Authors: David James
“War,” the voice whispered, “is very rarely the answer to anything, and never so when the ultimate goal is power. It corrupts like poison in the veins of humanity. War strangles and destroys the good in people until all that’s left is what you see before you.”
War.
Blood.
Death.
Amidst the chaos, I looked up at the night sky, and wished with all my heart that this war would end.
I wish...
I wish...
I closed my eyes and wished I could finally start living. I wished for my Mom and Dad, and for Kate and her sisters. For safety. For Tyler. I wished for the countless people abducted by the Orieno to be saved. For peace. For truth. For answers.
I wish for life.
When I opened my eyes blinding light was flooding the field in waves of silver glory, burning as if the moon had exploded. As the stars fell faster, faces marked by infuriated lines, eyes touched by anger, and dark hands holding glowing swords emerged from the light, and I could see that these weren’t stars at all, but people as black and foreboding as the night sky above.
In moments they were intertwined with the soldiers, blades of light slicing through good and bad and turning all to dust. “There is life in death,” the voice said. “We take their souls just before they die, so both good and evil can have a second chance in the hereafter.”
Silently, one of the stars landed in front of me, a smile on his face, and stepped close to me so he was surrounded by light.
“Calum,” he said looking me straight in the eyes. “Thank you for calling us.”
“Calling you? What? I didn’t do anything.”
He laughed, the melody like a chorus of chimes in wind. “Oh, but you did. Before and now, you did. When you made a wish, we answered. We are the stars people wish upon. We are the light in the darkness. We are hope. I am Orion, leader of Heaven’s Guard.”
Kate’s words dawned in my mind. “The angel Warriors that fight to save the world?”
“I suppose you might call us that, though we are most certainly not angels.” He turned to the battle. “Look around you. We are not angels because we are not completely good, though we’re not exactly evil either. We are not passive and we fight when we must. We are protectors. In different times, however, we have been known as the Angels of Mons, appearing to Warriors in need throughout Britain as well as in other parts of the world. The Watchers. I myself have been known as the Angel Moroni to several Elder members, though we are anything but angels and those that classify us as such are greatly misled in their beliefs.”
He waved a hand through the air. “The stars you see above are protectors to individuals all over the world. They, indeed, are Warriors still fighting. However, the larger stars, the clusters you call constellations, like me, are guards to the more powerful souls that have a greater purpose. Everyone has a claim to make in the circle of fate.”
For a moment I got so lost in looking at Orion that I forgot it was my turn to speak. Orion had hair that cropped close to the sides of his head, with long bangs that spread in a slash down his brow. His hair was so white that it shone like opals, reflecting light as if tiny rainbows were in each strand. He had no wings, but swirls of what looked like ever-moving clouds circled around his body, translucent enough to look like fine mist. Tints of pale blue and white danced through them like veins, enhancing the sheer power they seemed to hold. The clouds moved with each breath he took, and it was easy to picture them slicing through the air like knives, lifting Orion up with ease and grace. His skin, like the others, was as dark as midnight, as if it was made of night. It seemed to be as fluid as a moving sky and, for a second, I thought I saw a shooting star fly across his left arm.
“Calum?” he said politely.
l looked into his eyes, golden like the sun with a halo of light around each pupil. If my eyes were mirrors of the moon, his were reflections of the sun. “Sorry. I just... I’m not even sure where I am, or what I am. You say I wished for you, but I don’t think I did. I wished for answers.”
“You wished for life,” he said. “And so we came to give you yours, like we do every time you ask.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We only know what we must. Never the complete truth, and never until we’re ready.”
“What?” I asked, my head spinning. “What do you mean?”
Orion smiled. “I’ll say this much, because it’s all you need to know in your current life: There are many theories as to how or why the world is what it is, but none of them are completely true. That doesn’t mean, however, that there is or isn’t an ultimate truth. In fact, there are many. Each person brings something different to the world, a different energy that no one else can bring because we are all secular beings, but circular in our own ways together.”
“What?”
“I never get tired of explaining this to you,” Orion laughed. “Forget what you know. Instead of thinking of life and death, or Heaven and Hell, think of everything as one large circle of fate. The past, present, and future are linked together not by time but by our minds. By the people that shape that period within time. The past influences the present, which changes the future. And, if we were to count those people that have not yet been born, our futures would influence their own pasts, presents, and futures. It’s an entire circle of death and life, and everyone helps shape it. One being cannot shape humanity, but they can make all the difference in the world.”
“I don’t...” I started, but then found myself thinking of the Doors of Judgment. “Kind of like a dream catcher? Like the symbol of the Order? That idea of fate?”
He nodded. “Exactly. Who do you think they got it from?”
“I thought the Order was started by that enchanter, Myrddin.”
Orion smiled again. “And who do you think gave Myrddin the power to create the Order and control the elements? Who do you think showed Myrddin the prophecy that powers this war?”
“The lightning! It was you guys wasn’t it? Heaven’s Guard?”
“No,” Orion whispered. “It was you.”
“Me?” I gasped.
“You. Don’t you feel the elements calling to you? Do you not remember the way fire burns for you every true full moon, how lightning strikes close, or even how the moon’s light beckons your eyes to the sky? Even without your full powers you can feel it, I know.”
I remembered. “You mean when my house caught fire when I was little, that was because of who I am? I did that?”
Orion nodded. “Because the moon was full that night, your true self was closer than ever and you were able to harness a small part of yourself without even knowing. It doesn’t happen every time but only when the moon is truly full, and only when a powerful emotion is linked to that moment. That’s why you’ve only felt that way a handful of times, and why you’ve found other reasons to blame for those extraordinary events.
