The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set)

by J. D. Stonebridge

  “Yes.” Ariel nodded. “And I know where the location is."

  Mikaela took the group to the coordinates Ariel gave her. In a flash, all of them landed in a strange place. Mikaela felt sand beneath her feet and the smell of salt filled the air. “Oh, we’re on a beach,” she muttered.

  David exhaled from the sudden warmth of the air, and when he looked around, a tall lighthouse resting by the shore cast a shadow against the rising sun. “Beautiful,” he muttered. “So this is what the riddle meant by Where the earth and sea divide, come stand a guiding light.”

  Jenny saw huge rocks and a few greeneries, but they seem to be surrounded by the sea. “So, we’re on an island? Where are we?”

  Mikaela’s fist tapped on her hand. “Ah! I know where we are. We are where east and west meet, the Prime Meridian… “

  David followed her thought process. “Right! And it’s a lot warmer here, where north and south discern; we’re at the equator!”

  Ariel looked up into the high noon sun, relishing the warmth that radiated from above. “Yes, both of you are right. We are where null and void meet. In your understanding, we are at zero degrees latitude, and zero degrees longitude.”

  Jenny pointed at the lighthouse. “And that’s the tower!”

  "Thanks, Captain Obvious," David said, making Jenny grumble.

  The four headed to the red brick lighthouse. It stood at least five stories high and a large lamp at the top beamed light across the horizon. The door was open, and when they stepped inside, they were met with a spiraling staircase that led to the top.

  David sighed at the sight of the task. “Those are a whole lot of steps.”

  Ariel looked up. “Yes, exactly four hundred fifty-two steps.”

  He sneered at the angel, who, despite her soft and stoic face, was clearly teasing him.

  “Are... we... there...yet?” David complained after minutes of climbing. His thighs burned and his ankle buckled at every step. After running through the forest for almost an entire night, he was not in the mood for more exercise.

  “Almost,” Jenny replied, not sounding nor looking the slightest bit tired, same as the witch and the angel who were already ahead. When they reached the top, a large wooden double door met them. Etched on it were images of winged angels, roses, and snakes all tangled in a beautiful weave.

  On the part where the doors split, Mikaela saw the same symbols as before. “Let me guess, another Enochian riddle?”

  Ariel nodded and spoke the riddle out loud. “The eyes that see the truth, among the eyes that see the world. Hold out thyself, for you are the children chosen to oversee the fates. I am the door to the past, and you shall open the door of the morrow.”

  David desperately tried to catch his breath, reaching the door. “What now?”

  Mikaela frowned. “Another riddle, but this one’s not sounding very mathematical.”

  “Oh, come on...” David felt like crumbling down in fatigue. He pushed himself up and frustration drove him to plow through the females. "Just open, will you?" His hand curled around the handle and an electrical shock made him reel back with a yelp.

  A stinging pain met with Caelum's hand as a surge of energy arched from the stranger to him. His arm twitched and tingled, but he swore the feeling was familiar. “What are you?” he demanded as he shook the feeling off his arm.

  The stranger’s mouth twisted with doubt as he palmed the area where Caelum had touched him. “You’re the one with the angel, aren’t you?”

  Caelum shrugged. “Well, I am accompanied by one,” he admitted, though the topic was not one he could let go without giving a question himself. “So, you know about angels, then?”

  The man waved his arm in retort. “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean, together with an angel. As in…” He shook his head at the example that came to his mind. “As in if Shakespeare wrote a biblical tragedy.”

  Caelum looked as though he had been shocked by electricity again. “Who are you?”

  The stranger widened his eyes, as if Caelum’s question was all the answer he needed. He muttered to Caelum, slightly backing off. “You’re a demon? The demon?”

  “Was,” Caelum replied. “It’s a long story, and I'm sure you have something equally long to share, right? A story, I mean.”

  The man shuddered. “No. The prophecy... it was you… and the angel…” Just as the man turned away from Caelum, a soft boom caused the ground to tremble. Caelum stretched his neck to look just as another soft booming sound rolled through the skies.

