Angels Soaring (Angels Rising Book 2)

by Harriet Carlton

  “It – it was unlike anything else. I don’t really have words to describe it,” said Imorean shaking his head. “I just felt free. I felt like it was what I was supposed to be doing. Just absolutely on top of the world. I felt… I felt my soul. If that makes any sense.”

  “I wish I could have come with you,” smiled Roxy.

  “Gabriel sent out an email last night. We’re going to be tested by Michael soon. We’re going to have to display our abilities in the air,” said Mandy.

  “Oh, great,” sighed Colton, shaking his head.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Imorean.

  “I don’t feel comfortable in the simulator at all yet and I can’t seem to get the hang of being steady.”

  “Maybe you’re like me,” said Imorean, smiling reassuringly. “I’m sure Gabriel would work something out for you if you asked.”

  “I suppose.” Colton rested his chin in one of his hands. He didn’t sound confident.

  “There’s something else,” said Imorean, his voice dropping lower. He didn’t really want any of the other students to overhear him.

  “What?” asked Toddy, leaning closer.

  “We saw a demon,” said Imorean.

  “What?!” yelped Roxy, her eyes widening.

  “Shh,” snapped Imorean. “I don’t really want the rest of the cafeteria to know. Gabriel told me not to mention it to anyone.”

  “He should have known better,” scoffed Roxy.

  “A demon?” Some of the color had drained from Toddy’s face.

  “Yeah,” nodded Imorean. “I didn’t get a good look at it. All I saw was a black shape. That’s not what worries me, though. Gabriel said that the demons were looking for Gracepointe.”

  “Why?” asked Mandy.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me,” replied Imorean, shaking his head. “But he did mention a name. Vortigern.”

  “Vortigern?” asked Roxy, her voice still loud.

  Imorean looked at her. “Why do you do things like this?”

  “Sorry,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “He said the demon he and I saw yesterday was one of the scouts looking for Gracepointe. He didn’t say why, but he did say that he thought they were pretty close to finding us and if the Hellhound that got in a few weeks ago is anything to go by, I think he’s right.”

  “I’m going to wager a guess and say that that’s bad,” said Toddy.

  “That’s what I would say. He said a few weeks ago that Michael, I guess the right word would be turned, us earlier than he should have because he was worried.”

  “So, you think Michael thinks the demons and this Vortigern character will find us?” asked Mandy

  “I’d say he’s definitely worried. Maybe even scared,” said Imorean.

  “It adds up,” nodded Colton, piping up for the first time in the past few minutes.

  “But we’re safe here, aren’t we?” asked Toddy. “I mean, didn’t Haroel or Michael or someone say that Gracepointe was well protected?”

  “They did, and it is. I know that from the night that Ryan, Dustin and Baxter tried running off,” nodded Imorean. “But my question is how long can they keep us protected?”

  Toddy, Mandy, Roxy, and Colton glanced nervously at each other then back at Imorean.

  “I suddenly want to go home more than ever,” sighed Toddy. “At least there I didn’t have to worry about being slaughtered by demons.”

  Imorean chuckled humorlessly and nodded his head. He sighed and turned his head to look out of the window. Autumn was getting ready to draw to a close and the world was showing the first signs of winter. Christmas break would be upon them soon. Imorean wondered briefly if Michael would let them go home. He certainly hoped so. He was incredibly homesick by now and missed North Carolina. There were too many mysteries here and too much secrecy. He just wanted to go back to where things were simple.

  “What is it?” asked Roxy, obviously having noticed his troubled expression.

  “I’m just thinking,” replied Imorean.

  “About?” Roxy nudged his shoulder with her own.

  “I’m just wondering how to tell my mom at Christmas,” replied Imorean, sighing and rubbing his forehead.

  “Oh. I’ve been trying not to think about that.”

  Imorean flashed a small, mirthless smile. “Sorry.”

  “It’s getting close now though, isn’t it?” said Colton.

  “It is. We go on Christmas break on December tenth. Only about six weeks or thereabouts left here.”

  “What do you think they’d do if we left during Christmas break?” asked Roxy, sounding serious.

