by Joe Duck
I reappeared in midair and touched down on my feet. I was in the ruined temple I had seen in the mirror. The rotting stench of the Grimoire was far worse than the smell of a dozen decaying books. The smell twisted my stomach, forcing me to cover my mouth and nose.
A few steps away, Mafis sat with his back facing me. Taking advantage of the situation, I grabbed Emily's staff from where it leaned against the table and flew towards him.
Mafis spun around, but before he had a chance to do anything, I smashed Emily's staff against his head.
There was a loud crunch, and the elf crumpled to the floor, a trickle of blood flowing down past his eyes.
I tossed the staff to the floor next to the unconscious elf then stepped towards Emily, only to sense an oppressive air of corruption that stopped me in my tracks.
The problem was easy to see. She was still reading. Her emotionless blue eyes flickered over the pages while her hands moved restlessly, flipping through the text.
“Emily, drop that book now!”
She continued her trance-like reading. The corruption, in the form of a small wisp of dark smoke, rose from the Grimoire and curled around, holding her in its foul embrace.
I took a cautious step forward and raised my hand towards the darkness, wondering if I could push away the corruption by purifying parts of it, when a hand grabbed my wrist.
Alarmed, I spun around and saw archangel Heliose smirk. “Now, now, Narius. It isn’t polite to interrupt when she is reading.”
"What are you—"
“Stop.” His green eyes glowed with power.
My body froze. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't even twitch my wings. "Archangel, what are you—"
Heliose sighed. “Patience, young Narius. You will have time to shine.”
I took a deep breath and yelled as loud as I could, "Emily! Stop reading!"
The smoke around her evaporated. She pulled herself out from the book and stared towards me with a blank face. "Narius? Are you there?"
Heliose frowned at me, his eyes glowing again. "Silence."
My lips clamped shut. I willed them to part, to make a sound, to do anything, but nothing happened. I was trapped inside my own body and could only watch helplessly as the archangel approached Emily. No!
Her emotionless eyes shifted towards Heliose, passing me by without pause. "Narius, is that you? Why do you have a halo?”
Heliose scowled. “Because I am an archangel, you little freak.”
Emily frowned and stared at the empty air in front of the archangel. “I'm a freak?"
"Yes, you are." He patted her head and smiled, the cloud of corruption leaving him untouched. "Why don’t you keep reading? You need to awaken the power within you.”
Emily nodded and returned her attention to the Grimoire. I tried to call out again, to warn her to run away, but no sound escaped me. Smoke billowed from the corrupted Codex. It engulfed her, tainting the air with its foul stench.
Heliose gave me a short glance then walked past me and kicked Mafis.
Mafis groaned and stirred. He rose to his feet, clutching his bleeding head, and growled, "What are you doing, Heliose? Why did you bring that angel here? You told me to deal with the demonspawn myself."
Heliose wagged his finger. "Now, now, aren't you forgetting about little Filia? You do want her back, right? Why don't you scurry along for a bit, you filthy animal. I will meet you at the human capital once the delicate matter here is dealt with, yes? Do you understand?"
The elf flinched and clenched his fists. "Very well," he said, turning his back on us and heading out of the hall.
The archangel shouted after Mafis. "Thank you!" He pinched his nose and turned to me. "I wonder if he bathes. Any questions so far?"
I wanted to answer him, but my mouth was still bound by the holy words.
"Oh. Right." He waved his hand and removed the commandment. "My apologies. But rest assured, Narius, I have only the noblest intentions."
“Archangel, you have to purify the Grimoire. Otherwise—”
He raised his index finger and silenced me. “Purify this. Purify that. You still don’t understand, do you? I was the one keeping an eye on Emily. I was the one subtly guiding her to take up the contract for Pannaxx. I was the one who gave that useless elf the book. I do not want Palkeon to rot in his cell so that he may one day repent for his sins. I want him free.”
It took me a moment to think about what he said. Pannaxx? Subtly? "What?"
