Kato. Those warm nights by the hearth when they would drink wine and plan out their next harbors or trade routes. More than that, he remembered her smile. Those soft pink lips, always tasting of sugarcane and nutmeg. Those legs that enticed him with just one glance. Beyond that, her rum-colored eyes filled with caring and delicate love. Jaylen had given up his vows, his religion, and his purpose in life for her. And he would give it all up again just for one more night in her arms.
Not all arms brought love. Crushed below his father's strong arms, Jaylen screamed into the tattered blankets on the bed, but no one heard him. Night after agonizing night, he feared those burly arms that brought so much pain, so much shame. Falling asleep in a hazy fog of sweat, trembling shock, and misery's prayers, he curled up in those same arms as he was ordered to do. He was always one to follow orders.
The day he became king, he was merely following orders. The musty smell of the stagnant air that had filled his royal bedchamber where velvet and gold were only unfeeling observers. The way the violin music made him uneasy as the citizens gawked at him, their eyes showing their condemnation and lack of trust for a boy king who had recently been sentenced to death. Jaylen never would have had their approval. But in the end, he didn't need anyone's approval.
That was a lie.
Jaylen's thoughts went back to the one constant force in his life that he felt nothing but unconditional love and acceptance from. The one person he needed approval from. His angel, his best friend, his guardian, the love of his life. Zeriel. It all came back to him. Without him, he would be useless. He would be worthless. He would be that same selfish boy who didn't know how to grow up. Without Zeriel, Jaylen would have never moved beyond his childhood and the pain that he buried deep inside his mind. He owed Zeriel everything.
He owed his friends his life a hundred times over. Xair had been a stoic foundation of compassion and understanding. Trevor was a strong and sturdy friend he could always lean on. Liam made him never forget that even the lowest of the low can rise to do great things. Liaxa showed him love before Jaylen even knew he could be loved. Oviel was a guardian, a guide, and a mentor. Gavin sacrificed so much for him, without knowing more than his name. Then Gavin gave his life to save everyone. Now was Jaylen's turn to sacrifice for them.
As Jaylen continued to fall from Heaven, through the frigid air of the atmosphere between the divine and the degraded, he kept his arms stretched out as his magical wings encircled him with no hope of saving him. He didn't want to be saved. That was not the point. The point was to end it all and to save as many people as he could in doing so. He was a noble, a slave, a king, a pirate, a soldier, a paladin, an apostate, an angel, and a demon. Most of all, he would now be their savior.
Jaylen opened his eyes to catch a fading glimpse of Heaven's golden gates far above him, disappearing into the glowing purple and the flowing shadows of the rift as it surrounded him. He felt nothing but the calming caress of the wind on his body like a soft silk blanket or a down pillow. Flowing away on the currents of time and space, he let all of his fears fade away into the nothingness. Jaylen closed his eyes again then prayed to his goddess one last time.
* * *
The Calchedona wheat fields had already started thriving in the sunlight they had been missing for the past few years. The golden waves of wheat slowly shifted in the breeze like an endless ocean, spreading out in all directions from the crater in the middle of it all. Zeriel's boots crunched on the cracked ground as he flew down out of the pale blue sky to land. It didn't take him long at all to see the mass of blood, flashes of white bone, and ripped flesh. But what his gaze landed on were the bright blue eyes that had now gone empty forever.
The angel knelt down beside the broken and bloodied body of the boy he loved more than life itself. The impact from the fall had indeed proven fatal. Not even an angel could have survived the horrific injuries. Zeriel closed the boy's eyes then delicately gathered up the broken body in his arms, brought Jaylen to his chest, then surrounded him with his wings. Moments passed in silence until he started humming the paladin dirge for his fallen paladin. In the end, Jaylen had given his life for everyone. He had proven himself to be redeemed of all his crimes. The boy Zeriel held in his arms was a boy free of the pain that haunted him, free from all the chains of a stolen childhood, and free from the cruelties of this life.
