by L. L Hunter
“How?” asked Kat
“Well, when used in conjunction with Glory, an angel’s voice is a shield.”
“Can you demonstrate?” asked a Nephilim with silvery-purple hair. Kat remembered her from Combat Training as Diamond.
“Ok, just a warning, though. An angel’s Glory is hard to look at by an untrained eye. For it is a representation of one’s self in the Realm of Fire. It is pure light and energy,” she told the class. Then she stepped backwards. The students stood on a tiered stage so it was easy for everyone to see clearly. Then Professor Harpe inhaled, opened her hands, and sang while showing her full glory. Students shielded their eyes from the glare. Looking at Professor Harpe’s Glory was like looking into the sun. It shone in perfect harmony with her impressive soprano voice.
Dyston felt as if he had been in the Chambers for an eternity. How much longer would they make him wait? He paced around his new surroundings. He had been moved from the white laboratory to a new red room. The furniture, the walls, everything was in varying shades of red, except for the floor, which looked like Hematite—dark grey and shiny. Who was the interior designer, he wondered. Then he moaned. The red made him think of one thing, one angel—Scarlett. He longed to hold her, to kiss her. To feel her heat beneath him, and then let his touch cool her down again. He also longed for a piano, so that he could play the song he wrote for her. It didn’t yet have a name, or lyrics, but he couldn’t get the melody out of his head. So, to keep him occupied, he decided to hum it. He wished he could hum it to her. As he hummed, his heart sank as he remembered how they had fought in Traits 101. She had told him to stay away from her, and it had felt like a Tear Tip ripping through his heart. He slumped into a nearby loveseat and continued to hum. All the while trying to send a prayer to her, knowing that it probably wouldn’t work, but he had to try anyway.
Scarlett tore through her closet looking for something to wear. She decided on something practical, as she felt she would be doing lots of walking, running, or fighting. She took her Converses out from the bottom of the closet, readjusted her bra, with which she was thankful that Lakyn didn’t break, and put on clean knickers and her favourite acid washed grey skinny jeans. Then she looked for a shirt and found a maroon one. Perfect, she thought. She knew both of the Blackbell brothers found her absolutely irresistible in this shirt. She’d been wearing this same shirt the day she bumped into Dyston and met Lakyn. She stood up after tying her shoelaces, and gazed at Dyston’s perfect black feather, still sitting where she had left it on top of The Chronicle by her bedside. She picked it up and stroked it. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry, a thousand times sorry from the bottom of her heart. But that would have to wait. Right now, she had to play the role of a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher, so that he would lead her into a magical realm to save his brother. When she thought about it, her life had become complicated. What would her good, kind Grandmother think of her now? She put the feather down, but not before tucking the silver dagger that Dyston had given her for emergencies into an ankle sheath. She remembered the warning and concern in his eyes vividly the day he had given her the dagger.
“Only use it at precisely the right moment,” he had told her. She knew that now was the right moment. She slipped out of her room and ran two doors down, and knocked. She only had to wait a moment before Jacob answered. He let her in right away.
“Any developments?” he asked, before going back to the bed to join Kat, sitting beside her.
“I’m going to the Realm of Light tonight with Lakyn,” Scarlett told them.
“Wow. What did you do to convince him, sleep with him?” Kat asked, not knowing that Scarlett had done just that. Scarlett tried not to let it show on her face, which was hard. For all she knew, she had a big neon sign on her forehead announcing, “I slept with Lakyn Blackbell!”
“No, I… just talked to him,” she finally said, covering herself, but not very well.
“You talked to Lakyn?” asked Jacob, unconvinced.
“Well, I admit I had to flirt maybe a little, but it worked, and he agreed to take me. I’m going to get Dyston out.”
“Good luck,” Kat told her, pulling away from Jacob for just a second to hug her.
“Do you have a weapon?” Jacob asked. “Dyston has a special dagger, the Blackbell dagger, it…” Before Jacob could finish, Scarlett had pulled the dagger out from under her jeans’ leg.
“You mean this?” she asked, waving in front of them.
“Yes, how did you get it?”
“Dyston gave it to me one night, after he realised who I truly was. I guess he knew what was coming.”
“It’s inevitable,” muttered Jacob. Kat glanced at him, concerned.
“I better go. You know how impatient Lakyn is. I love you guys,” she told her friends, hugging them one more time before she left.
She opened the door to the library. It was dark, apart from a single glowing ball of bluish-white light emanating from within the tree.
“Lakyn?” she called, moving gingerly forward into the library.
“Here,” he said, appearing in front of the light.
“What’s this?”
“The gateway.”
“To the Realm of Light?”
“Yes, but we have to hurry. I can’t keep it open forever. Here, take my hand,” he told her. She stepped forward into the light and took his hand.
“Now, promise me you won’t be scared,” he said, before they stepped into the gateway in the tree. Scarlett was confused. Why would she be scared? They were going to a place she had always thought was a myth, the way her grandmother had told her. A place full of globes of light and crystal rivers, and castles that floated on clouds. It sounded magical.