Heliose closed his eyes and sighed. "I am starting to wonder if the drug to cloud your mind was necessary at all."
"But why are you making Emily read the Grimoire? I thought you just wanted to save your mate.”
“I am. But in order to save my love I need to reawaken the ... to ready ourselves to summon the demon once we get the other half of the book." The archangel rubbed his halo. "Honestly, do you know how difficult it was to set all this up? Especially with your mother searching for me. I had to cower inside that cave for a decade, only venturing out once every few years to avoid being seen. Can you believe I had to rely on an incompetent priest and an elf with daughter issues to further my plans?"
Nothing made sense. Why would the archangel try to summon a demon? Why did he bring me here? "I don't know what you're talking about! But I'll tell Lord Halfaya."
Heliose smote his brow and laughed. "You really are something special, aren't you? But really, Narius, I don't think you should bother someone who is bedridden. In fact, why don't you hold onto this." The archangel snapped his fingers and summoned an ivory dagger, the very same dagger that had been taken from Varian. Once the bony weapon was in my hand, his eyes lit up with power. “Great. Now, drive it through your own chest a few times.”
My hands gripped and raised the blade.
The Codex screamed, jingling the chain of my armor. Stop!
I wanted to listen, but her words sounded distant, and they soon faded away entirely. I tried to lower my arms, but my hands just kept on rising. Once they reached my chest, my arms pulled back and aimed the blade, readying to plunge the dagger into me. I tried to close my eyes, but even they refused to obey me.
Heliose placed his hand on mine. My hands stopped at the touch and a feeling of relief overwhelmed me. Seeing me relax, he smirked. "I would never do anything that would kill you, Narius. If you die, your mother would get nosy. Just avoid your heart. Those things are difficult to heal. Oh, and make it look like someone else did it to you.”
He relaxed his hold, and my hands plunged the dagger into my chest over and over, piercing my armor and driving the blade deep within me. Searing pain shot through my chest and rushed to the rest of my body. I wanted to scream, but I was trapped inside myself. I heard and felt the blade sink into me. The dagger struck my ribs. I felt my bones chip away, and my wings twitched with every blow.
Finally, after a dozen strikes, my hands buried the dagger into me one last time, and the commandment that held me disappeared.
Free from the bonds, my muscles slackened. I bowled over while blood oozed out of my wounds like wet manna.
The archangel's naked foot slammed down on my back and mashed my face into the stony floor. His foot smelled wrong, like a book that had been neglected for centuries.
I managed to twist my body just enough to look up at him. "Stop... Please..."
With a smile, the archangel lifted his bare foot and stomped on my face, grinding his heel into the side of my head. I screamed. Why? I looked at the cloud covering Emily. Emily. She is alone, and I am the only one here. I need to help. I need to save her.
The thought of helping her cleared my mind. Mustering every scrap of energy I had, I howled and channeled the power through my body, ordering it to rise. Bright rays of light radiated from me, destroying the shadows inside the hall. My wings spread and the glow from my body exploded.
I pushed myself up and shoved the archangel aside, sending him flying backwards and crashing to the floor.
Clutching my wounded chest
, I wobbled towards the cloud of corruption that surrounded Emily. I swung my hand blindly into the smoke and struck the ice-cold cover of the Grimoire.
The book flew away from Emily, dissipating the cloud around her.
I smiled, relieved at her safety. For a brief moment, the pain dulled. Then the bits of corruption stuck to my hand from touching the Grimoire burned, bringing with them the feeling of misery as they pierced both my skin and soul.
My vision flickered like a candle in the wind. A surge of pain followed, so powerful that it robbed me of my scream.
I collapsed onto the floor, struggling to breathe as my magic and life oozed out of me. My vision blurred further, and I coughed up blood as the light around me vanished.
Meanwhile, Emily stared at her empty hand. Written symbols and words flashed across her body, glowing dark for a moment before disappearing.
