Authors: Melanie Tomlin
Danny was still holding my elbow. “How do you feel?”
“A bit better. My headache is gone.”
“Let’s go,” he said, “This time to the other end of the corridor. Just picture it in the north instead of the south.”
We performed five more raids — in different areas, some far away from the corridor — before I felt I was at my peak again. I was buzzing once more and keen to get involved in the fighting, but for which side? I didn’t know anymore.
“I want to see what’s happening,” Danny said. He held out his hand. “I’ll lead. Don’t let go, whatever you do.”
“Okay,” I said as I clasped his hand.
We ran to enter the lights and at the other end we found ourselves in the treetops, about a kilometre west of the corridor. Danny didn’t seem worried that they would see us or sense us. They were probably too occupied with their individual battles to worry about us for the present. I knew that wouldn’t last. When the angels had finished with the vampires, no matter their numbers, they’d come looking for us.
“Sit down,” he whispered. “We can’t stay long, only a few minutes. Any longer and we’ll be detected.”
“You make it sound like we’re
invisible,
” I laughed.
“Shh,” he said. “They may not be able to see us, but they can hear us.”
“You mean we
are
invisible?” I mumbled.
“It’s a skill I’ve worked on for the last six centuries. I only stumbled across it when I couldn’t see my reflection in a window one day. One moment I was there, the next I was gone. When I blinked I was there again. I knew I hadn’t actually gone anywhere. It was a puzzle for a while. I can only make it work for a few minutes and I won’t be able to try again for a day or so. It’ll sap most of my strength. You’ll need to take us back to the cottage. I won’t have the strength to manage it.”
Danny was virtually telling me that our lives would be in my hands. He wouldn’t be able to help me or provide any guidance at all. Was it really worth all the effort just to find out about a petty fight between angels and vampires?
“Look over there,” he said, pointing to an area outside of the corridor.
A large pack of werewolves, eighteen in total, were running to join the fight against the angels. Closer to us I could hear howling. Another pack of wolves were on the way, and they were rallying more of their kind. The one thing that appeared to unite monsters of all kinds was their mutual hatred of angels and their need to destroy them. I could almost taste the loathing in the air.
“Will their numbers make much of a difference?” I asked.
“Three or more mature werewolves can take an angel down. Unlike vampires they can’t kill an angel by draining it dry. They have to eat the angel, bones and all. The reason I think they need three is because the angel can still use angel fire when it’s being taken down — it’s a weapon that doesn’t give up until the angel is dead.”
“Sounds nasty,” I said. “I think I’d rather be killed by a vampire.”
“Many angels would agree with you.”
“If a vampire has to drain an angel to kill it, and angel fire is good up until the angel dies, why don’t they use it on the vampire that’s killing them?”
Danny sighed. “If only it were that easy. The angel fire consumes the angel as well.”
It didn’t make sense to me. Why wouldn’t you get it over and done with as quickly as possible?
“Well, that’d be better than being drained of your blood, wouldn’t it? It’s the same end result, only quicker.”
“Being consumed by angel fire is a very painful way to die, so I’m told. A kiss on the neck by a vampire is preferable.”
Who would have thought angels would baulk at a bit of pain!
Danny leaned against me. No, it was more like he was collapsing against me.
“Danny, I think we have to go now.”
“Just a little longer. I need to gauge the numbers on both sides and which of the archangels’ armies are here.”
I couldn’t tell the difference, for the most part, between the good guys and the bad guys. Among those who looked like ordinary men and women, caught up in an immortal battle, the werewolves were the only ones who stood out.
The smell of burning fur and flesh assailed my nostrils. I wondered if the wolves I’d saved were here fighting, and how they fared.
I found I could monitor a number of battles at once, purely by accident. It was a new skill I’d acquired. Maybe it was the angel in me, maybe the vampire, but it was like picture-in-picture inside my head. If I didn’t concentrate on any one battle, I could see, and take in, the action of up to four battles.
Angel fire flashed and a tree to the right of us was engulfed in blue flame.
“
Shit, Danny, that was a bit close!
” I hissed.
I turned my head to look at Danny. His head was resting on my shoulder, his eyes rolled back, the whites showing. Our cover was blown.
“Damn,” I muttered, and throwing Danny’s arm over my shoulder to make sure I didn’t lose him, took us home.
I carried him to the bedroom and laid him on the bed. His body was cold and he was shivering. Cold perspiration formed on his brow. His clothes were sticking to his body and they felt damp. I had to strip him off and get him under the covers, where it would be warmer.
I know immortals don’t get sick,
I told myself
, but it seems like the right thing to do.
Danny didn’t stop shivering. In fact it got worse. I had no way of creating more blankets from thin air so what was I to do? I went into his room — the room he hardly spent any time in anymore — and grabbed the blankets from his bed. He looked so small — so fragile — under the pile of blankets.
I headed to the bathroom and returned with a bowl of warm water and a cloth to clean his face. I mopped his brow forever, or so it seemed, while he shivered and thrashed around wildly in a state of delirium. He talked in a language I couldn’t understand, calling the name Amy over and over again.
I didn’t like seeing Danny like this, even though it made a nice change that I was looking after him instead of the other way around.
Is this how he feels — helpless — when something happens to me?
After an eternity, when the worst of his fevered ranting was over, I put aside the cloth and —
is that the fifteenth or sixteenth?
— bowl of warm water. I rested my arms and head on the side of the bed, near Danny’s shoulder, trying to stay awake.
“Helena,” a voice called. I thought I was dreaming. “Helena.”
