Angels and Elves- Act I

by William Collins

  Sypher’s smug smile widened. “It’s cut off from the rest of the Fortress. Where we won’t be disturbed and a great hiding place for Taija if my experiments take longer than expected. Her friends will tell the Masters she’s missing, but they won’t find her down there.”

  “Wait, what are you going to do? She’s just a girl, we can’t-”

  “Getting cold feet?” Sypher’s smile slipped off as his face became a cold mask. “Don’t let me down brother, not like you let down mother and father.”

  “I…” Sintian fell silent, bowing his head in shame. Sypher had never let him forget how he was partly to blame for mother and father’s death. If he’d reached help sooner, Venators might’ve been able to save his parents.

  “No,” he sighed. “I won’t let you down.”

  “Excellent.” Sypher’s smile returned. “Begin befriendong her at once. Hell, woo her if you have too. It will take me a few days to get everything ready, maybe longer. We can’t very well let everyone see us take Taija down there. You’ll have to get her to come willingly. It shouldn’t be difficult once she trusts you. If she takes a shine to you, you can even say you’ve got a midnight picnic for her down in the catacombs,” Sypher chuckled heartily.

  He felt dread settling in his chest. But how could he say no? He’d disapointed Sypher so many times in his life already?

  “Come along then, it’s time to meet my contact.” Sypher stood. “Unless you’re backing out? You started this remember? I thought you were absoloutely sure Evan used demon magic?”

  “He did…I am.”

  “Then, are you with me, or are you not?”

  Sintian hesistated but a moment. “I’m with you, always.”

  Chapter 21- An Audience with Angels

  Joelle hung at the back of the procession as they walked through the tunnel. Galadfrey led at the front.

  Bane walked just ahead of her, frequently glancing back and over her shoulder, as if he expected them to be ambushed.

  “Chill out, will you.” She mumbled after the fifth time.

  “Pipe down, pipsqueak,” he responded with a sneer. “Unlike you, I don’t plan to be caught unawares. Remember those missions you failed two years ago?”

  “It was just one,” she snapped, hating that he’d made her defensive.

  “Ooh, really,” Sabine asked, evidently listening in. “What happen-”

  “It’s rude to butt in to other people’s conversations,” Jed interrupted Sabine. “But seriously, what happened?”

  She sighed in frustration, hearing Bane chuckle that their companions also now knew about her failure.

  Galadfrey and his knights walked on just ahead of Jed. The Keeper seemed oblivious to their conversation as he hummed a strange tune to himself quietly.

  “It was nothing really,” she admitted. “On my second ever mission my companions and I were supposed to recover some ancient artefacts from a haunted tomb. But during a battle with the ghosts who guarded the artefacts, one of my spells hit a weak spot in the ceiling and the whole tomb came down.”

  “Yeah, and the artefacts were smashed to bits according to Domnican,” Bane added smugly.

  “That’s it?” Jed asked. “That sounds like an honest mistake, could’ve happened to anyone.”

  Joelle felt a rush of gratitude for him.

  “Good Venators don’t make mistakes,” Bane replied.

  “I heard a lot of Venators do actually.”

  For once, Jed was correct, it was a common occurrence for inexperienced Venators to barely pass or outright fail some of their early missions. But it didn’t make her feel much better. Nor had it stopped Bane from making fun of her ever since it had happned.

  He’d been like that her whole life. Ever since they were children Bane had made his hatred of her impossible for Joelle to ignore.

  When they were seven her favourite toy, a talking teddy, had gone missing from the garden. The Madagant’s lived only a few doors down and she’d seen Bane loitering the last time she’d played with it. She knew he’d stolen it.

  One of the worst things he’d done was two years ago, when Bane made her believe her former crush, Warren Zeltine had asked her on a date. He’d gone to the lengths of using an illusion spell to make himself look like Warren as he asked her out. She’d looked forward to the date for a whole week, only to be crushed as she entered Ethanc’s to see Warren with another girl and Bane across the room, snickering at her.

