by Hart, Blaine
“You fight like a girl,” she taunted.
“So do you,” I replied.
“I am a girl.”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“Cur!” she cried as she whirled my blade so fast I almost lost grip.
“Minx!”
I used brute strength to slash and force her to the bulwark. She thought to be clever. She leapt to the rail and then to the hatch cover. But as she jumped I landed my blade home.
“A hit!” I cried. “A hit! Score!”
“Back at ya!” she called bopping my butt.
“Kell!” we both yelled.
But my master was no longer watching. He had been drawn to the prow of the ship. The other Anna started to speak but I held up my hand. I knew my master’s mind. He was standing up and holding a line, but I knew that he was meditating, seeking.
“I think,” I said softly to her, “that we are coming close.”
“To what?” she asked. “What is he looking for?”
“An Angel.”
She looked puzzled as we stowed our gear. It was her turn at the wheel and so I stood by her to study what I could. Anna climbed a line up to the top of the boat and peered out into the distance. We all wondered what we would find.
Evening drew about us and with it came high clouds veiling the sun. The sea was ashen grey and rolling. Long, deep swells rocked the Chaos, but Kell directed our way straight into them lessening their impact. Water broke the prow and the ship would pound down on the other side of the swell with a thunk. Light was fading when Anna called out, “Two points starboard quarter!”
The other Anna turned the wheel. The sea splashed my master but he stood unconcerned. I clutched a shroud as we rolled. Then I saw what looked to be a small hill in the distance. It was like a little, bright hill alone in the ocean. The swells crashed about it, sending spume and spray into the air. Kell raised his hand and Anna scampered down the lines as I joined her to trim the mainsail. The ship slowed and as we approached the mound I gaped in wonder.
Here was no rocky rise. Before us sat an Angel on a small flat rock in the middle of the sea. She was naked and sitting with her slender legs crossed and her knees up about her chest. Her arms wrapped her legs and drew up to her face, her hands pressed as in prayer. Her skin was as white as sea foam and without blemish, her golden hair fluttered in the breeze. What I had seen from a distance as a hill were in fact the Angel’s wings, folded and pointed above her head like a tall hood, sheltering her from the rages of the sea. They were white with strains of grey running along the leading edges.
But even as we approached those wings opened and fanned. As they did a wave broke behind her sending a stream of white water straight into the air. Our ship ground to a halt, though there was no land beneath us nor rope to moor us. We bobbed in the water before the magnificent being, shocked into awe and silence.
She unfolded her hands and looked up, revealing a beautiful face that was glowing brightly and so fair that neither the Annas nor I could look on it for long without being forced to blink and look away in utter astonishment. Kell stood stead fast.
“I know you Kell,” a voice like liquid silver sang. “You seek Gavial, the Angel of Glory.”
“I do,” my master said.
“How is it that you deem yourself worthy to stand in her presence?”
“I am not worthy,” my master answered. “But my cause is.”
She smiled and turned her gaze to the Annas and me. I could feel her. It was as though something was peering into my very soul and with that searching came both a sense of delight and one of shame. Her gaze passed me and then I heard the Annas giggle softly as if they had been tickled.
“You are bold, Kell,” the Angle said.
“My need is great.”
“And what would you ask of Gavial?”
“A blessing for my quest.”
Laughter like tinkling ice crystals lilted through the air and filled my heart with joy.
“Your heart is good,” she said. “Your cause is just, and your companions wisely chosen. I will grant you entrée; but the rest is up to up to you. But hear this Kell, Gavial will test you.”
“So be it.”
“Vade in pace. Vade cum fortuna.”
And then her wings began to fan. We felt the air about us pulse. The ship rocked and shuddered. Anna and I clutched the mast as we rocked back and forth. Then we were engulfed in a bright white light. It felt as though the ship was spinning wildly as the air about us sparkled. My head was spinning, and a moment later we slammed down back into the ocean. I heard water splash and crash, and then all was calm.
