The moonlight shone through breaks in the trees of the forest. There was a strange feeling Elena couldn't quite express, something that she hadn't ever felt before. There was an uneasiness in her mind even though nothing around her had changed. Her ears flicked back and forth in anticipation as she made her way back to the garden alongside her family. The sound of hooves alongside her gave her comfort. Their whole world was protected by power used long ago, but the place they truly considered home was the most sacred spot within it. No matter where she was, she could always feel it, as could the rest of them.

As they approached the area where they had been residing for as long as she could remember, Elena couldn't help but feel some relief. Whatever this sensation was within her felt disturbing, and uneasiness was not a familiar feeling. There was no reason to be afraid in this place. Somehow, she sensed that once they were back home it would pass and soon be forgotten.

The flash of light happened so suddenly Elena almost fell, barely getting her legs under her. She shied to the left, away from the source of the sudden light. It went dark again, and as she looked around and her eyes adjusted back to the moonlight, she saw her family also reacting to the flash. The sounds of uneasy snorts and steps coming from all around her. As she started to let out a neigh, another flash to her left arrived, then from behind.

Run, Elena heard in her head. She didn't know which of her brethren had spoken but she could sense strong fear. She took off at a gallop, heading for the garden.

As she raced down the final hill, she could hear neighs of panic, screaming from behind her. She was too terrified to slow down and look back, but she had to see what was happening. Skidding to a stop, she looked back from where she had come. There were blurs between bright flashes, shapes all around in the darkness. It looked like—no, that was impossible.

How could they have found this place? she thought. There were humans with sharp objects all around her family. When Elena pricked her ears forward, she could hear the whoosh of the objects slicing through the air, and her family crying out in pain. She was alone out of danger. She let out a cry for them, faced with an impossible decision. If she joined them, they might all be killed. They were the only ones of their kind. She had to keep going and escape.

Turning away was the hardest decision Elena ever had to make, but she forced herself to carry on. She was less than half a mile from home. She could make it. She raced along, dodging trees in the forest, blocking the sounds from her mind to focus. She could hear her family screaming out loud and in her head. She was so close to safety now.

A light flashed in front of her and she abruptly tried to stop, skittering sideways. The human in front of her lunged at her. Elena dodged him once, twice, but couldn't recover quickly enough to escape again. The sharp object gleamed in the moonlight as the man swung it toward her neck. She ducked, but not before the edge of the object sliced part of her neck. She cried out in pain and he came in quick, slicing again toward her. He grabbed part of her mane and this time managed to cut off a handful of her hair. She recoiled and tried to race parallel toward where she was going, hoping to find another way to the garden. She heard the man laugh before another flash lit up the night from behind her now.

Flashes were coming from all over again as she ran. Once she had enough distance to feel safe, she stopped to survey what was happening. The forest was totally silent now, an eerie absence of noise. She slowed her breathing as best she could, trying to hear anything from her family. Tentatively, she began picking her way back through the forest. The solitary sound came from her own hooves against the forest floor, and even those were dulled in her cautious approach.

Elena's eyes widened and nostrils flared as she came upon the devastation. There was blood everywhere, coating their once-shining silver coats a matte brown in the darkness. Where moonlight draped across her fallen family, she could see the blood was a deep red. The pain from the wound on her neck was no comparison to the unbearable pain in her heart as she gazed across the forest in shock. She lifted her nose to the moon and let out a guttural, grief-filled neigh.

Before she could think of what to do next, she heard a soft pop and felt herself whooshing through the air. She couldn't make out any shapes or tell which way was up. It felt like nothingness, like she was spinning out of control. Another pop and she was standing in a circle of men, the ones who had just murdered her entire family.

Elena raised a hoof to strike out at the closest one and saw another impossible thing.

