Fledgling: Book 1 (Afterlife) (30 page)

I knock the hand up with an uppercut with an open palm strike. The black pulse escapes and narrowly misses Ben’s shoulder. The man-demon cries out in pain. I am puzzled as I only knocked his hand up and have not attacked. My eyes travel to the section of the arm that I hit, and I see a scolding mark. I look at the guilty hand — it is glowing.
 

The man-demon begins to move again in an attack; I don’t have time to ponder what just happened. I move, following my instincts. I block an arm that is reaching for me. The skin on my arm is glowing. His face flinches as I shove my other hand onto his stomach forcefully with my palm open. His body thrusts back, stomach first, and he throws his head back and lets out a spine-chilling cry.
 

Taking advantage of the situation, I reach for his throat. He knocks my hand away before I connect. His black eyes glare at me with hatred while his face tenses with pain. I can see the contact with my skin has hurt him, so I press on. In the external section of my vision, I see Orange and Ben standing aside with their mouths ajar watching every move.
 

I step back and tilt sideways aiming a sidekick on his knee. I hear bones breaking and the knee angles in a way, confirming unquestionable damage. A cry escapes his mouth, but it does not have the same call of pain as my physical touch does. Mystified, I watch as the knee begins to move back into place and heal itself. I resort back to touches with the skin they have a better and lasting effect. I reach out for his stomach again, but he flinches back before my hand connects. A pair of black wings unfolds out of his back. Unlike ours, they are not made of soft feathers but rather similar material as that of bat wings. The demon flaps a couple of times and rises off the ground. I can see the scalding marks remaining on his body where I have touched. At his stomach, the patch is large and blistering.
 

I am not afraid of fighting in the air, so I squat to push off when I hear a raspy voice.
 

“I’ll be back for you fledgling. You have caused me much pain and destroyed many of my servants. You have much to pay.”
 

Before I can push off the ground, his wings wrap around him, and then he spins and disappears. I stare where he was flying only a moment before. I am puzzled, yet glad over his sudden departure. My eyes fall to the ground observing the damage. The lifeless rotting corpses lie everywhere on the ground. Ben has given up staring at me and is kneeling over Cindy. Orange continues to scour the area looking for any more threats.
 

His eyes fall on me. “You’re glowing dude. How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully.
 

Turning around, I look at Ben with Cindy resting in his arms. He is stroking her golden blonde hair. I hope I can help her. Who knows what was in that black pulse. As I step toward them, Ben looks at me, his eyes are hopeful.
 

“She is barely breathing.” His voice is slightly louder than a whisper.

He doesn’t need to ask. Naturally I am going to help my friend. I kneel down on the dirt. Stones and dirt dig into my knees through my pants. I ignore the discomfort. While I place a hand on Cindy’s stomach, I notice that my skin is still glowing. I focus on inserting some of that energy into Cindy hoping it will push out any darkness from the demon.
 

I push the white light into her. With this, I feel my energy decreasing, and I become frustrated when I run into a barrier that will not budge. I focus on the core of the energy source within me. After feeling it intensify and gather; I release it into Cindy pushing it for a longer period. The barrier does not yield. Searching around the barrier for a weak spot or edge, I push and push, but the wall will not give. Feeling the energy being zapped from my body, I pause.
 

“Are you okay?” Bens asks. I turn and look at him. His eyes study my face.
 

Nodding, I turn back to Cindy. I have to get through this barrier. I take a deep breath and then another, closing my eyes. The power within is building and stirring. I let it gather and rise in strength. Rubbing my hands together, I feel it circulate from one arm to another, spinning around and building up force. When the force is twirling so much it is making me feel lightheaded, I separate my hands and place my hands on her stomach.
 

The white force explodes out of my body and through my hands pushing firmly against the barrier. This time I feel a slight give in the wall, so I push harder. I am completely leaning over the top of her directing everything into her body. My strength is leaving my body, but I push on. I force another surge into her, and I feel the barrier give a little more.
 

Faintness takes hold, and my arms and legs are feeling weak — I don’t stop. I let the pressure continue to assault the wall. A little more gives way. I hold back, letting it collect within me again. When I feel enough has gathered, I pull from the last of my strength and thrust it at the barrier. I sense the release, and the white light forces through, crushing over the barrier and into her body. With all my might, I hold on a little longer, letting as much white light enter her body as possible. I can feel the last of my energy leave my body, but I give over a little more. I have come this far; I cannot give up now.
 

My legs crumble underneath me, and my sight turns black. A strange sensation overtakes my body, numbing my brain. I can’t open my eyes as the texture of the dirt, sticks, and rocks scrape my skin.
 

Somewhere far away, I think I hear my name being called. No matter how hard I try, I cannot answer. My body shakes, as everything turns completely dark.

- Chapter Twenty-Nine -

A strange sensation runs down my arm. My mind is groggy, and the feeling will not register. I take a deep breath. The air that fills my lungs is light and fresh. I release it and take another. It is cool, and something about it is slowly revitalising me. My body will not move. It feels heavy and uncooperative so I lie perfectly still and just breathe. That air smells so good.
 

The sensation runs down my arm again. This time I can tell it is soft and gentle; it has traces of a loving touch. I take another deep breath. Ah, yes! That air is definitively good. With each breath I take, my mind begins to work.
 

A flash of dark crosses my mind. My body jolts. An image of Cindy lying still on the ground enters my vision. I hear my mouth cry out, “Cindy!” My muscles stiffen, and I lie rigid and unmoving.
 

Something touches my hair, and my hand flies up and clasps the culprit.
 

