“Deep, Stel,” Tristan teased sarcastically, nudging me with his shoulder.
“My dad said it, not me,” I defended herself. “Anyway, the Fallen are the Angels that choose to serve Lucifer. They look just like Angels, even can behave like us, but they are obviously evil.”
“Creepy,” Tristan shuddered, feeling a chill creep up his spine. “So not even you can tell the difference?”
No one on Earth would guess I wasn’t human unless they had seen me glow. The thought that the same kind of species walked around Earth bent on destroying every last living life completely undetectable to the human eye raised the hairs on my arms, and churned my stomach uneasily.
“Well, I can tell that they’re not human. I have this like supernatural sense that lets me know when something is different…. but if they were acting normal, or good, or whatever then you couldn’t necessarily tell that they were Fallen,” I explained, thinking again to the spy who had infiltrated the Elders.
“Ok, what else?” Tristan shifted uncomfortably, wanting to move on.
“Um…. so Lucifer is like the main bad guy, but he has a universe of evil to run, so there are other lesser Angels that do his bidding on planet.”
“So they really are trying to destroy Earth. This isn’t like a movie, this is real?” Tristan smiled cynically.
“Definitely, this is real, this is probably as real as it gets. Earth is the last planet with life; the Darkness has taken all the others. If Earth falls, the Darkness wins.” I finished matter of fact.
“You got a big job ahead of you, Stel,” Tristan put a reassuring arm around my shoulders.
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I sighed, leaning into him and relishing in his comfort. I laid my head down on his shoulder and tried to repress the insecurities bubbling up inside of me.
“If anyone can do it, it’s you,” Tristan squeezed me and pulled me closer to him.
“Tristan, I’m sixteen. I haven’t even picked up a sword yet! How am I supposed to protect all of mankind from all of the forces of evil?” I tried to swallow them, but my fears fell from my mouth before I could stop them. I was supposed to be courageous and confident…. insecurity was only fuel for my enemies.
“A sword? Stella that is so hot! Like Princess Leia hot!” Tristan teased, deflating the tension buzzing around my head and lessening those disabling fears for a few moments.
“Oh my gosh, shut up!” I shrieked, elbowing him in the ribs.
Comfortable silence fell between us and the rest of our time was spent watching the Stars overhead. There was a lot to worry about, a lot to think about for both of us, but together it seemed like we could conquer it all.
Chapter Six
“Morning, sunshine,” Seth called to me as I trudged my way through three feet of snow to meet him.
I mumbled something incoherent in reply and pushed my boots through the thick snow to meet Seth and Jupiter in the middle of one of my father’s fields. I was warm enough with my inner light creating a haze of warmth around me, but I still clung to my thermos of hot chocolate as if it were an indispensable life-line.
Jupiter stood in the middle of the field, hands poised in an intricate and very involved Tai Chi pose. His eyes were closed and his face scrunched in deep meditation. His legs held a wide stance and his outstretched arms progressed slowly in precise movements and in perfect sync with his torso. He paid me no attention.
Swords of all different shapes and sizes lay littered on top of the snow. Seth stood, with barely contained energy, in athletic shorts and a cut-off t-shirt. His biceps glistened against the morning sun with the warmth of his glow illuminating him in a soft haze. He clenched and unclenched his fists excitedly and bounced on his toes as if weapons training were the most exciting thing in life to him.
I joined Seth, still recovering from little sleep the night before. I didn’t doubt I would work myself awake but training made me nervous. I knew I would learn how to use all of the different weapons and sooner than later a sword would feel like a natural extension of my body, but I was late getting started. Seth had been using swords forever, and he was an obviously skilled fighter. I pictured him as a toddler with little baby-sized daggers instead of chew toys. I on the other hand, had a fantastic jump shot, a killer spike and a spot on shot on goal from eighteen yards out, however that wasn’t much to use against the Darkness, unless of course I challenged them to a game of Horse.
This day had been a long time coming, but with the start of today was some seriously added pressure in that I only had a year and a half to learn everything there was to learn about being the Protector of Earth and become the skilled fighter I was supposed to be…. destined to be.
That wasn’t a whole lot of time.
I looked out at my father’s fields that rolled on for acres. The sun was just rising over the eastern hills and casting long shadows on the crisp and untouched snow. My footsteps followed Seth’s and Jupiter’s but other than our boot prints, the only other indentation made in the vast purity of white were animal tracks near the edges of trees that lined the property.
I decided there had never been anything more pure, more clean…. more wholesome. The ground glistened against the rays of the sun, sparkling like diamonds in the light of the morning. This ground, even though frozen, felt like me, symbolized my cause. A shudder trickled down my spine as I thought of how the Darkness would destroy this, take this pure beauty away from Earth and swallow the goodness whole.
I also wondered how training this morning would affect my father’s planting come spring.
“Let us begin,” Jupiter called from where he stood with eyes still closed and palms still outstretched.
“Are you ready for this?” Seth asked me, his smile widening impossibly at the corners of his full mouth.
