by Ember Hollis
My wings.
“Where are my wings?” I rasp, reaching for my back. I’d felt my bones shifting. The very skin on my back splitting. My body had torn itself apart to give birth to my angelic half, and yet… how could it have just disappeared?
I yank my shirt up and turn to look in the mirror, hoping to see or feel something… anything. But there’s just bare skin. “Where did my wings go!”
“Miss Ramsey, please calm down.”
I look up and see Chiros has come into the infirmary. The centaur makes his way over to me, bending slightly over to avoid the hanging lamps along the room.
“Where are my wings?” I demand.
“They’ve retreated,” he tells me. He stands straight and tall, but there’s an uneasy air about him that niggles me.
“Why? Are they meant to disappear when I don’t use them?” Did that mean I’d have to go through all that pain and injury every time I wanted to fly? That would totally suck, but I guess I could deal with it.
Chiros hesitates and I know that the truth is worse. Something truly is wrong.
“What did Knox do?” I whisper, dreading his answer. The memory of what I’d dreamed of, of falling once again, is slowly coming back to me, along with his ominous words and ravenous gaze.
‘From now on, you’re nothing. Not even part-angel.’
That can’t be true. It just can’t be!
Chiros straightens and presses his lips into a firm line before answering. “I gave Mr. Knox permission to take your magic. It was already a strain for your body to summon your wings, particularly since you have no ability to control your power, but when they broke during your fall and began hemorrhaging… well your energy was already drained from summoning them, and your human body could only divert so much life force towards healing. You were in mortal danger, but luckily Mr. Knox was in the vicinity. At my request, he helped drain your body of the angelic magic that was trying to repair your wings, thus keeping you alive until my best healers could get to you.”
“I don’t understand,” I shake my head, trying to wrap my mind around what he’s saying. Despair and burgeoning rage makes his words hard to decipher. “He took my magic to help save my energy, but I end up losing my wings? How does that even work?”
“Miss Ramsey,” Chiros says patiently. “Angelic magic is potent and very dangerous, especially for a mortal like you. Humans with your heritage can sometimes perform miracles, but like moths flying too close to a flame, they often perish when their magic burns them out. You had a mere taste of your power for the very first time today, but even that was enough to put you in mortal danger.”
“But if using it is so dangerous, why am I even here!” I cry out. “Didn’t I come here precisely to learn how to use it?”
Chiros holds a hand up to stop me. “That’s why I didn’t reach out to you to enroll here when you first came of age. It has been more than a hundred years since the last angel-born child walked these halls, and I expected hundreds more to pass before someone did. But Mikael insisted you would be stronger than most when he requested me to reconsider taking you on. I didn’t expect my doubts to be disproved so fast, but it seems he was right to believe in you.”
So I really wasn’t meant to be here. It was only because Mikael had believed in me, because he’d fought for me to come that I’d been allowed to enroll. He had faith I’d be strong enough.
A small smile winds its way about my lips until I recall what Knox did to me. Just like that, all that pain and suffering was for nothing. And what will Dad say when he hears I lost my wings?
“Will I have to leave?” I whisper.
“What?” Chiros looks taken aback.
“I lost my wings.”
Chiros shakes his head emphatically. “No, Miss Ramsey, we will definitely not make you leave just because of this. Not unless you truly want to. You have potential, just like your father said. But you will only fulfill it if you are patient. Your wings may be gone now but they might come back when you’re ready.”
“But there’s no guarantee of that, is there?”
“Nothing in life is guaranteed, Miss Ramsey. But you’ve already surprised us once, so why not again.” Though he says that, Chiros won’t meet my eyes, and that is more telling than his empty reassurances and platitudes.
“How could he do it?”
“Do what and whom, Miss Ramsey?”
“Knox,” I whisper. “I know you said it was for my own good, but… how is it even possible for him to do something like this, to take away my angelic power? And Bane too,” I add, suddenly recalling how the silver-haired devil had raised the dead and sent them after me. “What the hell are they?”