He brought Jaylen's face to his and gently kissed his cold lips. The sweet cinnamon scent was still there, lingering in his breath and on his soft skin. What once was pale and creamy white was now black and purple with bruises below the surface. What once had been untouched was now torn, shattered, and ruptured.
Oviel landed next to him. "Oh, Zeriel. I am so sorry for your loss. I know you loved him and-"
Zeriel stood up with Jaylen's limp and battered body in his arms. Despite being holy again, he cried. The emotions were so real that they broke through the barrier that was usually in place to keep Holy Angels from exhibiting them outwardly. "No, you don't. You can't know."
"I was just trying to help. We need to take his body into Ilyan and build a funeral pyre."
"No."
"Okay. Then I suppose you want to give him a traditional funeral and bury him?"
Zeriel clutched Jaylen to his chest and knocked Oviel away with his wings. "Don't touch him. No one else gets to touch him. He's mine. I will never let him go."
"Zeriel, his soul has already moved on into Purgatory. Jeremiah is talking with him as we speak. What you are holding is only an empty shell. That's not Jaylen anymore."
"He's Jaylen. He's mine. He's staying with me."
"You can't carry around a corpse. Corpses decompose. Give him to me and we'll prepare his body for a burial, okay?"
"No." Zeriel continued to back away defensively. "Get back. Stay away from him."
"Okay. You can carry him into town and stay right by his side through the entire process. You can plan the funeral."
"There's not going to be a funeral. I can save him. You can make more potions. Go, Oviel. Go make him a potion! Save him! I know you can! What are you waiting for?"
Oviel only held out his hands helplessly. "He's dead, Zeriel. I can't do anything."
"Yes, you can! Why aren't you helping me?"
Xair was the next one to land in the field, his face stern and concerned. "How is he? Did he survive?"
Oviel shook his head slowly. "No. I need your help for something unpleasant, Xair."
"What do you need?"
"Zeriel refuses to let go of Jaylen's corpse. I need you to take it from him."
"Right." In a flash of purple wings and a gust of wind, Xair grabbed the body and left Zeriel to drop to his knees in a fit of weeping. Xair held onto Jaylen's body then turned back to Oviel. "Where do I need to take him?"
"Take him to Ilyan. Once Naomi and the others have returned from the mountains, we will have a funeral."
"What about Zeriel?" Xair asked.
Oviel sighed. "Let Zeriel mourn."
Epilogue
Crickets chirped in the warm air of evening. The sky was ablaze with pinks and oranges as the sun started to set behind the dark forest, casting hauntingly beautiful shadows across the tall red and grey bluffs surrounding the river where everyone had gathered. Thousands of blue jays chirped quietly in the birch trees whose limbs stretched out over the slowly flowing water. To illuminate the shadows below the cliffs, small white candles had been lit and placed on every outcropping that could hold one, creating a flickering wall of soft glow all the way up the massive wall of rocky stone. As the wax melted, it flowed down the cracks of the rocks and created a still waterfall.
Lines of angels, all dressed in black robes stood at attention with their wings pinned against their sides. Soldiers in their full armor held their fists over their hearts in salute. Liaxa was on her knees where she had been crying since she was told the news. Jeremiah, Oviel, Xair, Ulon, Naomi, and Trevor stood with Brinx who was cradling the sleeping Cael in her arms as tears glisten
ed on her cheeks. Doran stood with Sulstair in the back, neither of them showing any emotion.
Zeriel stood alone beside the solid maple casket. He ran his hand over the soft pale yellow Vilyron flag that had been draped across it. The casket was covered in engraved sun sigils and wrapped in holy grapevines. He stood there as he unashamedly let his tears flow from his white eyes where they landed on his black cloak. He had ensured that Jaylen would be buried with everything he held dear. He wore the silver Ka'taylin bracelet that Xair and Amari had given him, his wedding ring, Kato's emerald necklace, and his old broken longsword.
Those things did little to comfort Zeriel. Nothing mattered to him anymore. Since having Jaylen's body taken from him, Zeriel had not spoken a single word to anyone. He had nothing to say to them. Right at the point he had found happiness and some sort of hope for a future, that future had been stolen from him. The thought of facing eternity alone was unbearable.
