The Guardian

by Carol Robi

  I look up in time to see the dark shadow that crosses over the beautiful faces of the two watcher brothers.

  "Princess, we have to go," Araqiel says with regret, and Penuel confirms her statement with a nod. I nod back as tears slip down my face.

  "Don't cry, dear. Don't cry for us," she says to me softly, tilting my face upwards. "Be strong instead. Do not let the fallen get a hold of you at any cost. Do not let them win in changing the course of mankind’s fate."

  I squeeze back my tears at her pep talk and steel my face ready for battle. She kisses me lightly on my cheek before flying out of sight.

  "You are the best one-day girlfriend I have ever had," Penuel says quietly, drawing a soft laugh from me despite myself.

  He walks over to me and kisses me on my lips. Not the soft sisterly kiss he’d given me this morning, rather a passionate kiss that wakes me inside and sends electricity pulsing through me, stroking me alive. He gently prods my mouth open, and I melt against him as our tongues meet. I claw at him to come closer, molding my body against his.

  “Archangel?” I think I hear him whisper against my lips.

  “Who?” I ask puzzled, my thoughts disheveled by his mind blowing kiss. But I must have been mistaken, for he moves to silence me with yet another heady kiss. He then suddenly pulls back while chuckling.

  "You’re a little pocket of fire, huh!" He says in his gentle tone that I have come to love. "Now if you die tonight, you can say you have been passionately kissed," he finishes off with a wink, before materializing into the dark night sky.

  I love these random kisses I keep getting from these hot angels.

  Anyone else want to teach me something new? Bring it on heavenly creatures! I think this to myself before starting when I realize there is still an army of twenty robot angels staring at me.

  Maybe I should ask them to kiss each other, I chuckle to myself bitterly.

  "At ease angels!" I say to them, but nothing happens. "At ease Divine Army?" I say again unsure. Once again, nothing happens.

  "Who is your leader?" I attempt again, one of the soldiers in the middle of the front line steps up.

  "Our leader is outside the shield with the others, but in case of such a situation, I am the leader of this group," he says in his angelic tongue.

  "Where do your allegiance lie?"

  "With you, Archangel."

  Maybe, I think to myself, this is not a good time to correct them of their misgivings.

  "If I were to lead you out of this shield to fight with me, would you follow me or Abaddon."

  "Archangel Abaddon," comes the straight to the point answer.

  "But why?"

  "We sense that you are the weaker Archangel."

  Great! Don't we just love their bland honesty!

  "Then... we’ll all stay within the shield," I say.

  "It is the smart thing to do, Archangel." Is he patronizing me, or am I just overreacting? He talks as though he is not glad to be under my command. They are an army, so I understand they want a strong leader. One that can lead them to battle and not just hide them in some Garden of Eden. Hadn't Penuel said they were some kind of warmongers? A thought crosses my mind.

  "Do not harm or kill any sons of man while under my rule."

  "Aye, Archangel," he confirms.

  "Are you tired? You can relax, rest...” I let off for they all stare at me in disgust as though I have just insulted them in the worst possible way.

  "Or not." I manage to say shrugging nervously. I make my way tentatively to the bench on my far right, and sit myself down. The army flies over, following me patiently in my slow human speed. They then stand still as statues before me and keep staring at me.

  Unsettling! I pick out my phone tentatively and dial my father.

  "Hi princess," he croaks up, sounding to have been deep asleep. I should have checked the time first.

  "Hi dad, sorry for waking you up."

  "It is ok, are you having a good time at the party?"

  "I am, dad." Yeah, a great time! "I just wanted to let you know that I will stay here all night, and probably tomorrow too, if it is okay with you."

  "It is alright with me, just as long as you are doing okay."

  "I am." I confirm again. I really am, considering the circumstances. "Okay, sleep well dad."

  "Good night, princess."

  I hang up and look up to the faces of my new army, still staring at me waiting for orders. Maybe I could order them to have fun, sing and dance. We could hold a party! My eyes begin to get heavy, and I fear that should I fall asleep, the shield might be breached.

