As they drove, they passed through innumerable small forests. Imorean was fascinated by the varieties of trees he was seeing. There were so many different types in comparison to the ones at home. The lingering feeling of homesickness was starting to leave him and Imorean suspected it had something to do with the fact that he was in seemingly familiar surroundings. There was something about the Norwegian countryside that made him feel closer to home. A sense of comfort settled in his chest. Imorean grinned as they crossed over a huge bridge. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of Gabriel smiling. After many, many miles of driving next to a second, much larger lake, the Archangel spoke.
“Not far now.”
“Great,” replied Imorean, peeling himself away from the window for long enough to reply to Gabriel's statement. Imorean directed his eyes back out of the car's window. Watching as steadily growing hills passed quickly by. The road began to twist slightly more and Imorean knew they were steadily making their way out of the foothills and into the mountains. They were ascending. It was hardly noticeable, but Imorean knew. A lifetime of living in the mountains had taught him a lot about elevation. Mountains, home … his mother … the life he had been forced into.
“Gabriel,” said Imorean.
“Yeah?”
“How – how do I tell my mom what you and Michael have done?”
Gabriel went quiet for a few minutes and Imorean was moving to turn back to the window, thinking the Archangel was ignoring him, when he responded.
“When Michael allows all of you leave for Christmas break, an angel will go home with you. That angel will be assigned to be your caretaker over Christmas. They'll be tasked to watch over you and make sure nothing happens and also to make sure that Vortigern or any of his demons don't pick up on you. The angel who goes home with you will help you break the news to your parents.”
“So, they won't see the wings?” asked Imorean, furrowing his brow in confusion.
“No. Angels can … put up a shield, of sorts, that prevents humans from seeing certain things. You can see through it now because Michael allowed you to, plus you’re half angel. The shield only really works on humans.”
“So … would I even have to tell my mom?” asked Imorean, forgetting the world outside for just a moment. Hope sparked in his heart. Maybe he could spare his mother the shock of finding out what had happened to him.
“It would perhaps be best to, Imorean. She has a right to know,” said Gabriel, glancing over at him and smiling in sympathy.
“... Yeah,” sighed Imorean, feeling defeated. “Maybe you're right.”
“Of course I am. Michael and I have both done this before.”
“Whoa,” said Imorean, raising his gaze to look out of Gabriel's window. His brown eyes were met by high, jagged mountainsides. Impossibly high faces of exposed rock jutted out in almost unnatural formations. The very stone itself seemed to be gnarled and twisted. Formed by time.
For the rest of the drive, Imorean found himself once again pinned against the window, drinking in all of the sights. The roads were overhung by the towering, sheer faces of dark rock. A broad smile dominated Imorean's face as he absorbed everything he was seeing. He couldn't help but feel absolutely in awe.
“Here we are,” said Gabriel after turning off the main road and pulling the car off to the side of a much smaller road.
The Archangel got out of the car and for a moment, Imorean hesitated to follow him. The moment was here. Gabriel would teach him – perhaps force him – to truly fly. Imorean’s stomach squirmed with sudden nerves.
“Are you coming?” asked Gabriel, before he slammed the door shut.
“Oh, yeah,” replied Imorean, getting out as well.
The white-haired teenager looked around. The car was parked in a valley and immensely high cliffs rose up on either side of them. One of the cliffs was so jagged at the top that it seemed to have teeth. Clouds and snow swamped the other sharp peaks. Imorean swallowed hard before he walked around the front of the car to stand next to Gabriel on the driver's side.
“Where are we?”
“The Troll Wall,” replied Gabriel, securing the car keys to his belt.
Imorean shuffled in unease. He already knew the answer, but asked the question anyway. “Why?”
“It’s a training exercise. Very similar to the one you’re going to have to undertake with Michael,” said Gabriel, slouching against the car. “What I've really brought you here for is to help you get over your fear of heights. The thing is, we need both space and altitude to do it.”
“And how are you planning to do that?” asked Imorean, folding his arms.
Gabriel extended a hand. “Come here.”
Imorean hesitated and glanced skeptically at Gabriel.
“Trust me.”
Imorean considered the man's words for a moment, then frowned. There was something in Gabriel's eyes that dissolved any reservations he had about trusting the Archangel. Imorean took a few more paces closer to Gabriel and stopped when he was an arm's length away.
“Thank you,” said Gabriel, resting his outstretched hand on Imorean's shoulder. “This will be over in the blink of an eye.”
Imorean opened his mouth to ask what Gabriel meant, when his vision flashed white. His breath caught in his throat and he felt as though he was flying through the air, yet falling at the same time. He was tumbling without direction or guidance. Then, just as Gabriel had said, the sensation was over.
The first thing Imorean noticed was the cold. Dizzying, tearing cold. A savage wind tore through his clothes. It was as though he was on the top of a very high mountain. No, Imorean knew this feeling. It was familiar. He had climbed enough mountains in North Carolina to have memorized this sensation. He opened his eyes and his knees immediately went out from underneath him. Gravel sized stones smacked into knees just barely protected by thin trousers. He was on the top of a very high mountain. He felt ready to faint.