  Their families were practically in a blood feud, made worse last year when her brother, Luka, badly wounded one of Bane’s brothers in a duel. She and Bane had one of their biggest screaming matches the day both families found out about the duel, and Bane’s father had even tried getting the Maces banished from Veneseron.

  “Let’s just hope Joelle doesn’t make another little mistake on this mission then,” Bane sneered at Jed, speaking as if she wasn’t right behind him.

  Today was the first time she’d had to endure a whole day with him and she badly needed a break. At least at Veneseron she only had to spend one or two lessons with him at best.

  “Aha, here we are then.” Galadfrey came to a halt. Their tunnel had come to an end, but also at the foot of a great tree.

  The tree’s trunk was as wide as four men and all its branches were embedded into the rock wall behind it. The many leaves were all a deep ocean blue, whilst the bark was a spotless white. The tree had two triangle shaped holes in place of eyes, yet no mouth or nose.

  “Why aren’t the angels under the hill with you anyway?” Jed asked.

  “The angels are very delicate,” Galadfrey replied. “They must be both near the rich soil of Earth as wells as close to the clouds themselves. And right now above all, the three of them must be hidden from the valorcs.”

  “Three,” said Sabine. “But I read there were four angels in Mag-Mell. One angel for each season.”

  “There were four,” Galdfrey muttered gravely. “The angel of autumn was killed when the Valorcs first landed. I saw their leader, Felsyth, murder the angel himself, before feasting on her carcass and drinking her blood. I’ve never seen such a horrific thing.”

  “Jesus.” Jed looked at her incredulously. “And we have to kill this Felsyth?”

  “Probably,” she replied. “But it doesn’t matter how dangerous he is. They all die with enough arrows in ‘em.”

  “Have you used a Traveil tree before?” Galadfrey asked them all.

  “No,” Joelle replied with the rest.

  “Not to worry, it’s a simple method of fae transportation. Merely step into the tree and afterward you shall emerge into our celestial sanctuary.” Galdfrey placed his palm to the tree as he spoke. His hand left a glittery imprint on the bark, before fading away. Moments after the handprint disappeared a section of the trunk swung out, like a makeshift door.

  They gathered inside the giant tree, Joelle once again uncomfortably close to Bane. His scent, the one of freshly mowed grass, filled her nose.

  “Twice in one day?” Jed grinned. “Guys, we must stop treeting like this.”

  “What a horrendous joke,” said Sabine.

  “Almost as horrendous as your…face.” Jed frowned.

  Galadfrey once again pressed his hand to the tree, this time from the inside, and the door sealed back up.

  “Whoa, it’s like a wooden elevator,” said Jed. “To the top floor please.”

  Galadfrey grinned at Jed. “We are going to the top floor, in a fashion.”

  A great creaking of wood thundered in her ears and the ground lurched beneath them suddenly, although Joelle knew the tree wasn’t moving at all. Her stomach dropped, before feeling like it had floated up into her chest. It was like riding the rollercoaster in Veneseron city. The creaking turned to a howling wind before cutting off into silence.

  “Ah, we’ve arrived,” Galadfrey beamed, stepping forward to push the door open.

  As Joelle stepped out of the tree, it took her mind a while to process where they were. The grass
beneath her feet was normal, as were the ring of trees encircling the vast forest glade. The trees overhanging branches stretched out like desperate limbs, curling and threading into one another, like threads of a tied shoelace. It formed a thick dome of branches which made a roof.

  Then she realised it wasn’t a forest glade they stood in, but an island floating in the sky. Her first clue were the clouds between the trees, less than a metre away. As she walked to the edge of the glade she saw the world miles below, resembling a patchwork quilt of fields, forest and meadow.

  “Glarqing hell!” Jed swore. “Is this safe? This island isn’t gonna plummet to the ground or anything, right?”

  Galadrey laughed muscially. “It hasn’t in the millenia since it was created. The angel’s sanctum is the perfect hiding place for our lords.

  “How come?” Bane asked. “Couldn’t valorcs fly up here too?”

