Fly Me Away

This was it.

I had had the most restless sleep of my life; Nightmares plagued my brain to the point of absurdity. I woke up more often and I would have liked, but it wasn’t too bad…..Jackson was there every time. He would hold my hands and whisper quietly to me until I was sleeping again. It was like a dream being awake, but he wouldn’t let me. I needed to be able to focus tomorrow, he said.

The wind was warm by midday. Everything was gone: the logs, the fire, the tents. Everything. The clearing was now completely void of any objects, apart from the us.

Pip was ordered by the angels to stay away from me, no matter how much she protested it. They put her way out of the way, behind me and to my left, but she demanded to stay within watching distance. To my utter delight, there was a giant winged bear beside her, standing straight up on his back legs. He didn’t look vicious; he was calm, just like an angel should be. Pip was his responsibility personally, I was informed, so I couldn’t rely on Pirro to help me if Pip was in danger. It took a load off my shoulder knowing that even if I was about to get stolen, Pip was being protected by a giant near invincible bear.

I wasn’t sure where Neil and the nymphs were, though Jackson assured me they weren’t far away. They would be on patrol, anticipating the arrival of our guests. They would show up when we needed them. We were a well oiled machine.

I felt like I was in the center of our little formation, standing right in the middle of the clearing, facing an unnaturally dark patch of forest. Jackson was directly behind me, giant wings at full mast, looking as glorious as ever.

I was….confident.

But saying that, I was still as stiff as a board. Jackson was easily one hundred times more relaxed that I was. He was playing with a lock of hair behind my back, until he placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned close.

“If this turns into a fight Maggie,” Jackson spoke informatively over my shoulder, “Neil is going to come and take you away from here. I want you to stay with him.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. Neil?

“Why him?” I argued, “Why not you? I want to stay with you…”

“Let me show you something interesting,” Jackson mused, stepping up beside me and putting his arm around my shoulder. I blushed, hoping Pip didn’t look too much into it. He turned us around so we could peer subtly at Pip and Pirro.

“Look closely. Do you notice anything about us Angels? Our wings?”

I tried to compare them, but it was difficult, what, with the two of them being so completely different and all. Pirro was looking down at Pip as she wove braids into the fur on his arm skillfully. Pirro’s wings… were small. A lot smaller than Jackson's, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense, since he probably weighed 10 times as much…

I shrugged, frustrated I couldn’t see it.

“We are like an army built with different angels specializing in different aspects of our job. Look at Pirro,” Jackson pointed to Pirro and he looked back at us, head tilted, “His wings are odd, like duck wings.”

I looked closer this time. They were short, and didn’t really look capable of hauling such a beast into the air. They didn’t match him.

“You’ve seen a duck fly, but imagine if that duck weighed 1000 pounds. Pirro can fly, but it isn’t pretty. He won’t be much use to anyone in the air. On the other hand, he's a behemoth of a creature and has more physical strength than any of us. As long as Pip is on the ground with Pirro, she’s completely safe.”

I jumped and spun around. Neil swooped in then, and landed far too gracefully on the earth in front of us. He was gazing ahead into the shadows purposefully.

“There, you see Neil’s wings,” Jackson nodded in Neil's direction.

I looked, but I didn’t know a lot about wings or birds or what they were good for. Neil was quick and graceful though, something that I’d noticed since we first met him. I noticed, because it was so bizarre to watch him. He was certainly no Jackson or Pirro. I couldn’t imagine him fighting anything…

Jackson continued, “they are like hawk wings. Very accurate, which is convenient for him, twisting and turning through all these trees. His specialty is escaping, not combat. He is a foolproof way for me to get you away from here if anything goes wrong.”

Oh. Of course.

“And you…?” I asked lightly, “What are you built for exactly?”

“I’m more of an…eagle of sorts. A terror in the sky.”

I recalled thinking that once. The first time I’d really gotten to look at his wings. The first time he let me touch them…. The memory made me wince. I promised myself I would think about it….

He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand and I blushed.

“I believe this is the reason I was given to you. You, being the girl who the king of demons is not allowed to have,” he said grinning. He flexed his wings out wide, then brought them back in. They were even bigger than I’d remembered, “Broad, flexible wings….strong, fast, agile.”

“All of the above,” I added, smiling proudly.

“And a young human male in his prime. You’re a lucky girl.” He winked.