All around him were the toothy, jagged peaks, reaching for the sky. Sky which they had already found and held in their sharp grasp. Clouds scudded by just above his head. Imorean grabbed hold of the rocks beneath his hands and knees, unwilling to move a single inch. He couldn’t move. His mind screamed that he was unsafe. He shouldn’t move. If he moved, he would surely die. All around were loose boulders. Large or small, all loose as though they had crumbled to where they now rested. These rocks didn't look like the rocks in North Carolina. The North Carolinian ones were so much sturdier, more permanent, embedded in the very ground. These seemed loose somehow, as though they would crumble away from their resting places at any moment and send him crashing to the ground with them. His entire body was shaking like a leaf.
“Gabriel!” called Imorean, his breath coming in panicked gasps. He couldn't bear to look around anymore. How many thousands of feet off the ground must he be?
A pair of shoes appeared in Imorean's field of vision.
“Not bad. Most of the time new angels teleport they chuck up.”
“Where are we?” gasped Imorean, squeezing his eyes tight shut.
“We're at the top of the Troll Wall. Around 3,600 feet above sea level.”
“Take me back down.”
“I will later, I promise.”
“Please,” begged Imorean.
“Not yet.”
Imorean felt a vague sense of relief when Gabriel crouched down next to him.
“You're perfectly safe. You have your wings and I am here as insurance that nothing happens.”
“I can't fly yet.” Imorean’s voice was shaking. “You know that.”
“I know for a fact that you can fly, Imorean. I watched you just yesterday fly across the track field and land on top of the concession building. If that's not flying, I don't know what is. Your problem though, is that you need to get to higher altitudes and you’re too scared to get to them on your own. So here we are.”
“You want me to fly up here?” asked Imorean, looking up and fighting the tears that were
threatening to well up in his eyes. He hadn't been this scared in many, many years. Gabriel resting a calming hand on his back did nothing to soothe his sickening fear.
“Yes … and no. Spread your wings, Imorean.”
“I can't.” His voice was little more than a thin whimper.
“Yes, you can,” said Gabriel, his voice quiet and calm.
Imorean squeezed his eyes shut and unfurled his wings. The feathers were tousled and tugged slightly by the wind that buffeted the top of the cliff. The air pulled the feathers, beckoning them toward the edge. The open sky called for him. Imorean didn’t move. He felt sure that the wind would blow him straight off into the open air.
“Very good. Now, stand up.”
Imorean's eyes snapped open. Stand up? There was no way Gabriel was asking that of him. Surely not. Imorean looked up and found that Gabriel was standing a foot or two away from him now, his tawny and green wings already fully flared.
“That’s an order, Imorean.”
With his entire body still trembling, Imorean slowly, shakily rose to his feet. The wind pulled at his very being, willing him to lose his balance. He longed and prayed silently for something to hold onto. Something, anything stable.
“Fantastic,” said Gabriel, turning and walking toward the nearby precipice. Beyond there, the world seemed to drop away into the abyss. Even though Imorean knew there was a valley thousands of feet below, he couldn't help but feel that they were standing on the very edge of the earth with nothing but a dark and terrible void beyond the drop off.
“Gabriel,” said Imorean in a tiny voice. He had a horrible feeling that his mentor was about to hurl himself off the edge.
The Archangel turned and folded his arms across his chest, a small smile on his face. There was a look of eagerness in his hazel eyes. Tawny and emerald wings were twitching against the midmorning sky.
“Please don't,” said Imorean. “Don’t leave me alone. I can't do this.”
Gabriel rose up onto his toes, completely undaunted by the immense height at his back. “Your concern is touching, Imorean. I happen to firmly believe that you are capable of flying up here.”
Imorean yelped as his mentor's heels touched back down on the stone beneath his feet. Gabriel pitched backwards off the edge and out of sight, plummeting down toward the ground. Only seconds later, a tawny and green blur zipped back up past Imorean, spiraling and twisting through the air high, high above the cliff.
The white-haired teenager scrambled backwards and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath as Gabriel touched lightly back down on the spot he had been only seconds ago.
“Believe me, Imorean, the wings work and they will not fail you. All you have to do is trust in them. Or rather, trust in yourself.”
“I can't,” said Imorean, shaking his head and looking down. He longed to return to his safer position on his hands and knees. He balled his hands tightly into fists. He wasn’t going over the edge of the cliff.
Gabriel stepped slightly closer to him. “Yes, you can.”
Imorean's eyes bugged out of his head and his mouth opened in a soundless scream as Gabriel grabbed hold of his wrist and jerked him to the edge of the Troll Wall. Imorean dug his heels into the rock beneath his boots. He did not want to be flung out into open air.
“You’re ready for this, I promise.”
“No! I’m not!”
“You’ll be fine. You’ve always been one of us. It’s time to properly join the angels, Imorean.”
“I can’t do this, Gabriel!”
“Have a little faith.”
