Angeldust

by Peach, Hanna

  Israel’s eyes flicked open and shut as he fought the darkness for as long as he could, staring at Sparrow, who was now just flashes of color disappearing through the trees towards the castle. Then he couldn’t hold on anymore.

  Alyx smashed back into her body, inhaling for air. Israel. She had no time to waste. She had to get out of Atlantis and back to the castle.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Tii’la moved through the Michaelea forest with Varian and Do’hann. Varian led them while she and Do’hann carried Israel’s body between them.

  “That was a nice spot of work back there in Atlantis, Tii’la,” said Varian from up ahead. “For a moment I actually believed that you were on her side.”

  Tii’la tried to swallow but found she couldn’t, the guilt coated her throat so thickly.

  They stopped at the designated meeting spot near the mouth of the Hollows. She and Do’hann let Israel’s body down to the ground with a thump. He didn’t move. He was out cold.

  People had always underestimated her. They underestimated her strength, they underestimated her intelligence, and they underestimated what she was prepared to do. Even Alyx. She was just fade-into-the-background Tii’la. Write-her-off Tii’la. Too-innocent-to-be-a-threat Tii’la. She had been the perfect plant and Tii’la hated this fact.

  Guilt made her feel sick. Alyx had been so kind to her. All of them had been so kind. But she did what she had to. She had no choice.

  When Elder Michael had picked her to carry out this plan, she had initially refused. When Elder Michael had told her exactly what would happen if she didn’t carry out his plan and succeed, she had been horrified. So she gathered up all her strength and courage and did what she did. She infiltrated the FreeThinker’s community that Alyx had aligned herself with and gained her trust. She couldn’t fail. Too much was at stake.

  Every day that she had lived in their community she began to see them less and less as Rogues and more and more like friends. Every night that she had slept under the same roof as the friends she would eventually betray, she had nightmares. But she had no choice.

  Every time Alyx showed concern for her, Tii’la had almost blurted out what was really happening. So many times she had been so close to warning Alyx. But she couldn’t.

  Despite the fact that she was sure that guilt had been written across her face every second of every day living with them, none had been any the wiser. Unfortunately she had played her part to perfection.

  Regrettably, Elder Michael’s plan had been perfect. Elder Michael had worked out a story for why Tii’la was being kicked out, and they had even staged a small scene, just in case the Rogues had had spies in Michaelea working for them. It meant that Tii’la’s story would match up. It did. They believed her and let her become a part of them. She had fought alongside Alyx in their battle against Samyara to gain her trust, and it had worked.

  Tii’la spotted the tawny eagle with the Animale bracelet around its ankle, one of Elder Michael’s watchers. It landed on a branch near them and stared at her with beady eyes, unblinking.

  “Tell Michael we have what he wants,” Varian said to it.

  The eagle squawked once. Then flew off.

  They didn’t have to wait long. As the dusk was beginning to settle its smoky light on the world, a set of five figures moved through the trees towards her. It was Elder Michael flanked by two guards in front and two behind him.

  Elder Michael stopped before them. Two of the guards stayed by his side and the other two moved behind her. With Do’hann and Varian on either side of her, she was completely surrounded. Tii’la felt herself shrink under the gaze of the most powerful and deadly Seraphim in the universe.

  Elder Michael lowered his gaze to the body lying face down at her feet. “I needed him alive.”

  “He is. He’s just knocked out with a sleeping drug.”

  “Why didn’t you just knock him out with DreamWalker?”

  “Because he can break out of a DreamWalker sleep,” said Tii’la, feeling like she was betraying them all over again with every word she said. “He did it against Samyara. His mind is strong against other magics.”

  “Interesting.” Michael scratched his chin. “Sleeping drug, you say?”

  Tii’la shifted her weight. “It’s made from berries. It deadens his body as well as his mind, and he can’t fight that off.”

  Michael stared at her for a moment. “Ingenious.” For some reason that didn’t seem to sound like a compliment. “Anything else I should know about the Rogues?”

  Tii’la paused. She didn’t want to say any more but…

  Elder Michael’s eyes narrowed at her. “There is something else. Spit it out. You know the consequences if you don’t.”

  Tii’la’s eyes closed momentarily and Lutando’s face, his strong, handsome face appeared in her mind. Her heart squeezed so much that it hurt. Lutando had been Alyx’s friend. Alyx cared for Lutando, not like Tii’la did, but Alyx still cared for him. Alyx would understand why Tii’la had to do this, right?

  My love. I promised I would do anything to save you and I will.

  Tii’la opened her eyes, her guilt having been firmly locked away again. It was the only way she could do all the horrible things that had to be done. She swallowed. “Alyx and Israel have this special magic through their Guardian bond. They can communicate through their minds. She can even slip into his head and see what he’s seeing, feel what he’s feeling, hear what he’s hearing. But only when he’s conscious. You need to keep him unconscious to stop her from finding him in two seconds flat.”

  “Anything else?”

  Tii’la shook her head. She just wanted this all to be over.

  Michael indicated to one of the guards. They moved forward into action and rolled Israel over. Israel’s head lolled to one side but it was unmistakably him. This was when Elder Michael’s face broke out into a smile. Tii’la felt her lungs loosen… This nightmare would all be over soon.

