Despite herself, Kara smiled. She locked eyes with David momentarily, and he winked.
Al pushed Devon aside and stood before David. “Why don’t you run along, Shorty—” he gestured with his hand, a few inches from David’s face. “—this is official CDD business. Your simple petty officer brain can’t handle it. Beat it.”
David smacked Al’s hand away and stepped closer, until their faces were only an inch apart. “Why don’t you piss off, unibrow. I’ll stand where I please,” David hissed, and his grin turned predatory. He squared his shoulders.
Kara started to feel anxious. She couldn’t help but feel grateful David was standing up for her. But she didn’t want David to get in trouble or ruin his chances to get accepted into CDD. She looked at Cassiel for help, but he just stood there with his arms crossed and a strange smug expression on his face. He looked at her momentarily and then back to the fight. She wasn’t sure if Cassiel was pleased to see David defend her, or to see his troops bullying David. Kara considered throwing him a rock to wipe off his self-satisfied look.
“David, forget it,” Kara pleaded. “It’s fine—really. No big deal.”
Devon squeezed himself in between Al and David. “David, eh? The same David that’s been trying to get in CDD for like…forever? You’re that loser?” He mocked. “Check it out, Al. This is the loser that everyone’s been laughing about back in the unit.”
“Shut up, Devon.” Kara was angry. She knew how much the division meant to David. This wasn’t fair.
David’s scowl deepened. “Call me a loser one more time, and you’ll see what a small-timer like me can do to your freaking face.”
Al lifted his right hand momentarily, and made a fist. “We crush losers for fun—”
“Stop it!” screamed Kara. Her body trembled. “What is wrong with you people!”
Devon turned to Kara. “Stay out of this, freak.”
For a moment, Kara just stared at Devon. She wished she had a rock to throw at him too.
“Cassiel!” shouted Kara. “Do something!”
Cassiel glanced at Kara. A smile materialized on his face. What is wrong with him, she thought. It was as though he was glad this was happening. It wasn’t making any sense.
“Use your feelings, Kara, and direct them to the bench.” Cassiel’s gaze was intense. He threw his arms in the air. “Use that anger! Do it! It’s going to work. Do it now!”
“What? Now? You can’t be serious.” She wasn’t a freak show—Cassiel didn’t care about her, he only cared about her power. Kara saw how Cassiel was trying to provoke her, but he had no idea how powerful or uncontrollable she really was.
Kara saw something black and pointy slip from Al’s sleeve and rest in his palm. It glistened in the light like a black diamond—a Death Blade, Kara realized in horror. How could he have a demon blade in Horizon? Her chest tightened. Al was going to stab David with it.
“Stop!” she called out again.
Anger welled inside her. Her body trembled. She felt a burning hot liquid pouring through her core. Her vision sharpened. The heat spread through her from the tip of her head down to her toes. Her fingers tinkled. It oozed out of her pores, like droplets of sweat. Feral power flared through her, like a wild animal trying to break free from its tether. It wanted to be released.
David’s face was livid. He pushed Devon back. “I told you to watch that mouth!”
Al wrapped his fingers around the handle of the blade. He readied it in his hand.
Kara’s body jerked. She blinked and the world before her took on hues of gold. She raised her hands, two beams of gold blasted from her palms, and Kara was propelled backwards with intense force.
The beams struck Al. Light wrapped around his body like golden ribbons until he was completely covered. He screamed and his body convulsed. He went still and fell motionless to the ground. No sound came from him.
“You killed him!” shouted Devon. He pointed to Kara with a shaking hand. “He’s dead! You killed him you freak!” He knelt down beside his friend, his eyes wide in terror.
Kara stared at her hands and shook her head. “I’m—I’m sorry…it was an accident! I didn’t mean to do it.”
She made fists with her trembling hands. The elemental power shifted inside her for a moment then melted away. The shock of what she had done weighed her down. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She knew this was bad, very bad. How could she have done this? Why couldn’t she control it? Desperation and anger flared inside her.