The glittering air melted away and we found ourselves in a watery grotto. The sea rolled calmly toward a shore of white sand that was dazzled with a thousand tiny points of light. Beyond that a yellowy green light glowed from below the earth of two tall statues. The cave rock above us sparkled in the weird lights. The Chaos bumped the shore and Anna and I dropped anchor after taking a few moments to collect our wits.
Kell stood silent while looking at the lights before us. Then he shook his head sadly and bade us to don our armor. We obeyed but I wondered why we would go armed into the presence of an Angel. Still, I felt proud to wear my weapons. The other Anna had fashioned a crossed sheath for my daggers that hung on my back, and I was a small shadow of my master as we jumped into the shallow water.
We slogged ashore. The soft sand soon became hard smooth rock. As we approached, I saw the little lights to be small candles set atop tombstones with no markings. They stretched in a vast field making the whole place glow with an eerie green light. There was no path and so we wound our separate ways around the tombstones.
“Why would an angel shrine be surrounded by a graveyard?” the other Anna asked me softly.
All I could do was shrug and be glad that we had all brought our weapons.
We neared the eerie light and marveled at the two huge angel statues. They stood twice the height of the mast of the Chaos and were carved of white marble. Who could of made something so magnificent I couldn’t imagine. The stone was polished to a luster and there were a myriad of dark vein-like threads throughout the stone. Their wings were spread wide open and seemed to envelope the cavern. They held their arms high and in their hands they clasped bronze swords that crossed above them. Beneath their arms and between their breasts where strange birds with dragon-like wings that hung there suspended silently and drifting slowly in no wind that I felt.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” the other Anna whispered. Anna put a finger to her lips and told her to “hush!”
At the base of the giant Angel statues was cleanly cut blue marble stairs that led downwards. We cautiously walked forward and as we came close to the stairs we realized just how huge the Angel statues where. Kell barely reached the stone angel’s ankles. Far above the swords gleamed and the bird things whirled slowly. Below we saw a large cavern that had been carved into the grotto. A single narrow set of stairs wound down to a wide landing running all around the base. There were arched doors set in the walls. At the very bottom a pool of green water glowed so bright we had to shield our eyes. In the center of the pool there was a small island, and on that island it seemed to me that a figure crouched.
Kell led as we descended the stairway. Our eyes were dazzled by the light and I hugged the wall to keep my balance. When we had reached the base of the stairs and had our feet on solid ground we were suddenly nearly blinded. Kell raised Ashrune to the angels above and sang a chant in a language I didn’t know. Then he charged forward and plunged the head of his hammer into the green water. The splashing sound was more of a shriek – and in that moment the light dimmed.
The bird things above wheeled lower and all about us there were weird stirrings. It took a moment for my eyes to focus, but when they did I saw that the doors we had seen were cell bars. Behind each door where dozens of child-like angelic creatures. They were dancing and clamoring about, many of them reaching their tiny arms th
rough the bars. They seemed to be begging, but they spoke no words. Then I heard something move on the small island in the middle of the water. The other Anna clutched my arm as we gazed across the green water.
In the middle of the island we saw a mighty Angel. She was as tall as my master and wearing glowing golden armor. Her breastplate was inlaid with sparkling emeralds, and her skirting hugged her slender waist and then draping around her firm round thighs. Her yellow hair sparkled like the sun as it draped about her shoulders and wings. Then with shock I noticed that she was chained. A thick iron collar wrapped around her delicate neck and the chain was bolted to the rock pedestal on which she lay.
“This is no shrine.” Anna breathed.
“It’s a prison.” her sister added.
“Hush,” Kell said. “She speaks.”
But if she did she used no words I heard. Her eyes gazed on my master and she looked as if she were pleading. I watched a golden tear fall from her eye.
“She begs me to release her,” Kell said.
“Then you should.”
