Guardian: The Guardian Part 25

He knows where I expect him to go, probably from the thick Essence embracing us in our tight little s.p.a.ce that connects us emotionally, because he keeps on soaring determinedly across the dark skies. I daren't look below me, to try figure out where we could be, but I think I know where we are going.

Follow what your heart most desires, and there you'll find the doors to Tartaros.

I feel our descent shortly before our feet touch the hard ground below us. I fight with every bone in my body to keep the Essence densely enclosed around us in the imaginary spherical enclosure I have built for us. I track her easily, using my senses whose keenness and accuracy has sharpened greatly due to the overwhelming divine Energy around me.

The angel has dropped me right outside her hut. She is in there. I can smell her warm homely scent. Hooking my able hand for support through that of my accompanying angelic soldier, I walk the few steps into the hut. When I lift my hand to push at the door, I find that my hand easily slips through the solid door instead.

Wow! I must have wielded us to complete invisibility, enough to transfer us to the next dimension so as to keep us hidden even to the human world. I step in through the door, my angelic soldier in step with me.

My eyes fall on my mother sleeping heavily on the small hard bed in front of me. I have missed her so much, and fight against every urge to hug her. I walk to her gently, bend my head and bring my lips as low as I can to her forehead, without melting into her.

I then see it. It definitely does not belong here. A long sword, its hilt patterned in the same style as the swords I have seen the angels wield. What is mom doing with one of the angelic swords? But upon closer inspection, I realize that it cannot be my mother's. It appears to also be in the other dimension. I lift my healthy hand gently to touch it, and I feel its smooth leather scabbard, cool under my warm fingers. I try to unhook it, but it is heavy, and the effort sends more rocking waves of pain through me. I look up at the angel beside me.

"Could you please...?" I start, and without hesitation, he lifts his hand to the sword, but his hand unexpectedly melts though the sword that had been solid to my touch a few seconds ago.

"What..?" I start "It must be meant for you only. Your will, your quest. You are the only one that can touch it," he says to me quietly. I realize it is the first time I have heard him speak. His voice is identical to his leader's.

I look up to where it is hooked onto a thick nail, and my face furrows as I realize just how much pain is in store for me. My arm is now a pain-throbbing ma.s.s, and every movement only makes the pain worse. I really hope Archangel Stupid is alive, because I need a quick remedy for this soon. Very soon.

Grinding my teeth as hard as I can together, and still concentrating with all my might at keeping our shield up, I lift my arm and unhook the hanged scabbard holding the sword. My eyes are now seeing red as I swing the sword's belt over my shoulder and head with my one able hand, and adjust it so that it sits securely between my shoulder blades.

Tears are now running down my face as a result of the cries I have suppressed during the strenuous exercise. I do a mental inspection of the walls around us with my eyes closed, making sure that I have not made any holes on our shield while I had been concentrating on unhooking the sword.

I open my eyes slowly, catching the dark pairs of eyes of my one-man angel army staring back at me. I could swear I note a flash of approval deep in his eyes. Who am I kidding? Hadn't the watchers told me that these are the true robots, when it comes to heavenly beings?

"We have to go," I manage to whisper through my jaw clenched in pain. He promptly nods, before hooking his arm under mine and helping me limp out through the walls. I steal one quick look at my sleeping mother before I step out into the brightening air.

The sun is coming up.

What now? I think as I stand in the empty clearance of the savannah plain lands, staring at the miles and miles of scanty gra.s.slands before me. I unhook my hand from the angel's and lift it, despite the torturous pain the strain causes, to rub at the hilt of the sword jutting out behind my head. As I stroke it, it unexpectedly releases a great surge of Essence, which I have to struggle tremendously to keep in my shield and just barely manage to.

"Fly us out of here," I say in a panic to my angel, and without any hesitation, we soar up into the fast warming skies, landing on the peak of one of the high mountain ranges around us. That surge of Essence, had it escaped my shield, the fallen and their army could have traced where we were. Just think, I could have put my own mother in grave danger. I cannot afford to make such a mistake again.

The angel still holds onto me, despite the fact that we are standing on solid ground. He must have noticed just how much pain I am in, with my broken arm. I try taking the sword from my back, despite the anguishing pain it causes me. The soldier angel with me must pity me, or is probably impacted by some sense of loyalty, for he supports my arm as I tug the strap clumsily off my back. I am very grateful for his help, for it is all I can do not to give in to the waves of pain and drop my shield.