Heliose appeared in front of me once more, his forehead wrinkled in a frown, and stomped on my head again. "Do you know what you've done? Now she will be out of control!"
Each blow felt like a bookshelf landing on my head, and his foot pounded me into a dazed fog.
With every strike, I felt less and less as the world dimmed. Eventually, Heliose stopped. "Fool." He snapped his fingers, and vanished.
Unable to move, I watched my blood spreading across the cold floor. Everything was quiet, and I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and rest.
The wonderful sensation I experienced when I wrote my first page of the Codex... the taste of chocolate... the odd feelings I felt being with Emily... all of it came back as my blood warmed my chest. Maybe I should have hugged her when I had the chance. It would have felt so good. A long breath escaped me, and my eyes went blurry. "Emily."
"Angel?" Emily asked.
With all my willpower, I blinked and focused my eyes, trying to get a good look at her one more time.
Emily squatted before me, her once-blue eyes now crimson as rubies.
"Run," I whispered.
She shook her head, and the air around her darkened with corruption. She bore down on me with her unnatural eyes. Before I could react, she placed her hands on my throat. They felt cold, icy. Emily smiled, and then squeezed.
A flow of magic from her fingertips seeped into my heart. The air in my lungs escaped, and no matter how many times I breathed, I couldn't fill them again. I was drowning. Reaching out, I grasped Emily’s arms to fend her off, but she was too strong.
Her unnaturally cold fingers darkened with corruption seeping out from them.
Crimson steam rose from my body and solidified upon touching Emily, covering parts of her skin in a thin layer of bloody frost.
Dark spots and stains appeared in front me. I tried to say her name one last time, but I couldn't move my lips. My eyes closed and refused to open. Her hands were different than I remembered. They were so small when we first met.
How did I forget?
Narius—ten years ago
I studied the little demonspawn’s hand as I pulled her out of the courtroom. How can anyone have such tiny hands? Even her body was different. Her head only came up to my waist, and her body seemed so fragile.
We headed out to the vast, spotlessly clean, marble hallway belonging to Lord Arudi.
Emily jerked her arm back and tugged my hand, her eyes wavering. “Everyone here calls me an abomination. Aren’t you scared?”
I laughed at her concern for me. “I am an angel! Lord Halfaya said that nothing will scare me. Besides, it's not like you did anything wrong.”
“Who are you?” Emily asked as we walked down the empty hallway. Sunlight reflected off the pristine floor, making the place brighter than any part of the Great Library I had visited.
I puffed up my chest. “I am Narius, your guardian angel for the next few weeks until we find the Grimoire and secure it again.”
“Guardian angel? So, you're a few hundred years old?”
“Not yet, but I am getting there. I am already ten.”
Emily raised an eyebrow. “Liar. You look like an old and wise angel.”
I rubbed the back of my head and smiled, touched by her kind words. “You really think so?”
She bobbed her head up and down. "Yes, I—" Her stomach growled. A deep, glowing blush swept across her cheeks, and her left hand shot over her shirt to cover her belly. "Got anything to eat?"
Being the old and wise angel I was, I conjured a pile of manna. Once the blob was in hand, I offered the best food in the world to her with pride.
Emily grasped the blue gel in her tiny hands. Her eyes and face shone with amazement, and she took a bite, but as she chewed, her face wrinkled. She spat out the manna and stuck her tongue out, splattering pieces of blue goo against the marble floor. “What is this? It tastes like troll’s milk.”
I frowned. “Troll's milk? What's that? Does it taste good?”
She spat out more blue fragments. “You need to eat better.”
I gave her an annoyed look, wondering how anyone could hate food. “By the way, where are your wings? It would be faster to fly.”
“Wings? I’m a human.”
My mind jolted. "What? But you are a—" Unable to hide my excitement, I poked her cheeks. They felt soft, just like mine. "Never mind. Is it true that you will get taller?”
Emily tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “Of course."
"Then what about when humans become older?"
“Hmm… usually men get beards."
