by Amy Braun
Despite what she had done, none of the guys gave Dro contemptuous looks. They knew her well enough to understand that she was trying to keep them from living in a dream. The longer they stayed in it, the more they would have gone astray. The Gate would be burned, and they would never know until they were ashes.
I tucked my hands into my jacket and stared at the forest floor again. I walked like that for hours, glancing up every once in a while to make sure I wouldn’t walk into a tree.
I slowed down when I heard water gently crashing in front of me. I lifted my head and watched Sephiel glide toward a curtain of hanging willow tree branches. They weren’t touching the ground, so I could just barely make out a pool of water surrounded by rocks underneath it. He pushed the branches aside and stepped through. We followed him one by one, and found the most incredible part of the forest.
Every inch of it was magnificent, but this part was exquisite. All the trees circled the edge of this clearing so the sun could fill the entire space with its warm, golden light. Soft grass covered the area, batches of gentle white flowers decorating it every couple feet. Dandelion wisps danced in happy rings when the caressing breeze lifted them up. Before our eyes was a clear, blue pool. Behind it was a fifty-foot, cascading waterfall that rained crystal blue water. The sunlight made the water sparkle in a dozen places like winking jewels. Unblemished white rocks circled the pool, gleaming in the sun like freshly polished marble. It never overflowed, no matter how much water was poured into it.
My first thought was utter awe. This little patch of earth was as sacred as it was mesmerizing. It made me want to believe in God, that if He could make such a perfect place, others would be able to see the goodness in life. If only other criminals could find this clearing, they might fall down and weep for forgiveness. You wanted to live and breathe this place. There was nothing to care about, no stress or anxiety. No anger or grief. There was only dense grass, a clear blue sky, and a calming waterfall. You could die happy here, and never regret a second of the life you let pass by.
“This is the place,” Sephiel said. His voice still carried the pain of seeing Everiel’s illusion, but being here seemed to relax him a little more. “The lock, as you may call it.”
Dro stared at the pool, swallowing heavily. I watched my sister.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded too quickly. “Fine. It’s just... I’m fine.”
No she wasn’t. I could read her as easily as she could read me. Dro’s eyes were wide in astonishment as they moved along the clearing. She looked like she was walking in a dream that she didn’t want to wake up from. Her expression was thoughtful, sleepy, and tragic. Dro appreciated nature in all its forms. She was falling in love with this place, and knew she was about to break its heart.
I faced my sister. “Dro, you don’t need to do this. Gabriel gave me the heavenfire. I can do it.”
She shook her head, icy blue eyes meeting my dark ones. “No. It has to be me. Lucifer used me. I’m the reason the Gates are opened. It’s my responsibility to close them.”
She sounded so convincing I almost believed her. I was tempted to tell her that none of what happened was her fault, but Dro wasn’t the scared little sister I knew. She wanted to make her own difficult choices, even though didn’t need to prove how strong she was to anyone.
Dro blew out a breath, then walked toward the pool. We stayed back, not knowing how much heavenfire she would need to use to set the pool on fire. Dro stopped at the edge rocks, looking at the alluring waterfall, the glittering water, the smooth, alabaster stones. She took a deep breath and held out her hands. We all waited for them to glow with gold fire. But nothing happened.
As the seconds ticked by, I began noticing things. The tension in her shoulders, the shakiness of her breath. The way her hands were trembling.
It suddenly became too much for Dro. She dropped her hands, knees buckling under her until they were pressed into the grass. I rushed over, putting my hands on her shoulders and kneeling in front of her. Dro’s sobs were heavy and heartbreaking. Tears streamed down her beautiful face. My chest twisted into a knot at the sight of her.
She clutched my hands and continued sobbing. She squeezed her eyes shut, more tears falling onto the fresh grass.
“I can’t,” she sobbed out. “I can’t, Connie. I can’t.”
I pulled her to my chest. She fisted my shirt and kept crying. I rubbed her back, wishing I knew what to say to make her feel better.
