The Angel

by Blaire Hammond

  They seemed to recognise that, because some were shouting to fall back. Caspian took on another Wicked, sparring with her for nearly a minute before he managed to gain the upper hand and end the Witch. By then, he noticed that the battle ground had close to emptied of Wicked as they boarded their ships to escape.

  Caspian knew they had no hope. The rest of the Enchanted they’d aided upon their arrival were waiting at sea to kill any survivors. Their escape was futile.

  ‘You all right?’ Oscar asked, appearing at his side, blood staining his face and battle gear.

  Caspian nodded, glancing down at the state of his own uniform. He didn’t look much better.

  ‘Thanks for the warning back there.’

  ‘No problem.’

  Loki appeared through the flames of the battle, a sword in one hand and shield in the other. She looked fierce as she approached, blood covering her own gear from head to toe.

  ‘Good job. We’ve taken back the first city,’ Loki said, her voice regal. ‘We’ll set up camp for the night and take care of the wounded. Tomorrow, we take back the next town.’

  Caspian nodded. ‘Casualties?’

  She shook her head, a slightly scary smile appearing through the bloody muck on her face.

  Caspian could only peer at Oscar, who looked relieved. Caspian understood why, they’d talked about how much pressure he felt. He would take it as a personal blow if any Mariadies were lost. Still, some were injured, which meant they had to set up camp quick so they could be seen to.

  ‘We’ll bring the supplies in from the ship,’ Oscar offered, and Loki nodded.

  Caspian still couldn’t quite believe what they’d done. He’d had the chance to see the Mariadies in real action, beyond the limitations of the sea, and it was far from anything that he had expected. They were warriors beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  ‘Hey, is that the Wicked coming back?’ Someone call out from the docks.

  Oscar and Caspian locked eyes, then they took off, Loki close behind. They reached the dock where their own lone ship sat on the water’s surface, watching as six ships sailed towards them. Caspian squinted his eyes, making out the flag flying from the pole.

  ‘I don’t think they’re Wicked. Probably the Enchanted who were going to take care of them,’ Caspian told them.

  Loki’s eyes narrowed, but she gave no order.

  ‘They couldn’t have sunk all those Wicked already,’ Oscar commented after a moment.

  Caspian agreed. But he didn’t want to push the Mariadies to fire in case they were Enchanted. Something in his gut told him they were only coming to help.

  ‘All right, you lot keep watch. Everyone else, let’s get this camp set up,’ Loki ordered, having pointed to Caspian, Oscar and a number of other Mariadies to stay behind to meet the ships.

  Caspian watched as everyone else gathered the necessary supplies and hurried to the largest ground floor building in the city where they would set up the medical centre for the wounded.

  Erine materialised then, carrying his own suitcase full of vials and other supplies for their cure. They were yet to figure out how they were going to acquire angel’s blood, but that would be their next problem once they had secured the neighbouring cities.

  Erine smiled at the two of them as he passed, tipping his hat and hurrying down to the little building next to the hall-turned-medical centre where he’d be setting up office.

  Caspian turned back to the sea, watching the ships advance. He wasn’t sure why, but something felt different about the ships. He couldn’t pin point it, but he felt as though there was important cargo on board.

  ‘What is it?’ Oscar asked, shifting beside him.

  Caspian drew his brows together in confusion. ‘I don’t know yet.’

  They waited, until finally the ships reached the docks and let down their anchors. Caspian watched as the largest of the ships began to unload. Enchanted piled off, though there was something about them that seemed different.

  Then, his heart shifted as he heard a voice.

  ‘Be careful, just wait for us to talk to them before getting off.’

  Caspian began to walk, then jog, and before he knew it he was running down the dock towards the direction of the voice.

  ‘GRACE!’ He called over the chatter, pushing through the Enchanted exiting from the ship.

  Many looked at him either concerned or confused, until at last they parted completely for him, and he caught sight of not just Grace, but the rest of his friends all making their way down from the deck of the ship.

