World Without Angels

by Campbell, Jamie

  It was far easier to find a name that you were looking for rather than search for a meaning. He had to look through each and every name to try and find one with the meaning ‘Dark Night’. So far, he was up to the ‘D’s’ in boy’s names and he hadn’t found anything close.

  The search was painstaking. He had never heard such odd and bizarre names before. In the angel world, parents named their children after saints in Heaven or family members – which, by default, meant they too were named after saints. The majority of the names in the book sounded completely made up, like something you might name your pet turtle rather than your offspring. Humans really were bizarre creatures.

  He finished with the boy’s names and moved on to the girl’s. The prophecy never mentioned whether it was referring to a male or female, so it could have been either. If he was right and Dark Night did mean a name, then they weren’t looking for a male. He started with the girl’s names, making his way through the alphabet slowly.

  Almost halfway through the list, Jerome stopped. He found a name that meant Dark Night. It was nothing more elaborate, held no fewer words than just the two: Dark Night. There was actually a name that had the meaning he was looking for. He wanted to jump and scream in joy, his hunch had paid off. He would be able to reduce the names on the list and narrow down their search. They would be able to find a handful, they could disregard thousands of the names.

  When Jerome settled down and looked at the name that belonged to the meaning, all his excitement evaporated. He recognized the name, in fact he knew exactly who the human was that he was looking for. And that person, the one who could choose to meet the call and end the war, saving the angels and the world, was Leila.

  CHAPTER 16

  Jerome didn’t know what to do. He wanted to wake up Leila and tell her everything he had found. But a part of him didn’t want to either. If she was the one they had been looking for over the past three weeks, he didn’t know how he felt about it. He had been doing nothing but protecting her from danger. If she was the one, then he would be sending her right into the middle of the most dangerous battle imaginable. He didn’t want that for her, he wanted her to be safe and secure.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t have it both ways. Ultimately, he had to believe in the prophecy. He had to believe she would win and end the war. Either way, it was going to end.

  He hovered over Leila until she awoke, probably from the sense she was being watched. The look on his face told her that something was up. She dreaded it already.

  “Why are you watching me sleep?” She mumbled groggily. “Surely there is something more interesting to do?”

  “You look beautiful when you sleep.”

  “Sure, whatever you reckon.”

  Jerome remained lingering, but he couldn’t keep his secret inside. There was no way he could keep something so huge from her. She deserved to know. “I found what name means Dark Night.”

  Leila sat up, rubbing her eyes and adjusting to the light. “That’s good. What is it?”

  “It’s Leila.”

  “What?”

  “The name Leila means Dark Night,” Jerome repeated. He watched as she started shaking her head slowly.

  “You’re wrong. You need to keep looking.”

  “I read through the entire book, there isn’t any other name with that meaning.”

  “Then you’re wrong about it meaning a name. Dark Night could mean anything, it doesn’t have to be a name,” Leila was getting angry now, she didn’t want to believe what he was saying.

  “Leila, listen to me, everything fits. You live in the shadow of the Warrior God, you saw a miracle when I fell to Earth, your father is a jeweler – a beater of gold, and you are an orphan. Leila the prophecy is talking about you.” Jerome didn’t know how to convince her, but he understood her refusal to believe it. He didn’t want to believe it either, but the more he thought about it, the more he truly couldn’t do anything but believe.

  “I’m not listening to this,” Leila quickly got out of the bed and left the garage as fast as her feet would take her. She stormed outside, needing the fresh air more than anything else in the world.

  She didn’t believe Jerome could be right. The one they were searching for was going to be someone that was brave, courageous and strong. Someone with enough inner strength to be able to take on evil itself and fight for the good in the world. They would be able to look the demons in the eye and they would quiver with fear. That person was going to be extraordinary and that person wasn’t her. She couldn’t believe she was any of those things. If the world was relying on her, then they were going to be sorely disappointed.

  She started pacing, her mind in a spin. She needed to work out how she was going to convince Jerome to keep looking. They couldn’t stop with her, she wasn’t the one and that was that.

  Footsteps started padding behind her. She sighed, not ready to talk to Jerome yet. She hadn’t thought of a plan, she didn’t know what to say to him. And above all, she didn’t want to let him down.

  “Jerome, I don’t know what to say,” she started, but Jerome held up a hand to stop her.

  “Just think about the facts, you’ll realize they all fit with you. You are the one.”

  “Stop saying that.”

  “When is your birthday?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Leila, when is your birthday?”

  She stared at him defiantly, not wanting to reveal the truth. Yet she couldn’t lie to him, she just couldn’t. “It’s December thirteenth.”

  Jerome figured as much. “Skyward archers witnessed your birth. You were born under the astrological sign of Sagittarius. It’s you, Leila, it’s you.”

  He took her hand in his, trying to silently let her know it was going to be okay. He had no way of knowing that, but he had to keep the faith.

  She shook him away, something she had never done before and wouldn’t even have dreamed of doing just minutes ago. “You’re wrong, Jerome. I really wish you would stop saying that.”