  “What do you mean?” asked Imorean. “We’re leaving Gracepointe during Christmas break, period.”

  “No, I mean, when we got home. What do you think they would do if we just … ran away?”

  “They’d find us in a heartbeat, Roxy,” replied Imorean. “Gabriel and Michael are ancient. I’m sure anything we can do they’ve already seen before and know how to remedy. Rox, I know from experience that as we are now, we aren’t a match for any of the demons out there. Michael taught me that pretty quickly when he simulated the Hellhound attack in the gym.”

  “It was just a thought.” Roxy’s voice was heavy as she turned to look out of the nearby window.

  Imorean remained quiet as Toddy, Mandy and Colton chatted in the background. There was something in Roxy’s eyes that caused him to wonder if what she had said truly was ‘just a thought’ or if it was something more.

  Chapter 19

  Imorean jumped slightly when he heard the blaring of an alarm that wasn’t his own. Quickly, he rolled over in bed and checked his watch. It was nearly seven o’clock in the morning. His own alarm wasn’t scheduled to go off for the next five minutes, so what was going on?

  “Crap!” yelped Toddy in the darkness. “Imorean, get up! We’ve almost overslept.”

  Imorean flinched in surprise at the sound of Toddy’s loud voice and glared at his roommate. The white-haired teenager heard the rustle of sheets and a few crashes and bangs as Toddy leaped out of bed and stumbled around in the darkness.

  “Toddy?” he asked, lifting his head off the pillow.

  “Sorry, Imorean. I didn’t mean to wake you like that.”

  “Why are you up so early?” asked Imorean, pushing back his own bedsheets and getting out of bed. There wasn’t much point lying in for the next few minutes.

  “We’re doing our first open air flight today. Gabriel is meeting us on the sports field,” said Toddy, pulling on a pair of fatigue trousers. “And Michael is meeting us somewhere off campus.”

  “What?” asked Imorean, raising his eyebrows.

  “Didn’t you check your email last night?”

  Imorean clapped a palm to his forehead. “Shoot. I completely forgot. I bet Gabriel emailed me about it.”

  “Well we can walk down to the sports field together,” said Toddy, turning on one of the deskside lamps and smiling. “Good thing you’ve got me as your roommate, Imorean.”

  “You bet it is,” replied Imorean, tugging on a thick sweatshirt. Even though he was happy that the semester was almost over, he hadn’t accounted for just how cold Norway was going to get. It was only late October and the campus grounds were already covered in thick frost during the early mornings.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Was it hard?” asked Colton as they walked out of the dorm and into the cold, pre-dawn air.

  “Was what hard?” asked Imorean, moving off one of the walkways and onto the frost covered grass to make room for Colton to fall into step beside him.

  “You know, flying out in the open air, where you could have fallen out of the sky,” mumbled the smaller boy, shuffling his own pair of bright, red wings.

  “Not really,” replied Imorean, shaking his head and smiling slightly. “It just kind of came naturally. I mean, you don’t want to fall, so you don’t fall. It’s the same thing as swimming. You don’t want to drown, so you don’t drown.�
��

  “What if you can’t swim?” asked Colton, continuing the analogy.

  “Colton, that’s silly. You’ve been taught how to fly. Trust me, once you get up in the air you’ll be just fine. Everything will fall into place.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “He is,” said Toddy, clapping Imorean on the shoulder. “Imorean’s an old vet at this stuff now.”

  “Don’t be an idiot, Tod.” Imorean shook his head. “I’ve only flown at any altitude in the open air once. I’m just telling him what it felt like.”

  Toddy shrugged and lowered his voice slightly.

  “I’m not being an idiot, I’m trying to encourage him.”

  Imorean nodded, acknowledging Toddy’s words.

  “It’ll be just fine, Colton.” Imorean smiled at the younger boy. “I promise. I’ll try to stay with you if you want.”

  “That would be nice,” nodded Colton, sounding slightly more relieved.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “It’s too cold for this,” muttered Roxy, rubbing her arms and stamping her feet to try to warm up.