Chiros blinks slowly down at me, as if he’s reminding himself that he should cut me some slack since I just fell off a cliff and probably hit my head along with several other body parts.
“Miss Ramsey,” he finally says, his voice quiet and somber. “I thought you’d have found that out by now. It’s on the first page of your handbook after all.”
The handbook? I’d barely had any time to even look at that brick of a book since I arrived, though it seems now that I really should have. I silently vow to read all my manuals religiously, then shake my head at Chiros. “I haven’t gotten to it yet.”
Chiros frowns and reaches up to scratch at his curly beard. “Well, since it appears you really don’t know, I guess it falls to me to enlighten you. Christian, Malek, Knox, and Bane are The Four.”
He stares meaningfully at me while I gaze blankly back at him. I’ve already heard that term used to describe them, but it’s hardly descriptive. I assumed it just meant that the four of them were the Elite, the four supposed ‘Kings’ of the school. But apparently not, if they’re actually written about in the school handbook.
Again, Chiros sees my lack of comprehension. He stares at me, his eyebrows twitching, until I shrug helplessly. “The Four… what?”
“The Four, meaning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” he finally explains with an incredulous sigh. “Only the most important and powerful supernatural beings currently living on earth.”
Chapter 19: Heaven
I stare at Chiros. The Four Horsemen? Weren't they only supposed to come only during the last Judgement?
And yet, it all seems to fit. Conquest, War, Famine and Death... and Christian, Malek, Knox, and Bane. Aside from the fact that Christian was more of a lustful conqueror than anything else, those profiles fit them to a T.
I blink rapidly and refocus on what Chiros is saying. “—so you see, getting him to give you your power back would be an almost impossible endeavor,” Chiros tells me. "It would be far easier for you to just recuperate and regain your strength the natural way. Do you understand, Heaven?"
Not really. I’m still stuck on the fact that I’m going to school with the harbingers of the end of the world, and that they seem to want to get some practice in by torturing me. Chiros appears to want an answer though.
"But... if they really are the Horsemen, why are they here at the school? Is the Apocalypse coming?"
Chiros smiles wryly. "That's answered in the second sentence in the handbook.” He lifts his eyes to the ceiling and quotes, "'The Horsemen aren't here to aid in an impending Apocalypse, merely to receive training as the guardians of their divine powers till they are needed.'"
He looks back down at me. "There is no need to panic and fear the end of the world, Heaven. There have been many Horsemen throughout time, since no one knows precisely when the End will come. In fact, Pandorax Academy was specifically founded to train each new generation of the Four. We have a solid tradition of turning out powerful and competent Horsemen even before we opened our doors to other supernaturals. So just be aware of their powers and treat them with the respect they deserve for bearing their unique burdens, and you should all have no problem living and working together."
I almost scoff in his face, before I manage to hold myself back. Respect? Burdens? Competence? Those four boys
had done nothing but terrorize me since I came. And for what? Simply because they wanted to and knew they could get away with it? No sirree, that wasn't how I worked.
Something of my disatisfaction must have showed on my face, because Chiros leans towards me again.
"I know this is hard for you, Heaven," he says sympathetically. "Few students come into their powers so suddenly and violently. And then for you to lose it all literally seconds later in a near tragedy," he shakes his head.
"I understand if you feel disappointed and angry. Cheated even. But please believe me when I say that Knox only took your powers to help save you. It is far better to live temporarily as a mere human than it is to cling to your part-angel heritage and die in an accident. In fact, you were lucky to even have a second chance, since few supernaturals can do what he did for you.”
If I hadn’t pissed Knox off, I’d have swallowed that nonsense. But since I did and I’m a hundred percent sure he did it just to make me ‘pay’ and not really to save my life, I just can’t accept it. That greedy bastard will just have to cough up my powers, I decide, Horseman or no Horseman. But Chiros won't stop looking at me worriedly. I need to put on a show if I want him to leave me alone.