  “They could,” Galafrey admitted. “But the island is hidden amongst the clouds, and the valorcs will be scouring the countysides and forests for us, not the sky.”

  Jed shrugged. “Good point I guess…whoa.” He cut off, eyes widening as he stared ahead.

  Only now did Joelle notice the particular trees at the end of the glade, only these trees had only trunk and no branches at all, but tapered into deep hollows.

  Curled inside three of the four hollowed out trees were the angels. They certainly didn’t look like the biblical beings she’d imagined, nor did they resemble each other at all, but they had to be.

  Beside each tree was a faerie, each one tending to the angel within. To the side of the four hollowed out trees was a simple wooden shack, with three bedrolls made out of grass inside. She supposed that was where the angel’s carers slept.

  Bane stirred beside her, glaring at the one fae who was different to any Joelle had seen so far. A sidhe. He wasn’t beautiful like the seelie, resembling a goblin instead. His limbs were shrunken and twisted, and the dirty rags he wore bulged across a hunched back.

  “Relax boy,” said Galafrey. “The fae here mean you no harm.”

  “Don’t speak too quickly,” a voice like cracking ice hissed.

  Joelle realised it had to have been one of the angels, yet none of their mouths had moved.

  “I can smell him from here,” the voice continued, “a filthy fae mongrel.”

  Joelle realised it was the angel on the far left, who could only be of the winter court. The angel of winter was as pale as snow, with glowing icicles woven into his flesh, like his skin was stitched with saphire sequins. His eyes glowed an even bright blue, but his head was completely bald.

  Bane started toward him, but the sidhe beside the angel’s tree moved to block his path, dagger drawn.

  “No violence can befall this place!” Galafrey snapped, his expression abruptly irate.

  “For god’s sake Bane.” She grabbed Madagant’s sleeve and pulled him away.

  “Don’t touch me.” Bane yanked his arm away from her, yet didn’t approach the angel’s again.

  “I know these people,” said a voice reminicent of a bird singing, the angel of spring. “We’ve met their kind before, demon hunters.”

  The angel of spring’s skin was looked like it had been smudged with soil all over. Her eyes were parrot green. Tiny flowers, only just starting to ripen and bloom encrusted her flesh and she had lemon yellow petals for hair.

  “Not just monster hunters,” said a voice like many bodies of rushing water, “but those who cross between worlds. Come to offer us aid.

  The angel of summer’s skin appeared made out of glowing golden sand, and her long hair was liquid bronze. Her eyes were a burning orange, like twin suns. Unlike the other two angels, neither ice nor blooming flowers marked her skin, it was flawless.

  The one thing the angels had in common was that all three of their wings were shriveled, hanging useless either side of their backs. They’d lost the ability to fly.

  As Joelle looked upon them, she wondered whether they could move at all. Each angel stood upright in a tree’s hollow, but they were motionless. All three of them were dangerously thin and looked ancient without looking elderly. But there was no denying they were frail.

  “Indeed they have,” Galfrey answered, bowing low to the ground. He turned back to Joelle and her companions. “I only wish you could see them at full strength, and before the angel of autumn’s demise.”

  “What happened?” She asked. “And how come the angels are together? I thought the winter angel would be with the sidhe?”

  “Both of our courts meet in peace only one night a year, at the height of Midsummer. As such, all four angels were there when the valorcs attacked. They killed many seelie and sidhe alike. But we managed to get the three angels to safety. The sidhe may not like it, but at least the angels are safe, for now. Their feet are buried in the earth’s rich soil, whilst they live practically amongst the clouds here, two things angels need to stay strong.”

  “But we were weak before the valorcs came,” said the angel of springm with a hint of wry amusement. “We grow too old. Even angels die, and we began to lose our power long ago.”

  “Perhaps that is why the valorcs chose now to attack,” the summer angel replied.

  “So…” Jed said, “I don’t suppose you guys know a quick, easy way we can get these valorcs out of here?”

  “We know most things,” the winter angel cackled. “Like how you vomited all over Macy Blu when when you were a youngling.”

