Imorean felt a small twinge of satisfaction as none of the students moved. It seemed that he and his friends were not the only ones who were ill disposed toward the wings. Dr. Haroel though, did not seem put off at all by their collective refusal.
The image on the projector behind him changed. The picture was of none other than Michael.
“I'm sure you are all familiar with this face by now,” said Dr. Haroel. “As you know, this is Michael, the Chief Archangel. He is the one who gives all the orders at Gracepointe and commands the entire Host.”
“Sir,” said Bethany, raising a hand.
Imorean glanced at her. She was the only student with a notebook and pen out. It irked him. Why was she so invested?
“Yes, Miss Voran.”
“How big is the Host?”
“The Host is the portion of angels that do battle on behalf of our Father and on behalf of humans. When you are speaking about all angels, we are referred to as the Heavenly Host, an all-encompassing term. At its peak, it was comprised of over ten trillion angels. Now though, things are much more dire and there are only a little over eight billion angels left in the Heavenly Host. The soldiers of The Host itself are even fewer. We are almost outnumbered by humans.”
Imorean grimaced. Michael hadn't been joking when he said that the Host was dwindling in numbers.
“Why has there been such a drop?” asked Bethany.
“Well, Miss Voran,” said Dr. Haroel. “The Host was at its peak when it was created. When Lucifer fell from Heaven, he took with him over a third of the Heavenly Host. The fallen angels became demons, who are able to multiply much more quickly than angels. They feed and grow off sin, whereas angels must be created. We cannot increase our numbers at the same rate that demons can. With the war between Michael and Lucifer’s many generals as well, our numbers have been depleted rapidly. The creation of the hundred of you and your nine hundred upperclassmen has been the greatest intake of angels for the past generation.”
Imorean felt his heart constrict somehow. He cringed, feeling an odd sense of sympathy for Michael and Gabriel. Michael had said a few days ago that all angels were related, all of them were siblings. His blood ran cold at the thought of losing any members of his small family. He couldn't imagine how Michael must feel.
“So, does anyone have any questions about actual angels?” asked Dr. Haroel.
Imorean's hand shot up. This was one of the first times he had felt truly drawn in by Dr. Haroel's class. Before it had just been subject material, but now ... now things were different. The white wings on Imorean's back shuffled slightly.
“Mr. Frayneson,” said Dr. Haroel.
“Michael said you were all warrior angels. I thought angels were supposed to be, I don’t know… caring, kind of fluffy creatures, like out of the Renaissance paintings.”
Dr. Haroel snorted and shook his head.
“You must have some of your angels mixed up. Renaissance paintings are not wrong, they simply depict a different kind of angel. We do have, as you put it, some “fluffy” kinds. We call them cupids. They always remain in heaven, and tend to be rather ineffectual, if I do say so myself. There are also guardian angels. They are the ones who look after humans. Afriel is actually the one in charge of them. One angel is assigned to one human to look out for them throughout their lives. Another group of angels are the warrior angels. As I said earlier, they are the soldiers of The Host. These are the ones that Michael commands. Currently, there are only two billion angels in the soldier portion of the Host, due to our decline in number.”
“Are you a member of the Host?” asked Toddy, not raising his hand.
“I am. Raise your hand next time please, Mr. Davis.”
Imorean raised his hand and Dr. Haroel pointed at him.
“Sir, are all angels immortal and effectively indestructible? Michael mentioned to me that they were.”
“He was correct in that we are immortal, but we are not indestructible. We can be killed,” replied Dr. Haroel. The slide behind the professor changed and now showed a raging inferno. Imorean couldn't help but tremble when he looked at it. He noticed a collective shudder ripple through the classroom.
“There are a few things that can kill angels. We cannot be killed by anything man made. An average angel in the Host can be killed by Hellhounds, fire born in the depths of hell, demon blades and demon curses. Of course, the demon curses must come from very powerful demons, but they do most certainly exist.”
