by Pierce, SJ
“Now that we are here, the next stage will be training,” Malachai continued. “Tonight we will rest, but will gather again in the morning.”
He turned to face the Protectors. “Protectors, you will train tomorrow with your Elders, as well as meet your Warriors. The rest of us will work with the humans to perfect their gifts. And we all will work together as a team,” he said with his arms stretched wide, attempting to turn the morale around, “it is of the upmost importance that we approach the battlefield with everything needed strategically. We all have grueling days of training ahead of us. Let’s make the best of them.”
“Yes!” Oman said, echoing his budding enthusiasm, “the tighter we are as an army, the better our chances. As you can well imagine by what has been said here today, these detestable beings are ruthless and are void of compassion for any living being. To them, humans are nothing more than living containers for the souls they want to attain. What makes them a formidable enemy is that, on top of those things, they are organized, aggressive, and uncompromising.”
“And so we must be!” Diamort jumped in. “Yes, we must never forget the lives that were taken. But this is also a time to focus, to harness the rage that the grief will ultimately bring forth and use it against them.”
“Our divine instincts will prevail, because they must,” Oman added. “Let’s keep that in the forefront of our minds during this journey.”
Everyone in the crowd stood to their feet with applause. Their leadership clapped along with them, smiling and nodding.
Thank you, Malachai, Alyx thought.
When the ovation died down, Prolificent flicked his robe away from his feet and marched to the center of the stage. “There are a few rules that we need to make sure are observed and followed,” he said, and everyone rested on the benches.
Oman rolled his eyes, and Alyx bit her lip to keep from smiling. His irritation with her Elder amused her now for some reason – probably because his rigid ways began to irritate her.
“The humans are to stay separate from the Protectors and Warriors. The only time we allow mingling is during the gatherings. We will have another one tomorrow night at a feast for the humans.
With the mention of a feast, Alyx’s stomach rolled with hunger. She sucked in a breath and pressed her hand into it to prevent a growl, giving away that she was different from the others. As the Elders had explained to the Protectors that afternoon, hunger, thirst, and sleep were supposedly no longer needed, and Alyx still had no clue how to hide the fact that all of her human needs still remained.
“Also, make sure that anytime we have a formal meeting or feast you wear your assigned robes. And as a parting note, we wouldn’t be able to maintain the camps and feed the humans without proper help. We have a few servants on site to help with cooking and maintenance. Please make sure to greet and treat them kindly. If nobody has any more questions or anything to add, we will bring this meeting to a close and retire to our camps for the night.”
Everyone looked around the quiet gathering place, and no hands rose into the air.
“Thank you all for coming. You are now dismissed.”
The Protectors immediately broke into their groups again, and the only two humans left, Atticus and Jeremiah, retired back to their tents.
“If you want to hang around, I’ll be ok,” Alyx assured Cindra who watched Willow and Serena chat by one of the flickering torches. “I think I’ll head back now.”
“You sure? I don’t mind coming with you.”
“I’m sure. See you up there.”
Cindra flung her arms around her neck. “Ok, see you up there.”
* * *
The tent never felt emptier. It must take a long time to brew that awful tea, Isaac thought as impatience set in. At least when he was asleep he didn’t know the difference between being alone and someone sitting by his side, but he wasn’t the least bit tired now. Even if he were, he didn’t want to drift off after the strange visit from the crazy woman.
“I see you’re awake now, very good,” Dr. Wu said as he crashed through the opening of the tent. He held a bowl full of green goop and lifted the white, cotton dressing to look at Isaac’s wound. He shook his head. “Tisk, tisk, tisk, this will take forever to heal.”
Dr. Wu removed the soiled fabric from his back and lobbed it into a wooden box in a far corner of the tent. “Can you at least move your toes?”
“No,” he replied, and his chin began to quiver. Up until now, he hadn’t fully grasped what that would mean. He was paralyzed.
“I was afraid of that,” he said and went to the table. He set the bowl down and spooned the green concoction onto a fresh dressing.
“Do you think it’s permanent?” Isaac asked, clinching the sheets with his hand to brace for the answer.
Dr. Wu froze as he smeared the paste onto the cotton. “I would think that it is.”
Julie entered the tent holding a silver tray with a steaming tea pot and a mug. “Think what is?” she asked and set the tray on the table.
“That his paralyzed state is permanent.”
Whack! Her hand smacked across his shoulder. “Don’t you tell him that!”
Dr. Wu threw his hand in the air. “What?!”
“That he’s permanently paralyzed,” she said with her hand on her hip.
“Well… he might be,” he said, barely audibly.
“Nice bedside manner,” she quipped and poured the tea into the mug. “Next time tell him his cat is dead too.”
“Oh, whatever, I was just being honest,” he grumbled.
Carefully holding the mug full of dark, steaming tea, she sauntered toward the cot. “Besides, miracles happen every day. Look at where we’re at,” she said and winked at Isaac.
