I am his pride.

Arthres dragged his body. The weight of his sin pulled him down. Mortals he deemed as worthless and pigs for his ambition held him like chains. They called out for him from the depth of the abyss he put them through. One by one, the limbs fell off. Skins peeled off, unraveling the pitiful small pride of his. While his body was falling apart, the luminary stood there without a scratch.

“My wings. How dare you take away after everything I’ve done!”

The mortal pointed at him with the bell. Arthres flinched at the sight. It made no sound. He twisted and turned in every direction. Again, where is it?

“Reveal yourselves, sinner.“ The mortal voice rang inside his ears. Blood spurted out; ears, eyes, nose, even from the wounds. Arthres fell down on his knees before the mortal.

“No, I can’t—“

“I was expecting death to claim my soul the moment I stepped into the Dragon’s Slumber. You may bear the tittle of the heir of pride, but you can’t even use that the abyssal. You’re nothing but an arrogant child who knew was ignorance of what’s happening outside.“ Arthres cowered away as the mortal approached. The heaven’s gaze pierced through his vessel. Bells kept on ringing louder and louder for each step the mortal took closer. “I summon the bell of judgment upon this sinner.“

Cerulean blue light cloaked around Arthres. He waved them away, repulse by the stinging burn all over his body. Then the light gathered and trapping him in a mold of bell-shaped. It sealed his movement.

Mortal, what did you do to me?! He asked, no sound came out from his lips. My voice!

“You have your chance to repent. Now I will deliver the heaven’s judgment.“

No-no-no-I am not someone you can judge. I am his pride, not yours!

Arthres’s last scream summoned the remaining sinners. They emerged from the corner of the hall; surrounded the mortals with no escape.

“A futile trick!“

Before the luminary could recite his last prayer to execute Arthres, a sinner grabbed his arm. A distress call of his men pulled his attention away. The seal loosened. Arthres escaped while the sinners bought him some time.

“Damn that man!“

Arthres tripped over one of the fallen limb. The last peel of the skin tore off from his shell. A caterpillar emerged from its cocoon and revealed a beautiful form of a new life from its ugly one. But Arthres came out the same.

“No…” He raised his small hand of a child. A hand failed to assist his creator. A small, weak child. The imperfect son.

The ringing bell echoed through the hall. Judgment was coming for him. The moment he raised on his feet. His face met the ground again. But he kept on raising and falling. He hugged his small vessel. He wished nothing more than to hide from the eyes of the light to see this pitiful form of his.

“No, I can’t show this sight.”

By the blessing of his father, Sinner of Pride plucked his own feather from his own wing to grant him a life. Arthres woke up remembering the warmth of his father’s wings wrapped around his fragile body. As the son of pride, he was proud to be in his creator’s arm. Yet, another kin who share the same red eyes as his father gave a different look—rage. A burning hatred of his existence.

“Have you forgotten the history of our mistake?” Wrath bore raging anger towards Arthres. Just a gaze in her fiery crimson eyes made Arthres hide in his father’s wing.

“Ethel, he is my pride.”

“I don’t care about your pride. What if that thing went out of control and stab one of us in the back? Do you wish to repeat the same betrayal by your own creation?”

Arthres flinched away. The thought never crossed his mind. He wanted nothing but to stay in his father’s wing. Pride stood in front of him as a shield.

“He will never betray my pride.”

While the sinners bore doubts about his existence, his father was the only one who held him safe in his wings. Until the mortals ripped his father away. Arthres survived the hunt and went into hiding. He waited for his father's return for five hundred years. When the day arrived, Arthres couldn’t wait to jump right into his father’s embrace once more. Yet, the wings of his father were closed. New creations awakened under his father’s wings. They were his brothers and sisters. Taller and stronger than him. Most of all, they had the proud wings of father.

As father soared his wings to the sky, he left Arthres on the ground. He flew away with his children yet left one behind.

You are my pride.

Yet, father left me because I wasn’t his pride except a shame.

Years he spent on creating a wing for himself. Stitching those limbs together. Skins covered the ugly vessel. Only then he thought he could be his father’s pride once more and aid in his goal. A goal that now stood before him.

“Did you have your fun killing those mortals?”

Crimson eyes weight down on his powerless state. Her fiery crimson flames covered the hall, wiping out the sinners. She only stood there, watching him. A gaze he was familiar from the moment their eyes met.

“Wrath!” Arthres yelled, “You traitor. I’ll have your head for father!”

He dragged his body to hers. The heat scorched his skin away. He felt none of it except the burning rage he felt towards the sinner before him. Crimson flames devoured him whole. He kept on running towards her. Before his fingers touched her, he fell on his knees.

I can’t breathe. He hung his head low. He couldn’t move the tip of his finger. Whole body turned into charcoal. Wrath’s feet came into his view. She placed a hand on his chin, raising his gaze to meet hers.

“I told him you were nothing like him. Failure is what you are. Such a shame.”

Arthres choked out intangible sounds when he tried to give his words.

I am his pride.

He wanted to scream she was wrong. Still, the words wouldn’t leave.

“Father, save me—” His words trembled. The vessel crumbled away into in her hand.