“Sir,” said Imorean.
“Yes?”
“That picture on the presentation, what is it?”
“Hellfire,” replied Dr. Haroel. “Quite literally fire from hell. It is one of the sure-fire ways to kill angels … and a lot of them. It is tragically effective.”
“What about Archangels, what kills them?” asked Bethany. Imorean scowled at her again. Why did she sound so excited? What right did she think she had to be excited?
“No one really knows, Bethany,” replied the professor, leaning on his desk. “Only one Archangel has been killed in all of our history and that was over four thousand years ago at the Battle of Babylon. Before that time, we didn't know that Archangels even could be killed.”
“Who was it?” asked Bethany, cowering under the glare that Dr. Haroel gave her.
“I'm afraid I cannot remember his name. Before now I have had little to do with the Archangels directly. Michael though, can probably remember the exact details. After all, it was his battle partner that was killed.”
“Sir,” said Toddy, raising a tentative hand. “Battle partner?”
“Yes, Toddy,” nodded Dr. Haroel. “Every angel has one other angel that they go into battle with. They watch each other’s backs. Each one keeps the other safe. A battle partner to us is even closer than a brother or a sister. By and large, when an angel loses their battle partner, they too will be killed soon afterward due to an inability to rely so heavily on another angel for cover and protection. It can take many hundreds of years to be able to read another angel in the way that battle partners can.”
Imorean furrowed his brow. Maybe Michael had more of an excuse to be waspish than he had originally thought.
“Gabriel, Raphael and Michael all became battle partners not long after Michael's partner's demise. It is likely that Michael is still alive as a result of this decision,” concluded Dr. Haroel. “But enough about the Archangels. Their history and the workings of their hierarchy is something we will cover at a later date, as it has a tendency to be rather complex. Do you have any other questions about the Host?”
Bethany raised her hand again. Imorean glanced over at her. She seemed to have been writing down everything. Why? Why was she so interested in them? Imorean huffed and rested his chin in his hand. He resisted the urge to sneer as she spoke again.
“This war that you're all fighting, it's – it's face-to-face, isn't it?”
“Indeed. I wish there were another way for us to fight it, but there isn't. Demons are impervious to any projectiles that we send their way. The only way for us to engage them is in close-combat. Hand-to-hand. In your time here at Gracepointe, we will teach you how to engage demons, how to fight them and how to win. We will do our best to teach you how to stay alive.”
“And just how much chance do we stand at staying alive?” asked Imorean, a venom in his voice that took him by surprise.
“That rests solely on you,” snapped a voice, pushing the door open.
Imorean looked up to see Michael marching into the classroom.
“Michael,” said Dr. Haroel, looking up in surprise.
“I came to see how my raptors were doing and to remind them that they have a flying lesson at midday today,” replied Michael, surveying the classroom. Imorean couldn't help but squirm under the man's jade glare. There was something horribly permanent about the scowl etched on Michael’s face.
“Very well so far, Michael. Though I expect they will continue to do well, perhaps even better, if they didn't feel as
though they were being watched.”
“Pay me no mind,” said Michael, leaning on Dr. Haroel's desk.
“If you insist.”
“Sir,” said Bethany.
“Bethany,” said Dr. Haroel, pointing at her.
“We're soldiers now, aren't we?”
The class fell silent. Imorean was certain he could have heard a pin drop. Dr. Haroel hesitated and glanced at Michael. The Chief Archangel nodded once and Haroel answered.
“Yes, Miss Voran. Yes, you are soldiers now. All of you are expected to help us fight in the war.”
Imorean shook his head and looked down at the floor. Soldiers. No. They were teenagers who had been swindled and tricked by none other than angels. Teenagers who had been forced into a situation far beyond their control.
“How many of us are going to die?” asked Toddy, his voice trembling just slightly.
“Do not concern yourself,” said Michael, shaking his head and answering before Dr. Haroel was able.