Isaac flashed an appreciative smile. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
She plunked the straw into the mug and held it to his mouth. He didn’t have the heart to contest, especially because she just stood up for his fragile emotions. Besides, the tea was also part of the reason his health had made a scant improvement.
Dr. Wu placed the dressing on his gaping, red wound and Isaac winced as the cold goop settled into its crevices. “After he drinks the tea, can you light some more incense, Julie?”
Isaac curled his nose, and Julie clamped her lips together to fight a bought of giggles. “Cut that out,” she scolded quietly.
Isaac grinned. He quietly enjoyed their private bantering, as though they were two kids trying to behave in front of a grumpy, rigid school teacher.
“Yes, sir,” she replied and leaned closer to Isaac. “Don’t worry, I’ll ‘forget’,” she mouthed.
“Thanks again,” he whispered.
“I went by your sons’ tent,” Julie said aloud to change the subject. “He’s still sound asleep.”
Isaac forced a gulp of tea down. “Thanks for checking on him.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, and her green eyes flickered over his face. “I’m amazed at how much better you look already.”
“He looks better, yes, but his wound is far from healed – worst one I’ve ever seen,” Dr. Wu asserted.
Her eyes narrowed and cut up to him. “Maybe it will heal fast,” she said through stiff lips and moved her gaze back to Isaac.
Isaac secretly gave Julie kudos for standing up to him. The Doctor didn’t seem to be the easiest person to get along with. She’s got some spunk in her.
Dr. Wu’s lips parted to scoff at her response, but he cleared his throat instead and marched for the opening of the tent. “I’m on my way to see about a “miracle”. I’ll return shortly.”
Isaac wasn’t sure if he meant that sarcastically or if he honestly had a plan, but he did know one thing for sure – the tea tasted unbearably awful.
* * *
“I need to speak with you right away, Oman,” Dr. Wu said, interrupting his private conversation with Malachai on the pulpit.
“Of course, Doctor, I’m sure Malachai won’t mind.”
“Certainly,” Malach
ai echoed and disappeared into thin air.
Dr. Wu stumbled backward, his eyes widening.
“I apologize. That’s Malachai’s preferred method of travel, even if it’s only a few yards away.”
Dr. Wu laughed nervously and rubbed the top of his head. “I see.”
“What did you need to see me about?”
“I think I might have an idea for healing Isaac a little faster.”
Prolificent stepped to their side, leaning into their conversation. “Have you spoken with the Doctor about his attire this evening?”
Oman held up his hand. “Prolificent, not now.”
“What do you mean my attire?” Dr. Wu asked.
Oman held his other hand toward Dr. Wu. “Forget about it, I’ll tell you later.”
“You did not come dressed in your robe this evening as required,” Prolificent replied.
Oman’s face flushed red with heat. “Prolificent, I will talk with you in a moment. Please leave us to talk in private.”
Dr. Wu swatted Oman’s hand away, anger edging his voice. “No! I want him to explain why this is a problem.”
The stragglers in the gathering area turned to watch the commotion.
Oman gently placed his hand on Dr. Wu’s shoulder. “I can talk to you about that later.”
Dr. Wu ducked away from his reach. “Don’t patronize me!” he yelled and spun around. “Let me go get my robe so I am “properly attired”,” he said and stormed off, muttering under his breath in Chinese.
“What an attitude,” Prolificent said with crossed arms.
“We need to talk… in private,” Oman said through gritted teeth.
“Right here will do fine.”
“You do realize, Prolificent, that I am not your enemy, right?”
“I did nothing wrong here. I simply wanted to know if you addressed it with him.”
Oman lifted his staff in the air, tipping it in his direction. “Precisely! It was my issue to address, when I wanted to address it. So may I suggest that you, with all due respect, mind your own matters.”
Prolificent raised his chin, unaffected by his challenging words. “If I felt that it was possible for you to address, maybe I would have.”
“What are you suggesting?” he asked in a low snarl.
“Seriously, Oman, half of your humans didn’t show this evening and one of them stormed out defiantly. Not to mention, one of them showed up not dressed in his robe. Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
Oman slammed the tip of his staff against the wooden platform, causing a tremor to roll down its legs and into the earth. “You will NOT speak to me that way.
Prolificent backed away, his smirk straightening.
“You are not my superior, and these are humans that have had a rather trying day. Exercising our authority with them in full-force on day one is not going to win their trust. These are delicate matters, which is why I, Prolificent, not you was assigned as their leader. You have your own flock to tend to, so I suggest that you start tending to them and stop worrying about mine.”
“I apologize,” he conceded, holding his hands between them, “but I do hope to see more cooperation from your group in the days to come. I care about everyone’s survival as much as you.”
Oman sighed resignedly, tapping his finger that gripped the staff. “I know, and our quarreling isn’t helping matters. Let’s just make sure we remember to respect each other’s authorities.”