  There they all were. Laura, Drew, Mitch, Gemma, Logan and Grace. One by one, they looked up, and their expressions changed as they hurried down from the plank and raced towards him.

  Gemma reached him first, throwing her arms around him, her blond hair coming loose from its knot. He wrapped his arms around her too, laughing in disbelief. It was important cargo after all.

  Next thing he knew, he’d been bombarded by his friends all encasing him in an enormous group hug. Everyone was speaking at him fast, and he could barely get a word in himself. After some time, when they’d managed to calm down, they were able to explain everything to him. What had happened on their journeys and how they’d been reunited. Then how they’d heard word that something was happening at the tip and they’d set out, wanting to come help.

  Caspian couldn’t believe it. Mr Stark was dead. A number of Humans had been rescued. Laura was a Caster and she’d brought a small army of her own to lend a hand in the battle. He was quick to tell them of the Mariadies and the cure, catching them up to date on everything.

  Oscar arrived at some point, jumping in on the conversation. It was an incredible moment. Caspian still wasn’t sure he was even awake. Surely it was all a dream; having his friends by his side again, alive and well.

  ‘Oscar!’ Someone shouted, and suddenly Loki appeared. ‘What is all this? Who are these people?’

  Oscar only grinned at Loki. ‘These are our reinforcements.’

  Introductions were made, (Logan had just about fallen to his knees as he’d exclaimed his excitement and awe at Loki. Loki had been taken aback at such admiration, and after a long minute of shaking hands had to tell Logan to get a grip on himself. Logan had only grinned and obliged.) and soon Loki had heard the complete story. She seemed to take it all fairly well, though it was clear she was shocked by the revelation of Laura’s power and the Casters. After some time, the Creatures Laura had told them about emerged, and Caspian understood in an instant why Grace had been telling them to wait.

  They were a terrifying miss match of animals. Had he not known that they didn’t intend to harm, he would have run on the spot. But they were on their side. They’d come to help - he trusted Laura and Gemma’s word on that.

  ‘Well, now that we’re all acquainted, I believe we should call a meeting. We have much to discuss about what our next move should be,’ Loki suggested after some time.

  ‘I agree. Let me just find Megan and Obverse. They deserve to be in on this,’ Laura said, rushing off to collect them, Caspian guessed.

  ‘I must admit, I’m surprised that such creatures still exist,’ Loki mentioned as they waited for Laura.

  Oscar turned to Loki, and Caspian’s brow furrowed.

  ‘What do you mean still?’ Oscar asked.

  ‘We Mariadies have known of the Creatures for a long time. We’ve not always been on the best of terms with them, but even so, we’ve known of them. When they were silenced, probably around the time the Casters arrived, we assumed that they had died off,’ Loki explained.

  Caspian was a little taken aback at the knowledge that the Mariadies had been on actual terms with the Creatures in the past. It meant that, had they remained in contact, they could have learned of the Casters. Caspian didn’t know whether that would have been a good or bad thing, but it looked like they would at long last find out, as everyone knew of them now, or rather, would soon enough.

  Before long, they were all gathered in Erine
’s office. Megan the chief of the Casters, and Obverse, the leader and speaker for the Creatures of Mist Roe, were introduced to everyone. It was a strange moment. The leader of three different powerful tribes coming together after never really having known each of them existed past myths and old connections. And they’d all come together to fight for the Enchanted and the Humans.

  General Lain, the Enchanted that had received word of the Mariadies defeating the Wicked ships at the tip of Lastrala, had been asked to join the meeting as well, seeing as he knew firsthand how bad the war was. He could gift them with a great deal of insight.

  ‘So, as I understand it, the fighting is across all of Lastrala,’ Loki commented, starting off the meeting.

  ‘It’s mostly the coastal towns and cities that are the worst. A lot of the in land towns have already been taken over, barely any Wicked are even worrying about that part of the land because the Enchanted are all at the coasts attempting to ward off the constant flow of Wicked reinforcements that are arriving,’ General Lain informed them.