She scanned the ground around Al’s body. The blade had disappeared. She realized that someone had taken it.
Cassiel raced over to Al’s body. He pressed his palms on Al’s chest. White light illuminated his hands, as though tiny light bulbs were stuck to his palms. But after a moment the light went out, and he turned to face Devon with a look of concern.
“He’s not dead, but he’s badly injured. We need to get him to Raphael straight away.”
Kara watched as Cassiel lifted Al’s body as though it weighed no more than a feather. He brushed past Kara and carried him out of the tent. He didn’t look at her.
Devon walked up to Kara. His eyes flashed dangerously. “You’ll pay for this, freak. I don’t care what the archangels say about you—you’re dangerous, and I don’t trust you. Your days are numbered.”
Kara didn’t answer. Devon kicked up sand with his boot and hit her in the face with it. He then turned on his heel and took off after Cassiel.
Kara wiped off the red sand. She couldn’t stop shaking. David ran towards her.
Kara stared at her opened palms and stretched out her fingers—these were the hands of a murderer. She clasped them into tight fists. She trembled.
“H—he had a blade, a Death Blade, David. I saw it.” Her voice shook and she didn’t try to hide it from him. “He was going to stab you with it.”
David took her hand and squeezed it gently. “It’s okay. I believe you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Where’s the blade now?”
Kara shook her head. “I—I don’t know. It’s gone. I swear he had one!”
David was silent for a moment. He let go of Kara’s hand and combed his hair with his fingers. “That means we can’t trust anyone anymore. CDD’s been breached. Who knows how many more demon spies there are in the Legion? But right now we have bigger problems—without the knife, no one will believe us.”
“This is bad…isn’t, David?” She wondered what the Legion would do to her.
She had screwed up before, but this was the worst. She didn’t think they would be lenient this time around.
“Yes. This is really bad,” David replied.
Chapter 9
Trial
KARA FELT LIKE AN ABOMINATION. Scowling faces whispered as she passed on the way to the high council chamber. Guardian angels lurked in doorways watching her. It was like being marked all over again. But this time it was much worse, she realized. She had nearly killed an angel. She was a freak. A monster. She wondered if she truly did belong in Horizon. Freaks and angels didn’t coexist here. Whatever their decision, she knew now how different she was from all the angels. At first being part elemental had made her feel special, unique, but now she felt more like a murderer than anything else. She hoped the council would believe it was an accident.
Kara sloped along behind the oracle, her head hung low. She remembered her mother’s smiling face as she would kiss Kara on the forehead before she went to school. Kara would always wiggle away embarrassed, but deep down she loved her for it. She remembered her mother’s enchanting voice singing Ella Fitzgerald songs. It had always given her goose bumps. Her chest tightened, and she realized she missed her mother painfully. How she could save her mother’s soul, she wondered. Asmodeus would kill her mother—and it was all her fault.
“Come along, Miss Clara. Don’t pay any attention to them,” said the oracle. His bare feet padded above his crystal ball. “What has happened cannot be undone—I have seen it many times before…but it will pass.
Do not fret.”
The oracle’s face broke out into innumerable little wrinkles as he smiled warmly at her, like a dried raisin. But Kara stared at the floor as she walked, lips sewn together. She kept playing events over inside her head, wishing she could have stopped herself, or at least warned them of the knife. Al was going to stab David, she saw him. Anger welled inside her chest. Her elemental part had acted on its own to protect David. She had wanted Al dead. The elemental force that flowed in her was as much part of her as she was of it—they were a single entity—and she was aware that both she and her elemental force had wanted to kill.
Was she a killer? Who was she?
She kept her head down. She didn’t trust herself to look up and meet the glares of disgust that spread on the faces of the Legion as they passed.
A snicker reached her ears. Devon stood by the great metal door. He was surrounded by a field group from CDD. Kara recognized their black uniforms. She wondered how long she could still wear hers.
