Angel Romance: Awakened (Paranormal Book for Adults) (Cursed Angel 1)

by Amelia Wilson

  But Shera was quicker. Stepping on the Teleportation tile, she was transported halfway across Sedayval.

  Chapter 7: Chaos

  Shera landed in the floor of Hazpo’s home, panting. Without wasting any time, she siphoned the magic from the tiles, preventing the High Priestess from using it. Her whole body was trembling from the entire experience. She moved woozily towards the kitchen and let out a horrible retch. The sight of Hazpo’s chest, tunneled by the sheer sharpness of Iktai’s magic, was still niggling in her mind.

  Iktai did not want anyone to know the true nature of the Jewel of Maan. Was it all just a lie? Had Andel been right all this time?

  Shera did not know what to think.

  Not knowing what else to do, she ran back to her home. Throughout the entire journey, only one mantra echoed in her head.

  “Iktai killed my mom…”

  Upon reaching home, she found Vahren sitting at the garden polishing his dagger. He was puzzled by her disheveled appearance. Unable to contain her emotions anymore, she embraced Vahren.

  She told him what happened. Vahren bit his lip in frustration.

  “Do you have the fragment?” he asked.

  Shera fished it out of her pocket and gave it to him. “Iktai freaked out when she saw this. It was as though she was possessed!”

  “Where did you get that?” a voice came from behind them.

  Shera and Vahren turned around to see Damas standing at the entrance to the garden. He was staring at the fragmented Jewel on Shera’s hand. He took a step backwards, as though wanting to escape from the place. Damas looked as if he just saw a ghost.

  “Mother sent it to Shando along with a letter. She… she knew that she was being poisoned,” Shera answered. She looked at her father, and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The blood had rushed off his face. Then, Shera experienced the oddest out-of-body experience in her entire life. She pieced everything together – her mother’s mysterious illness, her father’s refusal in taking Irinde to healers out of Sedayval, and his forbiddance in speaking about the green scales that had formed on her thighs.

  “You… you knew.”

  Damas took another step backwards, eyes widening. It was clear in Damas’ eyes that he wished to be anywhere but here, but Shera was quicker. She threw herself at him, her hands pushing hard against his shoulders, his back slamming against the wall. Vahren was surprised by the strength the Young Acolyte had.

  “You were the one who poisoned her!” Shera slammed her balled up fists against Damas’ body.

  He took her beatings, unable to face the guilt anymore.

  “Shera, let him go,” Vahren said. He gripped at her wrists. Damas leaned against the wall, his body rendered hollow from the guilt that had been revealed. His eyes were wide open, but he stared at nothing in particular. No words escaped his mouth, neither an apology, nor an explanation.

  Shera could not take it anymore. Helplessness washed over her. But there was no time to gain closure. There was a violent knock against the front door.

  “Open up!” a gruff voice shouted.

  Vahren peeked through the small hole in the wall of the garden and cursed softly. “The Guards are here. We have to go!”

  “Where?” Shera asked, wiping the tears and snot from her face.

  Her father was now seated on the floor, maddeningly silent. He rocked back and forth, unable to construct a coherent thought anymore. The guilt of being found out had finally made him insane.

  “We need to get to Andel. We need his help to find the Jewel of Maan.”

  Chapter 8: Reveal

  They had to be discreet about their journey to the Academy. The guards were on the prowl for Shera and Vahren. They escaped through the back door of the garden before the Sedayvalian guards stormed into the home.

  It was nearing dusk in Sedayval. A small stretch of street separated the duo from their destination. Hazpo’s death was still in Shera’s mind. She could not forget how the look of shock was registered on the older woman’s face, killed by the very woman she trusted and revered.

  “Are you sure that Andel is in there?” Vahren asked, looking around. The scales on his body seemed to acquire a life of their own, undulating like the steady flow of a cloth on a windy day. It seemed to always do so when he was excited or stressed.

  “According to his friends, he has not left the place since you punched him. He seems determined, almost obsessed to prove the two of us wrong.”

  “Well, let us hope he has found a way into the catacombs.”

  The Academy was a building with many floors. Without any guards in the vicinity, Shera and Vahren had no trouble entering. They climbed up to the third floor to Andel’s office. The deserted corridor echoed their purposeful footsteps. There was a single solitary light flowing into the corridor – Andel’s office. Vahren stopped Shera midway through and pressed a finger to his mouth. They heard voices of people talking.

  “I don’t know!” Shera could hear Andel shouting. “I don’t know where Shera is! Did you check her home?”

  Shera could hear the fright in Andel’s voice.

  A stranger’s voice spoke over Andel’s. “You’re lying! She is your lover, isn’t she? Where are you hiding her?”

  A small thud could be heard, followed by Andel’s groan.

  “We’ve got to help him!” Shera hissed. “They might kill him, too. Iktai does not care how many people she has to murder!”