“Of course I am,” I groaned dryly, not willing to give in to my fears, but clearly not ready for any of this. “You’ll go easy on me right? It’s my first day and all….” I reminded him, hoping for some sympathy.
“That’s true,” Seth conceded. “But I don’t like to lose.”
I laughed, believing him. “Me either,” I confessed, taking the challenge.
“Seth, why don’t you take the broadsword,” Jupiter instructed.
“Ah, man,” Seth grumbled. “You know I prefer the cutlass.”
“Which one is the broadsword?” I asked, taking a few steps forward to examine the weapons collection glinting brilliantly against the snow.
Seth picked up a sword, medium-sized in length and with a heavy hilt. He held it out for me to take and I nearly dropped it, not expecting that kind of weight. I caught my awed reflection mirrored in the shiny, deadly blade as I lifted it with both hands. I handed it back to Seth and then took a step back automatically when he began to swing it around his body as if getting to know the weapon in some intimate way I didn’t quite understand yet.
“And which one is the cutlass?” I asked out of honest curiosity.
Jupiter pointed to a longer, thinner sword that thickened at the end and rounded to a half moon point. I stared at it for a moment, trying to place why it seemed familiar.
“That’s a pirate sword!” I exclaimed when the movie-marathon from the other night was recalled in my mind.
“Argh,” Seth grunted, sending me a sideways glance and an amused smile.
“Stella you take the two-handed claymore and we’ll start with some basic technical movements,” Jupiter instructed, not even pretending to move forward to help me find my assigned blade.
I sighed while examining the collection in front of me. I hadn’t even realized, prior to five minutes ago, that so many different types of swords existed, let alone that they all had a different name. I had held my father’s battle sword before, but that was more like the one that Seth held now. Micah’s sword was a piece from heaven though, brandished in the lowest level and meant for the wars fought in other realms. His glowed with heavenly light, the same way the user did and was tasked with defending
its Angel Warrior until the death.
These swords were manmade and meant for practice and fighting battles on Earth. They would do the job that my father’s would, if I was ever called to fight with them, but they weren’t nearly as cool. After all they didn’t glow.
I took a tentative step forward, toward a sword with a hilt made like a cross. The blade rounded like the end of the pirate sword only from hilt to tip like a long crescent. Watching out of the corner of his eye, Seth cleared his throat, and tilted his head discretely to the left.
“That, young Star, is a shamshir, and not what I asked you to pick up,” Jupiter reprimanded me, noticing my hand drop to my side at Seth’s warning. Jupiter bent down and picked up a sword with the same style of hilt, but with a blade that was straight like Seth’s. I had a hard time telling the difference between Seth’s broadsword and my two-handed claymore at first, but then I noticed the weapon I held was a little smaller and maybe easier to handle for a first-timer.
Or for a girl.
Or maybe both.
Jupiter went on to explain what I already instinctively knew, “This sword is a bit lighter than Seth’s but will match up well when it comes into contact. Although keep in mind that it’s shorter than his, so you will need to give yourself some space. You will need to grip it with both hands, even if it’s lighter than Seth’s, it still has some weight to it. You’ll need both hands to maneuver it properly.”
I had started to realize how heavy it was just while Jupiter was talking. Being a Star, I had access to supernatural strength, but I wouldn’t come fully into my powers until after I turned eighteen. My glow intensified as I let the inner-Star kick in and help wield my weapon.
I gripped the leather-wrapped handle with both hands and held the sword in front of me, staring it down as if I could will its power into my abilities without having to struggle through the hard work and blood, sweat and tears part. But nothing happened. The doubled-edged blade stared back at me waiting for me to make the first move, not the other way around.
Seth stepped forward, holding his weapon in front of him and slinking down into a crouched-ready-for-action position. I mimicked his pose, sinking back into my thighs, but staying alert on the balls of my feet, letting instinct lead the way. A smile played at the corners of Seth’s mouth, and his eyes twinkled devilishly. I couldn’t help but get distracted by the perfect lines of his jaw and the way his shoulders flexed with his readiness. It didn’t seem fair that I should have to train with an Angel…. maybe there was an uglier version of a training partner available?
“Seth, make first contact, but tread carefully for now,” Jupiter instructed.
All I had time to do was swallow my anxiety and brace my body in preparation for the hit. I moved my arms into my preparing for the impact before reaching my sword out to meet Seth’s in a swift, aggressive motion. Pride would not let me just hold a weapon and wait for the hit to come. Seth met my blade in the air, a little shocked by the force from my end and our two deadly weapons met with clanging clarity.
I stepped back with one foot, stabilizing my body that felt like it was wobbling right along with the metal in my hand. I was shocked at how jarred I felt after just one hit, it was as if the hilt of the sword connected straight to my bones and felt the full strength of Seth’s swing.
Still, I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips as I realized how good combat felt. I liked to believe, being a Star, a lesser Angel, that I was made up of only good things. But the instinctive thirst to swing my sword again whispered otherwise. Blood thirsty wasn’t a word I was ready to throw around just yet, but I was created for battle, destined for war, I could learn to love this new aspect of my life.
Easily.
