Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (49 page)

She appeared thoughtful,
“That does make sense.”

“Of course it makes
sense. Training doesn’t get any more exclusive.”

“Well, maybe I could…”

I knew what she was about to suggest.

“No. It won’t go over well. In fact, don’t even mention it to anyone there
, even your friends, and don’t even give the inkling that you would agree to it. Believe me, it’s useless.”

She nodded with
a perplexing expression.

“There should always be room for change.” She whispered.

I nodded with a smile. She was still the same Starling that I had fallen in love with. The one who had once said that, ‘It wasn’t fair, that if one couldn’t be forgiven, what was the point of ever trying to redeem themselves?’ That was a very good question but it didn’t apply to us, the fallen.

“
I agree. But, in the meantime, since I am partial, I’m only offering one on one training for you.” I said, giving her a playful peck on the lips.

“How will we communi
cate and where would we train?”

I thought for a moment.

“If I could give you anything without it being detected, making you suspicious, or being destroyed outright, then I would. You wouldn’t be able to cross into the consecrated lands of the divine hall with it anyway.”

There was
another silent pause, and then I thought of something.

“The sky.”
I suddenly said.

“What about the sky?”

“Does seeing hearts in the sky ring a bell for you?” I asked her.

“I remember see
ing something in the stars.”

“Check the sky at night
to the north, which is the side that faces the front of the divine hall. When I want to see you, you’ll see the stars form two interlinking hearts. That will be my signal for you to meet me at the shores of the Eternal waters.”

“And what if I want to see you in the day?” she asked.

I bit my lip, “Good question. We’ll have to start meeting somewhere in the human world, eventually. To keep suspicion down here though, we’ll keep it to nightfall for now.”

Even Elohim w
ouldn’t disallow that. I thought.

XXIX
. Starling:

                           
I
got a tour of Cam’s place, which was gorgeous and spaciously huge inside. It was creatively imaginative, and being privately hidden inside of an immense mountain was genius. It was nothing at all of how and where I imagined a fallen would live. It was spotless, and I mean absolutely clean and orderly. I found it adoringly funny; an obsessive compulsive fallen, who was a complete neat-freak.

He showed me around
a small portion of the neutral lands. It was a mixture of both tan and black desert sand, dunes, caves, and thick, lush green forests; full of odd-looking trees, plant life, fruits and creatures.

             
            
 
Even though I had bathed at his place
,
Cam`ael reproduced the same clothes that I wore that night, even adding a few tears and dirt stains to make it more believable. Any scars cosmetically created by him, wouldn’t have been believable, let alone gone undetected, so there was no point.

“Any being can enter this area, remember that. To the
east, there is the side of light. If you’re ever in any danger, head east and follow the scent of fresh water. Anything that smells of decay, rot or sulphur means that you’re heading in the wrong direction and you probably won’t last long. I usually keep watch from my domicile though. From there, I can see and hear everything coming from each direction.” He pointed.

             
              He kept his weapon drawn just in case. He could see and sense a lot more than I could. Occasionally, there would be movement in a bush or up in a tree above, but they were nothing more than implings and the earth elementals, which were guardians of this area. Some were disguised as rocks, trees and bushes and they were defenders of the side of light. They too, would also help if any divine warriors needed them.

             
              Most of the creatures here were familiar with Cam and they liked him. He and his friends were the few fallen that they did tolerate. I knew it was because of who he was and his light. They didn’t see a demon either; they saw a being who risked himself to try to do what was ultimately right in his eyes. I mean, he has been an angel before, so he would know what the right thing was even before I would. Regardless of having fallen, he remembered who he was and what he used to be. Nothing got in the way of that and that was one of the main reasons that I loved him.

“We can’t get too close. There are more eyes and
ears out here than just scouts. Always be aware of your words out here.” He said.

Just then, something shifted in the bushes
up ahead of us. We stopped abruptly, and he pulled me to him protectively.

I wielded my blades, which had become much easier for me
to do now.

Cam`ael hefted his sword, pausing to listen and watch.

“You won’t need those. They’re not beings of darkness.” He then said to me.

I wrinkled my brow
s in confusion, turning to look up at him.

“
Well now, what have we here?” A girls voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

Cam`ael grabbed me to him, quickly whirl
ing around to face the voice. His wing was folded over me, like a shield. I peered around the downy soft feathers.

It was a petite girl…no
, an angel girl; with short-cropped silver hair, mixed with glittering, hot pink highlights. I could tell by the radiant light illuminating from beneath her skin.

Dread dropped into the pit of my stomach just then.

I could only imagine what she was thinking, and what could possibly happen to Cam. What kind of
divine warrior would I look like fighting against an angel in defense of a fallen?

“An
unlikely pair. A divine warrior and a fallen.” A male voice sounded from above.