“Agreed. I will see you tomorrow,” he said flatly and descended down the stairs.
Oman watched as he and Diamort made their way toward the hill to the North. “I hope that’s the last time he tries that with me,” he said and went to find Dr. Wu.
* * *
Wearing his purple robe, Dr. Wu made his way back to the gathering place still huffing and mumbling to himself in Chinese.
“There you are, my friend. I was on my way to find you,” Oman said as he approached.
Dr. Wu flung his hands in the air, exasperated. “I’m a Doctor. I should be worried about my patients and not about wearing silly dresses.”
Oman fought a chuckle. “I know. I apologize for what happened back there. Please, continue with what you wanted to ask me.”
“Isaac is doing better, but it could still take weeks before he can be released from my care.”
Oman’s thin lips drew into a frown. “That’s unfortunate. I might not be able to work with him until he’s up for it. What can I do?”
“Well I was thinking, the wound on his back, it’s so deep that he should have died shortly after he received it, but he didn’t. I’m trying to figure out how that’s possible.”
“Maybe we should ask Alyx, his Protector.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask. Of course, that means we’ll have to go through his majesty… I mean, Prolificent though, right?”
Oman placed his fist over his mouth to hide the amused snicker. “I will deal with Prolificent.”
Dr. Wu bowed with gratitude. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 3:
Naive
Alone in the tent, Alyx unbuttoned her robe while the other Protectors gathered outside, clucking away about the events at the gathering. Their shared dwelling was the size of her entire one bedroom apartment back in the city, and along the left and back edges stood eight mirrored vanities with silver plated combs and brushes – one for each girl. Beside the vanities, sat brown, leather trunks, which housed their robes and three silk replacement dresses. A red, velvet chaise lounged along the right wall, which she figured was more for aesthetics than functionality because Angels didn’t need rest. Theoretically.
A courtyard occupied the space between their tent and the Elders’ with a tiered fountain and marble benches – a place where the girls migrated to socialize. The stone flooring beneath the fountain looked like their symbol; a three-peaked Celtic knot surrounded by a circle, connected to another symbol she had never seen. A circle encased this one also, but the symbol had one straight, vertical line through the center and two shorter connecting lines in the center of that, pointing to the left. She could only conclude that it had something to do with the Warriors.
After neatly folding her robe and locking it away into her chest, she rested on the edge of the chaise lounge, gliding her bare feet over the soft grass. In the privacy of the quiet living quarters, her mind wandered back to where it usually did – Isaac. She closed her eyes, and just as she felt the soft grass beneath her feet, she felt his presence down the hill below. Even though she couldn’t see or touch him, she still felt him through her draw, which was the only thing that comforted her in the midst of loneliness. His existence might have been the reason for her segregation from the rest of her kind, but she would rather have it that way just so she could still have that connection, as slight as it was.
Disappointed that he didn’t attend the gathering, she hugged her arms around her waist and reclined onto the soft velvet. She closed her eyes and visualized the feast tomorrow. Maybe he would sit at the table. Wounded or not, he had to eat, right? Maybe she could sit beside him and pull him aside at some point to apologize for everything. It would be the perfect chance for them to reunite.
Her stomach rumbled. The thought of sitting at a table with food enticed her almost as much. She couldn’t eat there but could sneak some food, perhaps. Although, her Elders were always watching. Even if she could get away with sneaking the food, what about Rielle? During the meeting, they said the Arch Angels were “ever watchful”. She couldn’t hide it from them either. I don’t know WHAT I’m going to do.
The chatter outside elevated to loud bellows and startled Alyx from her pondering. Her eyes flew open, and she glared in the direction from which it came. Irritation swelled inside. She couldn’t understand how the girls could laugh about anything right now. Just when she thought they had grasped the seriousness of everything, they seemingly regressed toward flippancy. Am I the only one among them who cares?
The laughing
ended abruptly, and the opening of the tent flung open, startling her again. She shot up from the lounge.
When her eyes focused on whom the intruder was, her heart jumped. Prolificent. She tucked her chin into her chest and fixed her eyes on his feet in reverence.
“I need to speak with you,” he said.
This is it. He’s come to punish me.
“You are needed at the human camp. Oman is here to get you.”
Her head snapped up. The human camp?
“You are to accompany him down there, speak with the Doctor, and promptly return. Understood? No lingering. Diamort and I have some business to discuss with you when you get back.”
“Y-yes sir,” she replied, still in shock.
“Come with me,” he said and turned to leave.
Outside, the other Protectors watched curiously as he led her to Oman. Christineth muttered something sarcastic under her breath, and a few faint snickers followed.
Oman shot them a chiding look while Prolificent acted as though he never heard it.
Before walking off with Oman, Alyx glanced at Cindra who stood at the front of the group, observing their departure with wide eyes. She smiled reassuringly to calm her friend’s worries, although she felt somewhat anxious herself.
END OF SAMPLE