What have they done to me? her mind raced. She looked to her outstretched foreleg but instead saw a pale, slender form, culminating in five digits at the end of a hand. She glanced to the left side, same thing. As she glanced downward, she saw the slopes of two breasts, a stomach, and—

Oh, God, she thought. She was a human. She looked back and forth wildly, finding she had to turn her head a lot more than she was used to in order to see around her. As she began turning unsteadily in a small circle, her balance completely off-center. The humans were laughing and jeering. She could see their faces from the light of a nearby fire, the flickering of the flames contorting the shadows on their faces and creating even scarier images.

"Wha….graaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed, her voice startling her. They continued laughing and one stepped forward. Instinctively she backed up, then fell. This caused even more laughter and the one who had moved into the circle with her grinned.

How did humans even stand with just two legs?

"Hey, sweet cheeks, like the new digs?" asked the man to another round of uproarious laughter.

Elena started to crawl backwards as she faced him, then turned onto her hands and knees and tried to crawl away as quickly as she could. She didn't trust any attempt to run on two legs.

A large hand grabbed her ankle and dragged her back. She screamed out again, this time in terror. The foreign sound of her own voice frightened her almost as much as the men around her, and she cried out as the man flipped her over.

"Oh, we ain't done with you yet," said the man, flipping her over. "We haven't even started." He got down on his knees and straddled her. "You ain't even begun to be afraid, I can tell you that for su—"

"Remove your hands from the female," a voice interrupted.

The humans started yelling, groaning, clutching at their ears. The voice was talking loudly, but it seemed to be doing something different to them than to her. She heard it in her mind, just like when she and her family talked.

"Prepare to face the consequence of what you have done," the voice commanded.

The night around them suddenly lit up with the most brilliant white light she had ever seen. This wasn't the quick, bright flash like when the men had suddenly appeared. This light was pure, it was holy. She could feel an almighty power behind it.

"Step away from the female," she heard the voice say, this time coming from in front of her. She sat up to see better. The humans were all coming to their feet, brushing themselves off, their circle parting slightly and she saw another man. She noticed that while all the men had on outer layers of material, this man was wearing several layers, with a light outermost layer that hung down the majority of his body.

As he stepped closer, he commanded again. "Step away from the female. This will be your last warning if you hope to survive."

The men surrounding Elena looked to the one who had assaulted her, the one who must be the leader. He rose to his feet to face the newcomer and began to laugh, the others quickly joining in.

"Who are you to tell any of us what to do? You're outnumbered by more than a dozen, I'd think a minute more before I'd start giving orders when the numbers are stacked so against me!" he said, looking defiantly at the man in the dark material.

"You are correct," the newcomer agreed. "You should think for a minute when the numbers are stacked so against you. There are only twenty of you against me."

The man in the circle howled with laughter for a moment, then abruptly drew his sword from its sheath. "You must be crazy, boy," he said. "Who do you think you are?"

"I am not crazy."

As he spoke, Elena felt the air changing, charged with energy.

"And my identity will be the last thing you learn before your deaths," he told them, matter-of-factly. "I am Castiel, Seraph of the Lord. Now it is time for you to go to Hell."

Her eyes widened. That explained the power she could feel. This man was not human; he was an angel.

The leader guffawed. "I've had enough of your shit, boy, you're done talkin'." As he stepped forward, sword raised, the rest of the men followed suit. Castiel looked directly at her.

"Close your eyes."

Despite his warning, she hesitated long enough to see the flash of white light emanating from him. She took in a surprised breath as the light shone across, outlining his wings behind him. It was magnificent.

She closed her eyes and rolled over onto her belly, pulling her legs up underneath her, gripping them tightly. She heard screams from the humans for just a few seconds before their bodies hit the ground. Eerie silence took over for the second time that night. She was shaking, her breath escaping her nose in short bursts. It wasn't the kind of snorting she was used to hearing from herself.

A hand touched her right shoulder and she jerked away. She saw that Castiel had come to a half-crouched, half-kneeling position in front of her. Slowly she raised her head, still shaking.

"You are safe now," he told her, his low voice breaking the silence. His head was cocked to the side, and he shifted it as he stared intensely at her. "Those men cannot hurt anyone ever again."