Imorean ran his hand along the back of his neck and shook his head. This was so wrong. No matter how much bliss Imorean had felt as he flew in the simulator for the first time, this entire situation was wrong. The contentment and happiness that Imorean had felt a few days prior had evaporated upon seeing Michael again.
“Well,” said Dr. Haroel. “Seeing as you all seem to have gone rather quiet, I'm going to go on and dismiss the class. We only have a matter of minutes left on the clock anyway. No homework tonight.”
Imorean breathed a small sigh of relief upon hearing Dr. Haroel's words. It wasn't often that they had gone without homework from him. The professor must have felt sympathetic. Imorean picked up his bag and met Toddy outside the classroom.
“I am an immortal and almost indestructible being,” muttered Toddy. “Who would have thought that it felt this much like crap?”
Imorean smiled for what felt like the first time in the past few days and laughed slightly.
“I think it's awesome,” said Bethany, joining them. “I mean, I know we're in a war, but right now I'm pumped about learning all this stuff.”
Imorean’s good mood vanished and he exchanged a quick glance with Toddy, who frowned in concern. Roxy had wasted no time in telling the others about Imorean’s relationship and breakup. Imorean was still furious and hurt from Bethany’s words a few days prior and she was truly the last person he wanted to be near. He considered her words for a moment, searching for a response, but none came. He caught sight of Ryan standing a short distance away and his cheeks reddened.
“And on that note,” said Imorean. “I'm going to go find Roxy and Colton.”
“I'll come with you,” said Toddy.
“Whatever,” shrugged Bethany, waving a hand over her shoulder.
“You really dated her?” asked Toddy once they were out of Bethany's hearing range.
“My mistake.”
Toddy bumped Imorean with his shoulder. “My statement still stands.”
“Do you know where Roxy, Mandy and Colton are?”
“I'm guessing Roxy and Colton are in the gym,” said Toddy with a shrug. “I heard Roxy say something about having a flying lesson today. No idea where Mandy is though. I haven’t managed to figure out the schedule Raphael is running yet.”
“Brilliant.” Imorean grinned and pulled his bag higher on his shoulder. “If we hurry, we might be able to catch some of them in the simulator. If we really luck out, we might be able to see Roxy flying in it. Maybe Colton. I'd like to see how he does.”
“I would, too.”
“Come on then,” said Imorean, quickening his steps and leading the way toward the gymnasium. “It's not like we don't have our own flying lesson coming up anyway. We might as well catch the last bit of theirs.”
Chapter 12
Imorean and Toddy entered the gym as quietly as they could and quickly made their way across the polished wood floor to the indoor skydiving tunnel.
Imorean scoured Gabriel's group, looking for his friends. Roxy was standing near the back of the crowd. Her rainbow-colored wings were very distinctive and made her easy to spot. Gabriel though, was standing next to the simulator's doors, calling encouragement to the student inside. Imorean glanced at the student currently in the wind tunnel. He grinned when he saw it was Colton. Imorean knew this was Colton's first time flying. The white-haired teenager nudged Toddy and motioned to the simulator.
“Hey,” said Toddy, grinning. “He's up. He seems to be doing pretty well, too.”
“Yeah,” replied Imorean, smiling. His smile dropped a moment later, though. “Don't you think Colton's wings are a little undersize?”
“I was thinking it, but I didn't really want to say anything.”
“You're doing just fine, Colton,” said Gabriel.
Imorean quirked a small smile at Gabriel's gentle tone. The younger Archangel really couldn't have been much more different from Michael. Imorean wished that for once, just once, Michael would be as encouraging as Gabriel was. A kind word here and there never went amiss.
“And that's all for today,” said Gabriel, reaching into the simulator and helping Colton exit. The Archangel turned to face his small crowd of students. “You are all dismissed. Return here tomorrow at the same time. You’ve all come a long way already. I’m pleased.”