Scarlett didn’t know what to expect as she stepped through. Solid ground maybe, or clouds—but not this, not a feeling of falling from an unimaginable height. She wanted to scream, but then she realised that she was moving forward, not down. And that Lakyn was carrying her. His arms were around her waist, and his enormous marbled wings were carrying them gracefully through the light. Scarlett blinked. Everything was so white it hurt her eyes.
“Where are we?” she asked, blinking. But the voice didn’t come from her throat, she realised. It came from inside her head.
“Above the realm. I’ll land soon,” he said back telepathically. The sensation was strange. Did they all talk this way here?
“Above? You mean we’re not actually in the Realm?”
“We’re in, but we’re flying in its stratosphere. Okay, it’s all right now. Hold on.” And then Scarlett felt herself suddenly dropping. She gripped Lakyn tighter.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, once he was flying horizontally again.
“I had to make sure the airspace was okay.”
“Why? I thought that all full-fledged angels just come and go as they please?”
“They do. It’s just that they might not be okay with me bringing you in,” he told her. Scarlett pondered that as they flew through the whiteness and into the glittering dark.
“Oh, Lakyn,” she exclaimed.
“Amazing for virgin eyes, I know.”
They flew over the mountains and the Forest of Lights. Scarlett realised that her jaw was open, and she quickly shut it again because the air around them was bitterly cold.
“It snows here?” she asked
“Yeah, but it’s not the kind of snow we have back on Earth. This snow is ethereal snow.”
“You mean it’s made of Heavenly matter?”
“Exactly. You have been doing your research,” he chuckled. She hadn’t really. Once, Dyston had put a dream in her head of them skiing together, and in the dream, he had explained that it was ethereal snow—snow made of matter and wasn’t cold, not real snow made of ice.
“What is that?” she asked as they came upon the spires of the castle in the clouds.
“That is The Chambers, where we go when we get summoned.”
“Are we going there
now?” she asked as they flew closer.
“Yeah, I have to speak to someone inside.”
A few moments later, they landed on the stony walkway, just before the bridge. Scarlett stepped on it and it crunched and shimmered. She looked closer and saw individual feathers. She suddenly felt sick with the realisation of what she was standing on.
“This is the Bridge of Wings,” she gasped.
“Yes, where disrespectful angels have their wings laid, it’s an honour, actually.”
“An honour to have your wings ripped out and turned human?”
“Not that part. I’d rather go to The Realm of Ice than become human,” replied Lakyn, walking across the bridge. She followed him reluctantly and prayed that she wasn’t stepping on Dyston’s wings.
“Why am I here? Have I been summoned? Hello, is anyone there?” shouted Dyston in his mind. He had taken to mentally yelling and bashing on the walls. He had been there for a long time, probably days, he thought, as there were no windows in the red room. So he had no idea how much time had passed. As he began again, the door slid open, and in walked a female angel that appeared to be around his mother’s age. He wasn’t sure because full angels didn’t age after a certain point. Her hair was black, and as sleek as oil, and her skin appeared to have a golden sheen to it. Dyston thought she must be of high status, as two guards who wore ethereal armour were following her closely.
“Hello, Dyston,” she said, her voice appearing in his head. How did she know his name?
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Why am I here? I don’t understand what I have done. And who are you?”
“I am Ariel, protector of the Realm of Light, and it is to my understanding that you have found the last remaining Archangel heir.”
“Yes… what do you want with her?”
“I just need to know that she’s safe. Is she in good hands?”
“Not really. She was taken as I was. That’s why I need to get out of here,” he told her.
Ariel’s attention was stolen from him the moment one of her guards whispered something into her ear. When she looked back at Dyston, her golden irises blazed. She reminded him of a lion, fierce but beautiful.
“Excuse me for a minute, Dyston, I have some visitors,” she told him.
Dyston’s whole body seemed to sag with disappointment as he sat on the arm of a lounge chair.
“Okay,” he replied softly. He was beginning to think he would never see Scarlett again.
Lakyn led Scarlett into the foyer of the Chambers. The whole time her eyes were too busy gazing up at the sparkly black interior that she hadn’t seen when Lakyn had come to a stop and that someone had joined them. She crashed into the back of him.
“Sorry…” she began to apologise, but soon shut up as she noticed the woman with the flowing black hair and the gold eyes standing in front of them.
“Scarlett, I presume?” said the woman, “I am Ariel.”
“Yes, but how…” Scarlett was speechless.
“I have heard all about you. Come,” she beckoned. Lakyn took Scarlett’s hand and went with them reluctantly. Ariel led them to some double doors at the end of the corridor just off to the right of the foyer. Scarlett expected their shoes to echo inside the cavernous place, but there was only silence. The doors made of ivory with gold handles contrasted sharply with the black all around, and on either side were ivory pillars intertwined with what looked to her like grape vines. The doors opened inward as soon as Ariel stood in front of them, as if they sensed her presence, and they entered. Ariel made her way to her seat, or her throne was more like it. It was a large ebony chair trimmed in gold. It matched everything in the room. The walls were painted black and had gold feathers stencilled on them. There were two smaller dining chairs in the room, also black and gold, facing Ariel’s throne. And she gestured for Scarlett and Lakyn to sit in them. They didn’t hesitate.