"What is your name?" I ask him, as I struggle to hold the sword before me, my angel soldier supporting my elbow.

"I don't have a name, Representative of Archangel Gabriel," he says in a calm controlled voice in their language.

"Call me Caroline, please," I say to him with an open smiling. He seems quite surprised by the notion, his eyes betraying him, but he nods in agreement.

"Caroline," he says. My name sounds awkward coming from him.

"And I could call you Mika," I say to him smiling. "I have always loved the name."

"Mika," he repeats. He then nods towards the sword in front of me, respectfully reminding me of the task ahead. I tentatively lift my able hand and wrap my fingers around its cold hilt. I then begin to feel the sword vibrate under my hand, releasing more bouts of Essence. I am prepared this time, and I immediately absorb the Essence, and disperse it into our weakening shield. I muster all the energy I can, biting down the numbing pain, and try lifting the sword higher.

It is a very heavy weapon, and the moment I hold its full weight, I fall forward with it until its tip touches the ground, my energy greatly depleted by the broken arm and the concentration required to keep up the shield. I then note that my hand wrapped around its hilt is being forced by some force towards the east. I dig deeper, mustering as much energy as I can, borrowing some Essence from the shield, and lift the sword. The sword then turns my hand and points somewhere towards the southeast direction.

"Mika, let us fly out now, and follow the direction the sword is pointing," I say weakly to my soldier angel, and he immediately picks me up. Spreading his black wings out behind us, we fly in the direction the sword in my hand points.

I swallow up the Essence the angel produces faster than he emits it, and often I have to stop myself from draining him completely, for I know he needs the energy to fly. My body needs the Essence for energy to hold up the sword, and our shield needs to be maintained. The last thing we need is our intentions to be discovered. We have managed this far, and it wouldn't do to be captured now.

Finally, the sword begins to not only point outwards, but downwards too. I hope with all my heart that it isn't because of my failing energy, but rather because we are arriving at our destination. We descend slowly, my angel soldier not needing to be warned on the importance of absolute stealth. We break through the thick white clouds, and float on further down, the bright green hills and jutting bright rocks getting closer and closer as we descend. I soon begin to make out buildings, cars and the life below us.

I reinforce the shield, making extra sure that we are invisible to all as we land on the sides of a steep hill, large boulders piled up on top of each other just before us. I stumble a little at my landing, the sharp double-edged sword just missing my foot by an inch. Mika holds onto me, steadying me in place.

"I think this is it," I say to him, looking into his face. He looks back at me with his dark eyes, his face lacking any expression, but I humor myself to thinking that I have seen him bite back a smile, and I smile back at him.

I can feel the buzz from the sword increase in intensity, giving off much more Essence than I will be able to store in a few minutes. I have the key, I think, lifting the sword much easily, now that there is a lot more of Essence to play around with. I just need to find a keyhole.

Mika seems to sense my intentions, and lifts me into the air once again. We fly about as I wave the sword before the boulders, trusting it to find its keyhole just as it had found its way.

My a.s.sumptions are right. I feel the magnetic pool, as the tip of the sword pulls towards a point to the top.

"Mika," I whisper to my soldier angel. "There." I do not need to explain further.

The angel leans backwards a little, giving the sword enough room to direct us. The tip of the sword then sticks with a loud clink onto a point near the top of a ma.s.sive rock.

I barely think it, but without even saying the words, Mika glides backwards allowing me to hold the sword perpendicularly to the point, before we both push hard forward. Driving the sword deep into the boulder through an invisible keyhole.

As the sword disappears into the rock, it lets out shuddering quant.i.ties of energy in rocking waves that knock us back. The waves of Essence are so great and so strong, pulsating out of the rock over and over again, that I am completely unable to absorb them, my haggard body just struggling to stay up with the last strokes of energy left in me.

I fight the wave of panic that threatens to envelop me. Soon we'll be surrounded by the fallen angels and their Divine Army. If there was ever a time I needed Raphael, this is it.

We turn to face the crumbling boulder before our eyes. It probably only takes a minute, but I know a minute is like eternity for angels because they are fast. Very fast.

Finally the rock falls apart completely, revealing a wide gaping hole that leads into some form of caves in the hills.

"Mika fly me in," I call to my angel, but he stays routed where he is. Oh no, the fallen! I think, as I begin inspecting as quickly as I can the shield around me. it is however intact, so I turn to face my angel soldier in confusion.