There was quiet chatter as the students began to exit the gymnasium, paying no mind to Imorean and Toddy.
“Hey,” said Imorean, coming up behind Roxy.
“Hey, you,” she said, giving him a one-armed hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Haroel's class.”
“We were,” said Toddy. “He let us out early.”
“Lucky,” replied Roxy, glaring. “He never does that for us.”
Imorean shrugged and grinned as Colton descended the steps, folding his scarlet wings behind his back as he did so.
“What did you think?” asked Imorean.
“Okay,” said the smaller boy, straightening his glasses and smiling slightly. “It was fun. I guess these wings aren't so bad after all.”
“You'll learn to like them,” said Gabriel, coming down the steps a few seconds after Colton. “Imorean, Toddy, what are the two of you doing here? Not skipping class, I hope.”
“We came to visit, sir,” replied Imorean. “And Michael said we and the rest of the raptors have a flying lesson this afternoon.”
“I see. How are you two feeling about that?”
“I'm excited, sir,” said Toddy, his grin widening. “I can't wait to spread these out again.”
“I understand. And you, Imorean?”
Imorean opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated. Really, he didn't want to go back into the simulator. The fans had failed the last time he had been in it. He didn't want to risk the same thing happening again.
“Come and have a walk with me, Imorean,” said Gabriel, obviously having noticed his worried expression.
“Yes, sir,” replied Imorean.
“I'll see you at practice, Imorean,” called Toddy.
“See ya,” replied Imorean. “I'll catch you two later, okay?”
“Okay,” called Roxy, smiling at him.
Imorean fell into step next to Gabriel as the Archangel led the way out of the gym. They slipped into silence for a few minutes. The sound of their footsteps below and the calling of birds overhead was the only noise.
“You don't want to get back in the simulator, do you?” asked Gabriel, breaking the quiet.
“No, sir,” replied Imorean, matching Gabriel's strides as they walked along one of Gracepointe’s brick pathways.
“I can understand why,” said Gabriel. Imorean thought that the man sounded almost sad. “I just want you to know that I have never seen the simulator shut down like it did the other night.”
“Yeah. What caused it to shut down?”
“We still aren't quite sure,” replied Gabriel. Imorean shook his head. The Archangel's answer had come too quickly. “I do apologize for what hap
pened though.”
“That doesn't change the fact that I don’t want to get back in it. It freaks me out. And it doesn't change the fact that I'm terrified of heights.”
“I seem to remember you being nervous on the plane ride over here. Good grief, that seems like ages ago,” said Gabriel, smiling slightly. He sobered a second later. “It would be just our luck to have the simulator shut down on the only student we've ever had that's been afraid of heights.”
Imorean laughed humorlessly.
Gabriel plunged on. “It's unusual to say the least, for us to have an angel that is afraid of something that we all take so naturally to.”
“I'm just backwards, I guess.”
“Yes. I suppose you are. Or, perhaps you may just be old-fashioned.”
“What do you mean?”
Gabriel smiled mysteriously. “Just a thought.”
Imorean resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Gabriel inclined his head slightly and turned around on the path. “My brother is looking for you,”
“Wait,” said Imorean, turning with him. “How do you know?”
“Archangels can communicate telepathically with each other. Well, we sort of can. We can convey vague ideas with each other, but it takes quite a lot of energy to do. Most of the time it's easier to just speak verbally.”
“Of course. Because why not,” said Imorean, shrugging. Angels just kept getting stranger and stranger. It seemed almost intentional.
“I'll walk back to the gym with you. I hadn't expected Michael to get there so quickly. If I had known I would have just spoken with you at the simulator.”
“Is there anything else that you angels can do? I mean unusual things.”
“Well, we can teleport.”
“Teleport? Be serious.”
“I am. We prefer not to do it, though. Teleporting expends so much energy. We can also shapeshift, but that’s a very rare thing for us to do.”
Angels Soaring (Angels Rising Book 2) Page 9