Chaser of Faith

I eventually stopped struggling against Adriel’s tight hold on me. I wasn’t going anywhere, and I accepted that. I decided to save my strength. I had asked him numerous times where we were going, as it was painfully clear that we were not going back to Rahmiel’s cottage. He never answered me, focusing ahead of us.

I stared off to the side, mindlessly watching the clouds as we passed them. I felt my eyes get heavy rather quickly, especially because of how harsh the wind whipped against my skin and fragile eyes. I closed them, finally, when my eyes were too dry and irritated to keep open. Adriel never closed his- he barely even blinked.

I think I had dozed off accidentally because I woke with a start, almost falling out of Adriel’s arms, if not for his vice-like grip on me. I figured he would leave bruises, but that that didn’t matter too much to him.

I was so sure that this was the end of me. He was so crazy and unpredictable- why wouldn’t I be nervous about what he deemed a worthy punishment for me? I came to understand his obvious possessive personality, though I didn’t want to accept it.

“You need therapy,” I had told him glibly at one point in our flight. He didn’t acknowledge me.

Was I supposed to talk my way out of this? Was I supposed to keep struggling? Maybe once we landed I would be able to free my sword and attack… If we landed.

My sword was pinned between our bodies. At first it had pressed into my hip uncomfortably, though after a while, I became accustomed to it. The pain turned to a tingle, the tingle turned to pressure, and the pressure became a dull ache that slipped to the back of my thoughts.

Around the time that the sun finally started to rise was when the forest finally broke into fields. The space was so open and lush I allowed myself to remain distracted by its majesty as we continued to move.

If worse came to worst, would I be able to defend myself against Adriel? I wasn’t as strong as him. I wasn’t as quick as him. I wasn’t skilled with my sword yet. Could I even take the life of another to save my own? Adrenaline does crazy things, I suppose.

But maybe I was getting ahead of myself. I’d always been fond of giving people the benefit of the doubt. I made it this far, hadn’t I?

The empty fields were suddenly riddled with small white-brick houses. We were now low enough to the ground that I could vaguely see the details of the walls and the wooden roofs. The fields were cast in the orange glow of the rising sun, casting dark shadows behind the houses. I saw no movement on the ground- no Saniats, no animals.

“Where are we, Adriel?” I asked distractedly, not expecting him to answer. In the distance, on the horizon, the view of tall white buildings grew, and we passed the last house between here and the city..

“We’re in Vix,” He spoke for the first time, surprising me. I looked away from the sky and up at him. Vix?

We're in the Angel States? The furthest south we could go and still be on the land.

“Isn’t this where you grew up?” I asked cautiously. His eyes looked glazed over, like he was gone again. The orange glow of the sun made his green eyes turn to a deep, dark brown- they were basically black. I looked down at the ground that sped past us. A fall from this height would surely kill me. But so could Adriel.

“Why are we here?” I demanded. He said nothing. “What are you going to do with me?” He said nothing, still. I sighed. “Okay,” I exhaled.

My hands worked quicker than my brain. I grabbed a fistful of his hair in one hand, jerking his head to the side and using it as leverage so I could propel my body across his shoulder. I clutched one hand onto the bony part of his wings and bending it backwards, ripping out tens of deep black feathers in the process. Adriel let out a cry and before I knew it, we were plummeting to the ground.

My stomach twisted as we fell. My hair tangled around my head. The wind stung my eyes, forcing me to close them. I fell blindly. I struggled to open my eyes as often as I could, trying to keep my body on top of Adriel’s as he fell back-first. I thought I had screamed, but I couldn’t hear anything with the wind rushing past my ears. It took a few seconds for us to finally hit. I saw the grass out of the corner my eyes at the last second, and I flinched, closing them.

The impact shook my body, and pain spidered through my bones and muscles, starting at my head and running down to my toes. I couldn’t open my eyes for a moment. I was stuck in my body, unable to move or speak. I focused on my breathing as my body played catch-up.

I could tell that I was not on the ground. I had managed to stay on top of Adriel. Our bodies faced each other. There was a ringing in my ears that I hadn’t noticed until it began to dissipate. The sound was replaced by Adriel’s labored wheezing. It was then that I was finally able to open my eyes.

The orange sun had turned to a pale gold. It was the first thing I saw, as my head was turned to the side, facing the horizon and the distant city. One of my arms was pinned between our bodies, and the other was underneath his, pressed into the ground. I took in a few deep breaths and pulled my hand out from under him. The knuckles of my left hand were now purple, and red, and swollen, and once the pressure from the wound was released the pain struck me. The pain hit me so fast I didn’t know how to process it. Tears began to spill before I could stop them. The pain brought a black cloud over my vision and I had to close my eyes and rest my head back down onto Adriel’s chest.

I rolled off of Adriel as soon as I could open my eyes without feeling faint. My neck was sore, but other than that, I remained unscathed. I fell out of the goddamn sky and I was still alive. My sword clattered against the ground when I fell away from the angel, who continued to wheeze painfully. I examined my surroundings. The city was there- it would be a far walk, out in the open. The houses were there- I could try to find someone who would let me stay, and who would bring me to help. And, there was another forest in the opposite direction of the city- closer than the city and about the same distance as the houses.

Three options.

I didn’t speak Nythiat. I didn’t even really speak Saniat. What would be the odds of me finding someone helpful who could also speak English? After my experience with Beythas, I was pretty sure my chances were slim. And I wasn’t in just any Angel State. I was in the Dark Angel States. The very capital of this country. And dark angels were not known to be helpful to humans, even I knew that.