“Aurora.”
 

The voice is riddled with concern. I take it for begging, and I squeeze my hand harder against the offender.
 

"Aurora.”
 

This time the voice is whispering softly, the breath brushes against my skin near my ear. Confusion strikes me. The voice sounds like Ben’s. I take in a few quick breaths and try to open my eyes. Success. I see my protective arm draped across my forehead. My eyes gaze out underneath it into the deep blue ocean of Ben’s eyes. He is sitting beside me. My grip instantly softens, and I watch as the muscles in Ben’s face relax.
 

I blink a few times and let my eyes wander. Above me is pure blue sky decorated with a few puffy white clouds. I am clearly no longer trapped in the demon’s force field.
 

“Where are we?” I ask. My voice is husky.
 

He smiles. “Can you not tell?” His eyes circle the room. “You should be familiar with this place. I know I am.”

Tilting my head slightly forward, I take a look around. The furniture is made with puffy white clouds on top of a white cloud platform. Yes, I unmistakably know where I am. There is only one place that looks like this — the Archangel’s headquarters.
 

“Cindy?” I ask. My forehead pinches together.
 

“She is good. Actually, she is very well and on an ordinary fledgling mission. Orange has returned to normal duty too. In fact, if you didn’t wake up soon they would be sending me out to keep working.” He smiles, showing off his perfectly straight teeth. A glimmer surfaces in his eye. He lowers his voice softer than a whisper and says, “It’s not like I can claim that I am your boyfriend and be granted complete access to your sickbed while you recover.”

I smile weakly. “How long have we been here?”
 

“A couple of weeks.”

I feel my eyebrows rising.
 

He reaches out and strokes my face. “Missed you.”

Right on cue, a voice sounds from the corner of the room, and he pulls his hand away.
 

“Ah, I see the patient has woken.”
 

I turn to see a gown of green coming toward us. My eyes travel to the face to land on Archangel Raphael. His green eyes study me without emotion and his face is sombre, as I lie motionless. I have never been so glad to see him. It is clear he has been healing me and taking care of my health as I lay unconscious.
 

When he reaches my cloud bed he says, “I was beginning to wonder when you would wake up.” He observes my vital signs.
 

I clear my throat. “Thank you for taking care of me,” I say. My voice is still on the rough side.
 

“Oh, nonsense child. Of course, I will take care of you. I may not always like what you do, but I will still take care of you — especially after what you have just accomplished. You did well.” He looks at Ben. “You all did well. Despite my reluctance, Archangel Michael was right in sending you.” There is a flicker of emotion crossing his face.
 

A throat cleared in the corner, out of my range of vision. I turn my head and see Archangel Michael standing in the doorway of the conference room. When his sapphire blue eyes connected with mine, he approaches us slowly. There is softness in them I do not usually see. His face holds a clouded seriousness where it used to only be set and stern. As he continues to walk in our direction, he casts his eyes down to the cloud floor.
 

“Yes,” he said. “You were the right fledglings to send.” He pauses for a while. He reaches my sickbed and stands down the end. “You all did a wonderful job . . . actually, you exceeded my expectations . . . but, if I had known it was going to be that dangerous for you, I would not have sent you.” Another pause, then he looks me in the eye. “For my inability to see how dangerous the situation was, I do apologise.”

I shake my head. Archangel Michael was always stern and a leader, but I didn’t like seeing the regret in his eyes like I did now. His talent is not being a psychic. “You don’t need to apologise. It is not your fault. I believe it may have been a trap.”

“Exactly,” he agrees. “I should have been able to see through that . . . and I’m sorry.”

I push myself up from the bed to almost a sitting position. “You don’t need to apologise. I thank you for the experience and the faith you placed in our abilities.” I couldn’t help a little smirk. “Besides almost being killed and meeting some really stinky characters, I enjoyed the experience.” I look at Ben. “Didn’t you?”

He nods.
 

“How did we get out of there?” I ask.

Ben spoke, “Just after you passed out, Archangel Michael descended through the barrier bringing it down. He brought Archangel Raphael with him who immediately started work healing you.” He places a hand on my arm. “I’m just glad you are alright. I was starting to worry about you.”

I smile. It is nice to hear him say he worried. I am also finding it amusing how restrained he is in front of the archangels.

Turning to Archangel Michael, I ask, “Did you find that demon or the gatekeeper?”

He shakes his head. I sit up and flip my legs over the side of the cloud bed. “I have a feeling that the demon doesn’t like me.”

“Demons don’t like any angels,” Archangel Raphael says emotionless, yet a little too quickly.
 

Archangel Michael turns to him. “She needs to know. For her safety she must know what she is dealing with.”

Curious, my eyes travel to look at Ben to see if he is any wiser. His eyes are again troubled as he studies me.
 

My forehead squeezes together, and I look at Archangel Michael. “What do I need to know?”
 

“Over the last two missions, the perpetrators have been of another level. I am sure you have noticed.”
 

I don’t say anything; I just nod prompting him to continue.
 

“Each time you insert a conscience, you harm the demon that removed it in the first place.”

“Is that how we helped you on our last mission even though we were not anywhere near your war with the demons?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes, you weakened that demon, the demon you just fought, making it easier for us in our battle against him and his minions.”
 

He pauses then continues. “As you know, you were sent on this mission because I was still busy fighting the war. I had a feeling it may be a more difficult mission, which is why I needed to run it by the top four archangels. Even though you are still fledglings, I was very impressed on how you three handled yourselves on the last mission. You all acted above your level, and we were short of graduated angels to send on this mission.”