  He wasn’t going to give up, he couldn’t. “You once said to me it was no coincidence that I fell in Aron. Leila, it’s no coincidence that you are the one that found me either.”

  His words took her by surprise, her own statement coming back to bite her when she really didn’t want it to. Just because she had been the one to find him injured in the street, didn’t mean she was the one he would be looking for. Fate didn’t necessarily work like that, destiny neither. Who was to say why things happened? Some things just happened because they happened and no other reason.

  “It’s not me, Jerome, just accept it and move on,” Leila said wearily, emotionally drained already and she had barely been awake for ten minutes.

  “I can’t accept it.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to.”

  She stormed away from him and headed towards the house. She just wanted to move on and find the real person they needed to fight the demons. Because she definitely wasn’t it.

  As she stomped along, her left foot caught on a loose brick at the base of the crumbled wall. She tripped, almost losing her balance. Jerome grabbed her arm just in time, preventing her from falling flat onto her face. She snatched her arm back and pulled down her top that had jumped up in the trip. However, she wasn’t quick enough to stop Jerome seeing the one thing she had been trying to hide on her lower back.

  “You’ve got a birthmark,” Jerome gasped. “You’ve been marked by the Creator’s touch.”

  “It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a tiny blemish.” She kept walking, still denying her fate. The mark was just a blob, she always thought it looked like a heart. A slightly misshapen heart, but one nevertheless. Most of the time she forgot she had it. It was nothing but a birthmark, she swore it couldn’t be more.

  She continued her stomping right into the garage. She was going to make a point so Jerome would accept the truth and then get back to finding the real person they were looking for. She looked around the roo
m, trying to see what she was searching for: the sword of Cadmus.

  “What are you doing?” Jerome asked as she tore the small room apart.

  “I’m going to prove to you I’m not the human that can end the war between the demons and the angels,” she said with determination. “Ah, found it.”

  The sword was laying underneath the bed, Jerome placed it there so he could pick it up quickly if they were startled in the middle of the night. Plus, it was least likely to accidently hurt someone hidden away there. The blade was extremely sharp, despite its age and where it had been stored for centuries. Out of the way was the best place for it.

  She reached for the sword, her fingers quickly grasping around the hilt as she pulled it out. It was far heavier than she had anticipated, she needed to use both hands to hold it still. She stood and held it up with a look on her face that screamed ‘I told you so’. However, she never got to see his reaction. The moment the sword was held above her head, she was encased in a brilliant white light.

  Everything became too bright. Jerome was ensconced in the light across from her but he quickly disappeared. There was nothing to be seen except whiteness. Her eyes were forced closed, unable to take the brilliance anymore.

  In the time it took to blink, the light died away. Except when Leila looked around, she wasn’t in the garage of the house anymore. Instead of the bare brick walls there were open fields. Underneath her feet wasn’t concrete but dirt. But the rolling hills surrounding her weren’t picturesque and beautiful, they were terrifying. Leila stood in the middle of an almighty battle.

  Demons directly from her nightmares were all around, they were the ugliest and meanest looking creatures she had ever seen. Their ember black skin was dotted with scabs and prickly hair. Their red eyes burned with the intensity of a million fires and the noises that escaped from their mouths were like a thousand shrieking animals.

  Every demon was engaged in a fight with an angel. Although it wasn’t a fair fight. The angels were doing their best to block the blows but it only worked a small fraction of the time. They took each knock hard, being pushed back with the force of the attack. They were losing fast and it was not pretty. The ground at her feet was layered with feathers torn from wings and blood taken with talons.

  Leila stood frozen in place, unable to move. She still held the sword in her hands but couldn’t lower or raise it any. She was a statue, practically made out of marble.

  Jerome recovered quickly, he didn’t have the luxury of freaking out when his kin were dying at his side. He recognized the place as the wastelands. It was the area between the angel village and hell where no-one was supposed to tread. It was a territory that was ruled by no side, it was meant to be impartial. Somewhere along the line, the rules were broken by both sides as they started their fight.

  He grabbed the sword from Leila’s hand and stood in front of her. She was the only human there, she may as well have had a red target painted on her. Once the demons discovered a human on the battlefield, they would head directly for her. And he knew a mere sword wouldn’t be enough to stave them off. Even if that sword was Cadmus’s. She wouldn’t stand a chance.

  The demons started coming. Jerome wielded the sword like he had done it his entire life. He didn’t know where the skill came from but he didn’t care at that point. He lunged at the demons, thrusting the sword into their chest whenever they were within reach. The entire time, his main focus was keeping Leila behind him. They had come too far now to rescind on his promise to protect her. He would keep his vow to the very end if it came to that.

  In the distance, a familiar face caught his eye. While taking on two demons at a time, he saw Alexander fighting with three of them. His initial elation at seeing his friend alive was quickly replaced with dread at his predicament. There would no doubt be few angels leaving the wasteland that day. Alexander had to make it, he had to.