Though… I wasn’t really human. Was I?

I looked down at Adriel’s body. His wheezing suddenly ceased, though his chest continued to rise and fall. My heart began to pound in my chest. He was healing.

With a single shaking hand I searched through his pockets, taking any money he had on him. My mind grew fuzzy with panic and before I knew it I was sprinting towards the woods, cradling my injured hand to my chest, and leaving the angels behind me.

-*-

After wandering through the woods for what felt like forever, I finally stumbled upon a path running between the trees. It was covered by the leaves of the trees that lined the path. It was quiet and empty. I felt safe there, and I knew that if I stuck with the path I would find a way out of that place. I would also be able to stay hidden from Adriel if he tried to fly overhead in search of me. On foot, he would never find me, but if he flew, he would certainly see me… unless I took precautions to stay hidden. I hoped that he would first try to search the city or the houses first. That could give me enough of a head start for me to lose him.

I still was not accustomed to the eerie silence of this planet. The wind rustled the trees, but the lack of birds chirping or bugs buzzing past my ears made me blatantly aware once more that I was not home.

This place is not my home, I thought. This place, these people… It's so strange. So confusing. So serious. So scary. I don't belong here.

My body ached and throbbed with pain. The adrenaline from the fall had finally worn off and the all-over dull ache I felt, on top of the over-exhaustion and my over-worked feet, made me want to lay down and sleep for days. My knees buckled and my muscles seized up continuously. Finally, I had to sit down to rest and catch my breath.

I leaned up against a tree, making sure I was underneath the cover of the tree tops. I winced, bringing my hand closer to my chest, squeezing my wrist with my other hand to try to stop the pain. I had been cradling it close to my heart, trying to keep the swelling down. I sank down to my knees, then sat down on the ground, taking in slow, deep breaths. Everything was catching up to me.

When was the last time I ate? When was the last time I drank water?

I hadn’t eaten or drinken anything in a day. My stomach hurt from hunger, and the exhaustion of walking and talking had dehydrated me.

What do I do?

I could keep going without food for a while longer. But I wouldn’t last long without water.

I looked down both directions of the path. No one, and nothing. When would I come across civilization again?

Did I make the wrong choice? Should I have gone to the city? To the houses? I closed my eyes, weighing my options.

No… That’s where he would go first. I’m better off starving in the woods.

I reached my good hand down to my pocket. I had some money, if I come across anyone who can help me. I had my mini dictionary in case I ran into any angels who can’t speak English or Ronen. I had my sword, in case anyone or anything tried to hurt me. I even had the box of matches I had taken from Cal’s shop, thankfully. I could start a fire when the sun started to set.

Thinking of the matches made me think of Cal. The first time I met him, he gave me a necklace. He had said… it was supposed to protect its wearer. I put my hand to the cold silver under my cloak.

What a load of shit.

I took off my cloak, carefully tying the ends together to make a bundle for the sticks that I found. It took me quite a while because of my bad hand, but I tried my damnedest to ignore the pain.

I took in a shaky breath and stood up again slowly. I started walking again, looking for sticks on the ground. I made my way through the woods, straying from the path. I managed to find quite a few good pieces of wood, and wound up in a relatively empty area. I set down my bundle and took everything from the pockets of my dress, laying them down next to the wood.

I started to construct the fire, putting together the smaller sticks and leaves and putting the larger pieces of wood to the side. The sun was just beginning to set. I untied my cloak and laid it down, sitting on it and breathing for a moment. I felt my hand pulse. I was deafened momentarily by the shooting pain, but it passed as I breathed.

With my trembling hands I struck a match and started to light my fire. I tended to it, watching it grow as I fed the flames with more leaves and wood, careful not to suffocate it. It took a while but I managed to get a steady fire going, causing me to swell with pride. This wasn't so hard.

It was just a branch that fell the floor of the forest, but I turned anyway to look. As my back was turned to the flames I felt my skin sizzle in the heat. I clenched my shoulder blades, gasping in terrified and confused pain. I felt my shoulder blades crack as something protruded from my skin. I cried out, my voice echoing through the sky. There were more cracking noises and I felt my skin split further. There was a sudden heavy weight on my back and the cracking stopped. The burning dissipated. I laid face-down on my cloak in silence for a moment, trying to make sense of what just happened, fearing that if I moved again, it might happen again.

I used my forearms to push myself up, the extra weight was burdensome and foreign. I turned back to the fire, sitting on my legs and shuddering pathetically. I reached a hand behind my back and felt for the burn. My stomach churned with nausea as I was met with a bony protrusion from my back. Two of them on either side of my spine. These protrusions, I found as I stretched my arm and ran my hand along the length, turned to feathered wings.

A whimper escaped me, cutting through my dry, sore throat and hanging in the dead air. I clawed my way along the ground to a tree on the outer edge of my campsite and dry-heaved into the grass. I felt dizzy. My stomach pinched from hunger and emptiness and the strain of dry-heaving. My throat closed up and my tongue shriveled, craving water.

I found my way back to the fire- its cruel warmth making me sweat as my failing body overheated. I fell onto my cloak, on my knees. My brain pulsed, and my heart raced. My vision was replaced with a black cloud and before I knew it, I was waking up to a smoking campfire and rays of sunshine beating in my face.

It took me a moment to finally make sense of the scene before me, but when I finally did, the dark angel on the other side of the fire pit noticed my alertness and smirked glibly.

“Well, good morning.”