  We stay in that very same position, my new army of angels before me, strong and poised at attention, unmoving. I admire their resilience, and it only further exposes my shortcomings. I am a weak leader.

  I fight the sleep encroaching me, battle the heaviness of my eyelids, as they begin to droop over my eyes. Why am I sleeping? I don't want to sleep. I want to stay attentive and protect the Epitome. It is my only duty. Surely I can carry it out..

  My thoughts disappear into nothingness as slumber overcomes me.

  “Don't just sit and wait. You need to fight!”

  “How? The Watchers told me to stay put. If I leave the Epitome, it‘ll fall. Plus all the other divine angel's must have been captured...”

  “This garden is not important...”

  “The Epitome...”

  “The Portal is in you. The Epitome protects the portal...”

  “Exactly!”

  “Listen to me!”

  “I am... if I leave they will find me and the portal will be in their hands.” A wave of disapproval washes over me.

  “The Epitome shields the portal, do you understand me?”

  It takes me a moment before I nod earnestly. “I do,” I say slowly.

  “Good, now go save the rest.”

  “But... I don't know where Tartaros is, and that is where they are.”

  “Follow what your heart most desires, and there you’ll find the doors to Tartaros.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “You don’t need to understand. Just have faith and do as instructed.”

  “Ok...”

  I wake up with a start as a new wave of vibrations tears through me. The fallen have regained their assault on the shield again. The sky is still dark, but judging from the light chirping sounds around me, it is soon to be dawn.

  Before me, my section of the Divine Army still stares at me unblinking, their feet planted firmly on the ground in attention.

  “The Epitome protects the portal... small remnants of my dream come back to me as I twitch my feet, pins and needles dancing about in my left leg. I rise slowly from my awkward position, my broken arm sending waves of blinding pain through me that I have to grit my teeth hard to keep from yelling.

  Don't just sit and wait. You need to fight.

  "Divine Army," I begin, when I manage to get myself to stand off the bench. "As you have noticed by now, I am not an Archangel," I say as I walk before them and look them directly in their eyes.

  "However. I am a representation of Archangel Gabriel herself." I note their faces lifting a little as I say this. Her, they clearly respect and would follow to the end of days.

  "I know that once we leave the Epitome, there is a great chance that you’ll all follow the fallen Archangel. I however wish to fight for your loyalty. I am weaker, by your very definition, however I am strong and brave, by the human definition. I urge you, help me in the quest to free Archangel Raphael, and then you can follow him to round up the fallen and deliver earth and the Principals of Divinity from their corrupt hands." I say, my voice burning with fervour as I look up at them, hoping my passionate speech will sway them towards my cause.

  "Son of man, representing Archangel Gabriel," their leader starts, and my heart soars in anticipation of their commitment to my cause.

  "We are the Divine Army. Our sole purpose is to support the most powerful Archangel in his quest. Once
we leave these shields, should you be strongest, we’ll follow you to the ends of the worlds."

  Damn! Don't any of these heavenly beings own a heart? He is clearly telling me that unless by some great miracle, I change into an Archangel, when that veil falls, they would rejoin their brothers, by the side of the fallen Archangel, no matter what motivational speech I give.

  "Ok!" I say, resolving against groveling. It will only go to prove to them what a weakling I am.

  “The Epitome protects the portal...”

  "You, foremost to the left, step forward." This I say with the most firm voice I can muster, in my present state of gnawing pains from my broken arm.

  The soldier steps forward, not emitting any emotion, despite the fact that I have just singled him out from his brothers. I keep nodding at him to walk forward, and I walk further away from the rest of the group, drawing him towards me and away from the rest. I don’t want them to overhear me, just in case the idea I am forming in my mind works.

  "You’ll carry me with you as we fly to the location my Essence will show you," I tell him. I hope that is how it works.

  ..Follow what your heart most desires!

