David scowled. “It’s the stupidest law the legion has ever made up. It’s retarded that we can’t defend ourselves.”
“Maybe. But we don’t have a choice. We have to do our best to protect the elder.”
Jenny stepped in. “Do you have a plan? What do you propose we do?”
Kara bit her bottom lip. “I think I can distract them long enough for Tabbris to get the elder to safety.”
“How?” Peter interjected. “There’re a lot more of them than us.”
“We’ll just have to wing it.”
Santo sliced the air with his sword. “No angel is dying on my watch, Ranab. The blood that spills will be yours. Mark my words—your angel killing days are over.”
Ranab twisted his blades in his wrists playfully. He lowered his head and grinned. “You’re wrong, angel lover. You’re seriously outnumbered, haven’t you noticed? We both know how this will end. I will take my prize, and the elder, if you please. And I will kill you in the process.”
Tabbris stepped through the wall of Sensitives. Elder Otis sat comfortably upright in his arms, like a ventriloquist puppet. His skeletal arms dangled at his sides, his frail body lost in the folds of his guardian’s arms. But he continued to glare at Ranab in disgust.
“You have been evil since you were a child, Ranab,” wheezed Elder Otis. He lifted a bony finger. “Too much evil flows in the veins of a son who kills his father.”
Ranab tossed a death blade in the air and caught it easily with a hand behind his back. “My father was an old fool, just like you. He paid the price for his stupidity. And it’s called ambition and the love for power. You’re just too stupid to know the difference. You Sensitives are all the same—angel loving fools. Can you not see how the angels are using you, old man? They don’t care about you; they never have. You have been deceived old man.”
Elder Otis’s blue eyes almost disappeared into his scowl. “Your end is near, Ranab. There have been too many deaths at your hands. Killing the innocent taking the children; in the end, you will pay for what you have done.”
Ranab clapped his hands. “Still speaking in riddles, you pathetic corpse. It is certain your end is near old man. By the looks of you, it’s going to be very easy. Think of it this way. I’m doing you a favor by killing you, putting you out of your misery like an old dog.”
Elder Otis smiled. “We shall see.”
The elder turned his head to Kara. His eyes twinkled with mischief as he nodded at her. Kara studied his face closely. What was he trying to communicate?
“Let’s go, brothers.” Ranab brandished his weapons before him. “We’ve got some killing to do.”
At once death blades appeared in the Seirs’ hands. Black vapors coiled around their arms and the sound of clashing steel rose around them, as the Seirs hit their death blades together.
The hair on the back of Kara’s neck stood up—two against one—their chances of winning were slim. Although they were burned and weary, the Sensitives were undaunted. They were prepared to fight to the death for the sake of the innocent.
Kara gritted her teeth. She had to do something to help. But what?
Jenny paced on the spot. Peter stood in her shadow, petrified, like a mouse caught in a trap. He held on to one of his contraptions, as though it could save him somehow. David shifted his weight nervously with his hands curled into fists. Kara shook her head at him and mouthed the word no. David looked away.
The Sensitives cried out. Smoke from the burning cabin clouded the air. The Seirs roared and charged.
A horde of big Seir warriors stampeded towards Kara. The ground vibrated beneath Kara’s boots. Kara stepped forward.
“Angels, get back!” ordered Santo as he pushed Kara back forcefully. He charged into the oncoming crowd like a madman.
Five Seirs met him head on. But Santo spun on the spot. In a flash he brought his sword up and down across the chest of the first Seir. The man crumbled to the ground. Santo stepped to his right, brought his sword up to deflect the next blow, and swung at the second Seir’s left arm. The arm fell to the ground and the Seir fell to his knees, wailing as he clasped his bloody stump. Three more Seirs attacked, but Santo was ready. He sidestepped and parried. With a powerful swing, his blade sliced the three Seirs across their necks. Their death blades dropped to the ground. They fell over and Santo ran into the onslaught and disappeared into a wall of smoke.
“There she is. Get her!” Two Seirs rushed towards Kara.
