The Tears of Time

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When Elanor had finished explaining, she looked over. She briefly caught the astonished looks on all three angels’ faces, before they were covered up with more polite expressions. Dina was the most surprised, simply because she knew the extent of what Elanor had done. Raphael gathered his thoughts, reminding himself that, though he saw a fragile human girl, Elanor was far more.

“With such raw power, this should be fairly simple,” Dina explained, bringing the group to a halt once they had reached a suitable distance from the Halls, so that they were a mere anthill on the horizon.

“What is it you’re trying to teach her Dina?” Ambriel asked.

“Simple conjuring,” Dina replied, “But far more difficult because you are attaching the woven spell to yourself. Normally, the mind will instinctively try to combat any attempts. Like trying to make yourself sick, or stop breathing.”

“I see.”

“Is that wise?” Raphael asked, “Won’t it hurt her?”

“I doubt it. If she has insufficient power to do so, then she won’t be able to do anything, least of all hurt herself.”

“What is it I need to do?” Elanor asked, confident in her newfound abilities.

“Concentrate on your form now. What you’re going to do is imagine that you have wings, but not simply to pretend. You need to actually feel them, realise their physical construction, and how they move. Similar to Form Dispersion, you’ll need to concentrate deeply on yourself. I’d advise sitting down.”

Elanor nodded, kneeling rather than sitting, steadying herself with her hands, then laying them in her lap. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. As before, she concentrated on herself, first her breathing, regulating its pulse. Then, instead of thinking about her mind, and her thoughts, she concentrated on her shoulder blades, the feel just where they protruded, two bony lumps under the skin. She imagined the lumps connecting to more bones, and second pair of arms which sprung from her back, strong and muscled, without hands but covered in thick white plumage.

She thought about the feel of feathers under her fingers and the beat of a pulse in her fingertips, placing the feelings into the space where her wings should be. It felt weird, an odd feeling of un-reality. Similar to the feeling she had had when she was small, that if she just concentrated hard enough, she could push her fingers through the wall, as if through air.

A rustling explosion poured from her shoulder blades, ripping through her thin white t-shirt and black coat. She gasped, as pain flooded her shoulders, as if someone had plunged a knife into the skin below her neck on either side, ripping the flesh asunder. She cried out as the pain continued, choking with a half-formed sob. The area seemed oddly numb, and yet utterly painful, unable to feel anything but red hot fire which burned her flesh. Suddenly the fire extended, and she felt an entirely new area, the limbs she had been imagining seconds ago suddenly a physical extension of herself.

She fell forwards as the pain continued to burn, peaking dreadfully, making white and black dots swim in her vision. Then it ebbed, flowing away until it was a mere ache, like tired muscle. Ella gasped for breath, blinking tears away from her eyes.

“Are you alright?” Raphael asked, kneeling next to her, taking her hand in his.

“Almost,” she breathed, trembling slightly, clutching Raphael’s hand hard.

“Dina!” Raphael cried, anger evident in his voice, “You said it wouldn’t hurt her!”

“I’m sorry, I-I- I don’t know what happened,” She stuttered, clearly sorry for causing any pain. She stared at the wings which had exploded so suddenly from Elanor’s back for a moment, then blinked.

“What?” Ambriel asked, registering her expression.

“I don’t think that was a conjuring,” she whispered, bending down and touching Elanor’s wings, “That would make the wings an ethereal thing, a woven spell in a semblance of wings. This… these are actual wings.”

“You’re saying…” gasped Elanor, her breath returning to its original rate slowly, “that I just grew a pair of wings?!”

“Yes,” Dina stated, her eyes wide.

“Oh, right. Now, I know you guys aren’t normal, but I’m human, ok? I don’t do this sort of thing.”

“Elanor, you’re not human,” Raphael murmured softly.

“You guys keep saying that, but I am!” Ella yelled, standing up fast. She over judged the movement, using her wings unconsciously, making her shoot into the air by a metre. She landed with a thump, bending her knees and putting out her arms. Unconsciously, she used her wings to balance.

“Elanor, you’ve just managed to grow yourself wings,” Raphael stated, smiling at her slightly.

“No!” she cried, tears beginning to prick at her eyes, making her nose tickle.

“Ella…” Raphael reached out to try and take her hand.

“No! I’m human!” she shouted, her voice hoarse with the coming tears. They began to flood in her desperation, and she turned and ran. This time she realised when she began to use her wings, taking off into the sky, like a different yet more natural run. She uttered the words under her breath again and again, crying quietly as the wind rushed past her, howling its anger away. She sobbed, letting the desperation get the better of her.

She increased her speed, letting the ground flash by, faster than she’d ever gone before. Up ahead, sounds of battle met her ears, and a blurred black swarm began to writhe on the horizon. As she got closer, the blurs transformed into figures, a hundred odd warriors, locked in desperate combat. She hovered for a moment, surveying the battle, then caught sight of Gabriel. For a moment, she considered flying away, thinking with resentment that he would only try and persuade her of the same insane theories as the other crackpots. Then she saw a demon flying in from behind him, dagger raised, unseen by the angel, who was struggling with another female.

“No!” she yelled, flying as fast as her wings would carry her.

Gabriel looked up at her in amazement, as she flew past him, tackling the demon around the stomach. In a blur of movements, the demon counter-attacked whilst Elanor fought to keep her wings free. Un-used to her new limbs, they both began to tumble through the air, breaking apart fighters in the vicinity. A horrible shriek echoed through the air.

In a flash of light, the demon disappeared, leaving Elanor crumpled in a heap on the floor, her wings crossed awkwardly over her body. The flash of light blinded both groups, making half the crowd turn to see what had happened.

A nearby demon saw Elanor unprotected on the ground and dived to attack. Gabriel, freed from the grip of his attacker, sent him flying with a vicious blow across the face. He dived to fend off the demon, but stopped metres away as a second blinding flash spread through the air. The battle stopped. Paused by the first flash, was sent into complete shock by the second.

This time no one missed what had happened.

As Elanor had caught sight of her second attacker, her hands had reached out to cover her face defensively. As the demon came into contact with her, the light built up in her fingertips, burning so bright the demon began to retreat in pain. Then, as quickly as it had began, the light was released, spreading like a shockwave through the air, completely obliterating the demon Ella had still been touching.

A fine mist of dust fell from the empty space where the demon has been.

A scream of anguish echoed from the fallen demon’s mate, who stared at Elanor with a look of pure hatred for seconds, before her sense got the better of her, and she fled scene. In a flash, the desertion spread to the rest of the demon congregation. Within moments they had fled, black blurs on the horizon, quickly disappearing.

Gabriel stared at Elanor, his common sense telling him that this was nothing compared with what it was predicted she would accomplish, but his thoughts reeled with the incredible power of her instinctive reactions. Unaware of the attention on her, Elanor struggled to breathe, her ears roaring with a dreadful noise and eyes dancing with black spots. She tried to call out, tell someone something was wrong, but her throat seemed off-limits, and she couldn’t make herself move. Finally, she succumbed to the peaceful unconsciousness which engulfed her.