  Imorean shook his head. He and the rest of his classmates were standing in a cluster on the sports field, waiting for Gabriel to make an appearance. Many of the students were shivering or pacing back and forth in an effort to keep themselves warm.

  The sports field was illuminated by bright, white floodlights that made it seem as though it was already daylight, when in reality the sun was only just starting to rise.

  “Stop complaining,” replied Imorean, rolling his eyes. “You’ll only make it worse for yourself.”

  “How are you not freezing?” asked Roxy.

  “I’ve been coming out here at this time every morning for the past month,” shrugged Imorean, pressing his wings tighter around his body. “I guess I’m just used to it.”

  “Why can’t Gabriel hurry up?” asked Roxy, shuffling over to him and pressing against him. “You’re kidding me.”

  “What?” asked Imorean, confused.

  “You’re warm,” she said quietly, pressing closer to him.

  Imorean grinned. “I mean, I guess. It helps if you wrap your wings around your body. Gabriel showed me that when the weather started to turn cold.”

  “Hmm,” frowned Roxy. After a moment of hesitation, she unfolded her wings and wrapped them tightly back up around her shoulders and torso. “You’re right, that does work.”

  “I’d never steer you wrong, Roxy.” Imorean looked over his shoulder, searching for Toddy, Mandy and Colton. The other three were huddled up near one of the bleachers, taking shelter from the cold breeze that blew across the field. Imorean was getting ready to wave them over back to the group when there was a sound like a thunderclap and a flash of bright, blue light.

  Imorean turned to look at the source, even though he felt he already knew what, or rather who, had caused it.

  “Good morning, everyone,” called a loud, chipper voice.

  Imorean smiled. He had been right. Gabriel and Raphael had landed. The white-haired teenager looked over his shoulder and waved Toddy, Mandy and Colton over to rejoin the rest of the group.

  “Good to see all of you bright and early,” said Gabriel, settling his tawny and green wings properly behind his shoulders. “I must apologize for dragging all of you out of bed so much earlier than many of you are used to, but we’ve got a pretty big day ahead of us.”

  Imorean inclined his head and gave Gabriel his full attention. He had a feeling that the rest of the student body was doing the same thing.

  “Right.” Gabriel smiled and clapped his hands together. “As you all know, you have been preparing for an open-air flight. Today is the day you’ll perform it. I will be taking you to the Preikestolen. It is a rock formation that stands almost 2,000 feet above the fjord below it. When you get there Michael will meet you, along with a platoon of angels to watch over you and make sure no harm comes to you. You will fly for nearly two miles from the Preikestolen to your landing point. I’m afraid I will not be flying with you today, but I will be watching. I have complete faith in all of you. I know you are all ready for this.”

  Imorean couldn’t help but smile at the Archangel’s words. He ignored the bite of fear that threatened to rise up through his body at the mention of the altitude of the structure they would have to jump from. The teenager nodded to himself. He had done more than this before. Gabriel had made sure he was prepared. He was ready for this, no matter what Michael said or thought. He narrowed his eyes a moment later though, Gabriel wouldn’t be flying with them?

  “Everyone ready?” asked Gabriel, raising his hands over his head. His question was answered by a low murmur of agreement.

  Imorean had a feeling he was one of the only students who was fully awake. He caught his mentor’s eye and the Archangel gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Imorean quirked a smile in return. He furrowed his brow in confusion a moment later when Gabriel brought both hands down and clapped them together. The Archangel’s hands met with a thunderclap, and Imorean felt himself being hurled forward into a vortex. In the back of his mind he heard the surprised, and in some cases, scared yelps of his fellow classmates.

  Then the world stopped as Imorean crashed down heavily onto a hard, grainy rock surface. For a moment, his world was dark and blurry, but as he blinked, it cleared and he found himself able to see his and his fellow classmates’ surroundings.

