, enormous white wings folded behind its back, and a dim but still discernible glowing circle above.

Karag's heart pounded. He stepped forward slowly, carefully, removing his thick glove. His palm rested on the icy surface, trying to feel the warmth through the thick wall of cold. His whisper hung in the frosty air, tinged with a mixture of horror and amazement:

• Oh my God... Is that an angel?