A hand shook my shoulder and I realised Danny was awake.
“Hey, there,” I said. “You had me pretty worried for a while. I haven’t the foggiest idea how to look after a spent angel.”
“You must be rubbing off on me,” he replied, “overextending myself like that. It was reckless and foolish. I apologise.”
“For what,
caring?
You wanted to know how the fight was going. You were concerned for your fellow angels, though after what they’ve done to us — to
you
— I don’t understand why,” I grumbled.
“You make us sound heartless. Most of us, well, we just follow orders.”
“Even if you think they’re wrong?”
“More so then. We have to have faith that our superiors act in the best interests of all.”
“Blind faith?
Are you kidding me?
Surely you know in your heart if an order is right or wrong?”
“I have never had cause to question my superior’s judgement. Now, if I were under the command of
another,
that may be different.”
I sighed. His devotion to Michael had not wavered. However, it was encouraging that he admitted that he might question the actions and motives of the other archangels.
“Did you find out what you needed to know?” I asked. “Was it worth it?”
“Perhaps with your recollection of the events I will have a more complete picture.”
“You’re still weak,” I replied. “I’ll tell you what I saw later, when you’re better. You can have my memories as well.”
Danny propped himself up on three pillows. It was a bit of a struggle. He was still weak, and the blankets weighed him down.
“Where did you get these?” he asked, fingering the top layer of blankets.
“From your room. You were so cold and wouldn’t stop shivering. It was the only other room that had blankets. I did what I had to.”
He nodded. “And I thank you for that, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t go into that room again. It’s no longer used.”
That was true. Most of Danny’s time in bed was spent in my room now, and even that was mainly limited to moments of intimacy. He didn’t waste time resting or sleeping. He was an efficient biological machine that required little, if any, ongoing maintenance.
“Tell me what you saw,” he said, the topic of the blankets and his bedroom all but forgotten.
“After you pointed out the wolves a strange thing happened, though I admit I’m getting used to the weird and unusual now. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise.”
I thought back to how I’d let my eyes lose focus, waiting for Danny to say he was ready to leave. How I’d suddenly found myself watching four different battles at the same time. At first I’d likened it to picture-in-picture, but looking back at it, that assessment wasn’t correct. It was more like four television screens linked together, with each on a different channel.
“I let my focus drift and found I could watch four different areas, all within my field of vision, separately, and know exactly what was happening in each. I should have tried stretching it — expanding the field —to see if I could increase the range.”
Danny scratched his head and sighed. A clear sign he didn’t understand. “I’m not following you.”
“How else can I explain it?” I looked around the room for some inspiration and looking through the window, watching the rising sun touch the tops of the trees, I found it. “Look at the window. See how it contains four smaller panes?” Danny nodded. “Pretend that in the top left pane you can see the city, in the top right pane you can see the forest, in the bottom left pane you can see the ocean and in the bottom right pane you can see, oh I don’t know, Mount Etna for argument’s sake. I’m exaggerating a bit here, I know. It’s just to give you a better idea of how it works. All very different scenes, but you can still see them in the one larger window. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, it does. Like standing between two open doorways and being able to see what’s in each room. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”
“Very much so, but in this case my doorways were up to a kilometre apart.”
“Tell me what you saw, starting with the top left window.”
“To the south of the corridor, where the trees are denser. There were lots of fires blazing. Mostly angel fire that missed its mark I think. I did see a group of eight vampires huddled together, like footballers when they’re discussing strategy. Although it seemed to me they were huddled over something and not discussing a plan of attack or retreat. About a hundred metres to the left of that group, three vampires had captured an angel — it had to be an angel, they had no reason to kill one of their own — and another was feeding off it. Drake must have a number of suicide vampires ready to die for the greater glory. I certainly wouldn’t volunteer!”
“The angel they were killing, do you remember what he looked like?”
“I remember what each and every one — angel, vampire and werewolf — looked like, but I’m hopeless at describing them. You’ll need to wait until you can look into my head for that.”
“What about the next window?”
It seemed the window analogy was going to stick.
“Some of the thickest and most vicious fighting was taking place there, in what used to be the centre of the corridor, at the border. Probably a dozen trees had been blasted to ash. It was still smouldering when the wolves came rushing from behind. They can be very quiet when they want to, can’t they? They had surprise on their side, and with so many other scents in the air a number of angels didn’t realise there was a threat until it was too late. At least four angels fell to fifteen wolves.
“The vampires started closing ranks, knowing the wolves had joined the foray, and the angels — there were about twenty of them — didn’t have anywhere to go. When one vamp was consumed by angel fire two more stepped up to take its place. Eventually the numbers were too overwhelming. There were a hell of a lot of suicide vamps, either placing themselves in front of the angels to be consumed by angel fire, or killing them. Between the wolves, now numbering thirty-six, and the suicide vamps, it was only a matter of time before the angels were overpowered, unless reinforcements arrived. I brought us home before the outcome was decided.”
Danny looked upset at the news. “And the other two windows?”
“One showed a large number of vampires retreating. I think they were headed towards their underground base. I imagine it was a party escorting and protecting the clan heads.
“The final window was a smaller battle, but it was the most interesting from a strategic point of view. The vamps there were very smart — ducking, dodging, diving and weaving in and out of the trees. When they had two angels in their sights, just as the angels were about to release their angel fire, they leapt into the trees and the angels destroyed each other. There were six vampires working like this and between them they managed to destroy fourteen angels without any casualties to their own numbers. The other angels wised up after a while, and when they decided to work together, rather than as lone hunters, the vamps had already disappeared.”