“So, you will you have a beard, too?"
"No." She placed her hand on her chin and frowned. "Hmm. Women grow differently. I'll tell you when I grow up.”
I nodded, eagerly soaking up her words of wisdom. We chatted, and before long she told me stories about the world below. In particular, I was fascinated by the variety of food they had, even if they probably tasted like dust compared to manna.
Enjoying Emily's worldly knowledge, we talked for hours until we finally reached the confinement wing. There, only a handful of cells were illuminated by a few eternal lanterns, with the rest covered in frightening shadows. We stood there for a moment, silent and listening, but the confinement wing was as deserted as the hallway.
On the jailer's wooden seat in the corner of the prison lay a note, yellowed with age. I picked up the parchment. Be back in fifty years. Need to restock on soap.
Emily's eyes darted from me to the darkness around us with fear in her eyes, like someone who had just forgotten the page of a book that they were reading. I smiled, trying to comfort her while a twisting feeling in my stomach made me uneasy.
With no one for me to hand Emily over to, I ushered her into a relatively well-lit iron cage. It was the least scary-looking one, and only had shadows at one end. Then I barred the iron door, squealing it shut.
"Will I see you soon?" she asked, the little confidence she had before now gone.
Though it didn't feel right, I turned around and walked away, my duty finished. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Emily sniffled, and my legs refused to move any farther.
I glanced back. She stared at me from the shadows, her clear blue eyes filled with sadness. "Why do I have to stay here?"
My wings twitched. "I don't know."
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
"Can I go out?"
"I don't know."
"Can I go with you?"
“I—" The question surprised me. I thought about what mother had told me. 'Take Emily to Confinement.’ She didn't say what I should do after that.
"Please?" Emily asked, tears dripping from her eyes. "I-I don't want to be alone."
As I looked at the small human, a sharp pain throbbed in my heart. Letting out a deep breath, I lifted the bar and opened the gate. I grasped her soft hand.
She flinched and tried to step back into darkness.
I held on to her and, with an odd feeling of pride, led her out of the shadows and into the light. "Come on. There is so much to see! Where do you w
ant to go first?”
Emily tightened her grip and smiled for the first time.
Emily
My hands were wrapped around Narius's throat, and I was smiling at him. I tightened my grip.
He wasn't breathing, and his unfocused brown eyes stared at the ancient stone ceiling of the temple. An ivory dagger jutted from his chest while the sticky blood from his wounds clung to my clothes.
My smile vanished. I took my hands off him and stared at them. For a split second, dark thread-like smoke dissipated from my fingers. I blinked. My hands were covered in blood. All around me, the floor was painted in scarlet. Some of the blood was frozen, reflecting my horrified face. I pulled the dagger out then applied pressure to one of his wounds. "Narius? Narius? What happened? Wake up!"
He remained silent.
My breaths quickened. There has to be something I could use! I tried to remember if I had any smelling salts, a healing potion, anything that could help him. But the only thing that came to mind was the Grimoire lying on the floor beside the shattered head of a stone angel. Her owner, Mafis, was nowhere to be seen.
I looked at my hands again, and fear crept inside me as Narius's blood drenched them further. No. This is just a dream. Narius can't be here. This is some sort of trick. This can't be real.
"I was too late," a voice next to me said. "I should have never told Mafis to show you the book. I was foolish to think you were strong enough to keep the corruption submerged. I am sorry, but Narius will be dead soon."
"Dead? No.... No, no!" I turned to the voice and found a crimson-haired angel. He looked nothing like Narius. Instead of armor, he wore a bathrobe, and a halo floated over his head. "Who are you? Who did this to him? Was it Mafis?"
The angel shook his head. "My name is Heliose, young one, and no, it was you who killed him."
Chilly air brushed against my neck. No, no, no. "Save him!"
"His lungs cannot take any more air, and he has lost too much blood. Time is against this one."
"B-but you can heal him!"
"I cannot do that, demonspawn."