  “Excellent,” Elder Michael said. “Take him.” Another guard joined the first. They picked up Israel under his arms and he hung limp between them.

  “Wait,” Tii’la cried as Michael turned to leave. “Where’s Lutando? You said you’d let him go.”

  Elder Michael eyed Tii’la. “And get rid of her.”

  The warriors at Tii’la’s side grabbed her arms. Tii’la’s heart jammed up into her throat. “No, let me go. You said you’d let us both go.”

  Elder Michael sneered at her. “What, and litter this Earth with your ungifted pups?”

  “You demon. You-You lied to me!”

  “Yes,” Michael smiled at her, thin and cruel. “Feels terrible when someone does it to you, doesn’t it?” He turned away, waving his fingers at her as if she were just an insect to be shooed away.

  As he walked away, Tii’la screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed. Until she stopped.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Alyx saw the smoke rising up from the horizon like a black stain against the sky. She knew it was the castle. She had flown here as fast as she could from Atlantis, but she was too late. Fighting complete exhaustion, she pushed herself on. Maybe there were survivors? Vix? Sparrow? Mini? Tobias?

  As she neared, her hope extinguished. Thick black smoke poured from every window of the castle like a noxious tar. Parts of the turrets had been knocked over by some great force. Sections of walls had been damaged beyond repair, leaving great gaping holes in the building where solid walls once stood. Furniture had been thrown out of the higher windows, smashing them and littering the ground with splinters and torn bedsheets. A few bodies laid across the grass. She flew to each of them and checked their pulses but found none. Where were the others?

  A familiar swallow careened towards her, fluttering and screeching at the top of his lungs. “Piki!” Alyx accessed her Animale magic from her bloodink mark.

  “…out but he’s still trapped inside.”

  “What?” Alyx replied. “Start again from the beginning.
”

  “The dark men came to destroy the castle. They killed the ones who couldn’t get out.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “Sparrow was able to warn most of them. They’re safe. Not far from here.”

  “Take me to them.”

  “But Sparrow… He never listens to me.”

  “Where’s Sparrow?”

  “No. No. There was nothing I could do.” Piki fluttered his wings violently, his chittering becoming incomprehensible as he got more and more flustered.

  “Calm down, Piki. I can’t understand you.”

  “Sparrow was so scared. He hid in the stables. He’s still trapped inside.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Sparrow!” Alyx screamed into the gaping hole in the horse stables. They were located on the grounds of the castle but separate from the main building. The community didn’t keep horses here so the stables were empty. They should have been empty. Inside, fire was licking up all the pillars and doors, the whole structure being made of wood.

  She squinted through the smoky darkened haze into the stable, praying to see him. There! She spotted the small limp body of Sparrow down the far side of the stables, half hidden with hay. A beam of wood had come down on his leg, pinning him down.

  Alyx had promised Sparrow she would look after him. She had promised him a better life when she took him from the RaceKeeper. Her heart crackled like it was being dried out by the fire. Please, please, don’t let him be dead.

  She glanced up towards the flaming roof of the stables and the wooden beams, all on fire. She wasn’t sure how much longer it would hold up. She had precious seconds to get him out.

  “Piki, you stay here. Guard the entrance.”

  Piki chirped in agreement.

  “Hang on, Sparrow!” she yelled even though she was sure he couldn’t hear her. She climbed through one of the open stable windows, her gaze now focused on Sparrow and the fire inching closer and closer to him.

  Inside the air was thick with smoke that stung her eyes. The fire radiated heat like she was too close to the sun. She moved through towards the back of the stables, weaving around and through sections where the flames had taken over.

  She heard a crack above her. A beam broke, swinging down towards her. She leapt forward, rolling on the hay-strewn dirt. The beam splintered behind her with a smash. She didn’t look back. She kept going.

  Finally Alyx landed on the hay near the boy. “Sparrow!” she screamed over the roar of the fire. He didn’t answer nor did he move. Please, be alive.

  She didn’t have time to check for life. Alyx grabbed the thick beam across his leg with both hands and pulled. It was too heavy. She couldn’t get it off him. What now? Around her the hungry fire roared as it consumed the structure. It would consume them both too if she didn’t think of something quickly.

  She had no WaterBearer magic left… But she did have part of an EarthSifter mark. She got an idea. Aiming her palms at the ground, Alyx let out a long wave of the EarthSifter. The earth underneath Sparrow’s legs began to blow aside, removing a layer of dirt from underneath him. She felt the last of the magic leave her hands. She prayed it would be enough.

  Sweat rolled off her forehead and back from the heat of the flames. Her clothes were sticking to her. Alyx grabbed Sparrow under his armpits and pulled. He slid out from under the beam and she stumbled back.

  Thank God, it worked.

  She rolled Sparrow up into her arms and aimed for the exit. She could barely see the open window through the smoke now. The beam that had smashed down around her now blocked the path that she used to come in. She would have to go another way. She spotted a path around near the side of the stables. She kept moving, using her arms to keep Sparrow tucked in close to her body.