I sigh heavily, then nod, schooling my face into a look of reluctant acceptance, just the way I used to when Mom made it clear we’d be moving yet again. "Well, at least now I know what I can do. I’ll just have to try harder to get my powers back.”
Chiron nods and smiles widely in approval, "That's the spirit, Heaven. That's exactly what I hoped to hear."
“But I think I’d like to know more about the Horsemen,” I say. “If its true they’ll play a role in the Apocalypse, I feel like I should know more, since I’m sure they’ll need angelic help when or if the time comes.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Miss Ramsey,” the centaur looks impressed now, and I stifle a giggle. Hook, line, and sinker. Just like how Mom would hand over her credit card whenever I said I needed new things to fit in at my new school.
Chiros takes a step closer and leans forward even more, "You know, I was hesitating to tell you in case you were still fragile after your fall, but I actually have a unique proposition for you. One that might even help you regain your powers sooner."
"Really? What is it?" I ask eagerly, this time without any insincerity.
"I want you to be our Unicorn Whisperer."
“Your… what?” I frown.
“Our unicorns are one of the reasons why Pandorax is so reknowned. We have successfully maintained a herd of them here for hundreds of years. However something has been troubling them recently and our numbers have… dwindled.”
I stare at Chiron as his face reddens considerably. “We normally task one of our younger students with the care of the unicorns since they have a preference for innocence. However, I’ve been having suspicions for a while now, that our current Unicorn Whisperer is no longer suitable for her current post, and your accident finally allowed me to confirm it. I knew it was only a matter of time, no one stays pure forever, but I thought I could rely on her to come forward and tell me herself. Apparently I was wrong.”
Chiros harrumphs, then mumbles something to himself so quietly that all I hear is ‘Christian’ and ‘matter of time’.
I open my mouth, then shut it, not quite sure just what to say.
“Anyway, considering you were the one the unicorn turned to, and that you risked your life to save it, I’ve decided that you should take over Amelie’s position as resident Unicorn Whisperer. Like the Parnassus blossoms—oh, and good work finding them by the way!—the unicorns are a source of beauty and more importantly, purity, here at the Academy. They are of vital importance for some of our students, and I think they should also help bring you closer to recovering your angelic magic.”
“The post will also come with some benefits which you will receive after you finish serving your one week of detention. Taking this up will mean that you have less free time, but this is still a very good opportunity for you, if I do say so myself. Aside from the benefits to you, unicorns are quite valuable and so the position is very esteemed here at Pandorax.”
“Uh, thanks, I guess,” I say. Chiros is looking at me as if he’s just done me a great favor, but after almost being killed trying to save a unicorn, I’m not sure I want to thank him for it, though the idea that they might help me regain my abilities is tempting. “But wait, did you just say detention?”
“Why, yes. Near-death experiences do not exempt anyone from disciplinary action, Miss Ramsey,” Chiros says sternly, though the corners of his lips quirk upwards. “But as I said, since you will already be busy, and taking into account this recent accident, it should be punishment enough to just withhold your Unicorn Whisperer privileges for a week.”
“Okay,” I shrug. “Then I accept the position.”
“Great! You will start tomorrow, right after class. Come to the Western pasture and Amelie will be there to show you the ropes and tell you everything else you need to know. Now, I’ll leave you in peace. Do try to regain your strength, you’ll need it for tomorrow.” Chiros informs me before turning to leave, his huge hooves clip clopping loudly in his wake.
Chapter 20: Heaven
I spend the rest of my day with Madam Kahili in the infirmary. The next morning, after a huge breakfast during which I spend half the time dodging her enthusiastic attempts to spoon-feed me with all four of her blue hands, I head straight to class.
On my way, I notice that the school feels different now. People aren’t sneering or laughing at me anymore. Most of them give me considering looks, while others actually meet my eyes or smile when they pass me by. It seems like saving a unicorn really does do wonders for one’s social life.