  They were all gathered atop a wide, flat rock. How they had all fitted onto it, Imorean didn’t know. Most of his classmates were lying still, stunned and confused by their rapid travel. A few were sitting up, looking around dazedly. Imorean shook his head and clambered to his feet, looking for Roxy, Toddy, Mandy and Colton. The teenager pulled his sweatshirt closer around his shoulders as a frigid wind swept across the surface of the rock. Imorean stepped forward, but stopped mid-stride and glanced around. They were on a great outcrop of flat rock. On two sides, the rock simply vanished as though the very earth itself had been cut away. The other two sides were bordered by small, vertical rock faces, which were just high enough to provide some shelter from the wind. So this was where Gabriel had taken them all to.

  As his thoughts turned to Gabriel, Imorean turned around, searching for his mentor. Raphael was standing at the top of one of the vertical faces, his back to the students and eyes on the sky, but Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Imorean spotted Colton, Mandy, Toddy and Roxy all huddled together, several feet below where Raphael stood.

  “There you are,” said Roxy, standing up and waving Imorean over.

  “I did wonder where you four had gone to,” said Imorean, jogging toward them. It was good to get his muscles moving since it did a little to help him ignore the freezing air. As he made his way across the rock surface to his friends, he was glad to note that more and more of his classmates were getting to their feet. He was pretty sure that almost all of them were standing now.

  “This is freezing,” hissed Mandy, her teeth chattering. “What did Gabriel do?”

  “He teleported us,” shrugged Imorean. “I didn’t think he could transport such a big group though. I wonder where he’s gone.”

  “I haven’t seen him,” replied Roxy. “Honestly, these angels are just full of surprises. Teleporting? What next? I don’t think I’ll be able to be surprised anymore after we get home. I mean, I know you told us they could do it, but I wasn’t sure if I believed you.”

  “Same here,” said Toddy, flaring his wide, gray wings. He snapped them back to his body a moment later and swore. “That was freezing.”

  “Well done, everyone,” said a hoarse voice. The sentence was punctuated with a cough.

  Imorean looked around for the speaker, knowing from the sound of the voice that it was Gabriel. The teenager finally spotted his mentor sitting on a small rock ledge several feet above the students’ heads. Imorean’s eyes widened as he took in the Archangel’s appearance. He looked as though he had just gone ten rounds in a boxing ring. The feathers o
f his tawny wings were tattered, he was nursing a black eye and his nose was dripping blood.

  “It’s all right, Imorean,” said Gabriel, hopping down from his ledge and landing awkwardly. He was shaky. For a moment, Gabriel looked up at Raphael. The doctor Archangel was watching his brother, eyes concerned behind the lenses of his glasses. Gabriel nodded at him. “I’m fine, Raph. Keep a lookout.”

  “What happened to you?” asked Imorean, walking away from his friends and coming to stand next to the Archangel.

  “This is the effect of long distance teleportation with a large group,” replied Gabriel, leaning on part of the vertical rock face. He didn’t seem to want to stand up straight. “I’ll be fine in a few hours.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Imorean,

  “Your concern is touching, Imorean,” replied Gabriel, smiling. “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll heal.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe?”

  “That’s my cocky brother,” said Gabriel, wiping away some of the blood from his nose. He quirked a smile. “I know my limitations. Teleporting saps the strength just by its nature. Taking a group this size a distance this far is extremely taxing.”

  Imorean nodded slowly and was about to comment when Gabriel pointed upward. There was a rush of air overhead. The white-haired teen looked up to see Michael lead a small wedge formation of angels above their heads. The rising sun cast multicolored reflections over the angels’ wings, the most impressive of which were Michael’s dual pair. Imorean found himself momentarily transfixed as the Chief Archangel dove out of the formation, twisted and landed lightly on the very precipice of the rock formation. The rest of the angels who had flown in with him continued on beyond and out into the open air. Imorean jumped as Gabriel placed a hand in the center of his back and lightly pushed him forward, closer toward his friends who were in the middle of the group that had gathered around Michael.

  “Good morning,” said Michael, his voice reverberating loudly.

  Imorean repressed a shudder at the volume of the Archangel’s voice. The commander was not wearing a microphone. A second, more tangible chill spread across Imorean’s skin as he caught sight of the thick, leather straps across Michael’s chest and the double, deadly sword handles that protruded just above each of his shoulders.