  "You’ll hold me like this," I say to him as I step up to him and place his right hand gently around me, been sure he steers away from my broken limb.

  As he holds me as I am instructing, I waste no time in taking in a large gulp of the Essence filled air, keeping it in and not letting any of it escape. I keep taking it in even as my limbs shake, and I feel the air around me thinning out.

  The fallen will make it in soon, I think, as my head begins to swim. I take as much as I possibly can without causing harm to myself. And just as my interiors begin to hurt, I whisper into the puzzled angel's ear.

  "Now!"

  Chapter 30

  The heavenly creature immediately soars up into the sky. As he does so, I imagine us encased inside an egg shaped enclosing, sealing our Essence inside.

  As we break through the invisible shields around the Epitome, my heart soars for my plan works. The Angel holding me does not hesitate as he soars higher up into the sky. I absorb all his expended Essence, been sure to make us completely untraceable. I recycle the Essence between us, whatever he expels, I use to reinforce the small shield I have formed around us.

  I got the idea from the park, the Epitome had formed a shield around the position of the portal, I just assumed the Epitome could probably be moved, to shield me, its moving portal. The notion has, crazily enough, succeeded. Here I am soaring with one of the soulless soldiers of the Divine Army. I am the most powerful Archangel in this small Epitome I have created.

  He knows where I expect him to go, probably from the thick Essence embracing us in our tight little space that connects us emotionally, because he keeps on soaring determinedly across the dark skies. I daren't look below me, to try figure out where we could be, but I think I know where we are going.

  Follow what your heart most desires, and there you’ll find the doors to Tartaros.

  I feel our descent shortly before our feet touch the hard ground below us. I fight with every bone in my body to keep the Essence densely enclosed around us in the imaginary spherical enclosure I have built for us. I track her easily, using my senses whose keenness and accuracy has sharpened greatly due to the overwhelming divine Energy around me.

  The angel has dropped me right outside her hut. She is in there. I can smell her warm homely scent. Hooking my able hand for support through that of my accompanying angelic soldier, I walk the few steps into the hut. When I lift my hand to push at the door, I find that my hand easily slips through the solid door instead.

  Wow! I must have wielded us to complete invisibility, enough to transfer us to the next dimension so as to keep us hidden even to the human world. I step in through the door, my angelic soldier in step with me.

  My eyes fall on my mother sleeping heavily on the small hard bed in front of me. I have missed her so much, and fight against every urge to hug her. I walk to her gently, bend my head and bring my lips as low as I can to her forehead, without melting into her.

  I then see it. It definitely does not belong here. A long sword, its hilt patterned in the same style as the swords I have seen the angels wield. What is mom doing with one of the angelic swords? But upon closer inspection, I realize that it cannot be my mother’s. It appears to also be in the other dimension. I lift my healthy hand gently to touch it, and I feel its smooth leather scabbard, cool under my warm fingers. I try to unhook it, but it is heavy, and the effort sends more rocking waves of pain through me. I look up at the angel beside me.

  "Could you please...?” I start, and without hesitation, he lifts his hand to the sword, but his hand unexpectedly melts though the sword that had been solid to my touch a few seconds ago.

  "What..?" I start

  "It must be meant for you only. Your will, your quest. You are the only one that can touch it," he says to me quietly. I realize it is the first time I have heard him speak. His voice is identical to his leader's.

  I look up to where it is hooked onto a thick nail, and my face furrows as I realize just how much pain is in store for me. My arm is now a pain-throbbing mass, and every movement only makes the pain worse. I really hope Archangel Stupid is alive, because I need a quick remedy for this soon. Very soon.

  Grinding my teeth as hard as I can together, and still concentrating with all my might at keeping our shield up, I lift my arm and unhook the hanged scabbard holding the sword. My eyes are now seeing red as I swing the sword’s belt over my shoulder and head with my one able hand, and adjust it so that it sits securely between my shoulder blades.