“Everything in your life has happened because of who you are. You are the one that saw the original prophecy, the
Legend of the Dreamer
, and you are the one that gave Myrddin his powers so he would help protect your future. Before you died the first time so long ago, you struck Myrddin down and showed him the truth; because of your bloodline and your curse, you knew you would soon forget it. You created the Order to fight in your honor and protect the world from darkness, the Devil, when you were lost to it. But times have changed. The world is darker now than ever before, and the Order is failing. We need to stop this war, and that starts with you.” He stepped closer to me. “It always has been about you, Calum. About who you are. The Order is right about one thing: You are the Dreamer, the one who walks through time, through dreams. But you are so much more than just that.”
I whispered, “The Devil. I have evil in me. I can feel it.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “We all have a little evil inside us. To doubt that would be to lie. The question is not that we do, but how much of it we have. And you, Calum, have much more good than evil. It’s difficult for you to see that now because of the binding spell moving through your veins, but that was for your protection. Even so, with it you can still feel some of the power you do have. You felt it mostly when you were younger, when your mind was less stable and your thoughts much more free. The witch who placed that spell on you was right in doing so, and unfortunately only she can remove it. The Order, however, is wrong about almost everything else. You are not the Destroyer. You are someone else entirely.” He shook his head and grinned. “I missed this. Missed you. Our arguments. Our paths connecting like they always will. Are you ready to know what you truly are?”
I gulped.
I nodded.
Orion said, “Look at your arm, Calum. Look at your birthmark.”
My heart fluttered as if falling. “How do you know about that?”
He just smiled. “You’ve asked that question a thousand times. Each time I answer the same: I have one of my own.”
Orion pointed to a spot on his lower, right arm. There, shining amid the black of his skin, were several tiny dots glaring bright. Together, they formed the vision of a hunter ready for battle.
“Orion?” I asked, pulling my hand back in. I had almost touched him. “As in the Hunter?”
He nodded. “As I said, I am a constellation. As are you.”
Cruel and wonderful bliss filled me.
I thought,
Does this mean I’m not my father’s son?
I reached to touch my own mark, but it meant nothing to me. There was no constellation that matched it. Not one I knew of.
“You won’t find the answer there,” Orion said, still smiling.
I could still hear the battle around us, but it was softer now. More had died.
“Tell me. I need to know. I need the entire truth.”
“Why?”
I was taken aback. “Why? Because someone has to stop this! We just can’t sit here and let the entire world suffer, can we?”
“No,” he said and sighed. “This has gone on long enough. People are dying when they were never meant to. Too much evil exists now. You are right to stop it. But you won’t find your birthmark in the sky, Calum, because it was lost long ago. For so long, you were the one that shone the brightest among us all. You are and forever will be the Caeles, the most powerful of all Heaven’s Guard. Our true leader, the North Star.”
His eyes didn’t lie.
I tried to find words-
but nothing came except: “How?”
Orion’s eyes grew heavy. The mist around him slowed as he said, “Your story starts like most do, with love. As you know, your true father was Lucifer, the Devil. You will always be the son of the Devil, no matter when or how or to whom you are born. Your soul will always be the first one you were born with. But there is always hope for you. There is a reason you are alive today. Your mother was the angel Gabriella.”
I blinked.
I will always be this, but there is hope...
“She was the most powerful angel of her time,” Orion said. “And it is because of her you were able to live. But because of your father, you were cursed to die.”
I choked, “I’m going to die?”
Orion’s eyes closed for an instant, and when they opened he said, “Let me explain. After you were born you were supposed to die. Children of angels and demons are never meant to live. However, because they are born with the blood of angels in them, they cannot be killed outright. Instead, they are all exiled to live in limbo in the sky as stars. You, Caeles, are different because you are the only one born to the Devil himself. You are his only son. Because of this he has claim over you, and tried to find you when you were banished to the sky shortly after you were born. However, your mother knew this and asked a member of the Guard to look after you and make you his equal. Me.”
“You raised me?”
“I think of you as a son, Caeles. And for a short time we were happy together. But even Gabriella could not have seen what would happen. You were her only son, too, but she didn’t live long enough to foresee this trouble. She thought you would be safe with me, safe in the sky away from the fires of Hell, but she was wrong. Lucifer’s claim over you was so strong that he was able to curse you. Because you went against him and became a member of the Guard, fighting the very evil he loves so much, he cursed you to die over and over again, and live as a human on earth, each time forgetting your prior lives. He knew the curse would cause you to be lost to the sky for even a brief amount of time. I believe he hoped it would eventually become a permanent loss for the Guard because every time you die your cluster of stars dies too, fading to nothing more than a mark on your arm. Without you, the sky is not as bright. Only the brightest star, the North, is left where twenty-five should be.”
Orion’s chest rose and fell. The blackness of it shimmering like rain against a night sky. “There is more, I’m sorry. I am truly sorry, Caeles. You must understand that you are currently safe from Lucifer. He cannot touch you now. There is too much love in your veins, too much angelic blood from your mother. It is the only thing protecting you. However, the last part of Lucifer’s curse is this: When you find true love, you will need your mother’s protection no more. It’s said that an act of true love will break your curse, but be the curse itself. Love is your curse, and it is your salvation. It will free us, and trap you. When that happens, the Devil will find you and be granted the power to kill you once and for all time.”