  Vahren nodded and tiptoed to the door. Shera followed suit. They leaned in to see two guards standing over Andel’s crumpled, writhing figure on the floor. Unsatisfied with Andel’s answer, the guard kicked him in the stomach. They were oblivious to the fact that Shera and Vahren were just outside the door.

  “What are we going to do with this one?” the guard asked his partner.

  “Kill him. High Priestess Iktai says that anyone associated to the Acolyte are guilty of treason anyway,” the other retorted. Andel gave out a whimper.

  Vahren took the moment when they were both talking to enter the room silently. He approached the guard on the left quietly and planted a kick on the man’s neck. The guard careened to the side, crashed into a glass display of items, unconscious. The other guard snarled and attempted to plunge a knife into Vahren’s body. There was shock across his face as his sharp weapon shatter upon impact on Vahren’s tough body scales. Without wasting another second, Vahren planted two blows on the guard’s jaw and stomach. The guard keeled over, not moving another inch.

  Shera ran into the room and helped Andel up.

  “Mercy on Maan, Andel! Are you okay?” she asked, brushing the dust off his clothes.

  “What… what are you doing here?”

  Shera wasted no time. She had to set the record straight with Andel. “You were right. The Jewel of Maan is a mere power trip for the High Priestess!” She told him about Irinde’s letter, and how Iktai had killed Hazpo earlier in the day. Choking slightly, she revealed how Damas poisoned Irinde at Iktai’s orders.

  “So, the Jewel does not exist then?” Andel said triumphantly, in spite of the pain he had to be experiencing. “I was right?”

  “You’re right about the Priestesshood. The Jewel does exist,” Vahren said.

  “Why are you here?” Andel asked, annoyed.

  “Well, for one, I just saved your life. So, a ‘thank you’ would be nicely appreciated. And second, we need your help to look for the Jewel of Maan. You are the only person who has triangulated its probable locations within Sedayval.”

  Andel gave out a smile through his split lip and bruised eye. “Probable? I know its exact location.”

  *

  The whole city of Sedayval was put in a state of emergency. Announcements were disseminated by magic, as the High Priestess’s disembodied voice boomed out in every street, tavern, home, temple and portals in and out of Sedayval. She proceeded to slander Shera as a person who was instrumental in spreading a false belief system within the city. To make matters worse, she also accused S
hera of murdering Priestess Hazpo. Vahren was not left smelling too sweet either. Marking them to be in cahoots with each other, the High Priestess promised an immense reward for anybody who could capture them alive.

  “Fuck… fuck, fuck, fuck,” Andel exclaimed, looking at the guards extensively patrolling the deserted streets. The festival of Providence had been cut short, and the delegates were beginning to leave Sedayval. Checks were conducted at the teleportation platform in the Central Square.

  “Where is the exact location of the Jewel?”

  “Southwest of Sedayval, about a mile away from here. There is a small entrance going into the catacombs from there. Find the green marble statue of Queen Vahana II by the fountain near Fika’s Tavern. According to my charts, the entrance to the catacombs to the heart of Sedayval is at the foot of that statue.”

  Despite their differences, Vahren gave Andel a pat on the shoulder and moved out of the room, leaving Shera with her former lover. Andel watched Vahren go and turned to Shera.

  “He is very much suited for you,” Andel said quietly.

  “Andel, for everyone that we have ever gone through, I do apologize. For all the arguments and heartbreak.”

  “I thought I would be mad. At least, at first I realized that I was actually jealous of Vahren. But, I noticed that I was using you to fuel my indecent obsession. Nobody deserves to be treated in such a way. I should have respected your beliefs.”

  Shera sighed. “What belief? The Priestesshood is a fallacy. Where you were right, I was quick to denounce you. Will you find it in you to forgive me?”

  Andel embraced her as a friend would. “I will always love you, Shera. But, I do believe that in life, Vahren can make you happier than I ever could dare to try.”

  When they parted, Shera let herself hold on to Andel’s rough fingers for a second longer. The perpetual smudge on his hands rubbed on to hers. It would be the last time that they would be together.

  “Go,” he whispered.

  And Shera went.

  *

  Just as Andel had predicted, there was a small, hidden trapdoor in front of Queen Vahana II’s fountain sculpture. Using her runes, Shera opened the dusty trapdoor at the foot of the sculpture. The water began to rush in, clearing the cobwebs decorating the entrance into the catacombs. They had managed to avoid the guards whose patrols were too diluted in their actual positions, too concentrated around her home.

  They were about to enter the vertical tunnel when a sharp beam of light coursed out of nowhere.

  “Watch out!” Vahren shouted, pushing Shera away from the marble statue. A loud bang of explosion was heard, followed by the breaking of stones. Shera and Vahren coughed at the thick, dense cloud of dust that billowed up.

  When it cleared, Iktai was standing a few feet away from them, surrounded by ten guards and a few Priestesses. Her staff pointed directly at Shera’s chest. The manic expression had not left her face from the moment she murdered Hazpo. The tip of her staff glowed an iridescent whiteness, supplicated by the power of Maan coursing through the runes of her arms.