“Do you want to?” I whispered into her hair.
Dro paused, then started shaking her head.
“You don’t see it, big sister. There’s a light coming from the pool. It’s like an aura, the most precious one I’ve ever seen, and I... I can’t turn it off. I don’t want to see it go out. I can’t do it.”
I hugged her tighter, and looked at the forest around me. The tall, proud trees with crisp green leaves. The warm grass under my knees. The smell of wildflowers and fresh air. The strong pounding of the waterfall next to me.
This was paradise on earth. This was beauty, purity, and goodness.
We’d seen magic and wonder here. Loved ones we missed with every waking breath. She’d already seen through the illusions, saved us from them, and seen the most incredible light she’d ever seen. I looked at the pool and the waterfall. I didn’t see what she did, but I had no doubt that it was there.
No wonder Dro couldn’t find the strength to destroy it. She would never be the same if she burned out that light. It would damage and scar her soul for eternity. She would never forgive herself.
So she wasn’t going to.
I gently pushed her back from my chest. Dro’s eyes were red from tears. I wiped them from her cheeks and gave her a small smile. I didn’t say anything as she read my eyes. I didn’t have to. I took her hands and carefully helped her to her feet.
Max was suddenly there, putting his arms around Dro and pulling her into another hug. He whispered quietly to her, holding her close and probably saying how much he loved her.
My heart was heavy as I watched my fragile sister, but I knew what I had to do for her.
“I think you guys should stand farther back,” I said.
Dro and Max looked at me. My sister’s eyes were shining with tears. “Con, you don’t know what it will do to you,” she said. “How badly it will stain your soul.”
I was already reaching into my jacket, taking Gabriel’s heavenfire out of its hiding place. I looked at the bright gold flame.
“I wouldn’t worry about that. It can’t get blacker than it already is, little sister.”
I turned around and started unscrewing the cap. A pale white hand covered mine. I looked at Dro. There were still tears in her eyes, but she looked stronger than she had a moment ago.
Much stronger.
“I can’t do this on my own,” she said, talking around a sob. “But I can do it with you.”
We looked at each other for a long time. I was trying to tell her that it was okay if she didn’t want to do this. She was trying to tell me that she had to prepare herself if she was going to face Lucifer and his demons.
Eventually, we came to the same conclusion.
We were strong in different ways, but were unbreakable together.
Dro kept her hand on mine as we knelt down by the pool and twisted off the golden cap. The heat from Gabriel’s heavenfire instantly went around my hand, making me want to jerk back and drop the damn bottle. But Dro kept her hand where it was, tilting the bottle until the heavenfire poured out of the glass into the water.
The second it touched the smooth, liquid surface, the gold fire scorched along the water. It was like we had just dropped a match onto a pile of gasoline.
The intense heat flushed against my face, making me scramble to my feet. I gripped Dro’s arm and pulled her up, then pushed her behind me. I watched the heavenfire race until the entire pool was covered, moving quicker than a normal fire ever could. Then it started climbing up the
waterfall until it was pouring golden flames instead of water.
It took half a minute for the heavenfire to reach the top of the waterfall. After that, it spread to the trees. Moss crumbled away, leaves turned to ash, tree trunks splintered under the intense heat. The fresh air was replaced with smoke.
This was a flash fire that was going to get out of control very, very fast.
But it was working. We were closing the Heaven Gate. We would keep Lucifer from entering Heaven and twisting paradise.
I was ready to count it as a victory, until Dro and Sephiel screamed.
I whirled around, catching Dro as she collapsed. Her fingers twisted in her hair, pulling it from the roots. My sister’s face was pinched with agony. Max was right beside me, holding his girlfriend close and frantically trying to understand what was wrong.
Across from us, Warrick was kneeling by Sephiel, looking just as lost as Max was. I remembered he had the movens caeli, and raced toward him.
“Bring Dro over here!” I screamed to Max over my shoulder.