Before Jupiter could instruct me further, I took the initiative and parted the locked weapons, noticing with satisfaction that Seth had become comfortable and had to adjust by taking a quick step forward. I raised my hands again and met Seth’s blade in the space between them with crashing finality. Seth was quick to recover and an almost criminal expression lit up his face.
I stretched my Warrior instincts further and met Seth blow for blow, the quickness in my step and swiftness of my hands attributed to my supernatural origins. Our swords clashed between us as our feet made arching circles in the now disheveled snow-laden field.
I knew I had limitations. Beyond a friendly back and forth, I wasn’t prepared to make an all-out attack on Seth and the muscles in my shoulders and arms had already started to burn with the unfamiliar movements. But it felt good to get a sense for the weapon in my hand and I ached for the time when it would be second nature. That is until Seth stepped forward as if to strike at me and then at the last minute leapt into the air, flipped over my head and landed with his sword at the base of my throat. He stood close behind me, pressing me against his body with his sword at my neck and his arm wrapped around my stomach.
Stunned and in jealous awe, I dropped my sword and raised my hands in the air.
“You win!” I squeaked. The heat of his body pressed against my back and I relaxed my head against his shoulder, promising that it was just to get further away from his sword.
“Ah, you give up too easily,” Seth laughed in my ear, with a low, husky chuckle. He removed the sword from my neck and released me so I could pick up my discarded blade.
“Only the first time,” I promised back.
“It only takes one time to get yourself killed,” Jupiter ground out grumpily from his place a few yards away. “Again,” he commanded.
I readied my body again, and this time when Seth’s sword came at my head, I was quicker to defend myself. I let natural instinct take over and met his blows time after time with matched strength. I could tell he was going easy on me, letting me find my way around a battle field, but the feeling of power and strength was intoxicating, even at a beginner’s level.
Jupiter would stop us occasionally to critique my stance or hold, or technique and every great once in a while to reprimand Seth about his own performance. But for the most part, I learned what worked for me through trial and error. Expert skill would come with practice and use, but basic technique was something I had been born with.
Seth moved around me with the talent of a trained Warrior. His feet danced across the frozen ground, even buried up to his shins in snow. His sword moved easily from one hand to the next just as effortlessly as when he used both hands to wield it. The power and strength in his arms seemed to be endless, and the muscles in his arms from shoulder to wrist flexed with each movement he made and promised to be a serious threat when put to real use. He could jump, and flip and maneuver out of danger in a cacophony of acrobatic moves that made me excited to continue my training and just the tiniest bit jealous. He had to be the best of his kind for his age. I had no doubt. I had watched my father train before, in the same ways that we were now, and I knew that Seth shouldn’t be as good as my dad was for his age. I knew Seth shouldn’t already rival my father for skill.
But he did.
And he was shining magnificently with the effort of it.
Human boys could always be just as attractive as Warriors on the surface, but when Seth radiated from the core of his being the true power he held inside, there was something so brilliant and intoxicating about him I found myself way too distracted and way too often staring at him; I could only describe him as beautiful. His already golden skin shined with warmth, there was a glow of light surrounding him and the pupils of his eyes lit up with the thrill of the challenge.
We worked like that for hours, so I could get acquainted with the huge arsenal of swords. Jupiter let me get the handle on the difference in a double-edged blade and a single, or a two-handed sword and a single without too many impatient outbursts. I was a bit clumsy, and more than a little slow, but I was getting the concepts and the movements. Seth was an easy partner to work with; he knew the weapon so intimately that every one of his calculated movements was thought out to allow for my beginner’s in
stincts. He was careful with me, instructive but also protective. I admired that about him, his willingness to teach me and not just train with me, but his inability to put me in harm’s way. Although there was a fight inside of me that hungered for a little danger.
“You have a long way to go,” Jupiter interrupted a back and forth battle between the two of us that had gotten competitively aggressive.
Seth and I slowed our forward attempts and backed away respectfully. I caught my breath, and wiped my wet brow with the back of my hand. I had been using all of my supernatural strength to stay in step with Seth, but still he seemed unbeatable. Even now, only one bead of sweat trickled from his hair line down his temple and I inwardly cursed him for remaining so perfect. He probably didn’t even feel the uncomfortable burning in his shoulder blades or the Jell-O-like feeling of his arms.
“But she’s not as bad as you expected her to be,” Seth chimed in, his eyes glinting mischief at me.
I didn’t know whether to be offended or elated.
“No, she’s not. But she’s not as good as I wanted her to be either,” Jupiter scoffed.
That time I knew exactly how to be offended.
“This practice is good for you if and when you face a Fallen. They are like you, they are flesh and blood and will need to be killed the same way you would destroy a man. Hand to hand combat will be very similar to Seth, only they will not be nearly as nice or forgiving. They will expect a skilled fighter and when you are presented to them as the opposite, they will murder you,” Jupiter explained and his words hung in the cold, still air like a death sentence.
“They will not get close to her while I am around,” Seth growled from across the circle we had been working in. His most basic instinct was to protect me and I breathed a bit deeper knowing that Jupiter’s warning came with a clause. The Fallen would murder me if they could get to me.
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