“Told you you’d pay for this, freak,” he hissed at Kara. “I never liked you, and I always knew there was a disgusting smell about you. And I was right! You stink of demon. You’ll be cast out forever! Or better yet—your soul will be destroyed!” His minions shook their heads as they mumbled their consensus. Kara kept her eyes low. The humiliation was too much to handle.
“He—he had a Death Blade! I saw it.” Kara shouted.
“A Death Blade?” laughed Devon. “Did you hear that, guys? She says she saw a Death Blade.” Kara winced as his minions laughed hysterically. She clenched her fists.
Devon snickered. “What? Are you going to punch me? Want to kill me too, freak.” He glowered at Kara, his dark eyes glistened menacingly. “So, where’s the blade, huh?”
Kara didn’t answer.
“That’s right,” continued Devon, and stepped dangerously close to Kara, “there is no blade. You made it up, you stupid little girl. Don’t think the council will believe lies that come from a traitor’s mouth. You’re done.”
“Yeah…you’re a goner,” said one of the male angels whom Kara didn’t recognize.
“Freak!” said a strikingly beautiful angel with long blonde hair. She laughed at Kara.
“Demon!”
Kara strained to control her shaking. She didn’t want them to see how much their words affected her.
In a swift movement, the oracle steered his giant crystal ball and ploughed through the group. He waved his hands in the air. “Move along now! Move along. The council will not wait.” And with that, the oracle pushed open the great metal door.
It screeched loudly as it rolled on its hinges. A smell of concrete and stale air reached Kara’s nose. She lowered her head and followed the oracle through the doorway. But just as she cleared the entrance someone tripped her, and Kara landed hard on her stomach with a loud thud. The sound cut through the chamber’s eerie silence like a knife.
Kara lifted her head slowly and turned around. Devon stood in the doorway. His cronies gathered behind him and laughed like a group of jackals. He lifted his index finger and motioned it across his neck.
“Please shut the door, oracle,” said a booming voice.
“Oh dear! Oh dear!” The crystal ball rolled along the marble floor, crunching tiny specks of sand. The oracle wrapped his tiny hand around a large brass handle and pulled the door closed.
Tiny spasm erupted all over Kara body as she pushed herself up. She tried to control her nerves. The chamber looked exactly how she remembered. It was a great round room with a rounded glass dome, from which light spilled through its top. The bright blue sky lifted her spirits slightly.
She turned her attention to the council. The archangels sat around a black half moon desk that glistened in the light.
She knew she must look like a fool to the council. She looked at their faces. Seven grim visages stared back at her. The shock of seeing Uriel’s face with a scowl nearly made her collapse. She had hoped for some understanding from him. It seemed to Kara that the entire council agreed with Devon. This could be my last day here, she whispered to herself.
A soft cough caught her attention, and she was struck with sudden tremendous gratitude. Jenny, Peter, and David sat in the second of twenty rows of wooden seats that were angled along and around the chamber, like seats in an arena. Jenny’s legs dangled over the first row. And Peter even gave her thumbs up. But their bravado couldn’t hide the fear in their eyes. Kara felt it, too.
David stood up and clasped his hands around the wooden edge of the seats in front of him. He mouthed it’s going to be okay to Kara.
Kara recognized the archangels Cassiel and Gabriel sitting in the front row, opposite her friends. They were talking and didn’t look up.
She made her way to the lonely bench before the council members. The sound of her boots echoed through the chamber. She thought she’d go mad in the silence. The eeriness made her skin crawl and her hair stand up on the back of her neck. Finally she reached the bench and stepped before it. She lifted her eyes and met Uriel’s glare.
“We meet again, Kara Nightingale,” said Uriel, with his usual musical voice. His dark brown hair glistened in the soft light that leaked from the above glass dome. “And I am sad to say that it is not under good terms.”
Kara lowered her eyes. She felt dizzy. The room started to spin, and she felt her body teeter slightly. Uriel’s words rang in her ears. What would happen to her, she wondered. The sound of a chair being dragged on the floor reached her. She lifted her gaze again.