  ‘Hm. It sounds rather as if they feel secure across the land. Perhaps that is a good place to start,’ Megan suggested.

  ‘It is a good idea, stopping the reinforcements. But they’ve come to expect that of us now, which is why they keep the back-up coming. Maybe we do need to work from the middle out,’ Mitch said, crossing his arms in thought.

  ‘Before we can do any of that, we have to set up a protected base here. If we can clear out the neighbouring towns along this coast that will help. Then we can create a base line on the outskirts so we can push the Wicked back,’ Loki said.

  ‘She has a point. We need an exit strategy of our own should things go wrong. If we can keep this coast clear it will be a huge advantage for all Enchanted,’ Drew added.

  ‘You’ve already achieved what we Enchanted have failed for months at. You freed up this port in a matter of two days, if that,’ General Lain commented, admiration clear on his face.

  He no longer cared about the past, the myths, and the legends. The Mariadies had shown what they were capable of and he knew that the Enchanted could not turn down their help.

  ‘So we work to secure our position here, then we begin taking back Lastrala from the inside out?’ Oscar asked after a time, clarifying the plan.

  ‘I think it’s our best bet,’ Megan agreed.

  ‘So do I,’ Loki nodded.

  Caspian watched the conversation fire back and forth between everyone in awe. They were quick to fall into line and work as a team. It was humbling to see, considering the past struggles of all the different tribes.

  ‘My Creatures would be happy to hold the line clear for you all. We can ensure the coast remains safe,’ Obverse said after a time.

  ‘That would be good, Obverse,’ Megan responded. ‘We still could use some of your Creatures with us though.’

  Obverse bowed his head. ‘Of course. I would not leave your side, friend.’

  Megan smiled down at Obverse. It was a strange yet happy sight to behold, a friendship between two completely different kinds of creatures.

  Someone cleared their throat from behind the group, and out of nowhere, Erine appeared. ‘Might I say something?’

  ‘Of course, Erine,’ Loki responded.

  He might have looked to be mad, but he held the highest respect from Loki, that much was clear, and something Caspian had never thought about until he saw them standing side by side.

  ‘The cure. We still need to figure out where we’re going to find angel blood.’

  ‘Wait, what?’ Gemma said, shocked.

  ‘You have a cure?’ Grace and Mitch added in unison.

  ‘Does it work?’ Logan pressed, excitement twinkling in his eyes.

  ‘Wait, hold up a second,’ Oscar jumped in, calming everyone before they became too excited. ‘We have what we think could be a cure, only it needs one last ingredient. We haven’t had the chance to test it, though.’

  ‘Yes. Because we can’t access that last ingredient,’ Erine said.

  ‘What is it?’ Gemma asked cautiously.

  Caspian saw the look on Laura’s face as everything clicked into place.

  ‘Angel blood. Like you said before,’ Laura answered before Erine could.

  Erine nodded at her.

  Laura looked to Megan. Caspian’s heart sped up. He knew exactly what she was going to suggest.

  ‘We have angel blood in us,’ Megan offered at last.

  Erine’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Who are you again?’

  ‘We’re Casters. Born originally to a Human and Warlock. But for the mother and babe to survive, an Angel is required to take over the body, giving a piece of itself to the baby so it can survive. We are part Angel.’

  Caspian couldn’t believe that after all the time that had passed, not only did they have the answers Laura had so desperately sought after, but they were revealing those secrets for all to hear. It was a huge step – one that could change everything for the good, or the bad. Which, they weren’t sure yet.

  ‘Angel blood. Excellent. Yes. That could work. That could work!’ Erine began muttering, trailing off into his own world as he often did.

  ‘Do you think our blood could help with the cure?’ Megan asked pointedly.

  Erine turned to his desk, rustled through some papers, rushed to another desk and looked at a tray of vials he had set up. He was in a trance.