As someone began playing the haunting paladin dirge on a violin, Zeriel turned his back to all of them. He couldn't stay there with them. With one last glance at the casket that held the only man he had ever loved, Zeriel stretched out his wings and slowly flew away.
* * *
Xair was busy packing his clothes and books in his tent when soft footsteps sounded on the packed dirt floor behind him. He knew that stride, the delicate placing of each step. He set down the stack of books and papers on the desk. "Hello, Amari."
Her voice was tender and filled with caution as she spoke to him. "Hello, Xair."
"What do you need?" He turned to see the woman he had called his wife for over a thousand years, but who had turned out to be a complete stranger. She even looked different to him now, though perhaps was just her having her eyes back.
Amari's slippers slid across the dirt as she came to stand beside him. "I wanted to apologize."
"No need. You were harmed because I refused to protect you like I should have. Now we're even."
"Do you . . . do you still love me?"
Xair stood and set his pack on the table. "Do I love you? That's a difficult question without a definitive answer. Let me ask you the same thing. Do you love me?"
"I did. At one time, long ago, I did love you. But neither one of us is the same person we used to be back then. We've changed, we've grown apart, and we've lied. We covered up secrets that harmed each other for far too long. I don't think even our marriage can be repaired after the deterioration of time."
"I suppose you are right." He placed his hand on her pale shoulder then gently kissed her. "I will never forget you, my Ili-Anan."
"Nor I you. But do not be sad, my dear. You have another woman who loves you more than I have, and she is waiting for you now out in the field. Go to her. Be happy. She already has our son's egg packed and ready to go wherever you decide to head. He will be hatching in a couple of months, so be prepared."
"And where will you go?" Xair asked.
Amari tucked her pale bangs behind her ears. "I have Liam and Karix's egg to tend to. That baby dragon inside will need a mother. Now, go. There's no need to stick around here anymore."
Xair knew she was right. As he picked up his bag and slung it onto his shoulder, he sighed. "I will be returning to Ka'tayl with the remnants of my people. I hope to rebuild my country and my culture, starting with Akalam-Tirya. I want it to be a beacon for all cultures and all religions to live there, to thrive, and to prosper together."
* * *
Jaycob carried Dusty and Shane on his shoulders as he walked out into the field where all the dragons were being scrubbed down and fed by the soldiers. The two golems were constantly joking around and playing games. He was glad that Dusty found another friend. Jaycob spotted the old yellow dragon with the brown wings drinking from a trough of water in the middle of camp. He went up to him and slid his fingertips underneath the dragon's neck scales. "Filia Rigezen, Garenzen. Goodbye."
Garenzen looked up with water dripping from his snout and snorted. "Where are you going, Jaycob?"
"I don't know. I guess wherever someone needs a bard or where a demon needs a new body."
"Have you spoken with Astrinalix?" Garenzen asked.
"No, and I have no plans to. I saw him earlier in his human form and we exchanged glances, but that was all. I think it's best if I leave that part of my life behind and try to find happiness somewhere else. I will be having a small funeral for Liam along with one for Gavin."
"I saw Stephan, Gavin's blood covenant partner earlier. He was very distraught and repentant."
Shane tugged on Jaycob's ear. "Stephan truly loved Gavin, even if he had a bad way of showing it. I spoke to him when he found out the news that Gavin had taken his own life and he was crying. He told me that he would take care of Liaxa."
"That's an unusual act of kindness from a demon like Stephan. Perhaps something about this entire experience changed him. We can only hope." Jaycob turned to leave. "Well, thank you again, Garenzen. Take care."
"Actually, there was something I wanted to speak with you about. Since Astrinalix has broken his side of your soul merger, you are free to mate with any dragon now."
Jaycob smiled as he spun around on his heels. "What are you saying, Garenzen?"
"I humbly ask you to become my mate, my rider, my Dragon Knight."
"And I humbly accept."