“The council has been made aware of a certain situation.” Uriel’s golden robe swished as he stood up, sending little ripples all the way down to his ankles, like tiny golden waves. “We all knew what kind of risk we were taking by accepting someone with elemental power back into our world. Indeed, once we confirmed that you had this wild power within you, we believed that we could use it to our benefit—that we had something we could control—something more powerful than the demons.”
Uriel stopped for a moment and stared down at the desk. He looked up again. “We had high hopes for you, Kara. We asked the archangel Cassiel to help you develop and control your talents. We never thought you would hurt another angel—”
“But I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!” Kara blurted out before she could stop herself.
Uriel lifted his hand to silence her.
“Until we can get this matter investigated, I regret to inform you, that you are no longer part of the Counter Demon Division. You will have no access to level five anymore. You are hereby stripped of your title, and banished to the angel prison, Tartarus. You are no longer a guardian in the Legion. You will have no direct contact with any angels in Horizon apart from the few appointed officers and the prison guards. As of this moment forward, Kara Nightingale, you are exiled and will be confined to Tartarus.”
“What!” protested Kara. Her head swirled. “But it was an accident! I swear I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“This is not fair,” yelled Jenny from behind her, and Kara turned around. “We are witnesses! We saw what happened—Al was going to stab David. She was only protecting him!”
“ENOUGH!” roared Uriel. The chamber shook. Dust and small pieces of rock fell around Kara.
He turned to Jenny, “You are only permitted to speak when you are called upon to do so. Another outburst like this, and you will be thrown out of the chamber. Is that clear?”
“Yes, archangel Uriel.” Jenny lowered her head and sat down. Kara and Jenny exchanged smiles.
“What do you have to say in your defense, Kara Nightingale?” asked Uriel. “The council is eager for an explanation.”
Kara floundered around in her mind recollecting the events. “It was an accident. I swear to you. I—I was trying to conjure my power—if you want to call it that—and nothing was happening. Cassiel told me to try and tap into the emotions I felt the times when it worked. So I was trying…and then David showed up. There was argument with Devon and Al. And th
en I saw a Death Blade in Al’s hand. He was going to hurt David.”
She glanced down before continuing. “And then it just…happened. It just happened. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I swear I didn’t. But I couldn’t let him hurt my friend.”
Kara looked into the eyes of the council. Doubt reflected back to her, no sympathy. They didn’t believe her.
She took a step forward and tried to look as sincere as she could. Her bottom lip trembled, “I swear to you all. I didn’t mean to do this. It was an accident. Please, I need to be allowed in the Legion to find my mother’s soul—she needs me. She’s been taken. I need to find her. You can’t do this to me now. Please. It isn’t fair.”
“Where is this blade now?” Uriel eyed her suspiciously.
Kara cowered and shook her head. “I—I don’t know. It’s gone. I can’t explain it. But I saw it, I swear I did.”
“I’ve had enough of her lies!” The archangel Zadkiel interrupted her. His voice was full of disgust. “She’s an abomination! A demon who lies and tries to trick us by masquerading as a little girl. Do not believe her!”
Kara felt the sharp pain of his words. Her stomach tightened. She had let her mother down. How could she reach her now?
“I—I—I’m sorry,” Kara stammered and took a step back. “It was an—”
“You lie!” roared Zadkiel. “We have all the proof we need now to cast you out!”
He slammed his fist on the table. His giant finger pointed at Kara. “I always knew you were a traitor!—stealthily making your way into the feelings of our brothers and sisters—like a thief in the night.”
“Enough, Zadkiel. We need to investigate this matter more thoroughly before making any accusations,” said another archangel with long curly red hair.
Zadkiel trembled with rage. “You were always too soft when it came to her, Camael. I can see now the child has bewitched you. Demon filth!”
Kara flinched.
“I’m not a demon,” she croaked. She raised her voice above the arguing. “I’m not a demon!” she called out again.
Elemental, Soul Guardians Book 2 Page 9