  “You had my father kill my mother,” Shera snarled. The runes on her arms glowed, ready to form a barrier in case Iktai attacked again.

  “Irinde was sneaking around in the labyrinth. She stole a fragment off the Jewel of Maan,” Iktai said, her staff still pointed directly at Shera. The sneer on her face was evident. “The punishment such a crime is death.”

  “Irinde was only looking for something that belongs to the Shandorianians!”

  “The Jewel belongs to us!” Iktai screamed. “It is the only thing that keeps this city alive!”

  “You selfish snake,” Vahren growled. “You are willing to let people suffer just to fuel the existence of your city?”

  High Priestess Iktai raised her voice, almost inhumanly echoing in the chamber. “Shut your mouth! Shut it!”

  “Let people suffer? No one is suffering young man,” a Priestess said confusedly.

  “Oh, of course that’s what they want to lead you to believe,” Vahren yelled. “For three hundred years, that was the lie the High Priestesses and Queens have built.”

  “You nonbelievers, infidels, coming… coming into our City, and spilling lies,” Iktai panted, the grip on the staff tightening. The tip of the staff glowed an ominous green, holding very concentrated magic. “Spreading your poisonous lies.”

  “Lies?” Vahren bellowed, his eyes bulging. He turned to the guards, Shera and the few Priestess who were standing, petrified. “Do you really want to know what the Jewel of Maan is?”

  “No!” Iktai screamed and waved the staff. She could not have Vahren spilling the secret in front of everybody.

  There was a whoosh in the air, and Shera felt her entire existence slowly being sucked into the white light from Iktai’s staff. The tiny hairs on her skin individually pulled at its roots, threatening to tear off her body. Her insides churned. She screamed out but no sound came. And as sudden as the Void Spell had appeared, its effects vanished.

  Shera opened her eyes, shocked to see a great big dragon of a yellow carapace of a head and black wings standing in front of all of them. Half its wing was completely torn, now a mangled mess of scales, flesh and bones. Yet, it stood tall and proud, looking down on Iktai with a pair of angry, emerald eyes.

  Iktai gave out a yell and held on to her staff, arms trembling. “Stay back!”

  Vahren the dragon snarled. He let out a jet stream of fire towards Iktai, which she easily parried with her staff. The recoil of her parry created a pulse that lifted everyone off their feet. The dragon vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Vahren reappeared next to Shera, holding his bloodied arm.

  “There is no time, Shera. You need to take me into the labyrinth,” he gasped.

  The High Priestess swiped the air with the staff once more, and another pulling sensation ripped through the air. Even the guards and Priestesses were not spared. They were sucked into the vortex, their bodies ripped into a million tiny particles.

  “But, my friends…” she said helplessly.

  “Shera!” Vahren yelled, already at the mouth of the labyrinth.

  Shera tried to hold back the tears. The one person she had thought was her best friend turned out to be her enemy. Her father was leaning against the world, too ashamed to move. He refused to look at anyone or anything, his hands at the sides of his head, as though overcome with madness.

  Iktai howled, the runes on her arms glowing brightly. Vahren took a deep breath and spat out a multitude of fireballs which landed on the floor in front of Iktai, turning into spiraling tunnel of flame – focused, precise, deadly.

  High Priestess Iktai moved with the agility that belied the true nature of her age. She sidestepped the fire, letting it hit the wall, piercing through the stones.

  Shera screamed again, worried that she too would be consumed by the nearby flames. She felt her arms being pulled, and they were plunged into total darkness once more. The door into the labyrinth closed in a squelching creak. The battle from above and outside could still be heard, but it was blunted by the thick walls of the maze.

  “Are you okay? Did you get burnt?” Vahren asked. His hands groped about in the darkness.

  “I’m… I’m fine,” Shera said. She could not see anything. The air was cool in the maze, and she sat on the floor. Outside, a scream was heard, but she could not determine its direction. She might have imagined it. The ground rumbled occasionally. When the dragon howled and roared, it felt like it was miles away. The labyrinth’s wall muffled all sense from the world outside.

  She sat on the cool stone and tried to collect her thoughts.

  Her father, Damas, had murdered Irinde because the High Priestess and the Queen had ordered him to do so. There was no justice in this world. But, Irinde was also a spy who was sent by the Shandorianians to reclaim the Jewel of Maan.

  The Jewel.

  Everybody’s life revolved around the jewel. The Shandorianians claimed that it was stolen. The Sedayv
alians, well, some Sedayvalians claimed that it belonged solely to the Goddess Maan, therefore it belonged to Sedayval.

  “Shera, we have to go.”

  His hands touched her exposed calf where the fire had eaten away the cloth.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  Vahren did not remove his hand. It remained there.

  “I said–” Shera pushed her hands into the darkness and found his body “—don’t touch me!”

  “You’re angry. I don’t blame you. Damas killed your mother. I understand what it feels.”

  “You don’t! You just fucking don’t! My whole life, this life I have lived has all been a lie!” Shera