"I am not to go in there, Caroline," he says to me as a matter of fact.

"Why?" I ask in exasperation, panicking as I wonder how I could possible go into the dark cave alone, and find my angels. I can barely stand on my own!

"It is the divine law," he states. I have no idea what that means, but I know from his voice that there is no way I could convince him otherwise. If I leave him out here, I know that my shield will leave him. When the fallen arrive, he will rejoin them, and I'll have no ally.

"Please do not show the fallen Archangel where my mother lives, or tell him my name. Please Mika."

"I cannot promise you that, Caroline." My heart breaks at his words. "You have to order me to forget everything." I could swear his eyes look sadly at me as he says this.

"Good bye, Mika. And thank you."

"Goodbye, Caroline," he answers me quietly, and we both know it truly is. Despite the numbing pain from my arm urging for as minimal movements as possible, I tip-toe and kiss my angel soldier on his smoothly chiseled cheek.

"Forget everything concerning me," I tell him. Cold hard eyes look back at me right before I run into the dark caves as fast as I can, despite the sharp jolts of pain from my side.

The minute I go in, I feel the Essence get knocked right out of me. The pain from my arm, that the Essence must have numbed, comes to me in searing waves, and I almost topple over in anguish. I however push forward through the burning red pain, stretching my able hand before me, and call out at the top of my voice in the enveloping darkness.

"Ariel! Raphael! Urie..."I barely finish before a figure grabs at me in the dark, squeezing my broken hand as it envelops me in a rough hug, and sending new waves of excruciating pain through me.

"Caroline?" I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Raphael, we have to get out now, I opened the door!"

"I will go," he says to me weakly through the dark, "and keep watch so the doors aren't closed behind us. Call out the others." I barely have time to begin telling him that it would be difficult for me to save the others, considering my broken hand, before he speeds past me.

You are welcomed, I think to myself after he leaves. Once again, mastering all my energy, I stretch one hand out before me, and call out to the other angels.

"Ariel? Ariel? Uriel? Twins? Ca.s.siel! Ambriel!"

"Caroline!"

"Caroline!" I hear what can only be the twins' voices chorusing my name.

"Ca.s.siel, Ambriel, I opened the door. One of.." I begin, before I feel their bodies run past me at full speed, one of them even knocking me down onto the hard rocky floor.

"Thank you, princess," I hear them calling back, from a distance far behind me. I am feeling quite unappreciated right now. I try to lift myself off the rocky floor, but all my energy is spent, and my head is very woozy, having it hard to discern my surroundings. At least the twins had said thank you, I think to myself.

"Penuel! Araqiel!" I call out, for I am not sure if they got captured last night. "Ariel? Uriel?"

"Ariel? Uriel?" I cry out again in a haggard voice, my energy quickly dispensing away. Where are they?

"Camael?" I finally call out to the angel I like least.

"Caroline!" The voice sounds unfamiliar, but it then crosses my mind that it could be Camael's. She rarely spoke to me before, so it would explain its unfamiliarity. I then feel her by my side.

"Camael?" I call to her weakly. "Carry me out with you," I beg of her. The angel wastes no moment, cradling me to her, beside another body she is cradling too, and runs at what I note to be human speed towards the gaping open gates. She is holding me by the wrong side, crushing my shattered arm against her, but I swallow back the overwhelming pain, just glad to be almost done with my mission.

When we get outside, my eyes struggle against the bright light after the dark tunnels, and my breathing struggles too, drinking deep the large quant.i.ties of free Essence in the air, before my brain registers the b.l.o.o.d.y battle ravaging before me.

Hundreds of angels have swarmed around where the crumbled boulder had stood, hacking at the brotherhood, who look pathetic and weak, fresh for slaughter. They have been starved off their Essence, is why, I perceive.

Mastering all my pain, I take in the ample supply of Essence around us, and begin to create my imaginary walls, creating another Epitome around me.

"Mtacho hano ndingi!" Hurdle together behind me! I shout at them in my mother's native language that Raphael had used on me before in a similar setting. He used it because the fallen have probably not had time or bothered to learn it, as it is considered a 'primitive' language of no significance. It is a perfect language to use in this setting, for the divine and I understand each other perfectly. I must have enabled them to understand it that time I 'granted them' the gift of tongues, as it is not an insignificant language to me.

None of them, however, listens to me.

"Raphael!" I shout with all my might at the Archangel getting his weak self beat up by a group of fallen angels, but all he does is send me a short glare, annoyed at being interrupted, before turning back to his futile fighting.