Kara turned to Jenny, Peter, and David. “Stay together—no matter what.” She dashed across the yard leading the Seirs behind her. She didn’t know what she was planning to do next, but at least the Seirs were more interested in her than her friends.
“Your soul is ours, angel girl!”
A death blade whipped past her ear. Kara kept running. She circled the battlefield, but when more Seirs followed behind, she realized it wasn’t such a bright idea.
A blade sunk into the soil at her feet, and she raced over a dirt mound and across a clearing of tall grasses, into another wall of Seirs.
Kara skidded to a halt, jumped back, and ducked, just as a volley of death blades flew over her head. Shapes charged at her. Blades flew. Kara parried and kicked sideways into the gut of a Seir. He moaned and went down, only to be replaced seconds later by another. She swung at him with her fist. To her surprise, the Seir blocked the blow with his forearm and reached out for her neck with his right hand. Cool metal grazed her neck as she leaned back. She grabbed his right wrist, hauled him over her back, and tossed him through the air into the horde of Seirs. They fell over like pins in a bowling alley.
Excruciating pain tore at Kara’s right shoulder. She wrapped her hand around the death blade’s handle and pulled it out, but the blade’s poison burned its way down her arm, leaving it numb. She tossed the blade into the grass. The Seir smiled and licked his lips. He drew another blade. Suddenly his eyes went wide. Blood poured from his mouth and he toppled over.
A Sensitive woman stood behind him. She nodded to Kara and dashed back into the fight.
The smell of blood and smoke rose around her. Bodies fell to the ground, but their brilliant souls hovered above them, waiting to be saved by the guardians. Should the souls of the Seirs be saved, too?
Kara saw Jenny and Peter gathering the souls. She zigzagged through slashing swords and spinning daggers to help them—
“Tabbris!” someone shouted.
Kara froze.
Tabbris teetered, struggling for consciousness. Ten death blades perforated his back and shoulders. He stumbled to his knees. The elder spilled out of his arms and sprawled to the ground. Blood dripped from Tabbris’s mouth. His eyes rolled in the back on his head. He tipped over and crashed to the ground. He never moved again.
“The old man’s mine.” Ranab smiled wickedly as he stood over Elder Otis. “Told you you’d die today, old man. I should have killed you long ago. And now you will join my father.”
Elder Otis pushed himself up on his elbows. He glared at Ranab. He took Tabbris’s hand, and with tears flowing down his cheeks he held it close to his chest. The elder closed his eyes and lowered his head.
“I’m going to enjoy this very much.” Ranab stepped forward and raised his blade over Elder Otis.
Kara raised her hands and her elemental power ignited. But this time it was different— darkness like an icy chill was mixed with her hot elemental power. The giant surge of strength intoxicated her. The darkness took control, and she embraced it.
“Kara! NO!” David ran towards her.
Before she knew what she was doing, golden rays shot out of her hands. They struck the Seir.
Ranab’s body spun violently in the air as golden electric current coiled around it until he was covered like a mummy. With a smell of burnt flesh the Seir screamed as his body convulsed. With a sizzling blast and then a pop his body exploded in a cloud of golden dust.
Only a tiny brilliant sphere remained.
“Kara, what d
id you do? You...you killed him.” David clasped his hands over his head, terror spreading over his face. His mouth fell open. “You killed a mortal.”
“Oh. My. God.” Jenny and Peter rushed over, their eyes wide in shock.
Kara gazed at the dust particles settling around the ground like soft snow. What had she done?
A foreign coolness replaced the warmth she usually felt when her wild power had abated. At once, stinging pain shot through her body as though thousands of knifes pierced her skin. Was this the end? Was she really dying an angel’s true death?
She tingled in bright light. David’s anxious face appeared. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. The world shifted around her as the faces of her friends disappeared.
And then blackness took her.