I looked at up, seeing the heavenfire igniting the trees like they were coated in lighter fluid. Thick, black smoke billowed up over us until I couldn’t see the sun. The air was hot and heavy, so dense that I could taste it. We maybe had seconds until the fire made its way toward us.
I skidded to a stop and dropped to my knees by Sephiel’s head. He was screaming worse than ever. Warrick was trying to prop him up, looking for injuries. I started rifling through his trench coat until I found the movens caeli. Warrick froze, looking at his hands. I lifted my head, and saw they were covered in blood.
Sephiel suddenly twisted and flipped onto his stomach. Two dark red bloodstains were soaking through the angel’s back. They stretched from his shoulder blades down to his lower ribs. But there were no cuts in the fabric. Just a huge, red stain. Sephiel was losing blood at a terrifying rate, and I had no idea why.
Max half carried, half dragged Dro over to us. We all knelt together. I looked up again, seeing the heavenfire closing off our exit. We were completely trapped by the fire. I watched it start to scorch the grass, incinerating the twirling dandelion wisps and making the white flowers shrivel.
I shoved the movens caeli against Max’s chest. “Figure out how to work this!” I shouted against the roaring fire.
He hesitated, looking at the golden tube like it was a stick of dynamite. His gaze went to Sephiel, and then his hand shot forward. He gingerly touched the angel’s forehead and closed his eyes. His shoulders started shaking as he looked into the angel’s mind, his breathing strained. But Sephiel was the only one of us who knew how to operate the movens caeli. If Max was going to use it to get us out of here, he had to look into Sephiel’s mind to do so.
Dro was still awake, but barely. I grasped her hand and held on tightly. I took Sephiel’s hand. It felt clammy and cold. Max opened his eyes again and swayed. He caught himself before he collapsed. Sweat plastered his dark curls to his forehead. He fumbled at the device with shaking fingers. Finally, he held it firmly with both hands. He looked at me with determined eyes. His nod was sharp and ready.
Warrick threw one of his arms around me and put his other hand on Max’s shoulder. A second later, we were smothered in blinding gold light. Thunder roared in our ears. I squeezed my eyes shut and let the angelic device carry me to wherever we were going. It couldn’t be far, since the thing had a limited battery life.
Sure enough, we crashed into the earth a couple seconds later. We all lurched, Warrick nearly banging his head against mine. I looked at Dro as Max cradled her. She blinked her eyes open, touching her fingers to her forehead. She winced, but sat up with his help.
“You okay, pretty girl?” Max asked.
She nodded and looked over at us. Her eyes dropped to Sephiel for the first time. They widened with horror. She gasped, then shoved out of Max’s arms. She stumbled at first, then pushed past me and Warrick. She stopped when she reached Sephiel, gingerly touching his back. The angel didn’t move.
“No,” she breathed. “No, no, no, no!”
“What happened to him?” I asked, giving her space as she and Warrick started pulling Sephiel’s trench coat off.
“His wings!” she cried. “His wings are gone!”
We looked at her, then at Sephiel. Given the way the wounds looked and him being an angel, it made sense that Sephiel had wings. But I’d never seen them. Apparently, no one else had either.
“He had wings?” Max asked carefully.
Dro nodded, staring at the blood covering Sephiel’s back. His white shirt was almost completely red and clinging to his skin. There still weren’t any cut marks in the fabric. However, I didn’t know many people who could lose that much blood and survive.
“They were attached to his aura,” she explained. “That was why you never saw them.” Her voice hitched. They were beautiful,” she whispered shakily.
Dro’s hands hovered over Sephiel’s back. She must have seen where the wounds were, because she knew exactly where to place them. The familiar, steady glow of her healing powers filled her hands.
She suddenly gasped in pain and clutched her hands.
“Dro? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she gasped. “It hurts when I use my angel powers.”
From the grimace on her face, it hurt a lot. Dro breathed through it while Max rubbed her back, because he didn’t know how else to help her. Warrick pressed his fingers to Sephiel’s neck, giving me a worried look.