  “What’s going on?” Caelum asked.

  The stranger behind him looked around, terrified by what he was seeing. “Oh, they’re going,” he said with a weak laugh. “I should probably—”

  A louder boom then tore through the land. Caelum instinctively covered his ears. From a soft sound like hitting a deep drum to an explosive blast as if hitting a titanic gong, the loud boom made the small rocks on the ground dance.

  Caelum found Daniel looking up to the sky, alarmed at something he could not see. Caelum moved to the angel, but Daniel snapped at him and shouted, “An archangel!”

  The clouds suddenly scattered as an immaculate light poured from above. It bathed the land in gleaming white, almost blinding Caelum. From the light, a small shadow descended. Caelum could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand stiff as the presence grew stronger. Dust flew all around them and the light waned.

  A glowing figure of might hovered in front of them, easily twice Caelum’s size. The large figure looked down on them. His bronze-skinned body was adorned with rippling muscles, bulging from his shoulders to his arms, connecting to his chiseled chest and perfectly sculpted torso. He looked more like the depictions of Greek gods such as Zeus but without the flowing beard and hair. Instead, it had a shiny domed head, smooth and hairless, with a face both stoic and boiling with anger. The figure wore two large golden braces on his wrists and a white flowing cloth around his waist.

  “I am Uriel, the Angel of Repentance.” His deep voice boomed from the sky and reverberated in Caelum’s chest. The next sound he heard was the stranger’s feet scuttling to run away. He turned and reached for the man but fell short.

  “Hey—!" Caelum watched the man escape.

  Once again, the sky boomed with Uriel's voice. “The Scribe of God, Enoch! I will end you.”

  “Enoch?!” Daniel shouted in disbelief. His head turned to Caelum. The thought of a man he could not see but Caelum could lingered in his memory.

  Uriel crossed his hands and moved forward. Daniel suddenly flew towards him and brandished his blade. Uriel glared at Daniel, his eyes trembling in anger.

  Daniel shouted, his voice commanding and equally booming, “Caelum! Secure the scribe! If he is important to Uriel, so shall he be to us!”

  Caelum hesitated, not wanting to leave Daniel alone with the imposing figure.

  Daniel pointed his sword towards Uriel, the blade glowing with a furious light. “Go! I shall take on Uriel myself!”

  Caelum looked behind him at the running figure, then back to Daniel. He nodded to the angel and ran east.

  Chapter Twelve: Walking with God

  David roared as the surge of energy filled every fiber of his arm. He wanted to release the handle of the door, but the electric current seemed to have glued his hand in place. The hairs on his arms stood on end as the shock crawled over his spine. A second later, the door gave way, spilling a bright white light from the other side of the room, and David stumbled forward. His face expected an unforgiving, cold floor and he braced himself for the impact. Instead, he collapsed onto soft warm grass.

  The rest of the group stood in awe at the beauty David had revealed. “Amazing,” Mikaela breathed, her eyes wandering the expanse of the room David had fallen into. The angel was the first to step inside, with Mikaela and Jenny following closely behind as David climbed to his feet.

  From outside, the tower looked like any lighthouse one would find near a shore. But instead of a
lantern room that housed the light that guided the way for the sailors, what welcomed them was a large cave with light pouring from a hole above. Surrounding them were gleaming white walls of natural marble; glittering gold veins branched out on all sides. At the center of the cave where the light spilled was a peculiar door standing on its own. Mikaela groaned at the sight. “Another door?” she said. However, the door did not seem to open to anywhere as it was merely a piece of wood standing on the grass; no other means of exit were present in the cave.

  Jenny stood beside her brother, a palm on his shoulder. “Hey, David, are you okay?”

  David wiggled his arms and inspected himself. “Yeah, I’m good.”

  Ariel neared him, looking him over for injuries. “Yes, you are fine.” She then asked, “How did you know that it was you who needed to open the door?”

  “What?” David replied, a little embarrassed. “Uh, I just got annoyed. Honestly, I wanted to tackle and kick it.”