  ‘If I had someone to test it on, a converted Enchanted, then we would soon find out.’

  Megan seemed to take the answer in her stride. ‘Very well. I will donate.’

  ‘And we’ll find someone to test the cure on,’ Mitch said, surety in his tone.

  ‘Wait, we won’t harm them, will we?’ Laura asked. ‘Testing the cure. If it doesn’t work, it won’t kill them? It just won’t do anything, right?’

  Caspian hadn’t thought of that. The idea of them becoming as bad as Erebus, experimenting on living beings, didn’t sit well with him. But Erine debunked the thought instantly.

  ‘The worst it will do is make them very angry,’ he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  ‘We’ll organise teams to locate converted Enchanted to test on,’ Loki said.

  ‘We’ll be on the teams,’ Gemma volunteered.

  ‘All of us,’ Caspian agreed.

  Loki nodded and turned to Erine, who still sifted through his various bits and pieces. ‘How soon can you have the cure ready?’

  ‘Within the day,’ Erine responded without looking up.

  ‘Let’s set out now then. The sooner we can solve this thing, the better. Converting the Enchanted back will be another blow to Erebus’s force.’

  Both fear and excitement coursed through Caspian’s veins as the lot of them hurried to gather their weapons and set off. They were so close to a cure. If they were right, and the Casters could donate their blood for the cure, then they would be able to convert the Enchanted back. They would have succeeded in that much, at least. It was a huge deal. They just had to test it and hope for the best.

  Chapter Ten

  Truth And Breakthrough

  Estella Mayfire kept pace with her brothers and husband, despite the dull ache in her body. There was no way she was going to allow them to walk into camp without her by their side. She may still be recovering from her injuries, but she was far from incapable. She could manage walking, at least.

  The sun was still rising in the distance though they knew it was nearing lunch time. There weren’t many Enchanted left on the Island they’d escaped to after Alast’s invasion. Many were off completing missions or aiding in the war. Too many were doing things far beyond their capabilities. Those who remained were either the elderly, the children who were far too young, or the injured. There were also a few who had stayed behind to ensure the camp continued to run, Stella’s parents included.

  Her brother’s had told her that they were needed to help in the hospital and look after the children. The camp had continued to go forward like normal
for the sake of the young ones, so schools were up and operating in one of the tents and the children were trained daily, should worse come to worse and Erebus’s Wicked managed to find them hiding out on the island.

  Stella couldn’t deny the relief she’d felt at the knowledge that her parents hadn’t entered the war. She loved them dearly, and while she knew they would want to help in any way possible, they simply weren’t fighters. They’d lived the vast majority of their lives on the land, farming and healing. Her mother had been a healer, which was why Stella had followed in her footsteps. Seeing how she was with her patients had been inspiring. Since moving to the farm, she’d taken up practice from home, creating all kinds of herbal remedies taken from the land.

  Many came to her for help, and Stella had begun learning from her at a very young age. While she’d never become a healer, preferring her position as a nurse, she still admired her mother and would forever be grateful she’d decided to stay behind to help the injured.

  As for her father, he’d always been a gifted teacher. Not in fighting, for like her mother, he was no warrior, but in history and science and maths. Subjects that once would have been considered boring until he took over the class and turned it into a carnival of fun. He had a way with his students, and Stella had learned much from him throughout her life as well. He dropped his career when he took over the family farm upon his own father’s sudden death, he still volunteered to teach where he could.

  Stella knew time had passed since her brothers had left to find her, so she’d accepted that there was the possibility that her parents had changed their minds and left with another group of Enchanted. But she prayed not. She needed them to be safe. She spent her time worrying about too many people without adding them to the list.

  The entire trip across the seas had been nerve-racking and Stella couldn’t deny the anxiety that rolled up through her body, starting in her stomach and working its way through to her fingers and toes, leading her to hurry her brothers on, telling them to sail faster. She knew she was being silly. But she had to see her parents with her own eyes. She had to know they were alive.