* * *
Zeriel watched the blood flowing down the calm stretches of the river then dissipate as it flowed over the rapids. He tossed his ethereal shotgun into the air where it vanished as it always did. He stepped over the body of the man who had been his first paladin. "Farewell, Doran. Now you can find peace. You redeemed yourself. Jaylen . . . Jaylen was . . ."
"Well done, Zeriel." Oviel joined his side then knelt and closed Doran's eyes. "He asked you to kill him, didn't he?"
"Yes. He's at peace now."
"Sola has gone back into hiding where she will rule behind her cloisters and inner chambers. All the female angels have been released as well and reunited with whatever family they had left." Oviel put his arms around Zeriel and held his friend's face to his shoulder. He smoothed his feathers as Zeriel began to cry more. "Shh. It's okay. I know, I know."
"I can't lose Jaylen!"
"I know. But I have good news for you. Jeremiah has finished judging Jaylen's soul in Purgatory and a decision has been made. Due to his dutiful life and the sacrifices he made, Jaylen's soul will be eaten by the angels. It's quite an honor, you know?"
Zeriel wept more.
"Jeremiah has been temporarily named the new Archangel, so he is taking over the duties of running the Angelic Court. He has reserved part of Jaylen's soul for you."
"I don't want it."
"But you were such a big part of his life and he loved you. Are you sure you don't want any of his soul? He would want you to have it."
Zeriel pulled away from him. "I can't. I just can't. And I'm not going back."
"Back?" Oviel asked. "Back where?"
"To Heaven."
"But you're the Prince of Heaven. Sola has great plans for you. You can help rebuild and make Heaven even better than it was before."
Zeriel looked at him, feeling nothing but a void inside his soul. "No."
"Where will you go, then?"
He wiped the tears from his eyes and pulled his cloak closed around him. "Away. I will go where no one can find me. I will stay in Aldexa, doing the work that Jaylen would have wanted. I'll reform the church. I'll bring back paladins, but do it the correct way. The new church will be one of love, of compassion, and mercy. I will unite all of Sola's people, from Vilyron to Wolfekin, from Cilona, to the ships of our allies out in the Onyx Sea. I will help Xair in Ka'tayl and free the slaves from Carvael's camps. There can be peace now in Aldexa."
"Do as you will, Zeriel." Oviel stretched out his wings to fly back to Heaven. "But you and I both know that every word you just said was a lie. You're not going to do any of that, are you? No. You will try to kill yourself then find out Sola wo
n't let you die. Then you will come crawling back to Heaven once you come to terms with your loss."
Zeriel held the clear glass pendant around his neck that held a lock of Jaylen's wispy blond hair inside. "I will never be able to accept it. Farewell, Oviel."
* * *
The waves crashed against the snow-covered shores of Ka'tayl as the storm blew in from the ocean. Lightning cracked overhead, followed by the booming echo of thunder against the mountains that covered the middle of the abandoned continent. As a steady rain began to fall and pelt the snow, a large wave washed up onto the beach, leaving a barnacle-encrusted amulet on the shore. The sky blue topaz in the middle slowly pulsated with a magical energy, despite being cracked up the middle. Another wave pushed it farther from the sea until the knotted chain became tangled in the cattails that grew around a tide-pool.
Two ravens soared down from the stormy sky to perch on one of the snow-dusted cattails and peck at the amulet. The first one grabbed the chain in its beak and tried to fly off with it, but the other bird scratched at him with his talons. The two raven tussled over who would be the rightful owner of the necklace, rolling across the sand and squawking as the storm intensified around them. Their fight continued until they were both bleeding and black feathers covered the sand and snow.
A man's pale hand reached down to pick up the amulet and shake off the two half-dead ravens. "Get off, you two. This is what we've been searching for. This holds one of his soul segments, the last one in existence. Oh, Jaylen Corrifus. How foolish and careless could you be? Come, my pets. We have work to do."
The story continues in Resurrection: Angel of Light Book One.
Angel of Darkness Books 6-10 Page 68