“His pulse is getting weaker,” he told us gravely.
Dro sighed again, then reached for Sephiel’s back. I thought about how much pain she’d just been in. Would healing him drain her powers? Or would it cause her so much pain that she blacked out? I didn’t want to lose either of them, but if Dro passed out then Sephiel was going to die. The rest of us were too human to do anything.
There was also the very real possibility that Dro could get herself killed while healing Sephiel.
“Dro,” I started, reaching for my little sister’s hand.
She batted it away and gave me a fierce look.
“He’s going to die if I don’t help him!” she shouted at me.
I was ready to argue all my points, but I backed off instead. Dro was right. She was the only one would could save Sephiel. She needed me to believe in her.
“Just be careful,” was the only thing I said.
Dro relaxed, then pressed her hands onto Sephiel’s back. Light filled her hands and flowed into the angel. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. I watched my sister nervously. I tried to tell myself that she was putting herself in pain to save a friend’s life, that her suffering was being done for the right reason.
Then I thought about the Heaven Gate, and wasn’t so sure that I was the best person to give advice anymore.
Finally, Dro snuffed the light from her hands. She sighed and slumped. Max caught her and hugged her to his chest. He kept her upright, kissing the side of her face and whispering something I couldn’t hear.
Dro nodded. “I’m all right,” she murmured weakly.
I didn’t believe her, but she was awake. That was the most I could ask for at this point.
We all looked at Sephiel, waiting for him to stand up. Warrick pressed his fingers to the angel’s neck again. He lifted his head.
“Pulse is stronger.”
As soon as he finished telling us the good news, Sephiel sucked in a huge breath, like he’d just come up from drowning. He coughed until he could breathe properly, then groaned and tried to sit up. Warrick helped him, gripping his arms instead of his shoulders. Sephiel’s arms shook a little bit, but he was moving.
“Seph? Can you stand?”
“Perhaps with some assistance, John Warrick.”
The demon slayer got to his feet, keeping his hold on Sephiel until they were both standing. Sephiel straightened his back, wincing. I tried to picture him with wings. Had they been the traditional white feathers? Did he only have two
or multiple ones like Lucifer? Did they look different if you were a higher ranking angel? How long would he be in pain?
Sephiel staggered away from Warrick, wanting to stand on his own. His bright blue eyes found Dro.
“I am indebted to you yet again, Andromeda.”
My little sister was still hanging on to Max, but she was more alert than before. I almost couldn’t notice the beads of sweat going down her temples. She looked at him mournfully.
“But, Sephiel, your wings...”
The angel looked down. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but it must have been painful. An angel losing his wings was probably as agonizing as a soccer player losing a leg.
“There was nothing you could have done,” he muttered wearily. “I understood the implications of my actions. I am truly fallen now.” He lifted his eyes and tried to smile. “You are not to blame, Andromeda.”
For a moment, he almost looked like the old Sephiel again. But there was something different about him. He looked like himself, but he seemed smaller. His eyes weren’t as bright. They used to glow with power and confidence. Now that was gone. I didn’t know for sure, but I was starting to think that all of Sephiel’s heavenly skills were gone. Everything that made him an angel was now torn away.
“Oh my God,” Max breathed.
We turned our heads from Sephiel to look at the horizon. I almost couldn’t tell that we were standing in the same place Gabriel had left us, because there was so much fire.
Night was starting to fall, but the sun was completely veiled by a smoke as black as night. It looked almost oily against the purpling sky. The mountains were covered in heavenfire, the flames spreading until the entire forest was a giant, golden bonfire. The air smelled like wood smoke and burning pine.
My chest was tight. I had done this. I helped destroy the Heaven Gate. I caused all the angels outside of Heaven to fall. I was part of the reason Sephiel’s wings were gone. My heart broke as I remembered how beautiful the forest had looked, the way it smelled, the feel of the breeze on my face. It would never be seen again. This fire would never be put out until every inch of serenity was turned into a cinder.