  “Uhh…how did you know that? Jed spluttered. “I was ten years old.”

  “What happened?” she asked, failing to stifle a giggle.

  Jed sighed. “I went to ask this girl if she wanted to have a picnic with me and threw up over her dress. It’s in the past, okay?”

  Joelle burst into laughter this time, unable to keep it contained.

  “You are in great pain,” the angel of summer said suddenly. “You miss her already, I can feel it. You fear she will perish soon.”

  Joelle had no idea who she was talking to, until she saw Bane stumble backward.

  “What are y…I.” he choked on his words, a sob spilling free.

  “But you need not worry,” the angel said soothingly. “She is being cared for. Death is not imminent.”

  Bane bowed his head greatfully, before backing away before the angel could say more.

  Joelle was alarmed to see him look so vulnerable. Who on Earth could the angel be speaking about? She’d known Bane all her life and she’d never seen him react like this. All his arrogance and malice had been stripped away. That was until he realised her watching him. As their eyes met his expression hardened and his sneer returned, like clockwork.

  “What’re you looking at?” he snarled, turning to see Jed and Sabine staring at him in surprise too. “That angel’s full of Ushk, and your all morons if you believe her.”

  There was the Bane Madagant she knew and hated. She was tempted to press him further about whatever girl he so obviously cared for, but winding him up was just what he’d do to her, and she was above that.

  Instead, she turned to the angels. “Indeed, we are Venators, come to aid you in your time of need.”

  “A bit late,” the winter angel hissed.

  “Ignore him, child,” the summer angel said gently.

  Joelle took her advice. “But we need your help in return. Our Masters at Veneseron believe the key to saving Mag-Mell is if both the courts join together, if only temporarily. The Realmer Republic doesn’t have enough Realmers available to send an army of us here, but we can aid an army of your own people in driving the valorcs back to Velkarath.”

  “Good luck.” The angel of winter cackled. “My court shall never join with the pitifully soft slaves of summer.”

  “I believe my court wouldn’t be so pig-headed as to let their world go to desruction,” the summer angel countered. “As much as they’d loathe to, they would work with the sidhe. At least until the valorc threat has diminished.”

  “How nob
le of them.” The snideness was evident in the winter angel’s tone.

  “We seek the sidhe,” Joelle continued. “If we could find where the winter court is hidden, perhaps we could convince the sidhe to ally with the seelie fae.”

  “And you want us to grant you the winter court’s wherabouts?” the angel of spring surmised.

  Joelle’s nod was echoed by Jed and Sabine, whilst Bane leaned on a tree some feet away. He didn’t show it, but Joelle knew he was weary of coming close to the angels again.

  “Your paltry plan won’t work,” the winter angel spoke.

  “It might,” the spring angel replied.

  “It will,” the summer angel finished. “I shall happily tell you where the winter court resides.”

  The winter angel groaned. “Never before have we revealed the location of one faerie’s court to a member of the other.”

  The sidhe beside his angel looked pointedly at Galadfrey as the winter angel continued, “To do so, would be chaos.”

  “Oh, come now,” Galadfrey said. “Chaos has come and gone my celestial lord. Now all of Mag-Mell nears destruction. I’m sure our two courts can form a short alliance in order to take care of the more imminent threat facing us all.”

  “Even so,” said the angel of spring. “As the only neutral angel left, I believe this must be the Venators task alone. Winter is right, we cannot reveal court secrets, even now.”

  “As you wish.” Galadfrey bowed respectfully before beckoning the three other fae to follow him to the other side of the island, out of earshot.

  “The entrance to the sidhe sanctum resides by the lake of ice in Lorralin,” the summer angel said, her voice as calming as a lullaby.

  “Lorralin, where’s that?” asked Jed.

  “North,” said the winter angel. “As far as you can go, until you see the stone formation of Rockhenge. They are hewn from blue rock and shaped like the teeth of a giant beast. Once there, you have but half a mile to the ice lake.”

  “To gain passage you must place a gift in the centre of the ice lake,” the spring angel spoke. “If the sidhe accept, you will meet them.”