But this is not a time to fight, this is a time to retreat and regroup. None of them is listening to me, so I do only what I know I must, to gain their attention. Bracing myself, I concentrate so hard that I feel the wetness around my nose. Nose bleeds, indicating that I have exerted myself too much already. I ignore my body's warning signs, and concentrate on pulling the Essence from all the brotherhood, causing them to fall weakly to the hard ground surface below them, as their ability to fly is taken away. All the heavenly beings look around in confusion.

"Ndabatebya! Mtacho hano ndingi!" I said, hurdle together behind me! I order the arrogant divine angels. It only takes a moment for them to register the fact that this weakling human has just knocked them down, before they produce some more Essence with their adrenalin, and follow my instructions, rushing to hurdle beside Camael, that is still cradling me, and what I make out to be a hunched up Ariel.

I immediately put up the shield, simultaneously swerving away from a sword that was just inches from piercing through my forehead, which had been thrown by one of the soldiers in the Divine Army. It could have been Mika, for all I know. The thought hurts me, as I looked at the soldier that had thrown the sword, studying his features, to see if he stands out in anyway, as to be my Mika. They are all identical though. I give it up, and instead concentrate on absorbing more and more Essence from the battle ground, and inject it into our small coc.o.o.n.

"How..." Camael starts, but I ignore her, concentrating on the shield even as my eyes start blurring due to the pain, while the brotherhood deflect away the swords been sent our way. This is my chance to show them that I am not just a weakling human to be pushed around.

"Where.. Where is Uriel?" I ask, as a fallen angel outside keeps hacking at the shield, sending us rocking backwards.

"She isn't here," Raphael answers, and I wrinkle my forehead in confusion.

"She betrayed us!" This he says unemotionally, and his words take a moment to sink in.

Not now, Caroline. Concentrate on the most important, I tell myself.

"What about the watchers, Penuel and Araqiel?" I ask, not wanting to leave any man behind, even as my mind seeks to hide from my pain by seeking unconsciousness. A notion I fight off fiercely. This is no time for weakness.

"Did you call out their names?" The Archangel asks, as he swings his sword above my head, to deflect another flying sword from our a.s.sailants. I nod in answer.

"Then they were not in Tartaros with us. If they were captured, they are being held somewhere else," he answers me. My head is swimming, so I close my eyes shut, concentrating on injecting more Essence into the shield and checking it thoroughly for weaknesses in my mind.

"Is there a place to retreat, somewhere to be safe from them for a while? I don't know how long I can keep up..."

"You are hurt..."

"I asked, is there a d.a.m.n place to be safe!" I grind out quietly, impatiently, cutting off Raphael's cool voice. Is he just noticing that I am hurt?

"Yes. Devil's cove," he says, as he takes me from Camael's arms, just as another wave rocks us as our enemies outside try to break my shields again.

I grit my teeth tightly, my eyes still shut, as I concentrate on the shield, and do not even notice the fact that the divine angels have set out soaring in the air all huddled together. My agonised body is tightly held against the Archangel's chest, as scores of fallen angels and their great army follow behind us, hacking at my quickly failing shield. I keep my eyes shut, and concentrate on the only thing I have control of.

None of the fallen are coming in through my shield today. Not as long as I still draw breath.

~The End of Book 1~ Now Available!!!

Chapter 1.

Who was that? His voice bellows as he looks at the army a.s.sembled before him, his powerful dark wings fanned out behind him majestically as proof of his current agitation.

Could one of you tell me who that was? He repeats, flying impatiently to and fro before his a.s.sembled army.

Her name is Caroline. She is Archangel Gabriel's representative on earth. This comes from one of the Divine Army soldiers, a tall well-toned man with wings near identical to his spread out behind him, dark blood stains smudged onto his body and wings as evidence of the just ended battle creating a macabre piece of art.

What..? The Archangel puzzles, coming menacingly close to one of the Divine Army soldiers. The soldier does not move or flinch a muscle though. Nothing scares these killing machines. He is not the soldier that had spoken up, but it is not necessary either to find the particular one that had, because all the soldiers in the Divine Army are part of one, and as per that, are essentially one being. What one knows, all know.

She said her name is Caroline. The Archangel's Essence runs in her blood.

That little devil Gabriel. I should have known she would go and do something like this! The Archangel laughs boisterously, his temper seeming to have quickly vanished away.

"Do you know anything else about her?" No answer.