  Ariel glanced at him with questioning eyes, but sighed and said, “According to the riddle, only those who see through the veil are those who can see the path. I assume that you, David, can see the path.”

  “You mean, because I got annoyed? It’s one riddle after another,” David said.

  As if to annoy her brother further, Jenny pointed to the door at the center of the cave and announced with much gusto, “And here we have another door with a riddle!”

  The room echoed with David’s grumbling, but Mikaela raised her hand, warning David. “Don’t kick this door just yet,” she said. “It’s covered with those Enochian words again.”

  Ariel stepped up to read the language. With surprise in her voice, she claimed, “This is the door to the Library of the Scribe.”

  Her words caught everyone’s attention. David and Jenny neared the door and inspected it closely. It was onyx black with a lustrous sheen. Etched on it were the words Ariel was translating.

  Ariel leaned in closer, her eyes scanning the writings on the door. “According to these writings, in order to access the library, we must walk with our Father as He created us.”

  “So, we have to walk?” David looked around the cave. The cave was small and would take only a few moments to walk the length. “Where exactly?”

  “It’s a riddle. I doubt it really means walk,” Mikaela pointed out. She scrutinized the area, searching for anything out of the ordinary that may help them solve the newest riddle. Her eyes spotted curious items littered around the grass near the wall. The first to her right was an old torch sticking out of the grass. A few feet to its right was a small urn on top of a saucer, then a small puddle with a rock in the center was next to it. She followed the pattern all the way behind the door and saw several more things such as a clump of metal scraps, a small pond, and a small rock formation that looked like a pedestal.

  “Guys,” Mikaela called. “I think these things are related to the puzzle.” She neared the torch, wondering. “Ariel, what else can you read from the door?”

  The angel peered at the door once again, and after a few moments, announced, “This is the tale of the heavens, when the archangels were created by our Father as He created the universe. Mortals must follow the tales of and recreate them.”

  Mikaela nodded and looked at the Tenney siblings. “You guys should do it. Ariel’s an angel and I'm not exactly a mortal. We’ll do our best to guide you.”

  David and Jenny exchanged glances and agreed with a nod. “Alrighty,” Jenny exclaimed. “What do we do first?”

  Ariel took a moment to check what she was reading, then announced the first part. “On the first day, there came the bearer of light. Lucifer, holder of wisdom, separated that which is light, and that which is dark.”

  Mikaela pointed out the torch. “That’s a no brainer. We need to light that torch.”

  David and Jenny moved to the torch, which was nothing but a small stick with cloth wrapped at the tip. “How do we light it?” David asked, but Jenny saw the way.

  “There,” she said, pointing at the bottom of the torch.

  David followed Jenny’s gaze and found small black stones lying on the grass. “Flint stones?”

  “Looks like it,” Mikaela confirmed. “Go ahead, strike them together near the torch.”

  David clumsily took two of the rocks, which were small enough to fit in his palms and began to strike them together. As soon as he smashed the two together, sparks flew. “Cool,” David smiled. “So this is what cavemen used back in the day.” He kneeled to place the stones near the torch and struck them together again. As soon as the sparks hit the cloth, it caught fire like tinder.

  The fire burned a strange golden color, and its light was soft and warm. A golden light appeared beneath the grass where they stood. The light shot upward, circling them until the light formed a perfect circle of golden light with the torch at the center. “Wow,” was the only word Jenny and David could mutter.

  “So, what’s next?” David asked.

  Ariel continued reading. “On the second day, there came he who was like our Father. Michael, bearer of the grand design, parted the chaos and made the heavens and the earth.”

  “Wait,” Jenny stated. “We have to reenact the splitting of heaven and earth?” Mikaela’s silence and David’s amply scratched head lowered Jenny’s confidence. Jenny repeated the riddle. “Parted the chaos and made the heavens and the earth. Part chaos? As in split it?”

  Ariel raised her index finger. “To say heavens may not mean our home. And to say earth may simply mean the ground we walk upon.”

  Jenny suddenly shouted, “I know! I know! The story of creation isn’t just a tale, we have something similar!”