The last thing Imorean felt was Gabriel's palm in the center of his back, shoving him off the edge of the cliff. Then everything melted away. He was falling, head over heels, dangerously close to the jagged, sharp cliff face. How far would he fall before he hit the stony ground? Would he crash into the side of the cliff first, or would solid ground be his first impact? He was going to die. He was certain of it. How many times now since his arrival at Gracepointe had he embraced the inevitability of his imminent death?
Imorean’s eyes snapped open. Death. He must not die. He would not die. He would not resign himself. An ancient, inexplicable calm washed over him and he somehow jerked back to his senses. The ground rushed toward him at frightful speed, yet he had clarity. He had space and time to reverse. It was as though some great ancestor was speaking to him, telling him without words what to do. Imorean moved his body back to the spread-eagle position he had learned while on Michael's skydiving team and opened his wings. His primaries left tiny trails of white behind him in the sky. He swung his weight down and rocked backward. Feet toward the ground. It was as though his body were acting on impulse, screeching to a halt.
There was a sharp, painful jerk as the wings opened fully and took his weight. Imorean squeezed his eyes shut again and cried out in agony. He felt as though they were being torn out of his back. Muscle and sinew stretched and strained. Surely, he was going to break something. They were working though. He was slowing. Air was not rushing past him so quickly. In fact, he didn't feel as though he was falling anymore. The strange, new instinct urged him to tilt his wings, to guide himself away from the wall, so he did. He moved again, shifting back into the horizontal position Gabriel had taught him on his first day. He beat his wings automatically, holding his position in the air.
“Well done,” said a voice next to him.
Imorean opened one eye a crack. He had somehow stopped his downward descent and was hovering now – he didn't want to know how high he was – his wings beating of their own accord. Gabriel was flying a few feet away.
“You pushed me!” snapped Imorean, furious. He opened both eyes to glare at Gabriel. Imorean made a pointed effort not to look down. If he looked down, the wings would surely fail him.
“It was the only way I could get you to move,” shrugged the Archangel. “Now come on. Follow me.”
Imorean gritted his teeth and shook his head in disbelief as Gabriel swept past him, flying parallel to the Troll Wall. Imorean considered trying to fly back down to where they had parked, but realized he had no idea where the car actually was and Gabriel would only force him to continue flying. Some free will he had. He didn't have much of a choice other than to follow the Archangel. He tilted his wings and ascended.
It was strange to Imorean to beat his wings and actually fly somewhere, as opposed to simply flying in circles as he had been doing around the track at Gracepointe. He kept himself focused on the steady up, down, up, down motions of Gabriel's wings and soon found himself copying it. Imorean still refused to look down. In fact, he found himself feeling oddly grateful when Gabriel pulled in his wings and ascended higher into the sky. Looking up was easier.
As they rose, Imorean couldn't fight the deep, strong feeling of bliss that was starting to blossom in his chest. His fear was starting to dissolve, fizzling away with each wingbeat. Here he was doing something that mere humans could only dream of. Being untouchable. He was flying under his own power, soaring above the ground below. Something in his blood felt that this was right. He was meant to be here. This feeling. This power. This. In this moment, the wings, the flight, this was freedom.
When they reached the top of the Troll Wall again, Gabriel landed, perching on the very edge of the cliff. His brown hair was blown backwards, away from his forehead, a liberated smile on his face. Imorean found that he was smiling as well and could only assume that his hair looked the same as his mentor’s.
“What do you think so far?” he asked.
“That was a dirty trick,” hissed Imorean, landing heavily beside Gabriel. Regardless of how free he had felt in the air, he was still annoyed. His anger, though, had died.
“Well, yes, but it got you into the air, didn't it?”
“I suppose,” scoffed Imorean, folding his arms and scowling.
“How are you feeling?” asked Gabriel, obviously not put off at all by Imorean's sharp tone.
“Fine, actually.”
&nbs
p; “Tired?”
“No.”
“Fantastic. We're going to try something new now. I noticed you're not appreciating the view. In fact, you're not looking down at all. In all seriousness, an angel always has to be aware of how far away from the ground he is. It's a concern of safety.”
“Right,” nodded Imorean, not quite sure where Gabriel was going with his statement.
“We're going to dive. We've got over 3,000 feet to pick up some good speed. Sound good?”
“Shouldn't I get used to actually flying a bit more before we do something like that?”
“I suppose so,” sighed Gabriel, sounding disappointed. “We will have you do a dive before we finish here today though.”
“Why do I have to?”
“Michael will be teaching your fellow students these exact same types of things in the simulator, so it's up to me to teach them to you out here.”
“Right.”
“Come on then,” said Gabriel, launching himself back up into the sky.
Imorean hesitated as he watched his mentor. He didn't want to throw himself back out into the open air. A moment later, Gabriel turned in midair and smiled at him. The genuine nature of the Archangel's smile encouraged Imorean. Gabriel wouldn't let him fall, surely. Imorean backed up a few steps and stood still for a moment. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His heart strained at his ribs, urging him on. Then he raced forward, hurtling toward the edge of the cliff. His toes touched the precipice and the young angel hybrid opened his wings and jumped, leaping into the open sky.
Angels Soaring (Angels Rising Book 2) Page 15