Chapter 10
The Crystal Timer
Light shimmered behind Kara’s closed eyelids. She felt groggy and sore, as if she had just wakened from a long sleep. Had she been in rugby game against the Big Girls with Tempers from Riverside High? Even her eyelids were sore. It must have been a brutal game—but she couldn’t remember. Her memories were drifting away like leaves in a breeze. She strained to focus, but it was no use. A dull throb welled inside her head, pushing away her concentration. Strange. Maybe she had been hit on the head?
I have to wake up. Eyelids open.
Nothing happened.
Her awareness wandered, and the ache in her head worsened. Her memories floated inside her head like pieces in a puzzle. Mr. Patterson was expecting her this morning. There was an entire horror section to categorize and scan through the new computer program, and Mr. Patterson couldn’t even work the cash register properly let alone decipher a new computer program. Her face curled into a smile. Mr. Patterson needed her, and it was nice to be needed. Then she would have the afternoon off—plenty of time to spend with David.
She concentrated on the sounds around her. Silence. Sparrows didn’t chirp outside her bedroom window, and the neighbor’s miniature schnauzer didn’t bark. Even the muffled sound of heavy traffic from her street was absent. The calmness unnerved her. This wasn’t normal.
Kara felt claustrophobic and struggled feverishly to open her eyes, but her lids would not part. She willed herself to wake. Slowly she forced her eyes open.
She was in a white room.
At first, she thought she was in a hospital, suffering from a head injury from the rugby game, but she quickly realized that she was in no mortal place. Gleaming white walls surrounded her on three sides and were lost into an endless white sky above. On the fourth side she could see four great wooden doors with intricate designs carved into the wood. They were painted in gold and red, like elegant jewels. Their golden handles were carved into the shapes of big watchful eyes. Bright red and blue neon signs sizzled and flashed above each door. Kara leaned in for a closer look.
The signs read:
Door # 1 - Unintentional mortal killing
Door # 2 - Mortal killing in angel-defense
Door # 3 - Intentional mortal killing
Door # 4 - Other
It all came back to her then. The Seirs’ attack on the Sensitivesthe missing childrenLilith’s weaponthe infected mortalsthe cabin fireElder Otis.
Ranab—she had killed a mortal.
Kara’s head fell to her hands. What had she done? Had she ended her own angel career by executing Ranab? This was by far the worst thing she’d ever done as an angel. It was a Tartarus offence, ‘a lock her up and throw away the key’ kind of violation. She knew this was worse than a trip to the angel prison—it was the end of the road for her.
Gathering herself, Kara raised her head slowly. She read the signs over and over, for what seemed like hours, not sure which door to open. Ranab had died as result of her strike, but she had killed him in order to protect the elder. He was going to kill him. Was it intentional mortal killing or mortal killing in angel-defense? It couldn’t be an angel-defense since Elder Otis was a mortal. She had fought to save his life—not another angel’s. Perhaps it was intentional mortal killing, since she had struck out at Ranab willingly. She had wanted to kill him.
She remembered the darkness she had felt inside her. Was it to blame?
She had enjoyed the sensation of the new cool energy flowing through her. It had revitalized her. In those seconds she had forgotten who she was and had lost control of herself and her mission. The darkness had compelled her. Deep down, she had always wanted to kill him—she had always been bad.
One thing was for sure; it was all over for her now. The elder had been wrong. She was no savior of the mortal world—she was nothing special—just an angel with bad blood.
Reluctantly, Kara stepped forward and wrapped her hand around the golden handle of door number three, Intentional Mortal Killing. She could feel the coolness of the metal. She pushed open the door and stepped through the threshold.
She walked into a giant bathroom.
Rows of stand-alone glass showers lined the back wall of the massive rectangular room. A single chrome shower head sprouted from the top of the showers, like long elongated arms. All the stalls were empty, but cherubs stood next to the showers, waiting. Their blue-forget-me-not robes shimmered in the light. Three oracles occupied a long wooden desk on the right side of the room and busied themselves with paperwork. Water dripped into each stall and an earsplitting suction noise rose from the drains. With determined faces, the oracles stamped documents loudly. They mumbled among themselves, but Kara couldn’t hear what they were saying. Halogen lights flickered and buzzed, and added an eerie melody to the gloomy place.