“You must.”
“I will,” he cried.
In a mighty bound he jumped into the water and swam across the watery moat. He then pulled himself onto the stony pedestal. Kell raised Ashrune above him and then brought it crashing down onto the lock that held the chain – and then Kell wailed as sparks flew from the blow and he was thrown backwards. The Angel reeled in her bonds, her face contorted in pain, and when the smoke cleared the head of Ashrune was cloven in two.
Kell looked at the Angel in dismay, but the woman hung her head and wept.
“Gavial?” he said.
But in response the Angel shuddered as if in pain. My master stood silently, gazing down at the weeping woman, whisps of smoke rising from the shards of his war-hammer.
“There’s devilry here,” Anna said.
“Mighty devilry, “the other nodded.
“Or,” I ventured. “It’s a puzzle.”
“What?”
But then I heard Kell laugh.
“Of course,” he said. “The watery guardian said as much. The Angel would grant her blessing not to brawn but to brain. It will take more than mere strength to defeat Visalth, and I must prove my cunning to be worthy.”
The Angel looked to him demurely.
“So,” I reasoned. “If there is a riddle here there must also be a clue.”
“But there is nothing here,” Anna said.
“No writings,” her sister said.
“No pictures.”
“Just bare walls.”
“With cells.”
“With cherubs locked inside.”
“Poor things.”
“Who would imprison you?”
“And why?”
“That,” Kell said, “is the question.”
The infant angels were clamoring and straining at the bars. The chained Angel looked to them lovingly, longingly, her arms stretched pathetically. I strode to one barred door. The lock was old and rusty. I gave it a swipe with my blade, but other than some rust flaking off, nothing happened. Then the little ones became eager and agitated. Some waved me away while others pointed to the Annas. Their urgings were desperate.
“Me?” Anna said.
“Me?”the other echoed.
The things leapt with glee.
“But Longo is stronger.”
“By far.”
And then from the island I heard my master laugh. We turned.
“The boy may be stronger,” he said chuckling, “but you are innocent. Your strength is in your purity, and that is the mark of an Angel.”
The Annas looked at one another, then giggled. The cherubs were becoming agitated.
“But still,” I said. “Who would want to lock away an Angel and her children?”
“Don’t know,” Anna said.
“And don’t care,” the other added.
“They have the key.”
“We strike on three.”
“One.”
The Annas raised their swords.
“Children?” Kell mulled.
“Two.”
The Annas stood and aimed.
“Children!” Kell cried. “Stop!!”
“Three!”
Their cutlasses fell. As one they caught the lock and smashed it to bits. The door flung open and the room was filled with gleeful squeals of freedom.
But as the cherubs passed their jail doors they began to change. The cute little angels morphed into demonic red imps. Their hind legs were like a goat’s with cloven hooves. The wings that sprouted were those of a bat and their spidery forearms ended in three-pronged talons. Their ugly dog-heads had long canine fangs, and they had yellow eyes and curved horns.
Two of them harried the Annas and quickly wrested their swords from them. Three came for me and I fended them off, my sword slicing and whistling through the air, but my blade never caught any of the flying devils. Several flew up to the top of the chamber, but as quick as the demons had transformed, the bird-dragons from above swooped to block their escape. Three attacked Kell with the Anna’s dropped swords, and the chained angel clutched her legs and drew her wings in around her. The tiny angel’s still in their cells made a racket, desperately rattling their prison bars and screaming in high pitched voices.
Then there was a mighty horrible shriek much louder than all the others, and one of the imps above me fell with a knife in its chest. The two others were stunned long enough for me to slice open the belly of another one and cleave the wing off a third, their black blood spattering upon me. Arrows began to fly. Kell had cut one in half in mid-air with Ashrune’s blade. When he impaled the other, the third fled away shrieking. Kell picked up the lifeless body of ones of the imps and threw it mightily, knocking the fleeing imp from the air with the body of its brother. The others retreated and hovered above, desperately trying to dodge the Anna’s arrows. The bird-dragons wheeled overhead, but didn’t attack.