  Tears are now running down my face as a result of the cries I have suppressed during the strenuous exercise. I do a mental inspection of the walls around us with my eyes closed, making sure that I have not made any holes on our shield while I had been concentrating on unhooking the sword.

  I open my eyes slowly, catching the dark pairs of eyes of my one-man angel army staring back at me. I could swear I note a flash of approval deep in his eyes. Who am I kidding? Hadn't the watchers told me that these are the true robots, when it comes to heavenly beings?

  "We have to go," I manage to whisper through my jaw clenched in pain. He promptly nods, before hooking his arm under mine and helping me limp out through the walls. I steal one quick look at my sleeping mother before I step out into the brightening air.

  The sun is coming up.

  What now? I think as I stand in the empty clearance of the savannah plain lands, staring at the miles and miles of scanty grasslands before me. I unhook my hand from the angel’s and lift it, despite the torturous pain the strain causes, to rub at the hilt of the sword jutting out behind my head. As I stroke it, it unexpectedly releases a great surge of Essence, which I have to struggle tremendously to keep in my shield and just barely manage to.

  "Fly us out of here," I say in a panic to my angel, and without any hesitation, we soar up into the fast warming skies, landing on the peak of one of the high mountain ranges around us. That surge of Essence, had it escaped my shield, the fallen and their army could have traced where we were. Just think, I could have put my own mother in grave danger. I cannot afford to make such a mistake again.

  The angel still holds onto me, despite the fact that we are standing on solid ground. He must have noticed just how much pain I am in, with my broken arm. I try taking the sword from my back, despite the anguishing pain it causes me. The soldier angel with me must pity me, or is probably impacted by some sense of loyalty, for he supports my arm as I tug the strap clumsily off my back. I am very grateful for his help, for it is all I can do not to give in to the waves of pain and drop my shield.

  "What is your name?" I ask him, as I struggle to hold the sword before me, my angel soldier supporting my elbow.

  "I don't have a name, Representative of Archangel Gabriel," he says in a calm controlled voice in their language.

  "Call me Caroline, please," I say to
him with an open smiling. He seems quite surprised by the notion, his eyes betraying him, but he nods in agreement.

  "Caroline," he says. My name sounds awkward coming from him.

  "And I could call you Mika," I say to him smiling. “I have always loved the name.”

  "Mika," he repeats. He then nods towards the sword in front of me, respectfully reminding me of the task ahead. I tentatively lift my able hand and wrap my fingers around its cold hilt. I then begin to feel the sword vibrate under my hand, releasing more bouts of Essence. I am prepared this time, and I immediately absorb the Essence, and disperse it into our weakening shield. I muster all the energy I can, biting down the numbing pain, and try lifting the sword higher.

  It is a very heavy weapon, and the moment I hold its full weight, I fall forward with it until its tip touches the ground, my energy greatly depleted by the broken arm and the concentration required to keep up the shield. I then note that my hand wrapped around its hilt is being forced by some force towards the east. I dig deeper, mustering as much energy as I can, borrowing some Essence from the shield, and lift the sword. The sword then turns my hand and points somewhere towards the southeast direction.

  "Mika, let us fly out now, and follow the direction the sword is pointing," I say weakly to my soldier angel, and he immediately picks me up. Spreading his black wings out behind us, we fly in the direction the sword in my hand points.

  I swallow up the Essence the angel produces faster than he emits it, and often I have to stop myself from draining him completely, for I know he needs the energy to fly. My body needs the Essence for energy to hold up the sword, and our shield needs to be maintained. The last thing we need is our intentions to be discovered. We have managed this far, and it wouldn’t do to be captured now.

  Finally, the sword begins to not only point outwards, but downwards too. I hope with all my heart that it isn't because of my failing energy, but rather because we are arriving at our destination. We descend slowly, my angel soldier not needing to be warned on the importance of absolute stealth. We break through the thick white clouds, and float on further down, the bright green hills and jutting bright rocks getting closer and closer as we descend. I soon begin to make out buildings, cars and the life below us.