Twelve grim-faced angels filed in and stood in line, waiting to use the showers. Shame and regret painted their faces. Suppressing her feeling of awkwardness, Kara stepped closer for a better look. A plump woman with blond curly hair stepped slowly into an empty shower. She reached out and pulled a chrome lever. Immediately, sparkling water sprouted from the shower-head. The woman sobbed. Water trickled down her cheeks like tears. Within moments, her body was covered in brilliant lights like a coat of diamonds. Her body sizzled, popped, and then disintegrated. Her clothes floated to the bottom of the shower in a crumbled wet mess. The water receded and her dazzling soul hovered in the shower like a lonely firefly. A cherub holding a large glass jar stepped into the shower. He grabbed the soul gently and placed it carefully into the jar. Another cherub with broom twice his size swept the clothes into a mountain-high pile of clothes at the back of the room.
Kara frowned. At least the souls were kept alive. It was better than she had imagined.
This would be her fate. She felt the same humiliation that reflected in the eyes of the other angels—she had broken the sacred oath; they all had. Her guardian angel days would end with a cold shower.
“Kara Nightingale!”
Kara jumped. The three oracles sat above their crystal balls with their tiny arms crossed over their chests. Their bare feet peeked from under their long silver robes. Their expressions were unreadable. With feet like blocks of concrete, Kara sighed and dragged herself over to the desk. Her shoulders slumped as she stood and waited. She clasped her hands in front of her and picked at her fingernails nervously.
The oracle in the middle fumbled with some paperwork. He flipped open a file and his eyebrows rose. After reading for a moment, he slammed it shut with the palm of his hand. Finally, he laced his fingers and looked up at Kara.
“So...Miss Clara. You have killed a mortal with intent,” said the oracle in a concerned tone.
Kara lowered her head. “Yes, oracle.” It sounded much worse when she heard it out loud from the mouth of an oracle. She felt ashamed, as if she had been scolded by one of her teachers after she had done poorly in a test.
“Hmmm.” The oracle drummed his fingers on the desk. “The price of breaking this sacred oath is very severe. Angels are guardians of the Earth, soldiers sworn to protect all mortals...but you have taken a life.” He looked sad. “Do you understa
nd the seriousness of your actions?”
Kara nodded. “I do...but...I was told if we killed a mortal we would suffer a true death.” Kara pointed behind her to the showers. “But I just saw the cherubs take the souls away.”
The oracle’s face wrinkled into a smile. “You are quite right.” He leaned back and twirled his finger around his long white beard. He shared a look with the other two oracles and their faces beamed contentedly. “You see my dear, if angels knew the truth...then they would not be so reluctant to kill a mortal, now would they? It’s best they believe they will die a true death if they break the sacred law. Don’t you agree?”
“I guess so. What does this mean? What happens next?”
He blinked up at Kara. “Those who forsake the oath will have their guardian status removed, with immediate effect. Their souls will become mortal—they can never become guardians again. It’s not a true death, per say, but it is a guardian angel’s death—so to speak.”
Kara didn’t comment. She knew what she had done, and was prepared to pay the price. At least her soul would live on. Maybe she could even have a regular life with David. She wondered if her friends would be able to stop Lilith. Would she get the weapon? This entire mess with Lilith was her fault, and now she wouldn’t even be able to help.
“Ending a mortal life is very serious,” continued the oracle. “You were sworn to protect them, no matter how vile and evil they might be. It is the law.”
Kara looked the oracle in the eyes. “I’m not sorry about killing Ranab. I’m sorry I broke the rules, but he was going to execute the elder. It was a judgment call, and I made a choice. Maybe it was the wrong one according to the laws, but I’m not sorry I did it. I’d do it again if I had to.”
The oracles were speechless. They huddled together and spoke softly to each other. Kara leaned forward, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Kara stood waiting as they went on speaking to one another. She was getting a little annoyed. Had they forgotten about her completely?
Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 Page 8