  She was almost at the opening now. She could feel lashes of cool fresh air coming in from it. Piki was fluttering at the opening, urging her on with his chirping.

  There was a loud groan as the wooden pillars of the stable buckled. Alyx pushed up off the ground and leapt out of the opening, gripping Sparrow’s limp body tighter in her arms and covering his body with hers. The buildings collapsed behind her with a horrible crash as soot and ash and embers spat out in clouds around them.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Only in the cover of the forest nearby did Alyx stop and lay Sparrow down. Piki landed near the side of Sparrow’s head and rubbed his earlobe with his small head. Alyx placed two shaking fingers to Sparrow’s neck. Her heart skipped for joy when she felt a pulse. There was an egg-sized lump and bruise on his forehead, probably where he was hit when the beam fell on him. Apart from that he looked unharmed.

  Sparrow moaned. Alyx called his name and his eyelashes fluttered slowly open.

  “Alyx,” Sparrow choked out. He began to cough. Alyx pulled him to a sitting position and patted his back until he stopped. “Israel and I…then Tii’la…and then bad men…and…”

  “I know, Sparrow. It’s okay. I saw it through Israel’s eyes.”

  “It’s all my fault,” Sparrow said. “It’s all my fault they have him.”

  Alyx pulled back and grabbed the sides of Sparrow’s face. Her grip was firm but gentle and she forced the boy to look straight at her. “It’s not your fault.”

  “But I didn’t even try.”

  “You couldn’t have done anything, Sparrow. There were three of them and one of you.”

  “But I just… I just ran.”

  Alyx nodded. “I know. You did the right thing, Sparrow.”

  “No I didn’t.” His little voice shook with fierceness. Alyx could read the shame on his face as if it were painted on. “I left Israel behind. I ran without trying to save him.”

  “But you managed to warn the guys at the castle.”

  “Yes, but−”

  “You saved an entire community. They managed to get out because of you.”

  “When they stormed the castle, I just hid,” Sparrow said bitterly. He pushed his face into his hands. His next words came out muffled, “I’m such a coward.”

  Alyx brushed a lock of hair back from his forehead. “Sparrow, you were outnumbered, outsized and you don’t have any combat training. You made a strategic decision and sometimes the strategic decision is to run and hide. You did the right thing.”

  He snorted. “I bet you’ve never run or hidden from a fight.”

  “Actually, that’s not true at all.”

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “In Atlantis I was ambushed by two warriors and betrayed by a friend. I ran instead of fighting them so they got away with something very important. But I’m alive right now because I ran and hid. I’m alive, which means I can try and get it back.”

  Alyx told him of how she and Israel ran from Yael and Do’hann in the streets of Saint Joseph and hid in the sewers instead of fighting them. She told him of how she and Jordan hid from passing night guards in Urielos as they sought to gain entry to the library.

  “Okay, alright. I get it,” Sparrow said. “You choose not to fight sometimes. You choose instead to hide.”

  “That’s the decision you made and it was the right decision because here you are, alive.” Alyx grabbed him suddenly and pulled him into a hug, all the previously restrained emotion ebbing out from her all at once so she couldn’t dam it back. “Thank God you’re alive,” she whispered in his ear.

  To her surprise, Sparrow gripped her back just as hard.

  Piki led Alyx and Sparrow to where the community of Castle Speranza were hiding. They were all huddled and dirty like scared sheep in an abandoned barn several miles away. The air in here was their collective breaths, smelling sour with fear.

  Alyx stood talking with Jordan and Tobias a little away from the crowd. Sparrow stood slightly behind Alyx. “Thank God you’re okay,” Alyx said.

  “We managed to find our way through the secret passageways. Most of us did.” Tobias lifted his eyes and guilt shone through them. “I should have seen this coming. I sho
uld have posted guards on the towers to watch out for attacks. After Samyara was killed, I just didn’t think…”

  Jordan hushed at him. “Tobias this isn’t your fault.”

  “They just came and trashed the place. They killed anyone unlucky enough to get in their way and left,” said Tobias. “They didn’t even search the surrounds of the castle or anything. It’s the only reason we’re all alive. I guess we should be thankful.”

  “It was a distraction,” Alyx said. “They just wanted Israel. And they got him.” Her voice grew cold. “Michael doesn’t see the rest of us as any real threat. The attack on the castle was just a warning for us to stay away and not to fight against him. That’s why they didn’t bother finding the rest of us.”

  Alyx looked out among the Seraphim. The FreeThinkers of this community had gone through so much over the last few months. They had lost friends, family, loved ones, and this was the second time they all lost their home. Their faces were all strained and desolate.

  “Unfortunately,” Tobias said, “I think it worked.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lukas glanced down at Ana’s unconscious form. The only way he had been able to calm her was to send her to sleep with borrowed DreamWalker. He had carried her out of the castle in his arms and now stood watching over her high in the hay loft of this barn as the other Seraphim milled about below with a nervous energy.

  Vix flew up to where he stood and stood near him, but she didn’t speak. Lukas remained staring at Ana, asleep in the hay. She looked like the woman he loved. He could almost convince himself she hadn’t changed, that the love she had for him was still there. But now that he had killed Yael…