“What brings you to the Realm of Light?” she asked. She reminded Scarlett of a wicked queen from a human story her grandmother had told her, about a girl with hair black as night and skin white as snow. She hoped Ariel wasn’t as evil as that queen.
“My employees brought my brother here,” Lakyn told Ariel. Scarlett glared at him. How could he, she thought.
“For what purpose?” asked Ariel
“For failing at his Task. He needs to be punished,” he told Ariel. Scarlett’s heart sank.
“No!” She protested. She shot out of her seat. Ariel regarded her as if she were an insect she wanted to squash.
“He means something to you.” It wasn’t a question. She tilted her head as if regarding her, figuring out if she should eat her or not, Scarlett figured “That’s why you are here, is it not?” she asked with a cat-like grin. Lakyn looked as if he were in pain.
“You lied to me!” he growled.
“I’m sorry, Lakyn, but did you really think I would choose you over Dyston? I had to get here somehow. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to find him,” she declared as she started towards the door, only to be stopped by Ariel’s two guards.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett, but your boyfriend… you can’t see him.” Ariel told her.
“Why not? You better not have had his wings torn out!” She turned and her irises were glowing fiery orange. “He hasn’t done anything bad.”
“He failed in his Task and must be punished,” Ariel told her, echoing Lakyn. This angered Scarlett. She felt her whole body heat up and the fire coming to the surface.
“Mess with Dyston and you mess with me,” she told them, flames appearing at her fingertips as she turned to leave. As the guards tried to stop her, she burned them and they dropped to the ground, screaming. She then ran out into the corridor.
Dyston lounged on the love seat, his boots up in front of him. He was bored out of his brain. That was when he heard the screaming. He shot to his feet and stood alert. It was coming from the other side of the wall. He ran over to it, and put his ear against the wall, listening. Nothing. It had stopped. He was about to pull away, when he heard another sound. A more familiar sound—her voice inside his head.
“Dyston, where are you?” she called.
“Here, in the red room,” he called back with a smile.
“Where is that?”
“To the left of the foyer.”
There was silence as Scarlett ran across the foyer, burning more angel guards along the way.
“Black double doors?” she asked.
“Yes,” he told her.
She tried them, but they didn’t budge. “They’re locked.”
“Stand back, I’ll try.”
Scarlett stood back. From inside, Dyston ran towards the doors and kicked with all his might. There was an almighty bang, but the doors still wouldn’t budge.
“Sorry,” he told her. “Try with your Trait.”
“Okay.” Scarlett focused all her energy on the doors and sent a fireball sailing towards the handles.
“That won’t work here,” said Ariel, gliding towards her.
“Please release him, he didn’t do anything wrong. There are worse crimes than failing a Task,” said Scarlett
“True, but I was only going to do what I was asked to do.”
“What were you asked to do?”
Ariel didn’t reply. Instead, she just unlocked the doors with a skeleton key she had pulled from a chain attached to her waist. The doors slid open, and there he stood. He was a little ruffled, but as beautiful as ever. Scarlett wanted to run to him, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
“No, you are no longer his Task,” Ariel told her, stepping forward and grabbing Dyston by the arm.
“What?” Scarlett asked in confusion.
“It’s ok, Scar, it’s better than the alternative. I’m sure you saw the bridge,” he told her, his kind chocolate eyes holding hers.
“Can he have another Task?” she asked Ariel, but secretly she didn’t want him to have any other task but her.
“No. From now
on, he is purposeless.”
“And what does that mean? Can’t he come back with me?”
“No, an angel who has been stripped of his Task can never leave the Realm of Light.”
Scarlett felt as if her heart had been torn out of her chest. As Ariel began to lead Dyston away, Scarlett decided what she had to do. It was the only way to free him. She realised then she would do anything for him.
“Then you can take me, the last remaining relative of the Archangels, I will forever be in your debt,” she told them.
“Scarlett, no!” Dyston cried, struggling against Ariel’s grip. Scarlett just held his gaze.
Chapter Eleven
Debt
Ariel smiled cunningly.
“Scarlett, do you even know what you’re doing? A deal of that calibre, a blood debt, is one of the most powerful debts an angel can make,” Dyston told her, still struggling in Ariel’s grasp. She let him go, and he ran to Scarlett’s side.
“I read about it in a textbook,” Scarlett admitted.
“But that’s in the Fourth Year textbook.”
“I know.” She held his gaze.
“He’s right, and as much as I hate to break up your lover’s reunion, we have formalities to get through,” Ariel interrupted.
“Please, don’t do this,” Dyston pleaded.
“It’s my choice, Dyston, and I choose to free you,” she told him, before stepping away. “Let’s do this.”
“Very well.” Ariel led her back into the foyer and over to the elevator. Dyston followed close behind.
Once they stepped into the elevator, Scarlett asked the one question that had been eating at her.
“So what will happen after the ceremony? Can we leave?” The Ceremony of the Blood Debt rarely happened anymore, but it was essentially, a deal in blood that an Archangel made as a sacrifice or a swap for another angel. And since Scarlett was the only surviving one with Archangel blood, the deal would now be valid.