  It fuelled an additional fire that Jerome needed. He lunged harder, lashed out faster, and didn’t hold anything back. He showed no mercy to the demons, retaliating with everything he had. He could deal with his guilt and grief later, now it was time to fight. He thought about all those humans that had died as a result of the balance being tipped. He thought of the people that were terrified, of his family that had all been wiped out. He thought about all the suffering, the fear, and the horror he had seen over the past eighteen months. It was all he needed to know that he was doing the right thing. The demons had to die and the angels had to fight back. They just had to.

  Something across the field made Jerome look up. He saw a sight that was so gruesome it belonged in a nightmare. Across the battlefield was Septuses, the most powerful demon of them all. Jerome had only heard legends about him, he didn’t even believe he truly existed. Something that evil and filled with that much hatred could not really walk on the same ground as the rest of the world.

  The legends of Septuses were told around campfires and behind classrooms by older angels wishing to scare the pants off the younger angels. His gaze could apparently burn a mortal to a crisp, his breath bad enough to knock someone out, and his touch could kill any creature instantly – including both angels and humans. He was the demon even other demons feared. He truly was the stuff of nightmares.

  The presence of Septuses on the battlefield told Jerome one thing – it was truly a fight to the end. Either way, the war was going to end today. One side was going to leave victorious, the other side would never leave. Everything they had fought for during the past eighteen months, everything and everyone they had lost, and every pain they had felt was all going to end before nightfall.

  He shook his head, tearing himself away from Septuses. Jerome felt a burning inside of him, a rage he had never felt before. He danced in front of Leila, making sure none of the demons could get to her. He didn’t feel the fatigue in his limbs, even though it was there. He didn’t notice the way he had to gasp for each breath because his lungs were aching. All he knew was that the demons were going to lose and it was going to take each and every angel on the battlefield in order to do it.

  He took a step forward, the demon in front of him hissing and waving his long talons too close for comfort. His red eyes didn’t register any emotion as he attacked, he just knew he had to destroy the angel. He had his orders, there wasn’t even a question about it.

  Jerome swung the sword, colliding with the demon’s right arm. It sliced through, leaving a deep cut in his forearm. Blood started dripping but it didn’t slow down the demon. If anything, it made him more angry. The demon spat at him, hissing sounds with such hatred it was like listening to evil itself.

  The demon retaliated by using his claws to leave his mark across Jerome’s chest. He jumped back in time to miss the brunt of it, but the four red lines still ran deep enough to bleed. He lunged again, this time aiming for the demon’s head. He managed to knick the neck but the demon barely batted an eyelid.

  With one swift movement, the demon ducked and reached for Jerome’s legs. It was such an unexpected move that he didn’t have time to step out of his grasp. The demon pulled both of his legs rights from underneath him. He crashed to the ground with an almighty thud.

  The impact of hitting the ground knocked all the wind from his lungs. Jerome gasped for air, trying to refill his lungs. The air tasted like smoke with a hint of the metallic elements found in blood. It was disgusting but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. At that moment, the air was welcome no matter what horrible taste it left in his mouth.

  Before Jerome could stand, the demon took his last shot. He went for the face, sliding his four talons across the skin. With his other hand, he punched his chest so hard it made him jump with the impact.

  Jerome didn’t move. His lifeless body remained on the ground, the sword still in his hand on the ground. Satisfied, the demon left him, knowing he wouldn’t be getting up again.

  CHAPTER 17

  Leila had seen it all. She had watched Jerome fight in horror, feeling every blow he took like it
was her. She didn’t know how to fight the creatures, even just the look of them terrified her to the core. Her feet remained in place while she saw the chaos going on around her.

  She watched the back of Jerome, her protector, as he moved around her. She knew exactly what he was doing and it pained her. He shouldn’t be risking his own life to protect hers, she didn’t deserve it. Not when she had refused to meet the call even though she knew she was the one in the prophecy. She should have been shunned, not protected.

  When Jerome had been knocked to the ground, it was like a bolt of lightning had gone through her. She was shocked into action, her feet able to move once again. She sunk to the ground, crouched over the unmoving body of her angel. His skin was starting to pale, his eyes closed. That beautiful face she had gazed upon so much over the past three weeks was gone, disfigured with the claw marks of the demon. Everything was gone.

  The tears stinging her eyes were involuntary. It didn’t matter that there was unspeakable violence and pain going on around her. It didn’t matter that angels were still falling to the ground every few minutes, being taken out by the demons who were only growing in number. The only thing that registered in her mind was the angel underneath her hands, the one that wasn’t moving.

  He had sacrificed everything for her. He had solved the riddle, decoded the prophecy and found the one mortal that could save everyone. He had done it, Jerome had done everything in his power to fight the war. He had played his part and got the mortal to the battle, he could die with that knowledge. However this was no comfort to Leila. In her eyes, he had died for her and she didn’t deserve such a courageous act.

  “Jerome, wake up,” she begged, holding the collar of his ripped shirt. “You have to wake up. I can’t do this.”

  He didn’t move, no matter how much she wanted him to. She laid her head on his chest, letting the tears fall down her cheeks. She wished she could turn back the clock and go back in time. She wouldn’t have touched the damn sword, she would never have let Jerome down. She wouldn’t have let him sacrifice himself for her. She would have been stronger, she would have been brave and stepped up. If only she could go back and have a do over.