“What the . . . ?” Anna said.
“How the . . . ?” the other said.
“Longo was right,” Kell said. “It was a puzzle. But here there are no Angels or cherubs.”
He looked down at the chained one. Her wings opened and she clutched my master’s feet and looked up at him, pleading.
“Angels are pure,” he said gravely. “Angels do not bear children.”
And so saying he raised the blade of Ashrune. The silent woman shrieked, but before the knife could strike the Angel of the waters appeared above and stayed his hand.
“You have done well, paladin,” she spoke softly. “I am pleased.”
“Gavial,” Kell said.
The Angel smiled. And with her smile the demons vanished and all was well.
Chapter 5 Galth
The green light in the pool turned a soft, soothing white. The cells around us became small alcoves of devotion and the bird-dragons in the sky above fluttered down into the chamber as beautiful white doves that cooed and circled the Angel. And in that brilliant light Gavial glowed. Where the chain had once been bolted to the floor there sprang a dais of gleaming white marble on which the Angel stood. Kell reverently gathered up the shards of his once mighty hammer and climbed up the stairs to kneel before the Angel in homage.
Her face was still bathed in a radiance that would not let us gaze on her for long, but I saw that she stood far taller than any man. Her wings were outstretched and almost enveloped the cave while her gleaming hair hugged her body like liquid gold. And though I could not look long upon her visage, I could feel her smile.
“Rise now Kell, and gaze upon my face,” the divine creature sang softly, but with a holy chordance that I shall never forget. Kell rose, and never had I seen him look so glorious. He was the true picture of a legendary hero. The angel turned towards me and the Annas “You, brave friends, who cower and hide from me, fear not to lift your heads and so to see. For I am Gavial, the Angel of Glory, and you are worthy to be on this quest. Witness now as a Paladin
is Blessed, with Strength and Valor Flowing from my Breast!”
To look on an angel is to glimpse the divine. But to look on the Angel of Glory is probably the greatest experience of my life. I was immersed in her beauty and her splendor and her grandeur. My heart was filled to overflowing, and if I were to never gaze on anything lovely again in this world then I would be content. The unworthy son of a poor clam digging sailor was in that moment and in that room and in her presence exalted to a place among the holy and sanctified. He was pure. He was whole. He was one with the universe. He finally understood what true joy was. While gazing at her magnificence her words came forth like a strange musical symphony of utter purity and wisdom.
“You gaze on me and I do stand above;
this day when you would ask of me a boon
whilst trembling in this holy, sacred room
and trusting life and soul to Angel’s love.
“But blessings may be simple as a dove,
as constant as the ever rising moon,
or murky as an ancient cryptic rune,
and oft will leave the blessed a lack thereof.
“So this will be my blessing and my curse;
Men are much like an Angel with one wing.
So seek another with whom you’d fly to death,
and thus with them for better and for worse,
you’ll touch my heart and that will truly bring
a blessing from this Angel’s lonely breath.”
And as she spoke I felt a small, gentle wind that was like a breeze scented with spring flowers. I was borne by that gentle breath forward and I found myself by my master’s side, filled with Gavial’s blessing.
“Through this portal you must seek your prey,” the Angel said. “A journey of a month will take a day. But that will be one day my blessings fade, so tarry not and do not be afraid. Look always forward and never where you’ve been, and I will be with you behind the wind. The innocents will tarry in my shrine, and I will teach their souls to sing and shine, for my angelic voice will fill their souls, and fanciful tales will loneliness console.
“So henceforth go through this portal, fly to far and distant land, and try your fortune with my blessing in your hand. Be brave to meet the challenge of your quest, return with glory or die like the rest. But if your faith is strong and you hold true, this Angel and her blessing in the wind will be with you.”