Still, the change feels really weird, especially when a couple of fox-shifters who mocked me when I was being chased by Bane’s animals yesterday grin when I pass and give me the thumbs up. The fakeness of it all makes a wave of nausea sweep through me and tempts me to return their gesture with a third finger. None of these students lifted a finger to help me yesterday, so none of them deserve my friendship.
It’s almost a relief when a familiar duo of mean girls corners me at my locker, their faces full of spite and envy.
“Oh, look what the troll threw out,” Briley mocks predictably.
She and Vivette stand on either side of me, their hands on their hips like twin barbie dolls. Today, Vivette’s hair is curled into bubblegum pink fuzz studded with silver stars, while Briley’s sky-blue hair frames her heart-shaped face in a perfect blowout. Their blouses are so sheer, I can see the lace on their bras, and their skirts are so short, I can almost make out the bottom of their matching underwear. Together, they’re like tall, beautiful models that nobody can resist eyeballing as they pass us by.
“I figured after you threw yourself off the cliff, you’d get surgery to make yourself look better,” Vivette laughs, “But I don’t think any doctor on earth can fix this,” she gestures at my face, “How do you even manage to be so ugly?”
“It comes naturally,” Briley quips, then the two of them collapse against my locker in laughter, Vivette somehow managing to hit the door so it swings and slams into my arm.
I grab the door and consider ‘accidentally’ dropping my fist on her face. After everything I’ve been through recently, I don’t feel so tolerant or scared of them anymore. Nothing they do can hurt as much as it had hurt when I’d gotten my wings only to lose them immediately. But before I can make a move, someone pipes up over my shoulder.
“Hey, stop that!” I turn around and see a girl with blue-black hair twined into braids. She’s breathtakingly beautiful, but the thing that makes me pause and stare are the two elegantly pointed ears framing her perfectly oval face. She must be an elf. “Leave her alone, you two.”
Briley and Vivette look at her and grimace.
“If it isn’t the ex-darling of Pandorax,” Vivette spits, her rosebud mouth twisted into a sneer. “If troll-butt
here’s the new Whisperer, what does that make you, huh?”
“I may not be the Unicorn Whisperer anymore, but I can still take you out anytime, you birdbrains,” the new girl says haughtily. For some reason, she looks incredibly familiar to me, though I don’t recognize her from yesterday or all the other instances someone taunted me in the halls. I wrack my brains trying to recall where I’d seen her before, while the two harpies scowl.
Meanwhile, the girl pulls out a medium length staff from a belt loop at her hip and waves it at Briley and Vivette. “Now get going, or I’ll turn you into feather-dusters for the day!”
The gargoyle above me shudders then flicks its wings over its head, sending a cascade of dust and dried out beetle shells pouring right onto Vivette’s hair. A spider lands on Briley’s cheek, and both she and Vivette emit twin shrieks before taking off for the nearest washroom.
“Wow, thanks,” I stare at the girl in awe. “That was some magic.”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” she replies. “They’ll be back. They’re like flies hovering over rotten fruit. Not that you’re rotten fruit,” she clasps a hand over her lips. “Sorry, I just can’t keep my foot out of my mouth.”
“I know, but you’re one of the few people who’s actually helped me out since I got here,” I blurt, then blush. I’m usually not so open to strangers. But something about this girl makes me want to trust her.
“Yeah, the only way to survive in Pandorax is to show off your strength,” she replies, then sticks her hand out. “I’m Amelie, the old Unicorn Whisperer.”
“Oh! I’m supposed to meet you after class,” I exclaim.
“Yeah, I know,” she smiles. “But we have Magical Geometry together, so I figured I might as well introduce myself now.” She leads the way to the classroom and we take seats side-by-side at the back of the class.
Students begin to file in and I shuffle my books on my desk. I want to say more and make friends with Amelie, but I feel awkward now that I know she lost her position to me. After several more minutes of us sitting in silence, waiting for class to start, I make up my mind to just say something about it.