A young male angel
, nearly identical in size and age; as if they could be twins, except for his shoulder length hair, sat on a large tree limb above us.

He was
casually eating a large apple.

“An interesting
pair, nonetheless.” The girl angel said, looking us over.

“Put that thing away
before someone gets hurt, Cam`ael.” The male then said.

He
finished his apple and lithely began floating down from the branch to land on his feet, which barely made a sound when he touched ground.

“We heard about what happened. We wanted to congratulate you personally on your expulsion of Baal.”

The girl said with a smirk and a bow.

“Nice work.
One less evil beast in a sea of more than tens of thousands.” The male smirked.

“
No thanks to you two.” Cam`ael then said.

I looked up at him. D
id he know them? Was he in danger?

“
We only did what we were required to do, in order to protect the humans. It was your decision to fight.” The male said with a tone of nonchalance.

“My decision was to protect her.
They were all there for her, you guys know that.” Cam shot back.

“She was am
ong her own and there were plenty who were trained to handle the situation, present.”

“What do you
two want? To see if she’s been afflicted with darkness? To rescue her and slay me?” Cam`ael said in irritation.

“
Stop, Cam!”
I shouted mentally. They just might.

Cam shifted and look
ed down at me in shock. The expression on his face was as if he’d seen some creature he couldn’t explain for the first time.

“Did you just tell me to
stop”?

I looked at him in peculiar alarm
too. His mouth didn’t move at all but I distinctly heard his voice clearly…from the inside of my head!

The revelation stunned us both.

“Yeah.”
I answered back telepathically.

“There’s no time to figure this one out right now. Keep it to yourself and don’t make it obvious.”
He then relayed.

Though both surprised and excited that I had apparently established a mental connection with Cam somehow, I understood what he meant. I didn’t even nod the affirmation.

This
was like a mental walkie-talkie, being able to talk to him anytime that I wanted to. It was all I could ever ask for and no one would ever know. I was beyond ecstatic.

The
angel girl looked me over. Her eyes sparkled hypnotically, much like Spencer’s did, and then she smiled.

“Oh
my. The bond here goes way deeper than the physical flesh, Aliks.” She placed a hand on her cocked hip.

My heart began to pound.
Did they already know? They would be able to read right through me and see everything we did together. Would they tell the elders at the hall? I wouldn’t be able to go back there then.

Aliks
clucked his tongue, “You’re right, Aon. This is most unusual and quite forbidden.”

“If you want to punish me, then punish and report me. Cam`ael isn’t to blame for anything. He saved me. He and those in his legion are the good guys.” I finally spoke up.

I felt Cam`ael’s grip on me tighten. A signal for me to shut up apparently.

“Don’t say too much.”
His voice whispered in my head.

“Sorry.”
I replied.

The girl chuckled and they both exchanged a brief glance.

For angels, they seemed awfully lax and juvenile, I thought.

“Report you? Calm down little one.”
Aliks replied with a grin.

I was confused.

“You’re the one with the hallowed fire, aren’t you?” Aon asked.

I slowly nodded.

“Are you aware of that, Cam`ael?” She raised her pale blond brows at him.

“Of course I’m aware of it.” He replied.

“So you’re aware of how important she is to keep alive?”

“What are you two getting at?”
Cam`ael replied. I could see his jaw working.

“Just checking.” Aon smirked.

Aliks and Aon began pacing in front of us.

“Apparently, neither one of you have thought this through. What would it look like, when Starling emerges on the grounds of the divine hall, unscathed?”
Aliks began.

Cam`ael sighed. I assumed that he was agreeing with them.

“I have thought of that. The wounds I could conjure on her won’t pass the barriers. What other choice is there? At least she’s returning alive and unharmed.” Cam said.

Aliks
smiled broadly, “Alive and unharmed but not untouched.” He said.

I blushed automati
cally.

I could feel Cam tense against me.

“How would they know that?” He asked.

Again, they laughed nearly in unison.

“Oh, come on. Even you know better than that. What, you mean with your essence and scent all over—and inside of her?”

I
swallowed hard. My heart raced.

They both paused and studied us
as if purposefully leaving us to wonder what the big finale would consist of, and what they really wanted, or what they were going to do.

Aon’s eyes flicked from me, to Cam`ael’s with scrutiny.

“I don’t doubt that you realize what it is that you’ve done?” She then said to Cam.

At first I thought
that she was stating the obvious, and that Cam was going to be punished after all, but neither of them made a move to do anything physical.

“It didn’t cross my mind at the moment.” Cam replied.

“What is she talking about? Do they know that we…you know?”
I asked Cam.

“Yes.”
He answered.

I felt faint.

I turned and craned my neck to look up at him in question before Aon spoke again, “Say nothing about it. We will escort her the rest of the way and Starling will report how she escaped.”