“Though, I wouldn’t have minded if you were something cuddlier, like a tiger or a Saint Bernard,” I teased, caught up in his playfulness. He was in such a good mood at such an inappropriate time…?

He snatched me in a hug, nuzzling his face into my neck. “I’m cuddly,” he murmured.

My face went the brightest shade of red possible. I was sure Pip would see this one, and it wasn’t some kind of, ‘good luck’ hug. I couldn’t resist the urge to cooperate with him, wrapping my arms gingerly around his shoulders.

“Get a room!” Pip called from behind us, waving her hands and laughing madly. I jumped, but Jackson wouldn’t let me go. He laughed with Pip, pulling back until I could see his sweet smile.

He moved in closer and whispered in my ear, “she was awake last night. Deceptive little redhead.”

I gasped and twisted to look at her, clear outrage on my face. She was wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“That little—”

“Relax,” Jackson cooed. Him pulling me against his chest again forced me to do it.

I decided that I liked the fact that no one seemed to be worried about our incoming guest. Pip and I were most likely just high from the angel drugs, but more so, I liked Jackson like this. He was all tentative and playful. Happy for once.

I needed to ask why.

“I don’t think this will come to fighting,” he whispered into the air, then he released me and shifted back to his position behind me, “this demon knows when he can’t win, and three angels could take down an entire army of demons no problem.”

I nodded and took a deep breath, averting all my attention back to the dark patch of woods before me. “…just don’t hurt yourself,” I mumbled.

Jackson let out a short sharp laugh.

“Jackson….”

I felt like this would be easier to say now that I didn’t have to watch his reaction.

“Maggie.”

“Why are you so…okay?” I spoke quietly, not really knowing how to ask it properly. All I could think about was the Jackson from last night, expressionless and sad in the forest.

“I’m not thinking about it,” he stated, “now isn’t the time.”

And that was it. I would follow suit. Save our goodbyes, if that’s what it came to.

Neil was still standing before us, his arms folded now. He twisted his head back and stared blankly at Jackson for a long time.

I started to feel uncomfortable, so I turned to see what Jackson was doing. His pale green eyes weren’t looking at Neil, they were gazing straight ahead into the trees. I turned back to position and cleared my throat; they were having a conversation in their heads. One that Jackson didn’t want to be a part of.

“These thoughts in your head….?” Neil questioned, looking completely bewildered.

“You don’t understand,” Jackson responded blankly.

“No.”

Jackson was silent. Neil was still staring, but he narrowed his eyes now, turning it into more of a glare.

“You are different from us,” Neil stated, “the rest of us.”

“I know.”

For some reason, when he was speaking to Neil out loud, I imagined it was only for my benefit. It was like the two of them had been having this conversation for days in their heads. Neil just couldn’t comprehend… me and him…

Pirro roared quietly. A low warning grumble. Neil’s body sprung around towards the woods.

“They are here,” Neil announced. Jackson nodded at him quickly, and then Neil disappeared backwards into the trees, completely out of sight.

My heart pounded violently, but I felt Jackson calm me down. Be brave Maggie.

Within a few seconds of Neil’s disappearance, four figures emerged from the forest.

I had never seen anything like them. They looked like disfigured, out of proportion humanoids. Their skin was dark red and sparkling like a galaxy, and they were obscenely tall and thin, at least 10 feet. Almost measuring up to Pirro standing upright.

It was peculiar. I didn’t know what their faces were doing…they didn’t make sense to me. I felt out of my dept there.

“He brought friends….” Jackson announced curiously.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, about twenty more of them appeared, but these ones were only half the size. I heard Pip gasp from behind me, but I resisted the urge to check on her. I couldn’t bare the thought of turning my back on these things.

From the small gap, right in the middle of the weird red things, something different appeared. Someone I should say.

It was the demon king. Even though I was positive it was him, he was nothing like what I’d imagined.

I thought he would have looked like a god of fire and darkness or something equally as horrifying; a giant monster with black horns, wide eyes and four pairs of pitch black wings. But he was the opposite. I wasn’t sure whether he always looked like this or not, but he was just…a man. He was tall and slim with sleek black hair and a dark metallic robe that made him look, well ….just really rich.

The minute his face was visible, I could see that he was not interested in anything here but me. One of his smiling eyes was white, and one was red. I shivered; this made him smile greedily.

“At last…” the demon breathed. His voice was so low it was unnatural, “Terra.”