  David rolled his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  Jenny had a wide grin on her face and poked David’s arm. “It’s amazing how these stories usually clash when in fact, they tell the same thing.”

  David scoffed. “Please Jen. Enough riddles. What is it?”

  “The story of creation and the Big Bang Theory,” Jenny smugly exclaimed.

  David’s jaw slackened. “What does a comedy show have to— oof!” Mikaela ended his retort with a slap on his head.

  “Jenny meant the second phrase was about the creation of gravity, not some stupid show,” Mikaela chided.

  “Geez,” David said, wiping his forehead. “I was just kidding. And it’s not stupid.”

  David made up for the poorly timed joke by looking at the objects around them. “Let’s see. Next to the torch is this jar and plate.” He picked up the small dusty urn and inspected it. The clay urn had cracks around it, and the plate below it was made of bronze. “How are we supposed to reenact gravity here? Make it revolve in orbit?”

  Mikaela hit David on the back of his head again. As if she expected it, the urn fell from David’s hands and crashed into the plate. The urn broke into rubble and scattered dust everywhere. “Hey! Quit it!” David remarked. His anger soon dissolved when another golden circle appeared around the plate. It overlapped a bit near the torch, and where it did, the grass turned gold.

  “Huh.” David looked at the light. “So, I guess dumping soil on the plate reenacts the creation of the earth?”

  Ariel quickly looked back at the door and read the next part. “On the third day, Gabriel came to be; a symbol of might and mercy. Water gave way and brought to Him land, and she brought nature upon it.”

  “Oh yeah, another no-brainer,” David cheered, looking at the rock that sat in the shallow puddle. He grabbed the rock with his two hands and placed it outside the puddle. “Done!” he exclaimed proudly. The circle didn’t appear, however, and neither did Mikaela’s approval.

  Jenny pointed something out. “Look, Dave, there’s moss under the rock.”

  Her brother rubbed his chin and slowly rolled the rock, revealing a rich coat of green moss. “I see.” David nodded. “I missed the nature part.” As soon as he said it, the ring of golden light started to appear and overlapped with the broken urn’s light.r />
  Ariel cocked her head to the side, blinked twice, and turned to read the next part. “On the fourth day, Uriel descended. Its breath was fire and its words were ice. It blew to the south and commanded the north. The sky obeyed and split into four.”

  Mikaela became aware of the determined look in the angel’s eyes. Is she enjoying this?

  The siblings reached a small patch of short grass where a couple of metal parts lay as if patiently waiting for them. One was shaped like a triangle; there were a handful of bolts, an assortment of small circular shapes, and one large circular sheet.

  Mikaela and the siblings stared blankly at the assortment. David blinked and said, “So, are we supposed to make a gadget of some sort?”

  Mikaela ran through possible things she could create with the parts. Jenny looked back at Ariel then at the scraps of metal. “That statement has something to do with these parts, right?”

  After Jenny’s question, the three fell silent. Ariel moved from where she was and joined the three in the silence of their brainstorming.

  “I know of this,” Ariel suddenly muttered, bringing Mikaela to an astounded gape.

  “Are you saying these parts can be assembled into some kind of angel mechanism?” she asked.

  David picked up one of the bolts and fiddled with it. “What? Some kind of clockwork angel?”

  “Yes,” Ariel said. The others gaped at her, confused.

  “Really?!” David gasped. “You can make a robot out of this?”

  Ariel quickly shook her head. “These parts make up a clock. I recall it during the earlier times I spent with the mortals. You may be familiar with it as a sundial.”

  Ariel closed her eyes and placed her hands upon the parts. The light from her palms spread through the parts and they began to move. The triangle went upright and the large disc went under it. The assortment of circles assembled at the ends of the disc and the bolts all locked them into place.

  The clock was assembled but the signal that the puzzle was solved did not appear. Mikaela looked at the clock and asked, “How does this work?” The siblings and the angel shared looks before Mikaela continued. “That statement roughly means that it’s cold up north and warm in the south. That’s the equator again. Also, the sky splitting into four could definitely mean the four seasons.”